Double Helix: Twin Destinies

by Andrea13 and PersephoneKore

Alternate timeline starting after the end of the Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix. Stryfe and Nate are sent through a teleporter, but not to the same place. Stryfe goes to the Askani, Nate to Apocalypse's old library to become the External's ideological

2. 2

Double Helix: Twin Destinies
by Andrea and Persephone
Chapter 2/4

"Halt and identify yourself," Stryfe said sharply, stepping into the stranger's line of view. This was unusual. They let people who appeared merely to be lost, or trying to get somewhere else, through the woods of Ebonshire and simply kept them from approaching near enough to see anything.

The man walking quietly through Stryfe's guard area, however, was neither incautious nor secretive, but appeared to be looking for someone. Possibly them. Stryfe's scan had been ineffective -- he couldn't do any more without being noticed -- and the stranger was actively scanning the woods. The one thought Stryfe had picked up was "Askani."

This was probably not good.

Nate controlled himself against starting in surprise, but did look up sharply -- and then stopped and stared. Not only had he apparently walked practically up to the guard without noticing him, but... this had to be the prince he'd lost in the teleporter. "Stryfe?"

No one else could look that much like... well... him, surely.

Stryfe frowned and moved his psimitar slightly in warning.

Nate shook his head and raised a hand. "Forgive me." Deep breath. "I'm Nathan Dayspring. I've come seeking the Askani."

"Nathan Dayspring?" This was Slym Dayspring's son, the boy who'd looked so unnervingly like him? The unnerving resemblance was still there, actually - the other boy's left arm was covered in some metallic armor that apparently extended in some degree on his face as well, but it was a face the young Askani'Son knew very well.

Wait, the metal didn't seem quite so much like armor on closer inspection. More like...it was a part of him. That was odd, but he pushed it aside for now in favor of more pressing concerns. This--intruder somehow knew both who the Askani were and how to find them. And he apparently knew Stryfe himself on sight. There was...something about him that just set Stryfe's teeth on edge, and he raised his psimitar slightly.

"Be on your way. There's no one you seek here."

"Well, I'm very glad to find you again," Nate retorted. Well, mostly. For some reason he was far more irritated than was at all warranted by Stryfe's behavior towards him. Brusque wariness was perfectly appropriate for someone obviously on guard duty....

Wait, why was the former prince on guard duty?

"I'm not sure why you'd be so glad to find me, nor why you'd be looking for me in the first place. Our last meeting wasn't exactly on the best of terms," Stryfe replied brusquely. "None of that explains why you're here. Explain yourself. Quickly." His eyes narrowed as he shifted the psimitar slightly, warning without words that he would show no hesitation in using it.

"I did explain myself. I'm seeking the Askani. I wasn't looking for you; I wondered what had happened to you, but by the time I'd have had a chance to find out it would probably have been too late to do any good if you weren't well to begin with." Nate's eyes narrowed at the odd spear Stryfe was holding, then went to his face again. "I mean no harm. I want to ask for assistance."

"The Askani don't take in beggars," Stryfe snapped, then cursed himself for revealing too soon that the Askani were nearby and Stryfe was with them. "I'm glad I could satisfy your curiosity about Apocalypse's heir, though I don't know why you'd bother. Now leave."

He really was being more abrupt than they usually were with a young man who had shown no actual aggression towards him, but...

Nate smiled. "Ah, so you do know of them. Is that whom you're guarding?"

"Since you seem to know so much, you can surely figure that out for yourself. Leave."

"I need to speak with them." Nate clamped down on his temper and tilted his head. "You don't remember me, do you."

"Of course I remember you."

"I don't mean from when we were children."

"When else could we possibly have met? We didn't allow peasants in the Palace or, as I've told you, beggars in the cloisters."

"When Apocalypse tried to take you."

Stryfe's eyes flashed - first with temper, then literally as he gathered power to strike. "What would you know of that?" he hissed angrily.

Nate felt an illogically fierce satisfaction at having made Stryfe show anger first, and smiled tightly. This was foolish; he wanted cooperation, not a fight! "I was there," he said levelly. "My unit killed him before he could finish, while he was vulnerable from trying."

His--the Daysprings had killed Apocalypse? Stryfe floundered over that information for a moment before logic, training, and fierce discipline took over. "A fine story. One that would incline me to trust you, while curiously having no proof behind it. I would have known if Slym Dayspring had led an attack on the Palace."

"You asked, and I answered. You're under no obligation to believe me." Nate smiled again. "Why are you still yourself, then? You were certainly in no condition to notice anyone else's arrival, though apparently you managed to put up some sort of resistance. Redd helped you."

"I am still myself," he replied tightly, "because I was stronger than He was. You had nothing to do with it, and whatever hopes you may have of being taken in by the Askani because of this pathetic story or attempting to play off this...odd resemblance to me are in vain. I told you before - GO. There's no one you seek here."

Nate snorted. "Those are not why the Askani will listen to me. I had no idea you were here, and rather foolishly allowed you to sidetrack me. I was the child Apocalypse infected with a techno-organic virus in the twentieth century, who was, as records show, rescued and taken to the future by a woman calling herself Askani."

He raised his left arm, fighting the instinct to hide the disease; he'd been fighting it ever since he reached the forest, but actually pointing it out to this arrogant.... "It nearly killed me when I was thirteen, but I survived. And as they thought I was important enough to rescue before, I come to claim their assistance now."

"An even better story." Stryfe's voice dripped with contempt even as he eyed the metal with interest. Techno-organic? How had he managed to keep it in check all these years? "You should consider life as a story-teller, Dayspring, instead of begging to the Askani. However you learned that tale, you forgot one important fact. I am the Askani'Son, Nathan Dayspring. And for the last time," he raised his psimitar, "you are not welcome here!"

"You're the what? Oath, you're stuck on titles, aren't you?" Nate's own eye flared. "I'm no beggar. I know how to take care of myself. I came looking for the Askani because I have reasons to go back in time again, and reasons to believe they're the likeliest route. If I can't persuade them -- you, I should say -- then I'll find another way. Their records should show who I am, though." A thin, sharp smile. "Look me up when you get off duty."

"Consider your efforts here at an end, then, and find another way. The Askani do not take kindly to pretenders."

"That might daunt me if I were pretending."

You claim to be the Chosen One, the baby rescued in the 20th century after being infected with a techno-organic virus by Apocalypse?"

Nathan refrained from rolling his eyes and said simply, "Yes. I'd say I have decent proof of that." He held up his left arm again and gestured wryly.

Stryfe's mouth tightened. "If that's your claim, you're a pretender, and I suggest you leave here. The Askani are well aware of what happened to that child. Apocalypse never gives up. Though he could be beaten, eventually, if one was strong enough."

Nate ground his teeth as quietly as he could. "I don't give up readily either. Although what I wish to do is what he did try and fail to do in centuries past, and apparently did give up on or forget about --"

Now Stryfe raised the psimitar into a fighting stance. "You want to follow in the footsteps of Apocalypse?" he snarled, readying a mind strike. "And you actually think the Askani will HELP you, when our entire existence has been dedicated to stopping him? Bright Lady, are you half-witted or merely insane?"

Nate gestured dismissively. "The Askani didn't come into existence until after he'd forsaken those of his goals that were worthwhile. And I told you, he failed; he wasn't going about it correctly. I intend to --"

The words died in his mouth as he staggered under a furious telepathic assault, pain exploding in his mind worse than the virus had ever done to his body.

#NOTHING Apocalypse did was worthwhile! He used terror and fear and pain to carve out his own world. He used ME! You will NOT resurrect his legacy, if I have to kill you where you stand!#

Nate used everything Redd had taught him about shielding and everything he'd read or worked out since, drawing in desperation on the memory of the last time he'd blocked energy from Stryfe -- but Stryfe hadn't been directing it then! The words screamed into his mind made his ears ring, and he barely managed to block the telekinetic energy battering at him, thankfully with poorer focus than the telepathy, without losing control of the virus.

The jolt of alarm and his broken concentration when the virus started to slip seemed likely to be fatal, though, because through the blinding yellow pain he felt his shields start to crack....

Cold. It was cold, and there was pain, and what the FLONQ was happening? He blinked rapidly, trying to raise shields again and fight--something. He was attacking--or was he being attacked?

Stryfe--Nathan--there were words floating around in his head, but which was him and what was happening and why?

Stryfe/Nathan flailed out blindly, reaching out in a sea of chaos for the one element of stability, however fragile. A rope -- a link, tying something together, but what? And why was there a sharp, jagged tear in the middle of it? Somehow, he knew that if he could just fix that...there could be order in the chaos again.

There was something wrong. The tear was wrong. The ends scored everything they touched, leaving slices of pain, and it touched everything, touched him -- them -- or was there only one --

A scream of pain and terror, real and remembered, ripped across the chaos and made it shudder. Lost, he was losing himself, going to be swallowed up never to be again....

