one thing remains

“Oh. Okay. Yeah, right.” She nods, feeling a little stupid. Normal doctor stuff before the psychiatrist stuff. “Of course, yeah.” She nods again, letting him check her vitals. “What did, um.. Dr. McCoy tell you? Exactly?” She’s not sure about this still, even if she agreed to it. It’s this or being sent away. Better to do it here.

“I’m sorry, excuse me for being a little distracted.” Erik says as he looks away from the window. He moves past his desk, and leans against it. “What can I do to help you today?” He asks as he keeps his hands pressed against the wood of the desk. 

“Hi.” So he was expecting her then. While she knows Hank brought him in so she wouldn’t have to go elsewhere, she wonders what he told this new doctor exactly. Surely he’s not meant to say anything without asking Lorna first, right? Lorna walks in, sitting in the chair he gestures to. It’s not like she’s seen a psychiatrist before, so she’s not exactly sure how this is supposed to go. “The usual?” she asks, frowning. 

Lorna isn’t exactly looking forward to the appointment. But she knows that this will make things easier. Should make it easier. She has to trust that it will, or else why is she bothering. It’s better than being hospitalised though. She can’t shake the image of them keeping her there, despite Hank’s assurances otherwise.

Knocking on the door, she peers inside. “Hi. Doctor Essex?”

“How do you do a little of both?” Gabriel asks, settling down a bit. Nodding, he shakes the man’s hand quickly and draws back in on himself. It was easier to stay where he could manage everything, where his power might not be an issue. Standing there, Gabriel watches as the man stares at him, and he doesn’t quite feel like sticking around much longer. For now though, he resorts to pulling his hood up. It made him feel safe at the very least. “They don’t want me here,” he clarifies. “Nobody wants me here. I travelled a few million lightyears to find another door closed in my face. I’m done with it, done with trying. If they won’t, why should I?”

“I’m a specialist neurological disorders, but I’m also a mutant. I’ve made it my duty to help those understand their powers and what ails them as well.” Sinister tries not to stare at the new Summers, his brain swimming through reasons why he couldn’t have known about a third brother. He turns to put away a chart he’d been looking over. Most of the information he had right now were just Dr. McCoy’s patient records he’d been asked to look over. He didn’t see any about the Summers boys yet. “I don’t believe that to be true, but if that is how you are feeling then I’m sorry no one is making you feel welcome.”

Thighs and hands trembling, she manages to recline against the wall when she realizes she won’t be able to return to her bed. She can hear him raging against the door but she has faith that it won’t budge. Her dad was here to protect her, even if she couldn’t see him. Alex…? she asks, whimpering when another contraction hits her and she nearly crumples to the floor. Where is he? The pain is like nothing she’s ever felt before, even when she was shattered into a million pieces by Charles. But she has to concentrate, if she could concentrate then getting her daughter out of this would be the very last thing she could do on this earth.

She’s covered in sweat, eyes trained on the door but not seeing it. Instead she sees Charles, her dad. Head bent over his desk, in despair and willing to fry his mind to get this done. She shuts her eyes tight when another wave of contractions hit her, skin crackling and beginning to illuminate. When she opens them she sees Hank, sitting up in bed with books poured over his lap. He looks up like he feels something, brow furrowed in a way that makes her want to touch his cheek with the gentlest of caresses. And finally, she sees him. Curled in bed around her, the real her. The real girl. The one he should have loved all along. I’m sending her home, Jean. You take care of our girl.

The monitors, beeping erratically beside the bed, are the first to go. The energy burst from her hand disintegrating it on impact. The next bursts from her chest, bright red and angry like her scream. And then they go in all directions from there, destroying the room one blast at a time until the room is full of smoke and a cry erupts from the squiggling little body that’s emerged from her own. She’s cradled carefully in Phoenix’s hands, a full head of golden hair. Phoenix laughs, feeling her energy dwindling as the pounding on the door only increases. “You’re a daddy’s girl then huh? I think he would have approved of that show, baby.” The little whine quickly followed by a yawn is more than enough incentive for her to cradle the newborn to her chest. Thank you, Daddy. Swallowing hard, she looks to the door again. Promise me, if this doesn’t work. Promise me you’ll look for her.

Walls shake and his fists clench enough to break his chair, and Charles is doing everything in his power to keep his family safe. The sudden burst of energy is astonishing, it almost feels like he’s recharged by the wave. When he hears the first cry, Charles wants to cry with happiness. Despite all the pain and agony Sinister put them through, the baby was alive and would be safe soon. He thoroughly believed that. I promise I will never stop looking for her if anything happens, I swear to you.

