True Believers: Part Five
Askani stopped just over the threshold, as the other X-Men rushed past her into the chamber. Wisdom went instantly to a young woman who Askani recognized with a shock as Katherine Pryde, the Mother Askani's sister-in-spirit. More incredible to her was watching Scott Summers and Jean Grey, the Mother Askani's parents, the legendary First Ones, join hands and communicate more in one glance than most mates did in a year of conversation. Summers turned towards his son, then hesitated, his attention switching to Askani. And even though his eyes were hidden by the thick red glasses, she sensed his wariness.
She turned back to Dayspring, studying him intently in an attempt to reassure herself that he had suffered no harm at the boy's hands. He looked pale and very weary, but uninjured. Askani could sense Nate Grey off to one side, and feel the calm rationality that had replaced his earlier mental turmoil. One must be thankful for small favors, I suppose.
Dayspring stared at her calmly, almost insolently, as if he was well aware she was assessing him and supremely untroubled by the fact--or too tired to care. It was that indifference, more than anything, that pushed her mood from relief to anger in a mere heartbeat.
"How dare you risk yourself like that?" she demanded in the battle language. The tension in the room increased sharply, but she paid no attention. In the final analysis, the only person in this room that really mattered was Dayspring. "The boy is an anomaly, a threat! He could have killed you!"
Dayspring shrugged. "Perhaps," he answered, also in the battle language. He spoke it well, conveying boredom, disinterest, and a touch of amusement in a single word. The latter made her bristle, and he gave her a faint smile. "But it was the right thing to do, sister. I was responsible for the boy's condition."
"Your responsibility is to your mission!" she snapped. "Get your priorities straight! I won't permit you to throw away your duty out of some misplaced sense of altruism!"
His expression hardened, and she abruptly remembered what the Mother Askani had told her. Tact. Diplomacy. Both absolutely essential in your dealings with him. If he even thinks you're trying to manipulate him, to push him in some direction he doesn't want to go, he'll balk. And at that point, you'll have better luck getting the sun to rise in the west.
"Permit?" he inquired in a dangerously soft voice. The indifference was gone, and he was giving her what could only be described as a killing look. "Did I hear you correctly?"
She swallowed. "Perhaps I should rephrase."
"Good idea."
***
Domino stepped back away from Nathan and the Askani girl as they continued talking in what she knew had to be the battle language. She'd heard it a few times--from the other Clan Chosen when she and Nathan had traveled to the future to save his younger self, and from his own lips on several occasions, including when he'd been delirious and dying after the battle with Onslaught. She still didn't know a word of it, but at least the two of them seemed to be calming down a bit, although she could feel through their psi-link that Nate was still seething about whatever Askani had said to him.
Jean, however, was still watching Askani like a hawk. Domino went over to her and Scott. She noticed Wisdom starting forward slowly, his eyes riveted on Nathan and Askani, but she was more concerned with Jean at the moment.
"What's the matter?" she said in a low, urgent voice.
"I don't trust her!" Jean hissed through gritted teeth. Scott, looking concerned, laid a hand on her shoulder, but she didn't seem to notice. "The language they're speaking--it sounds a little like the Askani dialect Scott and I know, but it's not. The syntax, the form of the words themselves--I can't understand anything they're saying. To make it worse, both of them are thinking in it, too." She glanced sideways at Domino, who stiffened at the growing uneasiness she saw in Jean's green eyes. "What are you sensing through your psi-link?"
"He's--wary," Domino said quietly, concentrating for a moment. "But not as much as if he considered her a threat. He's a little annoyed, too. Still, he's not reacting right. He's tired, I think. Or maybe the sedative hasn't worn off totally yet--"
"Any of you know the Askani battle language?" Pete muttered, he and Kitty suddenly appearing beside them. "I know a little, but not enough to make any real sense of what they're saying."
