<<< Bodies in Motion, Emma Frost and Wallflower

Time of Day: 3:50 pm
Date: October 26

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Amelia Voght walked down the streets of New York in the chilly autumn afternoon. She had a grey pea coat buttoned up and a light blue scarf wrapped around her neck. Her hands were shoved deep into the pockets of her jacket. She blended in with the rest of the shoppers in this district. They were all walking around minding their own business and not making any eye contact. That’s what they did. They were each isolated unto themselves. That’s what she was depending on. She was tailing her target. Learning his habits and his actions. His name wasn’t truly important. All that mattered was the target.

She had been walking behind him for about an hour. For the past couple of days she had been using her mist form to float unnoticed through the air behind him but she wanted to really get out into the city that day. When she moved as a vapor, things were different. She interacted differently with her surroundings. She could just flow around things and through objects like a river. That form made things seem insubstantial. She could feel like nothing mattered in the world at all. Amelia needed to be grounded, reminded of herself. She couldn’t lose herself to the ether. That would be too easy an escape.

Amelia lowered her head so that her mouth pressed the scarf just under her nose. The man had the same routine. He would leave his offices for an afternoon break and walk down to an overpriced coffee shop. Then he’d stop at a magazine stand and flip through some sports magazines but not buy anything. Then he would use his cell phone to call a woman other than his wife. It was the same thing every day. Amelia thought of the crimes he had committed and she wanted to put an end to him then and there but she had to wait for the perfect time.

She had been practicing with her powers. This was a more taxing trick than her simple teleportation. It was a continuous transfer of the air around an object. In effect, she could suffocate the man by making the air surrounding him vanish. It would be slow and painful. It was nothing more than this mutant-hating monster deserved. Once again, Amelia could feel the tug, like that of that kite string, inside her mind asking if that is truly what she wanted. Yes, she told herself. She vowed after Apocalypse to make the world better and the planet would be better off without this man.

Amelia contemplated getting herself a coffee, possibly something sweet, when a horrendous crash pulled the Acolyte’s attention from her target. There were murmurs at first and then shrieks of anguish. There was a terrible accident. A bus had overturned and skidded along the pavement. It had come to rest against a lamp post that hung at an angle to almost crash down on the side of the bus. Another two vehicles plowed into the exposed underside of the bus. Smoke was rising from the undercarriage.

People were staring in horror at what had happened. Amelia’s head jerked in the direction of her target and then back to the crash. In that moment she was torn on what actions to take.

Emma walked alongside Laurie on the streets of the city. It was bustling this morning, full of the people moving on about their days, filling their hours with work, family, or play. As a younger girl, Emma often dreaded places such as these. The throngs of people and their emotions always proved too much for her to take. Back in the days before she learned to master her abilities, their thoughts, fears, desires, and secrets would rush her, leaving her weak and cluttered. As she was now though, she could easily block out the non wanted dronings of any passers by.

Laurie walked beside her. A young woman of exceptional beauty, the girl often reminded Emma of herself at that age, at least physically. They shared the same bright blue eyes, the same sun colored hair (though where Laurie's seemed natural, Emma's came directly from the bottle) and the same bright smiles. That, however, seemed to be where the similarities ended. Where Emma could often be seen as callious and calculating, Laurie seemed the picture of good hearted wholesomeness. She had potential though. The girl was extremely powerful . Her abilities made her a valuable asset and her intellegence attested to the fact that she could use those abilities in a productive way. Emma wanted to make sure that Laurie was well aware that she had choices when it came to what direction her life would take.

"You know Laurie, you're a very bright girl. I see a lot of myself in you. The things you could do if you really applied yourself could be limitless. I'd like to talk to you about something. It's sort of an extracurricul-,"

Before the White Queen could finish, the crash happened. With a bang and a crunch, everything seemed to stop. She opened her minds to the thoughts on the bus. They were alive, but terribley afraid and panicked.

"Come Laurie," she said motioning toward the girl,"We have to help."

This day was something of a mystery to Laurie. She hadn't really been told why she had been invited by Emma on this little excursion to New York, she had only been told that it was "something of a training day". But Laurie had to wonder - training in what? In shopping? In seeing a Broadway musical? In drowning herself in the TGI Friday's on every corner until she vomited? As soon as they arrived in New York however, she failed to care what this was really about. She was smack dab in the middle of New York City - Time's Square. This was somehting of a big deal for someone who had never left the comfort of her tiny little home in Kent, or whose idea of a big trip was a trip to Mutant Town.

