Treble Clef
By Silver Falcon
Chapter Nine
Pixie's first action was to squeeze whatever was in her hand. She realized it was a hand that she was holding; it tightened around hers, and another one gently rubbed the back of her own. Was it Pietro? It didn't feel like it. His hands were wider than this. It was hot, and she could feel that she had no clothes on besides the sheet. Her arms were hurting, but she could feel the IV's in them right at the elbow.
"Todd?" she whispered, stirring slightly.
"I'm here," he whispered back, drawing her hand to his cheek.
"Where…am I? How'd I get here? How'd you get here?"
She couldn't open her eyes, and she wasn't too sure she wanted to. He sat up, not releasing her hand.
"We found you in an alley sometime after the green light healed me. Lance called an ambulance and brought you here to the hospital. You've been in a coma for five days, but Gabriel healed you last night, and you're okay today."
Pixie rubbed her eyes with her right hand. "Well, the next time you see him, tell him that I am eternally grateful."
"That blonde nurse said that you'd be coming out in about two weeks. They wanna do some tests on ya' to make sure you're okay."
She opened her eyes and rubbed them ferociously. Pixie blinked a few times, trying to make the room come into focus. Todd was the only one there.
"Where's Wanda and Pietro and Fred?" she asked, looking at the emptiness.
Todd made a lame attempt to avoid the question. "Are you feeling okay?"
Pixie grinned and stared him right in the eyes. "They don't know you're here, do they?"
Todd shook his head slowly. "Freddy does…"
Pix laughed. "Oh, do Marcie and Jack know I'm here?"
Toad nodded. "Yeah, they had to go back to the Night Sun, though. They'll probably be visiting today."
Pixie pulled her hand away from him and wrapped the sheet securely around her. "Man, I feel so stiff."
Todd hopped onto the bed as she drew her knees up to her chest. He slid his hand into the back pocket of his torn jeans and pulled out a brightly colored box.
"I got this for you," he said, dropping the pack of UNO cards on the bed sheets. "Something to do while you're here."
She smiled and picked up the pack of cards. "Thank you, Todd. How sweet."
He beamed at himself and sat down, crossing his legs. "Um…how…why…didn't you ever…tell me that you was a bug," he asked as innocently as he could.
Pixie's expression changed to shame and sorrow, but she fanned her glass wings behind her anyway. They looked like long panes of glass with a black outline. She had two of them, a long set on top, and a shorter set on bottom.
"I…couldn't risk them finding me. My life is about secrecy, Todd. I shouldn't have healed you, but I…couldn't help myself. I guess Wanda explained partially about me, huh?"
Todd nodded. "She said that there were men after you and that you were 1000 years old. Are you…really that old?"
Pixie nodded. "1242."
Todd rubbed his neck. "Wow. Still lookin' good though."
She smiled. "I am sorry."
"Well, tell me stuff about you."
Todd slid his hand across hers and retrieved the UNO cards, opening the box and pouring the cards in his hands.
"I was born in Georgia in a swamp. I don't remember my birthday, but it was sometime in spring. My father was a fairy and my mother was a mutant."
Todd shuffled the cards skillfully and tossed her a stack of seven before giving himself seven cards. He put the deck on the bed and flipped the top card over.
"You were born in a swamp?" Toad asked, smiling.
Pixie nodded. "Yeah. I'm a protector. The reason children believe in fairies is because they see me. Some forget earlier than others, but some remember. Rogue and Wanda remember."
"Aren't fairies really small?" Todd said, holding his hand up with fingers two inches apart.
Pixie nodded. "I'm not a fairy, though. I'm a half fairy, and the smallest I can go is a foot long."
Todd smiled. "Cool."
He put a green five on top of the yellow seven. Pixie looked at her cards and dropped a green three.
"About a century ago, I began to wander around in New York, finding homeless people and abused children and taking them to a place that I had made in the Realm. Well, humans are forbidden in the Realm, so I was banished. The High One hired the assassins just fifty years ago, and that's the third encounter I've had with them."