Part of the confusion shivered and drew back a little and knew itself for Nathan again because the sheer horror at what was going on was other, spreading through him but coming from association with a memory he didn't share, and was trying to fight him away now. Nathan, he was Nathan Dayspring, and Stryfe had broken into his mind and now seemed to be stuck there -- that was right. Tangled. They had the same kind of psionic energy; of course without preparation they had practically merged.

Nathan -- Nathan, he identified himself firmly -- pulled himself together as best he could, struggling to quell his own fear enough to think past it. Stryfe wasn't going to destroy him, not like this. Strength was moving past fear if you felt it; weakness was letting it stop you against reason.

Stryfe remembered Apocalypse, hated him. Of course. Nathan had hated him too, and Stryfe didn't have the information he did about when Apocalypse had had goals that would be to others' benefit.

And it was what Apocalypse had done to him, tried to do to him, that produced this violent reaction against their entanglement. Well. Terror had served its purpose; now to cool it, or they'd never get anywhere.

#Shh. Calm. I don't want to obliterate you; if you calm down, we can extricate ourselves.#

#Calm? I'm not a sheep going to slaughter! I can fight this time! You will NOT take me!# There was sheer terror wrapping around that thought, helplessness, flashes of memory, of Apocalypse.

#I don't want to take your body, I'm perfectly happy with my own right now, virus and all. You're the one who started this. If we're going to have any hope of getting back to ourselves again, you need to calm down and help me.# Reassurance, calm, certainty.

Hope wended its way through the terror, helplessness replaced by the ability to DO something, anything. #How?#

Nate identified a part of the mind mixed with his that was definitely not him, and aimed a soothing sort of thought-pat at it. #That's good to start with. Calm. We have to look at this rationally and start sorting out who's who.#

He realized his tone was a little patronizing when it started annoying him. At least, he thought that was him; it was still hard to tell for certain. The violence of Stryfe's reaction seemed excessive, even childish -- even though with another part of his mind Nate was feeling the memory of what Apocalypse had done and why this did induce panic.

Now, was that Stryfe's mind, or his own telepathic experience of Stryfe's memory, and how was he supposed to tell?

Nate realized at that point that he was also sensing Stryfe's irritation with him and fury at being thought... weak... and worry over his uncertainty of how to extricate them.

#I think we annoy each other more than we ought to,# Nate thought wryly. The torn end of the link -- no, both -- skittered through their thoughts, trailing red-gold glittery cuts from the frayed ends.

#I think you're annoying enough, with or without a broken link. Though...how such a link was forged, with neither of our knowledge--# And Stryfe could tell that much, through the thought fragments of Nathan's that were interwoven so closely with his own #--or how it was broken, I have no idea.#

He could see now, though, how the link was like a sharp wire cutting through both their thoughts, radiating pain at the breaking point. Small wonder he was on his guard so much quicker, and so ready to attack.

#Glad you noticed,# the part of his mind bearing the "Nathan" label added dryly. #And it's going to take both of us to fix this...The link as well as the merge.#

Fix the link? Did they want to fix the link?

Well, yes, logically they must. It hurt, in both senses; all the imagery of it was of wounds, inflamed and never-healing.

Just the thing to make their day, the discovery of a psychic hemorrhage.

#What are we supposed to do about the fact that you don't know how to tell if it's my mind remembering or yours listening in?# Stryfe asked acidly. That particular memory was not one he accessed voluntarily, or usually even consciously. Having someone else see it.... He paused. #You really were there.#

Nate would have rolled his eyes if he'd been able to concentrate on anything physical at the moment -- and suddenly he realized he had to, catching his breath in alarm as he checked on the techno-organic virus, slammed telekinetic attention against it, and felt chilled all over as the alarm drained out under relief. Not out of control.

They were both still standing. He wasn't sure if that was amusing or not.

#Yes, I really was there,# he replied tiredly. #I didn't lie to you, Stryfe. Now. As far as getting ourselves untangled, I'm sure I'll figure out the distinctions as we go along -- we've already managed to identify ourselves as separate again, which is promising -- and if you're Askani I hope a sisterhood of telepaths would have taught you more than Redd had time to teach me. I haven't exactly been sociable the past
few years.#

#No, you haven't. You couldn't find a better place to hole up than a library?#

Well, obviously Stryfe had managed to sort out a few more memory fragments. #It was defensible, it was well-supplied, and it was hidden. Not to mention filled with knowledge. That's a pretty good combination,# Nathan retorted.

#Hmph.# Stryfe tried to sound bored, but made a note to try to find this place, or at least examine the memories more closely later. That kind of knowledge...

#You know, we are still linked...#

#Ah, yes....#A tinge of embarrassment colored Stryfe's thoughts and bled over to Nathan's while Stryfe was still trying to squelch it. #As for that....# Broken ends again, this time in glass rope.

Nate managed to laugh at himsel-- er, at them both. #It was an excellent place to learn things.# Fascination was no cause for shame. He looked at the break as well. #Do you think we should repair that
first, or would it be easier to separate ourselves if we don't have... what looks like a permanent psi-link?#

Permanent. That sounded so...final. #I...think we should repair it first. I don't really have any experience in this, but...it seems like it would be easier to work without it cutting through our minds as we're trying to work.# Stryfe paused to reflect a moment, then added, #And we'll probably annoy each other a lot less too.#

#I suppose,# Nate thought back a bit doubtfully. It didn't seem as if Stryfe would be less annoying just for that reason -- except that he'd already identified the reaction as stronger than justified, and a mental wound couldn't be helping. #You're probably right.# A pause. #We can always break the link correctly, after it's... healed, if we don't want it.#

IF? #That would undoubtedly work better. So...# Stryfe examined the two ends of the link critically, paying special attention to the broken ends. He forced himself to ignore the increased pain that brought; working through pain wasn't exactly unusual.

Nate studied it as well, looking over Stryfe's shoulder -- figuratively speaking -- and then cautiously touching the end rooted in his own mind. The image flickered, from a cord with a sharp-snapped end to
a wound badly closed and sore to the touch. Very similar to the end of the rope, actually.

He shivered. #Oath. Either one of us could have sneaked into the other's mind if we'd known this was here....# It was a door that just wouldn't close, too. Shattered. You could shield a real psi-link better than that, couldn't you?

#Oath, yes, of course you can.#

#Well Redd didn't really have time to teach me all the finer points of psi-links. Now let's just get this one fixed, so we can shield it out until it's healed properly.#

#Then stop wasting time.# Stryfe reached out and took hold of the bond rooted in his own mind and tried to smooth out the sharp edges as best he could. #We're going to have to work together on this, so let's get going.# The sooner it was done, the better.#

#Right. I gather you know what you're doing?# Nate realized almost at once that this was a stupid question, since memories on the topic that were presumably Stryfe's, as he was fairly certain they weren't his, were floating up all around the link.

Of course, most of them were theoretical; neither of them had ever seen a link ripped apart this way. Stryfe had -- Nate surprised himself by almost blushing -- actually formed one deliberately before, with a close friend who was rapidly becoming more than that.

#It was fairly limited, but the experience is valid,# Stryfe said, fighting aside embarassment and the irrational need to hurt Nathan for daring to intrude on his private memories. He was doing the exact same thing, after all, without trying to. Although he was getting to observe a kind of family life he'd never seen, either in the Palace or the Askani cloisters. He thought he rather liked the Daysprings...

Nathan caught that thought as well, and felt startlingly warm towards Stryfe suddenly... even though it made him miss them again until it hurt sharply to breathe. #Okay. So. What do we... do...?# He stopped in surprise, as Stryfe had reached across to his mind while they were talking, through the broken cord, and the ends were starting to meld back together.

#That,# Stryfe replied unnecessarily.

#Oh.# Nate felt vaguely prodded and reached back, not entirely sure if that was correct or completely superfluous until the break quietly vanished.

The cord -- or point of contact, depending on how he thought of it -- still seemed not to be wholly well; in visual terms, it seemed discolored - but it was changing with surprising speed to clean gold light with a faint tinge of pale blue and white in places, the same color his own psi-energy always seemed to bring to mind. He would have expected it to heal more slowly than that.

It had mostly stopped hurting, too, only lingering soreness left behind for either of them, the relief almost as sharp as the pain had been.

#Wow...# Stryfe wasn't sure which of them said that, but it summed up the experience for both of them pretty well.

#I...can't believe I never realized that was there,# he observed quietly. Especially not with all the telepathic training he'd done with the Askani; far more than Nate's haphazard self-teaching since Redd...

He felt Nathan flinch away slightly and said softly, #I'm sorry. And...thank you, for helping...before.#

#I was almost sure "Sorry has no meaning" was YOUR memory,# Nate thought back as lightly as he could, then was surprised again. He hadn't thought about laughing much for a long time....

When he pulled his attention away from the link for a moment, he realized that re-forging the link, strangely enough, seemed to have clarified who was who instinctively -- to a degree. Their minds had drawn more comfortably apart, the chaos resolved into two moderately confused minds and a remaining tangled border of thoughts and memories.

