Needless to say, he didn't agree with her views on violence. He would have pressed the subject further, but they'd pulled up at the truck stop, and he figured he had plenty of time to change her views in the future.

She called back for a water of her own, and he obliged, leaning down to pick up the two water bottles from the slot on the vending machine, and stood up suddenly when he heard the door to the shop nearby slam open. "huh?" Wait, where had Elke gone? His eyes widened a bit as he put two and two together, and hurried toward the store.

She wasn't... starting a fight with a cop, was she? But... why, though?! He rounded the corner into the shop and was surprised to see her and a short, round police officer... hugging?

Wow. He never would have thought. There was a solid moment of shock he had to shake off. His eyes lit up as they started talking, though, and always the type who loved to meet new people, he stepped forward. "Hi there! You must be one of Elke's friends! I'm Xavier, nice to meet you, sir!" He held out a hand to shake, looking to Elke with a wide smile.

So, she could make friends, after all! He would never have thought her to be the type to befriend a police officer, though. He guess it did make a bit of sense, though. Her adopted father was an honorary officer, after all.

She was in the middle of razzing him when Xavier came in, and she stepped slightly to the side so he could join the conversation. John, his cheeks and nose red with joy lit up when the tall blonde boy introduced. John put to and two together about the two of them being on the road together. He definitely wasn't her dad or one of her brothers, and he was used to running into her on her own. He gripped X's hand back with a strength that tied back to his younger days and gave it a few good shakes.

"Well I'll be... I never thought I'd live to see the day ole' Moose here crossed my paths with a friend in tow!"

He had reclaimed his treats and coffee and got in a few good laughs at her expense. "Been a spitfire ever since she was this tall," He gestured loosely around his waist, "Only child I ever encountered that I had to bribe with sweets to get her to talk to me."

Elke didn't look all too thrilled about being the butt of his joking, but restrained herself and withheld any scathing comments that came to mind.

"You need to retire, John. I know you managed to survive the last few years up here in relative peace, but fer real... I'm not gonna be close enough to come rescue your fat @$% if things go south around here. You know there are some youth programs you could hop into after you retire, right? Plenty of other kids out there you could be a good role model too."

John, all smiles again, chuckled. "I've still got a few years in me yet, you'll see!"

She didn't look convinced. "My dad's first ex-wife would probably set you within a program if you want... just have to say the word, John. She'd got her green little fingers pretty much everywhere." Even if she didn't care for that woman's infuriating smile and holier-than-thou aura, she couldn't deny that she was at least helping various people around the city. She's stayed in touch to a degree because of that, and if she ever needed to call on the woman's weird blood healing power again for herself or her dad.

They chatted for a bit longer and John drilled into Xavier excitedly about pretty much everything he was doing and wanted to do.

"If that whole X man thing doesn't work out, you let me know. I'll pull a few strings and you'll be on the force before you know it!" The jolly old man winked and sipped at his hot coffee. They all shuffled outside eventually and ELke got the pump put back and gas cap twisted back into place.

"You all be careful out there camping, okay?" He waved off the silent question Elke sent at him with one hand as he hovered behind his squad car. "Been some strange folks moving through these parts lately what with all the chaos going on in the city."

They all bade their farewells and Elke climbed back into the truck and buckled up. A full tank of gas and another two hours ahead of them.

He was invited into the conversation with the older cop. It was nice to note that Elke didn't seem to have that collection of masks that a lot of people carried with them. You know, those people that acted differently toward you around their friends? He honestly hadn't run into a lot of it, but he had seen people act oddly toward others around him many times.

For Elke, She was who she was. He honestly hadn't met a whole lot of people like that. He liked to think he was the same. "Heh heh, Here I am! Proof that there are other survivors out there!" He grinned and looked her way as the officer talked about bribing her with sweets.

She started trying to convince him to retire, which was often a sore subject for long term police officers. He probably had a good pension and everything, so... there was that. Still, he seemed like the type that would work until he couldn't work anymore.

Elke talked more about her family, but he had to admit he wasn't sure which dad she was talking about at this point. He knew the Masochist had been married. It was a wedding no one could forget, really. A public ceremony invaded by a squad of super villains? AWESOME... Well... terrible, actually. But. Very notable.

