The United States of America, New Mexico, The Long Lonesome Road

'I had wondered for so long before I found them. This conclave of the atom, an isolation of mutation, freedom, solace. The heights of elation and the crushing depths of despair, I felt them all. I was still a way from being fixed, but I was being mended. The first of many, true tests came that day. The day of sweat, dust, blood and tears. The day on the Road.'

The open landscape of New Mexico opened up before them, and so Alex put peddle to metal. His 4x4 of choice often got a bit of stick, a chrome BMW X5 eDrive hybrid, targetted at the European market. But, for all the decried loss the extra use of battery was 'supposed' to give cars, the BMW soon reached, then exceeded the speed of its petrol/disel only counterparts, the duo-power system pushing the machine onwards as the harsh country road was ground beneath it. The windows rolled down, the music turned up until the sound system shook, to be heard over the rush of the wind. In a somewhat obnoxious display of his ability to choose the music, Alex had 'Make it bun dem' playing, the bass profoundly obvious.

They had been out of state, firstly to look up the possibility of another supposed mutant on the run to join their ranks, something that had not worked out, largely due to the lack of interest from said mutant, and then, as a distraction, to attend the Mayfest, which had gone rather swimmingly, and messily.

"So, my merry band of rogues, admit defeat to the superiority of the British rave scene yet? Or must I play you yet more great...'tunes'?" Alex smirked, his eyes still on the road, as he drove one handed at nearing 200mph, the feat made somewhat easier by his own manipulation of the aircurrent surrounding the vehicle. He still looked bloody cool though, at least in his eyes.

This trip had definitely been interesting. The little group that had offered up to go on this out-of-state trip definitely weren't the most alike, for a lack of better words. Well, at least when Jack would silently examine things. With Alex heading the trip in the driver's seat and his ability to control the air currents, Jack knew that it would be a very fast trip back home. Jack, however, did not anticipate the choice of music. He was all for rave music, but it was so lound that the sound system was boom-booming. The bass was so strong, and Jack knew his ears would blow up if they hadn't already.

"The music is cool, Alex, but perhaps we could find something else to listen to. Or at the very least, turn it down." Jack said, offering up a suggestion regarding the music.

As the car that the team were in went down the road at a very fast speed, Jack tried his best to enjoy the scenery. New Mexico had always been a state known for its desert. Granted, it really doesn't have nothing over Arizona, but it still was a close second in that regard. In any case, Jack was surprised that Alex would go this fast. Even more so, he was surprised that there were hardly any other cars on the road. Jack wasn't one to worry, but he just had to have his curiosity on as he didn't know why there weren't many cars on the road.

"Fine, Fine, anything you fancy my Commonwealth Compañero?" Alex replied with a slight wave of the hand, turning the music down while awaiting any further suggestions. He was fairly ok with almost all music, minus the very worst of any pop chart. Volume was another mattter, he did enjoy his music loud, but at least while others are deciding he could turn it down enough for people to think coherently.

"Or, we could all have a touching, motivational sing-a-long, that will make the time just fly by." Alex griined, making a slight adjustment to bend with the road, that at this speed would usually have the potential to send the car into a full on roll, but with Alex's unique abilities, barely registered on those within.

At first, Will assumed that perhaps sitting in the front would be worth the fight she’d put up with Chase to get – assisting in choosing the music, a great and open view ahead, as well as a comfortable seat that she could recline with a mere click of a button. Calling shotgun always had the potential of being beneficial in the individual’s favor, but not this time. Will was a fan of raves, as she had been since turning the age of eighteen. However, there were certain occasions when the music most often found in raves should be played and this… well, this was not the time.

Sighing, Will gradually brought the bottle of Jack Daniels to her lips, taking a few swigs only to place it beneath her legs once more. She rested her head against the side of the vehicle, halfheartedly listening to Alex and Jack discuss music choices, only to find herself contemplating a selected bunch. “Bon Jovi, maybe? Can’t go wrong with It’s My Life,” she suggested idly. “Have A Thousand Miles on that shitty playlist of yours? Let’s bring out that feminine side you boys seem to lack.”

The girl smirked, adjusting herself in the seat so that she faced Alex, her head still against the car door. She closed her eyes for a moment, breathing in the smell of beef jerky (a road trip favorite) and her alcohol. None of the others really shared her taste in Jack Daniels mid-day. Although, hypothetically, if she’d so desperately had the urge to do so, she could have convinced Alex to drink a good amount, but that would impair his driving skills ever so slightly, and they were already past two hundred. There was no need to intoxicate the boy and find out what happened then, as the aftermath probably ended in the death of all of them. Well, maybe excluding Chase with his ability to adapt to fucking everything.

“What say you, Chase? What kind of music tickles your fancy?”

Chase chuckled, sparing the slightest of glances to the back of the girl’s seat. “Why ask me?” he quipped, returning his gaze to the desert outside, “After all, I’m not the one in the front seat.” His tone was light and teasing, not at all reflecting how uncomfortable he truly was. Though he would never admit it to anyone, Chase loathed riding in cars – especially in the back seat. It wasn’t so much the speed that bothered him, but rather the fact that he was practically placing his life in the hands of another; and that person – namely Alex – was currently hurtling down the road at a ridiculously dangerous pace. To be entirely honest, he was surprised no one else seemed upset by it, but then again, with Alex’s ability, it would be nearly impossible to crash.

Realizing it was getting a bit too tight, Chase released his grip on his door handle and leaned on the window instead. “Actually, since you were so kind to ask,” he continued quickly, speaking before Will could respond, “I think Jack-” Chase emphasized this with a smirk in the other man’s direction, “should pick. Since, of course, he suggested the change first.”

The opinion was given as though the young mutant was trying to take away Will’s power to choose, but in reality, Chase couldn’t care less who picked what or what was put on – with the exception of extremes. It was just that he had oftentimes heard Jack playing music from his room and felt that his selection could be something everyone might enjoy. Of course, he wouldn’t explain it like that, preferring Will to think he was messing with her, so he added a tongue-in-cheek, “No offense to ‘A Thousand Miles’ or anything” just for good measure.

The black-and-forth discussion about what song to put on was pretty interesting. Will had suggested Bon Jovi, which was a nice choice. It was a bit on the Classic Rock side, but Jack really had no problem with that. However, jokingly, Will brought up the idea of putting on some Vanessa Carlton. She is a bit on the poppy side. One of her most famous songs is that one jam that, in Jack's mind, made famous in the movie White Chicks. That was a funny movie. Jack really liked it, but the song itself was a bit unbearable.

As he thought about it more, Jack's preferring choice of music wasn't really as easy listening as A Thousand Miles. [b]I actually could go for some Silverstein. Ever since I heard Vices a few years ago, it always has been one of my favorite tracks from them.[b] Jack said, offering up the suggestion of Silverstein. He didn't know how the others would feel about it, since it's a bit on the emo-ish side at parts. Even still, Jack really likes that song, and that band, so maybe they'll go for it.

"Ah ha. The man has spoken. Not my first choice, but, could be worse." Alex, defering to the general decision to in fact, defer to Jack, switched playlists to the desired band, managing to keep his eyes on the road while doing so, even if the journey became momentarily more shaky, Alex putting on an over the top expression of distress at a slight bump, before grinning evily.

"See? I'm a great driver, nothing to worry ab.."

Alex was cut off midsentence when the world suddenly became a loud bang, the road beneath the car exploding with violent force, flipping the vehicle over and into the air. Alex's seatbelt managed to take some of the force, retaining his sense even as it felt like the life was being crushed out of him. With a moment's notice, he managed to create a brief air pocket beneath the car. With less than a split second to do anything, it didn't stop the car from falling, it just slowed them. In the next moment, the 4x4's roof struck the ground, the force jarring through the inhabitants like a truck through a paper wall. At least he'd prevented them from dying, and breaking any bones. Still, hurt like hell.

As the car was launched into the air, it's installed safety features kicked in, the windows immediately rolled up, the door's locking from the outside. Fortunate, because in the next minute a hail of bullets rattled against the outside of the car. Industry standard wouldn't have held up for a second, but the glass was bulletproof and the vehicle had been reinforced, still, under persistent fire, it wouldn't hold for long.

"Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck." Alex cursed as he dangled upside down, eventually finding his seatbelt release and consequently crashing down onto the ceiling-now-floor of the car. He didn't know anything about the range of telepathy, but tried screaming down the vaguely familiar trace of Helena, from the every now and then she chose to communicate with him thus.

"Under attack. Ambush. Guns. Help."

The next thing he did was activate the GPS beacon on his phone, fumbling as his sense still recovered from the intial explosion and landing, before his breathing started to quicken to an unfunctional rate. Dropping his phone, beacon activated, he took a second, before another salvo of automatic fire tore into the car, with a worrying sound of metal starting to give way.

"Oh fuck me."

Will & Chase

The group decided on Silverstein, to which Will had no complaints. While she knew very little of their music, the song they’d chosen was tolerable and loud enough to drown out everything else. The alcohol had begun to get to her. She swung her head back and fluttered her eyes to a close, breathing slowly through her nostrils, allowing the alcohol to gradually dissipate. Which turned out to not be such a good idea, as her attempt to ultimately forget Chase’s comment only caused it to come flooding back. So much that she couldn’t contain herself.

“Look, kid, I don’t need your fucking mouth—”

Will paused, setting her jaw to prevent herself from saying anything more. The way Chase had spoken to her – while it made her blood boil, perhaps it shouldn’t have. How was the boy to know that years of constant teasing, in which her parents constituted as ‘harmless’ had led up to her not being one to permit it? Surely he hadn’t a single clue, so who was she to attack him?

“Never mind,” she mumbled, rummaging through her pockets to reveal a pack of camels with a mini red lighter. Lowering herself close to the floor, Will used the match to light it, managing to take a drag before settling against the seat once more. It was then that Will felt an abrupt jolt within the moving vehicle, her head jerking forward towards the front of the car. She let out a small yelp as her neck strained in ways it shouldn’t have, several shots of pain coursing through the sides of her throat. “What the—?”

An impact to the back of Will’s seat cut her off as Chase flew forward with nearly enough force to push them through the windshield. Both fortunately and yet unfortunately, his seatbelt proved to hold true, cutting into his skin as whatever speed Alex had been going propelled him forward even as the car stopped. Through the haze of his mind, he briefly recognized a subtle flip of his stomach as the vehicle itself flipped before a final jarring thud.

The young man groaned in pain as he hung from his seat in the car, now upside down. “Everyone okay?” he coughed, feeling a tingling sensation on his skin. He brushed his dangling hands together, noting the scaly texture of his skin as is slowly faded back to normal. Times like this made him thankful that his mutation was involuntary.