Laurie walked alongside Emma staring at the people bustling about around her. She had rarely been in this type of environment - seen this much activity going on in one place, it was very interesting. All of the energy in one place, and all of the emotions that people were emitting was somewhat exhausting for the girl. However, she refused to become groggy at such an exciting time.

She was drawn out of her amazed stupor by the voice of Emma Frost, with whom she was traveling. She had never really experienced much of an attachment towards the woman, rather she had looked up to her and respected her as a teacher. It was because of this somewhat lack of bonding that Laurie had been confused as to why she had been chosen for this little excursion. Apparently, Miss Frost felt quite differently towards her. The blonde was somewhat mystified at the words that had come out of her teacher's mouth, but she took it as a huge compliment nonetheless.

Laurie was just in the middle of formulating a response, even before Emma was done talking, and was processing the information that she was receiving from her teacher when her attention was drawn away by a loud noise. Her ear drums felt as though they were exploding, and the blonde witnessed the manic scene unfold. A large yellow school bus had somehow overturned, and skidded to a stop just as two more cars added themselves into the pancake mix of chaos. Did this actually just happen in the middle of Times Square? Laurie stared at the scene in horror until she heard Emma's voice mention help. Immediately her brain kicked into gear and her body changed into action mode. She could somewhat feel the panic and fear around her as she and Emma moved through the crowd.

Laurie looked around and quickly assessed the situation. The traffic was backed up endlessly, car horns were honking, people were crying and shrieking and the girl could hardly hear herself think. No one's going to be able to help anyone like this, thought Laurie quickly to herself. She felt her eyes start to glaze over as they began to glow. Laurie closed her eyes and shut off all her senses, forcing herself into relaxation in the middle of the chaos, her body already aware of what it had to do.

For some reason it was as if the wheels in her mind were grinding through mud. There was no traction, no forward motion. It seemed to be the same with all the people surrounding Amelia as well. No one was doing anything. Just a street full of slack jawed gawkers standing with their hands in their pockets or trying to catch their breath at the random accident that had occured. The Acolyte was torn between what she should do. She had turned to face the accident so now her target was to her right. Her head looked over to him. He was looking at the carnage as well. She could so easily end his life in this crowd. Or she could go and save the lives of those people inside the bus.

Then it was as if Amelia had taken a cool drink of water or a sip of nice relaxing tea. Her body seemed to calm down. Her mind was more at ease. Amelia looked upon the wreckage and made up her mind. This wasn't the war between mutants and humans. There could be innocent mutants on that bus. There could be innocent humans, that had never dreamed of spilling mutant blood, on that bus. Amelia Voght vanished from the crowd that was slowly growing on the street around her.

She reappeared near the front of the bus. She quickly tightened the scarf around her face as to help hide her identity and she stepped delicately around the shards of broken glass. The windshield was cracked in a spiderweb pattern but still hanging largely in one piece due to the safety glass aspect. She peered inside and called out to the bus driver whose body was hanging suspended by the seat belt, "Hello! Can you hear me? Can you move?"

The driver groaned as blood trickled down her cheek. Her eyes fluttered open. "Whut hap-punned?" the driver asked groggily.

"There's been an accident," Amelia explained hearing a noise around the side of the bus.

She stepped around to peer at the undercarriage. The smoke had grown into a fire that was spreading. The vapors of gasoline could probably ignite at any second. She hurried back to kneel on the pavement to look inside the bus through the ruined windshield. There were several people inside. She didn't know if she could teleport them all at once. She knew that there could be the possibility of a spinal injury and that moving any one of them could be a hazard, but the alternative was far more grim.

Amelia focused on the driver, the one closest to her. The woman behind the steering wheel vanished. She reappeared at the edge of the crowd, lying slumped on her shoulder. The crowd gasped and took a collective step backwards. Amelia didn't have time to roll her eyes or spare a thought for them. She vanished again and appeared on the side of the overturned automobile this time, to look inside the windows that were now facing skyward. People were crawling around trying to find their bearings. Some had made it to the emergency exits but others seemed too wounded to move.

Amelia twisted her body to look over her shoulder as she crouched on her hands and knees. The crowd still seemed to be milling about within itself. The Acolyte did notice forward movement however. Two figures were hurrying toward the bus. She was about to call for them to stand back before something happened when she recognized one of the women's faces. It was Emma Frost and one of the students from Charles' school. "Frost!" Amelia urged quickly. "Please! We must work quickly!"

