#aussie-eva

[bruisedwing]

[Text] The coffee machine had a note on it this morning that said "I've bean expecting you" ... You wouldn't know anything about it by any chance would you? :P <3

[Text] Who, me? 😇

[bruisedwing]

[Text] Would you like to go on a shopping trip to town to find something pretty to wear for the wedding? :)

[Text] Yes, please! I have no idea what ‘formal wear’ is supposed to be.

[cookiecuttercole]

Recognition & Gratitude | Cola

Tagging: Eva Bell & Cole Harris Location: The X Institute Infirmary; Bedford Hills, NY Time Frame: Late afternoon, Mon. Mar. 30, 2015 General Notes: Cole pays Eva a visit during her infirmary stay.

The dreams were very strange for Eva, whatever it was she was being given to help with her pain was doing a very good job of making her sleepy but also making sure her sleeps were restless. Her eyes slowly opened and the vision of pink Tie Fighters chasing a green Starship Enterprise through the skies of the planet Persephone disappeared, which she was very grateful for as she hated mixing her sci-fi. She made sure to raise her left hand to rub her eyes so she didn’t disturb the drip in her right arm. With her vision now clear she could see someone hovering outside the room, seemingly undecided if they should come in, she waved and smiled to the familiar face of Cole so that he would know she was now awake.

Cole held a vase full of tiger lilies in one hand and a large gift bag in the other hand. He’d come by before and after seeing Eva lying unconscious, considered simply leaving the gifts but decided against it. While that had usually been his mode of operation, Eva had kept him from another stint in the infirmary--she was owed a whole and sincere show of thanks. So he had now returned and patiently waited outside of her room, gazing through the glass, watching the monitors and drips. It didn’t matter how much he’d wanted or didn’t want to think about the past, specific memories forged their way into his mind: the first being his sister’s time in the hospital back home, following a car accident she’d been in; the second was his own time here in the infirmary after the Morlocks decided on a bout of reeking havoc in Bedford. The third memory had been Jubilee’s incident--and his own closeness to it being similar to what had happened with Eva. And the final memory had been when Jo had been lying in a coma in December. And now, Eva was here. The people he cared about ending up in the hospital almost monthly was the one thing he resented about the Institute. But to his surprise, as he was preparing to just leave the flowers and come back another time with the gift, his attention was seized by Eva’s waving hand. She was smiling and seeing it brought him some relief as he stepped to the door and let himself inside. “Hey, you’re awake,” he softly spoke once he was inside. He adjusted his hold on the flowers and walked over to set them down on the tray beside her bed and then pulled up the room’s lone chair to sit down. “Stupid question I’m sure, but I’m gonna ask it anyway...how are you feeling?”

Eva was getting used to waking up in the infirmary now, the first time it had taken a while to get her bearings and the second time hadn’t been much better as panic had set in but waking up to find a friendly face waiting always helped. Seeing Cole enter her room made her smile even wider and his comment about her being awake made her giggle, she was sleeping a hell of a lot at the moment. A shooting pain down her injured side stopped her mid-giggle, her smile remained but it didn’t quite hide the wince she had no control over. A blush came to her paler-than-usual cheeks as the flowers were placed by her bedside. “Thank you,” she said softly, her voice was weaker than usual and her accent came through a lot stronger due to her drowsiness. “They’re lovely.” She looked happily at the flowers as Cole settled into the chair and when he posed his question she replied, “I’m ok,” then let out a little laugh as she realised it was the standard response, “really I’m ok, a lot hurts and I’m uncomfortable quite a lot but Dr Grey says I’m doing really well.” Her smile faded just a little as her dark eyes caught a glimpse of the bandages on her friend’s arms, everyone had refused to tell her if anyone else got hurt, insisting she thought of getting herself better first but Eva couldn’t help it, she was more worried about her friends. “Did you get hurt too?” Her voice was full of concern as she asked but her smile remained as she knew it couldn’t be too bad as Cole was up and mobile and had even managed to go and get flowers.

”I’m glad you like them,” Cole told her. He’d been somewhat glad to hear that she was doing okay, even though it didn’t seem that she’d be up and about with her usual buoyancy anytime soon. Despite trying not to draw attention to his bandages by wearing a sweater, the dressings peeked through his sleeve ends at the wrists. He glanced down at them when Eva asked about him getting hurt and just before lifting his gaze, quietly said, “Yeah.” He set the gift bag down between his feet while telling her, “Just some cuts from that cat chick. I don’t have super healing but I do tend to bounce back pretty quickly. When I’d been in the infirmary back in October, Professor Worthington theorized that it had to do with my body keeping my metabolism high for me cloning at will. I dunno all of the science behind it, but they’ll probably be gone by the end of the week.” He wasn’t going to get into his his bruises and aches, hoping that his assurance over the visible wounds would suffice for an answer to her query. “Am I the first to get to see you then? Besides any of the professors, I mean.” It was the second day since the attack and the in-patients had only been allowed other visitors the past night; still, he wasn’t sure if Eva had come to before now or not but she seemed coherent enough that perhaps someone else had already talked to her by now.

Eva listened carefully as Cole spoke, and let the relief show in her face when he said he hadn’t been badly hurt. “Super healing would be really nice about now,” she said jokingly with her smile returning. “I’m really glad you’re ok.” The memory of being paralysed with fear as the teleporting girl had attacked her suddenly came back to Eva and her eyes started welling up, “I’m really sorry I froze at the start of that fight,” she blurted out, her voice breaking a little. It was a memory that had been haunting her and she couldn’t get over the feeling that she’d let Cole and Rahne down. After a few deep calming breaths and lots of rapid blinking her smile returned. “You’re the first student,” her smile widened a little as she continued, “my brother was here when I first woke up, somehow, he won’t tell me how. Professor Sydney’s probably trying to shoo him out of the kitchen right now.” She giggled as she imagined the scenario taking place, unaware of who she shared the infirmary with. “Nobody’s telling me much about what happened, is everyone else ok?”

Cole lightly chuckled at her joke but his expression gradually sobered up. “Thanks, Eva. That’s why I--” he stopped himself noticing the shift in her expression, followed by her sudden words. “Hey, it’s fine, okay? First off, you’ve got nothing to apologize for. You recovered pretty quickly and I gotta admit, seeing your powers in action was both cool and frightening at the same time. And second, I hear you did a hell of a lot more than some others did, so...in this case, that’s pretty admirable in my book.” When she told him that he’d been the first to see her awake, he softly smiled again and held a thumbs up, “Awesome. Well, I wanted to thank you for what you did. Not to go all dramatic on you, but if you hadn’t stepped up, I’d be where you are now.” He quieted a moment and then admitted, “I don’t like feeling like I need that kinda thing, y’know? But I’m not going to forget that, and I mean it when I say that I’m really grateful that you interfered and I’m glad you’re still here.” His fingertips grazed the handles on the gift bag and he was about to give it to her but he’d listened to her mention that her brother had been at the school, and he started to smile, glad to know that she’d had some family here with her--family who she seemed to adore at least--but it soon faltered when she brought up Professor Sydney. The reminder that she hadn’t been told much made Cole a bit hesitant as he left the gift bag alone. He knew that Eva not getting much information was likely to keep her stress down and blood pressure steady and all of that, and Cole proceeded to tell her as much. After he did, he paused and then reasoned, “You’re not gonna be in the dark about it forever though, and really, there shouldn’t be a reason for you to get hysterical over it. Not a lot of others were badly hurt. You and…well, you and Professor Sydney actually had taken the worst injuries. Most people who got hurt were in and out that night. Professor Munroe spent the night here but I saw her walking around on my way in, so I think she’s okay. I’d heard Lysander was here but I guess he isn’t now or if he is, I didn’t see him. I think Tessa’s in a room too, but Jubilee told me she’d been in the library with her and it didn’t sound like anyone who was in there had been hurt all that badly. So...I dunno. That’s it though. Everyone else is either fine from fighting or they weren’t in the fights at all.” It seemed like a reasonable and honest answer to Cole and he wasn’t one to embellish his own words or add dramatic flares, so he’d left it at that while gauging her reaction.

