H.D., "The Walls Do Not Fall"

"And that's it, Brian. The entire confusing tale... from my gruesome encounter with Sabretooth, to the debt I now owe some mysterious sorcerer who I have yet to meet." Betsy Braddock drops her head into her arms which rest on a table within Braddock Manor's large, yet cozy kitchen as she adds, "Why is it that our family seems plagued with mystical dilemmas from every reality imaginable?"

Her brother, Brian Braddock, also known as Captain Britain of Excalibur, carefully removes a loaf of bread from the kitchen's large brick hearth and deposits it on the table as he muses, "I don't know... the whole lot of us must be cursed."

Propping her head in her hands and peering inquisitively at her twin brother as he removes a dinner plate and silverware from various cabinetry, she asks him, "But seriously. What do you think of this?"

Placing the plate and silver in front of her, Brian says, "Honestly?"

"Yes. I want your honest opinion... as my brother, as my twin, as the only family I have left who can give me a coherent answer."

Brian leans his large frame against one of the room's heavy side boards and collects his thoughts before he ventures, "I think that the entire episode is completely ridiculous. None of it should have ever happened..."

Furrowing her brow in confusion, Betsy says exasperated, "And what was supposed to happen? Was I supposed to live my life never taking risks, never acting heroically if it meant any possible danger to myself? Is that what you're trying to tell me?"

Brian shakes his head as he says quietly, yet deliberately, "No. You didn't let me finish. Of course, you did what was necessary. And you picked the life you lead because it is your calling. Both of us know that. It's just... well, I can't help but feel that it was all so unnecessary. Sabretooth should have never had the opportunity that he did, and Logan and Warren... Oh, Betsy. I hate them for what they've put you through, but I know if placed in their position I would have done the same."

Betsy smiles slightly, breaking the tension suddenly hanging in the room and says, "No, dear brother, you probably would have shaken the heavens apart and torn open the time stream just to save me."

Returning her smile and retrieving a dish from the oven, Brian nods his head in agreement and says, "You know, you're probably right."

"No. I know I'm right."

Grinning broadly, Brian spoons a few lumps of a brown, meat-like substance onto her plate as he jests, "You always were the smarter twin."

"And don't you ever forget it... Brian, since when do you cook?"

"Since when do you care about my culinary expertise?"

"Good point."

Brian takes a chair and sits next to Betsy, as she pokes at the brown meat in front of her timidly. Just as he is about to protest, she asks him suddenly, "So what are you doing home? What about Excalibur?"

"Oh, I'm just taking a break from the team for a while. I'm not really sure if I want to spend the rest of my life being Captain Britain."

Betsy scoffs as she pushes the meat around some more, creating an interesting pattern in its gravy. "You? Not wanting to be Captain Britain for the rest of your life?"

Rolling his eyes in amusement, Brian says, "You were always the adventurous one, remember? It's funny, though. I just woke up one morning and asked myself if being Captain Britain was all there could be in life."

"And what was the answer?"

Straightening a napkin in front of him, he says, "Unfortunately, a resounding 'no'. I still don't have the rest figured out yet, that's why I came here."

"I see. And what of Meggan?"

Smiling dreamily at the mention of her name, Brian says, "Oh, whatever happens, I want to spend my life with her. In fact she's coming to visit tomorrow. I know she'd love to see you if you're still..."

Lowering her eyes sadly, Betsy says, "Brian. You know I can't stay... I have things to take care of. I'm just glad I got to see you before... before..."

Shaking his head and placing a large hand on her shoulder, he says, "Don't say it Betsy. Don't even think it. Meggan and I have planned a trip to America and you're going to be there to greet us. This is hardly good-bye."

Smiling weakly at her brother, she returns, "Okay then. I'll be there."

"Right you will."

They share an awkward silence as Brian watches Betsy push her meal once more around her plate. Instead of lecturing her on the evils of an empty stomach, Brian says, "So tell me about Warren. I can't wait to meet him."

Betsy grins as she says, "Can't wait to terrorize him is more like it."

"Yes, well..."

