Olivier Lebeau is Eirena's monsieur. (the_atoner) wrote in superbabies, @ 2013-06-13 00:41:00 |
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Entry tags: | !cw: death, !cw: graphic violence, eirena wilson, olivier lebeau |
Log; Errant and Strikeforce
Who: Olivier Lebeau and Eirena Wilson
When: Thursday Morning
Where: The Danger Room
What: Oli’s Nightmare
Warnings: Violence; Death.
Oli was pretty sure this was what he needed, throwing a bolt at one of the Sentinels and watching it flail at it’s head desperately for a second before it vanished with a BOOM. All the stress of the nightmares hitting the students -- hitting his siblings -- was enough to drive anyone to madness. Given his own predisposition for handling stress badly? He’d been a powder keg. He was glad Eirena had suggested some training, to blow off steam. ...even if a part of him had been disappointed to find “I know what’ll help you loosen up...” hadn’t meant sex. “Duck,” he said simply, tossing another bolt over her shoulder at another Danger Room construct. He was getting better with his aim, better with his control. He’d always been good, forcing himself to practice as much as he did, since the accident, but now that he was starting to let go of the fear, now that he was starting to embrace what he could do, he was a new man. And Heaven help those who stood in his way. “This is gettin’ too easy, cher,” he chuckled, using his staff to disable another opponent quickly. “We might wanna bump it up a bit, see just what we can do...” Eirena laughed as her sword sliced cleanly through a sentinel. As great as this was to blow off steam, she was never opposed to the idea of taking it up a notch, seeing how far they could push themselves. Despite the rough events of the last few days, she was happy here with him and proud of how far he’d come. “You read my mind.” She sheathed her sword. “What’re you thinking? Double-up? Traps? Flamethrowers? Ooh.” She snapped her fingers. “You know what would be cool? A full-on simulation. I haven’t actually done that in years.” Oli’s brow had arched at flamethrowers, but the snap of her fingers and the last suggestion made him grin. “I guess it’d depend on the simulation, really,” he said with a shrug. “I haven’t done one of those in... a damn long time.” Since before Emily, he realized. His brow furrowed. It’d been so long since he’d been able to set foot in that room without feeling the lingering guilt, the fear. To say he’d come a long way was an understatement. “Computer, end program -- What’re you thinkin’?” he asked, rolling his shoulders back as the room returned to its default state. “Anythin’ in particular?” “Hmm.” She tapped her finger to her chin, mulling it over exaggeratedly as she came up beside him. “I was thinking...” She rounded to stand in front of him, a twinkle of mischief in her eyes, and yet looking unfathomably innocent about the deliberation. “What about something dystopian? Some kind of cityscape? Or something post-apocalyptic? It doesn’t matter, just as long as it’s somewhere populous. A natural landscape wouldn’t be as fun. I’d hate running around in simulated sand. And I don’t think Emily would have liked monkeying around in trees.” She tilted her head. “What do you think?” Olivier frowned. Something about the way she was moving, the way she was talking, felt familiar. He shook his head to dismiss the sense of deja vu, but it lingered as she continued. Dystopia. Cityscape. Post-apocalyptic. “Dystopia ain’t my favorite, cher,” he said with a shrug, “But if you really want...” He froze at her last statement, wondering if he’d misheard. He had to have misheard. There wasn’t any reason for her to... Why would she... He shook his head. “What was that last bit?” he asked, tugging at the hem of his uniform idly, even as his eyes settled on her with a more focused, intent gaze. “I don’t think I heard you right...” Eirena frowned, mildly confused. Olivier suddenly looked perturbed, but she couldn’t quite place a finger on what it was she said that would have startled him. She tried to smile, hands on her hips. “You heard me, you dumb hick.” She chided cheekily. “I’m standing right in front of you, clear as day. Now, c’mon - let’s pick a program. I’m antsy and being alone in here with you scares the hell out of me.” Dumb hick. “Maybe this ain’t -- isn’t such a good idea...” Oli mumbled, taking a half step back. This didn’t feel right. This didn’t feel right at all. “If you don’t wanna... want to be in here, we should probably call it a day. We can head upstairs. Find... another way to unwind.” He tried to smile, to give her that lopsided, sly grin she said she liked, but it felt like a grimace, as he felt a chill run down his spine, and a tingling in his fingertips, almost as if he’d fallen asleep on his arm. “What do you say, cher?” “Oli, seriously, you’re freaking me out.” Eirena’s smile faltered and her fear almost seemed to match his, but it was different in the sense that there was something terribly wrong about her approach. She moved to fill the gap his half-step took and then some, reaching out a hand to rest on his shoulder, trying to smile at him reassuringly. “Don’t be scared. It’s not like you don’t know what’s going to happen next.” And just like that, the power to the Danger Room cut. “...See?” There was a half-second