By: Cmdr. Gabe E.
Note: This fanfiction occurs entirely in the X-Men movie-verse . Characters' unspoken thoughts are enclosed in .
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CHAPTER 48'S FINALLY UP =D!!! Sorry for the looong delay. I tried uploading this yesterday, but I was encountering some errors with x.x!
Anyway, I really hope the "drama-ness" of the story isn't turning you guys off =), especially since Yuriko, Logan and Stryker really aren't much of "drama" characters. Well, I hope you like this next chap =D! Thanks for reading =D!
DZ DILLINGER = Thank you so much for reading all those chapters and thanks for the review too =D! Yeah...you're definitely right...this story really is more of a drama/romance fic O.O! At first, I was really worried that this kind of fic wouldn't work for Yuriko, Logan and Stryker (especially Stryker .), so I guess it's wonderful that readers are liking this so far! And yeah, the story's timeline seems a little rushed =(...But the explanation for Yuriko accepting the X-Men can be pretty feasible. 1. She had known the X-Men for a long time already. During her work as Stryker's personal assistant, she was able to learn a lot about them. 2. The x-men had been the only people to treat her right and respect her as who she was. She also feels a "special" connection with Logan and Logan treats the x-men as family. As for the Chuck, Charles thing...heheh...you're right...I did mess it up a bit .!
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Chapter 48 : Sandwiched
The elevator stopped on the first floor and its doors opened. Stryker stepped out and Yuriko followed after him. Then he turned around to face her.
Yuriko's eyes wandered at his face, and in that split second, Logan drifted away from her mind, and Stryker was the only one she could think about. She remembered how she and the younger Stryker looked at each other in her vision. In her vision, they looked at each other as if they wanted something from one another...something they couldn't have. She remembered seeing herself underneath him, looking up into his blue eyes. She could still recall how his younger self pinned her down, his body just a few inches above hers.
No. She shouldn't think about that. She should get him out of his head. Logan was the only one she wanted. Logan was the only one she needed. He was the only one who was right for her. She should forget whatever she and the younger Stryker had.
She suddenly felt her body tense up as Stryker placed his hand on her arm. "Hey, you have that blank look in your eyes again. I really hope that's just your hunger catching up on you." He said with a joking tone in his voice. "Come on. The kitchen's just down the hallway." He smiled at her and then turned around to walk towards the kitchen.
Yuriko just stood there as Stryker walked away from her. She couldn't help it...She couldn't help but remember the two of them in her vision. Whenever she looked into his eyes, even now that he was older, she could still see him and her together at the back of her mind. She could still see his youthful face looking at her. She could still feel his touch, and his breath and his blue eyes boring into her black ones.
How could something that felt so right, be so wrong? Was it because she wanted it to be wrong? Was it because she was afraid to become close to him as she was in her vision? Whether she liked it or not, she and Stryker used to have something in her forgotten past. But as to what it was, she still wasn't sure...but it was definitely something.
Stryker stopped in his tracks and furrowed his eyebrows when he noticed that Yuriko wasn't walking by his side. He turned around and saw her still standing where he had left her earlier.
"Come on, Yuriko!" He said with a smile as he motioned for her to follow. "The night's not going to wait for us, you know. Don't make me come there and carry you!" He shouted in a joking manner. Then his eyes wandered at the clock on the wall. He suddenly felt his chest tighten as he saw the position of the clock's hands. It was already eleven fifteen in the evening. Just forty-five more minutes before tomorrow comes. Just forty-five more minutes before the day when he would revert to the man he once was.
Then he felt someone's hand on his arm and he looked in front of him. It was Yuriko. She looked at his face and saw the fear in his eyes. She too felt his fear. In less than ten hours she would regain the past she had forgotten...she would become whole again. But at what price? What will she find in her past? What was she going to unleash?
Then she smiled as she stared deep into his eyes. "It's just the time, William." She said softly. "It's just the time." She really didn't want to think about her past right now. She would just leave that for tomorrow, once they were finally in the procedure.
He looked back at her and forced a smile on his face. "Yeah. You're right. It's just the time. It's not like it's going to take something away from us, right?" But he knew that it was. It was going to strip him of his right to live the life that he wanted to live. But he didn't want Yuriko to see his pain. He wanted to hide it from her. He wanted her to see him as a man who lived happily in the last few hours of his two-day life.
