Morning Rituals (Cable)

[lorna]

She had spent the night with her parents the night before, a birthday gift of sorts to her father. They had gone out to dinner, just the three of them and while things were still a bit tense between them, Lorna still loved the people who had raised her since infancy. The hardest part about finding out that she was adopted was knowing they had kept it secret from her for so many years. In a way, she wondered if it meant that they hadn't trusted her. Of course, they had denied that, stating that they just didn't know how or when to tell her.

Lorna had to wonder if she'd have ever found out if not for the onset of her mutant abilities.

Over all, they'd had a lovely time. She'd saved for a few months, rationing her small paychecks that she received, and had insisted on paying for the meal. It hadn't been exorbitant by any means but it was something she'd wanted to do. She was out of college now, for God's sake, surely she should be allowed to pay for a birthday dinner for her parents. They'd still tried taking the check but she had won this little battle.

She planned to return back to Westchester later that afternoon, knowing nothing there was pulling her back immediately so she decided to take her morning ritual in one of the country's best and most famous parks. She'd been running nearly every morning since middle school and today wasn't going to be an exception. When the weather was less then ideal, she always made use of the treadmills inside the mansions gym.

So dressed in a pair of black capri workout pants, a dark purple tank top with a fleece jacket over top and her best running shoes, Lorna took off for Central Park. Her mom had graciously bit back a concerned retort over Lorna's choice of locations, hopefully finally understanding that while she was still pretty young, she could most definitely take care of herself. Lorna wasn't one to flaunt her powers, preferred to handle situations without using them but she did know how to use them to defend herself. Muggers, while not usually out during the daylight hours anyway, would be in a world of pain should they try messing with her.

Green hair pulled back in a ponytail, she was in one of the few cities in the country where she could go outside with green hair and not get looked at twice. For that, she was grateful.

An hour later, she had discarded the jacket, tying it by its sleeves around her waist and her lungs felt like they were on fire. It was the best feeling in the world for someone who enjoyed pushing herself physically. She paused, stopping next to one of the ponds that the park was well known for, to catch her breath. It was rather chilly out but that was par for the course in New York in the fall. She used one of the picnic tables as a handle as she began to stretch out her limbs, keeping them from seizing up post workout.

Lorna still had the walk back to her parents house but she wasn't in a hurry. Knowing her, she'd even stop for coffee on the way there.

[cable]

Cable had made the park his second home. it reminded him of every thing he was fighting for. His trench coat was fastened tightly hiding most of his metallic skin and his eyes were hidden behind some large shade. he Of course could make people see anything he wanted. Then again what was the point? it was to easy and he enjoyed the challenge this brought him. his mind wondered back to his own time and the fighting. It was nice to do some thing other than fight.

In his time he was an orphan given to his protector by his Father to save his life from death, a death that was creeping up on him every day. The world was a much dark place in his time. Now his parents were alive he had seen his father and he was a broken man. In time he would heal but would it be to late? How would he react if he saw him self as a baby would he stop the infection and what life would that give him.

He walked along smelling the roses as he saw a green haired woman. He knew who she was by sight one of the x men. It looked like he was going to have to do some work after all. He was glad none of them had seen enough of him to I.D him. Then again all they knew was the omega mutant known as cable, Nathan Summers was some one different. He looked up form his bench letting some of the bread fall from his hands.

The ducks they had become part of his habit he could not understand why he did it but every time he was here he feed them bread even when clearly he did not need to. There was some thing almost spiritual about this act some thing he could not work out. "nice day for it" his voice was warm and clear.

[lorna]

Lorna had seen the man sitting on the bench but she really hadn't paid any attention. This was New York City, one of the busiest places in the world, and she was never going to be alone in a park this size. Nor would she expect to be. In fact, it might be a bit creepy if there weren't mothers pushing baby strollers and other runners and bikers trekking along the paths.

