InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "You poor, doomed child."

Nikola Tesla : The Electric Jesus (oncemighty) wrote in colligo_threads,
@ 2012-08-17 01:31:00

Entry tags:

nikola tesla, zoe tesla

WHO: Nikola Tesla & Zoe Tesla
WHAT: Nikola Tesla is supposed to be dead. At least, she far as Zoe is concerned. Nikola is determined to show her that he's not.
WHEN: August 16th; Evening
WHERE: Tesla's Lab; The Warehouse District
RATING: PG
STATUS: In Progress

Nikola hadn't really known how to react when Zoe had showed up. Whenever she had aged up before, she'd settled into the city rather swiftly, but this time, she had seemed unnerved and certain that the situation was nothing more than an illusion. The idea that he was dead as far as she was concerned, that he and Kate both were, and that she was more willing to die than take the chance that she might have been placed into false reality unsettled Nikola, and as he rushed from the Sanctuary down to his own lab, the idea that he might have lost her in that short span of seconds twisted his gut to the point that when he opened the door to his lab and stepped inside, he was over at her side within a matter of seconds.

"Zoe," Nikola said softly, raising his hands carefully to brush her hair back out of her eyes. He'd seen her older before. He'd seen her fully grown and in all of her glory, but now, now, she looked broken, something in her beaten down that reflected the rough look of her outside appearance that shined in her eyes. It made him hesitant, oddly so, to attempt to touch her, to attempt to comfort her or reassure her that he was himself with any contact. At least, not until she felt that it was a good idea. So instead of pulling her into an embrace like he wanted to, he extended a hand towards her, holding it just in front of her so that she could decide whether to take it or not.

"You can even stab it if you'd like," He said after a moment, a bit of a smile quirking his features. "Blood might make it more evident that I am real, and it'll heal quick enough."

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quantumkid
2012-08-18 04:48 am UTC (link)

Although Jack had confirmed that they were, in fact, most definitely in the past and that this wasn't some messed up illusion of Loki's to get her to let her guard down and reveal secrets about the resistance, Zoe was still hard pressed to really believe it. After all, the threat that hung over all of their heads had managed to trick them before. Sure, it hadn't happened in a few years for her - not since the day she'd actually blown up her dad's lab in order to escape the thugs who had dragged her into the place and tried their damndest to force her to explain how each and every invention worked - but Zoe knew it was only a matter of time before her luck ran out and she was nabbed again.

Except, apparently, this time that wasn't the case.

Still. The doubt was there. It wasn't quite as strong as it had been before Jack had spoken up but she wasn't sure it would ever really go away. Not even when her dad - a man she hadn't seen in so long that she'd very nearly forgotten what he looked like - made his way into the building and to her side.

Staring at his offered hand for a moment, the equation drawn on construction paper in her childhood scrawl clutched tightly in her grasp, Zoe slowly raised her gaze to meet his. Then she turned her attention to the monitor on the nearest wall, eyes quickly scanning the results of the biometric scan that had been taken of him when he'd come through the door. It wasn't the best invention she'd ever made, not even close. However, she'd only had a few minutes to put it together and it did work. That was what really mattered.

Especially when it confirmed that yes, he most definitely was Nikola Tesla.

Then, and only then, did she look back to him. In that instant, when reality finally asserted itself and she knew that the man standing before her was who he claimed to be, Zoe forgot about everything else. Her stained and threadbare clothing didn't matter. Neither did the circles under her eyes courtesy of days spent awake, furiously working alongside Gabi to come up with yet another device that would give the resistance the upper hand in a war were the odds were stacked against them. Her entire appearance, and everything she'd been through to explain the way she both looked and behaved, all of it was forgotten for a few seconds as she simply let herself feel the relief that finally, finally, she was face to face with her dad once more.

With that thought, the paper she'd been holding fluttered to the ground and she clamped a hand over her mouth as a stifled sob burst past her lips. Her vision blurred as tears filled her eyes and she moved forward in a rush, wrapping her arms around him and holding onto him as though her very life depended on it.

