That was an evil cliffhanger, wasn't it? Once again, I don't own X-Men
characters, but I do own Ling/Aqua.
* * *
"Shoot! What are we going to do now?" Aqua winced at the pain in her leg.
Pyro thought quickly. "Hey, I could carry you out!"
Aqua looked at him strangely. "Aren't we supposed to be enemies? Everyone keeps telling me not to trust anyone with Magneto because they'll just throw you in the dirt-" Pyro clamped his hand over her mouth.
"Well, I just happened to be nice for today. And you shouldn't believe everything people say." He said bitterly. So is that what his old friends think of him?
"Well it won't work anyway. They only place is that little hole there, and you probably can't carry me and squeeze yourself in there at the same time!" Aqua reasoned with him.
"Then YOU think of a plan!" Pyro snapped.
"I heard voices! Over there! HURRY!" A guard said distantly.
"Um." Aqua thought quickly. Rule number one: Never get caught. Now if only she could think of something. But some of her thoughts were that she was mildly surprised that Pyro, the enemy, offered to help her. She must have done something right during her captivity with Magneto.
Then, something came with her. She remembered a tactic she had seen in James Bond: Die Another Day, a movie she had seen with Rogue and Iceman during her short stay at the school. It was very likely it wouldn't work, but it was all they've got.
"Hurry, push the equipment somewhere where no one will see it." She muttered. Pyro obeyed, and pushed both of their stuff behind a truck.
"What's your plan?" He whispered.
Just as Aqua heard footsteps round the corner, she grabbed Pyro roughly and kissed him. Pyro's lips were stiff with shock, and at first he just sat there. But then, he heard the footsteps too, and must have figured out what she was trying to do. Then he got into it.
This would be Aqua's last resort, but she had never done this before, and she found it very . . . very pleasant. She would never admit it, but she liked kissing Pyro. He was good at it. It was a Kodak moment.
Footsteps squeaked to a stop, and a rough, haughty voice said, "What are you kids doing here?"
They separated for a moment, moment enough to answer the question.
"Sorry sir," Pyro said with his face down to keep from smiling, "We couldn't get any privacy, and um-we came here-"
"No need to explain it all in detail, son-" It took all of Aqua's self- control to keep from sniggering, "and I suggest that you two get out of here now, and since we're busy, we'll let you off this time. But have you seen any suspicious characters around?" The guard asked.
"No sir, just us and you." Aqua answered, toning her voice a bit higher than usual.
"Well, if you see anyone, tell us, okay?" The guard said distractedly. "Let's try this way, boys." And the group of guards left.
Aqua and Pyro's faces were still inches from each other's. Pyro was in a better position than Aqua to see whether they were really gone or not.
"Are they gone?" Aqua asked.
Pyro really didn't like those guards, and he felt angry at them, so when he confirmed that they had left, he said it with an angry voice.
"Yeah, they're gone."
"Now what?" Aqua asked quietly.
Pyro stared deep into those dark, Asian eyes and saw a lot of things. He saw a lot of pain, but some happiness too, and from that sly smile she had on her face, he knew that she enjoyed kissing him as much as he enjoyed kissing her. So he tilted his head a little, and his lips met hers, and this time, Pyro kissed her. All of a sudden, all of his anger cooled down. Then he realized-he was fire, she was water. It was obvious that water douses fire, so she really doused his anger and hot temper.
Now it was Aqua's turn to be surprised. She had never felt this way before, and frankly, she was a little scared. But when Pyro kissed her, everything, every problem, every fear all melted away.
They kissed for a long time. Finally they separated, but their faces remained close to each other.
"We have to go." Aqua said. "They will be worried about us."
"Yeah, I guess they will." Pyro said reluctantly. "Can you walk?"
"No, but hold on, I'm going to try something." Then an amazed Pyro watched her turn into a being made of water, starting with her feet, and then going to her head. Suddenly she stood up, her human-like figure shaking a watery leg.
"Hey, it actually works! I can't feel anything!" Aqua's distorted voice said.
"Whoa." That was all Pyro could say.
"Come on, let's go." Aqua urged, apparently not noticing Pyro looking at her with his jaw opened. He had not seen anyone ever do anything like that.
