Cyclops

He considered just leaving him be. Younger or not, Josh had no particular reason (or even a desire) to be friendly with Scott. He’d made it too much of a point to keep his distance from the older one. Still, he had a little sympathy. It had to be real fucking weird to get dropped in the world (or however it had happened) where an adult version of yourself had already lived most of a life.

“If you want a history lesson, there’s probably a quicker way than the library.” He took a step closer and pressed his lips together. “Spoiler alert. Most of it sucks.”

Scott was getting used to not knowing who anyone was, but everyone knowing him. They knew what he had done and why he was here. What an odd thing it was to have everyone know you had fucked up so badly, you had to be brought forward in time to stop yourself. 

Scott laid down the picture, turning fully the other. He considered the offer. “I find everyone’s got their own version of history. And they rarely tell me the truth. Still, that’s the same for these books. So, what’s your version? What do you think of me?” 

“Now, is that any way to speak to your elders?” Bobby replied with a smirk. All his life he’d been the younger one, always a few steps behind trying to catch up, in this one case he was ahead of ‘a’ Scott; it was odd, but a little funny. And it had the potential for all sorts of jokes if the snow fell his way.

Bobby waved away the apology with another smile though it soon faded into nothing when the younger started talking about what they’d done. He held his hand out and a slide of ice lifted the book off the table and over to him before fading out as though it had never been there at all, he was beyond leaving places damp with moisture anymore. The Pheonix Five. He sighed and closed the book before moving over to the table and taking a seat opposite Scott, for all he was a joker he liked to think he had a modicum more of maturity now.  

“No.” he answered, voice utterly serious, “You didn’t. Knowing you like I do you’re already blaming yourself for all of this but, you didn’t do it. The Scott in this timeline, he did. And I did what you’re probably too scared to ask as well. But it wasn’t you, and it wasn’t your Bobby. These are our pasts and they are… difficult.” he finally said gently.

“Maybe to an old friend.” Scott gave a smile that was growing rarer these days. .Of all of them, the older Bobby was the most recognisable, the one who had managed to hold onto something of himself.  

They were even telling themselves the same lies. Scott looked at the man opposite him for a long beat. “And these are our futures. I am responsible because I will do those things. Hank brought us here to stop me. Because he thought... I was so...  gone, that no one else could reach me but myself. What kind of person have I become? Fine, if Bobby doesn’t want to know what happened to his Dad and all the people he’s killed, that’s his choice. But I do. What happened? To everyone? How can everything be so wrong-?”

It was natural for Selene to feel some sort of draw to the district — if only to set Elixir on edge, but this trip was different. An unusual bundle caught her eye as she slipped out from the shadows that swathed the side of the clinic’s facade. He looked eerily familiar; he shared a face with Cyclops, though it was younger and much more infantile. But, he still held the same weight, the same stress that his older counterpart did. It really wasn’t fair, was it?

She decided to minimize the free flow movement of her hair and opted for a simpler appearance, something less questionable. She didn’t want to scare the boy, now did she? Her presence would certainly be one of concern if anyone knew she was here, so she stuck to the darker parts of the district as she made her way to the younger Summers with pale hands clasped in front of her. Unassuming. Nonthreatening. At least, that was the message that she tried to convey.

Many of the X-Men were not so easily fooled. “Late night, I take it?” Selene asked innocently and her tone considerably more pleasant than how she’d normally address her subordinates at the penitentiary. She had a voice for everyone — it was necessary to achieve her ends.

The district was teeming with life, and this provided a welcome distraction. The conditions were not great, everywhere and Scott sought out the darker parts. He didn’t want to ignorant of the suffering here when he and his friends were cooped up safe and sound in the new Institute.

The elegant voice drew him away from his thoughts. Red eyes fell on a slender woman with jet black hair, impeccable posture. Not someone who fit into this neighbourhood. “No later than usual. And yourself?” he gave a polite smile. “ I’m… going for a walk. Are you lost.. Can I help you with something?”

Josh spent as little time at the school as he could possibly get away with, which until recently had been practically none. Emma had offered to let him handpick a few people to help with the clinic, though, and that meant dealing with all the rest long enough to see that part through. So he’d been wandering, waiting for classes for the day to end and trying not to think of the last time he’d been one of their students.

The universe, as always, had other plans. As he ducked into the library he caught sight of a figure that was simultaneously too familiar but not at all. That precise version of Scott Summers belonged to a picture he’d seen dozens of times at the old Westchester school, and it was not the one he knew. He’d seen Bobby around. It wasn’t hard to do the math.

He got just close enough to steal a glance at what he was looking at. “Just a little light reading?”

Scott was very still, staring at a picture of a woman who looked like Jean Grey, cradling a child. The baby looked to be barely a few months old. The photo captured a sleepy expression on his face as he turned toward mother with mother staring warmly at child. The caption read ‘Madelyn Pryor-Summers and Nathan Summers’. 

There were some things that a person was just better off not knowing, especially when it would do them no good.

He hadn’t thought about it much but it was true. Hell, he’d rather Baby Him didn’t find out he got infected with a Death Seed, frozen the planet and killed so many people in the process that he still woke up in a sweat having to swallow his own screams.

No. Even if they’d been denied it, maybe these versions of them could just be kids for a little longer. God he knew Scott had been through enough, they all had. So, he’d inquired a little and (unsurprisingly) found out the baby version of his best friend was reading up on some very heavy things in the library. He hadn’t really seen much of the little leader yet, so he spent a few moments in the doorway of the library just looking at him, having to repress a smirk, he looked so young! When he’d first seen himself he’d been freaked out, but little Scott was adorable!

He raised a finger slightly and the book Scott was reading froze over in an instant. “I think you’ve been cooped up for long enough young man, come into the light, let Uncle Bobert give you a tour of your new digs.”

“Not now, Bobby-” Scott snapped, terse as the the page he was reading - details of the miracles and sins of the Phoenix Five- reign froze over. It was only when he heard the voice of the man beside him, Uncle Bobert, that Scott turned, and was confronted with the older version of his Bobby. 

Goddamn, this was some uncanny valley weirdness. “Sorry, I-” Scott trailed off, trying to clear his head of the history he’d been be embroiled in, trying to see the actual person standing in front of him instead a warped version of his friend. Only, he’d read about this Bobby, how he had unlocked his Omega-level potential, and what he had almost done with it. Familiar, gentle Bobby - and all that death on his hands. 

Scott stilled his tongue, not trusting himself to speak. Perhaps new-old-Bobby was right. It was too much. Only when he turned to Bobby, he didn’t smile or move, could barely look at him in the eyes. “Is it all true? I killed Charles and everyone dies and you-” Behind the visor, red eyes slipped shut. “Just be honest with me. Please.”