Summary:"I remember everything perfectly. I just remember differently, that's all." Andi remembers nothing from their excursion into the past, and Jim's left trying to piece together his new memories while skirting around the old ones. Meanwhile, Marie and Logan are forcibly (and mostly unwittingly) involved with some pretty bad guys, while Victoria is handed her father's job and realizes he's been with the good guys. Things may not be as black and white as they seem, though, and one thing is inevitable - something big is brewing, and no one is going to stay fully innocent for long.
"Daddy?" Andi peeks around the corner into the den, Jimmy coming up behind her. Their father is obviously getting ready to go – somewhere. This has been happening increasingly often, both their parents disappearing every now and then, their father more than their mother. Usually it's to go on a mission with the X-men, who are forever in need of an extra set of hands, but other teams are forming and growing now, so he could be going anywhere really. It scares Jimmy and Andi a bit. They are only six after all. But they are slowly beginning to get the idea that Daddy's strong, he'll come back, he always does, they don't need to worry.
"Well, come on." Their father gets down on one knee and the little ones sprint across the room and right into his waiting arms. He chuckles and places a kiss on each of their heads.
.
"Do you have to go?" Jimmy sniffles softly, trying to be a big boy and not cry, but failing miserably. It's their mother this time. Their birthday is tomorrow and he doesn't want her to go. They're turning eight and having a party with some friends from town and it won't be the same without her.
"Hey, now." She replies, voice soft, as she leans in to press her lips to each of his chubby cheeks, kissing away his tears. "We'll have cake and ice cream, just the four of us when Ah get back, ok?"
"Chocolate cake?" He sniffles and stutters a bit. "With cream frosting." He means cream cheese frosting. Mama chuckles a bit.
"Of course! And chunky chocolate ice cream." She adds a little louder, and his sister peeks her head out into the room from the hallway as if on cue, hazel eyes brightening. "Well, come on!" Mama says, and Andi runs into the room to be pulled into the hug that Jimmy is already enveloped in, and all is well. Mama will be back, they know. Mama's strong like Daddy's strong, she always comes back.
.
"But I don't wanna!" Andi growls. It is high pitched and cute more than it is threatening, but Jimmy notices that his parents share a look anyways, a knowing one. Outbursts like this one haven't been typical of either of them until lately. His sister seemed to be working with a much shorter fuse in the past few months. It doesn't help that she's sick again. "Ms. Georgia's…" Old. She trails off before she says it, knowing she'll be scolded for her rudeness, but Jimmy hears it loud and clear on her end.
"You won't be stayin with Ms. Georgia. Your cousin's in town, I know you love her, she's agreed to stay with yah." Their Mama informs them calmly. The thing is, she and Daddy both are disappearing for a day or two this time, and neither Andi nor Jimmy are particularly happy about. It doesn't happen too often, which is perhaps why they don't like it. Andi, though…
"I don't care! What if my fever comes back! What if…" She isn't feeling well. She isn't throwing up or anything but her appetite does disappear during these bouts of sickness, and she's had a fever that keeps coming back coupled with an overall ill feeling, her body just hurting, sore in a way she can't quite put into words.
"I've already told Vicky how to handle it, you'll be just fine."
"How do you know?" Andi asks, somewhat impetuous, and their father sighs.
"I know," he presses a kiss to the eleven-year-olds forehead before giving her a small smile, "because I was."
.
They're thirteen now and they have to go to school and Jimmy has a head ache and… he ends up crying when his Mama comes out, an all too familiar duffle bag packed and slung over her shoulder.
"No!" He says simply and his Mama gives him a firm look at the same time his father quirks an eyebrow in his direction.
"Excuse me?" Mama says, and he gets a little sheepish, ducking his head to look down at the floor.
"I mean, please don't go. My head hurts again. I don't want you to go." It's silly and he's a big baby, a Mama's boy, but he doesn't care.
You can beg and cry all you want, she ain't gonna stay, you know that. His sister sends a mental snort in his direction. Besides, you always have a stupid headache.
He doesn't bother to answer. It's true, he always seems to have a headache, but he can't help it. His telepathy is growing stronger still and he's having a harder time keeping up.
Mama ends up promising, just as she always does, that she won't be gone long, and Daddy lets him stay home from school, so all ends up being well.
.
Fifteen now. Schools out for the time being. Mama and Daddy are both leaving again, but neither of the twins think twice. Jim makes a point of saying goodbye, hugging his father and giving his Mama a kiss on the cheek, Andi gives them a lazy and careless wave, and then their gone.
