Who: Sentient, Zap When: Monday, October 6th, 2008 (during the cure mission) Where: Xavier's; the workshop What: hearing the news Status: in progress Rating: PG-13
Conlan sat in the same office chair he always occupied, at the same work station he always sat at. Usually the space was either used for a school desk or a makeshift movie studio. Today, it was the latter. A lone action figure stood in the center of the surface, one of his several Batman figures. This one from the 'Hush' graphic novel, one of Conlan's favorites. Hunched over in the chair, chin resting on the desk, eyes focused on the dark knight, Conlan couldn't help but be distracted. Several of the X-Men were gone on the now routine dangerous 'cure missions'. Of course one of them was his brother. Batman always reminded Conlan of Ronan. Except Bats embraced the idea of a sidekick, thank you very much.
Feeling his muse had left him, Conny turned toward Zap who was busying herself on something. Zap always stayed as busy as possible when Ronan was on a mission, he couldn't blame her. Ronan did the same when she was gone, though he'd never admit it. Conlan decided not to bother Zap and focused again on his figure. He winked at the caped crusader and the action figure began to move across the desk. "Any thoughts Bruce?"
"He says he wants Catwoman in the story." Zap told her brother-in-law. Catwoman was her favorite. Booger had a tendency to focus on the male characters of whatever genre. Well, mostly Batman. She was working on repairing uniforms - something that had become more frequent a task as of late. People were beating up their outerwear left and right, and considering the nature of recent missions, as well as the change in seasons, everyone's uniforms needed to be ship shape. The hum of the sewing machine quieted and she rolled away from it, intent on keeping her eyes occupied with something else for a few minutes. "The one with the purple suit and the big ol' jugs." She grinned, teasingly. Her smile faltered when the sound of the SmartCom speaker clicked on.
"Professor Xavier and medical team, this is Beast. The mission has been forfeit and your team was overtaken. Only Cyclops and I remain unharmed, while the remainder of the team have suffered near-fatal injuries. Several are in critical condition. We should arrive within the half hour. Over."
"Par-" came the beginning of another voice. Brian. "Pardon? Uhm," it paused again. "We will be fully prepared to treat everyone upon your arrival. Over." There was an awkward buzz at the end of the transmission and then it clicked off.
Zap's eyes went wide and her lips parted, her jaw hanging slightly open. Had that been Hank? Did he say 'near-fatal' injuries? Critical condition. Her hands fell limp in her lap and she stared at the chair where Ronan could sometimes be spotted, lounging between bouts of work. God... no...
Conlan watched the SmartCom speaker as though it was doing a song and dance. Beast? How? Brian sounded as confused as he was. The tail end of the message rang in his ears. Oh God. Batman fell flat on his face in mid-walk and Conlan turned toward Zap. His stomach knotted up. The audible news that his brother might be near-death didn't hit half as hard as reading it on Zap's face. Conlan was out of his chair and across the room to his sister-in-law in record time. He knelt down a bit and wrapped her up in his arms. "Hey, he's gonna be okay." Conlan said gently, not giving Zap a chance to question.
She hadn't had time to think things through before Booger was approaching and embracing her. She sat still for a moment, not reacting to the gesture. Zap couldn't catch a breath. This all came with the territory. She knew full well she could lose anyone she loved on any given day, particularly with the current state of the world. The X-Men had made that sacrifice, and when you signed up, it was par for the course. But this felt wrong. This made her forget how to breathe or blink or think anything other than 'this isn't fair'. After a few moments, she finally flinched, her eyes blinking to life, cutting up the image of Ronan's chair and filling with tears instead. She bowed her head forward and held Conlan back. "What the fuck?" Yeah. That summed it up pretty well. She felt like she was in shock. "No." It was mostly a whimper.
When Zap started to cry, Conlan felt his own tear ducts threaten to leak. No, he thought in his head, he wasn't going to. He needed to be strong, Zap was going to fall apart and who could blame her? Of course it wasn't fair. The sudden realization of what could happen hit Conlan like a ton bricks. Ronan could be gone. He could lose his brother and Zap could lose her husband of just over a month. God no, it wasn't fair. Slowly, as Conlan held Zap, things his brother had been telling him over the years started to reemerge in his thoughts. He was always harping on 'being a man', 'acting your age' and up until now Conlan had thought it all to be bullshit. Things that all fathers and brothers said. But at this moment, with his brand new sister-in-law falling to pieces in his arms, it became clear. What would happen if Ronan didn't make it? Conlan didn't know, he didn't want to think about it. But Conlan knew he would be there for Zap. Some one was going to have to take care of her, and there wasn't anybody else in his mind. Conlan prayed inside his head... Ronan, if you can hear me... Come back, brother. But if you can't... I'll make sure, I'll make sure Zap is okay. I'll watch over your wife. He squeezed Zap a little harder, "I don't know why we're worried. If there's one thing Ronan can do, it's survive. Cockroaches carry cans of Ronan spray." Conlan said in hopes of getting a positive reaction from the eletrokine.
During the silence, Zap began to crack. If Ronan had been mortally wounded... well, that was just the problem, she couldn't think past that point. What if he had? She didn't know what she'd do with herself. She felt so stupid...
The brunette bit down on her lips to keep from sobbing against Conlan - she didn't want to lose it completely. Having an all-out bawl wouldn't have done well for morale. When the younger mutant spoke, she knitted her eyebrows together, hard, until a fretful smile won out and she sobbed out a laugh. She moved to the floor with Booger and sat opposite him, still embracing. She rested her head on his shoulder, her face angled away from his neck. "And when Chuck Norris goes to bed, he checks his closet for Ronans. Right?" She smirked and gave a sigh now that she was able to catch her breath. The joke had been passed around several of the younger X-Men since the Chuck Norris phenomenon had erupted, and it always made her laugh. She squeezed Booger closer and then pulled back with shaking hands. "Thank you, Conny." Her green eyes flicked to the couch. Okay, bad idea. She'd intended on suggesting they sit there, as it was more comfortable, but seeing the thing just brought memories to mind that made her lip begin to quiver again. Damn it, she had to reign it in. What happened to being strong? Mars wouldn't want to see either of them like this...