Pennies From Heaven
Chapter Four: Fathers' Day
"Hey, Dad."
Sitting in a chair on the mansion's back porch, Scott Summers looked up from the book he was reading to see his eldest child Nathan Summers standing before him, one gun held down at his side and another resting in its holster on his left hip, his body armour emblazoned with half a dozen red X-motifs. Cable smiled roughly, and shifted the gun in his right hand into his left so he could offer his father a handshake. Scott smiled slightly at that, and instead pulled his son closer so that he could hug him, slapping him gently on the back as he did so. "It's good to see you, son," he said, to a clearly taken-aback Cable. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Yeah," Nathan agreed, sitting in the chair next to Scott's after he'd been offered it. "Last time I was here was when I met your new grandchild. How's she doing, anyway?"
"Hannah? Oh, she's fine. She hasn't been kidnapped yet, anyway, so she's getting off to a good start."
Cable laughed. "Seems like kids get a bullseye painted on their chests around here, doesn't it?"
"It does, at that," Scott replied, before he gestured to the mansion's back door. "You want to come in for a beer or something? We've got Coors in the refrigerator – I know you like that one, so I always make sure to keep a six-pack of it just in case you drop by."
"You're really bad at being subtle, Dad," Nathan said with another brief laugh, "but what the hell. X-Force can get by for another few hours without me, I guess." He clapped his father on the shoulder with one scarred hand. "Let's go get drunk, huh?" He followed his father through the back door and into the mansion, and then strode through the halls as Scott led him into the kitchen. As he walked, he twirled a plasma pistol around on one finger absently, before sliding it deftly back into its holster. Scott closed the door as he and his son entered the kitchen, and then opened the refrigerator door and tossed a chilled beer bottle in Cable's direction. Cable caught it without even bothering to track it through the air, and then popped the cap off with the brutally sharp combat knife he carried in a sheath on his chest. Taking a swig, he sat in one of the chairs and put his dusty boots up on the table. "I know Jean's going to kill me for this," he said before Scott could even open his mouth, "but I'm tired and I need to rest, okay?" Then he coughed and gestured towards his father. "How are you holding up, Dad?"
"I'm doing fine, son," Scott said reassuringly. "I get headaches now and again, but Jean and Hank have been doing their best between them to keep the pain away. The radiotherapy is making me really tired, but I know it's doing me good, so I'm putting up with it for now. It's only for a while, anyway." He smiled as he remembered something suddenly. "I thought you'd be pleased to know I've nominated Sam as my squad's leader while I'm out of the game – I thought he deserved it because of the experience you gave to him."
"Kid's a natural leader," Cable agreed, taking a thoughtful sip of his beer. "He'll do fine. I'm proud of him."
"Maybe you should tell him that yourself, little brother," came a voice from the other side of the room. Both Cable and Scott looked up to see Rachel Summers standing in the kitchen door. "Looks like I picked the wrong day to come and visit my sick father. Jean told me she wasn't expecting any visitors today, Nathan – you do realise you've made Mom a liar, don't you?"
"Shut up, squirt," Nathan said as he got up and almost ran to embrace his sister, quickly followed by Scott himself. The three mutants stayed together for a moment or two, enjoying the closeness the embrace brought, before Scott took a deep breath and sat down again.
"I wasn't expecting this," he said, almost redundantly. "Seeing two of my kids at once is almost too much to hope for – you guys are harder to track down than Joe DiMaggio baseball cards."
"Thanks," Cable said, grinning. "That's a real compliment."
Scott scowled only half-seriously. "You know what I mean, Nathan. Sometimes I wish you, Jean and I could be a real family, and not have to rely on telepathy or life-threatening situations to get to know each other. I miss that sort of stuff."
"Yeah. Me too," Cable said quietly. "Don't you, Rachel?"
