Xaviers!

Will just shrugged at that, not paying attention to Leo's initial reaction.

"Wasn't me, of course. If some idiot roams a forest at night, he's got to expect problems from time to time. Just the way things go."

"And if it had been someone more killable? Would you still say that?"

He was getting riled up now.

"Well, no, but it wasn't?" Will said, confused. "So...eh?"

He took a moment to breathe out his aggravation.

"I'm just... glad it wasn't. I don't think I could handle that."

"There are times to let your wild side out, and times to keep it in check," Will agreed, back on ground he could understand.

"I'm not so good at lettin' it out when I want to."

"Eh, it takes time and practice and experience.

And a mirror allowing you to separate the stupid, useless parts of your personality and ignore them when necessary

...That last bit may not be universally applicable."

After a small chuckle, he sighed and said, "If only it were that easy to get rid of my self-doubt."

"Yeah, when I figure that one out, I'll get back to you."

"Kinda guessed you were in the club, yeah," he replied.

"Hrm? He hasn't come back yet?" Will said, briefly misinterpreting Leo's line.

"Oh, you mean...yeah, yeah, self-doubt never really goes away. For anyone."

"I guess we need some or we'd get ourselves killed."

"I don't think so. You want caution and self-preservation, but doubt? That's something you have to try your best to conquer."

He shrugged. "I think we're just arguin' semantics."

"Anyway, you wanna do some teamwork practice?"

Will looked down at his wrist, where a watch would be.

"Sure thing; I've got some time," Will nodded.

"Awesome," he replied with a small grin, bouncing once on his feet, "So, uhh, whatta we do?"

"You just punch in the sort of scenario you want over there on the control panel," Will said, gesturing to the control panel.

"Dude, I know that much. I'm not a total newbie. I just haven't done any team trainin' yet. Not sure what's good for that."

"Two people doesn't exactly make a team," Will pointed out.

"Hmph... well, I'm a bruiser and you're a poly, so..." he said poking around the terminal for a good scenario.

"What about hunting some fugitives in the woods?"

Will blinked for a moment at Leo's description of him, but nodded.

"Works for me. Give them a head start, or are we hot on their heels?"

"Head start. I wanna work on my trackin'. Might as well learn to use this nose."

Will nodded. "Makes sense, then. Give 'em a 30 minute head start, and we'll get on their tail."

He entered in the settings he wanted and saved the custom scenario to his user profile.

"Let's head in," he said, going through the door to the Danger Room proper.

He waited a moment for Will to catch up before saying, " Computer, load program Eskandari-Five."

A typical English ancient woodland sprouted up around them and Leo gave his senses a moment to adapt to all the sensations bombarding him.

"The realism of this thing never fails to impress, does it?"

"Oh, I don't know," Will said, looking around. "If you stay around it too much, there's kind of a...tang, I guess. Kind of like the difference between sugar and artificial sweetner? Sometimes, there's no substituting for the real thing."

"Come to think of it, it doesn't quite smell like any forest I've ever been in."

"Now let's look for our first clue," he said, scanning the area, "Aha!"

He walked towards a tree and plucked a torn scrap of yellow cloth from a low branch, giving it a deep sniff.

"Ugh, bad B.O.," he said, wrinkling his nose, "Guess that makes things easier though."

He tucked the scrap in the neck of his suit and dropped to all fours and sniffed around to try and pick up the scent.

"Well, if they're running; sweat is something you'll come to expect," Will said, squinting at the ground. "Makes them easier to find, at the very least."

"Gotcha," he said with a smirk.

"I suggest you make yourself small and," he sighed, "Ride me."

"Why, Mr. Eskandari, we hardly even know one another," Will said, in an exaggerated southern belle voice, before doing just what Leo asked.

"Oh, ha ha," he groaned, "Just hold on."

With that, he bound after the scent trail. He moved at a pretty decent clip for a being his size, occasionally slowing to maneuver around obstacles and regain the scent. It would be embarrassing to get stuck between two trees.

Will held on, carefully watching the scenery as the two rode through the space.

He didn't seem to be in any particular hurry, though...

The pair came across a dirt road cutting through the forest. Leo began following it and soon a cabin peeked through the trees ahead. His inexperience showed as he began taking a direct approach.

"You're sure that's wise on a first run?" Will asked, calmly.

He stopped.

"Right. We should probably... quietly flank them?" he asked.

"Assuming they're holed up in there. We gave them a 30 minute head start, so I doubt they have any sort of trap planned, but they probably at least have a lookout."

"I'll do my best to draw out my feline stealth and go around the left through the thicker undergrowth. Maybe... you could distract them?"

"Sounds like a time loss, if you ask me, but we can give that a shot on the first go round," Will nodded, beginning to head up the path towards the cabin.

Leo slinked into the undergrowth and stuck to the shade as he moved around towards the back.

"Hello in there!" Will shouted, waving at the cabin as he walked towards it. "We've been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty!"

A ball of crimson energy the size of an orange flew out of a broken window, striking the ground to Will's left and detonating with sufficient force to leave a small crater.

"Not one step closer X-Man!" warned a high male voice.

---

On the other side, a crouching Leo peered out the undergrowth, eyes shining slightly in the growing shadows of the dwindling day. Another man watched nervously out the back window. X-Men didn't work alone.