Subject: [OTL]: (Gust Arc; Cable, Domino, kids) Shatterpoint Quilt (PG-13) Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 17:29:57 -0800 (PST) From: Phil Hartman will1@earthling.net Gust Arc: Shatterpoint Quilt by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: The kids are my creations; their parents (mostly) are Marvel's. Etc. -------------------------------------------------------- 6/11/2021: -------------------------------------------------------- "ABOUT-FACE!" The rattle-snap of 110 plasma rifles - mockups, of course; this WAS a cadet drill team, after all - rippled through the summer air, as the demonstration came to a conclusion. Polite applause rang across the manicured lawn as the first-year cadets of the XSE were dismissed to go to their parents and guardians for the summer. The applause was more sincere from the viewing box atop the main bleachers. "Another fine crop," Headmaster Dale Grey Crow - better known as Forge, or Genesis - asked without asking, looking at his main guest. "Not bad. They're first years - 13. That's such a messy age," XSE Commandant Nathan Summers rumbled. "Everything in time, Forge. Speaking of which ..." Sunlight glinted off of the Commandant's bare left hand as he and his party rose to leave. The metal was aching again, Nathan noted, as it so often seemed to these days - *- Stryfe's last scream was cut horribly short as Nur rose up one last time -* "Nate. It's 2021, not 2003." "I know - I know," Nathan chuckled humorlessly. He gave his wife a dry smile, which Beatrice Summers - Domino, or Major, or Mom, to everybody but Nathan - returned. "You're 30. Don't let the memories keep replaying, and you won't feel 60," Domino whispered in Nathan's ear. "We're too young for you to go wandering down Mnemonic Avenue." "Memory Lane," Nate corrected without heat. They began down the stairs, and he let his gaze wander to who he suspected were the sources of his concern. Payne and Morgan Summers, barely 11 years old, were both clad in black skinsuits, with severely-cropped brown hair and identical blue eyes. The twins looked unsettlingly alike, except for the obvious physiological differences. #My children,# Nathan thought, shaking his white-haired head with a flicker of amazement. #I never thought I'd live long enough to even consider marriage ... when I was their age, I was fighting for my life.# Sinister, Apocalypse, and Stryfe's faces flickered through Nathan's memory - ~NATE,~ Domino thought at her husband over their psi-link. He gave her a sheepish smile, and received a rolling of violet eyes in return. "Sorry. Just humor me, OK ?" Nathan asked innocently while they headed for the hover-limo. "Where to for dinner, sir ?" Morgan called over her shoulder as she clambered into the limo. "Ah, growing Omega-class mutants. Were we ever that voracious ?" Domino quipped, following her children into the limo. #We were more focused on survival, then each other,# Nathan mused. #Essex and Nur went quickly, but Stryfe haunted me for the better part of high school ... and then Dom arrived ... and the twins ...# #Where did the years GO ?# The twins were old enough now to consider for enrollment at the Falls' Edge, Virginia Academy (built atop the site of the first XSE Headquarters, itself built atop the former headquarters of the second X-Factor team). Morgan, especially, seemed eager to go, instead of attending the Xavier Memorial Academy at Salem Center. #She's always been the military type, though - take-charge, gung-ho,# Nathan thought, buckling himself in and smiling at his kids. #But Payne ...# Nathan flinched inside as he caught his son's gaze. The boy nodded politely, his blue eyes distant, and he looked out the window in thought. #There's always been this blasted distance between us,# Nathan thought, chewing the inside of his cheek in frustration. #He keeps his mindshield tighter than a blast door, couldn't care one way or the other about the XSE, and is just so - QUIET.# #Remind you of anyone, Nathan ... ?# -------------------------------------------------------- #He's at it again.# Payne Summers tried not to look at his father - or his mother or sister, for that matter - and sighed. The Academy graduation ceremony had set his stomach churning. #I can't say a word. He won't listen. He never does,# Payne thought, fighting back his emotions. #It's just ... pointless.# To most of the world, Payne was a model son of an XSE officer - he got good grades, did his chores, listened to adults and worked hard at his powers. He kept quiet, but that wasn't necessarily unwanted in a potential member of the Extranormal Security Enforcers. It was a facade Payne had cultivated carefully. #Dad would have a fit if he knew I don't want anything to do with the XSE,# Payne thought, sneaking a nervous glance at Nathan. #Mom's - well, Mom. She's as much a part of it as Dad is. And Morgan is a good little soldier ...