Reaching down – or up? – Chase quickly unbuckled his seat, joining Alex on the floor.

“Alive,” Will groaned, mustering up enough strength to do as Alex and Chase had, her hands fumbling to unbuckle her seatbelt. It had been a stupid decision on her part as she, too, fell to the window shield, her ass taking most of the impact. Will reached for the arm rest of her chair, using whatever was left in her to hoist herself up off the windshield and closer to the middle of the car. Nearing Chase, she nodded her head curtly in his direction, indicating that she was okay. Slightly wounded, but breathing.

Outside, she heard the bullets hurdling in their direction, drilling through the metal of the vehicle repeatedly. She supposed it wouldn’t have startled her very much had it not been evident that the car was beginning to give in to the bullets with every hit it took. “Fuck,” she hissed. “We’ve gotta get out of here.”

“No shit,” Chase grunted, glancing over at Alex. He seemed to be inside his head, giving the evolving mutant the impression that he was sending out a distress call to Helena. He turned back to Will. “Do you think you could throw up a wall to deflect the bullets?” Chase didn’t know how far along Will was with controlling her ability, but it was the only thing he could think of at the moment. “Just long enough for us to come up with a more solid plan?”

Will hadn’t even considered that. “I might, yeah,” she told him, “but I have to be able to see what I’m doing. Meaning, I need to get the fuck out of here before I can do that.” Will’s eyebrows furrowed in distaste as she contemplated their options – the select few that they had. There was no way in hell they would be able to kick any of the doors down. Alex had made sure of that with the safety features he’d installed. She supposed their only option was… Her eyes widened.

“Chase, your powers. Try punching the wall. Maybe your powers will kick in and help.” It was a far-fetched idea, and depending on if it actually worked, she was risking him breaking his hand, but it was worth a shot. Especially with what he’d just said to her. Despite it all, that brought a grin to her face.

Chase scowled, knowing the smile wasn’t at the possibility of getting out. He didn’t like the idea of smashing his hand into the side of the car, but he couldn’t deny that it may be their only option. “Fine.” he growled, shuffling so that he was facing the door on his side. Taking a deep breath, Chase pulled back his hand and made a fist. He closed his eyes… and whipped his arm forward as fast as he could, keeping the fist loose until the last minute before it crashed into the side of the car. “FUCK!” Chase yelled, clutching his hand to his chest as he inspected the area of the collision.

A slight dent was visible, but obviously not a hole. Looking down at his injured hand, he could see the traces of scaly armor receding from his knuckles. “Goddammit” he cursed, knowing that he’d have to do it again. “I can do this.”

Without any hesitation, Chase pulled back the same hand, and shoved it forward again, barely making a fist before it came into contact with the car door once more. The young man hissed in pain, but didn’t check his progress this time, punching again… and again, throwing his left fist as well a couple of times before he felt as if one hand almost fell through the car door. Now covered in a thin layer of sweat, Chase pulled back for the last time, armor covering every inch of skin from his fingertips to the middle of his forearms. He looked over the now offset door. “There, you can see now,” he panted.

As the boy let out shrieks of pain, young Will couldn’t help but smirk ever so subtly. With every punch he gave, she thought to herself, That’s for teasing me. That’s for being a dick. That’s for being short with me until bright light illuminated from the outside world. The boy’s powers had enabled him to dent the top of the car door outward, leaving the rest of it to be rather crumpled and frail if someone were to attempt to tear it away. Will cocked her head at Chase and shrugged. “Eh. It’ll do. Thanks.”

Practically crawling, she shoved Chase and Jack out of the way, forcing the two to press up against one another while she shuffled forward. Her eyes took a second too long to adjust to the blistering sun, constant bullets whizzing past her, brushing the sides of the car closest to her head. Her eyes fixated on the flattened plains of the desert, Will reluctantly raised a hand out into the open, curling her fingers as she readied herself.

Inhaling sharply, Will thrust her hand toward her, the earth beneath them quivering for several seconds, only to propel ten feet out of the ground, creating a barrier of sorts made purely of desert pavement. Will beamed at the boys and shimmied her way out of the vehicle, tuning in on the other side as they discussed their next move. There were so many of them, that much Will was certain of, and there was only so many walls she could make before they decided to wheel their way around them and start shooting from another angle.

Standing on her own two feet, Will stretched, her body aching with every muscle used. She glanced towards the car as only Chase began to crawl out, and whispered, “Hurry the hell up for Christ sake.”

Buying some time for Alex and Jack to follow, she quickly scurried to the opening of her creation, bringing a hand to either side of her, only to once again activate her powers. Will lengthened the wall as much she could before a sudden dizziness took over her, causing her to collapse to her knees. In the midst of catching her breath, she smelt that of alcohol. What the fuck? she thought, puzzled. Pressing a hand firmly to her shirt, she noticed the dampness of it, and suddenly, her world came crashing down.

“Goddammit,” she cried. “The fucking alcohol is gone.”

The music ended up changing to what Jack had recommended. He actually was a little surprised, but only by a little. He ended up starting to rock out to the sound of Shane Told’s screams. He was actually enjoying himself. The music definitely was loud, but it was more pleasing than the Brit-raving music that Alex had on beforehand. As he continued to rock out to the music, things took a turn for the worse. It would seem some very unfriendly people decided to ruin the party in such a way that they had to do it with gunfire and explosives(not exactly in that order).

The results of the explosives and gunfire resulted in the car flipping over on the roof. Of course, the car’s safety functions kicked in. Jack wasn’t sure if that was good or not. Even though he had his seatbelt on, Jack wasn’t really going unaffected by the end-result of the car flipping over. His head was killing him. It didn’t seem to be any worse than that, but most likely he has a concussion…or worse.

Jack was just hanging upside down with his seatbelt pressing hard against his skin. It was so hard that Jack’s skin was starting to crack from the pressure. There was blood oozing out from his white tank-top, but Jack was still able to move, at least enough to know that this situation was really bad. Jack tried his best to reach for his seatbelt, but he was still trying to establish what was up and what was down. Thankfully, it only took him a few moments to figure everything out.

Taking his hand, he reached over to the opposite direction to unhook his seatbelt, which of course caused him to land on his head. “OW!” Jack yelled out. The prior pain he had from the initial impact was bad enough, but landing on his head just added to the pain. As he tried to get in an up-right position again, Jack was a victim of blood rush, which happens when someone is upside down for a long time and then they rush to an up-right position. Yup, that happened to Jack. In any case, Jack just tried to think of a way to which that everyone could get out of this mess without getting killed.

As everyone else started to also get in their upright position, Chase asked if everyone was alright. “Yeah, I’m alright, though my head is killing me.” Jack said.

The realization that there were bullets just shooting at the car only made this situation even that much more bad. The idea of getting out was a captain obvious moment, but the idea of how was that going to happen was something that Jack found a bit troubling. That’s when Will told Chase to use his powers, to which Jack thought was a wonderful idea, but could they kick in at the start of it. It would seem that Chase had to try, and that’s why he turned to one of the side doors. He needed to get that sucker at least somewhat opened so that Will could pop up an earth wall or something of the like. Chase did punch the door, and it failed as heard by his cursing out in how frustrated he was by it. He tried again and again and again, and it worked. Surprisingly, it worked.

“Wow, nicely done, Chase.” Jack said a bit surprised at how strong that Chase was.
“And cool armor.” Jack was a bit amazed by it. Perhaps he was even starting to be a big fan of it. Who knew right?

As Jack gave Chase that compliemnt, Will proceeded to shove them out of her way, which made it to where Jack and Chase were pressed against each other. It was a bit rude of Will to do that, but that’s just how she is. It’s what makes Will is all about. As she moved towards the opening of the door that Chase had punched out, she did her thing to where she could feel about the ground to start creating a wall. It must’ve taken a lot out of her because the wall itself seemed to be around ten feet high. That was mighty impressive, but Jack had no time to admire it. As soon as that wall came up, she beckoned everyone to get out of the car as soon as they could as quickly as they could.

Jack was having difficulties getting out of the car in the quickness that he would have liked, but within a minute, maybe less, he was able to get out only to see Will further use her ability to lengthen the wall. It was mighty impressive. Jack can admit that much. He seemed to have gotten out of the car at the wrong time cause it seemed that Will was crying about the fact that her rum was gone. Jack didn’t know what to make of this, so he didn’t say anything about it.

Finally able to at least stand, Jack knew the easy part of this all was all over. Now the hard part came and boy wouldn’t that be fun. “So, what’s the plan? I don’t know about you guys, but I thinking we show these guys not to mess with mutants. What say you?”

The sun shined hazy and hot along the horizon of the northern New Mexican hills. Atop the mountain local residents called Father Sun, the young Alabama girl sat with black jeaned legs crossed upon the highest flat point of the mountain. Her eyes had closed long ago, her thoughts quieted into utter silence for an amount of time that was lost to Helena Britt. It was impossible for her to know just when her mind let go of it's tether to the physical world, quick or slow ceased to matter when time became just another consequence of thought and matter and energy.

When her mind began to rise, the only thing Helena could see was her own self from up high. Down the mountain she saw the Last Five, beyond that the small homes along the lower sections of the mountain dotted the landscape like an insignificant spot upon the red rock that rose high and higher still, stretching and reaching high into the New Mexican sky that to her view began to stretch and blur, the blue of the sky, the white of the clouds, and the gold of the sun twisting and turning to colors no human eye could see. Distant, pale colors alive with light that spread like a starfire inferno over Father Sun and the New Mexican landscape.

The gateway to the astral plane came upon her hotter than the sun's glow. In a heartbeat Helena Britt left New Mexico and went to engage the upper limits of the Earth's atmosphere. The darkness of space and the impossible distances of celestial bodies were little more than a distraction to the telepath as layers of atmosphere and clouds began to shuffle by at speeds no physical entity could ever dream to reach. Just short of sinking under the preciously thin shell of the planet Helena stopped and landed her astral form upon the same grassy lawn covered in the shade of a large oak that she had curled her toes into more times than Helena cared to count at the moment.

The front door of the house meant nothing to her current form, phasing through it and entering the home. The ceiling to the entryway was high, and hanging from it a chandelier of crystal and silver and electric lights--lights that were currently off. Down the hallway next to the grand staircase the projected girl went, to the large living area decorated with a luxurious touch of the old South, the only light in the room coming from the walls of windows and glass doors spanning the back wall. In the plush cushioned leather recliner she found the man; in his socks, slacks, and golf shirt. The chair was fully reclined, a half eaten bowl of grapes in the older man's lap as the flat screen television in the room showed whatever golfing tournament happened to be going on.

"Napping through golf, dad?"

