Marvel, Rebirth:

IC Marianne

"Come with me then," Marianne spoke, leading Madysyn to Lynae's office. "So, you on businesss here?" she asked.

IC Peter

"Uwaah..."

Peter finally woke up. He remembered some stranger throwing an arrowhead at him that released a bunch of gas of sorts. "Does this always happen to me?" Peter ruefully thought as he began following the scratch marks on the floor. "What was that wolf-thing anyways?"

IC:

"Okay. But if I start to do something bad, use whatever means necessary to stop me. "

IC: Ashley

Ashley nodded. "Okay, whatever is necessary!"

IC:

I look down at myself. "You mentioned something about clothes?"

IC: Ashley

"Oh right! Almost forgot!" Ashley giggled. "Do you have an extra set of clothing in your room? If not you could borrow some of mine."

IC: Mikhail

Everyone entered the complex and cilbed the stairs at entered rpartment.

IC:

"Clothes are one of the few things I have, fortunately."

IC:

"Kristen, why don't you go to the kitchen and get something to eat?"

IC:

Kristen drew a blank for a moment. Food? After what just happened, food?

"Yes Lynae," Kristen said, nodding as she stood up, excusing herself.

Wouldn't hurt to be polite to the person who could possibly take your head off.

IC: Lynae

Lynae stood by the window, a wineglass full of blood in her hand. She smiled as she looked out, swirling the blood a bit.

Yes, this was going swimmingly. She would have to get in touch with other mutants soon. Very soon. The Hellions would rise again.

IC: Madysyn

"Of sorts, yes. I was mostly here to inquire after the new royalty, seeing as I've been away from quite some time."

IC: Lynae

"Ah yes..The new royals." Lynae said as she entered her office, sliding into her black chair.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting, Ms. Madysyn, I had business to attend to."

IC:

Tera carried Aella up the stairs without a word of complaint, but after the second flight it was clear she was running out of breath. It was a wlecome respite when they finally reached the correct floor, and Mikhail let them into his apartment. The woman moved in carefully, pausing long enough to slip her shoes off at the door, heading for the living room. With great caution she set Aella down on the couch, making sure that the transition was not too abrupt or too jarring. With a note of disguised weariness she set her travel bag down on the couch next to her.

"Aella, feel free to take a look in there. I think I have a spare set of clothes you can borrow, assuming they fit." She gave a small smile, sighing slightly. "If you need anything, just come get me. I'll be back in a minute, but I think I have need to freshen up a bit."

Without waiting for a response, she turned and made a quick but controlled beeline for the visible bathroom, closing the door carefully behind her-

Whereupon the smiling facade shattered into a million pieces. The smile withered and died, turning upside down, while the kind, cheery light in her eyes faltered and faded. When she looked into the mirror, the face looking back could not have been further from the one she had been wearing when she entered. Pale, watery eyes, face drawn tight by the continuing efforts to keep her expression in check, futile though they were. She wasn't really sure why she was still trying, she was alone now, with no one to see the truth.

Slowly, shakily, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and pulled down the notifictions menu. Nothing. Social media had exploded she could count dozens upon dozens of notifications, but a quick skim through them showed that none of them were what she was looking for, hoping for. A few were from friends and family, asking if she was okay, were she was, and for a moment, she was thinking about how best to respond.

But instead she slid the device back into her pocket. She didn't want to talk to them, she could explain away a few hours' lack of answer easily. And she would. Because the message she wanted to see was nowhere to be found. She looked back up into the mirror, and found that her expression had further devolved, eyes threatening tears. Sh couldn't let that happen. Why couldn't she let that happen?

Was it because if she started, she wouldn't stop? Because if that door opened, she couldn't let the people she had promised to protect see the one person they believed in breaking down?

She hadn't said a word about it, but when the Sleeper exploded, her home had been caught in the blast. Probably just a hollowed out shell, a wreck where once there had been a home. The apartment she grew up in. The place she had gone through school in, the place that she had worked in, relaxed in, the place that no matter how dangerous or violent the world had become had been safe. And now it was gone. Her home, her possessions, all of it, gone in an instant. Gone before she could raise a finger to protect it. Had it robbed her of her family, too?

A quiet sob escaped, then another, and another, louder. That wouldn't do, they might hear her. She turned on the cold water, splashing it against her face to remove the dirt that had accumulated during their walk. Maybe she could pretend that's why her cheeks were wet, too. The sobs began to quiet, slowly brought under control again, but perhaps the damage was done. Apartment walls weren't very thick, after all.

IC: Ashley

"Okay! To your room then!" Ashley began leading Sierra by the hand toward the girl's dorms.

"What's your room number again? I forgot!" Ashley felt silly, she was always forgetting little things like that.

IC:

"I'm not really sure. All I know is that it's the seventh door on the right."

