If I Only Had a Heart....OTA

[hunteroffreaks]

Bored was a dangerous state of mind to be in when you were a mutant hunter. It meant that either your mind was getting sloppy and slowing down, or that there hadn't been anything to do in a while. In Jack's case, it was the later. Granted, he had 'visited' Victor in his cell, and while he had come away with an extremely bruised throat out of the

Comments

[x_twenty3]

Laura was pacing the halls. She didn't feel like sleeping. She needed to but she didn't want to. She didn't normally push herself like this but the fact that Emma was actually in the room was very odd to her. She didn't smell of Victor and Laura figured she'd have gone to visit the man at least once while in the brig. If not to have sex with then at least to taunt

[hunteroffreaks]

The Wicked Witch had just said she was going to get Dorothy and her little dog when Laura entered. Even with the clearing of her throat, Jack had jumped off the couch and had his gun halfway pulled out before he saw who it was. It stayed out, as he knew better then to put it away with X-23 around.

The difference between her and many others on the base, is that while Jack knew he might be able to kill a mutant, even if it cost him his own life, with the girl before him, he knew he was out of his league. She could kill him, and he'd be dead before he hit the ground. So there was a sort of respect for the petite assassin, and perhaps an underlying current of fear

Jack slowly sat back down, his eyes staying on X-23 even as his ears followed the music. Coming from anyone else, Jack would have found the question annoying, if not idiotic. But there was little wonder such a deprived creature had never seen a staple of American pop culture. "It's called The Wizard of Oz."

[x_twenty3]

Laura's quick eyes flitted from the gun to Jack, a closed off expression fitting onto her face. This expression could go either way. It could go to something more relaxed, a sign that he was safe. It could also turn angry and that was problematic. He kept his gun out. She was hoping he'd put it away. Instead, she kept her distance.

"I was not sent for you. You are also not a threat so I will not harm you of my own volition." That was her longwinded way of telling him to relax.

That done, she smoothly turned her head towards the television. She frowned at the title of the movie, searching her memory for any information regarding a place called Oz.

"There is an Oz in Kentucky but it does not have anyone calling themselves a wizard," she finally assessed, shaking her head slightly. That was the extent of her knowledge on that subject.

[hunteroffreaks]

Jack reluctantly put his gun back into the holster on his hip. If Laura said she wasn't going to attack him, he would believe her. Even if that monotone voice gave him the creeps.

Jack raised an eyebrow at the statement. Laura promised, if nothing else, to be an interesting person to watch a movie with. "Oz isn't on Earth. It's a magical land."

It was very odd, seeing a girl trained from birth as an assassin, and a man who'd spent the better part of thirty years coldly killing any mutant who had crossed his path discussing a movie with singing munchkins and flying monkeys in it. Jack was sure he'd had stranger conversations. He just wasn't sure when.

[fuzzylittleprob]

Kurt was down the hall when the dulcet sounds of Oz reached his ears. He knew that movie from his childhood--the yellow brick road had even reached his small circus in Bavaria, as cut off from the real world as they sometimes had been. Or they had reached it, rather. When the circus traveled close enough to towns for shows he and Stefan and Jimaine would sneak out for bookstores and movies, things that the circus could not provide for them. The Wizard of Oz they had seen every night for two weeks in a row until the circus had moved on, Kurt teleporting them into the back of the theater where they'd watch, rapt, each time the movie exploded into such bright color. He had even, for a while, harbored a slight crush on Judy Garland

[hunteroffreaks]

Unfortunately for Kurt, Jack was occupying the couch. One minute, he was sitting there, quietly watching the movie. The next, with a loud bamf! and a cloud of smoke, there was a man sitting next to him like it was the most natural thing in the world. For a moment, Jack glanced over and just sat there, blinking.

"What the hell?!" Jack had vaulted over the couch and had his gun out before his mind had finished processing everything. Despite age slowing him down, he still had his agility. Still, his hand didn't pull the trigger. Most likely, this was a mutant with more powers then sense.

Jack was madder at himself than Kurt. He had been sloppy and careless. Besides, with so many mutants around camp, at this point he really should have been used to people randomnly appearing out of thin air. However, Kurt was very lucky not to have a hole ventilating his skull right now. As Miss Gulch made her way down the road, the witch's theme playing, Jack yelled out. "You trying to get yourself killed?!"

