Chance Encounter - Wolverine/X-Men Fanfic

Chapter 11: Don't tell me how to run my team, Max

Scott touched the jet down in a remote section of the BC Wildlife Park in Kamloops, British Columbia.

Once she heard the engines start to wind down she let out a silent breath of relief and relaxed the deathgrip her fingers had on the arms of the chair. She started wiggling them around to work the ache out of them.

Yep. She might be used to it, but she still hated flying.

"How far out are we?"

Jean began unbuckling her seatbelt.

"About two miles." Scott leaned forward, starting to switch everything down.

"Great. Another trek." Jean grumbled, standing up and stretching her arms up to the ceiling.

"I may be able to get us there faster." Ororo offered.

Scott looked over at her, surprised.

"I know you've been working on hefting one or two of us in the air at a time, but are you sure you can do this?"

She nodded and replied, "We shall have to stay just above the tops of the trees, but I believe I can do it.

Scott nodded and stood up, heading towards the back of the jet. Max got out of her seat and moved to follow Jean and Ororo as they stepped out onto the descending ramp.

The ground was covered with a blanket of snow about three inches deep. Their feet made crunching sounds as they stepped off the ramp into the snow and Max began having second thoughts. In combat simulations, Ororo had tried to lift her with the winds before and Max had almost immediately thrown up afterward. The idea of going through it again didn't appeal to her at all.

She would probably cover more ground in fur, anyway.

Ororo's eyes began to fade to white and Max quickly said, "I think I'm going to meet you guys there this time."

Scott looked over at her, frowning.

Max quickly explained, "I can probably run as fast as she'll be able to fly you over without you getting sick. Besides – I'll end up with the insides of my stomach on the ground when we land, and it'll take me a minute or two to recover.."

Scott didn't look convinced. "You sure you can keep up?"

Max smiled and said, "Oh yeah. Which way is it again?"

Scott pulled out a map, indication the location and pointing north.

"Be careful Max."

Max nodded and began stripping down. Scott turned away and she chuckled, tossing her uniform to Jean after sliding out of it. Hank was still ironing out the kinks of a suit that would shift with her. Max found it somewhat cute that Scott was still so easily embarrassed at her nudity.

"In case I need it when we get there." She explained, shivering slightly.

Jean laughed and tucked the suit in a small black pack on Scott's back.

The three of them slowly lifted into the air and Max shifted, immediately leaping into a sprint. The wolf howled inside her, delighted at the chance to break loose in the wilderness again.

The monthly runs with Hank were enjoyable, but nothing could truly compare with this. Joyous, Max looked up to see the three of them keeping pace with her above the trees. She let out a bark of laughter and ran faster, easily outdistancing them. She would get to their destination before they did at this point.

It was rare that she had to tap into her hidden reserves of speed. By default, everybody else just seemed to move slowly to her in comparison. Even Logan. But then she had yet to really make him tap his reserves either. She hadn't gotten the chance.