[center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/2405a577-9c74-4ef4-850c-8e1d7ae2ba38.png[/img][/center][center][/center][hr][center][color=FF9A4F][b]Location[/b][/color]: She-Hulk's Apartment
[color=FF9A4F][b]Skills[/b][/color]: N/A[/center]

[center][youtube]https://youtu.be/P34jgkLRKu0?si=t0Z-rQGZa2ogCcMM[/youtube][/center]

Leah was not in a good position, right. She was in an okay state, but a bad [i]place.[/i]

Ordinarily, she would've just hid in her dorm at the school, barricaded behind all the usual security measures the place had, while hiding underground in the gym where the building could be modified every which way. If these were normal circumstances, she'd just stay like that, entombed in a subterranean environment she'd eventually unmake, for everyone's protection in case dear old dad decided that [i]this[/i] would be the day he stopped playing the long game. She had it worked down to a science by now, exactly 15 feet in every direction, 30 feet below the floor and at the furthest left corner from the front doors. Last year, she tried the right but found it a bit inconvenient during Christmas break because couldn't hear jets landing as easily. But alas, this wasn't normal circumstances. 

Instead, she was sitting on a bed in She-Hulk's apartment, distracting herself with a playlist she could barely hear through the earbuds used. It was two in the morning, and she just sat there, staring at the door like the Winged Menace himself was just around the corner. They never celebrated Thanksgiving, dad didn't care for it and mom wasn't able to eat that much anyway. They didn't really do holidays in general, unless it was dad leaving for a business trip around December. But the funny thing was that everyone else did, and of course they'd all be off with their families during such a time. The ones they still [i]had.[/i]

Leah hated these kinds of things, because it reminded her that she could've actually had something like that if her dad wasn't some fucking international supervillain. If he hadn't shot mom right in front of his daughter, or even if they lived in some twisted world where dad was actually [i]proud[/i] of Leah for surviving his "guidance," as he'd put it. 

She didn't want to be here, in this woman's home where he could crash in at any second much easier than the school. Anyone else who tried that would be stupid, but dad wasn't stupid. He was smarter than most people, stronger than them, more skilled than them, and he knew where she was. The better option, strategically, as the mansion that She-Hulk had gave her access to, but she was [i]not[/i] going there. They'd ask questions about where she came from, because She-Hulk definitely wasn't going to keep that to herself, and Leah doubted that saying they stood a chance against him was anything other than optimistic. He'd probably take Vision to pieces, or kill Hawkeye with his own damn weapons to make it harder on himself, just to say he [i]could.[/i] 

She was tired, but she was fine enough to deal. Over the break, April wouldn't shut up, and she actually loved that for her. Whenever April texted her in particular, she'd just send something simple back to not to stop April's stream of consciousness. [i]Yeah. I'm alive,[/i] or [i]Apparently She-Hulk is my parent now.[/i] She was just glad that April was thinking of her, it felt nice. But beyond that, she didn't really initiate conversations. She didn't feel like it, because there was always something in the back of her mind that made this whole mess demand her attention.

[color=ff9a4f]"I wish you'd just come out already,"[/color] Leah whispered. [color=ff9a4f]"So I can fucking [i]kill you again."[/i][/color]

No one manifested from the darkness, no one popped out and held a gun to her forehead. 

[color=ff9a4f]"You've waited long enough, haven't you? You know where I am, or did you always know? You could've killed everyone around me to isolate me, but you didn't... So come out already and I'll make it quick. Or maybe I'll make it slower than what you did to mom. You'd [i]deserve[/i] that..."[/color]

She blinked, slowly.

[color=ff9a4f]"You always told me I was a mutant, like you. But you couldn't even be straight with me about [i]that?[/i] You stuck machines in me, and I've got fucking [i]magic[/i] in my spine or something. That was you. And- I'm wondering just how fucking free of you I really fucking am, you piece of shit."[/color]

Leah fell back against the bed, staring up at a dark ceiling. She'd been staying up like this for days, now. [color=ff9a4f]"I'd been telling myself you were dead for long enough that I thought I'd get to live. Then she tells me you're not dead- I confessed to [i]her[/i] and then [i]she[/i] made a move on me. They- You- [i]Fuck you.[/i] Come out and fucking fight me if you want. I'll... Kill you. Again."[/color] An irrational side of her brain, the parts she hated the most on some days, told her that if she fells asleep now, she might not wake up. But another part was taking over, deciding to knock her out.

After many, many hours straight without rest, she passed out.

[hr]
[center][color=FF9A4F][b]Location[/b][/color]: Avenger's Academy
[color=FF9A4F][b]Skills[/b][/color]: N/A[/center]

[center][youtube]https://youtu.be/gnAHi7c9F54?si=D_VaNhFnacN_AVq6[/youtube][/center]

Leah didn't stay at the apartment long enough for She-Hulk to do or say anything parental. None of that "have fun at school" shit or any nonsense about staying here long-term. She just grabbed her things and walked out the front door, deciding to walk to get rid of the nervous energy she was trying to endure. And just in case She-Hulk (She wasn't about to use the woman's real name, they weren't familiar enough) wanted to say otherwise, Leah stuck her earbuds in and cranked the volume. 

She walked all the way through Los Angeles, she was familiar enough with the layout of the city from flying on rocks that she got there in about as much time as anyone else could in a car or on a bus. She wore her usual modified version of the school's uniform, the one made to actually last a while with her hair, under her old jacket that [i]really[/i] clashed with the aesthetic. Not that she cared about that part.

Leah got to the school itself and then pulled out her phone, walking as she did and not trying too hard to avoid running into someone. Usually, she was a big and stout enough individual that people got out of the way. 


[hider=@The Girlfriends]
[color=ff9a4f]He wont kick anyone out for it. Except Arcade.

He knows better. If he does then half of the heroes in north america are going to be on the schools ass for putting people in a position where they *know* their only chance is to cheat. And someone WILL say its cheating.

At that point they have to acknowledge that the nepotism team got an unfair advantage this whole time. That looks bad.

And who the fuck gives a shit about the contest anyway. i never did, I just went along with it because it would be unfair to victoria or the rest of the team im on. no one in this school has a damn thing to prove to a bunch of stuck up, egotistical pricks whose only collective claim to fame is that theyre the kids of the old avengers.

We lose, were still heroes after this Fucking remember that, because i love both of you too much to let you hate yourselves over something like that. 

Please.
[/color] 
[/hider]

Minutes later, she turned down the hallway, and walked down it, seeing April there with her friend. Mads tried helping her with the whole magic-machine-bullshit spine thing once, so they were at least cool. Leah looked a bit rough, like she [i]also[/i] hadn't been sleeping. But she looked practically bulletproof on most days. Today was the same.

[color=ff9a4f]"Hey."[/color] She bent down to April's height and kissed her on the forehead. [color=ff9a4f]"Bine here yet?"[/color]