She gets up as soon as they are and slips off the sweater she'd been wearing to reveal a low cut red top, too low cut for a fifteen year old, but Jim's learned not to bother scolding his sister for – anything, really. She believes herself invincible with the healing factor that had begun developing when they were almost twelve, and really, it's pointless to try telling her otherwise. She slips on the leather jacket Dad had bought her and then slips out the door to meet the friends that are picking her up.
Jim takes out a book and settles down for a quiet night alone.
.
By the time their sixteen about to be seventeen, neither of them think twice. Except for the fact that their being left with their baby siblings, also twins and only months old, it's nothing out of the ordinary when their parents leave.
Except, days pass, and they hear nothing. Several days. A good week. Two. Finally, having nothing to go on but the memory of their parents mentioning the mansion, Andi calls up Ororo Munroe.
"Jimmy." She says when she slips back into the room after getting off the phone. "She says she never called Mama and Dad. They never went to the mansion."
Neither of them know how to take this news. Silence reins for several minutes as they process this information while staring, horrified, at each other.
"They lied to us." Andi says quietly, voicing what Jim had just been on the verge of thinking.
"Well – maybe they had good reason, maybe –"
"Maybe what!" She explodes abruptly. "It's been weeks! What good reason could they possibly have for – for abandoning us! What are we supposed to do now?"
"I don't know, Andi. I don't know." His voice cracks. Her shoulders slump as she visibly deflates and slowly comes to sit next to him. He wraps an arm around her shoulders, she leans her head on his, and then they're both crying silent tears.
…
Some new memories came to him as he slept, but the scenes were fragmented, glimpses not quite big enough. At least they seemed to be coming to him in order. He feared it would be days, maybe weeks, before he could really figure it all out. It frustrated him. He was normally a very patient person, but there were things he wants to know, and he wanted to know them now.
Andi was in the kitchen when he finally dared to venture out of his bedroom (and how she even got him there was a mystery on its own since he should've weighed more than her). Sitting at the table and puffing on a cigar, she looked more than a little like – well, could've be either of their parents really. Marie and Logan had both been known to indulge in them. He said nothing about it, mainly because he secretly liked the smell. The cabin wouldn't have felt like home without it hanging so strongly in the air. That was probably why his sister was smoking it, he mused.
"You're awake!" She greeted, eyeing him as he poured himself some coffee and sat down. "Feeling any better?"
"No." He said simply, and he didn't like the way she was looking at him. Wary, like he was a stranger. "What?" He asked, snapped a bit harshly in a way that wasn't like him, but she didn't bat an eyelash, not that he'd expect her to.
"Just wondering if you're planning to actually tell me what's wrong. I know you're blocking me out."
"I'm not certain what's wrong. And if I wasn't, you'd just be confused to."
"Ok, so just try to explain."
"I don't know –" he paused as something occurred to him, "do you remember, it was a few years ago now," assuming this was one thing that hadn't changed, "Tony bringing us down to that lab he has set up, raving about this machine that could, supposedly, send us back in time."
She snorted. "Yeah, I remember Tony's time machine. It was an interesting idea in theory, but too complicated to really try."
"Complicated. You have no idea."
She was giving him that wary look again. "And up until about five seconds ago I would've assumed you didn't either."
He met her eyes. "What if I were to tell you it worked."
"Now I know for a fact that ain't true. No one would be his guinea pig, Tony scrapped the idea, still complains about it like a five year old every now and then."
"Say it did, though…"
She puffed the cigar with a thoughtful air and he eyed it, wishing it was his mother sitting across from him and not Andi. He could see their mother as he remembered her, on one of her saner mornings. She'd be wrapped in an old flannel shirt that she'd stolen from their father as she slipped into the room to pluck the thick cigar right from between his lips.
He took a breath to fight off the sudden and rather undignified urge to burst into tears. He didn't care if he was a grown man, he just wanted to see his mom. Was that too much to ask after everything that he'd just gone through?
"I'm listening." His sister said finally.
"Say something went wrong, seriously wrong, enough that it actually seemed worth the risk to go back and try to fix things. And whoever went back actually managed to make the change happen."
"Well," she shrugged, "I'd think this person probably wouldn't remember. Either way – who's to say they actually fixed everything. Who's to say they didn't make it worse."
Jim found himself, inexplicably, barking out a laugh. That was exactly the argument she'd made when trying to convince their father they shouldn't use the time machine in the first place. His first instinct now was to say she'd been right, because now they'd lost both their parents, but who was he to say the rest of the world wasn't better off? He didn't know that yet. "Andrea, I love you!"