"Every day," Rachel replied. "It's good to be home, Dad." Just then, she did a double-take and pointed at Scott's face. "Dad – your glasses –"
"I don't need them any more, honey," Scott replied, pointing to the bracelet around his wrist. "This is a power-dampener – Sinister created it for me when he showed up on our doorstep." He saw Cable begin opening his mouth, and waved him quiet. "Don't worry, Nathan – Rebecca invited him here because she was worried about me." He shrugged. "I couldn't believe it either, but it still happened."
"She must have been desperate," Cable said. "From what Rebecca told me, I never expected her to ever go crawling back to Sinister for anything. She obviously loves you far more than she lets on."
"Obviously. I might have to ask Rebecca to get her head examined for that, though." Rachel chuckled softly, before she nudged the refrigerator door open telekinetically and drew out a beer bottle for herself. The cap folded itself in half and then flew over to the bin under the sink, all while Rachel was casually taking a mouthful of the chilly liquid inside. "This is good stuff," she said, after swallowing the beer. "Uncle Logan always did have the best taste in booze."
"That's my favourite, actually," Cable retorted, a little indignantly. "Don't drag it down to the runt's level. He wouldn't know a good case of beer if I hit him in the face with it."
Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Why do I get the feeling you're being completely serious, Nathan?"
"Because he is." For the second time in only a few minutes, a voice came from the kitchen doorway, and all three of the room's occupants turned to see Rebecca Braddock cradling her baby and sporting a wide grin. "Nathan was never all that good at playing make-believe." Then she walked into the kitchen and smiled at Rachel. "You must be Rachel," she said, a little shyly, before she leaned forward and gave her half-sister a hesitant kiss on the cheek. "Nice to meet my sister, finally – Uncle Scott's told me a lot about you."
"Well, 'Uncle Scott' hasn't told me all that much about you, little sister," Rachel said with a wry smile. "But then again, I haven't been around all that much for him to tell me, so I suppose it's unfair to blame him. You're Betsy's daughter, aren't you?"
"Yes, that's right," Rebecca said, nodding. "And genetically, Uncle Scott's my father, but Warren is the person I call Dad – he and Mum adopted me after I got here."
"And people call my family complicated," Rachel said, laughing, before she gestured to the furry bundle in Rebecca's arms. "This is Hannah, I'm guessing?"
"Right again. Would you like to hold her? You are her auntie, after all." Rebecca held Hannah out to her sister encouragingly. "She won't bite – she likes new people. And even if she did bite, she hasn't got any teeth yet, so you wouldn't exactly bleed to death."
"I… don't know if I should," Rachel said, hesitantly. "I'm not good with kids –"
Cable couldn't stop himself from drawing in a sharp intake of breath and shaking his head in disapproval. "Not a valid excuse, Ray. If I can't get away with it, you shouldn't be able to, either. Come on, I'll show you how." Gently, he lifted Hannah from her mother's arms, and placed her in Rachel's stiff, terrified grasp – and then just as gently guided her arms to just the right places to support their mutual niece's tiny bodyweight. Rachel gasped in surprise as Hannah wriggled a little but then seemed to settle down and start purring quietly, flexing her tiny claws in deep content.
"Oh my God," she said softly, sounding a little shell-shocked. "Can I keep her?"
"I'm afraid not, Ray," Scott chuckled. "Jean and I asked if we could keep Rebecca's little brother when he was born, and we got told where to go in no uncertain terms. I think it's a Braddock trait." He winked at Rebecca, who blushed pinkly despite herself. "Can I get anybody anything to eat? We've got bagels, toaster pastries, fruit, yoghurt, cereal… anything you like, really."
"Already on it, Dad," Rachel laughed, and Scott became aware of several knives floating in mid-air as they spread butter on slices of bread, before pieces of ham unwrapped themselves and slid between the moistened bread, along with some hurriedly grated cheddar cheese. "Hope everybody likes ham and cheese," she said with a small shrug, as plates emerged from a nearby cupboard and completed the preparation, with four finished sandwiches. "If not, well… you can make your own lunch."
