Date: November 25
Time: Late Afternoon/Early evening

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After Blake’s interview, Jet decided to just hibernate in the kitchen area. She moved to go boil some water for tea. Filling the kettle with water and placing it on the burner. As she waited for the kettle to start screaming at her, she went to the fridge to see if there was anything she could eat.

The blonde opened the door and peered inside. Nothing, more nothing, Jamie’s food, and then she saw it. The container of some marinara dish that Guido left behind. She sighed and stared at the container. She didn’t realize how long she’d been staring at the one container until the scream of the kettle interrupted her moment of zoning out.

Jet shook her head and closed to door to the refrigerator and headed back to the kettle. It took all of five minutes to get her tea together. She set her cup out on the table and headed for the cabinet. She couldn’t find anything she wanted to eat. The blonde decided to just grab the next thing she saw. Which was a half eaten bag of doritos.

The snack she grabbed and the beverage she was drinking didn’t match, but she didn’t feel like warming anything up or making anything new. Jet didn’t want to think about Guido. Or the fact that it was only a few hours ago that he had said goodbye. He said he had to go find his heart, but she couldn’t help but to feel responsible for a little bit of that.

At least he was able to finally tell her himself how he felt about her.

In the end Jamie and Alix had decided to get a whole apple cream pie to go, with a couple of large warm beverages in Styrofoamy containers. It smelled delicious, and though it did not make up for the absence of one super-sized best friend, it did at least a little bit make things seem a lot yummier. Opening the front door to their headquarters, Jamie led the way. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. There are many ways we could say it. We could call it an office, or a bureau…” He looked around. “That one sounds a little pretentious. Bureau..” He seemed to taste the word. “No. Too French.” He snapped his fingers and pointed at Alix’s face. “Agency!” Jamie nodded. “Welcome to the Agency.”

If she was impressed, she didn’t seem to show it, but far be it from Jamie to let that bother him. He just carried the pie over to the team communal kitchen area, and stopped short when he saw Jet standing there with a familiarly sad look on her face.

“Okay,” he said loudly, sweeping around to Jet and bringing the pie box up just shy of her sorrow filled face. He didn’t say another word. Turning his head as if he was opening the lost Ark in the Indiana Jones movie, he slowly lifted the lid. The aromatic smells of fruit and creamy goodness filled the air.

Then he looked at Jet. “Come on Jet. Let’s sit down and have a little talk.” He slipped a loving arm around her shoulder, urging her toward the table. “Just you, the pie, me, and…Agent Smith.” He stopped. “An accidental Matrix reference? Not bad. But seriously Jet. We need to talk.”

:Detective Bureau, really?:: Her eyes shifted towards him inquisitively, barely balancing the cups of coffee as she did. Whatever the name it had, it didn't matter. They could've called it.. ok, she wasn't good at names. But there were plenty of things it could've been called and, honestly, it would've made no difference to her. Names were just things to remember stuff by.

Still, the exchange was enough to keep her mind off of everything else. The sheer panic that had been earlier that afternoon had melted away and while she honestly still knew that Jet was somewhere and still upset... she at least for the moment was handling everything a lot better. Of course, that couldn't have had anything to do with Jamie, and his own particular brand of coping making it all easier to handle.

::You're right. And, really. If there's one thing we're not.. it's french.:: She smiled in mock disgust that really meant nothing. She had nothing against the french.. but it added to the humor, and so, simply enough, she'd said it. Distractions were great like that.

::Agency? I guess that one works.. It just sounds so... official. But I guess other detective agencies are called agencies, so that makes sense. Right?:: She smiled as they moved into the office, Jamie's seemingly one sided conversation was in the lobby.

He lead the way towards the kitchen and while she followed, her mood fell quickly into worry over their friend and teammate who sat within. There was no time to warn Jamie and she carefully followed in after him. Decidedly more quiet than she'd been when walking back, or when entering the building.


She put a coffee into Jet's hand without giving much a reason to protest, far more nervous than might've been necessary. ::I'm sorry Jet-- everything got so crazy but.. it wasn't your fault. I could've said something quicker but I waited and-:: she fell quiet, and looked towards Jamie as he greeted Jet far more easily than she had.

