Deep Silent Winter
Chapter 16
A/N: Buckle up, my friends.
"Remember our deal and make sure you eat everything."
"Here, take these. they'll help you relax and get some sleep, just a nap. We can talk after, I promise."
Crinkling.
"Just try laying down. You didn't sleep all night."
"I know, you're right. I am being a bit paranoid."
White noise, static.
"You can barely keep your eyes open, stop being stubborn."
A head full of cotton.
"I'll be back soon. Rest well."
Pietro was curled up on his side, fast asleep on his cot in the Safety Room, the lights dimmed but still on.
WaKE...uP...
His eyelids twitched right before he started to open them. Then for a minute he continued to lay still while looking around the room, something felt off - as if there was another person in the room with him. His eyes fell on a tiny shadow in the corner of the room that appeared to grow, seemingly spreading outwards. Pietro's ears started ringing, a high pitched screech blocking out any other possible sounds as if he'd been sucked into the vacuum of space. He sucked in a sharp breath now realizing he was unable to move, his arms just laying in front of him, not listening to the commands his brain was trying to send. His breathing rate picked up and he eyed the thing in the corner again.
Something was emerging from the wall, dripping black tar in rivulets from its form and accumulating thick dobs of itself on the floor. Some of the streams of goo were thicker and moved in a way that would denote a limb, an arm or a leg maybe. The thing - was it a creature?- continued to pull itself out of the wall but the form that might be considered a torso never seemed able to end and it continued to extend towards the cot. It sounded like wet rags being dropped rhythmically across the floor, getting closer and closer and with each step the already dim lights would blink out completely.
Pietro was actively trying to scream now, or move or do anything. But all he seemed to be able to do was breathe and whimper and watch this thing descending upon him. Each step closer. The sight more clear, the sounds deafening, the lights dimming and brightening and then finally...out completely…
...Something grabbing his wrist.
"Pietro!"
He tried to yank his arm away and was shocked to feel it obey him, letting out a blood-curdling scream at the same moment. He was unable to get out of its grasp so he started struggling more, feeling his body waking up but still feeling like it was an alien to his brain.
"Kid! Wake up, come on!"
He pushed the thing and it retaliated by wrapping itself around him, constricting him, his panicked breaths coming out in short huffs. He struggled harder and more ferociously, no longer feeling human himself. Finally, his voice box broke through the barrier of sleep. "Help! HELP ME!"
"Speedy! Calm down, I know we've had our differences but- AH!"
Pietro bit down hard into the thing, tasting blood and then biting harder. He could feel it flow into his mouth in hot waves, tasting and smelling of iron...and something...was wrong about that...So he let up…and blinked, hearing the thing's...the person's suppressed hisses of pain. He felt the person relaxing, not letting go, but relaxing his hold...the voice...and when did the lights turn on…?
"Sheesh...I didn't know you could bite so hard…" A gruff voice grumbled, arms still around him holding him mostly in place. Pietro realized he was holding onto Wolverine's arm, his nails also digging into the man's skin…"You calm now?" Pietro nodded. "I'm gonna let you go now, okay?" He nodded again and Logan gently let his arms drop from around him.
Pietro remained where he was, which apparently was kneeling on the floor in the middle of the room. He felt something sticky and warm on his chin and he reached a hand up to wipe it away, seeing dark red on his fingertips afterwards. He continued to stare at it…
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." Logan's voice drifted around in the room.
"He got you good…" Hank's voice entered. "Keep pressure on it for now…"
He heard someone shifting next to him before a hand gently grasped his own hand that he was still staring at. The person started wiping the blood off with a damp cloth and then did the same around Pietro's mouth. When this person was done, he put a hand on his back, rubbing comforting circles. "I'll...be...good…" Pietro whispered brokenly and the hand stilled.
Pain shot through Pietro's head and suddenly he was pulling at his hair folding into himself.
"They're coming early…" Was all he could get out. "Something's happening…"
"Forget it! I am not drugging him again, Charles! Let me try handling this my way."
