Sam was right. The flight to Roswell was completely automated. It hardly took long enough to get in a good nap. Shin had to settle for a not-so-good one. All curled up in the pilot seat, comfy and warm.

He smiled sleepily, resting his head on his hands. The landing jarred him awake.

The X-jet had landed in an open flat field in Roswell Mexico. This was where Sam had set the plane to land. He had a friend here. This was where their contact was, and their mission began.

Shin yawned sleepily, and curled back up in his pink blanket.

"Five more minutes... the penguin's flyin' a kite." He beamed dreamily, slamming his eyes shut.

Shin and airplanes. It was like every time he got on one some hidden sedative kicked in and he immediately fell asleep. Even when he was piloting! What was with that?!

Kealey had been nervous at first, until it became painfully obvious that the X-Jet was going to take them to New Mexico whether the person in the pilot seat actually paid attention or not. Well, even if Shin was sleepy…Kealey was excited and she bounced around the jet looking out windows and all the nooks and crannies the thing had to offer. Everything she’d heard about the jet had indicated that it was one of a kind…everything she’d heard was true. When they got home…she was totally learning to fly the thing for real.

The trip was far shorter than it had any right to be, considering the fact that they were travelling across a country, but the scenery zooming by out the windows had still been fun to watch. She’d also done her fair share of chattering and bothering Cafas. It had been fun.

The jet touched down…and Shin still didn’t wake up, just mumbled about penguins and kites. Kealey shook her head and left him alone for a moment while she got her ‘game face’ on and made sure all the pieces of her uniform were in place. Yes, it was hot outside, and yes the uniforms were a little ostentatious, but it was important that the locals’ first impression of the X-men was one of professionalism. Besides, this was the first time for Kealey to show off her work out of state.

”Shin!” Kealey said, gently shaking his shoulder.

”It’s time to work. We can nap later.”

The flight was uneventful for Cafas, and so he built up energy, lots of jittery energy. He was excited, so excited, and by the time their still sleeping pilot had landed the plane Cafas had attempted to memorise as many details of their mission as he could. Kidnapping was not really his usual crime to stop. Generally he went with things that worked with his power, like armed robberies and hostage situations. As far as research and clue finding went he needed work, he was no Sherlock Holmes.

Upon landing he had run for the door, and was out into the... Horrible dry air... He wondered at once why he had left the air-con, and regretted being selected for the mission. Why oh why did it have to be summer. Slightly disappointed in the environment he re-entered the jet to retrieve his gear. As his swords were a little more lethal than the police liked them to be, he instead had to settle for a baton. A good, solid, heavy, steel baton for smacking things. His shield was also left behind, mostly because he predicted the weather being summery, as it was, which was not a comfortable feeling when one was wearing from every available gland, something about heavy metal held on by leather straps.

"So the weather is deadly out, oh, and there's a dust cloud about a mile away from the look of it. I'd say it’s a quad bike, whatever you call those here in the states." Yes, the engine sound was just beginning to penetrate the jets walls, it sounded like it was travelling at quite some speed. "That's either our contact, or a very annoyed land owner." Cafas was back to happy, things were moving along nicely. The grind of gravel and dirt outside and a light idling engine noise gave away the fact the driver of their vehicle had arrived. "Show time."

Flying a plane was hard work. Even while sleeping. And letting the plane do everything.

Shin stirred, at Kealey's insistance. Other girls, he'd of shushed (not really), because they were too noisy (he really wouldn't have), but Kealey. Only Kealey. Could wake him up and not get some sort of complaint (he really wouldn't have complained to another girl, no. He was too nice.) This, he reasoned (the first thing, not the second thing in parenthesis).

Shin smacked his lip tiredly. "You're lucky I am not a grump."

Cafas returned. Shin hadn't noticed he'd left, but hey. It turned out their ride was there. "Already?" Shin mourned. He supposed it really was time to get up, wake up, and get to work. Alas, sleep was put on hold. Shin looked to Kealey. "We'll just have to schedule a nap for later, then." He decided. "Okay. Let's go."

With that statement, Shin moved for the door. He supposed the jet could handle hiding itself.

Shin finally woke up and got moving, but Kealey couldn’t manage to be grumpy with him for sleeping away the mission. Instead when he suggested they schedule a nap for later, she simply grinned and nodded her head, ”It’s a date.”

