Hello again, my lovely readers. I have my computer back yay! And they've banned overtime at work which means I have loads of spare time on my hands. Not good in a sense coz I'm broke, but it does mean I have plenty of time to write this.
Hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks for you're continued reading and reviewing!
Jack shuffled out of the taxi, then turned to help Robyn, guiding her to the pavement, away from the busy San Fransisco streets, as Warren and the driver took their luggage out of the boot.
"Welcome to Skyscraper Worthington," Jack said, looking up at the imposing building her boyfriend used to call home.
She had been once before, for a weekend, during which the older Worthington had spent ridiculous amounts of money on her, taking her to the theatre, music recitals and operas, and of course the meals out before and after, and all the appropriate clothes. Jack was not one for throwing money around, nor was she particularly impressed by big spenders – she had never had a penny in her life, and it had never bothered her before – but she had had a really good time.
"They live here?" Robyn asked, as she realised exactly how large and busy the place was.
"Yeah," Jack said. "And you thought the mansion was extravagant."
"Yup," Robyn said.
Jack grinned and linked arms with Robyn, before walking up to the entrance.
"Fine, leave me with all the bags ladies!" Warren called after them.
Jack looked over her shoulder at him and stuck out her tongue.
As they walked into the main foyer of the building, Robyn paused to orientate herself. Usually she was a pretty good judge of a room from the moment she walked in – how many people there were, roughly the size and shape. She could tell these things from the sounds. Larger rooms echoed more, and people, even if they weren't talking, had to breathe and that made sounds. But the scale of the room she was in now was almost completely overwhelming.
"You ok?" Jack asked.
"I'm fine," Robyn said, "just a bit, woah."
"It has that affect on me too," Jack said. "Sickeningly, Warren just looks at you with this blank expression because he can't understand why people don't think it's normal."
Robyn laughed at this as much as she doubted its truth. She found Warren to be an exceptionally empathetic person, and thought it very unlikely that he would fail to understand any person's feelings and thoughts.
"You should see my flat, it only has a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen," Robyn said.
"I've got one up on you still," Jack said. "Until I came to live at the mansion I never had a home. Not one that wasn't someone else's floor or spare room anyway."
"Here's to going up in the world," Robyn grinned.
Mr Worthington met them as they stepped out of the elevator into the penthouse.
"Jack, my dear, how are you?" he greeted her with a kiss to each cheek.
"Absolutely fabulous," Jack replied with a grin.
Warren greeted his father with a firm handshake, then introduced Robyn.
"Thank you, for inviting me in to your home," Robyn said as they shook hands. Jack was probably the only one who noticed the slight falter on the word 'home' and she laughed slightly. If either Worthington picked up on it, they didn't show any sign.
"It's always a pleasure to meet Jack's friends," Mr Worthington said, then pulled her a little closer and whispered in a conspiratorial way, "and as fond as I am of Katherine, it's especially nice to meet one that doesn't talk at a hundred miles an hour."
Robyn felt herself relax a little as she smiled. Mr Worthington quickly found people to take their bags, and after showing Robyn her room, he whisked them into what Robyn would have called a 'living room' if it hadn't been the size of her entire flat.
Jack, as unfazed as ever, sat herself on one of the large sofas and graciously accepted a drink, chatting to Mr Worthington about the latest escapades of the X-men. Warren brought Robyn over a tall glass of lemonade, knowing it to be her favourite from the many sunny days experienced at the mansion of late. Robyn smiled gratefully and took a seat herself. The nagging uneasiness she had felt since Jack had invited her to the party floated away with the conversation.
After a delicious meal in some expensive restaurant, Robyn was ready for bed. She was glad they had come a day early, for if the party had been that evening, she would probably have passed out in the middle of it.
As they walked back over to the elevator, Mr Worthington's phone rang.
"Apologies, ladies, I have to take this. I'm afraid business never stops around here," he said. "I'll see you in the morning."
As Jack and Warren fondly bid him goodnight, something twigged into place in Robyn's mind, and she remembered exactly where she had heard the name 'Warren Worthington' before.
She knew she knew the name from somewhere, but now her mind had placed it for her, she could hardly believe it. The man she had just eaten dinner with, and the man who had invented the Cure just couldn't be one and the same.