Emma could sense Laurie at her side as they both raced towards the wreckage of the overturned bus. She telepathically linked herself to the young student at her side as they attempted to help the wounded scrambling out of the what appeared to be the only functioning emergency exit.

The fear and the panic in the trapped passengers was palpable and the white queen worked hard to keep her mind focused and not get drowned in the chaos of so many foreign thoughts. Suddenly, before she had chance to even give Laurie the order she could feel the effects of the young blonde's pheromones washing through the senses of herself and the crowd. A smile crossed her face. The girl had a lot of potential, obviously she was capable of taking action without needing to be given orders. She would make a perfect addition to the squad, but first they needed to handle the problem at hand.

Laurie, I need you to listen and do exactly as I say. There are several people still trapped inside that bus, some critically injured and I suspect the bus may explode if the flames reach the fuel lines before we can get everyone out. I'm going to adapt into my diamond form to increase my strength when I do so I will no longer be able to sense the thoughts of those around me or be able to give you mental instructions. I need you to keep the crowd calm with your pheromones, a panicked mob will do more damage then anything so its vital that you keep the crowd under control. Do you understand?

Moments before she changed the physiology of her body from that of mere flesh to organic diamond she heard someone call her name

"Frost!"Please! We must work quickly"

The accident itself had not striked as much surprise in Emma as the site of the acolyte Amelia Voight helping victims from the bus, had she had more time the complete insanity of the situation would have floored her in her tracks. An acolyte helping a bus full of human victims, what was the world coming too. However, Emma did not have time to verify the merits of Amelia's actions ,for the moment she would just have to take the red heads works at face value.

"Teleport out as many as you can" she called out to Amelia, "I'll create an exit for the rest."

With just the slightest of thoughts, Emma felt her body change, manipulating itself into her diamond form. More then anything she could feel the isolation from the crowd, the throng of thoughts and emotions her telepathy allowed her to open herself into stopped. In her altered state she felt individual, free from anything other then herself. For the briefest of moments she questioned why she was helping, but then the stronger of her reasoning won out.

With an ease that would have been impossible in her flesh and blood form she tore a opening in the side of the overturned bus and entered. She could spot Amelia through the increasing smoke, time was running out.

"We must hurry" she called out to the red headed acolyte her voice resonating a cool sterness. "There is no telling how long before the flames reach the gas line"

Emma approached a man trapped in the wreckage of a collapsed seat, with her increased strength she pulled him out easily as he started at her beauty in solid diamond form.

"I'll expect a word of gratitude," she called out to him as she laid him safely on the ground and returned to the wrecked bus. The flames seemed to be expanding though in her other form she could measure no feeling of temperature, she would have to measure everything by her eyes. The smoke was rising steadily, the bus did not have long before it exploded into a inferno of fire and steel. She looked around for Amelia, had the acolyte faired better in removing people with her teleportation? Soon those not at a safe distance would be nothing but charred remains.

She called out through the chaos to Laurie,

"Laurie make sure everyone is a safe distance back and remains calm. The bus is about to explode"

Laurie made sure to restrain her powers until she was given a proper order from Emma, but her instincts had kicked in beforehand. With everyone in such an intense state of panic, no one would be of any help at all. She knew that this was exposing her power in the general public, which could be a bad thing - but if it helped her and Emma save lives, it was the most important and helpful thing she could do at the moment. Laurie could feel everyone close to her beginning to relax due to her pheromones, but she could still sense a distant sort of panic - those who were nearing the crash were not affected. Just as she began to expand her reach, she heard Emma's voice in her head.

Keep the crowd calm was her order - that was all Laurie had wanted to do in the first place. Laurie simply nodded her head in understanding, since she wasn't quite facing her teacher. She relaxed her muscles more and released a much more dense kind of relaxation into the crowd, expanding her reach as far as she possibly could. Her body was now emitting sparkling streams of golden energy, which was far more conspicuous than her simply glowing eyes had been. She dared not break concentration, but the fact that she had no idea what was going on on the bus was driving her crazy. Who was hurt? Would they be okay? Were they going to get out in time? Would the bus really explode? So many questions were reeling through her head in a somewhat exhausted, sluggish state. At least she wasn't frantic. All she had to do was focus on the relaxation, and try not to fall asleep from the calmness that she was currently emitting.

