A Not So Adventurous Second Meeting (Rory)

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

It was never good when you had to be 'scolded' by someone who had no authority over you. So, when Freya and Tari had gotten a call from Xavier, telling Freya to get over to the school so they could talk, it had put Freya in an even worse mood then she already was in. It'd been a few days since the bank incident, waiting for things to cool down, before Freya had finally come.

The Old man didn't exactly 'scold' her, but he kept emphasizing the point that if mutant haters found out Freya and Tari were there, that all Hell would break loose. There'd be humans breaking down their doors to try and get to them. It just made Freya sigh. Sometimes, she really hated being such an easily recognizable mutant figure. If only because her mother had been such a huge mutant rights activist, among with being the most powerful woman that had ever existed. Mutant haters would want to use the class five mutant to set an example. That no mutant, even the most powerful ones, were safe. If that didn't work? They'd force a violent retaliation from her and use it as an excuse to push for further mutant restricting laws.

During her 'scolding', Freya couldn't help but feel that someone was eavesdropping, listening in on the conversation. But, she ignored the feeling. No one had been at the door when she left. Instead of going back to Tari and the hotel, Freya wandered the school. They were allies after all. She had as much right to be here as the students!

She found herself climbing staircases, higher and higher, until she had reached the top. A tower of sorts, but more like just a large balcony. With a sigh, Freya leaned against the stone railing, staring down at the grounds. Students were everywhere. Some showing off their powers in the safe environment of the school, others just chatting with friends, or playing games and sports. Sometimes, she wished she could be as carefree as that...

[Rory Ashe]

This place was beginning to grow on him, Rory had to admit it. After several days here he was starting like it, if only a little. A nagging voice at the back of his mind kept telling him he needed to leave now though, and he knew why. If he ever stayed in one place too long, the agency always showed up for him, always and when they showed up, bad things happened. Rory had almost no fears, but deep down they were one of the very few things to cause him to shudder. Efficient, deadly, and completely cold to any casualties that are inflicted while pursuing their goals. In other words, it was easy to see where Rory got his temperment from.

He had been working out when heard that Freya and Tari were having a meeting with Professor Xavier. It was always good to know that the mansion rumor mill was always up and running. To sate his curiousity of whether or not they really were here, he snuck upstairs and to the Professors door, listening in on the conversation. It took a moment to really hear the voices behind the door, but soon his superior hearing was able to pick up and make out what was being said. It sounded as though they were getting chewed out fairly good. The skulking around and eavesdropping made him feel like a little kid, though.

Suddenly movement behind the door made him move away. He had a feeling that the Professor knew he had been listening, but Rory didn't really care. He headed up the stairs and was already at the balcony of the observation tower by the time the two sisters even left the Professor's office. He had wanted to talk to Freya again, but for some reason he was nervous to do it, something he couldn't explain at all. So instead, he opted lay comfortably across the balcony railing across from the door and watched as the car that had brought the sisters left.

He let out a sigh, he should have talked to her. But why did he want to talk to her, in fact, why did he care? He didn't care about anyone, why would he want to waste time with her, yet part of him was regretful for not stopping her from leaving. Suddenly, someone walked into the observation tower with him, not even noticing him laying across the railing in the shadows and it was none other than Freya. It seemed as though fate might have had a different plan for him. "I see I'm not the only one who likes a bit of solitude, eh, lass?" Rory asked suddenly from the shadows, hoping he didn't startle Freya too much.

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

Freya had been to distracted, to deep in thought, to realize she wasn't alone on the balcony. She'd just let her legs carry her where ever they'd wanted. If she'd known she'd meet Rory up here.... Would she have come? She had no idea. Her feelings were still rather mixed up from their last meeting. She'd liked the guy's company, but ended up slapping him. She'd enjoyed talking to him, but he died and came back from the dead. She wasn't sure what she thought anymore.

Hearing his faint Irish accent made her jump, completely shocking her as she looked around to stare at him. When had he gotten there?! "Were you... Were you there the whole time?" Had she really just walked onto the balcony with him on it, completely unaware of his presence?! Now she felt like an idiot. What would Rory think of her now?