He wouldn't have heard her. It didn't matter to Helena as her transluscent form stood next to the chair, and smiled down on the sight. It was a sweet dream to find her father exactly where he was nearly every weekend afternoon during her youth. A quick look around the room alerted her to a few missing pieces of art along the walls of the living room...her mother, no doubt. She would've sighed, if it weren't for the thunder clap in her mind that sent her projected presence to it's knees. Eyes clinched tightly shut, the pressure rising in her ears until they were near to bursting.

"Under attack. Ambush. Guns. Help."

Shit. It was a bit of struggle to rise to her feet, like getting up after plopping down after a long, long, run. She was closing her eyes when the voice came into the air half-concious and filled with sleep: "Hel?"

She turned just in time to see her father blinking his eyes open, and looking this way and that and there again. He can feel me near. It made her smile, despite the heightened sense of danger rising in the back of her mind like a bad moon. Just as quickly as she set down in Alabama, her astral form was gone, cut out like someone had simply flipped a switch.

When her eyes opened upon Father Sun, her mind reached out to Annelise first. "The group that went out of town got attacked on their way back. Run to the big house and get a ride with X." The thought was sour in her mind even as she projected it. The last thing Helena wanted was Annelise entering a danger zone. If she'd had her way, Helena would've told Annelise to stay at the ranch. But with Rob out to get feed for the animals of the Last Five, they'd need every able body they could muster up.

The next half-second Helena informed X. The woman's orders were clear: go, fast. We'll catch up.

In a swirl of air and dirt and shattered gravity, Helena Britt launched from the top of Father Sun so quickly that a concussive boom echoed down into the ranch as her body was carried into telekinetic flight. Her soft leather boots near came off, she even almost lost the faded denim jacket over the white tee clinging to her body. The group was closer to the ranch than Helena initially thought, and that wasn't a good thing. They know about the Ranch. Whoever 'they' were. Worse, a good half mile from the gunplay was a pickup truck...a civilian eyewitness just made bad go to worse.

From her eagle eyed top-down view, Helena saw the attacker's vehicles turn and spin, spitting dust high into the air as they came around for a new attack. Will's walls weren't enough, but just as they began to shimmer and fail came a wall around the group of mutants, the only physical appearance of it a vague outline that reflected just the smallest bit of sunlight--Helena Britt's telekinesis reenforcing and strengthening Will's wall as Helena began to descend. The vehicles roared past the protected group of mutants, the last vehicle in the small attacking convey making a horrible screeching sound as it something.

Or, rather, as something hit IT. The black four wheel drive SUV flipped with such force that it just kept flipping when it finally landed back upon the Earth; nothing would've survived that tumble. By that time X's brown jeep was coming to a hard stop near the flipped vehicle the mutants were huddled near. There weren't any words exchanged as Helena swooped down from the sky and picked up X before swooping back into the sky, dropping X after a quick aim to land the vicious femme brawler onto one of the other attacking vehicles. Helena quickly went back to X's jeep, landing on the ground next to it, looking at Annelise with a small smile.

"Going my way, sweet thing?"

It had been a rather boring day for the petite brunette. She was out on her morning run before the sun peeked over the high mountains to drench the sea of sand and dirt in its warmth. She hated the heat and the sun (though that was because of previously stated hatred), as was prevalent by the pale complexion she held. The girl finally arrived back to her cabin after her run as the sun just began to stretch over the mountain tops; she made it back in time to hide from its burning rays of discomfort.

Pushing through her front door she stepped through and pushed it shut, locking the heavy door behind her. She used her hand to brush the faint sweat from her face, letting the cool air conditioned breeze cool her down. She kicked off her shoes on her way to the small kitchen. Opening the mini fridge she grabbed a bottle of water and twisted the cap before placing it to her lips and finished the bottle in mere moments. Setting the mostly empty bottle on the counter as the droplets fell and pooled at the bottom of the still cool plastic bottle.

Shoving her hand into her snug fitted running shorts and produced her cell phone. Clicking the button at the side lit up the LED screen as she checked for any new messages. Unlocking the screen she couldn't help the faint smile that touched her lips from the background picture. A picture of Helena and herself from their first date, herself kissing Hel on the cheek with Hel holding a surprised expression. A testament that a picture spoke a thousand words. Remember as she basically had to beg Hel for the stubborn girl to smile for the picture. After the second picture she got fed up, suddenly kissing her cheek before snapping the picture got her desired result. Only more then she expect. She captured the cutest picture of Hel smiling with a surprised look. One of Annelise's favorite memories of the two.

After staring at the picture for a while she finally looked up at the status bar of her phone, no new messages. Closing the phone she set it on the counter as she started towards the wash room. While walking she pinched the brim of her shirt between her fingers before pulling the snug top from her body; shivering as the cool air hit her damp skin. By the time she reached the bathroom she was free of her clothes as they lay scattered across the cabin. Leaving the bathroom door open she stepped into the shower, closing the glass door. Twisted the knobs in a few directions until the stream of water reached a relaxing, warm temperature.

Pulling the buttom at the end of the spout it transfer the stream to the over head shower head. Suddenly then the warm water began to shower down from the center of the ceiling directly above her. Water rolled down her figure as it washed away the layer of sweat she accumulated from the run. Several minutes passed and the girl had not made a move, simply letting the water cascade down her body and wash away her stress and worry. Ever since her peers had left for the mission she was nervous for their safety. Knowing all to well the dangers of Mutants out in the world. Several knots had riddled her stomach since waving them good bye.

She sighed, spitting out the bit of water that dripped past her lips. She began then to brush her fingers through her long hair until it lay flat down her spine. Reaching to the side she felt around for the distinct shape of her shampoo + conditioner bottle. Flicking the lid up she smiled as the scent of strawberries filled the shower. Pouring a generous glob into her hand she set the bottle back and attacked her hair with it before the water washed it away. She quickly pushed and dragged her soapy fingers through her long hair until she was confident every strand of hair was lathered. She thoroughly brushed the soap out of her hair before moving onto her body.

It wasn't long before the luffa had rubbed soap over her body, leaving a falm of lathered body wash in its wake. Stepping back under the water she brushed her bare hand down herself to get the soap and stench from her skin. Shutting off the water she opened the glass door, straining as she reached out to grab the folded towel off the sink. Giving herself a quick pat down she wrapped her hair in the towel before stepping out of the shower.

She was about to continue her post shower rituals but the sudden alarm from her cell phone in the kitchen forced her attention. Her heart sank into her stomach as the unique sound repeated, filling the cabin with the sound. She rushed out of the bathroom and to her phone, holding it up to her face to make sure it wasn't a mistake; though the alarm sound was very particularly chosen for the very reason of it not being mistaken.

Immediately Annelise dropped the barrier that protected her from telepaths, knowing it was the fastest way of getting ahold of Hel. Like clockwork right as the barrier went down she received instructions from Helena. The still naked Annelise rushed back and forth frantically around her cabin, shoving herself into whatever clothes she could find on short notice. As she was properly dressed she rushed out the door with her shoes in hand, hopping on one foot as she pulled on a shoe. Switching feet until both were tied. As she regained both feet on the ground she burst into a sprint; her naturally gifted physique let her petite frame nearly soar across the field towards the main house were she knew X would be waiting.

Annelise nearly plowed through the front door and made way for the garage where she found X sitting in the drivers seat of the roaring Jeep. Without a word she jumped gracefully into the passenger seat. Before her rump fully fell into seat she was slammed back into the back of the seat; the jeep roaring in defiance to X's lead foot pushing the pedal nearly into the floor. The two didn't share in words as they merely focused on the task at hand. Annelise taking her whipping hair and pulling it into a ponytail, tying it off with a band she had around her wrist. Looking down at herself she finally realized what she was wearing.

She wore a dark blue low cut belly shirt that came down just above her belly button with a pair of tight jeans that hugged her lower proportions nicely. Along with that her converse sneakers. In her rush she hadn't exactly picked the most combat ready attire. By the grin she noticed on X's lips the outfit wasn't missed by the woman. She blushed from embarrassment, it was a horrible time for her to be so poorly dressed for the situation; especially sitting beside her superior. She looked up at the road and noticed the commotion shortly off in the distance. Luckily the group wasn't to far out from the ranch.

"Buckle up." X announced loudly to try and surpass the deafening sound of rushing breeze the high speeds generated.

'shit...' Annelised cursed under her breath as she knew exactly what was going to happen. Quickly she grabbed the seat belt and secured herself into her seat. Pressing her feet hard into the floor of the jeep and holding onto the 'oh shit' handle she braced for impact. As the jeep slammed into the vehicle Annelise felt herself slam into the belt and whip back into her seat; even the cushion seat offered no comforted from the impact. Annelise groaned painfully in her dazed state. Shaking her head a bit to force away the blur. Blinking a few times she noticed X was being hefted out of the jeep by Helena. Annelise took a deep breath to stabilize her thoughts as she removed herself from the seat belt just in time for Helena to return. She smiled up at the beauty.

"Of course." She chimed, going along with the bit. "But I need a souvenir." With that Annelise hung out of the side of the jeep, reaching out to the ground and scooping up a few sizeable stone. Pulling herself back into the jeep she stood and slipped into Helena's arms. Wrapping her left around around the small of Helena's back she clung tight to her frame as she prepared for take off. The stones resting in her right palm began to glow a violet color.

"Take me over the baddies." She requested, the stone in her hand beginning to glow much brighter and look rather.. unstable. Feeling herself be lifted from the jeep and soaring through the open air was strange sensation, but having Helena's arms around her made the situation all the more enjoyable. As the two came up above the group firing at the turned over car she tossed the stones in their direction, making sure to scatter the stones enough to give the largest area of damage. As they glowing stones hit the ground several explosions happened, tearing up the Earth and twisting metal from the blast; not to mention what it did to the poor bastards close to the impact. Though it was a good offensive move the primary use was picking up a lot of dust and obscuring more of the assailants vision.

Before Alex exited the remains of his 4x4, the environment was beginning to the reflect the mood of said individual. Even their combatants, who with reinforcements now easily surrounded the crashed car, it and the rock wall providing the mutants with cover, couldn't help but rip their eyes from their prey to the crash of thunder above them, storm clouds seeming to brew from nowhere in a colossal display of natural power. With something akin to a snarl, Alex pulled himself from the wreckage, the fiercest point of the building weather pattern directly above him, and thus, the rest of the group he now stood among. It was ominous in the extreme, stretching high into the atmosphere and nearly black as coal, lit only by occasional flashes of lightning which, only capable of lighting a fraction of its bulk, only served to display the volatility of the recent weather based creation.

"My fucking car...well then, lets get to.."

Alex was interrupted as the first attack from their rescuers struck those attacking them, the force rippling through the landscape and jarring those, already shook up from the crash, further. Gripping his head for a moment, Alex was fast to respond, the air starting to swirl around him, even as the thunder above intensified. There were enough assailants that it would be no easy task to wipe them out even with their powers, something Alex had little problem with at this point.

