Who: Gabrielle (Gilda Dent) and Matthew (Quicksilver)
What: Finding someone tohide with turn to
When: After this
Where: Gabrielle's pad
Rating: PG-13 for mentions of violence
Standing outside her door, more than a little shell-shocked, Matthew noted absently that the power was out not just in Queens but in parts of the city as well. It struck him as a little odd that he and Magneto could cause such destruction in this world. Some things never changed.
He knocked on Gabrielle's door with his good arm. The one that had been clipped by Wally's weapon was hanging limply, some blood trickling down to his fingers. It hurt. With all the little cuts that decorated his body, just standing there hurt. He knocked again stiffly and loudly, almost shaking the door on its hinge.
"Please be home." Matthew's voice was thin. "Please."
He swayed on his feet. The use of his power and having watched Magneto tear down half of a power plant was starting to get to him. When the door finally opened, Matthew exhaled in relief. Before he even caught full sight of her, he was speaking. "Sorry," was the first thing he said. "Wasn't fast enough. Need..." he stumbled forward, almost falling into her arms. He righted himself at the very last minute and caught her eye. He knew he looked pathetic. Gone was the normal, arrogant man that Matthew always strove to be. Standing in his place was a broken boy. He had the shame to glance down at his feet. Part of him expected she'd turn him away.
What: Finding someone to
When: After this
Where: Gabrielle's pad
Rating: PG-13 for mentions of violence
Standing outside her door, more than a little shell-shocked, Matthew noted absently that the power was out not just in Queens but in parts of the city as well. It struck him as a little odd that he and Magneto could cause such destruction in this world. Some things never changed.
He knocked on Gabrielle's door with his good arm. The one that had been clipped by Wally's weapon was hanging limply, some blood trickling down to his fingers. It hurt. With all the little cuts that decorated his body, just standing there hurt. He knocked again stiffly and loudly, almost shaking the door on its hinge.
"Please be home." Matthew's voice was thin. "Please."
He swayed on his feet. The use of his power and having watched Magneto tear down half of a power plant was starting to get to him. When the door finally opened, Matthew exhaled in relief. Before he even caught full sight of her, he was speaking. "Sorry," was the first thing he said. "Wasn't fast enough. Need..." he stumbled forward, almost falling into her arms. He righted himself at the very last minute and caught her eye. He knew he looked pathetic. Gone was the normal, arrogant man that Matthew always strove to be. Standing in his place was a broken boy. He had the shame to glance down at his feet. Part of him expected she'd turn him away.
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![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} ibelieveinhim2008-11-22 06:00 am (local) (link) 
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Her building in Morningside Heights had been one of many to lose its power, stricken in the wake of their battle; so from the knock and the mumbled voice outside her door, Gabrielle was expecting another neighbour or the superintendent checking up on the tenants. Not... Matthew. Especially not Matthew cut and bruised and broken; the surprise was evident on her face as she repeated his name, quizzically, and steadied him with one hand, the other still carrying a candle. The hallway and her entire apartment were murky, but sporadically lit by candlelight. It took her a moment to see Matt well enough to notice that something was wrong; it was his faltering balance and halting speech which tipped her off, more than anything. "Are you okay? What happened? What's going on?" The questions came quick, and she hated bombarding him with them even as she tried to help the man into her dim apartment. A slight jolt of fear was starting to rise in her throat. No one knew exactly what had happened to the power, but New Yorkers learned to cultivate a healthy paranoia re: attacks. |
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highspeed 2008-11-22 06:11 am (local) (link)
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Matthew swallowed around the lump in his throat. He didn't like being looked at with pity. And it was easy enough to take her concern for pity. "Magneto." Matthew's voice was soft and shaky. "He attacked." A bitter laugh escaped his lips before he could contain it. "And took out the power." And, Matthew thought, he almost killed me in the process. But that really wasn't worth mentioning just yet. In any other state, Matthew would have been looking around and taking in Gabrielle's apartment. As it was, inquisitiveness had him looking around in spite of his injuries, but he wasn't absorbing the little touches that made it her space. He'd been here before, but not often or long enough to have the layout or her belongings memorized. Breathing out and trying his very best to ignore the pain, he leaned on her and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't know where else to go." |
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ibelieveinhim 2008-11-22 06:29 am (local) (link)
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Before she even noticed she was doing it, Gaby was instinctively responding with an "It's alright". She accepted his weight without a second glance, her body looking unusually small and fragile next to his gangly height; but with the tables turned, she helped him limp into the living room and towards the nearest seat: her couch, faintly illuminated by candles on the coffeetable and a flashlight lying on the bookcase. As horrific as the situation was, as frightening the spectre and name of Magneto, she still liked being there for someone. A part of her experienced an exquisite little thrill at having a man needing her for once-- "How badly hurt are you? I can't really see." Her fingertips lightly splayed across his arm, delicately, trying to assess the damage. |
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highspeed 2008-11-22 07:50 pm (local) (link)
