xp_logs | Forge and Crystal - Old is New (Reply)

With five minutes left to the end of their second 2007, Crystal and Forge find themselves alone in the kitchen of Forge's parents' home, refilling flutes of champagne. Cortez's name is mentioned and surprises are had on both sides.

Forge leaned against the counter in his parents' kitchen, concentrating on holding his arm steady as he poured the stream of bubbling liquid into the champagne flute. Although he'd been off the cane and walking reasonably steady for a few days, the occasional bout of numbness and minor shakes in his prosthetic limbs still troubled him. He found, however, that if he relaxed, the small tremors would subside and allow him to gracefully top off his glass and set the heavy bottle back on the counter without spilling a drop.

Crystal floated into the kitchen, holding her own glass. "You see? The home videos were neither horrible nor boring. Quite entertaining, actually, just as I told Amanda I expected." She smiled slightly as the bottle of champagne lifted into the air and tilted down, champagne filling the nearly-empty glass Crystal held under the bottle.

"Yes, my mother loves those old videotapes so," Forge said, taking a sip of the champagne and grimacing. "I am never going to develop a taste for this stuff. Ugh. Traditional, though. So it's been an... interesting year. Or longer, depending on who you ask." He smirked a little to himself, then shook his head. "Nevertheless - in 2007 I can say that I was chewed on by dinosaurs, yanked out of the time-space continuum, got to go into space, and nearly died in the middle of the Croatian wilderness. Next year has got to be a step up."

"You went into space?" Crystal raised an eyebrow, the bottle returning to an upright position before it gently settled onto the counter. "When was this?"

Forge nodded. "Technically, I suppose I was in the upper atmosphere. Weightless for a matter of seconds, etc. X-Men stuff, that evacuation a few months ago? Yeah. I can't exactly talk about the details, but suffice to say that good was done, lives were saved, and a specific threat's wiped off the board." He took another sip of the champagne and coughed slightly. "Two steps forward, one step back, though. That's how it feels some days. I swear, if I see Milan or Cortez again..."

The name "Cortez" made Crystal freeze. Anything she had been going to say before that was completely wiped out of her mind; her thoughts could concentrate only on that name. Of course she knew it couldn't be the same Cortez, though; Forge couldn't be talking about the one who had helped Maximus, the one she had met only briefly but who had affected not only her life but the lives of every Attliani citizen. A wave of memories flooded over Crystal and her hands shook slightly, her entire body beginning to tremble. It was a name she hadn't thought of for a while, thoughts she hadn't allowed herself to think of, memories she thought she had accepted but clearly hadn't.

Setting his glass down, Forge strode across the kitchen floor to take Crystal's from her hand before she spilled the champagne. "Hey, you all right?" he asked quietly. "Do you need to go upstairs and lie down for a bit?"

"I... no... what?" Crystal stared blankly at Forge for a moment. "No, I... I am fine, thank you. I... that name, it startled me, that is all." Crystal took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "Maximus had a... a 'friend' who helped him. He also had the last name of Cortez. I am sure that you are not speaking about the same person, but the name..." Again, a blank stare came over her face for a moment before she continued speaking, softer this time, almost a whisper. "Maximus would never have dared to use me to take down a plane had he not had Cortez there to amplify my abilities, I am sure of it."

Forge's hand twitched into a fist, shattering the champagne flute in his metal grip. "Son. Of. A. Bitch," he swore in a barely-restrained hiss. He stepped briefly away from Crystal, silently dropping the broken glass into a nearby rubbish bin and dropping a thick dish towel over the spilled wine on the floor. "Your parents, everyone on that plane. That was his fault. He..."

In a moment's recollection, Forge could feel Fabian Cortez's fingers against his throat again, that rush of power expanding his mind beyond any barrier he'd ever thought possible. Shaking his head, he looked out the kitchen window into the backyard of his parents' home."He got to me too," he finally said.

"He... what?!" Crystal's eyes widened. The same person... Forge was talking about Fabian Cortez, the same person who had touched her and amplified her powers, the person who had made her strong enough to fell an airplane from the sky with but a thought. "Where is he now?" Crystal's voice grew stronger. "Did you capture him?"

With a sigh, Forge shook his head. "He got away. At the time, I was busy trying not to have my brain boil inside my skull. But I swear, if I'd have known it was him that--" He grunted in frustration, rapping one fist weakly against the windowsill and turning back to face Crystal. "If I'd have had the first inkling of who he was, believe me, I'd have... I don't know. I wasn't even much use against a stuttering spastic with delusions of Brotherhood."

Crystal nodded slowly. "Cortez also has 'delusions of Brotherhood'? Or is he a member already? He does not care who he hurts; he knew why Maximus wanted to intensify my abilities."

"Definite Magneto sympathizers, trying to get into his good graces," Forge explained. "I've given the team everything I know on them, and Doug's made his people aware as well. If... I hate to ask this, Crystal, but when we get back - if there's anything you can tell me about Fabian Cortez..." He stopped and waved a hand in front of his face dismissively. "No, no. Not now. I'm sorry. I asked you here to try and have at least a night to forget all the bad crap that's gone on. I'm sorry for bringing it up."

From the living room, he could hear his father calling something out, and could begin to hear the crowd on the television starting a countdown. "New year coming," he said with a forced smile. "Think we'll be able to make it better than the last?"

Whether Forge was speaking of the past twelve months most people had experienced or the past twelve months the two of them had experienced, the upcoming year simply had to be better. Again, Crystal nodded, forcing a smile of her own. "We can only hope."

Hope is the thing with feathers... a small voice said in the back of Forge's brain, and his smile turned genuine for a moment.

Perhaps it was the small amount of champagne, or the moment, or whatever it was, but somehow another part of Forge's brain got control of his mouth and managed to say "You know, there's a bit of a New Year's Eve tradition when it hits midnight..."

"Oh? What is it?" Crystal asked. "I know that different countries have different traditions, some taking place at the stroke of midnight, and other ones during the day."

Forge coughed slightly into his hand. "Well, you see, um, there's this thing on the stroke of midnight. I mean, um..." He could hear the subdued ten... nine... from the living room. "That is, if you're next to someone, you're supposed to, well..."

Crystal looked at Forge, waiting for him to complete the unfinished sentence. "You are supposed to what, Forge? I cannot know what I am supposed to do unless you tell me."

Three... two...

"Oh, the hell with it," Forge mumbled, leaning in to kiss Crystal lightly as the sound of cheering came from the television in the living room. Backing away to catch his breath, he cleared his throat awkwardly. "Um, so. Yes. Tradition, you see."

Crystal stood still, looking stunned. "I.. oh. Tradition. Yes, I see. Did you, ah, plan on doing that or you just... thought about it now?"

"Plan?" Forge looked as innocent as he was able. "I have no plan. Did it seem like I had a plan?"

"I... no, not really, but I did not know..." Crystal had walked into the kitchen after Forge, but he had asked her to visit his home, to come with him for New Year's, to meet his parents, and his mother obviously thought... "Happy New Year's. I would offer a toast, but I believe my glass was shattered and my champagne has been absorbed into the towel on the floor."

Forge reached over to the counter and handed her his mostly-full champagne flute, with a smile. "To a new year, then."