DISCLAIMER: Neither of them are mine, they belong to
Marvel. No money, no sue.
Thought of and written for Alicia McKenzie, because I love her and she needed cheering up. Have a good day, honey.

A Little Faith
by Diamonde

"Cable ... are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"It's just that you're, uh ... leaking."

"It's the rain."

"That you're sitting outside in a thunderstorm was the other clue. So, I'm just going to sit down here next to you, okay?"

"Listen, Drake. I'm trying to have a little me-time, okay? I'm out in the flonqing rain because I can't get any peace inside."

"Was that a hint?"

"No, I'm telling you. Go away."

"What if I don't?"

"I'll hurt you."

"Me, I'll risk it. But if you kick my arse, like we both know you can, everyone else is just going to come out and yell at you and demand an explanation. And I don't think you want that."

"... Fine. I'm asking nicely. PLEASE piss off."

"Nope. I'm just going to sit here quietly and watch in case your left side gets hit by lightning."

"You're worried, how touching."

"Well, it'd be quite a sight to see. But that's not why I'm worried about you."

"I'm not going to ask why, because I don't care and I don't need it. Take your pity somewhere else."

"It's not pity, Nathan. Looks like you've got that part covered yourself. I'm worried about you, and I don't know what to do. Jean I know how to deal with, I've known her for ten years and I know all the buttons to make her talk about it. But I don't really know you, and you're just withdrawing further and further and I don't know how to help you. So I worry."

"Don't."

"I can't help it, it just happens. So now I'm sitting out here in the freezing rain watching you pretend you're not crying."

"I'm not!"

"Chris, your father just died. You wouldn't be human if that didn't hurt."

"That's not my name."

"Sorry. You're not Christopher anymore, and I'm not Uncle Bobby. Cable and Drake."

"Right."

"Chris didn't mind accepting a hug when he needed one. Actually, if you bent over and looked like you were gonna pick him up he'd wave his arms and smile this big gummy smile at you ... I used to run off with him, you know. Made his mother nuts, but how was I suposed to talk guy talk with him when she was around? Women."

"I don't need hugging."

"You're right. You aren't crying, and you don't need hugging."

"No."

"What if I do? I just lost one of my best friends in the world, and I'm feeling pretty horrible about it. I was there, I should have been able to do something ... maybe if I'd worked harder like everyone kept telling me to, I could have made a difference."

"Don't be stupid. You had no chance against Apocalypse, there was nothing you could have done. It wasn't your fight."

"No, it was yours, right?"

"Yes."

"And it didn't go the way you wanted."

"I failed, that's what happened."

"Show's not over until the fat lady sings, Nathan. We lost someone and it hurts like hell, but the world hasn't ended yet. Have a little faith."

"My entire life I had faith, Drake! I picked myself up after every damn loss, every time someone ripped my life to bits, and I kept going because I had one thing I needed to do. Either I'd kill him, or he'd kill me, and it'd be over. But I failed, and instead of me paying for that Scott did. It should have been me. This isn't..."

"Fair?"

"No. Scott's dead, and I'm still here and it's not over! I have to keep going, and pretending that it's okay. It's not."

"Life's like that. It's not going to be over until you die, whether it's being killed by Apocalypse or dying in bed surrounded by grandchildren. You're a person, Nathan, not an emissary of God sent to smite the unworthy. You've made mistakes through your entire life, lost people, found people, and that's going to keep happening. Shutting everyone out isn't going to change that."

"Very profound. Doesn't actually help anything, though, does it?"

"You're missing the important part of your point. It's not over. I could spout cliches about it always being darkest before the dawn and where there's life there's hope for hours, but that's all there really is to it. It's not over, unless you give up. Are you ready to let Apocalypse win?"

"Over my dead body. Or at least, it was supposed to be."

"Stop being maudlin, it makes you look old."

"I AM old."

"No you're not, you're four. I remember."

"Can you ever be serious?"

"Yes. I'm seriously telling you that I'm going to hug you, right now."

"I don't need hugging! Get -- oh for..."

"Of course you don't."

"As long as we've got that straight..."

"You're not hugging back either, right?"

"Right. I'm just cold."

"Right."

"And that's just unusually warm rain that's dripping onto my shoulder."

"Absolutely."

"...I miss him."

"Me too."

~End~

-(main) - (biography) - (discussion) - (stories) - (pictures) - (links) - (updates)-