X-Men Evolution: Rogue Evolution

Discovery 1.4

The next morning came too soon. Twisted in the top sheet of the bed, Anna's eyes creaked open to see bright light out the window. Before she had the time to comprehend the time of day, she heard a man's cursing outside and the sound of falling metal. She blinked the thin film off her eyelids and slowly sat up. Hair, matted and sweaty, stuck to the sides of her face and she did her best to comb it out with her fingers.

She eventually stood and shuffled over to the bathroom, splashing her face with the cool tap water. She caught the sight of her reflection in the tiny mirror and saw the bags developing from the lack of solid sleep. She wiped away the water and remaining sleep residue with one of the scratchy white towels, then heard another drop of heavy metal outside. She walked up to the large window and pushed back an inch of the curtain. Past the rusted metal rail, she could just see the top of a head bobbing in the parking lot below. Without giving it much further thought, she walked for the door and made to twist open the knob, when she spotted a handwritten note taped to the inside.

- Honey, we will be out for a few hours and be back around five. We would like you to be dressed and showered by then. There is someone you will be meeting. We bought you breakfast, it's in the mini-fridge.

Love, Mom, and Mah. -

Anna looked around and spotted, for the first time, a tiny white mini fridge sat beneath the ancient TV. She popped it open and found a white clamshell container. Inside was lined with mini pancakes and in its center was a small mountain of scrambled eggs and diced sausages. She plucked one of the mini pancakes out, made for the door, and opened it.

A hot summer afternoon greeted her and immediately made the pores of her skin prickle. The sun stung her eyes and the humidity was like wading into a pool of muck. Blinking her burning eyes against the sun, she leaned on the rail and looked down. She spotted the man that was rooming next door, Logan - if she remembered right, leaning over the open hood of his junky-looking hatchback. There were soot-covered tools on either side of the car and his white undershirt was stained with black grease. She could hear the sound of a ratchet being cranked and in between twists she could hear muttering.

"Whatchya doin'?" She called down to him and saw the open hood of the car jump up.

"Jesus Chri -" A moment later the man popped into view and was rubbing the top of his head. "Hey, kid! Mind not scaring people while they are working?"

Anna took another large bite of her pancake. "Sorry." She said, one cheek full.

"Yeah." He said, his reply clipped. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand, leaving a trail of black grease in its wake. "I noticed the horses are running a little low and was seeing if maybe cleaning this crap machine out a little might give me a little more power."

"I think your problem is you bought a crappy car," Anna said around the last mouthful of her pancake.

"I'll say." He kicked one of the tires hard enough the whole car shook. The stick he had found to hold up the hood was dislodged and the whole thing came crashing down and locked back in place. "Crap. I freakin' hate cars." He walked around the burnt sienna monstrosity, popped the lever for the hood release on the driver side, then felt under the lip of the hood for the release lever.

"If you hate cars so much, why did you buy one?"

"I didn't buy it. It was gifted to me." He continued to feel under the hood for the release. When he did, a smile split his face and he raised the hood, then realization struck. "Uh - hey - if you're just going to stand there, could you do me a favor? I lost the stick I was using to hold this up -"