[Voice, locked to residents] --EMERGENCY--EMERGENCY--EMERGENCY--EMERGENCY--

[malnosso]

[At 2:15AM, the journals suddenly blare out an alarm, followed by this message.]

EMERGENCY. EMERGENCY. This is an emergency.

The following occupants of the Luceti enclosure must report to the teleporters in twenty minutes. You are required as reinforcements in Region 13. Bring all necessary armaments with you. You will be teleported directly into combat.

Anyone who fails to comply will be forcibly escorted to the teleporters by droids.

This is not a drill. I repeat: this is not a drill. You have twenty minutes.

[The message repeats twice more, the alarm continuing until the twenty minutes has elapsed. No questions will be answered.]

Comments

[complicatedliar]

Loki hadn't paused at all to listen; he could listen and move at the same time just fine. There was no doubt at all in his mind that he'd be sent. If this was some sort of desperate combat situation, which many of the drafts seemed to be, the Malnosso had yet to be big enough fools to not try to use him to their advantage.

And he was right. By the time the list had ended, he already had pulled on his trousers and was reaching for his shirt. He was less than happy to hear Billy's name on the list, or Rogue's for that matter, but at least Ikki hadn't been called. She'd been on the list, once, though thankfully her family had kept her from being taken.

"If the notice is that short, it's certain to be bad," he commented, pulling his shirt over his head. The last time they'd been given short notice had been Vaskoth, and that had still been a full hour.

[touchofrogue]

"No kidding," she said. She glanced around a little blearily, but fortunately adrenaline was starting to kick in where coffee was usually needed. Rogue began making long-legged strides towards the enchanted wardrobe, taking the route that would bring her by Loki. "I have to go. My uniform an' all my gear is at my house, an' Gawd knows what Jean an' Kurt will need. This is their first draft. Gambit and Wanda too."

[complicatedliar]

"Give me a kiss before you go," Loki said. He wasn't about to argue the point; there wasn't time, and he'd much rather she had all of her possible weapons and supplies. "I'll wait for you at the teleporters." He offered brief little teasing smile. "If it's a particularly sweet kiss, I might have a cup of coffee waiting as well."

[touchofrogue]

This was important. She paused in front of Loki and turned to face him with a small smile. "Coffee, huh? You know all my weaknesses."

Leaning up on tiptoe, she gave him a kiss. Her lips trembled at first - Rogue was frightened, she needed to be moving, and there was no way this was going to be good - and her kiss was soft. Then bare hands framed his face and she pulled him closer, kissing him more and more firmly, trying to mark his bones: I love you.

[complicatedliar]

Loki made the kiss a sweet one, wrapping an arm around her waist for a moment. But he didn't try to make it linger or last. "That'll do," he murmured, smiling, and let her go. "I'll have your coffee at the teleporters. Go."

[touchofrogue]

Rogue held his gaze for a moment, then ran her thumb over his cheekbone before dropping her hands and turning to go. She didn't say anything. That would be too much like goodbye.

[complicatedliar]

Loki busied himself with his shirt even as he watched her go, then grabbed up his boots and hurried out into the living room, shouting for his brother as he did. There was a lot to prepare, and very little time for it.

[And then stuff happens!]

As promised, he waited at the teleporters for her, a few minutes ahead of time, a cup of coffee in his hand. Hopefully she wouldn't begrudge him the fact that he'd drunk a bit of it. He'd be more than happy to share his hastily assembled bacon sandwich (gods Thor, why?) with her.

[touchofrogue]

Rogue didn't arrive with much time to spare, but she found him with relative ease. He was rather tall.

With her powers completely gone, her head was remarkably clear... and she was concerned with how rapidly it would fill once they were out there.

One step of a time. There was Loki and coffee. She headed towards him and extended a gloved hand for the coffee. "Hey there."

[complicatedliar]

Loki handed her the cup. "Sandwich?" he asked, tilting the remaining half of the bacon sandwich toward her. "Thor insisted."

[touchofrogue]

"Bacon?" When was the last time she'd seen Loki eat meat at all, let alone, bacon? "I'll take it."

And heck, she loved bacon.

She reached for it with her free hand. "I've got a fruit an' nut bar in my jacket pocket. You eat that. You're gonna need the energy."

[complicatedliar]

Loki happily surrendered the sandwich to her. "I already ate one," he said. Then took the nut bar anyway. He was going to be using a lot of magic soon, he had a feeling. Which would mean a great deal of energy.

He grinned at her. "The war machine requires fuel."

[touchofrogue]

"'War Machine?'" She gave him a small smile as the memories that weren't hers spilled out of her mouth. "Sorry, sugar. I think that code name's already taken."

[complicatedliar]

His eyebrows went up. "I meant more generally?" He laughed.

[touchofrogue]

"Well, I like that even less," she said with a small smile, and in a gesture of true love passed the coffee back to him. They were not war machines. They were people, and that was important and--

How could he be laughing now, really? And why was her heart still glad to hear it?

[complicatedliar]

He understood that gesture for what it was and took the cup back with a warm smile. After a decent drink, he offered it back. "Since we're here, it can't be helped."

It was the adrenalin before battle, that heightened awareness already of the nearness of death. It made him want to joke and tease even more than normal. Because really, who wanted to go to death crying? Not that he intended to die; the opposite in fact. But he'd been in many battles, and this part never really changed.

He leered at her rather comically. "When we return home you can see about switching me over to being a love machine. I think I might have a lever you can try out."

[touchofrogue]

There was a moment of silence as Rogue processed that Loki had actually just Said That. Then she laughed a little incredulously, but a laugh all the same. "You are so lucky I already love you," she said, shaking her head. "Lines like that would just get ya hit instead of hit on otherwise."

[complicatedliar]

Loki smiled, and lightly brushed his fingers over her cheek. "I count on it."

[touchofrogue]

She smiled at him softly and turned her face to catch his fingers with a kiss.

There was so much to say and so little time to say any of it. She wanted to ask him to help her with the X-Men, but she couldn't. She couldn't ask them to trust her if they knew she'd be relying on someone they didn't trust. And Loki had his own concerns.

*ugly laughter*

[complicatedliar]

But they were out of time as well. The MSF personnel began shouting for people to come to the teleporters. Loki leaned forward to touch their foreheads together. "Be safe," he murmured. "Or I will be very cross with you later."

meanie

[touchofrogue]

"You too," she whispered. "I'm not kiddin'. I've got my hands full watchin' these guys. You be safe, or so help me--"

She leaned up and kissed him hard before turning away.

*twists the knife just a little more*

[complicatedliar]

Loki wrapped his arms around her for a brief moment, pulling them tightly together, then released her when the kiss ended. "You know me," he said, smiling crookedly. "I don't have that terrible hero problem like you do, dearest." He caught her hand for a brief squeeze to take any sting from the words. "Go. I shall find you again soon."

MEANIE

[touchofrogue]

For a moment, it was like she was safe in his arms in their bed and the world didn't exist. And then the moment was over and the horrible press of fear began again.

'Hero problem.' Ha.

They didn't have time to argue, but when she freed her hand from his she reached out to tap his armor above the freshest scar on his chest. Be careful.

Then Rogue turned to go.