One more chapter till we finally get to why I wouldn't shut up.

Chapter 197: A Lot More Fun to Experience

Stark Towers - 13:46 PM

Daniel got Apollo up to speed on everyone and everything, unsure if he got all the details. Daniel wasn't even sure he knew it all based on what Emily told him. He's aware that Emily and Angela went to California on business, Iqadi joined them for a vacation, Merida went to California because Blake lives there. In non-Californian news, Xavier, Sigyn, and James were at Camp.

"So, what are you doing?" Apollo asks him as he takes a seat at the bar.

Daniel pauses. "Absolutely nothing. What's up?"

Apollo explained everything he went through on Asgard. He started with everything being too calm for his liking, Freya suggesting to bring up contingencies, his failed proposal, Freya's mother's ring, and then getting kicked over.

"Okay…" Daniel mutters. "You lost me at canoeing."

"Honestly, I was lost there too," Apollo responds, "but you've proposed before and have 4 fancy degrees so you know best."

"Those aren't related but I guess you have a point. You could ask her again."

"Weren't you listening to what happened after I got the ring?"

"I did say you lost me after canoeing."

Apollo pauses. "You did. But I can't just ask again, you know? I've done it twice and she's literally thrown me over both times. I should be doing more. This is a big thing."

Daniel nods. "Well, she didn't say no so that's a good start. You also asked your head-of-the-state father for permission, which was the funniest thing I've ever heard. You have her mother's ring … what about her father?"

Apollo is about to remind him that Freya's father died in battle back when she was a child but stops himself. That's it. That's his next step. Daniel nods encouragingly when he notices that Apollo has an idea.

"See, Daniel, you're a genius. I knew you had a Ph.D. in this stuff."

-o-

Camp SHIELD - 14:51 PM

Days went by at Camp with the many drills, lab experiments, and reciting the military alphabet so much that Xavier wanted to rip his head off since the song is his biggest annoyance. The programs haven't communicated much outside their niche, especially since Communications decided to join the prank war. Not even their head counsellors. They would pass by and greet each other with nods, collaborate professionally over their clipboards and schedules, cross paths on the common grounds or the cafeteria, but that's it. Everyone's testing the waters on what's to come.

Today they have no choice but to face each other since a game of three-way dodgeball. The court is in the middle of their grassy lot, a circle divided into three where each program had a triangular quadrant. A bunch of standard rubber balls are posted in the centre as the cadets line up at the other end with their counsellors in the middle, each staring daggers at each other.

Because he was in charge of Camp overall, Xavier got to blow the whistle to start the game. At his command, cadets ran to the centre to grab a ball and the battle began. All the counsellors stayed at the back as a part of their strategy. Some were getting out at the start, others throwing balls to the cadets behind them or their counsellors.

Sigyn refused to use her magic for a fair game and to avoid attention. She still has her Asgardian strength but then there was the super-soldier spawn whipping the ball all over the place, and the fresh Ph.D. shrinking, flying, and shooting bioelectricity whenever a ball was close to hitting himself or his cadet. So Sigyn thought fuck it real quick when she snapped her fingers and gave everyone on her team a pair of dodgeballs. Sigyn's Communications' cadets were confused for a moment but didn't have time to lose focus.

"Fire!" Sigyn screams.

On her command, Communications made it rain fire on the other two programs with their new dodgeballs. It got a hefty portion of cadets out but some of her own had to sit on the sidelines if their ammo was caught. Worth it. Wasn't worth the excessive amount of dodgeballs now in Sci-Tech and Operations' quadrants.

"Take cover!" Sigyn yells at her cadets.

Dodgeballs fly their way as her cadets scatter within their area. Sigyn's about to conjure up a magical barrier but stops when one of her cadets receives a headshot from Operations, knocking her to the ground. Sigyn's other cadets rush to help as she glares at Operations, mostly Xavier because he didn't card it - or whatever the dodgeball term is.

"Rogers!" Sigyn screams.

The game stops. Balls bouncing or remain in arms as Sigyn marches across the court in fury towards Xavier who's grinning as he holds a dodgeball in his hands, resting it under his arm once Sigyn arrives.

"Headshots don't count," Sigyn tells him.

Xavier nods, staring her down with his stupid grin. He leans in closer to her. "What are you going to do about it?"

Sigyn stares at him, keeping herself together as she punches the ball out of his arm. He watches her return to her quadrant to call over her team as the other cadets look at each other cautiously, unsure if the game is over. Xavier isn't saying anything so they look at James who has been gawking this whole time.

"Well, that gives me an idea…" He mutters.

-o-

After their dodgeball game that Sci-Tech ended up sweeping, the programs went back to their regularly scheduled drills for the day. Xavier had his cadets set up in the weight room and left them there to go through their sets. He stepped out onto the field and saw Sigyn standing on the pier as her cadets were swimming laps on the lake. He knows that she had no choice but to supervise but finds it ironic since she can't swim.

