Havin' a Ball

[dazz]

Like when Bobby was on the phone with one coworker at her house, Bobby was defensive about this other coworker as well. Maybe he was always that way about it, but Ali had a sneaking suspicion it was to make sure she knew he was available, if she ever changed her mind to take advantage of that.

"None of your coworkers are your type, are they?"

She kept her voice light and quite casual as she made the comment, but Bobby would be able to tell what she really meant if he tried. As he made his second point, Ali grinned outright.

"Thanks, I think. Your date might not appreciate so much, though."

Part of Ali didn't mind that she'd stolen Bobby away, only in the friendly sense. However, the part of her that believed in female camaraderie felt bad for the girl he'd been with. The slightest tinge of a blush crossed her cheeks when she thought about. The happy feeling for his company was stronger than the guilt. Bobby was looking her in the eye for a moment, but turned away just in time to miss it, maybe.

"So. Who looks like they need a little Bobby-n-Dazz the most?"

Ali wasn't so sure, and was about to shrug, when a candidate presented himself.

"I think he does."

Jamie quickly explained his situation, looking more harried than ever in his pajamas at a formal ball. It wasn't too surprising to hear that people were trying to kick him out. Explaining what he needed, and the libido it pertained to, Ali made a bit of a face. His libido pissed her off, but this main version of a Madrox hadn't done anything to her personally. Some other time, the ridiculousness of his situation would have made her laugh, but for now it leveled her mood.

"Wow. That's..." The rock star was at a loss for words. "Something."

[Tatiana]

"I do have faith in you, and I am so very sorry if I misunderstood things." Tatiana said with honest relief on her face. It was such a good explanation, she felt foolish for having the thoughts she had. "I completely understand now." Her eyes shown with admiration for this influential, strong man in front of her.

Tati paused, then spoke again. "Oh, for the war to be over and everything as it should be, it is a wish and hope for the future. With leaders such as our King, and yourself, it has to be inevitable that we win."

[Bobby Drake]

"None of your coworkers are your type, are they?"

That was true enough. Bobby thought about it for like a second or so before realizing that he really didn’t have a type. But Dazz still seemed convinced that AJ was going to be all upset or something for the fact that he wasn’t hanging with her. Maybe she would...

Just as Bobby asked who they should go visit first, Jamie came running up again.

"Bobby, I need to talk to you guys. Doug Ramsey and that creepy Guthrie guy from S.H.I.E.L.D. are trying to kick me out, but I need to stay long enough to ask this girl out for my libido because I promised I would do it as long as he left."

“Dude!” Bobby was making a face of disgust. “I make it a point to never touch another man’s libido.” He didn’t seem to know what that word meant, though he thought he did, and he didn’t exactly have on a gay sailor’s cap.

Dazz seemed at a loss, and Jamie seemed frantic. Finally he relinquished into asking, though he wasn’t exactly sure what he was getting himself into. “What girl?”

[scott]

"First things first, you need medical attention, that wound looks bad Summers.." Guthrie replied in an uncharacteristically almost caring tone of voice. "Hang tight here, I'll grab Dr. Smith...." Scott hung tight, fingers gripping the wall as his head swam a little and the Commander swiftly moved off toward Dr. Smith.

"The situations we get ourselves into."

Scott looked over to where Jean and her new date had arrived. Jean was being characteristically quiet, though he suspected the way he had left her earlier at the party was bound to come back to haunt him. Words of wisdom to anyone with a redheaded girlfriend...do not incite the vindictive side.

Just what she had planned on doing with Warren, he didn’t know. And with the current situation being what it was, he wasn’t sure if he cared. At least, that’s what he tried to tell himself.

“Weapon X,” he said quietly. “He has a prisoner after his own heart.”

Thinking of Weapon X’s heart made his blood run cold.

[Sam Guthrie]

Guthrie rolled his eyes at Tabitha's final words to Madrox. Couldn't she see he had important duties to attend to?

