Julie POV- For the last week Julie had trained with Raven and Erik every day in hand to hand and lifting weights to make her physically stronger. She also trained with them, Charles and Sean on how to get a handle on their powers. As she got better at it she trained with multiple people in one day.
Every night Alex was there with dinner and a smile. They still had yet to kiss after Sean interrupted them (just because he knew what they were about to do and he thought it was funny).
That would be the fourth time they were interrupted, so they no longer tried and agreed to wait until they had time to themselves. They spent any free time they had with each other and continued to learn about each other.
Julie could definitely see an improvement in not only her powers but in her body as well. She actually had muscles now. She was also able to bend and twist much easier now than she had been before.
Her hand to hand was also improving. She was actually able to knock both Raven and Erik on their asses a couple times.
Alex POV- Alex was training by himself but Charles came down and stood next to him looking at the untouched mannequin.
"Try again. Let's see how it goes" Charles said standing next to Alex.
"If you're serious about me doing this again, you might want to get back."
"All right shall I shut the door again as well?" Charles asked.
Alex nodded.
"Whenever you're ready" Charles yelled.
Once again Alex let his power loose. Opening the door Charles grabbed a fire extinguisher and started to put out the flames Alex had made with his energy blast.
"I will teach you to control this Alex" Charles promised.
After that they all gathered to watch as Sean was going to try one of Hank's designs.
"Now remember scream as hard as you can. You need the sound waves to be supersonic" Charles said
"Catch them at the right angle and they should carry you" Hank said.
"Should carry me? That's reassuring" Sean said.
"Good luck" Charles said.
Everyone watched out one window while Sean sat on a window sill next to them.
"Don't forget to scream" Charles said.
Sean opened his arms showing the costume Hank made and then he leaned forward off the sill. When he fell he let out a panicked yelp instead of a scream and promptly hit the ground. Everyone chuckled softly as Sean rolled over and groaned.
Alex and Julie took a walk around the house and saw Hank and Charles training so they walked over to them.
"Impressive Hank. With feet like those all you need is a red nose. Right Bozo?" Alex said slapping Hank on the arm smiling.
"I'm done here" Hank said walking away.
"Thank you Alex" Charles said annoyed.
"Can't you just be nice to him? He is building a suit for you to help control your powers" Julie said glaring at Alex.
"It was funny" Alex said.
"No it was mean."
"I didn't mean it to be. I'll be right back" Alex said now feeling bad.
Alex chased after Hank.
"Hey I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to be mean" Alex told Hank.
"Don't worry about it, we're good" Hank said smiling a little before walking away.
Alex jogged back to Julie. She kissed his cheek.
"I'm proud of you for that" Julie said wrapping her arm around his waist.
The next day Hank actually brought Alex the item he'd made.
"Sexy" Alex said as Hank attached a type of circle to his chest.
"Well, this is just a prototype. The real one will look considerably better. It will be a whole suit. See these sensors they measure your energy output. This panel focuses it and the excess is absorbed" Hank explained.
"Trying hitting the one in the middle just the one in the middle, mind. Good luck" Charles said.
Both he and Hank left the bunker. When Alex let his power out it didn't come from all over his body just the plate on his chest but he hit the mannequin on the left and lost his balance. Getting back into position Alex tried again. This time he hit the mannequin on the right and the force knocked him back off his feet.
Julie POV- Charles asked for her help with Alex. Down in the bunker Hank placed a black X on a mannequin in the middle of the room.
"Wonderful work Hank. Thank you very much" Charles said to Hank before he left.
Charles had Julie stand on one side of the mannequin and he stood on the other side.
"All right Alex, I want you to hit the X. And try not to hit us. There's a good chap" Charles said.
"You're serious?" Alex asked looking at Charles then Julie.
"I'm very serious I have complete and utter faith in you" Charles said.
"Please don…" Alex looked at Julie.
"You can do this Alex" Julie smiled at him.
Alex took a deep breath and shot his power at the mannequin and he actually hit it. Alex cheered and Julie smiled. Julie ran down the bunker and hugged him.
"You did it" Julie said proudly.
"Never do that again" Alex begged her.
"Am I still a Bozo?" Hank asked walking into the room.