It wasn't long before the subject of Xavier was brought up in detail, and he gladly took the opportunity to talk about himself. He talked about his goals, his accomplishments, and eventually was offered a hypothetical spot on the police force if superheroing didn't work out.

"Thank you for the offer! It was nice to meet you!" He said as he left, knowing full well he had no plans whatsoever to become a police officer. As they got gathered up once more and were about to head on their way, the officer offered a slightly forboding word of caution. He looked over to Elke to see if she knew what he was talking about, and then got in the car.

They were off again, and Xavier was looking her way with the slightest hint of a smile. "So...uh... Friends on the force, huh?"

"I wouldn't really consider him a friend. We're familiar with each other and he's too nice for the line of work he chose to be in."

She had a lot of words for cops, and none of them were nice at all. "I hated him for a really long time because whenever I ran into him he picked me up and took me back to whatever Foster home I was currently at. Tried to set his squad car on fire once.... boy was he mad."

She laughed like it wasn't at least a felony to try and destroy a police car. It was just a fond memory for her. "Anyway... He's one of the few good apples among the rest of the rotten ones. Tried to stand up to some @#$% going down in his old squad in the city yeas ago, but it went south and he got transferred out here in retaliation. Jokes on them though, because that old fart seems to @#$%in love it out here."

Also, he was drastically less likely to end up gored, speared, trampled, or exploded being 2 hours away from the city.

The first comment sort of drew a little 'heh' from him. "I know what a friend looks like, Elke. That's a friend of yours. You were hugging when I walked in." He paused for a second, wondering if that would draw ire. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with having friends! Friends are the best!"

He sullened up a bit when she talked about hopping foster homes. He couldn't relate to that. As turbulent as his parents relationship had been, they had both been there for him. His eyebrows both lifted a bit when she talked about trying to immolate his police car as if it were a fond memory.

It really was moments like this where he wondered if he was in over his head. The thought disipated quickly, though, as she went on about corruption. He wasn't super aware of the NYPD's politics, but he'd already run into one dirty cop, and it seemed like there might be a lot more, from how Elke talked. He would be a part of that system, too, if he got what he wanted, so it would definitely affect him.

As they picked up speed, he opted to change the subject a bit... Something innocent. Oh! Easy one. "How long have you had your liscence? I took classes before I got to NYC, but I don't have a car yet, so I don't drive much..."

"Correction; He was hugging me and I was kind enough to not punch an old man in the throat for it. Also, you sure seem to suddenly know a lot about me to go around throwing out lines like 'I know what a friend looks like, Elke. He's your friend' when you've only known me for a few days collectively. I have friends, and he isn't one of them. Thanks for mansplaining me to myself, though."

She left it at that though, feeling like she may have gotten her point across. The conversation shifted to something else and she went with it. Unfortunately for wonderboy it probably wouldn't end up being a topic he enjoyed discussing.

"License? HAH." She got a good laugh out of that idea. "I don't' have a license. Never bothered with one. I've been driving since I was like @#$%in' seven years old." Besides, why on earth would she want the government to hand her an ID and to have her picture and information filed away in some document somewhere? She didn't need that @#$% yet and would fight having to actually get one until it was absolutely necessary for her future career or something. She was fine being out of some big government registry until that point.

Oh man, he hit the hornets nest with that one. As she went on, he realised that these weren't any normal bugs, either. She was a swarm of those murder hornets you saw about on the news. By the end of it he was putting his hands up.

"Okay, okay, I tap, I tap. He's clearly your bitter rival and you are just keeping him closer to honor Sun-Tzu's teachings." He joked, pausing for a second to look out at the road. "I dunno... I always felt like anyone I made happy memories with I could call friends. I guess I might see it differently than you do."

His eyes widened suddenly when she openly admitted she didn't have a lisence. "Uhm... What." He stared at her with an incredulous look on his face. "R- Really? Like, no Joke..." She wasn't joking. Of course she wasn't Joking. Why would she? Like she said, he'd known her for a collective few days, and he could already tell she wasn't the type to give a crap about liscence laws.

"Um... Have you... improved since you were seven?" Great, what a time to be a smart ass. He was going to die. This was how he died. It was either this, or the Masochist was going to beat him to death with a crow bar. Either way, it was going to be Elke's fault.

