"Yeah?"
"What exactly did you mean? Do you have a licence or whatever?" She asked as they staggered out into the light, blinking as their eyes adjusted,
"You're asking this after I flew you round New York city?" He quipped back, blushing a little,
"Sorry Bobby. Thanks for driving, flying, whatever" She said a little absently, a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, "right here…he's supposed to be right here" She murmured. Bobby pulled a face looking around and wondering if the scanning device had been faulty,
"There's nothing here" He said softly, looking around at the trees that surrounded the flat stone area, drawing close to the other person as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end,
"Ever get the feeling that you're being watched?" She asked quietly looking up, narrowing her eyes at the trees as she felt Bobby backing into her, the two of them back to back,
"Logan always said to trust your instincts" Bobby murmured softly,
"Says" She corrected absently,
"What?"
"You were using the past tense, as if Wolverine is dead. He's not" Bobby was slightly frightened of how sure she sounded but he was also very comforted by it. Hope was a wonderful thing. There was almost no doubt that what she said was true, "neither is Hank"
"You might be though" They turned to face twins. Black haired and blue eyed they smiled, "if you don't leave now"
"Sphinx doesn't want to hurt you" One of them said,
"None of us do" The other added,
"But we're under orders to take you out"
"If you don't get out"
"We came for our friends" Isabelle said, wincing inwardly as she realised that she sounded at least six years old,
"You can't have them back yet" One of the twins said,
"Sphinx hasn't finished playing with them yet" The other said and they grinned in unison,
"Anyone ever tell you guys you're kinda creepy?" Bobby asked and, despite the situation, Isabelle smirked at him. The twins scowled,
"Now, Scan?" One asked,
"Now, Sonar" They joined hands and there was a deep, resonant pulse, the trees around them in the clearing leant back as Bobby and Isabelle were knocked off their feet. Isabelle stared up at the sky, not even able to breathe, as a second wave of…sound passed over them both. It felt like a huge wave rolling over them, pressing them, crushing them against the rock. She managed to turn her head in time to see Bobby become the Iceman, sliding away and into the forest as the next wave swept over them,
"Blast" The one called Sonar muttered, "I'll find him, you keep this one here"
"You got it bro" The two walked forward, both of them pausing beside her. Isabelle gasped, trying to draw breath. One of them nudged her with his boot as if she was an interesting rock,
"You're not an X-man"
"No. But I am" There was a soft Bampf and one of the twins disappeared,
"What-" Bampf – the other twin was gone and suddenly Isabelle could breathe again,
"Are you alright?" Ororo knelt beside her, helping her to sit up,
"I'm f-fine. Where's Bobby? What are you guys doing here?" She coughed, eyes watering a little as she watched Rogue and Kurt walk back into the clearing, Bobby right behind them, he grinned a little warily as he approached,
"Sorry to slide out on you like that" He said bashfully,
"No problems" She replied, too busy being glad that she could breathe again to be angry,
"We found that the DNA traces lead here, collecting here but we can't find…anything" Bobby explained with a frown, "what happened to dumb and dumber? The twins?"
"Kurt bampfed them out" Isabelle said with a grin that Kurt echoed,
"I could only take zem so far, I didn't vant to get lost" He replied bashfully. Isabelle didn't miss the warm smile that Ororo gave him,
"Any idea what the heck is going on?" Bobby asked, "I was thinking it might be an illusion and Wolverine and Hank really are here but we can't see them" Ororo looked impressed,
"Good thinking but no. There's an underground cavern located about a mile beneath us, the DNA scanner couldn't tell you that but this can - something you forgot to take with you" The pair looked shamefaced as she pulled up the device that had been hooked onto her belt, "according to this there should be an entrance to the cavern, right over…there" They all turned to the direction her finger pointed,
"It's a rock"
"Nicely pointed out Rogue. Kurt do you think you could-"
"Nien. It's too big" He frowned at the rock,
"Bobby" Isabelle said quietly, "could you freeze it?"
"I'm not sure there's enough water particles in it but I could give it a try if you like. Why? I don't think we could slide it around much if that's what you mean" He asked, already moving towards the boulder,
"Hank said my lights are a form of energy. Presumably…I might be able to…do something useful" She blushed under the scrutiny of their combined gazes. Rogue smiled kindly and nodded. Bobby put both hands against the rock, something which towered over him and closed his eyes. The others watched as it turned slick and white with glacial slowness. Bobby staggered back eventually, exhausted from having to pull water particles from the air and into the solid rock for him to freeze, Rogue catching him as Isabelle stepped forward, the lights tingling down her arms,
"Come on" She murmured as the light collected in her hands, making them glow a soft gold, "come on" It felt like someone had poured too much water into her hands and still the lights came – for Hank, "come on!" There was a split second where she watched the light flee from her hands and into the solid ice of the rock before there was a blast and the ice shattered,
"Oh cool!" Bobby crowed as shards of ice rock rained down. Isabelle grinned, a little light headed, before turning back to the blast sight and into the mouth of a huge yawning cavern. The sides were smooth as were the steps that lead down, Isabelle started forward only to be drawn short by Ororo's hand on her arm,
"We need to remain cautious, Isabelle, let us go first" Storm looked back over her shoulder, "Everyone remember, whatever else may be down there, there's probably something that was strong enough to move that rock into place…keep your eyes open"