"No bloody way, they're not stealing all the payback." With a burst of air, Alex bounded atop the earth and stone wall only recently created, an arc of lighting leaping from the sky to meet him as he crested it. Rather than burn him alive, as it would any other human, the lightning connected with Alex, swirling around his arms as he touched down, facing the enemy. For a brief moment, Alex stood still, completely exposed as those attacking the mutants recovered from the orbital strike, turning their guns to the sky, both at the flying Hel and in shock at the sky. One noticed Alex and the cry went up, soon a hail of bullets were heading his way. Before they could strike home, a vortex of rapidly moving air expanded out from him, battering bullets aside, before, with an animalistic cry, the force of the lightning spread out from Alex, a web of electrical power that snaked its way through the air to those firing at the mutants, searing them into early graves. After such a display, Alex felt himself weaken, turning towards the remaining pair of para-military trucks, signalling the arrival of their foes belated reinforcements, it was all he could do to slide back down the bank, out of the arc of fire of these new enemies.

After a series of events which included an attacking of the 4x4 car that everyone had been in to the flipping of said vehicle and then to the overall stress that followed it, Jack saw this day as for what it was: shitty. The earth wall that Will had put up was pretty much the only form of defense that the mutants had from this militia(what else could they be?). Well, that is until reinforcements arrive. It wasn’t until a few minutes later that Jack saw them, in a brown jeep no less, that the reinforcements had arrived and in the form of X, Helena, and Annalise. It was a godsend. Not like Jack really believes in God, but still it was a miracle.

As he saw what they each were doing on their own right to even the playing field, Jack was pretty happy that there was finally going to be some form of offense since all they were doing up until this point was hiding and putting up a defense. It wasn’t like they really had a choice, but nevertheless Jack is glad. The way the offense happened was like in a flash. It started with Helena taking Anna, obviously using her telekinetic powers, and Anna using her just-as-impressive Kinetic manipulation powers. The two of them as a team seemed perfect. Jack didn’t know until he saw it, but it seemed that Annalise had some kind of stone-like things in her hands and as she threw them to the enemy, a nice series of explosions occurred.

“Nice!” Jack said, releasing a moderate yell. The excitement of reinforcements and the possibility of payback was overtaking his natural calm demeanor.

The explosions was met with a chance for the group of four to finally get some payback. Alex was the first to jump at the chance as he had used his powers of Weather Manipulation to get some payback of his own. Jack did the same, but he was more careful not to get caught by any array of bullets. He did take notice, however, of what Alex was doing. By the time that Alex had landed and had a lightning circulating around his arms. After Jack saw that, Alex just went crazy, using some sort of air vortex to circulate the lightning through it and well the frying of brains could have been implied.

Meanwhile, Jack was preparing his own form of offense. “Please let this work.” Jack said as he concentrated on his arms. After about fifteen seconds, ice began to form around Jacks hands. His feet also seemed to be gathering ice around too. It wasn’t before long that Jack had created semi-armor out of ice around his body. It was only on his hands and feet, but this still proved to be useful. Jack went in, full force and all. He noticed the incoming trucks, and that’s’ where attacked. As he jumped, a slide of Ice was created beneath his feet, and as he slid around the air(on the ice), he pointed his hands towards the incoming trucks. Instantly, darts of ice were launched towards them. As that was happening, Jack disconnected himself from the ice slide with a long jump, he twisted his body(it‘s horizontal at this point), and kicked the air in two separate motions. The result of that allowed two separate sickles of ice to be fired at the trucks.

After about a minute of starting his assault, the ice he had gathered at his hands and feet were gone, and Jack landed on his feet. As soon a she did, he felt a bit winded, but not by much. “Whoa, maybe that was a bit over the top.” Said Jack as he saw the trucks being covered in ice on the front part. The areas the darts hit were scratched, and even parts of the front of the trucks were torn off. That would add to whoever would attack the trucks next.

Things were escalating to a pace Will could hardly keep up with, and she found herself looking in every direction as her fellow mutants wreaked havoc. Craning her head, she squinted up to both Annelise and Helena, hovering above them in an attempt to attack from the sky. The things those two were capable of took her aback, for in seconds, explosions sounded, and a ringing consumed Will’s ears. Taking shelter behind the earthen wall that still stood, Will grinned in the girls' direction. “Fucking Annelise,” she breathed.

Annelise’s attack was the first of many, as both Alex and Jack threw heavy punches of ice and weather, leaving the other side slightly wounded and all around pissed the hell off. Will wasn’t too concerned, however, being that not only had she lost her alcohol – Alex had lost his car. Glimpsing over at the fallen Alex, she shrugged a shoulder. “For the alcohol and car,” she announced, coming to her feet. She bolted for the side that was just below that of Annelise and Helena, exposing herself to the opposing side.

With no initial plan, Will lowered herself, watching intently as guns were pointed her way. Cocking an eyebrow, the girl bit down on her lip and all but smashing both open palms to the ground, grunting as she did so. Just as her hands had come to merely tap the dirt, she felt the earth rumble. All at once, the ground ruptured, beginning as a mere crack, only to widen tremendously upon reaching the enemy. In seconds, her abilities had managed to fracture either ends of the earth, leaving an opening large enough to swallow a car.

There were shrieks of horror, and piercing cries as those who hadn’t fallen in between her crevice began to flee. Will hadn’t predicted the outcome of such destruction until she felt her heart slowing and her eyelids beginning to feel like weights that she couldn't find the strength to hold up for much longer. With an exasperated groan, she stumbled backward from her stance, hitting the ground forcibly. Hel, I’m down. Send backup, she thought with great haste, knowing that there was no telling how long it would be before bullets came flying.

“Fuck,” she gasped, effortlessly trying to claw at the ground to assist her to her feet. “I’m such… an idiot…”

Helena nearly lost herself in the scent of Annelise, and the warmth of her lover's body as her arms were locked around the girl for Annalise's own safety. Hel felt her lips trace the back of Lise's neck as her eyes watched the show below them. Lightning and ice and earthquakes, ohmy. Although turning her body just so let her watch X hop from one truck, left without a concious driver to flip and crash, to another truck. She was about to watch X shish kabob a motherfucker before the mental message struck her from Will.

"Hold on, Will's in trouble."

Hel's flight path brought both girls down so quickly, and with so much force, it took her telekinesis to buffer their landing so both their legs didn't snap like twigs upon hitting earth. The Alabama native let go of Annalise's waist, but immediately grabbed her hand. "Stay close to me, do you hear me?" Her brown eyes flared with such passionate protectionism, it might have looked to someone else like Helena was angry with Annelise. She wasn't, just terrified of anything happening to the girl she was falling more in love with by the day.

Nevermind Helena was certain X had just dispatched the last of the bads. A quick look down the road caught the human in the pickup truck with a cellphone aimed in their direction. A low growl sounded from her throat as her hands slapped together, causing the human middle aged man in the parked pickup to lose his eyesight as quickly and simply as if Helena had unplugged his optical nerves from his brain. Figuratively speaking, of course, that was exactly what she had done. "Go get that cell phone!"

Helena gave the order to Jack and Alex, whichever snapped to first, before she remembered the last bit. "Then go get X and her jeep and hurry back to the Ranch!" Helena had a feeling they didn't have long. She had seen just what the world was like through Rob and X's eyes. She knew the dangers of exposing themselves. She knew the hellfire that was surely coming their way now--literally.

"Will?" Her hand let Lise's go as her body dropped to kneel besides Will, her hands taking Will's head in their possession, her eyes studying Will's fast fading conciousness. "Hey, prettygirl, come back to me." There just wasn't time. They needed Will concious. They needed her moving. This is going to hurt... Helena had only tried it once. And that was on a sick animal she had come across during one of her many long rides along the Last Five.

The idea was simple: transfer mental energy from herself to the fading Will. Like a Vulcan taking a human into a mindmeld, Helena's eyes closed with grave intent, her lips moving silently as she forced Will's mind open, and began pushing energy...it wasn't until she heard Lise yelling at her that she knew it'd gone too far. And even then, Lise's yells sounded like Helena herself was underwater, and Annelise was above the surface and yelling down at her.

When her eyes opened, the very light of the day made her eyes wince shut, the hot trail of blood dripping from her nose down to her lips bringing the taste of metal into her mouth. Helena shook her head, hard, and stumbled up to her feet, holding her arms out to signal Annelise away. "...give me a second..." A violent cough racked Helena's body, her head turning to spit a mix of saliva and blood from her mouth. She never opened her eyes when her telekinesis took hold of Annelise and Will, and it was with little more than a prayer that Helena launched all three of them into the sky. It wasn't normal flight. Annelise would know it immediately with the way their flight path shook and swayed this way and that.

And when the Ranch came into view...there was no landing. Only crashing. Before Helena felt the last bits of strength escape her, she was able to aim them into the deep end of the Ranch's olympic sized pool. Helena gasped for air as conciousness began to leave her, her body convulsing when instead only water began to enter her lungs.

Jerusalem, Israel, Years Previously

The sparring session was hardly unusual, father and son often practiced together, self defence was increasingly important and so the ex-military man had taken it upon himself to teach his progeny krav maga, the fighting style of the Israeli special forces. Their gym was sparse, a warm large room with mats across the floor and despite the strain and pain, a happy place for Alex. The fact they were sparring was not, as stated, unusual, but things would make a turn for that when mid session, his father stopped to speak.

"Do you know the vows I said to your Mother? The one I take most seriously?"

"No, Father, not the specifics I..."

"I swore, among other things, when we were wed, to protect her and her family from anything, to bear that responsibility. It's something that weighs heavily on my shoulders of late." Despite, obviously being included within the parameters of such an oath, Alex felt the beginnings of a sinking feeling in his stomach as his father's eyes settled on his own, deadly serious. "That includes protecting her from my own son. That you are the same child I have raised and loved is not in question, but these new...abilities of yours, we will work to control them, you understand?" There was a pain to his Father's voice, and not that of personal pain, he was feeling for his son, that did not wish to be dangerous, but had it thrust upon him. In that moment, Alex didn't think he could love someone anymore, even if he left the unmentioned threat of what would happen should Alex fail.

"Yes Father. I won't disappoint you. I promise."

New Mexico, Present Day

He had failed him, that's why he had run. He was a danger to everyone, including his family. One day he had disappeared, leaving a note only to assure them he had not been kidnapped or simply died. Alex had hoped they would eventually be happy, but knew that they would at least be alive. That was, until he had heard the news that had ripped his heart out and rendered his soul a dark pit. They were dead, and he hadn't been there to protect them, the thugs looking for him. The world had a cruel way of playing games.