All Laurie could hear were the muffled voices of Emma and the redhead that seemed to know Emma. Something about hurrying, fire and gas. Shit, thought the girl as she tried to remain calm. A brief moment of panic overtook her however, and the crowd was unfortunately affected as well. Come on Laurie, you have to do this. Just concentrate on relaxation and everything will be fine, no need to worry, she told herself. Her eyelids relaxed, and soon after the rest of her body and mind followed. Surprisingly, the crowd snapped out of their second of panic as quickly as Laurie had.

"Laurie make sure everyone is a safe distance back and remains calm. The bus is about to explode."

Stop freaking me out, woman! Laurie knew that Emma couldn't hear her, and that Emma didn't really mean to unnerve her, but her frustration needed to be released. The blonde opened her eyes to view the scene in front of her. All of the patrons near and far from her were standing in a relaxed stupor - some had even slipped onto the ground. "Wow, that's sort of impressive," murmured the girl. No time to get cocky, now.

The blond shook her head and began to move farther away from the bus. Surprisingly, the people that her powers were affecting were moving with her. This somewhat confused Laurie, but she used it to her advantage. She inched the crowd backwards until they were a safe distance away from the bus. The idea of the bus exploding was manifesting into her mind, and making it harder to keep calm. However, the girl continued to force an even more dense sensation out of her, so that if an explosion did occur, no one would panic and get hurt.

God, I hope they make it out in time.

The teacher and her student hurried into the fray. Frost called out for Amelia to hurry as well. She had noticed the flames as well and suggested that they move quickly. Emma shifted into her glistening diamond form and approached the bus. The woman's clothes covered her body but where her flesh was exposed, clear diamond could be seen. The reflections of the surroundings curved and warped across Emma's features. She reached the emergency exit of the bus and ripped from the hinges, providing an escape for those trapped inside. Frost's diamond body allowed her a great deal more strength than normal. The young student, however, just seemed to be standing there. Amelia didn't know the powers of every student at the school. It seemed like there was a revolving door policy. Certainly, the girl was powered but Amelia hoped that perhaps the young lady's abilities were of some help, whatever they were.

Amelia didn't have time to worry about it. As Emma had surmised, the bus could go at any minute. The Acolyte peered into the bus again. Those that could move were progressing toward the exit as best they could. She spied the passengers that were lying on their sides, unresponsive. Without a sound, they vanished, one by one. Behind the bus, they reappeared near the retreating crowd. Amelia turned to see that the distance between the bus and the crowd was increasing. Emma was still in her diamond form, so her telepathic powers were cut off. It must have been the doing of the young student. Amelia deposited the wounded near the feet of the crowd.

Emma Frost was still shepherding the passengers through the narrow hole as Amelia teleported the last of the unmoving out of the bus. The flames were growing steadily. It wouldn't be long before the automobile was fully engulfed. Amelia teleported to the exit hatch and peered in to watch Emma help on the inside of the bus. "I'm going to check on the injured!" she called out.

Amelia immediately appeared kneeling beside the injured bus driver. The prone woman was bleeding and Amelia's initial observations were that she was in no critical danger. She hurried about tending to the other passengers she had rescued from the bus. Some were in worse condition than others. Amelia wracked her brain for the locations of hospitals in the area. She couldn't remember specific and addresses. She knew where they were, but not the name of the streets. Finally, remembering one, she focused on the location and sent the injured there. Across, town the injured passengers magically appeared in the lobby of the emergency room. Amelia turned to see how Frost was faring with her endeavors. The X-Man was handling herself well, as far as the Acolyte could tell.

The insides of the bus were all but engulfed in flames as Emma searched around for any remaining trapped passengers. It appeared all had either escaped on their own, been teleported by Amelia, or had been carried out by herself. It was time to exit. A solid mass of fire seemed to engulf everything attempting to devour her diamond covered body as easily as it had the mounds of steel and leather that had once been the bus. She would have laughed at the futility of it, had not a very expensive Gucci outfit been ruined by smoke and scorch.

She emerged from the bus mere moments before it exploded behind her. The sight of the erupting fireball, and falling debris all but paled in effect compared to the vision of the diamond made woman reflecting fire light as she walked from the inferno. Those still in site of the accident seemed to watch the chaos with a serene almost dream like demeanor, as if it was all a staged play or practical joke they were in on. The white queen knew the young Laurie was the reasoning behind all that. The young blonde's powers were most intriguing, if she was able to lull a whole crowd into a sense of calm while hell seemed to be raining down around them, the full effects of her abilities would be most advantageous to Emma.

