guard duty; toughin' it out Who: Zap & Toad (as played by Rob here) and (briefly) Shard, Sabretooth, Cyclops When: Thursday, February 28th, 2008 Where: Xavier's; the grounds What: guard duty Status: complete Rating: PG-13
A lot of good whining did. It was ten til midnight Zap found herself trudging through half a foot of snow toward the furthest reach of Xavier’s property where her post-to-be was located; Xavier’s two-foot-thick, 10-foot-tall fence. To be more precise, it was the watch station that was currently being parented by Shard and Toad.
From behind the collar of her coat, “Will, get your chilly cheeks back inside. You look like an abused sled dog. Yes. Troy paid me to say that.” She patted the front pocket of her jeans to indicate the monetary compensation. Watch was four hours - two with one person, then they were replaced, and two hours later, your replacement arrived. There were plenty of warm bodies between the two groups (X-Men and Brotherhood) but there were dozens of other jobs to be done and time was of the essence. She’d complained that only men had been getting watch positions and that it was sexist and unfair to decide that women couldn’t detect up stirrings as well as men. So, on the following day after the peak of her complaints, she was assigned watch duty for the twelve to four shift . . . in February . . . in the snow . . . with Toad.
“You sure you want to go through with this?” Shard asked as he ignored to sled dog comment. “I can take your shift if you want, or would that be a betrayal to all the women that have come before?” Will teased. He didn’t like the idea of Zap being stuck out here in the wind, snow, and cold and with Toad. Not that Toad had been the worst company, he was actually a pretty funny guy. Like hanging out with a green Troy.
“To both women and my people. Both people.” She raised a fist with mild enthusiasm and declared, “Green beer and fire water!” And as an after thought, “And girly drinks. But really, I’ll be fine. I can manage sitting on my ass for four hours.” Inside, anyway. It was fucking cold. “C’mon down.” She motioned for him to climb down the rungs of the makeshift ladder that led to the perch on the wall.
Will gave a last glance at Toad, “She can kill you with her brain, see-ya.” Will descended the ladder and met Zap at the bottom. “You need anything, just call.” He put his hands on her shoulders and rubbed the sides of her arms. “Stay warm.” As much as Will didn’t like this idea, he was ready to head inside. His warm bed was calling, and smacking Troy around for all of his dog remarks seemed like a good way to get ready for bed.
“He’s not really that bad, at least it’s not Sabretooth.” Will gave Zap a smile of encouragement. “You’re a hero to your people, all of them.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Zap muttered, motioning for Will to skedaddle. She smiled, though, when he touched her shoulders. “At least it’s not Troy,” she countered. There were worse things. They did have warm beds to go to and hot food when they were hungry. “Thanks, Will. Get some sleep.” When his hands fell from her shoulders, she grasped one of his in her right hand - though she could hardly feel it through her gloves, and let it fall after a quick squeeze. “Night.” Her fingers grasped the bottom rungs and she moved up to the perch. When she reached the top, Toad was crouched there next to a thermos of (supposedly) a hot beverage and not speaking. Oh, great. “Hi.”
What the hell was this? Some ‘tough’ chick trying to prove she could hang with the boys. He could respect that. Sort of made him want to test her a little bit, see how long it would take her to crack if he ignored her. Or if he treated her different because she was a woman. This could be fun, and hell, he needed something to amuse himself for the next two hours.
A slight hand gesture replaced an audible greeting and Toad barely turned his head to acknowledge her.
Zap let her head tilt forward in minor dismay. He still wasn’t speaking. It might have been better that way, she decided. She brushed the snowflakes off the mesh folding chair that had landed there since Shard’s butt left it. She shrugged to herself, and sat down. She took a sweeping gaze out over the area surrounding Xavier’s grounds that was in their view while she adjusted her gloves. “I’m Zap.” She wasn’t looking at him - for a response or a reaction, but doing what she was up there to do. A little intro never hurt anyone.
Besides the bare branches in the wind, there was very little in the way of moment. Toad kept a sharp eye but was far more interested in his new partner than the abandoned tree horizon. He allowed himself a smirk while his face was completely turned away from Zap. Xavier must have been very trusting, put such a attractive young girl alone with Toad. Didn’t his reputation mean anything, what was this world coming to? Of course she was supposed to be pretty powerful but that just meant more of a challenge.