"I've missed you," she mumbled somewhere in the vicinity of his chest, squeezing her eyes shut to stave off the tears that were threatening to fall, and probably never stop. "I've missed you so much, dad."

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oncemighty
2012-08-18 05:09 am UTC (link)

If there was one thing Nikola Tesla was good at, it was taking in a situation in a matter of seconds and finding a dozen potential solutions to it. But faced with his daughter, older and broken, bedraggled from the situation that she had been pulled from, his mind was at a loss for anything that he could do to fix this. This wasn't an equation or a gadget that he could alter a few things within and make it work without the issues that had originally been imposed on it. This was his Zoe, his kiddo, who had been faced with the destruction of the life that she had known, and from the looks of things, a battle for survival long after her world had fallen apart around her. As she clung to him, Nikola closed his eyes, settling his hand on the back of her head, fingers weaving her hair as he wrapped his other arm around her waist. He knew he couldn't hug the situation better, but there was no way that it could possibly hurt.

"I'm right here, kiddo," Nikola whispered, turning his head to press a light kissed to her temple, resting his head against hers. "I'm right here, and I'm not going to let anyone take me away or hurt you ever again."

He wanted to ask. He had gathered a few scant details of the situation from Meri and Jack's public conversations, and considering the exchange between Zoe and Jack, Nikola could conclude that they were all from the same time, place, and reality. But what he had been able to gather from stalking public posts didn't fill in all of the gaps, it didn't make everything clear about how things had fallen into place and why. But even as those questions surfaced, Nikola pushed them back down into the back of his mind. All of that could be attended to later. Zoe was his first priority.

"Do you need something?" Nikola asked after a moment, still unwilling to pull away. "Drink, food, rest? I'm sure the Sanctuary has everything that we could need," He said, pausing for a moment as he hugged Zoe tighter. "And I'm sure Kate would love to see you."

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quantumkid
2012-08-18 05:34 am UTC (link)

Zoe continued to cling to her father as he returned the hug, refusing to let go for at least a few moments longer lest she wake up and discover this was nothing more than a dream. Truth be told, she couldn't even remember the last time she'd had a dream like this - being back in the lab, in her father's arms, safe and warm and not fearing for her life and the lives of everyone around her - but she knew that, if she were to pull away only to wake up, she wouldn't be able to take it. It would well and truly destroy her.

Of course, then he had to make a perfectly logical suggestion and Zoe, despite knowing that he couldn't realize what he was asking of her, was unable to stop the stiffening of her entire body nor the kneejerk reaction to pull away and take a step back. Eyes wide, if still a bit watery around the edges, she quickly shook her head at the offer. "No," she replied quickly, her voice thick with emotion. "I-I can't. Not there."

She knew she wasn't making any sense, that she was letting memories affect her that hadn't happened for him yet - that never would happen, if she had anything to say about it - but she didn't care. She couldn't fathom ever stepping foot in the Sanctuary again. Not after what had happened. Not after the bloodshed that had taken place.

"Can't she just come here?" she finally managed to get out, licking her lips nervously as she peered up at him and absently tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear. "I really can't go back there, dad. I can't." Swallowing hard, her attention sliding to the equation drawn on construction paper that had fallen to the floor, she admitted, "That's where it happened. That's where I lost you all."

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oncemighty
2012-08-18 05:44 am UTC (link)

Nikola hadn't expected the suggestion to illicit that kind of response. When he'd made it, the only thing that had been in his mind was a place to take a warm bath, get a change of clothes, reunite with Kate, and then find a bed to crawl into to try and refresh herself. Instead, he'd triggered some type of flashback panic attack. As she jerked away from him, Nikola peered at her, concern and fear overlaid in his eyes before he took a step forward, cautiously as he extended his hands and settled them lightly back on Zoe's shoulders, "It's all right, Zoe. It's all right. You don't have to go back if you don't want to," He said, his heart twisting in his chest as she said why she didn't want to return to the Sanctuary.

