InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "How weird is that?"

Matthew Howard [Pietro Maximoff] (highspeed) wrote in crossover,
@ 2008-11-22 08:38:00

Entry tags:

gilda dent, quicksilver

Who: Gabrielle (Gilda Dent) and Matthew (Quicksilver)
What: Finding someone to ~~hide with~~ turn to
When: After this
Where: Gabrielle's pad
Rating: PG-13 for mentions of violence

Standing outside her door, more than a little shell-shocked, Matthew noted absently that the power was out not just in Queens but in parts of the city as well. It struck him as a little odd that he and Magneto could cause such destruction in this world. Some things never changed.

He knocked on Gabrielle's door with his good arm. The one that had been clipped by Wally's weapon was hanging limply, some blood trickling down to his fingers. It hurt. With all the little cuts that decorated his body, just standing there hurt. He knocked again stiffly and loudly, almost shaking the door on its hinge.

"Please be home." Matthew's voice was thin. "Please."

He swayed on his feet. The use of his power and having watched Magneto tear down half of a power plant was starting to get to him. When the door finally opened, Matthew exhaled in relief. Before he even caught full sight of her, he was speaking. "Sorry," was the first thing he said. "Wasn't fast enough. Need..." he stumbled forward, almost falling into her arms. He righted himself at the very last minute and caught her eye. He knew he looked pathetic. Gone was the normal, arrogant man that Matthew always strove to be. Standing in his place was a broken boy. He had the shame to glance down at his feet. Part of him expected she'd turn him away.

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ibelieveinhim
2008-11-24 08:38 pm UTC (link)

After the final loop of the bandage was twined around his arm, lightly packing it around the wound, Gabrielle couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity, her voice a little shrill and a little nervous. "Oh, I'm fine! I was up late painting last night. And watching old cartoons, and journalling. So after sleeping in, it was a slow night before all this, the power, started happening. I think you're in shock, Matthew."

A pause, as she slumped back in the couch. She fidgeted with a pile of smaller band-aids, struggling to free a few from the sheet -- she wanted to shore up some of those smaller cuts.

"You-- didn't go out and pick a fight with him, did you? Because, I mean, I know how you feel about him..." Her voice faltered.

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highspeed
2008-11-24 08:47 pm UTC (link)

"I'm glad you've been well," he said, voice still light. When she mentioned he was in shock, he considered this and then said, "I just saw one man uproot the power plant down the block from my house. I almost died. And I ran here from Queens." So yes, he was probably a bit shocked.

He shifted stiffly, so to let her have more room to work with.

He gave her a withering Look that lacked any real strength or conviction. "You should like my sister," he said after a long moment. "I don't really know... it's blurry. I'm tired. I haven't slept well." He paused and thought. "He struck first," he said this as though it took effort to remember. Why had he been there? He tried to remember. "I saw that place in a dream."

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ibelieveinhim
2008-11-24 09:13 pm UTC (link)

"Thank you for coming. It would've been awful if you'd just crashed in the street."

She didn't want him to fall over and pass out, but oh, how she wanted to know what had happened. But as he slowly picked his way through the jarring memories, Gabrielle let him go at his own pace, plucking tiny shards from his clothes and skin and silently laying on the band-aids. It would do until the power was back and they could go to the hospital. By the time he mentioned the dream, Gaby's hand trailed to hold his, interlacing their fingers.

"It's not your fault," she murmured, almost as an aside.

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highspeed
2008-11-24 09:22 pm UTC (link)

Matthew exhaled. From the sound of it, it might have been a quiet laugh. He wasn't even sure. "Don't thank me. I am hardly doing you any favors by bleeding on your couch." If he remembered later, he'd have to try and purchase another one for her. He had an odd sense of honor, Matthew did, and he didn't want her home decorated with his bloodstains.

He winced as he felt the little shards quickly pulled from his skin. Matthew hadn't even noticed those. He glanced down at them quizzically as Gabrielle set them aside on the table. And then he felt her hand in his and he cast a curious glance at her. There was no chance he was going to turn away that little comfort, though. He gave her hand the lightest of squeezes. "Maybe it was my fault," he said. "I think I would have... if he hadn't..."He'd told her before that he wasn't a good person. He'd meant it. "One of us is probably going to kill the other."

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