"I think you're one up on us, Wisdom," Domino said in a dry voice, trying to hide her concern. The discussion was getting more heated again. Nathan was getting that stubborn, 'I'll-be-damned-if-I-give-an-inch' look that Domino knew so well, and Askani's voice was rising. "What can you understand?"
He scowled, his eyes narrowing. "Nothing of what she's saying, her accent's so bloody strange. But I get the distinct impression he's telling her to bugger off--or the equivalent," he said hastily when Kitty raised an eyebrow.
"'Scuse me," Logan suddenly said, stepping towards Nathan and Askani. They kept arguing, and he gave a frustrated growl. "Hey! Yeah, I'm talking to you two." Distracted, Askani gave him a brief, contemptuous look, while Nathan merely glowered at him. Someone else might have been unnerved, but not Logan. He shrugged, giving them both an amiable smile. "Mind letting the rest of us in on whatever's got the pair of you so worked up?"
Nathan looked like he was about to say something verging on the impolite, but Askani beat him to it. "This is none of your concern," she said in very passable English. She looked around the room with a frown. "In fact, none of you should be here. I will speak to Dayspring alone."
Not while I'm standing here, you're not, Domino thought grimly, and glanced swiftly at Jean, whose expression was a subtle variation on the one Nathan had been wearing a minute ago. It, too, was one she'd seen on Nathan's face more times than she could count--the 'over-my-dead-body' look, as Kane had once so eloquently put it.
"I don't think so, Askani," Jean said very clearly. "We're all involved in this, whether you like it or not--"
"Actually, no, you're not," Nathan suddenly interrupted her. All eyes flew to him, and Domino scowled as she saw the shuttered look in his eyes. She'd seen him do this too often, withdraw back into that protective shell and close out the world. She reached out along their psi-link, but he was controlling his emotions very tightly. What could he be hiding? I swear, I'm going to box his ears if he starts lapsing back into his old bad habits--the whole enigma bit gets VERY tired after the first decade or so.
#She's got to be manipulating him!# Domino heard Jean say in her mind, sounding increasingly angry.
You're sure? Domino sent back tentatively, remembering the discussion she and Jean had had a week or so before Nathan had teleported himself to Alberta. Jean's idea that the Askani had used Nate's shields to inhibit his telekinesis only made sense, especially with an Askani 'happening' to show up once those shields were gone. But she couldn't automatically reach the same conclusion Jean had. This behaviour was all too characteristic for Nathan.
Suddenly, Nathan swore, the last of the color draining from his face. He took a step backwards, staring accusingly at Jean, who blanched at the look he gave her.
"What the HELL was that for?" he snarled.
"Nathan, I--"
"No!" He stared down at her, his eyes blazing in his ashen face. "I don't want to hear any excuses, just tell me why!" Through their psi-link, Domino sensed his rage, and a sense of betrayal that she didn't understand. Standing with Sam a short distance away, Dana gave a odd little whimper, shrinking back into Sam's arms. Domino didn't need to see the young empath's reactions to realize that the psionic energy in the room was building. She could feel it, humming along her bones, and she saw Bishop glowing as his mutant ability started to absorb the ambient power.
I can't just throw myself in the middle of this--I need information. "What did Jean do?" Domino whispered urgently to Scott, hoping that he'd gotten something more from his psi-link with Jean that she had from hers with Nathan. He grimaced, looking worried.
"She scanned him without asking first."
Shit! "Nathan," Domino said calmly, stepping forward and laying a restraining hand on his arm. He shook it off without looking at her. "Nathan, Jean was just concerned. She--" Domino trailed off, realizing too late that she couldn't explain, not without revealing Jean's suspicions about what the Askani had done.
He looked down at her, and she saw a flicker of hurt in his eyes. "You, too?" he asked in a strange voice. "You're all keeping something from me, I can tell--"
"Nate--" Domino started imploringly, reaching out towards him again. He pulled away sharply, shaking his head with an odd laugh.