His jovial nature took over and while she was a light ball of nerves despite things going better, it didn't change. She should've likely have come back a lot quicker to explain to Jet what'd happened and honestly, she'd gotten wrapped up in the whole affair with Jamie that she'd briefly forgotten about rushing back to help Jet. She'd also forgotten the fact that she'd still not slept. In that exact moment, all of that hit her so suddenly and she only barely resisted reaching out to Jamie for comfort. Even if Jet honestly likely knew exactly what was going on and honestly would've thought nothing of it. It not only wasn't something they were quite doing yet, but it also just didn't seem fair.

::I'm sorry Jet. If you thought you did something wrong.. you didn't. No one did.::

Jamie, likely, would've handled it all far more eloquently. Or at least.. far more humorously. But she'd gotten far too nervous to handle that.

Jet sat alone in her solitude when she heard Jamie talk in the lobby. It sounded like he was talking to someone else but there was a lack of sound. She took a wild guess, like it was a hard one to make, and bet that it was Alix. When the two of them turned the corner, with coffee and pie, she gave them a head nod.

Alix then slipped hot coffee into her hand and spoke into her head, telling her it wasn’t her fault, and that she was sorry. Poor Alix was taking all that the blonde was feeling and blaming herself. Saying that she should have said something sooner than she did, and apologizing to her, yet again.

Then Jamie made the sweet smells of a pie creep along her nose before she could even say anything. It smelled good but she questioned how hungry she was. Jet breathed in the delicious smells. “Come on Jet. Let’s sit down and have a little talk.” As he slipped his arm around her shoulder to urge her to the table she quirked a brow upward, smirked slightly and said, “Okay,dad.”

After he took her to the table and made a reference to the Matrix he finished with, ”But seriously Jet. We need to talk.” The blonde sat down at the table and replied, “I already know about the birds and the bees.” It hit her just then. The jokes. It was always something Jamie and Guido did as a defense against what was bothering them.

Jet couldn’t be sure who was more guilty but it was enough to make her small smirk fade quickly. Looking back and forth between Alix and Jamie she sighed and spoke, “Look, it’s not your guys fault. Guido said he had to leave. I know he’ll be back… And let’s face it we all know I played a small role at best in this.

No doubt it’s on some paranoid level...” She sighed and shook her head slightly. “At least he finally told me himself.” Barely a day had gone by that they were without the Strong Guy and already she missed him. Jet thought about that a little bit more. “Maybe him going on his break is good for us all.”

With how the blonde spoke it was more of a question than a statement. “He’ll head out… and come back refreshed and back to his old self.” While the blonde had her own thoughts on how it would be good for them all. Noting her own reaction to his leave she thought on how maybe she relied on him too much.

She couldn't expect him to always be there, with how he felt about her. It wasn't fair to him, since Jet didn't know if she felt the same way. If he went away and found he could feel that way for someone else, she wondered if that'd make her feel better. Or worse.

Poor Jet. Not only did Jamie understand by her non-verbals that she was down and depressed about the whole Guido thing, but he also saw a great amount of conflicting or perhaps confusing emotion brewing beneath those eyes of hers. She didn’t seem to know what to think feel or do. And worse yet, it was pretty clear that she (like Alix) was shouldering some or most of the blame for Guido leaving. In fact, Alix stepped up and seemed to take some of the heat for responsibility right off the bat.

“It’s nobody’s fault,” he said as he stepped over to open a drawer and take out a pie-serving utensil. Then he grabbed three plates and headed over to the table with the pie. “I know Guido better than anyone,” he said. “He just needs some time to think this over.” And by this he meant…all of this. Sure, Jet factored into it, but it wasn’t her that drove him away.

He dished them up, looking up at Jet while he did, and listening to her try to convince herself of something or make herself feel better unconvincingly. “He told you,” Jamie said. “That’s good. Remember how you were upset that he didn’t tell you. That’s a big step for him. True he waited until he was leaving…but…”

He slid the pie over in front of her and leaned back to get a better look at her, and for a few moments didn’t really say a word. “You feel bad because you either don’t feel the same, or aren’t sure how you feel.” It was partially a question, though he didn’t expect an answer. “Which is why he didn’t tell you till he was leaving,” he said with realization. “That way you wouldn’t be pressured to make a decision.”

Jamie looked at Alix. “You realize this is a bona fide soap opera?”

she'd known she wasn't particularly supposed to take the blame for what had happened, how it'd happened, or even remotely suggest blame. But after so long of doing so it's what came as the first lines of comforting a friend without even really intending to do so. Realizing it, though, she almost apologized for apologizing but caught short to let Jamie talk. It was probably for the best anyways. His insight rung true to what she could gather and, frankly, likely had done a better job than what she'd said moments before or even right after when she'd caught onto Jet's emotions.