That settled, they moved to the door to check out the things Cafas had mentioned when he re-entered the jet, Kealey scowled at the heat and moved back inside. ”Goodness it’s hot!” she exclaimed, making a visor with her hand to observe the quickly approaching dust cloud.

”I’d be willing to bet that’s Sam’s buddy.” she commented, then turned to look quizzically over her shoulder at the Australian.

”I’m not sure what they call them here either…but what’s a quad bike?”

Cafas ignored the couple. The shudder he longed to make very obvious and pointed was suppressed and he moved onto the more pressing matters. By more pressing he meant explaining of his language. "Quad bike, like, 4 wheels, handle-bars, you ride on them, all terrain vehicle is what they're called I think." He had no idea how it would go with all three of them. Luckily he had his jogging boots on. Coincidentally, they were also his everything boots.

"I might be wrong, I haven't been near a farm in several years." He looked at everything he alone had to carry. Metal was not light. "I hope I'm wrong, I really want that to be a truck."

Stepping back outside Cafas assessed the area more fully and decided he liked it a lot less than the mansion. He had a feeling there wasn't a pool around for a few miles. "Oh good, dust, who doesn't love dust." Decidedly uncomfortable. Excitement waning, giving way to slightly unhappy.

It certainly was hot. Had he signed on for this? He didn't think so! Alas, he would have to brave both heat and danger for his job. Such was his fate.

Brave the heat, the Asian did. Know about quad bikes or four-wheelers or whatnot, he did not. Shin shrugged through the exchange between Cafas and his girlfriend. "It's a ride," He said decidedly, as if that mattered more than everything else.

The man on the four-wheeled vehicle stepped off his ride, waving at them. He was just like Sam had described. Friendly and helpful to friends of friends. "Hey there," He drawled. "Glad t'see ya made it. Should be enough room for all of ya." He gestured to his four-wheeled vehicle. It actually was a truck, and not a quad whatever. "Name's Casey. Sam told me 'bout the lot of you." He smiled.

Shin was already crawling into the back of the vehicle thankfully. "Nice to meet you, Casey. My name's Shin." He said. Using the accent on Shin the person who'd given him the nickname used. The one that wasn't Japanese in the least, and very Southern. Very American. Casey was starting to remind him of that person. He seemed nice.

Shin looked to Kealey. "Kealey."

Cafas explained what a 4-wheeler was, and Kealey frowned. Weren’t those small little things meant for one, maybe two people tops?

Luckily, as the moving dust cloud got closer, it became obvious that it was, in fact, a truck. The blond sighed in mild relief, then stepped outside and remembered exactly how hot it was. For someone who’d grown up in Ireland, and had only recently moved to New York, the dusty New Mexico land felt like the surface of the sun. The sun beat down on the back of her neck, and Kealey resisted the urge to let her hair down from its ponytail to cover the exposed skin.

Casey seemed nice, and Kealey supposed it made sense for a friend of Sam’s. If anything, the X-Leader was nice. Shin introduced himself, and climbed into the back of the truck. At his urging, she nodded to Casey. ”Kealey Quinn. Thanks so much for the ride.” she said, exchanging quick pleasantries, then climbed in back with Shin. The metal was hot, and dusty, and Kealey sighed.

”Where are our seatbelts?”

Cafas nodded to their contact as he moved toward the vehicle. "Cafas Johnson." he paused to consider adding something but didn't think it was necessary. He approached the back of the Vehicle and heaved the two bags of equipment into the metal tray. He soon followed them, reached into one, withdrew and ockie strap, hooked one end onto the back of the tray, the other onto the side, holding the bags in place so they wouldn't slide around. He touched the metal momentarily, and it burned rather badly.

He remained standing in the tray, looking toward the front of the truck. He held onto the metal bar in front of him, which was a real trial of endurance, for stability, and readied himself for a bumpy ride back to base. "If it would make you feel better, I could weld you to the vehicle" His tone was joking, and upon finishing his little statement, looked to the empath and smiled.

Shin arched an eyebrow.

Casey called back from the cabin of the vehicle. "No welding my truck!"

That was settled. Shin smiled. "No welding my girlfriend. Sorry." He joked.

With a jolt and a bump, the truck started moving. Dust billowed behind them as the vehicle picked up speed. It was a good thing they'd already been briefed on the matter, as Shin suspected a briefing from the back of the truck and the cabin would not have been easily heard, or advisable.

