An Unlikely Team (Mia)

[Jordan Scholl]

Jordan was having a lot of trouble trying to figure out his math homework. Algebra had never been his strong suit, even at his old school. He sat in his dorm room staring at one problem for five minutes before deciding that it was time for a break. He could always come back to homework.

Since he'd been at Hammel he had realized that if he wanted to be alone, he couldn't very well go to the lounge or cafeteria, or anything of that sort. His best bet, seeing as it was winter, was to head outside for a little while. So he piled into some of his heavier clothes and went out to the pond.

Strangely enough, another student was already there. Jordan decided to avoid the other boy, an older student, and just sit on the other side of the pond. It was easier than trying to make friends--he'd already used up all of his courage trying to talk to the inscrutable Mia.

Yet when he sat down across the way, trying to make himself as small as possible, the other kid got up and came toward him.

"You new here?" he asked gruffly.

"Maybe," Jordan answered. He tried to avoid eye contact. "Does it matter?"

"Yeah. New kids gotta pay their dues, you know."

"Look, I don't know who you are, and I don't want to bother you. Can we just--"

"Hey, kid, you're new here, you gotta pay some respect to those of us who've been here a while. Got it?"

Jordan could feel himself starting to shake. Years of bowing to a bully's every whim had taught him to just give in and try to get away as fast as possible. But he was supposed to be starting new here, and didn't he have some kind of immunity? He did have family as part of the staff.

"I...I..." he stammered.

"You got something to say, kid?" the older boy said, raising his fist.

Jordan flinched and tried to duck away. "Please, just don't--"

The punch landed.

[Mia Keystone]

Mia was not a good person. She knew as much. She did not particularly like kittens or puppies, did not enjoy rainbows, and did not see the point in helping people out if there was nothing in it for her. But sometimes, her conscience, as automated as it seemed, kicked her into gear. Had happened maybe... twice. And it always seemed to happen when she saw someone she knew getting their shit handed to him.

Why did she make friends/take on apprentices who seemed to attract thugs?

The girl had been watching from her position up a tree (checking out good viewing spots for her extreme weather cameras, when Reeve was done making them) and had seen the guy approach Scholl, had seen them talk (well, one talked and one whimpered) and then...

Oh no he didn’t!

Noone punched people Mia considered sort of ok. It was like he’d punched her, right in the face. Or stomach, like Jordan. It was disrespect and it was not to be tolerated. Half climbing, half falling down the tree Mia landed on her feet like a cat and walked quickly over. The guy had maybe... a foot on her? A bit less? Still, Mia had the amazing skill of being able to look down on anyone, even those graced with a bit more hight then her own modest 5 feet (read: everyone).

”Problem?” she asked with a chagrin smile, then her trademark scowl slid back into place and she slide into an attacking stance. Moving forward, she raised a fist. The guy just laughed but as he went to block she slide her front foot next to his and swept her foot towards her other knee in an arc, contacting his foot below the ankle bone. With a hard push, she shoved his foot off the ground. He hit the snowy grass hard.

Still not looking at Jordan (she was going to have a very serious talk to him after this) she stood over the guy with her hands on her hips. He’d either be angry enough to launch at her, or would quit. ”No problem, I think. Fuck off.”

[Jordan Scholl]

Jordan let out a hefty "oof" as he was punched in the gut. It knocked him back for a moment, but he pulled himself up to a standing position and took a step back. Breathing heavily, he muttered, "I don't want to be a problem."

Suddenly, though, they weren't the only two people around. To his complete surprise, Mia had joined them. He looked around without trying to make it conspicuous that he had no idea where she had actually come from. There weren't even any good hiding spots around! At least, none that he could spot.

But then she was trying to defend him. Jordan held out his hand, meaning to try to protect the small girl. "Mia, you don't have to--"

Luckily for him, she was more than capable of defending herself, and the older, bigger bully landed hard on the ground. Jordan stared down at him in shock for a few minutes, then up at Mia. Slightly up, anyway.

After she thoroughly told off the bully, who promptly ran off into the bushes with an invisible tail tucked between his legs, Jordan managed to pull himself together enough in order to get out something that was similar to a sentence.

"That...you just...the bully.... Awesome!" He was grinning now. "Man, I guess I always knew...'cause you know, you were too cool not to be able to stand up for yourself, but man! That was incredible! Will you teach me?"