She easily squeezed through the small entryway, and once Pyro got his senses back, he followed her.
They wandered for a while, not sure where to go. Suddenly they heard a loud crashing of metal, and a very familiar scream-
"Rogue!" Aqua yelled.
"Marie?" Pyro said, confused.
"Yeah, she and Iceman came with me. Oh no, they might be in trouble! We have to help them!" Aqua said.
But then she saw Pyro hesitating.
"Come on! She's your friend too, you know! Maybe not anymore, but they still talk about you! Did you know that Bobby still hasn't let anyone take over your part of the room? Whenever a new boy comes, the Professor asks if they can have your bed, but Bobby refused it." Aqua said all this with one breath, and she was angry. Their kiss was totally forgotten, her brain was fixed on one thing and it wasn't going away.
But Pyro wasn't hesitating because he didn't want to help them, it's just that Marie and Bobby can take care of themselves against guards. He was afraid that they were facing his boss Magneto.
"Well I don't know about you, but I'm going."
"So am I." Pyro said. He would have to meet his boss eventually, anyway. He was just afraid that he'd try and make him go against Ling.
"Good. Let's go."
They jogged and followed the sound of the shriek. As they drew closer, the two could hear indistinct voices, and sounds of crashing metal.
They walked around the building but found no way in.
"Stand back." Pyro said. Aqua stood back, wondering what he was going to do. He took out that same lighter he was using on the helicopter and manipulated it to hit the wall.
"You're trying to melt it." Aqua said a-matter-of-factly.
"It may take a while though." Pyro grunted. This was going to take about half of his energy, the wall is so thick.
Finally, Pyro was able to melt a significant amount of the wall so they could get through. Aqua doused whatever remaining fires were still there. They heard clanging and clashing down the hall, so they followed the sounds and found themselves in the midst of a raging battle.
They saw Magneto and Mystique, along with a couple of young new recruits. One was a girl sending sparks of electricity and a boy was sending earthquakes to the opposing team-the X-Men.
They saw Rogue with a big bloody slash on her arm-the reason for the scream. She was sitting there, eyes closed .Iceman was freezing incoming objects and protecting Rogue and the Professor looked like he was trying to put some sense into Magneto, as well as send some scraps of floor tiles or pieces of the wall at them for delay. Storm was matching her lightning against Magneto's lightning girl. Logan was trying to claw his way to the other boy, as well as protect the Professor. That's when Aqua noticed another boy lying on the ground next to Rogue, veins showing visibly on his face. Then Aqua realized that Rogue was sitting down because she was concentrating. Then her eyes opened, flashing brilliant colors. She put her palms out towards Magneto, and yelled for her boyfriend to move. Once he did, Rogue shot out brilliant specks of light from her hands, causing most to temporarily go blind and be distracted.
Everyone, except Magneto, was lying on the ground. Magneto reflected that just in time. That was when he noticed the onlookers.
"Ah! Pyro, good for you to finally come!" Then he noticed Aqua, "And I see you've brought the escapee with you. Good, you've recaptured her again. Come here, with the girl, NOW!" Magneto ordered.
"John?" Two astonished voices asked. Iceman looked at him reproachfully, obviously thinking what Magneto was thinking, that he'd captured Aqua. Rogue just looked shocked.
"The one and only." John joked.
"You think after all that time you can just joke about it? Let her go!" Rogue demanded furiously.
Aqua starting to reform, and the water all melted away into a puddle beneath her.
"It's Ok, I went with him!" she shouted.
But Rogue took this the wrong way. "What? Now YOU'RE betraying us! God, how could you?"
"No, that's not what I meant!" Aqua shouted desperately, "Iceman talk to her!"
Iceman talked to her softly, kissing her briefly on the cheek. That kiss made Aqua flush a little as the memory of her kiss came back.
"Sorry!" Rogue apologized.
Aqua nodded.
"All right, enough of this! Pyro, she's right next to you! Whatever brief alliance you have made, end it now and give it to her! I can give you rewards you cannot even imagine!" Magneto baited Pyro.
"Pyro. . ." Aqua trailed off. She looked at him with a pleading look. She could take him out if he did go back to the dark side.
