Harsh Words

[lorna]

When he mentioned her father, she frowned, tilted her head back against the mirror and looked up at the ceiling, her hands buried in her green locks on top of her head. It was a pose of “why me” and he would be able to tell that she was finally beginning to accept the truth, albeit very reluctantly. However, Magneto didn't raise her, had no part in her upbringing and she couldn't help but wonder ironically that if there truly was a God, if he'd kept her mother from finding him for a reason.

Bringing her eyes back to the man who'd first opened this proverbial can of worms and said, “It's true, isn't it? I...I found a letter my mother wrote to me before she died. She called him Magnus and said she was going to search for him, to tell him about me. Her plane crashed days after the letter was written. Why him, out of every man on this planet? Why?”

Why she'd just told him that was beyond her but she hadn't said anything to anyone yet and it'd been a burden that she'd carried around silently. She had no idea the rumors that had been flying around since he'd shown up at the mansion, didn't know the speculations that were being made about her parentage. Her adoption wasn't a secret. Betsy had hinted at the fact that she and Wanda were sisters but she'd dismissed that.

“Why?” she asked when he mentioned losing his humanity so others wouldn't have to. “Why do think it's completely gone? You're here, you're alive and against all odds, you are making a difference no matter how much I fight you. Why do you have to live like you have no soul left? It makes no sense whatsoever.”

It really didn't, not to her. Hell, Magneto had killed countless times, some of it on television with millions of witnesses, yet they let him back in here, allowed him to try and start anew although she doubted he'd ever change. Why did Cable have to think there was no hope for himself when it was so glaringly obvious that wasn't the case? Maybe she was just a hopeless optimist but no one had yet managed to destroy that part of her.

Then he answered the question about his maternity and it was probably the most ludicrous, insane thing she'd heard in her life. Evil clones? Wasn't that like some sort of Star Trek episode? Without really knowing what she was doing, she'd powered up, intent on doing something if he turned out to be lying. But she already knew he wasn't. He'd never lied to her before so why start now? Especially about this.

Powering down, she looked at him for a moment, trying to grasp what he was telling her. “How?” she asked, not even sure exactly what “how” she meant. How had it happened? How had he found out? She shook her head a bit then added, “When?” Okay, that wasn't much better. Finally, she just said, “I have no idea what to really say about that.”

[cable]

"soon i think/ Dates never been that important to me for all i know it could of happened now or it could happen tomorrow? " when she asked about how he lost his humanity he felt the pain. "my son and wife they were killed. No Thats to nice a word for it she was tortured and rapped in front of my son then over two hours she and him were killed and brought back to life only to be killed again. Then once he was done with it he wrote his name on my wall with my child blood.

Thats when it died and if i manage to stop Apocalypse i can make it so this never happened. Sure i can't say they will of ever lived but at least i can say they will of never suffered like that." he smiled for the first time there was pain on his face.
"there now i told you more than my father will ever know. Gods are real i meet one or two of them. They are just a powerful old race nothing more. Some would say every thing happens for a reason and that we can not change that reason only make the best of it."

[lorna]

“I can't believe I'm talking to someone who may not even be born yet,” she muttered, looking skyward for a moment.

Honestly, it was all a bit much for her to take, especially given her rather practical nature. She had never been one to give into flights of fancy or fairy tales. Sure, she'd been fascinated with them as a child but by the time she was in middle school, she had begun to look into things that had real science behind them. Time travel did not. It defied everything that was logical and so it was rather hard for her to digest. Not that she didn't believe him, though.

As he told her about his wife and son, she was filled with compassion. No one should ever have to endure something like that. He'd told her before that his wife had died but that was all he'd said at the time. This was much more then she had ever expected to hear. Although, it didn't exactly mean he had to give up his humanity.

Lorna pushed off the mirrored wall and approached him. “I'm sorry, Nathan. That must have been, must be, horrible. I can't imagine that sort of pain and I'm sorry that you have had to go through that,” she told him quietly, looking up at him.

He practically towered over her normally and in his hovering sitting position that didn't change. “However, would your wife really have wanted you to give up your humanity, your soul, because of her loss? Would she have wanted you to stop living?” she pressed him, knowing that he could get angry at her and literally shut her brain off. But if he wasn't going to see what he was doing, she was going to say it for him.