She felt Todd's eyes on her. "I don't understand why they're here to kill you."
"The High One believed that the people I took would remember the Realm and try to infiltrate it when they were older. She put a bounty over my head so it wouldn't happen again."
Todd put down a green four, followed by her green two. "Do you…like Pietro?"
Pixie glanced up at him. "Sort of, but I haven't known him that long. He hasn't sat down and talked with me like you have."
"What about…um…"
"You? I like you, yeah. It's just…being immortal. Having boyfriends and caring for people never works when you have to watch them grow old and die. That's why I became a loner. If I were to get attached to you or Pietro, eventually, you'd die. Plus, what about Wanda?"
Todd shook his head. "Wanda doesn't treat me like a person. She treats me like a slave. All of them do, except Freddy. I think the only reason she's lightened up is because she knows…thinks that I like you instead of her."
Pixie nodded and put her cards in the pile on the bed. "Wanda is a good friend of mine. I really think you should continue to pursue her. I won't be able to stay here much longer. They probably think I'm dead, but if they find out that I'm not, which they will, they'll come back and kill you all."
"Take me with you than."
Pixie shook her head. "I can't. I will not risk a mortal life for my own feelings."
"You healed me."
"I healed you because I can't stand seeing people hurt."
"You kissed me."
Pixie stopped and looked at him. "Yes, I did. I have to admit that you are the closest thing to a friend that I've had in a long time. I didn't know…what…else to do then. It just felt right."
She knew he could tell that she was hiding something. "Todd, I can't love you. I can't love Pietro. I can't love anyone, because all that comes of it is death. I can't stay here in Bayville, and I can't take you with me. Stay with Wanda."
Todd kicked the metal railing off the side of the bed. "I don't want to stay with Wanda! I want to stay with you!"
The tantrum startled her, making her hit the wall. "Todd! Todd, stop!"
"I will protect you! I will take care of you!"
"Pietro wasn't able to save me from them! I had to make sure that he would be left alone! No one can save me from them except myself!"
She threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around him. "Todd, please try to understand. I care for you, I really do, but I can't love you. I can't love anyone. Not Pietro, not you."
He hugged her tightly, afraid to let go. "Why…?"
"I'll see you and an infinite amount of people die. If I loved every single boy that I became attached to, I would be driven to madness. Todd, please understand. Go back to Wanda."
She leaned back and felt tears trickle down her face. He ran his fingers softly over her skin, removing them. He embraced her softly, letting her rest on his bony shoulder.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I need to go."
He jumped off the bed and over to the window. "Todd, I'm sorry I hurt you."
"I…just need to think… I'll talk to you later. I'm…sorry."
Then he opened the window and jumped out. Pix grabbed her ears and pulled, whimpering. She crawled out of the bed and tied the sheet around her, rushing to the window, but Toad was gone.
She curled up in the corner, hiding under the long sheet. "God…why?"
The curse of eternal life among humans was the ultimate punishment. In a way, she did have feelings for the little guy, but she knew that he would be better off going after a mortal girl than her. She needed to talk to Jerry, but he was nowhere close to her.
She was smart, but she didn't know everything.
The door opened and a nurse came in. "Darling, you have a visit…oh my goodness! Are you okay?" she said, rushing to her side. The nurse lifted her off the floor and put her on the edge of the bed. "This man's name is Gabriel. He came last night, but he wanted to come again today.
She watched the redheaded boy come in and sit down in a chair across from her. His dark green eyes stared directly into hers, and she knew his face almost instantly.
"Jerry," she coughed.
"That is my name," he said, not surprised that she knew it.
"You…you're….not Jerry, but you are."
He nodded. "I didn't know why I remembered you from some unknown place, but I had a dream last night that explained it all. I need you to take me somewhere."
Pix nodded. "Home…"
He nodded in response. "Yes…"
***********
The door opened, and Toad hopped into the room, his head low and his eyes on the floor. Fred was in the kitchen, no doubt fixing himself something to eat. Todd hopped in his direction before springing on his shoulder.
