The X-Base, Utopia-Which-Is-Totally-Not-Alcatraz, Earth 616

After a brief pit stop at the other island off the coast of San Francisco (look, Alcatraz loomed large in Karla's recollections; there was a lot of trauma associated there), Karla and the others made their way to Utopia--which, truth be told, probably should have been their first stop, consider how utterly ridiculous it looked. Was there some kind of side effect of the X-gene that drove them towards horrific ostentation?

...Okay, someone was feeling a little bitchy right now. Short of sleep and long on worry did not make for a particularly charming Karla.

But hey! No one here would be surprised when Karla stormed in and threatened to rip everyone and everything apart until they brought her to Jono. They'd dealt with her before. That was okay, though. She wasn't here to make friends.

The doors to the base slammed open and Karla strolled inside, totally not spoiling for a fight at all, thank you. She collared the first mutant she could see, a pink-haired girl with wings, and pleasantly snarling, "Where is Jono? Now, please."

That was a friendly smile, Pixie. Really.

[NFB, for folks who wanted in on the yelling!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

furnaceface

It was very rarely that one might be able to say, 'Good thing Wolverine broke in,' since Pixie, still shaken from the events of yesterday and not in the mood for being shaken down by a total stranger, had gotten as far as "Sihal Novar-" with the total intent of teleporting over the bay and dropping Karla in from very, very high up. Of course, grabbing Karla by the wrist that she was holding the girl by probably wasn't the most politic way to break up a situation about to get unpleasant fast, either.

"Problem here?"

For the record, Logan hated when Jono's friends came to visit.

From:

glacial_queen

Excuse him. Karla and Raven had been instrumental in saving the lives of many mutants, both those who were X-Men and those who had just been saved by them. Some people and the giant gaps in their memories...

"She was just helping me find Jono," Karla said, turning her smile down towards Wolverine. He had about ten seconds to let go of her wrist before things got ugly. She was the one grabbing people around here. "Before I got all impatient and rude."

From:

furnaceface

"And we'd all hate to see that," Logan replied dryly, arcing an eyebrow right back up at her. He wasn't in any mood for this. He'd had a shitty week too, here. "How about you let go of Megan and you and I have a chat about manners, instead?"

From:

glacial_queen

"Or we could forego the smalltalk entirely," Karla offered, letting go of the girl and making shooing motions at her with her hand. Her presence was no longer required, thank you. "And you could just lead me and my friends to Jono, where we'll take him off your hands and leave all the faster. I think we can agree that would be best for all of us, no?"

And the continued structural integrity of your ridiculous base went unsaid. But Karla liked to think it was audible all the same.

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From:

furnaceface

It wasn't that Jonothon had been uncooperative since he'd been marched down to the infirmary. He'd stayed still for those x-rays, after all, and he'd let Dr. Rao poke at him however she needed to in order to be certain he wasn't on the verge of sudden death or something. He'd just been... uncommunicative, too. Lee was the only one who'd been able to get a straight answer out of him since his memories had returned, and even those were something on the monosyllabic side.

He was waiting for a lift out of here. He wasn't talking to anyone until he had that much. And in the meantime, his eyes were going to be on his knees, staring through his flames.

From:

glacial_queen

He almost certainly heard his ride before he saw them. Karla wasn't going to any trouble to stay quiet, after all, and if Dr. Rao or Scott Summers thought they were going to stand in the way of Jono's own friends (not teammates, friends) from coming to get him, they had another thing coming.

"I don't care that he's still undergoing whatever bullshit testing you're putting him through in an effort to feel useful," she said, completely reasonably. "I'm going in there to fetch him, and, if I have to, I will go through you to fetch him."

From:

trigons_child

Raven had been anxiously looking around for Jono as they entered the infirmary. Once she saw him, her heart almost stopped. For a moment, she couldn't breathe.

She didn't know if anyone here was going to try to prevent them from getting Jono out of there. Try. She was picking up on confusion and some anger from those around them, but nothing that indicated a wish to stop them, not yet at least. She hung back a little, tense as she waited for a reaction, ready to teleport them out of there instantly if needed.

From:

furnaceface

Scott was going to need to beat his face against a wall after this, wasn't he? And Logan was being no help, just standing back against a wall with his arms crossed over his chest, looking for all the world like he'd washed his hands of this situation.

Thanks for the help, Logan.

"It's for his own good," he said, attempting to sound something approaching calm. He was too damn tired for this. "We'll be happy to let him wander around as soon as we know there won't be any adverse effects from his ordeal."

You know. The one nobody was really talking about at length.

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From:

heromaniac

Right. Whoever had assigned Momoko as lookout and backup was not the brightest... okay. actually, Momoko probably was the more patient of the ones that had come along on this rescue.

Still, it had been what, HOURS? since Karla and Raven had gone in and left Blossom hovering outside? TOTALLY hours. Yes. Okay, maybe ten minutes.

Could she blow up a wall now please and do some rescuing? Ooh. Wait... was that a window?

It was! And Blossom was tappity tap tapping on it trying to get the attention of the occupant inside.

Edited Date: 2013-12-27 03:23 am (UTC)

From:

furnaceface

Hey! Every infirmary needed a good window, okay? And, while Jono was hell-bent on being the not-so-talkative guy in this particular infirmary, it was really difficult to ignore a tapping on his window, and all.

