Dreamweaver: Part One

by Alicia McKenzie

Rain pummeled the roof of the diner and the wind shrieked like a chorus of lost souls. Or Banshee and Siryn trying to sing opera, Logan reflected wryly as he took a long sip of his beer. Yawning, he looked up at the clock on the wall.

Midnight already? He frowned, wondering where Cable was. It had been four hours since he'd spoken to Jean at the Institute and she'd promised to send Cable on from Edmonton. Logan truly hoped it was only the weather causing the delay.

The diner was moderately crowded, mostly with truckers who had pulled off the Trans-Canada to wait out the storm. Most ate their meals in silence, absorbed in their own thoughts, but a few glanced nervously towards the corner where Logan and his companion sat. Logan couldn't blame them.

"Would you settle down, Bishop?" he growled, shooting a withering look at his fellow X-Man. "You're scaring the locals. We don't need a stampede here."

Bishop stopped muttering and snarling over his root beer. He glared at Logan incredulously. "Settle down?" he rumbled, his dark eyes smouldering. "How am I supposed to settle down? We're wasting time! While we're sitting here in this--establishment, those two criminals are escaping!"

"We've lost the trail, Bishop," Logan pointed out, tilting his hat down over his eyes quite deliberately. Maybe the kid would get the hint and take a nap. He hoped so. Much more of this and he'd lose his temper. "We can't do anything until Nate gets here."

"When Cable gets here, I intend to rebuke him for this irresponsible behaviour--"

#Shut up, Bishop!# snapped a familiar voice inside their heads. Bishop stiffened, looking around the room accusingly. Logan sighed, shaking his head at the timing. #I'm just outside the damned door! It wouldn't hurt you to develop a little patience!#

The door opened. Cable walked in, wearing jeans, a leather jacket, and sunglasses to hide his distinctive eyes. He made his way across the room to their table, limping heavily, and Logan scowled, seeing how exhausted he looked. He smelled like he was hurt, but there was an odd component to his scent, too, an acid metallic tang that set Logan's teeth on edge. Then again, he told himself frankly, when has Cable NOT set your teeth on edge? Still, as he watched Cable half-collapse into the chair opposite him, not seeming to notice that his back was to the door - an uncharacteristic lapse in caution - Logan grew concerned.

Maybe bringing him in on this hadn't been a good idea. Nate looked to be in worse shape than the last time Logan had seen him--six weeks ago, before Cable had gone on the road to clean out nests of Prime Sentinels across Western Canada. And back then, Cable's judgement had been shot. He'd nearly come to blows with Scott when his father had suggested that he take a partner with him, like the other X-Men on Sentinel duty were doing. It had taken Jean to separate the two of them, and Cable hadn't been back to the mansion since.

#Mind your own business, Logan. I'm fine.#

You don't look fine, bub, Logan sent quickly, to cover his chagrin. He always forgot how strong a telepath Cable really was. If he was smart, he'd be as careful of his thoughts around Nate as he was around Jean and the Professor.

Cable gave him a level, weary look, pointedly ignoring Bishop. "So," he said, sounding even more tired when he spoke aloud. "What's the problem, Logan, and why do you think I can help?"

Bishop muttered something under his breath. Logan was pretty sure he didn't want to know what it was. He winced as he saw Cable's eyes flash with fury beneath the sunglasses. This wasn't the time for these two to have it out. Not here, in front of an audience. He'd thought they'd settled their differences a while back, but now, he wasn't so sure.

"We're on the trail of two mutants responsible for a string of bank robberies here in Alberta," Logan said quickly, relieved when Cable's attention shifted back to him. He laid two pictures on the table. One was of a gray-haired, cold-eyed man of middle years, while the other showed a cute, red-haired girl who couldn't have been more than thirteen or fourteen. "Andrew Taylor and Regina Bell, both alpha-class. He's a plasma blaster, like Havok, and her power--well, we're not quite sure. She seems to catch her target in some kind of psionic illusion. A few of her earlier victims described nightmare-like experiences where they 'relived their darkest fears', that type of thing. Cerebro didn't peg her till just recently, which is real strange, considering how powerful she seems to be."

"Why not just leave it to the police?" Cable asked listlessly, staring down at the photos. Removing his sunglasses, he winced and rubbed at his temples. His right eye was blank gold, lightless. Somehow, that bothered Logan more that anything else.

"The police in Calgary did have them in custody," Bishop said in a professional tone. Law-enforcement had once been his occupation, after all.

"And what went wrong?"

"Their last bank robbery went bad," Bishop continued, getting that grim and implacable look that meant trouble for someone. "A teller hit an alarm, and the police showed up. The girl apparently panicked. Twenty-three people who were inside the bank are now in comas. According to a Dr. Katz who I spoke to at the hospital, she inflicted irreversible brain damage on all of them." He fell silent, brooding.