"Bad news?" Freddy asked, looking at Todd's sorrowful face.
"She's immortal, and she said that she can't love no one. I…lost it, and I yelled at her."
"Oh, Toad… Maybe she is out of your league."
Toad sat on his shoulder and stared at the floor. "She said she cared for me but she couldn't love me."
"You going to be okay?"
"I need to go to bed. Tell Wanda that…I'm…sorry."
He hopped off of Fred's shoulder and out of the kitchen. He had to reflect.
She cared for him. She had not said that she cared for Pietro. Was it possible that she was just scared of being hurt again? If he was immortal and he loved someone, they would grow old and die, leaving him the exact way only shattered to pieces. It would be harder to love people because they would get old and ugly while he stayed the exact same age in appearance.
A thousand years was a long time. There was no telling how many people she had watched die around her. There was no telling how many crushes faded because of age or death. There was just no telling. Why couldn't she love him now though? Maybe just for a little while?
Was he asking too much? Had she simply forgotten all of her emotions over the period of her life? Was it simply too hard? It couldn't be. If she loved children, then she could love teenagers too. She could love him. She could love Pietro. She just wouldn't love because she didn't like to get hurt.
No one liked to get hurt, not unless they were estranged. He had to go back. He had to apologize. She was probably feeling like shit because of his little outburst. He had to tell her that he was there for her. He had to tell her that he would help her do whatever she had to. He would help her get rid of the assassins.
He would have to.
Wanda won't understand. She would be mad at him for leaving her side. She would probably Hex him into no tomorrow. Pietro wouldn't understand. He would probably strangle him for trying to put moves on his girl, but he hadn't talked to Toad much. He probably already knew what was going on.
Todd crawled under his bed, his safe place. He'd go back later. He needed to think things over now.
She was older than he was by more than he wanted to count. She was a wanderer. She waited for no one, and no one waited for her.
He couldn't think of anything that would push him away from her.
*******
"Where is Gabriel!?" Ororo yelled, running up and down the hall.
"Ah haven't seen him since yesterday. He said something 'bout goin' t' tha hospital t' see tha Pixster."
Rogue had been disturbed from her book, and her answer was none too cheerful.
"Yesterday? Where is he today?!"
"Gone."
Ororo stormed down the hall and into the garage.
********
He was outside.
She was foraging for clothes through the old drawers. She found her old outfit, along with a new coat that was longer than the other one and sleeveless. It was made of black leather and had a split from the shoulderblades down. At the bottom was a strip of Velcro that could easily be snapped and fixed. She found her old leather boots, black leather from a time of hatred and pain. On the front of them were strapped black essence, the crystallized life energy of pain and suffering. Those had been left to her by her father. She was going to get vicious. She wore her old black pants. They were like a double skin, not to tight and allowed plenty of stretching room. She had a long-sleeved black shirt that had slitted sleeves.
This was war. She wouldn't let them stalk her any more. She was the hunter, and they were her prey.
They would pay.
Dearly…
********
Pietro sped around the schoolyard, seeing how much dust he could stir up in one second. Toad was trying to compete against him. Heh! That was no competition, but his game plan had been blown. Hmm. He could pretend to not know that Toad had taken interest in her and ask him for some advice. She was his friend, after all. He could get her to go on a date with him, and in return, he'd try to bribe Wanda into going on a date with him.
Toad would have to comply with him, or he'd beat the little shrimp up.
He couldn't get those three men out of his mind, though. The dragon one, Forez, scared him to death. The one with four arms wasn't so bad, but the dragon scared him. It was a horrible mutant that he didn't want to see again. The third one, supposedly the leader, was something that he feared too. Those eyes were far past satanic.
He stopped, all of a sudden feeling sick to his stomach.
Those glowing green eyes.
He had never felt the fear inside him until that night.
He had been the reason that she had been captured. Why didn't he leave when she told him to? If he had, she would have escaped again.
