The misfits

10:Emma

"Spill, Emma. Who was that guy? I mean, I know literally everyone but I've never met him." Bree demanded as she slurped from her frothy chocolate milkshake, as she stared at Emma expectantly. "His eye colour is pretty weird though. Blue black?" Carter tapped his fingers on the wooden table as he added with a casual shrug, "Yeah, I was a distance away where I could see his face. Had to make sure you weren't developing a fetish for weird-eyed guys."

They were at a place called Pop's, an old diner down the street that was said to have the best milkshakes in the state. It was on a rocky slope twenty minutes walk away from the school, a dingy shop with a neon light sign that screamed boldly, "Pop's. Best Milkshakes Around."

"Wait, you were spying on me...?" Emma glared at him, and swatted his arm. "Don't...dodge the question." Bree said lazily, but had a dangerous look on her face, daring Emma to deny it. "That was Kieran Hunter. He's friends with my brother now, and he says he's from Germany and he sounded like he hates this place." Emma replied, as she bit on her straw of her oreo-vanilla milkshake.

"Who are your parents, then?" Emma asked. If Bree could demand for answers out of her like that, she could too. Bree answered easily, "Parent. It's Mystique. If you're about to ask, my ability is being able to fly and being able to drain energy from others." She bit her lip as she murmured the last part. "It happens when I focus on my inner strength or anger too much and I'm in close contact with someone else. And no. I cannot shape shift."

For a moment, the three of them just sat there in silence as no one knew how to reply to that. Emma shifted in her seat uneasily. It was so easy, just to let your emotions get the better of you and you'd never know when you could hurt someone. Carter forced a smile as he said, "That's cool!" Bree didn't react as she drained her milkshake and replied abruptly, "We should leave. Pop's closes at six."

꧁꧂

As Emma walked through the empty hallways of her apartment building, she had a strange gut feeling. Like something was off, missing. She could not put her finger on it until she walked into the house.

"Mom? Dad?" She called out cautiously as an eerie silence greeted her. She ran to her father's bookshelf, and took the book he was reading earlier as she carefully pressed a small fragment of tape to it, before slowly peeling it off. She knelt down as she winced and twisted her back to place the tape on the keypad located on the right side of the fridge, concealed by the wooden cabinet. A thin tray sprang out as Emma grabbed the M4. She did this in a matter of thirty seconds, after all the times of watching people do it in the movies, she practiced it when she was alone at home. It was a secret hobby of hers.

She slowly walked towards her room, and positioned the gun at every entrance of each room along the corridor, as she had seen people do in movies. With her x-ray vision, she could see through walls, even though the range was limited and did not extend to the whole house. She could spot Will's tuft of blonde hair behind the door. Through the crack of the hinges on the outside of the door, she grinned as she poked the barrel of the gun to this head, and said in a deep American accent, "FBI, open up!"

She could see Will jump as he yelped frantically, "I did nothing! Sir—or ma'am, whoever you are! There were people pounding on the door just now..."

At this, Emma could not keep it up any longer. "WHAT? Will, you need to tell me everything..."

"How'd you know my—" Will walked out slowly as he walked out from behind the door, gaping at her in disbelief and annoyance as he demanded, "Why'd you scare me like that? First things first, why'd you have a gun with you? Next, why does today feel like a—"

"Really super weird day." Emma finished for him as she added, "Where are Mom and Dad? Mom's usually home by five..."

꧁꧂

"First, why and how on earth did you get a gun?" Will demanded as he pointed an accusing finger at the M4 that Emma was holding like it was her favourite toy or something. On a side note, she was underage and should not be carrying a gun or know how to even use one.

"I have my ways. Dad may be the best archer in the world, but he's terrible at subtlety." Emma replied, slinging the gun over her shoulder as she got up, a loud knocking began on the door.

Emma froze as her face turned pale. She glanced at Will with a questioning look in her eyes. Will shrugged as he carefully tiptoed to the door and squinted through the peephole.

"Will, hurry up!" She hissed impatiently. Will turned to her as he mouthed, "Oh my God. It's War Machine." "The War Machine?" Emma gasped in amazement as Will nodded and confirmed, "Yeah. Him. It should be okay to open the door..." As Will turned the doorknob and stumbled over his words, "Um, hi. Our dad isn't home..."

James Rhodes strode into the apartment and without preamble, he said, "Your parents are gone, and I need you to come with me. If you have any doubts, you will be under protection because I am here on your father's instructions." Will began to open his mouth and protest before James held out a hand to stop him. "People will be coming for you. Especially the girl. The girl is the one they really want and they will stop at nothing to find her. There's no time for questions. It's now or never." James gave her a meaningful glance. Emma knew why.

Which is why she felt that she could trust James Rhodes, based on her gut feeling as she replied steadily, "Okay."