"Yes, Hank you're still a Bozo. But nice job" Alex said smiling.
Afterwards they all gathered around the TV as the President made his address.
"It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile crossing the embargo line that surrounds Cuba as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union…" the President said.
"That's where were going to find Shaw" Erik said.
"How do you know?" Alex asked.
"Two superpowers facing off and he wants to start World War III. He won't leave anything to chance" Charles explained.
"So much for diplomacy. I suggest you all get a good night's sleep" Erik said walking away.
Everyone then walked off to their separate rooms unsure what tomorrow would hold. When the knock on her door came Julie wasn't surprised to find Alex on the other side.
"This didn't seem real until today. We were training, living, just happy but today…" Alex said holding her close.
"Today showed us why we're training because tomorrow we're going to stop Shaw and prevent his war" Julie said laying her head against his shoulder.
"I love your optimism" Alex said running his hands down her back.
"I have to be, anything else scares me to think about."
"Julie I…" Alex said looking down at her.
"Don't. Please Alex. Anything you say or do will make it seem like you're saying good bye" Julie said.
Alex nodded rubbing his thumbs over her lower back.
"Alright I'm gonna go get some sleep. Erik's right we need rest" Alex said.
He turned to go but Julie held his hand.
"Stay? I mean sleep here?" Julie asked blushing bright red.
Alex smiled and nodded. He went over to his room to change and grab clothes for tomorrow before he came back.
Already in her pajamas Julie lay down on the bed under the covers. Slowly Alex slid in behind her and wrapped his arm around her holding her close. Soon they both drifted off to sleep.
Alex POV- Alex woke up first sometime during the night. They'd went from spooning to Julies head on his chest and her arm over his stomach and his arm resting on her hip. He smiled down at her as she slept.
Surprisingly this was the most content and peaceful he'd ever been in his life and it was all because of this girl in his arms. Julie opened her eyes and looked up at him smiling.
"Morning" she said softly.
"Good morning. Hungry?" Alex asked.
"Shower first, then breakfast."
"I'm good with that" Alex grinned.
"Separate showers" Julie emphasized. Smiling as she blushed.
Alex nodded and they both got out of bed, took their separate showers and got dressed for the day. No one spoke during breakfast. Everyone was clearly worried what would happen today.
Too soon they made their way to Hanks lab where a note on the door told them he had gone to the airbase and to bring the container marked X. When Charles opened the door Hank's room was trashed. This equipment destroyed glass everywhere tables over turned.
"What the hell happened here?" Erik asked.
Everyone began to look around but Charles went to the large container with the X on it and opened it. The others all gathered around him.
"Hank has been busy" Erik said looking at the suits Hank made for them.
"Do we really have to wear these?" Alex asked.
"As none of us mutated to endure extreme G-force or being riddled by bullets I suggest we suit up" Charles said.
Once they all had their outfits on they headed for the air base.
Alex admired Julie's suit, Hank really had thought of everything for her. She had a small circle on her chest for Alex's powers, the back had barely noticeable slits in it for wings like Angel's. She looked amazing.
Everyone stared in awe at the Blackbird jet they'd be flying in.
"Where's Hank?" Raven asked.
"I'm here" Hank said from the shadows as he began to walk towards them.
"Hank?" Charles asked as a man covered in blue fur walked out of the shadows.
"It didn't attack the cells. It enhanced them. It didn't work" Hank said.
"Yes it did Hank. Don't you see? This is who you were meant to be. This is you. No more hiding" Raven said cupping Hank's jaw.
"Never looked better, man" Erik said.
Hank grabbed Erik's throat, lifting him up a little choking him.
"Hank?" Charles asked nervously.
"Don't mock me" Hank warned Erik.
"Hank put him down immediately please? Hank! Hank!" Charles said.
Finally Hank let go.
"I wasn't" Erik said bending over to catch his breath.
"Even I gotta admit you look pretty bad-ass. I think I got a new name for you. Beast" Alex said smiling.
"You're sure you can fly this thing?" Sean asked.
"Of course I can. I designed it" Hank said.
Moira got on board with them. Then Hank started it up and soon they were on their way to the embargo line to prevent war.