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He drew in a sharp breath as he felt her fingers dance across his skin. She was gentle, but the lightest touch made it feel like there was flame licking a path across his muscles. "My arm. He had weapons." Matthew tried to remain still. He didn't pull away from her touch. "I'm bleeding," he said dully. And it was true. There were little cuts everywhere from metal that he hadn't been able to dodge. There'd been so much falling down, Matthew'd been lucky to escape the rain of jagged shards without worse damage. "He was going to electrocute me," he said, exhaling out a shaky laugh. "I think he might have killed me again if I hadn't run." He was staring straight ahead into one of the candles she'd lit earlier. There was a vaguely haunted look in his eyes. |
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ibelieveinhim 2008-11-24 04:33 pm (local) (link)
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She froze in her tracks at the sound of that -- electrocution, christ -- and feeling him flinch, Gabrielle moved her hand away. She felt and saw it at the same time: her fingertips were stained with red, and a part of her writhed, feeling very deeply sick. Wally Kirezi. He'd seemed like such a calm and level man on the journals. But that's what you learned, wasn't it? People were never exactly what they seemed-- Grabbing hold of the flashlight, Gaby focused on rolling up his sleeve and illuminating his wounds; she sucked in a breath through her teeth once she saw the extent of the damage. The skin was lacerated, a mangled mess where metal had torn through it. "God," she whispered, under her breath. "Why-- why were you fighting?" She wasn't qualified for this. She wasn't a nurse! But everything was happening at once across the city, so she set Matthew straight on the couch and scurried off to fetch her first-aid kit. When she came back, warm wet cloth and disinfectant and bandages in hand, she immediately plopped down next to him. "I work with chisels and knives a lot," she explained, soothingly. "I keep accidentally nicking myself. We'll patch you up, alright?" The small cuts were no big deal, but she was worried about that arm. (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread) |
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highspeed 2008-11-24 04:45 pm (local) (link)
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Matthew tried very hard to not squirm as she pulled up his sleeve. Somehow, he managed to be docile. When she directed him to move or hold something straight, he did. With his good hand, she squeezed the couch cushion in a rhythm to distract himself from the pain. "I don't..." he still sounded slightly dazed, "I'm not sure. He said I had Wanda. He sounded like Magneto." Matthew stopped suddenly and squeezed his eyes shut as he felt her bring something warm and wet to his arm. He'd flinched, faster than a normal human could have. And then he straightened his body. He didn't even care if she saw. "Thank you," he said through gritted teeth. "I'll be fine. I've had worse." Though not in this lifetime, he'd received much more serious wounds. Matthew clung to a few memories of being mangled. The pain had been worse then. "I think I may pass out later." |
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ibelieveinhim 2008-11-24 04:57 pm (local) (link)
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Even as she played the quintessential Florence Nightingale, she tried not to think about how right this felt. She remembered anxious nights waiting for her husband to get home, not knowing if he'd actually make it back; she remembered explosions and hospitals. She tried not to. "You can stay here, on my couch or bed or whatever, as long as you need. I don't know when this--" Gabrielle gestured, indicating the struck lights and darkened neighbourhood. "--will come back. I think we should probably get you to a hospital when the power's on again." As she worked, Gaby bit her lip. He was dazed, non-talkative; to an extent, so was she. Attacking your own son. Your own family! She couldn't understand it. |
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highspeed 2008-11-24 05:52 pm (local) (link)
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Had he been thinking a little more straight, Matthew probably would have banished the thoughts from his head that told him this felt a little right. It'd been a long time since he'd had a woman he could depend on. If he closed his eyes, he could pretend Wanda was there cleaning his wounds and setting him right. But that wasn't right. "Thank you," he said lightly. "Yes. The hospital." He nodded. Exhaling, Matthew found himself speaking again before he could really think about the words coming out of his mouth. He wanted to apologize again for showing up like this, but instead, he asked, "How are you?" He was making noise for the sake of making noise. It was better to ramble on emptily than to listen to the silence. As far as attacking family went, Matthew could understand it. He'd done it on more than one occasion back when he'd been Pietro. He had the vague feeling that it would happen again in this world. Glancing over at Gabby, Matthew saw the look in her eyes. The shadows there highlighted her quiet horror. "Is it really that bad?" (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread) |
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ibelieveinhim 2008-11-24 06:38 pm (local) (link)
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After the final loop of the bandage was twined around his arm, lightly packing it around the wound, Gabrielle couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity, her voice a little shrill and a little nervous. "Oh, I'm fine! I was up late painting last night. And watching old cartoons, and journalling. So after sleeping in, it was a slow night before all this, the power, started happening. I think you're in shock, Matthew." A pause, as she slumped back in the couch. She fidgeted with a pile of smaller band-aids, struggling to free a few from the sheet -- she wanted to shore up some of those smaller cuts. "You-- didn't go out and pick a fight with him, did you? Because, I mean, I know how you feel about him..." Her voice faltered. (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread) |
