It caught Valkyrie by surprise when smoke stopped coming into her lungs. Well, if it was, it was passing right through them along with the rest of her. Shadowcat was keeping her intangible, which was a creative use of her powers. In fact, with Valkyrie tapping her heel on the ground, she realized they were not entirely intangible. The control was impressive. ”Ye know, Ah coods dae a lot worse than a skilled lass loch ye as my sidekick,” she joked. Sure, she was part of a team, but Mirror was collecting trainees; who said she could not do the same?

Given the option to fight or escape and call this a job well done, Juniper did not hesitate. Valkyrie could grow to really like this girl. ”Good answer, Kitty. Stay close!” Admittedly, in a reversal of her usual fortunes, that would do more to keep her safe than her temporary ward.

Running from the vault, the experience of different parts of her shifting in and out of solidity was surreal. She felt bouts of weightlessness or a sudden vanishing of wind resistance. She had to adjust to this on the fly, because they had no time to acclimate.

One of the men running toward the commotion spotted her and stopped in his tracks, raising his gun. Valkyrie flinched because it was no one’s instinct to let herself get shot. She trusted Shadowcat, though, and sure enough, bullets passed through her chest with nothing more than a shiver of unease running through her for letting that happen. He paused when he saw she was not stopping and turned, but it was too late; she was on him and smashed her shield into the side of his head.

Another assailant turned a nearby corner and Valkyrie felt her body go tangible for a moment while she heaved her shield in his direction. As she guided it with her powers to make optimal contact, she noticed how quickly her body lost all weight and presence. That was because a club passed through from the back of her head and out of her face. It was not a metal club, so she missed it, but her protector must not have.

Valkyrie would not waste that opportunity. She reached behind her with one hand to grab the hand Shadowcat was keeping on her. She twirled the younger woman around to get her in front so her other hand could reach for the attacker who had gotten behind them. She wrapped her arm around his head, her bicep pressing against his neck and her gauntleted hand securing him. With effort and the aid of magnetically maneuvering her gauntlet, she lifted him off his feet by the head and threw him over her shoulder.

Her shield was summoned back so she could smash him in the face with it. Targets neutralized and she pressed forward to find two more thugs standing in the doorway. She raised her shield before noticing how they were looking at the room behind her. They were apparently smart; if you ran into a room and found all your coworkers easily incapacitated, it was probably best to surrender. They dropped to their feet, dropped their weapons, and held their hands aloft. Valkyrie would not waste that opportunity, sending two cuffs from her belt to the offered wrists and shackling them. With a magnetic push, she had the cuffs drag them out toward the encroaching police.

A set of voices chimed in Valkyrie’s ear, giving her pause so she could hear the communication.
“And team five?”
“Clear here, too!”
“Valkyrie? What’s the situation like over there?”

Coming to her senses, Valkyrie pressed the trigger on her wrist for her comms. ”Ah think we’ve got things back here. Ah’ll scan th’ area, but Ah think aw sections near th’ vault are clear.”

”Understood! Sounds like the buidling’s clear, but proceed with caution. Also, we? Did another X hit the field?”

The hero paused. ”It’s… oh, ye’ll see in a sec. Ah’ll dae a sweep ay th’ back offices then come it tae debrief. ” It would be easier to explain Shadowcat in person, she decided.

”Well, ye survived yer first mission, kid. Soonds loch things have calmed doon an’ th’ police can take things o’er after ain last sweep,” she shared, turning back to the girl in her borrowed mask.

Oh lord, Adonis would never let her live it down if she became a sidekick for one of his favorite X-men.

... Actually, would that be funny? Seemed like it would be funny. It could absolutely never happen for various reasons, but the image of Xavier being elated and maybe a bit jealous at the same time gave her a bit of a chuckle.

No time to dwell on that, though! Valkyrie started the charge and Juniper followed swiftly. It was a literal test of her concentration keeping both of them more or less phased the whole time, while also keeping an eye out for attacks from all angles. The woman had requested her to phase things in and out of existence in a slightly different way than she was used to, and there just hadn't been time to debate whether or not it was needed or the intricacies of their powers. Juniper had to adapt on the fly for this to work and she had more than just herself hinging on its success now.

Gunman this way, another guy that way.

Juniper caught sight of a guy sprinting at them with a club of all things, which, yeah, she supposed if bullets weren't working then trying something new might seem logical. She phased everything she could think of that could possibly end up in its trajectory.

...and then something surprising happened. She was not expecting the woman to grab her and maneuver her out of the way. That.. uh... hadn't been something she thought other people could do to her while phased. She supposed it made sense... she was just used to being the one doing the grabbing and breaking off contact before the other could retaliate.

