Red X: Dangerous Load [backdated]

[x-dryad.livejournal.com]

After a group of passengers are blocked by poison ivy, Kyle calls upon Callie to clear the area.



Callie was filling cups as fast as people were taking them. There wasn't much she could do to help. She wasn't super strong, she couldn't fly, or control fire, or any of the things the other people seemed to have going for them. What she could do, and what she was currently doing with speed and ease, was fill plastic cups with water without spilling a drop. No matter how fast she worked, however, the table was never full. Whether it was firemen or workers or even the passengers, everyone needed water, and Callie was happy to provide it for them. And she was proud to do so; to help in whatever way she could.

Kyle's arrival was marked by him taking a cup of water and drinking the entire thing in a gulp. "Dude, tell me that your magic plant powers actually work now, because if not, we're dooming like, an entire passenger car to some serious poison ivy." His hands and arms showed mild signs of the rash, but it was already fading as his healing factor worked on it. "Oh, also, if they do, I'm totally drafting you, because this really itches..

Her eyes went as large as saucers as Callie listened to Kyle's panic. "Um yeah, no I can. Mostly. But I should be able to do poison ivy..." she paused to place another cup on the table and eyed his rash. "Do you need lotion? Or anything? I mean it looks painful."

Kyle followed Callie's eyes to the rash on his forearms. "Huh? Nah. It'll fix itself. By the time anyone got me anything that'd work it'd be gone. Healing factor, remember?" He pointed to a mostly-healed scratch on his face and shrugged. "half an hour ago that was like, totally a mess. Anyway, follow me, cause we should probably finish getting folks out before shit blows up or something." He didn't actually wait to see if she did follow, just started walking back towards the last few cars that needed to be evacuated.

It appeared she had no choice in the matter. So Callie sat her stack of cups down on the table, yelled out that she would be back soon, and set off at a rapid pace after Kyle. "It still looks nasty," she pointed out as she fell in step with him. "How much time do we have until stuff goes boom?" Her eyes traveled between the area where they seemed to be heading and him. Ahead of them she saw a train car that had miraculously managed to stay upright after it had run off the tracks, surrounded by plant growth.

"Is that it," she asked, pointing to the compartment.

"Yep. I heard one of the train guys saying someone's getting their ass fired for not trimming this shit down." Kyle said. He sort of felt bad because really the only way to get rid of poison ivy was to nuke it from orbit, but this was just excessive. It had covered both sides of the fence that bordered the tracks. Now parts of the fence, and therefore the ivy, were pretty much everywhere. Including at both emergency exits. "Not sure. I think they've got folks trying to contain it, but we should move pretty quick." He waved at one of the EMT's and pointed in an exaggerated manner at Callie. "Told you I had someone who could fix it!"

A small, hopeful smile appeared on her face as Callie tried to hide the fact that she had no idea if this would work. Dear God, she said in a silent prayer as she closed in on the poison ivy. Please don't let me mess this up.

"I just... I need to take a closer look," she explained to the EMT. With a sigh she approached one of the emergency exits and examined the growth. If Kyle's rash hasn't given her enough evidence, Callie now knew from looking at the leaves that it was in fact poison ivy. She searched to find where the vines began, maybe that would help. Reversing growth was always harder than promoting it.

"Okay, if we can get everyone to step back," she was making her way back toward Kyle, "just in case something goes wrong."

"On it." Kyle said - to both Callie and the EMT, who was looking slightly more than concerned. It didn't help that Kyle's approach to 'warn people' was to take a running leap over the ivy and onto the top of the train car and then dropped down into the open emergency exit door. He disappeared into the train for a few seconds, and then stuck his head out of the doorway, obviously leaning against it to keep people from leaving. "All good here!"

Thoroughly amused, Callie took a deep breath and moved in once more on her object. She had to position herself to get as much of the ivy as possible, without touching it. There's where the challenge of the day lay. It was always easier to connect when you could make contact, especially when there were a number of plants in the area. "Here goes nothing," she muttered.

She closed her eyes and began to search for the ivy. Clear your mind, focus on your task, she reminded herself as sensations from about a million different plants hit her at once. She tried to weed out the obvious, namely the ones who were only complaining of the heat or of a slight pressure on them. They were still calling out to her, but it wasn't them she was interested in listening to. The permanent sensation of something heavy pressing down all over her, now that was something to pay attention and latch onto.

Through the pain that was currently being inflicted on her by opening the lines of communication, Callie was able to exchange a few crucial "questions." Being run over? Check. People trampling on it and pushing aside? Affirmative. Smooth surface? Poison? Yup. This was poison ivy.

"Kyle," she called out, as she opened her eyes but maintained her focus on the poisonous plant. "I need you to tell me if anything changes okay? If what I'm doing causes the car to move or whatever, let me know. Okay?"


Kyle didn't even know plants could do that. "We move at all, I'll yell for you." He called back. Some minor disruption from inside got his attention, and he ducked back into the car long enough to tell everyone to sit down, and that hopefully this would only take a few minutes. And hopefully that's all it would take because while this was one of the last cars to be evacuated, they still had a deadline and needed to get people out fast.

Her head was killing her with the pressure. The faster she worked though, the faster it would go away and everyone could get out. Okay, she thought latching on to the plant. She could feel herself connected to it. Let's get you to grow backwards.

She watched for a moment. Nothing was happening. "Come on, come on, come on." She closed here eyes once more and saw the vine retreating slowly but surely. Some of it was stuck under the wheels, she could feel them not being able to move, and tugged at it harder. She peeled her eyes open. Focus, she reminded herself. Focus.

She watched as the ivy slowly snaked back, exposing more of the fence and ground with
each passing minute. But it was too slow, they didn't have time. She needed to speed the process up. It would drain her, but it would be worth it. Thankfully, vines were relatively easy to deal with. Even so, the extra mental push would tire her more easily. She clutched her hands to her stomach as her mind pulled harder, and watched as the ivy's retreat quickened.

A few moments later, Callie could feel her legs begin to shake. She knew she had to stop, but she was almost there. With wobbly steps she moved toward where the plant was retreating, and as she approached the reverse growth sped up. One exit was already completely cleared, but she couldn't stop there. As much as her body was telling her to stop, she knew she couldn't. "You're almost there Callie. You can do it."

As the ivy retreated, Kyle ducked back into the train. Given the short time frame, he wanted to get people moving as soon as any kind of path was clear. "Okay folks, move to the exit, you know the idea. Orderly line, no pushing, no shoving, no one being an asshole” That the EMTs had kept most if not all of the remaining passengers on the train until now was pretty impressive, although Kyle supposed that taking the few injured folks off the car had taken priority and would've slowed the rest down anyway.

"Kyle, other exit is free," Callie called out as the last bit of vine cleared the doorway. Now her task, as she saw it, was to get the stuff back as much as possible so people leaving wouldn't wander in. She kept one eye on the passengers and the other on the still rapidly retreating ivy. The pressure on her head had lifted, but mental exhaustion had quickly took its place. This was the longest and most widespread use of her powers that she had attempted in quite some time.

Once all the hazardous plants were a safe distance from the fleeing passengers, Callie shouted out "All clear guys" and turned to head back to the EMT. There was an acute pain in her temple and behind her left eye; she needed to sit down. It was a wonder that she was able to make it back to where the other workers were gathered before collapsing down on the ground to watch the remainder of the passengers safely evacuate the vehicle.