Backdated just a bit, to 6 pm.

[x-mactaggart.livejournal.com]

Moira's still a little bit unsettled by what she saw early and Nathan asks her about it. They talk but can't really figure it out.





"... Ray, sweetie, please don't make me chase you under the table. Dad's back is killing him," Nathan said plaintively. Mocking baby laughter proceeded to emanate out from under the aforementioned table. Then there was a banging noise. "Ray... what are you doing?"

"Mwahahah."

"Rachel."

The banging abruptly stopped as Moira came into the room and chased after the baby herself. "Rachel stop hidin' under there...gotcha...nay, nay, tha's mummy's blouse." There was a sigh. "Alright, chew on mummy's blouse, tha's fine." Finally, she reemerged, looking trimuphent, if messy, with baby in hand. "Why does she never listen to ye?" she asked.

"Because she knows I'm a pushover," Nathan grumbled, settling back into the couch and trying to ignore the way the muscles in his back were spasming. "Fundamentally, I mean. Don't you, precious?" Rachel squealed and waved her hands widely, and Nathan raised an eyebrow, looking from her to Moira and then back again. "What is she picking up from you?" he asked a bit quizzically.

"Let me put 'er down first?" Moira asked, though it was clear as day that she was agitated. "I can put 'er in 'er play pin since I dinnae think th' wee one 'ere will actually go ta sleep if I put 'er down for a nap. " When she gave her daughter a critical look, the baby giggled and shoved her fist in her mouth. "Do me a favor an' get me somethin' ta drink? I'll be back in a 'alf a second."

Nathan nodded, pushing himself wearily back to his feet as Moira vanished briefly with Rachel. He probably ought to be moving around a little anyway. Pouring himself and Moira both a glass of the fruit juice in the fridge, he went over and sat down at the table, if not before grabbing the back-up bottle of painkillers out of the cupboard above the sink.

It took a few minutes for Moira to convience Rachel to play with some of her toys and the baby settled down when she realized that she could still see Mummy through the door.

"Thank ye," she said to Nathan, greatfully picking up the glass and leaning over to give him a peck on the cheek. "I seem ta 'ave been hallucinatin' today." She liked being straight to the point.

Nathan stared at her, his glass frozen halfway to his lips. "... okay then." He frowned at her. "It wasn't spillover from me, was it? I thought I had the link shielded up tightly when I was in the Danger Room..." She'd stopped in while Amelia had been checking him out in the infirmary, of course, and he'd given her the basic of what had happened in the scenario.

At that, Moira shook her head and sat down. "Nay, nothin' like a spillover, th' link was pretty tightly shut durin' tha'. I know ye'll keep this ta yerself because, really, 'tis more personal than I would 'ave imagined." Taking a sip of her drink, she continued, "When I was goin' back ta my office today, I saw Charles in th' 'alls. But, well, he was walkin'."

"Walking," Nathan said softly, wondering. He tilted his head at her, then reached out, his fingers brushing her cheek for a moment as he reached down the link. "... there's nothing wrong with you," he said. "Nothing out of the ordinary in your mind that I can see."

"Tha's reassurin'," she smiled at him. "I went ta see Charles but we dinnae do much talkin', jus'...sat. An' thought ta ourselves. It was odd an' a wee bit...out o' place."

"Well, uh, yeah." Nathan frowned a bit, lowering his hand. "We've had weirder around here, and God knows I'm the last one to be looking at anyone else askance for hallucinations, but still..." He shook his head a little, then took a sip of his juice. "I wonder what caused it. Spillover from someone else's powers, maybe? Those terrifying little blond girls playing nasty practical jokes?" Nathan did not like the Stepfords.

Moira whacked him softly in the hand. "Stop tha'," she said gently. "But I dinnae know...maybe I'm more tired than I thought. An' tis somethin' I've always wondered about since I've always known 'im ta be in th' wheelchair. I dinnae know 'ow much would be changed, how much it would be th' same."

"You have been working too much lately," Nathan conceded, then raised an eyebrow at her. "And don't make that 'you hypocrite' face at me, MacTaggart. It's a fair observation." He smiled a bit, sipping at his juice again. "I can see where what you saw might make you a little pensive, though," he went on more quietly.

"Charles is among my oldest friends," Moira said, staring down at the table. Despite the well-natured teasing that half the mansion fell under that category, it was true. "But I'm nay sure 'ow much bein' put in tha' chair changed him an' 'tis somethin' I've never asked. Nay even today. So, aye, 'tis quite a shock ta 'ave seen tha'."

"Paths not taken," Nathan said pensively. "Whenever that comes up, it's always about choices we never made. But it's the situations where we don't have choices that change us the most."

"Trust a precog ta be cryptic," she teased, shoulders relaxing some. "But after today, 'ow're ye 'oldin' up? Ye move like yer old."

"I'm going to be pretty sore in the morning," Nathan said with a little shrug, "but not too bad, I guess. I really need to have a talk with Scott when he gets back about remembering that I don't have a healing factor." He hadn't told her about the conversation with Angelo. Mostly because he wasn't sure what to think about any of that yet.

"A hot shower an' some asprin will do ye wonders. But, aye, let Scott know as soon as he gets in. My whatever it was...I think can stay pretty quiet for rigth now."

Nathan nodded slowly, smiling a bit. "Can't have the kids knowing you're hallucinating. They'd start casting aspersions on the coffee again."

At that, Moira snorted heavily. "There's nothin' wron' wit' my coffee," she protested. "Jus' because someone discovered it also cleans th' silverware..."

Nathan laughed softly and reached out with his free hands, closing it over hers. He couldn't think of anything to say for a long, long moment. "I need to go to Tel Aviv soon," he said finally. "Not just to check up on the office. I need... to see Ani and the others, I think."

"They'd like tha'." Twisting her hands in his, she traced the patterns of his hands softly. "An' it'll do ye all a world o' good. They sound like they're gettin' settled but, still, heartaches 'eal over th' surface faster than they do deeper within."

"Ain't that the truth. I think I just need to see them settling in, too," Nathan said pensively. "I'll head over for a couple of days sometime soon. I'm sure my band of loyal minions can handle this office until I get back."

"Rahne will be arrivin' at an earlier time than even ye get there," she teased. "Everythin' will be in good hands."