Damn…
Hope you likes. ^.^ :)
By Silver Falcon
Chapter Nine
Pixie's first action was to squeeze whatever was in her hand. She realized it was a hand that she was holding; it tightened around hers, and another one gently rubbed the back of her own. Was it Pietro? It didn't feel like it. His hands were wider than this. It was hot, and she could feel that she had no clothes on besides the sheet. Her arms were hurting, but she could feel the IV's in them right at the elbow.
"Todd?" she whispered, stirring slightly.
"I'm here," he whispered back, drawing her hand to his cheek.
"Where…am I? How'd I get here? How'd you get here?"
She couldn't open her eyes, and she wasn't too sure she wanted to. He sat up, not releasing her hand.
"We found you in an alley sometime after the green light healed me. Lance called an ambulance and brought you here to the hospital. You've been in a coma for five days, but Gabriel healed you last night, and you're okay today."
Pixie rubbed her eyes with her right hand. "Well, the next time you see him, tell him that I am eternally grateful."
"That blonde nurse said that you'd be coming out in about two weeks. They wanna do some tests on ya' to make sure you're okay."
She opened her eyes and rubbed them ferociously. Pixie blinked a few times, trying to make the room come into focus. Todd was the only one there.
"Where's Wanda and Pietro and Fred?" she asked, looking at the emptiness.
Todd made a lame attempt to avoid the question. "Are you feeling okay?"
Pixie grinned and stared him right in the eyes. "They don't know you're here, do they?"
Todd shook his head slowly. "Freddy does…"
Pix laughed. "Oh, do Marcie and Jack know I'm here?"
Toad nodded. "Yeah, they had to go back to the Night Sun, though. They'll probably be visiting today."
Pixie pulled her hand away from him and wrapped the sheet securely around her. "Man, I feel so stiff."
Todd hopped onto the bed as she drew her knees up to her chest. He slid his hand into the back pocket of his torn jeans and pulled out a brightly colored box.
"I got this for you," he said, dropping the pack of UNO cards on the bed sheets. "Something to do while you're here."
She smiled and picked up the pack of cards. "Thank you, Todd. How sweet."
He beamed at himself and sat down, crossing his legs. "Um…how…why…didn't you ever…tell me that you was a bug," he asked as innocently as he could.
Pixie's expression changed to shame and sorrow, but she fanned her glass wings behind her anyway. They looked like long panes of glass with a black outline. She had two of them, a long set on top, and a shorter set on bottom.
"I…couldn't risk them finding me. My life is about secrecy, Todd. I shouldn't have healed you, but I…couldn't help myself. I guess Wanda explained partially about me, huh?"
Todd nodded. "She said that there were men after you and that you were 1000 years old. Are you…really that old?"
Pixie nodded. "1242."
Todd rubbed his neck. "Wow. Still lookin' good though."
She smiled. "I am sorry."
"Well, tell me stuff about you."
Todd slid his hand across hers and retrieved the UNO cards, opening the box and pouring the cards in his hands.
"I was born in Georgia in a swamp. I don't remember my birthday, but it was sometime in spring. My father was a fairy and my mother was a mutant."
Todd shuffled the cards skillfully and tossed her a stack of seven before giving himself seven cards. He put the deck on the bed and flipped the top card over.
"You were born in a swamp?" Toad asked, smiling.
Pixie nodded. "Yeah. I'm a protector. The reason children believe in fairies is because they see me. Some forget earlier than others, but some remember. Rogue and Wanda remember."
"Aren't fairies really small?" Todd said, holding his hand up with fingers two inches apart.
Pixie nodded. "I'm not a fairy, though. I'm a half fairy, and the smallest I can go is a foot long."
Todd smiled. "Cool."
He put a green five on top of the yellow seven. Pixie looked at her cards and dropped a green three.
"About a century ago, I began to wander around in New York, finding homeless people and abused children and taking them to a place that I had made in the Realm. Well, humans are forbidden in the Realm, so I was banished. The High One hired the assassins just fifty years ago, and that's the third encounter I've had with them."