Eva looked a little uncomfortable at the mention of her powers looking frightening, something she had been trying to deal with since that fateful day she’d found out she had them. “My powers still terrify me,” she bit her lip nervously before continuing, “but I think after this I have to try and use them more, to practice and get better instead of doing my best to never use them. I’ll never be able to help people if I don’t practice.” At Cole’s encouraging words regarding her actions her cheeks turned a little rosier and she gave him a thankful smile. Knowing she had been of some use, even before stepping in to take the strike meant for Cole was a big boost for her, and she let it show. Eva wasn’t really sure how to respond to her friend’s expression of gratitude, she’d done what she thought was best and had no regrets despite her current state. “I’d do anything for my friends,” she said quietly, “and I’d do it all again, I’m just so glad you’re ok.” His thumbs up gesture made her giggle and she tried to hide the pain it caused her as best she could. Eva listened to Cole as he explained the reasoning behind her not being told much, and she understood but she still wanted to make sure everyone was ok, when he carried on and explained about the other wounded she stayed quiet and nodded occasionally, she regretted making the joke about Professor Sydney, now she knew he was badly hurt she realised it had been in incredibly bad taste, she really liked her art teacher and hoped he recovered soon. She was pleased to hear Professor Munroe was up and about, another professor she got on very well with due to her affinity with languages, there wasn’t really a teacher she didn’t get on with but most of them still terrified her. To keep her promise to Jubilee she had decided to talk to Ororo at some point but had never quiet built up the courage, something else she knew she had to try and change. The news of Lysander was puzzling, she’d seen his healing powers first hand so him being in the infirmary didn’t make much sense in her drowsy mind but there wasn’t much she could do about it. “Sounds like Tessa needs another Eva hug,” she said trying to lighten the mood once more. She hated hospitals because everyone always looked so sad, every time she went into one or went visiting she would try to make people smile, everything seemed better to her when people were smiling or laughing. “Maybe I should make everyone quote the Jedi Code whenever they want to visit,” she said with another rather painful giggle, “unless they bring chocolate. Code or chocolate, they’re the rules now. I’ll make a sign for the door and everything.” The grin on her face was mischievous but she was actually only half joking.

Cole understood her admission over her powers but he’d been glad to hear that she held determination to practice and acquire more control over them. “You’ve had success with them so that’s gonna help a lot from here on out, trust me. I’d spent a lot of time working on my powers with Professor Grey when I first got here, and for the past couple of months, I’d been working on them more with Professor Sydney. She thought he’d be more helpful for me since he shape shifts and all. But I’d learned from her that sometimes using whatever I’d been feeling at the time that I’d succeeded could help recreate the success. I’d been mad...well...annoyed, the first time I fully cloned another person, so I kept having to tap into that to do it again. It’s worked but now I’m trying to figure out how to do it without needing that feeling behind it. Maybe that’ll help you too, like in Danger Room or something.” He’d realized he’d been rambling and was relieved to have stopped for the time being--his pursed lips curving softly when she’d deemed him a friend--but he ended up prattling on a bit again to explain who’d been injured. Despite the talk of the wounded and struggles with powers, Eva’s positive outlook had Cole feeling less weighed down than he had all weekend. She reminded him so much of his sister but kept that to himself while smiling at her again. “Well shit, I might not be able to come visit again,” he chuckled. His lips stayed parted for a slightly toothy grin when she made an exception for chocolate gifts. “Actually...I take that back. Apparently I came prepared for all of this then since...well, first, because I’d been told you were a fan of a certain kind of chocolate?” Upon asking this, he leaned forward to reach inside the gift bag, ignoring the ache in his side from his body doubling in on itself for the moment, and when he sat upright again he was holding a crackling, cellophane bag full of mint chocolate truffles. A ribbon held the cellophane together at the top and as he hand it to her, he explained, “Cessily mentioned it when I was heading into town yesterday. Mint milk chocolate?” As he drew his hand back, Cole picked up the gift bag’s handles--the rest of its content still keeping the bag relatively weighted--and he stood up so that he could lift it and rest the bottom of the bag against the edge of Eva’s hospital bed. “You can open the rest in here though.”

Eva like hearing others talk about their powers and how they had struggled at first, or how they’d had to work hard to get them under control, it gave her a much needed boost by knowing she wasn’t alone in her toils even if the power sets were completely different. Her smile was fixed to her face and she hung on Cole’s every word and she had no problem with him rambling a little. The link between her powers and her emotions was one she had been thinking on for a while but she confessed to Cole that she wasn’t sure which emotion had been the trigger to make her powers work. “I wanted to help and not be useless, I just had to do something, but at the same time I was terrified. I don’t want my powers to only work when I have a friend in danger or I’m scared, I have a lot of work to do. I thought about maybe asking for extra help from a professor, with both my head which can be a mess and my powers. But talking to teachers at my old school was a big no no, I’m still not really used to it.” It was a big confession for her and she wasn’t sure what had made her say it. But she was glad she had. She was about to act extremely disappointed when Cole admitted he didn’t know the Jedi Code, and she wouldn’t have let him leave before he could recite it word for word, but he managed to save himself with chocolate. Eva’s face spread into a huge grin when the bag of mint milk chocolate was produced, it was her favourite but her smile faded slightly as it was replaced by a look of confusion. “Cessily? She doesn’t even like me.” She shook her head wearily, a lot wasn’t making sense right now. One look inside the gift back restored Eva’s huge grin and she squealed as she spotted brand new graphite sketching pencils, with container, and a new sketchpad too. The pair of blank canvases got an enthusiastic “wow!” and she looked up at Cole with tired but twinkling eyes. “Thank you so much!” She giggled before adding, “I’ll be sending you constant sketches now, and the chocolate is my favourite, so you get out of Jedi Code training for now.”

Cole understood where she was coming from, not wanting her powers to only be at her command under terrifying circumstances. It was how he felt about not wanting his ability to clone others to only occur when he was irritated. He’d had years of understanding his cloning abilities and limitations for himself but having this growth to his powers and not quite having the same grasp over them yet was frustrating and mildly fearsome. He nodded a few times and then told her, “Yeah. I hope that you’ll talk to one of them because I’m sure at least one of them would be able to help you out. If you want someone to go with you when you ask, I’d go.” When Eva gave a mixed reaction to the chocolate and how he’d found out that she liked it. His brows twitched together slightly, not out of surprise that Cessily didn’t like her--the girl didn’t seem to like anybody--but that she’d disclose favorable information about someone she apparently hadn’t liked. “I can’t make heads or tails with her and unless she’s gonna keep the bitchy attitude toned down, I’m not interested in trying to. But I took a gamble with what she’d said about the chocolate.” His shoulders rose and fell, earning an immediate clench of his jaws as a spasm of pain shot up his bruised side. He held one of the handles of the gift bag and tilted it in Eva’s favor so that she could see inside, without him dropping the weighty content on her entirely. His own grin grew from her squeal and brightened expression. As he gave a few of his own painful laughs at getting out of Jedi Code training, Cole jokingly thrust a fist back toward his side while letting out an overly cheerful, “Scorrre!” only to laugh a little more. It wasn’t until he’d sobered up from the bit of amusement that he said, “You’re welcome though. They were just something to add to me saying ‘Thank you’ for what you did, and that I hope you feel better soon.”