The sounds of scraping metal conjured up from thin air and now the teachers were covering their ears as well. Cracks in the walls formed, allowing the inky goo to ooze slowly in. The sounds of bubbling muck and hollow disembodied screams grating against a silence emanating through a thin cloth-like barrier. His teachers were finally fearful, they could finally see and hear the other-side. A shadow descended on Pietro's form as he gradually unfolded himself to turn…
...To see Mr. McCoy holding up his hands placatingly, the sounds of scraping metal gone along with the black tar. Logan was glancing over while still holding gauze to his arm, and The Professor sat with his hands intertwined in themselves, studying him.
"What's happening…" Pietro felt his skin stinging. Upon the further inspection of his forearm, he watched large blisters inflating under his skin as his skin boiled itself from inside. He screeched again, holding his arm out in front of himself and backing away until he hit the wall of the room and could go no further. "Why can't you see it?!" He screamed.
"Pietro, I need you to listen to me." Beast's words sounded like he was speaking through water to Pietro. He even looked like he was underwater, the entire room - a fish tank. "I don't know what you're experiencing but I think it's your powers acting up. I need you to follow my instructions no matter how strange things might seem right now. I'm coming closer to you…" Beast did as he said he would and stepped along the bottom of the ocean towards Pietro, he stopped in front of him and put a hand on his knee trying to ground him.
"No...You're wrong…" He spoke out between his panicked breaths.
"Even if that's true, it's going to be okay." Beast reassured him. "Can you try to control it?"
Control what? Pietro thought and had meant to say it but he wasn't sure he actually did.
"Here." Hank held out his hand for Pietro to take. "Hold my hand. Focus on the here and now…" Pietro took Hank's hand. "Tell me what you see."
"Everything's underwater...no...it's not, is it…it is but it isn't." Pietro focused on Hank's hand. It was warm and the skin was smooth and as he sought his way back, the cracks resolved in the walls and his skin returned to normal. He felt himself surfacing through a current until he hit fresh air. He slowed his breathing down and was entirely back in the correct reality.
"Better. Keep hold, Pietro." Beast guided. "Breath in...and out, okay? Slow down…" They stayed like this until Pietro was fully aware again.
"...I don't know what happened." Pietro mumbled, looking around the floor as if it held the answers.
"We'll figure this out." Beast stated, helping Pietro up and then back over to the cot where he still seemed out-of-it. Hank sat next to him. "Maybe if we talk about your powers now?"
Pietro's brow scrunched up, "What about?"
"What do they feel like to you?" Beast nodded to Logan and Charles.
"Let's make sure you don't need stitches, Logan." Charles stated and the two left for down the hall.
"It feels like...pressure. Spherical. Like waves pushing and pulling me in all directions…" Pietro was still twitchy, scratching at the nape of his neck. "It feels like I'm trying to look into a broken mirror while it's submerged in water just below the surface." He could feel it coming. The flow of time started shifting in the other direction. Tears slipped out of his eyes, running down his cheeks, he looked up at Beast's perplexed expression "I'm sorry…" he sobbed.
Then Pietro felt the waves gush out of him and swirl around. Beast's various mannerisms began rewinding, going in reverse until he was repositioned to how he was about 2 minutes prior. Pietro watched time slow, stop, and then continue forward. It was like blinking. One moment he was on the cot and the next he was back on the floor.
"Better. Keep hold, Pietro." Beast guided. "Breath in...and out, okay? Slow down…" Beast's expression shifted in an instant upon seeing the tear streaks down Pietro's face. "Hey, hey...it's okay…"
"No...you don't understand…"
"Let's make sure you don't need stitches, Logan." Charles stated and the two left for down the hall.
"You were just having some issues, that's all. These powers are still new to you. Maybe I shouldn't have given you that medication, it could have interacted with them. But there's nothing really to be too upset about." Beast guided Pietro off the floor - again - and back on to the cot.
"That's not it…"
"Okay...do you think you were stuck in a nightmare?" Beast looked at Pietro with kindness and Pietro could tell Mr. McCoy was trying his hardest to comprehend what was happening, a futile battle from Pietro's perspective. It made another set of tears roll down his cheeks. "Please...talk to me, Pietro."
