Family Reunion

Summary:
February 23rd, 2016: Cable invites Jean Grey over to give her the answers she was looking for. She meets Rachel Summers for the first time.

Cable's Safehouse, New York

One of Cable's many safehouses.


Characters

NPCs
None


Mood Music:


It's New York City. Maybe. Probably. Undoubtedly. This apartment doesn't look like most of the others in the building, however. It's small, non-descript from the outside, but on the inside, it's a veritable technological playground. There's little in the way of personal ameneties; a couch. A chair. A table. But in the bedroom, instead of a bed, there is a wall full of monitors, a chair and a table that runs across the back wall with empty pizza boxes that carry the stains of some rather strangely topped pizzas. (Even Domino doesn't ask.)

Cable is in the back room, standing at the monitors as they show areas all around the world; major cities and farmlands. War. Protests. Every day life. Idyllic scenes. All play rapidly across the span of screens, and Nate stands… and watches it all, taking it all in.

Some time ago, the time-displaced mutant sent a call by what he calls 'the brain phone' to Jean that said simply, «Answers.» and an address. The address to this place.


It had been a few months since Nathan had rescued Rachel and brought her back to the present, giving her enough time to recover from her ordeals before reuniting with the only family she's known once more.

Stepping up behind Cable, Rachel places a hand on his shoulder, "Is it ok that I'm nervous?"

Rachel's head spins as she thinks back to the last memories of her mother, taken away from her when she was still young, "She's going to look just like the last time I saw her. I hope she likes me." Meeting your dead-mother in an alternate universe, it was a big deal.


The message was received loud and clear. She didn't tell anyone where she was going. This was supposed to be a meet between the two of them, where questions that went unanswered will be answered, truths revealed maybe? Something. There was a little bit of ire though, she didn't really understand the similarities between Nate and Nathaniel. Their connections to Rachel. Cable saying to not go looking for her.

Instead of figuring out the important things, she nearly got herself killed in the Negative Zone. Good one, Jean.

But she was out. VW bug acquired from the garage, warmed up just enough to blow heat through the vents, jacket zipped up and seat belt tugged on because.. safety first kids. Buckle up so you don't kill yourself and anyone else. I'm talking to you two!

And then she was off.


Cable twists around to see Rachel, and it almost seems as if the years pour from his face, leaving him simply 'Nate'. He's given up on the weirdness that he's now older than his big sister. Age and timelines.

"She's going to love you, Rach. Nate's opened his mouth about a few things, and I have no idea how much. But, this much is certain. She's ready for her little girl."

Now, it's just a matter of how much Nate is going to divulge. Nathan, that is. Cable. "This is gonna get tricky because she's not stupid." She's as smart, if not smarter, than the pair. "I really wouldn't mind being born. As crappy as that sounds." He does shrug a little offhandedly and mutters, "All the other stuff I probably could have done without…"

There's a pause before, "She's almost here." Quick, hide? No…


Nate and Nate. It wasn't confusing at all, except the fact that they had different last names and what Rachel knew about Nate Grey she had learned from her brother, "Right, the other - uh - Nate. I'm going to have to meet him to, he sounds interesting." It was still a bit weird for her, that the other Nate knew so much about her; then again Time Travel was like that.

Rachel considers it for a moment and thinks back to the many times she was caught as a child by Jean, "We should just tell her the truth. Mom's never been the kind of person that you could skirt the truth with."

She draws her big brother into a hug, straining to give him a kiss on the cheek, "Even if you weren't born, you were still the cutest baby I've /ever/ seen. EVER in any timeline."

Hide? No that wouldn't work. Deep breaths.


What was funny was the drive itself wasn't that long. Mentally, it seemed like it was hours. But she was there, outside of the questionable safehouse, not bothering with locks or anything that barred her entry from the apartment at hand. Call it eager, possibly paranoia, but they could possibly feel that looming forebodance making it's way through the hall with a click of booted heels and hands tucked into her jacket.

There wasn't a knock, only the focus upon the door as the lock twists and turns itself along with the knob of the door, which was soon pushed open with a gentle nudge and entry.

At least this place wasn't a shithole.

Small, spartan. Just like she herself kept her own room. Devoid of pictures and memories that would make shoulders slump. She turns, closing the door behind her, not quiet enough to mask her entry since they would know that she was there to begin with.