The walkie at his feet barked to life, “12:02, no visuals, over.” The voice was vaguely familiar but Toad couldn’t identify it, everybody here sounded the same. He picked up the walkie and clicked the button “Not a bloody thing, over.” He let go of the button on dropped the radio back to his feet.
“I know, a lightnin’ bug…techno wiz.” Toad spoke without looking in her direction.
The walkie went crackled and Piotr spoke. “I dunno about ‘techno wiz‘. There’s Matrix. But I can do most of what she can by hand.” She was speaking to the back of his head, but he’d addressed her and she wanted to keep the lid open. “I understand you know your way around a piece of machinery yourself.” Zap re-tied her scarf and pulled her hat down tighter over her ears. “Jack of all trades?”
He already didn’t care, until she mentioned him. Maybe his reputation did stand for something. “I ‘ate that expression, cuz the way it ends.” Master of none, bullcock.
For the first time his glaze shifted toward his bundled-up company. She did have balls, being out here in the cold, with the possibility of zombies. Add in on top of that being outside alone with the enemy. “’ere.” He tossed her a blanket with a small battery pack attached to the bottom. “Careful, I readjusted the thermostat…gets pretty hot.”
“But I didn’t say that,” she interjected. She knew how it usually ended. “Huh, thanks.” She pulled the gray colored thing around her legs and tucked it in here and there. “You don’t seem too bothered being out here. Or being here at all.”
Truthfully Toad was more comfortable out here than in the mansion. Or the side building the Brotherhood had been assigned to. Luxuries were few and far between for their group lately, it would take some time to get used to the accommodations.
“Guard duty ain’t bad, at least it’s somethin’ to do,” Toad replied. “Since they won’t let me ‘round any of the fun toys yet.” He was sure they would, Xavier’s lot was nothing if not trusting. Another week of being on his best behavior was all it would take. Maybe he could even pawn the rest of his watch shifts on Sabretooth, a small smile appeared on his face after that thought.
Toad couldn’t help continue the conversation, damn his inability to resist the ladies. Blessing and a curse. “What brings you up ‘ere, lightenin’ bug?” He was pretty sure he knew but ask them about themselves, they all love that.
‘Fun toys‘. Huh. Let him have them, Zap thought. She was the one who had to keep them together. They were rarely fun for her. “You probably know how to handle them better than most of the guys my age. Those are the retards they let run everything - and who I‘m sure you‘ve been in the company of out here for the last week or two.” Whoa, soapbox. She hadn‘t meant to. But it didn‘t matter. Conversation distracted from the cold. Then he asked about the guard duty. “The age old conflict. Does superiority lie within the sword or the chalice?” Almost instantly, she regretted her choice of analogy. Would it go over his head? “I think Xavier’s a sword man.” There were several meanings behind her final thought.
“Why is freezing your ass off while staring into a dark nothing superior? Maybe it’s just not right to ask women to do all the same things. If chivalry is dead, feminists killed it.” Toad hated feminists. Take Mystique, probably the most independent woman Toad knew and she could act like a damned lady.
“So they get to play with all the shinies, and you can’t? Lemme guess, you’re one of the ones that fixes them all. You put yourself in that power position, you like it.” For the first time since he’d been here, he finally had an opportunity to match wits with someone who wasn’t a lot dumber or a lot smarter than him.
“I guess I can, but I never get the chance to. You know.” Now she was on the defense, and that’s when things usually got ugly. She wasn’t a feminist. She just didn’t want to be looked at as weak. Maybe that’s what feminists were. Well, she wasn’t weak. “I didn’t choose to have this ability. I’m in my position because I can fix things.” ‘Because I studied them for years’. Maybe she did put herself in her current situation within the dynamic of the team. She sighed - but not with defeat. “I wasn’t complaining - about not getting to do things. I was just saying they get to do them first. And I’m not speaking for just myself. Granted, Storm’s the best pilot here. Maybe the women my age here just suck.” She smirked a little, knowing she was included in the ‘suck’ category herself. She wasn’t the bravest individual. She supposed she talked a big game, but preferred to be behind the scenes - unlike Ronan, who could and would do both.
