"Oh," Rumor said, "Hi Luther. Nice to see you."

To be perfectly honest, it wasn't nice to see him. In the morning she would be marrying Patrick and she did not want to be thinking about her family right now. She just wanted to get some sleep so that she'd look perfect in the morning. This couldn't be conducive to her already stretched wedding nerves. Rumor really wanted him to leave. She'd always been particularly good at lying though, so this wasn't a big stretch for her.

She just wasn't comfortable around him anymore. Deep down Rumor doubted that she had ever been comfortable with any of the Hargreeves. Alright, so she had always been kind of close to Space. During her twenties she had been under the impression that she loved him, which she hadn't. Obviously it had just been a bit of an infatuation.

When she realized that he didn't reciprocate her 'infatuation', she'd met Patrick. Well, a few weeks afterwards. Two months. Okay, it had been three months. He had a real job. He was dependable and was always telling her just how pretty she was. It hadn't taken him too long to propose to her. She hadn't had to tell a lie to him either. Rumor was very proud of that.

Her 'father' hadn't liked it. Hargeeves's big objection was probably the fact that she wanted to drop out when she got married. Rumor wanted kids, perhaps a daughter, and being a superhero as well didn't seem particularly smart. He'd told her that she was still a Hargreeves and she would still do what he wanted her to.

In the morning, she wouldn't be a Hargreeves anymore though. She'd be Allison Johnson. There wasn't anything bad about the name Johnson. It didn't conjure up the image of brightly clad people running around and fighting monuments. Johnson was a respectable name, a normal name. When she took that she was going to go and forget all about being a Hargreeves.

So it wasn't surprising that she didn't want to be reminded about her family the night before she got this name. Rumor didn't even know how he'd gotten into her apartment. She supposed that he had his ways, which also made her uncomfortable. Still, she forced a smile on her face.

"What brings you here?" she asked.

"Hargreeves told me you were getting married," he said, "I'm going back to the moon tomorrow at 1300…so I thought that giving my congratulations now instead of tomorrow would be appropriate."

"Thanks," she said, "Do you want some coffee or tea or…something?"

"No."

For a few minutes there was a rather awkward silence. He looked around as if searching for a topic. Finally his eyes rested on her open closet.

"Nice dress," he commented at last.

"Oh, that?"

Oh that indeed. From what she had been told the outfit had cost a small fortune. In the front only the bodice was particularly detailed and embroidered. The back, however, was lace up with the skirt gathered into the back over a pleated cascade of silken folds. The dress even had a train. In short it was the wedding dress that every little girl dreamed she would finally wear when she married her prince.

Rumor knew it would look rather flattering on her, as everything always did. She was also rather proud of the bouquet she'd be holding. Unlike the dress, it had never changed since she was little. It had always been made of the same three flowers. She'd read that it was symbolic and traditional. There were roses for eternal love, lilies for sweetness, and baby's breath for kids. That, however, was still being made.

"It's handmade," she said rather proudly, "I always did want a big wedding."

"You never did do things by half," smiled Space.

Rumor nodded, and for a minute the uncomfortable silence returned.

"So…this…Paul…what's he do?" he asked.

"It's Patrick," corrected Rumor, "And he works at Perseus Cooperations. Regional manager."

"That's good," Space said, nodding his head, "That's a good job I suppose. Probably has a steady income and all. Pretty rich family I'm guessing? With big fancy expensive college traditions too?"

"Pretty much," Rumor admitted.

"Hm."

"What does that mean?" she asked as she narrowed her eyes.

"What does what mean?"

"The hm!" Rumor said accusationally.

"It's just a noise," shrugged Space, "It doesn't mean anything. It was involuntary to tell the truth. Just punctuation to what I was thinking."

Very slowly Rumor looked him up and down once. Good grief, this wasn't what she wanted at all the night before her wedding. Still, she wasn't about to let that one go.

"What were you thinking?" she said, her voice low.

Space started looking around, as if for inspiration. Finally in a resigned gesture he sighed. Then he looked her in the eye and said;

"You're going to be a doll after you get married."

"Excuse me?"

He smiled, almost condescendingly but at the same time with sadness.

"They're going to dress you up and parade you around," he said, "That's a doll. Of course, other people say that's a trophy wife. Depends on which phrase you prefer."

Rumor tried to keep her angry words from rushing out. This was difficult because he was still using that damned I-know-better-then-you tone.

"I just figured you were better then that."

So much for that.

"Look here," she snapped, "Don't you think that I know that's what I'm going to be? Hell Luther, I knew that was what I was going to be from the minute he asked me out. I'm not stupid."

Surprise and shock registered in his eyes.

"So then…why-?"

"Why am I marrying him? Is that what you were going to ask?" demanded Rumor, "Well I'll have you know that it'll make me normal. It'll get me away from that stupid Academy and into a life where people play bridge on Sundays and walk their kids to a school and shop for groceries."

"You want a normal life?" he asked with a touch of dismay.

Rage flowed back into Rumor until she pounded on the table and yelled;

"How dare you think that I don't want normal! How fucking dare you! You can't tell me what to do and you just can't seem to stop lecturing us! I'm not better than a normal life dammit!"

All the words had come pouring out before she could stop them. Nonetheless, they felt good to say. She wanted someone to know, someone to know that she was getting away from that awful life in that awful place.

"Do you love him though?" there was a desperation in his eyes as he asked.

His voice sounded almost pitiful when he asked that. Thoroughly taken back she said;

"What kind of question is that? Of course I do."

How easily the lies tumbled from her lips. Did she love Patrick? That was the question. She did like him in the very least. As for love, no she didn't. In a way she did though. She loved that he was going to get her away from the Academy. It had nothing to do with him as a person. He probably could've been any other guy if he could give her what he was offering. Yet, when it came from her lips it sounded true.

Something in Space broke and he sighed again. Then he gave a hoarse chuckle.

"What?" she asked defiantly.

If he was going to insult her again then the very least he could do was get it over with as quickly as possible.

"Nothing," he said sadly, "It's just…when I came here I had this whole speech ready. The normal sort of lecture. I was prepared to give it too."

Color flushed into her face as she hissed;

"Don't you dare play team leader with me any more. There isn't any team so you can just quit-"

"But I realized that it's pointless," he said softly and with a note of resignation, "You love him…so what's the point? You love him and you…you don't love me. So me coming down here and trying to convince you not to marry him is essentially pointless."

She blinked. Was she catching all of this?

"I think I'd pay any amount of money to be in Patrick's place tomorrow. Hell," he said wistfully, "I think I'd give anything. But you want normal and that's something I can't give you no matter how much I try…I'm sorry for that. Sorry that I can't give you what you want and sorry that it's not going to be with you in that dress tomorrow. Sorry that you're going to marry someone who probably doesn't deserve you. Then again, neither do I. But…he's what you want."

He looked forlorn for a minute before finishing with;

"So, congratulations, and have a good time as Mrs. Johnson."

For once in her life, Rumor was speechless. She continued to be so as Space left quietly. Finally she walked to the kitchen and sat down meekly in a chair. She'd been right. This wasn't the sort of thing that was conducive to wedding nerves at all.