Dreamweaver: Part Nineteen
The attack came out of nowhere, knocking Nathan off the ladder. He'd raised his TK shield a moment too late--he'd had trouble distinguishing his opponent's thoughts from the background noise--and the shield had only partially absorbed the force of the blast. He hit the ground hard, and immediately, the warehouse around him shimmered and faded, revealing the blank walls of the Danger Room.
"Are you all right?" Scott asked worriedly, coming over to help him up. "I didn't expect to catch you off guard like that."
"I should have been paying better attention," Nathan grumbled, disgusted with himself as he struggled to his feet with Scott's assistance. "If that had been a full-power optic blast, I'd have been out for the count."
"Well, that's the fun of the Danger Room," his father said dryly. "You get to walk away from your mistakes and try again." Nathan could feel Scott assessing his condition. "If you need to take a break--"
"No, I'm fine," Nathan said, although part of him would've liked to have taken Scott up on his offer. Though Scott was the only other person in this scenario, he wasn't the only opponent Nathan had faced this morning. His telekinesis might be growing in strength, but that only meant that it took vastly more effort to control it. He was beginning to feel like he had a nuclear bomb in his back pocket. They'd been running this scenario for nearly an hour, and he was about ready to drop. "This is supposed to be a test, after all. It's hardly worth doing if I stop in the middle of it."
Scott gave him a faint smile. "You're being remarkably tolerant about all of this." Nathan shrugged.
"Got nothing better to do."
"It's going to take a few minutes to reboot the scenario," Jean's voice echoed through the Danger Room. Nathan looked up to see her and Domino standing in the control booth. "We had a power fluctuation up here."
"There's no rush, Jean," Scott said. He gave Nathan a measuring look. "How are you feeling, really?"
"Truthfully?" Nathan asked dryly. Scott nodded. "Slow. Out of shape. And--anxious, because of it. I keep thinking that something's going to happen--some crisis that I can't handle."
"That's a natural fear, I suppose," Scott said, "considering the kind of life you've led." He looked almost sheepish for a moment. "I'm glad you've decided to stay for a while. With the class of enemy you tend to attract, I think it's safer for you to keep out of the line of fire until you recover."
The warehouse suddenly reappeared around them, and Nathan instinctively dove for cover. A plasma blast tore apart the crates right beside where he'd been standing. Knowing he didn't dare stop for a moment--every offensive system and holo-character in this scenario was programmed to attack him--Nathan kept moving.
He heard Scott's appreciative chuckle. "I don't think you're as out of shape as you think you are, Nathan. Your reflexes seem pretty good to me."
"You wouldn't say that if you'd seen me at target practice this morning," Nathan said. Someone fired at him, but he raised a shield in time and it impacted harmlessly. Nathan glanced over at the piled crates from where the shots had come, and narrowed his eyes for a moment. The crates exploded, along with the battle-droid in the guise of a Genoshan magistrate.
"Magistrates?" he asked incredulously. "Whose idea was that?"
"You would have preferred a robot double of Apocalypse?" Scott asked. Nathan scowled, and dodged frantically as a pair of laser cannons emerged from the ceiling and fired on him. They wouldn't penetrate his TK shield, but they were strong enough to stagger him if they hit--and who knew what the computer would throw at him then?
He managed to avoid them, but ran right into another pair of battle-droids in the shape of mutate slaves, mine workers by the size of them. They lunged at him simultaneously, and glancing upwards, he gave himself a telekinetic boost, just enough to let him grab the beam right above his head and pull himself up into the network of girders. He'd only gone a few steps when something slammed into him from behind, knocking him off the narrow steel beam. He managed to catch himself with one hand, but bit back a curse of pain as he felt something tear in his shoulder.
#Nathan, are you--#
#I'm FINE, Jean!# he shouted back at her, letting himself drop to the floor. Out in the open, he realized instantly, and in the moment he glanced around for cover, another attack came.
