"So?" asked Hank.
Alex cracked his neck and looked at his friend. He could feel himself getting sleepy already: he hadn't gotten back with Lorna until around midnight and they'd spent another hour talking in the lobby. He'd been woken up after two hours of sleep by Hank, who'd told him there'd been a development in a case.
Most of the X-men's activities were focused on the Brotherhood, but they were looking into a few other avenues as well. There was a facility in North Carolina that had undergone some shady dealing in the past few years with a woman who only went by her first name, Emma. They'd had a few hints that she might be a Brotherhood affiliate, and they suspected her to be at least funding them.
While Alex severely doubted this was the Emma he'd fought as a teen, she was dead after all, it was never good news when someone only went by their first name in their business dealings. Hank had recently discovered that a shipment was due there soon, and it would be good to find out what that shipment contained.
So, acknowledging that his time running on no sleep in the Marines was by no means over, he'd gotten the X-men into the Blackbird for some reconnaissance. Everything had been running smoothly, he'd thought he might be able to get a nap in, until Hank started talking.
"So what?" he asked.
"About last night," said Hank, "With Lorna."
Oh boy. So they were going to have this conversation. Hank was one of his oldest friends so, when he decided to ask one of Hank's former students on a date, he'd felt that it was appropriate to at least give him a heads-up.
Looks like that had been a bad idea.
"It went well," said Alex.
"You know," Xi'an called from the back, "That is exactly what Lorna said when I asked her. 'It went well.'"
"Oh, really?" Alex asked.
He couldn't help but be disappointed. That was all? Despite what he'd said to Hank, he'd thought that it had gone better than well actually. He'd even managed to get a positive answer about going out again sometime in the future.
"Of course not you idiot," Xi'an said, "We left at three in the morning. She, like most people, is asleep at that time."
"You're running laps when we get back," snapped Alex.
"Ha, ya can join me," laughed Sam, "He still thinks ah took his keys."
"I don't think you did it. I know you did it," Alex said, "Now shut up and start thinking about the mission. We're going to be there in ten minutes."
"Ah will, but first ah think ah wanna know what all this is about ya dating one o mah students," said Sam.
"Former student," Alex corrected.
It was probably a little petty, but it just sounded so creepy when they put it that way. Alex was aware of the age gap between the two of them, but had decided that it was worth giving a shot. Given his revelations the night before about why that had been, Alex had determined that if it didn't matter to her, it shouldn't matter to him.
That being said, he wished Sam would stop talking like that.
"Don't mind him Sam," said Xi'an, "He's just touchy. And he was so nervous and cute when he asked her out yesterday."
"Ten laps," said Alex, "Now, mission. Nine minutes now."
Xi'an snorted and Alex faced forward, determined to at least try and think about something else.
"Do you know what I think about all this?" Hank asked.
"What?" said Alex, relieved that they were finally going to talk about something other than his love life.
"I think you should answer my question," said Hank.
So much for that.
"I think we should focus on the mission," Alex said.
From behind him he heard Xi'an chuckle. Was this what it was going to be like from now on?
"I think you should answer his question too," Xi'an said.
"You know, for someone whose codename is Karma, you certainly don't seem concerned about the possibility of being on the receiving end of cosmic comeuppins," said Alex.
"Says the man who decided to date our mutual friend and, in some cases, former student," Xi'an said.
Alright. So she might have had a point there.
"An, for the record," Sam said, "Ah named myself Cannonball, an Ah'm not concerned bout gettin shot outta cannon."
"That is not what I meant when I said that," Alex said, "And you two should start a comedy duo sometime."
"And you should stop trying to change the subject," said Xi'an.
Dammit. Couldn't a man have one night that was private that he didn't have to discuss with his co-workers? So what if those co-workers were approaching family status? Even if they were, they were still pretty much just the annoying cousins that you didn't invite to any important events.
"For the sake of the next few hours that I have to deal with you bozos, can I give a quick summary and then not talk about it again?" he asked.
"Until the next date, yes," said Xi'an.
He rolled his eyes.
"It was really great getting to spend some time with her outside the confines of the school," he said, "I like talking to her, and I think that things, like I said, went well. It was actually really fun."
"So ya just talked?" asked Sam.
There was a strange undercurrent in his tone, one that had an edge of protectiveness to it.
"Come on, even for me a first date is pretty early," snorted Alex.
He realized his mistake when Hank let out a groan. He ran the words over in his head, realizing what they implied. Right. Sam was a year or two older than him, but he had rather different sensibilities. Southern manners probably. He suspected that Xi'an was also raising her eyebrows though.
"Ah'm sorry?" asked Sam.
Again, that undercurrent was there.