#And... you're welcome. I mean that. I was worried when I wound up somewhere you obviously weren't, but it wasn't until the next year that I even found how to rig the exits to open.# He added sheepishly, #The year after that, I figured out the codes they were supposed to open with.#

#I'd always assumed...I'd managed to get to a portal somehow and get away. I was never very clear on that, and no one could tell me anything beyond I'd just appeared one day. I...never really looked at the memories too closely.#

#Well, you were at best semiconscious for a lot of them. Or was that best?#

Stryfe shrugged mentally. #Nothing could really be best, in that situation. But what is, is.#

Nathan snorted. #Oath, you have a talent for stating the obvious!#

#Yes, well, that's because people like to overlook it. We need the reminder.#

Nate thought he remembered something vaguely like that in Nur's library, come to think of it. It had been in an old, fragile journal entry written in hieroglyphics, however, which made his interpretation a bit suspect. #I suppose. It's weak to ignore reality because you can't face it, and it weakens you no matter what the reason.#

#I haven't ignored anything. I am not the one who has spent half my life hiding in a library. I have a purpose, I have a life, and neither one requires a particularly close examination of those memories so I see no harm in letting them lie.# All right, maybe it wasn't entirely the broken link that caused annoyance...

Nate blinked. #I was rambling from the starting point you stated, thank you very much, not criticizing. And you weren't exactly as bored by that library as you were pretending to be.#

#It's...interesting. But not all there is to life,# Stryfe said smugly, the memory of the night he'd formed the link with Aliya dancing between them.

#I thought you didn't want to share that one,# Nathan retorted. #And I never claimed it was all there was to life. I had a family, remember?# That was the word Stryfe used to think of it, an older term, but it had more feeling about it than "unit," somehow.

#...I know. Oath, can we just get these memories sorted out and get back where we belong?#

#Right.# Nate reached for the first one that came to mind. #This one seems to be mine...#

#Right.# Stryfe reached out to gather in more. #This is yours. And this. Oath, did you do anything but read? That's mine.#

#Exercised. Tried to figure out how everything in the place worked. Tried out some of the things I read about. Um... mostly read.#

Stryfe snorted and continued sifting. #Mine, mine, yours, mine, definitely not mine...# He shook his head and shoved the memory of Slym back at Nathan a little harder than was strictly necessary.

#Oath. I thought you thought you'd like them.# Nate accepted the memory and put it back in place a bit tenderly. #I think we both read this book. Which one was this?#

#Yours. My chest didn't hurt.#

#...Oh.#

#I'm sure I would've liked them,# Stryfe continued, doling memories back out without too much difficulty. He rather doubted Nathan had any memories of the Askani, after all. #But I never met them. Overall, I'd say you lucked out on foster parents.#

#They disappeared into thin air. ...That one's mine.# Nate sighed and opened his eyes and looked around, wondering when he'd shut them. Probably when Stryfe first hit him. #Should we be standing here
in the path?#

#Not many people pass by here, but probably not.# It was almost disorienting to walk, with his mind still absorbed in sorting out what memories properly belonged to him, but he led Nate a little ways back into the shelter of the trees. #Disappearing's better than trying to kill you, at least.#

#I'm not arguing.# He just... missed them. He didn't spend a great deal of time thinking about them, either. They were gone. #It was strange, though.#

#A lot of things are strange.#

#I'm glad you got somewhere safe.#

A pause. #You too.#

That was startlingly comforting. He'd barely spoken to anyone for the past several years; most of that had been recent, and if not unfriendly, at least impersonal. Mostly. #Thanks.# Another pause. #I think this one's yours....#

Stryfe looked at it and snorted. It was a lecture from one of the upper Askani. He'd heard it so often he could've recited it in his sleep even if he didn't have a telepath's memory. #You want it?# he offered with a grin.

#Not especially. I'm stuck with remembering having seen the memory now anyway.# Nate grinned back and kept sorting.

It took some time, and there were certainly still memories they both had and probably some that the person they belonged to didn't have, but the division was at last essentially finished. They could finish the rest through the link, after all, and the duplicated ones weren't significant enough to be problematic.

Stryfe frowned at the strange sense of reluctance he felt at the prospect of separating, and pulled his mind firmly out of Nathan's, restoring the usual shields and safeguards around it. He had to modify slightly to accommodate the link, but not significantly. "So...now what?"

Nate blinked and restored the shields between them as well. That, at least, he knew how to do well, even if Stryfe's technique seemed more refined. "Now I'm hoping you'll actually let me through to see the rest of the Askani."

"You're...not as insane as I thought, but I still doubt you'll convince the Askani to help you with anything Apocalypse started." Stryfe examined the memories he'd seen in Nate's head, his grand plan, and admitted that it wasn't wholly irrational. Still...

"Well, I'll try reasoning with them first, and if that doesn't work, maybe they'll get sufficiently fed up with me to send me to another century just to get rid of me."

"I wouldn't doubt it," Stryfe muttered. "All right, I'll take you, if only to give us a little more time to work out how this flonqing link got started." A thought occurred to him and he added with a wry smile, "I, ah, wouldn't go in claiming to be their long-lost Chosen One, either. It's not exactly the best way to establish your sanity."

"What is this 'Chosen One' business? To start with, I never heard the term before."

"What, you think the Askani showed up every time a baby was struck with an illness in the 20th century? Even if it was caused by Apocalypse?" Stryfe snorted. "They always have a reason. The reason
they showed up then was because that baby was their Chosen One, who Mother Askani said would have the power to defeat Apocalypse. That's who you're claiming to be. Don't, and you'll be much more believable."

"I had his record of it. There wasn't exactly much explanation. But there was only one incident like that."

Nathan considered adding "And I did defeat Apocalypse", but refrained.

"Well...now you know. Stick to the part about your plans and they might help you out of sheer curiosity." Or sheer annoyance, that was always possible. Nathan seemed to have a talent for standing on nerves and jumping.

"So how do you explain the fact that... this... behaves, in every way I could find to test without killing myself, like the virus he described ought to? If I wasn't that kid, who was?"

"I don't know how you got it, but didn't his journals at least tell you why he did it?" When Nate didn't seem to understand what he was trying to get at, Stryfe continued impatiently, "He was used the T-O as a test, to make sure the body was strong enough to be...the ultimate host-body. Apparently I passed."

"Stryfe. You don't even have the scars."

~Obviously I'm better at it than you are.~ "I was a baby," he said with a shrug. "Apocalypse took me when he attacked the old Askani Cloisters. They were pretty happy when I turned up again. I'm the Askani'Son. If you show up claiming to be their lost Chosen One, they'll laugh at you. I was found a long time ago."

"Slym and Redd were Askani, they said. Late joiners. They said they were there when the old headquarters was slaughtered, had barely gotten there."

"Even Slym Dayspring couldn't have gotten you out of there if you were the one Apocalypse was after that day. Don't flatter yourself."

"I'd think it was flattering him. Think Apocalypse could tell us apart if he didn't know there were two? There weren't, in the twentieth century." He wasn't sure where that idea had come from; it seemed inspired. Stryfe seemed... afraid? There was fear on the link, rough with anger. Sudden discovery. "You think I'm trying to take your place."

"You can't. I'm the Askani'Son. And there's only one of me, no matter how alike we may look!"

"I don't want to. Whatever you do with them -- besides guard duty -- it isn't what I want. But Apocalypse only infected one baby. He kept very detailed records, even if a lot of the really old ones are in hieroglyphs."

"Then you were infected some other way! Maybe the Askani saw that and were going to use you as a decoy. I don't know. But Apocalypse only infected one baby, you're right, and that child is the Askani'Son. ME." Stryfe growled out the final word fiercely, his eye flashing golden.

Nate laughed derisively. "Some decoy, if Apocalypse took you anyway. Decoy. You have a high opinion of the Sisterhood, don't you?"

"They're very...pragmatic."

"Obviously."

"Defeating Apocalypse is a goal worth any sacrifice."

"He's dead. Didn't you notice?"

"He wasn't then."

Nate sighed. "I'm not trying to steal your life."

"I never said you were. You're the one who brought it up in the first place."

"You're the one who's getting all upset at my reaching a perfectly logical conclusion."

"Oh, and how would YOU feel if I'd suddenly presented myself to the Daysprings and announced the logical conclusion that I was really you!"

~There, I was right.~ "Really surprised? It'd probably have been a lot easier for them to deal with a kid who wasn't diseased, actually," Nate said as evenly as he could. The last words had more of an edge than he'd wished, though. "I wasn't theirs biologically anyway. They said I'd been abandoned; they took me in. Didn't say it was at the Askani Cloisters, certainly -- then again, officially they weren't mutants, either."

"They both were? Redd hid it well," Stryfe observed absently. "They could've found you anywhere. You could've been infected anywhere. That doesn't make you the Askani'Son."

"Stryfe, this isn't exactly a normal illness."

"That's beside the point." It wasn't.

"Wait. What do you mean, Redd hid it well?"

"She hid it well. I never knew she was a mutant." He reflected over Nathan's memories briefly. "Well, if she was a telepath, I suppose that would be a little easier to hide than optic blasts."

