Five // Scott Summers

fear takes over

In the air, Hank and Moira piloted the jet. Mystique, Jean, and Scott occupied one side of the flight chairs. Amber was stuck opposite to Jean on the other set of seats, squished between the silver-headed kid and Kurt. 

She had been forced by Hank to change into a flight suit, despite arguing she wouldn't need to wear one for protection-- her skin was enough. In the end, he used his teacher authority and made her change, insisting it was extra protection. She did her best to look wildly uncomfortable in the suit, although it was a nice and flexible outfit. 

Variations of thoughts roamed through everyone's heads, leaving the plane mostly silent. Besides the running engine of the jet and the silver-headed kid's bubble-gum popping, no sounds were made. Amber, out of boredom, tilted her head on her chest restraint to watch the boy next to her blow bubbles. 

She did her best to ignore Scott's staring after the first time she caught his eye, on accident. She kept forcing a smile. She didn't want to be there, heading off to war. War zones, fighting in general, were not a place she wanted to be again. Amber was being recruited for a war she wanted no part of.

She believed in using her powers for good. Using them to save the world was a luxury she didn't feel the needed to experience. She saw no reason to continuously throw herself into danger if she, and mutants around the world, would continue to be hated by the people they had saved. A spot on the X-Men was the last thing she wanted to do when she enrolled in the school, and it was something she had, now. She dreaded it. 

Determination and fear rolled throughout each individual, but it didn't touch Amber. She felt indifferent to the situation, simply because she couldn't be harmed, and it showed. Scott, and everyone else, noticed, but he was the only one who wouldn't let it go. He took her blank expression as fear, and he designated himself to help her. The issue was, Amber wouldn't look back over at him again after the first time he caught her eye. 

Peter raised his eyes from his shoes. He noticed Scott staring at the girl beside him. He turned his head to look at her, then flinched when he noticed she was already watching him. She raised her eyebrows, a silent, "Hello," to him. Peter, a bubble blowing, saluted lazily to her. 

"What's your name?" she asked. 

"Peter," he said, once he popped the bubble. He outstretched his hand. "You're Amber, right? I heard you can use Sunglasses' power. Is that true?"

"Yeah, that's me," sighed Amber. 

"That's awesome."

"Kinda stings, but it's worth it," answered Amber, speaking quietly enough for only Peter to hear her. 

Peter leaned in closer. "Is that a sexual reference?"

Amber laughed. "Nah. Scott's got optic blasts that, coincidentally, I can absorb and use for a little bit. I'm sure you'll see it when the fight starts."

Amber and Peter were quiet for a few minutes, then he nudged his knee against her own, causing her previously closed eyes to open briefly. He asked if she was scared for the task ahead. 

"I'm scared for you guys, I guess," she replied. "You're not all indestructible."

"And you aren't?"

"So far. That's my power, excluding using Scott. We'll see if I make it against other mutants. I'm one to zero, currently," said Amber hopefully. 

"Were you scared?" asked Jean suddenly, fright evident in her tone. She turned to Mystique. "That day in D.C.? Were you scared?"

"No," said Mystique flatly. She then noticed the evident frowns on some of their faces and added, "But I was scared on my first mission. It was on a plane like this with my friends... About your age..."