Safety in a home garden (Kei/Klara)

[Zeronone]

The sound of wings beating was all Kei could hear; the great Roc known as Majesty flew like a jet through the city skyline. The precious bundle of Klara wrapped gently around her form, covering her in his massive claw. Kei looked around to make sure they weren't being followed by helicopters or flying beings. He had no idea what had happened at the bank, but he knew Klara must be in full panic mode. It was sad such bad things happened on a clear blue day like today, the city below sounded like it always did, as if his friend hadn't almost been gunned down, as if a bank robbery hadn't happened at all. It was a sobering idea that in a city like this, individuals didn't matter in the grand scheme. The city was all that mattered, it stood as a sentinel, ever existing, ever eternal, and those that lived there were just part of it.

Kei guided Majesty through the air, he knew where Klara lived. It wasn't hard considering it was the only place in the area of New York that she resided that had a large garden on the roof. Majesty banked, doing a long circle as it suddenly banked and changed direction, flying a different direction before banking again. Kei's eyes swept the area as he made sure they weren't being followed. After twenty minutes of shifting direction, Majesty plummeted like a feathery missile towards the slums of New York, vanishing among the buildings. Kei saw the hospital, the giant garden on the roof and Majesty landed. One leg touching the ground as the other was holding Klara, it lowered its leg slowly and opened. Depositing the girl on some vegetation.

Kei leapt off Majesty, his hand grabbing his notebook and tearing out a page. His hand moved quickly as he finished drawing. The air grew cold as Ice Cream appeared, his thick white fur blowing in the wind, sharp icy fangs parted as his gaze swept the area. He moved over and stood like a sentinel over Klara.

Kei walked over and bent down, taking her hand. "Hey, you okay?"

[Gummy]

Klara shook in Majesty's grasp. The folliage that stayed there seemed to want to help her but she knew it would die if it didn't get chance to root soon. The fall down towards the ground made her stomach lurch and for a moment she felt like she was going to be sick. As soon as she landed the plants took to the soil, it wasn't just the roof she had cultivated but the land around it. She looked sunk her fingers into the foliage.

"Grow and cover!"

She managed to say through gasps. The plants heard and followed her direction as the plants grew to cover the roof and them in a dome to make it look, from above, like an abandoned building again. She felt the air go cold and curled further into a ball with her hand stroking the ground like a pet. The tears ran down her face as she tried to figure out how to speak.

"NO! THEY SHOT AT ME! I mean they fired at me! I'm a kid! It was bad where I used to live with raids on the slums and clearing out of others but this was different! I tried to help and I just wanted to get home!"

She cried into her hands as her whole body shook.

"I'm never leaving home again!"

[Zeronone]

Kei looked at Klara and wasn't sure what to do. He was a kid, he had never been shot at before and never been in a real fight either. He did what came naturally and wrapped his arms around Klara, hugging her to him as he stroked her hair. Ice Cream sitting down behind her and pressing his warm yet cold fur against her and purred.

"I'm sorry it took me so long; I didn't know what was happening. I bet it was scary, terrifying. But you are safe now, you are home, and those people won't find you here." He positioned himself so he was leaning against Ice Cream while hugging Klara.

"You were very brave, I want you to know that. You saved a lot of people and that is really amazing."

He held her as she cried, knowing she just needed someone to assure her she was safe. He looked up at the plants and was once more amazed at what she was capable of. She was nature itself, and if they had been in a forest, those guys would have gotten their butts kicked.

[Gummy]

Klara hugged in and held on tight to his t-shirt. She cried for a little bit before slowing down as she heard his words. She suddenly felt the tiredness which came from the post tears and leaned into Ice Cream. and him.

"I tried... I just wanted to go home. I didn't want to get into trouble. There's no documentation to say that I am here legally so worried that I would be deported... If they did that... I don't know where they would send me! It was different in the past, you were welcomed to the new land but still needed papers. Where would they send me! All my papers are back with my husband and who would believe that I actually time traveled? I'm illegal!"

She didn't mean to blurt it out. She had seen on TV what they had done to immigrants and that was just enough. She took a deep breath and steadied herself.

"How did you find me?"

[Zeronone]

Kei held Klara until her crying slowed down, his hand stroking her hair as he looked down at her against him. "You still did a good thing, saving others even at risking yourself takes a lot of courage. I am proud of you for that."

He looked around as he tried to consider how to help her, there were a few ways but one came to mind more than any other because they were famous. "Klara, maybe we should go to the Avengers. This is kind of up their alley, helping people like us. Time travel seems like something they would have a hand on and many of them are really powerful types who could help you immediately."

Her question made him blush a little. "I umm, I saw you on the news and I recognized your red hood. I would know it anywhere and realizing you were in danger I came as fast as I could."

[Gummy]

She looked up to him sheepishly and wiped her tears on her sleeve.

"You saw me? You are proud of me?"

Then she thought about it all and didn't know what to do. If they could time travel then they could send her back and she shook her head.

"No... I'm not going back! They could send me back to him and I'm not leaving! I don't want to go back to my husband! He...."

