who_is_she | i cnat think of somethign good to put here

i cnat think of somethign good to put here

Bullet is in the gym when his bracelet starts chirping the alarm that means get to the teleporter room, pronto. He sighs for a moment, resigning himself to not finishing his jog, and only stopping to grab a towel before he's taking off.

He gets to the teleporter room still wearing his workout clothes (which is actually just a pair of shorts), using the towel to wipe the sweat from his face as he stops in the room. Angela is standing in front of a console on the other side of the room, and turns to glance at him when he walks in. She looks him over and then shakes her head, pointing towards the door nearby that leads into the team locker room. Bullet rolls his eyes, loitering near the door, looking out for Xo. He knows Angela won't brief him until Xo is here, and he knows this is Xo's first mission, and he sort of hopes that this will give them a chance to mend the bridges he's burnt on the day they'd met.

He regrets getting so drunk immediately, especially when he'd come to Xo later (sober) to actually show them around and give them some tips, and Xo had accepted it but they'd been distant and frosty the whole time. He hoped they got together better when they were on the job. He was still sure Xo wasn't going to last, but he wasn't exactly looking forward to getting yet another partner, and sitting through another of Angela's painfully concerned lectures.

He stretched while he waited, pulling one up behind his head and tugging on it to stretch it out.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Xo suits up and runs from their room through the halls and to the teleporter as quickly as they can, still chewing on their breakfast when they reach the room. Their nerves were building in their stomach, and the rush of adrenaline they felt was almost enough to make them toss what they've already swallowed all over the floor. Upon arrival, he's greeted by the sight of Bullet half-naked in front of him, stretching his body out for everyone to see, and he almost chokes on his food.

"Hey!" he nearly shrieks, his incandescent blood rising to his face and making him glow "Where's your suit! Aren't you supposed to be dressed for this?!" He turns to Angela, looking back and forth between them desperately, hoping that she isn't going to stand for this.

"I was waiting for you!" Bullet says petulantly, crossing his arms over his chest. Angela turns to glare at them both.

"It's all right, Xo," she says more gently, "That was an emergency signal, but there's a small amount of leeway time before you're needed at the scene. If we really needed you there right away we would just lock onto your signal in the station and teleport you from wherever you were," he explains, then turns her glare on Bullet, "Why are you still here? Get changed!"

"I'm going! Jeeze," Bullet said, starting and then turning to duck into the locker room.

"Most of the heroes prefer to keep their suits in the locker room," she points to the room Bullet disappeared into, "So that they can be summoned from anywhere on the station without having to stop at home first. That's up to you, though." She turns back to the console, pulling up some images and video feeds.

"I'll just brief you, and you can explain it to Bullet at the scene because he decided to dawdle. This is the client," she points to a portrait of a portly green alien, "He's trapped in the penthouse of this apartment building, which is on fire," he pointed to another screen, showing a tall apartment building, half of it in flames, "Your mission is to escort the client from the building, making sure they are not injured in any way. Understood?"

Just then, Bulet came out of the locker room in his suit, which was a slightly modified version of the one he'd worn when he was younger.

Xo's ability to pay attention to Angela is interrupted when Bullet appears, in a modified version of his trademark suit. They gawk at him for a minute before returning their attention to Angela, swallowing hard, doing their best to keep their eyes fixed on her.

"Right, understood," they repeat after her, several moments too late, and they don't fully process what they're being told to do immediately.

"Wait, oh my God, the whole building's on fire? How many people are in there? We have to get down there now!"

When Xo finally stutters out an answer Angela is smirking at them knowingly, but when they finally catch up with the assignment the expression falls off her face.

"Officially? You're only getting paid to save the client. I can't stop you from saving non-clients, but I can't encourage it either. You won't get paid for it, and if you get hurt, I can't promise medical attention," she pauses, giving Xo a shrewd look, "Which wouldn't exactly be a problem for you." She purses her lips and behind Xo Bullet is frowning down at them, arms crossed over his chest.

Bullet does the job he's paid to do, because in his experience, going above and beyond only gets you dead. Or worse.