[Rory Ashe]

Rory couldn't help but grin a little when she jumped. Though he felt bad for startling her, it was comforting to know he still had it in him. He slowly leaned back against the wall, placing his arms behind him, but still lying across the balcony rail. "If by the "whole time" you mean since you got up here, then aye... I have been." He said, unable to stop himself from glancing over her. Once again, it wasn't done in a way as if he were checking her out, more of a looking for flaws once again.

So she had another weakness too, lack of noticing her surroundings. Or perhaps she had just been deep in though, Rory had been that way before. Either way though, it would have been easy for him to strike down the powerful mutant instead of speaking... But that was a different time, and he was a different person, "Ye aren't going to slap me because of it, are ye?" He asked, raising a brow and smirking slightly, obviously teasing her about the slap she had given him. The slap that he still didn't completely understand the reason for.

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

Freya groaned. So she had completely ignored him. Great. That didn't make her feel any better. But then he was giving her that weird look over again. Not checking out, something else. But, Rory was such a mystery she didn't know what he could possibly be doing. It made her nervous, that careful looking over of his, she didn't let it show though. "Sorry. Didn't see you..." And if she had seen him? Would she have said something to him? Probably...

Freya pulled herself up onto the stone railing, sitting and balancing. Smiling a little, she shrugged. "I don't know. Should I slap you again? Sounds like once wasn't enough." She'd tried to explain to him why she'd slapped him the first time, but failed. She wasn't going to attempt it again. Somethings just can't be expressed in words. And Rory was probably still confused about it.

[Rory Ashe]

Rory smirked a little when she said she hadn't seen him. He never really would have been good at what he did if she had seen him. Many brutal years of training had taught him to only be visible when he wanted to be visible, in any situation, using peoples distractions to his advantage.

Such as now, he could have leaned against the railing where she was, yet he had immediately chosen the darkest corner away from the door. It was a subconscious move, "Don't worry about it, lass... Most people don't." He probably said too much with that and hoped that it didn't make her curious, but it was too later to take it back now.

He laughed a bit, "I may let ye slap me again, but only if ye explain why this time." He said with a slight grin, it still baffled him as to why exactly he had been slapped but he had been and it was in the past so he didn't think much about it. "So, what are you doing out here anyways, muirnín?" Of course he knew why, he had heard the Professor talking to the two sisters, but he was a bit curious as to how she knew the X-Men.

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

His words weren't confusing, but they puzzled Freya. Most people didn't notice him? Why would he say something like that? "Why do you say that?" Did he intentionally try to hide, or was there just something about him or other that made people overlook him. There were ways for a person to get attention to just go over them, with out the person even registering their presence. But, why would a 'journalist' like Rory have such a skill?

Well, she could always assume he'd learned how to appear invisible because of his power. It'd be bad if humans realized an ability like that was possible. All Hell would break free.

She was scowling a little when he mentioned explaining why she slapped him the next time. "Yeah. Don't like explaining things much. I'm not great at it either." In other words? If she had to explain why she slapped him each time she did, she wouldn't be slapping him very often. Besides, that had been a one time thing. Freya never slapped people. She preferred to fry them. Literally.

His question made her sigh, shaking her head. "Professor Xavier thinks just because Tari made an alliance with the school, he can tell us what to do. We didn't come all the way from France to let some old man tell us what to do."

[Rory Ashe]

There it was, he had made her curious, that was just perfect. He needed to think of a lie fast, which actually wasn't too hard for him. He could be silver-tongued when he had to be, but generally wasn't. Now was a have to moment in his mind though, "Just seems like I'm the type of person that's... Easily forgettable and easily overlooked I suppose." True, he was that way, but only because he wanted to be.

When she scowled Rory couldn't help but grin a little. Despite the scowl she was still attractive, surprisingly. Then again, why did he care, he'd never really noticed or cared whether a woman was attractive or not before. Admittedly though, with Freya it was a different sort of allure, perhaps it was because of her powers and Rory's curiousity of her weaknesses. "Ah, I understand lass, I'm much the same way... Actions speak louder than words and all that, but words don't tend to hurt..." He said, teasingly rubbing where she slapped him as if it still hurt.