She approached Laurie still in diamond form, as the sound of sirens exploded in the air around them. Police, ambulances, fire trucks all were arriving, a bit too late to do any good she thought, but still capable enough to finish what Emma and the others had salvaged. Still with more people arriving questions were going to be asked, and the site of a diamond skinned woman and young blonde girl with golden aura like pheromones exuding from her might garner too much of the wrong kind of attention. Now was not the greatest time to be a mutant, especially standing in front of the remains of a flaming bus.

Emma made way to return to her normal flesh and blood form but then realized her clothes were too badly damaged, to do so would just give her a naked appearance. Not that she minded being seen au' naturel' but a naked flesh white queen was still as noticeable a site as diamond form one.

She looked around quickly and noticed the acolyte standing just mere feet from Laurie, dressed in a grey pea coat almost blending in with the scenery of the crowd, and for the second time that morning Emma realized she was about to do something that mere moments before she would have bet her life would never come to pass.

"Amelia, I need your coat. Hurry. Before more people notice a walking diamond standing here and we draw more exposure then any of us would want."

Then she looked over at Laurie, even in the chaos the girl hand handled herself remarkably well, on very little instruction form the white queen.

"You did very well, Laurie, but I need to know how far stretching and long lasting are your phermones. I can wipe clean the memories of those around but it will go easier if they are already in a susceptible state. That way no one will even remember we were here or how we saved the lives of those on that bus. I'm afraid my dear your are about to learn on of the saddest lessons in being the hero, there is far less glory and acclaim then you would imagine there to be"

The young girl cringed as she heard the bus explode behind her, not long after she had been told to move the crowd. The noise pained her ears, she could feel the heat radiating from the fire, and her eyes stung from the smoke. She noticed some debris landing at her feet, but thankfully she had backed the crowd up enough that none of them would get hurt. Laurie turned around when she was sure the explosion had passed, and saw her teacher moving slowly towards her in a rather luminescent manner. The light reflecting off of her was gorgeous, and Laurie had to try very hard not to get distracted by the effects.

Her attention was quickly drawn away from Emma however when the police, ambulance and fire trucks appeared, sirens blazing. Laurie knew that this was extremely bad for both her and Emma, as they both had very obvious physical powers. Laurie would have stopped her power, but the calmness of the crowd was still necessary for now. She simply tried to remain calm and she looked around and observed the scene in front of her.

Blown up bus, fire trucks, police, ambulances, people drooling all over the place, backed up traffic, glowing yellow girl and diamond woman. Not in the least bit strange. As she lowered the density of her pheromones, Laurie realized that this was the first time that she had ever used her powers among the general public. It was somewhat worrisome.

Laurie watched as Emma took Amelia's coat to transform back to her flesh form so as not to draw attention to herself, but Laurie's power was still compromising her.

"My powers can last as long as I have the energy to hold them, but I feel my energy slipping. This crowd was my first extensive use of my power, and it's really draining. I can try to keep them calm as long as you need me to," said Laurie in response to Emma's question.

"I'm afraid my dear your are about to learn on of the saddest lessons in being the hero, there is far less glory and acclaim then you would imagine there to be."

Laurie nodded is resignation. She knew how widely unpopular mutants were with the population. Even if they did help, no one could know that it was their doing. There would be far too much uproar about freaks. "I kind of figured," said Laurie. "It's okay, as long as I know I did my part to help I'll be fine." She put on a smile and waited for further instruction from Emma.

As she waited, she could feel herself weakening. Worried, she turned around to view the crowd behind her only to see her sheet of pheromones thinning. "Emma, I don't know how much longer they're going to hold."

Just like predicted, the bus went up in a ball of flame. The shrapnel was pretty much contained but the ball of heat that expanded outward was felt upon Amelia's face. Frost walked away from the wreckage still holding her head in that regal way, unflappable. Amelia wondered if Emma was as always as hard as diamond, but on the inside. As she walked forward, Emma did not return to her flesh form. Her clothes had been damaged in the rescue process and Amelia shouldn't have been surprised when the X-Man demanded her coat. "Yes, lets not let this turn into a skin flick," Amelia said dryly as she pulled off her coat and handed it to the woman to help cover herself.

Emma then spoke to the young girl about the hard lessons that come with being a hero. Discretion is the better part of valor, and all that. More heroes were arriving as well. Their sirens rang out and the lights swirled atop the patrol cars. The student, Laurie, explained that she could keep the crowd calm as long as her energy reserves held up. So it had been the girl doing some sort of trick after all. "I guess this it is my turn," Amelia said. "Hold on."

