Garfield felt a jolt and he woke up. He was sweating and his heart was beating so fast that he felt like he just came back from another mission in the field. But, he did not know what had caused this. He does not remember his dream. He tried to think back, but all that came back to him was a black image. He slowly sat up and looked around. His room, stationed on the first floor, had been reconstructed so that the room was blast proof - so that when he unknowingly thrashed around in his sleep and accidentally threw something, it would not blow another hole in the wall. It had been quite expensive but well worth it. It would have been much more expensive to keep on repairing the walls, after all.

He turned to his clock. 

6:00 AM.

The bright red numerals stated. He did not feel that he lacked sleep - in fact, this was supposed to be when he would wake up. Usually one of the first to rise, if he wasn't mistaken. This might have been due to the fact that he was trained in the military but he felt that training slip from him, as they would wake up earlier than that. Nevertheless, Garfield quickly made his way around, taking a short shower and then pulling on a white shirt and cargo pants. He began making pancakes, taking his time. While, originally, he had wanted to cook for everyone, it became increasingly obvious that the fact that they all had different kitchens meant that they would often cook for themselves so he ended up just making one for himself.

Garfield took his time with eating. By the time he was finished, it was around 7:30, as it also included him just lounging around and watching some television to past the time. Seeing that it was quite late and he'd better get a move on, he stood up. He took a bondolier and slung it over his shoulder. He then wore his gloves and made his way outside. As expected, it was still quite empty in the ground floor. 

As if on auto-pilot, he made his way outside. As expected, there was another sign there, placed by the many haters of their kind. He wasn't blind to the glares he was being given every time he exited the apartment when they were around to buy something from the convenience store. He preferred to ignore them. Serenity probably wouldn't like it if he decided that maybe one person could make do without an arm, or if someone could spend a night in the ER for a bloody face and multiple broken bones. He looked around and saw an elderly couple walking by. He had half a mind to greet them but when their eyes met - the couple narrowed it into a glare and started hurriedly walking pass. 

The greeting, of course, died in his throat. Four years and he still hadn't gotten used to not greeting the elderly. His mother's teachings were quite deeply rooted. He let out a sigh before exiting the gate and taking the sign down. He could get rid of it now, no one would wake up. It was light and would barely make a sound. Or maybe Serenity would like to see it? Being their leader and all that, he wondered if the woman would like to know that another sign had been propped up. Figuring that she already expected it, he threw it down and it created a very minuscule explosion comparative to that of a pop pop firework, albeit a little louder.

No one seemed to have noticed. He locked the gate and then went on to have his morning jog around the neighborhood. It was always best to do it early in the morning. He had set a time when if he woke up late, he would have to run on a treadmill. When too many people were milling about, a peaceful jog is the farthest thing he could think off. Halfway back to the apartment, two kids were running towards him. Slowing down, he allowed the children to catch up. A big mistake on his part really as the two brandished water balloons and pelted them at him. Drenched, he quickened his pace back to the apartment.

"Monster!"

"Get out of here!"

Their voices carried through the neighborhood and other parents seemed to have filed outside. Garfield swung open the gate and locked it once more. He wasn't used to children mocking him, wanting him to disappear from their lives. They usually just stayed away or looked at them with awe - because they were children and they looked up to them as they had powers. Perhaps their parents were less accepting and more open about their hate of mutants. Perhaps they were not children but rather teenagers? Thought a little prank at one of the residents in their apartment was a good laugh. His head was hurting and he had to grasp the wall to keep himself from falling. There was nothing more he'd like than to teach those two little bastards a lesson on who they ought to mess with. 

Just at that time, Aimi had announced through the speakers that they would meet in the lounge. Garfield seemed to forget about being wet or being angry and turned immediately to the lounge. He sat down on one of the seats and was facing the door. Once Serenity and Riko came in, he greeted them, [color=00746b]"Good morning."[/color]