BACK HOME ONCE AGAIN
Jesse's head darted around the airport. "Where is she?" he asked.
Emma laughed and patted his shoulder. "Relax," she exclaimed "She'll be here."
Riley Jackson, the Revolution, could see them from where she stood, standing under a large skylight. The sunlight causing Emma's hair to look like flames and Jesse's to strongly resemble liquid gold.
"JESSE!" she yelled as she ran down the escalator.
"Rev!" he yelled racing towards her. The girl giggled as he hugged and swung her around.
"Hi, Em," she exclaimed breathlessly.
"Jess...you're choking your girlfriend," she said smiling.
Jesse hugged her one more time and smiled.
"Ready to go home?" he asked.
"Yes, please," she said, kissing him.
Down the other escalator, a smallish figure struggled to juggle a suitcase, a briefcase, several folders and a cane. Every few steps, the folders fall to the ground or the wheels of the suitcase get caught in floor creases and the darned thing tips over. Besides, there were other means of flying, all of them much better than being cooped up in the narrow space of a plane cabin, with stewardesses fussing over you because you're "challenged" and an awful lot of children running up and down the aisles. What a dumb idea to hold a medical conference in Orlando, Florida, of all places! Hot, humid, flat! And they didn't let her in most of those theme park rides because she was... groan... challenged. Political correctness be damned!
That's when the overloaded briefcase decided it was a good time to open and scatter the notes taken during the Mutant Viruses International Conference all over the airport lobby.
'This isn't my lucky day... Or maybe it is!' the small handicapped doctor thought. "Emma!" she cried to the redheaded slender girl the other side of the lobby.
Emma DeLauro, psionic extraordinaire and the doctor's best friend among Adam's team turned, looked at the strange figure, appreciated her sorry situation and doubled over laughing! She lightly elbowed the blonde young man by her side, pointing to where the hunchback was trying to gather together a ton of paper.
'Jesse Kilmartin, thank God its him, and not Brennan.' Even as far as they were, Angela Fontenelle could see clearly the bluest pair of eyes she'd ever seen in her life. And the kindest to boot. But who was the girl hanging from his arm? 'Boy, I should drop by Sanctuary more often.' She could see the girl was not pleased when they came her way, still laughing. Sometimes, eagle-like eyesight was more a curse than a blessing.
"This is uncharitable, you two. Laughing at a cripple! Shame on you!"
"Don't pull the 'poor little cripple' on us, Angela! We know you much better than that." Emma and Jesse started gathering papers while the doctor looked at the girl standing a little further apart.
"Hi, I'm Angela Fontenelle, a friend of Jesse's, Emma's, Shal's... well, Brennan's too, even after I beat him to a pulp in chess." She offered a hand, long fingers, large knuckles, talons and all for a friendly handshake. The girl hesitated, took a deep breath, bit her upper lip and the doctor noticed the look she shared with Jesse. He frowned ever so slightly, but the hunchback knew the "Come on, don't be repulsed" face ten miles away.
'Oh, boy...'
Revolution rolled her eyes Jesse way. Someone forgot where his girlfriend spent most of her childhood. She wasn't repulsed by the woman, she thought to herself, she was wary.
"I'm Revolution," the slender girl exclaimed, taking the woman's hand in hers "Jesse's girlfriend." She yawned and telekinetically lifted her large purple suitcase up and put in Jesse's arms.
"Be a dear?" She asked, kissing his cheek.
"Of course," he replied.
"So you beat Sparky at chess, did ya?" she asked the women as they walked away "Bet the Ole spark plug loved that."
Gathering the last items scattered around the floor and trying to close Angela's overflowing briefcase, Emma laughed. That was a cherished memory, Brennan's chess demise.
"The story is a little different. And it happened before you joined Mutant X and came to live in Sanctuary." Emma explained, while heading to the exit. "Jesse, we can give Tweety here a lift home."