It wasn't as if they could literally hold on to anything. Amelia transformed their bodies into a fine mist, too fine to see and took to the air. They streamed across the streets and over the heads of people. The trio rose quickly to a rooftop several blocks away. Without a sound, their bodies formed from the mist. The wind was blowing harder up on the roof, they couldn't even hear the sirens there. "Not everyone takes well to that mode of travel," Amelia said to reassure either of them if they felt strange.

Amelia could have left them down there to the police and the rescue workers. Times are hard for mutants. They could have been mobbed, well maybe not. On the other hand, they could have been greeted as heroes of the day. That would have been a shock. Discretion is the better part of valor after all. "Laurie, I hope you are strong enough not to swallow everything that your idols sell you. And Frost, for what its worth, good job," Amelia said. "Hard to tell when we will band together again, after all."

Emma slid on the borrowed coat from Amelia, and then felt her stomach jostle as the red headed Acolyte proceeded to teleport, herself, Laurie and the white queen to a roof a few blocks away from the remnants of what had once been a bus. The sensation was jarring to say the least and upon reformation to her physical form Emma thought for the slightest of moments she might actually be sick. As far as means of travel went from now on Emma was sticking to first class.

From the vantage point of the roof Amelia had transported them to, Emma looked down at the rescue scene unfolding below them. How much devastation had been avoided by their proactive work. Had they not been there, how many lives would have been lost? How much worse would the destruction have been? The white queen felt a smile cross her face. Regardless of all the distrust at the school, or hatred towards her it was moments like this that assured her she had made the right choice in leaving the Hellfire Court for Xaviers. She did not need credit or marks of praise to assure her she had made the right choice,true satisfaction came from oneself not from the sentiment of others.

The form white queen reached out with her powers to as many of the minds surrounding the crash and easily erased any memories of the trio who had just saved their lives. Much of the ease of thats success was due to the susceptibility that Laurie's pheromones had eased them into. Yes, the young Laurie was one to be watched most closely. Emma again looked down at the people running afoot below them. Maybe some would sleep easier tonight not knowing the so strongly hated mutants had been the reason they would live to see another day. None of that mattered to the white queen, the right choice had been made. Let them give their praise to the police and rescue workers in the streets. Emma would always know the true saviors that day were herself, the young Laurie Collins, and Amelia Voght.

Amelia Voght, as if a long hidden thought had just broke free Emma took in what had just transpired. A brotherhood member, No an Acolyte had just worked side by side with an X-man and X-student to save human lives. In the heat of the moment she hadnt been able to take on the full impact of the oxymoron that was. An Acolyte rescuing humans, Emma knew it had been a while since she had read up on the doctrine that Magneto passed out to his followers, but she was certain putting ones own self on the line for a group of non-mutants definitely wasn't high up in the list of priorities. No, something wasn't exactly right in the Acolytes sudden movement of compassion.

Keeping her facial expressions passive the white queen reached out to Laurie's mind even as Amelia spoke congratulations to both of them.

" Laurie, regardless of what has just happened this woman is a Acolyte, and not to be trusted. I do not believe she means us any harm, but it has never been wise for the turtle to trust the scorpion. Stay close to me and follow any commands I may give you"

Emma surveyed Amelia with a cold eye, she had no great fear of the red headed acolyte, her time in the Court and with Sebastine had all but guaranteed her success against almost any opponent, but she had Laurie to worry over. Emma would risk no great battle with Amelia that might result in Laurie getting caught in the crossfire. Still. the white queen had to know, what was the red headed acolyte doing rescuing a bus full of humans. Carefully making sure she was safely in front of Laurie should something happen, Emma began to engage Amelia in discussion.

"While I appreciate your words of commendation, Amelia. I'd much rather know what spurned such an act of compassion on your part. At last check I don't remember it being in the brotherhoods repertoire to put themselves on the line for anyone but themselves. I wouldn't expect something like this from the least of one of dear old Magnus's followers , least of all one of his most trusted generals. So tell me Ameila, woman to woman whats really going on here?"

"Stay close to me Laurie, I do not have much trust for this redhead

or for any red heads so far as that goes the white queen thought to herself.

"Quid pr qou, Amelia, What are you really up to?"