Nate nearly spluttered. "You weren't supposed to. They both hid it, or we wouldn't have been living like flatscans -- or low-levels; they were both flonqing powerful! You were in the palace; you weren't even supposed to notice we existed!"

"Then Slym shouldn't have been leading rebels against my army, should he? Believe me, I noticed that." Stryfe's voice was almost reverent.

"He what?" Nate found he had seen those memories of Stryfe's, though they weren't among those he'd gotten to examine in detail. What little he had seen well enough to recall clearly showed a side of Slym he'd never seen. "I...."

"What? You knew they were with the rebels. Didn't you know Slym commanded?" He found that very hard to believe. "He beat me enough times, I decided it was better to learn from him." And try to find out who he was, with an interest bordering on obsession.

"He probably thought it was safer for me not to know," Nate replied a bit numbly. "I never thought...."

Slym Dayspring's own son didn't know? Oath.... "I...guess he did. I don't know. I never got to actually talk to him." Although that had been one of his most cherished dreams. "We just fought each other."

"At least you knew he fought. Oath. And you knew about Redd? Me?" Nate stared at him. "You knew who one of the best rebel leaders was and you didn't have us killed?"

"Not one of the best," Stryfe snapped.

Nate was still staring at him.

"I obviously didn't have you killed. Oath. It would've been hard to learn from him if I'd had him killed, after all."

"Well, I can see you didn't, but flonq...."

"You're welcome," Stryfe added dryly.

Nathan glared at him. "He never told me and he let gate-guards push him around so they wouldn't get suspicious. Excuse me for being surprised that the flonqing Heir of Apocalypse figured it out and we were still breathing the next day."

Stryfe smiled a little, perversely pleased by Nathan's reaction. "Maybe you don't know everything you thought you did."

Nate fought down the surprise and anger. It was idiotic to feel fear over something that could have happened in the past and hadn't, after all. "Probably not," he grated. "What were you doing, looking for a better father than Apocalypse?"

That stung more than it should have, given the daydreams Stryfe had built up around Slym Dayspring, and only the knowledge that Nathan was trying to spark a reaction let him keep his cool. "I hardly needed to go to so much effort for that. Better fathers than Apocalypse weren't hard to find, even in Court."

Nate took a mental step back, that one day in the palace flickering in his mind, and acknowledged that he had deliberately tried to hurt his brother and currently the only tentative link he'd found to the Askani -- who could probably kill him if he tried telekinesis instead of a telepathic attack, maybe even the latter now, given his advantages in training. And no virus. Wait a minute. Brother?

Where had that come from?

There hadn't been any record of a second child, though they were obviously the same age -- or close; he thought Stryfe was a bit younger, though he'd been better nourished as a child so it wasn't as obvious as it could have been -- and very similar in both appearance and powers. That didn't make them brothers... but why did they have a psilink?

He pushed the thought aside with a little irritation. This was not a productive line of thought at the moment. Better fathers than Apocalypse? "I imagine so."

Stryfe snorted. "You grew up with Slym Dayspring; you have no idea."

"That doesn't mean I can't imagine that being better than Apocalypse at it wouldn't be difficult. Especially after the involuntary deluge of your memories..."

Stryfe tried not to wince at the reminder that his memories had been involuntarily shared with this--stranger, one he knew nothing about. Well, other than everything he'd learned from being immersed in Nathan's memories, which was telling him against his logical judgment that he could trust this man.

"You didn't come here to talk about either of our foster fathers," he pointed out, trying to regain control of the conversation. "I agreed to take you to the Askani, and I will. I'm simply telling you, for your own good and for the sake of your mission, don't bother claiming to be the Chosen One. It won't help you. I might, if you convince me."

"Nathan Christopher Charles Summers," Nathan murmured.

"What?"

"That was the kid's name in the twentieth century."

"That means nothing," Stryfe snapped quickly, almost desperately. He was Nathan Summers, the Chosen One, the Askani'Son, and no stranger would change that, no matter how alike they looked! "If the Daysprings were Askani, they could have...named you after me."

Nate gave him a long look. It still seemed obvious to him that he was the child in question; the fact that the Askani had accepted someone who resembled him that much, but lacked the virus, only supported his idea. Unless Stryfe had really defeated it... but why would there have been a second boy infected? Still, that wasn't what mattered.

"Very well. I won't bring it up." Stryfe looked at him in surprise. Nathan shrugged. "It's obviously important to you. I don't care, unless it helps me get to a time-travel device. If I don't need to mention it, I won't."

Stryfe privately resolved to use every argument he could think of to convince Madame Sanctity to grant Nathan's request. If they let him go off time-traveling, he wouldn't hang around here and make dangerous assertions. "Good."

"Why does it matter so much anyway? They already know you; it's not like they'd try to get rid of you and have me do... whatever it is you're supposed to be doing... in your place." A pause. "At least I certainly hope not...."

Quickly. "Of course they wouldn't." A little too quickly...

"You're nervous."

"I'm not nervous." That was said with the full High Prince hauteur he hadn't used since his first month with the Askani, since it generally inspired lectures (and occasionally demonstrations) on how he wasn't the center of the universe.

Nate nudged the link between them. "You are. I don't even really need this to tell, but it's not blocked that well. I'm sure you can tell more of what I'm feeling than I might appreciate, too." Not that he was feeling anything to be bothered by; he was fairly confident... except of course for a twinge of envy for Stryfe's not having to fight the virus all the time... and oath, he missed Slym and Redd....

Annoyed, he wrenched his thoughts back into more goal-oriented directions. He had things to do.

"I have things to do too, and you've been distracting me long enough. I'm on duty. If you want an escort and an introduction, you can just wait until my relief shows up."

"That depends. Will you let me through without an escort?"

Stryfe raised an eyebrow. He should say no. He didn't want to risk Nathan spouting off his story without him there to guard against those dangerous "logical conclusions".

But...there was still that niggling thought inside him insisting that Nathan could be trusted, and he just didn't know what to make of it.

"I'll let you past. I'm hardly the only layer of sentries, though, and frankly you'll have better luck if you have me beside you to verify your story. Unless you really want half the Sisters in the Cloisters digging through your head."

"Sounds lovely. No, thank you. It's fairly clear my shielding needs work."

Stryfe glanced at him and raised an eyebrow.

Nathan returned the look. "Well, you broke it."

He had been fairly confident, previously; he still was confident that he could handle most of the sentries -- politely, preferably. On the other hand, this had been the first real test of his shields for years, even if he'd always done fairly well according to Redd. He'd blocked the transfer between Stryfe and Apocalypse before -- but again, that wasn't a directed attack against him. Just a... flow.

Or a torrent. Still... it was not the same as a skilled attack, and it was clear his resistance needed work.

Stryfe returned his attention to his duties -- mostly. He looked at Nathan sidelong, though. It hadn't exactly been easy.

Nathan sat down on a fallen log that had mostly grown over with moss and started rifling through his pack, since he was apparently going to be here for a while. Speaking of which..."So how long until this replacement of yours shows up? And if you're their Chosen One, why are you stuck on sentry duty?"

"A few hours. My shift only started recently. And we all have our duties."

A few hours? He might as well get a nap in. Well, at least he'd have plenty of time to perfect his speech for the Askani. His promise to Stryfe would require changing a few details...

"Bet that went over real well."

Stryfe eyed him again, half-frowning. "What did?"

Nate looked up and smiled lazily. "Apocalypse's prince and soul-heir on guard duty."

"They didn't exactly throw me into guard duty straight away." First it had been cleaning, the messiest cleaning jobs they could find, to deal with his pride. "I wasn't exactly in the best of shape when I arrived, you might recall." Since he couldn't even remember Nathan having been there...

~What, they'd humbled you until guard duty was a step up?~ Yes, he could perfect his speech for the Askani, or he could spend the time alienating the only one he'd actually met so far. Brilliant. Instead, he said, "I got that idea. Why do you think I was worried?"

"Well, you obviously didn't let it interfere with finding a purpose in life."

"Was I supposed to?"

"Find a purpose in life? Yes. It helps. Worry about me? I don't see why you'd bother."

"I meant, 'Was I supposed to let worrying about you interfere with finding a purpose in life,' actually. Why worry? Because I had no idea where you'd wound up or if anyone would find you, and if so what they'd do with you."

"Oh. No, you weren't. And you did your duty by stopping Apocalypse. Even getting me out of the palace was a bonus. No one could fault you for not doing anything beyond that."

"I could, if I'd been able to do better."

Stryfe shrugged. "What is, is."

Nathan blinked at him. "I have a feeling that could get really annoying after a while..."

"It's true," Stryfe retorted, rather nettled.

"Well, yes, but it has the irritating quality of being a potential response to practically anything."

"What good is a philosophy if it's not versatile?"

"It results in more varied conversation if you don't quote the same tenets all the time!"

"I don't think you've known me long enough to know how varied my conversation is," Stryfe replied, involuntarily amused. "And I'm not really known for my conversation on sentry duty. I have other things to think about. Wait until we're back at the Cloisters."

