Lynn didn’t know exactly how, when, and where she had messed up that day. Maybe she’d gotten too cocky, strayed too far into the open. Maybe there had been someone who just happened to be particularly observant, and recognized her from her Wanted poster, despite the fact that her unmistakable eyes were covered behind sunglasses. Or maybe she’d made the rookie mistake of turning down an alleyway while being chased by a group of angry humans.
It was a group of five strange men, not anyone Lynn recognized - she didn’t know if that was good or bad. They were wearing civilian clothes, so there was at least the possibility that they weren’t soldiers. But then again, vigilante groups could be just as dangerous, if not more so. Maybe they had less training, but the operated outside the law. She knew there was nothing stopping them from killing her right now. From the way the apparent ringleader was fiddling with a rusty, serrated knife as he stared down at her, they knew it too.
“Told you I recognized her,” he said. “S’ the Robinson girl, the one on the news.”
“I hear she’s the mutant leader,” said one of his companions. “Or at least her second in command.”
Lynn’s chest tightened. The fact that her mother had been a mutant rights leader when she was alive didn’t make her a leader, it made her a symbol. Her friends did the real leading, she was just there for morale - and, of course, because of her powers.
Lynn gave the men her brightest, most cheerful smile.
“I’m sorry, but I think there might be a misunderstanding,” she said sweetly, trying to keep the fearful tremor out of her voice - her persuasion only worked if she acted confident. “I’m not a mutant, I’m just a regular human like-”
“How dumb do you think we are?” the guy interrupted. “Humans don’t have yellow eyes, witch.”
Her throat closed up. Right. Her glasses had fallen off her face while she was running. So persuasion was out. Threats weren’t exactly her strong suit, but maybe she could manage something.
“If you kill me, I’ll be a martyr,” she said. “It’ll only make other mutants angrier.”
The leader paused for a moment.
He lunged at her, his knife drawn. Instinctively, she raised her arms to cover her face, and all the men jerked back, pulled away by an unseen force. Lynn took the opportunity to scramble to her feet and sprint as fast as she could to the only hope she had at this point - the light at the end of the alleyway.
In front of which a man was standing.
Lynn’s heart sank. The men were getting to their feet, it would be only a moment before they caught up with her again. But if this new person was with them, and she ran to him anyway, she’d be right back where she started.
She didn’t have enough time to read his mind completely, but she could feel one emotion radiating off of him - concern. Specifically, concern for her, even though he was a complete and total stranger. And despite the fact that he was far taller than her and obviously very muscular, he had a soft, friendly face, framed by long, light brown hair. Under his mustache, his mouth was downturned sorrowfully, almost sympathetically, and his bright blue eyes were staring deep into her own, like he was trying to see past her face, into her mind.
That’s when Lynn realized with a start - eyes. He was looking directly into her uncovered eyes, and his face didn’t show a single trace of fear. And it wasn’t like he couldn’t see them in the dim light of the alleyway - Lynn’s eyes were glowing like blazing stars, an occasionally unfortunate side effect of her powers. In short, there was no way someone could look at her for more than a few seconds and say that she was human in any way. And yet this man wasn’t afraid of her. He was willing to help her.
If Lynn hadn’t made up her mind already, she had now. She ran out into the open, catching herself just before she tackled the guy. Lynn took a deep breath in an unsuccessful attempt to calm herself down before speaking.