p class="MsoNormal""Where are you hiding, you coward?" I yell, storming through the park in my X-Men uniform, my hair and hands / "Woah!"
John steps out from the trees. "What are you doing?"br / "You ruined everything!" I scream, thrusting my hand out towards him, sending an inferno of flames in his / "Calm down!" He orders, flicking the flames away casually and walking closer to / "No! You messed it all up!" The sight of him is too much, and I can't hold the tears back any / "Just shut off the goddamn flames so we can talk." He orders. At his words, I let the exhaustion of my emotions take me over, the flames around me fading from existence. He rushes over to me and hugs / "Get off me!" I yell through my sobs, trying to push him away. "Leave me alone!"br / I punch my fists against his chest in a futile attempt at freedom. But he just holds me /
"No!" I sob. "You- You-"br / "Shhh."
As much as I hate him, his voice is still so soothing. I give up my assault and cry into his shirt. "I'm sorry."br /
"Sorry's not good enough. I've lost everything I've worked so hard for!" I try to sound strong, but the tears ensure I don't / "Ev-" He stops himself. "Ardor.
We've been thinking about what you said about the plan. You're right."br / "What?" I blink up at him through the tears. br / "Help us find a better way to get through to them." emWhat? Better than murdering them?/em He can't be serious! He's just messed up everything in my life and now he wants my / "Why would you even think-"br / "Why are you wearing that, Ardor?"
He cuts me / "Because I don't want to be exposed as a mutant." I reply / "No, that's not that." He says confidently. "It's because you still want to be one of them. You want to be part of a team. Now's your chance! Join us."br / "No, I mean, I could never..." I trail off. He's right. I do want that. But this is the guy that just destroyed my relationship. Although I can see that,
there is no way I can back to what my life was before the X-Men. I can't ignore my powers, and I can't ignore our connection. br /
"Okay." I whisper. "I'll do it."br /
"Thank you." He sounds / "This doesn't mean I've forgiven you." I take a deep breath, pushing the tears away and regain my confidence. "I'll never forgive you. So get your hands off me."br / "Yeah, sorry."
He steps back quickly, holding his hands / "Good."
I bend down and retrieve John's lighter from where it is tucked neatly into the top of my left boot. I flick it at him and he catches it awkwardly, obviously not expecting it. "Get Voltage, we have some appearance alterations to make."br / "What?"br / "If we're going to be a team, we're going to look like a team." I say strongly. I'm done with crying now. I have a new / "Okay," He sounds confused. "But it's the middle of the night. Where are we gunna get any stuff from?"br / "John, I said I was against murder. That doesn't mean I never break the law." I click my fingers,
igniting them, to enforce my / "Wow." I turn back and see him stood there with mouth /
"What?" I close my hand into a fist, extinguishing the / "You're so hot when you say stuff like that."
I release an exasperated sigh at his / "Shut up." He can't seriously think I want to hear that. "Are you coming?"br / "Oh. Yeah, sure. Sorry." He jogs to catch up with me. I can't help but feel empowered at the thought of him following my orders. br / "Perfect." I murmur sarcastically, rolling my eyes. br / "And,
Ardor?" He says my name / "What?"
I growl. I'm taking no liberties in showing him how much I dislike him right / "That night when I told you what we were planning, I said something." He takes a deep breath. "I mean... I... I said that I loved you. I just thought you should know,
I didn't-"br / "Our relationship is purely professional now, Pyro." I cut him off. I don't care how he / "Sure. Thanks." I've never seen him so awkward. emGood/em. br / "Let's get one thing straight." I start, keeping my eyes dead ahead. "There will never be anything between us. You are to stay out of my head.