"Point conceded, and I translate that as 'Shut up and let me work,'" Nate returned with a grin. He moved to a comfortable crouch on the log and balanced there, closing his eyes. He'd taught himself to sleep that way when he was six, rather to Slym and Redd's amusement. At the moment, however, he planned to think.

Stryfe's reaction to his arrival had somewhat surprised him, but since he'd given his word now not to mention his suspected identity, he'd have to change a significant part of his introduction to the Askani. Although...well, he and Stryfe did look an awful lot alike, and he couldn't exactly hide the T-O. If the Sisters had any sort of intelligence, they'd probably figure things out for themselves.

What that meant for Stryfe, he wasn't sure, but at least Nathan wouldn't be revealing anything directly...
Instead of his planned speech revisions, though, his thoughts were circling more and more on his random thought of Stryfe as "brother". What was their relationship? People didn't tend to look this much alike by accident, especially not with the mental resonance they had. And, well, there was the link. All of it pointed to some kind of connection between them, a strong one. But what?

Stryfe found himself wondering some of the same things without knowing it. There was a traitorous thought, not in the back of his mind but tucked into the side somewhere it could nag at him more comfortably, that kept suggesting perhaps Nathan WAS who he thought he was. Or that the Askani would think he was. Who would he be then? Would the Askani want Nathan instead? But Nathan didn't want them....

And oh, Bright Lady, why did he have this horrible inclination now to like the man?

They annoyed one another; Nathan was arrogant and his idea of taking up some old crusade of Apocalypse's was... disturbingly persuasive, actually. Stryfe was reluctantly coming to the conclusion that it wasn't necessarily a bad thing to try, especially since part of the plan seemed to involve heading off some of Apocalypse's more problematic activities starting in the twentieth century, before they happened.

The idea of getting the Askani to help with one of Apocalypse's old crusades, on the other hand, was obviously a bit mad.

"Stryfe? I know you're busy, but...I'm trying to figure out exactly what to say to the Askani, since you don't want me claiming their help as Nathan Summers. I know I have a good plan, but do you think it will throw them off entirely if I tell them it's Apocalypse's originally?"

"I think you're out of your mind."

"That is not what I asked."

"It's still true."

"Stryfe." Nathan sighed in exasperation. "You've seen my memories. You know it's a good plan, I can tell. I just need their help, and I'm trying to think of the best way to get it. Without breaking my promise to you."

Stryfe stared at the path. "I'm not as convinced of its merits as you seem to think I am. I would, however, also recommend against telling them you've essentially taken Apocalypse's diaries as a mentor."

"You should be convinced. It's a good plan." Nathan grumbled and kicked at the ground. "I was afraid of that, though. I've got a little revising to do, I guess."

"You can't have missed the fact that they were formed to oppose him."

"That was after he'd completely abandoned doing anything helpful and decided world conquest was more fun!"

"He was still Apocalypse. I'm having a little trouble believing that he ever had plans of doing anything helpful. He was a master of twisting the truth around to suit him. Are you sure you didn't just read what he wanted you to read?"

"Stryfe, I don't think he was expecting anybody but himself to read some of the things in that library at all. Ever. Unless the librarians did, and according to the records none of them but the last generation ever left. They lived there."

"He was prepared for all eventualities."

"He wasn't omnipotent, for heaven's sake!"

Stryfe supposed, after all, that was true.... "You use the strangest idioms sometimes," he muttered.

"Slym and Redd spoke really antiquated languages sometimes. Almost got in trouble once or twice."

Stryfe shook his head. "Strange." Still, if they'd been a part of the Askani--which he really should research, because he'd never come across any indications of that--they might have studied old languages at the Cloisters. Being time-travelers necessitated good knowledge of ancient languages. But Nathan said they hadn't been at the Cloisters very long before the first massacre...

"They were always strange." Nate sighed. "Anyway, unless he made up the whole idea of these 'Celestials' or reached entirely the wrong conclusion about them, he did have a point. I already told you he went about it wrong, or I wouldn't be deciding in hindsight that I need to fix it."

"Stick with the library and the Celestials, if you can. Don't mention Apocalypse's journals, or his original plan." Although Stryfe certainly knew from experience how difficult it was to even bend the truth in front of Madame Sanctity! "Don't mention Apocalypse unless you absolutely have to, and they might help you. Or they might not. The Askani Sisterhood has its own goals."

Nate snorted. "Who else would HAVE a library like that anymore? Some things are obvious." He sighed. "Besides, the other source I have -- I don't know if you saw these memories or not -- is an electronic consciousness calling itself Professor that lives in the T-O. It says it started out as a Celestial ship."

"Well obviously it was Apocalypse's library, but that doesn't mean you had to have gotten the idea from him," Stryfe began impatiently before the rest of Nathan's words registered. He stopped and stared. "You have an artificial intelligence from the Celestials? And you just now saw fit to mention this?"

"...Yes."

"How much contact do you have with it? What sorts of things has it told you?"

"He -- It first... spoke up to give me advice on dealing with the virus," Nate explained, a bit uncomfortably. "It only explained what it was very reluctantly -- and I only have its word for it, of course, but it checked out with everything else I could find to compare its story with. It didn't help translate, but it probably saw some of the records beforehand, yes. It says -- it was the Celestial Ship Apocalypse found."

Stryfe was looking at him again.

"It also claims it helped X-Factor take it away from him, was destroyed physically about the time Apocalypse infected Nathan Summers, and transferred its consciousness into that. To help him."

To accept that...would basically mean accepting that Nathan Dayspring and Nathan Summers were one and the same, that Nathan was the true Askani'Son, and Stryfe's entire life for the past several years had been based around a lie. Stryfe wasn't very inclined to accept that interpretation, so instead he snorted derisively. "Riiiight."

"Yes, well, that's why I didn't bring it up before. The word of an intangible artificial intelligence that I can't verify is telling the truth and you can't verify I'm not imagining did not seem likely to be particularly convincing." A pause. "It's very offended right now. I suppose you could verify its existence, come to think of it."

Yes, he probably could...but if he did, and there was such an intelligence, it would mean Nathan was telling the truth... "I have better things to do than waste my time disproving the mad ravings of a seriously disturbed person," Stryfe snapped, hefting his psimitar again and whirling around. "I'm on duty. Stop trying to distract me."

Nathan laughed. "I'm no more insane than you are, and you know it from our little meeting of the minds earlier."

"Seriously disturbed," Stryfe repeated through gritted teeth.

"So are you, clearly."

Stryfe barely suppressed a growl and repeated to himself a few times that Nathan was at least fairly trustworthy and he thought he was even starting to like him. Being borderline insane and trying to take Stryfe's place were incidental. "Don't bring up the AI. Stick to the library. Make it sound like you came up with the idea on your own. You might have a chance. Now be QUIET and let me do my duty in peace!"

Nate weighed his options and fell silent, rehearsing his explanations again. He was not under the illusion that Stryfe's advice against using half of his evidence and arguments was free of ulterior motives. Not that this necessarily made it either good or bad.

He couldn't help being frustrated, though, that Stryfe seemed to be operating from an impression and a fear that was frankly wrong. Nathan could see where Stryfe was getting the idea, of course, but he was more than welcome to the role of Askani'Son, Chosen One, or whatever else they chose to call him. Nate had his own goals. Besides, it would be absurd to think the Askani would discard someone they'd been working and training with for years!

He sighed, deeply but noiselessly. He was horribly frustrated with Stryfe, but painfully sympathetic as well. The nonsensical insecurity -- at least he assumed it was nonsensical; maybe he should take a look at a few more of the memories he'd picked up -- felt very similar to Nate's own fears that Slym and Redd might have preferred a healthy child, even if they had taken up with him for some reason.

He touched the link again, gently. Why was it there? And could he use it to reassure Stryfe somehow that he didn't want to harm or displace him?

Stryfe felt the touch on the link and frowned, hardening his shields as much as he could without hurting the still-healing link. #I've already agreed to take you to the Askani and help you plead your case. What more do you want from me, Nathan?#

#I don't know,# Nathan replied honestly, responding to the faintly plaintive note of Stryfe's question. #But we're here, together, and linked. And in more ways that just the psychic link, I mean. That has to mean something, doesn't it? Don't you want to find out what?#

#No.# Not entirely true. Stryfe wished desperately that Nathan had never turned up at all, but he had the perverse feeling he'd miss him if he were gone. #It doesn't have to mean anything.#

It didn't have to mean anything except that his past was in doubt, and this stranger was someone he'd once been close enough to link to. It didn't have to mean anything except that among all the sisters, now he had what appeared to be a brother of some sort whose return -- because they had to have been together once before -- felt right in a way he didn't understand at all.

#I do know what I don't want from you,# Nate persisted softly. #I don't want you thinking of me as an enemy. I didn't come here as one. I didn't come here as a rival, either. There's no reason for me to be a threat.#

#No reason except that in an hour you've managed to throw into doubt everything I've learned in the years since Apocalypse!# The years when he'd had to have an anchor, with everything he'd once believed in torn to shreds. And now it was happening again...

