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om_mainAfter their escape from the Facility, Nathan and Simon reach out to Curtis and get a lot more than they bargained for.
A short trip to the library later - and it had been useless to try and convince Nathan to wait for Simon outside, so the librarian had given the both of them odd enough looks, between Simon's all-white clothes and Nathan barefooted and in scrubs - but at last Simon had gotten Curtis's number out of his contacts.
Nathan wanted them to use the first payphone they found, but Simon was a lot more - paranoid, Nathan was saying, but Simon preferred the word - cautious. He had them walk a few streets away, and only then picked a payphone.
He was watching Nathan pace back and forth beside him as the tone rang, and hoping with all his might that Curtis would accept the reverse charge call.
Curtis looked up from his textbook in surprise as his mobile started ringing. Most the people he now knew lived with him and his mother didn't keep in touch at all since she'd disowned him, so who the hell was calling? Caller ID was not help, just a number he didn't recognise so when he answered and found it was a reverse call charge he accepted partly because he was curious and partly because American history was more boring to study than English. He could always hang up if it was some freak or stalker anyway.
"Hello?"
Simon briefly closed his eyes with relief as he heard Curtis's voice on the other end. Step one, done.
"Curtis, this is Simon. Bellamy," he added, awkwardly, trying not to think of Matt and Simon mix-ups. He winced. "From community service?"
Now that really caught Curtis's attention, he sat up straighter as he replied, "Uh yeah, I remember. It's been a while." So why the hell was he calling now?
"I - I know," Simon agreed, and now that Curtis was on the other end of the line, he felt like all of the possible stories he had made up to justify the call sounded very lame. But he couldn't very well tell him the truth. Not only would it put Curtis in danger, but Curtis would not believe them, and hang up. "Sorry. I - er - we - Nathan and I - were wondering if -"
Simon's voice was abruptly gone, a rough jostle and metallic scrape faintly sounding through the line before- "Curtis! Old pal, best mate, how's the herpes? What the weird kid is trying to stutter at you is that, guess what, we're suddenly a couple of mutant freaks on the lam. You know, like from those videos, the dead dragonfly girl? Only we look normal. Well, I look normal, for an immortal, maybe exceptionally good-looking - the other one has this thing where he goes all invisible, and-"
There was more jostling and half-discernable, boyish arguing before Nathan could finish.
"Oh fucking hell." Curtis muttered to himself partly because, well, fucking Nathan (what a prick!) and partly because if they really were mutants then he knew what he had to do: tell the headmasters. Telling the headmasters though had huge obvious drawbacks as they'd probably bring the boys to the school and Nathan on a daily basis again? No thank you.
"Nathan? Simon? Hello? Is this like his whole 'I got community for eating pick n mix' shit or is he actually serious about the mutant thing?" He wasn't about to out himself as a mutant before he knew for sure after all.
Simon glared at Nathan, and put the receiver back to his ear in time to hear Curtis's question. Well. In for a penny... "It's true," Simon confirmed, after a last few seconds' hesitation. "I turn invisible, and he's been shot and come back to life. We need a place to lay low, where they won't look for us, but I thought telling you the truth might put you in danger." It was what happened in comic books, after all.
"Fuck." Curtis muttered to himself, digesting the information, before telling the other boy, "No more than I was already. I'm one too." He wasn't immediately forthcoming with his own power though, he could just imagine Nathan's reaction to gender-swapping and knew the reality would be even worse.
"I'm in America now though, like I talked about going 'cept I'm not exactly travelling. Basically it's a safe place for people like us." If they were laying low though the line might not be safe so he didn't want to get in too much detail. "The guys who own this place, they'll help you if you're in trouble. They've saved others."
Simon had been ready to explain that it was precisely because Curtis was in America that they'd thought to call him, but much as his mind was still puzzling over the fact that Curtis was a mutant as well, it was nothing to the surprise of his next announcement. His so-called school was a haven for mutants?