IC: Aella

I didn't waste any time getting into that travel bag, I really wanted to get out of what I was currently wearing, I'd been wearing it for far too long. I also needed a shower, but that could wait.

Soon I had aquired everything I needed: a new shirt, pants, and a pair of socks. Now I just needed to put them on.

First thing first, I needed to remove my old clothing. So I did, in almost an instant and a gust of air the HYDRA jumpsuit was no longer part of the equation. "Ahhhh that's better!"

I started putting on the pants when I heard something coming from the bathroom. I knew that sound all too well, but it was quickly drowned out by the sound of rushing water.

Forgetting about the shirt and socks, I stumbled over toward the bathroom door and gave it a knock. "Hey, you okay in there Tera?" I knew what HYDRA had done was bothering her a lot, she tried not to show it, but I'd see it in her eyes, the way she expressed herself. I couldn't blame her, this city was her home after all.

I didn't have a home, but I could understand that losing it would be awful.

IC: Ashley

"Works for me!" Ashley said cheerfully, picking up speed as she particually pulled Sierra through the halls, then she stopped abruptly.

"Welp, I think this is it!"

IC:

I pushed the door open easily, remembering that I hadn't locked it earlier. I crossed the room quickly and opened my dresser, eventually settling on jeans and a plain turtleneck. After pulling everything on quickly, I felt something small and furry rub against my legs.

"Hey there kitty."

IC: Ashley

"Dawwww...so cute!" That of course was Ashley's typical reaction to furry critters.

IC:

"I'm fine." Tera lied through the door, though she couldn't quite keep the tremor out of her voice. Cursing silently, she tried to force her face back into its mask, only half succeeding, in truth. She turned and opened the door, water dripping off of her face. "See, I'm fi-"

She stopped mid-sentence, mouth hanging open slightly, face tinged red. As soon as she was able to clearly think again, she quickly tugged Aella into the bathroom and closed the door. Despite her initial shock, this might also provide a decent topic change, maybe she hadn't noticed the falsity of her expression...

"... Aella, dear, where's your shirt?"

IC:

I leaned over and quickly scooped up Mia.

"You are probably the only one who has stuck by this entire time." I kissed the top of her head. "Maybe it's because you didn't have a choice. Muahahah."

IC: Mikhail

Upon hearing Aella run off towards the bathroom, Mikhail slowly turned his gaze away from the wall. He would let the girl comfort Tera - they seemed to have struck up a rather powerful bond in the short time they had known each other. Hopefully they would be all right; the amount of devastation New York had suffered wasn't something that could be taken in so easily by anyone.

IC: Aella

I raised an eyebrow in slight confusion. Tera was acting....embarrassed? But why? It wasn't like she hadn't ever seen those before.

"Oh right...the shirt." I giggled. "I was about to put it on but...then I heard you in here and I decided to check on you first. I just had to take that suit off though, it wasn't comfortable at all! I'm liking these pants much better."

I adjusted said pants, they seemed to fit just fine, better that my jumpsuit ever had. Tera and I were roughly the same size so it made sense.

IC: Ashley

Ashley wondered for a moment where Cinnabon had run off too, most likely he was sleeping on Dallas' mini-fridge again, the silly cat.

"Oh Sierra! Did I ever give you a origami frog?"

IC:

"..."

"Aella, you're supposed to make sure that..." Tera pause, as if trying to figure out how to say what she wanted to say. Ultimately, she just gestured in the correct direction. "You're covered. I'm glad the pants fit, but you kinda need to wear something with them."

"And I'm fine, see?"

IC: Aella

"Oh, okay." I wasn't sure why it was such a big deal, but she knew more about the world than I did, I figured it was best to listen.

"Well, if you're sure you're alright...then I guess I better go get that shirt..." I went for the doorknob.

IC:

"No!"

Tera exclaimed, holding her shoulder to prevent her from exiting. "No, just, just, hold on."

The woman took a step back, taking a deep, deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose. To say that the situation was so at odds with what has happened was an understatement. Truthfully, it was more like mood whiplash, and Tera was caught between her own inner turmoil, the facade she was trying to maintain, and trying to help Aella. And it was overwhelming, not to mention confusing.

"You can't go back out because you don't have the shirt. Just... Take a seat for a second, okay? Let's just take a breather. I'll go get it in a minute." Slowly, she sat down on the floor, a tired, sad smile on her face.

IC: Aella

Perplexed, I sat down on the only seat available and looked at Tera. She seemed stressed, like she was being pulled in a bunch of directions at once.

"I wasn't too heavy was I? I know I probably wasn't easy to carry." She seemed really tired, though I could understand that, I was pretty tired myself, even without the concussion.

IC:

"A what now?"

IC: Ashley

Ashley reached into her pockets and pulled out a folded piece of paper that resembled a frog. She placed it on the table and pressed down on the frog's back with her finger. When she let go, it 'leaped' up.

