Wands and Fuzzy II: Nocturne
Chapter 2: Thunderbird
By
The Uncanny R-Man
Disclaimer- All familiar characters belong to Marvel.
Shout Outs-
NachtcGleiskette- Wow, what a name. Did you just throw a load of random letters together or something? As for TJ telling John about losing the baby, you'll just have to wait and see…
KsimonT-X- Skin isn't an OC, he was a member of Generation-X before Austen (hissss) killed him off in Uncanny.
Ruby631- You're not the only one to make the Chamber/Johnny Depp comparison, I think that myself. You can almost see it, can't you? 'I'm Jono Starsmore, savvy?' Heh.
Agent-G- Yup, a sequel starring TJ and her team. I haven't thought of a name for the squad yet. I'll most probably use something from the comics. The Paragons perhaps.
Thanks to- Sean Malloy-1.
The med bay-
TJ was sitting beside John's bed, holding the giant mutant's hand, praying that he would regain consciousness. TJ had never been the same since the Exiles left John on the Skrull-controlled Earth. She kept a brave front but she was torn apart inside. That was part of the reason why she lost their child. The grief was just too much for her. And now that John was back, things could only get better.
'Come on John…' TJ whispered as she squeezed her former lover's immense hand. 'Don't tell me that you dropped in just to screw up the life that I've built here. I was happy. I made friends. I was starting a new job to boot. Now… Now, I don't know what to do. This… this is difficult. Just when I thought that I'd got over my grief in losing you, you do this to me. Why did you do it, John? Why?'
The grief welling up inside TJ was too much for her and the poor young woman broke down into tears. TJ wept into the unconscious Thunderbird's immense chest, her sobs echoing through the lower regions of the X-Mansion.
TJ was crying so hard that she didn't hear a slight groan emanating from within John's body. It was only until she felt John's body shift that she sat up straight.
'W-where am I…?' John groaned. 'TJ… Is that you…?'
'John!' TJ squealed. 'You're alive!'
John winced at the bone-crushing hug that TJ slapped on him.
'Yeah. I kinda got that…' John winced. 'Do you mind telling me where I am? Where are the other Exiles? Cal? Blink? Morph even?'
TJ finally let John go and looked him straight in the eye.
'Why were you crying?' John asked, noticing his former love's tear-stained face.
'We need to talk, John.' TJ said solemnly.
Later-
John had regained his faculties and was sitting up in his bed while various X-Men gathered around him. They were eager to find out as much as they could about the mysterious stranger.
'You say that you were left in a coma on an alternate Earth that had been under Skrull control, right up until you sacrificed yourself to defeat Galactus?' Hank asked. 'Hmm, fascinating.'
'What Hank means to say is that is it wonderful to have you here, Mr Proudstar.' Ororo smiled. 'But I am still curious as to how we awoke from your coma.'
'My mind's still a little muddled but I think I can explain.' John frowned as he tried to piece together his jumbled memories. 'The way I make it is that Blink and the other Exiles found my frozen body in the citadel where the Timebreakers were.'
'Those little bug things that were controlling the Exiles from day one.' TJ replied.
'Once my replacement…'
'Heather Hudson: Sasquatch.' TJ explained with a nod. 'Except she doesn't have her Sasquatch powers any more, or so Blink told me.'
'Once Heather managed to decipher the controls to one of the Timebreakers' machines, they revived me from my coma. They also teleported the other people that had been kept in stasis home. Well, the ones that weren't dead.'
'I have been fascinated with the possible existence of alternate realities for many years.' Hank smiled thoughtfully. 'And now that you and Talia are here, it proves that other realities do exist.'
'Sorry about Hank.' TJ apologised. 'He gets a little over-excited about the whole reality-hopping thing.'
'I think that we have monopolised your time for long enough now.' Ororo smiled politely. 'But if you are to make a complete recovery, we had better leave you to it.'
'But I have so many questions…' Hank continued.
'You can leave them for later, Henry.' Ororo sighed. 'Let's leave Talia and John alone for the moment, shall we? They must have so much to catch up on.'
'Why do I get the feeling that I'm going to spend the rest of my time here hooked up to some kind of freaky machine?' John winced.
'I'm sure Hank wouldn't do that to you.' TJ reassured him. 'I think.'
Later still-
Unfortunately for TJ and John, there peace was not to last as the next people to walk in to the med bay were Kurt and Wanda. They decided to leave Baby TJ with Kitty, as it would be confusing enough for John to see versions of the X-Men that he knew as teenagers. The last thing that he needed was to see an infant version of his former love.
'This is… weird.' John rubbed the bridge of his nose. 'You're Nightcrawler and the Scarlet Witch. But… you're kids.'
'Welcome to my world, John.' TJ nodded in sympathy. 'I kinda felt the same way when I came here. It gets better, really.'
'Just as long as you're not going to give me the talk, that would be too weird.' John sighed.
Wanda shot her fuzzy blue boyfriend with a glare.
'We weren't going to say anything like that, were we, Kurt?'
Kurt just smiled nervously.
Wanda narrowed her eyes and elbowed Kurt in the ribs.
'Are we, Kurt?' Wanda reiterated.
'Heh-heh. Of course not, liebe.' Kurt chuckled nervously. 'Zhat vould be silly. Heh-heh. Ow.'
'It's wonderful to finally meet you, John.' Wanda smiled. 'TJ has told us so much about you.'
'Really?' John responded, his curiosity piqued. 'What's TJ told you about me?'
'Only that you're the most gentle, kind man that she has ever known.' Wanda explained.
'Oh God…' TJ groaned into her hands. 'Whatever next? Bringing out the baby pictures?'
A slight smile spread across Wanda's lips.
'It's so much fun teasing alternate versions of your daughter, don't you think?'
'I wouldn't really know.' John admitted. 'But it's been great meeting you guys. Weird… but great.'
'Well, we'd better go.' Wanda apologised. 'We left the baby with Kitty. That girl gets so possessive sometimes, you'd think that she was the mother.'
'Yeah, Seeya Wanda.' TJ nodded. 'Seeya Kurt.'
John just watched blankly as Wanda and Kurt left the med bay.
'Did they… just say that… they've got a kid?' John blinked. 'Kurt and Wanda. In this reality. A baby?'
'That's another confusing thing.' TJ explained. 'A few months after I arrived in this reality, Wanda gave birth to a bay… me.'
'A baby TJ?' John blinked. 'That's… freaky.'
'And how.' TJ nodded. 'You'd think that the space-time continuum would collapse on itself or something.'
'This reality is going to take a lot of getting used to.' John rubbed the bridge of his nose.
'You mean… You're staying?' TJ asked hopefully.
'If you'll have me.' John replied.
'Of course I'll have you, ya big goof!' TJ smiled happily. 'You're the piece that finally makes the jigsaw that is my life complete.'
'All these versions of familiar people as teenagers is tiring me out.' John confessed. 'Talk to you in the morning?'
'Yeah.' TJ nodded. 'You need your rest.'
John kissed TJ on the forehead before lying back down on his bed.
TJ stopped to watch her former lover before she left the med bay. She fully well knew what one of the questions that he wanted to ask would be. How could TJ possibly tell John that she had lost their child?
TBC…
Next: Explanations
TJ helps John adjust to life in the X-Mansion. Then there's the big question of their unborn child that TJ lost…