She felt Todd's eyes on her. "I don't understand why they're here to kill you."
"The High One believed that the people I took would remember the Realm and try to infiltrate it when they were older. She put a bounty over my head so it wouldn't happen again."
Todd put down a green four, followed by her green two. "Do you…like Pietro?"
Pixie glanced up at him. "Sort of, but I haven't known him that long. He hasn't sat down and talked with me like you have."
"What about…um…"
"You? I like you, yeah. It's just…being immortal. Having boyfriends and caring for people never works when you have to watch them grow old and die. That's why I became a loner. If I were to get attached to you or Pietro, eventually, you'd die. Plus, what about Wanda?"
Todd shook his head. "Wanda doesn't treat me like a person. She treats me like a slave. All of them do, except Freddy. I think the only reason she's lightened up is because she knows…thinks that I like you instead of her."
Pixie nodded and put her cards in the pile on the bed. "Wanda is a good friend of mine. I really think you should continue to pursue her. I won't be able to stay here much longer. They probably think I'm dead, but if they find out that I'm not, which they will, they'll come back and kill you all."
"Take me with you than."
Pixie shook her head. "I can't. I will not risk a mortal life for my own feelings."
"You healed me."
"I healed you because I can't stand seeing people hurt."
"You kissed me."
Pixie stopped and looked at him. "Yes, I did. I have to admit that you are the closest thing to a friend that I've had in a long time. I didn't know…what…else to do then. It just felt right."
She knew he could tell that she was hiding something. "Todd, I can't love you. I can't love Pietro. I can't love anyone, because all that comes of it is death. I can't stay here in Bayville, and I can't take you with me. Stay with Wanda."
Todd kicked the metal railing off the side of the bed. "I don't want to stay with Wanda! I want to stay with you!"
The tantrum startled her, making her hit the wall. "Todd! Todd, stop!"
"I will protect you! I will take care of you!"
"Pietro wasn't able to save me from them! I had to make sure that he would be left alone! No one can save me from them except myself!"
She threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around him. "Todd, please try to understand. I care for you, I really do, but I can't love you. I can't love anyone. Not Pietro, not you."
He hugged her tightly, afraid to let go. "Why…?"
"I'll see you and an infinite amount of people die. If I loved every single boy that I became attached to, I would be driven to madness. Todd, please understand. Go back to Wanda."
She leaned back and felt tears trickle down her face. He ran his fingers softly over her skin, removing them. He embraced her softly, letting her rest on his bony shoulder.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I need to go."
He jumped off the bed and over to the window. "Todd, I'm sorry I hurt you."
"I…just need to think… I'll talk to you later. I'm…sorry."
Then he opened the window and jumped out. Pix grabbed her ears and pulled, whimpering. She crawled out of the bed and tied the sheet around her, rushing to the window, but Toad was gone.
She curled up in the corner, hiding under the long sheet. "God…why?"
The curse of eternal life among humans was the ultimate punishment. In a way, she did have feelings for the little guy, but she knew that he would be better off going after a mortal girl than her. She needed to talk to Jerry, but he was nowhere close to her.
She was smart, but she didn't know everything.
The door opened and a nurse came in. "Darling, you have a visit…oh my goodness! Are you okay?" she said, rushing to her side. The nurse lifted her off the floor and put her on the edge of the bed. "This man's name is Gabriel. He came last night, but he wanted to come again today.
She watched the redheaded boy come in and sit down in a chair across from her. His dark green eyes stared directly into hers, and she knew his face almost instantly.
"Jerry," she coughed.
"That is my name," he said, not surprised that she knew it.
"You…you're….not Jerry, but you are."
He nodded. "I didn't know why I remembered you from some unknown place, but I had a dream last night that explained it all. I need you to take me somewhere."
Pix nodded. "Home…"
He nodded in response. "Yes…"
***********
The door opened, and Toad hopped into the room, his head low and his eyes on the floor. Fred was in the kitchen, no doubt fixing himself something to eat. Todd hopped in his direction before springing on his shoulder.
