Red X: Whiteout

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Backdated because of miscommunication :)

Dani and Laurie chat on a rest break towards the end of the emergency. Dani tries to explain the mentality of some of the people they are trying to help. It doesn't quite work, but it doesn't not work either.



Laurie slumped, exhausted against the wheel of one of the volunteer trucks, smiling rather tiredly up at Dani. It had been a very long couple of days, and while she'd gotten more practice with her powers the circumstances weren't exactly the best.

"Tell me you have some coffee?" she asked, giving Dani a puppy eyed look.

"Always," Dani replied, pouring her a cup of the thick sludge that they were claiming was coffee and adding a liberal amount of cream and sugar. Caffiene wasn't always enough for exhausted emergency workers. "How're you hanging in there?" she asked, leaning over the counter she had been manning for the disaster.

She took the coffee from Dani greatfully and took a sip before answering. She hadn't realised she'd have to help out with her mutant powers on this mission but there'd been several times that she was needed. It was tiring using it deliberately but she supposed that was because she needed to control it, rather then just open both barrels and let whatever happened happen.

"I'm doing okay, tired but okay." Laurie replied with a weary smile. "How are you doing yourself?

Dani laughed, she'd been cooking for the relief workers and anyone else that had filtered in without power, so she was in her element. With the cold weather she'd had the addded benefit of not having to touch people so she wasn't even worried about her powers for a change. "Not what I expected for my first Red X mission," she told the younger girl, pouring herself a cup of coffee too, "but cooking and snow is something I know, ain't it?." This was the closest she'd been to her home since she'd gotten divorced and it felt oddly...wrong. It was weird."

"Cooking has a way of making things better, I admit." Laurie replied, remembering the number of times she'd used food as an excuse to talk to people when they were having a hard time. "And a hot meal cures almost all ills...except for the bleeding kind, anyhow and even then it makes you stronger. I wonder how much longer the storm is going to last? Did you catch any of the latest weather news?"

A hot meal cured most ills according to Dani's grandmother and she had taken that lesson to heart. "Bleeding problems are the next tent over. I don't want my food contaminated!" Dani directed Laurie with a smile, "As for the weather....I don't know. Weather spirits have a will of their own."

Laurie grinned and took another sip of the coffee, leaning back against the vehicle again. "I'll make sure to make a note of that. Not that I intend to be bleeding any time soon. Marie and I just got back from clearing out some looters from one of the local shopping malls. You would think people wouldn't take advantage of an emergency situation to help themselves to things they aren't entitled to. Food and blankets I could understand, but toaster ovens and TVs? Where are they going to plug one in with the power lines all fubared up anyhow?"

Dani shook her head, people were so horrible sometimes, "That's exactly how they see it, Laurie. Taking advantage of a situation. If you ain't got anything and you have an opportunity to get it, even illegally, then you'll be better off when the emergency is over. Don't make it right, but that's how it is if you ain't got nothing." It was how she had grown up, although when tornados had hit there was never anything to loot since no one had anything worth stealing. Absently, she handed Laurie a bagel while topping her coffee off, "You gotta eat too, not just mainline coffee."

"Yes Mom." Laurie replied, but without any heat. She liked that they all took care of each other, she always knew she could count on each and every person at the mansion to at least care about every other person there, even if they couldn't always help. She took a bite of the bagel, washing it down with another sip of coffee. "I've never really had to want for anything. There's always been Mom, and there was my Grandparents when I was littlier. But people being violent, that isn't on, no matter how little stuff you have. They actually tried to hurt us when we wouldn't let them take anything."

Dani smiled, glad that Laurie was taking care of herself and not working herself to exhaustion like most people, herself included. It was a bad habit that people at the school tended to pick up, "When you got nothing and then it's destroyed....you have no help either. No support, no insurance, nothing. A tornado hit my town when I was little..." Dani shook her head at the memory, it had not been a fun time, "People get desperate. It don't make it right, but I understand it."

"I guess so. Although, lots of people have hard times and don't just go out and try to get whatever they can grab. But, you said a tornado hit your town when you were little? What was that like? I mean, it must have been scary, especially with you being so young." Laurie replied, taking another bite of the bagel. She was beginning to get a second wind now with the combination of coffee and food.

Dani shrugged the questions off, "You ever hear that tornados only hit trailer parks?" she asked, "Well, it ain't actually true, but it seems that way. All we did was go from a run down trailer to a nicer FEMA trailer. We actually ended up better than we started." her grandparents had laughed about that one for a long time. It had all been an adventure to 7yr old Dani, but looking back she realized how serious it was. "Ain't too much different from all this."

Laurie couldn't imagine the kind of life that would mean a FEMA trailor was better then what you started with. It was one of those big issues, the kind that couldn't be helped with just words, or a quick pat on the back, she wasn't entirely sure what to say. "I guess we can only do what we can, hope that we can make it so that as many people come out of this as well off as possible."

"Things will get better," Dani reassured her, "The snow and ice will melt, power will be restored and life will go back to normal."