"Thanks, I was hoping you would. Anyway, Adam had brought me here from Brazil after my mother passed away and I was living in Sanctuary, studying mutant physiology. " The pace was slowed, walking in boots was difficult and the crippled woman leaned heavily on her cane. "I was shy around people I didn't know, but I wanted to fit in. One night, Emma was playing chess by herself. I love chess. I was Brazilian and South American amateur champ, you know?"
Emma caught up on the narrative. "Brennan repeated that old quip of Jesse's about having my own butt kicked. Angela heard and suggested that we pulled Bren's leg. I'd challenge him, and pick the moves from her mind. With her eyes, she could see the board from afar." Emma couldn't go on, it was so funny...
By that time, the girl Revolution was following the story like it was a tennis match, looking from Emma to Angela and back, while they headed to the airport parking lot.
"Brennan and Emma played four matches and she won them all." Angela went on. "By the third match, they had an audience. Brennan was so desperate he kept looking at Adam, who kept his best poker face on, begging for help. "
"On the fourth match, it was mate in three!" Emma exclaimed while Jesse loaded the luggage in the SUVs trunk. "We captured his king in three moves! Revenge was mine! Brennan blew a fuse!"
Moods were high and they were all laughing. "Where do we drop you off? Home or clinic?" asked Jesse.
"Home, please! I miss Ally and I'm really tired," said Angela. "Dragging this junk all the way back was a pain."
"Your loft it is, then." And Jesse set the car in motion.
&&&
"So Rev?" asked Emma from the back seat "Lux teach you any nifty tricks?"
The girl smiled.
"Well, I can now successfully float for miles without dropping from the sky," she replied laughing.
"Is that what you were practicing when I visited last?" asked Jesse.
Revolution pushed her long red hair behind her ear and nodded.
"Broke an arm too," she said laughing.
Sitting with Emma in the back, the dark skinned woman studied the girl riding shotgun. Pretty... Slender... Looks so young... But there was something wild about her, a shadow of haunting in her eyes. It reminded her of certain birds... Hawks! Yes, as if she had suffered a lot in her few years, but retained all the fire of an indomitable spirit. She was always wary, always on the look out. And always very ready. She was a hawk, alright.
"Clean fracture?" the hunchback bit her tongue, she shouldn't butt in the conversation. "Sorry, but I'm a doctor. How does your arm feel?"
She turned to the stranger and pierced her with those fierce clear eyes of hers. So wary... so defensive...
Angela looked at Emma, who gave her a sad smile. This girl brings all Emma's compassion to the surface. The telempath touched her own heart and the bent woman got the message: Revolution had seen a lot, suffered a lot and survived a lot.
They were near the loft Angela shared with Allison Turner, who ran all Underground day-to-day activities when the sound of a Fire Squad siren sounded behind the SUV. Jesse pulled over to let the red truck go by. Another red truck shot from the corner and headed in the same direction the SUV was pointed to. Bystanders ran to the spot, trying to see what was going on. Inside the vehicle, four people very used to dealing with catastrophe looked at each other.
Jesse floored the SUV, trying to reach the loft, but traffic was jamming up. He turned to the right, looking for a back way and they managed to approach the building from behind. It was surrounded by firemen, onlookers, policemen...
Jumping out of the car, the four mutants couldn't believe what they were seeing: the whole building where Angela and Allison shared a home was burning, but it was no regular fire. There were no flames shooting out of the windows, neither there was smoke pouring out and climbing to the sky. Only small bluish flames could be seeing engulfing the second floor. The heat was unbearable and the walls were turning black fast. The blue fire seemed to be coming from the inside out and the apartment was rapidly turning to cinders.
Taking in the disaster, Jesse, Emma, Riley and Angela could do nothing but stare at the weird bonfire. Suddenly, snapping out of her stupor, Angela looked at her wristwatch checking the hour. She felt the cold hand of panic close around her heart as she screamed, "ALLISON!!!"
