Nathan Summers (alter_nate_ive) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-03-11 19:23:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, emma frost (white queen), j'onn j'onzz (martian manhunter), nathan summers (cable), neena thurman (domino), scott summers (cyclops) |
Some presents are no better than the futures made them...
Who: Nate Pryor, Neena Thurman, Emma Summers, John Jones, and Scott Summers, with NPCed Madelyne Pryor
Where: Irvine General
What: Nate, Neena, and Scott wake up to find modern days as messed up as the future
When: 03/11/13
Warnings/Rating: PG-13 for violence, and mental instability.
Status complete
There was a gasp, and a groan, and then Nate sat up, and cried out in reaction to sitting up. Pain lanced through his body and his head ached, badly. “Ow. What the heck? Rachel? Dad? Cable?” Then he blinked as he saw where he was, and he saw Emma.
“What?” His mouth hung open. for a moment, he couldn’t believe, couldn’t process what he saw. Then he realized. “I’m home... holy crap. It worked.”
And tears started in his eyes.
Emma dashed over to snuggle Nathan, holding him tight. “Oh thank God you’re back.” She stroked his hair, not caring at all about the decorum she normally worried about. The relief that flooded through her body was the best thing she’d ever felt.
Nate flailed for a moment, then blinked. “Emma?” He took a ragged breath and hugged her close. for a moment, her future self and her current self existed both in his vision, then she resolved to who she was. “I missed you!”
“I missed you too, Nate.” She kissed the top of his head, laughing in joy. “I missed you so much.” She hugged him tighter for a moment. She wanted to ask him everything, to hold him forever.
She wouldn’t get a chance. Madelyne came back from the bathroom and saw Emma holding her son. She glared at Emma, and the pure malice of her thoughts made Emma stop and blink. Emma looked up at Madelyne, and cringed when she saw the redhead was visibly shaking with anger.
Not wanting to start a fight, Emma stood up. “He’s back, Maddie. Your son is back again.”
Madelyne completely ignored Emma, except to call her a name on the way to sit next to her son. Then it was Maddie’s turn to hug Nathan tightly, and she bawled as she did it, so relieved and yet still so worried.
Nate flailed, at the negativity, and hugged his mom, uncertainly. “Mom? I’m okay! I’m back. I had the weirdest dreams, but I’m okay.”
And nearby, John, who had been passing and was going to stop in to see Emma, flinched as he felt Madelyne’s mind seem to crack yet more, stress and fear and pain roaring through her mind like a tornado of destruction.
John winced and headed for the room at a near run, invisible and immaterial as he passed through the door.
Emma felt John coming, and greeted him. She was relieved it wasn’t just her. What can we do? Is it safe for him? She wouldn’t interfere if Madelyne wasn’t going to hurt the boy. It wasn’t her place to do so.
“I was so worried about you, Nathan. I didn’t know what to do with myself.” Her appearance bore that out. It wasn’t just Maddie’s mind that was a mess. Emma had sympathy for her. Not two days ago she’d been the same way. It made the conversation with John that much harder.
Her mind is coming apart at the seams. She is not sane. While she is not violent at the moment, she could become so at any turn of phrase or action. John’s mind shone with compassion and sorrow.
Nate hugged his mom. “I’m okay. I was in some sort of deepsleep thingie, but i am fine now. Really.” He forced a smile as he looked at his mom, and shivered. He had never seen her so fragile, save after her parent’s deaths.
Even then...
Emma’s face became grave, and she gently linked Nathan's mind into their conversation. Is there a way to help her, John? Emma thought she knew what had to be done, but it hurt to even think about doing it. She wouldn’t if it wasn’t necessary.
I’m afraid Madelyne’s mind is very sick and I do not think she can be helped in her current situation. She could, theoretically, if forced to rest and stay away from stressors, some day regenerate, but her mind is truly fractured and to the point it might descend into chaos at any time now. The best chance she has is a new mindscape, constructed to relieve her of pressures and excluding all current stressors... including Orange County, and … Nate.
Somewhere deep inside, Nate groaned. Now? really? Was he always to be the one who must make such decisions? But he already knew the answer.
He sighed inside. Do it. Save my mother. Make her well. No matter what the cost. And that was the moment that Nate Pryor stopped being a child, once and for all.