It wouldn't very well hold up to its name when the most enduring memory that resided in your mind about the place was your parents getting slaughtered there.

"Lord knows that the lab is more than set up to accommodate overnight stays," Nikola said with a hint of a smile. "I might even be able to find some food here that isn't weeks old takeout or slowly turning itself into its own personal science experiment," He said before closing the distance between them, raising a hand to lightly touch her cheek. "And I am more than certain that your Mom would rush right down here without a hint of hesitation to see you. Do you want me to call her?" He asked before allowing a brief silence fall before adding on. "We can talk about that whenever you're ready, Zoe. Whenever you want to or need to, but you don't need to explain your reactions. You never need to explain."

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quantumkid
2012-08-18 06:15 am UTC (link)

Torn between leaning into his hand against her cheek and stepping away to try and control her breathing, ultimately it was his statement that she could talk about what had happened that helped her make up her mind. Turning from him, she made her way to one of the available stools and sat down on it, her hands clasping together and resting in her lap as she met his gaze with a small, broken, little smile that was solely there to keep her tears at bay.

Idly, she found herself wishing she could be more like Jack, Meri, and Gabi. They didn't cry at the drop of a dime. They didn't let things like locations terrify them just because of the memories that were associated with the place. They were strong. Powerful. Forces to be reckoned with. And sure, she was great at coming up with inventions that helped those on the front lines of a war none of them had ever wanted to fight, and okay, she could hold her own in a physical brawl if she really had no other choice, and yes, she was more than capable of out-thinking most anyone on Loki and Lucifer's side. However, she also let her emotions get the better of her much more often than most anyone else. It had caused her problems, in the past, and it was making it all but impossible to speak to her own father now.

Still, she fought through it. Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she let her anxiety out via her tightly clasped together hands - digging her nails into her palms until she could practically feel the skin threaten to give way - and then she forced herself to meet her father's gaze.

"It was Mag-" she paused, correcting herself almost immediately. "Ashley. Loki got to her, and turned her against us all. We didn't even know what had happened until it was too late." She sighed softly and scrubbed a hand down her face, much too thin shoulders hunching a bit as she continued.

"You got me to the transporter just as she managed to get into the room. You promised you'd be right behind me, but..." She swallowed, hard. Her voice still cracked a bit as she said in a quiet, heartbroken tone, "You never showed up. No one did." She sniffled quietly, seemed to compose herself a bit, then gave him a watery, half-hearted smile that didn't come close to reaching her pain-filled eyes.

"I spent four days hiding out here before I finally worked up the nerve to go back, to see if there was anyone left." Images that were far too horrific to describe flashed before her mind's eye and she shuddered, ever so slightly, her voice dropping to a barely audible whisper as she dropped her gaze to her lap and admitted, "There wasn't."

Drawing in a deep breath, she exhaled slowly and seemed to compose herself a bit. "So, if it's all the same, I think I'd rather stay here. Until I had no choice but to blow this place to kingdom come to keep the bad guys from getting their hands on the tech in here, it was one of the few places I really felt safe."

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oncemighty
2012-08-18 06:36 am UTC (link)

He'd known. There was no doubt in Nikola's mind that when he told Zoe that he'd be right behind her that was merely to assure that she would go without protest. Nikola had seen what Ashley was capable of. He'd gone up against her before and been soundly thrashed with her not even breaking a sweat in the process. He had to have known that he wasn't getting out of there alive, but even as his gut twisted at the idea that he'd lied to her, that he had let such a sweetly cruel statement pass his lips, he also knew Zoe. Whatever age she may have been at the time, if he hadn't said he was coming, too, she wouldn't have gone. She would have insisted on standing by his side, on standing by his and Kate's sides, until the end had come, and with the idea of that could have potentially had been the result, that they all could have died, Nikola felt he could forgive himself this falsehood.