Jesse's head darted around the airport. "Where is she?" he asked.
Emma laughed and patted his shoulder. "Relax," she exclaimed "She'll be here."
Riley Jackson, the Revolution, could see them from where she stood, standing under a large skylight. The sunlight causing Emma's hair to look like flames and Jesse's to strongly resemble liquid gold.
"JESSE!" she yelled as she ran down the escalator.
"Rev!" he yelled racing towards her. The girl giggled as he hugged and swung her around.
"Hi, Em," she exclaimed breathlessly.
"Jess...you're choking your girlfriend," she said smiling.
Jesse hugged her one more time and smiled.
"Ready to go home?" he asked.
"Yes, please," she said, kissing him.
Down the other escalator, a smallish figure struggled to juggle a suitcase, a briefcase, several folders and a cane. Every few steps, the folders fall to the ground or the wheels of the suitcase get caught in floor creases and the darned thing tips over. Besides, there were other means of flying, all of them much better than being cooped up in the narrow space of a plane cabin, with stewardesses fussing over you because you're "challenged" and an awful lot of children running up and down the aisles. What a dumb idea to hold a medical conference in Orlando, Florida, of all places! Hot, humid, flat! And they didn't let her in most of those theme park rides because she was... groan... challenged. Political correctness be damned!
That's when the overloaded briefcase decided it was a good time to open and scatter the notes taken during the Mutant Viruses International Conference all over the airport lobby.
'This isn't my lucky day... Or maybe it is!' the small handicapped doctor thought. "Emma!" she cried to the redheaded slender girl the other side of the lobby.
Emma DeLauro, psionic extraordinaire and the doctor's best friend among Adam's team turned, looked at the strange figure, appreciated her sorry situation and doubled over laughing! She lightly elbowed the blonde young man by her side, pointing to where the hunchback was trying to gather together a ton of paper.
'Jesse Kilmartin, thank God its him, and not Brennan.' Even as far as they were, Angela Fontenelle could see clearly the bluest pair of eyes she'd ever seen in her life. And the kindest to boot. But who was the girl hanging from his arm? 'Boy, I should drop by Sanctuary more often.' She could see the girl was not pleased when they came her way, still laughing. Sometimes, eagle-like eyesight was more a curse than a blessing.
"This is uncharitable, you two. Laughing at a cripple! Shame on you!"
"Don't pull the 'poor little cripple' on us, Angela! We know you much better than that." Emma and Jesse started gathering papers while the doctor looked at the girl standing a little further apart.
"Hi, I'm Angela Fontenelle, a friend of Jesse's, Emma's, Shal's... well, Brennan's too, even after I beat him to a pulp in chess." She offered a hand, long fingers, large knuckles, talons and all for a friendly handshake. The girl hesitated, took a deep breath, bit her upper lip and the doctor noticed the look she shared with Jesse. He frowned ever so slightly, but the hunchback knew the "Come on, don't be repulsed" face ten miles away.
'Oh, boy...'
Revolution rolled her eyes Jesse way. Someone forgot where his girlfriend spent most of her childhood. She wasn't repulsed by the woman, she thought to herself, she was wary.
"I'm Revolution," the slender girl exclaimed, taking the woman's hand in hers "Jesse's girlfriend." She yawned and telekinetically lifted her large purple suitcase up and put in Jesse's arms.
"Be a dear?" She asked, kissing his cheek.
"Of course," he replied.
"So you beat Sparky at chess, did ya?" she asked the women as they walked away "Bet the Ole spark plug loved that."
Gathering the last items scattered around the floor and trying to close Angela's overflowing briefcase, Emma laughed. That was a cherished memory, Brennan's chess demise.
"The story is a little different. And it happened before you joined Mutant X and came to live in Sanctuary." Emma explained, while heading to the exit. "Jesse, we can give Tweety here a lift home."