He can't deny she looks cute wearing a life jacket over her regular clothes.

"Enjoying Camp?" Xavier asks as he stands beside her.

"I am," Sigyn responds.

"You know when I asked you to come to Camp, I didn't think we'd be enemies."

"Neither did I but things change." She smiles at him.

"I miss you."

Sigyn cocks a brow. "That's the best you got?"

Xavier shrugs, keeping his hands in his windbreaker's pockets. "I still have game. Been out of practice but still."

"The only game you knew how to play was football. And you haven't been playing that recently either."

Some cadets laugh from the lake during their laps. Sigyn's lips tease a smile as Xavier shakes his head, looking down at the pier before meeting her eyes again. The flair from the laughs is gone and her expression drops. Xavier's face mirrors hers as he steps closer to her.

"Xavier..." Sigyn mutters, taking a breath. "I should tell you something. You know I went to Asgard before I met you at the Academy but I need to tell you what happened. It wasn't much because you know I would be there if it was, but Freya told me that Apollo is planning for Ragnarök again. He didn't tell me himself and I don't think he would've, or at least not yet. I think I'm going to die."

There's an eerie calm in her voice that terrifies him more intensely than Ragnarök ever could. When Sigyn was gone, she took his heart with him wherever she went. Whatever they were and whatever would happen - past, present, future - would go with her. It'll turn him manic but there wasn't much he could do when the girl he loves is set to die.

"Don't say that," Xavier whispers. "He's thinking of a way out. That's why he's planning."

"He can't," Sigyn states. "He won't. We're all dying and I'm just going out faster."

"Sigyn."

Sigyn looks at him, the light from the sunset beaming on her face as the breeze pushes her ponytail behind her. She hugs the clipboard to her chest as she waits for him to speak.

"You know that your life never had to be perfect for you to be proud of it," he tells her. "Your life has been so imperfect that you should be prouder because you've come so much further and still have a lot more fun to experience. I mean, you're here, aren't you?"

"What's your point?"

"Sigyn, don't leave again, okay?"

A single tear rolls down her cheek that she wipes away before he could. "I'll try my best not to. I'll miss you the most, Xavier. I don't know what it will feel like after but know that I'll miss you the most."

"Sigyn-" he started to protest but stopped when Sigyn's lips pressed against his.

They didn't think about Camp or Ragnarök. It was just them and their uncertainty becoming clear. Their hips touch as Sigyn drops her clipboard on the pier to grip his Camp Dad windbreaker and pull him closer as he caresses her back.

Xavier thinks that this is what the Academy would've been like if she was here. They're having a deep conversation somewhere in the woods about their relationship and realize that they don't have to go back to the football captain and cheerleader days to enjoy each other that way.

They're breathless when they break apart and he tenses when she touches his arm.

"What was that?" Xavier asks.

Sigyn smirks. "You were there. Now, go back to work before Vander catches you slacking. I know he left on day one but he probably has eyes everywhere."

He leans in closer by the side of her head to whisper, "did you forget that I was in charge?"

Sigyn slightly turns to face him. "No, Captain." She looks at him for a second longer. "Don't you have drills to run?"

"Come on, I was practicing my game with you."

"Risking your pro-counsellor Camp Dad status for a game you haven't played in years?"

"It'd help if you played along."

He smiles as she lightly whacks him with her clipboard.

-o-

Before returning to his cadets in the weight room, Xavier stops by the laboratory where James was running an experiment with Sci-Tech cadets. He waits in the doorway, ignoring the strange looks the cadets were giving him. Once they were working on their own, James steps out but keeps his lab coat on over his head counsellor windbreaker.

"Hey, what happened to you?" James asks. "You look sad yet terrified."

"I was just talking to Sigyn," Xavier responds.

"Yeah, I usually look that scared too after I speak with her. What about it?"

"James, this is the first time Communications us entering the prank war but it can also be the first time Operations and Sci-Tech teams up."

James hesitates since Xavier went from sad to commanding in the blink of an eye and now he's suggesting the craziest of all things crazy. Probably from talking with Sigyn. Still, nobody's enacted any pranks on each other and in any other year, they would be knee-deep in pranks.

"I knew you'd be here eventually because I was about to find you once I got my cadets set up here," James admits, whispering. "I actually had the same idea as you about teaming up."

"God, that's terrifying," Xavier responds.

"Yeah. So I know I killed you last time but-"

"I don't give a fuck. We need to take down Communications."

James grins, liking this new Xavier ready to take action. "Dr. Pym and Captain Rogers… Communications won't know what hit them."

This is literally calling chaos.