Testing and Limitations - Open

[Haley Shapiro]

Ever since she arrived at Hammel, Haley felt trapped. More so than she used to at the orphanage. She felt like everything she did was being monitored by ghosts.

The only place she felt sort of safe was in the training rooms and every so often, she sneaked into one of them even when she didn't have any training sessions.

Like now.

Everything was quiet - it was two in the morning - and Haley had set herself up in one of the rooms with a jar full of pennies. For the past half an hour, she had been bending the pennies in half, delighting in the fact that she could actually do this.

Giggling softly, she continued shaping her pennies with her bare hands, her smile widening as the copper plated circles gave way under her suddenly strong fingers.

When she heard a scuffle at the door, her smile dropped and she sat still, her breathing laboured. A few seconds passed and nothing happened so she blew out a sigh of relief before grabbing all the bent pennies to straighten them out.

But they didn't straighten out.

She tried once more with both hands but it just couldn't bend. "What?" she whispered with a deep frown. Setting the coin on the ground, she balled her hand in a fist and drove it down. "Ow!" She squeaked when all she managed to do was drive the penny into her skin. Luckily it didn't draw any blood but it hurt. And the penny was still bent.

Frustrated, she grabbed the coin and threw it against the door, leaving a slight dent in it. "Shoot..." she scrambled over to the door just in time for it to open from the other side. Looking up, she had a sheepish grin on her face. "Hello. I can fix that." She pointed at the dent on the door.

[Vincent Romanov]

Being head of security meant several things for Vincent. He was given a bit more access to a lot of things other staff members were not and he pretty much could go wherever he wished on campus. Being head of security also meant he was on call 24/7. Sometimes he would have to get up in the middle of the night and come down to the school because a group of teens trying to sneak out past curfew to go to some party in town were giving the security team a hard time. This night however, was different and Vincent was at the school working the graveyard shift because he had simply felt like it. Things in his life were changing as of late and he was wanting a bit of quite time to think things through. Being at home, wandering around in circles had nearly drove him crazy, so he had opted to work a few graveyard shifts to change the scenery.

The shifts for the security team rotated on a bi-weekly basis which made it fair for everyone. It was an odd schedule to get used to, but those who fit the profile for working security were usually used to such things. Dress code was still the same no matter what shift as it made it easier to identify security members. Dressed in typical suits, the security team stood out clearly, which was the goal. Intimidation was a key factor in any security detail. Vincent never wore a tie though and being in charge sort of let him get away with that small rebellion.

Tonight, Vincent was patrolling the area near the training rooms, a usually boring part of the school considering the time of night. However, tonight was about to prove different as he caught sight of a light on in one of the rooms. Could have been a staff member who had chose to stay over and work on refining their own powers, but Vincent hadn't seen any indication that any of the staff was staying over this late into the night. This either meant that a student was out after curfew or Hammel had an intruder. Choosing not to alert the rest of the security team, Vincent slowly made his way toward the training room, stopping just outside to stop and listen. He could hear someone inside, but couldn't tell what they were doing. However, the sound of a very large 'thud' changed the game plan. Vincent opened the door quickly, only to be confronted by a rather small girl who looked rather annoyed and who was trying to apologize for the dent in the door.

Vincent didn't know what to say at first as he looked at the dent in the door and then past the small girl to a pile of bent pennies laying on the ground near the center of the room. He looked to Haley now sort of confused. "Okay, for starters, your out way past curfew and secondly, defacing federal money is a crime," he said smiling just a bit.

[Haley Shapiro]

The first thing Haley realised was that the guy in front of her was H.U.G.E. It immediately triggered fear in the little girl. But it quickly turned into nonchalance when the man stated the obvious. And then ease when she saw the smile.

"Well, Captain Obvious." Haley stood up straight and stealthily tried to remove the coin out of the door but it was dead stuck in there. "I know I'm out past curfew. And...I wasn't defacing federal money. I was just...what does defacing even mean?" She frowned slightly.