Sinister is pressing his whole body against the door to hear everything that is going on. It sounds like a massive explosion and his heart sinks in his chest. He wanted that child. He’d done everything to get it, and yet now it’s been taken away from him. Sinister pounds on the door again, shifting all of his broken pieces back into place with ease. “Why have you done this!” he yells at the door and tries again without success to open it. When he hears the cry, he shoves his shoulder against the barrier again. “Let me in, damn it! Why won’t you let anyone help you! You won’t keep me out forever!”

Blood has trickled from both nostrils down his neck into the collar of his shirt, but he’s still able to keep that door sealed. He breathes ragged breaths in his office, but does his best to keep that weakness from his mind. Sweetheart… Now tears are falling from his eyes, but he keeps his apologies to himself even though he hasn’t said sorry enough. I love you so much, and I believe in you. Now, send your baby home. He truly believes this will be successful, but he also knows it’ll be the last thing she does before she disappears. Whether it’s back into herself or back into the universe, he’s not sure. The only thing he knows is that there’s nothing he can do to change the mistakes he’s made in the past, and she was only caught by Sinister because of him.

his arms are different, not at all like the touch her brother carries. in nathaniel she feels the small waves of relief and calmness, rolling onto the shore and grazing her toes. he is a life raft that works to counteract the rocks in her pockets that would anchor her to a black ocean floor. leaving her alone with nothing but the voices of her mind. a voice for every person on a long list that failed to free her, there are two that contrast the mass ——— but it is her’s rings out the loudest. all they do is remind of a time where she was kept in a cage, under the eyes of prying cameras and paralyzing fear. that’s what hope feels when her brother looks at her. with eyes the color of a sheet of ice over a clear watered lake in a cold winter. eyes just like their father.

nathaniel couldn’t be anymore different from that. he came to her as if at the hands of some oracle. after years of being subjected to countless tests that left her body nearly entirely numb, he appeared almost out of thin air the day sinister dumped him into the cage next to her. his presence breaking through the silence like a stone skipping over a frozen lake. hope could only stare at him with eyes wider than a full moon. the first human she’d seen to date other than that, that monster ? no, she struggled to find a word that seemed right but forgot it the second the body in the cell next to hers made a small but obviously pained noise. she can still remember the way it made her body go rigid, heart caught in her throat. how badly she wanted to ask if he was okay, but that could be exactly what sinister would have wanted. hope had been alone for so long, she was attention starved and who was to say this man wasn’t just another one of sinister’s monsters ? yet with each time nathaniel returned badly beaten, arms, neck and face covered in black and blues, hours passed by with nothing but the sounds of his groaning and occasional whimpers, the chink in the girl’s armor grew larger. three words, a small phrase that seemed nominal but would eventually lead to hushed whispers and secret promises. ❛are you okay ? ❜ it is the memories of days like those that play in her mind when he says ❛ i’ve had worse ❜.

she digs her head deeper into his chest, focusing on the scent of him. he always smelled clean,  something she thought would nauseate her but it doesn’t. her shoulders are still scrunched with unease as she wraps her arms around his torso in what is now a habit. his voice is so soft and almost makes her believe in the words he’s saying, almost makes her hope ( which is more than she could use to say ) in the fact that charlie might be able to accept the fact that she’s found her own happiness without trying to entice anything. but she could barely recognize the man that stood across from her, not too long ago now. she tries to focus on his hands, gentle on her back, because that’s what they were made to do. to soothe, to help, to tend.  ❛ i won’t take that from him. ❜ she decides, not wanting to fall victim to the same selfish vices her family did. he made her want to be better, and so she would be.❝ yes. ❞  she breathes out in response. it’s the same answer she gave him when he asked her a four worded question, her finger slightly more adorned, tears covered her face then too.  ❝ i’m happy, we’re happy. we stay, for as long as they’ll have us. and if he tries anything ——— well, let’s just say i hold the record against him in fights won. ❞ a small laugh eases it’s way through the tension in the room. chestnut colored eyes tilt upward to meet his eyes, ones she could spend the rest of her days in. with or without her family she will have happiness, the flame of courage will grow within her with each step towards closure. and she will have that, she deserves that at least. ❝ and you ? anybody curious enough to walk into a doctors office ? i mean, this is a school for children. you’re probably going to have to lure them with lollipops or something. can’t promise i won’t steal half of them, though. ❞

There were only so many times he could take her blood and experiment on it only to fail at getting results. She was not the same as her source material, and he shouldn’t be surprised nothing worked by this point. Sinister grew bored of negative results though he should be happy she even existed at all. It still wasn’t enough, not for him. Sinister wanted to do more and learn more by picking people apart until he could create the perfect specimen.