He glanced up at said window, and then blinked. The window was closed, but it hardly made any difference when he was speaking. He kept his words between himself and the girl outside, so as to not distract Scott from... well... his current distraction.

//Blossom?//

Really, she was forever going to be the one to sneak her way past the healing staff in order to save what was left of his sanity, wasn't she?

From:

heromaniac

Yep, she probably was.

Eek! It had been forever since she'd heard that voice, and even though she'd been prepared for it from seeing the picture on Karla's phone... It was still a punch to the stomach.

She didn't let it show on her face (hopefuly) and instead gave him a thumbs up and then a questioning look. "You," she mouthed as she pointed at him. "Okay?" And made an ok sign with her fingers.

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From:

wwiii

Warren was having a grand time trying to keep the Estate staff from suspecting too much about Karla's absence. With time going at a fair clip faster in Kaeleer than it did in Jono's reality, he had double the time to try to fend off questions. And, before long, people had stopped settling for 'Karla is with Raven and nobody is to enter her chambers,' and had started asking more questions beyond that.

The best so far was Morton, accusing Warren of getting Karla pregnant. There had been a bit of indignant sputtering - Warren was on top of drinking his tea, thank you - and after a while he'd just excused himself to head back into the room, where he was working on budgets for a schoolhouse in a nearby landen village.

The started squawk and the spilled ink that resulted when Raven's soul-self manifested without warning behind him were understandable, right?

Look, it had been really, really quiet around here without Karla all morning, and avoiding the last vestiges of Winsol festivities. Warren had been enjoying the silence.

From:

glacial_queen

"That was very dignified, love," Karla said when Raven's Soul-Self had cleared, immediately bustling over to their bed. It was still unmade, considering the maids hadn't been allowed in to tidy up, so she threw the covers up and motioned for Momoko to set Jono down over here.

He didn't have to rest, no. But it was probably the best place for him to sit while they all got in their scolding and clinging.

"How long has it been? Do I have to make an appearance?"

From:

wwiii

"People are starting to ask if we're expecting," Warren noted dryly, reaching into his pocket for a handkerchief to try to sop up the ink spill before it could get too far. "Looks to me as though the delivery went smoothly, at least."

He glanced over at Jono, there in Momoko's arms.

"... Relatively smoothly. He's okay?"

From:

heromaniac

Momoko was totally not giggling at your startled parakeet impression, Warren. Nope. She was totally not.

Juuust setting down her friend, yep!

And then tripping over the coat as she tried to step away, landing on her backside. "Ow!"

Re: Meanwhile, Back at the Estate...

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From:

blondecanary.livejournal.com

Got Jono-text. In Glacia as soon as Portalocity cooperates, unless reason not to come?

*hugs* & how you?

From:

blondecanary.livejournal.com

Dinah had had work early, so she hadn't checked her messages until noon... then when she got off work, it was to deal with a robbery of First Gotham by elves.

Sigh, New Gotham.

So there was this text waiting for anyone who was checking:

WTF Jono okay? DLfkjwo robber elves crisis am fine TEXT ME ANYONe

From:

furnaceface

Alive and well.

Wasn't it reassuring that it was Jono himself who was replying to that text? It had to be, right? Look! He wasn't dead!

Lost a few pounds, though.

... Also true.

From:

blondecanary.livejournal.com

Yay you're conscious!

See, that part was good.

What do you mean, 'lost?'

That part... not so much.

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From:

furnaceface

Oh, hey. A bed. It was right up there with the 'oh, hey, I'm being carried' from a few moments before. Only with slightly less resigned indignities and a few more feather pillows.

Jono almost even managed something that looked like a tired smile around his eyes as Momoko stumbled backwards on his coat. It was huge on him. Of course she'd be tripping over it.

//Home sweet...// He gave his hand a halfhearted wave. People could fill in the blanks wherever they wanted.

From:

glacial_queen

"You'd better not be being snarky," Karla informed him, hands on her hips. "You worried every single person in this room and more besides. You're just lucky I got out all my pent-up bitch frustration on Wolverine and Scott or I'd be going up one side of you and down the other."

And with that, she was wrapping her arms around him in a deep, warm hug, projecting her relief at finding him as close to whole as they'd had.

*I thought you might be dead,* she sent. *I stopped being able to feel you. Through the Ring. I wasn't sure what had happened.*

From:

furnaceface

Jono could live with more hugs, even while projecting his apologies right back. He could cling and be profusely sorry all at once, right? He was capable of multitasking that way.

//Stopped being me for a bit there. I mean... I was and wasn't. Long story. A lifetime long.//

That, at least, wasn't anything new.

And then, a little more awkwardly...

//Ring's gone, I think.//

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From:

trigons_child

Raven held back, torn. Jono was safe and in good hands, and she definitely needed some time alone.

"I should make certain nothing has happened in our absence," she said quietly. A lame excuse, since surely Warren would know if anything required her or Karla's immediate attention, but it got her moving toward the door.

From:

glacial_queen

Karla quirked an eyebrow in question towards her.

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From:

furnaceface

Jono didn't move from where he was sitting on the bed. He really didn't have it in him to leap to his feet and give chase at the moment. But he saw her moving to leave, there, and couldn't let her go without at least saying something first.

//Thank you,// he murmured in a voice only she could hear. //Thank you for coming to get me, luv.//