"Yes."

Brian smirks as he says, "Okay, yes. But I hardly know anything about him besides that fact that you're in love with him and that he's had a rather difficult past. What is he like? How did all of this happen? Is he a good kisser?"

Mouth agape, Betsy cries, "Brian!?"

Enjoying the blush slowly creeping up his sister's face, Brian says uncharacteristically, "I want dirt and I want it now!"

Shaking her head, she says, "You have definitely been around Kitty Pryde for too long!"

"You're evading the question."

"I can't do this, not with you."

"Why not?"

"Because you're my brother that's why!"

Sincerity now mingling with the joviality in his expression, Brian takes her hand and says, "I've just seen a glimmer of how happy he makes you. I want to see your face when you talk about him, I just want to see you happy, okay? So tell me something... something special. Betsy, I've missed so much of your life the last few years. Just spare me this."

"Okay... I guess."

Brian slices a piece of bread from the loaf and puts it on Betsy's plate as he says, "Good, just don't make it too graphic... I am your brother after all."

Betsy rolls her eyes and bats some of his blonde hair into his eyes before she begins to talk of Warren. "When I think what Warren means to me, I often think of the first night I knew that I could fall in love with him. I had sought him out many times before that day, aware that he really needed someone to talk to. Not that I expected him to open up to me about anything that was really bothering him. At the time we were only teammates, strangers living in the same house. But I thought that if I could just get him talking, about the weather, about the latest mission, about anything at all, the rest would fall into place."

As she stops her narrative for a bit to eat some of the bread Brian has almost forced upon her, Brian says, "So, I see. My sister conniving as usual. Setting the trap, waiting for her quarry to come to her..."

After sipping from a glass of water, Betsy continues, "No. That's not it at all! Well, not totally. I thought that perhaps when he really needed to talk to someone, he might find in me a kindred spirit, someone who could understand. All I really wanted from him in return was friendship."

Making himself more comfortable in the chair which seems tiny in comparison to his bulk, Brian says, "I remember that was a hard time for you... because of your change. I imagine you must have been terribly lonely."

"I was. Logan left the team shortly after, and Ororo and I had been distant since my... transformation. I was lonely and so was Warren. It only seemed natural that we should get to be friends. And that's all it was, at first."

"At first?"

"Yes. Then Shinobi Shaw happened. When Shaw tried to recruit him into his new, improved version of the Hellfire's Inner Circle, Warren responded negatively, as I expected him to. But it went farther than that. Warren got a glimpse of what he could have become, what he might have still become: a cocky rich brat with no one to love in life but his money and his mutant ability, which he had sold his soul for once before."

Wincing slightly from her blunt tone, Brian asks, "Isn't that a little harsh?"

"Yes. But completely true. I didn't know how true then, but I think I do now. But that night, when we both went to infiltrate the new Hellfire Club, he realized he was more than a powerful mutant or a powerful business man. He was hero, I could see it in his eyes. That among other things."

Brian watches in fascination as the look on his twin's face changes as she relives this moment from her past. Though it has been a while since their psychic bond has been active, he can still sense a radiance emitting from her. That energy is happiness and purpose, and he revels in its very existence. It has been too long since he's seen her this happy. He's not sure if he's ever seen her like this. He's glad that he's had the fortune to witness it.

"As we walked out of the Hellfire Club that night, I held onto his arm, still weak from Shaw's attack. Even though Warren had insulted Shinobi as he left the Club's Inner Circle complex and left the battle the obvious victor, he was still shaken. His face seemed composed, but as I held on to him for support, I could feel his hands shaking."

"Once we were outside, I knew his first instinct would be to go somewhere alone, to fly off into the night so he could brood, so he could get over his feelings doing the one thing he treasured most, flying. But he had me to think about, I was a part of what had happened that night and even though I wasn't badly injured, it would have been unthinkable to leave me alone or to send me home with Hank who was playing chauffeur for the evening. Sometimes I feel that because of circumstance, because I had unwittingly seen all his demons up close, what happened between us that night was forced... That maybe if it wasn't for Shaw, we would have never made a connection."