The coin wouldn't even budge out of the door and it made Haley grump. "Darn it all to..." she swore under her breath as she went down on her knees to pull the coin out with both hands. "Okay, Mr Big can you like help me down here?"

[Vincent Romanov]

Haley had such fight in her as she smarted off to Vincent, yet not in a disrespectful way, but more like something which just seemed to be a casual part of her. Vincent liked it, but he couldn't come out and admit that as it would only erode his authority here. Breaking curfew wasn't a real big deal, it usual came down to what the student was doing while breaking curfew that decided their fate with Vincent. He wasn't sure how other staff members treated curfew breakers, but on the occasions when he caught them, Vincent liked to toy with them a bit before sending them off to their dorms. He arched his eyebrows and smiled at Haley as she just stood there, unafraid of being caught. This little one reminded him of a few memories he had long forgot. He remembered some of the encounters he had with security staff when he was a student here and how brash he was with them.

Letting out a slow sigh, Vincent still held onto a crooked little smile. "Deface means to mess something up," he said casually, tilting his head over to the side, looking the small girl over. It was rather clear what her ability was judging from the bent pennies on the floor and the one stuck in the door as well. She had super strength and that was something Vincent could relate to and understand. While super strength wasn't Vincent's ability, only a byproduct of it, he still understood the problems which came with it. There was an extreme amount of care which came with having such strength, such as having to learn not to apply so much pressure to anything in order to avoid crushing it.

Vincent laughed when Haley began to curse under her breath, moving to try and get the penny from its resting place in the door. Vincent stepped inside the room now, taking a look at the penny which Haley wasn't having so much luck with. "Leave it," he said , slipping his hands into his pockets, "That way the next time your in here practicing, it'll serve as a reminder of what your capable of doing," he added casually, knowing that any act of intimidation with Haley was going to be pointless. "What's your name kid?," he asked her, head tilted to the side, eyes going from the penny stuck in the door and back to Haley.

[Haley Shapiro]

His answer to her first question made her laugh. "Dude, I just made those coins even better looking. Like, who uses pennies anymore anyways?" She shrugged, still trying to jiggle the coin out from the door.

When he said to keep it in there, she looked up in confusion before rolling her eyes. "Mr Dude, I don't need a reminder. It's not like I asked for this." Haley felt like punching through something just to make a point.

Her name was nothing sacred to her. If she could, she would change it in a heartbeat but she didn't want to just blurt it out to this person. In all honesty, she was afraid what he could do if he knew it. It was silly but Haley was still a little scared.

"What's it to you?"

[Vincent Romanov]

Vincent couldn't help but smile at Haley as she voiced her opinion of how worthless pennies were. Vincent really couldn't argue, but he wasn't about to admit it to Haley. She already had enough fight in her and didn't need any fuel to her fire. Normally, Vincent hated a smart mouthed kid, but not all the time. Haley had caught him in a good mood at the moment and that was good for her. Vincent tried to consider things from her standpoint as well. She looked very young, around twelve he guessed as that was about the youngest age at Hammel. Meta abilities usually manifested in the early teen years, some earlier than others. It couldn't be easy for Haley he surmised. She was a young girl, hitting that area in her life when she body started doing all those young woman things and now she finds she got some meta ability to deal with as well.

Stepping further into the room, Vincent took a better look at the door. Haley had sunk the penny in there pretty good. When she got a solid hold on her power, she would be a force to be reckoned with. Vincent just hoped someone was there to help her focus that fight in the right direction. Too many metas thought they were gods and that wasn't helping the situation with normal society any. The government was getting all nervous, as if they weren't before and rumors were flying around about some new meta program which the fat cats in D.C. wanted in place. That idea at the moment was pushed away, as Haley got a bit too smart mouthed with Vincent.

Clearing his throat, Vincent rolled his shoulders, trying to keep a cool head. "Well young miss, it means a lot to me. I'm the one who helps keep you safe while your here at Hammel. So, if you don't want to end up at the security station while we send for one of the teachers to come and get you, then I suggest you find a better tone and give me your name," he said, his voice full of authority and other crap which the younger generation hated.

