[Open to X-People, X-Employees, and X-Friends. X-everyones]

[ascending_angel]

WHO: Warren Worthington and open
WHERE: Infirmary.
WHEN: Tonight; after Scott's post and before the vigil.
WARNINGS: None.
SUMMARY: Warren's awake, and able to take a few visitors before going to turn himself in. Tag yourself in and start separate threads for your character if there is more than one of you.
FORMAT: Whatever you guys want. First

Comments

place holder. Will tag back tomrorow.

[bythreadalone]

Of course Peter would come visit. He doesn't know Harry is out there doing god knows what with Carnage and Warren needs a friend more than almost anyone else out there, right now, here, when he's probably doubting himself the most.

Just like I did.

It's about two in the morning when he knocks on the door. He's wearing civilian clothes, but feels almost naked. Their...their situations were almost eerily similar, when you got right down to it. Peter turned into a giant Spider and possibly killed people, while Warren.

Well.

"It's me. Can I come in?"

[bythreadalone]

He would've socked Warren in the face then and there if it weren't for the sorry state he was in.

"Christ -- just." Peter opted to stand up next to the bed-ridden man instead, his face scrunching up in a look of slight discomfort. "Just wait here for a second."

Soon after, he disappeared into the bathroom for a few minutes, obviously looking for something from the sounds he was making.

"Aha!"

When Peter returned, he was holding a hand-sized vanity mirror with a look of pure concentration etched into his face.

"Alright, expetiment time." he breathed, standing up next to Warren's bed once he reached him, the mirror held out just in front of his face.

"Tell me what you see."

[ascending_angel]

"...okay," Warren just scrunched up his face slightly as Peter walked off, wondering where the hell he was getting himself off to. He could only hope this wouldn't be some random surprise thing; he was too jumpy for that right now.

But when Peter returned with the mirror, agitation turned to confusion and all Warren could do was frown.

"I see. Someone who is in desperate need of a shower and a hairbrush. Which really upsets me because there were a lot of pretty women in here today. Bruises aren't very attractive."

It was a total front, yes, and transparent too. But looking at himself right at that moment did not make him very comfortable. It was hard not to see the blood stained, blue faced psychopath that he'd seen on the footage a few hours prior.

[bythreadalone]

Peter let out a sigh, and held the mirror just a bit closer.

"Try again, hotshot."

[ascending_angel]

That earned Peter a frown, and Warren practically glared at the mirror in front of him.

"I see Death. I see Archangel. Nothing more."

[bythreadalone]

"That's funny," Peter started, not even trying to keep the sarcasm out from his voice. "Because I see a guy who's done everything in his power to help everyone around him throughout his entire life."

A beat.

"He happens to be a mutant, and some bad things have happened to him in the past, but the good far, far outweighs the bad. And he's beating himself up over something he's already been beaten up enough for, I think."

[ascending_angel]

The more Peter spoke, the more Warren's face fell. How the hell did he believe that? Did the bad really outweigh the good when all they ever did was fight in circles? When back home X-Force had done nothing but tear people apart? Even Cameron Hodge was able to call Warren a monster and have evidence of such accusations, and Angel couldn't help but feel that reflection in the mirror was everything Hodge said he was.

"What about all those people that got ripped up, man? The old men, the women, the children? Maybe I deserve to get beat up for that, my fault or not. It's sick."

[bythreadalone]

"But that isn't all you are, Warren. Not even by a long shot." Peter set the mirror down on the nightstand, and gave the blond a steady look. There were only so many ways he could warn Warren about the path he was embarking upon without giving up that he himself had started walking it the night Uncle Ben had died, all those years ago.

"Yes, it hurts right now, and yes, you're going to wake up at night screaming over what you've done, but if you can't see it as just more than one part of yourself, you're going to end up like. Well."

Peter looked down at the ground, mulling over his next words.

"You're going to end up a useless mess." he sighed. "Do you want to spit on the memory of all those people you did save by becoming something like that?"

[ascending_angel]

He drops his gaze down to his blankets considering that. It did hurt right at that moment, almost too much to even contemplate having any other positive thoughts. But Warren forced himself to remember the good things and the good people he saved, and it did mean something. There were times the X-Men had stopped such huge threats and the regular population had no idea they were even being threatened at all.

Would they call him a monster now, or have faith enough in his previous actions to stand by him.

People worked in amazing ways.

"No. I really don't. They're all good people," he finally glances back up at Peter and sighs a little. "It's just a never ending cycle of trauma and victory for us though, isn't it? We get back up and fight after being punched down so brutally every time? It gets hard after awhile."

[bythreadalone]

He sits down again, running a hand through his hair while he tries to think of a clever answer to that. There were some -- well, alright, there were a lot of people in their social circles who had genuinely suffered more than Warren had, but Peter couldn't use that as a leap off point. He also couldn't use Wolverine or himself as an example of people who "got through" these types of situations due to not even believing that he himself was as well-adjusted as Warren was, at the end of the day.

So he sat there, quiet, looking utterly concerned for about a minute before the words slipped out.

"With Great Power comes Great Responsibility."

Uncle Ben always had these things right.

[ascending_angel]

"That actually sounds a lot like something my old man would say," Warren nodded and managed a small smile at that. The elder Worthington may have been a bit of a snob far too wrapped up in his work to be affectionate, but he was a smart man and knew how to stay on his feet. Having Peter say similar words kind of knocked Warren out of haze a bit, snapping him back to reality.

He had to chin up and move on; to take responsibility for his actions and accept them.

"Thanks, man."

[bythreadalone]

"They're words to live by," he replied, nodding. Their talk might've not been the panacea that Warren needed, but the look on his face was enough to make Peter feel slightly more at ease with everything.

At least he didn't look so suicidal anymore.

"You know I've got your back."

[ascending_angel]

"Trust me, I'm not going to forget it." That was the truth. Peter had Warren's back more than once now, and that was something that he would appreciate for a long time to come. He'd been a good friend since Warren had been ported in, and that was all the more reason for him to take his advice into consideration.

"If I ever get my ass out of trouble, I'd have yours too. Just so you know."

[bythreadalone]

Peter arched an eyebrow, and went for the crude joke just because it seemed to be the one best suited for the moment.

"You'd have my ass?" he asked, voice incredulous. "Dude. We're friends, but that's kind of pushing it even for me."

[ascending_angel]

He rolled his eyes, actually forcing a short laugh. "Oh shut up. You know what I meant."

Leave it up to Spidey to highlight the moment like that.