In fact, a toddler wandered over toward the pond and a woman raced past her to grab the boy before he could get too far. Lorna had instinctively reached out a hand to stop him but he would have been too far out of her reach anyway. Luckily, it seemed that mom had a lot of experience rushing after her curious little one as she'd been there long before there was any real danger. It appeared he was interested in the ducks as he quickly went after them in the other direction once his mother had set him back down on the trail.

Her attention was turned to the man on the bench when he mentioned that it was a nice day for “it”. Whatever “it” was. She wasn't entirely sure but he was likely just some older man who was lonely. Walking toward him but not enough to be within reach (even she was cautious when in the city), she asked, “Nice day for feeding ducks or for running?”

There was something about the man that made her powers start tingling, almost as if there was an itch that needed to be scratched but she couldn't quite reach it. Perhaps he'd been in the war or something and had metal implants. Or maybe he was hiding something rather large and metal under that trench coat. Whatever it was, she could sense it, not unlike when she was surrounded by something that was almost pure metal like a car. However, Lorna was well aware there were no cars in Central Park. At least not in this area of the park.

[cable]

"all of it. its a nice day to be enjoying the world." he smiled as he watched her reach out for the child. of course he knew her she was meant to be with his uncle. "tell me would you risk using your powers to save that child even though every one hates us miss Dane?" he looked on she was going to get defensive. "do not worry i am not a threat to you. If i was you would be dead by before you sensed the techno organic metal in my body." he gave her a smile and removed his glasses the eye glowed bright but yet no one seamed to notice.

He was tempted to use his powers to push a small child in to the water to see how she would react. Then again that was cruel and he was not that kind of person. "as for what you are sensing its probably this." he removed the large jacket reveling the tech no organic metal on his arm.

[lorna]

A nice day to be enjoying the world? Either that was cynical or this man had seen more in his lifetime then she ever would and he sincerely enjoyed a rather normal morning out in the sunshine. Either way it didn't matter to her. She was about to move on, to wish the stranger a good day, when he spoke again and she froze.

The fact that he knew she was a mutant was enough to catch her attention but the use of her name made her turn fully toward the man. Even before he removed his jacket, she knew who he was now that he'd removed the sunglasses and she was looking at him. She'd not really run into him before but she knew some of the other X-Men had. His name was on files but they really didn't know much about him at all. It was no wonder her powers were practically screeching in her head.

“Cable,” she said, recovering from the surprise he'd given her.

Of all the people to run into in Central Park...Why did she have to be so lucky?

“I wasn't going to use my powers to stop the boy, I was attempting to grab him with my hand. I'm not an idiot. Unless he was in dire danger, I'm not about to out myself short of my hair coloring,” she informed him, her voice growing a bit less friendly.

He put her on edge and she didn't know why. Perhaps it was because from everything that she'd been told, he was a fairly dangerous man. Not to her, necessarily, but in general. He was an anomaly, an unknown, and that made all of them a bit edgy. She knew that he was likely a mutant as well but Lorna honestly had no idea what he could do.

The fact that he'd told her she'd have been dead before she felt the techno-organic metal in his body if he'd wanted her dead didn't exactly endear the man to her. He definitely sounded like some sort of mercenary.

Her green eyes narrowed slightly as he suggested that he knew what she'd been thinking. “How did you know I could sense your metal parts?” she asked. Granted, it was probably a stupid question if he knew about her powers, which was rather likely since he knew who she was.

[cable]

" Time travel is a grate thing. I know many thing's some of it you will learn for your self in time such as who your father is and the family you never had." he did not want to say to much he needed not to give her to much. He was here to change the world but not every thing was meant to be changed he had spent weeks working on who and what he could risk changing he was the foot that stood on the butterfly.

"Tell me how are things at the school." he was glad no one knew who his parents were it would make every thing more complected. "i been at this a long time i make it my job to know what people will ask before they do. " he smiled as crumpled up the empty bread bag and sliped it in his pocket. Then he Placed the large jacket back on.