[Haley Shapiro]

She admitted to herself that when the tall man replied, she was a tad frightened. When she mouthed off to the ladies at the orphanage, they would either just walk away or ask her to calm down. None of them had ever talked to her with such authority.

Haley covered her frightened surprise and thinned her lips, scowling up...and up at the security personnel. "Yeesh, Sergeant Hardass, it's Haley alright? And whaddya mean find a better tone? My tone is just fine." Her voice trembled slightly as she unconsciously backed away from the tall man.

[Vincent Romanov]

It seemed the girl found some respect in her long enough to give Vincent her first name and the slight fear in her eyes seemed to indicate at least he had her attention now. This sort of rebellious attitude was typical of new transfers to Hammel and in all young teens in general. Vincent never seemed to really get use to the tone, but he had learned how to derail it rather quickly over the years. Establishing his authority was the first step and then finding some even ground to comfortably question the target came next. Now that he had Haley's attention, he could move on to getting some more information from her.

"See, that wasn't so hard was it," he said after Haley gave her name, followed by a small smile as she let Vincent know that nothing was wrong with her tone of voice. He wondered for a moment if this was how he had come across to most of the teaching staff when he was a kid here so many years ago. Looking back at that kid then, who would have guessed he would be the authority here one day. Of course, people like Haley and himself generally made good candidates for military and law enforcement for they weren't easily intimidated and had fight within them.

"I'm Mr. Romanov, but seeing how its after hours and school isn't officially in, you can call me Vincent," he said, tilting his head to the side, kind of assessing Haley. "You been here long Haley? I don't remember seeing your face around and judging by all these bent pennies, I'm guessing you've not got a good hold on your ability yet.....Am I right?," he asked her, smiling again. If Haley was indeed new here, Vincent would cut her some slack as she really hadn't done anything too bad. Sure, she was out after curfew, but so was about half the senior class. Vincent wasn't stupid and he had eyes and ears all over Hammel. As long as the kids weren't up to no good, Vincent let them be. However, he still kept tabs on all he knew to be out and about after hours. He didn't need someone getting hurt on his watch.

[Haley Shapiro]

The whiplash the security personnel gave Haley made her completely embarrassed and as she tried to hide her embarrassment, she was very much aware that she had left a really big gap between her and him. Yeah, way to show how brave you are, Hales.

As he introduced himself as Vincent, Haley filed it way for future reference. Like she would ever actually call him Mr. Romanov. That was just weird.

She hated being figured out so fast and that was exactly what Vincent had done. Which made her that much more resistant to be nice to him. "S-so what if you are?" Haley stammered, hating herself for showing how weak she was. This intimidation thing was just not going her way.

"Yeah, I'm new. This stupid place isn't helping me any. All my trainers always just flake out on me. I haven't found a good trainer who can handle my powers so that's why I've got bent pennies." She crossed her arms over her chest tighter and looked away from Vincent. "If they could just tell me how to control my powers, I can easily unbend those pennies you know. I'm a fast learner!"

[Vincent Romanov]

The slight bit of fear in Haley's voice was starting to make Vincent feel like a jerk, so he decided to tone the 'guy in charge' routine down a bit to help her relax a bit around him. Vincent just wanted to establish the boundaries, not make himself out to be some sort of monster to this kid. Shrugging his shoulders, Vincent glanced over his shoulder to the pile of bent pennies on the ground once again. "Well, if I am right it can mean lots of things," he said rather cryptically. Super strength was something Vincent could understand from personal experience and as such, he might be able to see things from a better perspective than Haley's trainer. Not saying her trainer was doing a poor job, after all, Vincent had no idea how the training program operated these days. He remembered his days of training, but was sure all sorts of things had changed since then. Each trainer had his or her own way of doing things anyway.

