"In the words of Arnold Schwartznegger, we'll be back" Hank had smiled down at her, running a soft hand over her cheek,
"In the words of Mothers, Wives and Girlfriends everywhere, you'd better be or there will be hell to pay" She had smiled up at him as he had laughed, pushing her nerves aside,
"Don't worry" He had murmured, "it's pretty much routine" And then he had leant down to kiss her before climbing inside the Blackbird with the rest of them -
Don't worry, he'd said. She'd only stopped chewing her lower lip when it had started bleeding - Isabelle jumped a little as the court started to rumble and slide away beneath the grass, rising to her feet and ignoring the wince she made as various parts of her body made themselves heard that they didn't like sitting on cold stone steps for hours at a time. She watched as the Blackbird settled slowly into the hanger before moving to run down to the hanger bay. She watched Ororo, Kurt, Rogue and Bobby pile out, avoiding her gaze and looking haggard. Her heart caught in her chest, skipping a beat as Ororo glanced across at her with sad, tired eyes,
"Isabelle, I…" Storm trailed off as the blonde woman nodded, trying to steady the hammering of her heart,
"Do you at least know where he is?" Isabelle tried to keep the accusatory tone from her voice but the others still winced a little,
"No" Bobby murmured as the others walked away, "Both he and Wolverine were…taken"
"Wolverine too?" Isabelle clenched her hands into fists in an attempt at keeping her emotions in check. If Wolverine was there Hank could be dead now...or dieing. Bobby nodded, looking miserable. She reached out and patted his shoulder, "you know what we need?" She asked, the small voice of panic in the back of her head slowly getting louder even as Bobby looked up at her questioningly, "ice cream" The panic swelled, "and maybe some alcohol"
"I must say, you're taking this very well" Bobby mumbled around a mouthful as she squirted more cream into his bowl,
"He'll come back to me" She replied as evenly as she could, "pass me those…yeah thanks" She murmured as he handed over the chocolate sprinkles,
"Don't want to bum your high or anything" Bobby slurred as he found the glace cherries beneath a stack of empty beer cans, "but what if he can't?"
"He will" She said almost serenely, watching him tip half of the cherries into her bowl before weaving back to tip the rest in his own. She re-filled their glasses,
"But what if he can't?" He persisted. He watched the four, solemn looking Isabelle Caley's opposite him for a long moment as she thought,
"I'll fetch him myself" She replied, "I've got a shellfish streak a mile long"
"Shellfish?" Bobby frowned,
"Selflish…felsish" She frowned, digging a spoon into the monstrosity of a sundae she had created, "selfish. A selfish streak and he's mine" There was a pause as they both ate and drank silently, each alone with sad thoughts. Isabelle looked up at the sound of Bobby taking a deep, deep breath,
"We should go and fetch them" He said, eyelids half shut. The Isabelle's in front of him raised their eyebrows,
"We're drunk off the planet" They chorused,
"I don't think I'd suggest it if I was sober"
"I can't fly the Blackbird"
"I can"
"It's not a good idea"
"And you think sending McCoy off with the man who stabbed him through the chest was?" Bobby knew it was a low shot almost as it left his mouth, "Sorry, I-" The four Isabelles slowly became one as he focused,
"No…you're right. I can't fight I just…flail but I'm not really in the mood to care...I just know Hank's in trouble" She stared at the ice cream before downing the last of her beer, "so, you said you can fly the Blackbird?"