« Here. »


Nate returns his sister's hug, releasing her soon after, a chuckle sounding in his throat at the affection. "Thanks." He's a long way from that time, but it's kinda nice. Been a long time since he's had any family around him. Now?

The appearance of Jean to the apartment brings Cable out of the back room. He's missing his drover's coat, but he's got the button down shirt and cargo pants, with boots. He's also back to projecting his illusion, creating the appearance of living flesh where there is all metal. He's in the short hall, and as he approaches, he's greeting her, "Didn't have a problem finding the place, right?" No, probably not. "Coffee? Tea? I might have some around the place."


Rachel steps out of the back room after Nate does almost timidly, she's nervous and it's taking everything inside of her not to get overly emotional. She had never got to say goodbye to her mother in her own reality, never even a chance to see her one last time before she died; now she was being given a chance to get to see her once more.

She has a joyous smile at the sight of Jean, her voice almost cracking so that all she can manage to say is, "Mom?" Inside of her head, she's repeatedly telling herself 'Don't Cry Rachel. Don't Cry Rachel.'


She held her breath as she heard the footsteps approach, but there were two. First she sees is Nathan, her lips pursing just a touch as she gives a shake of her head. "No. I found the place just fine. Iced water, would be great." She was still burning up on the inside from her trip to the negative zone, any normal person would think she had an extremely high fever. In fact, they'd rush her to the hospital, but she managed to keep herself contained. Weird, what that place can do to a person.

She was about to turn, to cross the expanse of the room to examine, to see how Cable lived, but the soft voice gives her pause and a slow turn into the red-headed girls direction.

She knows that face.

"Rachel?" She was shocked, shell shocked. She had a plan to find her after they've found the children.. but this? This..


There's a presence now; Nathan isn't far from Rachel even if he is yards away. There's a 'ghost' touch upon her shoulder, warmed. At the same time, he's nodding and getting a glass of ice water for Jean. "Rachel." Does he sound casual about it? Jerk. Maybe on the outside, but he's ready to give Rachel a telepathic hug to help. No matter what happens, they've got each other!

The water glass is filled manually; no tk this time. Ice cubes. Nate even walks the glass back to Jean, fully prepared to simply hold it for the time being while the girls get… (re)acquanted.


Rachel feels that reassuring presence and it helps, more than Nate would ever know, thank God they had each other even through time and space; it was a good pairing.

There was no chance for formality or worrying, Rachel rushed towards her mother to give her a hug, a fierce loving hug that she might not let go from in a timely manner unless Jean stops her, "Mom! I never thought I would see you again." Even if she knows this Jean isn't the same one who gave birth to her, in her mind she can only hope they are similar enough to be one and the same.

"I've missed you so much. I'm sorry if this is weird." It had to be weird. Most Soap Opera's couldn't compete with alternate reality/future children popping up before you're even married.


Jean doesn't move away from Rachel once she's pelted with hugs. Her eyes were wide of course, for when Cable said not to look for her, it made her want to find her all the more. Not to mention, the memories she's gleaned from Scott once he mentioned her, his reactions, how he felt. In that moment, Jean felt the same way. But, Jean couldn't hug her back. She just couldn't.

Her arms were trapped at her sides!

It was weird, definitely. She couldn't really find the words to speak but.. she was healthy. And Rachel was beautiful, just like the memories that were shared. Her arms curl up to try to lightly pat the young woman upon the back, not wanting to do away with the hug, but certain things needed to be addressed, which draws that green gaze towards Nate. Nathan. Which ever!

"Is this the reason as to why you said to not look for her? That it wasn't a good idea? You kept her here.. all this time?"


Cable stands there, though he has to look away, giving Rachel her moment with her mother. Every girl needs her mother at some point, they say. He goes from looking away to 'finding something to do', even if it's clearing off a couple of empty pizza boxes from the table, setting the ice water down before doing so.

Well, Nate is short for Nathan. And Cable's gone by 'Nate'. Not his fault there's another one! He didn't do it!

Maybe his voice sounds a little more hoarse than it should, or barring that, a touch deeper as he first nods and then answers. He didn't lie! Sort of. Mostly. "Yeah, well. It wasn't a good idea."


