The Lost Mutants

[Hannah4Smiles]

Jake looked confused. "Make trouble? I thought you were a good girl? I mean.. You stopped that lousy mugger..." He trailed off, trying to sort out what he was hearing and what he had seen. He peaked over her shoulder and down at a crowd the size of an ant colony. He couldn't make out a single human shape, just a huge mass of people. He looked at her face and saw her binoculars. Guess that's how she works... Pretty awesome idea.

 

[Lioness075]

Piper put down her binoculars and looked back at John. She gave him a slight smile as she said, "I was defending myself from that mugger. Bad guys always see me as an easy target, until they attack me. Though, I did steal his wallet in the midst of his failed mugging attempt." She then took out the man's wallet that she'd stashed away in one of her cargo pockets.

 

[Hannah4Smiles]

Jake stared at the wallet in her hands. "So you're sorta bad girl, and sorta a good girl?" He looked baffled. He hoped she was a little bit of both, since he was probably a bad boy, but he didn't like it.

 

[Lioness075]

Piper shrugged and said, "If messing around with people for fun means I'm bad, then sure. Honestly, I only do really bad things in order to survive. Otherwise, I try to help people when I can. I guess I'm a complicated mix of many things..." She trailed off and then went back to spying on people with her binoculars.

 

[Hannah4Smiles]

Jake thought about what she said. It made sense, when he thought about it... "A mix.. That's nice.. I guess it is best to think you aren't wholly bad, or... Wholly good... Cause if you're wholly good... Well... No one wants to marry someone who's perfect." Jake's eyes bugged out. "Uh.. Um... I- I am so sorry... I didn't mean to- oh crap. Um... I didnt mean it like that, I just- oh... Never mind..." He put his hand on his forehead, feeling like such an idiot.

 

[Lioness075]

Piper rolled her eyes at Jake and asked him with a smirk, "Do you ever shut up?" Looking back down at the crowds below, Piper then asked Jake with a slight smile, "Hey, want to show some kids that angels exist?" Piper always thought up random and fun ideas like this. She'd noted what appeared to be a small class of kindergarteners below them. Already formulating a plan, Piper was ready to fake herself falling from the statue only to have Jake 'heroically' swoop down and save her. Once they landed, all Jake would have to do was spout out some biblical nonsense and then fly off into the distance. Maybe even into the horizon to add extra effects.

 

[Hannah4Smiles]

Jake blushed. She was right, he did talk too much... He was deep in thought when she mentioned Angels. "Well... I guess there's nothing wrong with that, but I don't look like much of an angel. Do I?" Jake gestured to his black vest and wings. "And by the way, Angels do exist..." He added quickly, but not in an argumentative manner.

 

[Lioness075]

Piper rolled her eyes and said, "Since when did anything end up looking the way we expected it to look in reality? Fine, we won't claim you're an angel, but the kids'll still get plenty excited when you 'save' my life."

 

[Hannah4Smiles]

Jake's eyes bugged out again. "Save your life?" He gulped. "In public? I try not to, You know, Show a lot of people..." He looked over the edge, nervously, thinking of how many people would see him. He had to admit that a small part of him wanted to do it, but he still wasn't sure what would happen if he showed a huge crowd what he could do.

 

[Lioness075]

Piper leaned almost entirely off the edge of the statue as some people eventually spotted her and started pointing fingers. She looked back at Jake with a smirk and said, "What? Afraid to show the world what you can do? If you save a human's life, then how can people be that judgmental of you? We're in freaking New York of all places, dude. Everyone here is a freak to some degree." She then stood up and turned around so she was facing Jake. She gave him a small smile and said, "I look forward to being saved, pretty boy." She then leaned back and began her descent, the air rushing around her as she plummeted and people began screaming and yelling as they saw her falling.

 

[Hannah4Smiles]

Jake was about to object when he saw she was gone. His eyes bugged out, but he jumped into action. He jumped over the edge, flexing his wings through his vest. He swooped down, gradually catching up to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and landed gracefully on the ground in the midst of a crowd. He looked around, nervously awaiting what the crowd's reaction would be. He completely forgot that he was still holding Piper very close.....

 

[Lioness075]

The minute they were on the ground, Piper immediately made a show of things as she began fake crying, tears rolling down her cheeks as she exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, thank you so much for saving me! I thought I was going to die back there!" People murmured to one another nervously as they took in the sight of Jake's fully functional wings. Out of the crowd, a little boy walked up to Jake and nervously looked up at him, his eyes wide with awe. A mom ran up to the edge of the crowd and anxiously shouted, "Tommy, get back here now!" Tommy instead continued to look at Jake with awe as he asked him, "Mister, are you an angel or something?"

 

[Hannah4Smiles]

Jake felt like he was in a whirl of emotion and craziness. Piper was sobbing in his arms, which confused him beyond capacity and now the little boy asking him if he was an angel. He looked to Piper and then the little boy. "In a way, I guess... I mean, yeah.." He felt like a dirty rotten liar, but it made him feel good about himself, saying he was an angel. He looked nervously down at Piper. "You okay, sweetie? Coulda been a crazy landing.."

