Chiara opened her eyes again, after what had felt like two seconds. Though now it was dark outside and the cabin was silent she felt like she'd barely slept, her slumber was so riddled with nightmares. She sat up straight, feeling her seat-belt tight around her waist and her back crack as the joints realigned.

She put a hand to the back of her head, wishing above anything that she had an Advil or something to put the pain to rest. Her eyes were sore and red, she could presume. She tugged hard at the seat belt and it sprang apart, letting her inhale deeply. She stood up and looked around. Cyclops looked over his shoulder and gave her a look, but didn't say anything.

Chiara moved down the aisle, her legs stiff. She wished she had a watch so as to find how long she'd been asleep. Everyone was sleeping, all looking totally peaceful. She imagined, if they'd had the same kind of dreams as her, they wouldn't look so at rest.

The lights in the back of the plane had been dimmed so that it was easier to sleep, even though they had no choice with some psychic telling them all to anyway. The plane gave a slight rattle as the wind beat against the sides. Chiara looked down over the seats again, glancing at her friends, suddenly worried for their safety.

A pair of glowing green eyes suddenly made her jump.

"Shit!" she started, as Simon noticed her reaction and leaned forwards into the light.

"What?" he asked, eyes no longer glowing, just deeply green. Chiara frowned.

"You're not asleep?" she asked.

"Why should I be?" he asked, taking his feet down from where they were on the back of Streak's seat and motioning for her to take the seat next to him. Chiara thought about it a moment, then moved awkwardly past him to the chair. Once seated, she looked back at him, finding him smiling. She shivered slightly and glared at him.

"But the voice thingy... didn't it put you to sleep?" She asked. Simon laughed shortly.

"No." he said, then explained. "Why should I have? I can repel psychic orders, nothing special." he shrugged. Chiara bit her lip, wanting to ask how, but not wanting to speak to him. He read her mind anyway.

"It's all in the protest. Why should you do something just cause someone wants you to? Believe that hard enough and the need to follow commands disappears." he finished, leaning back in his seat. "You look tired. Sure you slept?" he asked. Chiara looked over at him again to find her eyes lock with his uncomfortably again.

"I just had bad dreams." she said quietly.

"Like what?"

"We all died. Well... first Yuako and everyone was dead, and then we went and died too." she sighed. It'd been more complex than that, but she didn't want to recall the images again.

"Death is bad?" Simon pondered out loud. Chiara narrowed her eyes. She didn't need one of these talks again.

"It was in my dream." she said finally, leaning back in the plane seat. They were both silent for a long time. Chiara sighed quietly eventually. Death was bad for her, yes. It'd always been a part of her life. Her father gave assassination orders for a living and her mother had been killed when she was eleven years old by the IRA. Yes, death was bad, but she'd thought Simon was the last person to question that fact. He seemed to enjoy life so much all the time. She wished she had a watch again.

"You'd think we'd be used to death now." Simon said, looking up at her from where he was slouched in his seat.

"I guess." Chiara shrugged, looking at her fingernails. She could guess what he was about to say next. He was going to go on about the nuclear bombs and the wars.

"It's human nature to destroy." he said.

"What about Greenpeace people. They try and... un-destroy?" Chiara asked, randomly trying to find an argument.

"Freaks of nature." Simon smiled.

"And what about us?" she asked ultimately. "We're trying to save the world from being destroyed. We're freaks too?"

"We're mutants; guaranteed freaks." he said, eyes glittering and smile growing wider. "Humans are a thing of the past." Chiara looked away for lack of anything else to say. They were the evolved state. They were the future of the human race. There was another long awkward silence again.

"I'm sorry about what I said before." Simon said eventually, on a different note. Chiara looked over at him, confused. "About your... uniform." he said, almost embarrassed. Chiara smiled slightly.

"Whatever." she said. "I'd already forgotten about it." She hadn't totally, but now that he'd apologized for treating her like an object, it seemed like she'd made a big deal out of nothing. The plane rattled again but the sound was different. Less metallic and more... solid..? There was a sudden stirring in the plane as everyone woke up.

"Where are we?" Streak croaked from in front of them. "God... I had the worst nightmare. Add was-" she began, but couldn't finish. The plane gave a massive jump and then thudded onto something solid.

"No one move!" Cyclops shouted from the front, raising a hand. Immediately, everyone froze, tense and alert despite their bad sleep. Chiara looked over the rows of seats, seeing him talking to Logan and Ororo.

"What's going on?" she whispered to Simon as Cyclops dropped his hand.

"Isn't it obvious?" he grinned. "We've landed."

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Okay... I hope this was less crappy. prays Cause' God knows the last one was terrible!

Chi and Simon needed some soul-talking...

thanks for you comments!