"Ah, love you to, Jimmy." Her brows furrowed even as she smiled in amusement at him. "Did I say something funny?"
"No. Well, sort of. It's just – I do remember. I remember everything perfectly. I just remember differently, that's all. It's my telepathy I think. My mind doesn't work the same as yours does."
"Well, I already knew that." She studied him for a moment before placing her cigar in an ashtray sitting next to her and clasping both hands to rest her chin on them. "You did it. In some other – timeline? I don't know what you'd call it, but that's what you're trying to say. You went back and changed something and now you still remember whereas everyone else's memories just got replaced."
Ok, another change. This Andi was – well, not to say that she'd been dumb in either version of their lives, but this one seemed to have learned how to really use the brain she had whereas his Andi – she'd been too impatient most of the time to stop and think. Perhaps that was just a product of the other changes.
"Yes." He slumped back against the kitchen chair. "Exactly. The new memories are coming to me, but slowly. It could be weeks before I can sort it all out."
"You know," Andi said, thoughtful, "Vicky has a friend, a real sweet woman, who's also telepathic. I don't know exactly what her mutation is, but maybe she could help you."
His brows furrowed at the way she said 'Vicky'. They hadn't been particularly close to their older cousin originally, but Andi said 'Vicky' with all the affection she put behind his name or that of their siblings. As if she were their older sister almost. It unnerved him a bit; Victoria hadn't exactly been on their side originally. That's why the things they'd changed had centered on her.
"What now?" Andi asked, sounding a tad exasperated by the look on his face.
"Vicky as in Victoria, right? Our cousin?"
"Yeah, who else would I be talking about?"
"No one." Jim sighed. "Just go call her."
39 Years Ago
Victor started taking her with him when the nightmares worsened. It gave her good reason to train harder, allowed her to blow off steam and left her exhausted enough that she slept deeper and didn't dream as much.
Rosie didn't like it. 'You're not him' she said, ' and as much as I love him, one is enough.' She began refusing to call her daughter by her middle name. Her words began to haunt Victoria just as Lizzie's still did. She understood that her mother was scared, but she also knew that her step-father was out there somewhere, and he'd eventually pay for all the trouble he'd caused. She had to be strong enough to make him, first, though, and if that meant doing what Victor told her, then her mother would just have to deal.
…
Victoria dodged another blow, if only barely, and scrambled backwards until she hit a wall. The man in front of her was even bigger than her father, a real giant, and the punches she was throwing weren't doing much good.
Wolf growled at her to stop being such a girl about it and start slicing and dicing. Victoria refused, to spite the fact that the other woman they'd come here with was already dead by his hand. She hated it when things got to this point. She couldn't imagine using her claws like that again without seeing Reinhardt's face in her mind's eye. She just couldn't.
Where was Victor, anyways? This was supposed to be an easy job. He'd promised her, just the easy jobs for now.
The giant had a knife now, and it was giant too. She pressed herself further against the wall and braced herself for the pain…
…that never came. A low growl, a scream, and the sound of metal hitting the concrete beneath them before she felt something warm spurt across her face, and she was opening her eyes to see the giant very, very dead with her father coming towards her. He didn't tell her not to look – he never did, knew she'd already seen just as bad – but something in her expression must have worried him, because he did take her arm, hurrying her away.
38 Years Ago
All she wanted was some peace, but she couldn't seem to find any. Her mother seemed to be questioning every decision she made. Lizzie wasn't calling her as often anymore. Ben had been acting odd around her, letting her call the shots in a way no boy had ever done around her before – she couldn't decide how she felt about this.
Victor and her mother had begun to argue at night when they thought she was sleeping. She wanted Victoria to find a normal job, go to college. Victor thought it should be up to her what she did, wanted her to have the choice that he and her uncle hadn't exactly had.
'She's choosin the same path, though, are yah just goin to let her!' Her mother argued with all the fiery attitude of a protective Southern Mama.
'She's mine through and through, Rosie, trouble finds her on its own. At least this way I can keep an eye on her.'
Her mother wasn't particularly satisfied with this answer. Victor being Victor, he let her yell and rant about it all she wanted, took her to bed when she was finally done, and that was the end of that.
…
Victoria was glad it was another woman this time. She could actually enjoy herself fighting with another woman. They danced across the floor of the warehouse in a flurry of fists and high kicks – and claws in Victoria's case – and paid little attention to the entire shelves full of…well, junk that they were knocking over in the process.
