Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men. Ilehana Xavier belongs to Corrinth. All
other characters belong to me.
A/N: Thank you to all my reviewers out there; you really are all stars. Senator Hawley, Sam Hawley and Matthew Cooper were introduced in Darkest Hearts before a longer outing in Shockwaves, just in case you were wondering.
Scene 02
"I was angry. Drunk, upset, and very, very angry. I hated her."
The woman speaking was in her mid to late twenties, her long grey-black hair glossy and loose in a sleek waterfall like molten metal down to her shoulders. Her eyes were a subdued steely grey, her skin bronzed, form long and lean. She sat opposite a woman in a suit and carrying a clipboard, ticking off boxes as though they were important. Eloise sighed slightly, shifting in the uncomfortable plastic chair and waiting for the woman to ask her next question.
"And what about now?" The woman's accent was South African. Eloise had been here so long she'd almost forgotten how any other accent could sound. "How do you feel after eight years with us?"
"I don't..." Eloise began, frowning. "I don't feel anything. I know it was stupid, what I did. And I am sorry." She looked up at the woman in the suit, sat attentively and nodding professionally to everything Eloise said. "I've no desire to go and get my revenge if that's what you mean? I was young, and like I said, stupid." She shrugged nervously, too much depended on this meeting, this assessment. The plastic handcuffs chafed her wrists in the heat. The pencil the woman scratched her plastic clipboard with grated on the paper. Oh how she longed to get near something, anything, metallic again! Eight years of not feeling whole, a mutant kept away from that which she, Mercury, controlled. It was a wonder she was still sane.
"Very well." The woman ended the session formally. Mercury's heart sank. She'd failed the psychologist's report; she knew it! She'd be stuck in this crummy prison forever! "I don't see that there is a problem with your release Miss Finnegan. So long as you attend regular counselling sessions regarding that temper of yours, you will be free to go as soon as the paperwork is completed."
The woman left the cell, the handcuffs were removed, and Eloise could not contain her jubilance, punching the air in triumph. Finally, she was free! Oh the things she'd now be able to do...
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"Dr McCoy, Matthew Cooper is on the line for you." The nasal twang of Hank's secretary cut through his throbbing headache like a red-hot sabre. He winced, but thanked her anyway and waited for her to put the young political aide through to his phone. In the back of his mind, someone roared his fury at being kept late at work yet again, wanted to rip the place down for being such a prison. Hank pushed the someone away forcefully, now wasn't the time for this!
"Hi Hank, you there?" Matthew spoke evenly, dragging Hank out of his reverie unwillingly. "I was just wondering if you were free on Wednesday to come in and speak to Senator Hawley before the press conference on Thursday? Professor Xavier is coming up a day early, and we thought it'd be a good chance to get the final creases ironed out of the proposal?"
"Actually," Hank began carefully, not wanting to offend his friends. The beast in his head fought against that idea, he didn't need friends, just the open wilds and a little taste of freedom. Hank pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose before continuing. "I was thinking about taking a break. I've not had a vacation for years I'm afraid, and as for your so- called creases, I have great faith that such sharp minds as Senator Hawley, Professor Xavier, and your good self, Matthew, can do all the ironing without my interference."
"Sounds okay to me." Matthew laughed on the end of the line. "Take a break, you sound like you need it my friend. And give those hot Hawaiian girls my phone number, wont you?"
"Hum," Hank smiled, "And here I was believing that you only had eyes for one hot girl at the moment, am I right?"
"Hey, there are enough telepaths around here without you developing mutant powers Hank!" Matthew jibed good-naturedly. Human himself, he did however support the mutant cause, as did his boss Senator Hawley whose daughter Sam was a pupil at Xavier's school. Then he sighed unhappy, saying, "But no, she'd made it perfectly obvious she's not telepathic, she's totally oblivious to this here human's existence..."
"Don't be hard on yourself, Matthew." Hank lectured kindly. "From what Professor Xavier has mentioned in passing about his sudden call home from Washington not so long ago, Blaze has not been having an easy time of life. Not the most auspicious moment for you to state your intentions I think."