What she said next though really interested Rory. Alliance, generally a person belonged to a group to make an alliance, and was generally the leader of said group as well. "Alliance with the school?... What do you mean by that, you with a group or something?" He questioned curiously. Come to think of it, Rory was a fairly curious person, and he knew it was bad. Curiousity killed the cat after all, then again, Rory has more lives than a cat.

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

"Ah..." Freya knew he must be hiding something, but didn't push it. They were his secrets, and he'd tell them when, or if he wanted. Simple as that. If he didn't want to ever tell her? Well, she'd accept it. Some secrets just couldn't be shared...

His grinning at her scowl. Almost seemed like he was laughing at her a little. With a sudden, but seemingly normal mood swing, she was suddenly annoyed. Not enough to do anything, but enough that it was obvious his grin had somehow annoyed her a little. With a quick sigh though, her annoyance was gone, no trace of it left. "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me?" She paused, smiling a little. "Not to much. Especially in a world such as this. Where everything is a weapon. There are people out there with some... hurtful words to them." It made her laugh a little. The idea of someone who could cause pain through words, what an interesting idea!

Freya shrugged, running her fingers through her hair. "Yeah. The Exiles. Tari and I share command over them, since my mom died." She paused for a minute, thinking. He just might recognize her mothers name... "She was Amarie Elensar." That was a well known name. Famous and infamous at the same times. The only class six mutant that had ever existed. With control over all heat and cold, with limitless capabilities. Suddenly, Freya's and Tari's powers would make sense. Her mother's powers, split between two bodies. Heat and fire to Freya, cold and water to Tari. To halves of a whole. To very powerful halves. Class five mutants...

[Rory Ashe]

Rory was thankful she didn't question him further and a bit impressed that she respected personal things. Most of the people in this mansion just pushed and pushed until they learned everything about you. Then again the school was mostly filled with teenagers, so that shouldn't have been too surprising for him. He picked up on the fact that he had annoyed her at least a little bit, right away, and noticed that it left quickly as well. It seemed a little odd.

At the bank she seemed to have two settings; be friendly and kill. She was either nice to Rory and the patrons of the bank, or was slaughtering the robbers. Yet here, she seemed to be showing a tolerance. Perhaps emotions weren't a weakness as he had guessed, which meant he had to look for another major weakness, which in turn made her a bit more interesting to him.

What she said next though, made Rory give her his complete attention. "Command... As in... Ye lead the group?" That made her incredibly interesting, but what she said next doubled his interest in her ten-fold. "Amarie Elensar." He said somewhat quietly, contemplating the name. Of course he had heard of her. He remembered when she gained infamy at a very young age and her death. So this was her daughter? That meant that Freya was probably more powerful than even she realized.

He sat up slightly on the railing, obviously more interested in something, "I can't believe I didn't put the two together... Of course you would be her daughter, ye got part of her powers and ye both look just like her... Er... From pictures I've seen, and stuff..." He quickly corrected himself and composed himself. He slid off the railing and moved a bit closer to Freya, "So why are ye hiding? I mean, with a name like yours, why aren't you out fighting for mutants like yer mother." He asked curiously, leaning against the balcony rail near Freya.

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

"Eh.... Sort of. I leave most of the leading to Tari. Not my thing really. But, my mom wanted both of us to share the responsibility, so." Freya just shrugged, not even bothering to finish the sentence. She didn't need to, Rory would figure it out without having to waste time explaining. Freya really wasn't the leading type. She was over protective, and easily angered, a horrible combination when in the fields of diplomacy.

Freya paused to let Rory ponder over... well whatever it was he was pondering over. And then he was speaking, putting two and two together. Her mother, Amarie, had been extremely well known, so it wasn't at all shocking he'd seen pictures. You could google her and come up with more then a dozen pictures. She didn't bother responding though, just watched Rory move closer as he spoke once more. At this comment, she sighed. "In France, I am. Here? There are a lot more activists for mutant restrictions. If they found out Tari and I were here, they'd try to provoke violent outbursts from us, and then use it to pressure your government to do what they want. Things are already pretty bad in the U.S., and we'd only make it worse." She paused. "That's why I had to hold back so much at the Bank. I had to try and make it look like a regular pyromancer, so they wouldn't consider it being me." Another pause, as she shrugged again. "Besides. I suck at diplomacy. I'd just get angry when they didn't see my way and try to force them to agree with me. I don't think that would be to helpful..."

