xp_logs | At the coffee shop (Reply)

At the coffee shop things take a different turn.

The few people that were there were staring. A few hushed whispers rose and fell in the background. It was clear the events of over a year ago, saving the girl and the subsequent reveal of Hope and Amy as mutants, had not been forgotten.

The three women tucked in a corner both ignored it though as they focused on their conversations, frothy coffee drinks in front of them.

"I really hope we were able to convince your mother, Amy. An internship in Europe is nothing to sneeze at!" Hope smiled at her friend as she sipped from her coffee. "Maybe you can even look into traveling around a little bit afterwards, see some more of the continent?"

"I'm going," Amy said firmly. Being able to <i>finally</i> get out of the house and get out from under her mother's thumb had really liberated her. She wanted to go to Europe. So she would go to Europe With or without her family's help.

"I wouldn't worry." Sarah was all confidence as she placed her latte on the table. For the benefit of the other two girls, she was pretending to be oblivious to the occasional dirty glances sent toward their group. "I think we've said enough to reassure your mother, or at least get her to lean in the right direction. If I have to keep calling, I will." Sarah smiled. "I can be quite persuasive."

"Have you already spoken to some of your people at Admittance of your college? Are there any options for deferral, even if the year has already started? There must have been more students who defer and take a gap year, so to speak." Hope asked.

"Where the year has already started I can't defer," Amy replied regretfully. "But if I can make an argument for it I can do the internship for part time credit and just withdraw from my classes for the semester."

"That sounds doable to me, even if you need some persuasion skills. And otherwise Ms. Taylor might be able to help?" Hope turned her gaze towards the woman.

"Count on it," Sarah nodded. "We're very interested in helping foster your talents, Amy." Not that either girl knew just how true that was.

"Hope! You ready to go? I can go get a drink and hang out over there till you're finished if you like?"

Laurie had keys dangling from her fingers and was currently looking through her handbag for her purse. "I'm pretty sure I remembered to get some money out. Who're your friends?"

"We are nearly finished." Hope turned her head to her chaperone. "But maybe a drink is not a bad idea. I still have my coffee..."

Sarah's eyes had narrowed when Laurie approached. She'd sensed another mutant in the area, but there were too many unfamiliar rhythms, and she'd assumed something about Hope or Amy was throwing her off.

But ever since the X-Men had robbed her of a future, Sarah had been watching, studying them. She knew who this was — knew quite well, actually, and she was enraged to find out this woman had been brought here by someone she'd intended to mentor.

"What the hell," she growled, standing from her chair and focusing intently on Laurie, "do you think you're doing here?"

Hope shot up from her chair as well, quickly glancing back and forth between Ms. Taylor and Laurie. "Laurie, what is going here?" She asked in a low voice, glancing at the other patrons of the shop.

"What's going on is your friend is a mutant supremacist and a nasty piece of work. Just what sort of group have you gotten involved in, Hope?"

Laurie had also pitched her voice low, but she also moved slight, putting herself between Hope and the other people in the group. If something was about to go down, it was up to Laurie to protect herself and the younger girl.

"I could ask her the same question," Sarah snapped back, not bothering to take her eyes off Laurie. "You and your friends ruined my chance at a good life. I'm not going to let you ruin these girls' too."

The people in the coffee shop were starting to stir, glancing at them from the corners of their eyes. "Maybe we should take this outside?" Hope urged various people around her, shooting an apologetic glance at Amy. "I think this might not be the best place for this." Especially if powers were going to get involved.

"You're right," Sarah relaxed her shoulders, trying to shift back into the role of the good den-mother. "We shouldn't be making a scene and disturbing these people's afternoons. Mustn't give our kind a bad name." She grabbed her purse and led the way toward the door.

Amy looked stunned as she looked from Laurie - who had seemed like a perfectly normal person when Hope had introduced her - to Hope, opening her mouth to say what's going on? but the words never quite made it out.

"I think outside is a good idea. Hope? I'd like you to go first please, take your friend with you, and I will accompany Ms Taylor here."

Whatever was going on, Laurie was willing to keep innocent bystanders from being involved, and that meant not bringing her powers to bear just yet but if Scanner attempted anything, she would be ready.

"Let's go, Amy." Putting a hand on her friends arm, Hope steered her outside, her other hand unobtrusively went to work to get her purse open. Outside the parking lot was 'luckily' mostly abandoned and she turned around to face Laurie and Ms. Taylor. "What is going on here?" she exclaimed as her hand continued to so work.

"That's exactly what I would like to know," Laurie gave Scanner a scathing look, angling her body to make it impossible to get to the girls except through her. "Just what exactly is it you're trying to accomplish her, Ms. Taylor?"

"I'm not trying to accomplish anything," Sarah matched Laurie's expression, "except to inform the next generation of mutants about what their futures might hold if they fully understand their genetic gifts. I want to build a brighter future for mutantkind." She glanced behind Laurie and gave her a small smile. "So does he."

A dagger appeared at Laurie's throat and a pearly white grin, "As the lady said," an Russian accented voice drawled, "We just want what's best for mutant kind and these young women. You wouldn't want to stand in the way of that now would you?"

"Hope, run! Use your phone."

Laurie grabbed her assailants arm and pivoted around and out, attempting to get him on the ground so she could lock his knife hand and remove the threat. She had to hope that Hope wouldn't freeze while she fought off whoever this was.

"Amy, come on!" Hope grabbed her friend's arm, trying to pull her along as she ran. With her other hand she grabbed her phone, fumbling to reach the alarm button.

Sarah groaned inwardly. Leave it to Az to create a situation. "Girls, listen to me," she shouted, moving after them. "My associate and I are here to present you with a rare opportunity - an opportunity for a bigger, brighter future. Not just for you, but for mutantkind. We are trying to do good, not drag you into battle willy-nilly to fight the same tired war." She reach out to place a firm (and hopefully reassuring) hand on Amy's shoulder, hoping to stop the girls from fleeing.

Amy was still stunned as Hope tried to drag her away, but then Sarah was grabbing her shoulder, pulling her that. She looked around, finally managing to get out, "What's going on?"

"I'll explain later, Amy. Now we must go." She gave Amy's arm another tug, trying to get her friend moving. Her other hand finally managed to get the cover of her phone open.

A red-skinned figure walked out of the shadows in front of the girls, a blonde body slung over his shoulder. Azazel grinned maliciously at them stopping their flight in it's tracks.

"Nobody's going anywhere," Sarah said a little firmly. She expertly swatted the phone out of Hope's hand. "Not until we have a chance to talk this through, somewhere with a little less distraction." She lifted her eyes from the girls to Azazel, making a barely perceptible motion with her chin.

Azazel reached out and grasped each of the girls firmly by a shoulder, "Relax, we're just going on a little trip," he told them. The sign was the last thing they saw before blackness and the smell of brimstone overwhelmed them.