"No, that's okay, Rachel – thank you very much for doing that," Scott said, before biting into his food. "Saves me from having to do it, after all."
"Yeah, thanks for this, squirt," Cable added, before peeling the crusts off his bread and popping them into his mouth one after the other. "Just how I like them, too."
Suddenly, Scott saw all three of his children jerk their heads up and focus on something off to their right. Cable, in particular, seemed to know what the problem was, his hand automatically reaching for a gun on his hip. "What is it, guys?" Scott asked, feeling a little helpless without Jean around to back him up. "What's wrong?"
"Another visitor," Cable said briefly, his face twisting in pain. "Our other family member, and… somebody else I don't know. Doesn't feel all that friendly, though."
Scott blinked in surprise. Why would Nate be bringing somebody with him who had a psychic profile like that? Even with his youngest son's well-deserved reputation for unpredictability, that still didn't seem like the Nate Grey Scott knew – which meant that Nate was being chased. Instantly, Scott felt his instincts start taking over, and before he could stop himself, he said "Okay, guys – we need to establish a defensive perimeter around the mansion. Cable, Ray, can you do that?"
"Already done," Cable said with a rough smile, both hands already filled with plasma pistols as he sprinted out of the kitchen towards the back door, followed by Rachel, who had ignited a telekinetic aura of flame around herself. Before he went outside, Cable turned back towards his father and said sternly "You stay in here with the kids, Dad. I don't need you doing something stupid like trying to play the hero, okay? Not right now." He nodded towards Rebecca. "Keep an eye on him for me, Rebecca, will you?"
"Sure, Nate," Rebecca said, clutching Hannah to her chest instinctively. Scott watched his two oldest children running outside from the kitchen window, and felt an involuntary swell of pride in his heart that they had turned out so well. He watched as the sky above them turned a flame-red shade and his youngest son came crashing down through it like a comet, trailing licking tongues of fire and wisps of superheated air.
"Damn it," he muttered, only half to himself. "I wish I could hear what's going on out there."
"You're subtle as a punch in the face, Scott, you know that?" Rebecca said with a wry smile. "Hold on, I'll see if I can't patch you into the conversation myself." Putting Hannah down on her blanket for a second, she brushed her fingertips against her temples and contacted Cable. Uncle Scott wants to know what you're saying, she said with a brief psychic chuckle. I thought you wouldn't mind me letting him listen in.
Sounds like Dad, Cable said, keeping his plasma pistols cocked and ready to fire as he did so. Tell him that's fine.
Will do. Thanks, Nathan. Rebecca opened her eyes and smiled at Scott. "He's okay with that."
"Good," Scott replied, and let Rebecca put her fingertips on his forehead, closing a telepathic circuit between him and his son. He felt Cable watching Nate Grey pushing himself to his feet and floating over to where his two older siblings stood, and felt Cable asking Nate why he had come here in so much of a hurry.
"Somebody sent a… girl… to kill me. Apparently I annoyed somebody somehow by practising my shaman thing in Central Park, and they decided they'd try and snuff me out while I was sleeping," he felt Nate say in his mind. "Unfortunately for them, I woke up and found her standing over me. She felt familiar, so I led her here. I thought you guys might be able to help me deal with her."
"Why should you need our help?" Rachel said quizzically. "As far as I've heard, you're more powerful than both of us. Surely you can deal with one girl?"
"It's not a question of power," Nate insisted. "You'll know when you see her why I brought her here." Scott saw him frown, through Cable's eyes. "Here she comes now."
