[IC: Forward dated to Saturday 19 May]

[julienned]

[YEAH I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY YOU GUYS ARE IN HERE. it's a comatose teenager hooked up to a bunch of machines.

it's really boring.] 

Comments

[mind_over_metal]

I'm just stating what happened and what's changed. It's now Saturday, the nineteenth.

[julienned]

Right. Three days ago I barely knew my name.

[mind_over_metal]

Do you know where you are right now?

[julienned]

Yeah.

[a silence]

Most of the time.

[mind_over_metal]

*nods*

You asked about Miss Frost when I first got in here.

[julienned]

She was our teacher when we were at school the first time.

I was her favourite. We all knew it. That's why it was so frustrating when everything went so wrong.

[mind_over_metal]

What happened with her?

[julienned]

Betrayed us. Like everyone else. You think it's funny, that we rely on each other over everyone else. It's not. We know how messed up it is. We just don't have a choice.

[mind_over_metal]

Because there's no one else.

[julienned]

Now he's getting it.

[mind_over_metal]

*surprise and genuine uncertainty with sincere hope*

Am I?

[julienned]

And then he lost it again.

[mind_over_metal]

I'm giving you the truth. Because you'll have to trust me.

*lifts up his hand to touch the bubble surrounding him again*

Enough to stop protecting me.

[julienned]

I said no!

[mind_over_metal]

*calmly*

How come?

[julienned]

Just because I could destroy you with a thought doesn't mean I should. Just because I could kill everyone here doesn't mean I should. I am in control, and I'll keep that control or die trying.

I'm Hellion of the X-Men and I don't hurt innocent people. Even if I don't like them.

I drop that and you will die. I won't allow that.

[mind_over_metal]

*continuing just as calmly*

Why would I die?

[julienned]

You really don't get it. What exactly that is. You can barely cope with it in drip feeds and after I've dealt with the worst of it; I know you can't cope with it as it is now.

[mind_over_metal]

*his hand still resting against the bubble*

This isn't what will protect me.

*nods his head slightly toward the painful, desolate landscape surrounding them*

What you're showing me right now isn't all that's out there.

[julienned]

Yeah?

[mind_over_metal]

You've told me who you are, Hellion. I trust in that. Let it down.

[julienned]

That's why I won't! This isn't something I'm inflicting on anyone.

[mind_over_metal]

"This" isn't all there is. But you can't access the rest of it if you're caught here.

[julienned]

Gee thanks. Way to undermine six days of work there.

[mind_over_metal]

You've done a lot. I've never believed that you haven't. But there's more. And I don't care how long I have to stay down here, how many times I have to come back, I'm not going to let you not reach for what you already have.