Disclaimer: Not mine as usual
A/N: I know it's been forever and I'm sorry I've had like a month long writer's block which I haven't been able to kick until a few days ago. So please forgive me.
Chapter thirty-four
For nearly five days Norah had been lucky enough to be able to avoid any and all contact with her birthfather; she's hid behind walls and bookcases, underneath the bar that was on the party floor level (as Tony called it), she's ran like a scared little rabbit down hallways nearly running into walls and/or Steve or Thor who were basically like walls, and she was damn near desperate enough to Blink away but controlled herself – Blinking was still on Doctor Cho's list of things to not do yet. But somehow, someway Norah was able to stay one step ahead of Tom who was very, very insistent on seeing Norah which his constant meandering around the tower proved.
Most of everyone in the tower understood Norah and her blatant dislike and avoidance of Tom, they've even helped her evade him whenever they could and whenever they realized he was starting to get close to wherever she was in the tower. Friday has even joined in on helping too by diverting Tom into the wrong direction just so Norah wouldn't have to deal with him. Though Norah got an inkling that Tony had programed that into the A.I.'s system once it was obvious that Tom would be coming to the tower along with the rest of Norah's family, he hasn't admitted anything but Norah knew Tony. The only ones who weren't on the 'helping Norah avoid her birthfather' team were Wanda and Pietro and really, Norah couldn't blame them. The two of them lost their father and mother when they were younger and had great memories of their parents…of their father acting like a father should, of a father caring and loving them, of their father teaching them things and spending time with them whereas Norah's never did things like that unless forced to do so.
She hated acting like she did in front of Wanda and Pietro but she wasn't about to change how she acted for their peace of mind, Tom was not a good father and she wasn't about to pretend that he was just for their sake. As much as she liked the twins, she wasn't going to change how she felt about Tom for them.
"You do know that you can't avoid him forever," Niki said offhand as she attempted to braid her younger sister's wild, curly hair into two French braids, something she was quickly realizing was more of a chore than not, her sister's hair was not exactly the easiest thing to manage. "I mean there are only so many places you can hide, this tower may be big but still Norah, you will end up running into him eventually." She pointed out to her knowingly as she tugged a piece of hair into the braid that was being rather problematic. "I get why you're avoiding him and why you hate him and are so bitter towards him, hell I'm angry and bitter too Norah but you need to face him eventually." She ended softly, concerned for her sister's well-being and mental state later on down the road if she didn't face this….situation head on and get it out of the way.
"I don't hate him," Norah mumbled quietly as she shifted slightly in her seated position on the ground and rested her arms on the coffee table in front of her, her butt was starting to get numb from sitting in the same position for so long. "I don't particularly like him all that much, but I don't hate him. I don't think I could ever hate him no matter how much I try." She admitted to her older sister as she sighed heavily and just looked blankly around the room for a few moments while her sister continued to twist her hair into two braids. "I pity him and I feel sorry for him. I'm definitely angry at him, disgusted by how he parented and fathered us which let's be honest he didn't really do whatsoever; I'm bitter and resentful towards him. I do hate how he treated me and you, how he made me feel unwanted all of the time, I hate the fact that he made me feel that he'd love me more and pay more attention to me more if I had been a boy, I hate that he made me feel as if I wasn't good enough for five seconds of his time." She said and took a deep breath while clenching her fists on top of her lap; remembering her childhood and how absent her father was during it made her have the urge to be violent.
Niki looked down at her sister and gave a sad little smile, listening to her sister talk and remembering what her sister's childhood had been like compared to her own made her feel unbelievably lucky that she had experienced their father before he hit the alcohol hard. At least she had been lucky enough to have their father be an actual father to her, he taught her things, cared about her, asked about her day and spent time with her just because he wanted to unlike what Norah ended up getting. It was unfair, unbelievably unfair to Norah but there's nothing that could change what happened in the past. What's done is done.