"To cut this conversation really, really short," Alex said, "Yes, just talking. She's a great conversationalist, and we're going out next week. I am not talking about that particular aspect of our relationship, which is where the door slams shut on this conversation, and is then locked."
"Yeah, well-" Xi'an began.
"We're here," said Hank.
Alex had never been so happy to have arrived at a factory that was possibly being financed by a maniac. Next to him he could see Hank give him a glance, and he smiled at him in gratitude. At least not all his friends were going crazy.
He straightened his collar and cleared his throat.
"Okay everyone, just some quick reconnaissance here," he said, "We go in, we see just what's going on, we go out, and then we all sleep on the way back."
There were a few grumbles, but nothing too serious. Hank landed the Blackbird some distance away, staying in the pilot's seat. Alex switched on his earpiece and made sure that the others did the same. Since Hank was the best at flying the plane, he was going to stay in case they needed to make a quick getaway. He'd come later if they discovered they needed his feral senses, but either way meant that they would need all the radio contact that they could get.
Alex gave Hank a quick wave and stepped out of the plane. After a few minutes of coasting the place, and having Hank give him a quick rundown of what security features the Blackbird had picked up on, he led them in silently. It was easier to be quiet in the short grass than it had been in the past, and he knew that at least Sam appreciated the lack of rustling undergrowth.
Getting into the facility was a little harder: they were trying to go undetected after all. That meant that, if they could help it, they wouldn't be knocking out any guards. Xi'an managed to sneak up close enough to one of the guards to use her psionic abilities to get him to let them in though. God, he'd missed working with telepaths, or at least some version of it. After that it was just a matter of getting up to the loading bay.
The upper levels were, more or less unguarded, allowing Alex to climb into the roof rafters. Sam took a position a little lower, and Xi'an had the spot lowest to the ground. It was a well-practiced technique, meaning that they had a sort of artificial aerial support if something went wrong. Xi'an was the most vulnerable, but her psionic gift at possession and discovering intent also meant that she was the best protected. She wasn't able to read minds just yet, but it still made her useful for the art of concealment.
Alex watched and made a few notes of the different crates that were brought in. They were nondescript enough, so it was nearly impossible to tell just what was inside. It was a little frustrating, and after about thirty minutes his arms and legs were beginning to ache from being in the same position for so long.
However, once the initial burn fell off he knew that he could deal with it. It had been one of his drill sergeant's favorite punishments, making them stand at attention for hours on end. This was a bit more athletic, but he knew that he could do it.
As he searched for a clue as to what was in the boxes, he also kept a lookout for any armed guards. As far as he could tell, most of them were wearing protective gear and earpieces. He made a mental note of how thick the gloves were, how heavy duty the goggles were.
In the end, he realized that it was all grade A protective gear. Whoever was in charge of handling this stuff wasn't taking any chances. That didn't particularly bode well for the contents of the boxes, or the employees' insurance premiums, but he wasn't close enough to see if any of them had weapons. That would have been a bit more telling as to whether or not the contents were illegal. Right now they just looked like they could be caustic. He'd have to ask Xi'an about that later.
He glanced down at the woman in question, whom he suddenly noticed was making a waving motion with her hand towards the boxes. Since they were on radio silence he was left to guess what that meant, and he knew it wasn't good. She wanted to go in.
He began making frantic slashing motions with his hand, but he saw Xi'an tilt her head. Even from the distance he was at he could guess that she was rolling her eyes. Maybe he should have a talk about her physical tells later.
Much to his horror though, he saw her begin to move behind the boxes. Sam gave him a questioning, almost frightened look. At least someone else appreciated the position that Xi'an was putting herself in. Alex moved a little closer, but he couldn't risk breaking cover at the moment.
Xi'an moved behind a pile of crates and disappeared from his view. The next two minutes was agony, wondering if he should turn on the damn earpiece and order her out. It might risk her exposure, but it could also save her life.
Going against the side of him that ached to do something, he clamped his jaw shut and waited. He breathed a sigh of relief when Xi'an managed to get back into her position without being seen. When she looked up at him he gave the signal to move out, glaring at her all the while.
Even so, he didn't break silence until they were back inside the Blackbird.
"What the hell were you thinking?" he shouted.
"I was trying to figure out what was going on," Xi'an snapped, "We weren't finding anything out from being up there."
"You were trying to get yourself killed!"
"Are you even going to ask what I found?" asked Xi'an.
He threw his hands up.
"Fine, tell me what you found," he said.
"You're not going to like it," she said.
"How could I possibly be any more pissed than I am right now?" he demanded.
She told him, and he found that, despite his previous assertion, he could get more pissed.