With Friends Like These (Part Three)

The Blackbird flight to San Francisco was a lot quicker than heading through an airport and taking a commercial flight would have been. It was a lot cooler too. It was almost hard to believe that Mister Logan had actually gotten permission to use it just to take me, Laura, and Saberwolf around somewhere. I guess his position and the time he'd put in as one of the X-Men gave him some clout.

The downside with it was that I had to deal with Laura staring a hole through me for most of the flight. She didn't say anything or respond to anything I said to her. And Saberwolf was no help. He just slept on the floor the whole time.

By the time Mister Logan dropped us in a park about a mile away from my house, I was glad to get farther than claws' distance away from Laura, just in case.

"Have fun. Be good," Were the last words Mister Logan left us with before taking off in the Blackbird, leaving us in the heart of my neighborhood. Laura looked like she wanted to walk off and leave, but she had somehow been cowed by Logan.

I have no idea how. I have no idea why. But she hung back and followed me through the streets to my home. It was a pretty neat thing to see every person turn their head, either on foot or in their car, to see me walk around next to a giant metal wolf.

"You are just the best conversation-starter," I commented to Saberwolf after a few minutes of walking, "You're not put out by all of this, are you? Coming to California?"

Wolf's hydraulics gently whirred as he kept pace beside me on the sidewalk, playing pack mule as he carried most of my stuff, "I am intrigued to see more of the world. Perhaps visiting this place will give me a better idea of where I would like to go, or what I would like to do."

I grinned at my A.I. friend, "I like that. That's a positive attitude to have," I told him before looking back at the girl trailing us, "Laura, you hear that? Be more like Wolf. He's got a glass half-full attitude here."

She growled at me. Honest-to-goodness growled. Okay, so trying to lighten the mood with her wasn't going to work anytime soon. That being said, I focused on speaking with Wolf.

"Well this is definitely the place to be if you want a good mix of stuff to see and do," I said to him, before beginning to brainstorm ideas, "Ooh! We can probably go to a game or something. You like football or basketball? I'll tell you right now though, I'm not going to Oakland for a fucking Golden State game. Laura, do you like sports?"

"..." No response whatsoever.

"...Riiiight..." I said, kicking myself for trying to integrate her into the conversation again. This was going to be like getting blood from a stone. I just turned forward, shifted my bags on my shoulders, and kept going, "Anyway, we're just about there."

My family had the kind of rowhouse that you thought about when you thought of people living on one of the hills in San Francisco. A pretty big one. There was enough space for two guests to stay at comfortably, even one the size of Wolf. After all, it wasn't like he actually slept in a bed.

I had the key, so I opened up the door and invited the other two inside, "Welcome. Make yourselves at home. Blah-blah-blah," I said as Laura and Wolf walked past to the living room, "Hey, mom, dad, anyone home?" I asked, heading farther down the foyer.

I heard my mom first before I saw her, "Bellamy?" She came out of the office and gave me a gigantic hug the moment she saw me, "Oh, my goodness, look at you! You look so much bigger!"

I pulled back and raised an eyebrow, "It's been six months, mom," I mean, I felt bigger when it came to my muscles, but I also saw myself every day. It wasn't like I could tell the difference looking in a mirror, "I can't look that different."

"Six months is a long time for a teenager. Trust me, you really do," She heard movement in the foyer and saw the back half of Saberwolf walk into the living room. Her breath hitched, "Whoa. You weren't kidding about the wolf thing."

I laughed and got a good swat on the shoulder for my troubles, "I haven't been kidding about anything I've told you about the school so far," I said before walking with her to the living room to make introductions. Both Wolf and Laura stopped looking around to take note of the two of us, "Right. So, the big metal wolf is Saberwolf."

"That's easy enough," My mom said, walking past me to stand in front of him, "...He's not dangerous, is he?"

Yes, he was dangerous, but you didn't just say something like that up front, "He's a big, old softie," I said, waving off mom's concerns, "I mean, not literally because he's made of metal and stuff, but he's been with me for a few months. All he's done is be a friend."

Saberwolf sat on the floor, his thin tail calmly waving around in the air, "I have no aim to bring harm to your home or anything else. I do not want to harm anything. I simply wish to enjoy San Francisco peacefully," He said, calmly pleading his own case.

I gestured to him as if to say 'I told you so'. Mom rolled her eyes and walked over to Wolf, stooping down to get at eye level, "Well, your dad already agreed. But I didn't expect him to be so big. Where are we going to put him?"

"Mom, he's a machine. He sleeps on the floor," I deadpanned, "Put him in any room. Put him in my room. It really doesn't matter."

It wasn't like comfort or discomfort was a thing for him. Wolf didn't object, so I figured that course of action was just fine with him. With that matter settled, my mom moved on to the quieter of the guests I had brought home with me.

Laura noticed that eyes were now on her, and she wasn't fond of the attention. I half expected her to run out of the back door when my mom went up to her, smiling as she looked her over, "And this is the girl you called about this morning? Your little last-minute addition," She leaned in toward me to whisper, "Is she the girlfriend?"

Oh God. Mom didn't know, but Laura could hear her, clearly. Even if she whispered, she might as well have been saying it right in Laura's ear instead of mine. Thankfully, Laura didn't seem to care about the case of mistaken identity.

I got between them and started making introductions, "This is my teammate, Laura Kinney," I said, gesturing to Laura, "She's... related... to one of my teachers," And that was all I was going to say about that.

Mom let my questionable explanation slide in lieu of focusing on making Laura feel welcome, "Well, you're free to make yourself at home for as long as you're here. I hope Bellamy doesn't bother you too much at school."

Laura looked at me with a momentary glare, still upset with me for whatever reason, "He... has his moments," She said, before softening her glance on my mother, "Thank you for allowing me to stay here."

Mom clearly liked that Laura was way more polite than most people my age that she'd come across, "If you go to his school, you must be a mutant too. What are your powers?" Laura silently held up a fist and popped her claws. My mom cringed at the sound of metal tearing flesh, "...That looks painful."

Suddenly self-conscious, Laura put her claws away and took a step away from my mother, "It is," She mumbled, rubbing the healed spot between her knuckles. It was a habit she seemed to share with Mister Logan, whether the two of them knew it or not.

My mom looked at me as if I had the answers to this mystery of a girl. I didn't, and my body language let her know as much. Mom eventually went to usher her upstairs to the rooms, "Let me show you where you can put your things."

I watched them go before I looked down at Saberwolf, who had been an audience to the whole interaction, "What was that?"

"Your mother felt fear at the moment Laura revealed her claws," Wolf said, "I could hear her heart rate quicken. It is likely that Laura could as well. I would also venture to guess she could smell her fear as well."

I looked at the ceiling and let out a heavy sigh. This was going to be a long vacation.