The look of understanding she received and the offer of being accompanied when she went to ask a teacher about talking to them was very much appreciated by Eva and she let it show with a big grateful smile. “You might have to push me through the door when I finally do it,” she said with a giggle, but she was only half joking. The strange scenario with the chocolate was soon forgotten as Eva realised she had her favourite chocolate, how it got there really didn’t matter. She gave a small, very painful shrug, “maybe she turned over a new leaf or something, I’m just glad I got my favourite chocolate,” she grinned at Cole, putting all thoughts of Cessily aside. Seeing his celebration for getting out of Jedi Code training, Eva tried her hardest to make her expression serious, but failed as both sides of her lips kept twitching into a smile as she said, “you won’t get out of it forever though, it’s essential learning,” she couldn’t keep her laughter held in any longer though and she cracked up and laughed. The laughter caused an intense pain to shoot down her side and her hand instantly went to the heavily bandaged site of her injury as her face twisted into a wince. She took in several deep breaths as the pain faded, “I guess now I know how shark bite victims feel,” she said in what she hoped was a light tone. She’d heard a lot of horror stories regarding that particular injury when she had been growing up and she’d thought most were exaggerated but now she wasn’t so sure. Her smile returned once the brief pain had passed and the painkilling drugs did their job but her eyes were starting to get heavy. “I’ll be back up and bugging people before I’m even missed. You didn’t have to get me anything and I love all of it, thank you so much.” She couldn’t stifle the yawn that came after she finished speaking as the drowsiness threatened to take hold despite her fighting it. She wanted to talk to Cole a lot more but knew she probably wouldn’t be able to last much longer.

Cole lightly chuckled, “I can do that. I had to carry my sister in a fireman’s lift one time when she refused to go to the dentist.” He grinned at the memory but knew he wouldn’t do that to Eva--not any time soon at least, given her current state. The thoughts about whether or not Cessily had changed made him shrug--it was possible, maybe, but he didn’t know Cessily well enough to hope on it. His smile remained though as the talk of Jedi Code training overtook speculation on their new peer; he’d been too amused and relieved by Eva’s bright spirit to muster a convincing crestfallen look so he ended up laughing some more. “So long as I get my custom surfboard someday, I promise to learn the Jedi Code someday. Deal?” Her remark about shark victims sobered him up a fraction and he shook his head, “God I hope not,” he replied. “But I’ll keep my eyes out for you and try and visit again in the meantime.” The sleepy expression that had overcome her, Cole took as a cue to head out. “You’re welcome, Eva. Here,” he reached for the bag handles to lift it and set it down beside her bed and then momentarily rested a hand on the bed’s edge. “I’ll get outta here. I think I’ve taken up enough of your time for now. Rest up, okay? I’ll see you soon.” He gently cupped a hand over hers as a substitute for chancing a hug and bringing the both of them more pain, and after letting go, Cole quietly moved the chair away and let himself out of the room.

The vision of Cole carrying his sister to the dentist made Eva smile, she was on the side of Cotia though, Eva hated the dentist! She managed a sleepy giggle and mumbled “deal,” as her eyes got ever closer to closing, and there was nothing she could do about it. She heard and appreciated Cole’s words regarding coming to visit soon, she liked seeing people despite how she was feeling and she gave his hand a squeeze when she felt his on hers but her eyes were closed now and she drifted off to sleep once again.

[axdailybugle]

[email]

From: [email protected] Date: 29 March 2015, 12:40pm To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Eva’s brother Good afternoon, Ms. Kincaid, Ms. Bell’s family had already been contacted regarding her being in the infirmary as we keep emergency contact information on record and always inform said contacts at the earliest possible moment. While your reaching out and making arrangements for Ms. Bell’s brother is admirable and appreciated by Ms. Bell, no doubt, I would like to remind you that visitors being allowed at the school are to be cleared by me first as we are not a public establishment. I would also advise you to be mindful of how you go about requesting discretion in the future. Best regards, -C. Xavier

From: [email protected] Date: 29th March 2015 To: [email protected] Subject: Eva’s brother

Professor,

I have made arrangements for Steven Bell to visit his sister.  Given the circumstances I thought it was for the best.

He has a room booked at the hotel for the night so won’t need to stay at the school in its current state.

No other students know, I’d like to keep it that way.

CK 

[axdailybugle]

Team Wolverine | Para

Cole was still riding the post-production high. They had two more shows to go before their months of hard work came to a close. He was sitting inside the dining hall--the room that reminded him most of Hogwarts--in lounging clothes, the Grease T-Birds attire already abandoned to the costume racks in Professor Wagner’s classroom for the night. While shuffling a deck of cards in his hand, he glanced about at the scarce number of peers who’d also taken up lounging in the dining hall before his eyes locked on Eva. He’d gotten up from the bench and was about to walk over to ask her if she’d want to play a game with him when Logan’s voice boomed throughout the room, startling the teen.

Logan actually had plans to head to bed early tonight. He’d been all the way up in Pembroke, lying diagonally across the bed that he shared with his fianceé with his hands tucked behind his head. Despite being very conscious, his eyes were shut while his ears took in the white noise from the floors below. The urgent sound of Professor X’s voice piercing through the muffled student voices caused his eyes to snap open. As soon as he’d heard that the Brotherhood was descending upon them, Logan sprang from the bed, snatching his ribbed tank from the ground to throw back on with his dark pajama pant, and then sprinted out of the room to the stairs as the Professor continued giving instructions to him and the other teachers on the grounds. Knowing that he, amongst the staff, had the best defensive chances at the front of the school, he went there, growling under his breath at the sound of students’ voices coming from the dining hall. He knew they were welcome to be in there--so long as students were inside the mansion at this hour, he and most others on staff were more lenient with the curfew. But tonight he’d been wishing that they had been more abiding. Overhead, his hypersensitive ears could hear Kurt vanishing and reappearing along MacTaggert Hall, urging several female students from their room. It hadn’t distracted Logan, however, from filling his lungs and barking out from the dining hall threshold, “Hey, listen up! All ‘a you get up ‘n follow me now. It’s an emergency.” The second he finished this, the mansion’s front doors exploded open, nearly flying off of their hinges while Brotherhood members. Logan quickly spun around, exercising his size advantage to barricade the room’s primary entrance; several members hurried past him to further invade the school, including Mystique, but before he could pursue her, a young girl with a feline physique surprised him, springing out in front of him and swiping her short, razor-sharp claws across his face. She spent a number of seconds scoring his tank and exposed skin as much and as quickly as possible. Logan staggered back, into the hall, and while his initial thought was to shield his face from further maiming, he forced his own claws out and made to retaliate. She smartly took advantage of his removal from the entrance and immediately darted further inside the room to attack some of the students, simultaneous to the sudden appearance of another brotherhood member who quite literally appeared out of nowhere. The last to weasel their way into the room had been former X Institute student, Pyro, throwing a threatening enough flame directly at the entryway.

Rahne wasn’t as hyped as everyone else after the musical, not to say that she wasn’t excited after they performed, but she was exhausted, only hyped to get back to her room for some much needed R&R. She was changed out of her Frenchie outfit and into something more casual, she was moving through the halls, just focusing on making it to her room without getting too much attention drawn to herself. But it seemed like she wouldn’t get the chance. There was a feeling that Rahne couldn’t shake, like something bad was just waiting to happen, she thought it was nerves for the performance, but when she drew closer to the entrance hall she knew it was far worse than that. Hearing the front doors burst open, she dropped everything she was holding and ran for the front entrance, already hearing a din of voices shouting, some shouting for help, others shouting instructions to the students. She could pick out Professor Logan’s booming voice easily, and for the moment, it was the only voice she recognized, so it was the voice she moved towards. Trying to distinguish which mutants were from the school and which ones were attacking was a challenge in it’s own, but she saw a face she recognized. One that she hoped to never see again. Pyro. Her hands clenched into fists at the sight of the young mutant, so it was the Brotherhood that was invading. She should have guessed. Luckily, his first attack wasn’t aimed at her, because that fire looked like it would take out any mutant unlucky enough to be in it’s path. He wasn’t the only mutant who looked ready to attack anyone in their near vicinity, Rahne wasn’t sure what to make of one, she looked normal, but the other one? Well, where Rahne was wolf-like, this mutant was cat-like. Her eyes bounced between the two, fighting instincts rearing to go, unsure of which one to go after, at least two of them looked like they were immediately dangerous. But Rahne knew who she would go after, last time she met Pyro, he talked about recruiting her, right before belittling her. Guess it was time to show that she could handle one Brotherhood punk with an inflated ego. Praying to any god that would help her, Rahne felt herself shift to a form between wolf and human, a guttural growl coming from her lips as she glared the enemy mutants down.