This time, he managed to catch Scott's mental decision to fire a good second before a slightly more powerful optic blast came his way. Concentrating, he deflected it at a slight angle--although part of him was just exhausted enough to be tempted to send it right back the way it came. He heard a startled yelp from Scott's direction.
Why hadn't he thought of that before? It took much less effort to deflect an attack than to absorb it, and it only required a slight alteration in his shield. Feeling a peculiar eagerness, he stopped, waiting for another oppoent to present itself so he could test his theory.
#All right,# he heard Jean say in his head. #Good work. I'm shutting down the simulation.#
"That was it?" he demanded. "You just wanted to see how long it would take me to figure that out?"
Scott got to his feet, a look of faint amusement on his face. "And it certainly took you long enough."
Nathan frowned. Why had it taken him so long? He'd done something similar to Taylor in Alberta. He rubbed absently at his shoulder, wincing. "Are you all right?" he asked Scott as he came over.
"Fine," Scott said. "I have to admit, I'm not used to having my own attack turned back on me like that. It's a useful tactic if you're dealing with an opponent whose powers are energy-based." He looked thoughtful. "Maybe we should bring Bishop in on this. That could be an interesting experiment."
"Could we try that another day?" Nathan asked. He was starting to feel very shaky, and he looked around in vain for someplace to sit. Scott's suggestion--why, he wasn't sure, but the idea of fighting Bishop made him very uneasy.
Scott gave him a peculiar look. "I didn't mean we should do it right now." His eyes narrowed at the way Nathan was favoring his arm. "You should have Hank or Cecilia take a look at that."
"I'm fine!" Nathan bristled, and then sighed as he heard the hostility in his own voice. "Sorry," he said, staring at the floor. "I've really got to learn to control my temper." He gave Scott an awkward smile. "I never did apologize for the way I acted before I left, did I?"
Scott looked just as uncomfortable as Nathan felt. "It wasn't entirely your fault. I should know better than to try and order you around--" He sighed, shaking his head. "Try to see it from my perspective. For me, you were twelve years old one day and then--" He suddenly looked puzzled. "How old ARE you, anyway?"
Nathan abruptly grinned. He knew Scott wasn't trying to change the subject, but it sure sounded like it. "Oh, about minus two thousand--give or take a few decades." Scott gave him an exasperated look. "Okay, how about this? Older than I look but younger than I feel."
"Stop teasing your father, Nathan," came Jean's remonstrating voice from the control room.
"Yes, do," Scott said, sounding amused. "I'm trying to make a point, here. I never got the chance to see you grow up, Nathan, so when I came back, I had difficulty making the transition to treating you like an adult. I know I still backslide every so often, but I am trying."
"I know you are, Scott," Nathan said awkwardly. "I haven't made it very easy for you."
"True. But I didn't have to live through your teenaged years, so I just tell myself that I'm paying for it now," Scott said with a flash of the dry humor Nathan remembered clearly from his childhood. "I think part of the problem is that I still can't forgive myself for all the times I've failed you in one way or another. And with Madelyne back, some of my worst mistakes are staring me in the face every day." Scott sighed. "Part of me still wants to protect you--to make up for all the times I didn't, or couldn't. I know you're fully capable of looking after yourself, but that doesn't change the way I feel."
Nathan winced. He knew very well that the two of them needed to talk about issues like this, but at the moment, all this sincerity was quite literally giving him a headache. And Scott's admission that he felt like he'd failed as a father hit a little too close to home.
"You know what Askani commandment I cam never keep?" he asked, to buy himself a moment to try and strengthen his shields. Scott shook his head. "It's the one that goes 'what is, is'. I seem to be constitutionally incapable of putting the past behind me."
Scott chuckled ruefully. "I think it's a Summers family complaint." He gave Nathan an intent look. "You sure you don't want someone to look at that shoulder?"
"Positive," Nathan said, just to be difficult. Scott gave a long-suffering sigh, and Nathan shook his head. "I was going to go look for Dana anyways."
Scott looked satisfied. "Same time tommorow?" he asked casually.
Nathan thought for a moment, and then smiled. "Why not? This was actually sort of fun." He said it deliberately, knowing what kind of reaction he would get from the audience in the control room.
