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[x-dazzler.livejournal.com]

Piotr finds Alison in an unexpected place...



Thud.

Her fists rhythmically hit the punching bag, which she barely saw, lost in her thoughts.

Thud.

Her arms vigorously protested the harsh treatment, tendrils of pain winding through and through. She ignored it, along with the growing numbness of her hands and the ache coiling in her shoulders.

Thud.

Thud.

Mind blank, finally blissfully blank, she kept striking the punching bag. Shifting her weight, she curled back her arm, putting everything she had in the punch.

THUD.

The sound of the door opening didn't even register, as she took in short, sharp breaths, eyes unfocused even as she kept them fixed ahead on her target. She kept seeing the look on Sam's face.

Thud.

And she couldn't forget it, no matter how much she tried.

~*~

Illyana had been having a bad dream. She'd left her room and knocked on Piotr's bedroom door. He left the warmth of Warren's arms, and came out to her; tears were streaming down her face. He laid down on the couch and she curled up next to him. Before sleep could claim her again, and almost in a panic, she told Piotr about how she had lost Fozzy, her favorite teddy bear. He promised to find the bear for her in the morning, and too tired to argue, she fell asleep.

A half hour went by.. and another.. and one more. Piotr sighed and scooted around his little sister. He left the couch, and decided to go hunt down the elusive Fozzy, because it was better than staring at the ceiling. He slowly made his way downstairs, checking all the empty, dark rooms. He was about to pass the gym, he really doubted the plushie would have been left there, when he heard an almost rhythmic thumping noise. He walked over and pushed the door open a crack, peeking inside. He blinked, seeing Alison beating the punching bag as if it were going to leap off it's chain and bite her. He opened the door the rest of the way and padded inside. "... Alison?

The last punch went awry at Piotr's voice, and Alison tripped forward, body slamming into the punching bag even as she managed to deaden most of the impact with her shoulder. "Ah," she whispered, wincing as her shoulder hit, and then hissing outright at the rest of the pain registered. "Ah!" She pushed back against the punching bag, weaving unsteadily as reality came rushing back.

Piotr wondered if he were in a dream, he had never seen Alison working out in the gym... and certainly not so late. As she started to stumble he hurried over to her, looking and sounding concerned. "Alison, what are you doing?" He reached out to offer some support, never taking his eyes off her.

She turned, looking at Piotr and closed her eyes briefly with a pained look. It so figures. If anyone would find me down here at this hour of the night, it'd have to be Piotr. I thought he'd be with Warren after a day like this... She opened her eyes again and took a deep breath, trying to reach for a bit of the emptiness she'd achieved before while trying to do her level best to at least temporarily forget about the events of the last twenty-four hours. Numbness settled down on her, and she reached out for the hand Piotr offered - and hissed in dismay as he closed his fingers around her own.

Piotr loosened his hold on her hand, and looked down at it to decipher what was wrong. He gently removed the boxing bandages she had haphazardly wrapped around her knuckles, and gasped at what he found. He cupped her hand in both of his. "What happened? Alison... what is going on?" He looked kind of scared, just today Sam showed up with a badly bruised face, and now Alison's hand was looking like it was hit with a baseball bat. "Is this from Logan's class?"

She eyed her bruised knuckles, one of them oozing blood sluggishly, and felt a thrill of apprehension cut through the numbness. "No. I just - needed to change my mind. I think I put the bandages on wrong," she said faintly, wincing as she tried to flex her fingers. "Ow."

She belatedly remembered the bruises on her arm, and was glad of the air conditioned environment which had prompted her to wear long sleeves - again. The man has a skeleton of adamantium - it's not like bruises aren't normal... And I keep getting that hit wrong.

