Rogue and Elektra: Bus woes

[x-traction.livejournal.com]

In which Rogue makes a friend on the bus. Conversely, where Elektra meets a strange person on a bus.



Rogue always had enjoyed riding the bus. This might have stemmed from a childhood without bus rides, as her school was within walking distance, and her mama refused to let her board the bus. "You never know who you are going to sit next to," her mama would tell her.

Well. Now Rogue was that dubious person on the bus, but who cared -- no one. Besides, she needed to get home from the city, and the bus was the best way to do it when you didn't have a car, and didn't want to take the train. Walking on, she looked around, and saw a few empty seats. Picking one next to a young girl with long brown hair, she smiled and sat down. It was oddly noisy on the bus, noisier than it usually was, and it was perfect -- if there was anything Rogue liked to do, it was eavesdropping.

The couple behind her was busy arguing about their colour options for their apartment. There was a young mother, exasperated with her son who wouldn't stop licking the poles. A Spanish man was cursing up a storm in his native language, talking to someone on a cell phone. It was easy to zone out and just focus on the ride. That is, until she noticed the book the young girl was holding.

"The Fault in Our Stars? Oh, that's a good one, sugar. I jus' bawled and bawled, like a lil ol' baby reading that. How far are you in it?" Her accent was only slightly noticeable above the din of the bus.

Elektra had some time to kill between classes, and decided to run some errands for her Dad. Today was a completely normal day for her, and the idea of that suited her just fine. Her school year started out a bit rough, and it was nice to finally see some boring. Well, that was the plan at least. However, the boring suddenly felt more, well, boring than she remembered. Even though she had been riding public transit from a young age she had never really read on the bus. Now, with things so boring, she found she needed something to occupy her mental space. A friend of hers suggested this book, and Elektra had thumbed to somewhere in the middle to get a sense of it.

"Not as far as you'd think," Elektra said in a cool tone, after pausing for a second she looked up revealing a big smile "I do appreciate the warning though." By the end of the statement Elektra's gaze had become firmly planted on Rogue's hair. Not even catching herself Elektra continued, "Perhaps, you have a better suggestion for something to read on the bus?"

Rogue was used to the random stares at her hair -- it was a unique stripe, not something people were accustomed to seeing on a relatively young adult. She ignored the stares; however she did reach up and tuck her hair behind her ear. "Well, it all depends on if you care or not about cryin' in public." She stuck out a gloved hand, and smiled. "I'm Rogue, by the way. This way, we're no longer strangers, and it's not weird for me to talk to you, or for you to listen to me. "

Recovering from the stare became easier as Elektra became distracted by the additionally odd fashion choice. This girl must be into some alternative scene that Elektra was unaware of.

"Elektra!" she beamed as she took Rogue's hand. "That's starting to feel a bit like a challenge. OK, you've talked me into it." Pausing for a second Elektra smirked, "Did you just trick me into joining a book club?"

"That sure would be something, wouldn't it," Rogue responded, laughing. "Maybe I just tricked you into a lifelong friendship, how about that? Although, that wouldn't be a very nice way to start, tricking you and all." She reached into her purse, and pulled out a package of gum. Taking a piece for herself, she offered one to Elektra. "I don't actually read much," she confessed. "And when I do, it's just silly love stories. I read enough literature in school -- it's time to read for fun. Do you read lots?"

Taking the gum, Elektra nodded while giving a quick thanks. "Well, I tell you what," she offered, "if we are still friends when I die, I'll buy you a coke."

Things suddenly seemed to slow down as Elektra eyes started to focus on the truck that sped towards the side of the bus. She heard Rogue, but her mind abandoned processing what was being said.

The first thing Rogue noticed was the sudden jolt, as people were violently jostled out of their seats. Being invulnerable meant that she wasn't injured, but she still felt the pain of hitting her head against the pole in front of her.

It was obviously chaos in the bus, with people looking around, trying to figure out what had happened. The truck had hit the bus directly on its side, pushing in the seats where Elektra, and many others, were seated. Those, like on Rogue's side, were only pushed out of place, with minimal injuries. Looking at her new friend, her eyes widened at the blood on Elektra's forehead. Because of all the injuries surrounding Elektra, it was difficult to tell if it was her blood or someone else's. "Are you okay?" she asked, worriedly. Rogue moved towards Elektra, and pulling out an extra pair of gloves from her purse, she placed the cloth on Elektra's forehead. "Hold this, and try to stop the bleeding. I'm going to see if I can help."


Still in shock Elektra could see Rogue speaking, but couldn't really hear her. She responded without thought "yeah, uh-huh." Staring at Rogue's offering of a glove a second longer than she should have Elektra eventually reached out for it, and looked at it for a second. Elektra had trained her body, and mind, but still lacked some practical experience with real world challenges like this. Just as her head started to clear something pushed the bus hard, and from the other side. Elektra saw parts of her body move in an unusual way. As she tumbled she became worried about being late. The back of her head hit the floor hard. It was a blinding flash of light.