Brian stops Betsy's narrative briefly and says, "It's called fate, Betsy."

Smiling demurely as she takes in Brian's comment, Betsy says, "Yes, fate... perhaps..." before she continues, "He didn't say a word, Brian, he just looked at me with an expression that seemed to say 'Please? Would you please come with me?' How could I resist? That part was definitely genuine. Fate or no fate. That look was a conscious choice."

"As soon as we flew into the air, I could feel his anxiety slip away. It was the first time I had flown with him and instead of feeling fear, I was thrilled. It was wonderful to soar in the air again as I had when I was Captain Britain all those years ago. I had complete trust in him."

"I turned to look at him, I'm sure my face was positively beaming with delight, and Warren grinned, probably happy that I wasn't shrieking in terror. Perhaps it was then that he began to know how special I could be to him as well."

"Later, after we landed on the Mansion's lawn, Warren finally began to open up to me. We sat out by the cove and he talked about what had happened that night and I listened. Then I talked about my life some and he listened. We traded stories back and forth for hours and the next thing we knew the sun was rising."

"It was then that I knew I could fall in love with him... was falling in love with him. After seeing so many sides of him that night... so vulnerable, yet so strong, I was hooked. I felt really important for the first time in a long while. Really needed. I felt what I most needed to feel. Special. Finally, he was letting me into his world. And I knew then that despite all the ugliness he'd been through, it had to be a beautiful place. A place where I could be happy."

"I watched him as the sunlight crept slowly across his face. He was talking about how lost he felt, how he felt like a stranger in his own body, how he couldn't stand to see his own reflection in the mirror. And then I noticed how beautiful he was, how he wasn't a monster at all... things I had known about him for a while. But if he felt that way about himself and I knew he wasn't maybe I wasn't so freakish myself."

"I had to let him know how special he was, how human and wonderful... but words might have frightened him, might have scared him away from all we had accomplished together that night. So I did the next best thing. I kissed him. It wasn't the most spectacular kiss, or the most passionate. It was simply a kiss. It didn't need to be anything more."

"Warren sat there a moment afterward with his eyes closed, laughing quietly to himself, and then he did the most perfect thing he could have done. He didn't speak, he didn't ask 'What was that for?' or over-analyze my actions, he simply smiled and pressed his fingers to his lips, touching them where mine had been. Then I left him there alone, but with the knowledge that he didn't have to be. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. And for the first night in a long, long time, I didn't have any nightmares."

After a moment of silence, Brian says, "I've always hated that I wasn't able to be there for you more during that time. I'm so glad that you two found each other."

Tears suddenly welling in her eyes, Betsy gasps, "So am I."

Casting aside his chair in a clatter, Brian moves to Betsy's side and she grips him tightly as she sobs onto his shoulder and asks, "What am I going to do, Brian? What's going to happen?"

Fighting back his own tears, Brian wants more than anything to face this upcoming crisis with his sister, to protect her with all that he is worth, to keep her safe at all costs. But instead of pleading with her to stay in England with him and hide from her fears, he says, "You're going to find Warren. You're going to go home and face this together."

She whispers, "I thought I was home."

Facing Betsy, Brian says, "It... I will always be here for you. But your heart is across the ocean, Betsy. You've got to follow it."

Sitting back in her chair, Betsy sniffles as Brian asks her, "Do you think you're ready to teleport back?"

She looks up at him through tear-glazed eyes and says, "A few minutes ago, the journey back through the shadows seemed terrifying. But now? I think... I know I can make it. For Warren."

Brian pats her reassuringly on the shoulder as he says, "For you, too. Don't forget that."

"Yes. For me, too."

Clearing the plate of cold food off the table, Brian says, "Wait a while to collect yourself... then I'll be here to help you do what you need to do to get back."

Drying her eyes with a cloth napkin from the table, Betsy says quietly, "Thanks, Brian."

Smiling warmly, Brian says, "That's what I'm here for... Don't ever forget that, either."

"I won't, Brian. I promise."

[next part]

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