When the idea spawned, Sinister took the identity of a man he used to be hundreds of years ago. Nathaniel Essex died the same day his son did, but tonight he would be reborn into a better man all for the sake of entertainment. If all went according to plan, Sinister could get everything he’d ever hoped for.

Now, staring down at six long years of lies, Sinister was actually happy with their progress. Though the smile on his face was genuine, it had nothing to do with the woman he held in his arms now. Maybe he could have cared for her in another life or another time when tragedy was not a factor in their futures.

A soft whisper leaves his lips, “Maybe you will be able to reconnect with him…” Would she believe them when they deny Sinister’s accusations? The seed he planted telling her they left her on purpose bloomed beautifully before she escaped with ‘Nathaniel Essex’ and he hoped it would stay vibrant. “And get some answers when you’re ready…”

Nathaniel plants a kiss on the top of her head and pulls away just enough to see her full smile. If he didn’t know any better, he could have fallen in love with it. “Not yet, no one seems to be interested at present. Maybe I need something better than these gummy worms…” he laughs and steps fully away to finish setting up his syringes and other equipment. “They’re in a jar under my desk, in case you wanted to make sure they weren’t stale for me.”

Phoenix has felt no hope, not a drip of it, throughout this entire ordeal. Until she heard her dad’s response. Her heart in her throat, she manages to hide her gasp as fear when Sinister moves closer. His anger does rattle her though, it terrifies her. In this place her powers were weakened, nearly nonexistent, and he could kill her one-handed if he wanted to. She had no doubt that once her baby was born, he had no problem doing so. But with Charles’ help… She takes that deep breath that he tells her to, trembling as she manages to evade Sinister’s grasp once more. But she makes a mistake, her back hits the wall and she realizes she has nowhere else to go.

It was me, Dad. She tells him, because it’s her last time. Phoenix was me the whole time, and now he’s going to take my baby. A new round of tears fill her eyes to the brim, spilling over as she sobs when Sinister moves closer to her. He’s going to take my baby. There’s blood pouring down her legs now, time was running out. The pain, excruciating as it is, is actually the only thing motivating her. Before Sinister gets close enough to touch her again, her hand juts out and a psionic wave big enough to total a building hits him. But instead he’s just sent flying out of the room, his back meeting the wall in the hallway. Sliding down to the floor, the only thing Phoenix can hear is her own panicked breathing. “Dad…” she whimpers out loud. Her thin breath turns to a scream. “She’s coming!”

Another thing to blame on himself, if only he had been there for her. He should have let her have her chance here at the school, then she wouldn’t be in this situation. Now is not the time to dwell on past mistakes. He may not ever be able to right his wrongs, but he can help her save her baby and his grandchild. Charles grips his chair until his knuckles are white and he skips past her confession. He figured out that tidbit of information after he sent her away. I am going to help you keep him out. I know you can do this. You are strong and brave. You’ll save her.

Thinking he’s got her now, he raises a hand to close on her throat just enough to keep her still. He underestimated her power, all the calculations in the world could not explain her sudden burst of energy away. Sinister was siphoning her power and she shouldn’t be able to hit him so hard. After he steadies himself, he runs back to the door, but it slams in his face and breaks him nose like glass. Sinister screams in pain and tries to shove the door back open, but it’s stuck like it’s been bolted shut. His muscles grow bigger on the fly and he kicks the door expecting it to open. Instead, he breaks his foot. “Open the fucking door you bitch.” He doesn’t manage to hear her say Dad, he’s too angry and he thinks she’s talking to him. “She needs my help!”

The way he says her name, her real name, makes her mouth taste sour. Through the overwhelming, physical pain, a more prominent ache breaks through. A deep yearning to be in the arms of those she loved. The ones who called her that because they adored her, not to tease her and ridicule her. Not to get under her skin and make her feel sick. She wanted Alex, she wanted Hank, and even Scott. She wanted her dad. Daddy… she tries, for the millionth time in a row since she’d been captured. Daddy please, can you hear me?