The lounge these days seemed much busier and rowdier than it had previously, Eva wasn’t sure if it was just her feeling different or if that was actually fact but it had caused her to avoid the room in order to avoid the large crowds. She had found peace in the Dining Hall, which was where she now sat, her head tilted to the side as her pen danced across the paper in front of her, a letter to her brother. She knew she could quite easily call or email, but she wanted to write and tell him details of everything, and writing made it all feel somehow more personal. Everything was going incredibly well for Eva, her grades were between good and excellent depending on the subject, she had friends and she was genuinely happy. The only small issue was her Danger Room sessions. Eva wasn’t a fighter, she hated the very concept and often froze when confronted with conflict, no matter how many times Professor Logan shouted, or talked to her nicely, she just couldn’t be violent towards another person. Her powers too were an issue, she was terrified of them. Her research into the possible effects of time travel had made her extra careful and she very rarely used her powers, other than by accident, something else which made Danger Room sessions unbearable for her. Looking up from her letter to think for a moment, her eyes met Cole’s across the room and her lips curled into a smile. Seeing him stand and start to head her way, she quickly finished the sentence she was writing and slid the letter into her bag. Logan’s powerful voice suddenly boomed through the room and Eva jumped, a startled look appearing on her features as she looked over to the source of the voice. The crash of the main doors exploding open made her jump again and suddenly she was on her feet, she clenched her jaw and swallowed fearfully, not really wanting to see what was coming. She watched in horror as the Brotherhood came pouring in and she froze as she saw her professor get slashed across the face by a cat like girl, she saw others literally appear out of nowhere and she felt her whole body start to tremble, her legs started walking backwards without any thought from her, moving away from the newcomers, her complexion got even paler than usual and her dark eyes were wide with fear.

Logan’s temper was threatening to get the better of him as he felt the severed skin on his face and arms rejoin. He couldn’t be bothered by the sting so much as he was by Thornn and Pyro. The latter proved a more immediate threat with the likelihood of burning the room down and everyone in it. He knew he had to disarm the boy but had to be smart about approaching him, lest he end up singed. From Pyro’s former days at the school, Logan knew that he’d possessed a device strapped to the inside of his wrist--a modified lighter that Hank so brilliantly fashioned up for him. Destroying it would reduce him significantly as a threat but he didn’t have time to think on it much longer. Thornn was lunging at him again, seemingly determined to turn him to ribbons but Logan forced his own claws out, prepared to return what she’d given him. She darted about, pursuing him and retreating at the last second, driving his blood pressure up and his patience down while he picked up on her childish tactics against him.

Cole had taken one step in Logan’s direction, prepared to abide by the professor’s instructions but a large, quick ball of light poppedin front of him, making him instinctively step back. A moment later, a woman appeared where the light had been. She lowered her chin while keeping an uncomfortably seductive gaze on Cole as she purred, “Hello, handsome,” to which Cole dropped his brows low and jerked his head slightly to one side, not taking his eyes off of her. After he odd greeting, her expression turned vicious and quickly launched a boot-clad foot at the middle of his chest, causing him to fall back into the long row of benches behind him. Generally, he wasn’t one to willingly fight a female but he also never put up with anyone taking hits at him, outside of Danger Room training. Guess this is what that’s for he thought to himself as he quickly got to his feet. He sprang at her to tackle her down but she’d leaped out of the way, lifted her hands and vanished with the return of the strange light. Slightly bewildered, Cole regained his footing and quickly looked around for her. With his speedy panoramic scan of the room, he’d seen Rahne--looking like he’d seen her a few months ago--and felt a twinge of panic, knowing what he knew about her when she was in her more canine state. He saw a number of classmates take off in fear after Pyro shot a thick stream of flames into the room. He saw Logan being occupied by a scantily clad cat-girl who was looking at him like he was lunch, and as soon as his eyes fell on Eva again, he saw his initial adversary, Astra, reappear directly in front of of his brunette comrade.

Everywhere she looked Eva saw something she really didn’t want to, she’d never seen Rahne in her wolf form, only heard about it, the actual sight was equal parts awe inspiring and terrifying. The sight of Cole jumping forward towards a strange bright light was extremely unnerving, she had no idea what was going on. She instinctively narrowed her eyes as there was suddenly a bright light right in front of her and she heard a pop not dissimilar to the sound her own bubbles made when she used her powers. She instinctively backed away, colliding with a table behind her within a couple of steps. The next thing she knew the light was gone, and there was a tall dark haired woman before her, she looked older to Eva, more in line with the age of some of the professors. Any hope Eva had of this being some kind of school prank vanished. “What’s the matter sweetie, lover not a fighter?” The woman crooned at her. Eva’s only response was an incredibly scared nod of the head, but out of the corner of her eye she saw someone heading towards her, all she had to do was buy some time. Suddenly her feet were off the ground as Astra grabbed her top and lifted her, Eva squealed in terror but her mind was suddenly filled with the memory of her fight with Jacen, the punch she’d delivered and the bubble she’d held him in, she had to find that bravery again somehow, but it wasn’t forthcoming. The older woman’s face twisted into a snarl as she purred, “Well I guess you’re going to have a really bad evening.”

Cole felt the adrenaline coursing through him from the various altercations taking place around them but his gaze had been fixed on Eva and Astra. He produced one clone to watch his back while his hands came down on the table in front of him and he swung his body across the other side, treating the tabletop like a pommel horse. He landed rather quietly back on the hardwood floor and approached Astra from behind. She stood only a couple of inches shorter than he did but she seemed oblivious of her surroundings which benefitted Cole as he threw his arm around her neck quickly and flexed. “Let her go,” he demanded while pulling his arm toward himself, driving it further against Astra’s windpipe. The elder woman gasped and attempted to shake him off but Cole locked his free hand around his arresting arm’s wrist as Astra shoved Eva while letting her free. Cole’s next plan had been to push Astra, hard, away from the two of them but the woman held her now free hands up and vanished again, causing Cole to double forward slightly into the empty space in front of him. Irritation carved deep in his features as he quickly looked about but with his clone watching his back, he quickly went over to Eva. “Hey are you okay?” he quickly asked.

Eva kept her eyes firmly on the older woman’s, stoically refusing to let her eyes flick to the side to see who the approaching figure was, and find out whether they were friend or foe. “I-I-I’m used to b-bad days,” she stammered as a response to Astra’s comment, still trying to keep her distracted, “I have them a lot.” Eva’s eyes were slowly starting to well up as the panic and fear completely took hold but the next thing she saw offered a glimmer of hope. A strong looking arm wrapped itself around her assailant's throat and she heard the familiar tones of Cole’s voice. Initially Astra’s grip intensified but as she gasped she threw Eva through the air like a rag doll, Eva felt herself tumble before landing hard on the edge of one of the long wooden tables and skidding off and landing in a heap on the floor. She winced in pain as she shifted and tried to sit up and cried out as a sharp pain shot through her arm as she put weight on it, she felt a similar sensation as she put weight on her left leg, but not to the same extend. By the time she was standing, Cole was by her side asking if she was ok. Her gratitude for being rescued was replaced by an intense feeling of guilt for needing to be rescued. “I’m s-s-so s-sorry,” she mumbled to him, her voice cracking with the emotions she was feeling.

