p class="MsoNormal""Voltage?"
My surprise is / "I know! Weird, huh?"
Jean replies. br / "You have no idea."br /
"What do you mean?" She furrows her /
"Voltage is on emmy/em team." I whisper. I don't want the boys knowing / "What?! You're the other team? How? When?" She bombards me with /
"I guess. I don't know. It just happened. Pyro asked me to-"br / "Pyro? Oh no. After everything, you went back to him? Is that why Cyclops is so uptight now?" Her words make me feel even more ashamed than / "I had no one else." My voice is low and weak. "And yes, most likely."br /
"Oh, Ardor! You're kidding me, right?"br / "No,
it wasn't like that!" I / "So, you haven't slept with Pyro?" I don't answer. "Ardor!"br / "I didn't mean to. I was heartbroken and-"br /
"And Cyclops wasn't?" She cuts in, in a harsh / "I never meant for this to happen. I never wanted Pyro. It was always Cyclops. Always." I feel the lump form in my throat.
emNo. Not now. Not here. br / /em"I want him to forgive you, Ardor. I hate seeing him like this. But there's nothing I can do. And what you're doing with Pyro, that's not going to help." I begin to feel even more / "I know, I-"br / "emEvelyn!/em"
John's voice is in my / "emWhat is it?/em" I can sense his / "emWe have a problem/em."br / "Hey! Are you talking to him right now?" Jean sounds / "I have to go. I'm sorry." I head off back into the crowd quickly.
br / "emWhat's the problem, John?/em"
I stop when I see him about twenty feet away, being restrained by two cops. Our eyes / "emThis/em."
He replies / "emHow the hell-/em"br / "emStay hidden/em."
He orders. "emI need you to help me out here!/em"br / "Get off me!" He yells, trying to pull /
"emWhere's Voltage?/em" I ask. He flicks his head to the left subtly to direct my attention, without alerting the cops. I follow his eyeline across the street just in time to see Voltage send her elbow straight into the face of a young man in a cop / "emGreat/em." I think sarcastically. "emWhat do you need me to do?/em"br / "emI don't need you, just your fire./em"br / "emFine/em." I reply. "emI'll go then/em."br / "emEvelyn/em."
He / "emNo, I know about the bomb,
John./em" I / "emNot now!/em"br / "emYes, now. How could you hide that from me? What happened to the plan?/em" I thought we agreed. He went behind my back!br / "emOkay,
okay. I'm sorry!/em" His desperation starts to show through. "emJust help me out and I'll tell you everything. I promise./em"br / "emI'm just a lighter to you, John./em"br / "emNo,
I-/em" I hear a loud 'oof' as John kicks out at one of the cops. "emI need you, Evelyn. I need you./em"br / "emWhatever/em." I notice him smile when I use the word that he has so often used against me. I decrease the distance between us and drop my eyes to my right hand to indicate where I will create the fire. Once I am close enough, I click my fingers, creating a subtle flame next to my /
"emThanks, sweetcheeks/em." He winks at me and the flames shoot out towards him, taking me by surprise.
emWell, that's definitely a sexier way to do it than flailing your arms around!/em The fire splits in two, each ball of flames consuming the hands of each cop. John stumbles free from them and jogs up to / "Thanks for that." He whispers, before suddenly kissing me strongly. I pull /
"What was tha-" A high pitched scream cuts me off. We turn and see Voltage striding towards us with a smug smile on her face.
Behind her, the cop that was trying to hold her lies on the floor convulsing, a young woman knelt beside him, /
"Did you really need to electrocute the guy?" I raise my eyebrows at / "I did warn him." She / "We need to get out of here." John states, Voltage and I nod in return. We push our way quickly through the panicking crowds, sirens singing behind / Soon, we end up in a dark back alley. It's empty, thankfully, and we most likely will not be / "So, when were you going to tell me there was a bomb, Pyro?" I /
"How did you find out about that?" He sounds irritated,
which infuriates me even / "I was talking to-"br / "I told her." Voltage cuts in. I / "Exactly." I / "I was going to tell you when it was appropriate." He turns his back to me and leans against the wall, his frustration / "I thought we agreed we weren't going to kill them?"
I / "I've been in your mind, Ardor." He returns to face me. "I saw what that guy did to the X-Men the first day you met them. Do you really want that for all of us?"br / "No, but that won't happen." I argue. br /
"It will! We're just weapons and circus freaks to them!" He steps closer to me. "Do you think I want to see them hurt you?
To see them pull you apart in the name of science?"br /
"It won't be that way." I whisper, sensing his care for / "It will! That's why we need to show them we're not to be messed with." I feel him tense up and touch his fist gently to calm / "Please, stop this." I beg.
"For me."br / "No." He turns his face / "John," I whisper, guiding his face back to my own. "Please. This isn't right."br / "But this is the only way." He protests, trying to avoid my eyes. I / "Okay, I'll make you a deal." I start.
"If you stop this, I'll forgive you for everything. I'll give up on Scott, and you and I can leave here. We can go anywhere you want.
I'll be yours for as long as you want me."br /
"Really?"br / "Only if you stop this now."
I / "I can't." He /
"What?" emNo! He's gotta be kidding?!/embr / "The bomb can't be stopped now." He whispers, as if he's ashamed of his / "But you said it was a simple, generic, bad-movie bomb!" Voltage cuts /
"So, you're telling me there's nothing we can do?" I try to keep the confidence in my / "I'm telling you that now the bomb is set, we can't stop it. We just need to get everyone out, now."/p
My surprise is / "I know! Weird, huh?"