"This isn't the time for company policy brush-ups," Angela says, pointing to the teleporter, "I'm putting you two down on the roof. Emergency personnel are already on the scene." Bullet goes in first, stepping onto the small teleporter pad and closing his eyes through the odd rush of teleportation.

Xo's mouth hangs open, and they stare at her in disbelief a moment. They knew that this was what they were signing on to do, they knew this was scumbag hero work, but actually being told that they were supposed to get down there and leave a bunch of people for dead was almost too much for them.

They hurry into the teleporter behind Bullet, wincing at the unfamiliar rush it gave them, and try to orient themselves.

"So what's the deal?" Bullet asks when Xo appears beside him, glancing around and then walking towards the roof access door nearby. He'd only managed a glance at the monitors, and didn't know much more than that there was a fire. He assumed the fire itself wasn't the job, or they would have sent more than just him and Xo,and wouldn't have put them down on the roof.

Bullet activated his powers to tear the lock off the door, and as soon as it opened smoke billowed out, and he took Xo by the arm, pulling him close so he could make a small force field around them both.

Edited 2014-11-10 19:03 (UTC)

"Were you not paying attention?" Xo asks, nearly screaming from the stress as they yank their arm out of his grasp, "We're supposed to get the client out, from the top floor, but...but she wants us to leave all these other people for dead!" They're breathing heavily, now, and they walk as far ahead of him as they can without leaving the pocket of clean air.

Much of the building has already been evacuated, as Xo notices, but they use an extension of their arms to tear down each door on the way just in case. The first straggler they find is a young adult of the same species as the client, cowering in the corner of her room, coughing, her face stained with tears.

"Come on!" Xo shouts, leaving the force field long enough to run over to her and guide her into the shield. Their skin is singed by the flames, but the wound heals itself quickly, and is gone within seconds of reaching the force field.

"Uh, I wasn't in the room when she briefed you?" Bullet said, giving Xo an odd look when he realized how frazzled they are. This was like a milk run for Bullet, the kind of thing he was doing at least once a week, and at first he attributes Xo's stress level to first-day jitters.

"Hey!" Bullet shouts when Xo leaves the force field, reaching out to grab him and hold him back but he misses. He stands there while Xo wades right into the flames. Bullet's heart is thumping in his chest, the face of that little Korszan boy he hadn't been able to save swimming in his mind and making his breath short.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Bullet shouted when Xo ducked back into the shield, grabbing their arm to inspect it for burns.

"What do you mean what am I doing?" they shout back, jerking their arm out of his grip again, "What are you doing? I'm not leaving these people here! I wouldn't think you would, either!" They keep making their way down the halls, not bothering to stay fully inside the shield as they continue ripping doors apart. They find their client midway through the third story, and by the time they reach him they have accumulated a small following of survivors.

Bullet is frustrated and furious, but tells himself that petty arguments can come later, and focuses on the job instead. He grits his teeth every time Xo steps out of the shield, but keeps the survivors huddled close and moving quickly, extending the shield to cover everyone even though he's starting to breath hard from the exertion. He keeps his mouth shut even though he's terrified every step of the way, and he's not able to breath easy until they finally reach the lowest floor the firefighters managed to get to. They have a herd of people huddled around them, and the firefighters lead them over to a window with a ladder leaning against the outside.

Bullet takes a moment to speak with their client, ensuring they're all right before he turns to glare at Xo.

Xo is already gone. There are still two floors that haven't been checked yet, and once the survivors were on the ground, they had immediately bolted back inside.

The smoke makes them cough loudly, and the flames lick their body as they crouch down low to the ground, searching under the line of smoke for any signs of life. The first floor is clean, but on the level above them, they swear they can hear a kid's voice.

"It's okay!" they call out, "I'm coming, it's okay!" They run up the stairs, wheezing as the smoke enters their lungs, following the sound of the child coughing and crying. They find him hiding in a dresser, and quickly take him into their arms.