Any initial high Rahne might have felt during this fight was quick to wear off, or she thought it did. She didn’t really have time to think about whether or not she was feeling any adrenaline. Or whether or not she regretted provoking Pyro, although, the cut on his arm was a comforting sight. It was the only attack she was able to get on him, a lucky one. Lunging to the side, she felt the heat from the fireball at her back, a little too close for comfort. Rahne was a close quarters fighter, and a damn good one, but Pyro wasn’t giving her another chance to get close, keeping her at bay with his power must have been easy for him. She could hear the fights around her, part of her wanting to abandon this fight and help her friends, but she knew Pyro could cause more damage if he was left to his own devices. It killed her to hear them but not be able to help. “You should be paying more attention!” Pyro’s voice caused Rahne’s thoughts to snap back to the fight, rolling to the side to dodge yet another pillar of flame. Too slow she mentally yelled at herself, bracing herself for any consequences for her delayed reaction. Feeling an intense heat on her arm, she quickly yanked her arm close to her, clenching her teeth to avoid yelping out in pain. “Don’t they teach you anything here?” Risking a moment to asses her injury, Rahne mentally kicked herself for being caught off guard. Her jacket got the worst of it, the flames just grazed the skin of her arm, enough to hurt like a bitch, might even earn her a scar, but, luckily, not nearly enough for her to worry about at the moment. “Maybe I was wrong to think you were strong enough to be in the Brotherhood.” Blinking back tears of pain, she growled at the teen, lowering her stance, rearing to pounce in any direction. “I’ll make ya’ eat those words, John.” Rahne noted his scowl with a small grin, he was easily agitated? That might help her. He kept his distance, as he had this whole time, but Rahne was thinking of how to get past that fiery defense of his. “What’s wrong, Pyro? Are ya’ afraid t’ fight me one-on-one? Where’s all tha’ ‘Brotherhood bravado’ now? Is someone afraid o’ the big, bad wolf?” Well, that got a reaction out of him. Instead of moving to the side, Rahne took a risk and lunged at Pyro, ducking just under the flames, no doubt earning her some singed hairs, but it got her close enough. Slashing with her good arm, she felt Pyro’s shirt tear under her sharp claws, but that was it. He surprisingly quick on his feet and moved to dodge her attack. “Damn.” Moving to avoid any counterattack he might have planned, she glared him down from afar, once again in that all too familiar stand-off. This fight was going nowhere if she wasn’t able to keep him from making those flames.

Logan watched Thornn leap in the air, bearing her claws out as though she had no fear for his own set. He knew that she couldn’t retreat from a midair jump, which invited his chance to level her. In the last moment, he retracted the trio in his left hand, balled it up in a fist and thrust it hard, up into her stomach. Thornn’s eyes went wide and she barely made a sound as he knocked the wind out of her. When Logan withdrew his fist, she staggered back and he kept true to his private promise, slicing three parallel marks across the right side of her burnt copper complexion before she fell back, held herself and attempted to fill her lungs with air again enough to hiss and moan in pain. She’d have to be someone else’s problem for the team being, however; Pyro’s flames were distracting him and seeing one of the other students attempt to best him, knowing they wouldn’t heal well if he managed to singe them, further drove Logan to helping them. Despite his mass, Logan was plenty agile and quick on his feet. To his fortune, his former student had his back to him, so the elder man increased his speed and bowed his head when he’d been a few meters away from ramming the top of his metal-coated cranium into back of Pyro’s neck. The boy’s blond head reared back as groaned in pain and fell to his knees, his hands instinctively reaching for the back of his head--exactly as Logan had been counting on. As he righted himself, he gripped his thick fingers around Pyro’s wrist and felt an urge to squeeze just a little more, knowing full well that enough pressure would pop his wrist out of place. Instead, he forcibly twisted the boy’s wrist around so that he could get a quick gander at the contraption fashioned for him after he departed from the school. “Heh, betcha can’t go pick one’a these up at a liquor store, bub,” sassed Logan, right before exposing a set of claws and swiping it across the device’s trigger. It sprang apart and lighter fluid squirted up across Logan’s fingers. The elder man stared at the colorless fluid--his face growing stern with disgust from the smell, and when he looked to Pyro, the boy’s face was full of fear of his new vulnerability. Immediately after retracting his claws, he switched hands, simultaneously punching the boy’s chest while grabbing a fistful of his shirt and hoisting him to his feet, and then off of them. “Seems Sinclair’s gotta bone to pick with ya,” he gruffed, not looking over his shoulders at the young wolf girl. “So I’m gonna do ya a one time favor and let ya go. She can deal with y--” His words cut off as though someone abruptly crushed his windpipe. Over the commotion in the dining hall and through all the colliding noise around him, he heard a familiar voice calling for him from upstairs. It was one of few voices who could stop him dead in his tracks. Grinding his teeth, Logan dropped Pyro without warning, shot a look over his shoulders to Rahne and told her, “All yours, kid,” before bounding away from the hall and up the north end staircase.

Cole’s

brows furrowed in confusion, “Sorry for what?” he couldn’t help asking though he doubted now was the time listen for an answer--not when there were fights and ambushes happening around them. Over his shoulder he’d heard his own voice from his clone rapidly holler, “Look out!” but when Cole turned to look, he’d been kicked in the ribs. The initial shock and sting made him stagger and almost double into the side that had been kicked, but the adrenaline coursing through him allowed him to ignore it for the time being as Astra cast him a wide, shameless grin. “Better leave your girlfriend alone and focus on me, handsome,” she insisted before making another move. Thinking fast as he pivoted out of the way, Cole tried to think of a way to stop someone who’d been like trying to catch smoke. She continued to attempt to get cheap shots in but the time she’d reappear, either he or his clone had been attuned enough to warn the other in enough time to block her. The more he fought while trying to keep close to Eva, the more he was learning and realizing just what was allowing her to teleport--her hands. She’d broken and thrown items from the dining table at him and his clone, causing him to gain minor cuts along his forearms but the separation from his clone allowed him to sustain it and the kick to the ribs separately for the time being. Eyes narrowing slightly, Cole continued to attempt to wear her down, or rather hoped he was wearing her down, as he parried her and thought of a way to bind her hands. If he could keep her from disappearing and reappearing long enough, he might be able to knock her out or render her useless until something else could be done. He just wasn’t sure ‘how’ yet.

Rahne wasn’t one to ask for help, even in a situation like this, her parents always said she was too stubborn. Besides, her little fight with Pyro was more than just protecting her home, it was personal. Meeting Pyro before made her doubt herself, made her question Xavier and the school after everything they did for her. And now he was here, attacking her home and friends directly. That wasn’t something she was going to let slide. Rahne’s mind raced to think of various plans, but all of them disappeared when Professor Logan appeared, apart from seeing him before all hell broke loose, Rahne didn’t keep tracks on him, and apparently, neither did Pyro. He seemed to be regretting that now. At the mention of her name, Rahne’s features mellowed out a bit, appearing more human as she watched the exchange between the two. “Thanks, Professor.” Rahne gave Logan a nod and watched him leave before turning her attention back to Pyro. “Hey, come on, we are all mutants here, right? We are all fighting for the same thing. A mutant like you? The Brotherhood could use you.” Pyro looked at her, trying to keep that bravado going. Rahne only responded to with a small, wicked grin. “I thought I wasn’t strong enough for your Brotherhood.” She rolled her neck to the side, punching the inside of her hand, a cliche gesture, but it got her message across. “I don’t need fire to beat you.” Pyro took up a fighting position and Rahne could see the destroyed lighter that was strapped to his wrist. “Aye? I bet tha’ fancy lighter o’ yours really helped.” Striding up to Pyro, she found confidence in herself that she hadn’t felt in a long time. Pyro threw a punch as soon as Rahne was close enough, but it was expected and Rahne dodged it with ease. Ignoring the now throbbing pain of her burned arm, Rahne grabbed Pyro by his shirt, having turned almost fully human at this point. Some might have taken the gesture as overconfidence, but her slip-up in the Danger Room with Cole was still fresh in her mind, she didn’t want to risk that side of her coming out again. She fought the urge to look for Cole, she saw him after the musical so he had to be nearby. “Worried about someone else? Typical coming from one of Xavier’s. You should still be focusing on me, wolfie.” That got her attention fully on the mutant in front of her, Rahne scoffed, drilling her knee into Pyro’s stomach before pushing him away from her, watching him stumble back, trying to regain his balance. “Oh, I’m goin’ t’ have fun with this.”