"Thanks, I was hoping you would. Anyway, Adam had brought me here from Brazil after my mother passed away and I was living in Sanctuary, studying mutant physiology. " The pace was slowed, walking in boots was difficult and the crippled woman leaned heavily on her cane. "I was shy around people I didn't know, but I wanted to fit in. One night, Emma was playing chess by herself. I love chess. I was Brazilian and South American amateur champ, you know?"
Emma caught up on the narrative. "Brennan repeated that old quip of Jesse's about having my own butt kicked. Angela heard and suggested that we pulled Bren's leg. I'd challenge him, and pick the moves from her mind. With her eyes, she could see the board from afar." Emma couldn't go on, it was so funny...
By that time, the girl Revolution was following the story like it was a tennis match, looking from Emma to Angela and back, while they headed to the airport parking lot.
"Brennan and Emma played four matches and she won them all." Angela went on. "By the third match, they had an audience. Brennan was so desperate he kept looking at Adam, who kept his best poker face on, begging for help. "
"On the fourth match, it was mate in three!" Emma exclaimed while Jesse loaded the luggage in the SUVs trunk. "We captured his king in three moves! Revenge was mine! Brennan blew a fuse!"
Moods were high and they were all laughing. "Where do we drop you off? Home or clinic?" asked Jesse.
"Home, please! I miss Ally and I'm really tired," said Angela. "Dragging this junk all the way back was a pain."
"Your loft it is, then." And Jesse set the car in motion.
&&&
"So Rev?" asked Emma from the back seat "Lux teach you any nifty tricks?"
The girl smiled.
"Well, I can now successfully float for miles without dropping from the sky," she replied laughing.
"Is that what you were practicing when I visited last?" asked Jesse.
Revolution pushed her long red hair behind her ear and nodded.
"Broke an arm too," she said laughing.
Sitting with Emma in the back, the dark skinned woman studied the girl riding shotgun. Pretty... Slender... Looks so young... But there was something wild about her, a shadow of haunting in her eyes. It reminded her of certain birds... Hawks! Yes, as if she had suffered a lot in her few years, but retained all the fire of an indomitable spirit. She was always wary, always on the look out. And always very ready. She was a hawk, alright.
"Clean fracture?" the hunchback bit her tongue, she shouldn't butt in the conversation. "Sorry, but I'm a doctor. How does your arm feel?"
She turned to the stranger and pierced her with those fierce clear eyes of hers. So wary... so defensive...
Angela looked at Emma, who gave her a sad smile. This girl brings all Emma's compassion to the surface. The telempath touched her own heart and the bent woman got the message: Revolution had seen a lot, suffered a lot and survived a lot.
They were near the loft Angela shared with Allison Turner, who ran all Underground day-to-day activities when the sound of a Fire Squad siren sounded behind the SUV. Jesse pulled over to let the red truck go by. Another red truck shot from the corner and headed in the same direction the SUV was pointed to. Bystanders ran to the spot, trying to see what was going on. Inside the vehicle, four people very used to dealing with catastrophe looked at each other.
Jesse floored the SUV, trying to reach the loft, but traffic was jamming up. He turned to the right, looking for a back way and they managed to approach the building from behind. It was surrounded by firemen, onlookers, policemen...
Jumping out of the car, the four mutants couldn't believe what they were seeing: the whole building where Angela and Allison shared a home was burning, but it was no regular fire. There were no flames shooting out of the windows, neither there was smoke pouring out and climbing to the sky. Only small bluish flames could be seeing engulfing the second floor. The heat was unbearable and the walls were turning black fast. The blue fire seemed to be coming from the inside out and the apartment was rapidly turning to cinders.
Taking in the disaster, Jesse, Emma, Riley and Angela could do nothing but stare at the weird bonfire. Suddenly, snapping out of her stupor, Angela looked at her wristwatch checking the hour. She felt the cold hand of panic close around her heart as she screamed, "ALLISON!!!"