After The Fall

Pietro had stuck close to Wanda as soon as they'd gotten her out. Of course he'd had moments with his bandmates as well, but Wanda was the one he stayed with after they got back, while she got checked over and healed and now they'd gone to her room. Pietro looked at her, face solemn. "I will never let that happen again. Ever. It shouldn't have happened at all. I'm so sorry."

Jean tilted her head, listening to every shift and pause. The soft, murmured words of wayward admiration and devotion. After she'd threatened them, they'd taken her literally, possibly assuming she'd rip out parts of their brains. Which was all for the better, as she hadn't wanted to tip them off to her telepathy. One weak moment of rage had nearly dashed that. Thank whatever higher powers were listening, their captors were apparently religious idiots.

The sight deprivation hood was oddly comfortable, and extremely effective. She let them think she needed to have them within her sight to use her powers. They seemed to think they were all limited in clearly human ways, and that suited them just fine.

"Princess," he was murmuring gently. Jean could practically feel Wanda fighting the urge to punch him in the face. The longer they were here, the more Pietro-like Wanda was becoming. She could practically see the cold stare, though she'd never seen it on Wanda before. "What have we discussed?"

There was more rustling, bandages probably. Wanda had figured out two days ago that when she tried, she could get her wrists free of her manacles. The first time had been out of desperation. Jean was thankful she hadn't been able to see the bloody mess the brunette had apparently made. It had brought their captors in, forced them to interact with them. It had opened a bridge that they exploited at their every opportunity. Every time there was at least one new person. Every time, they learned a little more. So far, it didn't appear as if anyone had caught on. Not that she could be sure. They'd been drugging them rather heavily to keep them sedate and sedentary.

"I don't care what's been discussed," Wanda replied, in a tone so familiar, it almost made Jean smile. "If you're going to insist on keeping me here against my will, then I am going to insist on spending that time however I choose."

"It's going to scar," he replied gently. And Wanda hissed, chains rattling. She'd likely pulled away from whatever antiseptic he was trying to apply.

Julian grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge before walking over to Josh and handing him a glass of scotch. He flopped down into the next chair, head lolling against the back as he sighed and closed his eyes.

"You okay?" Julian quietly asked. "That was a long night."

Josh knew that there was a slim possibility those girls hadn't simply gone home. For starters, well, no one had in his time in this world. Even though it had apparently happened before. He'd always known it was a possibility; there had even been times he'd hoped it'd happen to him. It was startling to see the aftermath of it, and how quickly the community was up in arms to confirm, deny or provide alternate reasons. None of which sat comfortably with anyone, he was sure.

He tapped out a quick message to Kevin, knee swaying slightly against the bar. He didn't like to mix business with his personal life, but he absolutely refused to keep himself open to their bond while at work. For starters, it would make for a very uncomfortable work place. And he'd never hear the end of it when he got home. It wasn't even as if Kevin wouldn't know if something happened to him, even this far apart. They knew that with certainty now. So, there was no reason to not continue to treat the situation as he always had. With one minor concession. He was messaging him every hour on the hour - which was a bit of a struggle, with his schedule, but was the least he could do.

Finishing up the message, he slipped the device back into his pocket and turned his stool around to observe the crowd. He could take care of himself, and if it had in fact been a disappearance through force, then he wanted to protect everyone as much as they protected him.

"Going to follow me into the stall too?" he asked, sipping from his glass. Julian was being particularly attentive, borderline paranoid, and Josh thought it'd do him some good to take a few minutes off for his own sanity.

The room swam as Wanda came slowly to consciousness. As she touched her head with a soft moan, a clinking sound accompanied the movement. She bolted upright, and ended up flat on her back again as the combination of restrictive bindings and the weakness settled deep in every limb overtook her.

"Easy, Wanda," Jean croaked from somewhere to the left of her legs. "We're still all here, wherever here is." The sound of a head meeting a wall carried about the room. "They haven't done anything to us yet." The yet, was very nearly deafening. Wanda swallowed, trying to breath around the tumultuous panic swiftly overtaking her.

"Don't try to-"

Wanda cried out, rolling onto her side as pain exploded in her every cell.

Rogue leaned over the top rail, whooping loudly as the band took the stage. It was the last big festival of the summer, the Fall Ball, and there was absolutely no doubt about the fact that they had the best seats in the house. You absolutely could not beat the backstage view, especially when there were so many awesome bands playing.

rEvolution was also on the schedule, but not until the next day. One of the perks of being a headliner at the festival was the unlimited VIP access backstage. She shifted slightly, balancing on the lower rail as she leaned over to inform Raven, "These guys were the headliners at our first big gig that wasn't just on the mutant scene. We were the first openers, had the shortest set... they fucking rock."