# Morgan shot her brother a glance, and telepathically "knocked" at his mindshield. ~No,~ Payne sent back, annoyance and fear roiling inside his mind. She KNEW he loathed telepathy; he almost never used his own power, except for honing his mindshield, and the thought of Morgan the Conqueror poking around in his mind positively terrified the boy. #She'll be a great XSE Commandant someday. I just wonder how far she'll go to get there,# Payne thought, deep down. "Fine," Morgan whispered in Payne's ear, a glower on her face. "Be that way." Payne edged as far away from her as possible, which only prompted another glower from Morgan. It wasn't her fault Payne was so uptight. #I wish I knew what he's so upset about. He's always like this when the XSE comes up,# Morgan thought, a seed of concern blooming in her mind. #I suppose it all comes from that day we saw Dad in the Danger Room -# The twins had been 5 years old - with much longer hair, Morgan mused - when they had first seen their parents at work. Nathan and Domino had been practicing a full-tilt combat simulation, and had allowed the twins to come into the Danger Room after the scenario was over. #It was a mess - the Fall of Doomstadt, I think,# Morgan tried to remember. #Lots of gore ... I understood then just how SERIOUS the XSE is.# She'd redoubled her efforts to be as good a potential XSE officer as she could be. The mess had been unsettling, but a talk with her parents had eased Morgan's fears. Payne, however, had had nightmares for a week. And shortly after that, he'd all but ceased permitting telepathic contact with anyone, even his twin sister. #I should ask Aunt Rachel to take a peek inside his head - Psionic Regs be damned,# Morgan thought, a brief spike of fear piercing her heart. #She's a psychologist, and Payne should be able to trust HER.# The girl shook her head imperceptibly; the Psionic Regulations of the Parahuman Equal Rights Act of 1998, rev. 2007, outlined strict rules for telepathic probing, which Rachel would never just flaunt on a hunch. The basic idea of the Psi-Regs had been drilled into the twins - and most of the other post-Lehnsherr-War telepaths - from infancy. But Payne seemed to take the regs to an extreme. #It's a two-edged sword,# Morgan thought, grimacing inwardly. #The Psi-Regs protect the headblind and peaceful telepaths from snooping by illegals, but they also help people keep secrets they probably shouldn't.# She gave Payne a more sympathetic glance, but he just seemed to ignore her. -------------------------------------------------------- Dinner had been mostly small-talk, and the driver had flown Nathan, Domino and the kids back to their Long Island summer-home. "Their" being a relative term, considering that it was the extended Summers' family's gathering place. Bobby Drake had once joked, amidst the joyous chaos of X-person reproduction that had been the summer of 2010, that Sinister had been right about the Summers family's genetic superiority. With four sets of twins born that year to the various mature branches of the Summers family tree, as well as a set of triplets to the senior branch, the Summerses were well-represented in the genetic census. That had only continued during the intervening 11 years, as various younger siblings followed the groundswell of Summers offspring. A disproportionate - albeit unsurprising - number of the children were born psis, which meant that the astral plane around the multi-room mansion was lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree. Payne hated it. #Mental privacy doesn't matter to ANYONE here,# Payne thought, barely managing to make it up the stairs to his bedroom. He activated the psi-screens at maximum strength, then changed into a pair of boxer shorts and threw himself into bed. #I should just tell him. At least then if he puts me out of my misery, it'll be quick,# Payne thought, swallowing down his fear. The door banged, provoking him to sit up with a glare. "Who is it ?" Payne barked, grabbing a robe from the corner of his bed. "Corwyn !" a younger voice yelled. "You OK ?" "Yes," Payne groused, managing not to snap as a red-headed face stuck itself in through a crack in the opening door. "I was trying to sleep, squirt." "Sorry," Corwyn, Payne and Morgan's 4-year-old cousin, said in a nervous voice. A nearly-manifested telepath (when he became excited, Cor tended to broadcast, but mercifully couldn't receive yet), the youngest - so far - of the Richards kids stood in the doorway with large, worried green eyes. "It's OK ... I'm just tired," Payne said. He sat on the edge of the bed, and let the younger boy telekinetically bounce into the room to land beside him. "It's only 7," Corwyn enthused, looking at Payne with a grin. "Wanna come play football ?" "We're not the Kennedys, Cor. Besides, the way you play football, somebody's likely to get a premature flying lesson into the pool," Payne chuckled. "Maybe tomorrow, OK ?" Corwyn nodded, then bounded out of the room, not quite flying. #Wish my life was that simple,# Payne thought, tekeing the bedroom door closed with a sigh. #The old man'll never let me just ... live ...