[cable]

cable laughed at her comments. "My wife was on my squad in the wars thats how we meet. every one who was old enough fought. We had to it was a fight or die world. Unlike this one that was a normal day wake up grab your gun and go kill the enemy because we had to. So i never stopped living you could say i threw my self in to our life for her. You have to remember my time is not like this. There not a day went by were we where not fighting."

slowly he stood up and looked at the ruined machine its tarted to glow blue and pull its self apart. bits started to float in the air. Parts started to strip down to there most basic parts. "i think we should fix this before Charles finds out. This is a bit like a metaphor for what i am doing. Right now it is broken and useless like my time. So all i have to do is take it apart and change a few bits so it here and there and its useful again"

All the parts started to go back together and with in a few moments the treadmill was working again better than it had been before.

[lorna]

His laughing caught her off guard and she looked at him as if he'd already lost his mind. Which was entirely likely. He talked about time travel and changing the present to make his future better like he was discussing the latest basketball scores. No one in their right mind was that egotistical. He also kept asking her questions, getting her answer then completely ignoring it from there. It was rather frustrating.

“One minute you say you've lost your humanity, the next you say you've lived life fuller then anyone else on the planet. What I think is that you're completely screwed up,” she told him as he took apart the treadmill she'd burned out and began to fix it. With a little shrug and a bit of a mean smirk on her face, she added, “I was just going to use Daddy's credit card and buy Charles a new one.”

Okay, so she probably wouldn't have, she would have saved her own small wages to do so or even had the Professor dock it from her new salary. Whatever that was going to be. It had to be more then she was making now and would definitely tie her over until she had her Master's completed. Past that, she didn't know what she was going to do. Tony Stark had offered her a job once she graduated but that was before she'd lost her temper and told him off.

One of these days, she might actually learn to swallow her pride.

Then Cable went and got all metaphoric on her, explaining how he was taking apart their reality so that he could make it better. She wanted to ask who went and declared him God but held her tongue. For now. It wouldn't have been the first time she'd accused him of having a messiah complex. Instead of giving him what she thought he was wanting, which was praise for a job well done, Lorna got on the newly fixed treadmill.

Turning the machine on, she started to run, slowly at first but after a moment or two, let the machine speed up a bit more. She'd come down for exercise anyway and running her mouth off wasn't going to count as such. “Well, now I know there is definitely something more useful to you then standing around looking good. Next time I break a machine, I'll be sure to call on you,” she told him, glancing over at the man with a grin on her face.

[cable]

"yes maybe i am messed up you have to be to have a best friend like Wade." he smiled as she got on to the treadmill and started to run. " she was right of course he had a god complex it came with the job. "don't play that spoiled rich kid act i know you better than that. Well its good to have a use other than being able to shoot people in the head and not lose any sleep over it."

he walked on to one of the other treadmills and started to run along side her. "I hear you are staying on. Thats good to hear." he liked it how she challenged him it was a refreshing change from people backing down. He was use to taking orders and do what he was told but he was also could lead. "you think i am good with a treadmill you should see what i can do in the danger room." It would be interesting to see her reaction and see how she went with that statement. Every question he had asked her was to test her and to make her think about her self.

[lorna]

Lorna had never had the “pleasure” of meeting Nathan's best friend but her own had gone flat out batty on her and tried to kill her husband amongst many other people. Not everyone had been as lucky as Scott had been. So she knew a few things about insane best friends.

“No, I'm not a spoiled rich kid, never have been. My parents couldn't afford to up and pay for a thousand dollar treadmill without blinking. They'd have to save for months, possibly a year. Magneto, on the other hand, could probably pay for it without batting an eyelash,” she replied to him.

“And don't even pretend to know me, Nathan. We've had all of two conversations and while Gambit tried to seduce me in your lovely home, I would have made sure every camera went offline before I gave you a peep show,” she added.

It was actually a bit too bad about Gambit. He'd been quite the charming adversary and if things hadn't been so dire (or so she'd thought at the time), she wouldn't have minded flirting and possibly doing more with the Cajun. Lorna wasn't in a hurry to settle down with anyone and while she'd been flattered when Stark had asked her out, she knew nothing serious would have ever come of it and she wouldn't want it to. She didn't want his world, didn't want the publicity that being seen with him would give her. Lorna much liked her anonymity and wasn't going to give that up without a fight.