Eva opened her trembling mouth to reply to Cole’s question but before she had chance to utter a single word her friend was gone. She watched in wide eyed terror as Cole received a kick to the ribs and stumbled away from her. She had to do something to help, but she had no idea what. Her brown eyes watched the scene unfold in front of her, as Astra appeared before Cole and then disappeared after making a cheap shot only to reappear before his clone and do the same, and the sequence continued. That’s when she spotted a chance. Astra was predictable, always changing between Cole and his clone and her timing seemed to always be, Eva started counting the seconds between the older woman disappearing and reappearing, Eva’s timing had to be perfect. She narrowed her dark eyes and focused on the Cole nearest her, where she thought Astra would appear once she’d finished her latest attack on his clone. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a shadow prowling cat-like along the nearest wall, but she ignored it, she had to focus. There was a bright light from Cole’s clone’s location and Eva counted in her head, throwing both hands out in front of her as she counted ‘7’, her right arm protested with a shooting pain running the length of it but she pushed the pain aside. Her dark brown eyes turned electric blue with the activation of her powers and a sound like a crack of thunder echoed around the room, followed by a bright blue flash exactly where Eva had intended. The perfectly timed spherical time bubble appeared out of nowhere and inside it was a completely unmoving Astra, held frozen in time the instant her teleport had completed. Eva let out the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding, “I did it,” she mumbled, but she could feel her control slipping due to her panicked state of mind. “I can’t hold it!” She shouted to Cole, the panic clear in her voice. She wasn’t sure if Cole knew enough about her powers to know he wouldn’t be affected by the bubble as he wasn’t in it’s area of effect when it was activated. “Grab her! The bubble won’t affect you.” Eva couldn’t say any more as all of her concentration went on maintaining the bubble, she saw Cole understandably hesitate but then had to close her eyes tight as she concentrated even more. Eva held the bubble for as long as she could, her features twisting into a grimace the harder she tried, there was a loud ‘pop’ sound and she knew the bubble was gone. Eva’s eyes snapped open and she looked forward, hoping she’d given Cole enough time to act.

Cole felt himself growing frustrated even further as the parrying game--or at least Astra seemed to treat it like a game--continued between them. Thanks to Professor Wagner, he used to think that teleporting seemed like a cool power, but now all he wanted to do was dropkick Astra. He and his clone kept meeting her attempted attacks defensively until Astra appeared inside of a large bubble directly in front of Cole’s clone. Cole and his clone bore identical looks of surprise as the elder woman’s menacing expression and raised fist remained frozen. He heard Eva shout and both he and the clone looked back at her before turning a wary eye on Astra, or more so, the bubble surrounding her. He knew Eva could manipulate time but he also knew that she generally wasn’t in the best control of it. by no means did he want to end up trapped in the past or thrust into the future but taking the chance seemed like the only opportunity he’d have at besting Astra. His clone spread its arms and threw its weight toward the bubble at the same time that it popped; it all happened very fast but by the time Astra was able to move again, the clone’s semi-muscular arms were locked tightly around the woman, arresting access to her hands as it tackled her to the ground. The clone’s shoulder absorbed most of the impact from the tackle and Cole knew he’d feel it later but for the time being he’d quickly looked around for something to keep Astra’s hands restricted in case he was unable to consciously keep his clone present to detain her. His eyes locked on a gold rope that loosely bound one of the dining hall window drapes open. Darting past Eva with a quick, authentic, “Way to go,” his fingers worked fast to undo the loose knot and bring it back to work with his clone. His clone forcibly repositioned Astra’s hands behind her back while Cole began winding the rope between and around her wrists, unaware of the feline female prowling from behind them.

Upon opening her eyes, the scene before her made Eva smile, creating and maintaining the time bubble had taken a lot out of her but it had worked, the teleporter who had attacked her was now held tightly in the arms of one of the Cole’s, she couldn’t tell if it was him or his clone. She started to hobble towards them, her ankle still refusing to take her weight and her smile broadened as she heard the praise from Cole as he went to fetch the rope from the curtain, the praise really meant a lot. He was back with his clone working on tying Astra up before Eva got there, the whole time she walked she had the feeling that she’d forgotten something, something she should be focusing on. It was too late by the time she saw it. The feline prowler she’d spotted in the shadows earlier was already in the air, her pounce already in effect and her razor sharp claws extended and glistening in the light. But Thornn’s leap wasn’t aimed at Eva; the cat-like girl’s target was Cole. Acting on pure instinct, Eva jumped, her body collided roughly with Cole’s and he was knocked backwards to the floor with a bump but he was out of harm’s way, which had been Eva’s intention. The bared claws which had been bound for Cole’s neck struck Eva’s side and penetrated deep into her body, Eva howled in agony as the attack struck. The agile Thornn was able to twist in time to land a second attack across Eva’s back, leaving more deep gouges in the young Australian’s already battered body, the wounds across her back weren’t as bad as the first strike had been, but Eva still screamed in pain as the sting took hold. Both of Eva’s hands went straight to her side, to the site of the most extreme pain and her fingers were instantly covered in a warm fluid as blood flowed freely from the deep wounds. But Cole was ok, that’s all that mattered to Eva. With a bravery she didn’t know she possessed Eva turned to face Thornn, who had landed gracefully on her feet nearby. “Is he rrreally worth dying forrrr sweet-pea?” Thornn asked, her rolled r’s sounding like a malicious purr rather than a cute one. Eva coughed once and blood sprayed from her mouth before she managed her response, “They all are.” Her mind was filled with the smiling or laughing faces of all her friends at the institute, and as she said the last word, Eva threw her arms out in front of her, her bloodied fingers splaying and she focused on making another bubble, she heard a pop but her vision swam before her eyes and she couldn’t make out what she was seeing, she had no idea if the bubble had worked. Eva felt the strength completely leave her body and she fell to her knees, she could hear voices around her but it sounded like she was underwater and she couldn’t make out the words. Despite her situation, the only thing she could think about was how she could help her friends more and she hated the fact that she couldn’t think of a way.