Pietro started to pull himself together and decided to do what he did best...lie. "It's nothing. I'm just really tired and I had a weird dream and then I couldn't move when I woke up. I thought I saw some stuff. I didn't." He finished and looked away to square his resolve before looking back at McCoy with the best 'I'm sure' look he could muster. "I'm fine now." He tagged on a half smile at the end to really sell it.
Beast grinned and gave Pietro's shoulder a squeeze. "You know, Pietro, I've been around you enough now to be able to tell when you're lying."
The smile faded from Pietro's face and his eyes widened.
"You promised, no more secrets."
Pietro slightly shook his head. "I...wasn't..."
Hank sighed and dropped his hand. "Okay." He stood up and reached for the discarded blanket. "Why don't you lay back down? Try to sleep off the meds."
"Mr. McCoy-"
"I have to finish examining your blood sample. It shouldn't take much longer." Hank picked up the pillow from the floor and returned it to its place on the cot.
"No!" Pietro reached out and grabbed his wrist. Beast stopped abruptly. "I want to tell you...but...I don't know how." Hank took his spot back on Pietro's cot. "We had already started talking...and then I couldn't stop this feeling...of rushing…" More tears dripped down his chin. "And I watched everything go backwards...and when it finally righted itself...no one else remembered. It's like it never happened but it did to me." Pietro's lip was quivering. "And this keeps happening over and over but I never know when…and I get stuck between versions..."
Beast's eyes softened again and he nodded in understanding. "And you thought it would be easier if you lied because we'd be talking about something that to me was theoretical, that'd I'd probably forget anyway."
Pietro nodded, biting his lip once again. "Again - forget again." Pietro shook his head, "I keep trying to tell you over and over and over again and now I've lost track of it all together. I can feel something inside of me that isn't right...getting stronger...taking over."
"This room should be absorbing enough from you that that can't happen..." Hank said as he looked at the lack of blue fur on his forearm. He barely had to be in the room for a couple minutes before his beast form faded. He looked back at Pietro's eyes seeing him eerily calm with his irises glowing. Beast stood up, pushing himself from the cot in surprise. "I'll be right back."
Hank rushed from the room, ignoring the protests from the young man left behind. As he started down the hallway, it began morphing - seeming to twist as if it were the inside of an iron girder and a giant were bending it from the outside. It elongated, the number of doors multiplied and Hank was now in a full sprint back to his office. There was a moment when he wasn't sure he was running at all until his hand touched the handle and he pushed it open to enter…
...the Safety Room,
But empty.
Hank ran out the door again down the now normal length hallway with the correct number of doors. He flung open the office to find it empty and quickly turned on his heel to continue on into the regular infirmary. Charles was wrapping up Logan's arm with fresh gauze, the two were laughing about something until they saw the seriousness on Hank's face.
"Whoa, what happened to you?" Logan asked with a gruff voice.
"Where's Pietro?" He asked frantically. "Did he come this way?"
"He was with you-"
"I know he was with me!" Hank pressed. "I left him to come find you and then I ended up back there instead but now he's gone!"
"Hank, calm down." The Professor stated, "Let me help." He connected into the other's mind and quickly caught up on what had happened. "Oh my…"
"Someone fill me in here?" Logan asked.
"He just changed so suddenly." Beast said disbelievingly.
"Why I...I split his consciousness…a miscalculation and accident of course due to the interruption." Mastermind's voice rang out in Xavier's mind. "He doesn't know. Pietro doesn't know."
"Help! HELP ME!" A scream echoed from down the hall in Pietro's voice.
The three instructors hurried back towards the hallway but as soon as they crossed the threshold between the sliding glass doors, two of them found themselves in a different part of the mansion.
Xavier found himself in the piano room, facing a very confused Jean and Scott.
Hank found himself entering the kitchen where he surprised the members of what was once the brotherhood.
Logan alone now faced the hallway leading to the Safety Room, which was feeling less and less safe by the second.
"Speedy! Calm down, I know we've had our differences but- AH!"