"Isn't it awesome?"

IC:

"You were fine, Aella." She reassured the former captive quietly, leaning against the wall behind her., staring at the floor. Her attempts to keep up a cheery disposition were in shambles. If she'd had a few minutes to compose herself she would have been fine, but Aella's reappearance had caught her off guard, and in the process, driven away what was left of her facade. What was left was a quiet air of sadness that hung over her like a cloud, betrayed by the faintest frown on her face.

"If I were to rank the hardest things I've done in my life, carrying you wouldn't be on the list. The exercise was good for me anyway."

IC: Madysyn

The shifter dismissed her apologies with a wave of her hand. "It's perfectly alright. After all, I'm the guest who's intruding on you."

IC:

Trinity was making a mess of the place, so to speak. She was running back and forth, all over the apartment, and was getting into everything. Nothing was safe from her, clothes, toothpaste, food, the television remote. She would pick something up, fiddle with it for a few moments, shout at the nearest person to ask what it was, and then dash off to the next object that caught her eye. All with a wide smile on her face as she learned all the new things.

Tera didn't concern her much. She was in the one room for no reason it seemed, messing with water. Trin checked on Aella, but she was too busy trying on various clothes. And Mikhail...

"Mikhail! Tell me what this is!" Trinity declared, sliding over to him and holding up the TV remote.

IC: Mikhail

"Television remote."

Mikhail was thankful that the young girl had not caused too much trouble. Her running around had the potential to mess up his apartment, but she had not managed to so far, and the lack of fragile objects lying around also helped. Indeed, there was a great neatness to the SHIELD agent's apartment: everything, whether it be dishes or books or photo frames, were organised in a remarkably simple fashion. Decorations were not exactly his forte, and it definitely showed.

Gently settling down Aella's discarded jumpsuit on the coffee table, Mikhail pointed towards the television that opposed them.

"It turns that on."

IC:

I reflexively catch the frog mid jump and study it. "So you made this out of just paper?" I playfully flick it back at her before Mia can "kill" it. "You're just full of talent aren't you?" I joke.

IC: "Our Ashlynn hasn't come back yet," Alec pointed out, "Given her family history I think its only a matter of time. Once the Phoenix gets its claws into you..."

OOC: Taking place before Schrodinger's Kristen left with Lynae, obviously

IC: "Oh. Sewers. Great." Magnitude was...well enthusiastic was not the right word to chose. Quite the wrong one in fact

IC:

"What's that do?" Trinity asked, leaning towards the TV, interested.

IC: Aella

"Oh, alright..." I was relieved that Tera hadn't found carrying me difficult. We remained silent for a few moments, I wrapped my arms around my chest and hugged myself.

Despite Tera's reassurance that she was fine, I didn't feel very convinced. She was trying to be strong, but I could tell what HYDRA had done had really upset her. Maybe it was because she was so focused on helping me? I knew for certain that I'd be quite lost if she hadn't been helping me since we met.

I wanted to help Tera, but I wasn't sure how. I mean what could I do? I didn't know anything about the world thanks to HYDRA, I felt useless.

Well actually, there was one thing I could think of. "Tera...you know if you ever need a...hug or somethin..." I stopped, what was I doing? That sounded so stupid...

IC: Ashley

"Oh yes! I'm a mutant of many talents!" She giggled enthusiastically. Ashley pulled another origami frog out of nowhere and flicked it at Mia. "Does Mia want to play with one too?"

IC:

To answer, Mia bats at the frog as if trying to keep it aloft.

"I wouldn't necessarily call it a talent, but I am unusual in ways other than my power. Want to see?"

IC:

Tera blinked once, looking up from the floor, head cocked slightly. For a few moments, all was silent, and no one moved. Then she slowly stood, crossed the room in a few steps, and sat down next to Aella, wrapping her arms around her in a tight hug. It was hard to say whether it was intended to make Aella feel better or her, but the slight shake of her muscles indicated that it might be the latter.

"When I said I was fine.." She started, pausing for a second, before continuing quietly. "I might not have been entirely honest."

IC: Aella

As she wrapped her arms around me, I did the same around her. It was a lot like the last time we had hugged in all the rubble, except this time it was for her benefit instead of mine. Not that it didn't make me feel better.

I felt her body shake a little against me, giving my bare skin a good brush against her shirt. I guess I was right, she did need this.

"When I said I was fine.." She started, pausing for a second, before continuing quietly. "I might not have been entirely honest."

"It's okay..." I started, rubbing her back with my hands a little as we hugged. "I'm not either."

IC: Ashley

"Yes! Show me show me show me!" Ashley practically bounced up and down.

IC:

I lean forward and lightly pinch Ashley on the arm. As soon as the action is completed, I wince and rub my own bicep.

"Mirror touch. If I hurt anyone while human, I feel it too."