Subject: [OTL]: (Timewind Arc; Alex/Lorna/Lance Summers) Shaking the Panes (PG-13) Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2002 20:48:41 -0700 (PDT) From: Phil Hartman will1@earthling.net Timewind Arc: Shaking the Panes by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: Lance and his friends are mine. The others are Marvel's. No money is being made off of this. Please don't sue. NOTES: Alternate future, some rough imagery, serious themes ... batten down the hatches :/ NOTE 2: Instead of doing some kind of giant "arc" with the Timewind stories, I'll be experimenting with individual character pieces. Multi-part stories aren't impossible, though - Pyrotic Lament is evidence of that :) -------------------------------------------------------- 9/7/2020 A.D.: -------------------------------------------------------- He rifled through the day's schedule, shrugging at some of the appointments and raising an eyebrow at others. [Commandant ?} the Secr-Avatar on Alex Summers' desk buzzed in a supposedly neutral voice (he'd always suspected that Ramsey Electronics tended to skew the vocal patterns of its' AI programs towards a distinctly Scots burr). "Go ahead," the once and former Havok said nonchalantly. [Mrs. Summers is here to see you,] the AI said. Alex covered his face with one hand, then crossed his legs atop his desktop and sighed. "Send her in," the 54-year-old head of the XSE breathed. The door across the carpeted room hissed open, admitting a still-stunning green-haired Caucasian woman in a semi-formal grey business suit. Her green eyes narrowed as she walked through the rays of sunlight streaming from the huge windows and skylights of her husband's office, overlooking Neohattan. "Alex," Lorna Dane-Summers said, almost politely, before she sat across the desk from him. "What's up ?" Alex replied, giving Lorna a weak smile. #No sense in getting tense if she's playing nice for once,# he thought. The flicker of - something - in her eyes made Alex uncross his legs and sit stiffly behind the desk again. "I got ahold of Jen Walters today," Lorna began, stiffly. "I heard about the incident with Aislinn (SEE Timewind: Line in the Sand) -" "Damnit, Lorna, that was official XSE business !" Alex blurted, instantly regretting the words. #I do NOT need another argument with her - not here, not today -# Lorna shifted a bit in her seat, letting Alex cool off and sink back, resignedly, in his own chair. "As I was saying, I heard about Aislinn," Lorna continued, her tone a bit colder now. "I understand that that was official XSE business. I also understand that most of your life is official XSE business these days." Alex's jaw twitched. "Let me make it simple," Lorna continued, her jaw tightening. "No alimony, no fault. I get the apartment in East Sector, you get the townhouse in Greenwich. It all gets swept under the rug, so the Bugle's gossip column and your command staff can't smear your 'good name' any more than YOU already have." Alex tried not to snarl as he replied, "Thank you so much for the explanation. You're serious about no alimony ?" "I can easily live off of the book deal and my consulting for Richtech. There is one detail, of course - a minor one, to you," Lorna said, the green in her eyes turning venemous on the last words. "Don't you DARE act like I don't care about him," Alex rasped, his throat tightening. Lorna's eyes flew open. "'Care' ? Caring does NOT mean storming into your teenage son's room, grinning like a maniac that he vaporized a murderous psychopath, and trying to force him to become a good little soldier !" she yelled. Alex began to glow white, before taking a very deep breath. "Lance is my son, also. I was trying to help him become tougher, so he wouldn't be unprepared when some mutant nutjob came after him for being the son of the XSE commandant," he said icily after a moment. "'Tougher.' Lance doesn't need to be tough, Alex. He's 13. 'Tough' is for idiot jocks or your drone soldiers, not 13-year-old boys," Lorna growled. "Maybe, if he was a football player, 'tough' would be appropriate. But he's never been athletically inclined -" "He's never BEEN 'inclined' towards ANYTHING, because you keep protecting him !" Alex shouted. "Go then ! Get the paperwork ! Let him live at home until he's 40 ! At least in the XSE, he'd HAVE a job of some kind !" Lorna rolled her eyes, muttered, "We'll work out custody later," then stood and walked out. #Damnit. Damnit. Damnit,# Alex thought, shaking his head. #Lorna ...# He stood then, and stared out the window, remembering. They'd been in their early 40s when the Lehnsherr War had ravaged the planet, sundering families and reaving entire continents. Near the end of the conflict, the only certainty had been pain and risk. #I married her because I was afraid I'd lose her,# Alex remembered, shivering uncharacteristically. #The Onyx Pillar were attacking anything evey remotely pro-human ...