"Here it is, then," Nikola said, moving and crouching down in front of the stool, reaching out and gently folding her hands in his. "I'll set it so it won't let anyone in you don't want inside, and you'll have free run of the place," He continued before looking up at her, his gaze meeting hers. "And I can stay with you, if that will make you feel any safer."

It wouldn't have been the first time that he'd slept it the lab. It most certainly wouldn't be the last, and Nikola was more than certain that Kate would forgive him a few nights if not come down to bunk up with them as well. She was likely just as worried and heartbroken in this moment as he felt, more so likely, since she was working on theories and half established stories.

"If he has Ashley following his orders," Nikola said after a moment, his voice contemplative. "If he was able to get her into a position that he could force his will on her, how many other people is he puppeting?" Because Nikola couldn't see Lucifer and Loki standing up to the heavy hitters in their city, even working together, but if Loki had taken the heavy hitters to them...

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quantumkid
2012-08-23 05:21 am UTC (link)

Although Zoe had a fairly decent idea of who Loki had managed to get to come to his side, and although she knew pretty much who Lucifer had snagged as well, she was hesitant to say anything concrete. It wasn't because of a worry about preserving the timeline, as anyone who knew how close she was with the Doctor might have originally thought. No, if there was one thing Zoe knew absolutely, it was that nothing that happened here and now would change the future that she was from. Colligo simply didn't operate that way. And, even if it did, the fact that Jack and Meri had already killed Lucifer here pretty much ensured that nothing else they did would screw things up as spectacularly as that.

But, really, that wasn't her worry. She honestly just didn't want to risk Nikola, or anyone else, having issue toward people who, for all intents and purposes, were still completely innocent here and now. So rather than listing off a bunch of people, she instead gave a slight shrug of her shoulders and did the one thing that she had always promised herself she'd never do.

She lied to her father.

"I don't really know." The lie came out much easier than it probably should, but Zoe didn't dwell on that fact. She simply forged on, as she always did, not letting regrets from the past affect her. Even if that past was only a second or two gone. "But there are only three places you can be. His side, the side that fights against him, or dead. Neutrality went away about the time we blew up most of the city and took off to the sticks."

"The Sticks" being the area just outside of the city where they could all lay down their heads at night with relative ease. Not that she was going to specify that. Instead, she swallowed past the lump in her throat and instead added, "And I can lock down the place, if I have to. But, if you wouldn't mind staying?" She paused for a split second before asking in a tone that was clearly hopeful even as she struggled not to let it sound that way. "And if you wouldn't mind asking mom to come too? I-If she wants to, I mean."

Not that Zoe really thought her mother wouldn't want to see her. However, considering how she'd acted when she'd first showed up, and hadn't even bothered to respond after being full named (if only because simply seeing that had made her heart ache to the point she thought it might burst in her chest), she wouldn't be too surprised if Kate opted to give it a night before dealing with her again.

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oncemighty
2012-08-23 05:45 am UTC (link)

"Of course she'll want to," Nikola said, not even hesitating to pull out his phone and send Kate a quick message about the situation. He had absolutely no doubt that she would run as fast as she could to make sure that she could spend as much time with the two of them as she possibly could. And considering how fast Kate could run now, she'd likely be here in the span of a few minutes, max, the second that she noticed the message. Turning his attention back to Zoe the moment that it was sent, he offered her a very light and reassuring smile. He wasn't too surprised that she didn't have any specifics about who was on the other side. People rarely did when firefights were spread out, hectic messes. They were only attempting to destroy an ideal, not individuals, in those situations so why would it matter who you were taking on in the end?

The idea that no one was allowed to be neutral, though, gave Nikola a pretty rough idea of exactly who might have defected to the darkside given those three options.

"Well, for however long you're here, you don't have to worry about any of that," Nikola said, his tone the best reassuring one that he could muster. "Or, at least, no more than you can't help since I imagine something like that it impossible to shut up entirely." Standing slowly from the position he'd been crouched in, Nikola gave her hands a very light squeeze before looking around the room. "Do you think there will be anything else you need? I can get it sent down."

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