Cole was in the midst of tightening the rope ends into a knot but before he could finish, he’d been knocked over, shocked, upset and then shocked again as he saw Eva dart in front of where his back had once been and attempt to take on the cat-looking teen. He saw the blood pool through Eva’s clothes and heard her cry out in pain. “Eva!” he’d called out Thornn questioned her martyrdom. His voice wasn’t particularly loud, nor was he more than a few feet away from where she had fallen, but there was heat behind his demeanor. He’d withdrawn his clone, wishing he’d been practicing his cloning of someone with a more useful power, but contained his natural strength and combative abilities to fight Thornn. Her claws were intimidating and her wild demeanor was unsettling as well, but despite stinging from the cuts he was quickly obtaining and adding onto with the ones he’d retained from his clone, he’d stayed on his feet and managed a few hits in on Thornn. She seemed to be aware of the rib injury Astra had given him but he kept blocking and managed to shake her attention from him after delivering an unforgiving fist to her gut, compounding the painful blow Logan had given her earlier. She backed off, hissing a string of profanities at Cole but he didn’t care what she had to say as she retreated and looked for another victim. His cinnamon irises flickered to Astra who was writhing on the floor in attempts to free her bindings but Cole quickly returned his attention to Eva. Blood was trickling down his triceps and forearms and his ribcage ached on one side but he ignored it while trying to get a response from Eva. “Hey, Eva can you hear me?” he asked, keeping calm and thinking fast on trying to stop the blood; his sweatshirt was off and being pressed against the largest gash while trying to coax her into answering him.

The fight with Pyro was taking it’s toll on Rahne, his previous shock at being rendered powerless had seemed to wear off as the fight drew on, and the teen could hold his own in a fight. The two found themselves at a standstill, staring the other down, waiting for someone to make a move when her attention was ripped from the fight by a scream, not like the screams of fear. This one was pained, and familiar. Eva? Rahne’s heart dropped, turning to look in the direction of the scream, blinking back tears. While she wasn’t super close to the aussie teen, Rahne treated her like a friend, and in truth viewed Eva as such. She wasn’t sure if the scream belonged to her friend or not and she even took a step towards the scream, part of her dying to help her friends, but she was stopped in her tracks as her hair was yanked back. Crying out, Rahne’s hands flew to the back of her head, Pyro pulling her backwards. “You are bad at keeping focused.” Rahne glared at him. “Go t’ hell.” Pyro simply smirked, throwing Rahne forward. Tumbling to the ground, Rahne hurried to get to her feet, only to receive a swift kick to the side, effectively knocking the wind out of her. “Come on, thought you had more fight than that.” Pyro knelt down to her level and Rahne felt his fist collide with the side of her face. “Stand up and fight!” He pulled his arm back, ready to hit her again, but Rahne caught his fist with ease, a growl coming from her throat as her form changed again, becoming more wolf-like as her anger grew. Standing to her feet, she pulled Pyro with her, not releasing her hold on his fist, claws extending as she glared him down. There it was again, that look of fear. Rahne drew her hand back, sharpened claws ready to tear whatever they were aimed at to ribbons, and they were currently aimed at a certain Brotherhood hothead. Rahne swung but pulled her hand back at the last second, Pyro flinching at a blow that hadn’t come yet. Her hand shook with anger, very fiber of her being wanted to do it, to hurt him, as much as she could. But Rahne couldn’t do it, she wasn’t a killer, and she wouldn’t sink to his level. She wouldn’t let her friends see this side of her. Not while she still had control. Taking a deep breath, Rahne quickly swiped a claw across Pyro’s cheek, drawing a thin, but deep cut which already started to bleed. “Ya’ are lucky tha’ is all ya’ are gettin’.” Her features returned to her human form, face still twisted into an expression of rage. “Tha’ might scar. Look at it next time ya’ feel like attackin’ this school.” Pulling her arm back, she put all of her anger into one punch, feeling more than a little satisfaction when she knocked that surprised look of Pyro’s face, watching him collapse. The only thing keeping him from laying sprawled on the floor was Rahne’s grip on his arm, which she promptly let him fall to the ground. Letting out a sigh, Rahne stumbled back, reaching out to grab something for support.

Her body was so heavy, how could she hold her own weight, she wasn’t that strong. Eva fell sideways, already on her knees it wasn’t too much of a fall, but the floor never came to meet her. Instead she felt an arm wrap around her and halt her fall. There was a voice, it sounded close, why was someone close to her?, they had a fight to win and other people to protect, at least she thought they did, she wasn’t sure of anything any more. The confusion took hold and suddenly Eva was scared, her whole body trembled and her breathing was short and sharp, causing an intense pain in her chest. Where was she? What had happened? Nothing made any sense. She felt a soft dabbing sensation on her injured side and tried to look at who was with her, her head rolling slightly on her weakened neck muscles. “C-Cole?” Though she was confused, she knew what she wanted to say, thinking of her friends before herself despite her ordeal, “fight? Get… cat, help… Rahne… Don’t… me” She was looking right at him but her eyes were unfocused and unseeing and there were tears streaming from them and down her paler than normal cheeks. Her brown eyes kept rolling back as her mind threatened to make her pass out but she didn’t want to. Every time she tried to move Eva felt a shooting pain from somewhere which caused her to wince with the pain, she couldn’t hold it off any longer, her eyes rolled all the way back and her entire body went limp as Eva’s whole world turned into dark nothingness.

Cole held the sweatshirt firmly in place against her bleeding side while staring sternly at her weary face. “Eva, you’re bleeding out on the floor.” He almost added, If I walk away, you could die, but he bit back from saying as much and instead brought his gaze back to where his hands were applying pressure in attempt to stop or at least slow the bleeding. “I need to get you to the infirmary.” A moment later, he’d pushed a clone out from his back and it stepped a short distance away, more in the middle of Rahne and Pyro’s fight, and where Cole knelt by Eva. His clone saw Thornn knocking a student out before rounding and turning her attention on him once more. She darted fast at him on all fours, feet chasing hands from the opposite side of the dining room. Cole’s clone took a ready stance, fists tightly clenched as though he were preparing to punch her. When she lunged at him again, however, Cole’s clone shifted his weight back before swinging his right leg with as much force as he could muster. He’d let out a bit of a grunt from the impact of his ankle connecting hard with her head, not unlike the way he might kick a soccer ball across the field. Thornn’s head whipped to one side while the rest of her body was jerked out of its agile pursuit. She fell fast, head first into a table end with a sickening smack before crumpling onto the floor a few feet from where Cole’s clone stood. There’d be some regret in having done that, in the form of a sore ankle, but he knew it’d be worth it if Thornn didn’t get up again tonight. The clone scanned the room while attempting to avoid putting much weight on his right foot but he spotted Astra standing on two feet--the drapes rope sitting in messy coils at her feet. The clones eyes grew with a wide glare as it spat, “Dammit,” the moment Astra’s hands went up. She vanished and seconds later, reappeared in front the clone but hadn’t geared up for a fight. Instead she quickly crouched by Thornn’s wirey frame and waved a lone hand before them. A second later, the two vanished behind a quick, bright light.

Rahne leaned heavily against the wall, her burned arm pulled close to her chest, after the fight, all the adrenaline left her and the burn was really starting to hurt now. More than she thought it would. She glanced over at Pyro, exhausted. She wasn’t expecting him to put up as much of a fight as he did after he lost his lighter. She only hoped that her punch would keep him down, even if he didn’t have his flames he was still a threat to the school and it’s students. The thought of the other students made Rahne remember the scream, Eva, she pushed herself off the wall, heading towards her friends when a bright light behind her grabbed her attention. Looking, she saw the girl from earlier, holding a very defeated looking tiger woman. How did she get there so quickly? And I never saw her pass me. Rahne’s question was answered as the girl grabbed Pyro’s shirt and disappeared in another flash of light. Rahne’s shoulders slumped, all that trouble, and they still got away. Dammit. Clenching her teeth, Rahne shook her head, moving as quickly as she could to where her friends were, seeing Cole before she saw another Cole with Eva. One was a clone, she knew that, but she wasn’t sure which. Probably the one kneeling next to Eva. “Oh my god.” Rahne brushed right past the Cole closest to her, running to Eva. “Eva?” Her hands hovered over Eva, but it seemed like Cole had the situation handled as much as he could. “She’s-we need t’ get her t’ the infirmary.” Rahne shrugged off her jacket, flinching a little as it slid over the burned arm before handing it to Cole so he might use it to help stop the bleeding. “Now.” She looked Cole over quickly, he didn’t look as injured as Eva. “Ya’ alright?” She asked, turning her attention back to Eva, Rahne’s mind already racing in an attempt to figure out a way to move their friend.

