Hawk and Dove

"Mutants Extraordinaire"

Dan sat on the couch; his head back against the wall as Phil asked, "Are you hung over?"

"No. Should I be?" Dan replied.

"Well, it was your first time consuming alcohol last night. So I just assumed," Phil said, smiling a little. He stood and pat Dan's knee once. "I'm going to shower."

Dan got dressed and waited for Phil to finish, staring dejectedly at the mirror on his bedroom wall. Soon Phil walked by, his hair still damp. "What's wrong?"

"I look like a Hobbit," he replied quietly.

Phil tilted his head. "Personally, I like it," he said, "But I have a straightener if you want to use it."

Dan nearly fell over. "You've had a straightener for all this time and you never told me?"

"I didn't know it would be so important!" Phil defended, holding up his hands in surrender. Dan rushed past his friend to the other room, diving for the straightener on the dresser before Phil could even offer to help.

Some time later Dan and Phil sat down at their usual breakfast table, which was more full than it usually was, probably because they were late. Dan sat his usual place next to Zoe and Phil sat on his other side. She looked up and smiled, and then her expression brightened even more. "Dan, your hair!" she said.

He reached up to touch his head. "Phil's been hiding his hair straightener from me. I didn't get to bring one from home, I used to do it like this every day in school," he explained.

"I like it," Zoe nodded, "It makes you look older. But the curls are cute."

"So are yours, but I don't get to see them anymore," Dan teased, touching a lock of Zoe's hair. She gave him a look and tossed her hair out of reach, effectively smacking him right in the face.

Zoe glanced over at the other end of the table, where Emma and Luke sat to PJ's right side. "How's the search for the mole? I'm assuming you know more than I do, considering you hang around our tech guru," she whispered, leaning close to Dan.

Dan pursed his lips. He wanted to tell Zoe everything, because he trusted her completely and she was just genuinely curious, but it would be dangerous with everyone around. He didn't know who was listening. Besides, PJ said he was going to tell everyone at the next meeting. It was already unfair that Dan, Phil, and Chris knew everything before even the resistance leaders did.

So instead, he just reached over and squeezed Zoe's hand. "You'll find out, I promise," he assured her.

She frowned, but nodded anyway. She was then silent for a few moments, looking like she was about to reply, when she happened to glance away. In that moment, she drew in a quick grasp and started to squeeze Dan's wrist in a surprisingly tight grip. "Whoa, whoa, what is it?" he said, prying his wrist away.

"Joe," she replied simply before she bolted to her feet, away from the table.

Dan, confused, hit Phil on the arm to get his attention but he had already noticed. Together they watched Zoe run across the room to the door, where a group of boys had just entered. Dan didn't recognize any of them, but it looked as though she did. Upon reaching the group, Zoe flung herself at a tall one in the front. He seemed equally as excited to see her, as he hugged her back tightly, lifting her feet clean off the ground.

"Who do you suppose that is?" muttered Phil.

"I don't know, but I think we're going to find out," Dan replied as Zoe dragged the boy over to their table. His friends followed, and Dan recognized their expressions; confused and a little afraid. They were new.