Jack walked with her back to the guest room.
"It has an ensuite bathroom, so you should have everything you need until the morning," she said. "But if you do need something, just knock on our door, any time, I'm a really light sleeper so it will definitely wake me up, and I don't mind, so don't feel bad about it or anything."
"I'm sure I'll be fine, but thanks anyway," Robyn said. "And thanks for inviting me along to this. It's been so nice to get out and about again."
"No problem," Jack said with a shrug, "I figured you needed to get out of the mansion for a bit more than anyone, and besides – I think Kitty would have been a bit embarrassing in a restaurant that posh!"
"I'm sure the pitch of her voice would have shattered glass when she saw the cost of that place," Robyn grinned.
"I know," Jack laughed. "I think the only reason mine didn't is because I have very little comprehension of how much you can expect to pay in a normal restaurant. But it terms of how much dinner cost relative to how much I get paid… Well, I'd only be able to eat once a month."
"I think I'd manage once a year," Robyn said.
"Well, if you're all set for the night, I'll leave you to it," Jack said, backing out of the room.
Robyn let her get all the way out of the door before she lost the fight with herself and called her back.
"Jack?"
Jack put her head round the door, but when she saw the look on Robyn's face, she entered the room completely and shut the door behind her, then took a seat next to her on the bed.
"You ok?"
Robyn tried to think of a delicate way to phrase the question, but everything in her head sounded far from it.
"Are Warren and his father the Worthingtons of Worthington Industries, that big pharmaceutical company?" She asked in the end.
"Yup," Jack said. "One and the same."
"The company that…" Robyn couldn't quite find the voice to finish the question.
"Invented the Cure?" Jack finished for her.
"Yes."
"It's ok," Jack said, "it's not a sore point. The Cure has done us a lot of favours, more good than bad at the latest tally, I think. And that's coming from me – it nearly killed me."
"How? I thought it was harmless, in a sense."
"Harmless to Humans and Mutants, of which I am neither," Jack said. "Magneto was trying to hit Warren with the cure, and missed. I don't really remember what happened after that, until I woke up nearly a week later."
"Ouch," Robyn said. "That must have been hard on Warren."
"Not as hard as what I went and did afterwards…" Jack said, more to herself than anyone else. Robyn didn't press her to explain.
"You know, I always feel such a long way from home," Robyn said when the silence got to her. "I miss it so much, my heart aches sometimes, but I'm only a thousand or so miles away. If the scale of heartache is relative to distance, I can't even begin to imagine how you must suffer sometimes."
"I used to, miss it that is," Jack said, "but I've made a new home for myself here. It's easier, I guess, because I had nothing before. No parents, no friends, no possessions. I come here and have a family handed to me on a plate – the best friends I could have asked for, a beautiful place to call home, someone who loves me. You've probably left all that behind to come and live in a madhouse with a bunch of kids."
Robyn laughed.
"I ran out of family when my Mother died," she said. "She was a musician – she played in a brass band, trumpet. She played in a lot of bars and restaurants, but back then they hadn't banned smoking in public places. I think it was worse because she played a wind instrument – breathing in all that smoke eventually got to her. I was sixteen when she died of lung cancer."
Robyn felt a wave of empathy from Jack. She didn't say 'I'm sorry' or 'how terrible' or some other words to that effect, but her silent understanding meant so much more to Robyn.
"Friends though," she continued, "I had a few of those."
"And someone who loved you?" Jack asked.
"Yes, well, no, not really. There was this guy, we went out once, but I had a good feeling about him, you know?"
"Yeah, I know."
"He probably thinks I'm giving him the cold shoulder," Robyn said. "I've wished so many times that I could just ring him and explain, then I realise how ludicrous it would sound to call him up and say 'Hi, sorry I've not seen you for nearly a month, but I was nearly abducted by a dangerous Mutant, and I've been hiding out in a mansion in America to protect you.'"
"You think that's bad," Jack said, laughing, "try 'Hi honey, just thought I ought to mention to you that I'm from another planet. Hope this doesn't affect how I hope you might feel about me.'"
Robyn felt the corners of her lips twitch, and before long Jack's infectious laughter had her laughing too, with more genuine mirth than she had felt in a long time.