# Darkness enfolded him, even with the sounds of a splash coming from outside. -------------------------------------------------------- She could sense his hesitancy. "Well ? What's the great secret, O Lord High Master of the XSE ?" Domino joked from where she sat curled on the love seat. "No great secret. I just picked up registration forms for the twins," Nathan replied, shrugging as he dug in his briefcase on the couch. The rest of the adults - everyone under the age of 18 had been banished to bed by 9 p.m., except for Arawn Richards, who was out doing God only knew what - scattered around the master living room looked at Nathan in surprise. "Weren't you at least going to consult them ?" Rachel Summers-Richards - child psychologist and matriarch of the most robust branch of the Summerses to date - asked from within her husband's embrace. "Morgan'll be ecstatic. She might even smile," Frank Richards chuckled, nibbling on Rachel's ear. She swatted his hand with a naughty grin, then patted her swelling abdomen with the other hand. "We're on number 5.5, soon 6, you goob. And be nice - Morgan's not an emotionless drone," Rachel said. "Frank has a point, though. Morgan can be ... single-minded," Domino noted with concern, her brow furrowing. "Make that fanatical ..." "She's taken vacations with us. And I know she had a teddy bear once," Nathan said in a hurt tone. "It's not like I want her to be the Terminatrix or anything." "It's her way of relating to you, Nate. Morgan has a disturbing tendency to think that she has to be a good little soldier in order to earn your love," Rachel sighed. "Still, it's not entirely unhealthy, as long as she understands that you love her for just being her. Payne's the one I'm worried about." "It's unnatural, the way he just - flinches - when I try to reach for him telepathically," Jean Summers, the family doyenne, said in a grim tone from the other love-seat. "Neo-adolescent isolation is normal, but this has been going on ever since he was small." "It's not the telepathy that concerns me, Mom," Rachel interjected. "Payne always feels - trapped - to me, somehow, whenever the XSE comes up." "You don't think he's anti-XSE, do you ?" Nathan said, surprise in his tone. "That he's turning against the XSE to get back at me for something ?" "I think it's deeper than that, Nate," Rachel said, cocking an eyebrow at her stomach for a moment. "Whoa there, kidlet - sorry, Junior's practicing his or her karate. Seriously ... Deirdre and I both agree that Payne's repressing some serious emotional baggage. He's probably not the next Genarchist candidate, but somebody needs to get him to open up." "You're the shrink, Ray. Can't you just prescribe a jam session with Payne ?" Buffy Summers asked as she leaned over the back of her husband's chair. "The Psi-Regs are pretty strict about telepathic probing, Buff," Angel said, looking up at his bride. "I reviewed them recently when I updated my PI license. It'd take a serious emergency for Rachel to go plunging into Payne's head." "And there's the matter of my passenger," Rachel added, patting her abdomen again. "Baby isn't used to more than my mind or Frank's just yet. If I had to do a probe of Payne, there's a risk that the kidlet might get caught in the link, and an unborn psyche is not a good candidate for that." "Why is telepathy the only way to deal with this ? Maybe some grandfatherly discourse might ease the path," Scott Summers asked as he settled down beside Jean. "No offense, beloved, but if - God forbid - psychic surgery is necessary, you're not qualified for it," Jean purred. "MOTHER ! That's - eeurrgh," Rachel blurted, a disgusted look on her face. "It's 'psionic therapy,' not 'psychic surgery.' 'Psychic surgery' is a Farouk-ism, for heaven's sake !" "Charles also came up with the term, Ray. And please, don't suggest that I want to go carving up Payne's psyche in a cavalier or obscene fashion," Jean said reprovingly. She turned to Nathan and said, "Are you concerned that Payne's going to go and do something reckless in the immediate future ?" "Not specifically," Nathan said, glancing at Domino. She shook her head, and leaned back in her chair. "I have to agree with Big Mama," Domino chuckled dryly. Jean smirked at her daughter-in-law, who winked and added, "Lemme get the kid alone for five minutes tomorrow. Mothers have a talent for drawing these things out." "He hasn't been talking to you behind my back, has he ?" Nathan asked nervously. "No," Domino said in an