It doesn't take being a telepath for Rachel to figure out the hug has gone on long enough and she reluctantly lets go. For her, it had been a dream to see Jean Grey alive once more.

"It's not like he kept me here or anything. He saved me and I was a mess after, I just wanted time to recover. I had my own place, it's not like I stayed here." Rachel smiles, trying to be reassuring and of course it was all one-hundred percent truthful.

What she doesn't say is that the condition she was in when Cable rescued her; any reunion would have been a pity party.


"It wasn't a good idea?" Jean, in all of her niceness and selfishness, was allowed a few moments of random outbursts. Given the past few days, weeks, she was allowed it. Owed it. Cable had done enough to make her a little bit angry by dodging questions, so once the hug was released her hand snatches up, that little bit of tk she displays for the moment seeking to snuff the breath from Cable's throat. "Who gave you the right?"

With her waxing and waning powers as of late, there was a little bit of unsurity if it took, but still, the fire went up within her eyes until Rachel's words eased the tiny bit of anger that she felt. So she lets up, quick enough for the attempted choking to be something fleeting, quick enough for the fire to be snuffed as she takes a look at Rachel once more. Her hands reach up to cup the young womans face if allowed, looking her over, up and down, just a doctor would.

"Scott.. he wanted to look for you."


Nate doesn't keep his shields up when he's home. There's no reason to, right? The 'attack' draws his breath, pulling it from him. It's instantaneous, the pushback, as if a physical hand went for his throat, and an armblock comes up to dislodge. He's pushed back a step, but there's nothing that comes as a defensive counter. The boxes are set back onto the table, and he straightens, "No. It wasn't."

This isn't going to well for the large mutant; at least something good is coming out the meeting. For Rachel. "Everything in it's time."

Time.


Rachel doesn't stop jean from touching her face, she wouldn't dream of it; since this was of course, the closest thing to a living dream she's had since the nightmares in her timeline became reality.

"I'm glad he didn't. I didn't want anyone to see me when I was weak, I didn't need pity. I just, want to be loved by my family again." Her words are beyond sincere, her eyes staring back into Jeans; all too familiar since they had the same eyes.


Jean gives Nate a look. One that spoke volumes. Volumes such as, 'If you say anything else, I will bend you over my knee.' Be damned at how old he was, spankings were still due. So were answers. But for now?

She draws in a breath, her brows lowering into a slight look of disbelief. "Pity?"

"You think that allowing people to see you at your weakest moments draws out pity?" Her hand draws from her cheeks now, reaching for her hands to grasp them, holding them tight. "Friends.. family.. we don't show pity to each other. Concern, caring, love. When one of us is cut down, hurt.." She squeezes her hands before letting go, "..close to dying. There is no pity there. Do you understand me?"


Cable clears his throat and first looks down, then away. He opens his mouth to say something, and closes it again. And opens it once again, and closes it. A drawn out sigh exits the large man before he wanders to the kitchen to try and brew himself a cup of coffee. With time also comes understanding. (Maybe.)


"I.." Rachel trails off, not quite sure how to respond for what seems like an eternity even if it is only for a few seconds, "I understand.. Mom. I'm sorry I waited so long." There was no sense making any excuses, Mother was always right.

She motions Nathan closer, "We're all together now though, again." She knew, at some point, they all had been, when Nathan was a baby, but it wasn't the same Jean or was it? Her head hurt just trying to think about it in any detail. A side effect of having gone through so many different realities and timelines no doubt.


Cable was right in leaving the glass of water upon the table, leaving the room completely. For Rachel's words draw her back into the here and now; the main reason as to why she came, seeing her other-worldly-different-timeline-displaced-almost-as-old-as-she daughter was just a bonus. She takes a step back as the young woman motioned Nate closer, her hands falling away, keeping that little bit of distance as the words play a chord which draws her head towards the side just a touch.

"Again." Her eyes shift towards Cable, then Rachel. "Who is he to you?"


"Her psi defenses were down. She'd been drained almost completely. It wouldn't have been fair to put her in a group that was going to be so close to her. At least when she was near me, I could help shield her." As far as he's concerned, Nate believes that it was the best course of action, and he's not going to apologize for it. Unapologetic Cable.