"Your right, of course, Hank. Just too damn clever for your own good sometimes, especially as I'm keeping you from that well-earned vacation. Get going, I'll tell the others, and don't forget to send us a postcard okay?"
"Absolutely." Hank ended the call, leant back in his chair and smiled. He would take a break, but not to Hawaii. The sand might get in his fur. He frowned, looking suddenly at the back of his hands. What fur? Where had that thought come from? The beast in his mind looked at him, and snarled.........
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The first thing Logan saw when he was finally brought around was a beautiful pair of predatory blue eyes looking right back at him. He sighed, very much relieved, and Ilehana smiled back at him gently.
"Um..." Logan began, clearing his furry throat. "Thanks for the rescue babe."
"Anytime." Vixen promised, flicking her long blonde ponytail back over her shoulder and turning from the bedside. "Dad's pencilled in a de-briefing for you in an hour, I told him you'd be fit again by then."
"No problem." Wolverine agreed, sitting up and swinging his legs around to kick barefooted over the side of the bed. His wounds were already healed, but his pride might need a little more specialist attention. Ilehana was typing something into the computer as he wrapped his strong arms around her and kissed her long pale neck.
"I missed you too Logan." Ilehana admitted, turning in his arms to kiss him briefly before ducking out to put some random equipment away. "I've already got Dad's word he's sending Gambit next time."
"Yeah?" Logan didn't doubt that Ilehana would have her own way on that. "What'd ole Gumbo have to say to that?"
"He took a little persuading, but nothing I couldn't handle." Vixen grinned slyly, producing a scowl from Wolverine.
"One day, Ilehana..." He warned, growling at her as he pulled back on his sweatshirt.
"He's worried about Blaze, Logan." Ilehana lectured with a sigh, wishing that Logan could have more of a sense of humour about her flirtatious friendship with Remy. "Gambit doesn't entirely trust us to look after her if he has to go away."
"He don't trust us with Blaze, I don't trust him with you, sounds like we're all about even." Logan growled, ready to leave. Ilehana let him go.
A/N: Thank you to all my reviewers out there; you really are all stars. Senator Hawley, Sam Hawley and Matthew Cooper were introduced in Darkest Hearts before a longer outing in Shockwaves, just in case you were wondering.
Scene 02
"I was angry. Drunk, upset, and very, very angry. I hated her."
The woman speaking was in her mid to late twenties, her long grey-black hair glossy and loose in a sleek waterfall like molten metal down to her shoulders. Her eyes were a subdued steely grey, her skin bronzed, form long and lean. She sat opposite a woman in a suit and carrying a clipboard, ticking off boxes as though they were important. Eloise sighed slightly, shifting in the uncomfortable plastic chair and waiting for the woman to ask her next question.
"And what about now?" The woman's accent was South African. Eloise had been here so long she'd almost forgotten how any other accent could sound. "How do you feel after eight years with us?"
"I don't..." Eloise began, frowning. "I don't feel anything. I know it was stupid, what I did. And I am sorry." She looked up at the woman in the suit, sat attentively and nodding professionally to everything Eloise said. "I've no desire to go and get my revenge if that's what you mean? I was young, and like I said, stupid." She shrugged nervously, too much depended on this meeting, this assessment. The plastic handcuffs chafed her wrists in the heat. The pencil the woman scratched her plastic clipboard with grated on the paper. Oh how she longed to get near something, anything, metallic again! Eight years of not feeling whole, a mutant kept away from that which she, Mercury, controlled. It was a wonder she was still sane.
"Very well." The woman ended the session formally. Mercury's heart sank. She'd failed the psychologist's report; she knew it! She'd be stuck in this crummy prison forever! "I don't see that there is a problem with your release Miss Finnegan. So long as you attend regular counselling sessions regarding that temper of yours, you will be free to go as soon as the paperwork is completed."
The woman left the cell, the handcuffs were removed, and Eloise could not contain her jubilance, punching the air in triumph. Finally, she was free! Oh the things she'd now be able to do...