Piotr shook his head a bit, confused. "Changed your mind about what? Putting on bandages wrong will not do this. Did you hit something wrong?.. Come here.." He put an arm around her, still holding her hand with his free one. He started to guide her toward the equipment room of the gym where he knew there was a first aid kit. She followed, docile as a lamb, and did not answer his questions. Piotr frowned deeply, and sat her down on a bench in the equipment room. Carefully and silently he wrapped her hurt knuckles and hand in fresh bandages. When he was finished, he tried to catch her gaze. "Please Alison... why will you not talk to me? I thought we trusted each other..."

She gave him a stricken look, the night's previous events blazing in her mind - just as they had been doing the entire day. Tears started to run down her cheeks despite her every attempt at stilling them, and she leaned forward to rest her forehead on his shoulder, crying silently.

Piotr just frowned, not understanding what was going on at all. He wrapped his arms around Alison protectively and comfortingly. He kissed her hair and stroked it with one hand, remaining quiet so she could cry as much as she needed to. There was nothing more to ask, and she would tell him when she wanted to.

After the storm of weeping slowly subsided, Alison pushed away from him slightly, unable to even look him in the eye. Time to start paying the reaper, she thought to herself with grim amusement, trying to steady herself. She reached out instinctively for his hand, cradling it with her considerably smaller ones, unable to help but smile at the difference.

"Sam didn't get that bruise in training, Piotr," she breathed out, looking up at him tiredly, absently flexing her fingers around his hand.

Piotr looked at her calmly, a little sadly but neither angry or judgemental. He looked down at their hands, and then back to Alison's darkened eyes. "You hit him..." It's a statement rather than a question. "Can you tell me why?"

"I don't know. I - there's too much of it that's not for me to tell," she whispered, voice cracking over the words. Oh, he would understand so easily over something like this. She shook her head, wondering at how many times she'd underestimated the Russian despite knowing better than to do so. She tried to find a way to explain what had happened anyway, hoping she wouldn't slip up yet again. "Last night... we said things neither of us meant. My control over my power slipped - none of it ever would have happened otherwise... I egged him on. I didn't mean to and-" she sighed, looking down at her hands, shoulders slumping.

"It wasn't his fault. I had no excuse. None."

Piotr considered what she said, absently rubbing her back, "I can't think of you two fighting. He did not hit you, did he?" His frown deepened and he wondered just how bad the fight was.

Alison's eyes widened in horror that Piotr had thought of that. "No!" she shook her head, ignoring the growing headache building in the background. "Of course not," she added, remembering how near a thing it had been - and so not Sam's fault. "I - I can influence emotions sometimes, when I lose control and the light I emit reflects what I'm feeling. That's why it got so bad. Sam had nothing to do with it."

He smiled a bit at the vehemence of her reply. "Okay.. I understand, I think." Piotr's smile faded almost as soon as it appeared, and he pulled her back into a warm hug. He kissed the top of her head, "Is there anything I can do? I do not want you and Sam to be like this...."

Alison winced at the question, glad he wasn't seeing her face while hugging her. "We worked it out yesterday." I won't ever forgive myself for this, but that's another story. "We're ok. I'm still - not happy with myself." Understatement of the century. "But it's better not to talk to him about this."

Piotr sighed softly and was quiet for a long moment. He wished he could help, but he did not even know what the problem was. "Okay Alison.. I will not talk to Sam about it. Please do not be too angry at yourself though.. I do not know what happened, but it is not of your fault if your powers went funny. I am sure Sam knows."

She chuckled tiredly at that, pushing back lightly from him to face him. "That's what he said," she sighed, hanging on to that particular memory. "What time is it Piotr?" she asked, having lost all sense of time while practicing earlier.

He smiled a bit, "It has to be two a.m. by now. I could not sleep, Illyana had a nightmare..." Without another word he gathered Alison up in his arms, and stood. "I will take you to your room. You look like you are about to fall over."

"I hadn't realized it was that late," she admitted, not even bothering to put up a protest as he scooped her up easily. "Thanks Piotr," she added hesitantly. "For everything."

"You are welcome, Alison... " He smiled down at her, and carried her out of the gym.