Skintight
by
Zerelda X



Marvel characters belong to Marvel. Charlotte belongs to me. No monetary rewards for this, just the satisfaction of finishing it.

Continuity: After Hiding in the Light.




Charlotte waited patiently at the register as the clerk rang up her purchases. The kid was taking too long, wanting to comment on each book. He was going to ask her out in a minute, she could read all the signs, and she was irritated enough to slap him down if he ever screwed up the courage to just spit it out. What she needed was a diversion for him. Which, after a glance towards the entrance, might be coming her way.

She watched Paige approach her from outside in the mall, wondering briefly what could have brought such a serious look to the teen's face. Silly question, really. Paige was serious, no two ways about it. She'd had to stop herself from calling the girl 'Scottina' aloud so as not to embarrass or alienate the her.

Now if she could get the clerk to notice Paige, she could make good her escape.

"Mrs. Logan?" the girl said urgently, "there's a problem."

Charlotte nearly sighed. After three months, Paige could not bring herself to address her as Charlotte, or even Char. Of course, this time she was grateful for the title. ~What kind of problem?~ Charlotte pulled out her wallet and handed the clerk her credit card.

The clerk, hearing Mrs. Logan, backed off on his attempt and turned his eyes Paige-ward.

~Angelo. He's getting some trouble from some of local boys.~ Paige paid no attention to the clerk's attempt to catch her eye.

~Why hasn't he walked away?~ Charlotte signed the the credit slip and collected her things. ~Where are Bobby and the others?~

~They're close by. They've got him cornered and we're under orders to not be noticed.~

Noticed? Emma needed a reality check. They always got noticed, one way or another. Charlotte smiled to herself. Considering what Emma's idea of conservative encompassed, she really shouldn't be surprised. 'Noticed' meant not have Sentinels chase you down the mall thoroughfare.

~Purists?~ Charlotte hadn't spotted any protest groups when they came in, but they might have shown up later. She double-checked for those boys every time she went out with the students in tow these days, especially after she'd ended up on the news. She couldn't count on Magnus making a public rescue, nor did she want to, not after the last time.

~No, I think they're bigots. They haven't said anything anti-mutant.~

Charlotte made a face. Perfect. Not much of a difference, but it was enough to give her a handle on the situation. "Come on," she said aloud, startling the clerk. "Let's go get him."

Just a little trip into the city to the mall, Jubilee said. Spend the afternoon shopping, have lunch, maybe see a movie. 'Relax a little, cause yer startin' to look yer age there, old woman.' Damn kid. Charlotte would have been just as happy to stay at the school and sleep the afternoon away.

The mall wasn't as busy as it had been the month before during the holidays, but after Christmas sales still kept things brisk. She didn't like being around people, or being jostled by casual strangers, but she took it. It was the price she paid for her arrogance and foolhardy behavior.

They met up with Everett, Jubilee and Jono standing with Bobby a short distance from where Angelo sat. There were four surrounding him loosely, positioned to keep him from leaving, but they were beginning to get looks from people passing by.

~He don't want no one stickin' their nose in,~ Jono told her, ~said they'd get tired o' fussin' soon enough.~

"It ain't workin'," Jubilee commented, earning herself a glare for stating the obvious.

"It's time for lunch," Charlotte said. "I'll go get him before someone alerts mall security." She handed Bobby her bags. "This won't take long."

"You'll embarrass him if you go in acting like his mother," Bobby told her, juggling her purchases and his own. "That would make things worse."

Charlotte gave him a wry smile. "Then I won't be Mom."

"Umm, Char, what're you going to do, and will Logan kill me for letting you do it?" Bobby asked, the first worried look crossing his face. He didn't trust that smile one little bit. Why couldn't this happen when Gambit had his turn watching her last week? Remy would've found a way to stop her.

"Who knows? You're always telling me to live a little."

"I was just kidding," he said, a bit desperately. "So help me, if Logan shreds me for not stopping you, you'll be wearing ice bras for a week!"

"For all you know, I might enjoy that," she retorted. "Go on, we'll meet you in the food court."

"What, an' miss the show?" Jubilee feigned indignant shock. "Not a chance!"

~*~*~*~*~


Angelo watched the group of high school boys acting out at his expense, and did his best to ignore them. It was bad enough getting flack for being a mutant, but he had his image inducer on. They were hassling him for the *crime* of being Hispanic.

