Same Place, Different Time

A Trip to Virgina

Mercy's POV.

My fingers felt numb as I woke up on the ground in the old park that I called my bedroom for the night. Last night was quite cold and I had nothing but my leather jacket to keep me slightly warm.  Most of the time my home was just like this, a small park on a bench or in this case the tall grass. 

I sat up, cautiously combing through my hair getting the grass and the knots out of it. 'Ugh, what year is-' I stopped myself mid thought. Chicago, 1962; I have stuff to do and probably not enough time to do it. I stood up quickly, not knowing nor caring that there was dirt all over me. I started towards the small diner that I met Erik and Charles in the previous day.

*****

The light jingle of a bell went off as I entered the shiny diner once again. I looked for the two men, hoping that they were already there, but unfortunately, neither Charles nor Erik were to be found in the small establishment. Slightly disappointed, I sat down in the far corner facing away from the door, trying to warm up from the cold. I don't really remember Chicago being this cold when I was last here. Well, the world does change, I guess.

Half an hour passed. I can't really tell if they were late or if they decided not to come at all. All I could think was that they found a better mutant, a stronger one that has more power for whatever their cause was, or they just didn't like me.

A hand landed on my shoulder, making me tense up. Instinctively, I stood and twisted it.

"Ow, ow, ow!" exclaimed a familiar British voice. I let go instantly.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Sorry Charles, but you shouldn't have snuck up on me."  

"It's fine, but you do have one hell of a grip," he smiled. 

"Well, uh, we should probably talk about whatever you wanted to talk about yesterday, I guess." I sat back down, ready for the questions to come flying at me.

Erik and Charles looked at each other before sitting down.

"We need your help-" Erik started before I cut him off. 

"Eric, no one needs my help. My powers don't help anyone, they just end up hurting me," I ran my hand through my hair.

Charles sighed, "Mercy, we need you on a team. With proper training you could possibly be one of the most important mutants in history." 

I scoffed, "I think you have the wrong person. I'm a nobody, even my powers can't change that. Sorry, Charles, but I think you should find a better person for your team," I got up, heading for the door, but a voice stopped me. 

"What if we could help you?" Erik persuaded. 

'You know what he does in the future' I thought. 

'What does he do, Mercy?' Charles spoke in my mind. I shook my head. 

"Fine, I'll come. As long as Charles promises to stay out of my head." I glared at the telepath, who nodded quickly thereafter.

"Follow me," Erik said as he and Charles lead the way out of the diner to a black car. I opened the door to the back seats and slid across the leather to the middle. 

" So where exactly are we going?" They got in, Erik driving and Charles in the passenger seat. 

They both looked back at me in sync before both saying, "Virginia."

"Alright, cool," I said, stretching out over the back seat, ready for a nice nap that wasn't on the ground for once.

*****

I awoke to someone shaking my shoulder. "Go away," I swatted at the air, "let me sleep in peace." I heard rustling before I feel someone tugging at my ankles. I groaned and wiggled my legs trying to escape, but it didn't work and the person (most likely Erik) attempted to drag me out of the car. I latched myself onto the opposite edge of seats. I heard an unfamiliar chuckle as another person detached my fingers. Okay, these people definitely are not Charles and Erik.

"Wakey-wakey, Grey," the voice that belongs to the person trying to drag me out of the car sounded out. I growled opening my eyes and glaring up at the ginger boy that was removing my fingers from my tight grasp around the leather seats. 

"Do you mind? I'm trying to nap here." The ginger put his hands up in defence.

"Come on Grey, you have to come meet the others." I groaned. 

"Fine." I got up and out of the car. Standing beside the ginger I saw it was a blonde guy that was calling me Grey and was tugging at my feet... I only came up to about their shoulders maybe a little over . Curse me for being 5'4". I shook my head before telling them to lead the way.

As we approach the room I could hear others talking. I suddenly felt awkward. I shouldn't be here, I don't even belong to this goddamn millennium. I froze up as I heard another familiar voice, a female one this time but I couldn't quite place who said it..

"You okay there?" The ginger waved a hand in front of my face. I cleared my throat. "Uh yeah." The blonde dude pushed open one of the doors and let me go in first. A blonde girl waved.

"Hi." She said getting up, "I'm Raven, you must be our last recruit," she held out her hand for me to shake. 

"I'm Mercy." I smiled, shaking her hand. 

"That's Angel, Hank and Darwin. Oh, and those two are Sean and Alex" She pointed to the others sitting on the couches and at the guys who brought me in. I waved awkwardly. The only seemingly familiar name was Hank but I can't remember the last time I talked to a Hank.

I sat in a chair on its own, bringing my legs up to my chest and resting my head on my knees. Angel looked at me.

"So, where did they find you? Wait, no, let me guess, in the park," she teased. I shrugged. 

"They found me in a diner, but I did sleep in a park though." An awkward silence followed. 

After a few minutes of silence, Raven cleared her throat.  "So, we're government agents now, we should have code names!"

I shrugged. "Alright, what do you want yours to be then Raven?"