"Never mind. I don't blame any of you for not trusting me. Some old habits should never be broken." He glanced at Askani, who nodded.
Then, they teleported from the room almost simultaneously.
"Damn it!" Jean suddenly erupted. Still pale, she was visibly upset with herself. "I couldn't have handled that much worse, could I?"
"Not just you," Domino said quietly. There was a pointed silence from the other end of the psi-link. She started to reach through it, then stopped herself. Wherever he'd gone, she doubted that he wanted to be found, at least for a while.
"Well, we're not accomplishing anything standing around here while you two kick yourselves in the ass," Scott said a little harshly. Jean jumped, startled by his flash of anger, and he held her gaze for only a moment before he looked away, glancing around the room. "Everyone split off into pairs and search the grounds. Hopefully, they just wanted some space." He glanced at Nate Grey briefly. "Nate, we could use your help." The boy nodded immediately.
"How can we be sure they didn't just leave?" Logan growled. "If she knows where these temporal waves are coming from, maybe she just took him there." Scott gave him a harassed look, and Hank lept into the conversation before any tempers could flare.
"We can always hope, my friend. Distracted, they may not have teleported far. Especially trying to do it in synch like that when Nathan is still inexperienced in the use of his teleportational abilities."
Scott gave a grunt of affirmation and turned back to Jean. "Would you scan for them, please?" he asked in a perfectly level voice. But as Domino noticed his body langauge, she suspected that the Summers were going to have a long and not entirely pleasant chat as soon as they located their errant offspring. Jean had some explaining to do, especially since she'd never enlightened Scott as to her suspicions about Nathan's shields in the first place. When she and Jean had first talked about it, Domino had told her that she thought keeping it from Scott was a bad idea, above and beyond the fact that he was Nathan's father and presumably had a right to know about something so important. But Jean was as stubborn as Nathan in some ways, and even worse about taking advice.
"I'll use Cerebro," Jean said in a subdued voice, hurrying from the room. The others dispersed to start their own search patterns, but Domino lingered. Despite the chill she'd felt at Logan's suggestion, she couldn't help but notice the odd expression Wisdom was wearing. Kitty started to follow the others, but he shook his head at her, and she stayed, looking puzzled. The simple fact that he wasn't rushing out to help search made Domino suspect he knew more than he was telling.
"All right," she said severely, going over to where he and Kitty stood. "Spit it out, Wisdom."
Pete gave her a slight, sardonic smile. "No putting anything past you, is there? All right, then. He mind-flashed me before he teleported out of here, told me where he was going."
"Hmm," she said thoughtfully, ignoring Kitty's startlement. "Before we get to where, why?" And you know damned well why he told Pete and not you, she thought, flinching.
"A safety measure," Pete said easily, meeting her eyes without flinching. No guilt there, she thought in sudden amusement. Even though he'd just let the rest of the X-Men go off on a fruitless earch, there wasn't even the faintest trace of remorse in his expression. She rather liked it. "If he doesn't show up in thirty minutes, or contact me with a code-phrase we arranged way back when, I'm to show up with the cavalry." His smile grew more ironic. "He's willing to hear her out, but he doesn't trust her entirely. He learned to be suspicious, with Blaquesmith."
Kitty had apparently moved from startlement into indignation. "Why didn't you speak up?" she demanded. He gave her an innocent look, and she scowled. "Don't DO that. You didn't need to tell everyone, but you could have let Scott and Jean know. They've got to be awfully worried."
"Nathan told me to keep my mouth shut, Kitty."
"And if Cable told you to jump off a bridge, would you?"
His smile grew wider. "Been there, done that." Kitty's eyes widened, and he chuckled. "Trust me, you don't want to know."
***
Bending over the console, Cable entered a series of commands that would scramble the internal sensors, preventing them from detecting his and Askani's presence in the War Room. Easy enough to do, considering the back door into the mansion's systems that he'd built for himself so long ago. Scott would go berserk if he knew I could do this. The thought afforded him a certain amount of grim pleasure.
