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Post by Cyclops on Feb 15, 2008 20:26:11 GMT -5
Cyclops flipped his face shield down on his helmet and stomped his left foot down on the gear lever. Holding in the clutch he kicked up the stand on his Harley Davidson Fatboy, throttling up he eased out on the clutch and pulled off from the curb in front of the organic food store.
The ride back to the Mansion was ten miles. Easily done on a warm day, but this would not be an easy ride. The sun was setting and the cold was biting through to the bone. Even though the sky looked afire with colors of orange and gold the air was ice cold as it whipped into their bodies. Scott was careful to watch Aideen, even though she looked experienced he was still responsible for her and she was only just a kid. He would push her as fast as he felt her skill, and the road, would allow.
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Post by Ember on Feb 15, 2008 21:34:25 GMT -5
This was a bit colder than Aideen would have liked for riding. She still had trouble keeping in her extreme body heat, but thankfully the insulating jacket she got from Jumper helped a lot. The leather pants should have helped more oif they were as tight as they should be. The downside of not eating on schedule was rapid weight loss. Sometimes having a ridiculously high body temperature was rather annoying.
Aideen leaned forward low with her arms bent pressed against the bike as she gripped the handlebars and kept her right wrist flat to keep control of the throttle. She locked her knees against the gas tank, keeping her feet firmly planted on the footrests as she switched gears. This weather wasn't too new to her since it could get quite cold in Boston, especially since she lived near the harbor. But the cold in the country was quite different as well at the dirt road. She could handle it though. When her Uncle escorted her to the school, he allowed her to ride her bike the last half of the way here so she already had some experience on the dirt road. Of course, it was much warmer than.
Aideen rode beside Cyclops, keeping a safe distance away. She felt a bit guilty for not telling him sooner, and it didn't take a genius to see he wasn't happy with her. It wasn't that she didn't want to say anything, she just felt so guilty and it hurt to even think what she had done let alone say it out loud. Well, maybe she would end up being sent back to her Uncle. She wouldn't mind too much, seeing as it hurt to stay at the school and everywhere she went within it made her guilty. First for being the reason of Logan's death or injuries, and now for not having told anyone until now about what happened. Although before the battle she was starting to like it here. Now well... no matter. It had no bearing where she went, either way she would be alone. But then again that's all she had ever known.
She kept up with Cyclops with little to no difficulty, concentraing on the road and her surroundings.
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Post by Cyclops on Feb 15, 2008 22:19:42 GMT -5
Scott wasn't deluding himself. He knew that Emma would have heard anyone crying out, as when a voice calls out in agony the mind calls out as well. So, it was unlikely that Logan was out there all things considered. Sure he would have been too prideful to have cried out for help, but Scott knew the drill.
When one of the X-Men goes missing, especially in a conflict, the first thing to do is use CEREBRA to try and find them. He knew Emma would have done that again today as she had before turning in last night, and since he'd heard nothing from her it was a foregone conclusion that Logan, as well as Kurt, was gone- the question was 'gone where'?
He didn't want to believe they had both been vaporized, Wolverine might have been captured, although it was likely that Nightcrawler had taken the bombs out over the woods beyond the hedge-maze. 'Could they both be blown apart? Wouldn't Wolverine have healed, was he healing still?'
... "Damn it!" ...'What was I thinking! I should have sat them all down and grilled them, found out what had happened'... "Hell!" ...'What kind of leader am I turning out to be!?!' Cyclops thought, berating himself and cursing out loud inside his helmet. 'Maybe there's a clue out there, hope we get home with time to look around. Sun's setting fast though.' Scott was beside himself with frustration.
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Post by Ember on Feb 15, 2008 22:50:59 GMT -5
Aideen thought she head Cyclops say something but since he didn't signal anything to her. She kept up with him easily and watched the road to avoid the icy areas and the mud. She wondered if her Uncle would be mad at her if she went home. Training would start up again definitely start again and she hoped that the punishment wouldn't take too long.
The more she thought of it, the more it seemed for the best in her mind. She f**ked up to say plainly. Big time. Logan was probably gone for good and its not like she had any other reason to be here other than Haven. But they wouldn't let her even speak to her. Her powers weren't fully developed she knew that, but they were developed enough for her to deal. She could always go back to the underground life. That might be tough though, but hell she'll deal alone. Aideen liked it. Then she only disappointed herself and not had to worry about others.
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Post by Cyclops on Feb 15, 2008 23:14:54 GMT -5
What had taken them nearly an hour at a casual and relatively slow pace would take just a little more than thirty minutes on the return ride. Scott was in no mood to dally and he really pushed the pace. He was freezing as he rode and the ice on the road being the only concern, well that along with checking on Ember from time to time, to make sure she was keeping up.
As they approached the school he slowed down to a reasonable speed and eased into the driveway. Turning to the right to take them out to the garage Scott checked back over his shoulder and saw Aideen hanging tough. The girl was really resilient and he didn't blame her at all, he would have to make sure he put on a calm and controlled demeanor, even though he was beating himself up inside.