When he mentioned that it was nice to be useful for something other then to shoot people without blinking, she rolled her eyes at him. Now he was just being dramatic. She doubted that even Magneto got away with all the murders he'd committed without seeing them in his dreams at times. No matter what either man thought they were, underneath it all, they were both human.

“Yeah, the Professor offered me a job. Can you believe it? They are allowing me to work with the kids. They must be getting desperate,” she replied, grinning.

The ironic thing was that she actually enjoyed working with the kids. She wasn't so old that she couldn't relate to them and she wasn't so young that she was naïve either. It really wasn't too far from what she was doing with Abby Stark, for that matter. The poor girl was still having a very hard time adjusting to the death of her mother and Tony wasn't exactly being helpful. There were moments she was sorely tempted to bash the man over the head with something hard in an effort to knock some sense into him.

When he mentioned what he could do in the Danger Room, Lorna's mind fell directly into places that were likely extremely taboo. If he was peeking at that moment, he likely would be laughing hysterically because she had theories about the Danger Room, just never had anyone to prove them with. Jumping onto the sides of the treadmill so that she was still standing there over it as the machine continued to crank on, she looked at Nathan, raised an eyebrow and replied, “And just what is it you can do with the Danger Room?”

[cable]

"its all right i seen your you tube videos." it was a joke and he did hope she knew it was one. "yes i can believe it remember i am from the future. If you remember i did say in our meeting before you would be more proactive in the school." It was as close as he could get to an I told you so moment and nor did he want to. He had only a handful of friends and he trusted every one of them. Granted he trusted Wade to stab him in the back literary for a handful of notes.

She asked him the question about the danger room. "well there only one way to find out. I think its empty right now. Think your in the frame of mind for a real work out?" he was tempted to test it out see how it matched to his tech and see what he could do to improve it.

[lorna]

Well, would wonders ever cease? The man had a sense of humor. Granted, if there ever were any youtube videos of her like that, she'd tracked the person responsible down and have to hurt them big time. The likelihood of it happening, though, were extremely slim so she wasn't worried about it. Much. There was the one guy she dated as a freshman who was really into technology...

She opened her mouth to refute him when he did tell her that she would be more proactive in the school then shut it. Damn, how had she forgot about that? She wasn't a telepath, didn't have a photograpic memory but she also wasn't stupid. She should have seen it but no, she had completely missed that point. He was probably lucky he didn't say the words, too. Who knew what her temper would have done. At that rate, he'd probably be fixing all the gym equipment in there before she left.

Thankfully, what she'd been thinking in regards to the Danger Room must have been ignored because he didn't even bat an eye. Good. Lorna turned off the machine and stepped down. With a shrug of her shoulders, she replied, “Sure, why not. At least there, I can destroy as many things as I want and don't have to worry about paying for them.”

She smiled as sweetly as she could but really, she was actually looking forward to this. Could she beat Cable in a match up of any sort? Not at all. But like Magneto, she had a feeling he could help her and since Magneto had already turned down her request for training, she had to get it from someone. Might as well be a man who was technically younger then her by over two decades but physically was older. That was enough to make her mind boggle.

[cable]

((if you want me to change it i will)


"well then shall we go?" he placed a hand on her solder. "Body slide by two." with a flash they were in the danger room. "its a lot quicker than walking. This way we beat the gossips. So what takes your fancy some thing simple or do you really want to push your self?"

he knew the answer to it and his mind was all ready on the controls righting a program that would push her in ways she had never thought. "or you could try and take me?" he smiled he was unarmed but still as dangerous he was skilled in many weapons some that had not been invented yet.

[lorna]

Before Lorna could reply to him, they were both whisked away. In an instant, she found that the gym had disappeared and they were in the all too familiar Danger Room. She had teleported with Kurt before, had experienced that sensation of transporting from one spot to another but with him, it left a feeling of unease in one's stomach. This, though, had been exceptionally smooth.