"Well, things didn't turn out so bad for you, did they?" Robyn said when she had calmed down a bit. "Maybe there's hope for me yet."
"I hope so," Jack said, standing up.
"Wait," Robyn said, standing up too so she was next to her. "Can I, do you mind if," she raised a hand, "I'd like to know what you look like."
"Two eyes, two ears, a nose and a mouth like most people," Jack said.
"Yeah, well I know that," Robyn said with a grin.
"Didn't want to be disappointing," Jack said.
Robyn gently touched her hand to Jack's face, examining her angular features. Many times as a child Robyn had 'looked' at her Mother like this, her small hands identifying the curves and hollows of the face she had loved most in the world. Where her Mother's face had been soft, Jack's had a sharpness to it – prominent cheekbones and a general thinness. Robyn may have been blind since she was born, but she could see the differences between their faces as clearly as a sighted person could.
"Thanks," Robyn said, lowering her hand.
"You're welcome," Jack said, and left the room, clicking the door shut gently behind her.
That night Robyn dreamed that she was looking at Jack's face again, only this time her hand trailed down to her throat and choked the life out of her, the voice of the girl from the clothes store echoing in her ears, telling her she was a good soldier.
She woke up sweating, her heart beating so fast she thought it might explode from her chest. She got up and walked around, the cold night air cooling and calming her. Nothing, she reminded herself again and again, nothing would drive her to that.
Eventually, she returned to bed, and fell back into a deep and dreamless sleep. When she woke again, the feeling of the dream was no where near as intense as it had been during the night, but it was still there, and it was a long time after breakfast and shopping in San Fransisco before she was able to banish it completely.
As Jack and Robyn retreated to get dressed ready for the party, Warren caught a rare moment alone with his father. He knew the chance to speak to him privately would be hard to come by once guests started arriving, so he didn't waste the opportunity. Getting ready for the party himself could wait until later.
"She's a lovely woman," Mr Worthington said of Robyn.
"I know," Warren said, "such a shame Magneto has targeted her – but then, he has a habit of going after the nicest people."
"Is she really all that powerful? She doesn't look like she has it in her to hurt a fly."
"She packs a punch," Warren spoke from experience, having been on the receiving end of one of Robyn's blasts more than once during training sessions. "Though I doubt she'd ever want to hurt anyone, I have no doubts that she could."
"The fact that she wouldn't is something to be glad of, you have enough enemies," Mr Worthington said.
"I'm not worried about Magneto," Warren said. "He has some sort of twisted respect for Jack – he wouldn't do anything to hurt her, and I think hurting me comes under that umbrella."
"That Jack can command the respect of such a man I find astonishing, and I don't mean her any offence by that – I have the greatest respect and admiration for her myself. But Magneto's respect must have far narrower parameters than mine. He certainly doesn't seem to have any qualms about hurting and killing people – I can't imagine Jack doing anything that would impress him."
"You didn't see her that day in Central Park," Warren said, a little darkness creeping into his voice that the elder Worthington didn't miss.
"Is everything ok with you two, son?" he asked.
"I love her, more than anything," Warren said, "but that doesn't mean she doesn't scare me sometimes."
"How so?"
"Just the things she does sometimes."
"Like what?"
"Like earning Magneto's respect for a start."
Mr Worthington knew very little of what had happened that day in Central Park, and knew better than to ask, but he also knew that whatever had transpired had done so for good reason, even if it wasn't entirely to everyone's taste.
"That was one time, one thing – nothing like that has happened since?"
"No," Warren admitted. "But, I don't know, sometimes she gets this look in her eyes, and it just makes me wonder how well I really know her."
"As well as you possibly can for the year or so you've known her, I should imagine," Mr Worthington said, "unfortunately you can never know another person completely, not even after ten, twenty, fifty years. The innermost workings of someone's mind can only be accessed by a few people, and fortunately they tend to have the good grace to know what is private and should stay that way."
"Yeah, I know that," Warren said. "I don't know, I'm just being stupid. I've never felt this strongly about anything before in my life – I think that scares me more than anything. It's just not helped by the fact that Jack can be so… alien sometimes."
"That's a problem with women generally. Women and from Venus, men are from Mars and all that. Of course, you don't make it any easier on yourself, falling for a girl from another planet altogether," Mr Worthington teased.
Please review! xXx