The young girl tied to a chair in the middle of the room screamed when one of the shelves just next to her was tipped over. Victoria threw a well-placed punch, sending the woman reeling with a now bleeding nose, before leaping forward on all fours and kicking out, sending the chair screeching away just in time. The woman recovered quicker than expected, though, and before Victoria knew it the little girl had a knife held to her throat.
Victoria swore and shot back up to her feet, reaching for the small hand gun she had strapped to her thigh.
The girl shook like leaf. Victoria trained the gun on the woman she'd been fighting, but her hands shook, and the woman laughed, taunting her, wondering aloud if Victoria had the guts to pull the trigger. Several moments passed like this as Victoria tried to work up the courage to shoot the woman and the woman made a shallow cut in the throat of the sobbing girl.
Just do it! Wolf snarled at her, and her finger inched back, because maybe this woman did deserve…
The next few moments were a blur as, once again, her father came to her rescue. He grabbed the woman and dragged her away. Her screams rang out through the warehouse… and then abruptly went silent as Victoria let out a breath and shoved her gun back in its holster before freeing the girl.
37 Years Ago
Victoria stopped short when she came into the room and saw who was in the cage along with several other kids from the mansion. The blonde hair and big brown eyes were unmistakable. Liz looked deceptively calm, but Victoria could smell the fear coming off of all of them in waves. Her fists clenched as a rage the likes of which she hadn't felt since she was nineteen bubbled to the surface.
When the guards started pouring into the room, Wolf told her not to bother playing nice. Victoria, for once, was inclined to agree.
This time, when her father came to find her, he was greeted with the scene he was usually the one leaving, and Victoria was stalking past him with her friend and the others in tow.
…
He started taking her on 'real' missions after that. Rosie was still worried, Victoria could tell, but she'd stopped saying anything, seemed resigned. Victoria started to feel awkward around her. She tried to find other things to do, places to be. Ben provided a welcome distraction.
Her father started putting her in charge of training other kids to fight like he'd trained her. For what reason, she had no clue. It was mostly boys. They challenged her at every turn until one time, finally, she singled out the largest boy in the group saying he'd be her partner for the day. She'd overheard him calling her a dumb bitch. Wolf though that was about enough. Victoria agreed. She beat him until the other boys stopped snickering and smirked when he got dragged off to be patched up.
Everyone heard about it. Nothing remained a secret for long in their little village.
That same night she allowed Ben to take her to bed for the first time. Well, more like she took him. Somewhere along the line, he asked her what had gotten into her.
Victoria simply informed him that she'd had about enough of 'playing nice'.
36 Years Ago
"What's the matter? Don't want to hit a girl, or are you just afraid Ah'll kick your scrawny ass." Victoria kept her gold-flecked eyes trained on the boy in front of her. He was blonde haired and taller than her, but too skinny, and she suspected he really didn't know how to fight, at least not like she did. If she remembered correctly, his father had taught him how to shoot, and he was real good at that – and not much else.
She was supposed to be training him and the small group of others around, most of them only eighteen years old, like the boy in front of her, but he'd approached her before she could even begin. Considering there was only one other girl in the group of ten she was training, she suspected this had been some kind of dare, not that it mattered. He'd been stupid enough to take the dare, and she never went easy on these idiots.
The blonde glanced around at the other boys, who were all cheering him on a bit in between soft snickers. He did look nervous. Wolf stirred, getting restless, ready to have some fun with this new toy. Victoria gave him the fanged smirk she was becoming known for before putting her hands on her hips. "Come on, hot shot, make a move. Yah do know how to hit someone, don't yah?"
He hesitated further. More snickers from the other boys. His face set in determination as his fists finally clenched and he lunged at her, putting all his weight behind a punch that might have hurt a bit if it'd hit home. Unfortunately for him, it didn't. She was too quick for him, dodging easily and chuckling as he swung at nothing and ended up stumbling forward a bit. "Nice try. My turn." She crouched low and swung one leg out and around to knock his legs out from under him, sending him to his knees. In a further whirlwind of movement, she pushed his bony shoulders while he was still off guard, sending him flying forward. Then, leaping forward herself, she sat atop his legs and clasped his neck from behind, digging her nails in and shoving his face into the dirt.
This was met with stunned silence and one lone snicker – from the one girl this time – before a slow clapping reached her ears. She looked up with eyes now entirely flushed gold and wasn't entirely surprised to see her father, looking amused and impressed.
