I don't own. Wish I did, but I don't.
AN: Hola. I just wanted to post something before I leave tomorrow. It's a twelve hour bus ride to where I'm going in Mexico, so wish me luck! I don't even know how long I'm staying, which sucks, and I'm expecting it to be at least a thousand degrees with no AC. Oh, and I noticed some grammatical errors in the first chapter, so I'll fix them as soon as I figure out how. Anyways…
Chapter Two: Enter Omegas
Her blood was on fire.
That was the only way she could describe it. Her body moved with the music, mirroring the cluster of bodies around her, reminding her of why she loved coming to these sort of parties. She didn't have to worry about being somewhat clumsy with her movements, because no one cared. The song picked up and everyone was jumping.
Blissful joy stung her stomach and she couldn't help or be bothered by the giant, stupid grin that graced her face. She was young, in good company, marvelously buzzing, and had never felt more alive.
It was wonderful.
Laughing at nothing in particular, she and Kitty detangled themselves from the throng of swaying bodies and walked, ok somewhat stumbled, their way over to their table.
Although she had earlier received a "What the hell are you wearing?!" from Jubilee before departing from the mansion, she was glad she didn't give into the urge to run back to her room and change into something more appropriate. At first she had thought she did a pretty ok job with her appearance.
She had straitened her resistant curls and had even applied eye makeup. Clothed in a silky black tank top with elaborate embroidery Sam had given to her on her birthday (and that she had yet to wear), she thought she had done a pretty decent job. From the waist up she was good, Jubilee had said, but the rest needed help.
Ok, so baggy shorts that reached her knees and Vans probably weren't suitable, but she was damn comfortable while the other girls rubbed their aching feet.
Versus Kitty's miniskirt and Jubilee's halter top. Still, Sasha had been embarrassed the whole ride here and even when they arrived. She walked in feeling completely underdressed and uncomfortable in her own skin. At that point, all she wanted to do is find a rather large hole to hide in, but the feeling slowly faded and all regrets had pleasantly vanished. Just like her mediocre dancing, no one cared.
"GO! GO! GO!" Sasha cheered Sam and Piotr as they chugged down their beers. Sam was only half way through his Bud Light when Piotr slammed his empty plastic cup down. Pouting, Sam set his drink on the table and forked over a five to the victor.
Kitty and Jubilee giggled, leaning against each other for support. Sam must really be gone if he had challenged Piotr to a drinking game. Sasha didn't know what the Russians had in their water, but he could out-party them all without batting an eyelash.
There were five of them, as Rouge apparently not able to make it. Jubilee said she was uncomfortable around a lot of people. Sasha understood and wasn't disheartened by it. If she had the power to suck the life out of people by just making skin to skin contact, she probably wouldn't have wanted to come either
"Excuse me."
They all turned our attention to a tall boy around our age that looked like he had more than his fair share of Wheaties growing up. However, he was only focused on one person. "Wanna dance?" he yelled over the music.
Smiling, Kitty nodded and followed the boy into the crowd.
"Figures," Jubilee complained, "Ms. GirlNextDoor snags the body builder hottie." With that, she grabbed Sam's arm and propelled them onto the dance floor using such force that Sasha now knew the girl had faked weakness last week when she asked a shirtless John Allerdyce to unscrew a mayonnaise jar.
And then there were two.
Silence settled between them and Piotr began shredding his soggy napkin that was previously wrapped around one of his Jack Daniels. Sasha felt like a fourteen year old on her first date, desperately thinking of something to say but coming up blank. Ok, admittedly sixteen wasn't much better, but surely those two years made some sort of difference. "Oh hey," Sasha said, "I never asked you how that art contest went."
Piotr lips curled into a shy smile that was totally his own. It was almost like a smirk, but not. "Second place, two hundred dollars," he confessed.
"Congrats!" Sasha said, truly meaning it. She was glad he had graduated from doodles passed in class to actual canvas-and-paint works of art and was getting recognized for it. Of course she could still expect a cartoon strip every now and then in Storm's history class.