In his awe of the other girl, he forgot for half a moment that they had only met the once before, and it had been under completely different circumstances. In short, his Bond-style demeanor was completely destroyed, what little of it he still had. And, to top it all off, he wasn't exactly out of the clear yet.

[Mia Keystone]

It took Mia a microsecond to realise why Jordan thought it was a good idea to get in her way, and another to decide if she was touched or offended. Why did people think just because she was good with computers she would be weak and defenceless? Being defended by a 13 year old? Seriously? He was easily sidestepped.

Watching with obvious satisfaction as the random ran away (and she was so going to track him down later), Mia rolled her eyes and turned back to Jordan. He was fangirling. For her. It would be sweet if it wasn’t, well, Mia.

She let him rattle on for a while, her ego inflating just a little, until she’d had enough and covered Jordan’s face with her hand to silence him. His nose meant her fingers didn’t actually touch most of his face but it made her point clear enough.

”What the hell where you doing, Scholl?” She asked/accused, scowling at the younger boy. ”Who the fuck taught you the path of least resistance is ever a good idea?” she drew back her hand, but it was not an invitation for the boy to start talking. ”You shouldn’t need to know karate to be able to fend off a twat like that,” and if nothing else, Mia was expanding the 13 year old’s vocabulary.

It hadn’t escaped the tiny technopath that Jordan’s attempt at ‘cool cat’ had disappeared faster than you could say ‘sucker punch’. With a sigh Mia shook her head and started pacing, not able to stand still after the adrenaline rush of a takedown. ”You managed to talk to me without wetting yourself, and I am way scarier than some dildo dickwad looking for lunch money.”

Didn’t he get it? He was an investment. Mia did not like people fucking with her investments. And that was it. She’d have her toenails pulled out with rusty pliers before she admitted it any other way.

[Jordan Scholl]

Jordan stood in shock as he listened to Mia begin her rant. He wanted to shrink away from the tiny terror that was before him, and he could almost feel himself starting to shake.

He forced himself to stand totally still so as not to lose himself to the invisibility. Still, he was shivering a little with the icy blast that was coming his way.

He'd heard the f-word before, but he filed "Dildo Dickwad" away for future usage.

"I...I..." he stammered. "I'm sorry, Mia. I didn't...I'm just no good at that kind of thing. You know. The bullies and whatnot." He looked shyly up at her. "I'm not that strong a guy or anything, and, I don't know, I just don't like getting hurt."

Slowly he traced a pattern in the dirt with the tip of his shoe. "What made you the way you are? So strong and everything, even though you're so little? Did you have to work at it, or were you just born scary?" He tried to grin at this last statement, but he wasn't exactly kidding.

[Mia Keystone]

Was it just her, or was Jordan getting a bit fuzzy around the edges? ”None of that,” Mia said sternly, grasping his shoulders to stop him. Her hands tingled; it was actually mildly impressive. ”What, you think I’ll punch you?” Mia would never hit a 13 year old...

That was a lie.

She would never hit a 13 year old without due cause. Jordan started stammering something and Mia rolled her eyes when he shot her a puppy dog face. Great, now she’d feel bad if she just walked away. Too nice for her own good sometimes, she was. Scoffing at the ‘not that strong’ comment she raised an eyebrow.

”Because I’m clearly such a tank,” she snorted, ”dude, fuck off I’m like the same height as you!” honestly, if it wasn’t for her combat boots she would be shorter, but she didn’t need to point that out. With a resigned sigh, Mia pushed her hair back and let her head fall back to glare up at the sky. She made the decision in a split second.

”Ok,” she said flatly, ”I’m how I am because this is how I want to be. First thing; know who you are and don’t let anyone else,” she glared at Jordan, ”anyone make you feel like that’s not ok.”

Fuck, she sounded like a lifestyle coach. Laaaammmeeeee~

”If you apologize to someone who’s gonna hit you, they will just hit harder. I know I do,” she added, glaring again at Jordan. Because she did not want him to think she was soft, or friendly, or even that she liked him. Because she did not, and she also did not think he was sort of like a lost duckling or something.

With rough hands, Mia grasped Jordan’s knees and pulled them apart slightly until his feet moved apart. ”STronger stance, so if he does hit you wont budge,” she started. ”And don’t cower. If I can take someone down, you can learn to.”

Was she going to teach him? Fuck. That. What was she getting herself in to?

[Jordan Scholl]

"No, I didn't say I thought you'd punch me," Jordan said with a smile born more out of nervousness than anything actually related to happiness. No, he didn't say he thought she would punch him. That didn't mean he wasn't actually considering how quickly he might duck a punch.

