Need A New Plan...

[Radar]

Matthews: Nice to see you too.

(Matthews looks down at the Blade and sees it hanging from his belt. It was nothing but a sharp blade, but to Christina, it was death confirmed. Matthews takes the blade from his belt and puts it under the bed where she can't see it. Then he looks back to her.)

Matthews: You look a mess.

(A smile forms over his lips, but quickly vanishes. He slides over to her and takes off his jacket and slings it around her shoulders.)

Matthews: What's going on? You look so tired.

[Oracle]

(Christina gives Matthews a confused look as he placed his jacket around her, but she clings to it none the less. She found it was colder in here than it was in the other areas of the base.)

Christina: It's nothing... I just don't sleep that much.

(Christina didn't like talking about her nightmares. She didn't share them with the other X-Men, so why should Matthews know about them? Christina avoids looking at Matthews, but her eyes drifted towards the vent. She thought she heard something.)

[Radar]

(Matthews knows this is going to be hard. He's not a big fan of sharing feelings, and she isn't going to spill the beans on herself like a shattered jar. Matthews moves his head to get her attention and she looks at him.)

Matthews: Listen, I have a bit of a predicament. See, the man who attacked the base two days ago, Deschain, I was following him. He was about to kill me, and then I saw your face and I suddenly found the strength to fight back. I want to know why that happened? And in order to do that, I need to find out more about you. I need to find out why I think you're so important. Why I can't stop thinking about you. It's tearing me apart and stopping me from doing my job. Will you help me?

[Shadowcat]

(Christina was about to say something when a loud noise from the vent is heard. It was then she knew she didn't imagine it before. Matthews also turned his head in the direction of the noise. Just then Lockheed burst out of the vent. He had been watching through the vent and had seen Radar's key in the pocket of the jacket he had given Christina. Lockheed flew straight towards the pocket and pulled the key out using his mouth. Christina just stared at Lockheed, wondering why he was doing this, while Matthews began to send waves at the strange creature. Lockheed was safe against Radar's brain waves for no telepath could penetrate his mind, but if Radar tried his seismic waves then he was in trouble. So Lockheed quickly took flight once again and climbed back into the vent before Radar could try. His light growls were slightly muffled as he hurriedly carried the key back to the others.)

[Radar]

(Matthews looks after the strange purple dragon in surprise. It was then that he realized what was happening. If the X-Men escaped, they'd just screw things up and perhaps get them all killed. Matthews reached down and pressed the "Light" button on his watch. A small signal went out and reached the key card as Lockheed traveled through the vents. Radar smiled to himself and then sent a wave through the watch, breaking it and rendering the key card useless. It wouldn't be opening any doors ever again. As Matthews took off his watch, and placed it in his pants pocket, he looked up again at Christina.)

Matthews: Never a dull moment around here huh? So, are you going to help me?

[Oracle]

(Christina's attention is brought back to Matthews. She didn't really open to anyone before. She wondered herself why she was so important to Matthews. What perhaps questioned her more was why did she felt like she could open more to him. But she wasn't quite ready to share everything, so she would be carefully with what she said.)

Christina: I'll try... What do you want to know?

[Radar]

Matthews: Anything, everything, whatever you want to tell me. I'm all ears. I want to know everything about you.

(Matthews reaches out and pats Christina's knee. He does this without really realizing it. He kicks off his boots, with some difficulty, and then sits cross legged on the bed, his back to the wall.)

Matthews: And I don't think I really want to go anywhere until I do.

[Oracle]

(Even though Christina still feels ill, she gives Matthews an aggrivated stare.)

Christina: You couldn't make it easy and just asked me a simple question?

[Radar]

(Matthews looks whimsically up and shrugs.)

Matthews: Nope. Why don't you start by telling me about your family.

[Oracle]

(Christina avoids looking at Matthews. He had brought up the one subject she especially didn't like talking about. She tried to think of a answer that would turn away from any further discussion on the matter.)

Christina: Not much to say... Both of my parents died years ago.

[Radar]

(Matthews, sensing her hesitation, stopped that path immediately.)

Matthews: Well, how did you---? Um....where did you.....? Wait, nevermind. Uh.......I'm really not good at this. Why don't you tell me about any vacations you had. Tell me anything that you'd like. I dunno, just anything that makes you happy. Like, for example, I like the beach. I can't see the sunrise, but I can kind of sense it if you know what I mean. Just....anything like that.

[Oracle]

(Christina was grateful for the change in conversation. She looks back at Matthews as she begins to talk again.)

Christina: I like gymnastics a lot. It was the only sport I really liked, and I was pretty good at it too. Sure does come in handy with being an X-Men and all.

[Radar]

Matthews: Yeah, I'll bet.

(He relaxes knowing he finally found something she can talk about. As he listens, she goes on.)

[Oracle]

Christina: It's what helped me escape from New York and helped me through a training session to join the X-Men. It's also the reason why I rely mostly on kicks when fighting.

(Christina reveals a small sheepish smile, hoping that Matthews doesn't remember the time she kicked him in the face.)

[Radar]

(Matthews rubbed the side of his face where her foot had landed.)

Matthews: Yeah, not even some of our best soldiers can kick that hard. If I had to remember you for one thing, it would probably be that. So, how did you join the X-Men?