"No...It's not. It's not going to take anything away from us." She said with a smile. She was surprised that she used the word 'us' instead of 'you' or 'me'. Why? Did she care for his future now? She moved her hand to his face and gently ran her fingers down his cheek. She knew that he was trying to hide his pain... she could still see the sadness within his blue eyes despite his desperate attempt to hide it behind his fake smile.
She gave out a soft laugh and gently pulled his arm with her. "Now let's go!" She said with enthusiasm in her voice. "Don't mind the time, William. The night is still young and you still owe me dinner." She smiled and arched an eyebrow.
Stryker felt all his fears drift away as he saw her smiling at him. Whenever she smiled at him and laughed with him, everything felt so right...so perfect. And tonight, he was going to savor her company. Tonight was the last night when he would see her smiling at him...and he wanted to remember it all...her smile, her laugh, her face, everything.
He smiled and walked with her to the kitchen. To hell with tomorrow. He was going to make the night last forever and he would dedicate every second to making her happy. He was going to make her remember him as the man he was now. He was going to make sure that she remembers their first and last night together.
They stepped inside the kitchen and Yuriko's eyes wandered at the room. She walked towards the kitchen table and walked around it, running her hands on its smooth surface as her eyes continued to wander around the kitchen.
"Nice kitchen." She said with a smile. Then she looked at Stryker. He was standing on the other side of the table. "Definitely better than yours." She said in a joking way.
"Definitely." He nodded in agreement. "Even I can't argue with that. The only thing you can make in my kitchen is boiling water." He said sarcastically.
Yuriko smiled and sat on one of the chairs. She placed her elbows on the table and clasped her hands together. "So, what's there to eat?" She asked curiously. "I'm starving." She could already feel her stomach begging for food. Then her eyes wandered at the fridge behind Stryker. "Something tells me that's where they keep all the food." She pointed at the fridge. "Well, I guess I'll just have to see what I can eat for tonight." She was about to stand up, when she suddenly heard Stryker's voice.
"You don't have to get up...just um, just stay there. Sit down." He said with a smile, as he motioned for her to sit. The grin on his face and the excited glint in his eyes were surefire signs that he had something up his sleeve.
She furrowed her eyebrows and looked at him with a suspicious smile on her face. "Okay. If you say so." She said. There was a hint of uncertainty in her voice. She knew Stryker was up to something, but she couldn't help but comply with his request. For the first time in her life, she willingly followed his 'orders'. There was just something in his smile and the look in his eyes that made her want to obey his innocent request.
She sat back down on her chair and looked at him curiously. She clasped her hands on the table, like she did before, and twiddled her thumbs together as she watched his actions. She saw him walk towards the fridge. What was he going to do?
"So...What are you up to?" She asked curiously as she watched him.
He turned to look at her with a devious smile on his face. "Well, um..." Then he rubbed his hands together, as if he was thinking of the right words to say. "I know that you don't like it when people do things for you. But, since this is...our last night together, I was, uh, thinking of making you dinner." He said, smiling with his eyebrows raised.
Yuriko's eyes widened with surprise as she looked at him with a dumbfounded smile on her face. She really didn't know how to react to what he just said. William Stryker is actually going to make her dinner? The Stryker she knew would never do something like that for her, or anyone else. He never even opened the door for her, or pulled the chair for her. He didn't even shield her from the rain when he had an umbrella and she didn't. But then, this man really wasn't that Stryker. She had to keep that in mind.
"William. You don't even know how to cook." She said matter-of-factly. "In fact, for the past fourteen years, I've never seen you cook. Never." She emphasized the word 'never'. And it was true. The previous Stryker really didn't give that much importance to food or eating. For him, eating was just an obligation, a requirement to keep his body alive and moving. It was neither an art nor a pleasure for him.
Stryker arched an eyebrow and shrugged. "But for the past two days, I wasn't the man you've known for the past fourteen years." He said cockily as he shook a finger at her. "So just sit back, and, uh, let me handle this." He pointed at himself as he nodded. "I'm going to make you a great sandwich...Trust me."
He turned to the fridge and opened it. He seemed really busy as he waded through the variety food in there. Yuriko could see his arms moving as he gently pushed each food aside, as if he was looking for some thing in particular.