Emma nodded. I hoped it wouldn’t come to this. You deserved to be the one to make the decision. I’m sorry, Nate. She touched Madelyne’s shoulder, just as the redhead collapsed. With great care, Emma sat her on the floor, and faced Madelyne. I’ve thought about what we’ll give her. She adores art. I tested it a couple times, that’s why there’s a poster above Nate’s head. Would she like to be an artist, Nate?
She would. She used to paint, but stress and working as a pilot and trainer stopped her. She won awards for it. She could be great. Pride sang in his mind and several of her better paintings showed there in his hallowed memory.
He turned away then and lay down again, crying freshly, and tried to not think about it. “I am so tired.”
“It’ll be over soon, Nate.” Emma stroked Nate’s shoulder, then turned her attention back to Maddie. Watch what I do, to make sure I’m doing it right. She felt obligated to be the one who took care of the situation. It was delicate work, but she relished the challenge. Even if it was heartwrenching. It wasn’t just removing Nate and substituting something else, everything had to be seamless, it all had to match. It took a lot of effort, but not a lot of time.
Neena was stirring by the time Emma finished. “Hey, I can move my arms again.”
John was there with her, providing an extra touch of finesse and power as she did what had to be done. Even as he kept interns and orderlies away and machines silent.
When Emma finished, he smiled and sent a gently mental hug, and energy to Emma. Well done. I will go to their house and remove evidence of his presence and take it all to your place. I recommend sexing up your gentleman as soon as his returning mind joins with his body. And then John was gone.
Nate smiled at Neena, and sighed.
“Hey Neena. We’re back.”
Neena sighed. “Fuck.” It summed things up nicely.
Emma sighed and sat back. “Thank you, John.” She leaned her head against the bed for a moment, before getting to her feet and picking Madelyne up. “I’ll be right back, Nate.” She sounded exhausted, and felt it, too. Her happiness was gone in the face of what she’d done.
Nate smiled a little. “Okay, Emma.” He smiled softly at Neena. “Whee. Back to the 21st. That is... was... weird.” He sighed. “I’m ten again.”
“I noticed.” Neena watched as Emma helped a clearly unconscious but mobile Madelyne out the door. “Well, looks like your life is about the same no matter what universe we’re in.” She covered her face with her hands, wincing as the IV tugged a little. “Fuck this shit.”
Nate sighed and nodded. “Yeah. Pretty much.” He groaned. “I feel like I could sleep for a week, but I don’t want to close my eyes.” He shivered. he could remember it all. A parting gift from Cable, maybe? He saw their final battle in his mind’s eye and them walking off into the distance, a pyre left behind for their friends. And he sighed.
“At least we did it, in the end. We’re back. Now we just have to set right what once went wrong.”
“Yeah.” Neena had more comments, but Nate didn’t need that kind of shit in his life at the moment. “We’ll fix it.” It felt like a mild thing to say, considering the task, but she needed all her curse words for later.
Nate chuckled. “Maybe we can throw Wade at it.”
Scott was the last to stir. Power uncontrolled erupted behind his eyelids and the old, familiar headache rampaged through his skull. They had been so infrequent in the future that he was unprepared at their return, and groaned.
“Looks like we all made it back, at least.” Neena looked over Nathan at Scott. “Hooray.” She didn’t even have the energy for sarcasm, she just wanted to go back to sleep.
Emma came back in, smoothing her clothes out as she went to Nathan. “She’s on her way home. I’m going to call Kitty and get your needs settled in a little bit.” She stroked his hair softly, before heading to Scott's side. “Good morning, love.”
Nate slowly pushed himself to sit up Indian style. “Preliminarily forgive my language, but I for one vote that as soon as we can, we get the hell out of here.” He wanted nothing more to do with this place. He knew, in his heart, that he probably would have to stay days, and it made him angry. Angry in ways he had not been in a very long time.
Scott felt his glasses in his hands, and brought them up to his eyes. He looked up at Emma, relieved to see her face, happy to have her so close, and yet utterly depressed. They'd left his daughter behind. His grandson. He'd aged two decades, in a hard, brutal life.
"Hey. Any morning I get to see you is a good one." He tried to sit up. "Nate? Neena?" He wondered why Maddie wasn't there.
“Present.” Neena noted, then sat up. “and about to be unpresent. I agree with Nate, and I’m leaving before they insist I stay.”