"Bad news?" Freddy asked, looking at Todd's sorrowful face.
"She's immortal, and she said that she can't love no one. I…lost it, and I yelled at her."
"Oh, Toad… Maybe she is out of your league."
Toad sat on his shoulder and stared at the floor. "She said she cared for me but she couldn't love me."
"You going to be okay?"
"I need to go to bed. Tell Wanda that…I'm…sorry."
He hopped off of Fred's shoulder and out of the kitchen. He had to reflect.
She cared for him. She had not said that she cared for Pietro. Was it possible that she was just scared of being hurt again? If he was immortal and he loved someone, they would grow old and die, leaving him the exact way only shattered to pieces. It would be harder to love people because they would get old and ugly while he stayed the exact same age in appearance.
A thousand years was a long time. There was no telling how many people she had watched die around her. There was no telling how many crushes faded because of age or death. There was just no telling. Why couldn't she love him now though? Maybe just for a little while?
Was he asking too much? Had she simply forgotten all of her emotions over the period of her life? Was it simply too hard? It couldn't be. If she loved children, then she could love teenagers too. She could love him. She could love Pietro. She just wouldn't love because she didn't like to get hurt.
No one liked to get hurt, not unless they were estranged. He had to go back. He had to apologize. She was probably feeling like shit because of his little outburst. He had to tell her that he was there for her. He had to tell her that he would help her do whatever she had to. He would help her get rid of the assassins.
He would have to.
Wanda won't understand. She would be mad at him for leaving her side. She would probably Hex him into no tomorrow. Pietro wouldn't understand. He would probably strangle him for trying to put moves on his girl, but he hadn't talked to Toad much. He probably already knew what was going on.
Todd crawled under his bed, his safe place. He'd go back later. He needed to think things over now.
She was older than he was by more than he wanted to count. She was a wanderer. She waited for no one, and no one waited for her.
He couldn't think of anything that would push him away from her.
*******
"Where is Gabriel!?" Ororo yelled, running up and down the hall.
"Ah haven't seen him since yesterday. He said something 'bout goin' t' tha hospital t' see tha Pixster."
Rogue had been disturbed from her book, and her answer was none too cheerful.
"Yesterday? Where is he today?!"
"Gone."
Ororo stormed down the hall and into the garage.
********
He was outside.
She was foraging for clothes through the old drawers. She found her old outfit, along with a new coat that was longer than the other one and sleeveless. It was made of black leather and had a split from the shoulderblades down. At the bottom was a strip of Velcro that could easily be snapped and fixed. She found her old leather boots, black leather from a time of hatred and pain. On the front of them were strapped black essence, the crystallized life energy of pain and suffering. Those had been left to her by her father. She was going to get vicious. She wore her old black pants. They were like a double skin, not to tight and allowed plenty of stretching room. She had a long-sleeved black shirt that had slitted sleeves.
This was war. She wouldn't let them stalk her any more. She was the hunter, and they were her prey.
They would pay.
Dearly…
********
Pietro sped around the schoolyard, seeing how much dust he could stir up in one second. Toad was trying to compete against him. Heh! That was no competition, but his game plan had been blown. Hmm. He could pretend to not know that Toad had taken interest in her and ask him for some advice. She was his friend, after all. He could get her to go on a date with him, and in return, he'd try to bribe Wanda into going on a date with him.
Toad would have to comply with him, or he'd beat the little shrimp up.
He couldn't get those three men out of his mind, though. The dragon one, Forez, scared him to death. The one with four arms wasn't so bad, but the dragon scared him. It was a horrible mutant that he didn't want to see again. The third one, supposedly the leader, was something that he feared too. Those eyes were far past satanic.
He stopped, all of a sudden feeling sick to his stomach.
Those glowing green eyes.
He had never felt the fear inside him until that night.
He had been the reason that she had been captured. Why didn't he leave when she told him to? If he had, she would have escaped again.
Damn…
Hope you likes. ^.^ :)