"You know how to make a sandwich?" She asked curiously. She didn't want to admit it, but she found him so amusing right now. She was looking at a man who never did anything for anyone, who never knew how to make a simple meal, and there he was, doing his best to make sandwich dinner for her.
"Well, kind of. I saw Rogue and Bobby making some when I had dinner with them." He said as he continued to look in the fridge.
He grabbed the jars of peanut butter and strawberry jelly, and took the opened pack of sliced-cheese that he saw on the table when he ate with the Bobby and Rogue. Then his eyebrows furrowed when he saw the jar of mayonnaise. He shrugged and grabbed it too. The more the filling, the better...he thought with a grin.
He placed them all in his arms, and gently closed the fridge door with his foot. His hands and arms were already too occupied holding up all of the sandwich ingredients. He walked to the kitchen table and placed them in front of Yuriko.
Yuriko arched an eyebrow as she saw the food in front of her. When William mentioned a sandwich, those fillings weren't really the ones she had in mind. She was actually thinking of a nice, delectable vegetable sandwich with cheese, mayonnaise, tomatoes and a nice amount of chopped cabbage and dressing. She saw someone eating it once, when she and Stryker met with a business associate in an exclusive restaurant. And she had wanted to taste one ever since. After all, back then she really didn't have the right to choose for herself. She never had the freedom to choose whatever she wanted. It was always about Stryker. It was always about him, himself and him alone.
It's just quite unfortunate that she and the current Stryker didn't have the same sandwich in mind. But now, at least it just wasn't about him...it was about her too.
She grabbed the jar of strawberry jelly and looked at it. "So, you had dinner with Rogue and Bobby, huh?" She asked, as she read the jar's labeling.
Stryker walked to the kitchen counter and took the bag of sliced bread that lay there. It only had four slices remaining. He remembered eating around eight slices earlier, but he wasn't really sure since he just shoved as much bread as he could in his mouth. He might have even eaten more than that since he was so hungry. As for Rogue and Bobby, they probably ate some of the remaining bread right after he left.
"Yeah. I ate with Rogue and Bobby. Though my little dinner with them didn't really end as pleasant as I would have wanted it to." He said with his eyebrows raised.
He walked to the kitchen rack and took a spoon, a knife and a small plate with his free hand. Then he walked back to the kitchen table and placed the bag of bread alongside the jars that he got from the fridge. He placed the small plate right in front of him, and put the knife on it, and the spoon beside the plate.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Yuriko said as she looked at him. Stryker looked preoccupied as he arranged the jars and kitchen utensils in front of him.
Stryker shrugged and smiled at her. "Nah. It's okay. After all, if I were in their place, I probably would have treated me the same way too. I mean, I really wasn't the nicest guy in the world, you know." He said with a chuckle. "Even I would beat myself up if I could...though you and Logan had already done that for me." He smiled and quickly pointed at his different body injuries. "And for that, I thank you." He said as he graciously nodded at her.
Yuriko gave out a small laugh as she looked at him. She still couldn't believe how different he was...how nice and sweet and humble he was. He was even making her laugh. "How did your little dinner with Rogue and Bobby end anyway?" She asked curiously. "That is, if...it's okay to ask. You really didn't sound too happy about it."
He opened the bag of bread and took two slices out. Then he looked at her with his eyebrow arched up. "Let's just say that it ended with a splash." He looked down at his pants, and then he looked at her again. "And a very cold one at that." He said with his eyes wide open and a sarcastic smile on his face. He placed the two slices of bread on the small plate in front of him, and then he reached out for the jar of strawberry jelly and twisted its lid open.
"Bobby got you, huh?" She asked with her eyebrow arched up.
"Yeah. The boy from the north pole." He chuckled. He put the lid aside and picked up the butter knife that he got earlier. He scooped up some jelly from the jar, and spread it evenly and nicely on a slice of bread. "You know what?" His eyes were focused on the bread as he continued to spread and put more jelly on it. "This really isn't tough at all." Then he looked at her with a big smile on his face. "I told you I could make you a sandwich. And trust me, I'm going to make you the best sandwich you've ever tasted in your life!" He said proudly, as he shook the knife at her.
Then he picked up the mayonnaise jar and looked at it. "Hmm...This looks good." He mumbled to himself with his eyebrows raised. He shrugged his shoulders and twisted the lid open. He moved the opening of the mayo jar right above the jelly-filled slice of bread and used the knife to push some mayonnaise on top of the layer of jelly. He placed the jar back on the table and spread the mayonnaise all over the bread. "Looks pretty good, huh?" He asked with a smile as he looked at her.