The Museum für Naturkunde had been on their list of things they wanted to do while they were in Berlin, so they hadn't really bothered to take note of what the temporary exhibits were, having decided ahead of time that they would be going no matter what. When they arrived and spotted the huge banner depicting Erik on the throne hanging over the admissions counter, Raven wasn't sure whether or not the lack of planning was a good thing.

"Unearthing Mutants," Raven translated, staring up at the sign. She reached to snag one of the museum's guide maps and read the description of the exhibit aloud, "An exploration of mutant history and culture, featuring intimate encounters with artifacts from Genosha and other mutant strongholds."

She looked at Hank, holding the map out. "I guess we're going to get to explore mutant culture today."

Raven had finally finished filming her latest film, and Hank suggested they take a long weekend get-away. He'd thought about a lot of places -- tropical, jungle, other -- but then decided they needed something more metropolitan, posh, someplace they could really pamper themselves.

They'd been in Paris for two days and he'd managed *not* to drag her to every museum. Just. Well, most of them.

But now they were just strolling the Allée Jean Paulhan and stopping occasionally to admire the Eiffel Tower from a different perspective.

"It is quite astounding, you know," Hank said."Did you know that, although construction involved 300 on-site employees, only one person died while it was being built? Gustave Eiffel had extraordinarly stringent safety precautions for the time."

Kitty realized as she pocketed her journal to head to Wanda's room that perhaps she should have asked a few more questions before agreeing outright to wear the clothes. Questions like - is it ugly, will it be a problem that I'm short, will the colors match my dragon... that sort of thing. Important questions.

She leaned into the door as she pushed it open, making a show of it as she held it open for Lockheed. As he passed through, clearly catching the sarcastic nature of her ostensibly polite act, he gave her what she supposed was the dragon equivalent of rolled eyes and took to the air, landing on her shoulder.

"Well it doesn't matter as much now," she pointed out, reaching to scratch his chin as she approached the door and raised a hand to knock. "We're on the same floor as her. But A for effort."

They'd made all the preparations, and with multiple reality warpers and kind volunteers, it wasn't difficult to have everything ready in time, and everyone on schedule.

The wedding itself wasn't overly time consuming. After exchanging their own private vows and removing gloves to exchange rings, a few words of closing and a kiss, Kevin and Josh were officially married, and the party began.

They'd wanted to have it on Genosha for several reasons. First and foremost, for the peace they could be assured. Far from the prying eyes of the public. Because it was where everything had begun. And it seemed right to celebrate such an important event there. Not to mention the weather was perfectly comfortable and the views picturesque.

With a privacy barrier up, they didn't have to be nearly as cautious, though things had very rarely gotten out of control on Genosha, in their history in the reality. And with plenty of room to celebrate, the comforts of a habitable palace - the option to come and go between Genosha and New York - a seemingly endless musical selection, and a plethora of consumable goods, there existed all the fixings for the making of memories.

Julian sat in the dark at the end of the bar, nursing his first cup of coffee of the night. He liked this job, he really did, but he was grateful for the breaks, too. He blew on the coffee to cool it off slightly and looked around. Break though it was, Julian was still on guard. Not for trouble from patrons though. Some of the staff had taken to slapping his ass when they thought he wasn't looking. It didn't bother him, much, but they tended to favor the right cheek and it was getting a little sore.

When it had come down to it, the whole operation had been a lot easier than Julian had thought it would be. A few nights of coming in regularly, sitting quietly at the bar, paying his tab and leaving had allayed most suspicions regarding his intention as 'Josh's Ex'. So when, on the last night, Julian handed his driver's license to the bouncer he'd met that horrible night at the hospital, when everything had gone even more to shit, the man just looked at him, a question on his face.

"Can you ask your boss if he's got a minute to talk? I'd like to ask about a job. Just give him that," Julian nodded at his license. "I'll have a seat at the bar."

Julian hadn't even been sitting for 10 minutes when a club employee came to escort him to the offices. Another 5 minutes and Julian laid it all out. Who he was, his powers, what he could offer. He left with a promise to get back to him the next day.

Two days later, there he was, looking intimidating while a whole lot of desperate guys flowed through the door, all hoping to catch a glimpse of a real, live mutant and never knowing they just passed one by.

Rogue landed on the beach, towel draped on her shoulder and cooler in hand. She waved as she sat the cooler down, announcing, "I brought snacks!"

She dropped the towel and toed her sandals off, heading down toward the water. "How cold is it?"