Pyro's mind was arguing with himself, but his heart only had one direction. If only he could decide which one to listen to. . .what was he going to decide?
* * *
"Shoot! What are we going to do now?" Aqua winced at the pain in her leg.
Pyro thought quickly. "Hey, I could carry you out!"
Aqua looked at him strangely. "Aren't we supposed to be enemies? Everyone keeps telling me not to trust anyone with Magneto because they'll just throw you in the dirt-" Pyro clamped his hand over her mouth.
"Well, I just happened to be nice for today. And you shouldn't believe everything people say." He said bitterly. So is that what his old friends think of him?
"Well it won't work anyway. They only place is that little hole there, and you probably can't carry me and squeeze yourself in there at the same time!" Aqua reasoned with him.
"Then YOU think of a plan!" Pyro snapped.
"I heard voices! Over there! HURRY!" A guard said distantly.
"Um." Aqua thought quickly. Rule number one: Never get caught. Now if only she could think of something. But some of her thoughts were that she was mildly surprised that Pyro, the enemy, offered to help her. She must have done something right during her captivity with Magneto.
Then, something came with her. She remembered a tactic she had seen in James Bond: Die Another Day, a movie she had seen with Rogue and Iceman during her short stay at the school. It was very likely it wouldn't work, but it was all they've got.
"Hurry, push the equipment somewhere where no one will see it." She muttered. Pyro obeyed, and pushed both of their stuff behind a truck.
"What's your plan?" He whispered.
Just as Aqua heard footsteps round the corner, she grabbed Pyro roughly and kissed him. Pyro's lips were stiff with shock, and at first he just sat there. But then, he heard the footsteps too, and must have figured out what she was trying to do. Then he got into it.
This would be Aqua's last resort, but she had never done this before, and she found it very . . . very pleasant. She would never admit it, but she liked kissing Pyro. He was good at it. It was a Kodak moment.
Footsteps squeaked to a stop, and a rough, haughty voice said, "What are you kids doing here?"
They separated for a moment, moment enough to answer the question.
"Sorry sir," Pyro said with his face down to keep from smiling, "We couldn't get any privacy, and um-we came here-"
"No need to explain it all in detail, son-" It took all of Aqua's self- control to keep from sniggering, "and I suggest that you two get out of here now, and since we're busy, we'll let you off this time. But have you seen any suspicious characters around?" The guard asked.
"No sir, just us and you." Aqua answered, toning her voice a bit higher than usual.
"Well, if you see anyone, tell us, okay?" The guard said distractedly. "Let's try this way, boys." And the group of guards left.
Aqua and Pyro's faces were still inches from each other's. Pyro was in a better position than Aqua to see whether they were really gone or not.
"Are they gone?" Aqua asked.
Pyro really didn't like those guards, and he felt angry at them, so when he confirmed that they had left, he said it with an angry voice.
"Yeah, they're gone."
"Now what?" Aqua asked quietly.
Pyro stared deep into those dark, Asian eyes and saw a lot of things. He saw a lot of pain, but some happiness too, and from that sly smile she had on her face, he knew that she enjoyed kissing him as much as he enjoyed kissing her. So he tilted his head a little, and his lips met hers, and this time, Pyro kissed her. All of a sudden, all of his anger cooled down. Then he realized-he was fire, she was water. It was obvious that water douses fire, so she really doused his anger and hot temper.
Now it was Aqua's turn to be surprised. She had never felt this way before, and frankly, she was a little scared. But when Pyro kissed her, everything, every problem, every fear all melted away.
They kissed for a long time. Finally they separated, but their faces remained close to each other.
"We have to go." Aqua said. "They will be worried about us."
"Yeah, I guess they will." Pyro said reluctantly. "Can you walk?"
"No, but hold on, I'm going to try something." Then an amazed Pyro watched her turn into a being made of water, starting with her feet, and then going to her head. Suddenly she stood up, her human-like figure shaking a watery leg.
"Hey, it actually works! I can't feel anything!" Aqua's distorted voice said.
"Whoa." That was all Pyro could say.
"Come on, let's go." Aqua urged, apparently not noticing Pyro looking at her with his jaw opened. He had not seen anyone ever do anything like that.
She easily squeezed through the small entryway, and once Pyro got his senses back, he followed her.