"Not bad. I'd be proud of you, except you were supposed to be whipping their asses into shape, not beating them into the dirt."
"Hey, he started it." She replied, feigning innocence briefly before smirking. "And it's been weeks since yah've given me any new toys to play with." She dug her nails in a little deeper and breathed in deep the smell of the blondes fear.
"You ever stop to think that maybe this is why?" Victor rose an eyebrow. The kids surrounding them were beginning to look worried, uncomfortable. Victor hadn't yet bothered to tell her to let go of the blonde.
"Maybe if yah didn't send me such idiots, this wouldn't happen in the first place." She looked down at the blonde. "What was it this time? A dare? Or a bet?" She looked back up to her father. "It's always funny when they lose somethin more than just their dignity."
"Victoria." A growl rumbling behind his words now, not threatening, just commanding.
"Yes, sir." She replied, a bit huffily, before letting the blonde go. He scrambled to his feet, his hand flying to his neck where he was now sporting five bleeding claw marks. Nearly running into Victor in his haste to get away from Victoria, he let out a noise that sounded suspiciously like a whimper before beating a hasty retreat. She watched him go before turning to the others with a raised eyebrow. "Anyone else want to have a go?" Silence. "Guess not. That's disappointin. Hey, Allyssa!" She called out to the small girl standing at the back of the group.
"Yes, ma'am." Allyssa replied crisply. She'd already come to Victoria asking to learn how to defend herself after being cornered by several boys months earlier.
"Do me a favor and show these boys how it's really done."
"With pleasure, ma'am."
…
"You're mother's worried about you." They were making their way home now. The statement seemed random, but that was just Victor. Short and to the point. Victoria knew by now not to mistake it for anything other than him just being – well, him.
"Mama's never happy unless she's worried about somethin." She retorted.
"True."
A slight pause as Victoria thought for a minute. "Ain't she always worried about me?"
"She's been worse lately. You don't talk to her enough, and then you pull that routine like you did with the blonde earlier."
"How would she even know..."
"People talk, kid, and your mother's got plenty of friends around by now. She says it's getting a little too hard to tell you and me apart."
"I thought I was always like you."
"You know how Rosie is."
Another pause. "You want me to start…behaving?" She asked. She'd try to tone it down if he told her to, and he knew it.
"Only when you're here. Just to calm Rosie down."
"Cause if Mama ain't happy, neither of us will be either." Victoria chuckled softly. "Got it."
"Not that I'm thinking you're gonna be around too much anyways. I've got a job for you, you'll be in and out enough to keep from getting too restless."
They were just outside their house now. Victoria came to a stop, turning to her father. "What job?"
"Mine."
"Yours." Her eyes widened. "But you… Ah mean…"
"The cubs are already getting big, and your mother might've mentioned she wished I was around a little more."
It was crazy, how her father would do anything for her mother. Even if everything meant settling for almost normal for a while.
"Course, it's up to you whether you take it or not." He went on. "You'll need to start getting a team together."
Was that why he'd had her training the others? That would make sense. "Do I need a team?" She knew he didn't often work with one, except when he had her tag along.
"I'm not sending you anywhere alone." His tone didn't leave room for argument.
"Yes sir." She murmured with a bit of a sigh. "How big a team?" Trying to work with the boys he'd had her training would probably end – well, not well. However, there was on person she had in mind…
"Doesn't matter as long as you ain't on your own."
"I think I've already got one, then."
…
"Hello?"
"Hey you."
"Hey Tori." She replied, tone friendlier than the crisp responses she'd given the older girl earlier. It was a strange relationship they had. Victoria liked Allyssa and wanted to be friends, and since she'd been the one to save the younger girl from the boys she'd been cornered by, Allyssa seemed to stick to her side like glue.
"Got a question for yah."
"I'm listening."
"You still want out of here as badly as you did a few months ago?"
"Do you even have to ask?" Allyssa replied.
"Pack your bags then, cause I've got a new assignment, and you're comin with me."
Allyssa didn't respond immediately, but Victoria could hear rustling and a bag being unzipped. "Where and when?" The younger girl asked finally, excitement clear in her voice, and Victoria smiled into the phone.
I know there's a lot of OC's running around here, just stay with me. Obviously they all end up being important at some point or another, there is one big plotline in here somewhere, I promise. :D
I'm trying something a little different with this one, bouncing around between Jimmy and Andi and what's led up to where things stand around them now. If any of it gets confusing, let me know and I'll do my best to fix it.