"Who are they?" was all he asked, however. He had just learned, the hard way, not to trust just about anyone who said they were on the side of mutants. He had just learned, the hard way, not to trust much of anyone, and now he had to wonder if the Facility had got to Curtis as well.
"They seem alright. The headteachers are mutants and one's seriously rich so turned his big fuck-off old house into a school. There's loads of kids here, even the kids of one of the headmasters. Only been here a few months but seems pretty cool. Look, you want help or not?" He asked, and when it was obvious Simon was still hesitating, he added, "They won't make you stay here if you don't want to, maybe just give you somewhere to lay low for a bit yeah?"
Simon hesitated for a few more seconds, but it was, oddly, the expectant look on Nathan's face which made up his mind. "Alright," he agreed. "We don't have our mobiles anymore, we'll call you again in... an hour?" Time enough for Curtis to talk to the headmasters, time enough for the two of them to get far enough away from here, in case his access of his online data had been spotted by the Facility.
"Yeah, yeah sure. We'll sort this, k? Don't worry. And...and ignore Nathan as much as possible." He'd wanted to give some good advice but having never been on the run before he didn't really have any. Except that Simon let Nathan rag on him way, way too much.
He was already walking out of his room and towards the direction of Professor Xavier and Lensherr's offices, one of them had to be in and there was no way they'd turn their backs on two mutants in trouble. Especially after what had happened to youtube girl.
"You, you guys are alright aren't you?" he asked belatedly, something he probably should have asked after being told about the whole 'Nathan got shot' thing. His brain was possibly struggling to process all the new information. The fact that Nathan had been shot almost didn't surprise him though, he knew there had been moments where he could have been tempted to do it himself.
"For now," Simon confirmed, not meaning to sound ominous but coming off as such anyway. He paused, his awkwardness creeping up on him now that things were turning more personal, but he still forced the words out, "Thank you, Curtis. We'll call back in an hour."
He hesitated for a second, then disconnected the call. Time to explain all of it to Nathan.
A short trip to the library later - and it had been useless to try and convince Nathan to wait for Simon outside, so the librarian had given the both of them odd enough looks, between Simon's all-white clothes and Nathan barefooted and in scrubs - but at last Simon had gotten Curtis's number out of his contacts.
Nathan wanted them to use the first payphone they found, but Simon was a lot more - paranoid, Nathan was saying, but Simon preferred the word - cautious. He had them walk a few streets away, and only then picked a payphone.
He was watching Nathan pace back and forth beside him as the tone rang, and hoping with all his might that Curtis would accept the reverse charge call.
Curtis looked up from his textbook in surprise as his mobile started ringing. Most the people he now knew lived with him and his mother didn't keep in touch at all since she'd disowned him, so who the hell was calling? Caller ID was not help, just a number he didn't recognise so when he answered and found it was a reverse call charge he accepted partly because he was curious and partly because American history was more boring to study than English. He could always hang up if it was some freak or stalker anyway.
"Hello?"
Simon briefly closed his eyes with relief as he heard Curtis's voice on the other end. Step one, done.
"Curtis, this is Simon. Bellamy," he added, awkwardly, trying not to think of Matt and Simon mix-ups. He winced. "From community service?"
Now that really caught Curtis's attention, he sat up straighter as he replied, "Uh yeah, I remember. It's been a while." So why the hell was he calling now?
"I - I know," Simon agreed, and now that Curtis was on the other end of the line, he felt like all of the possible stories he had made up to justify the call sounded very lame. But he couldn't very well tell him the truth. Not only would it put Curtis in danger, but Curtis would not believe them, and hang up. "Sorry. I - er - we - Nathan and I - were wondering if -"
Simon's voice was abruptly gone, a rough jostle and metallic scrape faintly sounding through the line before- "Curtis! Old pal, best mate, how's the herpes? What the weird kid is trying to stutter at you is that, guess what, we're suddenly a couple of mutant freaks on the lam. You know, like from those videos, the dead dragonfly girl? Only we look normal. Well, I look normal, for an immortal, maybe exceptionally good-looking - the other one has this thing where he goes all invisible, and-"
There was more jostling and half-discernable, boyish arguing before Nathan could finish.
