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'Nica and Alex || Gym Time
Alex takes out some frustration on a punching bag. 'Nica offers him a slightly healthier outlet.
Punch. Block. Punch, punch. Block. They'd been there. They had her. Beat up the bigots, take the innocent girl home. How had that gone so wrong? Energy flared up and down his arm, and he punched again without thinking.
This time the sand bag exploded, creating a dust storm as the contents scattered. Alex straightened up, breathing heavily, and slid his headphones off to hang around his neck.
"Oops."
There came the sound of coughing from the doorway, and as the dust cleared, Nica was standing there, fanning dust away from her face. Her expression, however, was impressed. "Damn, Alex. Hell of a punch you have going there."
"Heh." He laughed humorlessly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah. Never really tried using my powers to punch before. Might be handy."
"Possibly don't use it in the gym, tho'. It's a bit hard on the equipment." Nica came in properly, dressed for her own workout in a pair of sweats and a tank top with a towel around her next and a water bottle in her hand, but she set these aside and sat instead on the cushioned seat of one of the weight machines near Alex. "I don't mean to be nosy, but... is something wrong? This sort of thing, it isn't really... you. Y'know?"
"I'm sure this isn't the first time one of these things has been killed." He sighed, waving a hand at the mess. "Just... a case I can't really get out of my head. You saw what went down with the Church of Humanity, right?"
Nica's expression became solemn. "Yes," she said quietly. "You were there?"
Alex nodded, cracking his knuckles. "Yeah. Girl's dad hired us to look for her and we found her a little too late. Ya know how it goes."
"Theoretically, yeah, but I haven't gone through it yet." Nica's 'thank god' went unspoken. "Still, even if it's part of the job, it can't be easy to deal with. How is everyone coping?" She mean 'you' by 'everyone', but she didn't want to offend his pride by asking it directly.
He rolled his shoulders, then shrugged. "All the usual ways. Work. Not thinking about it. Vacation. Lor and I talk a bit about it sometimes. No pushing or trying to get it all out at once just... when we can."
"Beating up punching bags..." Nica added with a half-grin. "I dunno... I know the cops and such have resources for tough missions, like debriefings with a trained counsellor and stuff. Maybe something like that could help too?"
"Heh." Alex slumped against a wall. "Yeah. I suppose Worthington could fund a therapist for the rougher cases. I've never been much of a talker, though. Believe it or not." Because he was aware of how unbelievable it sounded.
Nica fixed him with a searching look. "Actually, I do. 'Cause talking about random shit is a good cover for not talking about the stuff that matters," she replied. "My dad's military. He and his pals have 'I'm fine' down to a science."
Alex raised an eyebrow, smiling despite himself. “Busted.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I dunno. We get a lot more kid cases then you’d think. Ran away, driven away by crappy parents, parents think the kid joined a gang when really they’re just a secret mutant... this is the first time we didn’t save the kid.”
Nica opened her mouth to say 'I can imagine,' but she paused. "To be honest, I can't imagine how to feel after something like that. I mean, logically we can't save everyone, even with super powers, but it feels like we ought to be able to, you know?" She smacked herself on the forehead. "Of course you know, you're actually experiencing it. But you know what I mean."
"Yeah." He chuckled. "I do. My sister and I liked to play superhero when we were kids - usually freeing a toy from the Evil Authority that was our moms. But we always saved the day. And yeah, I know that was never realistic, but... we're all at least trying to do some good around here. And then something like this happens..." He waved a hand. "And clearly talking about it isn't easy."
"I guess it wouldn't be." Nica lightly socked him on the arm. "But hey, at least you know you need to, right?"
"Knowing what you have to do and actually doing it are two different things, though." He chuckled tiredly. "I've tried talking to Lorna about it, and it's not like she doesn't listen, she's great, I'm pretty fond of her, but it's... hard to talk about shared experiences, if that makes sense."
"Total sense. You know what she's been through and 'cause you like her, you don't want to add to it. Or something." Nica shrugged. "Psych 101 rears its ugly head. But it does make sense. I never liked to talk to Dad about my Mom, because we'd both lost her. But then we both had other people we could talk to about it, which helped."
"Pretty much." Alex ran a hand through his hair, sighing. But he was smiling faintly. "You're a little too smart, ya know?" It was an obvious tease.
She grinned, pleased at the compliment, even if it was teasing. "Not so much. I just watch and listen a lot." She glanced over at the destroyed heavy bag. "You want a hand cleaning this up?" she asked, seeing she had made her point and that it would be nagging to keep going.