[fuzzylittleprob]

Kurt usually teleported away when presented with a gun--but he wasn't exactly inclined to incapacitate a team memeber. Nor was he inclined to think that there were threats in their own building.

Blue eyes blinked at the older man. Apparently, he was. (Five-fingered) hands were raised like a stick-up.

"I... was thinking about watching the movie," Kurt replied lamely, using a finger to point toward the tv without actually dropping his hands. "I love it when the witch melts." He smiled sheepishly.

[hunteroffreaks]

Jack just stared at Kurt for a moment, the gun still leveled at the German's body. There was a look in his eye somewhere between still being freaked out and possibly amused at Kurt's fear. His protests edged Jack towards the latter. "Well, then."

Jack put the safety back on his gun, and stuck it back into his gun belt. "That's okay."

The hunter warily sat back down at the other end of the couch. "Just don't do that again, or next time I'll blow your head clean off."

[createdevidence]

Nicky had heard the music and couldn't help but make his way toward it. Razi went bounding into the room before Nicky even touched the door. Both boy and dog had been bored and trying to keep away from their room so Jason could rest. "Hey Jack."

It would be obvious that Nicky wasn't himself. There wasn't even an effort to smile and his shoulders were down.

[hunteroffreaks]

Jack saw the dog before the boy. Razi came wriggling over, nose sniffing, tail waggling back and forth. He leaned over, giving the dog a pat on the head. Nicky followed soon after.

"Hey kiddo." Jack smiled just a little and pointed to a spot on couch. "Have a seat." He could tell something was wrong with Nicky, but Jack decided to wait and see if he wanted to talk about it.

[createdevidence]

Nicky dropped down next to him, Razi jumping up to snuggle between the two. He looked at the tv before turning to look at Jack a baffled look on his face. "What's that?"

He'd never seen anything like it before given his limited tv viewing before.

[hunteroffreaks]

It seemed like he had been getting asked that question asked a lot today. Poor deprived creatures. Jack wondered why the hell a little thing called 'culture' hadn't been included when brainwashing all these mutants into weapons.

Jack absentmindedly pet Razi as he answered. "It's called The Wizard of Oz. Kind of an American classic."

[slightproblem]

The last week or so, Olivia had been in hiding. She spent time in her room when she could, when Jean wasn't there with Logan. If the lovebirds were in, she avoided them, finding quiet places to read or to just sit and think. She'd all but given up on meditation. It hadn't been helping. She was just awful at it.

Mostly she thought about the fact that she felt out of place here. These were soldiers, fighters with unique abilities. She couldn't do anything that someone else couldn't. She was useless in a fight and completely not cut out for this.

On one of her rare sojourns out of her room, she was walking past the rec room when she heard a familiar line. Pausing, she opened the door and stepped inside to lean against the door, her lips pulling into a small smile.

The Wizard of Oz. She hadn't seen it since she was a girl. Her eyes flickered over to the man sitting on the couch and she gave a wider grin before she turned back to watch the television.

[hunteroffreaks]

Olivia was one of the few mutants Jack could tolerate, and he was glad to see her. The last time they had talked was when she had told him about what Victor had done to her. Well, he had gotten his in the end, Jack had seen to that.

He had developed a protective sort of feeling for her. She just seemed so damn helpless. He nodded in her general direction as Olivia stood back like a wallflower. He turned down the volume just a tad.

"Siddown and stay a while."

[slightproblem]

Olivia inclined her head, seeming to consider for a moment before she pushed off of the wall and moved over to the couch. She gave Jack a small smile and sat down, folding her hands in her lap before she sighed and looked him over. There was a bruise on his throat. Faded, but still there. Concern lined her brow as she frowned.

"Every time I see you, you seem to have another bruise. Are you alright?"

[hunteroffreaks]

"It's a given with me. I can't seem to go more than a week without an injury. As for this?" His fingers lightly brushed his throat. The bruise mirrored the now faded ones that had been on Olivia's own throat. The ghost of a smile came to Jack's face.

"You should have seen the other guy." It wasn't idle humor on Jack's part. When he said something like that, it usually meant the other guy was dead. Victor may not have been a corpse lying somewhere, but having a gaping hole in his shoulder definitely qualified as him coming off worse.