Nate moves forward to stand near Rachel. As far as he's concerned, it's still her moment, even though it looks as if things are jumping the tracks. He promised answers. He didn't say which questions, however. Rachel's presence is something of an answer. It's the question of the evening, however, that Jean asks, and he looks down at his sister before he bobs his head once. This can either be 'good' or very bad. Maybe he should have just stayed away.


Rachel really had no idea that Jean didn't know who Cable was up until this point and it hadn't been her intention to spill the beans if he hadn't but now it seemed like she had no choice, "He's my brother."

It was half of the truth, Jean would be able to tell Rachel was not giving the other half of the story, call it Mother's intuition.

Rachel felt like it was best to leave the rest of the story to Cable.


Unapologetic Cable was about to be sent to his room without snacks. Jean was slightly irritated with the looming man but softened her features. She had to relent on this. Being angry wasn't going to get her very far, for it was in the past and what was done was done. It was in that moment, she decides to let it all go. And for good reason. For the very words that came out of Rachel's mouth had Jean turning away from her so that she could stalk towards the couch and sit upon it, visibly shaken.

These three; they were nothing but human lie detectors. There was no hiding the truth from either of them, so Jean knows that Rachel was not lying. But she was also holding back. But.. she really didn't care.

Three of them were here in this time, and one of those Scott didn't know about. He's always liked the name Nathaniel.. gosh, her head was starting to hurt.


Nathan. The other guy is 'Nathaniel', mother.

"Half-brother. You weren't my mother. A woman named Madelyn Pryor was." Who was your clone. That dad married first. "Nathan Christopher Charles Summers." That hits pretty much everything. "Rachel's my half sister that saved my life. Countless times." The truth. The god's honest truth.

"When I was growing up," FORTY centuries in the future, "a 'you' and a 'Scott' were the only parents I ever knew. You both raised me, well… and Rachel, until I was about 13."


Rachel remembers some of what Nathan is saying, but for the most part it's hazy memories and fuzzy images; the feelings are there though. She isn't sure what to add to any of it, so she just approaches Jean and sits down on the couch beside her, "I'm sorry, if this is a lot to deal with all at once."

She looks to Nathan, an apologetic look on her features that she spilled the beans. She was as bad as this other Nate.


Her hand reaches up to lightly rub atop of her head as she listens to Cable's tale. So, he wasn't hers. In that other dimension and future, but another womans. Madelyn Pryor. She had to wonder, if he was here, would she cold clock Slim into oblivion for that. Sins of the father and such, for half a moment she thought to look towards Cable to at least check to make sure that he wasn't part asian.

She sucks in a breath, letting out a 'woah' sound as Rachel sits nearby. Family reunion indeed. Suck it up, Jean. Just suck it up.

"That explains a lot." She finally lets out, leaning back upon the couch, just.. taking it all but not with a grain of salt. She honestly had no other words. They had time-jumping-dimension-hopping kids. Their genetics must be ace.


The Jean of his time understood, forgave and raised him as her own. Even taught him the tricks he still uses to this day; tricks that keep him alive. He opens his mouth to say more, but closes it, shaking his head. With Rachel's memories so spotty, does he really want to jog some of the more painful ones?

Not particularly.

The coffee is brewing; the burble of caffeinated goodness calls to him as a siren's song. Nate ducks his head and heads towards the kitchen. Running away without going too far. "You sure you don't want coffee? Rach… some coffee? Tea?"


"Strong tea would be nice." Rachel accepts the offers more as an excuse to give her brother some breathing room in the face of all of this.

Reaching a hand over to place on Jean's own if she's allowed and offers, "When you've had some time, I'd like to do my best to answer any questions you and Dad might have." She smiles at Jean, "I'd like to go back home. To the Mansion with you if that's ok?" Even if the timeline was different, she knew the mansion to be as she had remembered it.


Jean watches Cable, though.. it wasn't anything cautious. Despite him having a different mother, hearing that she's touched him in a large way made her want to offer the large man a hug too. Possibly, it would be bad, moments after she tried to choke him out like a minion of Darth Vader..

Her fingers curl along Rachel's, her brows furrowing just a touch as she gives a slight nod. "Of course. You're always welcome there. You don't have to ask."

She glances towards the kitchen, then back towards Rachel, a warm smile given.. the first since she's entered into this spartan apartment. "I'm sure Scott would want to see you again." Her green eyes lift towards Cable, features softening. "You as well."