Askani stood behind him, watching. She'd done her part already, creating a form of shielding whose name was best translated as a 'look-past'. It prevented them from being detected not only telepathically, but visually. Cable wasn't sure how well it would stand up against Logan's enhanced senses, but he imagined that Scott probably had Logan searching the grounds. Or so he hoped.
"There," he said, straightening. "That should buy us some time." Of course, he wasn't going to tell her about the thirty-minute limit he'd put on the computer's 'blind spot'. Not that he didn't trust Pete to act quickly and efficiently, but one could never be too careful. "Now," he continued, turning and giving her a direct look. "Why are you here?"
She tilted her head, regarding him speculatively. "You seem to have regained your temper with surprising speed."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that," he grated. It had taken every bit of self-control he had to clamp down on his anger and focus on the here-and-now. The why of any situation is secondary to the situation itself, he told himself firmly. He was furious that Jean had scanned him without asking, and increasingly suspicious of whatever secret she and Dom seemed to be keeping, but he didn't have time to indulge his pride at the moment. Askani wasn't here for a social visit.
She sighed. "Ah. First things first, then. Would you permit me to enter your mind?"
Cable recoiled from her automatically. "Why?"
"When I saw the boy, I knew something had happened to you. You seem hale enough physically, but if the boy's state of mind was any reflection of your psionic injuries--" She sighed. "I only want to assess the damage. I am no psi-healer, but even so--"
He stared down at her, not bothering to hide his mistrust, and her expression grew puzzled. "I would prefer it if you stayed out of my mind altogether," he said through gritted teeth.
She raised an eyebrow. "What happened between you and Blaquesmith to cause such animosity?" she inquired in a mild voice. The question startled him. As far as he knew, the first time Blaquesmith had come back to this time had been shortly after his own initial journey, all those years ago. And Askani had to have come from a much earlier period, probably before the fall of the Cloisters. How could she know about--
Idiot, he told himself harshly. The answer was obvious. "Didn't the retrocognitives tell you what happened?" he asked acidly. She blinked, as if surprised at his tone.
"Surely if you know about them--which you should not, by the way--you must know that their sight has limits, particularly when they're dealing with tangential events within a nexus point. And the events that prompted your--parting of the ways with Blaquesmith were certainly within a nexus point."
He felt rage flare within him, and fought to keep it under control. "That's one way to put it," he snarled. "I can think of others." Even years later, the memories still carried their burden of shame.
"In any case," she continued, looking troubled, "it would be like tracing a single threat within a great knot. In that particular knot, all they could see was Stryfe, and every path leading away from that nexus involved your estrangement from Blaquesmith." She sighed. "It is very strange," she continued almost planitively. "I only just said farewell to him, in the Cloisters. Yet here I am, in a time period where he has already died."
Cable fought back a sudden wave of sorrow. Despite their problems, he had never hated Blaquesmith. Never. And yet, with everything that had happened since Onslaught, he hadn't had even a moment to grieve.
"Does he know?" he asked more quietly. "Your Blaquesmith, I mean. Does he know what's going to happen to him?" She shook her head.
"You know better than that," she chided gently. "The retrocognitives stand at a remove from the group mind of the Sisterhood. Their knowledge in private, hidden to all save the Mother Askani. We who make the passage back get bits and pieces, all that we need for our missions. Besides," she continued, her tone growing more brisk. "Xavier's fall was an anomaly. In the timeline as it was seen until very recently, Blaquesmith did not die." She gave another sigh. "The boy, again." He looked down at her sharply, and she gave him a sad smile. "Did you not know that, Dayspring? His first encounter with Xavier not only contributed to the creation of Onslaught, but brought Blaquesmith to Xavier's attention, something that was never meant to happen. Once Onslaught knew of Blaquesmith's existence, of his role in your life, he became a target. Onslaught feared you terribly, you know. He wanted to use the boy, but he wanted--needed to destroy you."
