xp_logs | Forge and Crystal

After being informed of Forge's injuries, Crystal comes to see Forge in the medlab.

The subtle change in air pressure was enough to make Forge open his eyes - at least his right one, as the left was still bruised and swollen. Bright light resolved into a group of light and dark blurs, and the telltale mental fogginess that came with the painkiller haze.

Levering himself up to a sitting position, Forge tried to scratch at the bandages covering his left cheek only to wind up waving the bandaged stump of his left arm ineffectually. The IV lines in his right hand dragged as he tried to lift his arm, bringing a frown to his face. After blinking for a while, he felt a cool breeze ruffle his hair. It couldn't be from a window, he thought, no windows down here.

Blinking away the last of the blurry haze, he finally looked down to the foot of the bed and smiled weakly. "Oh. Hello," he managed to rasp out. "If I'd have known you were coming, I'd have cleaned up a bit."

"Angelo told me that you were hurt," Crystal said, looking at Forge. Her voice was detached, her face the impassive mask that she had worn so often before, things that had probably had contributing roles in earning her the apparent reputation of being someone without feeling, even though it was the opposite that was true.

Forge's brow furrowed. "He did? But he wasn't there, he... I'm in the medlab, aren't I? In the mansion?" He glanced around, then closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. "Yes, of course I am. I don't... did he tell you what happened?" he asked.

"I did not question him," Crystal told Forge, not moving. "He told me of your injuries, and here I am." The royal teleporter was busy elsewhere; otherwise, Crystal would have been there hours earlier.

Forge nodded without opening his eyes. "A call came in, your standard 'my child's a mutant, can you help?' call, right? Routine. Except it was a trap. Brotherhood. They tried to get information out of us, information none of us had because it doesn't exist..." Forge's voice grew strained as he gritted his teeth, the obvious jolt of pain showing on his face. He leaned back into his pillow to calm himself down.

"We escaped, and they came after us," he said. "Kyle went down, and I saw Nimrod coming after them. He's... the guy's a one-man army. Jan and Terry weren't even prepared, he'd have killed them and Kyle in an instant. Someone had to slow him down." He motioned to his face. "I bought them some time. It sounds dumb, but... okay, it was dumb."

Crystal gave an imperceptible nod. "So you decided to allow him to try to kill you instead." There was only a slight questioning tone in what came across as being more of a statement than an actual question.

"It was logical," Forge said quietly. "I stalled him long enough for Jan and Terry to get Kyle to safety, and then... I remember a helicopter, and I think I saw Garrison. Clarice was with me in the hospital, I think she teleported me there. Everything's a little bit fuzzy." He fidgeted with his right hand, trying to pull at the IV shunts, but Amelia had apparently expected his noncompliance and had taped them in such a way that with only one arm he couldn't interfere with them.

"She teleported you to the hospital and then you were brought here?" Crystal frowned slightly. "You do not appear to be in a condition where you should be doing any sort of moving about and traveling."

Forge shook his head. "Wasn't safe there. Too many humans -civilians - totally defenseless if the Brotherhood came looking for me. Nothing's wrong with me that won't heal. In time, anyway. Or, you know, with a little work." He raised his left arm awkwardly, peering at where the bandages ended. "I'm probably going to have to reinforce the humerus attachment, and reconfigure the myomer alignment, but I'd been considering that anyway, I mean, it kind of hit me: why am I restricting myself to mirroring human biology anyway? It's my arm, I mean." He gave an odd one-shouldered shrug, then frowned again. "I'm rambling, aren't I? It's the..." he motioned at the IV drip. "I asked them not to give me painkillers, I hate what they do to my brain. It's like trying to run through mud."

"I am sure that you would also hate the feeling of pain that you would be in without the painkillers," Crystal pointed out. "Do you have other ideas for a different type of arm?"

Forge turned his head slightly to look at Crystal with a small smirk. "Pain's nothing new to me. You think losing an arm and a leg feels like fluffy kittens. I need to be up and moving. Doing something." Before Crystal could answer, he held up his hand. "I know, I know. I need to be resting and healing. And you," he said in a sharp tone, pointing at Crystal, "were taking a vacation, weren't you?"

"I was in Attilan," Crystal told Forge. "I was not planning on going anywhere else until next week." She paused for a moment. "Do you need to stay here while you recover? At Xavier's, I mean. You could come back to Attilan with me. We do have proper medical facilities there, after all." She couldn't help but wish Clarice had teleported Forge to Attilan, not that she would have expected Clarice or anyone else to think of that. It would have left out the need for human involvement in what had happened.

"I want to," Forge said after a brief moment of silence. "But I can't. I just... I can't run away from this, Crystal. There's nothing more I want right now than to just be somewhere on a beach with you and turning the rest of the world off. But... it's not about what I want, it's about what has to be done."

He remained silent for a moment, then slid himself sideways, clearing a spot on the bed. "But I wouldn't mind hearing how things are back home."

Crystal stood motionless for a moment longer, then sat down on the bed next to Forge. She wasn't quite sure what he meant about 'what has to be done', and she was fairly certain she wasn't fond of it, whatever it was, but she wasn't about to question that now. "If you do not feel that you can leave, I will stay here for now."

Forge smiled at that and placed his hand on top of hers as another wave of exhaustion washed over him. He felt his eyelids grow heavy and squeezed his girlfriend's hand. "You going to be here when I get up?" he asked quietly.

Crystal nodded, a faint smile on her face. "Yes. I will be here when you get up. You should get some rest now."

"Rest... is good. Yes. Good." Forge mumbled out before settling back into the pillow and closing his eyes again.

Crystal leaned over and kissed his forehead gently. Travel plans could wait; she could stay here for now. She would not leave him alone now, not like this.