Norah blinked her eyes a few times, she could feel tears threatening to come out but she refused to cry over Tom anymore, been there done that and all that jazz. "I wish I could hate him, god how I wish I could hate Tom but no matter how hard I wish and hope to hate him I really can't." she said to Niki. "Everything would be so much easier if I did hate him but he's my birthfather and no matter how confident and uncaring I act, and no matter how much it looks like I've moved on and don't give a shit I always will have a sliver of me that hopes and dreams that Tom will stop and act like a father to me. That's all I ever wanted when I was a kid, all I ever dreamed about was him wanting me. But that's not gonna happen." She said with a scoff, shaking her head at the sort of person Tom was. "Tom may be my father and the man who gave me half my genetics but I'll never consider him as that. He's my sperm donor and nothing more. Tony is my father, my dad, my papi in every way that matters; he's been there for me when no one else was, he took me in when he didn't have to, he'll scare away the guys that he doesn't think are good enough for me, if something is bothering me he won't let it go until he knows what's wrong and will do whatever he can to make it right. Tony knows me, hell, he suffered through the Opera for me and that's not exactly something someone like Tony would do just for anyone. He's done so much for me. I'll never be able to pay him back." She said with a tender, amused smile on her face. "Tom though, hasn't done anything for me. So why should I talk to him? What has he done to deserve that sort of decency?"
Niki wished that she could tell Norah a good reason as to why she wanted her to talk to their dad but no matter how hard Niki thought over things there was almost nothing that would really convince Norah to do so, her younger sister had every right to be angry, to be bitter and to avoid their dad as much as she wanted. Their dad did absolutely nothing for Norah and so, in Niki's opinion, Norah was in the right and didn't need to see their dad unless she felt the need to do so. But she did think that Norah needed to talk to their dad so that she could come to terms with the past and so that she could decide to have no more contact with their dad from then forward with a clear conscious rather than having her always wonder what might have been.
Niki brushed some of her brown hair out of her face before saying anything to Norah, "I know Norah, and honestly you don't owe him anything." She told her and she narrowed her eyes at her sister's rather wild hair that wasn't cooperating with her at the moment.
Hearing the tone of voice Niki was using made Norah suspicious, "Why do I feel a but coming on?" she questioned rhetorically, a frown marring her face.
Chuckling Niki went on, "But," she enunciated. "I think you do need to talk to him so that you can come to terms with…everything," she said gesturing with her hands for a moment. "And so that you can go on with your life with a clear mind and okay with deciding to not see dad again or whatever it is that you decide."
"Nic," Norah said with an undertone of regret. "I know you want us to be some semblance of a family again but it's not going to happen. I'm sorry." She told her remorsefully. "What good would come from talking to Tom? It would just solidify what I already know and that is that I don't want him in my life in any form." She told her.
Pursing her lips, Niki continued on working on the haphazard braids that she was attempting to do. "All right, so if you know without a doubt that you don't want to see dad ever again and that you want to completely cut him out of your life then what harm is there to see him face to face and tell him that?" she questioned curiously as she tied off one of the long French braids and then started to braid the other side. "I know that he doesn't really deserve it but he is still your father, like you said, so it's better to tell him this face to face so he knows there's no chance of changing your mind than just never saying anything to him and having him try for the rest of his life to talk to you when you want nothing to do with him." She explained to her. "That way you can move forward without any regrets."
Norah opened her mouth to retort to that but stopped herself before she could make a rude, snappy comeback. Personally, Norah knew without a doubt that she didn't want to have anything to do with Tom ever again, she didn't want to see him, to speak to him, to exchange letters, to have father/daughter dinners. Absolutely nothing. Some may find that cold and cruel of her but Norah knew Tom and has been disappointed and let down by him one too many times to even consider giving him yet another chance (more like his tenth chance). But she did see what Niki was saying, though she did not like Tom and didn't want to have a father/daughter relationship with him he did deserve to hear from her that she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.
"Look Norah, all I'm asking is for you to think about it, that's all." Niki said to her sister as she finished off the last braid. "Think of it as a healing sort of thing." She told Norah as she admired the messy braids that did not turn out as neatly as she would have liked, but it was pretty damn good considering she doesn't braid all that often. "Done." She stated as she tugged playfully on one of the braids.
Reaching back Norah felt her hair and couldn't help but give a small snort of amusement, the braids were messy and all over the place. "Thanks." She said to Niki, a smirk playing on her lips.
Hearing the tone that Norah used when she said that Niki pushed her sister playfully in the shoulder, "Hey! I tried. Give me a break, I don't really braid hair all that often, or ever." She said to her as she stood up and stretched from sitting on the couch for so long braiding her sister's hair. "Now, I'm going to go and hunt down my husband and make him take me out to eat somewhere fancy pants." She said with a playful smile. "Think about what I said though Eleanorah." she told her pointedly.