"Katz is a member of the Mutant Underground," Logan continued quietly. "He told Bishop the girl passed out after losing control of her powers, so she was taken to the hospital, too. Taylor was shot, not badly. After he was treated, the police took custody of him. But he somehow managed to pick the lock on his inhibitor collar, and blasted his way out of the police station. Fifteen officers dead. Then he went back to the hospital to get the girl." Logan remembered the scene of horror he and Bishop had found when they'd finally gotten to the hospital. It had reminded him of the hospital Madelyne had been taken to, years ago, the one the Marauders had attacked--only worse, because this had been the work of one man. "We tracked them for two days, but I lost their scent when the storm blew up tonight."

Madelyne's son blinked at him for a moment, then smiled wryly. "And you think that because the girl's a psi, I should be able to find her." Cable sighed, rubbing at his temples again. "I don't know if I can, Logan. I don't come with a built-in Cerebro unit, you know."

Bishop sputtered indignantly, but before he could open his mouth, Logan kicked him under the table. Hard.

"Yeah, I know," he said, understanding that Cable's reluctance came from fear as much as weariness. Smaller things - like talking telepathically with a familiar mind - came to him more easily these days, but something like this would tax even an experienced telepath to his limits. And Cable was still a novice, still uncomfortable with his powers. "But you have to try, Nate. Taylor looks like a lost cause - he's got a rap sheet as long as my arm - but Regina Bell's just a kid. If we can get her away from him, she might have a chance to get herself straightened out--"

"I know," Cable said unsteadily. Logan looked away, not wanting to see memories of Tyler in the other man's eyes. "All right. I'll do it. I can't guarantee I'll find her, but if she's as powerful as you say, I might be able to pick up her psi-imprint." Looking tense and reluctant, he stared down at the table-top. "I'll have to drop my shields--"

"Not a good idea!" Bishop protested. "If you do that, you'll be open to her power!"

Cable's right eye spat golden fire as he stared across the table at Bishop. "Ever thought of engaing your brain before you open your mouth, Bishop? Do you think I want to be wandering unprotected around the astral plane, you moron?" Logan gave him a warning look, and Cable stopped, taking a deep breath. When he continued, his voice was more level. "I can't carry out a wide scan with my shields up. It would dull my perceptions when I need them to be their sharpest." He smiled tightly. "And if I tried, I'd probably lose control of the T-O virus. I won't risk that, not even for this kid." He glared at Bishop, as if daring him to disagree.

For once, Bishop was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. Taking a deep breath, Cable looked over at Logan. "If you even think there's something wrong--"

"Hit you?" Logan suggested with a faint smile. Cable shook his head, looking amused.

"Something along those lines. Try not to enjoy it too much." Closing his eyes, he withdrew into himself in that eerie way a telepath had. Logan would never get used to it. It was as if he suddenly wasn't there anymore, even though his body was still sitting at the table.

The two X-Men waited for some reaction from Cable. But when it came, it was nothing like they had expected.

***

Nathan let his mind drift outwards, away from the diner. Outside, the storm was still raging, but on a psychic level, there was silence, or as close to it as a telepath ever got.

He was floating in a sea of color. It shimmered with every shade imaginable, and others he had never seen before, nameless colors as thick as night or as pale as the first light of dawn. Colors he could touch and smell and taste and hear, as well as see. The sea was made up of billions upon billions of threads of consciousness, each quivering with their own melody, whether sad or angry or joyful. Yet there was harmony, rather than dissonance. In his opinion, that was the most wondrous thing about the astral plane. If only everyone could see it, experience this place where there was nothing separating one human being from another, maybe--

He had work to do, Nathan reminded himself, shaking off the dazzle of his surroundings. He dropped his shields and let the colors stream through him, becoming part of the flow rather than an island within it.

And rapture turned to pain.

Nathan fought to narrow his focus, to keep control. He could feel the carefully ordered pattern of his own psi-energies fraying under the strain, as if his mind was being shredded by light.

But he had to keep going. He had to find her, to help her, to make sure she grew up happy and free--not twisted, like Tyler. The pain grew worse, almost unbearable. Cable could feel the T-O virus begin to react, its icy tendrils advancing through his body.

But he wouldn't give up. He never gave up.

THERE! He struggled to narrow his focus even further, and an echo of the real world took shape around him. Trees, rocks, hills. Nothing remarkable. But he'd remember it if he saw it. And there were two minds there, alone in a pocket of silence. The first was ruthless and precise, so cold that he withdrew from it, gasping. The other - Regina - was like a newborn star, bright and wild and powerful.

