#rxdqueens

@rxdqueens

She laughed. It was nervous and Rachel had felt on edge — but how else was she supposed to react to a woman who had nearly killed her several times. But Maddie existing now, her placement in time, and even the way she spoke… it was all just different enough. Maddie hadn’t immediately jumped inside Rachel’s head. And from hat she understood, Maddie hadn’t attacked anyone either. Not Jean, not Scott, she was — Rachel wasn’t sure if she was ready to say that Maddie was different… but she wasn’t the woman that Rachel remembered.

It was strange and hard to cut through. And with Maddie speaking to her about the world being turned upside down — Rachel realized that Maddie would likely understand her situation better than anyone else. And maybe this Maddie was one that Rachel could talk to. “This isn’t the first time I’ve been shifted in time,” Ray said with a shrug. “I can’t even tell you what’s different — everything? It’s all…” Wrong? Confusing? Her parents were alive? They were family with Erik and Maddie? “I don’t know,” she finally whispered.

Madelyne was... strange. She was familiar in a way Scott couldn’t quite explain, and Jean’s explanation --- that she was Sara, born again in a different form --- made sense only if he didn’t consider it for more than a few moments. He’d been desperately keeping himself from those thoughts because, like Jean, he wanted it to be true. He wanted a second chance, wanted the ability to right his wrongs, wanted to save the people he hadn’t saved the first time around. He wanted a lot of things. 

Because she was so familiar, he felt her the moment she entered the apartment. Her mind, like Jean’s, sometimes felt like an extension of his own. It was lesser with Maddie, not as intense, but it was there all the same. He glanced up as she walked into the kitchen. “You showed up here at an exciting time,” he commented. “I hope we haven’t scared you off. It’s not always this dramatic.” It was, and she probably knew that.

He was on edge. Miguel would say that was understandable, given everything Lyla had told him. His mind was still spinning with the information, the literal gallows hanging in the distance waiting for him to march up. Lyla wouldn’t tell him the date. He’d asked her twice, unsure if he wanted an answer both times, and she’d refused to give him one. It won’t change anything, Miggy, she’d said, sad and quiet, and she was right. Miguel knew she was right. The terminal curiosity still clung to him all the same.

He didn’t realize he was standing still until someone nudged him from behind, until he looked up to see that the crosswalk had changed from do not walk to walk, until he glanced behind him to see Maddie looking at him with a curious tilt of her head. And Miguel should have been surprised to see her again, to run into her again in a city of millions, but he wasn’t. (And he wasn’t entirely upset at the fact that he had, either.)

“You could walk around,” he said dryly, but the usual bite was gone from his tone. He didn’t feel as annoyed as he usually did in her presence. It was probably just because he was distracted. “I’m kind of having a crisis here.” An end-life crisis? Apparently.

It should have been simple enough. When Simon followed the fugitive he’d been chasing into a walk-in freezer, he’d certainly expected simplicity. It should have been as easy as nabbing the alien, getting him locked away in whatever construct he came up with in the moment, and taking him up to the Sector House for safe keeping until the Corps could send someone else to come grab him. 

But things rarely went the way they should have.

First snare in the plan? A woman followed Simon into the walk-in, evidently planning on giving him a helping hand that he totally didn’t need, thank you very much. Second? The alien had some kind of illusion powers that Simon didn’t know about. They weren’t on file, weren’t listed anywhere. He only found out about them when the alien turned to him, smiled, waved, and disappeared. When he whirled around, the real alien was standing at the door of the freezer... which he slammed shut behind him.

And then the handle came off in Simon’s hand when he grabbed it.

“I mean it broke!” He replied, turning back to face the woman with the handle still gripped tightly in his hand. “It just --- came off! He must have done something to it from the outside.” He tried to keep his voice all calm, cool, and collected, but... this definitely wasn’t ideal. “Look, it’s no big deal, okay? I just --- I need a minute, and then I’ll get us out of here.” Probably. Hopefully.