He liked his appearance with the inducer, the way he should have looked in a perfect world. As far as he could piece the comments together, one of them lost a girl to a 'wetback' and they were busy lumping everyone with brown skin into the same category. The girl finally showed some sense and good taste, in his opinion. Color probably hadn't been the issue for her, it had to be the redneck attitude.

A glance at his watch told him it was time to meet the others for lunch, and if there was one thing he'd learned in the last few months it was that Charlie didn't like to be kept waiting.

She was okay, although she did unnerve him at times. Her history lectures were interesting, too, she made it all seem pretty real. One moment she'd be talking about Paul Revere and his famous ride, they all knew about that, then in the next breath tell them he was a lousy rider and lucky to get to the North Church at all. Damn fine silversmith, didn't relate well with animals.

Paige wasn't happy when Charlie made personal comments about American heroes. Saying Jefferson Davis was a compelling orator was one thing; mentioning he had bad breath due to illness was something else entirely in the Country Mouse's Book of Manners and Rules-Never-To-Be-Broken-Not-Even-Under-Pain-of-Death.

With one last drag on his cigarette, he stubbed it out and got to his feet. It was lunch time, and he didn't make it a practice to keep a lady waiting, especially since she could make his next practice extremely difficult, and she was paying.

"Where you going, a-mee-go?" One brave lad stepped in Angelo's way. The others gathered around him in a loose circle.

A slow grin crossed Skin's face. "What's it to you, a-mee-go?" he mocked. Frosty couldn't complain, he'd done nothing to draw attention. "I got somewhere to be."

"I think you're just gonna have to be late."

"Angelo?"

The soft voice interrupted their fun. The group looked at the person speaking, while Angelo made a face.

Charlotte sauntered toward him, a silly smile on her face and a dangerous glint in her eyes.

A collective gasp went up from the mouthbreathers. All they saw was a pretty, sexy young woman who wasn't talking to any of them.

"Ange, honey," she purred, moving through the wall of testosterone to slide her arms around his waist. "I've been waiting for you, and here you are playing without me." Her eyes twinkled at him, just before she pulled him down to kiss him full on the mouth.

Angelo stood still and let her kiss him, feeling a ghost prickling of something sharp at his back. The other students were not that far away, and he could see Jubilee laughing hysterically.

~*~*~*~*~


Bobby buried his face in his hands, muttering furiously about finding a safe place to hide until Logan calmed down.

"Like, where's a camera when you need one!" Jubilee nudged Bobby's shoulder. "Wolvie's not gonna believe this!"

"Yes he will," Bobby's voice was muffled through his hands. "He'll find out and he'll kill me!"

~Yer a brave man,~ Jono sent to his friend, unholy humor in his 'voice'. ~Dead man when Wolverine hears about this. Enjoy while you can, mate.~

~*~*~*~*~


Angelo almost couldn't speak when she finally let him up for air, one golden eye closing in a slow wink at him. He cleared his throat, searching for what was left of his voice. "Just on my way," he told her in a husky tone, "but these bad hombres thought I was making eyes at one of their girls."

"How silly. You weren't doing that, were you? You only make eyes at me." Charlotte pouted in a silly, sex kitten-ish way. "Are you try to break my heart?"

Angelo nearly burst out laughing; instead he planted a soft kiss on her nose. "Si, only you." He never would have guessed Charlotte would act like this, but who was he to turn down a golden opportunity to get a dig in at the mouthbreathers.

"You're his girlfriend?" One of them managed to say incredulously.

She shrugged and snuggled in a little closer. Hidden by the image inducer, his skin molded itself around her. "Of course I'm his girlfriend. I don't let just anyone make eyes at me." She turned the full battery of amber eyes on the speaker.

Angelo pulled her tighter and stroked her cheek with his free hand. "You got something else to say?" he asked in a silky voice, enjoying the Bad Boy Club's unease. This was satisfying in a way he couldn't explain.

"C'mon," he said, getting no answer from the speechless group. "Let's get some lunch, querida." He released her to take her hand and lead her away.

"Anything you say, lover." She flashed the Fishmouth Four a sunny smile as she was pulled away. ~About time, too. I swear, humans are not improving with all this unchecked breeding.~

He laughed, then sobered quickly as Jono's words came back to him. ~Tell me, senora, is Wolverine gonna call me out now?~ He knew if he turned around he'd see four jaws hanging on the ground watching Charlotte's tight jeans follow him.

~We'll just have to see, won't we?~



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