rogue ⇒ l.h

[24]

[24]

"she told me to meet her there." i told luke, pointing to the small coffee shop.

"i'll be sitting at the next table, don't worry," luke assured me.

i say patiently at my table, drinking a cup of coffee, waiting for her to arrive. she arrived minutes later in business clothes and apologized for being late.

"here's the ten thousand dollars that you asked for." she slipped me a check. i was shocked. i had expected her to argue and negotiate for a smaller price.

"y-you'll give me that much money?" i asked her.

"i can see that you need it very much. you saved my life and this is the most i can do to repay you. i wish you all the best." she told me that she had a meeting to get to and left in abruptly.

---

we had all the money needed to book two tickets to texas. the flight was tonight and the both of us were so excited. this could be it, we could finally live normally without anybody coming after us, without worrying about our powers.

we were staying in an deserted abandoned house at the moment. well, at least we thought it was deserted and abandoned until we heard car engines outside.

luke's eyes widened, and it was obvious that we knew what was happening. they had found us. they had caught up to us right before our flight, how coincidentally.

"grab your things and run!" he shouted and i yanked my bag and grabbed his hand and the both of us raced out of the bedroom and headed to the backdoor. hopefully, they were at the front door, not the back.

we managed to get to the backdoor but they were already there. five people were standing outside but they weren't who i expected to see. i expected men in black with guns pointed at us. but all i saw were three young men, a young woman and a bald man in a wheelchair. they weren't mobsters or erik's men.

"who are you?" i spoke out, "how did you find us?" luke tensed beside me, his body in ready position.

"we aren't after you, don't worry." the guy with glasses laughed.

the handicapped man cleared his throat. "i am pleased to meet you, anna marie, luke hemmings. i am professor charles xavier. i know who and what you are. i know your powers. there are people out there like the two of you, we're called mutants. we have different dna from the rest of the human beings in this world, which makes us special. there are thousands of people all across the globe who have powers too."

i was astounded, and luke was too. my heart stopped beating and this great revelation and everything changed. there are people like us too, thousands is what the professor told us. it was impossible and possible at the same time.

professor xavier continued, "twenty years ago, i founded the x-men academy for mutants. everybody in it have unique abilities and we strive to learn and survive together. we constantly look for more of our kind and we found the both of you."

i was speechless. "s-so all of you have special... abilities too?"

the professor smiled kindly and suddenly the car they came in flew up into the air. "h-how-is this even possible?" luke gaped.

"anything is possible, young man." a voice spoke into my mind. luke and i backed away in wonder, the both of us hearing the professor's voice in our heads.

"our academy will protect you and accept you as one of us. you will never have to run or hide ever again. you can lead the life you want there, safely with people like us," he looked at us intently, "would the both of you join the x-men?"

luke and i stared at each other. in our eyes, the answer was clear and simple.

"yes," we both answered together.

the girl at the back spoke for the first time. "welcome to the x-men."