Nate opened his eyes again and shifted his balance on the log, unsettled by the unintentionally frantic tone of the thought, and reached through the link in the hope of offering comfort. He didn't think he'd felt especially sympathetic since he was thirteen.... Not that there had been anyone around to sympathize with for most of that time. #It can't be everything. Everyone's wrong sometimes, but even if I'm right, it doesn't change who you are.#

#You don't have any idea. You've always been Nathan Dayspring. For the first half of my life, I was supposed to be the High Prince of Apocalypse, and I was nothing more than a sacrificial lamb in prince's clothing. For the second half of my life, I've been the Askani'Son. Now YOU want to take that away, and you don't even CARE about it!#

#You're still you, no matter what anyone calls you,# Nate insisted. The thought occurred to him that Stryfe seemed to attract absurd titles, but he stuffed it back away from the link. Not the time. #They don't define you.#

#And so speaks the man who's spent half HIS life alone in a flonqing library. When you figure out how the world actually works, let me know.#

#Well, at least I'm not terrified the books are going to decide they want somebody else....#

#I am NOT terrified!# He was moderately concerned, barely nervous really, with a mild side dose of utter hysteria.

#Right. Calm down.# Nate sighed and cautiously offered the kind of comforting telepathic embrace Redd had given him once in a while when they were too far apart to touch, but a little psionic energy would go unnoticed.

Stryfe held back stiffly. #Stop it. Leave me alone. Oath, I wish you'd flonqing well never shown up!#

#Is this where I should say "what is, is"?#

#No!#

Nate withdrew, a little disappointed but not terribly surprised. #I told you it was annoying. See, I'd make a lousy Askani'Son anyway.#

#You don't get to decide if you want to be the Askani'Son. You just are.#

#I'm not. That's the thing.#

#You are if you're who you claim to be.#

#Then they have a flonqing stupid way of picking it, if it's supposed to be an important role....#

Stryfe actually chuckled slightly. #Well, I always thought so, but it seemed to favor me so I didn't really mind...#

That was better. Nate shut his eyes again. #Dare I ask what it is you're supposed to do? I don't even know. Or are you allowed to tell outsiders?#

Stryfe laughed, sounding more genuinely amused than just this side of hysterical. "You don't know anything about us, do you? Don't you even know what Askani means?"

Nate blinked, then ran back over what he'd actually said and grinned slowly. "...Outsider. I wasn't thinking about that."

"Obviously." Stryfe grinned back.

Nate was surprised to see the grin, but very relieved, even though he knew Stryfe wasn't convinced yet. But...it was a start. "So...if you can tell me, what do the Askani do?"

"You're coming to 'claim' their help and don't know anything?" To be fair, most activities were covert, but if the Dayspring adults had claimed to be remnant members, if recent ones, of the Clan, it seemed Nate should have some ideas.

"I know they opposed Apocalypse. I knew Slym and Redd were subversives, but we established before that they obviously weren't telling me everything. I've stopped to listen to a few of the public services, but given the Sisterhood seems to require psionics, even if the Clan didn't, and there's been time travel involved... I'm thinking there has to be more than what Apocalpyse had in records."

Stryfe sighed and scanned. No one but them anywhere near, and electronic surveillance was carefully avoided. "They were formed to resist Apocalypse's conquests and purgings of the population. Eugenics programs. Currently... we're trying to influence the power struggles to avoid having his philosophies and supporters be the ones to win out now he's gone. Destabilize New Canaan, at the moment."

"Oh." Nathan considered this. "Good idea. Sounds like fun, but I'd prefer to leave it to you, all the same."

"Thank you so much."

"Well, it seems pretty important to you, after all, and I've got this whole 'time travel and redirect the path of mankind' thing to keep me busy." Nate grinned at his somehow-but-not-quite brother disarmingly.

"Right." ~But what do I do if the Askani won't let you leave it to me?~

Nathan frowned. "Are the Askani that bad?" Because he'd been thinking of them as sort of a larger group of Redd and Slyms...

Stryfe whirled on him, instantly defensive. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just... the way you think of them. As if they'd throw you away, and all the ties you've made and -- since you did say they were pragmatic -- all the time and training they've already invested in you, just because they might decide you weren't born when they thought you were, or something?"

"It was Mother Askani's prophecy," Stryfe said tightly, his hands clenching his psimitar almost painfully. "The Chosen One, the child of the First Ones. The one who would destroy Apocalypse. Which you apparently already managed to do, instead of going like some trusting little sheep to the slaughterhouse. The prophecy is about the Chosen One! Not some--I don't even know what I am anymore."

"Stryfe...." Nate sighed. He'd had no idea Stryfe was here or even of the existence of an "Askani'Son"; it had never occurred to him that he'd be changing someone's life, not this soon. Of course his entire plan hinged on that, and there were surely to be people who would have been better off without his interference.... He just hadn't been expecting it now. Especially not someone he knew.

Maybe it was better to remember that it was always personal.

He didn't even feel triumphant that Stryfe apparently believed him now.

"Go see the Askani, Nathan," Stryfe said resignedly. "I'm sure they'll welcome you with open arms. You might even get your time machine. But don't be surprised when you find out that the Askani'Son still has to answer to the Askani."

"I'm waiting for you, remember?"

"There's no reason to. Go. Declare yourself as the Chosen One and walk through the main gates. It doesn't matter anymore."

"Already promised not to, not to mention we established I don't want the role and you do."

"I release you from your promise. It's not like Madame Sanctity wouldn't have figured it out quickly enough anyway. And I believe I mentioned that it's not a role you can choose to accept or decline. You're Nathan Summers, you're the Askani'Son. What you or I want doesn't--matter." His throat was suddenly tight, but Stryfe ignored it. "As you said, I've trained here, and the Askani are pragmatic. I'll probably be able to stay on as a...sold

Nathan swore at some length. "I didn't come here to take your life away! I can't exactly do both, either. I'm not staying. I'm not even planning to stay in this century."

"I know you didn't come here to steal my life," Stryfe said quietly. He'd seen too much of Nathan's mind to believe otherwise. It didn't change things, though. "You'll work something out. It's what you're supposed to do, after all, Askani'Son."

"They'd have to be idiots to try to get rid of you for somebody who doesn't even buy into their entire premise...."

"It's the Mother Askani's prophecy! Oath, how difficult is a prophecy for you to understand? You're the flonqing Askani'Son, get USED to it!"

"Who was the Mother Askani and why should I believe she knew anything?"

"She was--Mother Askani. She founded the order."

Nate opened his mouth, reminded himself to be polite, and closed it again to think how. After a moment he started again. "Yes, I had gathered that much. I gathered she founded the Clan as well as the Sisterhood."

And was so successful in annoying Apocalypse that the Clan was now essentially nonexistent and the Sisterhood was rebuilding from a shadow of what it once was, but he'd picked that up from Stryfe's mind.

"There are Founders for most of the Clans, and I'm sure most of them were worthy of respect. What I don't understand is why the Mother Askani should be able to issue prophecies that are supposed to affect my life, or why I should believe them. Was she a seer-chronovariant? Supposed to be in touch with some other being?" He paused. "Don't glare at me. I'm asking. I might acknowledge some obligation in return for saving my life, but I'd think to fulfill that I'd do better to try something useful, not upset a perfectly functional situation on account of a prophecy when I have no idea why I'm supposed to believe she was a prophetess."

"It isn't your place to question the Mother Askani. She was a great woman. She founded the Order out of NOTHING, and accomplished more than Apocalypse knew. She prepared for the arrival of the Chosen One."

"In other words, you don't know?"

Stryfe scowled at him. Nate sensed this, but didn't see it, since he still had his eyes shut. "She was a chronovariant and a time-traveler and for much of her life the avatar of the Phoenix. But she died before I came here, after lying in a coma for almost twelve years after the attack on the old Cloisters."

Interesting. Nate remembered another question he'd had. "Did you see her?"

"See her body? Yes. They hadn't burned it yet."

"Is she really the one depicted in the holograms for the services? The woman in robes, with scars on her face as if... as if a spider plant had grabbed her around the back of the head, but she got away?" Spider plants had apparently been innocuous once, he'd learned, but now their leaves could secrete digestive fluids and they actively trapped for extra nitrogen. A human was too large a prey for most of them, of course.

"Yes, that was really her. Did you think it was some imposter? I don't know how she got the scars, but I doubt it was from a spider plant." Stryfe's voice was heavy with scorn.

"Well, they never said who it was supposed to be; I didn't assume she necessarily recorded everything herself."

"Oh." Stryfe reminded himself not to be so defensive about everything. And reminded himself that even if he wasn't...who he thought he was, he was still an Askani. And that meant...he owed his loyalty to the Askani'Son. He tried not to grind his teeth at the thought. "Yes, that was Mother Askani."

