Arise X-man || New Beginnings
Dec. 24th, 2021 02:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsLaurie meets an unexpected contact in Floria
Laurie had always had money, not the amount that people like Warren Worthington and Emma Frost had, but she had more than enough to buy herself a plane ticket to Florida and a modest hotel suite that afforded her the basics of accommodations for a disabled woman on her own.
She'd wanted to come somewhere warm, and somewhere far away from the people who had completed the crippling they'd caused with their carelessness so many years ago. She hadn't known where to look for Nate after everything, and now that he had his cure from her, she suspected Dr. Essex would have no further use for her.
She hadn't read the letter Darcy left for her, had left it unopened on the island bench in the shared kitchen. Let them find it there and know that she didn't care what words they had to say, she was done with all of them.
She had decided to spend some time at the beach today, and a light breeze had kicked up from the sea to blow at the hair she used to cover the sunken skin of one side of her face. They'd explained to her that the multiple strokes had left one side of her body permanently damaged, the muscles there completely unresponsive.
She could barely walk now, and couldn't get more than a few words out at a time. If she hadn't been so damaged, so devoid of power she'd have killed them all the moment she awoke in their medlab.
"I have never understood the appeal of Florida. Imagine taking a place with the beauty of the tropics and then filling it with the most reprehensible people imaginable. Makes you long for a cleansing tidal wave."
And just like that, Essex appeared in front of her. He was dressed casually, a jaunty white hat perched on his head, eyes hidden behind an expensive pair of sunglasses.
She was startled, might be the most charitable word for it. She hadn’t thought she’d see anyone here, let alone Dr. Essex, no matter how much Nate might have pushed him to find her. She was a liability to the cause now with no powers and certainly several disabilities that would make anything she might have done for them before moot.
She wouldn’t have blamed him at all for leaving her behind. She’d certainly have done so herself.
“It has a beach, and is about as far as I could get from New York without going to California or leaving the country.” Laurie’s words were slurred into an almost incomprehensible mess but she tried anyhow. “Nate?”
"Nate is fine. More than fine, actually. He was utterly distraught when we had to escape or risk a confrontation with the X-Men. Normally, that kind of stress would have caused him to tear the car to pieces telekinetically or collapse with a vicious migraine. Instead, he kept control of his powers, even as he accepted the fact that we could not return. I assured him the X-Men wouldn't harm you." He cocked his head slightly. "Although it appears I was wrong. They must have interrupted the process prematurely."
“Good. I’m glad you were able to make him understand the need to keep himself safe.” Laurie’s gaze glittered with suppressed anger as she glanced up at him and gestured for him to join her on the beach if he would. “They thought they were saving me and blundered in without even attempting to bring in another of the scientists or doctors. I’d have done more than what they managed to do to me had my powers been working when I woke up.”
"A bit of advice. Revenge is always self-defeating. The best way to make them pay is to leave them behind for a better purpose." He looked up as a cool gust swirled in off the ocean. "I have a need for an assistant. Your medical background isn't necessarily the best suited for my needs, but I do know your character and your intelligence. I'm certain I can teach you the gaps in your knowledge."
“How?”
Laurie hated the slurring that made speech so difficult, and the amount of time and energy the previous attempt had taken. She’d have said and asked so many things. But how was the most important right now. As she was, she couldn’t possibly see any way in which she could do what he wanted her to do.
"You are a unique mind, Dr. Collins. My solution is...extreme. And dangerous. But I might be able to change your life and... my son has asked me to do everything I can do for you. And I can do much."
They had been working together for months, and he had trusted her with not just his son’s life but with his ultimate purpose. She couldn’t do less than trust him to help her now. And if the secondary benefit was to prove to everyone who couldn’t see what she was doing needed to be done, then that was just as well.
“Yes, then. Whatever is needed.”
"What if I told you I could fix all of this? The damage, even your arm? Are you willing to risk it?"
Laurie’s eyes closed, a grimace of pain crossing her features as she moved herself to a slightly more comfortable position. She’d lost so much, Hope especially. What he offered…Could it be?
She opened her eyes as tears glittered but didn’t fall from her lashes, and the desperate hope there was almost painful to behold.
“Don’t promise me anything you can’t do. But, if you can. I would do anything, be anything. Please.”
"It's extremely risky. I can't promise you'd survive it. But, there is an option there."
“It can’t be worse than this.” Laurie waved to all of her, including the cane, the sunken face, and drooping skin that she couldn’t bear to look at in the mirror anymore. “Death would be a release.”
"No. I've beaten God once. I can do it again. If you trust me." Essex held out a hand.
Laurie’s hand gripped his tightly without a moment of hesitation. She knew he would do everything in his power for her. If there was anyone she now trusted other than herself and Nate, it was Dr. Nathanial Essex.