Cole saw the flash of red hair from his peripheral and quickly glanced over to see Rahne beside him. The commotion around them seemed to have settled down. Any other students seemed to have taken off or were unconscious and he just wasn’t aware; feeling somewhat less en guard, he withdrew the clone that had knocked out Thornn while listening to Rahne’s panic. “I know,” he told her while feeling the blood seep through his sweatshirt and warmly stain his hands. “I can but...I’m just not sure if I’m gonna make things worse if I move her. I don’t know how deeply that cat chick got her.” When Rahne asked about his wellbeing, Cole shot a look at the shallow cuts haphazardly scored across his forearms with drying blood left in their wake. He’d been breathing shallowly to avoid feeling the bruises he knew were forming along the left half of his ribcage but he told her, “I’m fine.” Unsure of how to get a hold of Professor Wagner--the only person he could think of to get Eva to the infirmary quickly and safely--Cole looked to Rahne’s offered jacket and then grabbed one of her hands to guide it and her jacket directly over the wound while he moved his bloodied sweatshirt out of the way, “I’m gonna carry her there, as quickly as I can. But...can you hold your jacket here while I do it? You’ll have to press kinda hard but I think we can both get her there, fast, without too much more blood loss.” I hope, he thought to himself. Hanging his sweatshirt over one shoulder, Cole quickly moved to Eva’s other side, slid his hands under the base of her neck and the backs of her knees and counted to three so Rahne would know when he was getting up. After securing his grip, he wasted no time speed walking to the dining hall’s main entry/exit; he passed the open double doors of the school--barely hanging on one hinge each--and rounded the staircase down the hall until they arrived at the infirmary. Professor Worthington was nowhere in sight to his dismay but there were mostly vacant rooms at least which had been a mildly good sign in Cole’s eyes. He headed into the nearest room and laid Eva onto the bed as carefully as possible. “I...let’s just keep applying the pressure and try to get her conscious. Keep talking to her and all that.” It hadn’t crossed his mind until minutes later for him to send a clone to look for Professor Worthington. He didn’t know what he--or rather, his clone--would come across along the way but he had to try and find the man, for Eva’s sake.

[the-rxgue]

Eva's room || Evarie

"D-Did she say anythin' to ya' that would make ya' feel like she would run away?" Marie was still drained from last night and held on to her phone tightly in case there were any updates. The 'guidance' she had given Deanne would be enough to slow the girl down and make her easier to find. "Or did you say anythin' to her? Why did you want to take her to New York?"

[the-rxgue]

Losing D || Self Para

The past week had been a bust for Marie. In simple words, the girl could say that she slummed the whole time. 'Workout' was not in her vocabulary but the hours spent playing around in the snow was good enough for her and could technically be considered a workout, right?

Marie had done absolutely nothing for the day other than sit in the library and polish off Jane Eyre before starting The Lord of the Flies. The academic time lost during her escapades with the Brotherhood was slowly being made up through her readings. She had ended up being somewhat like D with a fixed schedule for how her days were organized. Today she broke that schedule. Marie was still a bit flabbergasted about the ending of Jane Eyre and the beginning of Lord of the Flies as she walked to the room that she and Deanne shared. She had usually expected to see Deanne in their room and would occasionally be surprised when she didn't see the familiar face, causing her to frequently remind herself that Deanne is also a student who was allowed to interact with other people.

Today was one of those days. But there was a change this time. On Deanne's bed laid three notes. The letter titled for Marie was brief and she had to read the other two letters to get the idea that Deanne ran away.

"Oh dear god," she said, covering her mouth. The girl shifted through the pile of things Deanne had left and stopped when her hands came across D's journal. For a moment she contemplated reading it before shaking her head, getting rid of that idea. D was comfortable with letting Marie view only one entry, Marie wouldn't overstep the boundary just yet.

She grabbed all three letters and shot Jubilee a quick text telling her to meet her whenever she could. While she would wait for Jubilee, Marie decided to pay Eva a quick trip since one of the notes was rightfully hers

[axdailybugle]

From: [email protected] Date: 15 February 2015, 9:13AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Eva Bell Good evening/morning, Mr. Bell, I am glad to hear about your sister and her conveying to you that she's enjoying herself here. I know that she has grown attached to a select number of students, and it is nice to hear that she considers them friends. It is my hope that she will continue to feel comfortable and flourish while here.  My colleagues here and outside of the school do our best to stay aware of happenings pertaining to mutants, both locally and abroad as I am aware that our school has occasionally been met with threats and adversaries in the past. As much as I wish for an alternative reality, I do know that we are prone to facing more opposition in the future. One of our multiple goals in aiding our students in honing their extraordinary abilities, is so that they might know how to defend themselves against such issues while here and after they've gone. They learn about and practice for individual encounters as well as team efforts. Additionally, I am highly selective in who I allow to serve as educators here, because I want the best for my students in both the traditional sense of a learning environment, as well as in the practical sense of protecting this school and the students in it.  It is my understanding that Eva's abilities have only been present for just a few months now and nearly two of those months have been spent here. While I'm afraid you haven't made it clear to me what the connection is between your sister and this mutant on the run, it is my hope you might take some comfort in telling you that the safety of our students is our top priority here. It would, however, be beneficial to know how or why this dangerous mutant might, first, know that your sister is a mutant and second, target her specifically. Thank you for bringing your concerns to me and feel free to contact me again in the future. We will continue looking after your sister and helping her to the best of our abilities. Best regards, -C. Xavier

From: [email protected] Date: 15th February 2015, 23:27 To: [email protected] Subject: Eva Bell

G’day Professor Xavier,

My name is Steven Bell, my sister Eva is currently enrolled at your institute, we have spoken very briefly on the phone before, prior to Eva’s enrolment but I’m not sure you will remember.  Firstly I would like to thank you and all your staff for accepting Eva and making a very difficult time in her life much more bearable.  Hearing her laughing and talking about her shenanigans with her new friends is honestly something I didn’t expect to hear again, it is a truly amazing thing and once again I thank you for helping it happen.

Unfortunately the purpose of this email is not to shower you with well deserved praise.  On yesterday’s evening news broadcast the lead story was a photo of Eva and the headline they ran was “Dangerous Mutant on the Run.” Unfortunately my countrymen are not renowned for their acceptance of other cultures and races and this has spread to mutants.  This type of news bulletin and subsequent witch hunt are not uncommon over here as both hate and fear based on lack of understanding cause tempers to flare.  From the brief glance I have taken at the International news websites, as far as I can tell this hunt has so far been limited to just Australia, that of course could change.

I am the only person that knows of Eva’s true location at your institute, and I fully intend to keep it that way, I have refused to partake in any form of press or media attention, using far more colourful language than I have here in typical Aussie fashion so they can’t repeat or print what I say.  I can assure you they will not hear of her location from me but these locusts have sources I can’t claim to understand and there is a chance they will discover her location.  Should this happen it could put your school, its students and staff at risk and I defer to your superior knowledge and better judgement for the best course of action to take in this situation.  As I’m sure you can appreciate this is all entirely new to me, and as Eva is currently in your care I will support any decision you make going forward, I haven’t told Eva yet as I fear she may panic, I wanted to warn you first and confirm a course of action before causing her any unnecessary unrest.

I realise this is all happening a long way from you but I thought it best to warn you to be on the safe side.  I shall keep you informed of any developments in this matter and should you require any more information please do not hesitate to contact me.  I look forward to your ideas on how best to go forward under these circumstances and I thank you once again for what you have already done for Eva.

Best Regards

Steven Bell