of complete darkness before the emergency lights came on, and in that short time Oli was certain his heart had exploded. “No!” he cried out, jumping away from her hand as if he’d been bitten by a snake. “No! You... You are fuckin’ kiddin’, right? This ain’t funny, Eirena. You can’t... You cannot do this. This isn’t right you... You don’t know what you’re doin’!” The vague feeling of familiarity faded, as every detail snapped back into his mind with perfect clarity. The things she’d said, the way she’d moved, the smile, every bit of it echoed in his mind, two voices so very different saying the same things. Dystopian. City. Dumb hick. And as he looked down at his hands, he could see them already glowing, already charging. “No!” It was a scream, now, his voice choked as he turned toward the wall and threw the energy with all his might. There was a flash, a bang, and then just smoke, hovering off enforced steel designed to withhold just that sort of impact, to keep them safe. He threw two more bolts, then more, again and again, until he fell to his knees, arms hanging limply at his side, and the wall wouldn’t give, didn’t even scratch. It was just as safe as it had been the last time. “No...” he whimpered. “No, it... it can’t. They fixed it. They said they... they redesigned... there should be a backup generator. A... a failsafe. Why isn’t it... why isn’t it working?” Eirena just stood there, shaking her head, a look of pity smeared across her features. It hadn’t changed as she watched him react, watched him throw energy and try to disperse that which was building up inside of him like a volcano. He looked weak, pathetic. “You’re going to kill me.” She said, her skin lighting up unnatural colors under the emergency light. It distorted her features, made her look vulnerable and frightened one moment - frightened of him, frightened of this place - and then menacing the next, as though the nightmare had chosen her to be the voice of its cruelest intentions. “You’re going to kill me.” This time it was dark, promising, the next it was fearful, breathless. “You’re going to kill me.” All he could do as he watched her expression was stare in horror, each iteration making him recoil more and more, as if he was physically struck by the the words. “No! No! I’m not. I won’t. I won’t do it, I won’t. I... no...” Olivier kicked back, shuffling along the floor away from her, trying to put distance between them as he felt the charge building up. “No, they... this room was designed by geniuses. Was redesigned by more, time and time again. After the... after the last time, they changed it. They told me. They promised, they made a failsafe, they... they fixed it. They promised.” He shook his head helplessly. “You promised. When I took the job. You...” He felt sick, and his body was shaking both with the nerves and the energy that was building up, and bursting off his skin in showers of sparks. “Why are you doin’ this?” he sobbed. “Why... why? I thought... I love you. Don’t make me do this. Is this a test? Is this.. are you tryin’ to help? Tryin’ to make me get over it?” Another bolt was thrown at the wall, doing little to diminish the buildup around him, the way his skin burned, and his blood boiled. He wouldn’t be able to hold it much longer. “Are you punishin’ me for somethin’? For... for that fight? For... for anythin’? Don’t... don’t make me go through this. Please don’t. Please don’t do this to me. Whatever it is, I’m sorry. I’m sorry! I won’t... I won’t do it again! I won’t do anythin’ again! Anythin’ you want, anythin’ at all, anythin’, I’ll do it! I will! In a heartbeat! In less than a heartbeat! Please! I’m beggin’ you... please...” “You can’t change it.” This time it wasn’t just her voice - it was several voices, many voices: men, women, children, sick and twisted, distorted and deep, beating down on the two figures. Eirena’s figure slinked forward, but was it even her anymore? It seemed to only appear when the light caught her form, highlighted her and yet hid the rest in darkness like some blood red half moon. “You can’t control it. It will always win. It will always take what you love.” The figure lowered, face to face with the terrified man expelling his energy. And it was red, all red. “You will be alone.” It cracked a grin, the lips lifting high on its cheeks, slicing open its face. “Covered in the blood of everyone you ever cared for. Murderer.” Every step she took, he tried to move away, until his back hit the wall, and there was no escape. Even then, he kept pushing back, as if he could sink into it by sheer force of will, even as the contact with the metal made his skin burn. “No!” He whimpered, tears sizzling as they slid down his cheeks, evaporating before they ever fell from his face. “No! No, please! Get back! Get back!” It will always win. Every word was a knife in his heart, every step adding fuel to the flame, and as she looked him in the eye, he knew it was too late. Even if she ran from him now, she’d never escape the blast. It will always take what you love. He screamed in anguish as his control slipped, and the charge released with a deafening roar. Even with his eyes shut tight, he knew what it looked like, the way the torrent tore through her flesh, through bone, through the cloth of her uniform and the metal of her blades, every