Finally coming to the conclusion that she was trying to prove herself to herself, she blinked several times into the cold air while her eyes scanned the black horizon. She was out here because she was scared. It wouldn’t do well to stay that way. “I’m really freakin’ afraid of those things. Like, terrified. Nightmare shit. I know I could kill them, but I know they can kill me too.” Beast. . .
It wasn’t just that they were scary. It was sort of what they represented - death, fear, failure, disease, trauma, endings. “I only started challenging the guard rotation last week.” It had been nine days since the death of Hank McCoy. Was she looking to find some of them?
And then he saw it, the real Zap. Underneath the other crap. Toad prided himself on getting to know the real person behind the mask. Sometimes it was pretty easy, Victor leaped to mind. Other times really fucking difficult, Magneto and Mystique for example. Zap wasn’t easy because she was shallow, Toad had just had some great ammunition.
He shifted himself and moved a little closer when she mentioned being frightened, it seem chivalry wasn’t dead. He couldn’t fault her for being scared of those things, you’d have to be crazy not to be. “You’re not the only one looking for a little bit of vengeance,” He said quietly. People around looked at it like it was a bad thing. Like most of the Brotherhood there had been a time in his life where vengeance had been the only thing keeping him alive. “Killing some of them won’t make you feel better. In fact, in your case it’ll probably just make you feel worse.” he paused and was now looking right at her. “S‘anyone here thought up that maybe medicine isn‘t the thing to fix this? Put in a good word to get me in there and we‘ll see what else can be done.” Toad couldn’t help but smirk. “I’ll even show you how to have some fun with all your toys.”
She felt a little resentful when the green man voiced that he knew what would make her feel good. Where did he get off? It might make her feel a whole hell of a lot better. Even she wasn’t sure. But she knew better - she knew there was a cure on the way. They were working around the clock and had several theories - any of which could be found to be successful. Recon’s idea was the most intriguing (where she was concerned). “They actually think they’re close. But I think you might be the first to … are you talking about annihilating them, or curing them with some gadget? Because Mars has been working ‘round the clock to build things to kill them. I walked in on his breakthrough for the UV grenades.” She gestured to the metal box on the other side of Toad. It was packed with the things. All the stations had been armed.
Will’s words of warning along with her own gut reaction caused her to stiffen when he moved closer. But it had been a comforting gesture - so far as she assumed. “Do you think I should be afraid of you?” Nothing had been mentioned either way, but she was curious. It was a delicate subject with most mutants who had physical mutations - and this one was a known murderer.
“Either / or, which ever gets us all out of this hell a little quicker.” He looked back toward the box when she mentioned it. Funny no one else had said anything about it.
“From what I hear, you shouldn’t have much to worry about, Lightenin’ bug.” He tried not to flinch while thinking about lightening. “Listen, I’m not threatening or trying to be imposing,” he shifted again moved a little further away. “I’m just damned sure both of us could be doing a lot more than this.” Annoyance crept into his voice as he spoke. He wasn’t used to being the one on the outside looking in when he was with a group of mutants. But that wasn’t all; for some reason he was annoyed Zap had taken his gesture negatively. He’d move toward her purely out of protective reflex, something he wasn’t even sure he still had when it came to someone other than himself.
Someone was grumpy pants now. It bothered her that she’d pissed him off so easily. But on the other hand, it was sort of a thrill. And she was too hotheaded to let it go. Politics aside, “You do think that, though. You think I should jump when you say ‘boo’. But if you make nice and someone takes it the wrong way, you get sore and feel rejected. That’s sort of a double standard, don’t you think? I don’t think you’re such a terror, you know.” Her glasses were covered in droplets of water that had been snowflakes when they landed, and she brushed at the lenses with her gloves fingers so she could see better - which was the idea behind her being out there in the first place.
With the risk of getting her fingers broken, she reached forward and touched his padded-down arm, “I’ll see what I can do. I know how it feels.”
His first instinct was to get angry and yell. She knew how what felt? Being a freak, having everyone be able to see it. One thing he did have to say about the late Dr. McCoy is that he was the only one of the X-men that looked like a mutant. Looked like a freakin’ Gap catalog came to life around here.
