The Sword And The Shield (X-Men) (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

Chapter Fifty-Six: Pairing

Pairing

Belle's POV

The Professor insists we keep training, and while I hate the idea of a team without Aaron, he's right. People will always need saving.

We've graduated from the workout rooms to the training arena under the school. It's the place every new mutant is brought to, and it's where they show their abilities to the Professor, Storm, and Logan.

Dan has sort of become Blake's mentor, since they both share the super speed mutation. They go on runs together, and by runs I mean they race each other around the East coast. Blake is really fast, and she's usually close to beating him, but she gets distracted really easily and falls short by a few seconds. She also can control gravity, so we work together occasionally, since I teleport.

Lauren and Terry have a unique partnership. In all realness, it isn't really a partnership, they just spend a lot of time together. Lauren does yoga and stretching exercises. We discovered she can stretch her entire body the length of a football field. Terry is made entirely of water, or at least mostly, and that helps him to heal fast. There was a bit of an incident earlier this week and he lost a finger, but he picked it up and it reattached itself to his hand as easily as two glasses of water join together when poured into one bowl.

Acacia is still working on hand-to-hand combat, but her head hasn't been in it lately. Quite frankly, none of ours have, but she's acting out and getting frustrated.

"Remember what Jade said, Acacia! You have to stay light on your feet!" I swat at her battered converse shoes with my blue staff, earning a look of distaste.

"She's not even here!" Acacia throws her wrapped hands up in the air in frustration. She's right. Jade was at Mrs. Shield's house. Jason asked for her to go with him when he told her. All I can say is that I'm glad I'm not her right now.

"She's busy." I say through gritted teeth as I swing my staff so Acacia can worko on blocking hits. "And she knows how to fight." I swipe her feet out from beneath her and she slams her fist against the floor.

"Aaron is dead! Why are we still training!" Everyone in the room stops whatever they are doing and stares in her direction.

I bite my tongue and turn my back to her, trying to calm myself down. Li notices from her corner of the room, where she had been reading a magazine and drinking tea. "Because, Acacia, people will always need our help." She is able to answer calmly, a skill I wish I had. "Aaron knew that." Acacia's jaw clenches as tears form in her eyes.

"How'd he die."

"Magneto killed him. You know that." Daniel is quick to answer, immediately redirecting any blame from Jade. Acacia twists her neck in response, shooting him a number of daring glares.

"No. We were told who killed him, but not how." I share a concerning look with Li, who nods her head, telling me she'll handle it. She steps forward and kneels down next to Acacia.

"He used Jade's swords. Aaron wasn't expecting it. No one was."

"Why didn't she stop it?"

Li sighs, "Magneto is one of the strongest mutants alive, Acacia. No one expects a seventeen year old girl to withstand his power. She couldn't hold on any longer."

Acacia holds her breath and slowly rises to her feet. "You mean... She let go?" She backs up, hitting the punching bag. "Aaron is dead because she let go of the swords?" Li shakes her head.

"No. Magne-"

"She killed him!" Acacia cuts Li off, shouting dramatically and swinging her fist at the bag as hard as she can.

The sound of platform-shoed-steps echo throughout the arena and my attention turns towards the entrance. "Jade..."

She's not even recognizable. She came to me earlier today and asked me to fix her up. She said she didn't want Aaron's mom to see her looking the way she did, so I did her makeup. I put concealer over the dark bags under her eyes and blush on her cheeks. Then I brushed her hair and pushed it back, but the white plastic headband was her idea. I found a simple white blouse in the back of my closet and Li let Jade borrow a knee length black skirt. She looks normal.

Jade looks Acacia up and down, acting as if she didn't just hear her accusations, "Your form is off." Acacia's jaw drops.

"My form? You think my form is off?" I don't like the harshness in her tone. It's making me and everyone else in the room uncomfortable. "You know what I think, Jade? I think you're a murderer, and I'm done taking orders from you." Acacia walks  hastily towards the door, shoving Jade with her shoulder.

Jade just stands there, blankly staring into the emptiness of the arena.

"Hey!" Dan shouts loudly, making me practically jump out of my skin. "Acacia!" He runs after her, leaving an angry, red streak of light in his place.

I just watch Jade, following her with my eyes as she walks slowly towards the punching bag. She stares as it sways side to side, as if it has her in some sort of trance. "Belle?"

"Yeah, Jade." I step forward. My heart starts beating fast as I wonder what she's going to ask of me.

"I'm going to go get Dan, and then you two are going to finish today's training session." She turns to me with sad eyes. "And I'm going to go tell the Professor that I'm stepping down as team leader."

"But-"

"It's not right, you know, without Aaron." She sighs and steadies the punching bag, then she walks towards me, pulling the headband free from her hair. "The leaders need to be a pair, two people everyone can listen to and respect." She hands be the headband and gives me a sad smile. "I'm not that part of a pairing. I'm not part of any pairing."

And with that, Jade exits the arena.