The sound of Logan's own disembodied voice echoing through the hallway shocked him to his core. It jostled his training back into the forefront of his brain and fueled his resolve to continue on even without the other instructors.
Everything was cold and he could have sworn frost was building on the walls as he tiptoed towards his destination. By the time he approached the sensor for the lock on the door, Logan could see his breath in front of his face appear in little clouds. Absolute in his resolve to do this alone, Logan pressed down his palm on the sensor and the door slid open. He entered and was met with the force of a hyperventilating body flinging itself at him, gripping on to him for dear life.
Out of instinct, Logan gently wrapped his arms around the shivering boy. Part of him was waiting for something else to happen, or for his life-force to start draining away and for him to start rapidly aging or maybe de-aging, but nothing happened. Nothing changed
"I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I'll be good. I'll be good. I'll be good." He whimpered over and over.
Logan just rubbed his back, hushing him and telling him it was alright. And then Logan made the managerial decision to lead Pietro out of the room and down the hall because screw what The Professor thought, obviously this room wasn't working. He helped the kid hop up on an infirmary bed just as Hank and Charles re-entered, Scott and Jean tailing and then Lance and Wanda soon after. Logan turned to stop them from protesting but they cut him off.
"Did you find him?" Xavier asked.
Logan's brow furrowed again. Had Charles gone blind? "He's right he-" Logan looked back to the bed but Pietro was gone again. "He was right here!"
McCoy was rushing to his office as the other four hurried close behind. After taking one look at the monitors for the Safety Room. Hank rushed out and down the hall once again with a chorus of "no's" under his breath. Lance saw the monitor meant to display Pietro's vitals had gone default, which either meant that the system had glitched or that there weren't any vitals to record and Lance's heart nearly stopped, stricken by fear...The screen meant to show surveillance in the room held few answers, the display was warped and full of static and it wasn't clear which shapes were human and which weren't.
Lance turned to catch up with the others. Hank was already at the door, trying to bust it down, the control panel having also stopped its functioning. The little window cast that same odd blue-white light that flowed into the hallway like water as soon as the Beast broke through.
In the middle of the room was Pietro, his body floating five feet off the floor, positioned as if he had fallen asleep on his back and been lifted into the air. His glowing blue eyes were wide open, the light having spread to his entire body like a shell on his skin. The group tried to shield themselves from an unrelenting invisible force, pushing on them like a wind current and somehow it was deafeningly loud as a tornado. Beast went to advance forward but Wanda grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Don't! The last time-"
Beast looked towards Jean, "Make sure we're ready for a code." He said and Jean startled, grabbing Scott by the arm, she dragged him with her as she busied herself with checking the crash cart's supplies.
Lance pushed forward instead, slowly approaching Pietro without making a sound. It was like pushing against a force of nature, a similar feeling to when he first started using his own powers. When he finally reached Pietro's body, he wasn't sure what to do but he was certain both him and Wanda were worried about reaching a similar turn of events as what happened the day before. So, he breathed deep and started talking calmly to the white haired boy in front of him even though he appeared to be completely unaware of his presence. "I'm here, Pietro. It's Lance. I'm right here and I'm waiting for you to come back on your own." He could feel the current calming down to more like a gentle ebb and flow, rather than a hurricane. The light fading from his friend's body. He swallowed hard. "Come back...I need you…"
The current subsided entirely, the light gone, and his body after hovering for a moment more, dropped to the ground where he remained motionless. Lance kneeled down next to Pietro, his hands resting on Pietro's face and stroking a thumb across one of his tear stained cheeks. "Come on...don't do this to me…please…" He wasn't breathing again. And Lance's heart was breaking, tears now cascading down his own face. He could hear the commotion starting up behind him, Mr. McCoy was calling a code and shouting out orders. "Pietro...please…breathe..." Lance was trembling now, his eyes darting around the other boy's face looking for a sign of life, any sign of life. "Come on! Breathe! Come back to me! Pietro!"