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highspeed 2008-11-24 06:47 pm (local) (link)
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"I'm glad you've been well," he said, voice still light. When she mentioned he was in shock, he considered this and then said, "I just saw one man uproot the power plant down the block from my house. I almost died. And I ran here from Queens." So yes, he was probably a bit shocked. He shifted stiffly, so to let her have more room to work with. He gave her a withering Look that lacked any real strength or conviction. "You should like my sister," he said after a long moment. "I don't really know... it's blurry. I'm tired. I haven't slept well." He paused and thought. "He struck first," he said this as though it took effort to remember. Why had he been there? He tried to remember. "I saw that place in a dream." (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread) |
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ibelieveinhim 2008-11-24 07:13 pm (local) (link)
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"Thank you for coming. It would've been awful if you'd just crashed in the street." She didn't want him to fall over and pass out, but oh, how she wanted to know what had happened. But as he slowly picked his way through the jarring memories, Gabrielle let him go at his own pace, plucking tiny shards from his clothes and skin and silently laying on the band-aids. It would do until the power was back and they could go to the hospital. By the time he mentioned the dream, Gaby's hand trailed to hold his, interlacing their fingers. "It's not your fault," she murmured, almost as an aside. (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread) |
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highspeed 2008-11-24 07:22 pm (local) (link)
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Matthew exhaled. From the sound of it, it might have been a quiet laugh. He wasn't even sure. "Don't thank me. I am hardly doing you any favors by bleeding on your couch." If he remembered later, he'd have to try and purchase another one for her. He had an odd sense of honor, Matthew did, and he didn't want her home decorated with his bloodstains. He winced as he felt the little shards quickly pulled from his skin. Matthew hadn't even noticed those. He glanced down at them quizzically as Gabrielle set them aside on the table. And then he felt her hand in his and he cast a curious glance at her. There was no chance he was going to turn away that little comfort, though. He gave her hand the lightest of squeezes. "Maybe it was my fault," he said. "I think I would have... if he hadn't..."He'd told her before that he wasn't a good person. He'd meant it. "One of us is probably going to kill the other." |
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ibelieveinhim 2008-11-24 07:49 pm (local) (link)
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She was silent, again, as she let that particular thought sink in. Gabrielle had no experience with death (aside from her uncle's funeral, which really didn't count). Gilda, on the other hand, did -- and a small stirring of frustration started churning in her gut. Quicksilver and Magneto duking it out in NYC wasn't exactly the same as Gotham's dark and sordid crime belly. But it made her angry anyway. It was unfair. It was all unfair and stupid. "I'd rather if you didn't," Gaby said simply. "It might sound the most obvious thing ever, but -- there must be a way, and it doesn't have to happen. That history doesn't have to occur again, you know? We're not alone in this. There are people, heads, we can go to. Xavier's out there. Wonderwoman's out there. I'm not--" Frustration. Gilda's anger swooping in, old and tired. She hated this; Matthew didn't have to kill anyone and Magneto didn't have to go evil and she didn't have to lose her husband yet again, for fuck's sake! "I'm not letting it happen. Okay? One power plant is quite enough." She almost said 'I won't let you'. |
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highspeed 2008-11-24 08:03 pm (local) (link)
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He smiled a tired smile. Had he had a similar conversation before? He wasn't quite sure. Pietro's memories came and went. But her words felt familiar. "And what should I do? Tell on him?" The thought of snitching on Magneto made Matthew feel more than a little sick. "He said I was cowardly. That would be cowardly." He sighed, kicking himself that he hadn't killed the old man and finished things. It would have made his life easier. "And anyway, there are no prisons that will contain him." Matthew didn't say that he felt Magneto was his cross to bear. This was his baggage and he should have been the one to deal with it. He grimaced. If Wanda were here, he'd have more direction. She could help him somehow. "You..." Matthew looked at her for a long moment. He caught the stubborn look in her eyes and the prettiness of her set jaw. "I am not your responsibility. You shouldn't worry over me." He felt guilty suddenly for having brought his trouble to her. Hanging his head a little, he asked, "Do you have aspirin?" Anything would do if it could dull the pain a little. (Reply to this)(Parent) (Thread) |
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ibelieveinhim 2008-11-24 08:35 pm (local) (link)
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"I might as well have some responsibility in my life," Gabrielle admitted, staring out into the shadows pooling around the room. It was an almost painfully small apartment; one bedroom, one bathroom, and one main room. A third of the area by the tall windows was blocked off and taken up by easels and large, empty canvases. That was her life at the moment: awfully empty. She shared her space with paintings and art. Other people rarely nudged their way into her concerns like this. "I'll see what I can do." Whether she was referring to Magneto or aspirin, it was hard to tell. Rising from the couch and letting go of his hand, Gabrielle paused, long enough to lean over and kiss her patient's forehead. Unconsciously, small gears in Gabrielle's mind had started ticking. Matthew might not have known it yet, but he had given her an idea. |