14Disclaimer: I don't own The Gifted.
Chapter 3
The girl finally stopped in a forest clearing, the setting sun casting a dapple of shadows and creating a green-gold light amongst the trees. John had tracked her through the forest, not making an effort to stay stealthy since he didn't want her to think he was hunting her down. He didn't want to startle her with his presence, so he had made sure to stay within sight as she glided from tree to tree, straining her wings. Still, she was scared, and he didn't blame her. He was still very much a stranger, and she definitely knew that strangers were dangerous, especially normal-looking ones like him.
John stepped into the clearing and immediately spotted the girl, Riley, in her hiding place. She was up eight feet in a hardwood tree, curled up on a solid branch, pressed to the trunk. The leaves shook as she stretched her wings and then let them droop, the pink and black markings on them providing little camouflage.
And she was looking at him. Through the gaps in the leaves, he could see her staring. Her eyes were such a rich, dark brown, they were almost black.
He walked to the tree, letting his boots crunch twigs and fallen leaves, not trying to be sneaky. She continued to watch him, wary.
"You don't have to be afraid, okay? I'm not going to come get you." It would be easy to climb up there after her, but he knew the instant he did, she would just soar to another tree. He attempted a smile and she drew her wings in to cover her face, the right one moving slower than the other. She was being careful with that wing, like it was hurting her. "Are you all right?"
No answer. Her wings shook and pulled in even tighter, masking herself entirely. John sighed. And so started the waiting game. Good thing he had loads of patience. If for some reason the cops tracked them through the forest, he would take action if he had to, but until then…he would wait.
"I'm just going to sit here." John dropped down on the forest floor, his back against the tree trunk, arms looped around one knee. He hoped the others had gotten away safely and started to head back to HQ using the backroads. Those two kids might have given them some trouble, but he didn't doubt they would go along in the end. Lorna could be her own special kind of persuasive, and she was pretty good with kids, if a little intimidating. However, most of them seemed to like her take-charge attitude.
In retrospect, he shouldn't been all that surprised by the fact they put the kid in a box and paraded her around the stage. He had known there were probably kids in the group, and it was a sideshow. But he had been able to hear how scared she was. She probably didn't like the dark and whatever pinholes they had put in that trunk wouldn't have given her much light. His fists clenched as he wondered about how long she had been in the box.
In an hour or so, it was going to be dark. He had a flashlight in his pocket, though he didn't need it to get around in the dark. If they stuck around until nightfall, he would offer it to the kid so she wouldn't get freaked out and wouldn't feel rushed. Still, he wanted her to feel safe enough to come down before then. He was already going to have to call the nearest safehouse to come pick him and the girl up and then get them to let him borrow a car or truck. It happened sometimes, but vehicles were important resources for each outpost. He would have to make sure whatever he borrowed was returned within the week.
"I'm a part of a group that helps mutants, people like us," John said, "We're going to go somewhere safe, where no one can hurt you." Or stuff her in a trunk or put her on display. "There are other kids there." Not many since they were always leaving to go to more permanent locations, but there were a few.
Her wings moved just a little, and there was strong disbelief and suspicion in those young eyes.
"I'm serious," he said, "Your friends Nate and Mason are going to be there. Once you're ready to go, we'll leave, all right?"
She was silent, but she didn't hide behind her wings again. Instead, she gave him a long narrowed look like she was trying to figure him out, then she started inspecting her right wing.
The sun slowly set, sliding down behind the tree tops and throwing shadows across the clearing. Lorna eventually called to tell him that she and Marcos had made it back to HQ, and she made sure to give him a hard time about not already having convinced Riley to get out of the tree.
Above him, the girl kept shifting, unable to find a comfortable position up in the tree. She climbed up higher and sprawled across two limbs, allowing her wings to rest on both branches. Honestly, it made John nervous that she was so high up, no matter the fact that she had wings.
"Hey," he said, and then repeated it, louder, "Hey, Riley? I bet you're hungry. Do you like McDonald's?" Did she even know what that was? Might as well try. "If you go ahead and come down, I bet I could get you a Happy Meal." He was not above bribery at this point. Plus he was hungry too by that point, and a Big Mac sounded good.
A few leaves drifted down from the tree but Riley didn't move to come down. She didn't seem inclined to talk to him in any case, but he was sure that she understood what he was saying.
The shadows crept over the clearing and grew, spreading until the entire clearing was washed in the dark gray of twilight. The air turned cooler, and while that didn't matter much to him, since he didn't really feel the chill, he wasn't sure if it would affect the kid or not. She could produce heat, so maybe the cold would matter to her, either.
"Do you need a jacket?" he asked, shirking off his own, "I can toss this up there."
There was some rustling of leaves, and he saw her peek down at him. There were tear streaks down her face, and his heart clenched. Had he scared her? Or was she just upset by everything that was happening? Or maybe it was the way the forest looked to her, was it scary and uninviting?
"I'm sorry," he said, fingers wrapping around his jacket. "Don't cry, it's going to be okay. I won't let anything hurt you, so you can stay up there as long as you want." He smiled, hoping she could see it in the dim light. "That's my gift, keeping people safe." He shook his jacket. "I'm going to throw this to you, in case you want it."
Before he could toss the jacket, she moved down the branch and then jumped off, gliding into the clearing. Her landing wasn't great, and she tumbled into a patch of grass, all limbs and wings. He rushed over to her, but by the time he reached her, she had sat up and was sorting herself out. She was definitely favoring her right wing now.
John crouched down at the edge of the grass, staying still. "You okay?"
She stood up, brushing at her knees and shiny but dirt smudged dress. Her lower lip trembled and her wings shuddered, the right one trembling. In the twilight, she looked like a fairy tale character who had somehow found her way into the real world, with her butterfly wings and violet skin and pink-streaked hair. But in all actuality, she was just a girl, tiny and in need of help.
"Kiddo, how old are you?" John asked gently, suddenly needing to know.
Riley hesitated and then held up four fingers, which looked about right. Poor kid.
"Four years old," John said, "Yeah, you need a Happy Meal." He glanced at her wing and then decided he would try to take a look at it later, after she wasn't so jittery. "I'm hungry. How about you?"
Slowly she nodded and stepped toward him, moving through the grass that was almost as tall as she was. She looked up at him then at the woods all around them, uncertainty on her face.
"Let's go this way," John said, pointing in the direction that would lead them to a road he could hear about a mile away. "We can meet some of my friends and then get something to eat."
Before they started walking, he held his jacket out to her. She took it and put it on, and it nearly reached the ground. Her hands were stuck somewhere in the sleeves, but she didn't seem to mind since she started walking, the sleeves trailing after her.