Hopefully, they could finish this job and get home as soon as possible. He did not like the sun.

Chuckles all around at the welding comment. Apparently there were no seatbelts, or safety devices to be found in the back of the truck. Neither of the boys seemed to have a problem with this, so the blond frowned and settled in, looking for something to hold on to. Maybe she was a little out of her league here.

Oh man. There was so much dust. As the truck started to move, and the stuff started to billow, Kealey reached into the duffel bag she’d brought along and dug around for the scarf she’d thrown in, just in case they had some time to do sightseeing after the mission. Chances of that seemed low now, and the dust was so very high, that the blond simply sighed and wrapped the cloth around her face and head. It helped a bit, and now that she could breathe, Kealey focused her attention on staying in the bed of the truck.

”I think I like New York better…” she mumbled, trying desperately to remind herself of the reason they were in New Mexico. People needed them, and they were going to help. The truck lurched, and Kealey squeaked a bit as she bounced around in the bed. They were going to help…if they made it to the town alive.

Dust, bumps, slightly broken sounding truck, yup, he was back in a rural area. The journey was not making his life any more fun, although the wind in his face, dusty as it may have been, at least helped against the scorching sun. He could feel any and all exposed skin burning, and it hadn't even been 20 minutes. Thankfully though, it seemed they were close, as attested to by the sudden large bump and suddenly smooth ride that can be attributed to tar roads. As the dust cloud passed Cafas caught sight of their destination.

Lovely, alien themed everything for however long this crap takes.

Cafas knelt down to be better heard over the engine noise. "We're within a mile of the town, and boy does it ever look like a nice place." Sarcasm couldn't help creeping into his voice, suggesting heavily that he did not predict their stay being a five star sort of affair. He stood back up to continue his recon just in time to hear a thump and have to dodge what he assumed had been a bird. Indifferent to the plight of the animal (and knowing it was by any standard, dead) Cafas gazed into the distance, gauging the time they had until they actually go to the town. He could see a few people standing around, a few houses, and what looked like the perfect place for the sheriff’s deputy to hang out in his car. He sat down just in case. The cloud of dust that came off his x-suit just from that alone made him suspect the colours were no longer even visible.

"Hope you guys like dirt"

They reached the town. And. They passed it. Shin wasn't surprised.

"After all," He said. "Sam told us we'd be staying at Casey's farm, didn't he?" Yeah. That's what he'd thought.

45 minutes later, they reached the farm. Shin was glad to hop out of the truck. He offered Kealey a helping hand down.

"You okay?" He asked.

Casey grinned at his passengers, as if surprised. Then, he chortled. "Y'all survived?"

About 15 minutes into the ride, Kealey had considered asking Shin if they could just fly behind the truck. The back was bumpy, the road was dusty, and the scarf she’d tied around her head was doing a terrible job of keeping the dust off. By the time they’d come to the town, Kealey was even more ready for the ride to be over, and by the time they’d passed the buildings, she’d almost wanted to cry. It was hot in New Mexico.

Forty-five more minutes (that felt like two hours) later, the truck stopped. Thank Goodness it stopped. Shin climbed out, and Kealey stood, uselessly attempting to knock the dust from her clothes before reaching out and taking Shin’s hand with a grateful smile.

Sam’s friend appeared, and teased them. Kealey could tell, he knew how rough the riding would be in the back of the truck. That meant only one thing. It had been some sort of test.

”I thought Sam said it was going to be hot here.” she responded with a grin, right back at him.

It was quite a hot trip to their destination. Hot, dusty, bumpy, altogether rural. By the time the Vehicle stopped Cafas had the distinct impression that the dust from this trip would be carried with him forever. He stood, threw his bag over the side and jumped down after it. The ground underfoot was no less dusty than anywhere else. He had kind of been hoping for lawn, or vegetation at all. Despite this Cafas attempted to not betray his longing for nicer climates. What was a farm doing out here anyway?

Must take a lot of fertiliser.

"Dibs first shower!" and boy was it ever gonna be a cold one. Had to do something to combat the heat and he wasn't predicting much air-con out these part. He'd practically given up on the idea of being able to actually wear his uniform for a while. He imagined his outfits were going to consist of his lightest clothing and sun block.

Comfort may just be a thing of the past.