# His plasma bolts and Lorna's magnetic powers had been among the few dependable powers left near the end of X-Factor's fight at Fall's Edge, when the Genoshans had dared to attack American soil. #She was already three months along,# Alex remembered, tearing up. #And then I got word -# He sank to the floor, screwed his eyes shut, and let go of a single sob. -------------------------------------------------------- "Summers ! Focus !" "Y-yessir, Mr. Bohusk," the blond boy in the Danger Room stammered. Lance Summers' blue eyes flickered left and right, trying to assess the level of power he'd need. The plasteel wall got closer, prompting a burst of W and Z particles from Lance's left hand. The wall seemed to evaporate where the white blast struck it, and radiation klaxons went off in the room. "Relax," Barnell Bohusk - the avian mutant who was the Xavier Institute's latest headmaster - called via intercom from the control room. Sitting to his right, monitoring Lance's progress and vital signs, was the school's chief medical officer, Dr. Nga Coy Mahn. "Heart-rate, perspiration and central nervous system activity are up by 15 percent," the Vietnamese doctor and mutant healer said. She shook her head at Barnell and added, "Don't let the program push him too hard. Radiation levels in the Danger Room are becoming borderline." "I know, but he's got to learn better control over this power," Barnell all but clucked. His solid-green eyes blinked as one of the radiation scanners started to decrease, and he looked at Nga's puzzled expression. "Magnetic field containment of the radiation - Lance isn't a magnakinetic," Nga said. She looked at the Danger Room's far wall, then hit the abort button and shouted, "LORNA !?" [Relax, Nga. I have a good reason to interrupt,] Lorna "said" via radio waves. She strode into the Danger Room, and said aloud, "Could I have a few minutes alone with Lance ?" "Sure," Barnell grumbled. He motioned Nga out of the control booth while the Danger Room finished shutting down, and Lorna looked at Lance with a concerned eye. He was getting his growth, if not a lot of mass yet - the black skinsuit he was wearing permitted her to see the lankiness of his frame, despite the healthy appetite he'd manifested earlier in the summer. His blond hair was short, but not cropped (mercifully, Lorna thought), and his blue eyes - #He's got his father's looks,# Lorna realized, trying to keep her feelings about Alex seperate from what she was about to tell her son. Lance wiped his brow, then gave Lorna a not-quite-pout and groaned, "Mooom. I was doing OK for once. Why'd you hafta interrupt ?" "Lance - I - I'm sorry," Lorna began. She lcoked eyes with him and said, simply, "I'm divorcing your father. There's no simple way to say it." Lance's expression - flickered - for a moment. Then he surprised Lorna - - and gave a weak laugh. "It finally happened," he said, without a trace of bitterness - #more exhaustion than anything else,# some observant part of Lorna's brain interjected. "Lance -" Lorna said. The 13-year-old held up a hand, then squeezed his mother's forearm gently. "I know, I should be upset or something. But - I dunno. I think you'll both be happier," Lance said, smiling sadly. "I ... I'm ... I don't know HOW I feel. I guess ..." He saw the tears in her eyes, then, and hugged her for a long while. -------------------------------------------------------- She'd fallen asleep on one of the couches in the mansion library, after a long cry and something approximating a talk. Lance sat and watched his mother, while he leaned back in the love seat placed perpendicular to the couch. He'd gotten cleaned up and changed into a fresh skinsuit, then found his mother in the library before they'd talked. #It's over,# the boy thought. #No more bellowing, no more hiding in my room while they scream at each other about her job and his job and me ...# A lump formed in Lance's throat, but he forced it down. "So what if he's gone ?" Lance muttered aloud, fiercely. "I was always afraid of the big jerk anyway. I don't even LIKE the XSE. And I -" A pair of glowing-red eyes flickered through his memories, sobering Lance immediately. #I vaporized that psi-vamp,# he remembered. #So ? He was trying to kill you,# another part of Lance's brain reminded him. #And your dad wanted to send you to the XSE Academy. What a load of crap ! You can't fight - all you want to do is -# "What DO I wanna do ?" Lance asked himself, frowning. "I'm not that smart, my power's really destructive, I suck at sports, and I'm not a fighter - not really, not like Aid or Con or Payne or Mor." #Maybe a miner ?