They wandered for a while, not sure where to go. Suddenly they heard a loud crashing of metal, and a very familiar scream-
"Rogue!" Aqua yelled.
"Marie?" Pyro said, confused.
"Yeah, she and Iceman came with me. Oh no, they might be in trouble! We have to help them!" Aqua said.
But then she saw Pyro hesitating.
"Come on! She's your friend too, you know! Maybe not anymore, but they still talk about you! Did you know that Bobby still hasn't let anyone take over your part of the room? Whenever a new boy comes, the Professor asks if they can have your bed, but Bobby refused it." Aqua said all this with one breath, and she was angry. Their kiss was totally forgotten, her brain was fixed on one thing and it wasn't going away.
But Pyro wasn't hesitating because he didn't want to help them, it's just that Marie and Bobby can take care of themselves against guards. He was afraid that they were facing his boss Magneto.
"Well I don't know about you, but I'm going."
"So am I." Pyro said. He would have to meet his boss eventually, anyway. He was just afraid that he'd try and make him go against Ling.
"Good. Let's go."
They jogged and followed the sound of the shriek. As they drew closer, the two could hear indistinct voices, and sounds of crashing metal.
They walked around the building but found no way in.
"Stand back." Pyro said. Aqua stood back, wondering what he was going to do. He took out that same lighter he was using on the helicopter and manipulated it to hit the wall.
"You're trying to melt it." Aqua said a-matter-of-factly.
"It may take a while though." Pyro grunted. This was going to take about half of his energy, the wall is so thick.
Finally, Pyro was able to melt a significant amount of the wall so they could get through. Aqua doused whatever remaining fires were still there. They heard clanging and clashing down the hall, so they followed the sounds and found themselves in the midst of a raging battle.
They saw Magneto and Mystique, along with a couple of young new recruits. One was a girl sending sparks of electricity and a boy was sending earthquakes to the opposing team-the X-Men.
They saw Rogue with a big bloody slash on her arm-the reason for the scream. She was sitting there, eyes closed .Iceman was freezing incoming objects and protecting Rogue and the Professor looked like he was trying to put some sense into Magneto, as well as send some scraps of floor tiles or pieces of the wall at them for delay. Storm was matching her lightning against Magneto's lightning girl. Logan was trying to claw his way to the other boy, as well as protect the Professor. That's when Aqua noticed another boy lying on the ground next to Rogue, veins showing visibly on his face. Then Aqua realized that Rogue was sitting down because she was concentrating. Then her eyes opened, flashing brilliant colors. She put her palms out towards Magneto, and yelled for her boyfriend to move. Once he did, Rogue shot out brilliant specks of light from her hands, causing most to temporarily go blind and be distracted.
Everyone, except Magneto, was lying on the ground. Magneto reflected that just in time. That was when he noticed the onlookers.
"Ah! Pyro, good for you to finally come!" Then he noticed Aqua, "And I see you've brought the escapee with you. Good, you've recaptured her again. Come here, with the girl, NOW!" Magneto ordered.
"John?" Two astonished voices asked. Iceman looked at him reproachfully, obviously thinking what Magneto was thinking, that he'd captured Aqua. Rogue just looked shocked.
"The one and only." John joked.
"You think after all that time you can just joke about it? Let her go!" Rogue demanded furiously.
Aqua starting to reform, and the water all melted away into a puddle beneath her.
"It's Ok, I went with him!" she shouted.
But Rogue took this the wrong way. "What? Now YOU'RE betraying us! God, how could you?"
"No, that's not what I meant!" Aqua shouted desperately, "Iceman talk to her!"
Iceman talked to her softly, kissing her briefly on the cheek. That kiss made Aqua flush a little as the memory of her kiss came back.
"Sorry!" Rogue apologized.
Aqua nodded.
"All right, enough of this! Pyro, she's right next to you! Whatever brief alliance you have made, end it now and give it to her! I can give you rewards you cannot even imagine!" Magneto baited Pyro.
"Pyro. . ." Aqua trailed off. She looked at him with a pleading look. She could take him out if he did go back to the dark side.
Pyro's mind was arguing with himself, but his heart only had one direction. If only he could decide which one to listen to. . .what was he going to decide?