"Hey Freak."

The voice came from the ground, Alex had begun wandering around the crash site, on the look out for further threats, he had assumed the charred human was dead, but apparently he still had some air left in him. Alex turned to him, a smirk on his face that was gone with the next words the came out of the crippled man's mouth.

"I fucked your mum."

"What?" He managed, barely more than an outward breath.

"We cam to your house. First we killed your dad, then we fucked your mum. Then we killed her."

It was all Alex could do to not collapse as his mind reeled. The first thought was to his family, of torture and death. But then the cold truth hit him, this attack was his fault, these monsters were here looking for him, tracking a mutant back to its nest, and they'd found the jackpot. If any of his friends and fellows had died, that would be on him, even more than the death of his parents. He fell to one knee, to the grasping cackles of the man before him, who, unknown to Alex, was desperately reaching for a discarded side arm. Alex didn't notice, but it wouldn't matter. As he surfaced from the guilt of what he had caused, the hottest rage the young man had ever experienced coursed through him, if the storm of earlier had been intense, this was an inferno, winds speeds began to rip across the land, a few small trees nearby were torn from their purchased. Less naturally, the lightning coursing through the cloud began to meet at a point directly over Alex, before coursing down to him, the vast energy flowing into him with seeming ease. When he opened his eyes, shut against the tears that were forcing their way though, as the storm beat against the surrounding landscape, nothing but light greeted the squirming figure on the ground, now not even trying to hide his lunges for the gun. Alex touched the man, and suddenly the lightning was give free passage and voice. The thunder clap roared across the landscape, and the man turned to dust.

Tilting his head to a still roaring sky, Alex fell to his knees and screamed.

Amid everything that was going on from Will’s attack, which caused an earthquake, to Helena giving the order to either Alex or Jack, the Canadian just couldn’t help but look over towards Alex’s direction. Jack couldn’t tell exactly what was being said, being a bit away from Alex, but when it was all said and done, Jack witnessed a few things. The first was Alex looking down at the ground, at what it looked to be something charred. Jack remembered that Alex went ape-shit with his powers. Maybe it was form the lightning that hit one of the guys from the enemy group. In either case, next came Alex utilized his Weather Manipulation ability to grant high winds and storm clouds, and lightning. The lightning pretty much went into the ground, It was followed by a scream from Alex.

Jack didn’t know what to do, but he knew that he would at least get that cellphone that Helena told either him or Alex to get. So, using his ice powers, he used it to create a slide of sorts beneath his feet, and he slid right behind the dude who had the phone. With a simple motion of his hand raising, Jack shot darts of ice through the phone, and instantly it exploded in the man’s hands. The guy was surprised as all hell. Jack then used the ice slide again to go over to Alex. He felt so bad for him. He didn’t know what to do, but he knew what his orders.

Jack looked around, hoping to locate exactly where Helena was, but it seemed that she already got the hell out of dodge. As Jack continued to remember, he did see her fly off with Will. Yeah, now it’s coming back to him. Jack did see that Will was in pretty bad shape, so it’s no wonder that Helena went on home ahead of everyone else. “I hope they made it home safely.” Jack said as he looked around, and he fixated his sight on Alex.

Running towards Alex, Jack looked down and he kneeled down to one knee. He put one of his hands(the right one) on Alex’s left shoulder. “C’mon Alex, let’s go get X and head home.” Jack said hoping that the notion of going home would help Alex come to.

Annelises looked up as Hel spoke of to her. As the words sank in her eyes widened in horror as her stomach twisted with fear. Frantically she looked down at the ground, scanning the area for any sight of Will. As they began to soar back to the Earth she finally spotted the girl. As they landed her knees buckled slightly, with a small stumble she regained her footing. She happily took hold of Hel's hand and quickly hurried with Hel to Will's side; though staying a bit out of the way to give Hel room as her hand was released.

Annelise watched worried as Helena checked Will over and tried to keep her conscious. Annelise was no doctor but the girl was certainly going to pass out, she looked far to worn out to stay away. That's when she saw Helena's eyes close as if to focus. She didn't know what she was about to do but she had a bad feeling. A sinking feeling in her gut as the moments seemed to endlessly tick by. Something wasn't right, she didn't know what but she had a bad feeling. Helena seemed to grow a bit pale and her body faintly trembled from the strain.

"Helena! Stop! It's not working!" She called out in terror. It was like watching her beloved Helena slowly slip away. She was on edge, standing on the tips of her toes ready to pounce and shake Helena back to reality and stop whatever she was doing. But she knew better, despite it all she didn't know what might happen if she forced the two apart during what ever the hell she was doing. She felt helpless, only to scream at her Helena that seemed deaf to her plees. "Stop this Helena! Snap out of it!" She pleaded desperately as she was on the verge of tears; with each passing moment seemed to steal more of her color.

Finally her eyes opened, breathing a sigh of relief. She was about to tackle herself into Hel with a hug but she stopped herself as she asked for a moment. Moments later she was suddenly pulled into the air by Helena. She looked over to her love and her concern came rushing back. She had gone flying with Helena plenty of times and knew something was wrong. Their path shook and swayed. She was going to scold the girl for being so reckless but decided it best happen on solid ground.

Looking out she saw the ranch in the distance. As they descended she came to the grim realization they were not slowing down. oh fuck me... she complained in her own thoughts, knowing this was going to hurt like a bitch as the large swimming pool closed in. Taking a deep breath moments before crashing she was not prepared for impact. Her body slammed into the surface of the water. Finding herself dazed and reality beginning to blur and fade around her.

Fighting through the daze she shook her head under water. She was almost out of breath as she hovered over the floor of the pool. Quickly she maneuvered under the water and pressed her feet to the floor. Giving a shove she pushed herself towards the surface. Noticing both Helena and Will seeming to be floating unconscious under the water she adjusted her path towards the two. Grabbing the both of the by the hands she pulled them to the surface. As she broke the surface edge she gasped for air as she pulled the two heads over the surface of the water.

Annelise then pulled the two through the water towards the shallow end until she could stand. Bringing the two too the edge of the pool she used all her might to push them out of the pool and onto the concrete, laying side by side on their back. Annelise then pulled herself out of the pool and crawled over to Helena's side first. Quickly she leaned down to her lips and checked for a breath against her cheek. Feeling nothing she felt a panic begin to set in but forced it down and act. She quickly began CPR, pressing on her chest a few times before moving to her lips. Pressing her lips into Helena's she pushed her breath into her lungs and repeated the pattern a few more times until Helena began to cough up water and gasped for air. She quickly pushed Helena onto her side to make it easier for her to get the rest of the water out of her lungs.

"Breath baby, breath. I need to take care of Will." She encouraged lovingly as she left Helena to lie there. She quickly Crawled over Helena and moved over to Will's side, checking for a breath as well. She then quickly went to work as she didn't feel a breath. She pressed on her chest and breathed into her lungs as their lips sealed. It took a bit more then it did Helena but finally getting her to cough out the water she pushed her up onto her side. "There there, just breath." She encouraged sweetly as she patted her back for a few moments.

Once sure Will would be fine on her own she turned back around and looked at Helena laying on the floor. She turned herself around and suddenly pressed herself into the Hel with her arms wrapping tight around her. Squeezing her in her arms knowing that she was okay now.

"Don't ever do something so stupid again, Helena!" Annelise scolded with a faint quiver to her voice as she tried to fight back the tears. Her arms squeeze the girl even tighter as if the stronger she squeezed Helena the better chance she had to not cry.

It was everything he imagined a war-zone would be.

Each moment passed in time with the beats of his heart, frame by frame, capturing and extending the seconds for longer than usual. Almost like a photographer, he was imprinting every image onto his brain as though it were a reel of film. Adrenaline made the frames a bit quicker, and suddenly he was racing through the pictures of events in an old movie, not entirely registering that it was all real at first. The car had flipped, and he had forced the door open. Will had pushed past him, and now it was his turn.
Quickly, without thinking, he had scurried out of the overturned car and came to lean behind the new stone structure Will had created. Eyes wide, the young man placed a hand on his forehead, breathing deeply to shake off the shock. The crawling itch on his forearms signaled the retreat of his scaly armor, leaving behind untouched skin. Smooth and not at all connected to the wrinkled car door.

Thump.

Helena was there.

Thump.

She deflected an oncoming convoy.

Thump.

One of the cars had flipped.

Thump.

Annelise was in the air with Helena.

Thump.

And then there was an explosion.

Time returned to normal after what seemed like forever, and Chase watched as the not-so-distant area was engulfed in clouds of smoke. Annelise’s gift at play. He shook his head, trying to clear the fog in his own mind. ’C’mon Chase, get your shit together.’ Taking a shaky breath, the young mutant looked up and witnessed the sky take on a dark hue, stretching lighting across in shining webs of electricity before one particular bolt struck down on Alex – atop Will’s wall. It wasn’t an unusual sight, lightning striking Alex – Chase had seen him do this before on an occasion or two, but never in a situation like this. As far as Chase had been in New Mexico, they hadn’t ever been attacked.

And yet, no one seemed out of focus. As if on cue, Jack – the youngest of them – rode his self-made ice into a power kick, breaking an enemy vehicle or two without breaking a sweat. And here Chase was, fading in and out of a panic-attack almost because he had no idea what to do. His powers weren’t offensive. They were defensive. He was built to survive, not fight, so what the fuck could he do but stand there and take it all in? He was useless and he knew it.

He felt even worse about his predicament when Will collapsed.

She had, as far as he knew, attempted to create an earthquake of sorts, splitting the earth beneath their attackers and pulling more than a few into the void. It was an impressive feat, and had they been in training or any other non-life-threatening situation, Chase would have told her as much. But even so, he might not have been able to, because it appeared to drain Will completely.

Chase watched in horror as her eyes fluttered and she fell unconscious. Before he could react, Helena came to the rescue, attempting to resuscitate their limp friend. Unfortunately, it was too much for her to do as well, and the three – including Annelise – were forced to retreat. The latter girl’s cries echoed in Chase’s head as they left, as well as Helena’s bloodied nose and both her and Will’s near-lifeless faces. Things were not looking good.

Amidst all that was happening there, Chase briefly recognized a dull pain in his knee before the wind was knocked out of him. Gasping, he buckled over, clutching at his torso as his eyes watered. The familiar sharpness of armored skin could be felt underneath his shirt, and he barely registered the sound of someone’s screams – Alex? Recovering fairly quickly, Chase pulled himself upright and glanced around. He couldn’t find any remaining attackers, though he was pretty sure that someone had tried to shoot him. They succeeded, but not really, and either they were just one of the dead using their last shot or the person had gotten away, Chase did not know.