It was an important aspect of leading a team and was something that Alex had done countless times for each of them in the past. Even Cyclops had been there for each student with his own brand of comforting words when it was important. She smiled into the coffee cup just barely before setting it down to look at both of them.

::Just wait.. it'll feel like no time at all and then he'll be back here. Stealing Kyle's lunch meats, cracking jokes and working up ways to make the X-factor calendar again.:: She nodded hopefully.

::We're probably not even an American soap opera. I bet we're more like a telenovela. Bad acting and all.:: She managed back, a small smile still evenly clear on her features, despite a still somewhat nagging worry on Jet's well being. She'd not even gotten to how the rest of the team was going to take Guido's absence- for now, it'd just been the three of them that knew.

Jamie assured the both of them that it wasn’t either of their faults as he served up the slices of pie. He continued to talk as he served the pieces to them, offering a suggestion on Guido’s timing. Saying that it was his way of not putting any pressure on her to make a decision. Alix tried to assure her that Guido would be back in no time.

Jet looked at the pie as Jamie looked at Alix and said that they were in a soap opera. Alix replied with it wouldn’t be an American soap opera but more like telenovela. The blonde took in a deep breath and halfheartedly said, “Good thing you mentioned that… Cause Alix… it’s your baby.”

Poking fun at how soap operas always claim some sort of surprise pregnancy. She smiled at the two and looked at the plate again. She flashed Jamie a curious look then stood up. She walked over to the drawer and pulled out three forks. Walking back over to the table and sliding a fork to each of them. “I’m not eating pie with my hands, Jamie.”

Jet smirked at him and lifted her fork, feeling every bit of the weight in her fingers. She didn’t feel like lifting it any further. The fork slid downward into the pie, through the crust and directly to the plate. Moving her fork to lift the pie off the plate on near her mouth she smelled the sweet aroma and still wondered if she was even hungry.

Jet stopped moving the fork short of her mouth. “Although if we were any type of show it’d be some sort of reality one.” She was stalling in taking her first bite.

As Alix started to explain how Guido would soon be back, Jamie sat back in his seat a little, leaning toward Alix but focusing on Jet up until the point where she mentioned the X-Calendar. Inwardly he winced awkwardly. The calendar was originally Guido’s idea, though the two of them had brainstormed it together-thinking of ways to do a tasteful yet provocative photo display of the various X-Factor hotties with a few select crossovers from other factions. It might have been Jamie’s (or at least one of his multiple’s) ideas to make it into the equivalent of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit calendar…but he couldn’t exactly remember. The only real problem they had was that neither of them wanted to

Alix had been on the preliminary plans, as had Jet and Wanda, Lorna, Crystal…to name a few. Had Guido told her about it? He forgot for a second that Alix didn’t exactly need full verbal disclosure to know things. He laughed nervously and shifted in his seat.

“Calendar? I have no idea what you mean…” He turned it back to Jet as she procrastinated her first bite and the subject changed to the soap opera quality of their story. Jamie glanced over his shoulder at Alix and smirked. “Telenovela? I think you’re onto something there.” Before he could get another word out Jet was confessing that she was pregnant with Alix’s child.

Growing up in Los Alamos, Jamie had a pocketful of disjointed Spanish that he knew. He was more than a little rusty, and wasn’t entirely sure what he was saying, let alone how proper it was grammatically, but he stood up nonetheless, tossing his chair aside dramatically and rounding on Alix with fiery eyes. He probably should have thought of what he was going to say exactly. What came out was something he had heard before, but he couldn’t recall where. “Me encanta tu culo!”

In this case however, ignorance was bliss. Jamie kept the moment going one second longer. “What exactly are we going to tell the twins?” He asked her pleadingly. “Their mother is willing to throw it all away the second a cute blonde walks in to the room?”

Without waiting for her reply, Jamie stepped over to the coffee maker, getting out the grounds and filter and with a few practiced and deft motions getting a batch brewing for them. “If you really want to talk to him, I know how you could get a message through,” he said with a glance over his shoulder. She still hadn’t tasted the baked goodness he’d sliced for her.

“Come on, take a bite already! You can’t be depressed when you eat that stuff.”

