Yvette and Hank - Gifts

[x-penance.livejournal.com]

Hank has a couple of gifts for Yvette and seeks her out in the sunroom.



Hank snapped the metal case shut, the gift for Yvette firmly nestled within the safety foam shaped around it. With a smile he took off his welding goggles and hung them from the work lamp that he promptly switched off before gathering up the two small containers and heading out the door. Though it was not his typical way of doing things, Hank put the boxes in his coat pocket and removed his touch-pad, pulling up the mansion's cellular tracking grid and locating the young Miss Petrovic in the sun room on the second floor east wing. Turning off the computer he headed toward her last known location, eager to chat with her.

Yvette was studying, the coffee table spread with books as she took notes with one of her over-sized pencils. It was true she had her own room to work in, but she liked to make herself visible to the students, should one of them need her. Her laptop was open, playing something that sounded suspiciously like a Justin Beiber song, and every now and then she hummed along, tapping out the rhythm with her pencil.

The trip to the second floor was a quick one and before Hank could whistle a jaunty tune, he was knocking on the glass doors of the sun room. "Miss Petrovic? Do you have a moment?"

She looked up with a smile. "Of course, Dr. McCoy. I was just taking the notes any way. What can I help you with?"

"Actually, it's what I can help you with today, young lady," Hank strode across the room and set the metal case with her initials down on her textbook. "This is for you."

Her eyes opened wide, flashing brightly in surprise. "For me?" she asked, even as she began opening the case. A delighted smile crossed her face as she uncovered the contents, a sturdy pair of goggles with smoked glass lenses. An experimental poke at the headstrap revealed it was the same self-repairing material as her bodysuit. "Oh, thank you Dr. McCoy! After the M-Squad and the flashbang, I have been trying to think of ways to protect my eyes during the training and the missions. These are perfect!" She reached over with a gloved hand and gave his arm a brief pat, Yvette's careful version of a hug.

Her reaction was what he'd been hoping for. "I am working on a lense attachment so you can swap out various components. Night vision, video, whatever you might need for a given situation. that will take a while, but the front rims are threaded and it is on my work bench. I thought you may need the goggles sooner considering."

"You have already done so much, they are wonderful!" Yvette turned her attention back to the googles, turning them over this way and that to examine them before putting them on. They fit perfectly and she looked up at Hank, the glow of her eyes masked by the glass. "How do I look?" she asked, grin wide.

"I may be a touch on the biased side, but they very much compliment your skin tone, and now you won't be a beacon to our foemen as to where we are. Can you see alright?" Hank carefully took the smaller box out of his pocket and palmed it in his large hands.

"Better than usually," came the response as Yvette shifted her gaze this way and that, testing the goggles. "The bright light does not hurt my eyes so much now." She pushed them up to rest on her forehead, pleased to note they were undamaged by the contact. "They will go very well with my uniform, I think. Thank you again, Dr. McCoy."

Hank nodded and turned his hand over, presenting a small, black box- made of the same metal her goggles had been delivered in- "I think you may find that these will go with your uniform as well." A slight smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
Yvette blinked, confused, then took the box. "Another piece of equipment?" she asked, even as she began to open it. Any further words died on her lips as she looked at the two round metal tags inside, although her eyes flared even brighter than they had when she had seen her goggles. For a long moment, she just stared at the tags, as if unsure they were actually real. Then she looked up at Hank. "For me?" she asked, voice breaking a little even if her mutation prevented her eyes welling with happy tears. "Truly?"

The older mutant nodded, "Yvette Petrovic, since joining the team as a trainee, you have shown exemplary courage, integrity and honor- all important qualities in an X-Man. You are a role model to young mutants and a reminder to those of us who are older as to why we fight for mutant rights. Furthermore, you have proven yourself in multiple situations to be capable and worthy of this. So, long story short, yes, truly, you have earned this."

She looked for words and couldn't find any, instead clutching the small box to her chest. "Thank you," she managed at last. "I know I am saying that to you a lot today, but thank you very much. I will do my best to make my team proud of me." It was a small thrill to say it: my team.

Hank smiled, nodding, "I know you will, Yvette. Now, there's just the little matter of your code name. Did you have something in mind?"

Yvette looked down again at the box containing her tags. It was a question she'd given much thought to - all trainees did, usually not long after they were saddled with their trainee name. "I do," she said at last, looking up at the befurred doctor. "The name I came here with. Pendim." Her face was solemn as she translated. "Penance."