What he did know was that Will’s wall was beginning to crumble, since no one was around to keep it up. Now definitely seemed like the optimal time to go. Red-faced and entirely embarrassed that he hadn’t been able to contribute at all to the fight, Chase approached Jack and Alex. “So… yeah. Should we go see if Will and Hel are okay?”

When Alex finally looked up to face Chase and Jack, the storm around and above had abated, dissipating slower than it had arisen, telling of a cooling off rather than a sudden change of mood. His eyes, no longer lit by the power of the storm, appeared bloodshot. He wasn't crying, but it certainly looked like he had been, when he stood he faltered, leaning on Chase to bring himself to his full height. Beside that he seemed perfectly capable, his lapse from grief rather than strain. There seemed to be a moment, a pause when Alex might have considered talking to them now, instead he just sighed, before walking off in the direction of the bloodiest part of the battleground.

"Yes, X, we should find her."

This hardly proved difficult, X had cut a swathe through the aggressors, men lay dead next to their vehicles sliced open. It was gruesome, but all Alex could feel was a blend of apathy and satisfaction. He wished he had made them suffer, lightning by nature had been too swift, he could have boiled them with thermals or dashed them with rocks. Survival had been more important at the time, now he only wanted lasting revenge. They found X standing, looking, as always, deceptively close to them in age, cleaning the blood from her two pronged claws. She appeared to not be distressed in the slightest, but had likely been a whirlwind of rage at the time. She was the blood of Wolverine, and Alex knew enough about animals and history to make a few guesses.

"Will, Helena and Annelise are back at the ranch. They looked...worse for wear. We should head back, if you're done." Alex spoke, sounding a little more terse than he wanted to be with his mentor, which earned him a raised eyebrow, but enough understanding for it to be brushed aside. She approached them, placing a hand on his shoulder for a moment, before responding. It made him wander about the range of her hearing, he'd have to ask another time.

"A few loose ends to tie up, head back, check they're safe. Be prepared to leave to." She didn't offer an explanation, but Alex could think of a host of reasons why they'd need to, and didn't have the time or will to ask, he turned to leave as X to left to continue her hunt, witnesses or survivors, all were a liability at this point, even if it was likely too late in the day. At an after thought, she threw the boys the keys to her vehicle, their own being trashed. Alex allowed one of the others to drive this time around, sitting in silence as they drove the rest of the way to the Ranch, a few scant miles away. He shut his eyes, drifting off into memories both beautiful and dark, always leading to the same horrifying thoughts. When they finally arrived Alex was out in a second, desperate to be doing anything other than pausing over his thoughts. He'd originally felt Helena and the rest plummet through his storm, so knew where they'd be. He broke out into a run, calling for the others to follow him on the way to the swimming pool, before finding the trio on the side.

"How is everyone? X says we need to be gone. Soon." Again, he did not mean to sound as uncaring as he may have come across, but Alex exemplified dead inside at that particular moment, and for all his care towards his fellows, it couldn't be present in his voice at such a time.

The mood seemed rather somber. That’s the only way Chase could describe it.

He had ended up driving X’s jeep, if only because Alex didn’t seem up to it and X had some ‘unfinished business’ to take care of. Whatever that meant. Chase wasn’t entirely sure he would find out later if at all, but he really didn’t care all too much to know. What X did was her thing, like how what Rob did was his thing. Such was the privilege of being the mentor. Secrets and whatnot. Then again, all of them had their secrets. It was evident that Alex had briefly considered talking about what had happened when Chase helped him up, but then decided against it. Maybe the privilege of the mentor was just the privacy to do what they want when they wanted without explanation? Sounded right.

Not to Chase’s surprise, the entire car ride back to the ranch was silent. Alex, Chase was sure, was thinking about whatever it was that had upset him so badly. And Jack, though not the chatty-kathy type, probably picked up on Alex’s vibe too. Chase was definitely not going to be the one to break the quiet with awkward small talk. Instead he thought about X’s departing words. ’be prepared to leave, too.’ Leave? Like, the ranch? The young mutant wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Though he really hadn’t spent a significant amount of his life there, it had become a safe place for him where he didn’t have to be afraid of when his abilities would kick in and who was around to see it.

He was, in a sense, free at the ranch.

Pursing his lips, Chase decided that he didn’t like the idea, but if X said it might be necessary, then she was probably right. No doubt, if there were any others associated with the people who attacked them, the ranch would soon be found. The whole ordeal hadn’t been that far away from their home. Even as Chase thought this, he pulled into X’s usual parking space. Before he could put the jeep into park, Alex bolted out of the seat, most likely heading to wherever Will, Hel, and Annelise were. His earlier words echoed in Chase’s mind, ’They looked… worse for wear’.

A slight shiver ran down his spine, and the adapting mutant quickly put the jeep in park, locking up once everyone was out and then heading in the direction that Alex had gone. He hadn’t heard Alex yell out where he was going, so it took him a bit to find everyone. Eventually he arrived on scene at the pool area, just catching the end of Alex’s statement. Of course, the weather manipulator was already there, as well as the three girls in question. They actually did seem rather ‘worse for wear’, soaked from what Chase assumed was a crash landing in the pool. Thankfully, though, it was clear they would all make it. Taking note of the fact that Annelise was clinging to a horizontal Helena, Chase opted to let them have their moment and instead went to sit by Will on the side of the pool. He didn’t say anything, though, figuring there wasn’t really anything he could say right now that wouldn’t upset or offend the girl.

So he looked up at Alex and waited for the others to respond before asking, “Where would we go?”

It was well past noon by the time Will awoke. She was sprawled on a bed that was not her own, with a young girl in one arm, and a bottle of beer in the other. Bleary eyed and in need of a shower, Will groaned, setting the alcohol aside to rub away the drowsiness from her vision. As she did so, she felt her head beginning to pulse, the oh-so familiar realization of a hangover beginning to kick in. The girl couldn’t help but sigh and groan once more.

With her arm curled around the half-naked girl, Will glimpsed down to find several hickeys placed just above her chest, and clumsily placed elsewhere about her stomach. Obviously the work of a drunk. Using her vacant arm to hoist her body up slightly, Will gently slid her other arm out from under the girl, managing to all but escape the sleeping maiden before the door was thrust open.

“What the fuck?” a boy shouted, bursting into the room. The girl, startled, immediately went for the covers, scrambling to drape them over her body. Damn, she had nice tits.

Instinctively, Will went to grab her things, not bothering to say much to the furious boy. She’d slept with a bisexual. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t ever do such a thing, and here she was, bending over her clothes as the boy closed in on her, grabbing her by the throat and throwing her against the wall.

The girl on the bed screeched in protest, but made no attempt to come to Will’s rescue. Typical. She did, however, motion to the hickeys that covered Will’s body, claiming that she loved Will. To her dismay, this only infuriated the boy further, his grip tightening on her throat. Will began to squirm.

She writhed and fought to breathe, but did not prevail in doing so. She felt herself beginning to go unconscious when the boy finally released her, her body slumping to the ground. Hacking, the girl stood to her feet, grinning slightly while the boy turned his attention to the girl.

Grabbing her things quickly, she rushed out the door in nothing but a sports bra and boxers. Thudding down the stairs, she heard the calls of the boy not far behind her.

“Come back you fucking faggot!” he barked.

Swiping her keys off the counter, she hurried out the door, looking back every so often to see that the boy wasn’t on her tail. He was gaining on her, though. Fumbling with her things, she unlocked the car just in time to climb in and lock the doors. Will thought this to be the boy’s reason to stop, but the moment the doors locked, he began pounding on the window.

“Goddammit,” she muttered, jamming the key into the ignition. Giving the boy one last snide look, she said, “I’m pretty sure your girl is a lesbian, dude. If she wasn’t before, she definitely is now.” With that, she sped off, never to see that boy or that girl with the nice tits ever again.

Will threw up. She hadn’t meant to, really, but it was a lovely sight to see for everyone. A majority of her puke had been alcohol, beef jerky, and McDonald’s she’d had the night before. The rest had been stomach acid and water. The girl keeled over the pile of half-digested food and hurled to her stomach’s content, her body trembling as the brisk air hit her damp skin.

She felt like shit. There was really no other way of describing it. Her brain was fried, her body was sore, and she’d just puked up half the planet. To top it all off, she was utterly exhausted. She hadn’t slept in ages, and she didn’t know how long it would be before she would collapse due to sleep deprivation.

Bringing herself to sit upright was a challenge unlike any other, but she pulled herself to sit with her legs crossed, well away from her pile of yuck and only inches away from Chase. He, too, looked quite awful. Not in the sense that she did, as she was pale and wounded, but in a sense that he appeared tired. His eyes had bored into the ground in deep thought much before he'd asked Alex where they would go.

“Wait,” she croaked, having not heard Alex mentioning their needing to leave. “What? Where the fuck are we gonna go? Last I checked, this was the closest thing to a home we had.”

Which wasn’t exactly an exaggeration. Will didn’t have a home to return to. The day she decided to leave, she was being kicked out for three months’ worth of late rent, spending all of her earnings on alcohol and weed. Granted, there were other places she could go, but the chances of her finding a job as quickly as she did last time were minuscule.

This place had been her last hope and she’d taken a shot. Now, whether she liked to admit it or not, this was her home. This was her… ‘Family’, so to speak. Just thinking about that made her want to vomit even more.

Glancing over at Anelise and Helena, she saw that Helena as well had been through a hell of a lot. Though Will didn’t remember much, she did recall her trying this energy transferring shit on her not too long ago. It’d hurt like hell, no doubt, but perhaps it’d worked to an extent. Her body ached every time she moved, but it was nothing compared to what it had been back on the road. She was grateful.

“Thank you – both of you,” she said, her eyes flicking from both girls. They were well wrapped in each other’s arms, and she spotted the anxious look on Anelise’s face for whatever Helena had done. She’d flown them back to the house, that much she was certain of, and brought herself to a point at which she wasn’t capable of reaching yet. Much like Will had. Dumb ass.

Looking back to Alex, she shrugged, a tad defeated. She knew that X wouldn’t have demanded they leave just for shits and giggles. Something was happening, and although Will wanted nothing more than to stay here, there was no time to ask questions. She had to just hope for the best, and be on guard for what was to come.

“When do we leave?”

There was a moderate amount of time of silence. It happened first when Jack went to see if Alex was alright. Obviously he wasn’t and with the arrival of Chase, it seemed the proper thing to do was first go see X. That proved to be more or less eventful as she told them to take her Jeep and go to the ranch. Jack silently agreed to that. X could handle things on her own. Like, she does have the blood of Wolverine in her veins. So, the three boys did exactly that.

