Guilty Until Proven Innocent

[Shade]

As Shade stepped out of the shadows in his hero outfit atop an office building, gazing at the busy streets below trying to catch a glimpse of the girl that he was supposed to find. According to Professor Xavier, this person had plasma powers and that she was a small thin female with black hair and blue. But outside of that, he really had no leads. After all, there were thousands of people living in the city that could fit that description. Hoo boy... How on earth was he going to draw out a mutant girl...?

"Help! Please someone help me!"

As the shouts filled the air, Shade smirked behind his mask. This was a convenient turn of events. If there was anything a mutant was drawn to it was any sort of trouble. They all seemed to be magnets for it, be it from organizations trying to cleanse them of their mutant genes, other mutants who were as responsible with their powers as chimpanzee's with shotguns. As he appeared what he first saw was... an old woman and a cat in a tree... Some superhero he had turned out to be... What would his next heroic act be? Help her across the street...?

Tony decided to put on his normal clothing as to not freak out the woman or pretty much anyone else. On top of being a mutant, he didn't need people disliking him for causing someone to have a heart attack. So maybe the girl wouldn't show up to such a minor event but... who knew? Maybe luck would be on his side for once...

[Nightlocke]

Charlotte had woken up on a cool sunny morning with the urge to go outside. It had been weeks since she had been wearing disguises. Charlotte was beginning to think that it had been enough time since the incident that they wouldn't really notice who she was. She got out of bed gently, being sure not to wake up Melissa. For a safe precaution, she grabbed a red hoodie and put it on, placing the hood over her short jet black hair. She squeezed herself in one of Melissa's jeans being glad that the two of them were relatively the same size. Charlotte waved goodbye to the squirrels and told them where she was going; the park.

Charlotte was sitting on a bench at the park, feeding pigeons when she heard a little bit of commotion nearby. She turned her head to the side and saw that it was an old Lady calling out to her cat which was stuck in a tree. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise. She had never seen such a sight before. Did the old lady need help? She certainly couldn't climb that tree by herself. Charlotte got up and made her way towards the old woman, putting her hands in her pockets. She looked up to the tall branches of the tree.... the cat was all the way at the top... what luck... Charlotte's eyebrows furrowed but there was a smirk on her face. The situation was funny but unbelievable.

[Shade]

Shade walked up to the tree and looked up. Oh boy… How the hell was he going to do this without using his powers? Well he could climb it but… Well you never knew. The next time he turned around, the mutant he was searching for could be there. Of course, he would need a plan for what to do when she showed up. He couldn’t blatantly attack with so many innocent bystanders around them so that was out of the question. Well he seemed to be getting ahead of himself. Besides, even if she did manage to show up, he still had to deal with.

“Mr. Snickerdoodle.”

Shade turned to the woman with a puzzled look. And, being man of many words, he had a perfectly eloquent response to her statement.

“Eh?”

“My cat. His name is Mr. Snickerdoodle. Oh do be certain to bring him down carefully. He is quite the fragile thing…”

Wow was this lady for real…? She had to be to not burst out laughing after saying such a ridiculous name. That was when Shade spotted her. It was the girl he was searching for. Or… At least she LOOKED like her. Now he just had to figure out how to approach cool and casually. Perhaps he could just “ask her for help”, then lead her aside before confronting her. Besides, she was kinda cute. It shouldn’t be too hard for him to make something up on the fly. He walked past the old woman and smiled at the young girl.

“Excuse me Miss. Could you help me out with this little predicament? After all, such a beautiful face like yours could attract anyone. I’m sure you could get that cat off there in a jiffy.”

He then winked at the girl before wondering to himself why the hell he used the word “jiffy”.

[Nightlocke]

Charlotte overheard the old lady talking about her cat and she couldn't help but chuckle a little bit. It was a silly name to give a cat, and the way she talked about the cat as if it were human. Charlotte blushed when the man who was dealing with the old lady approached her and asked her if she could help out. Her first reaction was mostly because this man was very handsome and charming, and she really didn't know how to react. Then, as she concentrated on his words, those feelings went away. Why was he asking her? He was older and he looked very fit. Why couldn't he just climb up the tree himself?

"Me?" She asked, pointing at herself, with a slight look of surprise in her eyes "but... why? You look like you can do that yourself."

[Shade]

Shade paused for a moment then swore silently inwardly. He should have thought of this outcome! After all, with his stunning figure and apparent fitness, of course she would wonder why the hell he wouldn't get his lazy ass up there to help the poor, fluffy kitty. He had to give the girl credit, she was sharper than he had expected. Though to have stayed on the lam for so long, you pretty much had to be smart.

But that sneaky old Shade, so sly and so slick, he thought up a lie, and he thought it up quick. “In a soccer game last week,” His case he did beg. “An opposing team member kicked me right in my leg. So going up the tree, I just cannot do.” He gave her a sad smile and scratched his head too.