And then, in the distance, Scott could just make out a small, wiry shape emerging from the undergrowth at the edge of the estate and loping towards his three elder children. It was hunched over like a beast about to leap, with two short blades extended from each of its hands. "Blessed Mother," he heard Cable murmur in palpable shock, and felt the muscles in his son's back bunch as he brought his plasma pistols up to fire. The girl jinked aside, growling almost mindlessly as the pistols vomited streams of burning light at her, and hurled herself through the air towards Cable, apparently ready to go right through him to get to her target if need be. Cable batted her aside with the butt of one gun, and through his ears Scott heard an audible crack as the girl's cheekbone shattered. She landed heavily, a rib snapping noisily as she hit the ground, but she pushed herself to her feet without a pause. Standing in front of her three foes, she panted deeply while her bruised, ripped flesh and crushed bones apparently knitted themselves back together before their eyes in a matter of seconds. When they were healed, she growled again, and dipped low towards Rachel, aiming her hand blades towards Rachel's calf. When Rachel slammed her into the floor with a telekinetic fist, the girl swung one leg around in a tight, economical kick. As Scott watched, he saw a blade punch its way out of her boot and sketch a long red line in Rachel's skin. He heard Rachel howl in pain and then saw her grab the girl around the throat with an invisible hand.
"That's enough," Rachel snarled. "Go to sleep." Scott saw the girl going purple from lack of oxygen, and then saw her slump unconscious to the ground, her lethal blades rendered harmless. Then Rachel turned towards the kitchen and said I think it's safe for you and Rebecca to come out now, Dad. Even through the distance between them, Scott could see Rachel winking at him, and he had to smile at that. He turned to his "niece" and gestured towards her three other half-siblings.
"You want to investigate this as well?" he asked amiably. "Looks interesting, don't you think?"
"That's one word for it," Rebecca said sourly. "Oh, why not? It's not like this place is ever exciting when the others aren't here, is it?"
The three of them walked out into the sunshine, Hannah mewling a little as the sun touched her fur, and approached the other three Summers children as quickly as they could – Scott was still having to lean on the cane he'd been using for the past few weeks, and Rebecca was trying desperately not to upset her baby. When they got to where Cable, Rachel and Nate were standing, Scott smiled at his youngest son and said "Welcome to the friendly homestead, Nate. How are you feeling?"
"Same as always," Nate replied. "Hungry and persecuted."
"Speaking of which," Cable said, pointing at the unconscious girl at his feet, "any idea who she is?"
"Well," Nate began, "the first things I noticed were the claws, so I thought bringing her here would be a wise choice. You've got some experience with guys like that, as I recall."
"Could you get anything out of her head while you were leading her here?" Rebecca asked, rocking gently from side to side to keep Hannah occupied while she spoke. "A real name, a home base, anything like that?"
"Try for yourself," Nate said simply, gesturing at the unconscious girl's skull with one hand. "Her mind's almost totally blank – there are memory blocks and programming bunches everywhere, so I can't get a sense of any real identity from anywhere. She's a real mystery."
"I don't like this," Rachel said, with one hand placed at her chin thoughtfully. "Sounds like somebody's doing to her what the Sentinels did to me." She thumped one hand into the other for a second or two. "We should keep her here until she comes around. Maybe then we can get some idea of why she came after Nate."
"I wouldn't count on that," Nate retorted. "She doesn't seem able to really talk, for one thing. All she wanted to do was put those claws of hers through my face."
"Then we teach her how to talk," Cable said without missing a beat. "Any one of us – except Dad, of course – can sleep-teach her English, if we have to."
"Good idea," Rachel agreed. "I'm not letting her go, Nate – nobody deserves that kind of life." Nate Grey looked uncomfortable for a moment or two, before he nodded in agreement.
"You're right, Ray," he said. "Being used as a living weapon isn't exactly a barrel of laughs, is it?" Without saying another word, he held out a hand and telekinetically lifted the girl off the ground. As the four telepaths walked ahead of him, Scott couldn't help but feel a swell of fatherly pride at his children's actions. Even if he hadn't raised them as a normal father would have done, they had all turned out to be wonderful people in their own ways… and for that, Scott was extremely grateful.
Now how, he wondered, should he break the news of apparent fatherhood to Logan?