Emma moved so Scott could sit up, and took a deep breath. “You’re all discharged. I have clothing for you, Scott, and John will come back with things for you, Nate.” She looked at each of them when she addressed them. “Is there anyone who can pick you up, Neena?”
“Logan should have my house key.” Fuck, poor Logan. “I’ll, uh, call him and get myself situated You guys do whatever.” She staggered to her feet, unhooking herself as she stood. No nurses came, and she shut off each machine as the alarms sounded. “Man, did you brainwash the whole damn hospital?”
Nate sighed and rose, then smirked a little as he hopped off of the bed, landing in a sprawling roll that ended with him on his feet. Legs trembled and he felt weak, but he snarled a little. “At least i remember what I learned in the future. “ His eyes went blank for a moment, then he shook his head. John got some of them. Just a few people are involved. His mental voice echoed in their heads.
Scott looked at Nate, realizing he was a kid again. Conflict ran through his heart. It would be nice to watch him grow up again, but he knew it would be frustrating for all of them (Nate the most). Their relationships with each other had all changed. He uttered a curse that ten year olds shouldn't hear.
"I'm not going to ask, I'll pretend I didn't hear that."
Neena left, and Emma sighed. “There was an incident earlier. You need to hear what happened.” She wished there was more snuggling and less explaining why she’d rewritten three years of Madelyne’s life. “Madelyne's been slowly degrading since. . . hmmm, I think since I met her at the parent teacher meeting at the beginning of the year, though I doubt it started then. Nate isn’t a normal child, and never will be. It’s been tearing her apart. I-I was afraid she might hurt Nathan, so I made her forget him. She thinks he died in the fire that drove her out of Alaska.”
Nate took the more direct route, opening his mind and reaching out to his dad, showing him what his mom had been like, ever since her parents died, the slow progression. The signs were there, now that Nate had more experience, and he mourned as he showed Scott, showed both of them, his mother as she declined, then the scene of a few minutes ago.
Scott's expression was grim, but he didn't have any harsh words of caution, and complaint about ethics. Instead, he nodded his head, and closed his eyes as Nate showed him Maddie's state. It hurt, an ache in his heart that went to the same place that Lisa resided. (and to a lesser extent, Jean)
"You did the right thing," he said, finally. "She can have happiness this way."
Emma sighed. “I hope so.” She shook her head. “This really does suck. But John’s on his way back, and we’ll be home, soon.” That was all she wanted right then. She wanted to take Scott and Nate home, get them fed, and go to sleep.
Nate groaned at the idea, the glorious idea. “Good. I totally need a shower, and ice cream, and real food, and a million years of sleep.”
He rubbed his face. “And a therapist.”
"God knows how we'll find a good one," Scott said. "But I'll ask around. For all three of us." As weak as he felt, it was still nice to be younger again. There were some things he'd change about aging.
"I need to send some messages, and the sleeping sounds fantastic."
“God, I don’t think anyone could handle all that.” Emma handed Scott his phone from her purse. “I’ll get you both unhooked.” Skimming the required information off the nearby nurses wouldn’t be difficult at all.
“Me too. I need to poke a few people.” then he got a determined look on his face, and nodded. “This is a very odd day.”
“How long were we out?” Scott asked, catching Emma’s arm. “Days? Weeks? Longer?” He wasn’t sure what answers would make him happier.
“Two weeks.” Emma stopped, turning to face Scott again. She didn’t know what to think, or how to feel about anything at this point. “You didn’t miss much. Alma had her baby.” She turned off Scott’s heart monitor and pulled the sensors off his chest. “That was a bad day. Otherwise. . . everything was pretty normal.” Except for her. She’d felt terrible, but was now the time to mention that? She didn’t know where she stood with him, really. She was afraid to find out, too.
“A bad day. She had a bad day at the end, too,” he replied. His tone was sad. He raked his fingers through his hair. That shower sounded amazing, right now. How could he adjust? The last time he’d seen Emma she’d been nearly twenty years older, physically, and two hundred years wiser.
Nate had started on the attachments watching them. “I’m going to go get some coffee from the waiting room. See you there.” They needed to talk, obviously, and he didn’t need to be there for that. He slipped to the door then smiled a little. “Take your time.”
And he slipped out, limping, but moving.