Hopefully, that was enough for her to buy into helping him get the cat down… But as he watched her, he began to wonder about the reports about the dangerous mutant. She seemed nice enough to him… Granted he had hardly talked to her and the only thing she had done was talk back, but it was just… A gut feeling he had. But he had to keep his mind on the mission. He would question her when the time came…

[Nightlocke]

Charlotte stared at him for a second, wondering how stupid he thought she was to expect her to believe such a thing. He got hurt playing soccer? He wasn't even limping or anything. He was walking just fine. The guy was a really bad liar, and it just seemed like he was being lazy. Either that, or he really wasn't considerate at all, or compassionate to help a poor old lady who just wanted to help her cat out of the tree. But she did had to wonder. Cats like to naturally climb stuff. Maybe the cat was up there because it wanted to be up there? Charlotte looked up at the cat who was way up high in the tree. It wasn't even meowing.

Whatever...

"Okay," she said, turning back on the stranger and nodding, "I'll get the cat."

Charlotte walked up the tree. She looked up to the lowest branch and calculated how much momentum she would have to put into it and jumped, catching it with her hands and swinging her legs around it. She pushed herself up and lithely jumped from branch to branch. She was small and fast, like a monkey, so it didn't take her long to get to the top. She steadied herself, balancing her weight on the branches. They were a lot smaller at the top so she had to be extra careful. And the tree was sort of swaying, too. Charlotte gulped. It made her feel really nervous. She had to keep in mind not to look down.

"Here, kitty kitty," she said, sticking her hand out towards the cat. She couldn't quite reach it yet, but she didn't want to make any sudden moves. For some reason, it felt right to just stay still. The way the cat watched her, anticipating her every move. Cats were really clever creatures. After several really long seconds the cat got up and went to her on its own. She blinked, surprised, but she hugged the cat close to her and smiled as it purred. It felt nice to receive such affection, even if it was just from a cat...

CRACK. Charlotte snapped her head up. It was the branch she was standing on. SNAP. She gasped as gravity took over and she was falling. She hit a branch or two on the way down. It hurt but she had high tolerance for pain. It wasn't that which she was worried about. She could catch her fall, but there were civilians watching. She couldn't use her powers! She would be discovered and she would have to make a quick get-a-way. All of these thoughts spinning a million miles per hour in a split second as she fell....

[Shade]

Shade watched the girl climb up and actually manage to coax the cat to her. Well that was unexpected. Well not really after what he said, but he was a tad surprised that this cat went toward such a dangerous person. After all, they were supposed to have incredible senses toward such things. So then why did Professor Xavier call her a threat… Surely with his mental powers he could have perceived such a thing… Hell, Shade didn’t have mental powers and he was able to get this.

That was when he heard the branch snap above and saw that the girl began to fall. Crap! She was probably in hiding as well so she wouldn’t use her powers so it was up to him to save her! He almost summoned shadows to catch her when he recalled he was incognito as well. Sprinting forward, he held out his arms just in time to catch her in them. The force caused him to fall himself and with the combined weight of the girl and Mr. Snickerdoodle, he had the wind knocked out of him. But as he regained himself, he noticed that they were alright and let out a sigh of relief. Shade smiled to her again as he spoke.

“Well what do you know? My leg magically healed itself just in time eh? I told you that your beautiful face would attract anyone.”

He sat up when he realized that he was still holding the girl in his arms. He became a bit flustered and let her go. The old woman ran up to them and Shade was a bit touched to see that she had a worried look on her face, no doubt for them since they had-

“Oh Mr. Snickerdoodles! Are you alright my sweet little darling!”

Shade sighed to himself as she took the cat from the girl and snuggled with it. So much for the heroes being rewarded…

[Nightlocke]

Charlotte was relieved when she landed on something soft. It wasn't that it was soft, it was actually quite firm, but at least it was the better option between the ground. She had landed on the handsome stranger. She was about to thank him when he went on to flatter her about her looks, and remind her about his fake injury. So she was right. He wasn't injured after all. Still that compliment made her blush.

The old lady came up and took the cat from Charlotte's arms. To see the smile and relief upon the old lady's face sent a satisfactory feeling of happiness within Charlotte. Something that she considered to be whatever actually made her feel good for helping out and for making the other person happy. Was that the reward in helping others? As she sat there smiling sheepishly she completely forgot about the other person.

[Shade]

As he looked at the girl smiling at the woman with her cat, Shade figured he should introduce himself to the girl. Or... At least introduce his ACTUAL name. His mutant name would just be kept a secret for now. After all, this girl had helped he get that cat down from the tree, not to mention he saved her life. If that didn't make them at least friendly acquaintances, nothing would.

"So... My name is Tony. Tony Lombardi. And what would your name be, beautiful?"

