“Stop! Stop! With our luck, you’ll accidentally deploy the missiles and take out the Chicago skyline,” said Christopher, deadpan.
“Impossible. Cyclops deactivated the missiles, remember?” she replied. “Speaking of which, I’m calling him now. Shut up.”
He made a show of clapping a hand over his mouth and nodded. Eva cleared her throat and turned on her mic before she realized she had no idea what she was going to say.
“Uh… Copter X to Comm Tower, come in Comm Tower.”
After a brief pause, Cyclops responded, “Copter X, this is Comm Tower. What’s your status?”
“Comm Tower, we’ve reached our destination and we’re ready to turn around, but we’ve started to notice a noise from outside. We think there might be something hanging from the…” Christopher started waving his hands at her, pointing down at their feet and mouthing words she couldn’t catch. “From… uh…”
“We’ll be right there,” Cyclops said. “I’ll grab Illyana, and she can get me there in minutes. Helicopter problems are no joke, Eva.”
“There’s no need, sir,” said Christopher in a firm voice, shocking her. “There’s something wrapped around the skid. No damage to the engine or the rotors or anything dangerous. I just don’t want to risk any additional damage with it flailing around, especially since it looks like we’ve got a storm coming in. I didn’t want you to worry when you saw us make an unscheduled stop.”
“Oh.” The worry in Cyclops’s voice eased significantly. “That makes much more sense.”
“Sorry, sir. I keep losing track of the terminology,” said Eva sheepishly.
“You’ll get the hang of it,” he replied. “Do you have a safe place to land?”
“We have a few options. It shouldn’t take too long. And we have enough fuel to make the trip twice over, so adding an unanticipated stop shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Thanks for letting us know. Looking forward to hearing about the trip. Comm Tower out.”
There was a click as Cyclops signed off.
“Well, I guess that does it,” Christopher said. “We’re on our own.”
“Thanks for trusting me. If we get into trouble over this, I’ll take full responsibility.”
“Heck no, you won’t,” he said with an indignation that surprised her. Somehow, at that moment, it seemed like a much older person sat behind the eyes of the young body in the black tailored suit and trench coat. He couldn’t have been any older than she was – maybe early twenties at the most – but he seemed full of a world-weary resignation at that moment. “This is my choice, Eva. We do this together or not at all.”
“OK,” she said. “We’re a team then.”
“That’s right.”
“Why did you do it, though? You know why I’m here. I want to know why you agreed to come. If it was just because I asked you to, be warned that I’m going to punch you in the throat.”
“You’ll try.” He grinned, but it quickly faded. “I keep thinking about that moment in the Danger Room when I thought Emma was dying. I was so scared I nearly wet myself, but I just did the job anyway. My dad was a Marine, you know. He had his problems, and we were never as close as I wanted, but one of the things he said that I never understood until today was that being brave has nothing to do with not being afraid. He told me he was always terrified before he went on a mission. But he did it anyway, because somebody had to. After that thing in the Danger Room, I think maybe I’m finally starting to get it. That’s why I covered for you. I’m scared as all get out, but I’m going to go anyway. We’ll get Sabretooth, and we’ll probably never be allowed to fly the X-Copter ever again, but it’ll be worth it.”
“Yeah,” she said. “Maybe after all this is over, you can tell your dad about it too.”
He shrugged. “I’d have to tell his headstone. He’s been gone for years. Heart attack.” She reached toward him to offer some comfort, but he reached toward the control panel before she could touch him. “If we’re going to do this, we should get on the ground before we run out of time.”
“Yeah. OK.”
It only took a few moments to set up the autopilot and cloaking device. Within minutes, they were ready to disembark into the growing storm. Eva unstrapped her safety harness and stood, feeling the craft rock beneath her.
“You ready for this?” she asked Christopher.
“Nope. You?”
“Not in the slightest.”
“Let’s go then,” he said, unfastening his own harness. “On the count of three… one… two… three!”
In tandem, they both jumped into the rain-spattered afternoon air. It hit Eva’s cheeks with a sudden wet smack, pushing the breath from her lungs. She pushed away from the rocking body of the chopper and hung a few feet above the ground for what felt like an impossible amount of time even though it must have only been a second or two – as if one of her time bubbles had popped into miraculous existence around her, preserving this perfect moment. She would have whooped aloud again if she’d had the breath. She felt like a real super hero for the very first time. Like she might someday wear the X and truly deserve it. If only her mom could see her now.
Then she landed, rolling into it as she’d learned in training. The move didn’t work quite as well as she’d hoped. Her teeth clacked shut on the tip of her tongue, drawing blood, and her left knee hadn’t liked the maneuver at all. But at the end of the day, she’d jumped out of a moving helicopter without getting badly hurt, so she considered the operation a success.
She stood on the sandy Chicago beach, near the very edge of the swimming area, just as they’d planned. Her overcoat had opened as she soared through the air, and freezing rain pelted her bare legs, stinging them. Cyclops had given them the long black coats “just in case,” which had seemed like overkill on a task that required them to fly around in a big circle, but now Eva was grateful for it. The coats not only kept the rain off, but, as an added bonus, if anyone decided to start shooting, they would protect them. They were made of some fancy polymer something-or-other that worked like Kevlar. They also had X-Men insignia sewn on the inner pockets just in case.