exasperated tone. "Really, Nate. I WOULD come to you with anything about our children." "I know ... I just have this gut feeling that if Payne is feeling trapped, then he could go off. And I don't want that to happen," Nathan mumbled. "Well, you went and picked up those registration forms without asking the kids what they wanted. That smacks of conspiracy to a kid who's already afraid," Rachel warned. "Believe me, Nate, don't even mention the forms until you talk to Payne - and Dom, let Nate talk to the kid. Mothers can sense trouble, but fathers and sons have to air things out every so often." "Right, buddy ?" Frank laughed, patting Rachel's stomach. "I KNEW IT !" Scott laughed. "Pay up, Red !" "Fine, Slim," Jean muttered, rolling her eyes and giving Scott a $5 bill. "You had a pool going on my child's gender ?" Rachel snarled, glaring around the room as Jean's lap filled with $5s. "Well, you've been masking his psionic signature, like you always do," Nathan complained good-naturedly. "One word: Arawn. That alone should be reason enough to keep my unborns' minds shielded," Rachel said in an imperious tone. The rest of the adults turned grim for a long moment. -------------------------------------------------------- He couldn't sleep. #They're down there ... why do adults have to gossip about us ?# Payne sat up in the moonlight, the continuing nausea and fear eating away at his stomach. He got out of bed, pulled his robe on and glanced at the door - - before nearly screaming as a hand tapped him on the shoulder. "ARAWN ! What the FLONQ'RE you DOING !?" Payne hissed, spinning around to glare at his older cousin. "I was meditating on the emptiness of existence, and I felt the most delicious fear coming from this room," the 14-year-old boy replied in a disturbing voice. "If ever Goth had an avatar," Payne had once heard Domino say, "it's Arawn Richards." For whatever reason, Arawn had had an almost Thanos-like obsession with the dark side of life since infancy. Black was Arawn's only color of garb - not the utilitarian black of most others' skinwear, but a jet-black that unsettled and frightened. His red hair was shot through with black dye - despite Frank and Rachel's overt disapproval - and was unusually long for a post-Lehnsherr-War mutant boy, down to the nape of his neck. Arawn's powers were just as creepy, Payne remembered - "Relax. I'm not going to drain your lifeforce," Arawn hissed contemptuously. He assumed a lotus position upside down in mid-air, via telekinesis, and began to illuminate the bedroom with an unholy black light. "I'm here," Arawn continued, "to ask you a question: Is it the XSE you fear, or your father ?" "Stay OUT of my mind," Payne demanded, starting to shake. #Don't run, don't scream -# "Please. An Epsilon-class empath could read you like a holo-screen," Arawn shot back. "You're not annoying me with your terror, you know. A healthy fear of something adds spice to life. It's the plodding dolts like my siblings, or that militant sister of yours, that annoy me more." "GET OUT," Payne snarled, his eyes glowing. "I mean it, Arawn - you're a freak, and I don't want to be psycho-analyzed !" "Fine," Arawn replied, yawning as he disappeared into a convenient shadow. ~Just don't complain when you end up in an XSE prison, getting your mind turned into obedient sushi ...~ Payne exhaled, trying to wash out the adrenaline from his bloodstream and failing. #Freak. The XSE don't brainwash people. Even Morgan has to CHOOSE to join them,# the boy thought, climbing back into bed. He still couldn't sleep. -------------------------------------------------------- KNOCK-KNOCK #grmmh ...# Stumble. Click. "Morning," Nathan said gently, noting the look of raw terror on his son's face. "Hi," Payne mumbled, stepping aside to let Nathan enter the room. Father and son sat on the bed, and traded a hesitant first glance. "Payne ... what do you want to do with your life ?" Nathan began, trying to keep his voice neutral. The boy blinked, then gulped. "D-Dad ... I'm sorry, but I ... I don't want to join the XSE," Payne began, daring to look up at Nathan. He found himself wrapped in two large arms, and tried not to laugh nervously. "It's OK. You have every right not to join the XSE," Nathan said, leaning back and smiling at Payne - warmly, the boy noted. "I just want you to have a good life and be happy." "D-Dad - I -" Payne gulped, sniffling. "I'm sorry - I thought - but you're not - I -" Nathan hugged his son again, and just radiated comfort. -------------------------------------------------------- "HE'S COMPOST !" "Morgan, downshift !" Aidan Richards yelled as his cousin stormed up the stairs from the beach. "That flonqing - backstabbing - BACK OFF, RICHARDS !" Morgan snarled. She'd joined the rest of the pack of middle-school-aged cousins for a post-breakfast swim and tan session, but had felt a torrent of emotion from Payne's end of their psi-link. Then her father had told her telepathically of Payne's decision. "I knew he was hiding something - and Dad's OK with this !" Morgan raged, pulling her arm free of Aidan's grip. "Payne the sensitive one - spineless weasel, more like it ! We swore as preschoolers we'd join the XSE together - doesn't an oath between siblings mean anything !?" "Morgan, you were 4," Aidan said in a doubting tone. "Besides, Payne's got a right to -" "To WHAT !? Humiliate Dad and Mom ?! We're the children of the XSE's commandant, Aidan. We have a duty to follow in our parents' footsteps !" Morgan snapped, fighting back tears. #What other path could there be ?