Subject: (X-Men: Psylocke & Revanche) Portrait by Victor Moore Date: Tue, 7 May 2002 00:04:56 -1000 From: "Bic" "Portrait" by Victor Moore (bic@shaka.com) DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters. Marvel does. I'm just one of the many trying to help put character back into 'em because the owners no longer seem to care. Archival Status: Sure, just let the writer know. Please? *...* - Denotes telepathic conversation. His finger smudged graphite across the canvas. Dark areas formed quickly as he worked placing the shadows upon the white space. Blue eyes flickered across the models while his hand followed them, tracing the shapes of the nude women on the rough canvas. Once finished with the last line, he set the marking stick down and grabbed some oils. Cobalt blue oozed out of the tube and next to it yellow ochre, then a touch of sienna brown upon his palette. Dabbing the brush in the blue he began to apply it to board. It had been ages since he had painted like this, and even longer since he painted the models in particular. After the base coat, he mixed the three colors by smearing only the edges of each into the other. Before he could apply it, one of the models moved. "Please don't move, Elisabeth." "Sorry Peter." She answered while blowing the lavender curly bangs out of her blue eyes. "Tell me again why we agreed to do this?" The Asian woman quietly asked as she held her pose. She was sitting on the floor, her arms holding one of the other model's leg who sat on the edge of a bed, and her head semi-cradled by the other's arm and knees. "Because Kwannon, we wanted to see which of us would not be able to do this task and because Peter wanted to see if he could paint again." "You're Kwannon," Betsy told the Caucasian woman, "I'm Elisabeth Braddock." They glared at each other turning their heads from the artist. It was an old argument. One they fought over time and time again. Each believed to be the real Elisabeth Braddock. Revanche wanted nothing less than to destroy Kwannon so she could regain her life, her identity. Psylocke fought just as hard to in order to keep it. Which was truly correct neither knew. Both remembered times in Elisabeth's life before the Siege Perilous. Friends like Alison Dare and Linda McQuillan, loves lost like Tom Lennox and Douglas Ramsey, and the simpler times of playing the heroic knight who would protect her twin brother Brian, when they were children. Fleeing S.T.R.I.K.E. and Slaymaster with the other members of the Psi-Divison, the blinding of her vision by him some time later while she was Captain Britain, or how she almost gave into Mojo's and Spiral's manipulation of her mind if it wasn't for Doug. The remarkable irony of the situation was that while both claimed to be Elisabeth and had memories of her life, neither had any of Kwannon's. They were the dark mirror images of the other. One in Elisabeth's old body, and the other in Elisabeth's new one. "Ladies?" Came a snort from Peter. They turned, apologized quickly, and resumed their poses. Soon, the sounds of the brush hitting the canvas returned. *He's getting into this.* Betsy telepathically sent to Elisabeth. *He hasn't being painting much then?* *No. Not since before I sent him into the Siege that I know of. Come to think of it, he never did finish that portrait of me.* *It was of me, not you!* "Ladies, please." Weak smiles on their faces answered back at him. He shook his head slightly then went back to work. *As Jubilation would say, "busted!"* Betsy stated. *Since we both remember that time, for now let's say it was a portrait of us.* *Agreed.* Long minutes passed until Elisabeth started to giggle quietly. *At least Rogue isn't here to interrupt this session.* Betsy starting laughing herself, and soon both were hugging the other as their bodies shook from it. After forcing herself to take some deep breaths, she stated, "sorry Peter, we just remembered what happened the last time you did our portrait." His face turned a deep shade of crimson, clearly remembering the incident. Elisabeth had been posing wearing only a sheet on her bed, but the session was rudely interrupted when Rogue came crashing into the room landing in the bed with her. When the sheets and dust settled, the two women ended up in a very compromising position. They saw his blush and broke into laughter again. Moments later they wiped the tears from their eyes and returned to their poses so Peter could finish. Time passed by until Elisabeth broke the silence between them. *I still want my life back.* *I know, as I want mine. There are too many questions...* *...and not enough answers. So what do we do now?* *Tomorrow we go to Japan to get some of those answers.* *What if they're not there?* *I don't know. But that's tomorrow, for right now, it's Peter's turn... and ours. No rivalries, no arguments. Just you and I. And who knows, maybe he'll provide an answer to our question for us.* *As much as I hate to say it, you're right.* Absently, Betty patted Elisabeth's leg. Elisabeth responded just as absently by stroking the other's straight midnight-purple hair. Peter who smiled quietly to himself did not miss both gestures. ... "It's lovely!" Meggan exclaimed as Jean gave the gold-framed painting to Brian Braddock. "We just found it among some other items that were in one of Elisabeth's storage bins. Logan and I thought you should have it." Jean replied. Brian nodded his thanks, but she could she him fighting the tears that wanted to erupt from those blue eyes. So he hid it by placing the portrait over the fireplace in the main living room. When he was done, he offered to get the women some tea. Both Meggan and she agreed to the generous offer. "Piotr painted this didn't he?" "You can tell?" "It sings to me." Meggan stood and hovered over to the painting. "He stated that he was never any good, but that's false. No one could make an image convey so much emotion and truth as he did." Jean rose and examined it next to her. "It's very beautiful." "It's more than that. There's pain, sadness, and confusion in this piece, and yet there is understanding and hope as well. And that's what so perfect about it, it's her." "Who? Psylocke or Revanche?" Meggan shook her head and turned towards Jean, tears streaming from her eyes. "Neither. It's in their eyes, it's in the posture, and it's in the strokes of the brush. It's her. That's why this sings so much to me; it's why it's so perfect. Both of them are Elisabeth, and for that one moment in time they accepted it, together." -End Notes: This was based off a sketch I did for a Psylocke jam in the ECC and EAW artgroups. Before I knew it, the story wrote itself. This was intended to be my third in the 'Truths' series, but it just didn't quite fit. I know that, in the comics, when Kwannon crashed into the X-Men's lives, they immediately went to Japan to find answers. but this time period was the only time this story could've happened, because of Piotr's involvement. Please pretend they waited a couple of days, ne?