She'd known about the calender from the moment they'd started on it. In fact, it'd been something of an amusement that had somehow managed to keep her own spirits high despite some shamefully blush inducing ideas that had filtered through. Still. In the past, she really hadn't quite realized she'd been on the list of prospects until the whole dating Jamie thing had come up. She hadn't particularly considered herself calender material like the rest by no real shortness of self esteem-- it just didn't seem like something possible for her, really. Of course by this point she'd realized that the whole time she'd been on that list but hadn't particularly caught on for one reason or another until actually dating Jamie. When he winced, she grinned and looked towards him.. though a vague concept of almost apology snapped through. She really hadn't mentioned that she'd known about that.. ever.. even to the other xfactor ladies until now. The beans were out, however, and hopefully Jet wouldn't think too much on it.

::I've known about that for like.. ever.:: her thought went to just Jamie.

For one of the few times ever, she had no idea what Jamie was saying. Language, when generally spoken by those that were fluent, was something that had never been a real issue for her to translate. Regardless of the language, the meaning was always there in the person's thoughts and so, easily, she could understand meanings without particularly having studied any language other than English. Clearly, Jamie had no idea what he was saying and so neither did she. she glanced towards Jet just barely to see if she'd known, though stopped short as Jamie continued.

There were a few options she could take on this, and her mind almost instantly went to each. All in all, she settled on one and rushed forward to take Jamie's hand just seconds before he could otherwise finish coffee or more serious sentiments.

::I could not help myself... That woman-:: She pointed towards Jet dramatically. ::She kidnapped my cat. I was forced to do her will.:: Alright, so it fell flat the last bit.. but she figured there was some kind of points for trying and for mock twist ending. It all easily fell back into reality, however, and for a second she leaned against the counter while Jamie talked about putting a message through.

Was he talking about communicating with his dupes? She looked towards him sideways, half wondering if he'd try it. It could work, in theory, but even she couldn't go traversing all the way to wherever it was Guido had gone without some serious extra boost. It was why Cerebro had been made-- for that boost that telepaths needed. But then.. his connection was already known to be way different, and if the pain of a dupe dying could reach him from anywhere-- which she'd guessed at being possible after having spent more time than necessary attempting to work out how to make that link go both way-- Then it could be possible.

Then again, he could've just meant everyday normal means to communicate, which seemed suddenly so much more mundane than what she considered. Still, probably the best. They were still working on dupes that were even in the same room-- much less possibly across the world.

::Its good...:: she offered helpfully to Jet with a smile from her vantage point next to Jamie before casually moving away to pick up the chair and sit back down.

Jet smirked at the talk of the calendar. “Jamie…” She narrowed her eyes as she kept the smirk, “Don’t play dumb. We all know about it. I think Riva came across some sort of paper that had the title ‘The Girls of X-Factor Calendar’. I was expecting the release date for that to be earlier though. I was thinking it was either some choppy photo shopping or pictures taken of us off guard.”

She quirked a brow upwards, “You can relax, Jamie.” The blonde listened to Jamie go on with the soap opera plight. Speaking in Spanish. Working out the words in her head. She quickly replied, “I love her ass too, Jamie.” He then went on to wondering how the twins would take the news, and Alix continued with saying that she had kidnapped her cat and forced her.

“What can I say? She enjoyed it, and I always get what I want.” She wriggled her eyebrows up and down, just before breaking out in a small laugh. Jamie offered to send out a message to Guido if she really wanted to talk to him. Jet put down her fork and shook her head.

“No. It’s better to give him his space.” I probably was better if he wanted to contact them he would, or he wouldn’t have left. The blonde felt it wouldn’t help to mag at him every moment. At least with Jamie’s words it seemed like he knew where Guido was. That was a plus.

Jamie then urged her to take a bite already, that she could hardly be depressed with such deliciousness. Alix told her it was good. Jet picked up her fork for a second attempt, “It’s not that I don’t believe it’s good. Just don’t know if I’m hungry.” The blonde took the fork and raised it to her lips.

After she opened her mouth to eat what was on her fork she swallowed and nodded. “That’s good pie.” And after taking that first bite, it still felt like she wasn’t very hungry. Still she took slow bites and kept eating, to make Jamie and Alix happy, and not worried about her.

What was this? Everyone knew about the X-Factor pinup calendar? Jamie suddenly was angry again at Guido for not being here to take some of this heat. Not really. Actually he was glad that things had sort of ‘moved on’ a little. Guido needed the support of his friends. Dwelling on his A-hole move out of the place wasn’t going to help him. And besides, he really wasn’t upset about it. Much.