He decided it would be a bad time to mention that she was only as tall as he was because she was wearing incredibly tall boots. There was still the possibility that she could punch him. Instead she just waited silently as she went through some internal debate.

And then she had to go spurt off something like that. Jordan had heard the same sort of thing from a bunch of teachers and counselors who came to the classroom about bullying. It never really meant anything. Especially to a kid who didn't even know who he was. How was he supposed to be confident in himself when he didn't know what he was being confident in?

Finally she imparted something that could actually be used as real advice. Jordan nodded and made a mental note never to apologize to someone who might hit him. Unless they needed an apology, like Mia might need at some point. But maybe not. Was life ever this confusing before?

When she grabbed his legs, Jordan felt a huge tremor go up his body, and he was fairly certain he may have disappeared for half an instant before regaining his composure. And yet, while he was scared of Mia, he wasn't exactly sure that was why he had felt a shiver just then...

But then the moment was gone, and she was yelling at him again. Jordan nodded sincerely and put his hands up in front of him, fists clenched with his thumbs tucked under his fingers. "Like this?" he asked her. He threw a few weak punches. "How do you take someone down? You're not...big, or anything. Could you go up against someone who was really tall?"

[Mia Keystone]

Mia scowled, and she rubbed her head absently. Stupid cliche thing to say; fucking poor sensei she’d make. “I mean,” she said slowly, “like, people give me a hard time, or well, used to, because I’m short and I like computers more then talking about hair and boys,” she shrugged, ”but that never made me want to start doing things they liked just so they’d back off.” She was not good at this. Pep talks were not her thing.

Then like a tv show with bad connection Jordan flickered and wavered out of sight for an instant, and her hands stung with pins and needles. Shaking them out, Mia gave a crooked grin. ”That’s your thing in action then,” she nodded, before sighing and grabbing Jordan’s wrist as he punched.

”First, since you’re too young to work out, don’t punch. You haven’t got enough strength here,” she squeezed a hand around his bicep, “or here,” she tapped his shoulder, ”to be able to to much.” Quickly she uncurled his fist and yanked his thumb out. ”When you do start punching, you leave the thumb out, like this,” she curled her own hand into a fist with the thumb outside, ”or you’ll break it. And that hurts like a motherfucker.”

The sight of Jordan all eager to start swinging made Mia smile to herself, but she shook it off and got into hard ass teacher mode. ”What you need to learn is how to block when someone hits you,” she ordered, ”Then I’ll start showing you how to take them out. But here’s the thing,” she wrapped her fingers back around his wrist and pulling it towards her body and rolled her other hand over his elbow, then lifted up his wrist. It wasn’t a painful hold, unless he tried to get out of it. ”Its about where you apply strength, not how much you have.”

She let him go and dropped into a defense stance, legs apart and knees bent. ”Ok, usually if someone’s going to hit you,” she explained,” ”you can see it coming. That guy,” she tilted her head in the direction he’d run off in, ”I’m guessing he pulled his arm back like this,” Mia drew her fist towards her. ”Punches are actually pretty easy to avoid, if the person punching is an idiot. Which most are. You have time to either get out of the way, or block it. If you stand slightly side on,” Mia shifted a little, ”he can’t get your stomach, the force won’t be concentrated. He winded you before, right? A bit? That won’t happen if you move back. Then, from here you can bring your elbow down on his arm, or...”

Time to show off. Mia swung her body around and launched a round house kick. Because she could, and because it looked awesome.

”You can’t do that,” she admitted with a grin.

[Jordan Scholl]

Jordan obediently redid his fists so that the thumb was on the outside, nodding all the while as he took in the advice. He still wasn't sure about the whole "confident in what you like" bit, namely as he still hadn't exactly figured out the kinds of things that he did like. He enjoyed his guitar, and he was enjoying the whole spy idea, mostly because he liked picking up information. But he figured he could work on that later.

When Mia put him into a hold, Jordan looked down at the way she had placed her hands. He wasn't sure he could copy that exactly, but it didn't look difficult. The problem, of course, would be willing to get close enough to actually use something like that. More generally he would just try the "run like a puppy with its tail on fire" technique. But maybe he could try some of this stuff on someone he wasn't scared of. Like his brother or something.

"Yeah, he pulled his arm back," Jordan said. "Isn't that what you're supposed to do, to get up some force behind it?"