[lorna]

Lorna put up her hands, as if to tell him that she didn't want to know anything about her future. She really didn't. For one thing, she still had a hard time believing that he was from the future. Oh, yes, he had things with him that didn't make sense but surely there was some explanation somewhere. She was about to tell him this when something he said caught her attention.

“My father?” she asked, a bit stunned. “I think you need to research your facts a bit better. My father died when I was a baby.”

It was still a bit of a sore subject with her. Only recently did she even find that much out. All her life, Sarah and Paul had been her parents but now she had these other two people that she knew nothing about that were the ones truly listed on her birth certificate. Why she'd never seen the thing before was beyond her but even when she had turned sixteen and went to get her license, her mother had held onto the paper, not allowing her to see it. Lorna hadn't thought much of it then because she'd had the usual excitement of a teenager but now, she knew they'd been hiding it.

To this day, she still didn't know her father's name, just her mother's.

As for the family she'd never had, that was her parents, right?

She wondered what game he was playing when he asked about the school. What interest did he have in it? After all they'd been through, she would move heaven and hell to protect those kids who lived there and he seemed the sort that they needed protecting from. “Things are fine,” she replied vaguely. There was no way she was going to tell him how things were a bit crazy of late, with people they had thought dead now walking the halls.

Granted, she had no clue just how much he already knew.

He stood to put his jacket on, implying that he knew things simply because he'd lived longer then she had. Perhaps it was true but it still grated on her nerves. One thing was very clear. Cable wasn't endearing himself to the young electromagnetic woman. Instead, every instinct inside her screamed that this man could cause them all a world of trouble.

“Then you'll know what I'm about to say now and will have a witty reply to it,” she told him, green eyes narrowing slightly as she crossed her arms in front of chest. She wasn't a confrontational person by nature but when it came to those she cared about, she would put herself out there to protect them. “Stay away from the school.” Sure, he could have simply been asking out of politeness but Lorna wasn't about to take that chance.

[cable]

"Your father is still alive. You will find out soon enough. As for the school there is people there that mean a lot for me and i will move the earth to save them from anything and anyone even them self's. I want to save the world Lorna. Its hard thing to do. I know what its like to be adopted. You have a choice you will be with your father and your siblings. Me i can Not be with mine no mater how much a crave a normal life it is not for me."

He looked at the woman with a smile. It was how he remembered her from the story's. She was a key part in this but only after she had met him. " I could tell you who he is but i don't think it would be in your best interest. Beside some thing big will be happening at the school soon a big player will be coming soon, To your side of the fight but then you are no small bit player your self."

[lorna]

She wanted to clasp her hands over her ears like a little child when Cable began talking about the future again. Only this time, it wasn't about the future. It was about her past, her father. What on earth did he know about a man who'd died twenty two years ago? Siblings? Her parents had never mentioned Suzanna having any more children and if she did, wouldn't they have been raised with her? However, they also never said that Suzanna had been married to the man, had they?

Lorna was beginning to get a headache from it all. It didn't help that he was dangling this information in front of her then telling her that she really shouldn't know about him, that she'd find out soon enough. Yeah, because spilling something like that then walking away was going to fly with her.

Who he had at the mansion that he wanted to protect was beyond her. He was firing information at her like a rocket now and while she was a fairly intelligent young woman, she wasn't a telepath who had a photographic memory and could recount this conversation word for word later on. No, she had to grasp the words now, while they were still fresh in her mind.

“Cable, stop,” she said firmly, pinching the bridge of her nose with the thumb and forefinger of her right hand. When did her morning go so strange? Oh, yeah, when she thought she was making conversation with a stranger, not a man who claimed to be from their future.

Taking a deep breath, she looked up at him and asked, “Who is my father? And don't give me that 'I can't tell you, it'll mess up the future' crap. This is no longer the future we are talking about. It's my past.”

She knew she shouldn't take anything he said at face value. He was just a strange man who liked to go around spouting things that he really didn't know about. As much as he claimed to have people he cared for at the school, she couldn't really believe him. There was just too much about the man known only as Cable that wasn't kosher and she didn't do well with situations where there weren't rock hard facts.