“It was going to be a tasteful…yet provocative look at the most amazing ladies on the planet,” he explained once he realized there was no way around it. “Alix, you’d be Ms. December, sporting a tiny two-piece and sort of kneeling in the snow…with fuzzy white bunny ears.” He thought it over and liked it very much. “Jet would probably be Ms. August, Riva would be July. I have it all written down somewhere…I mean Guido does… But it would be the standard thing with thongs and baby oil, maybe a stripper pole and some sports equipment thrown in for good measure.”

He smirked, knowing full well he might be sealing his own doom.

“We could still give it a go, if you’re game?”

Alix slipped into character for their would-be little drama and Jamie couldn’t help but beam at her from across the kitchenette. He leaned one hand on the counter and watched the theatrics with pride. He’d done that to her. Maybe it wouldn’t win her an Emmy, but if there was an award for cuteness she would easily snatch it up. And for a fleeting moment Jamie wished he could bottle up that cuteness and keep it in his pocket. Or sell it on eBay. On second thought, he probably shouldn’t mention that. Selling his girlfriends’ cuteness might just send the wrong sort of message in some people’s eyes.

For Jamie? He only had eyes for one, and he currently couldn’t get Ms December out of his mind. “Coffee’s ready!” He announced, and poured three cups. He knew how Alix liked it, but had no idea for Jet, so he just brought the cream and sugar over to the table anyway.

::My Ass?:: she shot a sudden glance towards Jamie in surprise mixed with feigned horror. ::You didn't even know what you were saying!:: She laughed a short bit, far more animated than she'd ever truly been.

::You know, Jet. You don't really have to eat it. I was just saying...:: she nodded quietly, softly eying Jet as she toyed with the pie and ate for their sake. ::I know you're doing better, pie or not.:: She gave another nod and looked towards Jamie with the coffee as she sat back down following the madness. The calendar thoughts, however, distracted her from Jamie's inner monologue on ebay and cuteness. Saved-- at least this once.

Still. The concept of the calender being actually spoken about was not something that had fallen far from her thoughts. The lingering notion spun circles around her thoughts. Bikinis, stripper poles, bunny ears and the various months danced through her consciousness in almost shameful vividness. When it'd been regulated to thought it was one thing. She was used to that. It hadn't even been the worst she'd picked up in the walls of X-factor. But it being spoken and described aloud? Whole different ball-game. In light of the constant banter, however, she formulated a retort and jumped without little thought.

::Yea, well. We'll just have to make a men of Xfactor cala-:: She stopped mid word, the thought caught up with the statement, and suddenly what had been a passing joke became sudden vivid imagery. Imagery that wouldn't have at all been unexpected from anyone.. anyone, that was, except her.

::M-Maybe not. I'll stop that thought at yo-:: She stopped again mid sentence and looked quickly between both parties. A definite shade of red crept across her features and she made it a point to stare at her pie long and hard. This was so not where this was supposed to have gone.

::Coffee. Jet, how would you like your coffee? Sugar? Cream?:: She very well knew how Jet took her coffee, but tried as best as manageable to change the subject before Jamie could really catch what particular calander subject had crept it's way into her thoughts without prompting.

Jet narrowed her eyes at Jamie when he continued to talk about the calendar. She waved off what Alix was thinking in her head about the pie being a suggestion. “Jamie there’s no such thing as ‘provocative yet tasteful’. Trust me… it can’t be done.” Alix continued with a thought in their heads, but stopped herself before she even finished the sentence.

She turned red. Maybe it was a good chance to turn the tables on Jamie and Guido. “Cream and sugar, Alix.” The blonde spoke in response to her coffee question. “Jamie… The girls of X-Factor will do a calendar… when the men do. And trust me… I have a vivid imagination on what you and Guido could wear.”

She thought of several different options in her head, hoping Alix would see and laugh at. The things she was thinking would steer any man away. Well maybe not for someone like Wade, but he was a whole different breed of man. Still she imagined Jamie in a tight fitting French maid outfit, a red lingerie teddy, and Frank N Furter type of outfit.

Jet’s mind couldn’t help but to picture Guido in a speedo. She tried to think of something else as fast as she could. While she wouldn’t admit it the outfits she was thinking was just as face reddening to the blonde as it was to Alix. “Ask Alix, Jamie… It ain’t lookin too pretty.”