 

[Lioness075]

Piper winked at Jake as she slowly stopped crying and was just sniffling, "Yeah...Thank you again for saving me!" Tommy smiled with glee and ran to his mom while exclaiming, "Mommy, I met an angel!" People's eyes went wide at the child's proclamation and nervous smiles began appearing on faces throughout the crowd. Piper raised an eyebrow at Jake and whispered, "Gently put me down and then fly away into the sunset or something dramatically. Trust me, the crowd'll love it."

 

[Hannah4Smiles]

Jake raised his eyebrows, but decided to do what she said, but he had something else to add to her plan. He pushed her a little bit away, holding her shoulders. He gave her a deliberate kiss on the cheek and then flew off like she had said to do. He smiled as he circled up around the Statue of Liberty and then flew over the city's center. He flew over where he first met Piper, and was pleased that the cops were gone. He landed in the alley, ready to wait as long as needed when she came back.

 

[Lioness075]

Piper blushed when Jake kissed her on the cheek, lightly placing her hand where he'd kissed her. She had a faint smile, almost in a daze while she watched Jake gracefully fly around the Statue and then back towards the city. Piper soon turned to find a couple girls squealing over her since the 'angel' had kissed her. Piper immediately shoved her way out of the throng of people and began making her way to a more remote area so she could teleport away. Finally finding a spot where very few people were, Piper closed her eyes as she visualized the alley she'd been in when she first met Jake. This kind of teleportation was always hardest for her since it required hard concentration, but sure enough when she opened her eyes a few sedconds later...she was standing where the mugger had attempted to attack her earlier. Looking down the alleyway towards the street, Piper smiled when she saw Jake waiting for her. She then walked over to him and said with a grin, "See? Told ya they'd like you. That little kid was adorable, too."

 

[Hannah4Smiles]

Jake laughed. "Sure. Whatever you say, Girlie." He rolled his eyes, but deep in his heart, he really loved the experience.

 

[Lioness075]

Piper smirked at the nickname and said with a grin, "I'm hardly a girlie-girl." She then remembered the kiss and blushed slightly before adding, "Oh, and thank you for the kiss, Angel." She winked and confidently took another step towards Jake.

 

[Hannah4Smiles]

Jake grinned. "Um.. Yeah. No problem." He shuffled his feet a little, unsure of what should happen next. His cheap flip phone started ringing quietly and he groaned. The only people who would ever call him are the ones who gave him this phone; the gang. "Give me just a minute." He said apologetically to Piper. He strolled farther down the street and barely inside an alley. He answered it with a rude grunt. "What the hell do you want? Didn't I already say to stay out of my *ucking business?!" He practically shouted. He listened for a little bit as the gang leader was, in a round about way, trying to get Jake to come back and finish some more jobs. Normally, this was when Jake would go into his requirements for staying, but he hesitated and looked down the street at Piper. He swallowed down his nervousness and continued to answer. "Not this time. I'm gonna try and go right. I won't tell anyone anything, ok? Not the cops, not anybody. I just... I gotta get out of this." Jake hung the phone and sauntered back over to Piper. "Well that went well." He grinned. "What's next? I Have all day."

 

[Lioness075]

Piper crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at Jake. "I'm a bit perceptive here, and I can tell something's wrong. What is it, Angel?" She almost felt concerned with how Angel had just been acting while on the phone. Did he have family problems, or wa sit something worse?

 

[Hannah4Smiles]

Jake stared blankly at her for a moment. "Oh. Nothing. Everything's good." He swayed from side to side. "What do we do now? Have another fun prank to pull on the ever watchful public?" He grinned, even though he didn't feel like it. He wanted to trick Piper into believing the lie that he was actually ok. He didn't want her to worry, even though she didn't seem like that kind of a girl.

 

[Hannah4Smiles]

Jake shifted from foot to foot, waiting for Piper to say something.

 

[Lioness075]

(Gah, sorry! :S )


Piper raised an eyebrow at Jake, seeing through his lie easily, but decided against pushing it. If he'd wanted to share, then he wouldn't have been so defensive. She'd probably find out sooner or later if it was trouble anyhow. Thinking about Jake's question, Piper shrugged and said, "I dunno..." She trailed off for a moment and then her eyes lit up as she said, "How about we go get something to eat? I don't know about you, but I haven't eaten all day." This wasn't unusual for Piper considering she hardly ever had enough money to buy any food for herself anyhow.

 

[Hannah4Smiles]

Jake sighed. "Yeah... Guess we'd better... Where's your favorite place to go?" He was upset that he had no money, but then he suddenly remembered that he had received the money on a few of his jobs, and hadn't given it to the boss. He grinned at this realization. "I'll buy."

 

[Lioness075]

Piper smiled when Jake offered to buy and didn't argue. Thinking about where to eat, Piper then remembered her favorite place to eat. It was in Little Italy and always had the best pasta and bread, which Piper loved Italian food. "There's this little place in Little Italy that I absolutely love. I don't get to eat there often, but I love it every time. Plus, the owner seems to like me." She then muttered under her breath, "Not that I know why." Considering how often Piper stole from people, she always figured that most people wouldn't want to be around her. She was often surprised by how accepting some people could be though. Jake and the owner of that Italian restaurant were the only two people who were accepting of her so far. Her parents had dumped her on the streets the minute she showed off her teleportation powers to them.