“Who is coming to help us?” she added, wanting to know. She couldn't see herself being a major player in anything, let alone with some great force that was supposedly showing up. On their side. What that meant, exactly, she didn't even want to speculate. Sides meant that there was a group who felt they were right and another who felt that they were right and that led to conflict. They'd all had enough conflict lately to last them a lifetime.

[cable]

"I will not tell you but its simple he has the same powers as you." He knew of only one other person who had those powers. HE knew she would work it out quickly. " the question is now am i telling the truth? Now that's the gamble. You know very little about me who i am and what i want." It was a test for him he needed to see if he was putting his faith in the right people.

"You know things are going to get messy and they will look bad but they will not be as bad as they first look. Then we will be in the storm and things will be a lot worse." cable folded his arms. "You say you care about those in the school how far are you willing to go to save them."

[lorna]

Lorna's green eyes flashed for a brief second as Cable, the man supposedly from the future, just insinuated that the world's biggest mutant terrorist was her biological father. Oh, it wasn't that hard to figure out who he meant. Magneto's powers were legendary and given the displays of destruction that the man had caused didn't exactly make him anonymous. She was more then half tempted to grasp onto those metals parts in his body and dump him in the pond, right then.

However, self restraint had always been a big part of her life and now wasn't going to be any different. She powered down before anyone else in the park could catch a glimpse of the green glow that accompanied her powers.

He was right. She didn't believe him. There were similarities, she'd give him that much, but the likelihood of him telling the truth was so far out there, she decided it wasn't even worth entertaining. At least, not right then. Later, when she was alone, she would definitely be revisiting this little part of their conversation.

Cable went right on talking, spewing his future drama like some crazed madman. She didn't want to believe him, really didn't believe him but she couldn't help but think about what he was saying. Did this have to do with the human/mutant relationship? She honestly didn't want to know, wanted to tune everything out like he wasn't saying a word. He could be writing this stuff for the Enquirer.

Then he asked the million dollar question and she didn't even hesitate.

“I'd lay my life down for them,” she told him. “But that doesn't mean I agree with war. Of any type. You claim to be from a war torn future, Cable. Are things really that much better when we are all out there, killing one another?”

[cable]

"No its not. The war i am talking about mutants and humans are on the same side. Millions will day in the first wave people we all care about. I came back to stop the war and shield people i love maybe even save some of those i have lost."

His mind drifted to his wife and son and the image of them laying dead in his hans. HE did not cry for them he had lost many people in his life he was trained for loss. It had changed him and not for the better after that day he was all about the mission nothing else mattered. Here however he had a family he could go to. A Father a sister and a mouth granted she was an evil clone of his Dads high school sweet hart but no one was perfect? Then again he would be turning his back on all those who had died in the war.

He had no other place maybe when this had all changed his last few days he could get to know his family more than just a history book. "The cost is high If we fail. I would rather try and change things for the better, than to sit down and let things go for the worse. I have seen friends turned in to bombs. How do you tell a boy that has father was killed when his uncle exploded? I have to try and honor all the memory's of those who fought. If you were in my shoes what would you do?"

[lorna]

The sincerity in which Cable spoke made Lorna pause. She had discounted much of what he'd said because honestly, there'd been no emotion attached to it. How could a person claim to be fighting for something when they didn't show any indication that they actually cared about what they were fighting for.

However, something in his tone of voice changed and she looked at him closely. He didn't seem as old as she had thought he was at first. The white hair aside, his face wasn't all that much older then some of her teammates. It was his voice, however, that captured her attention. He spoke softly, as if the words he were saying were so important yet so fragile that he was afraid they'd break on the wind.

When he turned his one blue eye on her and asked what she would do in his place, she gave the answer a good hard thought. If he were telling the truth, what would she do? He was speaking almost candidly to her at this point and while she pushed the insinuation about Magneto to the back of her mind, a cold chill ran down her spine and it had nothing to do with the weather.