Josh smiled at Rosie, bouncing his knee slightly. Her little wings flexed in a natural response to the movement, but so far, Jay didn't have to worry about flying after her. Which, was relieving all around.

She was an adorable baby, and it made him glad to think that Dani looked down on them and approved. Loving her daughter and the family she'd started, what felt like so long ago now.

Rogue half-skipped to the garage, hip-checking the door to open it and sliding in.

"Hey," she called out to Jean, tossing an apple in her direction. "I burned the sandwich."

There were days when thinking about home hurt too much for him to function properly. There were days - scary as they were - he managed to go whole blocks of hours without thinking about home. But it was days like today that made him feel the most guilty.

The heatwave had finally relented, dropping temperatures considerably. A nice, heavy rain had cooled things down some, and Bobby'd helped them along. Water was his element after all, and the more of it, the better the results.

Currently, he was lying adrift in an ice float on the lake. And he wasn't alone.

He wondered, often, what Jean-Paul would think about Jeremy. The child looked - and acted, honestly - just like him. Or rather, his past self. When the world had been less hard, and the people more forgiving. He'd have liked them to meet, and not just because he missed his spouse. Preferably before, when Jean-Paul could have interacted with the child safely, gotten to know him without technology in the way.

He reached out and smoothed his hand over Jeremy's back. He'd fallen asleep at some point, and while he was in no real danger of the sun, Bobby kept checking just to be sure. He also tried to touch him as much as he could. Unfettered touch was key. Especially for children, who so relied on physical affection. More so for a child who was suddenly limited in that affection.

Bobby sighed and looked up at the sky.

From what he'd head of Rogue's other children, the power balance left a lot to be anxious over when the twins came of age. Not that they could be sure when that would be. Jeremy was essentially a late bloomer for his world, and an early one everywhere else. The later, the better, in Bobby's opinion. He hoped the twins x-genes would ride heavy on his side. It'd be safer for everyone.

Kids...Damn it Jeep.

If only he'd show up.

If only.

Neal stretched widely, enjoying the heat seeping deeply into him. The heat wave slowly rolling it's way across the state had finally reached them, and while he knew plenty who were uncomfortable with the sudden rise in temperature, he also knew some - including himself - who were taking great pleasure in it.

He'd walked the grounds, had done some work under the sun, and was trying to decide if he ought to lay out beneath it, when the temperature hit new heights, and he had to indulge in something all together different.

It was hard to hide a power like his, especially when airborne. So he didn't bother. Besides, it wasn't as if the masses were unaware. There was plenty of evidence of just what he could do from the Sentinel attack a year ago. So, when he'd flown, he'd kept a safe distance between himself and the spectators, but had also not gone out of his way to avoid them. He'd even waved when a group of people at the front gate - steadfast in their vigil - sprung energetically up and tried to flag him down.

He hadn't felt so energized in years. It was a wonderful feeling.

A smile on his face, and a bounce in his step, he headed back toward the mansion. Perhaps Roberto would like some celebratory company.

Josh sighed, shoving the paperwork into his bag.

"I'll think about it."

"You do that."

He nodded, barely refraining from rolling his eyes.

"Gonna really think about it, or just humoring him?"

In response, Josh pulled out the paperwork and ripped it in half, throwing it in a trash bin.

"You're insane! Do you know how much money that is?! You'd be set for life!"

"I have a son," he countered. "One day he's going to grow up and he's going to wonder, and I don't want shit like this popping up."

"You don't really need this job, do you?"

With a calming exhale, Josh turned on his heel and walked away.

Josh sighed and dropped his papers in his lap. Deciding on what to do his paper on had only been the first challenge. Thankfully, it had gotten approval and he'd been able to start work right away. Unfortunately, he hadn't anticipated his social standing as an out mutant would cause problems for him. And oh, what problems...

He rubbed at the bridge of his nose, head propped up against the arch of the couch in their common room. Sometimes he didn't know which was better. Everyone living in blissful ignorance, or everyone aware. Each had their ups and downs. But, for the moment, he was pretty sure he'd preferred the anonymity.

Wanda jangled slightly as she crossed the room, designs in hand. She was - as usual - doing a million things at once, and was managing to almost keep herself busy enough. At home, she and Pietro had such a crammed schedule between them, they managed to keep themselves cozily content. It had been a struggle for a while, to not have the same opportunities available to them, but slowly, agonizingly, but surely she'd found a rhythm. It wasn't exactly a calling, but it would do.

She dropped into the couch of the rec room, folders and portfolios hovering about her. Papers caught in soft, warm glows, lay suspended in the air. It was a lot easier to think when she had everything out in front of her.

Crossing her legs, she set her computer in her lap and began working.