"She did speak well. They're even set up to be interactive. It's embarrassing how many challenges she actually anticipated." Of course, he couldn't always tell if he'd been run off because he'd asked something there wasn't an answer recorded for or because the technicians got tired of him....

"She was very wise," Stryfe said tightly. "I wish I could have spoken to her myself." Because surely she would know who he really was...

"I'm sure it would've been helpful." You did have to acquire a certain amount of wisdom to survive to an advanced age, generally, so Nate was prepared to acknowledge that while keeping his reservations about her philosophy and goals -- and the accuracy of her predictions -- for the moment.

~Does he ever open his eyes?~ Stryfe wondered, eyeing Nathan sideways. "Are you meditating or something?" he asked at last.

"Not exactly. Just concentrating on other senses. And thinking."

Stryfe bit back a comment, reminding himself that he was supposed to be respectful. Oath. "Ah. Having any luck?"

"Well, you've only tried to kill me once, so I suppose so."

"If I'd been trying to kill you, you'd be dead," Stryfe replied coolly. "And I meant were you having any luck... thinking?" ~I realize it must be difficult.~ He bit back that comment with difficulty.

~I'm not that easy to kill.~ "Some. And maybe so. It would have made more sense to attack telekinetically in that case." #I heard that.#

"If my only goal was to kill you, yes. I was also interested in your plans regarding Apocalypse, so I thought a telepathic assault would be more effective. I don't think either of us could have anticipated the effects of the link. And..." He paused, his jaw twitching. "I meant no disrespect. Askani'Son."

Nathan opened his eyes and stared at Stryfe. "You have to be kidding me."

"I thought a telepathic attack made more sense given my goals. Were you anticipating the link?"

"No, and that's not what I meant. And you know it."

"I'm still a part of the Askani." ~Unless you plan on taking that away too.~ Stryfe ground his teeth, barely getting out the words through a tightly clenched jaw. "That means I owe -- my loyalty and my respect to the Askani'Son. I didn't mean to insult you." ~Even if you deserve it for flonqing around in people's lives and never stopping to consider what effect it will have!~

"You don't owe me anything. In case you missed this part somehow, I hadn't found any mention of an 'Askani'Son'; I didn't even know you were here. I'm not staying, or did you miss that too? If I can't get to the twentieth century from here, I'll go try to find another way. I'll build my own flonqing Tinex if I have to." Nathan stood up, furious for no reason he could define clearly. "Apparently that should have been my first choice."

"I hadn't heard anything about any Askani'Son either before I came here, and I certainly didn't show up expecting to be taken in because of it. That doesn't matter. You ARE the Askani'Son, Nathan. You don't have a choice. It's who you ARE." ~Who I thought I was.~ "And even if you leave, you'll STILL be the Askani'Son and I'll STILL be a fraud. Nothing can CHANGE that now! Oath, don't LEAVE."

"Why the flonq not? This has to be one of the most idiotic situations...."

"I certainly won't argue with that," Stryfe replied with a choked half-laugh.

"Listen. I came here to ask for help, I admit that. I wasn't, as you suggested earlier, begging. I assumed that they might well want me to do something in return. If it was something that didn't seem as if I could finish it and then leave, I would've had to find some other option. That I could deal with." Nate sighed. "For some strange reason, however, it really never occurred to me that they might want me to take over a job I don't want to do and have no idea how to do from someone who does want it and has been training for it for the past ten years!"

"You're the Chosen One. Why can't you understand that it doesn't matter WHAT I flonqing want?!"

"What happened to pragmatic? This is stupid."

"I agree whole-heartedly." Stryfe cursed and kicked at the ground. "They are pragmatic. They won't just...throw me out with the refuse. I told you they'll probably let me stay on as a soldier, possibly even a commander. I've trained for that. But you've driven home quite well that I'm NOT the Chosen One."

"Probably let you? I thought a Clan was supposed to take care of its own, never mind identity crises -- or does the Sisterhood not work that way?"

"I have no idea what they'll actually do, because this situation hasn't exactly occurred before!"

"Leaving aside for the moment the fact that I'm still not particularly clear on what the Chosen One is supposed to do, and the fact that I think it's incredibly stupid to pick someone for an important task as an infant regardless of what happens to them in the interim, and the fact that unless it involves heading back in time several centuries to change the course of history -- or make a new course -- I have no intention of doing what you apparently think they want me to... after ten years you shouldn't have to be worried about what they'll do with you!"

"If I'm reading your memories right, you were apparently wondering the same thing after twelve years with the Daysprings, so don't act so superior!"

Nate stiffened and had to take a minute before he could answer, first because he was afraid he would shout and then because his voice wouldn't work. "I never knew why they would have wanted me in the first place," he finally said in a low tone. "I knew they were better than to... just get rid of me, though; it wasn't fair to them to worry about it." But they'd left. "I don't think they meant to disappear. I don't know what happened there."

"Whereas I know exactly why I was taken in," Stryfe replied in a low, hard voice. "Because I was the Chosen One. Oh, they would have still healed me and helped me get back on my feet, but I wouldn't have been part of them like I am if they didn't think I was the Chosen One. And now..." He smiled bitterly. "It appears I'm not."

Nate looked away from the pain. "Just out of curiosity, how did they recognize you?"

"They knew why Apocalypse had stolen the baby from the Cloisters, what he intended to do with m--you. I suppose they didn't know, somehow, that he took the wrong child. I was recognizable as the High Prince. It wasn't a difficult conclusion to draw."
"I hate to point this out, but if I hide the metal arm... and, um, get cleaned up a bit...." Nate shrugged, half-closed his eyes, and the metal on his body seemed to vanish, though the scars didn't. "Let's just say looks aren't everything. Not that anybody ever commented before; I didn't get the idea you made a lot of public appearances."

"A boy of the right age and looks, wearing fine clothing, appearing fresh from an attempted possession by Apocalypse, answering to the name of 'Stryfe' even while delirious. I repeat, it wasn't a difficult conclusion to draw. Particularly after I'd... healed, and my powers began to return."

"All right, point taken." Nathan smiled wryly. "That, I couldn't match."

"No... I suppose not...." Stryfe looked at Nathan's left arm, where the metal had so recently been. That kind of control.... He had some idea from Nathan's memories what the virus did to his available power levels. ...Perhaps the Askani would still have some use for him after all.

Nate tried not to be bothered by the scrutiny. Old habits. Hiding it was an old skill, too; Redd had done it until he learned how. He grimaced a bit to himself and stopped trying to. It was supposed to be part of his evidence, wasn't it? Or it had been. And Stryfe had already seen it.

Stryfe looked away as the metal returned to Nathan's skin. Had he decided his demonstration was over, or was it that difficult to keep it supressed? "At any rate...Madame Sanctity was able to conclude from...all available evidence that I was the Askani'Son. So I stayed here and trained after I was healed. Did you have any other questions?"

"Yes, actually."

"Ah." Stryfe waited a moment, then added with what he felt was remarkable patience, "It might be more effective to actually ask them before expecting me to answer. I'm trying not to read your mind."

Nate laughed softly. "I was trying to find a good way to phrase this. I will admit that spending ten years in a library is probably not the best way to practice tact." He shrugged. "What I'm wondering about is that you seem to have changed your mind about who I am after I stopped giving arguments for it, when at the time you didn't seem to be convinced. Why?"

"I'm not an idiot. I've been well educated and trained in logic, and one of the first things we learn is that... something isn't true or false simply because we want it to be."

What is, is, whether you like it or not? "I didn't say you were an idiot," Nathan pointed out mildly. "You still denied I was making sense until after I'd finished, and then suddenly started talking as if I'd persuaded you a few minutes later."

"I was evaluating your arguments based on emotion," Stryfe explained tightly. "When I bothered to look at them with logic, they... made sense. Too much sense to ignore, even though I wanted to. Oath, isn't it enough that I believe you?"

"I wanted to know why."

"The why of any situation is secondary to the situation itself," Stryfe muttered.

"Are you quoting again?"

"Yes."

"Sometimes 'why' is part of the situation," Nathan pointed out thoughtfully, then sighed and hopped back off the log, taking a few steps closer to Stryfe. "There isn't much I can say, is there?"

Stryfe forced himself not to take a step back. Why did all of his emotions have to be so terribly conflicted? He had the definite idea that if Nathan had shown up without any of these arguments about being the real Askani'Son, Stryfe would have quite liked him. Well, once they'd gotten the link sorted out. And he still wanted to like him, for some uknown reason, even as the other man was setting out to take Stryfe's place without even meaning to.

"Haven't you said enough already?" Stryfe finally asked wearily.

Nathan sighed. "Probably," he admitted morosely. Altogether, this was looking like a rather dismal failure. It appeared that the Askani, if persuaded of his authenticity, were going to want him to stay and fill some mysterious role that Stryfe already knew about and had built his life around. He was beginning to have serious doubts of their sanity.

He was glad to know Stryfe was still alive and well, of course. Reasonably well. It was presumably a good thing to have found out about the broken link and healed it -- that sort of thing could hardly have been healthy for either of them, even when they weren't near enough each other for it to be irritating. It made him feel less lonely, too... or it would, if he didn't have the rather depressing feeling that Stryfe wouldn't be all that far out of line to hate him for this.

