Merry Christmas everyone!

Chanter 9: Feelings

Every second the Quinjet was in the air felt like an eternity of pure boredom to Laura. She missed quarreling with the others as the minutes ticked by until their landing. The thought of annoying Toruun, perhaps her favorite pastime, crossed her mind more than once as she glance at the gold-plated Asgardian. However, the look of hope and mingled longing that clouded the girl's face made the mutant hesitate every time. She loved to annoy the blonde, but she was still her closest friend.

Logan and Thor were driving, both insistent that the rest they all would recieve during the flight was worth the wait. After all, they were about to go toe to toe with the Hulk. They needed all the strength they could get. And so it was that Laura was forced to wait in the jet's seat as the world sped past below her.

While she waited, she thought about Francis; something she'd been doing alot recently. She'd never really been much of a softy, but the thought of something happening to him broke something inside of her. Without him, it felt as if her entire life had just gotten a massive hole rammed into it by a catapult.

Laura knew it had to be a thousand times worse for Toruun. James had grown up beside her, always within arm's reach. He'd been a pillar of support for everyone, but to Toruun he was the whole house. For him to be gone... It was just unthinkable.

She felt an immense relief when the plane began a slow decent towards the ground, allowing her to slip from her thoughts. As soon as she felt the jarring of the jet when it touched down, the mutant leapt up and hurried towards the door.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, she froze.

Laura gazed in wonder at the sight before her. The Quinjet sat parked in a small clearing located on a frost covered hilltop, the grasses steaming from the engines heat. Stretching out in all directions as far as she could see was an endless expanse of pine forest running up and down the slopes of proud mountains that sat in ancient majesty in every direction. Covering it all was a heavy layer of pristine, white snow that glistened in the early morning sunlight, lit by the great ball of fire that sat nestled between two peaks to the east.

The sight stirred something in her, something primeval. The place sparked a pulling sensation in her gut, like a siren's call to a sailor. Some feral instinct made her want to simply run free in this place, to give in to the wildness inside her that came from her mutation. It was like nothing she'd ever felt before.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Asked a soft voice behind her. Laura only nodded speechlessly as her father stepped beside her and took in the view. Simultaneously, the two took a deep breath in through their noses, inhaling the crisp, clean air as it was amplified by their advanced sense of smell. "Even now, after hundreds of years, it still takes my breath away. This is where I can truly let loose and be the animal I was born to be. Every time I come here it feels like some kind of homecoming, you know?"

Laura wordlessly nodded, totally understanding. From the first step the girl felt like she'd been wondering across these lands her whole life. She only wished that Francis was there with her.

Laura suddenly stiffened and glared at Logan, remembering that she was supposed to hate him. With a huff she turned away a looked to where Toruun and Thor were leaving the jet.

"So, how do we find the Hulk?" Asked Toruun with a glance at Wolverine.

As he opened his mouth to reply, a wordless howl of rage echoed throughout the air. The four spun quickly around to see a shape launching through the air towards them from the direction of a distant peak. A very big, and very green shape.

Toruun's sounded much smaller, and maybe a tad bit shriller all of a sudden.

"Never mind."

000000

James and Francis sat alone in a small room on the second story of the Xavier Institute. It was a small sitting room with a small, rectangular coffee table nestled in the center. A wooden chair was positioned at either of the short sides while a couch ran the length of the long side, facing the carved wooden door directly across from it. Behind the couch was a large glass window overlooking the basketball court.

James reclined on the couch and rested his legs on the table while Francis gazed out the window, uncharacteristically somber. After he could bare it no longer, James finally broke the silence.

"Are you going to tell me what's up with you or just keep staring out the window like a kicked puppy?"

Francis blinked like he'd forgotten that his friend was there with him. He cast the redhead a quick glance before resuming his vigil with a sigh.

"It's just... This place, you know?"

James allowed a soft smile to ghost across his face before he stood and walked over to the archer.

"It's Laura, isn't it?" The white haired boy wordlessly nodded. "I thought so. I mean, we're in a school built for the sole purpose of teaching and protecting mutants. How could you not think of her?"

Hawkeye flinched. "Yeah, I get it. But it's more than that. I know I'm not the sappy kind of guy, I leave that to you, but lately... Lately I've just missed her, you know? More than usual. I miss the feel of my arm around her shoulder, the sound of her laugh, that kind of thing. I miss the times when she'd start frying bacon and ham while I scrambled the eggs. I miss the way she'd scream my name when we had-" He froze. "Uh, when I'd splash water on her and stuff," he said quickly with a nervous glance towards the redhead.

"Nice save. If you'd finished that sentence I would've had to castrate you."

Hawkeye nodded before pausing to ponder the meaning of the word "castrate". When he realized its definition his eyes widened and he spun his head quickly to stare at the super soldier who was simply gazing serenely out the window. He gulped.

"'Castrate' me?"

"With a paperclip."

The archer was frankly too terrified by the simple calmness of the statement to wonder about how such a feat could be achieved. James would find a way.

Hawkeye shuttered.

"Anyway, before I'm traumatized anymore, can we get back to the subject at hand?" At James' nod, the archer turned back towards the window and continued.

"Being here and seeing this place... Well, now I get the chance to see what her life could have been like if it hadn't been for Ultron. She could've played basketball on that court down there, spent time with her old man, been an X-Man. She might have been happier. Maybe she might have even fallen for someone else." He muttered the last part in a whisper, but James still managed to catch it.

The redhead smiled.

"Funny, I've wondered the exact same thing about Toruun nearly every day since we started dating. 'What would she be like if she'd been raised on Asgard' and all that. Especially the part about her finding someone else, and about her being happier. But then I realized something."

Hawkeye glanced at him questioningly. James grinned at him and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"It doesn't matter. No matter what could have happened, she's still happy. Even if things had been different, at least she still could have been happy. That's really all that matters."

Hawkeye smiled softly. "Thanks Cap." James smirked.

"Besides, I don't think you have to worry about her being with someone else. You're the only person in this world with few enough brain cells to know to run the other way whenever she shows up."

The archer laughed and gave him a quick punch in the arm. "Jerk," he said with a grin.

The sudden sound of a door opening drew their attention. Logan walked in and gave them a nod. "It's time."

The boys nodded quietly before following him out the door.

Wakanda awaited them.