She fixed together her coffee and was prepared to take a sip, raising the cup to her lips she finished, “It’s tasteful… yet provocative.” Jet smirked and winked to the two of them. In that instant she missed Guido even more, he should have been there for the conversation.

Wait a minute…what did he say? Jamie looked over the top of his mug at Jet while taking a sip of the warm brew. He thought back to his exact words in Spanish and put them together. Oh yes he did. Jet thought the whole commentary on Alix’s derrière was hilarious, and Jamie feigned innocence when Alix shot a playfully accusing look his way. “Clearly I did, know what I was talking about. Just not…consciously.”

::It is a nice hiney though…:: He pursed his lips together in a feeble effort to stifle a smirk. And just like that the topic changed back to the calendar while Jamie took a seat next to Alix at the table. He put an arm over the back of her chair as she started to retaliate with the notion of a men’s calendar. Looking over at her as she started projecting the imagery, Jamie’s eyes widened a little.

Mostly it was him, or him and his multiples…looking like they were in some kind of saucy Eddie Bauer ad. His smirk grew along with her blush as she tried (unsuccessfully) to cancel the images. ::Do I own a shirt in that scenario?:: She was so uncomfortable that he couldn’t resist grabbing her and pulling her into a side hug while Jet launched into her thoughts on the calendar.

“Well, just so you know,” he directed at Jet. “I’m not just a piece of meat.” That being said, I will give you my card and we’ll talk about a day for the photo shoot. But first let me guess what you have in store.” He studied her carefully, leaning back against Alix a little as he did. As a running joke between him and Alix he put a finger up to his forehead as he pretended to read her mind. “You have me in a fireman’s costume, no shirt on under the jacket…holding a hose?”

He turned to Alix. “She has quite the imagination.”

::Uh huh. Suuure. I believe you. And I don't cheat to look like I know every language there is.:: She nodded towards him with a dim smirk, though his mental hiney comment caused her to stop mid coffee sip. ::Yea? Well.. You too.:: She paused and smiled shyly. ::Your move, Don Juan.:: Her seemingly smooth delivery was short lived when he caught onto her not particularly pure thoughts.

The things she imagined found their way into his thoughts and at his commentary she grew all the more flustered. ::Well... Of course. Yea. Ah.. Everyone has a shirt. That's just silly that you and...:: Another pause with a nervous glint of a smile. ::You.. don't have a shirt, hat is. I mean.. Yea. Shirt.:: Clearly this was all payback for the drink names at the bar that she'd thrown at him in feigned innocence. Still, as comfortable as it was all becoming, she kept the banter regulated to Jamie's mind. As much as she loved Jet, she really wasn't quite sure if she was quite ready to let the rest of the team onto the particular exchanges that went between Jamie and her. They still hadn't even really done the whole PDA thing, much less try to embarrass the hell out of each other in front of the rest.

A red Teddy replaced her imaginings of Jamie in any ads she'd seen on the sides of buildings and magazines and she only blushed more.

::She's right, Jamie. The things this woman sees.:: She grinned and leaned against him when he did, comfortably. Alot more comfortably than she ever would've been in such moves before. He raised his hand to his temple in a move that had become something of a staple and she smiled. Relaxed again until Jamie's own personal addition to what was quickly becoming the Jamie Madrox calander special. Visually speaking it was all too much and while she tried to reign in the less-than-usual kind of thoughts that sprinted through her own personal imagination she buried her face into Jamie's shoulder. She'd never really personally allowed herself to consider such thoughts and while she caught hold of them just enough to regain some semblance of personal control, she turned back to the table, Jet, and Jamie- not his shoulder. She smiled with a faint mix of shyness and teasing.

::You guys are killing me.. it's not fair. I'm going to start projecting every terrible thing I can think of when you're both sleeping. Enjoy dreaming about-:: she stopped herself mid sentence and shook her head. ::Never mind. I've learned my lesson.:: The affects on her were clearly more than it'd ever be on those two.

::But really, Jamie? What you're picturing is not at all what she imagined. Frank-n-furter? Whoever that is.:: She picked up her cup of coffee thoughtfully despite not really being particularly interested in it at this point.

::Totally tasteful, Jet. You really should take over production on both projects.::

Jamie told her he wasn’t a piece of meat, and that he would give her his card for a photo shoot. Then he guessed what she had in mind. She laughed, “Oh Jamie… not even close. And I’m hurt. For my photo shoot I’d never consider any of you a piece of meat… more like my dancing monkey but-“

She shrugged her shoulders, “To-may-to, to-mah-to.” Alix confirmed what she was saying by relaying her message. She then claimed they weren’t being fair to her and threatened to project terrible things into their heads while they slept. “Unless it can top that one time when Kyle went streaking through HQ... I still can’t figure out who told him it was a good idea to play that card as a prank. But when I do, oh there will be hell to pay.”