"All right, all right," Norah responded as she waved her hand at her sister. "I'll consider it." She agreed.
"Norah, I mean it." Niki said as she made her way towards the door of the room. "Think about it seriously." She said to her and then left before Norah had a chance to respond to Niki's parting comment.
Looking towards the doorway that Niki had just exited for a moment Norah gave a sigh and threw herself onto the couch rather dramatically, grabbing a pillow and covering her face with it before making intelligible noises through it in frustration. What Norah hated at the moment was the fact that she was seriously considering doing what Niki suggested – talking with Tom. When she first found out that he was coming she really, really didn't want to see him and almost begged Tony to refuse to let him come but conceded to letting him come, for her mother's sake. But now, after talking to Niki, Norah realized that the decent thing to do was talk to Tom face to face and tell him bluntly that she didn't want to have any contact with him whatsoever.
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Okay, so Norah knew that she told her sister or at least insinuated to her that she was going to find their father, Tom, and tell him straight to his face that she no longer wanted to have any sort of contact or relationship with him whatsoever but no matter how many times Norah tried to do so she would lose the courage to do so. She found it ironic really that she was unable to face her birthfather yet she was able to take on Ultron, the Hydra agents that were in Sokovia when she had first encountered Pietro, she could face Anti-Mutant protestors as a teenager when she had been going to school at Xavier's, she could take some of the weird and dangerous things that happened once in a while when she had been going to school there and a mess of other sort of things when she helped the Avengers once in a while but ask her to talk to her birthfather and she ends up being scared shitless and chickening out.
So instead of doing the decent thing and right thing Norah continued creeping throughout the hallways of the tower doing her best to avoid Tom at all costs and taking advantage of her friends' kindness by having them fend off Tom whenever he got too close to where she was at. Norah knew without a doubt that she was being cruel and bitchy to Tom by doing this to him, all he was trying to do was see and talk to her for the first time in however many years but Norah just couldn't do it. If Norah does go and see her father and talks to him she feels as if she would give in to what he'd ask of her – for yet another chance. She'd end up reverting back to her old sent, she'd let people walk all over her and let herself fall into the trap of hoping against all hope that her father had changed when Norah knew within herself that Tom hasn't changed whatsoever. Tom was still an alcoholic, a drug user, a drug dealer (as far as she knew), and a nonexistent father. Norah couldn't let herself hope, if she hoped then that meant that there was a chance for her to be disappointed…..again. She's been let down and disappointed one too many times by Tom, so many times that she lost count ages ago and she refused to let him let her down in her adult life like he did constantly when she was a kid and a teenager. Norah couldn't put herself through that again.
"You should go talk to your father Norah, he has missed you." Pietro said as he walked over towards Norah, who at the moment was lying on a rather comfortable couch in one of the handful of lounges that were spread throughout the tower. "He has tried see you many times since he came all way from your home, but you just keep avoiding. He keeps on walking around hallways, looking in rooms for you, hoping to see you but you always run other direction when you get word he is coming close. You need to talk." He said and looked at her imploringly.
Pietro had hoped that over the week or so that her family has been here at the tower that eventually she would go and talk to her father, that she would talk to him so that the two could clear the air between the two of them and maybe have the sort of relationship that Tom seems to want from his youngest daughter who has stubbornly been avoiding him since he's been in New York. He couldn't understand why Norah would avoid her father so deliberately and constantly; he could understand her doing so for the first few days and that it had been seven years since she last saw him and that then he had not been the best father to her or all that reliable but seven years of not seeing one of your daughter's was bound to change someone. That's why Pietro has been talking to Tom once in a while, to understand him and to try and reassure him that Norah would change her mind which Pietro truly thought that she would do so but it seems that she hasn't. Pietro has tried to get Wanda to help him convince Norah to speak to Tom but Wanda adamantly refused to do so, she said that she did not agree fully with what Norah was doing but when she had seen into her mind back at the shipyard she saw things that made her understand why Norah was doing what she was doing and she refused to help Pietro with this.
