¹ Roar || The Gifted: John Proudstar

10|eXit strategy

Taylor was curled up on the couch, curled into John's side, and she was simply trying not to fall off of the couch. John's arms were around her as then, she was turning around to face her head into his chest. Taylor shut her eyes, desperately just trying to convince herself that it was all going to be all right.

But she couldn't do it, she couldn't convince herself and then again, she was beginning to shake all over. With fear and pain, terror as her breathing was becoming more and more ragged.

"Taylor." John murmured as she was shaking, her breathing was clearly uneven and she stunk of terror, for those mutants like her that could smell. "Hey." John murmured gently and she was burying her head into his chest, struggling to control her emotions. "Let it out." He said and she was looking up at him, her eyes fighting back the lion as she was shaking.

"I will hurt you, even if I sure as hell don't mean it." Taylor said through gritted teeth as she shut her eyes. "I can't, I can't control it." She whispered and she was squeezing her hands together into fists and now, her palms were bloody from her claws digging in.

"I will heal." John reminded her and then she was looking at him, before he nodded at the wordless communication between the two of them quickly. "Let it out." He said and she was closing her eyes, before he opened his arms and she rolled off of the couch and onto the floor.

Before she hit the ground, her hands and feet had changed into paws and the lion was staring up at him.

"We will be all right." John said and the lioness rumbled, before she was pressing her head against one of his hands. John scratched her behind the ears and she was letting out a sort of rumbling, a sort of purring noise. "I won't let you get hurt." He whispered and when she was looking at him, he thought that he could still see the familiar humanity in her eyes. "I promise."

When John blinked, she was sitting on the floor and she was shaking her head. "I know that you can promise it. But when it comes down to it, will you really be able to keep it?" Taylor asked and he was looking over at her, before she was grabbing an extra jacket and pants from the corner, before she was getting back up onto the couch and she lay next to him again. "I can't sleep." She said as they were still silently staring into the dark.

"Neither can I." John muttered and she turned around to look at him, sighing at the words. "I doubt that anybody who is going with us, is getting a lot of sleep." He said and she was nodding. "Are you sure, that you're okay with helping us?"

"Are you really going to keep asking me that?" Taylor asked and he was looking at her.

"Are you going to keep stonewalling my questions, with even more questions yet again?" John asked and she shrugged.

"If you keep asking me the same question over and over again, then yes." Taylor said simply and John shrugged.

"Well, I should probably stop asking questions then." John murmured and he leaned down to rest his head on hers. Taylor shut her eyes, before she snuggled up closer.

"If you stop asking questions, we might actually be able to get some sleep." Taylor murmured softly and she felt him chuckling softly at the words.

"John?" She asked after a few minutes.

"What's up?" John murmured and he was looking down at Taylor, who sighed quietly at the words. "Everything okay?" He asked.

"I just keep thinking about the attack, on that relocation center." Taylor admitted. "I can't get it out of my head and I am terrified that this might be a repeat of it." John looked down at her, before he nodded in understanding. "I can't lose you John. Even more than anybody else, I can't lose you."