Chapter Nine: Inaction


"He cheats at pool."

Helena smiled and accepted the cup of chicken noodle soup that Nate placed in front of her. He'd surprised her by showing up the day she was released from the hospital and making her dinner. Well, making her dinner if you considered opening a can of Campbell's making dinner. However, Nate did it with such sincerity, that Helena didn't protest.

"Who?" Helena asked as she reached for her spoon, which unwittingly caused her to pull at her ribs, which hurt. Nate was at her side instantly to get the spoon for her. She accepted it with a small smile and asked again, "Who?"

"Question."

She froze. "You played pool with Q?" Nate grinned in a "kid with his hand in the cookie jar" look, and nodded. "That was stupid."

"Why?"

"Cause he cheats," Helena explained around a spoonful of soup.

"Ha! I knew it!"

Helena smiled and decided that Nate wasn't such a good cook. The soup was still cold. "So, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you before the month of hell."

"Month of hell?"

Nate blushed, and shuffled to his feet. He started toward the living room, then remembered that Helena was still sore and couldn't move very well. Like the gentleman he was, he helped her down and onto the couch. Then he dropped down beside her. "Q and me wagered the pool games, and I get all his Watchtower duties for the month."

"Sneaky of him," Helena laughed as she set her head on Nate's shoulder, not even cringing when he put his arm around her and unintentionally brushed her broken arm.

"So...have you thought about my offer?"

"You mean your request," Helena corrected as she settled into the nook in his shoulder. She thought briefly of napping right there, but the nice bright blue of her man's...skin was distracting. Not that she minded.

"Yeah. So...you up for it?"

"I never was the meet-the-parents kinda girl."

"Ahhh, but why don't you pretend, for me?"

"A weekend at the Cape? Do I look like a "weekend at the Cape" kinda girl?" Helena said exasperated. Nate kissed her on the crown of her head, and held her tighter.

"No."

"This actually brings up a good point...what's a nice WASP like you doing dating a dago like me?"

Nate laughed. "I can't believe you said that."

"I mean it! I know your history, your family, your type! I'm not it."

Nate felt a small stirring of anger. "Helena, you know that's not true."

"Nathaniel, babe...look at me. Then look at your last girlfriend that your parents approved of. You've told me enough about them for me to know I'm not gonna make them happy."

Nate thought for only a second. "I don't care. This is a courtesy to them, not a requirement."

"Then why the sudden push for me to meet your parents?"

Because I'm afraid Question is going to steal you from me..."Because I care for you and you almost died. I want my family to meet the woman I..."

"The woman you what?" Helena asked, highly suspicious of the answer which she had an idea to the answer.

Nate blushed, and because he was blue, it was more purple. "I care about."

"What's another word for 'care'?"

"Love. I love you."

"You shouldn't love me."

"Why not?"

"We've only been dating for two months."

"So?"

"You're smothering me."

"Quit making excuses."

"It's not an excuse."

"You just don't want to meet my parents."

"I just want to rest. I fell off a building, you know."

"So?"

"If you love me, why are you so nonchalant about my pain?"

"You're fine."

"THE PAIN!" Helena moaned as she fake-twitched against his side. Nate laughed, and the tension was broken. Grabbing the remote, the two spent the rest of the night cuddled up and watching Jay Leno wax poetic over some hot new actress. Then, as was required, they had another argument...Leno vs. Letterman...


The phone was ringing, and it woke Helena from a deep sleep. A quick glance at the clock told her it was two am. She'd only sent Nate home at one, so she was a mite upset at being awoken so soon. After all, she had a class to teach in the morning.

She fumbled for the phone in the dark, finally wrapping stiff fingers around the cold metal of the cell phone. "Hullo?"

"Helena? Were you sleeping?"

"Vic? Why am I not surprised?"

Question laughed into the phone, and stared around his austere apartment in Hub City. He didn't really believe in keeping a lot of personal items around. It made sudden decisions to move easier. However, Q chose that moment to pick up one of the few personal pictures he had. It was of him and Helena, sitting in a meta-bar having a drink. It'd been their first "date", and Helena had known the bartender, who'd cheekily taken a picture of them. Q had swiped it, not liking arbitrary photos of himself lying around, even if he was in his mask.

"You're smart, intuitive, and you like me. Of course you'd be hoping I'd call."

"I said, I wasn't surprised, not that I was hoping for you to call."

"I take it soldier-boy isn't there?" Question asked, setting the picture down and dropping into his desk chair. It wasn't an idle question for him, he really wanted to know.

"No. He left a little while ago."

"That's good."

"That's good?"

"You need your rest."

"You're jealous."

"Yes."

Helena laughed and it echoed in the shadows of the room. "You admit it."

"Why shouldn't I?"

"I'm with Captain Atom, Vic. You need to get over it."

Q sighed. "I know. It won't last."

"And why not?" She asked, defensive. Her arm was also tingling a bit, so she flipped over onto her stomach and threw the cast onto the pillow to levitate it.

"He's too good for you."

Silence.

"I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

"I bet."

"He's not your type, Helena."

"And what is my type?"

"Dangerous men. Sexy men. Redheaded men."

"You? Babe, you were the first redhead I ever was with."

"And it worked for you."

"Not very long."

"That was one time..."

"I mean relationship-wise, not sex-wise."

Silence. Crickets.

"I have a good reason for staying away."

"So what? Was I just supposed to wait for you, Vic?" Helena continued to call him Vic, knowing that it irritated him. Who knows who could be listening?

"You did wait."

"Well, not anymore."

"I was scared, Helena."

"Of what?" Helena asked in a near shriek. Late night/early morning really wasn't her happy time.

"Of you."

Silence. Crickets. Truck going by.

"Why?"

"My mind is always busy, always thinking, always theorizing, always connecting. When I'm around you, it stops. It's quiet for just a few moments. I'm not looking around the next corner. I'm not noticing all the details that I live my life by. It's dangerous. It's devious."

"I'm devious?"

"No. You're not. You're honest, and refreshing, and much too good for me."

"The way Nate is too good for me?"

"No. You're out of my league. Just...too good."

"Why are you telling me this, Q?" Helena asked, feeling an inexplicable pain in her chest.

"I miss you."

"I know."

"I know you know."

"I know you know-...well, you get the picture."

"This isn't over, Helena."

Helena smiled and silently thumbed the "end call" button. It wasn't over. Helena feared that her feelings for Q would never end or fade. She wasn't waiting anymore. She wasn't going to play back burner to everyone else anymore. She had a new man, a new life, and she wasn't giving it all up because Q "might" want her back. She wasn't that desperate. She wasn't that foolish. She wasn't that over him.