What a welcome (open)

[Sam Mercer]

The ride inside the car was quiet not a single word was spoken between the two men the whole trip from the airport. Sam looked over at the other male and noticed his face was covered with fear. Sam was surprised his story had spread so fast that even the small military base in Vermont had heard of him. As the car stopped on the outskirts of downtown Sam stepped out. He was truly a civilian again wearing clothes he hadn't worn seance the day he left this place. He looked down at his white t-shirt blue jeans and black boots. A small chuckle left his lips as he noticed these were the exact clothes he wore as he jumped on the bus for basic. That seemed so long ago. He walked to the back of the car pulling his military green bag out of the back seat, as he closed the door the car took off before Sam could even say thank you. He turned and started the walk into down town. Sam's mind raced with the past and his old friends. How would they react to him coming back? He didn't even tell anyone he was leaving. He sighed and continued to walk. He had no choice after what happened. He only hoped some one would give him a place to stay. A few blocks later Sam was wishing he hadn't sold his bike, but he never thought he would need it. He wanted to stay in the military all his life but here he was in the middle of downtown with no where to go. Sam looked to the sky as snow began to fall, as each flake hit his skin is melted and turned to steam as he increased his body temp to stay warm. He stood there watching cars pass and people walk by not a care in the world. He watched as the world continued to spin as his came to a stop. Sam leaned against a brick wall laying his bag at his feet, he pulled a cigarette from his pack and began to smoke it. He just waited for anything to happen, Something to put his life in motion, anything really.

[Emmanuelle LaBeau]

Em clutched her pepper spray inside of her bag as she left work. Ever since she'd been assaulted she wasn't very confident walking alone from the studio especially since the guy who beat her hadn't been caught. A shiver went down her spine at the thought. She wasn't sure why he'd done it still... if he hated her... or just metas... if he'd just wanted to beat her up or if he had intended to kill her..... or if he'd come back to finish the job. She didn't like to think about it. She didn't like to talk about it even more. She didn't want anyone to know she was afraid. She didn't want other people being afraid for her that was even worse.

The air was cold and crisp and she could smell snow. A smile stretched across her face. Snow. She couldn't help but grin like a loony. She loved the snow. It gave her so much to play with, melting and freezing and playing with the little bits of frozen water. Granted she also tended to dry out a lot more in the winter but that was just a minor detail.

Small flakes of snow started to fall from the sky sticking to her eyelashes. It was like Christmas morning, but better. The snow was relieving her mind from all that plagued it. It was a welcomed change.

Em took a sip of her hot chocolate, it finally cool enough not to burn her but warm enough to still feel like a hug in a cup. She closed her eyes savoring the chocolatey bliss not even noticing the other person on the street. In a fit of excitement Em went to skip and bumped right into the stranger spilling her hot chocolate all over him. "OH SHIT!" She said out of shock. "Oh i'm so sorry." She said "oh crap was that hot?" She started immediately blotting him then realized that was weird and stepped back. "Sorry sorry."

Well wasn't that embarrassing? Em looked up at the boy. He didn't look much older than her and seemed to be carrying a body bag. A wave of fear shook through her. SHe hoped he wasn't the person who'd gotten to her. He looked strong. No, her villain was older than him.

[Sam Mercer]

Sam was in his own little world as he leaned against the wall. He closed his eyes as he took his last puff of the cancer stick and flicked it away. He let out a long sigh as the smoke rolled from his lips. As he relaxed he heard what sounded like a person starting to skip. Sam opened his eyes just in time to see a flash of what seemed to be a person and then feel the hot burning of some wet liquid all over his shirt. Sam laughed at himself in his mind. How could his life get any worse? Sam then noticed the person start to pat off his shirt and he heard her cute little voice all in a panic. When she finally stepped back he just lightly laughed. She was quite beautiful and there was no way Sam could be mad at her. He smiled and just looked at his shirt as steam from the hot liquid still rolled off it. "Don't worry I like hot things." he lightly laughs. "Not so sure about burning hot but its better than these little white fluffs of hell falling from the sky." Sam reached into his bag pulling out a black long sleeve cotton shirt. He quickly took off his now stained white shirt showing of his muscular body the military gave him. Then realizing he wasn't in the military anymore and this might be a little odd he quickly put his black shirt on. "Sorry about that. I am Sam Mercer I use to go to school here at Hammel." He was hopping she would be a meta to.

[Emmanuelle LaBeau]

Em was able to breathe again when she heard the small chuckle fall from his lips. He wasn't mad. Thank God. She wouldn't have blamed her if he'd yelled or cursed at her. But it was looking as if she'd gotten very lucky. She chuckled when he said he liked hot things. Oh she'd heard a line or two like that before, and had her ego not taken such a beating lately she might have taken that as an invitation but lately Em had not been feeling so hot. She'd been single for two months now, her longest dry spell since second grade. She wasn't sure if she liked it or not.... she wasn't sure if she was even looking.

When he took of his shirt Em quickly changed her mind about any trace of thought about not looking. Damn! She had to force herself to look away, her cheeks flushing rosy. He definitely had a nice body and she was not one to deny anything of the sort.

"It's ok... I'm sorry for throwing hot chocolate on you and ruining your shirt.... i can replace it if you want." She said then smiled. Sam. "I'm Emmanuelle LaBeou... I go to Hammel now... well I'm graduating." She explained. Hearing he was from Hammel was comforting. It meant he was a Meta and right now she didn't trust people who weren't.

[Sam Mercer]

Sam smiled as she said she was sorry the soft rosy tint still on her skin. She offered to buy him a new shirt and he just kinda shrugged. The shirt she had ruined wasn't anything important just a plain white shirt. As she stated her name Sam's eyes grew wide at the complexity but then a soft smile came over his face as she said she was a student of hammel. That means she was a meta and that made everything easier. "Well Emmanu... Emman... is it ok if i just call you Emma?" Sam just smiled he always had a problem with names and this one was on a whole new level for him. "You don't need to buy me a new shirt but you could have lunch with me."

[Emmanuelle LaBeau]

Em chuckled watching his lips try and form her name. It was a hard one and Em's random French accent when saying her own name didn't particularly help. French was her first language though and what the LaBeau's spoke in their home so it slipped once in a while. A strange combination with her otherwise very southern american accent. But to her it was normal.

"Yes. Emma's fine, hardly anyone calls me Emmanuelle." Another day another person another nickname. Most called her Emmy but even she was feeling like she was growing out of that starting to prefer Emma now that it was becoming more common. Of course she loved when Reece called her Manny too... but that nickname was really only for him. She wasn't so sure she'd like it coming from anyone else.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Lunch?" The boy did look awfully alone and she'd just burned the hair off his chest. "I guess I can do lunch as long as you're not plotting any revenge." She joked. She didn't have anything to do till later anyway and she was always up for making a new friend. Plus, she was interested to know what he was doing in the middle of town lugging around a body bag practically.

"I know a good place."