Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I making any money from, the X-Men movie-
verse. Duncan and Hana belong to Corrinth, as does Ilehana Xavier should
she be mentioned. Star owns Golan, should he be mentioned too. All other
OCs belong to me, especially Blaze and Jessie.
A/N: Post X2 spoilers, and spoilers for Corrinth's Guardians of Destiny, which incidentally is excellent so go read it! Reviews always appreciated.
Scene 22
With a fury of sudden strength, Blaze threw Gambit over backward, hurling herself over him to protect him. Not knowing how she found the energy, she raised a hand, spitting dragon-fire to knock Venu back. The seedpod frizzled in the air, dropping like silver dust into the wind. Venu screamed as his tendrils caught in the flames, skin peeling back like leaves in a bonfire, flesh underneath brown and burning. The fire devoured him, but not quickly, as though it burned green wood. Smoke hung thick in the air, as did Venu's wailing screams. Blaze slumped to lay her head on Remy's shoulder, his fingers grasping her hair.
The wind dropped, temperature returning hastily from the Arctic spectrum back up to average LA temperatures. Logan and Golan arrived at a lope, Wolverine's sensitive nose wrinkling in disgust at the smell of smouldering tissue.
"I think I need a vacation." Blaze groaned as she and Gambit got to their feet. Then she winced as she corrected herself. "Holiday. Not vacation, holiday. See, been stuck in America far too long for my own Englishness........."
"Gambit take you wherever you wanna go, Laura. Just don't ever scare me like that again, okay?" She nodded at him, quite willing to oblige, still shivering and numb with cold.
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Back downstairs an uncomfortable silence settled on the gathered X-Men like dust on the many scattered furnishings. Dr McMahon had been dragged, still unconscious, to be bound with tatters of curtain to an uncomfortable- looking bench. Bobby was sat up on another of the battered chairs in the big, concave room, the other X-Men all spacing themselves out unevenly as if they were waiting for something. Jean and Scott appeared to be having a very long-winded telepathic conversation. Logan crossed his arms stubbornly over his chest, the hairs on the back of his neck tingling at the tension in the air between his friends. He could still smell that disgusting stench from upstairs where Venu lay smouldering too. Finally it was Bobby who tried to break the tension, though his voice was rough and his face pale.
"You don't look so good Blaze, take it you don't like the cold much?" He smiled, a sentiment Blaze could just about echo as she pulled Gambit's coat further around herself.
"Not really, but its not exactly something I like to advertise. How are you doing? Did Venu get one of those horrid things in you?"
"Yeah." Bobby turned an interesting shade of green as he thought about it. "But that cold stuff of Golan's was good thinking. Jean woke me up enough to use my powers, and the seed thing just popped right out, dead."
"Twas nothing." Golan was obviously crowing at how well his input had gone down with the other team members. "Tis a proud day for Golan, de X-Men served well has Golan."
"That you have, Guardian." Jean agreed, coming over to him and placing her hand on one of Golan's many wrists, smiling at her friend.
"Golan is much sorry to Blaze though........." The large mutant turned baleful eyes on the fire elemental as Jean's smile dropped almost as quickly as her hand. She knew it had been Scott's call to use Storm like that, Scott who was supposed to remember his team's weaknesses from the Professor's files, Scott who should have known they'd put Blaze's life in danger.........
"Its okay, really." Blaze enthused. "I'm fine, see, barely shivering anymore." Her eyes drifted to Remy even as Jean turned to look at Scott. Every one of them knew what was coming next.
"I........." Scott stuttered even as Remy stepped forward to face Cyclops. The whole room was deathly still, the very air electrified.
"I don't want your job, Cyclops." Gambit began. "You don't want it either, give it somebody else. Personally I t'ink you should keep it. You got your problems, you don't listen for one. An' you always tryin' to prove you as good as a Xavier, but you ain't. That no insult to you, just the way it is. I t'ink you know this team's good at its job, we bin doin' this a long time. You trust us, stop tryin' to do everythin' yourself, an' we'll follow you."
For a few moments the silence dragged on after Gambit finished his speech. Then as it sank in that everything could now go back to normal, there was an audible sigh of relief, even from Logan, not that he'd ever acknowledge it.
"I don't know what to say." Scott was caught half way between a smile and a frown. "It was me who asked Storm to put this place in the freezer, even though I'd seen Blaze's files, I should have remembered......... I could have killed you."
"Yes." Blaze acknowledged wryly, stepping forward to take Gambit's hand. "Don't do that again."
"No problem." Cyclops answered, still in shock as Jean echoed Blaze's move by taking Scott's hand in hers.
"How'd you get here on time?" Bobby asked with a groan. "When Jean **asked** me where we thought this Doctor guy was, I figured you'd still be hours away with no Eagle?"
"So you our spy then, Ami?" Gambit gave Iceman a friendly grin, no point bearing grudges at this stage in the game. Bobby only shrugged and Storm looked a touch uncomfortable.
"Took delivery of a little surprise yesterday," Cyclops announced, "Seems Ilehana had a few side-projects running before she........." He couldn't finish the sentence; especially not with the cold look Logan was giving him. "Three seater mini-jet, stealth technology, handles like a......... Like I don't know what."
"What's it called?" Storm was intrigued.
"The Falcon." Jean and Scott answered together, sharing a glance of wicked pleasure. Golan on the other hand looked vaguely ill just at the mention of the new jet.