Aside from Alix’s thread, which she seemed to have retracted quickly, the mute telepath continued to voice one of her ideas that she thought of. “Don’t worry, Alix. I’ll make you and Jamie-Boy watch Rocky Horror to get it.” After she took a sip she finished with saying that the blonde should take up production of both shoots. “I can do that. I’ll lay out designs, and costume ideas, and if any of the boys piss me off I’ll I gotta do is remind the boys I control their photo shoot. You know me, I'm all about the tasteful.”

Jet moved her eyebrows in a super villainy, and mischievous way. “I think people would actually go for the calendar if I was put in charge.” She took a sip of her coffee and finished saying, “Whaddya say, Jamie? Would you relinquish the reins? You’d get your calendar.” A tempting offer for him hopefully. And if she was in charge of it, the blonde would not mind if a calendar was made.

Alix completely had a meltdown when Jamie mentioned the shirt. Her cheeks were burning hot and he wasn’t really doing much to let her off the hook. In fact, the elevation of his eyebrows on the horizon of his forehead kept getting higher and higher until they threatened to disappear into his hairline. He looked at her skeptically, very clearly extremely flattered and loving every second of it.

He honestly had no idea that she felt quite that way. Well, he had some idea…she didn’t exactly keep much secret from him in the way she felt. Still, a confirmation like this was magically medicinal to his ego.

::I can do a little modeling for you later,:: he promised. ::Just you me, a pair of Kleins and a camera.::

“Take over? Production?” He shot Alix a disbelieving look. “So she has ideas that involve giant wiener costumes and that’s somehow better than a swimsuit calendar?” This was some kind of girl power ploy, he just knew it was.

The funny thing was that he wasn’t honestly still considering even doing the calendar anymore. But in light of the management shift proposal, Jamie suddenly had interest in revisiting the project. Only in light of recent developments, he would want things to be a lot more tasteful than they already would have been.

“No,” he said to Alix and then to Jet. He was pretty sure the whole thing was nothing more than a distracting joke anyway, but he wanted to throw out a proposal. “Partners on both projects or nothing.”

Unwilling to sacrifice the close proximity he had to Alix right now as she leaned against him just slightly, Jamie resisted the urge to lean back and instead just looked from one to the other. “Or maybe one calendar, PI themed, X-F Investigations…and we use it as advertising.”

::Live it up, Jamie. Live it up while you can. Just you wait...:: She smiled towards him, still just barely flustered-- but clearly recovering. ::I'll get you back when you least expect it. You'll be minding your own buisness in your office and... bam. One imaginative thought away from payback.:: She gave a matter of fact nod and a grin, though faltered just a bit as he started in on the underwear and camera buisness. She recovered quicker this round, however, and smiled coyly.

::You and me, sure. That's a given. But... who needs-:: She stopped mid sentence, arched a brow playfully and paused just long enough to let him wonder which part of camera and Klien were optional in the scenario.

::A camera?:: Of course, camera. Given the context, she couldn't help herself. Every single moment seemed to maneuver her closer to comfort with the whole joking and teasing side of things, enough to make her realize that it was alright. She could joke and make commentary. She could say what she thought and share in the banter she'd always watched, but always stuck away from. In the end, it did nothing but build up what was already happening-- far from the destruction she'd thought it would've caused. The whole world of possibility was being realized and while she'd been more flustered than she ever remembered being before, it was something that she was enjoying almost as much as he was. The fact that they could go from how very dire everything had seemed hours ago to this was an amazingly safe feeling that she'd not trade for the world. Sure, she had a far ways to go. Sure, at this point it was generally all banter. But in the end, it was all steps towards being more comfortable than she'd ever allowed or considered before.

Her attention turned back towards Jet.

::I can guess who's responsible for that. But it'd be against the.. ah..:: What was it? Hippocratic? Priests? Duty? There had to be something..

::Telepathic oath to tell. That's a thing, honest.:: It wasn't too hard to guess who the short list would be on the 'who would convince someone to do something outlandish' list.