A few feet away, Christopher straightened his tie and dusted off his trench coat, acting for all the world like he was preparing for a job interview instead of heading off on a mission to rescue a fellow mutant. He paused and grinned at her.
“That was so cool,” he said.
“Right,” she answered.
He paused and looked over her shoulder for a moment before his face screwed up into an expression of concern.
“Uh… Eva?” he asked. “Weren’t you supposed to cloak the X-Copter before we got to the shore?”
She followed his gaze to find a group of determined tourists in rain slickers and ugly plastic visors with the Chicago skyline printed on the brim, snapping pictures of the helicopter as it hung in the air.
“I thought you were supposed to do it,” she hissed, patting at the many pockets of her overcoat. “Didn’t you bring the remote?”
He threw up his hands, acting as if he was carrying this entire mission while she hung like dead weight on his shoulders.
“I never even had the remote. See if you can find it while I deal with this,” he said, squaring his shoulders and marching toward the tourists with a determined expression. As he approached, he waved them down, drawing their attention away from the aircraft that still hovered a short distance above them.
“Hello!” he said, smiling widely. “It’s so good to see you. Where are you from?”
Eva watched, torn between wanting to smack him and shake his hand in congratulatory admiration as he made small talk with the Petersons from Topeka. Then he invited them to a new circus show at the convention center, complete with acrobatic tricks performed from a real live helicopter just like this one, the likes of which had never been seen on stage before!
&nbs
p; “Unfortunately,” he said, “I’ve just given away the last of our flyers to someone else, so I’m completely out. But if you call the convention center and mention the circus with the helicopter, they’ll be able to sell you tickets. It’s not like there’s more than one!”
They all laughed.
“I hope they’ll let you go inside now, young man,” said Mrs Peterson, patting him on the shoulder with maternal concern. “It’s awfully cold outside to make you stand out here all day. You’ll catch pneumonia, and that’ll be the end of your days of jumping out of helicopters.”
“Oh, now that we’ve given out all of those flyers, we’ll be heading home,” he said reassuringly. “You should get inside too. This wind is wicked!”
“They don’t call it the Windy City for nothing!” said Mr Peterson, his hearty belly laugh suggesting that he thought this was the deepest of wit.
“You are very right, sir,” replied Christopher.
He made his goodbyes and sent them on their way. Luckily, the inclement weather meant that the beach and waterfront were otherwise largely deserted, leaving no one else to witness the spectacle of the helicopter still hanging in the air above the rocking waves. Christopher glowered at it.
“Still no luck finding the remote?” he asked. “It’s up in the cockpit still, isn’t it?”
Eva, who had checked every pocket over her overcoat three times for good measure while he entertained the Petersons, shook her head sadly. “I definitely don’t have it.”
“Then we have to find a way to get back up there. Otherwise we are completely and totally screwed,” he said, looking up at the hovering chopper with a bleak expression.
“Why don’t you check your pockets?” she suggested.
“I don’t have it.”
“But you should check…”
“Look, I said I don’t have it. I told you to take it, remember? Maybe if you stand on my shoulders, you could reach the skids.”
“Christopher, I’m not getting on your shoulders until you check your damned pockets, and that’s final.”
For a moment, they stared each other down in the pattering rain. She folded her arms as if to underscore her immovability on this issue. He clenched his jaw. Although this was the American Midwest and Eva was fairly sure that tumbleweeds weren’t endemic to the area, she wouldn’t have been surprised if one had blown between them at that moment. It had the feel of a showdown.
With apparent effort, Christopher unclenched his mouth enough to speak.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll look, just to get on with this. But only because time’s wasting, and Sabretooth said it was urgent.” He put his hands into his exterior pockets and turned them inside out. “But then, can we get on with it already?” He put his hands into his interior pockets, and the color bled from his face.
“Well?” prompted Eva archly.
Wordlessly, Christopher pulled out the remote. Eva didn’t comment. If she had, she might have said something she’d regret. He could have checked his pockets, found the remote, and they could have been halfway to the Grace by now. But instead, they’d wasted valuable minutes bickering like toddlers because he’d made up his mind that he was right, and he wouldn’t listen to logic.
Honestly, if she’d known he was going to act like a five year-old, she might have rethought her eagerness to take on this mission. But she couldn’t back out now. Sabretooth needed her. This sat high on a list of sentences she’d never thought she would need to use, but here she was.
Christopher pushed a few buttons, and the helicopter settled into the water and flickered from view. If she hadn’t been so angry, she would have been more impressed, but the needless drama had sucked all of the enjoyment out of the situation. All of a sudden, she felt like she was back at the school with the likes of David and Fabio. They were all great guys, honestly, but she wanted to get things done without all of the drama. She didn’t want to be distracted by tacos or egos or any of that. She wanted a chance to help the folks she’d idolized ever since she was a little girl, like Captain America and Jean Grey and Cyclops. Perhaps Sabretooth hadn’t been on that list, but she wasn’t about to turn down the chance to make a difference, starting with him.