Oh well.

Stryfe sighed and took up Nathan's abandoned seat on the fallen log. "It's not your fault. You didn't have any idea I was even here, much less the circumstances." He smiled weakly. "You're depressing me with that leakage, okay?"

"Oath! Sorry -- and don't say it." Nathan studied the link for a moment and tried closing it against such "leakage."

Stryfe watched him for a moment, then nudged him gently. #Like this.# He placed his mental "hands" over Nathan's and showed him how to improve the shield.

#...Thank you.# He'd been slightly worried he was going to damage something. #I never really tried to shield from Redd, and it wasn't a link like this anyway.#

#I doubt many people have had a link like this....# Stryfe shrugged mentally. #Basic shielding techniques still apply, though. Yours are pretty good for not having had any formal training since you were 13.#

#Thank you, I think.#

#It was a compliment. I didn't have any kind of shield training until after that. I, ah, overcompensated. I've probably read more on shielding techniques than even you have,# he added dryly.

#I wouldn't doubt it. There wasn't enough on the subject in the library to make it that difficult,# Nathan thought back with some amusement, then paused and frowned. #None before that? You had to have figured something out on your own, then, or the background noise would have driven you crazy....#

#It came close a few times.# Stryfe shrugged. #You didn't know me very well then, but it can't have escaped your notice that I wasn't exactly the most well-adjusted child. I picked up enough on my own. Just enough.#

#Oath.# No wonder Stryfe had been that interested in it afterwards. #Out of curiosity, how early did you manifest?#

#As early as I can remember. You?#

#Pretty much. The first year or two is... foggy. Not sure what happened. I think I remember my original parents, but I'm not completely sure.# Nate shrugged.

#You...remember the First Ones?#

#Pardon?#

#The First Ones. Scott Summers and Jean Grey. They... are the ancestors of the entire Order. And they were the parents of the Chosen One.# The resentment coming from the last statement was mostly overshadowed by the reverence the first part inspired.

#The ancestors of the entire order? There's a 1700-year genealogical requirement for membership?# He had also been under the distinct impression that En Sabah Nur's name had been chosen in some ancient dialect or other to mean something similar, which was just disturbing. #Stryfe... I'm not trying to be excessively rude here... but I have never been exactly fond of the thought of my parents. What I was always told was that they got rid of me because of the virus. Not that it was exactly unreasonable -- not having or not wanting to devote the resources to deal with it, I mean. It still felt like they didn't want to bother. I admit their living in a much earlier time puts something of a different spin on it, but... still.#

Stryfe blinked, trying to reconcile the Askani teachings about the First Ones--which he'd always paid close attention to, because as he'd told Nathan, a better father than Apocalypse wasn't exactly difficult to find--and the feelings of abandonment he'd absorbed from Nathan's memories. #I... suppose that is understandable.#

#Thank you so much for your permission.#

#That's not what I meant, Nathan! I just -- The technology of the 20th century was laughable. There was no way I -- you could have survived the T-O then. That's why Mother Askani sent a sister back, to save you, and from the records your father wasn't exactly easy to convince. I can understand you felt abandoned, but....#

Nathan was silent for a long moment, any thoughts on the matter turned over quietly behind his shields. Then he went over and sat back down on the log, beside Stryfe. #You're probably right. No -- you are right; most of the feelings are still based on the assumption they were from this time. And even then, it probably wouldn't have been easy.# He sighed. #Thank you.#

Stryfe blinked, trying to restructure his thoughts after having prepared a lecture about how certain people who had the First Ones as real parents and Slym Dayspring as a foster father really shouldn't complain. #Ah... you're welcome.#

#And in answer to your earlier question, I guess I remember them a little bit. Not much. Scattered impressions, that's pretty much it. I get the vague idea that things were very hectic for a while, but being an infant, I wasn't particularly clear on what was going on and probably couldn't tell you even if I did remember it properly.#

#Still...# Stryfe tried to tone down on the reverence, knowing it would make Nathan uncomfortable, but... The First Ones! His par-- #The Sisters will probably be very interested. Especially the younger ones, who've joined since Mother Askani died.#

Nathan sternly suppressed the urge to groan. #You didn't answer me about the genealogical --#

#That wasn't literal,# Stryfe interrupted.

Nathan refrained from asking what it did mean then. For all he knew, the Mother Askani had traced back to them somehow. He hesitated for a moment, sorting through the muted impressions from the link, and then sent, #You know... I don't want your loyalty to me as the Askani'Son, even if they really would base it on birth that way.#

Not to give loyalty to the Askani'Son would mean... not being an Askani. Stryfe had to fight down a surge of panic. That was NOT what Nathan meant, he could tell that. So.... #What do you want, then? Besides a time-travel device.#

Nate winced a bit at Stryfe's initial (and promptly squashed) reaction and tried to explain himself. #From you? I'd... rather we be friends.# Or brothers. That made sense, in a way, didn't it? Someone you didn't necessarily like all the time, but were bound to anyway?

#Friends.#

#You don't sound very enthusiastic about the idea....# Nathan ventured worriedly.

#No, I... I think if we'd met... another way, we'd already be friends.# ~If you weren't about to steal my life.~ #But... I like you, and I don't, and I'm not entirely sure I want you around, but I don't think I want you to go. We're... connected, whether we really want to be or not. Oath, you'd think we were... brothers.#

#That's the other thing I was thinking. I know it would be asking a lot of you to like me under the circumstances.#

#It's not like any of this was your fault.#

#So?# ~I'm still the one doing it; you're still the one being hurt by it.~ Nathan sighed. #Actually, I suppose brothers would make sense anyway. It's not like this much resemblance is usually coincidental.#

#There was only one child.#

#Obviously, at some point, there started to be two.#

Stryfe snorted. #You make it sound so simple.#

#Well, that part's obvious, at least if we leave out the rather peculiar possibility that you don't exist. I'm pretty well convinced you do.#

Stryfe smiled a bit. #Well, or you could be a figment of my imagination... or Aliya showing a truly odd sense of humor.#

Aliya... would be the Askani Stryfe was linked to. Nate got the general impression that she was pretty, ruthless when necessary, and very passionate -- and probably cared too much for Stryfe to come up with a joke that would disturb him that badly.

At least she'd better.

Nathan startled himself a bit with the vehemence of that thought and dragged his mind back into the conversation. #She's the one you linked with, before... did she not notice any of this?# He'd think she would have, if her link with Stryfe bore any resemblance to his.

#We stay very tightly shielded, most of the time. It's... easier that way. And you can flonqing believe that I would shield it the best I could before attacking an unknown telepathically!#

#Good point. Why do you usually shield it that strongly, though? I thought the point of linking -- deliberately, anyway -- to someone was the constant connection.#

#There's still a connection, just not strong enough to read much more than whether she's dead or alive, unless we open it further.#

Nate blinked. #Well, that's... useful, I'm sure....#

#I may have a link with you, but my link with Aliya is none of your business!# Stryfe snapped, jumping up off the log again.

#Oath! You could have just told me to stop asking, you know. Calm down.#

#I'm perfectly calm. I just... Aliya understands.#

#Well, that's the important part,# Nathan replied placatingly. He was fairly sure of this, although he wasn't quite certain what it was Stryfe meant Aliya understood. Probably it was something he could figure out from the memories he'd seen, if he tried.

Stryfe blew out a long breath. Why was it that every other thing Nathan said irritated him to no end, while the things in the middle just made him like Nathan more? Oath, they really must be brothers!

It didn't exactly take much trying to figure out after all. Nathan winced internally as he realized that Stryfe probably preferred to keep even a permanent psi-link with a close friend -- or lover, he wasn't entirely sure -- under tight control for much the same reason he'd panicked so violently when his attack on Nate resulted in confusion.

It was probably a remarkable advance in trust to allow the link at all. And what did that mean about the one to a near stranger? Nathan resolved to leave this new link alone as much as possible.

Stryfe leaned against a tree and looked away from Nathan, using more of his mental energy scanning the area than he had been since Nathan arrived. He was still on guard duty, after all. He still had responsibilities, even if not quite the ones he thought.

"Anything I can do to help?" Nathan finally asked softly.

"Sentry duty isn't particularly taxing, barring unusual visitors. I think I've had my quota of those for the day, though, so with luck the rest of my shift will pass quietly. You might want to get some rest while you can. You'll be giving a lot of explanations soon."

This seemed... reasonable. Nathan shrugged and crouched on the log again, closing his eyes and actually going to sleep this time, but not very deeply. He woke up a little almost every time Stryfe happened to move.

Stryfe sighed and leaned more comfortably against his tree. He wished he could get some rest as well -- it was likely going to be a very interesting few days, after Nathan returned to the Cloisters at last. He wasn't quite sure what to make of any of this anymore, but there was one thing, at least, he was sure of.

Whether he wanted one or not, it looked like Stryfe had a brother.

*****