He reached out to that shining young mind, keeping his shields down. It was a risk, but if he was going to reach her, she had to be able to trust him.

#regina--?# he sent softly, the barest mental whisper.

He heard a wordless, terrified shriek, and then she struck out at him, an attack that would have shattered harmlessly on his shields if there had been even a moment's grace to raise them. But the blow connected, and suddenly, he wasn't on the astral plane anymore. It was another place, another time--the night he, Redd and Slym had fought Apocalypse, two thousand years in the future. The night he had lost his parents. The night the T-O virus had nearly killed him.

Panicking, he reached down for the reserves of energy he had managed to touch only twice--once during his battle with Nate Grey, and again after Onslaught, using that power to save his own life. It flowed up and through him, a warm red-gold tide that held all the power he needed to pull his body back together again. Any awareness that this was an illusion faded, and all that was left was the thirteen year-old boy, desperate to warn Slym that Redd was in trouble, frantic to help the woman who would forever and always be his mother, whether she called herself Redd or Jean or Phoenix--

Trapped in the illusion, he had no idea the effect his actions were having in the real world.

***

As Cable leaned forward, a look of terrible strain on his face, Bishop shot a worried look at Logan. Logan shook his head.

"Not yet," he growled. I hope I'm doing the right thing here. "He warned us this wasn't going to be easy for him--"

All over the diner, dishes began to rattle. People looked up from their meals, confused. The shaking grew worsely, and, abruptly, every window in the building blew out. Then, the screaming started. Bishop and Logan rose to their feet as the ominous rumbling continued, looking over at Cable almost as one. They saw the air around him glowing red-gold. The ionization grew brighter as they watched, and the ground beneath them began to ripple, the floor tiles cracking. People headed for the exit in panic, stumbling over the furniture as they shielded their eyes from the man in their midst who glowed like the sun.

"This is NOT an earthquake!" Bishop roared over the shouts of those fleeing the diner.

"No shit!" Logan snarled, and paled as Bishop reached towards Cable, obviously with the idea of absorbing some of the telekinetic energy pouring off him. "Bishop, no!"

Too late. The moment he came into contact with the TK field surrounding Cable, Bishop was hurled backwards through the air, stopping only when he slammed against the far wall. Logan started over to help him, but Bishop was already struggling to his feet, his eyes glowing red with the energy he had absorbed.

"You idiot!" Logan snarled, turning back to Cable. Strangely, the chair Cable sat in and the table itself were still intact, probably because they were both inside the TK field. Logan winced as he heard the ceiling beams cracking. This place was coming down­--if the earth didn't open up and swallow it first. "Nate!" he snapped, carefully keeping his distance. "Snap out of it, damn it!" More screaming from outside, and Logan turned towards the broken windows just in time to see the twisted wreck of a truck come smashing back to earth. Someone was going to get hurt, if this didn't stop.

Gritting his teeth, Logan slammed a fist into Cable's jaw. Miraculously, he stayed on his feet. Cable, however, went over backwards, chair and all. The psi-storm died instantly, leaving silence in its wake. Logan shook his hand, aware of a strange, tingling sensation that raced up his arm before vanishing. He knelt down beside Cable, who blinked up at him, conscious but with a dazed, uncomprehending look in his eyes.

"Logan?" he asked, sounding bewildered. "What happened?" He tried to sit up and fell back with a groan. "Oath, my head feels like it's going to implode."

"That doesn't surprise me, actually," Logan said dryly, trying to conceal his relief as he helped Cable sit up. "Take it easy. You trashed the place but good, bub."

Cable looked around the ruins of the diner as if he wasn't entirely sure where he was. "I--thought I was somewhere else. Somewhen else."

"She caught you in one of her illusions, didn't she?" Bishop demanded angrily as he limped over. "I warned you, Cable--"

Cable stared at him blankly. "Warned me about what?" He fell silent for a moment, his eyes unfocused. "Wait--the girl."

"Yes, the girl," Bishop started heatedly. "The girl you were supposed to find, Cable. Remember her?"

"Bishop, you're not helping matters!" Logan snarled. "Either find something useful to say or shut your mouth!" He cast a measuring look at the ceiling, and scowled. "We need to get out of here before this place comes down on our heads. We can talk about what happened later. Give me a hand here, Bishop--"

Bishop obeyed, if sullenly and between the two of them, they managed to get Cable on his feet. Picking their way through smashed furniture and broken glass, they made their way out of the diner. Outside, there was a crowd waiting for them. An angry crowd.

to be continued...

[next part]

alicia's stories | [ARCHIVE] | comicfic.net