‎Rogue had been assisting some of the other passengers when she was tossed into the air. Catching herself mid-flight, she looked worriedly out the window. Another car had hit the truck, pushing it further into the bus. She wasn't concerned before, but now she was. This could become a bigger accident than it needed to be.

Getting off the bus, she looked at the situation. Cars needed to be moved off the road. She wished Jessica was there to help, but she was sure she could do it herself. It was just a matter of getting the people off first. She could see ambulances coming in the distance.

Elektra's vision wasn't out of focus, but her brain's use of the information from her eyes was. Otherwise, she was pretty sure she just saw Rogue hovering. That's when her training started to finally kick in. Her first sort of clear thought was how impressed she was with Rogue's ability to stay focused and clear during all of this. Had Rogue also trained in martial arts? If so, what part of her training prepared her for this?

Getting to her feet Elektra looked at the situation, and inspired by Rogue's previous attempt to help people out, she tried to find a way to make herself useful. She reached for her phone to dial 911, but could see people outside doing the same, or were they. Sirens. OK, help is on the way. She turned back to see what Rogue was doing, if Rogue was still OK. She felt as if she was wasting time trying to find a way to help. That's when she noticed the blood on the floor. It wasn't a small amount, but it wasn't easy to say how much either. Elektra's eyes met Rogue's, and Elektra was clearly shocked.

Once emergency personnel showed up, it was easy to step away and let the professionals do their job. She boarded the bus again, partly to get her things and partly to get Elektra. When she saw the puddle of blood, her eyes widened in shock. "Lordy girl, it's a wonder you're standing, bleedin' like that. Give me your arm.” Without waiting, Rogue went to help Elektra, acting as a support for her to walk off the bus. Although there were more victims than services, Rogue managed to butt to the head of a line. "Head injury. Bleeding bad."

The paramedic‎ jumped into action, immediately going to clean the wound. A few seconds later, Rogue was given the dirtiest look. "She's fine, there's people that actually need help here." as the paramedic stalked off, Rogue looked at Elektra's forehead and was shocked to see a shallow wound. "I could've sworn you were cut up bad, there was jus' so much blood.... "

"Wow, you were only trying to help." Elektra put her hand to her head, winced, even though the pain was nothing compared to what her training had shown her she could handle. It was more of a social politeness to react to the wound. Still, it was a lot of blood for something so small. "Well head wounds are known to be extra bloody," she said while looking at her fingers. "Or maybe it was from another passenger." This thought made her sick. She hated to admit that she understood why the paramedic was annoyed.

"Yeah, maybe.” Rogue still wasn't convinced. She was sure she saw a larger wound, even thinking to herself that the younger girl would need immediate medical assistance. She couldn't dispute what was in front of her eyes though. "You sure you okay?"‎

"yea-" Elektra started before she became distracted by what she saw over Rogue's shoulder. A car that had been previously pinched into the mess started smoking from the hood. "Oh cra-" Flames shot out of the car's front.
Rogue's eyes widened. She was never going to get home at this rate. "Sorry girl," she apologized, grabbing onto Elektra and flying into the air with her. "Fastest way to move, I say.” Once they were a safe distance away, Rogue landed them ‎gently. "What a day! And here I thought the most excitin' thing I was gonna do was buy some discount socks."

A surprising amount of people were recording the accidents with their cellphones instead of staying out of the way, or being useful. From their perspective two young girls impossibly flew through the air while one of them instinctively and rapidly smacked at the hands of the other. On landing Elektra stepped back, "You can fly, and the most exciting thing you thought you'd do is buy socks!"
Their flight went unnoticed by the emergency professionals who had the right training, or were just used to this kind of thing. The police and paramedics moved people even further away from the car, as the firemen handled the flames. Wanting to not table her first vehicleless flight Elektra noticed the crowd of looky loos was pushing in more than what the police could easily cordon. She nodded towards the crowd pushing in.
Rogue laughed at Elektra's surprise. "It's not like I woke up today and realized I could fly. Takes some time for the care and control I have...but I really think we should get going. The crowd's growing and we should leave this to the professionals. I'm gonna call a friend, do you need a ride?"

"Seems like something you'd always find exciting." Elektra mumbled almost more dejectedly to herself than anyone else. Not sure what kind of friend a mutant might have Elektra decided it was best to err on the side of caution. Her uncertainty blended well with her fake disappointed in bored flight, and with that she quickly switched to an appreciative smile, "That's OK, I'm not that far from my destination." As Elektra started to walk into crowd of onlookers, some who clearly saw Rogue's stunt, she continued "Although it looks like I won't get a chance to finish my book anytime soon."

"It'll be out on film soon enough," she called out, watching Elektra slowly blend into the crowd. "Feel free to look me up. Westchester. You'll find me if you look hard enough."