Cable went over and sat down in a chair. His head was absolutely pounding, and he was finding it hard to focus. He couldn't blame Nate for Blaquesmith's death, but he got the definite impression that Askani wanted him to feel that way. On the surface, she seemed so straightforward, but there was too much calculation there, he could sense it.
She took a chair opposite his. "Dayspring?" she asked quietly. "Are you well?" She made no attempt to scan him, but he could feel her watching him measuringly.
"I--I was suprised to see that you were corporeal," he said, deliberately changing the subject. "The--others, who came back from before the fall of the Cloisters, their bodies didn't survive the trip back."
"We're aware of what happened," she said in a matter-of-fact voice. "We're assuming they were sent from farther down the timeline. Possibly at a time when the chronal interference we were monitoring during the preparations for my departure grew more intense. That could account for their--loss of physicality."
Cable blinked. I'm getting confused. She was from a time BEFORE the other two Askani, yet she was here AFTER them. She laughed softly at the look on his face.
"It's not all that complicated, Dayspring. Remember what Blaquesmith taught you. In this case, it's the influence of Onslaught--who, now that I think about it, may actually be responsible for the chronal interference in the first place." She looked absolutely fascinated by the idea. "I'll have to discuss that with the others when I return. In any case, the ripple effect caused by Onslaught would obviously move forward in time." Her smile grew almost whimsical. "Perhaps when it comes time for those later journeys, they will turn out differently."
"But they've already happened--never mind." He was starting to feel seriously dizzy. He didn't like what she was implying, not at all. Oh, he knew that every act, every decision had the potential to create an alternate timeline--after all, what was his mission about?--but seeing it in action was another matter entirely. Maybe I'm just jealous that Onslaught managed to change more in a few days than I have in years of work, he thought grimly. Or maybe it was the idea that time had shifted around him, without him noticing, that was bothering him. He'd gotten too used to looking in from outside during his years with Blaquesmith.
"You're losing your perspective," Askani said suddenly. He scowled, but she stared back at him, unperturbed. "Why have you willingly time-locked yourself, Dayspring? With your power, all timelines are open to you, but you've trapped yourself here." She sighed. "You've let yourself grow too attached to this place, these people. What if the demands of your mission--"
He glared at her coldly, and she fell silent. "You're singing the same song Blaquesmith did, Askani. Don't expect me to pay any more attention to you than I did to him."
"Dayspring--"
"No, you listen to me!" he said heatedly. "Mission or no mission, this 'place' is my home, these 'people' are my family! And in the end, this is MY life! Not yours, not Blaquesmith's, and not Rachel's! I'll live it as I choose!"
She raised an eyebrow, meeting his angry gaze calmly. "Freedom is a luxury we don't have, Dayspring. Remember the oath. We're meant to protect life, not live it."
He looked away, feeling almost sick to his stomach. "I don't want to hear this." He'd lived by that philosophy for too many years. Lived by it--and died inside every time he threw away friendship or loyalty or love in the name of his mission. Nathan Dayspring Summers, the hollow man--no. What right did he have to be concerned with himself, his own needs, when so many people had sacrificed so much to get him here? It was the worst kind of childish ingratitude. This is self-absorbed whining, nothing more. She's right. I'm being selfish. He sank his face into his hands, wishing his head would stop throbbing so that he could think clearly.
"I can see that," she murmured. He looked back at her sharply, but was startled to see real repentence on her face. "I shouldn't be carping at you like this when you're not well." She offered a hand, and he stared at it for a minute, still unsure. "Please," she said, her voice full of sincerity. "Maybe I can help."
After a moment, he took her hand. As she entered his mind, he tried not to flinch. She was being very careful, very gentle. But it still felt like someone was rubbing salt into an open wind. Just at the point where he was beginning to think his head was going to explode, she withdrew.
