Little Miss Sunshine [ota]

[whenheavenfalls]

They dropped her off before the sun had even hit its highest point; as watery as the light was Ororo knew its position the way a person knew that they had a hand at the end of each arm. It cast weak shadows across the plain building

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[createdevidence]

Nicky had been out on the roof trying to get some peace and quiet away from the tension inside when the new person had arrived. He'd watched her for a moment waiting until she was close to the door before dropping down to the snowy ground.

He quickly popped up onto his feet looking her over. Nicky thought it was best to meet the new people before they got sucked into life in the camp.

[whenheavenfalls]

Ororo looked right back at him, one hand tight on the strap around her bag over her shoulder. What sort of place was this that had little boys falling from the sky? "Hello," she offered. It wasn't particularly kind-sounding, only obligatory for someone who had ended up in her way.

[createdevidence]

"Hello,"he gave her a stiff nod. She didn't sound friendly so he held back no need to try and make friends with someone that didn't want them. "You here to replace the dead girl?"

Nicky thought he might as well find out.It seemed when one went down more than one showed up in their place.

[whenheavenfalls]

"I..."

But that had surprised her. Ororo wasn't under any false impressions that this would be safe--safety wasn't something that generally concerned her; it was too often only an illusion. But to be asked if she were a replacement for one of the deceased?

Perhaps being alone had its merits, because until right then Ororo had never felt like a number.

"I don't know," she answered honestly.

[createdevidence]

"It happens a lot. One of us falls one or two usually show up almost immediately,"he shrugged a little. He wondered sometimes if Stryker did it on purpose holding new people until one of them died.

[whenheavenfalls]

"That is a morbid thought," Ororo said, her deep voice showing her displeasure. She hadn't thought that her mortality would be in question by coming here. Dangerous, yes. A quick death? No. But she couldn't feign surprise at the news that the boy gave her; this was, after all, a military-run program. And Ororo didn't think that Stryker was exactly on the up and up.

"I am Ororo Munroe," she said to him. "Are you a team member?"

[createdevidence]

"Yeah, I'm on the team. My name's Nicky,"he went ahead and offered his hand clawed nails fairly obvious. Nicky was glad she didn't seem too surprised. While he enjoyed new company he was never sure what to make of the people that seemed oddly happy and carefree about being there. Sure he liked the freedoms of being out of the labs but this was a dangerous trade off.

[whenheavenfalls]

There was a short regard of the clawed hand and took that smaller grip in her own slim, callused one to shake it. "Forgive me if I think you're too young to be on a team where the death rate is so high. It is nothing personal."

Ororo may not hold anyone, period, in high regard; she may not have anyone whom she would call friends or family. But the dark-skinned woman did regard the sancitity of life with some seriousness. Nicky seemed very young to die.

[createdevidence]

"You can think that but I'm doing better than most of the adults. I'm hard to kill,"he actually smirked a little shaking her hand.

He wasn't scared of dying. With his healing powers even going slower than the adult ferals he could still heal rapidly.

[whenheavenfalls]

"Well congratulations," Ororo said, taking her hand back and rehoisting her duffel with a shake of her head. "May I have your success. I don't plan on needing a replacement."

She wondered if she would get a dead girl's bunk. The thought was a little unsettling.

[createdevidence]

"Just try and follow the rules and don't try and run,"he shrugged a little. Nicky knew that it wasn't hard to get yourself in trouble in the camp.

[whenheavenfalls]

Ororo raised one of her eyebrows. "I don't run," she said, not so much a bost as a statment. "I fly." A sharp grin cut her face momentarily before disappearing and she glanced up at the sky. "Either way," Ororo said, turning her gaze back down to him, "right now I don't have anywhere else to go."

[createdevidence]

"Flying huh? That's cool,"he nodded before looking toward the door then back at her. "I don't have anywhere else either. Well I technically do but that's like willingly volunteering for hell."

[whenheavenfalls]

To think that this was the lesser of two evils for someone, well... Ororo understood that. She gave a small nod of her head, following his eyes briefly toward the door. "I'm sorry," she said.

[createdevidence]

"Not like it's your fault,"he shrugged again. "You should probably go inside. Stryker likes people to be on time and stuff."

[whenheavenfalls]

"It was empathy," Ororo said as she adjusted her bag for the last time and crunched across the snow toward the door. "Not symptathy."

Her hand paused on the handle and she glanced back over her shoulder, looking at the boy for a moment. Then, without another word, she slipped inside.