Norah gave a heavy sigh and sat up from the couch and looked at her boyfriend with fiery eyes at having to go over this conversation yet again; seriously it was like the words were going in one ear and out the other. "Pietro, really?" she questioned rhetorically as she gestured towards him with her hands. "I thought that we've been over this already….multiple times. I'm not going to talk to him, I won't see him, I won't even video chat with him or anything like that. I don't want anything to do with Tom Sullivan, okay. So please, get that through your head." She said to him in annoyance, giving him a pointed look. "I'm sorry that you don't like what I'm doing, that I'm acting this way in front of you and your sister and truly, I hate that you two see me doing this to my dad when you both lost your parents who were amazing from the sounds of it but not all of us had parents like you two did." She told him softly, trying to convey her feelings to him through her words. "You can think me a heartless bitch if you want, but it won't change how I'm reacting to Tom."
At that Pietro pursed his lips angrily and threw his arms up in the air in frustration at Norah; he cared a great deal about her but shew as being unbelievably stubborn about this situation at the moment. He wished he could get her to understand how lucky she was to have her father in her life, how fortunate she was to have this chance with her father. This was a chance that Pietro and Wanda would never get with their own parents and it made him angry and jealous that Norah had the ability to see and speak to her father if she wanted to but instead she was doing all in her power to avoid the man who just wanted to see his youngest daughter again after being away from one and another for almost seven and a half or so years. What Pietro wouldn't do to just have five minutes to see and talk to his father again and to his mother, he would kill to have the chance that Norah has right now. Pietro found it rather cruel of Norah which was definitely not something he would usually describe her as, but when it came to her father she was being especially callous in his eyes. He just wanted Norah to give Tom a chance to prove he's changed, to get to know him again and to reconnect, to have the father/daughter relationship that they deserved.
"I do not understand why so hard to give second chance Norah, he is your father. He was there for you-" Pietro began to say but was cut off by Norah giving a very dry laugh at his last comment.
Norah stood up from the couch she was still sitting on and approached Pietro and crossed her arms defiantly under her chest, she smiled at him sarcastically. "He was there for me? There for me? And how do you know this Pietro? Can you go back in time as well as run really fucking fast? Because that's the only logical reason I can think of that makes you think that Tom was there for me, but if you in fact can do that then you'd know the truth, wouldn't you?" she asked him but before he had a chance to respond to any of that Norah went on. "Now let's get something straight," she said looking intently into his eyes. "Never, ever has my father ever been the supportive father who went to all of my concerts for school or whatever sport of club I was in, he never did that. He's never been there for me and never will be Pietro, he doesn't know how to be a father and will never ever be father of the year. He doesn't give a shit."
Pietro closed his eyes for a moment trying to restrain his anger and frustration towards his stubborn blonde haired girlfriend, "If he does not give a shit," he said in his accented voice. "Why has he been trying hard to see you, he walked halls at all times waiting and hoping to catch glimpse of you and to talk to you."
"Because of my mother," Norah answered simply. "Because he thinks it's expected of him, I can guarantee that he didn't come here of his own violation. My mother more than likely forced him and guilt tripped him into coming here because I am his kid. He feels obligated and wants to feel like he's being a father by trying to talk to me again; he's never been a father Pietro. He's never acted like a father to me in his life unless he was forced to or had no choice in the matter." She said shaking her head and looking at Pietro sadly, she remembered all the times she wanted him to be a father, she remembered all the times she cried herself to sleep because Tom didn't make it to something or another, and she remembered all the times she didn't feel good enough to be his daughter, she remembered all of the times she had been forgotten. "He's the kind of person who shouldn't have had kids, he doesn't want to spend time with us, he is great at acting like he wants to but he really doesn't. He'll just end up a disappointment like he usually is."
"How can you say things about your father like that, you say such cold things about him but will not give time of day!" Pietro said, raising his voice. "How can you judge someone you haven't seen in seven years, he may have changed for better? He may have stopped drinking and other things you told me of. But how will you know if you don't talk?" he questioned.
Norah raised a brow at him, "I saw him drinking on the security camera's in the tower Pietro." She deadpanned.
When she said that Pietro made an incomprehensible noise of frustration before going on with what he was saying, "You are lucky to have your father still alive, wanting to see you. You do not see what is right in front of you. What you are missing out on, what you are pushing from you. If my father was still alive I would jump at the chance to see him, I would cherish every moment I could have with him. But you throw it away like yesterday's trash because of past mistakes."