"Oh fucking hell." Curtis muttered to himself partly because, well, fucking Nathan (what a prick!) and partly because if they really were mutants then he knew what he had to do: tell the headmasters. Telling the headmasters though had huge obvious drawbacks as they'd probably bring the boys to the school and Nathan on a daily basis again? No thank you.
"Nathan? Simon? Hello? Is this like his whole 'I got community for eating pick n mix' shit or is he actually serious about the mutant thing?" He wasn't about to out himself as a mutant before he knew for sure after all.
Simon glared at Nathan, and put the receiver back to his ear in time to hear Curtis's question. Well. In for a penny... "It's true," Simon confirmed, after a last few seconds' hesitation. "I turn invisible, and he's been shot and come back to life. We need a place to lay low, where they won't look for us, but I thought telling you the truth might put you in danger." It was what happened in comic books, after all.
"Fuck." Curtis muttered to himself, digesting the information, before telling the other boy, "No more than I was already. I'm one too." He wasn't immediately forthcoming with his own power though, he could just imagine Nathan's reaction to gender-swapping and knew the reality would be even worse.
"I'm in America now though, like I talked about going 'cept I'm not exactly travelling. Basically it's a safe place for people like us." If they were laying low though the line might not be safe so he didn't want to get in too much detail. "The guys who own this place, they'll help you if you're in trouble. They've saved others."
Simon had been ready to explain that it was precisely because Curtis was in America that they'd thought to call him, but much as his mind was still puzzling over the fact that Curtis was a mutant as well, it was nothing to the surprise of his next announcement. His so-called school was a haven for mutants?
"Who are they?" was all he asked, however. He had just learned, the hard way, not to trust just about anyone who said they were on the side of mutants. He had just learned, the hard way, not to trust much of anyone, and now he had to wonder if the Facility had got to Curtis as well.
"They seem alright. The headteachers are mutants and one's seriously rich so turned his big fuck-off old house into a school. There's loads of kids here, even the kids of one of the headmasters. Only been here a few months but seems pretty cool. Look, you want help or not?" He asked, and when it was obvious Simon was still hesitating, he added, "They won't make you stay here if you don't want to, maybe just give you somewhere to lay low for a bit yeah?"
Simon hesitated for a few more seconds, but it was, oddly, the expectant look on Nathan's face which made up his mind. "Alright," he agreed. "We don't have our mobiles anymore, we'll call you again in... an hour?" Time enough for Curtis to talk to the headmasters, time enough for the two of them to get far enough away from here, in case his access of his online data had been spotted by the Facility.
"Yeah, yeah sure. We'll sort this, k? Don't worry. And...and ignore Nathan as much as possible." He'd wanted to give some good advice but having never been on the run before he didn't really have any. Except that Simon let Nathan rag on him way, way too much.
He was already walking out of his room and towards the direction of Professor Xavier and Lensherr's offices, one of them had to be in and there was no way they'd turn their backs on two mutants in trouble. Especially after what had happened to youtube girl.
"You, you guys are alright aren't you?" he asked belatedly, something he probably should have asked after being told about the whole 'Nathan got shot' thing. His brain was possibly struggling to process all the new information. The fact that Nathan had been shot almost didn't surprise him though, he knew there had been moments where he could have been tempted to do it himself.
"For now," Simon confirmed, not meaning to sound ominous but coming off as such anyway. He paused, his awkwardness creeping up on him now that things were turning more personal, but he still forced the words out, "Thank you, Curtis. We'll call back in an hour."
He hesitated for a second, then disconnected the call. Time to explain all of it to Nathan.
