Muir Island, Late Monday Afternoon
[ What came before (today). And now for the conclusion... ]
On all sides, the battle continued. Explosions. Fire. Light. Flesh on flesh.
But within the center of it all, all lay silent... and then.
CableHe was bleeding again.
He was bleeding again, and the world was on fire.
But the child in his arms was still laughing, or crying, or some form of activity that meant it was alive, and as Cable dashed through the flames-- as Cable hit the ground-- that was the only piece of information that meant anything at all.
His knee twisted a little. It wasn't quite a strange angle, yet. Couldn't use his hands to support him-- it was heavy, pulling up his full weight, but he had to keep moving--
Scott"It's over, Nathan."
Scott's figure struck a perfect black-yellow amongst the flames. His voice was low; his eyes, had they been visible, steel-set.
"Give me the baby."
CableThe gun was heavy in his hands, not again, his eyelids caught on a momentary blink that stalled just a moment too long.
"She's the future," Nathan spoke, ignoring the burn of the muscles in his leg even as they stretched with every hunched slip of his knee. "The one who saves us. And if she stays here-- she'll die."
ScottNathan could-- might-- shoot him. Was... prompting himself to put in that effort. But Scott's gaze never wavered, and he lifted his hand up, edging closer to the child in Nathan's arms.
Conviction in Nathan's voice. It was always, always conviction with him, wasn't it? "You don't know that."
The baby was their last hope.
Cable"Yes."
He cradled the baby like a wounded mother bear, his jaw setting in lieu of his teeth.
"I do."
ScottScott wasn't surprised to find the gun in his face, now. He braced himself for the impact--
Nothing happened.
Cable"Look around you!"
Nathan didn't quite keep the gun level. It wavered, just slightly, up down past Scott's chin down to his chest and back up again. His words-- his words carried the strength his hand on the gun couldn't manage.
"Everybody has a plan. An agenda. Everybody wants to stake a claim, or take her out of the equation. She won't last a day here, whatever you do or don't do."
Scott had to see.
The battle spit some more people out into the eye of storm. He didn't notice.
ScottThe baby was their hope.
Their hope.
And he'd do whatever was necessary.
"If you were going to pull that trigger, you'd have done it by now."
His voice was steel, too.
CableNathan expelled a breath. A horrible, ragged breath, carrying some weight-- his gun at Tyler's head-- of emotion and his voice cracked, its strength finding his muscles instead--
He'd have to pull it.
"Scott-- Dad. Please. Please don't-- please don't make me."
Xavier"Cable."
A third voice joined the fray. His eyes narrowed, profile black-and-white, Xavier loomed in that way only Charles Xavier could.
"Do as Scott says. Give him the baby. Show him what he's been fighting for."
His back righted.
"The future's at stake-- show him that this isn't just his future or mine or even yours. He is the leader of the X-Men." And he stood, then, by Scott's side. At last. "He must speak for us all. For the future of our kind."
CableNathan's hand relaxed from the gun. Slowly. Very slowly. The burn of wounds and acids in his muscles made his arm heavy, pulling him down.
Down onto the floor. Down on his knees. Down, offering the baby to Xavier. Silently.
The world burned around him. But they were here. The eye of the storm.
ScottAnd Scott, in turn, took the baby from Xavier.
He turned immediately. Presented Nathan with his back. Prioritize. Supporting the baby with his arm-- "I've got him," he told Emma across the commlink.
Cable"Her."
Heavy. He was just-- heavy. Nathan's hand came to press against the floor for some support. Everything hurt.
He just wanted to--
"You've got her."
Too much damn running.
Scott"Yes," Scott said, dismissively, "Her. I'm about to--"
The baby pulled on the locket across his neck. It opened. "..."
(When he's cured-- you'll bring him back?
No. If you embrace this path, he will be lost to you forever.)
--him and Jean, all that time--
(Live, Scott. All I've ever done is die on you.)
--and Nathan, his son--
(Don't leave! I can't do it alone! and Nathan's hand outstretched to his--
You'll never be alone, son! and him vanishing instead)
He took a breath.
XavierThe psychic images resonated on the walls of Xavier's mind. Perhaps even elsewhere-- Scott's memories, for all his stoic repose, rang hard.
"You can't control the future, Scott," he said, not unkindly. "You can only allow it to be born."
Scott"Them. Them, not it."
He tried to fight it. But-- maybe-- a reassessment...
"There are two possible futures." One of which had taken Jamie, spit him out with that tattoo...
Xavier"At least two."
Xavier approached, steadily. Then stopped, feet away, allowing him some space.
"And this child is the key to both of them."
ScottAnother breath. The child, all red hair and green eyes, smiled at him. Then her eyes closed. Sleep came.
And still Scott was there, frozen-- his thoughts a million-- and then.
He kissed her forehead. She slept gently on.
"Nathan." The line of his shoulders shifted. Open. His back moved away from his son and his face took its place. "Take her."
CableThat--
Wait.
What did he--
"Wh--" Nathan-- looked up. And found his father's eyes on him.
Scott"Take her out of here."