It wasn't like he had intentionally abandoned her, not in the slightest, he just had more important things to focus on.

In a hushed tone he whispered "Forgive my leaving of you earlier, I had...important things to discuss with His Majesty..."

"But no matter. Summers was attacked by an unknown assailant." He added, "Female, young...."

He would have smirked about Summers being bested by a child, let alone a female child, but the situation was rather serious.

"There's a wicked laceration across his neck." Samuel continued, "Not sure on how deep it is, but he's bleeding profusely..."

[janedoe]

Releasing Warren’s hand once they arrived, Jean took in the blood soaked bandage on Scott’s neck with no little amount of concern in her eyes. Despite her usual cold exterior, and the professional position she held, she was capable of displaying human emotion, even if few got to see it.

She listened to his words, and weighed the implications. The thought of another even similar to Weapon X was not a pleasant one. There were many questions that needed to be asked, just hopefully not by the wrong people. Even though they were fairly well concealed from the attention of the party guests, Jean was already at work altering the images in their minds to completely cloak the obvious injuries that Scott displayed. If they looked now, they would see no trace of bandage or blood.

"Scott, are you alright?" she mentally projected. Despite the situation, and how unfitting it was, she was soon smiling to further cement the image that they were merely having a friendly conversation.

[madrox]

“What girl?”

Jamie realized the implication only as he said it.

"Tabitha Smith, the doctor that works for S.H.I.E.L.D. One of my...selves...apparently thinks I could date her, or something. I think he's kinda lonely."

Jamie was apprehensive about saying anymore. Stealth was of the essence. Silence would work best. He moved so that he was closer to an edge of the room, keeping Dazz and Bobby between him and the majority of the other folks.

[Doug Ramsey]

"Within a half dozen generations, my dear," Doug assured her, "humans and their cultures will be taught in a historical context only, enshrined in museums as primitive ancestors of what we were before we blossomed into our true genetic potential. They are a dying breed, Tatiana, with or without the War of Ascension as an X-factor in the equation. They have just chosen to not accept the reality of the situation, and fight the inevitable."

He gave her hands a squeeze, bringing them again close to his face.

"But enough of this petty political posturing." Doug smiled, shaking his head slightly as if to dismiss the heavy subject matter, "King Magnus has declared this evening a Royal Ball, and who are we to defy our King? Thus, I say to thee... a dance, milady?"

[scott]

Commander Guthrie was across the room talking to Dr. Smith, and Scott was glad for it. He didn’t want to be out of the picture right now, but he supposed the wounds did need looking at, and his vision was starting to swim a little.

"Scott, are you alright?"

For just a moment, the voice in his head seemed filled with concern and care. Glancing over, he saw through the smiling façade, and into the seldom seen heart of Jean Grey. He gave her a slight nod, though in all truthfulness he was beginning to wonder if he really was all right.

[meltdown]

Tabitha walked with Samuel across the ballroom as best she could without drawing attention to themselves. Apparently, Summers had been greivously wounded by a little girl. Under different circumstances that would have been funny; Summers being bested by a young girl. She was expecting the worst, however.

As for Guthrie's comments she replied, "No, I understand. You must always be at the beck and call of your master; doting on his every whim."

When they reached Summers, he was indeed bleeding greatly. His clothes were staining dark. She ushered him into a nearby alcove so she could inspect the wound without drawing attention to the matter from the crowd. She snatched up some pristine cloth napkins and a pitcher of water. After moistening a napkin, she began to wipe away the blood as gently as she could.

The cut was clean and neat. The girl must have had a blade of some sort. Under these conditions Tabitha couldn't fully examine the extent of the arterial damage. She saw that the color was fading from Summers' face. Tabitha wasn't sure if they could make it to SPACE in time.

She needed help quickly. She looked around the ballroom quickly. She spotted Warrne Worthington. She knew it would be asking a lot of him but Summers was in danger.