Her bottom lip is trembling, her eyes filling with water. It hurts, it hurts so bad and it takes every ounce of her strength to keep her daughter in the safety of her body. “Get. Out.” She speaks through gritted teeth, watching him closely for any small movement that would indicate he was trying to touch her again. She knows she’s getting to him, that he’s running out of patience. Soon he’d show her the monster underneath, the monster that wanted to hurt her baby. “Get out, get out, get out!” She yells it louder each time, throwing everything she can get her hands on at him. 

The feeling of hopelessness had been with him for awhile now, his daughter had been begging and pleading with him to hear her. Help her, but he couldn’t. They were only dreams. His mind playing tricks on him during his withdrawal and recuperation. This time, he had been sitting at his desk with his eyes wide open and the call was much too clear to be a figment of his imagination. Jean! Where are you!? Her despair and desperation is haunting, and suddenly everything else falls away. Sweetheart, breathe. You’ll need a level head to get that madman out.

Sinister can’t feel anything different, can’t get into her head because it wasn’t in his power. The smile on his face matches his namesake because he knows it can’t be much longer now. He swats away a few of the items she throws, but one he fails to dodge completely grazes his chin. Sinister snarls as he rubs the blood off his chin, “Yelling and throwing things at the doctor is not good for the baby.” He moves toward her to grab her wrists, but is unable to get any hand on her. Despite her waning strength, she is still quick to escape his grasp. “Stand still, I don’t want to harm the child!” 

“Figure something out like… in their head?” he asks. “Or do you mean on a more powered basis?” he wonders out loud. “And it’s Summers, Gabriel Summers,” he offers, extending his hand to the man. “Not sure, if I’m being honest,” he admits with a shrug. “I’m just looking for more I guess, I made all this effort to get here, and it seems like a waste of my time.”

“A little of both really.” Though he figured the questions might be rhetorical, he answered anyway. He had been called here to help with one case in particular, but he would be overjoyed to help with any. “Gabriel Summers, it’s nice to meet you.” That was news to him, he would have to remember to look into this one as well. The more Summers there were, the more bloodline DNA he could experiment with. He noted the pointy ears, but decided not to ask about them because he’s sure he’ll get the story one day without seeming too interested.

red angry patches match her aura as they take form across her skin. and rapid are the movements of her chest as it heaves up and down, moving symbiotically to the flux and flow of her lungs. strong are the bonds of family, and  anger has always been a curse she carried deep inside of her. god knows what could happen to the earth of two summers went at an odds.

her back is pressed firmly against a wooden book shelf and it offers little relief. she can feel a strong hum all across her body as power pushes against her weakening self control. the pull is distinct, and in the darkness of closed eyes, colors swim with ribbons in shades of blue, orange, red and white ——— a sad family mark. ❛ you can’t stay here. ❜ a quick movement sends her pushing off from the cool wood as she makes way for a certain office. in it sits one of the two people she’s had face to face contact over that past few years. a man who made her believe in the word of her namesake once again, a man who gave her hope. even when they were locked away and surrounded in the power dampening walls, the feeling of suffocating was never too far. she was always on the edge of a blade that was waiting for her to fall into some dark abyss. when her own family condemned her to life of isolation, suffering, experimentation, he was there. ❝ i saw him. ❞ the words come out as a rushed whisper, when she enters the space abruptly. she immediately gravites to a corner farthest away from the door. old habits die hard. how strange it was, the fact that she felt safest boxed in against cool walls. she’s lost the memory of a mother’s warm arms. they’d come here only after being asked, and hope thought it possible to only come across her uncle. the one who looked at her mother with sad eyes and sneaked glances. the few memories hope has of him and her father are now tainted with resentment. how long were they going to make her believe she cared ? like she was actually a part of their family ? but she never imagined out of all the people, charlie would be here. ❝ my brother is here. ❞

When he turned around, he caught a glimpse of that suffering she’d always carried. Ever since he planted the idea that they left without her on purpose, he enjoyed the look on her face whenever she remembered that tiny detail. A small lie, twisting her thoughts into dark territory when he told her he was the only one that truly wanted her. Though inside he was relishing that fact, outwardly he looked concerned for her wellbeing.