Jean replies. br / "You have no idea."br /
"What do you mean?" She furrows her /
"Voltage is on emmy/em team." I whisper. I don't want the boys knowing / "What?! You're the other team? How? When?" She bombards me with /
"I guess. I don't know. It just happened. Pyro asked me to-"br / "Pyro? Oh no. After everything, you went back to him? Is that why Cyclops is so uptight now?" Her words make me feel even more ashamed than / "I had no one else." My voice is low and weak. "And yes, most likely."br /
"Oh, Ardor! You're kidding me, right?"br / "No,
it wasn't like that!" I / "So, you haven't slept with Pyro?" I don't answer. "Ardor!"br / "I didn't mean to. I was heartbroken and-"br /
"And Cyclops wasn't?" She cuts in, in a harsh / "I never meant for this to happen. I never wanted Pyro. It was always Cyclops. Always." I feel the lump form in my throat.
emNo. Not now. Not here. br / /em"I want him to forgive you, Ardor. I hate seeing him like this. But there's nothing I can do. And what you're doing with Pyro, that's not going to help." I begin to feel even more / "I know, I-"br / "emEvelyn!/em"
John's voice is in my / "emWhat is it?/em" I can sense his / "emWe have a problem/em."br / "Hey! Are you talking to him right now?" Jean sounds / "I have to go. I'm sorry." I head off back into the crowd quickly.
br / "emWhat's the problem, John?/em"
I stop when I see him about twenty feet away, being restrained by two cops. Our eyes / "emThis/em."
He replies / "emHow the hell-/em"br / "emStay hidden/em."
He orders. "emI need you to help me out here!/em"br / "Get off me!" He yells, trying to pull /
"emWhere's Voltage?/em" I ask. He flicks his head to the left subtly to direct my attention, without alerting the cops. I follow his eyeline across the street just in time to see Voltage send her elbow straight into the face of a young man in a cop / "emGreat/em." I think sarcastically. "emWhat do you need me to do?/em"br / "emI don't need you, just your fire./em"br / "emFine/em." I reply. "emI'll go then/em."br / "emEvelyn/em."
He / "emNo, I know about the bomb,
John./em" I / "emNot now!/em"br / "emYes, now. How could you hide that from me? What happened to the plan?/em" I thought we agreed. He went behind my back!br / "emOkay,
okay. I'm sorry!/em" His desperation starts to show through. "emJust help me out and I'll tell you everything. I promise./em"br / "emI'm just a lighter to you, John./em"br / "emNo,
I-/em" I hear a loud 'oof' as John kicks out at one of the cops. "emI need you, Evelyn. I need you./em"br / "emWhatever/em." I notice him smile when I use the word that he has so often used against me. I decrease the distance between us and drop my eyes to my right hand to indicate where I will create the fire. Once I am close enough, I click my fingers, creating a subtle flame next to my /
"emThanks, sweetcheeks/em." He winks at me and the flames shoot out towards him, taking me by surprise.
emWell, that's definitely a sexier way to do it than flailing your arms around!/em The fire splits in two, each ball of flames consuming the hands of each cop. John stumbles free from them and jogs up to / "Thanks for that." He whispers, before suddenly kissing me strongly. I pull /
"What was tha-" A high pitched scream cuts me off. We turn and see Voltage striding towards us with a smug smile on her face.
Behind her, the cop that was trying to hold her lies on the floor convulsing, a young woman knelt beside him, /
"Did you really need to electrocute the guy?" I raise my eyebrows at / "I did warn him." She / "We need to get out of here." John states, Voltage and I nod in return. We push our way quickly through the panicking crowds, sirens singing behind / Soon, we end up in a dark back alley. It's empty, thankfully, and we most likely will not be / "So, when were you going to tell me there was a bomb, Pyro?" I /
"How did you find out about that?" He sounds irritated,
which infuriates me even / "I was talking to-"br / "I told her." Voltage cuts in. I / "Exactly." I / "I was going to tell you when it was appropriate." He turns his back to me and leans against the wall, his frustration / "I thought we agreed we weren't going to kill them?"
I / "I've been in your mind, Ardor." He returns to face me. "I saw what that guy did to the X-Men the first day you met them. Do you really want that for all of us?"br / "No, but that won't happen." I argue. br /
"It will! We're just weapons and circus freaks to them!" He steps closer to me. "Do you think I want to see them hurt you?
To see them pull you apart in the name of science?"br /
"It won't be that way." I whisper, sensing his care for / "It will! That's why we need to show them we're not to be messed with." I feel him tense up and touch his fist gently to calm / "Please, stop this." I beg.
"For me."br / "No." He turns his face / "John," I whisper, guiding his face back to my own. "Please. This isn't right."br / "But this is the only way." He protests, trying to avoid my eyes. I / "Okay, I'll make you a deal." I start.
"If you stop this, I'll forgive you for everything. I'll give up on Scott, and you and I can leave here. We can go anywhere you want.
I'll be yours for as long as you want me."br /
"Really?"br / "Only if you stop this now."
I / "I can't." He /
"What?" emNo! He's gotta be kidding?!/embr / "The bomb can't be stopped now." He whispers, as if he's ashamed of his / "But you said it was a simple, generic, bad-movie bomb!" Voltage cuts /
"So, you're telling me there's nothing we can do?" I try to keep the confidence in my / "I'm telling you that now the bomb is set, we can't stop it. We just need to get everyone out, now."/p