"Thanks." He said and then laughed. "I lost to a twelve year old in Plano, Texas."
Sasha joined in his laughter and she felt the tension in her shoulders loosen up. "Damn those child prodigies." She chuckled and sipped in Sam's forgotten drink. Oh wow. This wasn't Bud Light. It was something much stronger that burned all the down her throat, but was still good. Maybe her big cousin wasn't as much as a wimp as she thought.
Sasha continued to drink whatever Sam had concocted and make meaningless chit chat until she felt relaxed enough to ask what she had wanted to. "Wanna dance?" she yelled in a manner much similar to the Wheaties Boy. Like Kitty, he nodded and smiled.
Getting up, Piotr offered a hand and Sasha took it without so much as a blush, which she found herself proud of. She didn't know why now had felt any different then any other time she had spent alone with him. Their meetings were usually filled with jokes and laughter, but something had changed and it was bugging the crap out of Sasha that she didn't know why. There was an unidentifiable flutter in her stomach that was decidedly not butterflies and sweat pooled in her hands.
No more strange licker in plastic cups for me, Sasha thought and fought off a lightheadedness that begged her to sit down again.
Dancing with Piotr, Sasha found, was like dancing with a giant. She was barely pushing five feet and couldn't hold a candle to his six something. At first, it was awkward, but then he put his hands on her waist and instinctively, she reached up to swing her arms around his neck. From there, she could barely keep up with the music with his massive hands burning her skin. It was a pleasant burn, she'll admit, but a distracting one.
Tilting her head up, she met his gaze and found that he had that same smile plastered to his face. Needless to say it was contagious and she found herself beaming back. Piotr leaned his head down and for a fleeting moment, Sasha's heart stopped thinking he was going in for a kiss.
He detoured to her ear and even though the music was blasting through the speakers she heard him laugh. "You don't need to be so nervous."
Sasha felt her heart stop again. Damn it. She it was just her.
What was wrong with her? Put Sasha in the arms of a cute foreign artist in a new environment and she can't find the balls to act normally or even take advantage of this lovely situation?
"Me nervous?" she said into his ear. She pressed her body against his and tightened her arms, feeling braver than she had all night.
Or maybe it was just the booze.
"Never," Sasha continued, "Just this morning Cyclopes found his tidy whities in the freezer dyed hot pink and I didn't even break a sweat."
Yeah, it was the booze.
Piotr pulled back, never missing a beat. "There's Sasha. Glad to have you back."
"Yeah, yeah," Sasha mumbled, but still smiling. Now that Sasha had gotten over her momentary freak out, the two started to have a good time. Every now and then, Piotr would give Sasha a twirl or a dip so expertly, she forgot she was a terrible dancer. It certainly helps to have a good lead.
After a while, Piotr called out Kitty's name. Sasha looked over her shoulder and sure enough, there she was not with Mr. Wheaties, but with a Hispanic looking man with hair Sasha would kill for. Next to her were Sam and Jubilee doing dance moves that threatened all those around them.
That's good. About Kitty not being alone, that is. Sasha had been worried about Kitty a little. The girl trusted easily and was too sweet for her own good. Sam, no matter how wasted he was would step in if her room mate got into something she couldn't handle. Or at least she hoped so.
Whatever Piotr was about to say to their fellow mutants was lost.
"Can I cut in?"
Without any further warning, Piotr was gone from Sasha's grasp and replaced with another. Whatever had just happened must have taken Piotr by surprise as much as it had Sasha, because he let out a strangled squeal (a low manly squeal of course). She looked at her new partner and all she saw were tattoos that were at her eyelevel. Right under his lips were four squiggly black lines and more crept up from the collar of his shirt.
"Hey there sweetheart," the guy said. He was Asian in his late teens/early twenties, and not your traditional handsome. There was something almost dangerous about him and he had a bad boy vibe that Sasha felt somewhat drawn to, just like any other red blooded teenage girl would.