[Rory Ashe]

So Freya was not only a very powerful mutant, she was also the daughter of a very famous and incredibly powerful mutant. Not to mention she was also the leader of a group of mutants the Rory had heard of before, the Exiles. She was very powerful in several aspects. If this were ten years ago, Rory would probably snap her neck where she stood. Usually he still had the feeling like he should do it, but with Freya he didn't. He assumed it was just because he hadn't completely figured her out yet.

"Aye, I know how that is. If my face ever got on camera... a lot of bad things would happen." He did grin a little when she explained further why she didn't fight for mutants in America, "So they want to provoke a violent outburst from ye... An' what ye did at the bank wasn't a violent outburst?" He shook his head a little, "I'd hate to see ye really mad then." He said with another slight grin.

"Never was one for diplomacy me self. For me, arguments always seemed to be settled easier through the barrel of a gun." Again, he probably said too much and knew he would probably make Freya wonder why a journalist settled things through fighting, but he didn't really care. He figured that he could probably lie again if she questioned him.

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

"Well, at least I'm not the only one." Freya laughed softly, shaking her head. She did stop though when he mentioned her outburst at the bank. "Hey, that wasn't that bad." She paused. Okay, it had been pretty bad. "They'd gotten rid of the cameras, and tapes... I couldn't just sit their when I could have done something about it." Perhaps completely frying the guy though could have been avoided.... Yeah, that hadn't been the smartest idea.

Freya didn't think anything of his next comment, thinking of it as if it her a metaphor or something. Freya just started burning things if they didn't go her way, so she was no better. Even if he was being honest, it wouldn't have surprised her. Men liked guns. It was a fact that everyone knew.

[Rory Ashe]

"It wasn't that bad?" Rory asked with a laugh, "You left most of them in piles of ash and made one blow a hole the size of car in the side-walk." That impressed Rory a little, even if he wouldn't admit it. Explosions always amused Rory, he had gotten in trouble quite a bit for using too many explosives sometimes. Seeing a girl that wasn't afraid of them? Well, that made him a bit more interested in her.

"I understand... I never really have been a good spectator, nor have I ever been good with people ordering me around, and when someone hurts someone who can't defend themselves I get very upset... The men at the bank had all three strikes against them."He said with a slight smirk. He glanced out across the lawns, many of the students had begun to head inside as the sun started to set across the sky. Two or three pairs remained behind though, obviously couples as many were either holding hands or resting by each other, a few of them watching the sun set.

It always made him feel a little awkward, seeing such public displays of affection. Perhaps because he had never been that great at expressing those feelings, in fact, he didn't express many feelings at all. It was part of the intense training he had done at the Agency, they trained their soldiers to feel nothing; no love, no hate, no fear, and even no happiness. It made them into better killing machines, and Rory was one of the best machines the Agency ever had.

"So, do ye have anyone waitin' for ye back in France?[b/]" He didn't know why he was curious about whether she was in a relationship or not. Perhaps it would reveal a weakness, that was his reasoning for asking. Though deep down he knew why he had really asked.

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

Freya just about scowled. Most of them? "I only toasted one of them... But that was the one that also blew up..." Yeah... Maybe toasting him had been a bad idea. The other robbers though, she'd only toasted their insides.

Explosives didn't bother Freya. All she had to do was redirect the heat from them to change the direction of an explosion. Besides, they were just cheap human weapons. She wasn't afraid of them, just the chance that she might lose control of the burst in a crowd. That was why she hadn't just fried all the robbers at the bank.

"Not to mention they chose the wrong bank to target." Freya smiled a little. Yeah, the odds had been stacked against those robbers. How were they to know that two mutants were inside at the time? Two mutants that wouldn't just sit there and do nothing when they tried to hold it up.

Did she have someone waiting for her in France? Freya blinked, surprised. Before- breaking into a fit of laughter. She just about lost her balance on the railing she sat on, she was laughing so hard, so hard her eyes watered a little. When she was finally able to compose herself, she shook her head, wiping her eyes. "No. No one." Why had she thought it was so funny? "There aren't exactly a whole lot of guys around willing to date someone like me, you know." Her power, family, and personality intimidated guys. Or so she thought.