"Come on," they say, speaking as quietly as they can manage, just before a chunk of the ceiling falls down in front of them. "Come on, we're getting out of here, okay? Just hold on to me, just for a minute." They run back the way they came, down the staircase, which is now engulfed in flames. Xo hunches over, making a plated shield out of their back and arms to protect the child from the fire and from falling debris. They can feel the side of their face burning, and the pain is excruciating.

"Just close your eyes, okay? Don't look, it's going to be okay. I'll give your parents some money, they can take you to get something good to eat after this, yeah? Like candy or something. Your species has candy, right? That'll be fun, right?" they mutter to the kid, who nod shyly and squeezes their eyes shut. A chunk of falling brick comes crashing down and hits Xo hard in the back, making them bleed, and it takes all their strength not to swear in pain. The whole building was coming down right on top of them.

"I see the exit," he assures the kid, hoarsely, "We're almost there."

When Xo is gone Bullet swears colorfully, knowing exactly where they've gone. He rushes back into the building, activating his powers to create a barrier that's right next to skin, because this shield is much easier to maintain than a larger one. He uses the communicator on his wrist to track Xo, running up the stairs and peering through the smoke and fire for them. Finally he sees them, they're just a dark blur on the other side of the room, and just as Bullet's darting through the fire towards them a huge chunk of the ceiling falls on Xo and knocks them to the floor. Bullet runs to his side, first checking that the child is still safe in Xo's arms and then focusing on the huge pile of debris that's now resting on Xo's back.

He puts his palms out and focuses, creating a small force field inside the debris, and then cries out as he makes it expand, breaking the debris into smaller pieces and sending them flying. Once the debris is cleared he leans back down, the severe burns and abrasions Xo is covered in making his breath catch.

"Come on!" he shouts, expanding the force field around Xo and picking him up, after ensuring the child in their arms is still protected. He carries them both out of the building, having to stop several times as huge piece of debris come raining down on the force field, making Bullet stop and focus on maintaining the shield before they can move on. When they make it out of the building Bullet goes right over to the paramedics, laying Xo out on one of the waiting stretchers and letting one of the medics pry the child out of their arms to check him over. Bullet stays by Xo's side, his heart beating hard and fast in chest.

"Xo? Are you all right?" he asks, his voice shaking with panic.

Xo lies back and coughs, the healing in their body and face working faster than the healing in their lungs.

"I'm fine," they rasp tiredly through the breathing mask they've been given. "Is the kid okay?"

They look over to their side, and see the medics inspecting the child. Their expression grows peaceful, and they reach up, somewhat deliriously, gripping at the chest of Bullet's outfit.

"Hey," they mumble, still wheezing, "Give that...give that kid some of my credits, will you? Tell his parents to get him some candy or something...for being such a good..."

They don't get the chance to finish their thought, falling unconscious before they can get the rest of their sentiment out.

"You idiot," Bullet swears, his hands clenching the bars on the side of Xo's stretcher, watching Xo's slack, burned face until the medic usher him out of the way. Then he goes to find the kid that Xo had saved.

~

Bullet wasn't sure what was scarier, Xo's reckless nature or the fact that, for a second, when he'd been rushing in to save Xo, he'd felt like his old self again. He figured it was the first, because the first had caused the second. In some ways, Xo reminded Bullet strong of what he'd been like when he was Xo's age; idealistic, naive, desperate to help the people of his home he loved so dearly. He wondered how someone like Xo had ended up here, home of the mercenary and the pathetic.

Xo had been transported to a nearby clinic, and after making a call to Angela about what had happened, Bullet stayed at his side.

The worst part about it was Bullet wasn't even mad, really. He was scared, of how easily Xo had thrown himself into danger, of how much Xo reminded Bullet of all the things he didn't want to think about. He'd known other heroes with powers like Xo's, heroes who called themselves invincible right up until the moment someone found the chink in their armor. Before, Bullet would have been right at Xo's side, running into that building, but things were different now. Now, Bullet knew the real world; people were cruel and ungrateful, people would make up lies about you and then punish you for it, people were full of darkness and cruelty and no amount of saving babies from fires would ever change that. Seeing Xo like this was painful because there was still a part of Bullet that wanted to believe there was good in people, that there were good people and good friends who wouldn't turn on you and would trust you, even with the world against you.