Emma had the urge to note that coffee would stunt his growth, but it seemed a little much, at the moment, so she settled for, “Let me know if you need anything.” She finished unhooking Scott, and sat on Nathan’s vacated bed. “So, how long was it for you?”
“Rachel was close to her eighteenth birthday by the end,” Scott said. “So about nineteen years, give or take a few months. We ran into...some people. Logan at one point, Wade. You.”
“Logan and. . . Deadpool, right?” Was there another Wade she should know? “How far in the future were you?” Obviously not that far, if she was still kicking around. There was no way she’d hang around longer than necessary in a post-apocalypse. Nathan thought they were pretty far in the future, so that didn’t add up.
"Two hundred years, or so." Scott pressed his forehead against Emma's, sharing what he could. What it looked like when he woke up. The places they'd been, the relative peace they'd found in New Jersey and Massachusetts. He lingered on seeing Emma again, and the emotions that he'd felt. He skimmed Logan and the Wild Pack.
Emma absorbed it, stroking his hair and neck gently. “You’ve been through so much. I’m sorry I wasn’t there with you.” She knew, deep down, that what the other Emma said was right. If she’d been there, she would have interfered and changed things. Maybe it had all worked out exactly as it needed to. “I wish things would happen to other people for a little bit.” She regretted saying it as soon as she finished, as her thoughts went back to Kitty. “Or nobody. Things should happen to nobody for a while.”
“Nobody would be good.” Scott kissed Emma, full of longing and need and sweet, gentle sadness. Rachel and Chris were in the future. So was a version of his son. Maybe the person his son was supposed to grow up to be. Time travel and paradoxes tended to work out like that. It made him sad. Sad and angry.
Emma kissed him back, sharing his emotions. She could feel his anger, and his sadness, and she wished she could soothe it away, make it better. No amount of kissing could fix what they might be up against. Underneath it all, though, Emma had a growing faith in their capabilities. Even with the world ending, they’d found each other again, and worked to make things right. If that was her fate, then she could live with it.
“I love you,” Scott whispered, his lips soft against Emma’s skin. “That never changed.” He might have been happy with Lisa, but it wouldn’t have been....her.
Emma sighed softly and her shoulders relaxed. “I was worried. I love you too.” She hugged him tight, inhaling deeply. She wanted to hold him forever. “I never want to sit worrying over your lifeless body again. So don’t you dare get sucked into a different body in some other time.”
“Promise, I’ll try to avoid that. I don’t think I want to ever go through that again. Knowing everyone I knew and loved was dead, or worse.” Scott shook his head. “Take me home? I don’t think I want to let go of you for a week.”
“Of course, love.” She went to the end of the bed and grabbed the bag of clothes she’d stashed there. “John’s given Nathan his things, he should be coming back soon to get dressed as well.” She pulled the curtain around his bed. “Do you need help getting dressed?” Her expression was suitably bad at pretending to be innocent.
Scott found it in himself to grin. “Yes, I’ll need all the help you can muster.”
Emma chuckled. “I think we’ll be okay. It will be strange putting pants on you, instead of the other way around.”
“We shouldn’t make a habit of this,” Scott suggested, leaning against Emma.
Emma undid his gown and slid it off, stroking his body casually. “You know my opinion of pants. They’re good when we’re in public, and strictly against the rules in private. Which. . . now we can’t have sex on the couch anymore. Or the kitchen table. Or the downstairs shower.” Or the laundry room, or garage. Huh.
Nate wandered back in, and plopped on his bed to get dressed, sipping his coffee between items of clothing. “We should go get dinner soon. You two might be more comfortable at home.” His voice was matter of fact.
Scott took a moment to realize what Emma meant. Huh. Damn. He shrugged into his shirt, as he considered that. It might almost be a fair trade off. It would have been before the future. Before Nate’s eyes had gotten so old.
It will be worth it now. Emma responded, then ducked out to make sure Nate was getting dressed okay. “Do you guys want to stop for lunch on the way home? I’m sure you haven’t had anything properly cooked in quite some time.”
“I have the largest craving for a cheeseburger,” Scott spoke with seriousness.
“Ooooo, cheeseburgers! Now that sounds good!” Nate perked up as he slowly got up. He smiled at Emma.”can we, please?”
Emma laughed. "Of course. We'll stop on the way home." She took Scott's hand, and let herself just be happy to have him back.
FIN.