"Woah!" Valkyrie was... wonderfully violent. Artistically savage? Beautifully brutal? She had never seen someone other than Xavier do the hero thing up close until now and, for sure, X had a long way to go. The redhead was simply a whirlwind of practiced, perfected action.

Juni was still rather moonstruck when all of the action came to a swift end, as the rest of the robbers surrendered. She stood there, no longer needed, and stared like the civilian she was.

Man, she couldn't wait to tell Xavier abo-- ah, nuts, she forgot she couldn't again!

She snapped back into it when the hero started talking into her little wrist com thingy, and woo, would you look at that, it was definitely time to go! No way was she staying around to meet anyone for any reason.

"Eh...hehe, about that..." She fiddled with the mask for a moment for that the woman was looking at her and the threat had bee taken care of. She was, um, actually kinda intimidating now. "Can I, um... not be here when they come in? I mean, like, I appreciate what you guys do and all... putting your lives on the line all the time, but I am definitely not comfortable with being known for this." She shifted on her feet. She already knew a way out and no one was gonna stop her even if they tried, but... she didn't wanna just turn tail and sprint away without some kind of explanation at least!

"A-and another thing. Can I have this mask here? I have a friend who is absolutely bonkers about you and he'll die if I give it to him." She paused, thinking up something else, and added, "Could you sign it, even? Please?"

Valkyrie was not necessarily an adrenaline junkie, and she would deny it if anyone called her that, but there was a thrill to handling the chaos of a combat situation. She was so far from the awkward foreign exchange student being trained to throw a punch by Emerald. Valkyrie had put in the time; she was a force on the battlefield, and it felt natural to take out threats.

When all was said and done, she was able to come down and realize she had a civilian still in tow staring at her. Right; hopefully that was being a good role model?

Despite the offer, Shadowcat was apprehensive about meeting with the police. It was the best choice and Valkyrie knew it, but she also knew how some mutants felt about the police. She had to acknowledge she was lucky to have the kind of relationship with the police she had and many mutants experienced prejudice and poor treatment from authorities.

Begrudgingly, the heroine came to the decision that the right choice was to let the young woman go. ”That’s okay this time. Ah’ll keep ye it ay th’ story as much as Ah can,” she promised, sighing in resignation. ”Bit ye really were great it there, Kitkat. If ye e’er want tae put oan th’ mask fer real, find me.”

Sp[eaking of the mask, Valkyrie was surprised by the parting request. Flattered, but surprised given everything they had just gone through together. ”Oh, um, why not? Got a sharpie?” She should really start carrying those...

You were great in there

... For some reason when compliments like that came from Xavier they were pretty easy to ignore. He was a boy, for one... so it was easy to compartmentalize pretty much anything he said. He was also insanely nice all the time, to everyone, so... they just didn't feel as direct, maybe. Or possibly a little fake sometimes? It was probably just her being overly suspicious of everything, but whatever.

When it came from a seasoned, well-known crime fighter, though?

Ah, @#$%, she was blushing. She could feel it as her cheeks heated up and Juniper just stood there like an idiot staring at the woman a bit wide-eyed. She'd even offered her another opportunity for it if she wanted.

The teen gulped and shifted on her feet like she was gonna run, which she was heavily considering since she tended to do that when put in awkward situations by her own anxiety. Like, damn, her own parents hadn't ever uttered those words to her, and now @#$%ING VALKYRIE had.

"R-right! Sharpie!" She bolted off into one of the offices and hurried back with just that, and then handed it over and stood very, very still so the mask on her face could get signed. The mask for Xavier. Yes... it was a gift, she needed to remember that.

@#$%ing KITKAT. She had a nickname now! Kitkat!

Her blush deepened to an uncomfortable degree as feelings she wasn't at all prepared to deal with started swirling around in her gut.

"...T-thanks again, for, um, you know, all the stuff you do and junk, and like, signing my mask and covering for me and... i'm... gonna go now!" Awkward! Flee before it gets worse! As soon as the hero was done signing the mask she made a break for it like the coward she was.

"BYE!"

Out through the back of the building, through a small group of police gathered at the end of the alley, down the sidewalk and through a few random shops for good measure until she felt safe enough to stop running and take the mask off.

Once she was home she plopped her butt on her couch and stared at that green mask in her hands, idly turning it over between her fingers as she attempted to process all that had happened again.

Man, Xavier was gonna lose his mind over such a gift. That was well worth it, right?

"...Kitkat, huh?"

-END-