Bullet sighs, resting his elbows on Xo's bed and covering his face with his palms, waiting for them to regenerate enough to get up and go home.

Xo groans as they come to, sitting themselves up slowly. Their face had healed completely, though it had practically melted off before, and they'd been on oxygen for several hours. They pull the oxygen mask off of their face and breathe, still choking a little as they do.

"You're still here," they observe, surprised to see Bullet leaning over the edge of their bed, "You didn't have to stay. I'm fine."

"Your face was melted," Bullet says, his voice cold and muffled as he doesn't bother to move his hands. He doesn't want to show his face to Xo; doesn't want them to see everything he's feeling on his face, how scared and vulnerable he feels right now. After a moment he takes a deep breath, collecting himself, and lowers his hands, frowning at Xo.

"You could have gotten yourself killed."

Xo shrugs, shaking their head a little bit as they hoist themself off the bed.

"I can't die," they say, coughing and getting up to check themselves in the room's mirror, "It's not like that kind of shit hasn't happened to me before. How are we getting back to the station?"

Bullet stands up, crossing his arms over his chest to glare at Xo. Their flippancy reminds him of the other heroes he's known with similar powers; arrogant, reckless, sure of their own immortality. He'd been the one who had to watch those heroes choke on their own blood after the inevitable vulnerability was exploited. Sick, churning ire started to bubble up on Bullet's gut at the thought; he didn't want to watch another bright young kid get swallowed up by this.

"Little tip from a veteran?" Bullet said, his voice cold and closed off from his more vulnerable emotions, "The second you start thinking you're invulnerable is the second you're a walking corpse. If you think I'm going to tie myself to a partner with a deathwish you can forget it."

Xo scoffs, still inspecting himself in the mirror, not bothering to turn around and look at him.

"No, you don't get it," they say, their brow tensed, fingering at a tear in the fabric of their suit, "I mean I can't die. Not even if I snap my own neck or shoot myself in the head or...anything, you know, like that, nothing works, it just heals right back up and I'm still here." They pause before they go on, their eyes fixed determinately on the ground.

"I've been wrong before, maybe there's some way I haven't already tried. Just--as long as I'm around I'm never going to pass up anyone who needs my help. I didn't think you would, either. But like I said, I've been wrong before."

Edited 2014-11-10 23:21 (UTC)

The bottom of Bullet's stomach drops out at Xo's words, his heart aching at the information. He's silent for a long moment, remembering when he'd been in a similar place not too long ago. After the scandal he'd been a mess, had felt like a worthless failure and had made a few attempts on his life. Some days he still didn't feel any different, like he'd stopped living when his dreams about being a great hero had finally died. Bullet doesn't mention his own similar past, and frowns when Xo snipes at him.

"There will always be someone who finds a way," he says, looking away before he speaks again, "And I'm not that person anymore. I have a job to do, and I do it. I'm not a hero anymore. And neither are you, for that matter." He crossed his arms over his chest, frowning across the room at Xo.

"I know I'm not," Xo snaps, baring their teeth and scowling "I'm not deluding myself. Heroes don't get paid."

"Yeah, well, maybe you should start acting like it," Bullet says, more uncomfortable with this conversation than actually insistent that Xo should stop being so idealistic, "Angela will teleport you out as soon as you're ready. Just use your wrist communicator." He pressed a finger to his communicator and was gone in a shimmer of light.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

i cnat think of somethign good to put here

if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this

Re: if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this

Re: if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this

Re: if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this

Re: if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this

Re: if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this

Re: if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this

Re: if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this

Re: if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this

Re: if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this

Re: if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this

Re: if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this

Re: if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this

Re: if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this

Re: if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this

Re: if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this

Re: if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this

Re: if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this

Re: if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this

Re: if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this

Re: if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this

Re: if you dont mind i would like to finish knitting this