# Morgan thought, confusion and hurt roiling in her mind as she looked up at the house. ~Free choice. Which is something that maybe I never let you consider.~ Morgan's confusion turned to horror as Nathan appeared, with Payne, at the top of the stairs. Both were dressed in swim trunks, and Payne tried to smile at his sister. Morgan looked from her father to her brother as they approached, and she turned ashen. "My CHOICE would be to enter the XSE," Morgan said, starting to shake. "Excuse me, SIR - I have to be somewhere else." "Morgan - !" Payne called, watching her fly up to the house. He looked at Nathan with concern, but his father shook his head. "Let her have some time to herself. Your mother'll talk to her," Nathan said as he watched Morgan retreat. #Mothers and daughters have their moments also ...# -------------------------------------------------------- It wasn't hard to find Morgan's room. The scent of plasma-scorched body armor was evident on her doorstep. #That, and something a lot more rare,# Domino thought as she knocked. ~GO AWAY,~ Morgan sent, anguish filling the telepathic demand. "Not a prayer, sweetheart," Domino said. She opened the door, and found Morgan dressed in a skinsuit again, sitting on the bed. The girl wiped frantically at her tear-stained cheeks, then set aside the toy plasma rifle she'd been hugging. "Ma'am," Morgan mumbled. "Mom. Morgan, how long has it been since you called me 'Mom' to my face ?" Domino corrected gently, sitting down on the bed. "It's protocol," Morgan argued weakly. "It's not - we've never exactly had a normal mother-daughter relationship, have we ?" Domino sighed. She locked eyes with Morgan, then smiled and said, "I'm going to say the 'R-word.' Try it." "I loathe ... relaxation," Morgan said, choking on the last word. "Down-time is one thing, but ... relaxing ... is just a waste of energy." "So is obsession. Morgan, you're too rigid," Domino began. She held up a hand to cut off Morgan's complaint, and added sternly, "I worry about you. You're not -" "Pink dresses and tea parties ?" Morgan snarled. "Mother, you of all people should be able to relate to what a female has to do to be treated the same as a male in this world !" "It's not normal to sacrifice all your femininity in exchange for breaking the glass ceiling !" Domino replied angrily. "I'm not trying to say you should be some gushy little dip, Morgan. But you're more XSE than your dad is, and he's the commandant. You're an 11-year-old. Try to have some fun. Believe me, life flies by." Morgan sighed, then looked across the room at the one piece of non-XSE-related paraphernalia. The beat-up teddy bear floated into Morgan's arms, and she tried hugging it. "It won't bite," Domino said, smiling. "Actually, there was this one incident in 2012 where a deranged object-animator began causing stuffed animals to rob banks -" "Morgan. Just hug the bear." "... OK." -------------------------------------------------------- By the time he found her, the heat had already become nearly unbearable. "Hey," Payne said, smiling at Morgan. She'd changed back into her swimsuit, and stood at the railing of the stairs as he turned away from the ocean view. "Hey," Morgan said. She tried smiling, then laughed a bit when Payne reached out to her telepathically. ~I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you,~ Payne sent. ~I know. And I'm ... sorry I freaked,~ Morgan replied, squeezing Payne's shoulder. ~It's ... I just WANTED this, Payne. Why do Mom and Dad think I'm not XSE material ?~ ~Mor, we're 11. The main Academy program doesn't even start until 13 years old. Be a kid for a little longer, OK ? The Xavier Academy isn't that bad,~ Payne pleaded. Morgan hugged him, then stepped back. ~You've changed,~ she sent. ~And you're almost scaring me. Sure you're not a Skrull ?~ Payne sent back, cocking an eyebrow. They laughed, then turned back to watch the waves roll in - - and ducked a damp streak of ebon, as it chased a giggling red-headed figure and howled: "CORWYN !" -------------------------------------------------------- tbc ... ;) --------------------------------------------------------