"Warren," she called to him. "I'm going to need your help."

[dazz]

"Dude! I make it a point to never touch another man's libido."

For a few long moments, Ali was the silent bystander to the word's exchanged by Bobby and (a) Jamie. Under normal circumstances, this would have been confusing as all hell, but given her loathing for one version of this guy, it was just...it made her head hurt. Bobby's confused comment about libidos didn't help much either. She'd intended to say something about it, but by the time she'd processed, the conversation had moved on.

"What girl?"

"Tabitha Smith, the doctor that works for S.H.I.E.L.D. One of my...selves...apparently thinks I could date her, or something. I think he's kinda lonely."

Ali re-entered the conversation with a disgruntled snort.

"No wonder, A-Hole You is a...well, that pretty well covers it. Why do you put up with...yourself?"

Her head was starting to hurt again. Resigning herself to a scowl, she followed Jamie with her eyes as he edged around behind Bobby and herself. Ali thought that was real precious, using them as a human shield.

[Bobby Drake]

There was something sick and wrong with a dash of depressing about the way Jamie described one of his selves being lonely. Bobby felt bad for him, but he also was kind of disgusted for reasons he couldn't and didn't want to understand.

It was no wonder Jamie was such a nutjob! Just hanging around him for a few minutes was making Bobby feel nutty.

"Tabitha Smith?" Bobby thought about it, running the name over in his head. He had at least a fair knowledge of some of the SHIELD dudes, and... "Wait a minute...the doctor?" A big grin spread over his face.

"No wonder, A-Hole You is a...well, that pretty well covers it. Why do you put up with...yourself?"

Bobby looked at Ali as Jamie ducked behind them. "Well said," he commented to her with a sarcastic grin.

"No worries," Bobby said over his shoulder to the cowering Jamie. "The commander's busy right now, and it looks like Dougie boy is trying to get some action himself." Of course it looked like the doctor was talking to a few people too. "What do you say?" Bobby asked Ali with raised brows. "Should we help this guy play doctor with the...doctor?"

[Tatiana]

"I would love to, and be honored as well." Tatiana said happily. To dance at the Royal Ball? A dream come true. They went out to the dance floor and Tati was in heaven. Doug danced very well, and she was trying to hold her own. And to ignore the itching that was growing steadily in her hands.

The itching meant something was wrong, it was either blood, or poison, but nothing appeared out of order as she glanced around the ballroom. Tati gave a tiny shrug, whatever it was, it musn't be that bad, or it would have drawn attention to itself.

[dazz]

"Well said."

Ali nodded curtly in the affirmative when Bobby agreed to her statement. She was only half listening, her brain still processing this weird scenario. She was fine about Jamie and his doppelgangers. Hard to keep track of in a discussion, but whatever. Ali dealt by thinking of the guy in front of her and the shmuck as two different people. Now, she was just torn between her loathing for one and indifferent tolerance for the other.

Well, actually, when she thought about it that way, it made the tip of the scales pretty damn obvious. She would have told Jamie sorry, but suck it up, but then Bobby stepped in.

"What do you say? Should we help this guy play doctor with the...doctor?"

She had no problem saying no to Jamie. Bobby was a whole other story. He was doing the devilish brow-wiggle and everything, taking this as something akin to a game. Sighing mentally, Ali forced a cheery smile onto her lips. Her tone was too flat to match, but Jamie would get his help.

"Sure." Then she thought about it for a moment. She'd help this Jamie get the girl, but not the shmuck. "But it's you we're gonna hook up. Not him."

[angel]

Scott was beginning to look paler. He looked like he could pass out at any moment.

Dr. Smith arrived and quickly led them to an alcove. She neatly undressed and checked his wound. The cut was clean and deep.

It's worse than he was letting on.

"Warren," she called. "I'm going to need your help."

Warren stepped closer to her willing to help any way that he could.