A New Age, A New Team
Chapter 30: There's No Place Like Home

Hiro tightened his leather jacket around his body as he looked over a large warehouse-looking building in New York City. This is it... He thought quietly as he crossed the street and began walking closer to the warehouse. His brown eyes watched as people banged against the large steel door, said something to whomever was behind the door and then were let it or turned away. He took a calmly breath in before walking up to the large steel door.

BAM BAM BAM

He took a step back for a moment before a small door slid open. Two piercing blue eyes stared back at him without saying anything. "I'm here to see Sam." Hiro said confidently.

The small door slid shut and there was no response. Hiro looked around him for a moment and then knocked against the door again. Once again, the small door slid open and the same piercing blue eyes stared at him, "What?" A man's voice huffed.

"Where's Sam?" Hiro huffed and then the small door slid shut again. "Damnit." He sighed in frustration.

"You're looking for Sam?" A voice said calmly from a side alley just as Hiro was about to use his power to remove the door.

Hiro turned towards the voice and saw a man walk from the alley with dark brown hair and green eyes. "Yes, I am. Do you know where she is?"

"Of course I do. I'm her brother," James said calmly. "Now who are you?"

"Hiro. I'm from Xavier's."

James looked Hiro over once before cocking his head to the side. "Prove it."

Hiro sighed and undid his leather jacket to pull to the side. On the breast side of his shirt, a large yellow X was embroidered on his shirt. "Where is she?"

"She's at the cemetery." James sighed, "It's not far from here."

"I know where it is." Hiro nodded softly before turning and walking away.

"Hiro?" James asked, which made Hiro turn around, "Are you here to take her back?"

"You should know better than anyone, no one can make Sam do anything."

James chuckled lightly, "True... Good luck." James nodded before turning back down the dark side alley and disappearing.

Hiro stayed for a minute staring into the darkness of the side alley with his brown eyes, before turning away and walking in the direction of the cemetery.

The cool air swept over the cemetery and over Sam as she was crouched in front of Adam's tombstone. Her fingers carefully traced the engraved letters on the cold stone and sent shivers up her spine. It never seemed real to her no matter how many times she traced the stone. The letters were beginning to wear down from Sam tracing it so many times. She never wanted to believe it was real.

"Do you always get dressed up for him?" Hiro said respectfully behind Sam.

Sam glanced over her should at Hiro, before slowly standing up and turning around to face him. "Every time." She said coldly.

"How'd he die?"

"He was murdered." Sam said as she felt her blood begin to boil as memories played over and over in her head again.

"How do you know that?"

Sam huffed, "What's with the twenty questions Hiro?" She gave a sarcastic laugh and then shook her head. "I know because he was shot in the back of the head in front of me and James." She said as she pushed past Hiro and began walking towards her bike. "I don't know why you're asking. You don't care. That's not why you're here." She shouted over her shoulder as she wrapped her arms around herself, even though she wasn't cold.

Hiro's brown eyes stared down at the tombstone for a moment at the bundle of red roses contrasted against the grey of the tombstone. Something about that image haunted Hiro and made it so that he couldn't turn his eyes away from it.

The roar of Sam's bike echoed over the cemetery, and made Hiro tear his eyes from the tombstone. He ran over to Sam bike as fast as he could, "Sam I came here to see if you're coming home?"

Sam held her black helmet in her hands for a minute and stared at Hiro, "I am home."

Hiro lowered his head for a moment and then looked back up at Sam, "I understand." He sighed and stepped away from her bike. "We'll miss you."

Sam looked down at her helmet in her hands and felt a strange sense of loneliness. She quietly slid her helmet on and flipped up her visor to look over at Hiro for a moment. Her green eyes stared into his brown eyes and she spoke softly, "Tell him… I'm sorry." She sighed as she flipped her visor down quickly and took off through the cemetery.

Hiro watched her as dust kicked up into the air behind her and sighed. "He will be too."

Sam pulled up to the warehouse and knocked against the large steel door. The small door opened again and the same piercing blue eyes that met Hiro stared at Sam. "Let me in." Sam sighed.

"Who are you?" The voice asked.

"Are you serious?" Sam sarcastically laughed. "I'm Sam; James' little sister."

"She hasn't lived here for years." The small door slammed shut.

Sam felt her heart break as she stared at the door for a moment. She banged against the door again and glared at the blue eyes. "Open the damn door!"

"No."

"Get James then." I can't believe this is happening… This is supposed to be my home…

The small door shut again and then reopened, "Yeah that's her." James said after looking at Sam. The large steel door opened up and Sam drove her bike inside. She glared at James and the owner of the blue eyes before parking her bike. This place isn't my home anymore…

"You got a package Kit." James said as he tossed her a package.

Sam caught it and stared at it for a moment. How did someone know I was going to be here? She thought as she opened it. It was a black video tape with no markings on it and no note was attached to it. "James do you have a TV?"

"Yeah, just passed the bike area."

Sam slowly rode her bike into the bike area and looked around for a TV. She finally found a small one in the corner of the garage were no one was around. She quietly put the video tape into the TV before sitting before it. The soft glow of the television set danced in the darkness of the garage as Sam's whole world came crashing down.

Hiro walked through the mansion in silence as he contemplated how he was going to tell Noah that Sam wasn't coming back to the mansion. She has chosen her home. He thought quietly as he walked into the library; it was his favorite place in the mansion.

He quietly walked through the aisles of bookshelves until his brown eyes fell upon a lone girl in the back of the library researching one of the member files. As he walked closer, he recognized her to be Linx. What is she doing?

"Hello Hiro." Linx said quietly without even looking up at him.

"Um, hello Linx." He said as he sat down next to her.

"I haven't seen you around here lately…"

"I went to go see Sam at her gang's house." He sighed.

"I'm assuming that didn't go so well."

"To say the least." His brown eyes looked down at the member profile she was looking at and saw that it was him. He began to feel anxious for a moment before looking up at Linx, "Um, Linx?"

"Yes?"

Just as Hiro was about to ask Linx why she was researching him, an alarm blared over the speaker system and trembled throughout the library. Both Linx and Hiro slightly jumped at it before standing up.

"Come on." Linx shouted over the alarm before taking off running out of the library, while Hiro stayed behind for a moment. He stared down at the profile for a moment and saw parts were highlighted throughout the book. He looked back at Linx just as she disappeared behind the library doors. He took a deep breath in and then took off running after her.

What does she want?