A sharp inhale of breath filled the air. Pietro's eyes shot open and he was clawing at Lance's arms, trying to sit himself up. Lance grabbed the other boy and pressed his body against his own in a crushing embrace. The other boy was coughing and desperately digging his fingers into Lance's back, seeking out deeper comfort than was possible, his face found Lance's neck and he burrowed into the warmth finding some semblance of serenity after a few short minutes.
Lance let the last of his tears drip off his chin and then tried to allow Beast to semi-pry the protesting boy off of him. He did a quick check of his vitals but moving him was a battle Beast wasn't going to win so he decided to utilize Lance. Lance, in this situation, who was more than eager to oblige.
Lance helped guide Pietro out of the forsaken room and back down to the normal infirmary where he already decided he would stay with him the rest of the day and into the night. He planned on calming him as soon as any more episodes attempted to surface, no more bullshit, even though he felt more like a zombie than a friend.
Xavier and Logan stepped out into the hallway to talk while McCoy was hooking Pietro up to a bunch of very annoying and noisy machines. "Since I'm assuming you're staying here and there's probably little I can do to persuade you otherwise, let me know if anything changes - immediately." He held Lance's gaze for an extended amount of time, brow furrowed, nothing but seriousness etched in his eyes. The young rock tumbler could see the absolute exhaustion in the older mutant as he left.
"He's okay...right?" Lance asked, squeezing the now sleeping boy's frail hand a little tighter. He had slipped back into unconsciousness as soon as he'd laid down, though Lance doubted he'd been very awake walking down the hall to begin with.
Hank sighed while glancing over at Wanda, who was hovering at the edge of the room, and then to the doorway where Freddy and Todd were trying to squeeze into the space quietly. "I'm going to be honest with all of you, we're all doing the best we can for Pietro, but this is all uncharted territory…"
Wanda was biting on her cuticles, making little droplets of blood leak from the delicate skin. "Well...he will be okay then, right?" She looked around at everyone in the room. "Right?" She asked more forcefully. Todd and Freddy shifted uncomfortably behind her.
Hank sighed and took a deep inhale of breath to calm himself, "Wanda." Tears were already forming in her eyes before he even began. "His heart stopped yesterday. And it stopped again just less than an hour ago. Pietro is hovering in a very precarious situation and I don't know exactly what is going on with him. I have theories but nothing concrete. I will do everything I can to help him. But I feel I need to be honest with you. I don't know if he's going to be alright because I don't understand what his powers are doing to him."
The members of what was once the Brotherhood bowed their heads silently. Hank had Jean checking all the machine's connections to the patient while he added an IV drip. After Hank was satisfied with the order of everything, he started to secure soft restraints around each of Pietro's wrists. At this point, Wanda stiffened, turning and walking away without speaking, though the sound of muffled sniffling could be vaguely heard.
Lance watched Wanda's retreating form and motioned for the other two boys to go after her. He then went back to rubbing his thumb over Pietro's knuckles when he noticed a pale index finger twitching. He watched as the other boy's eyelids droopily opened. "...Lance."
"Hey…" he couldn't help the smile that drifted onto his face, "You scared the crap outta me, you know?"
A smile ghosted over his best friend's face and then quickly faded, "So many versions of you...I still like this one the best…"
Lance's heart froze, "...W-what?"
"...Schrodinger's Theory."
The dark haired boy blinked, "You always were too smart for me…"
Pietro failed trying to sit up, only now noticing the restraints. "Lance?!" His breathing was already picking up, the monitors giving warning of his changing vitals. Lance tightened his grip on Pietro's hand.
"Tell me about Shoeginger's Theory…?" He said, rushed and forcefully. To his surprise, this actually stopped Pietro in his tracks. The white-haired mutants sat unblinking at Lance for too many seconds to be comfortable, especially considering Pietro was the speed demon.
Then he started laughing at Lance.
Lance couldn't help the mirth that flowed from his as well, relief filling him up. "What? What did I say that was stupid?"
Pietro stopped laughing only long enough to say one word, "Shoeginger?!"
"Well, what is it?!"
"Schrodinger! You idiot!" Pietro sounded cocky, like his old self for the first time in ages.