“Damn, that is both disconcerting and exhilarating at the same time,” she said after her eyes had scoped around to see if they were really alone. She could totally get used to that sort of transportation. It almost beat flying. Almost.

Looking up at him with a smirk, she added, “Don't tell me you care what gossips think, Nathan.” Really, she'd heard so many rumors in this place it would likely fill a year's worth of supermarket tabloids but maybe only one in a hundred rumors were ever true. However, she didn't see Mr. Time Hopper giving a damn about any of them nor what anyone else thought.

She was given a choice as to what she wanted to do and her immediate answer was, “Cable, we both know you can best me fifty different ways before I can take a breath so as much as I'd love to be able to let loose against you, I'm not an idiot. I'll take pushing my powers, thank you very much.”

Besides, this could be what she'd been looking for. Lorna's temper had died down long ago and she didn't want to pit herself against him in that way right now. If anything, she was actually beginning to enjoy herself and that made her all sorts of uneasy. Best not to think about that right now and to concentrate on pushing herself and her powers. She didn't have anything planned for that morning and didn't have to be in the city until later when she'd promised Abby she'd stop in and see her.

[cable]

The image of the room changed in to a ruined city. "so How far are you willing to go." he smiled this was his world. He felt more at home in the ruined city than any place on this earth. Granted this was a simulation of a war zone but it was real to a point. He looked at Lorna he gestured to the sky.

"you might want to deal with those missile i don't think they have much metal in them so you better be creative." he looked at the two missile flying towards them he knew they would guide in to the woman. This was test one.

[lorna]

Well, he picked a rather ghastly scenario. Lorna was positive she'd not seen this one before. Looking up at him, she remarked, “Cheery.” Her voice was practically dripping with sarcasm.

“I'm willing to go as far as I need to. Magneto already turned me down when I asked for his help. I couldn't agree with the terms he wanted. So consider yourself a substitute,” she added with a small smirk.

Honestly, though, if anyone could help her, it would be Cable. She knew he knew his stuff, had seen that much with their little skirmish on his island and he would be able to train her in ways that the rest of the staff probably couldn't. He also knew more about her then she'd realized and if that was the case, maybe he'd know her weaknesses and be able to help her get rid of them.

That was when he motioned toward the sky and mentioned the rockets. Like he'd said, there was very little metal in them, not even enough to break them apart as had been her first inclination. He was striking immediately at her main weakness: being faced with something that didn't have metal inside for her to manipulate.

She immediately used the magnetic waves around them to launch herself into the air and from there, quickly scanned the surroundings, finding a half a fallen down building. The skeletal remains were full of metal, the support beams still in place. There was no one else around, no electromagnetic signatures so she stripped the building of every last piece of metal that had been left in it and hurled the metal parts toward the missiles, intending to impale them before they could get any closer to her.

[cable]

cable smiled and floated in to the air along side of her. "good you are using your environment. The only problem with being high up is you are a target." he thumbed behind him as a squad of men walked along a street firing energy based weapons at Lorna. Of course they were made so she could not use her powers on them.

The program did not see cable all this was to do was to Train her. "your powers are not your main weapon your mind and instincts are more important. I will also help you to defend your self when you don't have access to your powers."

[lorna]

Huh, he actually praised her? Lorna hadn't been expecting that. If she did something right, she'd assumed the man would just point her in the direction of the next adversary or obstacle. Before she could revel in it for too long, though, there was a new threat. Now she was being fired on from the ground. With the sort of weapons she'd never seen before. What was this place?

Her instinctive reaction was to throw a shield in front of her. It was already obvious to her that Cable wasn't being recognized by the program so she didn't even try to shield him. He didn't even have to tell her that the weapons didn't have any metal in them either so she couldn't just take them away from the people on the ground.

He kept talking to her as she made a beeline for some cover on the ground. It wasn't the best location to observe the squad from but it was enough that she was able to lift the small scraps of metal from the ground and fling at the weapons, using as much fine motor control as she could without actually hurting the men. All she wanted to do was knock the weapons away and crush them beneath something heavy, like one of the beams that was still lying on the ground.

She didn't even stop to ask him questions or even to acknowledge to him that she was paying attention. He would know that she was and when he was ready to teach her those things, she would be ready. She hoped.