(no subject)

[x-polarisstar.livejournal.com]

Tuesday Night, Very Late
Lorna and Alex reconnect after her shift on comms ends. They apologise to each other and discuss powers a little bit. Then Lorna falls asleep so Alex carries her to bed. Yes, another cute log. We’re sorry. We try to poke them to make them more interesting but the cute is too strong.



Lorna climbed the stairs slowly, rubbing her temples to try and forestall the headache she could feel building behind her eyes. The first team had brought Alex back and the second was still out scouring the city for clues. Ororo had charge of the teams now and had given Lorna permission to leave at the end of her shift. Someone else had comm. duty now. Lorna wasn’t sure who. All she wanted right now was to find Alex and assure herself that he was safe. She rapped lightly on the door to his suite and leaned against the wall to wait.

Just to show how worried he was, 'Return of the King' was in the suite's DVD player. When Alex had returned, he'd been informed that Shiro wasn't feeling well and after checking that his room mate was sleeping soundly, he'd set himself up in seats in the common room. The rec room was too social for his mood, which hadn't improved since his phone conversation with Polaris. He was worried about his brother, and therefore tried to lose himself in the movie, so much so that he hardly heard the knock on the suite door. Slowly, he stood and padded his way over to the door, opening it slightly to see who it was.

Lorna was still wearing the undersuit that many of the team wore below the X-men uniforms. Leather was tough but not actually all that comfortable. She’d pulled on jeans over it before she’d come upstairs but she still looked more like an X-man than anything. She wished she’d thought to change. However the opportunity to do so slipped away as the door opened. She was blushing ever so faintly as she met Alex’s eyes. “Hi.” It was barely a whisper, practically just a soundless lip movement.

He tried very hard not to flinch visibly at her undersuit, again the reminder of her being an X-man painful. Alex didn't think he would ever get used to it, it was hard enough with Scott...Scott...Alex closed his eyes a moment to get rid of the knot in his throat then opened the door for her to come in. "Hi."

She wrung her hands as she stepped inside, giving him a careful once over. “I just…how are you doing?” She winced, “Sorry, stupid question. I meant, are you hurt at all?” She wanted to hug him but didn’t want to do so only to find a bruise or something.

He closed the door to the suite and returned back to the couch, taking her hand to bring her with him. Alex was too tired to stand by the door, his nerves having worn him out. Once they were on the couch, he hugged her close. "I'm not hurt, don't worry about me." He said the last and mentally added worry about my brother...

She curled against him, holding on tightly. “I do worry. I have been worried.” Her grip tightened just a bit more. “I’m sorry that I had to do that.” She had spent the rest of her shift feeling guilty about treating him like a victim rather than like Alex. She didn’t regret it; it had been necessary but she felt guilty anyway.

He kissed her forehead gently, accepting her apology. "Don't worry, I understand. It was part of your job." He took a deep breath before remembering Alex had his own apology. "And I'm sorry I took out my worry on you. I was just feeling so guilty and worried and scared..." He sighed gently, holding her as he rested his head on top of hers. "I'm sorry love."

“It’s okay. It’s what I’m here for. Both me, Polaris and me, your girlfriend.” She looked up at him, “We’ll find him, Alex. They have your information and they’ll find who took him and we’ll get him back.” She said it confidently, far more confidently than she felt.

Alex closed his eyes. "I hope so." He paused for a moment, figuring out his words before he said them. "It happened again, Lorna...my powers, they worked instinctively. But they kicked in too late, after they got him." His voice shook with guilt he'd been holding in. "If they'd only kicked in a minute earlier...this wouldn't have happened."

She eased away to look him in the face. “Hey.” She touched his cheek and waited for him to open his eyes. “You don’t know whether or not it would have happened,” she said once he had, “Maybe all that would have happened is that the men who took Scott killed you rather than just leaving you alone. Don’t second guess it.” That very real possible had her suppressing a shudder

That only caused him to close his eyes again and shudder violently. That thought hadn't occurred to him and she was right. If he'd proved more trouble then he was worth, Alex had no doubt the man holding him would have killed him. Opening his eyes once more he laid his head on her shoulder. "I didn't think about it that way. I wish I knew why this had to happen in the first place. I don't wanna lose my brother again..."

“You won’t. We’ll find him, I promise.” She hugged him again and shifted so she was sitting almost in his lap. She stroked her fingers through his hair, soothingly, taking as much comfort from it as she sought to give. “Are you working with Moira about your powers?” Perhaps it wasn’t a fair time to bring it up but it was an opportunity.

"I talked to her once about it but nothing ever came of it...I'm going to e-mail her once Scott is home." Because he will come home. "I think I'm too upset over this whole thing right now." He couldn't help but moan softly at her fingers stroking his hair, almost purring. It was soothing and his hitched breathing was starting to calm down.

“Please do. You need to learn more about it. Between Moira and Scott, they should be able to train your powers so you can use them.” Because that might save your life. She couldn’t say it. It was too much like tempting Fate. She kissed him instead. “I love you.”

Alex nodded. "I need to figure this out before the next time someone I love is in danger and instinct doesn't kick in." He nuzzled her gently before saying, "I love you," and kissing her.

“That would be best,” she agreed, resting against him and closing her eyes. She was exhausted though she’d done nothing more than sit at the comm. bank for hours. “Sooner is safer in this case.”

He was comfortable just sitting there holding her, though he did nod slowly. "You’re right...I've put this off long enough."

She concentrated on relaxing her body, one muscle group at a time. Sometimes unwinding was unpleasantly literal. “I’ll help you in any way that I can. Just let me know, okay?” Her voice was becoming heavy with sleep.

Alex caught the sleepiness in her voice and gently picked her up. He himself wasn't sleepy, his nerves still doing that much, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from spending the night with her in his arms. "I know you will. But now, let's get you to bed, alright?"

“Mmm, you coming too?” Her hands tugged at him possessively, though they were gentle nonetheless. Some part of her brain knew she’d just totally crashed and tried to rally her thoughts. The rest ignored it and snuggled in for a nap.

He laughed softly as he carried her out of the common room and into the hall, earning a few smiling looks as they passed. "Of course. I would never miss the opportunity to spend a night in my lady's arms."

“Good. Stay with me.” Opening the suite door was second nature, she didn’t even notice that she had until they were crossing the common room in her suite to her room. She frowned sleepily, “I have to change into pjs.” It seemed like a monumental task and she buried her face in Alex’s neck rather than think about it.

He hugged her close as he laid her down on the bed, having kicked the door shut and laid down beside her. "I think one night in the suit won't kill you." He nuzzled her hair as if to return the gesture. "Go to sleep now."

“Mmm,” she agreed and let go of the last little strand holding her awake. It complained that she would wake up uncomfortable. She didn’t much care.

Alex sighed as he watched her drift off and held her to him, watching her sleep. The first time he'd lost his brother, he'd had nothing. At least this time, he had the love of his life to help him through it and he thanked god every minute for it.