She could have grumped further at him, but she laughed instead. "Yeah, we definitely see it differently. I tend to consider people I spill blood with friends. It's not a very long list, but I like it like that."

Apparently, Mr. Goody-two-shoes over there had never driven in a car with someone who didn't have a license before. She could have argued that point considering his stance on friends and how statistically some of those friends probably also didn't have a stupid little piece of plastic on them to prove that they "legally" knew how to drive.

Instead, she simply nodded and reaffirmed that she was super, extra serious. "Nope. No joke."

She grinned widely and blinked a few times at him for his cutesy little backhanded comment. "Oh, You know... I thought I had, but maybe you're right and I haven't? Maybe I've just been fooling myself into thinking that I know how to drive in straight lines and like, parallel park and stuff." Lifting a knee, after checking her mirrors to see if there was any traffic near them on the stretch of road, she used it to keep the steering wheel still while she pulled her hands off to count on her fingers.

"I have been in one accident, now that you mention it. So I suppose I could completely not know what I'm doing at all. Never mind the 11 years' worth of experience, pfft! No! Throw that @#$% right out the window. I clearly must be a dunce at it since I never sat in a car with a barely qualified instructor to yell at me about how on-ramps work and how to back around a corner."

She tucked her hands behind her head, a smug look settling on her face. "Guess it's gonna be a pretty rough trip the rest of the way there since I'm clearly not qualified, right?"

They swerved a bit into another lane, and she yawned while correcting it with her knee. "Such a shame."

Xavier blinked a few times as she described her philosophy on friendship. Wow. That was... Something. "So unless someone fights alongside you they aren't your friends? Seems like it would get lonely. There are a lot of great people out there that don't fight..."

He shrugged. It honestly wasn't so much his business who she kept as friends. He was more curious than anything.

More importantly, she very unapologetically was driving without a liscence. They had just spent time talking to a police officer, and she was breaking the law. Her response to his comment caused his jaw to clench a little as she started driving with her knee.

Good god. This woman was... so... frustrating! Why did she have to be so... AGH! To start, she was one of the most reckless, bull headed, destructive and blunt people he'd ever met. Now, she was endangering their lives to prove a point! A terrible point! She was wrong!

What if a car had been coming the other way when they swerved into the other lane? It was like being right in her own crazy little way was more important than being save, and it was absolutely indescribably mind bogglingly angering!

"Pull over."

He kissed her. Why did he like her? Why did all of this just make him want to kiss her more? What was wrong with him? He would keep kissing her until she pulled over.

"Pfft, like I'm just gonna- MMFT?!" Well, okay, that was sudden and unexpected. Also, if he thought her swerving a little before was erratic, the jerking of the wheel she immediately had to correct from his surprise attack must have been off the charts.

"WHAT IN THE ACTUAL- MMPH!"

The truck came to a sudden stop on the side of the highway and she didn't have a chance to lay into him about what he was doing, because @#$% it wasn't like she minded.

[FTB]

"Never figured you were the type to break indecency laws. Eh, then again you do have a habit of getting naked out in public pretty often, so I shouldn't be surprised."

Regardless of the fact that she had been more or less seduced out of the driver's seat, Elke was fine with how things had ended up. She was leaned back in the passenger chair, arms behind her head and relaxing, while he drove them the rest of the way with her phone's GPS as guidance.

The Native snickered immaturely, which was cut short by a yawn. "Man, if my brother ever finds out what we did in his truck he's going to lose it. Ain't nobody want a giant cranky bear coming after them."

True, what he did was dangerous. Also true, it was stupid. But afterward, he couldn't say he regretted it. He wore a sort of smug smile on his face as he buckled into the driver's seat, scooted back a lot, and then adjusted the mirrors.

He sort of felt like he'd won a bit. He turned a bit red when she mentioned indecency laws, but left it at that, clearing his throat a little as he started the truck. He glanced back over to her as she got comfortable, and just took a second to look at her.

Man. He really couldn't describe the feeling that washed over him. So he didn't try. He shifted the car into gear, and off they went. She mentioned her brother being upset about what they did in his truck, and raised an eyebrow. "He... turns into a bear?" I mean, to be honest, he didn't find that too scary. He was pretty confident in his ability to fight a bear in hand to hand combat.