"But I'm not you!" Norah yelled at him, clenching her fists to keep herself from using her power on Pietro or any close object – she'd rather not make anything burst into smithereens. "I'm not you, I'm not Wanda. I'm me Pietro. I'm sorry that you lost your parents, I really am. I'm so sorry that you lost your mom and your dad so horrifically and they sounded really amazing and you didn't deserve to lose them. But I don't feel the same way towards my dad like you do towards your parents, okay?" she said to him, looking into his blue colored eyes wishing he would understand where she was coming from. "My dad is not who you seem to think he is or who he is making himself out to be, I don't know what he's said to you but he's not that person and he definitely doesn't deserve a second chance or however many chance this will be. I hate hurting your feelings by you seeing how I treat my father but you can't force your feelings for your own father onto me and make me feel something for a man that I don't feel much of anything for other than anger and bitterness."
"You do not understand, your father feels sad and regret for what happened in past, he has stopped or at least cut back a lot on drinking. Does that not deserve a second chance from you?" Pietro questioned. "You will regret not making amends with him Norah." He said to her softly.
Norah pulled at her braided hair, she really had the urge to punch Pietro…a lot harder than she did when they were in Sokovia the first time. "I understand Pietro, I understand my father and the person he is. I understand that he's not a father and especially not my father and never will be. I used to want to have him be a father, to have him want me, to talk to me and all that jazz but after so many years of not having that and him doing drugs and dealing in them constantly made me unable to trust anything he said. He's disappointed me too many times. I won't let him do it to me now. So please, just drop it Pietro. I don't want to fight with you about this." She said to him, pleading.
Pietro couldn't believe what he was hearing, the man that he has talked to a few times compared to the one that Norah was describing seem like vastly different people. Tom seems decent enough, he's a bit worn from the excessive drinking he's done most of his life but he would not have pegged his as a drug dealer or an addict and he genuinely seemed like a man who just wanted to see his long lost daughter.
"Is it so hard to give him chance, to let him prove that he has changed?" Pietro questioned her.
Seeing as it was glaringly obvious that Pietro wasn't getting what she was trying to say Norah frowned deeply and shook her head in disappointment, she had hoped Pietro would be able to understand where she was coming from or would at least respect that they both saw and felt for their respective fathers differently but Pietro wanted to push a relationship between Norah and Tom which was so not going to happen ever.
"You know what Pietro," Norah said angrily as she started to walk around Pietro. "I'm not dealing with this right now, I'm done talking about my father and how I should give him yet another chance. I've given him chance after chance and guess what," she said angrily as she began to walk down the hallway away from Pietro who was following after her at a normal speed. "He fucked those chances up." She said to him as she quickly wiped at her eyes, tears forming in them which she was trying to not let Pietro see. "I just am not doing this now since you can't seem to understand where I am coming from in this whole…situation." She said waving her hands around at the air.
Norah was so angry at Pietro and hurt that he didn't understand where she was coming from, that he couldn't seem to comprehend her reasoning for not talking to her father and that was really a bad combination because whenever she was really angry she ended up crying and whenever she was really hurt she ended up crying as well. And so she was doing her damndest to keep herself from crying at the moment.
"Norah, please-" Pietro began to say as he chased after her, not wanting to use his speed to overcome her because that would only make her even more angry than she already was and Pietro would rather not piss off his girlfriend at the moment.
"Please, what Pietro?!" Norah questioned angrily as she suddenly stopped and turned to look at Pietro with her arms crossed, waiting expectantly for him to say something or another.
It seemed while they were walking and arguing with one and another the pair had ended up in the atrium/party room place where Ultron had attacked the Avengers a month and a half ago or so, and in the atrium was Vision, Wanda, Clint and Steve who were now watching the argument between Norah and Pietro unfold.
"Norah, please-" Pietro tried once again and attempted to grab her arm but all Norah did was push him away and glare at him.
"Don't!" She yelled, narrowing her eyes at him. "Don't touch me, don't talk to me, and don't look at me. I can't stand you right now."
"Please, moj mali bik. I did not mean to anger you, just to get you to understand or consider-" Pietro began to say and approach Norah once again.