#Men!# he heard Jean say, and Domino echoed it on their psi-link a heartbeat later.
***
"Gina?" Regina asked thoughtfully. "I kind of like that."
"I thought you might," Dana said, exchanging a quick smile with Kitty. The three were in Regina's room, having just come back from a shopping trip to Salem Center to pick up a few things for Regina before she went to the Academy at the end of the week. "It would be a way to make a fresh start--to put everything that happened with Sinister and Taylor behind you."
"But I shouldn't forget about what happened," Regina said, sounding troubled. "Bishop says I should learn from my mistakes."
"And you should," Kitty put in. "Of course you should. But you're starting a whole new life here, and sometimes that's easier if you make some outward change. You could always cut your hair--"
"I like my hair," Regina said defensively. Kitty laughed.
"Okay, we leave the hair." She grinned at Regina, and the girl returned a tenative smile. Dana was impressed. She hadn't known what to expect from Kitty when her friend found out that Regina was a clone of Rachel Summers. But Kitty was treating Regina as nothing more than a new addition to the X-Men's family who needed a friend. It wasn't an act, either. It probably helped that Sinister had altered Regina's appearance so that she looked very little like Rachel. "If I had hair your color, I wouldn't want to cut it either. But what do you think about Dana's suggestion?"
Regina considered it for a moment. "I think I'd like to be called Gina," she said softly, and then started to dig into the shopping bags. "What happened to the bag from the stationery store?"
"It's over here," Dana asked, tossing it to her. Regina--Gina caught it without even looking in her direction. Dana raised an eyebrow, and saw that Kitty looked thoughtful as well. A little telepathy at work there? Dana asked herself, making a mental note to speak to Jean about it. Gina pulled a shrink-wrapped journal from the bag, and tore the plastic off eagerly.
"Bishop says I should keep a journal," she explained, and then gave them a wide smile. "He says it'll let me sort out how I feel about everything that's been happening to me."
"Bishop said that?" Kitty exclaimed, and then coughed quickly when Dana gave her a reproving look. "I mean--it's a good idea."
"Do you want us to leave you alone for a while so you can get started?" Dana asked. Gina looked down at the journal, clearly trying to resist the impulse to say yes. Dana laughed. She was amazed at how much influence a simple suggestion from Bishop had on the girl. But it wasn't pliability on Gina's part--a real closeness was growing between the two. Dana was glad. After Sinister and Taylor, the kid needed a good male role model--although Bishop would not have been the obvious choice! "It's not a big deal if you do, Gina. I mean, you've got a lot to write about."
"You're right, I do," Gina said with a sudden decisiveness. "I just didn't want to seem rude. I mean, the two of you have been so nice to me--" She looked like she was about to burst into tears. "I know it'll be good for me to go to this Academy, but I'm going to miss you guys."
Impulsively, Dana got up and gave her a hug. "Hey, I'm not going to be far away," she pointed out. "And Kitty's long-distance bill is astronomical enough every month that it won't matter if there're a few calls to Snow Valley on it."
"Besides," Kitty pointed out gravely. "The Academy's not a jail. There are field trips, and holidays. You might end up coming over to see me on Muir Island someday."
Gina gave an almost embarassed smile. "I know. I guess all this freedom is going to take some getting used to."
Dana grinned. "Believe me, Gina, I know exactly what you mean."
After extracting a promise from Gina that she'd remember to come down for dinner, Dana and Kitty left her to get started on what was probably going to be the mother of all journal entries. On their way down the stairs, Kitty gave Dana a curious look.
"You really do know what she's feeling, don't you? You weren't used to freedom either when you first came to the mansion."
Dana smiled faintly. "Yeah, we were fellow prisoners, you might say. That's probably why Jean suggested that I fill this role for her until she gets to the Academy and meets the other kids." She gave her friend an intent look. "You've been great, Kitty. I was worried about how you'd react at first."
Kitty suddenly looked uncomfortable. "I was a little worried myself. But she's not at all like Rachel, which helps."