He followed her gaze, grimacing. "Er.... yeah. That'd be great. Thanks."
Punch. Block. Punch, punch. Block. They'd been there. They had her. Beat up the bigots, take the innocent girl home. How had that gone so wrong? Energy flared up and down his arm, and he punched again without thinking.
This time the sand bag exploded, creating a dust storm as the contents scattered. Alex straightened up, breathing heavily, and slid his headphones off to hang around his neck.
"Oops."
There came the sound of coughing from the doorway, and as the dust cleared, Nica was standing there, fanning dust away from her face. Her expression, however, was impressed. "Damn, Alex. Hell of a punch you have going there."
"Heh." He laughed humorlessly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah. Never really tried using my powers to punch before. Might be handy."
"Possibly don't use it in the gym, tho'. It's a bit hard on the equipment." Nica came in properly, dressed for her own workout in a pair of sweats and a tank top with a towel around her next and a water bottle in her hand, but she set these aside and sat instead on the cushioned seat of one of the weight machines near Alex. "I don't mean to be nosy, but... is something wrong? This sort of thing, it isn't really... you. Y'know?"
"I'm sure this isn't the first time one of these things has been killed." He sighed, waving a hand at the mess. "Just... a case I can't really get out of my head. You saw what went down with the Church of Humanity, right?"
Nica's expression became solemn. "Yes," she said quietly. "You were there?"
Alex nodded, cracking his knuckles. "Yeah. Girl's dad hired us to look for her and we found her a little too late. Ya know how it goes."
"Theoretically, yeah, but I haven't gone through it yet." Nica's 'thank god' went unspoken. "Still, even if it's part of the job, it can't be easy to deal with. How is everyone coping?" She mean 'you' by 'everyone', but she didn't want to offend his pride by asking it directly.
He rolled his shoulders, then shrugged. "All the usual ways. Work. Not thinking about it. Vacation. Lor and I talk a bit about it sometimes. No pushing or trying to get it all out at once just... when we can."
"Beating up punching bags..." Nica added with a half-grin. "I dunno... I know the cops and such have resources for tough missions, like debriefings with a trained counsellor and stuff. Maybe something like that could help too?"
"Heh." Alex slumped against a wall. "Yeah. I suppose Worthington could fund a therapist for the rougher cases. I've never been much of a talker, though. Believe it or not." Because he was aware of how unbelievable it sounded.
Nica fixed him with a searching look. "Actually, I do. 'Cause talking about random shit is a good cover for not talking about the stuff that matters," she replied. "My dad's military. He and his pals have 'I'm fine' down to a science."
Alex raised an eyebrow, smiling despite himself. “Busted.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I dunno. We get a lot more kid cases then you’d think. Ran away, driven away by crappy parents, parents think the kid joined a gang when really they’re just a secret mutant... this is the first time we didn’t save the kid.”
Nica opened her mouth to say 'I can imagine,' but she paused. "To be honest, I can't imagine how to feel after something like that. I mean, logically we can't save everyone, even with super powers, but it feels like we ought to be able to, you know?" She smacked herself on the forehead. "Of course you know, you're actually experiencing it. But you know what I mean."
"Yeah." He chuckled. "I do. My sister and I liked to play superhero when we were kids - usually freeing a toy from the Evil Authority that was our moms. But we always saved the day. And yeah, I know that was never realistic, but... we're all at least trying to do some good around here. And then something like this happens..." He waved a hand. "And clearly talking about it isn't easy."
"I guess it wouldn't be." Nica lightly socked him on the arm. "But hey, at least you know you need to, right?"
"Knowing what you have to do and actually doing it are two different things, though." He chuckled tiredly. "I've tried talking to Lorna about it, and it's not like she doesn't listen, she's great, I'm pretty fond of her, but it's... hard to talk about shared experiences, if that makes sense."
"Total sense. You know what she's been through and 'cause you like her, you don't want to add to it. Or something." Nica shrugged. "Psych 101 rears its ugly head. But it does make sense. I never liked to talk to Dad about my Mom, because we'd both lost her. But then we both had other people we could talk to about it, which helped."
"Pretty much." Alex ran a hand through his hair, sighing. But he was smiling faintly. "You're a little too smart, ya know?" It was an obvious tease.
She grinned, pleased at the compliment, even if it was teasing. "Not so much. I just watch and listen a lot." She glanced over at the destroyed heavy bag. "You want a hand cleaning this up?" she asked, seeing she had made her point and that it would be nagging to keep going.
He followed her gaze, grimacing. "Er.... yeah. That'd be great. Thanks."