Stepping away from Pietro, Norah shook her head. "No. Go away!" she yelled at him and then looked around the room and saw that Wanda, Steve, Clint and Vision were all staring at the two of them with uncertainty, obviously wanting to intervene but not wanting to have the argument directed towards them at the moment. "What are you looking at?" she asked rudely.
"What is going on?" Wanda finally asked bravely as she looked between her twin and towards her friend, her brother must have done something quite bad if it has angered Norah this much. "What happened?" she asked.
Norah glanced over at Pietro and glared, "Yes Pietro, what happened? Why don't you tell the class why we're arguing." She suggested snidely. "And explain to Tony why I'm not here." She said to them and before any of them could question Norah on what she meant or try and stop her she Blinked herself out of the tower to who knows where.
Clint looked at Pietro and then at the spot where Norah had just been standing before he shook his head and gave a low whistle, "You must have really pissed her off, usually when she's angry she'd lay into someone so they knew how angry she was and she'd also end up going off on them in another language too." He said and gave a slight shiver at the memory of her being pissed at him, she sounded ten times angrier when she spoke in Hungarian or German. "What the hell did you do kid?" he questioned.
He really would rather not answer that question but it seemed that he had little choice in the matter, "We were arguing about her father, I was trying to get her to talk to him. Give second chance and get to know him now instead of man he was." He admitted.
When Steve heard that he gave an audible groan and covered his face with his hand, shaking his head. Taking a deep breath Steve looked at Pietro and hoped that he would tell him that he wasn't serious, that he didn't actually just argue with Norah about that but from the look on the Sokovian's face he did indeed do just that with Norah. This was probably going to be one of the stupidest arguments that Pietro will ever have with Norah, one thing that everyone knew was to not mention Norah's birthfather if at all possible seeing as she didn't like to talk about him and considering he was a horrible excuse of a father. Most of everyone understood and knew about Norah's father which was why all of them were helping her avoid the man whenever possible – they'd kick him out of the tower if Pepper would let them.
"Oh, please tell me that you aren't serious." Steve begged and looked at Pietro.
Pietro had a pained smile on his face, "All right, I will not tell you." He said to him and looked at him and Clint apologetically.
"It seems, friend," Vision said as he looked at Pietro. "That you have made a mistake with the woman that you care about. I may still be learning about the ways of this world and how to immerse myself and act within it but I remember myself as Jarvis, I remember what this man….Tom, was to Norah and the sort of person he was." He said to Pietro as he looked at him intently. "Sometimes you must respect a person's wishes even if they do not adhere to what you believe. Norah's father is a sensitive subject." He told him.
At that Pietro gave a heavy sigh, "Yes I know, but I do not want her to regret later in life not speaking to him. She will hate self if she does that." He said to them.
Wanda shook her head at her brother, "I told you to not mess with this, to not argue or talk with Norah about this. I said I saw into her mind, saw what her father was like and told you though I didn't agree with her ways that I wouldn't try and convince her to talk to him. That I saw things that made me understand why she was doing so. You do not listen because you are male, you do not think with brain and make mistakes with one girl who can put up with you and keep up with you. Idiot." She said and looked at him in disappointment before turning from him. "Friday, is Norah in the tower?" she asked the A.I.
"No miss Wanda," Friday replied. "Norah is not within this building."
"Can you track her phone by using the GPS?" Clint questioned.
It only took a few moments for Friday to respond, "Her phone GPS coordinates are for this address, I am sorry." She said to them.
Steve approached Pietro and looked at him, "I understand why you were talking to her about that, why you were pushing but you need to respect Norah's wishes. You can suggest her talking to him and explaining why you want her to talk to him but don't push the subject constantly or this happens." He said referring to the argument that Pietro and Norah had just gotten into.
"But she-" Pietro began to say but was interrupted by Clint.
Clint rolled his eyes at the kid and made the 'blah blah blah' gesture with his hands. "You think she will regret it, that later on down the road that she will wish she would have talked to her father or when she does decide to reconnect with him he will be dead." He said knowingly to which Pietro nodded his head. "Well look kid, Norah has a whole different relationship and feeling towards her father than you do towards yours. I think next time you decide to try and convince her to talk to her dad maybe you should ask about the kind of person he was when she was growing up. From the few things she's said and the few things that Tony has let slip he wasn't really a father to her at any point in her life, so maybe you should take that into consideration before trying to force her to have a relationship that she doesn't want to happen."