"Not outwardly," came a voice from just below them. Dana leaned over the banister and gazed curiously at Nathan, who was standing there looking up at them.
"That's right," Kitty said, joining Dana at the banister. "Logan was telling me that you knew what--who she was as soon as you scanned her. How?"
Nathan started to shrug and then winced, rubbing at his left shoulder. Dana scowled. "I'm not sure. I was a little out of it at the time. I just remember recognizing the feel of her mind, instantly. Not just her power signature, either, although that might have been part of it."
"Enough of this intuition crap! What did you do to your arm, Nathan?" Dana demanded, quickly making her way down the last few steps to his side.
He gave her a sheepish look. "I had a little mishap in the Danger Room. Scott and I were running a scenario, and I tried to catch myself when I fell off a roof beam."
Dana felt a sudden, irrational surge of rage, but controlled it quickly when she saw Nathan flinch. "I swear," she grumbled, "this is the most insane sort of convalescence I have ever heard of! Have they all totally forgotten that you nearly died a month ago?"
"I do have to get back into shape, Dana," he reminded her.
"Why? So you can go running off and try to get yourself killed again?" She touched his shoulder and concentrated for a moment. "Sometimes I can't figure out how you've managed to live this long," she said balefully.
He gave her a thoroughly irritating smile. "As Dom would say, luck," he said. She muttered something obscene under her breath as she took a step back.
"How does that feel?" she asked. He moved his arm up and down tenatively.
"Just fine, Dana. Thanks." He looked up at Kitty expectantly. "Spit it out, Pryde."
She chuckled. "I'm just wondering how someone with a temper like yours stands having so many mothers." Dana gave her an evil look, and Kitty laughed so hard that she had to sit down on the stairs before she fell over.
Before she could get control of herself, the door to the basement opened and Marrow stepped out. "What's so funny?" she asked in her harsh voice, and then looked wary as she saw Nathan standing there. Her posture was tense, and she was clearly prepared to run straight for the safety of the basement if he made the slightest movement.
Dana felt similarly anxious, and as she glanced up at Kitty, she found her friend had stopped laughing and was watching Nathan and Marrow carefully. Nathan's shields were infinitely better now than they'd been two weeks ago, but Marrow was still spewing negative emotions all over the place. Dana didn't think Nathan would lose it again, but she didn't want to chance being caught off guard if it did happen--
Nathan gave her a pained look, and then turned his attention to Marrow. "I'm not going to attack you, Sarah, so stop looking at me that way."
"Don't call me that!"
"Why?" he asked challengingly. "It's your name, isn't it?" His eyes narrowed. "It's the way you still think of yourself, deep down where no one can see. You don't want to be Marrow, do you?"
Dana blinked, a little surprised at his observation. But it had clearly hit home, because Marrow was staring at him, clearly torn between acknowledging the truth of what he'd said and ripping his throat out.
She did neither.
"Marrow!" Storm said imperiously from down the hall. She pointed commandingly at the basement door, and with a rebellious snarl, Marrow obeyed. But Dana caught a brief flash of something from her before she got out of range--something she was tempted to call longing.
Nathan looked irritated. "Was there any reason for that, Ororo?" he asked as Storm stalked down the hall towards them, her blue eyes glowing eerily. "You're never going to have any success in integrating her into the X-Men if you keep her locked in the basement all the time."
Storm stopped in front of him, and Dana slammed up all her shields against the rage and sense of betrayal that she felt from her. "I do not intend to integrate her," Ororo said in a deceptively level voice. Dana shot a worried look at Nathan, unsure that his shields could handle this. She reached out to him, and felt pain and a growing panic. "She is a female version of Sabertooth, Cable. She is here to remove the threat she poses to the general population, not to bcome an X-Man!" Ororo's eyes narrowed, and Dana felt a distinct overtone of spite appear amid the turmoil of darker emotions. "But perhaps you do not appreciate that, considering the questionable character of some of your former recruits in X-Force. Marrow rather reminds me of Feral. Perhaps we should turn her over to your tutelage, since you seem to have such success in nurturing the talents of psychopathic killers--" Her face fairly dripped with anger and contempt, and Nathan took a step backwards, his face ashen.