"By the Dream," she breathed, sounding almost afraid. Wincing--it felt like twin daggers were being stabbed into his temples--he looked up at her. "I didn't expect it to be this bad. The way this will complicate things--"
"You're a lot of help," he said, breathing heavily. She started to look a little indignant, and he managed a half-smile. "A joke, Askani. Can you tell me why I can't rebuild my shields?"
"You don't have a stable foundation to build them on, that's why," she said promptly. He reached out towards her to see if she was holding something back, but even that slight effort nearly made him pass out. "You won't be able to form stable shields until your mind has healed completely."
"And what will that take?" Divine intervention? he wondered bleakly.
"Time and quiet--neither of which you have at the moment." She sighed, rubbing at her temples as if she, too, was developing a headache. "On to my mission, then. Obviously, I'm here because of the temporal waves."
"I suspected as much," he said, unutterably relieved that it wasn't an entirely different problem. He was going to have enough trouble handling one crisis at a time. "Do you know what's causing them?"
"Apocalypse," she said bluntly.
He winced. Someone out there hates me, that's the only explanation, he thought with a sort of desperate humor. "That makes sense," he said wearily, fighting the urge to close his eyes and pretend this was all a bad dream. "Too much of a coincidence, that Apocalypse should be disassembling his base under London at the same time these waves are happening. I thought they felt artificial."
"Yes," Askani murmured, looking troubled. "There is that, isn't there? I must confess, Dayspring. We saw nothing of this business with Essex and the girl. It must be another unforeseen nexus, with the ripple effect only beginning to take shape. To give you an example, there was nothing about Wisdom in the original vision."
"If Pete is a new element, his information could be pivotal," Cable said slowly, trying to think his way through this. "Maybe we should go to London. Unless you know where the waves are coming from?"
She shook her head. "Not even a hint. This is a major nexus, Dayspring. The timelines were so tangled that the retrocognitives were only able to see the consequences if you failed to stop whatever Apocalypse has set in motion."
Cable sighed, and leaning towards the main console, called up a three-dimensional hologram of the Earth. There wasn't much choice. A proven danger in one place, and a great danger as yet unlocalized. He could only fight what he could see. "London, then," he said. "There has to be a connection." At least I hope there is--and even if there isn't, I owe it to Dunworthy to get over there and see to this.
Askani smiled faintly. "You should follow your instincts more often, Dayspring. More often than not, they will lead you down the right path."
He shook his head quizzically, and then winced at the new wave of pain the movement caused. Idiot. But that sounded VERY unusual--not like Blaquesmith at all. "O-kay. I suppose we should let ourselves be found now." Curiously, he didn't feel particularly angry at Jean any longer, though he'd still like to know why she'd scanned him. He was even starting to feel a little ashamed of himself, the way he'd snapped at her. I must really need some sleep if my conscience is kicking in. Hit by a sudden inspiration, he gave Askani a searching look. "You wouldn't happen to know why Jean scanned me--no, of course you wouldn't," he finished ironically at her blank expression.
He was about to say more, but froze as he heard a familiar rumbling noise. Askani straightened, suddenly alert, and they both rose from their chairs at almost the same moment.
"Another wave?" he asked tensely.
She shook her head. "No, I don't think so." She bit her lip in a curiously familiar mannerism, and the strange sense he'd gotten in the medlab, that he knew her, returned full force. "I know that sound--" Her eys widened. "Someone else is making a passage from the future."
He listened for a moment longer, and realized she was right. The sound grew more melodic, almost like a sustained chord, but it got no louder. And it was familiar, evoking memories of his own trips through time. He'd always been so focused on his destination, he'd never stopped to listen. But with his senses already sharpened by the temporal waves, the sound was as clear as a bell.
"I think we'd better go greet our new arrival," he said grimly. There was no guarantee that the visitor was benign, and he'd had enough of being caught off-guard lately. Not waiting for Askani's response, he turned and headed out the door, leaving her to follow him.
to be continued...
[FOOTER]