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"This is a mistake!" 

Rory Mackenzie froze in the bedroom doorway as he suddenly found his vision blocked by blue coloured fabric, he lifted the dress off his head with a sigh and chucked it onto the bed. It joined a small pile of various colours and fabrics already discarded by the woman standing in front of the tall mirror. She saw him standing in the doorway and glared at him, many people winced or looked away from that glare but not Rory he just grinned at her and perched himself on the edge of the bed. 

"What is?" He asked.

Cora Dubois turned and faced her cousin with her hands on her hips, she stood in just her underwear yet showed no sign of being bothered by this. Rory seemed equally as oblivious to the fact that she wasn't dressed, he was used to it after all, and merely sat on the bed waiting for the inevitable explosion.

"You know damned well what I mean." She snapped. "Me. Going out. To a ball of all places. I don't know why I ever allowed myself to be talked into this. You know its a mistake right? I'm not exactly people friendly."

Rory chuckled but swiftly turned it into a cough when Cora glared at him again, she was already annoyed and he didn't want to push his luck. He opened his mouth to answer when he heard the front door open and several pairs of footsteps. 

"Oh thank god." He muttered under his breath. "Reinforcements."

"I heard that." Cora snapped. 

"Up here!" Rory yelled and then cocked an eyebrow at Cora. "As if I could avoid hearing you wherever I was in the house."

The sound of lots of feet coming up the stairs invaded the room and Cora growled low in her throat, as if she needed more people invading her space. Two young men fairly bounded in the room identical brown eyes looking first at Cora and then at the clothes on the bed and then back to Cora. After two heartbeats of laughter identical mouths opened and laughter escaped from both, Cora felt her patience slipping away with each passing moment. Her mouth twisted into a snarl and she felt her nails lengthening of their own accord, clearly she was more on edge than even she realised. 

"What's going on in here?" The sharp snap of Aunt Elise's voice abruptly stopped the twin boys laughter. Small though she was no one ever crossed Elise Mackenzie especially not her own sons. They looked back at her sheepishly as she stepped into the room proper, she took in everything in a single glance and raised her eyebrows. Rory, the eldest at 26, looked worriedly at Cora or more specifically at Cora's extended nails. He stood slowly and edged away from the bed towards the door, he had been on the receiving end of those nails and he did not want to be again. He stopped next to his mother and shrugged. 

"The start of World War 3 I think." He said. 

"All of you should know better." Elise snapped at her three sons. "Especially you Rory. You know how Cora gets when she's anxious. You're not helping. Now your father needs help unloading the car, go on."

Ned hurried downstairs without a backward glance but Connor hesitated in the doorway. "Sorry Cat." He muttered before quickly following his brother. 

"And knock next time!" Elise shouted after them. 

"I'd better go help them." Rory said. "Sorry Cat, I was trying to help."

Cora nodded briefly feeling a little better with only the three of them there, she allowed Rory to give her a brief hug before he followed his brothers downstairs. Elise shut the door firmly and walked over to her niece, her brown eyes were warm and gentle when she looked at Cora. She gently smoothed back the younger woman's hair, stroking her as you would a cat, and Cora felt herself begin to relax a little more. Her nails retracted back to their normal length and gradually her snarling ceased. She rubbed her eyes feeling embarrassed and ashamed of her behaviour, this was her family and she hated causing them trouble. 

"I'm sorry." She said finally.

"Hush." Elise said. "They'll be fine. Besides they should know better than to disturb a woman trying to get ready."

Cora smiled. "F'true." 

"Now then, why didn't you wait for me? I thought we were going to get ready together." 

"I know but I was so worried about what to wear and I thought starting a little earlier would help but it didn't. I really don't think this is a good idea Auntie. I'm not good around people in big groups especially strangers."

"You manage when you're working."Elise pointed out. 

"That's different." Cora said. "I'm in control then."

"You need to do this honey. With all the trouble lately you need to show your support. Besides I think it will be good to meet more like you. I know you wish you had others to talk to about being a Metahuman. Now enough worrying I have a surprise for you."