They all ran over to the Jeep and Chase took the wheel while Alex rode shotgun. Jack didn’t mind being in the back. It wasn’t like he was one to want to be in the front. The ride home was definitely more than a few moments of silence. Jack didn’t know how long it took to get back to the ranch, but what X said about leaving the ranch was definitely on the edges of his thoughts. He understood why they had to leave, but he just didn’t want to think about it, not at least until he knew everyone was at least conscious.

The Jeep came to a halt. Chase parked it in X’s usual spot and without any moments of haste, Alex hopped out and went over to the pool area where Annalise, Helena, and Will were at. By the time that Jack had got himself out of the Jeep, Chase and Alex were already at poolside. Jack quickly jogged himself over to the rest of them. He noticed that Annalise was hugging a somewhat-laid out Helena. Jack left them alone. It looked like they needed that moment. Meanwhile, Jack noticed Will, sitting up. Jack could admit that he was scared for Will’s health, even though he knew she was a tough one.

“Glad to see you’re doing alright Will.” Jack said patting Will on the shoulder.

After that, looked at the pool, then turned his glance over to Alex, then back to the pool. All in a minute, Jack just took this all in. He didn’t know what to make of today’s events. From the total shitwreck that was the road trip and the fight that followed, Jack was just trying to comprehend it all. Like seriously, all in a matter of hours, the mutants have lost their home. Well, not like it’s destroyed, but they have to leave cause of some idiots that decided to attack them for no reason.

“You know this really sucks.” Jack couldn’t help but be a little angry. Jack just sighed at this. “Yeah, so I guess we better start packing.” Jack chuckled just a bit.

The feeling was one that left her raw and hot and reeling. It was a quick kick with a steel boot. Even soaking wet and her body a distant sensation at best, the words in thought form were enough to awaken something deep down in the bright eyed mutant girl. 'Dumb ass.' Had Helena the strength to do so, it was entirely possible she would risen and move for Will...and do what? For her own question, Helena found no good answer. She knew how Will had meant it, but the thought cut just as deep to Helena. By Will's logic, Helena was worse...and the greatest difficulty in her life quickly became not blowing up, and screaming at Will that she was doing the best she could, so was Helena, so was all of them.

It was defensive and angry, like anyone who'd felt struck. But it wasn't even possible right now, even as Helena looked up at Annelise, before everyone else began to bleed into the picture. Every comment seemed to upset her, about home, about when to leave, about where they might go. About the whole thing sucking. It all felt like acid dripping down into her throat, giving Helena the overwhelming sensation that she might follow Will next in giving up her lunch. But then the man came out nowhere, walking through the group like he was aimed at her.

"UP! WE'RE LEAVING." Like she were a doll, the long haired Cell co-lead reached out, grabbed her, and suddenly she was standing. "I need you moving," was all he seemed to say directly to her before walking past her, only stopping when he saw a blood spattered X-23 walking up, tying her hair up behind her almost casually. There was a satisfaction in X's eyes that Helena thought might be sated blood lust.

But surely not...right?

There talk was tense, very short, and hushed as they were past the hearing of those present. But quickly, Helena didn't care, the realization she had near drowned blinding her with lungs that seared with each breath. Only now was her body coming into sharper focus, immediately wishing she could go back to that slow echo that had been her connection to her body just moments before.

When 'the adults' were done, X looked their way; at each of them individually, before a quick sweep of them as a whole. There was nothing gentle about her features, and a worry that looked to Helena like a black hole that threatened to swallow them all with it's gravity. "Someone go find Noa--"

--the Earth moved in a strike of hellfire, an explosion rocketing fire into the sky that came not once, but twice. Rob disappeared immediately, going faster than any of them were going to register with their naked eyes. "Drones," lowly the word came from X-23's lips, lips pale save for a spot of drying blood at the bottom left corner of her mouth, her words cutting deep as her claws to Helena's heart.

"They're firing at us?"

It was fear, like all the other anger she'd felt sense nearly drowning. All of it was driven by the same thing, the very reason she wanted to rage at Will, even, she had a suspicion, what made her suddenly feel like she wanted to throw up: it was fear. Someone's trying to kill me, her body trembled, as if someone held a blade to her throat just past the point of feeling.

My government is trying to kill me.

"Everybody look at me." Helena heard X-23 speak, but when she looked up it wasn't to look at her, it was to look at Annelise. Even without being able to read her, Helena had a sick feeling she knew how the girl felt. Just as suddenly as he'd gone, Rob was back, his hair wind swept and lupine, his face darkened by smoke and something far worse.

"He's gone."

Had the very vabric of space and time not cut apart and flooded an already bright enough and hot enough late afternoon New Mexican day, Helena felt as if she would have fainted, wobbly and weak as she already felt, still dripping with water, every little bit of her clothing clinging as the heat pulled at it. It looked like how she imagined the light of heaven might; bright and pale blue and alive with sparkles of light acting as the cut in reality's border; a circular shaped cut in space/time, easily seven foot in diameter.

A circular shape that looked designed. It was in that heartbeat of thought that Helena realized this was no divine light. There was no heat from it, only light. Not even a gentle warmth. Nothing...except, just then, a silhoutte of black that quickly...waved? As confused as Helena was, X-23 sounded equally resolved.

"Go! Now. More drones in the sky." When no one moved as soon as she said it, the feral woman growled...like no human growl Helena had ever heard. "Go. Chase, move. Will," X jerked her thumb towards the circle of light, "Alex, Jack, Annelise, Helena, move your legs and go."

What Helena felt was muted as the unknown and accompanying adrenaline rush of going through pure light overwhelmed her, her hand on Annelise's back as she went through, then suddenly not, then on that warm but just as wet back once again like it'd never felt. In fact, Helena wasn't even sure if her hand had left the girl's back.

If that left Helena puzzled, looking up to her new surroundings...left her dumbfounded.

"Welcome to the X-Mansion."

The voice was rough edged and immaculantly controlled, the man it belonged to was only six foot, maybe an inch or two taller...but he was the thickest man Helena had ever seen outside of the super sized athletes that made millions. His eyes were so darkly brown they looked black. Or maybe that was just his heart, spooked at the prospect of digging into that mind, hollow as the man felt at a glance.

Rob looked to speak, maybe to introduce the man to the group, but Helena's eyes narrowed and her pink lips loosed first. "You're the Punisher...where did you..." Then it hit Helena, her eyes widened at the sheer thought. A grin of guilt becoming the first emotion she'd seen on the muscular man's face, "how did you steal Reed Richard's machine?!"

But, true to her initial impression, Helena stopped there. "I don't want to know."

"Won't they think to look for a bunch of mutants...at the X-Mansion?"

X-23's metal edged tone forced Helena to turn and look, before looking back to 'the Punisher' guy for a response. As worried about it as X sounded, the Punisher sounded not worried in the least, motioning to the windows within the mansion's grand entrance. Everything was boarded up, if not for the electric lighting and air conditioning, it wouldn't have so welcome a sight.

In fact I don't see a spot of dust. Someone's been living here.

"Lady 'they' ain't got any idea where you people are now. Thank God."

"Guys," Rob said it first, but X-23's eyes followed right after with the same message: "Leave us, go explore and find a place to settle in for the night."

"Go."

Helena grumbled, and tugged on Annelise to go that-a-way, towards the back off the grand entrance way, towards the big hall way with the wood paneling and utterly sumptious crimson red carpet. If only after firing a death glare at Will with her last look at the great hall. But that anger was quickly overtaken by a new, colder, feeling in a creepy way. Really, the worst part was how it looked like Xavier and his X-Men had simply ghosted away a minute ago, instead of years before. She expected someone to jump out and yell boo at any moment.

Hopefully after she found something to eat. After all that, barely starting to dry, her body needed a refuel more than if she'd gone surfing or marathon running.

Everything started to occur so fast and it was almost a bit too much for Jack to take it in and also stay focused. He had to process it just for a moment or two. There was the fact that Noel died from a drone attack to X yelling at everyone to go. This was a fact that a that half of them knew from when X told the boys to go, but the ladies seemed to be the last ones to know. It didn’t make it any easier. Like hell, Jack was still processing the fact that Noel died! He was the same age as Jack was, but still so young. However, Jack didn’t have time to worry about that now.

As he came back to planet earth just after less than a minute after realizing that Noel was gone, Jack heard X talk and he listening intently. Her words entered his ears and synced into his memory. Every letter was understood and by definition, so were the order of those letters. He got up, and then something happened.

A flash of light The light was strong and Jack didn’t know what had happened, but the next thing he knew, he found himself, along with the others, in front of a huge mansion. He had never seen anything so huge in his life before. Well, not counting houses and other buildings meant for living. He looked at it, in awe. Jack just couldn’t believe how ginormous it was. The only thing that took away from the awe were the boards over all of the windows. Jack thought that was strange, but it wasn’t until he heard a rough-edged voice speak that it finally clicked: The X-Mansion. “Oh my god.” Jack’s mouth was all the way open. Perhaps this was the first time he was laying eyes on it. He had heard of the mansion through legend and the stories. It was a bit surreal for Jack.

He kept on looking and then he heard Helena speak to the man who looked awfully intimidating. Jack definitely got the same vibe off of him as he does from X sometimes. In which case, Helena referred to him as The Punisher. Jack vaguely remembers that name. He probably will find out more when the time comes, so he’s not going to worry much about that. However, when they started talking, he was only half-listening. He was taking little steps forward as he looked all around the mansion. Then, just as Jack got done with turning his body in a full circle to see the place on a base level, Rob spoke. And Jack stopped doing what it was that he was doing. The man that Jack highly respected told the others to leave the ‘adults’ alone and find a room. At first Jack wasn’t sure, but then the word ‘go’ was uttered. So, he did exactly that.

As he walked towards the entrance, Hel and Annalise beat him to it as they entered it. Jack would soon follow only to be in awe once more. “This place is unreal.” Jack said as his voice trailed on as his head did looking up and his body following suit as it turned in a circular motion. Jack just had to wrap his mind around the fact that he and the others would be living here for now on. He isn’t going to lie to himself and say that he isn’t going to miss the ranch. It was his home for a year. He had lived his life there for three-hundred-and-sixty-five days. However, he knew that the X-Mansion would be his home now.

Even though he was sad, a very happy thought came to his head. “I bet the library is AWESOME!” The last word he spoke just now was pretty loud. It was definitely loud enough for Annalise and Hel to hear him. Jack quickly put his hands to his mouth, hoping that they didn’t hear, but he was only fooling himself. The echoes were loud enough to wake the dead. Well, not really, but it was pretty loud.

Jack just realized that throughout the entire day that it has been, he completely forgot that his clothes were dirty. His white tank-top was dirty, as were his blue jeans, and brown sneaker boots. “Gotta wash these soon.” Jack said to himself as quiet as he could. As he continued walking down the hallway, Jack hoped that getting some food would be the highlight of his night. After the day he and the others have had, some relaxation would be a good thing for everyone.