Rather than responding to what the others had said Pietro took on a look of frustration and anger which was directed moreso towards himself than anyone else and looked at everyone for a moment before he zipped out of the room before anyone realized. All Pietro had been trying to do was be nice and make sure that Norah wouldn't regret anything later in life, he wanted her to have all the chances she could with her own father which Pietro didn't get with his.
"Well, this was fun." Clint said after a few moments of silence. "I forgot how dramatic and stressful new relationships could be."
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Upstate New York: Xavier's ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
Norah Blinked herself out of the tower without any intended destination in mind, all she knew was that she needed to leave the tower immediately before she decided to do some bodily harm on her boyfriend for being so stupid and acting like an insensitive jerk (she may be overreacting a bit). She also knew she had to leave before she let her anger get the best of her and accidentally unleash her power and blew a hole into one of the many glass walls that seemed to make up a good portion of the tower. God, Norah really that Pietro couldn't seem to understand why she reacted the way she did when it came to her father, she's tried to explain it to him numerous times but no matter how many times she explained it to him he just didn't seem to understand her reasoning's. She's never really gone heavy into detail about the way her father had acted when she was younger and the many, many different ways he had disappointed and let down both her and her sister but she figured it was in the past and didn't need to be talked about but maybe that was a mistake, maybe if she told Pietro about those times he would be able to understand a sliver of why she didn't want any contact with her father.
The place that she ended up Blinking herself was just inside of the gates of Xavier's, a place that always was and always would be a sanctuary to any Mutant if they had need of it. As Norah slowly walked the vast grounds and towards where the mansion was which housed all of the classrooms and dorm rooms for students and other Mutant's alike she smiled to herself; Xavier's school was the first place that she had ever felt truly accepted as she was, it was a place where she didn't have to worry about being judged for being different…..for being a Mutant and a place where she didn't have to worry about other people fearing her or hating her because of her power. It was the first safe place that she ended up at after running away at fifteen.
"Hello professor," Norah said when she caught sight of her wheelchair bound ex-professor who was making his way towards her.
Xavier smiled at Norah when he got closer to her, "Hello Norah, I thought that I would meet you halfway and walk the rest of the way with you if you don't mind." He said to her.
Nora nodded at him, "Of course," she said and then gestured to the grounds "This is your place after all, who am I to stop you." she joked as they started to make their way across the grounds and towards the mansion.
Xavier looked up at Norah, "This is not just my place Norah, this has been the home to many Mutants over the decades and it will always be home to those who come back if they need it. You included." He said to her.
"I know," Norah said with a small upturn of her lips, a subdued tone of voice which was not like her usual self really. "So," she said looking down at the professor. "Hear me come in did you?" she questioned as she playfully tapped the side of her head, an expectant look on her face.
When she did that Xavier gave an amused chuckle before responding, "Your mind was screaming at me the moment you arrived on the grounds, seems to me that there are quite a few things going on in your life right now" he said and looked up at her inquiringly. "If you need to talk to anyone I am more than willing to do so, I will always lend an ear." He said to her.
At that Norah scrunched up her nose at the suggestion and then turned and looked over at the stabled they were passing by, she did always love working with the horses when she had lived here. "Thanks," she said to him as she pulled her gaze from the stables and back to Xavier. "I appreciate that, I really do but no offense professor but this is more something that I need to vent to close friends about. To-"
"Rogue and Kitty, and Piotr." Xavier answered knowingly, a fond smile on his face.
"Yeah," she said with an affirmative nod of the head, her two braids that her sister had done the day before nearly hitting her in the face, her hair truly could be dangerous at times.
"I do believe that they just got done with a danger room session about twenty minutes ago, I'm sure you still know your way around and will be able to hunt them out in no time." Xavier said as they entered the main doors of the mansion, passing by a few students who were heading towards their next class. "Oh," he said as he wheeled himself to face her. "I am glad that you are all right after what had happened in Sokovia, I saw some of the news reels of what happened. Try to be safer next time Norah, I know that you are quite powerful but you aren't invincible." He said to her sternly and then nodded goodbye to her before he headed off to wherever it was that he needed to go to.