Turning around, Vincent walked away from Haley and toward the pile of bent pennies on the ground. He was impressed that she had managed to bend them only and not break them. This either meant she had some control over her strength or just hadn't harnessed her full strength yet in order to break the pennies in half. He just stood there, listening to Haley as she bad mouthed those who were supposed to be training her. Vincent didn't think her trainer was as bad as she was making them out to be, but then again, sometimes kids had a better assessment of people than adults did. Vincent wasn't a power trainer by any means, but he had been a combat instructor back in his military days and knew how to approach certain situations like this one.

Bending over, Vincent picked up two bent pennies and carried them back over to Haley. "Sometimes the answer to a problem isn't the most obvious one," he said, sounding like some cheesy old mentor type from a really low budget kung fu flick. Vincent bent over and placed one penny on the ground, the bent edge facing up. Standing back up, Vincent then gently put his foot over the penny and then stepped on it, flattening the penny out, almost to its original state. He had to exert very little of his stored energy to have the strength to do this and smiled as he moved his foot out of the way to reveal the penny to Haley. "Its your whole body that has this ability Haley, not just your hands. Put your strength to use in any way which gives you the edge," he said, holding out the other bent penny for her to take. "Remember though, your power is just starting to show itself and sometimes, it takes a little time to understand just what it is your dealing with," he added with a wink, still waiting for her to take the bent penny from his open hand.

[Haley Shapiro]

Haley raised an eyebrow at Vincent's sudden change in the tone of his voice. She warily inched closer to him as he responded to her rhetorical question. "Wow Mr. I-Give-Vague-Answers-To-Rhetorical-Questions. I'm not sure where you learned to talk to little kids but this whole, General Sir Badass routine ain't gonna fly around me." Haley's vocabulary had grown exponentially in the past few years surrounding herself with people who were undoubtedly smarter than her. Sure they were bullies but surprisingly they were highly educated ones. Go figure.

She frowned when the security guard moved closer to her pennies. She almost cried out for him not to confiscate them but when he did a really neat trick with the penny, Haley had to contain the apparent joy that was threatening to split her face in two. Did he have super strength too? It was definitely a bonus for Hammel, hiring Superman to guard their school. Haley's jaw dropped at the straightened penny and she looked from the coin to Vincent and back at the coin.

"Dude...how'd you do that?" She laughed incredulously before grabbing the almost flattened coin, turning it around in her hand. Even his cheesy lines didn't grab her attention as she continued to admire Vincent's handiwork. "Dude, you gotta teach me how to do this, man." She held the coin up with a grin. "Wow." She laughed once more before realising she was completely blowing down her own tough girl act. "I mean...whatever." She forcefully rolled her eyes.

[Vincent Romanov]

It seemed as if Vincent had impressed Haley to a small point. She dropped her bad girl attitude quickly, taking up the penny Vincent had flattened back out. Seeing someone else in such control of a power you yourself held was a bit more reassuring. Super strength was only a side aspect of Vincent's ability, but it was still something Haley could compare to herself. He knew she would have full control of her ability before she ever left Hammel, which was a long way off seeing how young she was. Hammel didn't let uncontrolled powers just wander off their campus and into a hostile persecuting world. All students had to demonstrate they could keep their powers at bay and have a certain degree of control when using them before Hammel let them graduate, that was just the way it was and had been forever.

The tough girl attitude was a front, as Vincent had suspected. Haley probably didn't have the best home life, maybe some rather abusive siblings to deal with as well. He had no idea she was an orphan, at least not yet. Vincent would check Haley's file when he got back to his office. He liked to have all the details when dealing with a situation. Surprises only got you hurt or dead when dealing with any situation. Being a military veteran, Vincent knew how important knowledge was and he kept a very detailed file on everyone he came across at Hammel.

Vincent laughed as Haley realized she had blown her tough act and he made no attempt to hide his amusement. "Practice kid, practice. You've got the know how in you somewhere, you just need to figure out how to unlock all of it," he said as his laughter died a bit. "Sometimes, in the case of super strength, you just have to let it come. Most of the training with this sort of strength is holding it back, not letting it out. Don't worry so much and just bend the penny," he threw out there, knowing Haley probably wasn't going to get much accomplished with her anger brewing like this.