(Collab between Tundra and Ruby)

To no surprise of her's, he was exactly where she thought he'd be; the library. His eyes scanning every spine on every book on every shelf, surprisng her with some of the titles he'd found. Unfortunately she hadn't come to Jack to talk books.

Helena didn't want to talk about what she had come to talk to Jack about. But just looking at him in his sense of wonder made her smile. There were plenty of reasons not to smile right now, and more reasons to just smile anyway as her hands slipped into her pockets and her feet began to move.

"I don't know how we're staying here, but it's awfully pretty." She was too busy admiring the polished woodwork and the crown molding to look at him until she was right up next to him. And when she finally looked at him, she almost lost her smile.

It was creepy, how much he reminded her of a certain boy from her past. "...c'mon, let me get you out of those clothes." Words spoken so nonchalantly, the grin on her lips were the only tell she'd been joking.

Sorta.

"I found a washer/drier room next to the kitchen. Interested in creeping rooms for clothes with me?" Helena even wiggled her brows and made it sound like the best time ever--mostly because it was anything but. In fact, it was more than a little weird.

Jack was just simply amazing of how awesome the library was. It was huge not only in the size of the actual room, but the amount of rows that that the shelves had were unbelievable. To make things even crazier, there was a second level full of books too. Jack was just in awe. He did have to admit it to himself. He was STOKED about living here. He's the biggest book nerd that anyone could possibly ever meet, so of course he is excited.

Jack was lost in his awe, he didn't see Helena sneak up on him as she made a comment about how pretty the library was. And then she said something that made Jack instantly turn to the direction her voice was coming from. For an instant, and only for an instant, his face became all red, especially around the cheeks. Then, she said the rest of it. That made Jack sigh in relief as he caught onto the joke. Or at least, he would hope it was fully a joke.

Jack didn't know what to expect from Helena. He hasn't gotten to know her as well as he knew he should have(by now). She's pretty much the leader, well if one doesn't count in Rob and X. That's why he was so surprised at the comment she made. Also, cause it's a known fact that her and Annalise are an item. Jack just isn't used to the American style of humor.

"Yes, the washer. A good idea." Jack said still a bit embarrassed.

Knowing that his clothes were filfthy, Jack followed Helena to the washer/drier room to which he put his clothes in the washer. As he took them off piece-by-piece, it was no secret that it revealed Jack having a fit body. He was no bodybuilder, but he definitely did have an athletic body. After Jack was done there, he came across a closet not too far off from the washer/drier section, and it seemed to be the home to a closet that had clothes that seemed to fit Jack. So, Jack found some blue and white basketball shorts and a white tanktop. He also found some black slippers.

"This'll do for now. Jack said as he continued walking with Helena. "So,, Helena, how are you feeling? Earlier you seemed a bit worse for ware."

"I'm feeling..." And then her voice trailed off into the safety of silence. "I don't know." Was the feeble extent of an attempt at communication that she could offer in the very moment, her eyes sneaking a quick, mostly innocent, glance at Jack as he changed. Helena was never one for lingering upon physical insecurities, doubtlessly biproducts of her independent streak and her stubborness. But even she hesitated a moment before she began to strip down to baby blue undergarments, deciding that Jack, or anyone, could have a look if they wanted.

Not that she was actually thinking about what Jack saw, didn't see, or thought about it in the exact moment. The Alabama native was pre-occupied until seeing an 'X' on the clean clothes helpfully kept in cupboard near the washer/drier.

"I think we found where they kept the X-Mansion gear."

Kept, the thought teased ghosts in the Mansion, past tense.

The X-Men lost an entire team. Helena reminded herself of that she wiggled into a pair of matching basketball shorts--and promptly pulled on the waist band, tying it tight enough so that the shorts were only ALMOST falling off her ass. A sleeveless white shirt a number of sizes too big for her went on after, her boots and denim jacket sitting near the washer until her regular clothes were washed and dried.

Helena busied her hands with filling the washer with detergent as she tried to think of a better answer for him; a detergent she noted was scent and perfume free when she put it up. After pushing a few buttons to bring the washing machine to full, rumbling, life Helena finally turned to Jack, and forced words from her pink lips.

"I feel a little horrible." Her laughter followed the admission, an expression of emotion that probably put the conflict of her own heart into a much neater, nicer, frame than any words she could offer him.

She'd just lost what accounted as a home of some sort or fashion. Helena had always known the ranch would be a temporary location, that their group was always much more transient than any of 'the kids' seemed to realize.

She didn't even have the heart to tell Jack they likely weren't staying at the X-Mansion very long--Helena was emotionally exhausted. And, worse, she knew there were no rests other than what they had at the moment.

So, yeah, it was a little emotionally exhaustive. "I can't believe we lost someone. And it's like he was never there at all; just erased by a Hellfire missle shot by a chicken-shit drone sent by even bigger chicken-shit men in uniforms and suits."

Anger. Rage. That's what Helena wanted to feel...she was just too tired for it right now. So without rage to latch onto, Helena went into domestic girl mode; at least then she felt like she was still doing something for everyone else.

Starting with getting Jack washed and fed. "Cheese sandwich and orange juice sound good to you?"

Hearing Helena's response, Jack wasn't surprised at it. Given what had happened, it's pretty safe to assume that everyone feels horrible in some way, shape, or form. Jack tries to keep a smile on just for the pure fact that revealing his sadness wouldn't be good for anyone. Jack had to take it into account that the sort of home that he had for about a year or so was gone. It definitely hit him hard.

The mentioning of losing Noel also hit Jack hard. "If only we had gottn there sooner. Maybe we could have forseen this.." Jack, for some reason, blamed himself for Noel's death. The same thing will always be in the back and front of his mind. If only.. Yeah, if only they had gotten there a few minutes earlier, but Jack knew that he couldn't blame himself. It wouldn't help anyone. It wouldn't be the way that Noel would want him — and everyone else — to remember him by.

Jack got out of his train of thought to hear Helena ask him if a cheese sandwich and orange juice was good to eat to him. "Yeah that's fine."

"If we could have forseen this, we would have forseen this." Her tone wasn't flat; there was warmth in it, and a momentum to the bouncy energy within. The brown in her eyes brighter than it had been even just moments before. But the truth of her words were harder than iron.

"Cheese sandwiches it is."

It wasn't difficult. There was a four slice toaster; tip it on it's side and suddenly you had a mini-toast baking magic machine that would never let so much as a drip fall away from each slice of delicious white toast.

Helena checked, having tasted both the cheeses and the bread before using either. She wasn't surviving this day only to be brought low by food poisoning. The cheese was an especially sharp chedder, and seemed to work well as she pressed two slices together to create a sandwich; one plated for her, one plated for him.

The orange juice was cold, and pulp free, she learned from the container after pouring both glasses and returing it all to the double doored, stainless steel, fridge.

As they sat down, Jack just stared at his sandwich. He was hungry, so loss of appetite wasn't the problem. He just couldn't get over the fact of losing Noel. He didn't want to feel sad, but he did..he does. Jack just doesn't know how to feel. He's sad, angry, he feels that he wants to kill the bastards that were responsible for the drones that destroyed his only home that he has known in recent years and killing one of his friends. Jack, at least, took a drink of his orange juice, but only little sips. As he did that, it could be seen that tears were flowing down his eyes. He didn't even notice it.

There was no loss of appetite for Helena. Just over a few minutes after taking her seat in the breakfast nook, her grilled cheese was gone. The glass of OJ faired only just better; a little less than half left after her first, and only, drink to chase the grilled cheese.

Satisfied, Helena took a paper towel from the wooden holder at the center of the table and was halfway done with wiping her lips when her eyes hit Jack, and froze. A short pause and Helena finished with the napkin, tossing it over her empty plate, her chair nudged a few times his way, leaning into him until he was finally looking at her.

She was nearly at his shoulder when his eyes finally hit Helena. A fact that left a laughing smile on her mouth, the fingertip of her index finger delicately wiping away Jack's tears.

"Maybe it's a little bit all of our faults. Maybe we all should've known...but I'm betting we all know, now. Whatever crazy train we're on, it's just as dangerous as X and Rob warned us it would be."

As she tossed the napkin and put away her plates in silence, it wasn't until she began to move over clothes from the insanely quick washer to the drier that she let slip what she really had resolved about the boy's death.

"Maybe Noah's legacy is fewer of us die now, seeing just what stakes we're playing with. Like being in a 'cell' secretly training in the mountains of New Mexico wasn't our first tip." Words followed by a preciously short bark of bitter laughter.

Jack didn’t even notice he was crying until Helena wiped away his tears. That’s where he was aware of how bad and horrible he felt. Just to know that Noel wasn’t coming back hit him so hard, but then Jack heard what Helena said. He, as weird as it may sound, smiled at what she had to say. She was absolutely right. Rob and X did warn them all about the dangers. They did guarantee it would be all fun and game and that’s what Jack just now realized. By doing that, he was able to eat his grilled cheese. Bite after bite, he put it down, smiling in delight of its buttery cheesiness. Then he washed it down with the rest of his OJ. Now that he was able to focus on his food, he was feeling slightly better about things, but he still felt some type of way. However, he’s not letting that going to bring him down all the time.

When he heard Helena talk about Noel’s legacy, Jack smiled as he stood up to put his cup and plate over in the sink as he began to wash it. Thinking about what she said as he ran the water from the fosset into his cup and then to his plate, shaking them from any excess water respectively. He then put them in the dishwasher.

“Then it’s settled.” Jack said automatically deciding on something. He said it loud enough to where just about anyone within a reasonable distance would be able to hear him. “I will make it my life goal to honor his memory and live on.” Jack said smiling at this new realization, and actually nodding his head as if he had to make a mental note of it as well.

Making his way over to the washer/dryer area, Jack stood near Helena, and he stretched which was also followed by a slight yawn. He probably didn’t realize how much time has really passed, but it seemed that he was getting on the sleepy side. Perhaps due to the events of today, “So, where will we all be sleeping tonight?” Jack simply asked as he leaned against the washer, hands in pockets and head turned to Helena.

"You can go up to the boy's wing and find a room. Everything is clean. I can't wait to hear the story behind that. I'll leave your stuff on the drier after it's dry." She'd wait for her clothes to dry before going off.

She even smiled as she wished him a good night's sleep as Jack walked off, waiting until he was good and truly gone before going into the little washing room, sliding close the little door behind her.

When it hit her, it hit her like a bullet to the brain; the excessive force of the sadness crippling her, leaving her limbs trembling as she reached out to brush the light switch to off in order to let it all go, and sob in darkness.