"So," Logan asked, disrupting the vastly improving mood of the team by bringing them sharply back to the present situation. "What happens now?"
A/N: Post X2 spoilers, and spoilers for Corrinth's Guardians of Destiny, which incidentally is excellent so go read it! Reviews always appreciated.
Scene 22
With a fury of sudden strength, Blaze threw Gambit over backward, hurling herself over him to protect him. Not knowing how she found the energy, she raised a hand, spitting dragon-fire to knock Venu back. The seedpod frizzled in the air, dropping like silver dust into the wind. Venu screamed as his tendrils caught in the flames, skin peeling back like leaves in a bonfire, flesh underneath brown and burning. The fire devoured him, but not quickly, as though it burned green wood. Smoke hung thick in the air, as did Venu's wailing screams. Blaze slumped to lay her head on Remy's shoulder, his fingers grasping her hair.
The wind dropped, temperature returning hastily from the Arctic spectrum back up to average LA temperatures. Logan and Golan arrived at a lope, Wolverine's sensitive nose wrinkling in disgust at the smell of smouldering tissue.
"I think I need a vacation." Blaze groaned as she and Gambit got to their feet. Then she winced as she corrected herself. "Holiday. Not vacation, holiday. See, been stuck in America far too long for my own Englishness........."
"Gambit take you wherever you wanna go, Laura. Just don't ever scare me like that again, okay?" She nodded at him, quite willing to oblige, still shivering and numb with cold.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Back downstairs an uncomfortable silence settled on the gathered X-Men like dust on the many scattered furnishings. Dr McMahon had been dragged, still unconscious, to be bound with tatters of curtain to an uncomfortable- looking bench. Bobby was sat up on another of the battered chairs in the big, concave room, the other X-Men all spacing themselves out unevenly as if they were waiting for something. Jean and Scott appeared to be having a very long-winded telepathic conversation. Logan crossed his arms stubbornly over his chest, the hairs on the back of his neck tingling at the tension in the air between his friends. He could still smell that disgusting stench from upstairs where Venu lay smouldering too. Finally it was Bobby who tried to break the tension, though his voice was rough and his face pale.
"You don't look so good Blaze, take it you don't like the cold much?" He smiled, a sentiment Blaze could just about echo as she pulled Gambit's coat further around herself.
"Not really, but its not exactly something I like to advertise. How are you doing? Did Venu get one of those horrid things in you?"
"Yeah." Bobby turned an interesting shade of green as he thought about it. "But that cold stuff of Golan's was good thinking. Jean woke me up enough to use my powers, and the seed thing just popped right out, dead."
"Twas nothing." Golan was obviously crowing at how well his input had gone down with the other team members. "Tis a proud day for Golan, de X-Men served well has Golan."
"That you have, Guardian." Jean agreed, coming over to him and placing her hand on one of Golan's many wrists, smiling at her friend.
"Golan is much sorry to Blaze though........." The large mutant turned baleful eyes on the fire elemental as Jean's smile dropped almost as quickly as her hand. She knew it had been Scott's call to use Storm like that, Scott who was supposed to remember his team's weaknesses from the Professor's files, Scott who should have known they'd put Blaze's life in danger.........
"Its okay, really." Blaze enthused. "I'm fine, see, barely shivering anymore." Her eyes drifted to Remy even as Jean turned to look at Scott. Every one of them knew what was coming next.
"I........." Scott stuttered even as Remy stepped forward to face Cyclops. The whole room was deathly still, the very air electrified.
"I don't want your job, Cyclops." Gambit began. "You don't want it either, give it somebody else. Personally I t'ink you should keep it. You got your problems, you don't listen for one. An' you always tryin' to prove you as good as a Xavier, but you ain't. That no insult to you, just the way it is. I t'ink you know this team's good at its job, we bin doin' this a long time. You trust us, stop tryin' to do everythin' yourself, an' we'll follow you."
For a few moments the silence dragged on after Gambit finished his speech. Then as it sank in that everything could now go back to normal, there was an audible sigh of relief, even from Logan, not that he'd ever acknowledge it.
"I don't know what to say." Scott was caught half way between a smile and a frown. "It was me who asked Storm to put this place in the freezer, even though I'd seen Blaze's files, I should have remembered......... I could have killed you."
"Yes." Blaze acknowledged wryly, stepping forward to take Gambit's hand. "Don't do that again."
"No problem." Cyclops answered, still in shock as Jean echoed Blaze's move by taking Scott's hand in hers.
"How'd you get here on time?" Bobby asked with a groan. "When Jean **asked** me where we thought this Doctor guy was, I figured you'd still be hours away with no Eagle?"
"So you our spy then, Ami?" Gambit gave Iceman a friendly grin, no point bearing grudges at this stage in the game. Bobby only shrugged and Storm looked a touch uncomfortable.
"Took delivery of a little surprise yesterday," Cyclops announced, "Seems Ilehana had a few side-projects running before she........." He couldn't finish the sentence; especially not with the cold look Logan was giving him. "Three seater mini-jet, stealth technology, handles like a......... Like I don't know what."
"What's it called?" Storm was intrigued.
"The Falcon." Jean and Scott answered together, sharing a glance of wicked pleasure. Golan on the other hand looked vaguely ill just at the mention of the new jet.
"So," Logan asked, disrupting the vastly improving mood of the team by bringing them sharply back to the present situation. "What happens now?"