Laurie had always had money, not the amount that people like Warren Worthington and Emma Frost had, but she had more than enough to buy herself a plane ticket to Florida and a modest hotel suite that afforded her the basics of accommodations for a disabled woman on her own.
She'd wanted to come somewhere warm, and somewhere far away from the people who had completed the crippling they'd caused with their carelessness so many years ago. She hadn't known where to look for Nate after everything, and now that he had his cure from her, she suspected Dr. Essex would have no further use for her.
She hadn't read the letter Darcy left for her, had left it unopened on the island bench in the shared kitchen. Let them find it there and know that she didn't care what words they had to say, she was done with all of them.
She had decided to spend some time at the beach today, and a light breeze had kicked up from the sea to blow at the hair she used to cover the sunken skin of one side of her face. They'd explained to her that the multiple strokes had left one side of her body permanently damaged, the muscles there completely unresponsive.
She could barely walk now, and couldn't get more than a few words out at a time. If she hadn't been so damaged, so devoid of power she'd have killed them all the moment she awoke in their medlab.
"I have never understood the appeal of Florida. Imagine taking a place with the beauty of the tropics and then filling it with the most reprehensible people imaginable. Makes you long for a cleansing tidal wave."
And just like that, Essex appeared in front of her. He was dressed casually, a jaunty white hat perched on his head, eyes hidden behind an expensive pair of sunglasses.
She was startled, might be the most charitable word for it. She hadn’t thought she’d see anyone here, let alone Dr. Essex, no matter how much Nate might have pushed him to find her. She was a liability to the cause now with no powers and certainly several disabilities that would make anything she might have done for them before moot.
She wouldn’t have blamed him at all for leaving her behind. She’d certainly have done so herself.
“It has a beach, and is about as far as I could get from New York without going to California or leaving the country.” Laurie’s words were slurred into an almost incomprehensible mess but she tried anyhow. “Nate?”
"Nate is fine. More than fine, actually. He was utterly distraught when we had to escape or risk a confrontation with the X-Men. Normally, that kind of stress would have caused him to tear the car to pieces telekinetically or collapse with a vicious migraine. Instead, he kept control of his powers, even as he accepted the fact that we could not return. I assured him the X-Men wouldn't harm you." He cocked his head slightly. "Although it appears I was wrong. They must have interrupted the process prematurely."
“Good. I’m glad you were able to make him understand the need to keep himself safe.” Laurie’s gaze glittered with suppressed anger as she glanced up at him and gestured for him to join her on the beach if he would. “They thought they were saving me and blundered in without even attempting to bring in another of the scientists or doctors. I’d have done more than what they managed to do to me had my powers been working when I woke up.”
"A bit of advice. Revenge is always self-defeating. The best way to make them pay is to leave them behind for a better purpose." He looked up as a cool gust swirled in off the ocean. "I have a need for an assistant. Your medical background isn't necessarily the best suited for my needs, but I do know your character and your intelligence. I'm certain I can teach you the gaps in your knowledge."
“How?”
Laurie hated the slurring that made speech so difficult, and the amount of time and energy the previous attempt had taken. She’d have said and asked so many things. But how was the most important right now. As she was, she couldn’t possibly see any way in which she could do what he wanted her to do.
"You are a unique mind, Dr. Collins. My solution is...extreme. And dangerous. But I might be able to change your life and... my son has asked me to do everything I can do for you. And I can do much."
They had been working together for months, and he had trusted her with not just his son’s life but with his ultimate purpose. She couldn’t do less than trust him to help her now. And if the secondary benefit was to prove to everyone who couldn’t see what she was doing needed to be done, then that was just as well.
“Yes, then. Whatever is needed.”
"What if I told you I could fix all of this? The damage, even your arm? Are you willing to risk it?"
Laurie’s eyes closed, a grimace of pain crossing her features as she moved herself to a slightly more comfortable position. She’d lost so much, Hope especially. What he offered…Could it be?
She opened her eyes as tears glittered but didn’t fall from her lashes, and the desperate hope there was almost painful to behold.
“Don’t promise me anything you can’t do. But, if you can. I would do anything, be anything. Please.”
"It's extremely risky. I can't promise you'd survive it. But, there is an option there."
“It can’t be worse than this.” Laurie waved to all of her, including the cane, the sunken face, and drooping skin that she couldn’t bear to look at in the mirror anymore. “Death would be a release.”
"No. I've beaten God once. I can do it again. If you trust me." Essex held out a hand.
Laurie’s hand gripped his tightly without a moment of hesitation. She knew he would do everything in his power for her. If there was anyone she now trusted other than herself and Nate, it was Dr. Nathanial Essex.