It was the right choice. Scott's voice-- projected a preternatural kind of calm. And familiar conviction.
"Let her be herself. Choose for herself." He strode the last few feet to Nathan, and the baby's eyes shot straight back open. "And not be a key, or a strategic resource, or a playing piece in someone else's game."
He slipped her into Nathan's waiting arms. Easily. Even the next-- words-- were calm. Really. "Give her the freedom I was never able to give you."
DeadpoolDeadpool was still sticky.
He watched Nate and his dad and their very touching moment, wondering if this Hallmark feeling meant he needed to shoot someone in the head soon.
CableScott got a quiet-- oh so quiet-- nod. "Thank you," Nate said--
Looked aside. "Wade--?" And the others, too, of course... Whatever else he was about to say didn't get said. "Prepare for teleport back to the island."
ArashiArashi watched Scott and gave him a smile and nod of fatherly understanding before looking back at Nate. "I'm ready when you all are."
InoHe'd only said 'Wade'. Of course. Like they didn't matter.
Whatever.
Ino shrugged, not trusting her voice. Not trusting her--anger, upset, fear--self enough to speak. Wasn't like her opinion on anything that had happened even mattered.
That had been made quite clear to her. Clear as crystal.
Deadpool(Drama queen.)
Deadpool gave him a blank look, just nodding. And not resting his hand on the butt of his gun at all.
Shut up, he was still pissed.
CableAnd that got another one of those slow nods in return.
"Scott? I--"
He was much for the names, today...
Scott"This isn't goodbye," Scott replied, firmly. "Good luck."
CableThat, at least, prompted a brief, if honest, smile. "It's not," Nate agreed. "I'll be in touch."
He pulled the battery pack he'd taken from Forge's out of one of the pouches on his belt; slammed it into the teleportation device.
And pressed the button.
Bishop"NO!"
The shout shattered the uneasy sense of peace that had fallen across the building; but before anyone could reorient themselves away from the teleporting foursome, Bishop had already fired his weapon.
"CABLE!"
Straight through Cable's dematerializing head-- which faded just before the bullet could strike.
In lieu of its original target...
It struck Xavier.
He died instantly.
CableFreshly ignorant, and somewhere entirely elsewhere, Cable stepped onto the causeway.
He went home. Baby made two.
Two was all.
[ nfi, nfb except to say that Cable, Yondaime, Deadpool and Ino returned to Fandom, OOC welcome, preplayed with my partners in crime konoha_flash, mouthy_merc and flowering_mind, chunks stolen from Messiah Complex #12 and... *breathes* ...FINIS. ]
On all sides, the battle continued. Explosions. Fire. Light. Flesh on flesh.
But within the center of it all, all lay silent... and then.
CableHe was bleeding again.
He was bleeding again, and the world was on fire.
But the child in his arms was still laughing, or crying, or some form of activity that meant it was alive, and as Cable dashed through the flames-- as Cable hit the ground-- that was the only piece of information that meant anything at all.
His knee twisted a little. It wasn't quite a strange angle, yet. Couldn't use his hands to support him-- it was heavy, pulling up his full weight, but he had to keep moving--
Scott"It's over, Nathan."
Scott's figure struck a perfect black-yellow amongst the flames. His voice was low; his eyes, had they been visible, steel-set.
"Give me the baby."
CableThe gun was heavy in his hands, not again, his eyelids caught on a momentary blink that stalled just a moment too long.
"She's the future," Nathan spoke, ignoring the burn of the muscles in his leg even as they stretched with every hunched slip of his knee. "The one who saves us. And if she stays here-- she'll die."
ScottNathan could-- might-- shoot him. Was... prompting himself to put in that effort. But Scott's gaze never wavered, and he lifted his hand up, edging closer to the child in Nathan's arms.
Conviction in Nathan's voice. It was always, always conviction with him, wasn't it? "You don't know that."
The baby was their last hope.
Cable"Yes."
He cradled the baby like a wounded mother bear, his jaw setting in lieu of his teeth.
"I do."
ScottScott wasn't surprised to find the gun in his face, now. He braced himself for the impact--
Nothing happened.
Cable"Look around you!"
Nathan didn't quite keep the gun level. It wavered, just slightly, up down past Scott's chin down to his chest and back up again. His words-- his words carried the strength his hand on the gun couldn't manage.
"Everybody has a plan. An agenda. Everybody wants to stake a claim, or take her out of the equation. She won't last a day here, whatever you do or don't do."
Scott had to see.
The battle spit some more people out into the eye of storm. He didn't notice.
ScottThe baby was their hope.
Their hope.
And he'd do whatever was necessary.
"If you were going to pull that trigger, you'd have done it by now."
His voice was steel, too.
CableNathan expelled a breath. A horrible, ragged breath, carrying some weight-- his gun at Tyler's head-- of emotion and his voice cracked, its strength finding his muscles instead--
He'd have to pull it.
"Scott-- Dad. Please. Please don't-- please don't make me."
Xavier"Cable."