Before he could say anything he realized her hand was touching the side of his arm. The spot was instantly warm and his train of thought had been derailed. He hadn’t noticed before but she smelled really delightful. Sugar and vanilla, it immediately made him feel relaxed and warm. “Clever girl,” a boyish grin. “I doubt you‘ll be disappointed.”
Zap felt like she’d just made a deal with the devil. Her arms sprang up with goosebumps and her fingers took longer than she’d planned to move from his arm. She wasn’t sure what he meant by ‘clever girl’ - for agreeing to help him get his hands on millions of dollars of equipment, or for countering his rising anger by grabbing his arm. She hadn’t realized he’d get so angry, and she didn’t think about the little beguiling chess move she made until she saw the pissed off look in his eyes leave when she touched him. He was smiling, and so did she. He made her think of her favorite movie and book - Jurassic Park. Muldoon, a character near and dear to her, said in the film “clever girl” just before his death. He appreciated the cunningness of the animal that ended him. It was something that always reminded her to pay respect to nature and the wild. So, with all that in mind, she felt she’d received a compliment. Toad’s last sentence felt more like a double entendre. It didn’t help that his heart was beating faster. Her cheeks went red despite her best efforts and her chest felt hot. “My favorite color is green.” Crap. Did he have control over freakin’ pheromones? She hadn’t found that listed as one of his abilities. At least she wasn’t lying.
“I’m a very lovely shade,” Toad broke the awkward silence that followed her last comment. Suddenly he realized how close he had gotten to her. He was now crouching directly beside her chair, his walkie and binoculars still resting at his feet. He tried to do something with his face other than smile but it seemed to persist. Toad spent the next few minutes staring at Zap and wilderness in equal portions before he spoke again. “So, ‘ve you always been this much of a spaz?”
If he was green, she was red. In the silent period between his words, she felt like her heart might have entered a marathon and not let her in. God, she felt like such a freak. And then her self-conscious efforts were proven fruitful. Hah. Spaz. She cleared her throat - which was much needed, and replied “No, it’s just that I have the magical ability to stop conversations dead.” Despite the bitterness of the freezing air around them, Zap’s legs were getting toasty under the blanket she’d draped across her lap. Her fingers found the dial and she adjusted it while avoiding Toad’s gaze. “Spaz, maybe. Nerd, definitely. It was just that you quoted one of my favorite characters of fiction. Threw me off.” Her eyes left his and she looked to her lap. “Sorry. Anyway, it is a nice shade. I have a pair of panties the same color.” She angled herself in her seat to see him better, subconsciously abandoning her view of the perimeter.
His eyebrow raised and his interest peaked at the mention of panties. “Really-” Before Toad could continue his thought the walkie once again crackled to life.
“Morty, Morty you there?” Toad immediately recognized the gruff bark of Sabretooth.
Sincerely flustered, Toad snatched up the walkie as quick as he could, “Yeah.”
Sabretooth took a moment to answer. “You were asleep, you little bitch.”
If Toad’s cheeks had the ability to turn red, they would have.
“Sod off ya big hairy floor mat. What the ‘ell is it?” Toad yelled into the microphone.
“Movement in north, grid 8.” Sabretooth answered with a much more serious tone.
Toad grabbed his binoculars and scanned the zone Sabretooth had radioed in. He held his breath for a moment. Nothing, not even a leaf rustling. He handed the glasses to Zap and pointed in the general direction. He let a out a small laugh of slight embarrassment, he detested his name, and at the moment, Sabretooth as well. “One tick,” he said to Zap and placed the walkie back to his mouth.
“Your eyes must be going to, same way as your brain Victor.” He clicked off the walkie for a moment to take a breath and dig into Sabretooth a bit longer but before he could another voice entered the channel.
“Knock off the chatter - you guys can make plans for dinner later.”
Toad knew that voice also as boy scout troop leader Scott Summers. Even more infuriated Toad prepared a filthy British slang ridden retort but noticed Zap in the corner of his eye and reconsidered. “Right,” He answered, pride held high. Then dropped the walkie again preferring to forget the entire incident. “So... where were we?”