That morning Nathan woke up refreshed and rejuvenated as the events of last night had escaped him. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with a yawn and set about to his daily routine, until it finally hit him. He had completely forgotten about Nate and only remembered when he saw Nate curled up at the edge of his bed like a dog. Nathan yells out in alarm, causing Nate to stir from his slumber.

"Mm… Good morning." Nate greets, sitting up for a stretch.

Nathan clutched his blanket to his chest, his heart thudding. "What the— what are you doing there?"

Nate brings his arms over his head and eases the dullness out of his back muscles. He lets out a hearty groan as he gives his reply. "I figured I may as well sleep until morning, I didn't want to wake anybody. Besides, I wasn't going to lie next to you. So I took the foot of the bed."

"Yeah that's not weird at all." Nathan threw the blanket back into Nate's face and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Nate scoffs in response to the attack but says nothing of it.

"Look," Nathan pressed his palms together and addressed Nate calmly. "Everyone should be awake right now so why don't we go and surprise them huh?

"I like the way you think brother."

Nate used his powers to levitate himself and Nathan off the bed and cleaned it up nicely to make it look like no one was sleeping there at all. Usually, Nathan never made his bed and left it. Sometimes his mother came in and fixed it for him. But watching as Nate did so with ease or without complaint irked him. He didn't know why though, and decided to let it go.

Together the nearly identical boys exit the room with Nate taking the back as he floated. The floating was another thing that bothered Nathan. From time to time, Rachel and his mother would do the same but it felt like Nate was just showing off at this point.

They had made it to the kitchen without anyone noticing them arrive unsurprisingly. Mornings were either hectic or extremely quiet depending on the day. Today was a little bit of both as people came in and out of rooms.

Their mother, Jean Grey waltzes out into the living space, fastening her mask on the correct way. "Honey," she says, referring to Scott. She thought he must've been out here but he wasn't. "Can you get me my tea? I'm about to head out."

"Allow me mother."

Nate levitates the cup of tea and pours it into a thermos for Jean to take with her. He moves it toward her hand while her back is turned and she grabs it graciously. "Thank you Nathan." said Jean before she realized that there wasn't a hand attached to the drink. She whipped around in fright and widened her eyes.

"N-nate?"

Nate grinned cheekily in response. "Hello Jean."

Jean brought her hands up to her mouth as she was hit with a wave of emotions, effectively letting go of the thermos. Nate had caught it and brought it to her once again with telekinesis.

"Scott honey, get in here!"

Scott pokes out of the hallway that led to some of the bedrooms, followed by Rachel who heard the yelling. The two of them were in the middle of brushing their teeth and either held the toothbrush in their hand or clamped onto it with their teeth. Upon laying eyes on the lost Nate Grey, their faces contort is happiness and surprise.

Rachel launches herself in flight and tackle-hugged Nate in a vice grip. She was particularly glad to see him since they had so much in common, being from alternate dystopian futures.

This made Nathan realize how alienated he really was. If he was old man Cable, he would know a lot more about Nate. Consequently, he only knows of what he has learned from others. Scott, Jean, and Rachel all knew Nate fairly well and thus had a reason for being attached to this man.

Several times in his life now, Nathan had looked at someone who was essentially the same as him; older Cable… Stryfe. But looking at Nate, the resemblance was uncanny. Nate had to be just as old as Rachel and yet he shared every vital feature that Nathan had. He was just taller and slightly more mature looking.

It was jarring to watch Nate get hugged by his family, listening to the sweet nothings that were shared.

Suddenly the rest of the day was forgotten as the family decided to spend it with Nate.

Woopee.

"Where the heck have you been?" Rachel asked Nate as she forcefully sat him down at the kitchen island.

Nate rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, not keen on giving details. "Oh y'know… places."

"How did you get back?" Scott chimes in. Nathan opened his mouth to answer since it had something to do with him. "Actually—" he started but he was never given the opportunity to answer. His family flocked around Nate, bombarding him with question after question, inadvertently shutting Nathan out.

Having had enough, Nathan turned on his heel and left them. Even if he was able to, he decided that he wanted no part in this.

Nate's grinning face started to ache as his smile muscles were being tugged on for so long. He was happy of course, but when he wanted to address Nathan's absence he wasn't given the opportunity to falter.

"Excuse me Scott," he says, starting to stand up. Nate gingerly pressed a palm to his father's chest, gently pushing him away. "I'll explain how I managed to get back but I think it'll be better if Nathan was here to share his side too."

For a moment Scott looked puzzled. "Nathan—? Oh," he glanced to his sides. "He was here just a minute ago."

"He left." Nate states.

"Why would he…" Jean drifts off, leaving her sentence unfinished. "Oh dear. You don't think he feels like he's getting replaced?"

Rachel scoffed and shook her head, hiding her sarcastic smile. "As if, that boy replaced our Cable, so what does it matter?"

Her mother shot her a glare and Rachel quickly reiterated herself. "What I mean is…" Rachel drawls, "He's not going to care. It's another Tuesday for him."

Jean knit her brows together in concern. "You think so?"

"Nathan's not soft like that mom, he probably just got bored and left."

"You know, what does Nathan have to do with you coming back?" Scott asked, turning towards where Nate once stood. The older boy had disappeared as well. "Uh, Nate?"

The address fell on deaf ears as Nate searched the home for his brother. He floated in the air, moving at a slow pace in case he missed him. "Where the hell are ya Nathan…?" Nate asked himself aloud. He came to a full stop before realizing he could just reach out to Nathan telepathically.

Face palming himself, Nate sent his mind out towards Nathan's. He could hear Nathan's thoughts clearly as he left them unguarded.

"Thinks he's all that." said Nathan's inner voice. "Just because he's allowed to use all of his powers doesn't make him better than me. If I weren't sick, I could be just as strong as him."

Nate stroked at his chin. So maybe Jean was right. Nathan did feel he was being replaced to an extent. Or maybe he was just jealous. Time to find out.

Nate flew toward the sound of Nathan's thoughts and found him sharpening away at his sword in a sparsely decorated room. Like everyone else, Nate found this amusing since old man Cable usually brandished guns and only guns. He let the sound of his feet touching the ground alert his presence.

"Aren't you supposed to be with mom and dad?" Nathan queries with his back turned. He didn't acknowledge Nate save for the question.

"Yeah, and so're you." Nate swaggered toward Nathan's side and plopped down next to him. "Whatcha got there?"

"A sword."

The lack of enthusiasm in the rather lacking reply left Nate feeling sour but he didn't let it change his disposition. "Wow, and here I was thinking it was a toaster pastry."

This time Nathan stopped what he was doing and turned to look at him. "What do you want?"

"I want you—" Nate poked Nathan's shoulder with his index finger. "To explain how I came back to your mom and dad."

"Don't you mean our mom and dad?"

"That's what I said wasn't it?"

Nathan inwardly sighed and sagged his shoulders. "We're not doing the whole, I'm you, you're me thing are we?"

"Right, we're brothers. We could be twins if you weren't painfully short." Nate teased, eliciting a scoff from Nathan. "I am not short." The boy murmured.

"Shorter than me." Nate reinforced with a playful shove.

Nathan's ears burned pink. "Shut up."

"Oh!" Nate retracted his hands in mock horror. "I'm so scared!"

Nathan rolled his eye and turned his attention back to his sword. "Living with you is going to be a trip isn't it?"