"Stop it, Ororo!" Kitty said sharply, phasing herself down to the floor. "This is pointless!"
"It is only the truth!" Storm snapped, and gave Cable a scathing look. "He has said himself that he is no X-Man. How dare he try to interfere in how we handle Marrow? Especially when his own judgement proved to be so poor in Feral's case?" She gave a harsh, humorless laugh. "Tell me, Nathan, was your pride injured by the realization that you had misjudged one of your 'soldiers'? Or perhaps your similar failure with Tyler inured you to feelings of regret--"
Dana heard a distinct snap in her head, and a snarl burst from Nathan. She gave a frantic gasp. Oh, SHIT! He lost his shields again! This was exactly what happened with Marrow before. She could feel him mirroring Storm's emotions almost exactly, even as the sudden pressure of the thoughts of millions of people exploded in his mind, pushing him further towards the edge of a beserk rage.
Jean! I need you! she screamed silently. There was no answer, and Dana felt her knees go weak as she felt the sudden build-up of power in the air, so intense that her hair nearly stood on end. I can't let this happen, she thought wildly. Ororo may have been acting like a world-class bitch lately, but she doesn't deserve this, and he'd never forgive himself if he hurt her-- Straining to keep her own shields up, she followed instinct rather than logic. She turned and landed a perfect right hook on Nathan's jaw.
He staggered backwards and she bit back a howl of pain. Her hand felt broken, as if she'd just punched a steel wall. Grabbing the banister, he managed to keep himself upright, and Dana nearly whimpered at the look he gave her. There was no reason in his eyes, none at all, and if she hadn't been staring right at him, she'd have thought that the empathic reading she was getting was coming from a feral Wolverine.
I'm too young to die-- was the last thing she thought before what looked like a golden fireball came hurtling through the air towards her. But Kitty lunged forward and grabbed her arm, phasing her. The fireball passed harmlessly through.
"Storm!" Kitty shouted, and Dana felt a sudden, powerful wind. A moment later, there was an explosion. Kitty pushed her firmly out of the way, and Dana realized that Storm had taken to the air to avoid the attack. The wall at the other end of the hall hadn't been so lucky. There was now a new way into the kitchen. Sam and Bobby were sitting at the table, apparently eating lunch, and if the situation hadn't been so dire, Dana would have laughed at the identical expressions of surprise they wore. But they were only stunned for a moment.
"Shit!" Bobby swore, scrambling to his feet and icing up. "Can't a man eat a sandwich in peace? What set him off this time?"
But Sam beat him to the hole in the wall, his blast field glowing around him as he shot right at her and scooped her up into his arms. She'd never been quite so glad to have an invulnerable boyfriend.
"What happened?" he asked her hurriedly.
"Storm--she--" Dana couldn't seem to focus enough to answer his question. The addition of Bobby and Sam's emotions to the mix was just too much. Sam cursed, holding her close.
"Cable, sir, you've got t'get ahold of yourself!" he shouted, hovering. Cable gave them a dismissive look, and Dana couldn't help the half-shriek that burst from her as he gestured in their direction. This time, an entire wave of telekinetic energy came their way, so powerful that it blew out part of the roof and actually staggered Sam. "Ah felt that!" he gasped, visibly shaken.
Through his blast field? Dana thought, panicking. That's it, then. If he can do that, we're all going to die--
"Come on, Nathan!" Bobby pleaded with Cable. "Get a grip already!" Cable glared at him, and made a shooing motion. Bobby yelped as he went flying through the air. He formed an ice slide in time to reverse his momentum and land back on his feet. "Okay," he said shakily, "that's not exactly what I meant--"
Sam was cursing to himself, rather inventively. "Ah can't put you down by yourself, Dana," he said in her ear. "If ah did, you'd be unprotected. So please tell me y'won't hate me for this--"
And he landed, right in front of Cable. Dana gave a terrified squeak, but told herself quite firmly that she was not going to faint like some silly swooning damsel in a storybook. Sam set her carefully on her feet, then pushed her behind him, still maintaining the physical contact he needed to protect her with his blast field.