A third voice joined the fray. His eyes narrowed, profile black-and-white, Xavier loomed in that way only Charles Xavier could.
"Do as Scott says. Give him the baby. Show him what he's been fighting for."
His back righted.
"The future's at stake-- show him that this isn't just his future or mine or even yours. He is the leader of the X-Men." And he stood, then, by Scott's side. At last. "He must speak for us all. For the future of our kind."
CableNathan's hand relaxed from the gun. Slowly. Very slowly. The burn of wounds and acids in his muscles made his arm heavy, pulling him down.
Down onto the floor. Down on his knees. Down, offering the baby to Xavier. Silently.
The world burned around him. But they were here. The eye of the storm.
ScottAnd Scott, in turn, took the baby from Xavier.
He turned immediately. Presented Nathan with his back. Prioritize. Supporting the baby with his arm-- "I've got him," he told Emma across the commlink.
Cable"Her."
Heavy. He was just-- heavy. Nathan's hand came to press against the floor for some support. Everything hurt.
He just wanted to--
"You've got her."
Too much damn running.
Scott"Yes," Scott said, dismissively, "Her. I'm about to--"
The baby pulled on the locket across his neck. It opened. "..."
(When he's cured-- you'll bring him back?
No. If you embrace this path, he will be lost to you forever.)
--him and Jean, all that time--
(Live, Scott. All I've ever done is die on you.)
--and Nathan, his son--
(Don't leave! I can't do it alone! and Nathan's hand outstretched to his--
You'll never be alone, son! and him vanishing instead)
He took a breath.
XavierThe psychic images resonated on the walls of Xavier's mind. Perhaps even elsewhere-- Scott's memories, for all his stoic repose, rang hard.
"You can't control the future, Scott," he said, not unkindly. "You can only allow it to be born."
Scott"Them. Them, not it."
He tried to fight it. But-- maybe-- a reassessment...
"There are two possible futures." One of which had taken Jamie, spit him out with that tattoo...
Xavier"At least two."
Xavier approached, steadily. Then stopped, feet away, allowing him some space.
"And this child is the key to both of them."
ScottAnother breath. The child, all red hair and green eyes, smiled at him. Then her eyes closed. Sleep came.
And still Scott was there, frozen-- his thoughts a million-- and then.
He kissed her forehead. She slept gently on.
"Nathan." The line of his shoulders shifted. Open. His back moved away from his son and his face took its place. "Take her."
CableThat--
Wait.
What did he--
"Wh--" Nathan-- looked up. And found his father's eyes on him.
Scott"Take her out of here."
It was the right choice. Scott's voice-- projected a preternatural kind of calm. And familiar conviction.
"Let her be herself. Choose for herself." He strode the last few feet to Nathan, and the baby's eyes shot straight back open. "And not be a key, or a strategic resource, or a playing piece in someone else's game."
He slipped her into Nathan's waiting arms. Easily. Even the next-- words-- were calm. Really. "Give her the freedom I was never able to give you."
DeadpoolDeadpool was still sticky.
He watched Nate and his dad and their very touching moment, wondering if this Hallmark feeling meant he needed to shoot someone in the head soon.
CableScott got a quiet-- oh so quiet-- nod. "Thank you," Nate said--
Looked aside. "Wade--?" And the others, too, of course... Whatever else he was about to say didn't get said. "Prepare for teleport back to the island."
ArashiArashi watched Scott and gave him a smile and nod of fatherly understanding before looking back at Nate. "I'm ready when you all are."
InoHe'd only said 'Wade'. Of course. Like they didn't matter.
Whatever.
Ino shrugged, not trusting her voice. Not trusting her--anger, upset, fear--self enough to speak. Wasn't like her opinion on anything that had happened even mattered.
That had been made quite clear to her. Clear as crystal.
Deadpool(Drama queen.)
Deadpool gave him a blank look, just nodding. And not resting his hand on the butt of his gun at all.
Shut up, he was still pissed.
CableAnd that got another one of those slow nods in return.
"Scott? I--"
He was much for the names, today...
Scott"This isn't goodbye," Scott replied, firmly. "Good luck."
CableThat, at least, prompted a brief, if honest, smile. "It's not," Nate agreed. "I'll be in touch."
He pulled the battery pack he'd taken from Forge's out of one of the pouches on his belt; slammed it into the teleportation device.
And pressed the button.
Bishop"NO!"
The shout shattered the uneasy sense of peace that had fallen across the building; but before anyone could reorient themselves away from the teleporting foursome, Bishop had already fired his weapon.
"CABLE!"
Straight through Cable's dematerializing head-- which faded just before the bullet could strike.
In lieu of its original target...
It struck Xavier.
He died instantly.
CableFreshly ignorant, and somewhere entirely elsewhere, Cable stepped onto the causeway.
He went home. Baby made two.
Two was all.
[ nfi, nfb except to say that Cable, Yondaime, Deadpool and Ino returned to Fandom, OOC welcome, preplayed with my partners in crime konoha_flash, mouthy_merc and flowering_mind, chunks stolen from Messiah Complex #12 and... *breathes* ...FINIS. ]