Well, I really shouldn't have been surprised by it. She had mentioned twice, on the same page, in the beginning of the issue that she was going to be giving him his own private training session.
If you go back and read #52, and then you read #53, pretend this is your first go with Alpha Flight, pretend you have mostly been traumatized by Mantlo's run, and pretend you have just lost every character in the story that you ever cared about (and that includes Heather, but that's been one, long, dragged out good bye for over 20 issues now). You will know what I am talking about. Or at least remember the feeling.
awwwww!