Hawk and Dove

"Home."

AN: Second update in under a week, go me. I'd now like to inform everyone that I have surpassed 50,000 words, which makes this story novel length. Like. Wow. I am so very proud. Thank you everyone for your continued support on this story, you're all amazing.

"So not only are you pyrokinetic, but you're also a pyromaniac," Jim said, turning in his seat to look at Dan.

He moved his head so he could look at Jim instead of out the window. "Yep," he replied simply. He took that moment to also glance at the car's clock. 23:48.

Frowning, Jim leaned over and muttered something to Marzia in that foreign language they had. It wasn't Spanish, because Dan took a bit of Spanish in school and even if he couldn't speak it he could pride himself on the fact that he could at least recognize it. So he asked. "What is that you're speaking?"

Jim leaned away, not sparing a glance at Dan. Dan narrowed his eyes a bit. So the MI5 agent had helped him escape, but Dan could still tell that Jim didn't quite trust him. He spoke to Marzia like parents of a two-year-old spelled out words so the kid didn't understand. He carried himself like a trained agent on a mission instead of just a man passionate about his beliefs on mutants. And that fact alone made Dan feel a little skeptical about his "queen and country" line back at the labs.

"It's Italian," Marzia replied, "I came to England to be a scientist."

"What kind of scientist are you?" Dan asked, his gaze flickering to Jim before going back again.

"I'm a biochemist," she said.

"Then you are much smarter than I ever hope to be," Dan commented.

Jim let out a huff. "We need a plan," he said. Marzia pulled over suddenly, and then Dan heard the sirens. Fire trucks with their lights and horns on full blast streaked by, heading the way their car came from. Dan watched them until they were out of sight, and then he noticed that they weren't being tailed by MI5. Even through a small fire (which might have grown, considering the trucks) they should have at least seen Marzia's license plate. "Daniel," Jim barked, causing Dan to spin around, "We need a plan."

"Don't call me that," he snapped back, "Hawk will do. You've already taken to that one."

Jim sighed. "Fine. We need a-"

"Plan, I know. You said. If you haven't noticed, Agent Chapman, I was held in a lab for god knows how long either unconscious or getting tortured. So I don't think it's fair that everything be up to me," Dan stated, his arms folded. The insides of his elbows ached from the needles but he wasn't backing down.

"You were unconscious for a day and half," Marzia added, her voice quiet. Well shit.

Jim worked his jaw, looking irritated. "I know all about what you've been through, alright? The prime minister wasn't lying when he said he put some of us through the tests to make us bond with the mutations. I lost colleagues," he said and finally turned again in his seat to look at Dan, "I'm one of the lucky ones. After I went through that I could not watch anyone else go through the same."

Dan's expression softened ever so slightly. Even though they obviously still didn't trust each other, Dan and Jim had something in common. However, the one thing that made them different was age. Jim had been through years of training, and quite literally Dan was still a kid. And his curiosity got the best of him. "How did you survive the tests?" he asked Jim.

"I suppose the stolen blood and mine mixed well," he replied, "It made me invulnerable."

Dan's eyebrows went up. "Like, indestructible? Oh my god, the guard did shoot you earlier, didn't he? But the bullets couldn't pierce your skin!" he said.