Was that strange? Honestly, he couldn't say he was super afraid of much at all. Well, maybe Elke, and her dad. He wouldn't admit the latter of the two, but the first one? He would proudly admit this woman was terrifying if anyone asked. Still, here he was. Driving her out into the woods to go probably hunt illegally.

What was his life right now?

She nodded lazily. "You ever heard of a Kodiac bear? Just @#$%in huge. Giant mitts, giant claws. I've seen him flip a car before when he's really angry. Used to lord it over me when I was little until I started kicking him in the balls whenever he was being a d*ck."

Eh, letting someone else drive wasn't so bad. Probably shouldn't mention that the truck didn't have current tabs or current registration. Her Brother tended to lend her this particular Truck with a promise of 'Keep your @#$% together and don't get caught, Elke.' Ahh, Dakota. So trusting.

"My other brother's got the ability to sprout random animal parts. Their powers came from my old man's side of the bloodline. Mine came from my Mothers."

Dasan, her 3rd brother and the oldest of all of them, was the only one with a totally unrelated power from the rest of them. Maybe that was why he'd gone off to be successful and never got sucked into the family drama.

Had he, the history nerd, heard about kodiak bears? Yup! That was honestly a pretty cool power. When he imagined a power, he often saw himself posessing it. What would it be like to rush in and fight crime as a giant bear? Pretty cool. "Heh heh... And you guy along well enough for him to loan you his car?"

"Huh... My dad is human, as far as I know. You have a large family? I'm an only child." They had a while to go yet, though they had lost some time with... distractions. "How long have you been able to make other yous?"

He didn't have a lot of experience driving, mind you, but he appeared to be a natural with it. He'd passed his drivers test on the first try, flying colors. Hadn't really practiced much, either. Still, he wasn't about to try and drive with his knee. Better safe than sorry. Sit where you can see easily, hands on ten and two. All that.

"Nowdays, anyway. She replied, thinking back to all the times her brothers had teamed up against her to try and murder her when they were all younger.

"Happens to the best of us." She didn't elaborate. Sometimes mutant kids came from humans. Sometimes mutants gave birth to a human child. Xavier didn't seem lacking when it came to understanding his power, so it didn't seem to matter much. Must have grown up with one of the nicer ones who didn't automatically boil it down to witchcraft and try to burn him alive for it. "I have three older brothers by blood, two deadbeat parents, and a handful of cousins I can barely keep track of. A few new nephews and nieces now, too." She paused, and then added, "Oh, and Saph now too, his AWOL wife and their kid, my stepbrother." Though she didn't talk to her parents much other than checking in occasionally to see if they were dead yet, she was a lot closer with her brothers and a few of her extended family members than she had been in years.

"Since I was little. Like... five or so?" Sounded around right. Shortly before her Grandfather had passed, but hadn't been born with it. "Woke up in the middle of the night with three other me's snoring away in a pile. Mom just about crapped herself because she thought she had three more kids to feed until they all melted later that night. Probably what spurred her to try and cut her losses and run, if i'm being honest. One of me was already too much."

Oh... so she used to have a turbulent relationship with her brother, but now they were good. That made sense. He'd met young her, and she'd honestly tamed down quite a bit since then. Relatively. She was still a force of nature, but she was a more mature force of nature. He looked her over again... way more mature.

His eyebrow raised when she said her best of us statement. What was so wrong about having a human father? Human parents. He would have to ask her more about that later. He nodded at her talk about her immediate family. The Saphirus stuff sounded... dramatic. His wife had left him? Rough. So... Wait, was he raising a baby alone, then? No wonder he always looked tired and disheveled. He felt a pang of guilt for the older mutant. Still, if it really mattered to you, you found the time to do it, and having a respectable appearance was important for a hero.

He looked over to her for a moment before drawing his eyes back to the road for a slight curve in it. He knew she had a turbulent childhood. She'd told him as much. Still, it didn't seem the right time to dog deeper. "You know... I wanted powers all my life. I mean, I know what I would have done if I didn't get any, but... I guess I also don't know what I would have done if I didn't, if that makes sense. I feel like me as a super hero is the most me I can be... It's only been seven months and 29 days for me, but I can't imagine myself without them."