Yuriko cringed in disgust as she watched Stryker spread the chunks of creamy, white mayonnaise all over her half-made jelly sandwich. She wasn't really much a food expert herself, but something told her that mayonnaise and strawberry jelly just don't go well together. Perhaps it was because of how different the two food substances were. Even if she hadn't tasted either of them before, she could smell their tastes from where she was sitting. One smelled very sweet; while the other smelled bland and sour. The sight wasn't much to behold either. Strawberry jelly and mayonnaise just didn't look good together...just like her and Stryker. Well, At least now she knew why he never cooked...and a part of her wished that he had stayed that way.
She gave out a small giggle as she watched him make his sandwich. She really didn't want to ridicule his rather peculiar creation, but she couldn't help herself. He just looked so excited, happy, innocent and proud, like a five-year-old boy making his very first brownie to show to his mother. Except the William Stryker in front of her was two-year-old fully-grown man who looked old enough to be her father, and she was in no way his mother. So, who was she to him, and who was he to her?
Stryker suddenly looked at her with curious, childlike eyes and a rather suspicious smile on his face. "What?" He asked curiously. "You're laughing again." He said in a teasing way. Then he arched an eyebrow as a sly grin curled up his lips. "Is it me, or am I just naturally funny to you?" He asked with a chuckle.
"It's not you, William." She said with a grin. "It's your sandwich." She smiled and pointed at his creation. "I don't think you should be putting that..." She pointed at the jar of mayonnaise. "With that..." Then she pointed at the jar of strawberry jelly.
He raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "I don't know..." He said with uncertainty. He looked at his sandwich, and then he looked back at her. "It looks good to me." He said proudly. "Look, Yuriko. Just sit back, relax, and let me do all the work, okay?" He asked with a smile. "Trust me...this sandwich is really going to be---"
Yuriko rolled her eyes and sighed. "I know, I know...it's going to be the best sandwich I've ever tasted in my entire life." She said sarcastically. And yet, she couldn't help but smile as she looked at him. He was trying his best. After all, he wasn't lying when he told her that it was going to be the best sandwich she'd ever taste in her life, because it was going to be the first sandwich she would taste in her life.
"It's not yet finished anyway." He said as he moved the other remaining ingredients closer to him. "I really want to make it something big...something special." He picked up the pack of sliced cheese and looked at its packaging. "Cheese." He read matter-of-factly. He opened the zip-locked pack and took out two slices of cheese. "This is going to be great." He said enthusiastically. He placed the two slices of cheese over the layer of mayonnaise and firmly flattened them against it.
Yuriko just smiled and slightly shook her head from side to side. She was quite flattered that Stryker was doing his best to make her something to eat, but she wasn't sure if his creation was even edible. From the looks of it, he was practically defying all the laws of sandwich making. Then she chuckled to herself. Who was she to talk anyway? She hadn't cooked a thing for the past fourteen years either. Perhaps it would be best if she just let him do as he pleased. After all, it was the last time she was going to see him like this. She might as well let him be as much as the man who he was right now.
"And now for the final touch." Stryker said proudly with a smile. He picked up the jar of peanut butter and held it up with its label facing Yuriko. "Peanut butter." He said in a cheeky way. He looked at her with a tilted eyebrow and a wide smile his lips. "You're going to love this." He twisted the lid open and placed it on the table, alongside the lids of the other jars he had opened earlier. He picked up the knife and started to scoop huge, creamy, brown chunks of peanut butter from the jar. "Now this...this is going to be the highlight of my masterpiece." He enthusiastically spread the peanut butter all over the double layer of cheese.
He looked rather serious as he evenly flattened the thick layer of peanut butter all over his nearly finished creation...he was like an artist putting his last finishing touches on his epic painting. All that over a simple sandwich. But it just wasn't any kind of sandwich. It was a sandwich that he had made especially for her...for Yuriko. It was the first and last thing he was ever going to make for her, to give to her, and he wanted to make it special. It was more than just a sandwich to him now. It was something that would make her remember him so that she would never forget the night when they were once friends, the night when he had made her dinner with his own two hands. He wanted her to remember the time when he had given something to her, rather than take away.
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