When she mentioned the part about moving back, he decided to take it very seriously. He took a calculated step back and watched nervously to see if she was going to try to test him already. He wasn't sure he could block a punch, but he could probably duck out of the way.

"Go after the elbow, okay, a softer joint, I get that..." he was murmuring when he saw her preparing something else. All of a sudden her leg came up, and Jordan jumped backward and fell to the ground to try to get out of the way.

He was proud of himself for avoiding her kick, which probably would have hurt quite a bit due to the heavy shoes.

"You must be really strong," he said. "How much did you have to practice to be able to kick like that? And wearing those boots?"

He thought for a moment. "You know, you're not what I thought of when I figured there was a spy. I guess I thought you'd have more of a sneak suit or something, be more like a ninja. But you can really stand out in a crowd, which I guess I just never figured on. Don't you ever feel worried that you're going to stand out too much? It's easier, you know, to just look and act normal."

[Mia Keystone]

With a laugh, Mia grabbed Jordan’s hand and, squaring her feet, hauled him up. ”It’s not about being strong,” she said, still chucking to herself. ”It’s about how you use what you have.” she planted her hands on her hips and looked Jordan up and down, ”Bigger they are, harder they fall sort of deal.”

Which meant that Mia never, ever fell very hard.

”I’ve been doing karate since I was eight,” she said with a firm nod, ”My brother got to do ballet but I didn’t like dancing.” This was perhaps not a common thing to say, but by the way the technopath said it you couldn’t tell, and the way she looked at Jordan made it clear just how welcome any comment would be. This was maybe not needed, given Jordan’s uncle and his uncle’s husband/wife. Mia could totally picture James in a tutu.

As for the whole spy thing...

With a slight frown, Mia looked down at her bright purple jeans, and her tea cozy of a white beanie. Yes, perhaps she was a little conspicuous. ”I can so be ninja!” the girl poked Jordan in the shoulder, scowling a little. ”At school though? Most of the time? I don’t really care if people see me or not. If they see me it means they can get out of my way. But!” Mia held up one finger, eyebrows raised in a dramatic manner, ”If I don’t want to be see, you can’t see me!”

It then struck the short girl that she was talking to someone who could turn invisible. ”I blend,” she explained, crossing her arms over her chest. ”I can totally blend. I just don’t want to, most of the time. Why would anyone want to blend in?” She lent forward, eyes narrowed. ”Do you want to blend in?”

[Jordan Scholl]

"I tried karate," Jordan mentioned. "I never really took to it, though. I preferred soccer. I don't know what Josh likes, but he'll probably end up being a football guy." She glanced up at Mia. "Is your brother older or younger than you? I think the younger children tend to get spoiled, so I'd guess you were older, but I guess I might be wrong." He decided not to comment on the whole dance topic. Aside from the fact that certain people in his family might give him stern lectures about acceptance should he try to judge anyone else for what they like, Mia was wearing her don't-laugh-or-you-will-regret-it stare.

Jordan did raise his eyebrow at her ninja comment. He still wasn't all too sure he believed in her abilities in that area, but then, he remembered that he hadn't even noticed her when she came over to help him out.

He did laugh a little at her insistence that she could disappear. "Yeah, not being seen. I get that one a lot nowadays."

But then, in typical Mia-style, she turned the conversation back on him, making him altogether too uncomfortable. While his gut was screaming Blend! Blend! Run away!, his head was informing him that his tendency to fit in with the crowd wouldn't get him very far with Mia. It would probably just get him a bloody nose.

"Well..." he stuttered, trying to keep from telling a blatant lie and to keep from getting his foot smashed by those heavy boots, "I don't know that it's wrong to want to blend in. It's...safer...on the inside." But from the looks he was getting, he gathered that it had been the wrong response.

[Mia Keystone]

”Don’t know who Josh is, don’t care, hate organized sports,” Mia said distractedly, sending herself a note via her phone to check who Josh was. She was guessing brother but it had been a few weeks since she’d read over Jordan’s file. ”And he’s older. He is the bane of my existence.” But Mia had her friendly scowl on, rather then her angry scowl. ”And who are you calling spoiled? Or unspoiled? Are you saying I don’t appear spoiled?” Mia raised an eyebrow, waited a moment as she stared down Jordan, and, when he looked well and truly intimidated, cracked a mocking smile.

”I am never what people think,” Mia snorted, then raised her eyebrows. ”Never be predictable. Makes you way easier to target. That’s for physical and mental battle strategy by the way,” This mentor thing was actually sort of fun; maybe she could get him to start wearing purple too, and be her mini me.