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Post by Ember on Feb 15, 2008 23:35:47 GMT -5
This was not good weather for a firebender. It was far too cold and the wool bandanna wasn't helping so much. Her lips were probably tinged blue by now because she could not feel her face. She kept up with Cyclops easily enough, though she had to be really careful watching the icy road.
At least when she went back to Boston, the roads were always clear of ice with all the salt on the streets.
She stayed behind Cyclops and followed him down the long driveway and into the garages. He checked up on her from time to time, but well she was his burden as a student so of course he had to. Aideen kept her eyes on her surroundings, wanting to be as careful as possible.
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Post by Cyclops on Feb 16, 2008 0:07:02 GMT -5
Clicking off the lucky blue faded rabbit's foot key, his engine rumbled to silence. Cyclops looked over to Aideen and said "Hey, we'll clean these up later, or tomorrow. Right now I want to get us out to the spot you were when you last saw Logan. Then we'll see if there's any signs of where he could be."
"You cold?" he asked her as an afterthought, realizing just how cold he himself was. He decided they would take the Avengers 'sky-cycle' that Wolverine himself had "borrowed" from his old friend Captain America. It looked like a flying motorcycle and it seated two, they'd be able to get right out there and look at what clues were left.
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Post by Ember on Feb 16, 2008 0:33:01 GMT -5
Aideen rode in after him and shifted her bike into first gear, moving the gear level back to neutral. She then shut off the bike and pocketed her keys. She kept her eyes on the ground and shook her head at his question. "No sir," she said very quietly and put her kickstand in place. Okay so maybe she was freezing but she'll live. Later on she'll take a boil bath and get all her heat pack. Until then Aideen could deal, she's dealt with worse. She could leave her bag there for now and get it later. It was cold enough in the garage for her milk to not spoil. She could also clean up later, since she had no plans to sleep that night. The nightmares were too much to bear.
Aideen stepped off her bike and waited patiently for Cyclops to further instruct her. She wasn't sure how she would react to being back there, but it had to be done. She could push any emotion away.
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Post by Cyclops on Feb 20, 2008 22:58:18 GMT -5
"Alright then, lets hustle back to the mansion and down to the hangar. There's an Avengers sky-cycle down there that we can use for a little reconnaissance of that spot in the woods you mentioned. Do you think you could find it again?" Scott asked as he rushed up to her.
He wasn't sure if he was doing this for himself, to distract his mind from thoughts of Nightcrawler...for Ember, to distract her from her guilty feelings....or if he honestly thought that there was some chance Wolverine was actually out there waiting for them to find him.
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Post by Ember on Feb 20, 2008 23:22:18 GMT -5
Aideen nodded slightly and took her helmet off, her long thick hair spilling over her shoulders. "I'll never forget it. I can find it," she said quietly, keeping her eyes down. No she would never forget that spot. It haunted her mind every second of the day. Nor would she forget the spot where Sabretooth had her pinned to the ground, gazing at her with his cold lecherous amber eyes. She shivered slightly just thinking about it.
Aideen tucked her helmet under her arm, ready to follow Cyclops down to the hanger. This was it, she would be facing her demons much sooner than she planned to, but she needed to makeup for keeping the information of Wolverine's disappearance to herself. She wasn't expecting to find him there, because that would mean getting her hopes up. She knew she wouldn't be able to handle having her hopes crushed once again. As it was Aideen was already entertaining thoughts of going back home and returning to living a life alone. That was for the best though. Then no one would get hurt because of her anymore.
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Post by Cyclops on Feb 21, 2008 0:03:26 GMT -5
"Good! Yes, bring that helmet of yours with you-" Scott pointed as he flipped his own face shield up further to speak better and not fog up his helmet. "the sky-cycle is not exactly warm. It's little more than a flying motorcycle with a wind screen up front."
He turned and started to jog a little toward the school. "So you'll want to wear your helmet to keep you a little warmer and also provide a touch of protection." He wanted them both to get their blood pumping but he didn't want them to run fast enough to break a sweat, that would be bad if they were going to take to the air in a few minutes. "Run with me - not too fast, just to warm up a bit." Cyclops said in his command tone of voice, it was really his natural tone of voice, but it resonated with authority.
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Post by Ember on Feb 21, 2008 0:13:05 GMT -5
In a single stride, Aideen managed to catch up with Cyclops and jog lightly alongside him. This was nothing compared to the run she made her team do that morning. She didn't know how much this jog would warm her up, seeing as she was sued to much strenuous exercise to get her blood pumping, but it should help her hold on to the bit of heat she managed to save in her body. Aideen made a note to herself to thank Jumper again for the heat compacting jacket since that was the main reason she had any body heat left.
A flying motorcycle.... now that would be new to her. Also made her realize that there was a good chance of her freezing even more since up in the air she would be more susceptible to the blistering cold wind. But then again it would also depend on the where she would sit and the direction of the wind. She'll deal though.
Quietly, Aideen kept up with Cyclops as they made their way toward the school.
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