Cable glared at them both, the rage still coming off him in waves, but made no move towards them. Sam took a deep breath, visibly composing himself.
"Sir, ah want you just t'listen to me for a moment--"
His voice was soothing, level, and Dana could feel him trying to project those same emotions at Cable. Tenatively, she tried to use her empathy to do the same.
It had no effect at all. She actually felt Cable make the decision to attack, and gasped, shrinking back against Sam instinctively. This time the TK strike hit them head on, smashing right through Sam's blast shield. Sam gave a odd grunt, and collapsed on top of Dana like a marionette whose strings had just been cut.
"Sam!" she cried, squirming out from underneath him. "Sam!"
He blinked up at her, obviously stunned, but she wasn't sensing any pain from him, nothing that would suggest he was hurt.
"That was--not a whole lotta fun," he said, and then went as white as a sheet as the memory of what had just happened came back. He grabbed her and blasted up into the air so fast that she was dazed by the speed of his reaction.
"That didn't work too well," she gasped. "Any other bright ideas?" But then she felt a noticeable change in the empathic atmosphere of the room, and looked down swiftly at Cable. He stared up at her, his face absolutely white and something very close to a plea in his eyes. She reached towards him instinctively, but was distracted by the sight of Kitty lunging towards him, with the obvious intent of phasing him to an intangible state until he calmed down. But before she reached him, he disappeared in a flash of golden light. Kitty gave a startled cry as she fell right through the spot where he'd been an instant before.
Sam just about dropped her. "God almighty!" he swore.
Bobby looked equally wild-eyed. "I thought he couldn't bodyslide anymore!"
Storm floated back to the ground, her expression neutral. "It appears you were mistaken," she said coldly, looking around at all the damage. She offered Kitty a hand up, but Kitty gave her a furious look and scrambled to her feet without assistance.
"That's all you have to say?" Kitty nearly screamed. "You idiot!"
Storm actually looked hurt. "Kitten, do not speak to me in such a manner--"
"I'll speak to you however I damned well want, Ororo! What were you thinking? I don't care how angry you are with him, you shouldn't have done that! Someone could have been killed!"
"I am not responsible for his lack of self-control--"
"Excuse me?" Kitty shrieked. "HIS lack of self-control? Are we on the same page here?"
Dana looked up as she heard someone running in the hall upstairs. Gina appeared on the stairs, looking terrified, but before Dana could say anything to reassure her, Jean, Scott and Domino came thundering out of the basement door. In their rush, they didn't bother to shut it behind them, and Dana saw Marrow peering warily out from the shadows.
"What happened?" Jean demanded. "Where is he?" Sam lowered himself and Dana to the ground, putting her down. She couldn't help clinging to him a bit, though. The empathic atmosphere was so intense, it was like standing in the eye of a hurricane, a single spot of calm as the storm raged around her.
"What happened?" Kitty snarled, clearly in the grip of a full-blown rage. "You want to know what happened? Ororo demonstrated that she has no sense, no tact, and a large chuck of ice where her heart used to be, that's what happened!" She advanced on Storm, her fists clenched at her sides. "What kind of reaction were you expecting, throwing Tyler in his face like that?"
"She did what?" Domino demanded, her violet eyes going hard. Storm gave her a contemptuous look, and Domino went for her. Jean cried out and caught Domino telekinetically. "Let me go!" Domino snarled. "I'm going to take that heartless bitch apart piece by piece!"
"Domino, ma'am!" Sam cried, starting forward. Dana grabbed his arm, shaking her head at him. Jean had it under control, they didn't need anyone's help.
After a moment, Domino stopped struggling. "Let me go, Jean," she said in a slightly calmer voice. Jean watched her consideringly for a moment, and then the glow around Domino faded. Though she was obviously in control of herself, Domino still gave Ororo a cold look full of such open hatred that Dana shuddered. "If anything's happened to him, we'll continue this later."