# The doorbell rang, prompting Lance to get to his feet. #I don't want Mom to have to wake up,# he thought, giving the sleeping Lorna a sympathetic look. He walked to the mansion's front door, opened it - - and stared up into similar eyes. "Lance," Alex said, surprised for an instant. "Dad," Lance replied, equally surprised at his father's casual garb - a sweatsuit and sneakers. He lowered his eyelids and stepped aside, adding, "Come in. Mom's asleep." "I came to see you," Alex said, not stepping forward. Lance reentered the doorway, raising an eyebrow. "Me ? I thought you'd - I mean - we're not exactly -" the boy stammered. Alex sighed, then shook his head. "Look, I was a jerk about your schooling, I admit. The Institute's not a bad place," he said, sounding tired. "But I wanted to at least try and explain why I wanted you to consider the XSE - why I was so hard on you when your power first turned on." Lance tensed, glancing back at Lorna and then at Barnell as the avian mutant walked out of his office. "Commandant," Barnell said softly. "Can I help you ?" "My dad was asking if I could go with him for a few hours, Mr. Bohusk," Lance said, managing a smile. "We have a lot to talk about." Barnell nodded. "I'll tell your mother - you'll be back in a few hours," he repeated, glancing at Alex. "Back before dinner," Alex agreed, nodding. He looked at Lance, who walked outside and started to walk beside his father. "I hope she doesn't think I'm trying to smuggle you away," Alex said. "She doesn't hate you," Lance tried to growl - failing when his voice broke. They stopped, and the boy glared up at his father as he added, "I don't either - I guess. But you're always so formal and stuff, and you had to arrest Ace. And you couldn't even let me try to work out my power manifestation ! I didn't want to fry that psi-vamp, Dad ! You just - walked into my room with an XSE Academy uniform, and you never even asked how I felt !" Lance stopped, expecting a shout. He saw only exhaustion and concern in Alex's face. "You're right," Alex replied, weakly. "I was trying to get you to consider becoming ... more of a fighter. I know you're not a fighter, not usually. It's ... damnit, Lance, I don't want to lose you the way I lost my father. And when you took down that psi-vamp ... I was afraid for you. At least in the XSE Academy, you would've learned self-defense, had combat skills ..." He sat down beneath one of the oak trees, and Lance sat beside him. "Lost your - how did Grandpa Chris die ?" the boy asked, wide-eyed. Alex went white - almost Domino-white, Lance realized. "Horribly. The Onyx Pillar - Abaddon's elite guard - caught him and the Starjammers during the Manhattan Catastrophe," Alex said in a haunted tone. "He was ... it was slow, Lance. And no one deserved to die like he did. It was ... because he was a Summers -" Lance's jaw worked silently as his father started to cry. #I ...# Lance thought, reaching to hug Alex. His father pulled him into his arms and held onto him. "I couldn't let you be hurt like that," Alex whispered in a fearful tone. "Not like that. I can't even begin to tell you the extent of what happened to your grandfather, not until you're old enough - and probably not even then. What I saw ..." He leaned back against the tree with wet cheeks, and released Lance. "That's why I'm such a formal, stiff person. Ironic - Scott was the uptight one years ago, and I was the hothead," Alex laughed humorlessly. "But when the XSE was forming, and the federal government was looking for a mutant commandant they felt comfortable with, I thought I was a perfect choice. I was so determined to save humans from evil mutants ... and now I can't even save my family." "Dad - that's not true," Lance blurted, kneeling before Alex. "I understand now. You don't have to hide anymore. I'm not mad - I know, what it's like to see awful things - the psi-vamp melted in front of me -" Alex's eyes lit with horror, and he grabbed Lance by the shoulders. "And I let you have to live with that," he groaned. "Damnit, why didn't I get you to Jean or someone ? Someone you could talk to ?" "I ... did see Aunt Jean. For about a month," Lance said, smiling weakly. "I'm ... doing better. Really. The nightmares've stopped." Alex blanched, but let Lance hug him again and laughed weakly. "Can we at least hang out once a week or something ?" he asked, standing with his son. "Maybe more often," Lance suggested, giving Alex a stronger smile. "Talk to Mom. Tell her -" Alex shook his head, walking with Lance to the mansion. "It's too late," he sighed. "I've neglected or screamed at her too many times. I want to fix things, Lance, but ... sometimes adults grow apart, or say things that hurt too much." They walked on then, silent, to find Lorna waiting for them. -------------------------------------------------------- She found him at the edge of the cove, and sat beside him. "Pretty, the way the water reflects the sunset," Deirdre Summers tried to smile at her cousin. The red-haired, green-eyed telepath slid closer to Lance, who took her left hand in his right one. His blue eyes shimmered, and Deedee tried not to let the wave of grief and loss swamp her. "It's over," Lance whispered. "I'm not mad - it's better than the yelling and the cold silences - but -" "They were together. You had some kind of hope," Deedee breathed, hugging Lance. "But we're here, too - and my mom and dad, and Ray and Frank and Nate and Domino and the other grownups. Family is more than just parents, Lance - they're so important, I know, but it's more than just parents." He just nodded, the unspoken reply evident to her. #They're MY parents, though,# Lance thought. She held him tighter, as fire danced on the waves. -------------------------------------------------------- end --------------------------------------------------------