Norah smiled at his retreating…..chair, and breathed in deeply and just stood in the entry way for a few moments taking everything in after being gone for so long. She had mixed feelings about the school at times, about how they taught some of the students how to use their powers and how to understand and control said powers so that they didn't hurt themselves or other people accidentally. Admittedly, Xavier and most of the teachers did a great job giving her a foundation of how to control her powers and god did they try and help her get full control of her powers but their teachings didn't exactly help as much as they had hoped or as much as Norah had wanted. Their style just didn't seem to mesh all that well with how Norah needed to understand her powers – at least the more dangerous one that is – sometimes she understood what they were saying and felt all confident and what not but then she would get angry or frustrated and something would accidentally get blown up without meaning for it to happen. SHIELD was better suited to how Norah learned, they had a more aggressive approach while Xavier's eased into it slowly and that just didn't work for Norah and getting her to become one with her powers as Hank liked to say.
Even if she did have mixed feelings for the school and how they taught Norah did appreciate what they did for her and all other Mutants and she loved what they stood for and what everyone at Xavier's tried to do – fighting for Mutant rights and having a safe place for Mutants to go to. Xavier's was the first place that Norah felt accepted and truly like she was able to be herself and not have to hide the fact that she had powers like she did with her family for so many years. It would always be somewhere important to her.
Norah was walking through the hallways at a leisure pace, thinking of some of the many places that her friends could be when, as luck would have it, she heard Kitty, Rogue and some southern man talking – who she assumed was more than likely this Remy guy that Rogue was seeing. And of course, Norah being who she was decided that she was going to just Blink herself into the room that she heard them talking in, scare them a bit and whatnot. Even though she hasn't been living at Xavier's in years it doesn't mean that she doesn't recall what majority of the rooms looked like, besides the room that they were in at the moment was one of the rec rooms that the mansion had for kids, teachers and X-Men alike for them to veg or relax in after a long day.
Smirking to herself Norah thought about the layout of the room and then paused a moment before she Blinked from the hallway and into the Rec Room right on top of the coffee table that faced her two female friends and more than likely this Remy guy. She laughed a bit when she heard both Rogue and Kitty yelp, not expecting her to suddenly appear, especially since she didn't exactly tell them that she was coming for a visit, a visit she wasn't expecting to take.
"Jesus Christ! Yah nearly gave Remy a 'eart attack Cherie. Ah am too young be doin' dat." The cajun who was most definitely Remy said to Norah. "I'm assumin' that yah are miss Norah."
At that Norah smiled widely, "Yup, and I'm assuming that you're the Remy that I've heard about from Rogue?" she questioned.
He extended his arms in a flamboyant manner, "The one and only cherie." He said to her and then wrapped an arm around Rogue's shoulders who just elbowed him in the ribs and then looked at Norah accusingly.
"And what in the world do yah think that yah are doin' here, not givin' us no warnin' or nothin'. Hmm?" Rogue questioned as she crossed her arms over her chest, raising a brow at Norah and waiting for an answer
"What, I can't visit my two besties from Xavier's?" Norah asked, faking an insulted and hurt tone of voice.
Kitty looked at Norah, "You'd call first, you know to make sure we aren't off on X-Men business." She pointed out to her and then leaned forward and pulled Norah into an unexpected hug. "It's great to see you and to see that you are in fact okay and not too horribly injured from that mess in Sokovia. We should have come to visit when you called us." She said shaking her head at herself and at Norah insisting that she was fine and that they didn't need to visit her.
"Well here I am visiting you," Norah said and then Blinked herself into a seated position on one of the arm chairs that were near the couch that Rogue, Remy and Kitty were sitting on. "Feel special."
"So what's up with the surprise visit Norah?" Rogue asked curiously.
Norah looked from Kitty to Rogue and then at Remy who was looking just as curious as the two girls, "Well to tell the truth I didn't exactly mean to come here I just Blinked away because I needed to get away from the tower and ended up here" she told them with a shrug of her shoulders. "But," she said hesitantly. "I kinda got in a fight with my boyfriend about my whole birthfather situation and needed to vent to someone who wasn't at the tower and whatnot. So, story time?" she asked with an upbeat tone as she looked at the three expectantly and hopefully.
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Author's Note ~_~_~_~_~~_~_~_~_
So what did you all think of this installment? Good? I hope.
Moj Mali Bik: My little Bull.