"Hi," Sasha said gulping deeply. She whipped her head to the side in just enough time to see a shocked Piotr getting led farther away from her by a dark skinned woman completely decked in black leather from head to toe. Looking behind her, she saw that Kitty, Jubilee, and Sam were no where to be seen.
Double gulp.
"Um, nice to meet you…"
"Call me Quill."
"Ok," Sasha said, trying not to loose all composure, "Quill. Um, I have to be going now."
She pulled herself away with only putting as much distance between her and the over zealous drunk man on her mind. Sasha wasn't accustomed to being randomly selected into dancing with a total stranger against her will and it was probably showing. Sweet relief spread throughout her body when she broke physical contact Quill.
It didn't last long. "Hey, where ya goin'? What's the rush?" Quill said playfully and snatched her back, smashing their bodies together. Sasha struggled, but Quill kept both arms wrapped around her lower back in a vice grip and her arms were trapped in between them.
That's when Sasha really started to panic. Her heart pumped so frantically and erratic, she knew he had to feel it. She knew he felt his that was beating at least half the rate of hers. Help was no where to be found and people were so closely packed, no one took any notice to her predicament. Although Sasha hated to say it, this was a damsel in distress situation. "What's a matter with you? Let me go!" she tried.
Quill laughed. "Relax," he said, loosening his grip slightly, but still forceful. Sasha didn't know why people always said 'relax' or 'calm down', because it usually had the opposite effect.
Then he leaned down, a lot like Piotr had done, and whispered, "I know what you are." When Piotr had done it, it sent shivers down her spine. Now, it made her quake in fear.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, no longer struggling, just confused. He didn't seem like he was out to hurt her. They were still on the dance floor and he hadn't made any moves that would suggest they were going anywhere. He was even dancing despite his partner's lack of movement.
And he knows what she is? What? A Capricorn? Quill smirked down at her. "Yes you do."
Just like that it clicked and Sasha felt stupid for not having seen it before. He was talking about her being a mutant. But how had he known? The last time she had used her power was that morning in the safe walls of the institute. Sasha was pretty sure she had never met him before. She would remember those tattoos. Was he anti-mutant? Cold washed over her so completely, she felt like she was drowning in it. If he was, then she was as good as dead.
"What do you want?" she demanded a lot stronger than she felt.
"We're just passing through," Quill said. "You and your friends caught our attention."
"Don't you think about touching them!" Sasha snapped, surprising the both of them.
Quill looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "We're here to make a proposition." He said, dropping his hands to Sasha's hips in a loose hold, as a sign of good faith.
"We're the Omegas," he started.
"What? Like a fraternity?" Sasha interrupted fiercely. She didn't know where all this bravery and defiance was coming from, but it was most appreciated.
"No," he said, "Like mutants. A friend of mine says you have potential." Sasha could vaguely see where he was leading.
"Sorry, I'm taken. Lambda Theta Alpha for life." she said, hoping she had guessed correctly and that his was some sort of recruiter.
Quill smiled, though there was no humor behind it. "Don't be so quick to judge, sweetheart. We're just trying to make it in the world that hates us, just like you."
That struck a cord with Sasha. She had always been sheltered from the brunt of Mutant hate by the institute, but she watched they news and saw the effects. This also meant Quill didn't mean any harm. If he wanted to hurt her, he could already have done it. If he wanted to do even worse, he could have exposed her and the rest of Xavier's students and watch them get run off. "So," she said, trying to find the words she was looking for, "You're like a gang?"
"Sort of," he said, "We don't go around cutting people's faces off, but we look out for each other. Humans don't understand. They think we're scum, below them. They fear us because we have power they can't imagine. We can't be their scapegoats and take this laying down. If they won't listen to us, we'll make them listen. We're about surviving and showing them we aren't to be messed with when all the humans want us to do is die. " Then he let go of Sasha and stepped back.
"Think about it." She more red his lips that actual heard him, what with the music and all, but she got the message. Then, he melted into the crowd and left Sasha feeling like she was a victim of a hit and run.
What just happened?