"Damn," Quinn muttered as she looked away from Mark. The four of them, their own little miniature team, was down in the danger room waiting to be briefed by Wolverine, who was currently up in the watch tower talking with Mr. Xavier and Ms. Dugan about whatever the training exercise was. All the four of them knew was that it involved partners, and Quinn and Mark and Caim and Kitchie were together. Quinn knew that if the exercise involved fighting, which with Wolverine as leader it was sure to, Mark would drag her down; she knew that no matter what he wouldn't hurt Kitchie, and it would kill him to see Quinn hurt him. She hoped that Mark could get past it and realize that they weren't hurting each other to cause pain, but to train, and that he could just do what needed to be done.
She shuffled her feet and flexed out her wings, feeling anxious. Caim laughed quietly and Quinn looked up, wondering what was so funny. He gave her a mischevious smile and she raised an eyebrow.
"Nervous?" he asked.
"About what?"
"The exercise. Kitchie and I know what's going on, you guys are coming in blind."
Quinn frowned and looked between him and Kitchie, who was smiling, but he elbowed Caim in the side. "Don't be mean to them," he said. "They're already screwed enough as it is." He laughed, and Quinn was surprised; she hadn't seen this side of either of them before. Mark laughed too and slung an arm over Quinn's shoulders, a hopeful sign that maybe he wouldn't be dead weight in this session. "Quinn and I can work together," he said. "You don't know what you've gotten yourself into."
"You want to bet?" Caim asked, taking a step forward, his head tilted slightly. Quinn didn't know that Caim was a gambler, but there was a gleam in his eyes that suggested otherwise. Mark stepped up to meet the challenge and they both matched each other in height. "Yeah, I do," Mark replied. "What are we betting?"
Caim was quiet for a moment, thinking, and then he laughed quietly. He opened his mouth to speak but then Wolverine arrived and both him and Mark too a step back from each other to stand next to their partners.
"Alright, so here's what you're doing," Wolverine told them, locking gazes with each of them. "you're essentially playing capture the flag. We're going to throw you into a simulation and you have to find the flag in the center of the building. As you go through, the other team will be trying to take you down and stall you from reaching your objective. The building will also be full of traps and other aspects that will be fighting against you." He smiled and Quinn could tell that he enjoyed this exercise. "Powers are mandatory at least twice-" He glanced at Caim on that statement. "-and as long as you don't seriously injure someone or kill them it doesn't matter what you do." He looked at Quinn at that point.
"What does seriously injure mean?" Quinn asked, smiling, and Mark laughed. Wolverine rolled his eyes, having grown used to her questions during other sessions. "We'll start when I press the button," he said, leaving to go back to the watch tower.
Quinn glanced up at Mark, who was smiling at her. "Ready Q?" he asked. She laughed quietly and flashed Caim and Kitchie her best evil grin. "Absolutely."