Cable uses the time of making tea to drink some of his own almost scalding hot coffee. Being a TK means never drinking anything too hot or too cold, but just right! Rachels' request to go back to the mansion is met with initial silent resistance, but ultimately, it is where she belongs. Home. It's her home, just as once upon a time in the future, it was/will be his.

But it isn't right now. Not for him.

Bringing the cup of tea out, Nate hands it to Rachel before moving away from the girls to perch on the edge of a table. He shakes his head and chuckles, "No, no he wouldn't." The coffee is cradled in two paws of hands before he elaborates a little. "No one trusts me there, and they shouldn't. I haven't given them reason to, nor will I. I'm not going to tell them who I am. I don't want to influence the time stream any more than necessary. As it is, I don't know how what I've done here will affect my future. I don't know what Nate's done to the time stream."

It sounds harsh, but Cable's a soldier now and this is just… so very different. "I can't go home again."


Rachel's fingers respond to Jeans and she smiles back before accepting the Tea from Cable, "You're more of an expert on the timestream than me…" At any given time, she felt more like a victim or a puppet of time more than anything else, "..but can any of it really make a difference if you go back now?"

She stares at her brother, the 'half' part was just semantics, "I have to assume there's a way to make things better. The future I came from is gone now." She likely hadn't revealed that little tid-bit to him, but it's possible he may have known, "That has to mean something, that things changed for the better. I mean, I'm still here and I'm still me." She doesn't go into details, it would be too creepy to discuss that nightmare of a future she came from.

The memories cause her to touch her face where the tattoos that marked her as a hound were hidden beneath telepathic disguise. Jean and Nate could likely feel the pain and guilt that emanated from her momentarily.


There was a little bit of pain there in Jean's features. Whether she was drawing down from them was anyones guess. But it was there. She leans forward now, Rachel's words hitting home, Nathaniel felt the same thing and often wondered how everything would be different. He couldn't check, he was stuck. He couldn't go back, nor forward, he was just there. And now this.

Rachel's hand was discarded, and soon she reaches forward to try to place both hands upon the wrists of Cable. Her gaze was intent, meaning there.

"Nathan." Her lips press, her eyes searching for his own. "Xavier trusts you. That's all anyone needs for you to be around. But.. the future is never set in stone. Never. The courses will change by the decision we make, and you being there does not change that. Not one bit. As it stands now, with us? This Madeline Pryor may not even be your mother in the future. Chances are? Rachel will come last. Nathaniel may even be your older brother. Nothing.. nothing is set in stone. It never is and often times never will be. Five years from now, even.. Scott and I may not even be together and.." God forbid.. "..you two would have never existed for me. But for him and someone else. Or me and someone else."

She squeezes tight. Hopefully he got her meaning. "But you are welcome there. By me. By the Professor. I will attest to your character and give them a reason to call you family. Without them knowing who you really are. Just stop running away and come home."


One hand that wraps around Nate's wrist feels soft. Warm. The other hand, while his arm looks like flesh and blood, it feels. Hard. Unyielding. The large man shakes his head slowly. "Jean." He pauses before he continues, "Mother. I travel in time. I have. It's what I've done. My … spaceship helps me do that. The Professor." Nate chuckles, "Ship. The AI on board was nicknamed 'The Professor'. I have a purpose here. It's to make sure that the right things happen at the right time. Because when they don't, if they don't, one possible future is where we mutants are all but extinct. Or we're hunted down." Nate looks at his sister, compassion plain in his eyes.

"I have a purpose. Whether you and Scott get together, Madelyn Pryor will be created." Not born? "Something will happen and I'll be born." See, he's 'born'. "Rachel will save my life… multiple times. And all this can still happen when I'm here. Now."

Cable looks into Jean's eyes, the woman he's ever known to fill the role of 'mother'. "And that's okay. I am not an X-Man. I kill. I'm a soldier that's fought so many battles that I don't know if I can stop. I don't know if I want to. I've had to fight so long, I'm not sure I'd know what to do if I did stop." But, he can't, and won't.


Rachel looks towards Cable hopefully, "Please Nate, come home, if even just for a little bit."

«Please.»

Her plea not restricted to words alone as she asks her brother mentally as well. She was pretty much begging.


}}


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