Maybe that would be taking it a bit far.

Then again; ”Safe,” the bold technopath said sternly, ”Is not only hideously boring, it also means you never get to do anything good, or experience anything that will make a good story or, you know, help your balls drop in your case,” to show she meant that in a I’m here to help way instead of a I’m about to knee you in the crotch and steal your wallet way, she slung an arm around Jordan’s shoulders.

The problem wasn’t him not knowing how to hit, it was the come and get me, I have a gooey center vibes he sent out. Any bully within a ten foot radius would pick them up, hell Mia was getting a buzz from it. ”Seriously, are you scared of everything, or just things that are bigger then you?” Mia grinned, ”and me? But I’m special. I scare everyone. Because they know that if they hit me I hit back. People don’t like that.”

[Jordan Scholl]

"You're not spoiled, or unspoiled, I mean, uh..." He finally stopped stammering and caught her grin. "Anyway," he said, sullen that he hadn't got the joke, "if you're a younger sibling I guess that explains why you had to make yourself strong enough to stand up to everyone else. I think that means Josh is sunk, since he never really had to stand up to me."

"Never be predictable, huh?" Jordan said, trying to keep that in mind. One of these days he might try to use it against her. Namely if he ever did something wrong and she was mad at him.

"Safe is boring," he said, daring to look her in the eyes, "but it also keeps you alive. Which would you rather be, a really interesting dead person or a boring person who still gets to be alive and do things? And what does it mean to all your friends that you leave behind because you weren't being safe?"

He kept his voice even, since he didn't want to get into a shouting match, but it still irked him a bit. She seemed to think that there was nothing good in the strategy that he had been living out, when there was plenty he could do and still be interesting while still being boring.

"I'm not scared of everything," he said quietly. "Just the things that can hurt me. And right now that happens to be...a lot of stuff."

[ooc: Sorry about the late reply!]

[Mia Keystone]

Josh ain’t the only one who’s sunk, Mia thought, crooking an eyebrow but not wanting to completely cut the kid’s to ribbons. Her relationship with her brother was the normal mix of partners in crime one day, ache nemesis the next, happy to fight with each other but always at each other’s back should someone else try to get at one of them.

Ollie was also one of the only people who called Mia out on her crap.

Sharp eyebrows rose as Mia stared back at Jordan. ”Morbid much?” she asked, arms crossed. ”I’m really interesting and not dead, it’s not a ‘would you rather’ thing, little dude.” Sure, there’d been some close calls but Mia was immortal, duh. ”How the hell does being interesting spell death? Doesn’t mean you start playing blind man’s bluff in traffic.”

It explained a bit though; if jordan associated being interesting with demising no wonder he wanted to blend in. ”Ok,” she said slowly, trying to hide her growing frustration, ”but at Hammel nothing’s gonna hurt you bad. Sure, you might get hit by people, doesn’t mean you never go outside.”

This was going around in circles. She needed a new approach. Having an apprentice was hard. ”Ok, try this,” she said finally. ”People say you can scare off mountian lions by pretending to be bigger then you are. Same thing with bullies. If they think you’re tougher then you are, and they’ll have to work too hard to get you, they’ll move on. So, tell them to fuck off.”

That was the theory, now for the practical. She stepped forward and pushed Jordan on the shoulder.

”Go on, tell me to fuck off.”

[Jordan Scholl]

Jordan frowned at Mia's arguments. "I'm not morbid, just...realistic. Anyway, there's all sorts of books and movies where the heroes live, but let's face it, I'm not a hero, I'm more like one of the secondary characters, and those guys don't do so well. Like Mercutio."

He let her steer the conversation away, since it wasn't something he particularly wanted to talk about, either. Of course, once he'd let her take control of the conversation, he wasn't happy about where it ended up.

"You're kidding," he said, taking a step back. "After you get through yelling at me and showing me how awesome you are and almost kicking me in the face which is almost above your head, uh, yeah, no thanks." Then he looked at her, still coming at him. "Um. Back off, or I'll turn invisible, then I'll...go run around behind you and hit you. You won't ever see it coming." It was an attempt.

At any moment now, he thought, one of my uncles could look out and see this thing happening. I wonder if she'll get in trouble for it.

"Do you get in trouble with the school much?" he asked. If it sounded like a threat, it wasn't meant to--he was simply curious, though later he thought how it might have been seen as something else.