[Haley Shapiro]

It was true, Vincent had impressed the young girl but she was still wary of him. He was still authority and Haley did not play well with authority. Especially ones who could probably pluck her up with two fingers.

Completely oblivious to Vincent picking up on something about Haley by how she acted, she continued with the charade. What was that saying that little Chinese boy had told her when they were back in the orphanage...die die must try. What the boy had meant was no matter what happens, you have to go with your gut. And Haley's gut was telling her that breaking the facade now would just ruin everything.

But with Vincent, it was all shattered the moment he laughed. "Dammit." Haley spat and stood up to her full height, which just came about Vincent's waist. "Don't laugh at me, you big lug." She pushed against him, not too hard by her standards. "I don't need your help." She glared up at Vincent before dropping the penny on the ground and stepping on it hard. "Youch!" the penny jabbed into her covered feet. She hopped around with her foot hovering above the ground. "Shit!" the curse flew out of her mouth.

It sounded so wrong coming from a little girl but having grown up with more boys than girls in a place where discipline and manners weren't actually the top priority, Haley had developed quite the mouth.

[Vincent Romanov]

Vincent had pissed Haley off by tearing down her charade, but hey, what was done was done. Haley clearly wasn't pleased as she stood, which still made her look like a smurf to Vincent. He just looked down at her as the curse word flew out of her mouth. He arched an eyebrow as Vincent didn't take kindly to such talk. Sure, he had said his share of them, but that still didn't make it right, and it really wasn't right coming from a kid like Haley. He let it go this time as Haley was mad. She had authority issues, that a blind man could see and he figured throwing more rules on her would only make her hate him even more.

As she shoved him, Vincent detected a bit of the hidden strength but only for a brief second. Her power was still emerging and was coming and going. There was going to be a lot more broken things around Hammel in the next few weeks, he was sure of that, he was just glad he wasn't in charge of maintenance. He didn't budge from his spot, his ability made sure of that and so he just smiled at her. Vincent put his hands up in the air as Haley clearly and quite loudly informed him that she didn't need his help. Apparently she also intended to show him as she tossed the penny on the ground and then stomped on it. Too bad anger didn't bring out that strength because all it got her now was a hurt foot.

Vincent winced as Haley limped around. Sure, he couldn't quite remember how that sort of pain felt, but it was just instinct. "Language young lady!," he said rather loudly and forcefully, "We're not on a Naval ship here," he said, showing his disdain for Haley's foul mouth. "You want to go around sounding like some gutter mouthed street rat, fine, but you won't do it in my presence. Understand?," Vincent went on as he crossed his arms. "Now, you can keep hoping around here on one foot like some kind of wild monkey, or you can stow the attitude and let me help you. Its your choice," Vincent told Haley, his voice calming down now. Vincent hardly every offered help to a student in this manner. There had been a few over the years who had interested him and whom he had helped find their center control point, but those were very few indeed.

[Haley Shapiro]

Haley almost fell on the ground when Vincent yelled, surprising her and making her lose her already precarious balance due to hopping on only one foot. She waved her arms about until she could no longer stand and bounced down on her butt. She almost yelled out another foul curse but against all she believed in, she stopped because now everything hurt and Vincent looked like he was about to pop a vessel.

The little girl had never cried before. At least not to her recollection. She was too proud for them, she guessed. So when she felt the tiny prickly sensation at the back of her eyes and in her nose, she was weirded out and tried her best to hold it all in. She couldn't cry. Not in front of the guy she had been trying to act tough for awhile. Damn big security personnels with boomboxes for voices.

"I don't need anyone's help." She spat, though whatever vitriol she tried to muster was counteracted by the wavering of her voice. She was about to cry, she knew it. So she did the most rational thing she knew. She got up and ran away, leaving her jar of bent pennies scattered all over the floor.

[OOC: Okay so, I'm going to end this here because it seems more IC for Haley to run away than staying and getting to know Vincent better >_< Shall we have them get into other shenanigans?]