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"Come on, Irina. The president is just about to make his address," said Gaia as she pulled Irina's hand. "We must hurry."
"I'm sure we'll make it."
"If you hurry up."
She shook her head before teleporting to the tv room. They arrived with a smoke of light green: calm. Charles and Moira sat on the couch, everyone else stood behind them. Irina moved next to Erik, glancing with worry at the gun in his hand. "Why do you have a gun," she whispered.
"Training." Irina gave him an awkward side glimpse before looking at the young girl who'd attempted to drag her to the very room they stood in. She stood at the end of the couch, her eyes flashing left and right for a spot to squeeze in between Charles and Moira.
She almost called out to her before Gaia decided to stand beside Raven and Alex, giving them horrible, fake grins to mask her disappointment. Irina wanted to frown, but stayed still and kept her eyes on the TV.
"It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile crossing the embargo line that surround Cuba as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response-" said the president through the screen for the whole country to hear, yet the words were rain on the mutants parade.
Erik pointed his gun at the TV. "That's where we're going to find Shaw." Irina pushed the gun back down to his side.
"How do you know?" asked Alex.
"Two superpowers facing off, and he wants to start World War Three," responded Charles. "He won't leave anything to chance."
She winced. Her grandmother. She had one reason to fight against Shaw, and Irina always got things done.
"So much for diplomacy," said Erik sarcastically, making her simper in amusement. "I suggest you all get a good night's sleep." Irina watched as he turned away, his tongue playing against his cheek in deep thought. All of a sudden, she was willing to become the metal he manipulated. But she swallowed her feelings, which felt like lava against her throat and looked outside.
It was cloudy, but she could tell the sky would be turning her favorite shade of deep, night indigo. It gave her a sense of comfort, she only remembered Russia being cloudy. There were few days the sun would come out of its hiding spot and tan the pale girl into the color gold, sometimes her arms a deep shade of crimson. In Birmingham, the sun never shined.
She gave the mutants, plus Moira, a half-smile before walking out too.
She wondered if she could do it. Save the world. Could she be able to duplicate into thousands and fight everyone she needs to fight? Would she be able to teleport in time and save lives? She thought she could, she knew she could. She hoped she could, she hoped. But this, Cuba, Russia was showing the world her identity in front of a TV. Allowing them to see every aspect of her, to see what really made her unique. Why she was so special.