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Dr McCoy, Matthew Cooper is on the line for you." The nasal twang of Hank's secretary cut through his throbbing headache like a red-hot sabre. He winced, but thanked her anyway and waited for her to put the young political aide through to his phone. In the back of his mind, someone roared his fury at being kept late at work yet again, wanted to rip the place down for being such a prison. Hank pushed the someone away forcefully, now wasn't the time for this!
"Hi Hank, you there?" Matthew spoke evenly, dragging Hank out of his reverie unwillingly. "I was just wondering if you were free on Wednesday to come in and speak to Senator Hawley before the press conference on Thursday? Professor Xavier is coming up a day early, and we thought it'd be a good chance to get the final creases ironed out of the proposal?"
"Actually," Hank began carefully, not wanting to offend his friends. The beast in his head fought against that idea, he didn't need friends, just the open wilds and a little taste of freedom. Hank pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose before continuing. "I was thinking about taking a break. I've not had a vacation for years I'm afraid, and as for your so- called creases, I have great faith that such sharp minds as Senator Hawley, Professor Xavier, and your good self, Matthew, can do all the ironing without my interference."
"Sounds okay to me." Matthew laughed on the end of the line. "Take a break, you sound like you need it my friend. And give those hot Hawaiian girls my phone number, wont you?"
"Hum," Hank smiled, "And here I was believing that you only had eyes for one hot girl at the moment, am I right?"
"Hey, there are enough telepaths around here without you developing mutant powers Hank!" Matthew jibed good-naturedly. Human himself, he did however support the mutant cause, as did his boss Senator Hawley whose daughter Sam was a pupil at Xavier's school. Then he sighed unhappy, saying, "But no, she'd made it perfectly obvious she's not telepathic, she's totally oblivious to this here human's existence..."
"Don't be hard on yourself, Matthew." Hank lectured kindly. "From what Professor Xavier has mentioned in passing about his sudden call home from Washington not so long ago, Blaze has not been having an easy time of life. Not the most auspicious moment for you to state your intentions I think."
"Your right, of course, Hank. Just too damn clever for your own good sometimes, especially as I'm keeping you from that well-earned vacation. Get going, I'll tell the others, and don't forget to send us a postcard okay?"
"Absolutely." Hank ended the call, leant back in his chair and smiled. He would take a break, but not to Hawaii. The sand might get in his fur. He frowned, looking suddenly at the back of his hands. What fur? Where had that thought come from? The beast in his mind looked at him, and snarled.........
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The first thing Logan saw when he was finally brought around was a beautiful pair of predatory blue eyes looking right back at him. He sighed, very much relieved, and Ilehana smiled back at him gently.
"Um..." Logan began, clearing his furry throat. "Thanks for the rescue babe."
"Anytime." Vixen promised, flicking her long blonde ponytail back over her shoulder and turning from the bedside. "Dad's pencilled in a de-briefing for you in an hour, I told him you'd be fit again by then."
"No problem." Wolverine agreed, sitting up and swinging his legs around to kick barefooted over the side of the bed. His wounds were already healed, but his pride might need a little more specialist attention. Ilehana was typing something into the computer as he wrapped his strong arms around her and kissed her long pale neck.
"I missed you too Logan." Ilehana admitted, turning in his arms to kiss him briefly before ducking out to put some random equipment away. "I've already got Dad's word he's sending Gambit next time."
"Yeah?" Logan didn't doubt that Ilehana would have her own way on that. "What'd ole Gumbo have to say to that?"
"He took a little persuading, but nothing I couldn't handle." Vixen grinned slyly, producing a scowl from Wolverine.
"One day, Ilehana..." He warned, growling at her as he pulled back on his sweatshirt.
"He's worried about Blaze, Logan." Ilehana lectured with a sigh, wishing that Logan could have more of a sense of humour about her flirtatious friendship with Remy. "Gambit doesn't entirely trust us to look after her if he has to go away."
"He don't trust us with Blaze, I don't trust him with you, sounds like we're all about even." Logan growled, ready to leave. Ilehana let him go.