Finally, green eyes locked with his blue one and the glowing one, she answered. “Everything that you are attempting to do right now,” she replied honestly, her own voice lowered. She wasn't lying when she said she'd lay her own life down if it meant saving the students. She didn't want to think about having to make that choice but there it was anyway.

They weren't going to cause attention to themselves unless they started attacking each other and as far as Lorna was concerned, they were past that. She didn't like this feeling, though. The feeling that maybe there was something truthful in there after all. That maybe someone other then her should be listening to this. Someone like Scott.

Lorna looked down at her hands as if she were examining them for something. She was aware that there was a lot of potential within her, Professor Xavier had said that himself. She just didn't want to be a fighter, though, so she'd backed off of training and while she wasn't a weakling, she was no where near her full potential. After seeing what Magneto was capable of doing, she knew that. Did she really have it in her to do more with her powers? Did she really want to embrace the fact that she was a mutant when she'd turned it away for so long?

There were so many questions that she wanted to ask but now wasn't the time nor was he the man to be asking. Instead, she turned her attention away from her hands and asked, “Where do we go from here?” It was the closest she was going to come to admitting that maybe, just maybe, she thought he was telling the truth after all.

[cable]

"do what your soul tells you to do Lorna. I am may no what will happen but every time i talk to some one warn them i change it some times for the better some times for the worse. You have a possible teacher some one who has skill with the same power as you. Learn how to defend your self. There is one difference with your powers. Your magnetic wave is the opposite of magnetos. That could be useful. The other difference is your hart and that will be more important than anything else."

His mind drifted to his father for a moment. would he be proud of his son and every thing he had done? "Scott knows every thing i told you about the war so dose Jean." HE looked down for a moment he wondered if they knew the truth would it change every thing. No he was keeping quiet for the safety of every one else.

HE looked Lorna over again. " you are wondering if i am telling the truth. Now imagine if i am could you understand why i am so cold? i seen the death of many even my own wife. I have nothing left but the mission to stop the war." It was true he had only one freind and no one else and that was the way it was going to have to be for now. Maybe if he was still alive after he could have a life and track down his mother. "Now factor in that i am dieing. I have a chance to do things. Think of this as my bucket list."

[lorna]

Lorna couldn't believe that this man was telling her to go to Magneto and ask his help in training her powers. Was it a wise move based on their natural abilities? Absolutely. Was it a wise move to put herself in the hands of a terrorist? Absolutely not. She didn't see herself walking up to where he was at now, knocking on the door and asking for power lessons. No, she would agree that she needed more training but she wasn't going to ask someone like Magneto for it. There were plenty of other people back at the mansion that could help her, she just had to ask.

“Good,” she replied when he said that he'd already talked to Scott and Jean about what he'd just told her. When he could have done that was beyond her unless Cable was sneaking in and out of the mansion unseen these days. Then again, with a man like Cable, who knew where he'd been sneaking around. He seemed to have a habit of sticking his nose in where only he thought it belonged.

As Cable told her that he'd the death of his wife, she couldn't help but feel for him. No one, no matter who they were, deserved that. Did it excuse his reason for his coldness, his distance, his inability to show emotion? Not at all, according to her. She bit back a retort about being able to cross harassing her off of his bucket list. She imagined that if he was telling the truth, a man from the future had to have a rather large bucket list. Ever had a regret? Change it. How many of those would she have if given a choice?

“Shutting people out of your life simply because you are afraid of losing them is only going to succeed in making yourself a lonely, bitter man, Cable. I'm sorry about your wife. I'm sorry that you're dying but aren't we all? Every morning we wake up, we are one step closer to the grave. It's called being human,” she said to him.

“Did you ever thing that maybe being a bit more compassionate and caring might be a better way at getting your message across? Maybe people would believe you if they felt you actually cared about them and what you were saying.”