The talk returned to production and it took her by surprise. Honestly, she'd been kidding. She had absolutely no intent of being in any kind of calender-- tasteful or not. Jamie seemingly knew that it was all in jest and for lightening the mood, so she didn't stress too much over it.

::If it was for earning money.. wouldn't Riva need to be involved? She's the one that's been taking care of all the advertising stuff.:: she grinned, and half wondered what Riva would really think about all this. ::And really.. would that get us the kind of clients we'd want? We're more than our bodies, Jamie.:: The line was delivered straight, but it was an obvious joke.

As Jamie and Alix continued to talk about the calendar Jet couldn't help but to have her mind wander. Guido should be there for the conversation. She chuckled in her head at the thought of how the conversation would go if he was around. She snapped out her space cadet moment when Alix turned her attention back to her.

Saying that she might have been responsible but couldn't tell because of telepathic oath. The blonde narrowed her eyes at the mute telepath. "Uh huh, course it is." Conversation went back to the calendar as Jamie proposed for partners and to have the calendar be more PI themed. Alix mentioned that they'd need to involve Riva for the advertising and wondered what the clientele would lead to.

Jet voiced her thoughts on it, "Well we could start with just selling it in Mutant Town, the people here, some at least, still trust us. For the most part. We'd have to get Riva involved to crunch the numbers, see how much it'd cost, how much we'd sell, and if it'd be helpful or not." The blonde turned to Jamie and spoke, "Dibs on the Sherlock costume and we got a deal."

Jet held out her hand resting her elbow on the table, waiting for the verbal deal be played out and followed through. "Shake the hand, Jamie-Boy." She smirked a little after speaking her words.

Jamie got the distinct impression that Alix had no intention of being photographed for a calendar whether in or out of a bathing suit. He stumbled over his own thoughts, correcting it to in a bathing suit or other clothing. But the image was already there. He pursed his lips together and exhaled as if he had just eaten a very spicy pepper.

Between that and what Alix was sending, he was having a very difficult time staying mentally present. And it really wasn’t right that they had this whole exchange going on while Jet was sitting there. Jamie shared a private smirk with Alix. It might not be right, but it sure was fun.

To his surprise, Jet seemed to genuinely want to go forward with the calendar. It had never been spoken of-even with he and Guido-in genuine-for-real consideration. He looked at her hand for a moment and then over at Alix. “Only if you smoke the big Holmesian pipe,” he said and then hesitantly put his hand in hers.

He wasn’t honestly sure what he was agreeing to, but X-F Investigations could use some advertising, and giving a calendar out to the clientele would be a fun way of getting the word out. The idea actually had some merit.

He looked at Alix again. “We wouldn’t be exploiting our bodies.” ::Much.:: Just having a little fun and doing some off the wall advertising. Though now that I think about it…seeing you standing there with a gun in your hot little hands, blowing the smoke out of the barrel…”

Drifting off a little, he indulged in the imagery a little. Very hot.

His cell phone started to ring. It had a code on it that indicated it was from a multiple. He looked from Jet to Alix. “Gotta get this real quick. Be right back.” Jamie hopped up and headed out of the room.

::You got that right.:: She smiled. ::The not doing it part.:: There was no coming back from this she realized, though wasn't in the least complaining. The fact that he was completely alright with the back and forth-- as not 'right' it was that they had the whole exchange going behind things, she did enjoy it.

It was something she'd always done, think about entirely different things while holding completely normal conversation. Sure, it wasn't often GQ Magazines, Her with a swimsuit, and firefighter Jamie; but it was nice to feel connected to someone on a level that meant she didn't have to worry about explaining her own inner monologues. Mostly because by now.. they weren't monologues, but fully realized conversations. It was nice.

There was all the more regret at the whole calender discussion and just barely, Alix felt the dull sense of regret- a playful sort, of course, that was more nerves at the possibility than the repercussion.. but she kept that to herself. The two were sufficiently distracted and happy by this point, so she was well enough to leave it be.

::Can I be Jude Law as Watson?:: Jamie continued, however, and started in with an assignment for her. She smiled and shook her head. ::I'm not going to win this, am I?::

The imagery rolled about her mind and she smiled a little nervously. ::I'm not going to exploit nothing. You can exploit yours all you want.::

Jamie excused himself, and Alix turned back to Jet with a quiet vaguely satisfied smile. The conversation dwindled into the usual banter and for the time being, the loss that had overwhelmed the three just earlier was subsided.

Their teammate would return and, in the end, everything would work out.

It always did.