"Whatever!" Lance felt his cheeks heat up, "Are you going to tell me what it is or aren't you!?"
Pietro's laughter died down a bit and he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. "Quantum superposition. The idea that everything that could happen has and now exists in a different parallel universe that split from our own."
"Um…" Lance sat with his mouth agape.
"The theory that says there could be near-infinite parallel universes existing alongside ours at the same time. Which means, right now, there are also near-infinite versions of ourselves, living lives that are just slightly different from our own."
Something in Lance's head clicked. "Wait...have you met other versions of me?"
Pietro chuckled and tried to get comfortable in the hospital bed. He turned serious, almost solemn. "Every version of this world exists...even the future versions and the past ones. All simultaneously happening right now. All separated by some thin void, overlaid like an onion skin. What if you could...cross the barrier between them? You know...jump timelines? Would you do it?"
Lance only had a millisecond to think about it before Hank cleared his throat from the doorway, Logan and Xavier were with him. Jean and Scott had snuck off. "I heard the machines go off...I just wanted to check to make sure you're both alright."
Pietro swallowed hard. "How much did you hear?"
"Enough." Xavier answered, wearing an unreadable expression. "But we can discuss such things later. For now, you must rest, Pietro. I'm handing over responsibility, in regards to your care, to Mr. McCoy. I believe I have too much on my plate to be able to make well-informed and empathetic decisions on this matter any longer. I will, of course, be here to help but Hank will be calling the shots from now on."
Logan shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. "And I'm being assigned as your bodyguard, Kid."
"Why do I need a bodyguard…?"
Lance shook himself out of his stupor. "What the hell are you all on?!"
Xavier folded his hands in his lap, looking at the speed demon in front of him, curiosity peaked. "You don't know, do you?" Xavier felt his insides freeze over. What else didn't the boy know anymore? Was he really unaware of the shifts in dates? Maybe he did know...but then were his notes even valid anymore or were they now just ramblings? Pietro stared back, just as curious. Was what Magneto said true, was Pietro just playing a game with him?
"Professor, I think we could all use some rest." Hank started in a not-so-discreet way of trying to end the conversation for the time being. "Pietro will stay in the infirmary for the time-being. I promise to keep him comfortable."
"That's what you say about someone who's dying…" Pietro sighed and slumped dramatically. Lance smacked the back of the hand he was caressing. "Ow!"
"Don't say stupid shit!" Lance huffed. "You're going to be fine." The rock-tumblr ground out while looking defiantly at Mr. McCoy who was taken aback.
"I'll let you know if anything changes or I find some new information on his condition." Hank continued talking to Xavier while holding Lance's near-glare until the teen went back to arguing with his friend.
"And I'll keep you up to date on the situation involving certain…" He glanced nervously at Pietro. "...interested parties...regarding our patient here."
"Wait, what." Pietro was now more interested with what the teachers were talking about than his bickering with Avalanche.
"If you can keep secrets, so can I." The Professor chuckled and turned, leaving the infirmary with an amused Beast. Pietro and Lance glanced at each other and then at the Wolverine standing in the room with them.
"So, you're seriously going to just...be here, huh?" Pietro's sass was coming through and it lifted a small amount of weight from Lance's heart. "...Just gonna...be around all the time…?"
Logan exaggerated a sigh, "Yup."
"Great." Pietro tried to slump even further, feeling both embarrassed and exhausted beyond belief. The events were catching up with him and his eyes were growing rapidly heavier, his vision blurring.
Eventually, Lance noticed Pietro drifting once again into unconsciousness and nudged his friend over so he could crawl into bed with him. He didn't receive any protests from the other boy in his half-conscious state, and instead felt him push his body as physically close as possible into Lance's side. Lance glanced over at Logan once, seeing the older man was busy trying to give them some semblance of privacy for which Lance was both surprised and grateful.
Lance felt selfish though. His main thought that night after all the motion sensors forced the overhead lights off one by one was, 'This is all I want…' and then he too allowed sleep to take him.
TBC
A/N: goddess help me I will finish this story someday for crying out loud. at least I give you long chapters when I actually update?