At this point, Alex is pretty sure he's going to die. Which would be more of a thing, normally, he has pretty good survival instincts, but he's so cold he can't move or talk and even trying to think is like quicksand.
Probably. Alex hasn't actually ever been in quicksand, so he can't say for sure.
Anyway, yes, dying. Losing track of your team while on a mission in the Rockies in the middle of winter will do that to you. Stupid mountains. With a stupid name. Rocky Mountains, honestly. Might as well call a forest Woody. Or whatever.
Fuck, but he's cold. He can't feel his fingers. Or his arms. You'd think having a mutant power that blows shit up would be helpful right now, but explosions need energy, as Professor X likes to tell him when he's reminding Alex to eat, and Alex has no energy to spare right now.
That's when Raven trips on him.
"Alex, fuck," she says, bending down. "Oh, fuck."
"C-cold," he manages, and Raven, Raven who hasn't been entirely comfortable with him ever (or him with her, they just don't mesh well), shifts into something large and furry without even blinking and hugs Alex to her chest.
"Sorry we didn't find you sooner," she says into his ear. "Charles got locked into something with the Ice Queen, and I hope her reaction headache is at least as bad as his is. Luckily Hank has a locator on your suit. The others should be just behind me." Alex thinks they're probably more behind than Raven has noticed; him and the rest are generally not as fast as she is.
"Hank's great," Alex says, slurring a bit. "You're great."
"You too," Raven says, starting to sound amused. "Now warm up, don't die on me."
"Warming up," Alex says. Then, because he figures he should, "Thanks for coming to get me."
"We'll always come get you," Raven says. "That's the point of all this, right? Not being alone."
Alex considers pointing out that some of it seems to be about preventing nuclear warfare. But those would be many words, and anyway he likes what Raven said better. Not being alone.
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Probably. Alex hasn't actually ever been in quicksand, so he can't say for sure.
Anyway, yes, dying. Losing track of your team while on a mission in the Rockies in the middle of winter will do that to you. Stupid mountains. With a stupid name. Rocky Mountains, honestly. Might as well call a forest Woody. Or whatever.
Fuck, but he's cold. He can't feel his fingers. Or his arms. You'd think having a mutant power that blows shit up would be helpful right now, but explosions need energy, as Professor X likes to tell him when he's reminding Alex to eat, and Alex has no energy to spare right now.
That's when Raven trips on him.
"Alex, fuck," she says, bending down. "Oh, fuck."
"C-cold," he manages, and Raven, Raven who hasn't been entirely comfortable with him ever (or him with her, they just don't mesh well), shifts into something large and furry without even blinking and hugs Alex to her chest.
"Sorry we didn't find you sooner," she says into his ear. "Charles got locked into something with the Ice Queen, and I hope her reaction headache is at least as bad as his is. Luckily Hank has a locator on your suit. The others should be just behind me." Alex thinks they're probably more behind than Raven has noticed; him and the rest are generally not as fast as she is.
"Hank's great," Alex says, slurring a bit. "You're great."
"You too," Raven says, starting to sound amused. "Now warm up, don't die on me."
"Warming up," Alex says. Then, because he figures he should, "Thanks for coming to get me."
"We'll always come get you," Raven says. "That's the point of all this, right? Not being alone."
Alex considers pointing out that some of it seems to be about preventing nuclear warfare. But those would be many words, and anyway he likes what Raven said better. Not being alone.