bit of her shredded and burnt, that same monstrous grin on her face until the very last, the same voice echoing in his mind even after it was long gone. Murderer. And when the blast was through, and the smoke cleared, he was alone again in the darkness, surrounded by nothing but ash, and the echoes. The echoes at first were hollow, unattached to anything that could produce noise, floating on the air and sitting there as heavy as the ash. But the telltale click of shoes resounded across the room, the real Eirena standing in the doorway. Her hands were shaking and tears were rolling down her face. She’d gotten to the Danger Room moments before he’d erupted, heard him screaming, begging some unseen force to get back, sick to her stomach that she had to witness him face his greatest terror alone. She’d gone to find him, searched high and low for him after her own nightmare, which had killed him twice before her eyes, the second time in much the same horrifying fashion she was about to see. A little voice in the back of her mind kept nudging that she still had time to stop this, to snap him out of it, but she knew the truth. Knew she’d have to let the nightmare run its course or it would become his reality again. And so she watched through watery eyes and low curses, pushing through into the room the moment she knew it was safe, running to him. “Oli?” She asked, crouching down beside him, knowing she couldn’t touch, aware she had to approach with all caution. “Baby, it’s okay, it’s me, it’s over now.” She glanced around the room, the charred smell burning her nose. What had he seen? What did it say? She had a few good guesses in her. “Whatever you saw, it’s gone now. I promise. I promise.” The sound of his name only vaguely registered, but as she came up to him, Olivier jerked back, terror clearly etched on his face. “But I... Not again, please no... please no...” He choked, wrapping his arms tight around his middle. She was different, now, was crying with him, was trying to say something, though he couldn’t quite piece it all together. It didn’t make sense -- she’d been torn apart, had been burnt. There was nothing left, and yet. “I’m sorry...” he whimpered. “I’m so sorry. I tried. I tried so hard. But I... I couldn’t...” Again. Eirena shook her head furiously, her fists clenching. She was livid to the point that words were hard to conjure, enraged that something or someone had done this, had reduced him to this when they both knew he was so strong. “Don’t you dare apologize.” She commanded through trembling lips. “This wasn’t you, this wasn’t you. Okay?” Eirena remembered the bloodied bodies of those she loved lying around her, dying one by one, before feeling herself breathe her last. If it hadn’t been for her drive to go find Olivier after her nightmares, she’d have collapsed on the floor and stayed there. So she knew how horrible, how real it was, and she’d never experienced a loss or a fear like his in all her life. It was hard to imagine what the students had felt, but now? Now she knew these nightmares were programmed to not only make you face your fears, but expose them, mock you with them, strangle you with them. “I’m alive. Your brothers and sisters are alive. Your friends are alive. You didn’t do anything, you hear me? Everything is done now, I promise. I promise, I’ll get you help and you’ll be okay. It’s done and it wasn’t real and it’s not your fault.” He heard her. He even managed to understand the words, through the panic that still ran in him. But he couldn’t believe them. She was alive, and that should have been a relief, should have made it better, but instead it just made him tremble more, made him try and pull further away. If she was alive, he could still hurt her. He could lose control again, and again, and again. “It doesn’t... it doesn’t matter...” he whispered. “You’re alive. But you won’t be. I can’t... I can’t stop it. I can’t. It’s always gonna be there, always just waitin’ to happen, and when it does I won’t... I can’t... It’s always gonna win. Always. One locked door, one... one blackout. One thing goes wrong and it’s over!” She scooted closer, very careful to move as gingerly and non-threateningly as possible and just as careful to make sure they didn’t touch. “It might always be there, but it might not. Do you know how far you’ve come over these last few months?” She insisted. “You’re lightyears ahead of where you were, and I’ll be damned if I let you slip back. You’re not going to let this win. Hear me? I’m not giving you a choice. You can do this and it’s going to keep being rough, but your family needs you. I need you. And I’m not going anywhere.” Wiping away another shaky tear with vigor, she took the opportunity to cool down. “I love you. I can’t imagine how hard this is. If I could make this go away, I would in a heartbeat. But we’re going to work on this. Together.” Together wasn’t something Oli could imagine, not now, but he didn’t have it in him to fight, and the thought of being alone hurt so much more. Given the choice between the two, he doubted he’d have been able to decide on his own. He was silently grateful she’d decided to choose for him. “Together,” he repeated weakly, through tears and exhaustion. “Together.” He just had to keep telling himself that together wasn’t going to go end with a bang. |