She seemed to shrink into Ice Cream's fur trying to hide. She had put the whole group in danger. Just being on the TV could make people come look for them. If they had been followed then they would all need to move. It's all her fault! She started to bite her nails as the thought of having to move occurred to her. They were runaways but they also needed somewhere to call home. The whole event had raised too many worries.

"I don't know what to do."

[Zeronone]

Kei's eyes widened as he realized the miscommunication and mentally kicked himself for not being clearer. He took her hand, giving her a big warm smile. "Klara, no. That isn't what I meant, I would never allow them to send you back to that monster. I will fight them all myself if they tried. I was just thinking that they could help you get a legal identity here, that way you don't have to worry about them trying to send you off somewhere."

His other hand stroked Ice Creams fur who gave him a reproachful look for scaring the poor girl. He reached out and moved the hair from her face. "Your safe here, Klara. Don't worry, no one will take you anywhere you don't want to go. You have my number, if they try I will send every monster I have to come get you."

He looked out at the city from the rooftop, one arm over Klara's shoulder. "I just think, we should probably both go to them. Thinking about it, a lot of people saw me today, I usually am more cautious about being seen. But I was worried you were in danger and acted without thinking."

[Gummy]

Klara looked hurt a Kei but the confusion of it all ran through her more. Yet, the hope of becoming legal! That was just a dream wasn't it? She was technically already a legal citizen just that it was back in 1906 give or take. It was the same reason she hadn't been to a doctor. She thought about the idea of going to people to sort her out made her think of the movie where a crazy person went to the authorities and they got interrogated. Nope! She wasn't going to do that! What if they wanted to do a medical on her. Could she let anyone do that after ..... She finally leaned into him just letting the worry take hold for a few seconds. The whole day had been bad.... wait... what if they had seen her?

"Do... do you think they will come for me? I should go! I've put everyone in danger!"

She looked out at the view and tried to breathe.

"What would they do with us? Lock us up? Experiment on us? I saw a program where the people were experimented on because they were different. It was horrible! The people were packed in cattle carriages on trains and then forced to strip and then some were picked to go right others to the left and the one set were sent to buildings which had bunks and the others sent down to a horrible room! It was really scary! They could do that to us too!"

Klara didn't know that she was talking about the Holocaust nor that it was actually real and not made up! The only problem, there was a lot of TV that she didn't know the truth from the lies!

[Zeronone]

Kei bit his lip and looked out at the cityscape, his arm tightening around her shoulders as he felt her stiffen. Considering her question himself and it was not one he liked. His parents had kept him from the registration act out of fear of them turning him into a weapon or taking him away. And in one fell swoop he had blown all their hard work to keep him safe. He took a deep breath and looked at Klara. "I am not a hundred percent sure if they will come or not, honestly it may not be safe here anymore. Whatever happened back there it is bigger than what we are prepared for. I really think us going to the Avengers is the best option for us, I know it is scary, but I am not asking you to trust them... just me."

Her question filled him with the same worry that he had always feared himself. Being taken away, used as nothing more than a door for monsters, told to kill people to protect his family. He sighed and squeezed her shoulders. "What you are describing was known as the holocaust, it was one of humanities darkest days. It was a group known as the Nazi's a supremacist group led by a psychopath named Adolf Hitler. He was a mad man who conquered Germany and forced good people to fight in his personal war against those of his so called, lesser races. It was a whole world war that was involved, and I am sure mutants, and powered beings were also taken away. That is much harder to do now because we will fight back to save ourselves and each other, so don't worry about that. I will always be there to protect you."

He looked back to the city, taking a deep breath.

"Shall we go to the Avengers, together?"

[Gummy]

Klara looked at him with wide eyes. It was felt impossible that the whole world would have gone to war just because of one man. Why would Germany do that? She had met a couple of Germans and they had always seemed a good group of people. Then he said he would always be there for him and her heart leapt up and she felt the blood rushing to her cheeks again. As he looked to the city she was about to kiss him. Then he said about going to the Avengers together and she frowned.

"I... I don't know. I just need to think. I have friends here too who can protect me and we get to do adventures."

There was a but there but she didn't want to word it. The idea of it all and she had seen reports about SHIELD and Avengers and X-Men all on the news.

"I do trust you but if one man could make soldiers out of their own people and possibly kill mutants. Then what good is it being with others who fight against others. What makes them different? It's a group of people... they must have a leader? I don't want to go to somewhere to then feel I must do what someone else says.... "

She leaned back into Ice Cream and sighed herself. He didn't understand, how could he. Her heart started to break just a little.

[Zeronone]

Kei nodded and gave her shoulder a squeeze, looking over with his gentle smile. "Hey, no need to rush any choice you want to make. If they aren't who you want to go to, I won't make you. I will support you regardless of what path you take, I just don't know where else I can go. I am not a mutant like Luara so I can't go to the X-Men, I don't really know anyone else to turn to for help. They may be my only choice, but I don't want you to think that you have to go to them because I do."