And just... Don't touch me."br / "Hey!" He objects, grabbing my / "You've gotta be kidding me." I / "Who gave you the right to order me around?" He stands strongly trying to claim authority. It's / "This," I slip my hand into his pocket and remove the lighter. "Is why I am the leader of this team. Without this, or without emme/em, you're nothing."br / "But-"br / "But what?" I cut him off. He doesn't answer. "Exactly."br / "Why are you acting like this?" He furrows his brow and looks / "Take a guess, asshole." I growl. How can he not see that what he's done is a big deal? I wasn't going to keep acting the same around him after he'd ripped everything away from me. br / "Let's just get this over with."/p
John steps out from the trees. "What are you doing?"br / "You ruined everything!" I scream, thrusting my hand out towards him, sending an inferno of flames in his / "Calm down!" He orders, flicking the flames away casually and walking closer to / "No! You messed it all up!" The sight of him is too much, and I can't hold the tears back any / "Just shut off the goddamn flames so we can talk." He orders. At his words, I let the exhaustion of my emotions take me over, the flames around me fading from existence. He rushes over to me and hugs / "Get off me!" I yell through my sobs, trying to push him away. "Leave me alone!"br / I punch my fists against his chest in a futile attempt at freedom. But he just holds me /
"No!" I sob. "You- You-"br / "Shhh."
As much as I hate him, his voice is still so soothing. I give up my assault and cry into his shirt. "I'm sorry."br /
"Sorry's not good enough. I've lost everything I've worked so hard for!" I try to sound strong, but the tears ensure I don't / "Ev-" He stops himself. "Ardor.
We've been thinking about what you said about the plan. You're right."br / "What?" I blink up at him through the tears. br / "Help us find a better way to get through to them." emWhat? Better than murdering them?/em He can't be serious! He's just messed up everything in my life and now he wants my / "Why would you even think-"br / "Why are you wearing that, Ardor?"
He cuts me / "Because I don't want to be exposed as a mutant." I reply / "No, that's not that." He says confidently. "It's because you still want to be one of them. You want to be part of a team. Now's your chance! Join us."br / "No, I mean, I could never..." I trail off. He's right. I do want that. But this is the guy that just destroyed my relationship. Although I can see that,
there is no way I can back to what my life was before the X-Men. I can't ignore my powers, and I can't ignore our connection. br /
"Okay." I whisper. "I'll do it."br /
"Thank you." He sounds / "This doesn't mean I've forgiven you." I take a deep breath, pushing the tears away and regain my confidence. "I'll never forgive you. So get your hands off me."br / "Yeah, sorry."
He steps back quickly, holding his hands / "Good."
I bend down and retrieve John's lighter from where it is tucked neatly into the top of my left boot. I flick it at him and he catches it awkwardly, obviously not expecting it. "Get Voltage, we have some appearance alterations to make."br / "What?"br / "If we're going to be a team, we're going to look like a team." I say strongly. I'm done with crying now. I have a new / "Okay," He sounds confused. "But it's the middle of the night. Where are we gunna get any stuff from?"br / "John, I said I was against murder. That doesn't mean I never break the law." I click my fingers,
igniting them, to enforce my / "Wow." I turn back and see him stood there with mouth /
"What?" I close my hand into a fist, extinguishing the / "You're so hot when you say stuff like that."
I release an exasperated sigh at his / "Shut up." He can't seriously think I want to hear that. "Are you coming?"br / "Oh. Yeah, sure. Sorry." He jogs to catch up with me. I can't help but feel empowered at the thought of him following my orders. br / "Perfect." I murmur sarcastically, rolling my eyes. br / "And,
Ardor?" He says my name / "What?"
I growl. I'm taking no liberties in showing him how much I dislike him right / "That night when I told you what we were planning, I said something." He takes a deep breath. "I mean... I... I said that I loved you. I just thought you should know,
I didn't-"br / "Our relationship is purely professional now, Pyro." I cut him off. I don't care how he / "Sure. Thanks." I've never seen him so awkward. emGood/em. br / "Let's get one thing straight." I start, keeping my eyes dead ahead. "There will never be anything between us. You are to stay out of my head.
And just... Don't touch me."br / "Hey!" He objects, grabbing my / "You've gotta be kidding me." I / "Who gave you the right to order me around?" He stands strongly trying to claim authority. It's / "This," I slip my hand into his pocket and remove the lighter. "Is why I am the leader of this team. Without this, or without emme/em, you're nothing."br / "But-"br / "But what?" I cut him off. He doesn't answer. "Exactly."br / "Why are you acting like this?" He furrows his brow and looks / "Take a guess, asshole." I growl. How can he not see that what he's done is a big deal? I wasn't going to keep acting the same around him after he'd ripped everything away from me. br / "Let's just get this over with."/p