She cleared a space on the bed and pulled out a pile of fabric from the shopping bag she held in her hand. I saw this and I knew it was perfect for tonight. Here, try it on."

Cora's eyes widened in delight as she took [url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/82/3c/3a/823c3a81aea505b75d05a7a042207d04.jpg][i]the dress(ignore the model)[/i][/url]. She stroked the fabric and smiled widely. She quickly put it on and turned to show her aunt, she already loved it and hoped her aunt thought the same. 

"It's perfect." Her aunt said.

"Don't you think I should hide this..."She gestured at her skin where it was visible, the leopard spots stood out against the redness of the dress. 

"No." Elise said firmly. "You should be proud of what you are. Never hide it honey. Now I need to go and find my husband and get ready myself otherwise we'll be late." 

Cora hugged the other woman before stepping back and admiring herself in the mirror again, Elise smiled and left her niece to her preening. 

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"Bloody thing."

"Come here you big oaf, honestly you'd have thought you would know how to fix a bow tie by now."

Jack Mackenzie sighed but allowed his wife to straighten his bowtie without speaking, he did his best to stand still without fidgeting but he was just as uncomfortable in the formal black tuxedo as his niece Cora was in anything fancy. After a few minutes Elise stepped back and nodded once satisfied. She was already finished with her own preparations and Jack took a moment to admire her, even after many years of marriage she looked beautiful to him. 

"You look gorgeous in [url=http://wedding-pictures-02.onewed.com/43396/navy-blue-beaded-evening-gown-for-bridesmaid-or-mob__full.jpg][i]that dress(again ignore the model)[/i][/url] darlin."

Elise kissed him briefly and then turned to leave the room, picking up her matching bag as she did so. "You don't look too bad yourself." 
Together they descended the stairs where Cora already stood waiting at the bottom pacing. She looked up with a relieved smile and hugged them both quickly. She brushed a stray curl back from her face and turned nervously on the spot looking at her uncle for her approval, he chuckled and dutifully gave attention to his niece's outfit. 

"Beautiful hon. Now lets go and party." 

"Cat wait!" Rory walked into the hallway and handed Cora's evening bag to her "You left that in the kitchen. You look awesome by the way."

Cora hugged him. "Thanks cuz." 

"Come on lets go, the cab's waiting."Jack hurried the two women out of the door and nodded goodbye to his son. 

The cab pulled up outside the Sequester's Grand Hall and they all hurriedly climbed out as the street was already full of vehicles and the driver had nowhere to park safely. Jack stopped just outside the entrance with a long suffering sigh as his wife and niece made last minute checks of their appearance. Elise straightened a few tendrils of Cora's loose mane of curls before stepping back and nodding to her husband. He showed their tickets and they were ushered inside. 

As they walked through the foyer and into the ballroom proper Cora's hand tightened on her uncle's arm and he squeezed it reassuringly with his other hand. "Just remember your breathing exercises and that this is neutral territory and you'll be fine. Besides we're here with you and won't let anything happen."

"You mean you won't let me hurt anyone." Cora replied with a small chuckle. 

Her uncle was right she could do this, she spent plenty of time with strangers in her work, granted not as many in one place but still she knew how to behave. She just had to make sure to keep her other tendencies in check, it wouldn't do much for the Metahumans image if she went on a rampage. She let go of her uncle and straightened her shoulders, working at appearing confident and unafraid. The three of them headed over to the bar. 

"Good lord." Her uncle muttered as he saw the enormous reptillian man leaning against the bar. 

"Shush." Elise elbowed him none too gently in the ribs.

Jack jumped and then nodded apologetically before heading to the bar, Elise followed him but Cora hesitated. She felt the faint stirring of a growl in her throat and pushed it back. Just because the man was big did not mean he was a threat to her and she deliberately walked over to stand beside him and the woman next to him. 

"Hi." She smiled at them. "I hope I'm not interrupting nothing but I thought I should introduce myself to at least one other person tonight. I'm Cora Dubois."Her southern drawl was evident in her words.