"Where did he go?" Gina cried, still standing on the stairs. Everyone looked at her, but she didn't seem to notice the attention. "One minute I felt him there, and then he was just gone!"
Bobby gave a short laugh that sounded half-hysterical. "Oh, nothing to worry about, kiddo. Nate just discovered a new trick."
"Rediscovered," Sam said sharply. Jean looked at him and he sighed helplessly. "He teleported, Jean."
Jean swore, and the air around her suddenly glowed. Beside her, Domino closed her eyes, visibly concentrating.
"He's not answering me," she said, opening her eyes and looking at Jean. Dana felt real fear from her, so strong that she marveled at Domino's ability to keep it under control. Her fury at Ororo must have masked it earlier. "Wherever he is, I think he's unconscious."
"I can feel him too, but I can't find him," Jean said, and abruptly looked up at Gina, who shrank backwards. "Oh, stop cowering!" she snapped. More than a few eyebrows went up at the harshness in Jean's voice. "Try to calm down. The more upset you get, the more interference you generate."
"He lost his shields again," Dana said to draw attention away from Gina, who wasn't going to be able to settle down with Jean glaring at her. "It was like he psi-linked accidentally with Storm, just like he did with Marrow before. Then he realized what he was doing, and--I think it must have been instinct."
"He can't have gone far," Sam said, although he didn't sound too certain. "Ah mean, he used to have to use his computer to be able to bodyslide."
"That might have been true, but you're not taking into account the increase in his powers," Jean said darkly. "I don't think he could be a teleporter on Lila's scale, but if he jumped blind, there's no telling where he is. At least if we can still sense him, this was just teleportation and not a time-jump." Even Storm looked shaken at the possibility. Jean groaned, obviously disgusted with herself. "And I just HAD to smash Cerebro, didn't I?"
"He would have gone someplace he felt safe," Domino said suddenly, although she was still glaring furiously at Storm. "Someplace safe--and quiet. We just have to figure out where."
***
Nathan stumbled wearily up the hill through the snow, headed doggedly towards the large log cabin. He'd woken up in the valley below with a blinding headache--punishment for being so stupid, he thought disgustedly. But it was slowly fading, and with so few people around, he was finding it comparatively easy to reconstruct his shields. The roar was only a distant rumble, like thunder in the back of his mind.
The near-silence in his immediate vicinity was--heavenly. There was no way else to put it. Part of him wanted to fall down on his knees right there and thank whatever God there was for the very existence of a place like this. He hadn't had this destination in mind when he'd teleported--to be frank, he hadn't been thinking very well at that moment--but it was perfect. In a way, he was coming home. He thought of Madelyne with a pang.
But he had to get indoors, out of the cold. He had no idea how long he'd been lying in the snow before regaining consciousness, but he was starting to feel very tired, and almost warm--a dangerous sign, he knew.
Not too much farther, he told himself. I just hope I don't give either of them a heart attack, showing up on their doorstep like this.
He reached the door, and took a moment to try and gather his composure before he knocked. A moment passed, and he heard someone on the other side.
"Just a second," came a muffled voice. "Door's frozen shut, I think--"
It flew open, and Nathan, trying to avoid it, ended up falling backwards into the snowdrifts. He looked up at Deborah Summers as she stepped out through the door. She was staring down at him incredulously, and for a moment, he started to wonder if she recognized him.
"Umm--hi," he said, giving his great-grandmother a hesitant smile. The shock on her face vanished, replaced by a sort of disbelieving, slightly horrified amusement, and he winced as he heard the words 'fool boy' repeating over and over again in her thoughts.
"I'm not even going to ask," she said sternly, shaking her head. He struggled to his feet, and she sighed, taking his arm and pulling him inside, into the warmth. "Get in here, Nathan Christopher Summers, before you freeze to death! Phillip? Put that soup back on the stove to heat up while I make some coffee. I have a block of ice here that used to be our great-grandson."
to be concluded...
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