As the girl sat atop him, Shade wondered about the hardships this girl had faced her whole life. What dangers this girl had faced all due to some sort of mistaken identity that made her be chased by half the country... Maybe she could be helped... If he took her back to the mansion... To Professor X... Maybe they would see just how harmless she is. She could join the other students there and even the X-men. Considering what the reports daid about her powers, there would be no problem for her to help them stop The Division or even The Brotherhood of Mutants!

[Nightlocke]

"So... My name is Tony. Tony Lombardi. And what would your name be, beautiful?"

Charlotte blinked and looked down at Tony as she remembered she was still sitting on top of him. "Oh... sorry." She got up and brushed herself off. The old lady had already started to walk off anyway. Charlotte wondered how an old woman could love a cat so much. Maybe she was lonely? Anyway. Tony Lombardi. Her 'savior'. She stared at him bluntly without a smile nor a frown.

"My name isn't beautiful," she said, "It's... Rachel... Rachel McDonald...."

She had completely made that name up on the spot. She had recalled watching things on what Melissa called the television. There was a woman who cooked and her name was Rachel Ray and there was this place with a big yellow M called McDonald's that was placed pretty much on every other corner in some areas.

[Shade]

The young man stood up himself, wiping himself clean as he heard the girl give an attitude filled response to his comment. She was quite the little pistol wasn't she? But there was something odd that he noticed in her voice. She seemed to hesitate while saying her name, almost as if she didn't know her own name... Either that or she made it up herself... Either way, he had to at least play along. Though... the one thing that nagged the back of his mind was why she needed to lie...

"Well Rachel Mcdonald! It's a pleasure to meet you. We've had quite the eventful day so, as a way of thanking you for helping me out, how about I invite you to lunch? Wherever you want to go."

It wasn't as if he was lying to her. He actually would take her to lunch. He would just do it after they had a little talk about these charges held against her and if they held any water. But if they did go for lunch... He opened his wallet and checked with a bit of an exasperated look. He really hoped she didn't want to go somewhere expensive or she would break his bank ten ways to Tuesday...

[Nightlocke]

Saving a cat in a tree was eventful? Well, she guessed it was more eventful than your everyday life, but her life had been filled with all kinds of events, so she couldn't exactly say that saving a cat was eventful. She gave Tony a small smile, but shook her head.

"You don't have to do that," she said, "And I've never eaten out before so I wouldn't know where to go," Except maybe McDonalds, she joked to herself.

Charlotte watched as he fiddled through his wallet. The look on his face gave him away. He didn't have much money in there, she guessed. Why would he offer if he didn't have much money? Maybe he was just trying to be nice. But Charlotte wasn't used to taking charity. Would it insult him, turning him down like that? Would he insist? It would be better if he didn't, that way she could just move on and go back home where she was perfectly safe. It was stupid to have gone out in the first place.

[Shade]

"Please, I insist. I owe you for all of this. Besides, it wouldn't hurt for us to get to know each other. Who knows, we could even becomes friends."

Man this girl was overly cautious... Well it wasn't like he could blame her. If his life had been like that, he would be wary of any man woman or child that approached him. With mutant powers coming in younger and younger these days, you never knew who was just a kid asking directions or an enemy about to grab you and blast you to hell. Maybe he was being too forceful about this... She may just pull away more if he did this... But he had to know for sure if this young woman was really a danger to humans... He smiled at her warmly.

"We could even go to McDonalds. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. As you can see, I'm not exactly dressed for it either."

[Nightlocke]

Charlotte blinked. Friends? Who said anything about friends? They had just met and this guy already wanted to be friends. Couldn't he just take the hint? She seriously wanted to be left alone. But something deep inside was stirring. All Charlotte ever wanted was to be normal. Perhaps she could just pretend to be normal for a while. Besides, this guy looked like he didn't really know who she was. It was a bit of a relief. And she did want friends. More than anything she just wants to be loved. If this guy didn't know, then maybe a lot of people didn't know. Nah, she doubted that last one. She's already seen herself on the news, running for her life. But they had made her look like some criminal.... not someone who was just trying to survive. Humans were so cruel, thinking they were so superior....

"Okay," she said. She shrugged, putting her hands in her pockets. "If you insist... Where to? McDonalds, then?"

[Shade]

"As you wish. I don't have a car so I suppose we'll have to walk there. Do you mind?"

Okay so he had it pretty much planned. They would go to McDonald's, grab a bite to eat, hang out so that she would loosen up. He would then walk her home, wherever that was, and along the way would he reveal that he knew who she was. Of course after that happened she would either try to attack him or bolt. He would probably have to use the shadows to hold her down or to protect himself... He had to get everything he said out into the open before she decided to go ballistic on his ass. And considering what he read about her powers, she would have quite an easy time doing that...

Shade began to walk down the block beside her and looked down at the cracks. He would have to start somewhere and this seemed like the only place he could...

"So... Rachel... What are your parent's like? They nice?"