As they landed upon the roof, Laurie swayed a bit as a slight feeling of nausea came over her. She made a rather unladylike noise and glared at Amelia. "No warning whatsoever... lucky I didn't puke on your jacket," mumbled Laurie in a hushed, irritated tone. She meandered over to the side of the building and looked down upon the scene. Heights weren't really her thing, so when she did this the nausea increased, and her head became dizzy. Well it was either their height, or the increasing energy it was taking to keep the people calm from a higher altitude. "Woah, I can't look at that. You guys observe and then tell me," said the blond girl as she walked back into the midlde of the building and plopped down.

The blond looked over at Amelia when she addressed her. Not swallow everything my idols tell me? What does she mean by that? She furrowed her brow, trying to think of what Emma had said earlier that she wasn't supposed to have "swallowed", so to speak. Regardless, she was strong enough. She knew what was wrong from what was right... right? Laurie shook her head and sighed. Don't confused yourself right now girl, you don't have the energy.

She watched as Emma walked over to the side and stood still - Laurie guessed that she was finally erasing the memories of the people down below. She closed her eyes and exhaled, relieved that she wouldn't have to stretch her powers to their limit much longer. She was getting quite exhausted. As she watched Emma clear the memories of the lives she had just saved, Laurie watched in slight resignation. She didn't like the fact that these people would never know that the mutants they hated so much had saved their lives, but it was abou to become one of the facts of her life that she couldn't control.

Laurie jumped slightly when she heard Emma's voice in her head, being pulled out of her thoughts - somewhat? - and back onto the roof top. Emma must have finished while she was thinking, so Laurie cut off her powers and took a few deep breaths before standing back up. That mission had most definitely required a lot of effort, but she learned something new - she could emit pheromones effectively from a higher altitude. Sweet, thought the girl to herself as she stayed slightly behind Emma.

As Emma grilled Amelia, Laurie remained in the background. She really had nothing to do with this little confrontation, knowing nothing of Amelia other than the fact that the woman was an Acolyte. One of Magento's followers. She supposed that was why Emma was interrogating her so much, to figure out why she had helped those thousands of people when she could have just left it to Emma and herself.

Still, Laurie listened to Emma and stayed close. She didn't particularly feel like putting her life in danger today, although she didn't really see Amelia as a harmful person at this point. Heck, she had just congratulated them on a good job. The politics of saving lives and being an X-man are so confusing.

Laurie had come through the teleportation a bit typically. She was slightly disoriented and looked a little uneasy to her stomach. She padded across to the edge of the building to either get sick or survey the scene they had just left. She gave a look to the wreckage but then decided she couldn’t look upon it anymore. She returned to the center of the roof and sat down abruptly to reorganize herself. She had probably expended a lot of energy to manipulate the crowd as she had. So, the girl’s condition had to do with a combination of the events rather than simply the teleportation.

It didn’t take long for Frost to get right to questioning Amelia and what she had been doing. Emma wanted to know why the Acolyte had helped to rescue a bus full of humans. Amelia wasn’t surprised. She’d be asking the same thing if one of the X-Men had suddenly blown up a research facility or something. It was almost a laughable stereotype. Each faction expected the other to act a certain way. They probably told bedtime stories to all the students that if they didn’t behave the Brotherhood would rob them from their beds while they slept.

Amelia crossed her arms over her chest. She didn’t have to stay around for a lecture or an inquisition. She didn’t mention the fact that she had given Emma the jacket she was wearing to cover herself. “Can you be sure that not all of those passengers were humans? What if they were mutants? Would that ease your mind; if I said that I was trying to save any potential mutants?” Amelia asked.

“I’m not up to any games, Frost,” Amelia explained. “I saw a situation where I could help innocent people and I chose to act. I don’t know if any of those passengers have mutant blood on their hands or not, I would like to think that they don’t. I’m not out seeking the deaths of the innocent, Frost. There is much more to the Brotherhood than is seen on the surface. I’m sure you can understand that; the rest of the iceberg hidden beneath the surface.”

The Brotherhood made sure to be informed of their adversaries. The X-Men were no exception. They had dossiers on almost all of them with what history they could gather as well as descriptions of their powers. During the Apocalypse events they had learned part of Emma’s true colors. They probably couldn't get Frost to join them or their cause but her history could be something that they could use against her.