Nathaniel quickly closed the door behind her. “Are you okay? If you want to leave...” But he hoped she wouldn’t because she knew how much helping people meant to him. The offer was made to show his commitment to her. “I would be okay if we stay. Whatever your brother would do to me, I’ve had worse.” Slowly, Nathaniel approached her trying to seem careful and aware of her need to sink into her safety zone. He recalled the first time he invaded her corner with promises that she wasn’t alone in this and she could trust him. He said nothing at all now as he reached out and pulled her to his chest to remind her of that time.

Gabriel’s been having a bit of a hard time with everything here. From generally just not understanding the culture and customs of earth, to truthfully not getting along with his family all that well, he’s taken to just wandering around when he’s not working out or just learning. He’s walking through a spot in the school he’s grown familiar with, but also curious with. Someone had been moving into this office recently, and he was curious who.

“Me?” he asks as he’s discovered passing by almost immediately. He was curious, so he shrugs. “No, but I mean, what kind of patients do you have?” An honest question. “Maybe I need to see someone like you?”

His back was turned toward the door when he called out, so the mutant could not see the smirk on his face when he heard someone reply. “I treat many kinds of patients, they usually bring me in when they cannot figure something out.” When he turned around, the smirk was gone and he was offering a friendly, welcoming smile instead. “I am Doctor Essex. Is there something I can help you with Mister...?”

Since his office door was open, he called out when he heard someone outside the door, “Are you my first patient?”

Inside she was trembling, deeply afraid for herself and for her child but she’d learned how to hide the fear. It was an emotion she wasn’t used to, or at least one she thought she wasn’t. But as the walls crumbled, she felt every fear Jean had over the years. Fear of being different, being wrong. Fear of isolation. Of abandonment. A fear actualized, sitting here day in and day out waiting to be rescued. Her delusions of grandeur fading to dust like her body. 

Phoenix watches him like a hawk, but he was a careful man. He moved with calculation, with a purpose where as she reacted on instinct. It’s entirely instinct that has her gripping his wrist in a surprisingly tight grasp, twisting it quickly and efficiently until she hears bones snap. She can remember when she learned how to do that, when Jean had learned how to do that. No, like this Jeannie. Try again. She’s not sure if her chin is trembling from fear or rage. “Don’t fucking touch me,” she grits out, wishing she wasn’t in so much pain or else she’d get as far away from him as the space allowed. “I won’t lose her, and you can’t have her.”

“Ouch!” he laughs through the pain, easily shifting his bones back into place and healing on the spot. He was akin to their enemy Apocalypse. It was that mutant, in fact, that bestowed these powers upon him. Sighing, he circled around her to pick up a piece of fruit from the tray and pop it in his mouth, “Sweet... innocent little bird.” Mr. Sinister cracks a wicked smile and continues, “Or should I call you... Jeannie? Isn’t our dear little girl in need of nourishment too?”

Sinister wasn’t going to hurt the little girl contrary to her belief. He needed just a bit of her DNA, a small little sample of blood, so he could study it. Sinister wanted to keep her, raise her as his own and see how a Summers child might grow up mingled with this Phoenix. “We both know she’s ready to come out, but you...” his mouth twitches with annoyance, “you just won’t let her out yet.”

Phoenix places a hand on her stomach, a protective gesture when he walks into the room she’d been kept in since she got here. She never stepped foot outside, she didn’t know what this place looked like or anything else about their surroundings. As far as she could tell it was a calculated move. The more she knew, the more she could tip off Alex if she could get a hold of him. But he was unreachable from wherever they were. She could still feel Jean, and she tried to connect but all she could send were sensations. The baby’s movements, her fear, a constant urgency to stay close to Alex. This man, he wouldn’t stop with her.

“You seem to enjoy it,” she says bitterly, turning her body away from him even though she’s starving. “No, she isn’t.” A lie, Phoenix had been feeling what could only be contractions for several days now. Impending labor, her body feeling weak and exhausted despite her excess amount of sleep. Her desperation was mounting. “And if she was, you won’t be touching her.”

"Am I happy when I get results, yes? Does that mean I enjoy hurting others? Well..." He didn't enjoy hurting others, but he wasn't held back by moral obligations or emotions. After his family died, he'd tried desperately to shed his identity and fully embrace the name Sinister. With each step closer to his goal, he could continue to do anything to achieve perfection.

"I think..." he sets the tray down on a small table next to her small bed, "she's ready to come out and you need to let me deliver her." He steps closer to the Phoenix and reaches out to set a hand on her stomach. "Otherwise we could lose you both, you’re barely holding on... aren’t you? Don't you think it'd be safer?"