He watched her sigh and leaned back with her against Ice Cream, he had backed them into this corner with his knight in shining armor routine. He wasn't regretting it; he would never regret saving and protecting her. But he did regret that now there were eyes on them, and he didn't have answers to the situation. He closed his eyes, feeling the softness of the large sabretooth against his back.

"I guess this is usually where the guy says let's run, we grab some duffel bags and take off into the setting sun. But I can't leave my parents like that, you can come home with me, I can't promise it will be safer as I am probably now on their radar. But I could protect you better, they wouldn't get you without going through me first."

He looked over at Klara, giving her a reassuring smile.

[Gummy]

Klara shrugged and looked up through the foleage. The view to the city was one thing being able to see up was another.

"I don't know how it all works. You will find your own way... we all must somehow."

She twisted looking back at Kei.

"Go get help. If I chose to I can follow. If I have questions you can answer... You could always join SHIELD. That's another option. As for running away... I've already done that. You could live here, that's another option for you."

She like looking at Kei, all his little marks on his face and the way his hair moved.

"Family... you can take or leave it. Sometimes their good... sometime not. I hope you have the good ones."

She looked back up to the sky and shuffled over to him slightly and brushed her hand gently against his and the colour raced to her cheeks again. She knew what her heart wanted but she had no idea how to get it. The TV seemed to imply gentle physical contact was one way but that didn't seem to work with Kei. Maybe if she just touched his hand with her own.

[Zeronone]

Kei looked over at Klara and nodded, it sucked she wouldn't be joining him at learning from the Avengers, but she was the kind of girl who found her own path. He felt the brush of her hand and looked down, a slight color coming to his cheek as he took her hand and squeezed. Looking up at her with his signature grin.

"Different teams doesn't mean apart, just a name. As Kei I will always be ready to answer your call, as an Avenger I can answer your call for aid as your hero. And my family is great, they worry for me like parents should, but they protected me and supported me when I was going through this. You went through some very hard times Klara, but those days are over. If you want, you can come over every day and my mom can teach you to read and write, we can hang out."

He looked out and saw the sun slowly setting behind the buildings. He sighed and gave Klara's hand one more squeeze before he got up. "I have to get home; my mom is going to kill me for running out like that. I will leave Ice cream here with you, he should be able to stick around for the rest of the day. If you have any trouble, he will protect you and get you away."

Kei let Klara's hand go and walked over to Majesty, climbing up on the giant bird. Smiling down, he waved as the Roc flapped its mighty wings, once, twice, three times before getting airborne. Like a feathery missile, Majesty carried him away and back towards home. His eyes spotting a black charger driving down the road before it vanished behind a building.

Robbie-

Below on the street, Robbie Reyes pulled up in front of the hospital. The young man gazing at it before looking around the neighborhood. It looked like the streets of LA where he and Gabe lived. He stepped out of the car and closed it, a couple of punks looking his way before making eye contact and quickly moved away. Robbie sighed and turned to the building, walking up to the broken glass. He peaked inside and called out. "Hey, Klara!! You here?"

[Gummy]

Then the moment was gone and Kei smiled and she couldn't help but smile back. Then he touched a sore subject which she wasn't ready to talk about but the idea of learning how to read and write was a boon plus she could possibly get closer to him as well. Klara giggled at something before Kei left.

"I got you to call him Ice Cream! Thank you for coming. I don't know what I would have done without the life. Be careful on the way home and thanks for loaning Ice Cream."

She waved after him as she opened up the plants for him to go then turned back to Ice Cream. She had been cheered up a bit but now she had things to think about. It wasn't her who heard her name first but Ice Cream who nuzzled her. Then she heard it.

"Can you get me down there?"

After Ice Cream lowered itself she got onto it's back and held on as it leapt to where Robbie was. A little squeal escaped her lips as they went. She admitted it was easier with Kei. As she slid off of Ice Cream's back she looked at Robbie and ran up to him giving a gigantic hug.

"You're safe!"

[Zeronone]

Robbie walked into the hospital, looking around and wondering if he somehow had gotten it wrong. After the bank robbery happened, he had slipped the cops and went looking for Klara. After finding two cops babbling about a giant snake and a bird flying off, he managed to 'convince' them to think straight and tell him which way they went. Taking a guess as he dropped her off near here before, he figured this was where she was. It seemed his hunch was right, though a giant sabretooth tiger was not what he expected and stumbled back. He took a fighting stance, wondering if someone else had gotten here first, before he was tackle hugged. Robbie breathed a sigh of relief and wrapped Klara in a hug, holding her. He held her for a full minute before placing his hands on her shoulders and putting her at arm's length. Looking her over to make sure she wasn't hurt.

"Klara, I was really worried about you. The cops I ran into said you got carried off by some giant bird. Just what is going on? Doesn't matter, your safe. And that is what is important right now, look, it may not be safe here for awhile. Several people saw that bird or whatever fly this way, you need to come home with me and Gabe, just for a couple of weeks, we can contact your friends and tell them to lay low too."

He was already on his feet, holding her hand like a protective big brother. His gaze on the giant cat. "Little late, but is that yours?"