Emma laughed coldly at Amelia's explanations. Her remark calling into question Emma's history was not lost on the white queen, though she felt she had no need to explain herself to anyone least of all an Acolyte like Amelia Voght. Her past was public knowledge and though the white queen had no true regrets over anything she had done, a comparison over whose soul was cleaner between her and Amelia was of no consequence to Emma. She was in her own way making amends for her past. Amelia was merely spurred to a moment of compassion. Whatever her justifications it did not change the fact the woman was an Acolyte.

As quick as she may have been to help the bus full of whatever they were today, on an order from Magneto she would have destroyed them all just as easily. The irony in that fact was not lost on Emma and though it may not have been wise. The chance to make Amelia aware of it was too sweet an opportunity for her to pass up.

"How magnanimous of you, Amelia" Emma replied coldly her voice bleeding with sarcasm.

"Who knew the Acolytes were capable of such wondrous fetes of compassion. I'm sure had the orders from dear old Magnus been different you wouldn't have given a second thought as to who was on that bus, be they mutant, human, animal, mineral ,vegetable....."

The white queen made a flippant gesture with her hand as she spoke bringing more dry humor to her words.

"You zealots are all the same, blindly barking at the orders of your master. My decisions be they good or bad have always been my own. I am wise enough to follow no master, and no doctrine. You think mutant superiority is such a wise course for the world my dear, well let me inform you."

Her words dripped with acid as she moved closer to Amelia.

"The mass populace of mutants do not have the good sense or know how to tie their shoelaces properly, less of all be leaders. Just because they got lucky in the genetic lottery of life doesn't condition them with any sort of knowledge or capability. You Acolytes would realize that if you took the time to question the doctrine you believe in so vehemently. Do you really believe Magneto would make a greater leader then those in power now? Is he capable of anything other than tyranny? You worked today to help people, however you justify it now in your mind, but would Magneto have been capable of any of the same mercy. You know the answer to that as well as I do, darling Amelia. He listens solely to the sound of his own voice, all others are expendable to him. So I'll advise you Ameila, woman to woman, its never wise to put your trust in any one thing or person solely, your just setting yourself up for disaster."

Emma laughed a cold laugh again as she backed away from Amelia and positioned herself in front of Laurie.

"You have seen a grand site today, Laurie. A merciful acolyte, but don't be fooled by her words. Had her leader told her to, she would have ripped the throats out from all those she just saved with a smile in her heart. Here's a chance to learn a valuable lesson. . Trust in yourself, subscribe to no doctrine that you can not question. Less the blind follow the blind."

As Emma ripped into Amelia's throat like a rabid pitbull, Laurie stuck to her own business. The young girl stepped backwards a bit and turned around to view the sites as Emma tore into Amelia with a fire Laurie couldn't even understand. What Emma had against the woman that she would torment her after Amelia had just saved a whole bus full of people from exploding, Laurie had absolutely no idea. However, she didn't dare broach the subject with Emma, as it really wasn't her place and she had nod desire to listen to the woman rant when Laurie didn't necessarily agree.

Regardless, Laurie had removed herself from the situation and approached the edge of the building to view the city. It was quickly getting darker, and the lights in Times Square were brilliant. The noise flooded her ears and she could no longer hear the argument. The height was just a little bit too much for her, but the vision she was getting was too brilliant to simply back away from. This trip hadn't necessarily been about sight-seeing, obviously - she figured that there was something much more significant about it, since she and Emma had never associated very much before the trip. This was as much of the city as she would probably see, so she wanted to drink it in. Small-town girl and everything, the environment drew her in.

Unfortunately, her unease at the height overcome her and she was forced to return to the awkward argument that was taking place. form behind Emma she viewed Amelia, who seemed innocent enough to Laurie, and who hadn't really said or done anything wrong the whole time she had been in their company. Laurie knew about the Acolytes and their involvement with Magneto, which obviously made them blacklisted in Laurie's mind, but to her Amelia had done something good today.

Laurie continued to contemplate the situation in front of her until Emma suddenly appeared in front of her. Laurie jumped visibly at the unexpected presence. "Holy hell, woman," said the girl a bit breathless. As Emma addressed her, all of a sudden Laurie became involved in the vendetta. She drunk in Emma's words and contemplated them. This woman was way too serious, but Laurie did understand the gist of what Emma was preaching.

"I understand Ms. Frost," said Laurie a bit too obediently. However, she did feel like Amelia needed to be thanked after Emma had stomped her shiny expensive heels all over her. So, Laurie leaned to the side and looked directly at Amelia. "I don't trust you necessarily, nor any of the Acolytes. But thanks for helping today," said Laurie simply, before returning to face Emma.