Disclaimer: I don't own The Gifted.

Chapter 5

One of the essentials that John had picked up at Wal-mart was make-up and hair dye. He hated it, but it would be safer for the kids and Clarice if they blended in more while they were on the run. Which meant covering up the marks on their skin and dyeing Clarice and Hope's hair.

"I like my hair," Hope said for a fifth time. She was sitting on the bathroom counter, her sleepy eyes brightening as Clarice set out a few bottles of hair dye, a comb, and a couple towels beside her. She had slept through the night with apparently no pre-cog dreams, which was a small blessing. But Hope wasn't too keen on this whole hair dye thing. She grabbed her own messy long purple and blue hair in both of her four-year-old fists and leaned back, away from Clarice.

"We like your hair, too," John said, completely torn on this whole thing. He and Clarice had made it very clear that both of their kids' physical differences didn't make them weird or odd and that they didn't need to be ashamed of them. And now here they were, telling them they needed to change to fit in. "It's only for a little while, princess."

"I'm going to do it with you," Clarice said, her smile incredibly fake as she held up one of the bottles. She didn't want to do this either, but she had agreed with him that it was for the best. "We're both going to have black hair, okay? To match Dad and JD."

"I don't want it," Hope said, shrinking even farther away from Clarice. She pulled her feet up onto the counter and pushed herself into a corner, looking at both of them warily. "Mine's pretty."

Yeah, John officially hated this. He ran his hand over his face and leaned against the doorframe to the bathroom. What was he supposed to do if she kept arguing? It wasn't like reasoning with a four-year-old was often successful. If they had to force her to dye her hair while she kicked and sobbed, it was going to kill him.

"It'll be fun," Clarice said, her smile dimming to something more genuine. "And it'll look cool. Lorna dyes her hair back sometimes. Your Aunt Ali does too."

"Aunt Ali always dyes her hair crazy colors," JD mumbled. He was laying on the bed closest to the bathroom, watching the drama unfold. He didn't have to dye his hair, but he was going to have to put on the tattoo cover-up stuff that John had grabbed. They were all going to have to use it, including John since his tattoos were pretty distinctive.

Hope ran her hands down her hair and looked at it for a long time. "It's pretty…" she said, glancing up at them as if it was almost a question instead of a declaration this time.

"Beautiful," John said firmly, refusing to say anything to the contrary. Her hair was such a deep purple and blue that it was almost black even without the hair dye, but there were lighter strands in it, giving the colors away. Plus, whenever the light hit it, it seemed to glow with color. Hope's hair was extraordinary, just like her.

"It's very pretty," Clarice said, reaching over to put a hand on Hope's knee, "It won't be for long, baby. I swear."

Hope made a face. "Don't want to."

"You can have candy for breakfast," JD said, not even bothering to pick his head up off the pillow that he had dragged to the end of the bed. "There's candy in the vending machine, right?"

Hope's chin lifted. "M&Ms for breakfast?"

Clarice and John glanced at each other.

"As many M&Ms as you want," John said immediately.

"We'll get you Peanut M&Ms and regular M&Ms and any kind of M&M they have," Clarice said, "But you have to get your hair dyed first."

For a second, John thought that Hope wasn't going to go for the bribe. He wasn't big on bribing his kids, but sometimes you did what you had to do. The situation wasn't ideal anyways. Finally, Hope nodded. "Okay…but purple blue later?"

"Yeah, definitely," Clarice said, relaxing. John reached out and gently scratched her back, knowing this was incredibly hard on her. She had spent her younger years being told that her hair and her ears and her marks were freakish and weird, and she never wanted her kids to feel that way. She rarely, if ever, dyed her hair, and she only used the kind that would wash out at the end of the day. But the bottles he had bought were more permanent since they didn't know how long they would be on the run. Hopefully not long.

He got booted out so Clarice and Hope could dye their hair in peace in the tiny bathroom, so he, grabbed a map from the shopping bags and sat down on the bed next to JD. His eight-year-old rolled over so that his back was pressed against John's side. Smiling a little, he rested one hand on JD, comforting his boy, while he read the map, figuring out the best route.

They would have to switch cars again and soon. So far, neither of the kids had really commented on the car switching, but he could tell that JD wanted to each time they switched. Technically, they were stealing. Which John wasn't okay with. But John had to keep his family safe, and right now, this was the only way besides using Clarice's portals, and there was no way she was going to port them all the way to Virginia.

After a while, when the hair dryer was going full blast in the bathroom, flip phone on the nightstand buzzed, and he reached over to grab it. The number wasn't available, of course, and John hesitated before he answered it.

"Hey! Why didn't you call again? And why the hell aren't you coming out here?"

John sighed in relief and stood up, brushing his hand over JD's hair. The voice on the end of the line belonged to his little brother James. He had tried to call James and his wife Ali last night, but he couldn't get a hold of them. He had left a message on both of their cells, but they hadn't called him back last night. Apparently they had finally looked at their phones.

"Because that's not the plan," John said. They were all always very careful about what they said on the phones, even with burners. James and Ali were currently out in the northwest, helping a group that took people over the border to Canada. While it would be a good place to go, it was far, and he wanted to get back to Georgia as soon as he could. Their group was the main Underground point of contact in the Southeast, and they needed to get up and running again as soon as possible. Somewhere safer, though, farther away from the city. It would mean a longer trek for some of the mutants, but the location would be more secure. They had always been tempting fate with an HQ so close to Atlanta.

"Come on," James said, "We have a place out here. You guys can stay with us."

It was tempting, especially because Sentinel Services wouldn't expect them to run so far. "I'll keep it as an option."

On the other end of the line, James made a frustrated noise. "The munchkins would like the snow."

"Yeah, you're right." John glanced at JD, who was sitting up and watching the phone, obviously wanting to talk to his uncle.

"How are they doing? How's everyone?"

"They're a little shook up, but we're all fine," John said. He was pissed off and devastated, but none of them were hurt and that was something. "I'll call if things change." Meaning he'd call if something went wrong or once they were safe. The more they avoided the phone, the better.

"All right, just…Tell them we both said hey. And keep us updated," James said, sounding angry. He probably wanted to go off about Sentinel Services, but it wouldn't do any good. "Stay safe, okay?"

"Yeah, and you guys be careful." Which was like telling a couple of fish to stay dry.

John closed the phone and glanced over at JD. "James said to tell you hey."

JD smiled. "Are they still up north?"

"Yeah, for now." There was always the possibility that James and Ali would leave and come join them for a while, though that definitely wasn't necessary.

The door to the bathroom opened, and Hope stepped out, followed by Clarice.

"It's not terrible," Clarice said, yanking her fingers through her now pitch black hair, displeasure in every movement. She didn't like this one bit.

John met her sad eyes and immediately stood up, heading for her. He scooped up Hope on the way and then hugged Clarice, smooshing their daughter between them. "You're always gorgeous, Clarice." But he was going to miss the dark purple locks as well. He rested his forehead against hers as JD slid off the bed and joined the hug.

"It's very black," Hope said, nuzzling against his shoulder. John turned his head and kissed her forehead.

"I like it," JD said, "It's like you're a spy! Spies dye their hair all the time."

"Really?" Hope said, looking suspicious.

"Yeah, it's cool," JD said, giving her a bright, winning smile. "You're cooler than me now."

Clarice ruffled JD's hair affectionately. "Well, now we all have black hair."

"I guess that makes us all cool," JD said with a firm nod.

John half-smiled as Hope toyed with the ends of her hair. "Next time we'll all have to go purple or blue."

Clarice snorted, obviously imagining him with neon purple hair. "Oh, I'd love to see that."