Fine then. She would just have to lead. Christopher would follow, whether he liked it or not. After all, like he’d said himself, he wasn’t much use in a fight.
“All set now?” she asked coolly.
He nodded, slipping the remote back into his pocket. She almost made a snide remark about not forgetting that it was there but caught herself just in time.
“Follow me,” she ordered instead, and then she turned on her heel, marching toward the Grace Museum with determination. She didn’t look back to see if he followed.
She would continue on regardless.
Chapter 9
The rain settled into a steady drizzle as Christopher followed Eva up the winding path that led toward the Grace Museum of Natural History. As a native Midwesterner, he’d been to Chicago a few times, and he’d visited the Grace once as a sixth grader. He’d been on the tail end of his dinosaur obsession and psyched to see the extensive collection of skeletons that the Grace was known for. Back then, Bob, the world’s largest complete T-Rex, hadn’t been on display yet, but they’d had a bunch of others that he’d been eager to see. Unfortunately, Dad’s PTSD had flared up, and they’d cut their trip to the Grace short. He’d lost his interest in dinosaurs after that.
He honestly didn’t know what had gotten into him earlier, and he mulled it over as they walked in silence. He’d felt like an idiot when he reached into his pocket and felt the smooth surface of the remote. Why hadn’t he just checked for it in the first place? Out of all the things to dig in his heels over, he couldn’t have picked a more stupid one. Eva had good reason to be annoyed with him, and the most ridiculous part of all was that he had no idea why he’d done it. Sure, the stress had got to him. Not only were they walking into unknown dangers by the side of Sabretooth himself, but they would likely get in trouble with Cyclops too. Adding that on top of the double Danger Room experiences of the morning would be a lot for anyone to handle. So he understood why he’d lashed out, but he didn’t quite get why he’d chosen that particular hill to die on. It was an idiotic hill to choose, but now that he stood on it, he didn’t know how to get off.
Eva didn’t exactly give him the opportunity to make peace, either. She stomped through the puddles like they’d done something to offend her. He stood at least a half a foot taller than she did, but he still struggled to keep up with her rapid pace. Her annoyance drove her quickly toward her goal. Maybe she’d feel more like talking once they rescued Sabretooth from whatever had messed with him. Whatever it was, it would be dangerous, and he needed to get his head in the game.
The Grace Museum stood on the grounds of Grace Park, right off the shore of Lake Michigan. The park stretched over a number of city blocks, packing all of the green spaces into one small area: an amphitheater, baseball diamonds, wooded picnic spots, lakes, soccer fields, and so on and so forth until just about every popular outdoor sport had been covered. The museum sat at the very end of the park along with the city aquarium, and waving banners along the park pathways advertised park concerts as well as aquarium exhibits and the museum’s mutant exhibit.
As they hurried through the park, they only saw the most diehard joggers with the whip-thin bodies of marathon runners who went out every day regardless of the weather. Otherwise, the paths remained largely deserted, and the snack bars and food stands shuttered. There would be no open taco trucks. Christopher almost joked about that, but one look at Eva’s stiff back convinced him that it wouldn’t be a good idea just yet.
As they drew closer to the museum, red and blue flashing lights lit up the trunks of the trees. Something had happened, and Christopher would bet the remote he held in his pocket that it had something to do with Sabretooth. He slowed
without intending to, and Eva pulled out in front of him without reducing speed.
“Wait,” he called to her. He had to call again before she turned around, her face still shuttered and closed off with annoyance. “Something’s wrong. We shouldn’t just barge in there at top speed.”
“Skulking in there like criminals isn’t exactly going to make us inconspicuous either,” she pointed out.
“No, but we should have a plan.”
“We do have a plan. Go to the Grace and meet Sabretooth. Since we weren’t able to get the details on his exact location, we’ve got to walk around and look for him. Unless you’ve developed x-ray vision in the past few hours and forgot to tell me?” She paused as if waiting for an answer. “No? Then I think we’ll continue on.”
With that, she marched on down the path. After a moment of frozen shock, Christopher followed on her heels. Up until this moment, he’d been feeling more than a bit sheepish and wanting to make amends, but now he wanted to scream. Yes, he’d been an idiot, but he’d admitted it, hadn’t he? He was fairly sure that he had. Besides, people made mistakes, and they were both under a lot of pressure. She could have given him a break but had chosen to bite his head off instead. This definitely wasn’t the kind of positive camaraderie that Emma Frost had been trying to foster. Quite the opposite, in fact.
He scurried to catch up to her. How could she run so quickly with those short stubby legs of hers? She had to have some latent super speed ability, or maybe he was just a klutz. He’d always been the last one picked in gym classes and for sports teams, and now here he was, following her blindly into battle to help Sabretooth, of all people. He felt good about their plans, but the thought of meeting the mercenary still made him nervous.
“I’m not so sure this is a good idea,” he called.
By this time, Eva had almost reached the main courtyard, which was full of police vehicles with their lights flashing in wild concert. She whirled around furiously with her hand held up to her mouth.
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