Memories
Outstretched Hand
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They sat in the room, hearing the shouts from outside. And then the door opened. Laurie tried to swing a heavy pipe towards the figure but a hand reached up and grabbed her wrist.
"Hey, I'm here to help. Good swing, by the way."
Hope had leapt up, her eyes eager.
"Dragon!"
Tora nodded.
"Right, Hope, I need you to come with me."
Everyone glanced nervously at each other. Tora pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.
"Scott's not got the right way of doing this. Neither is anyone else, as far as I can see. I'm the only one who appears to have half an ounce of common sense about this. I'm going behind everyone's back and risking not only everyone's trust in me but quite possibly destroy my marriage as well. So either you come with me, or I knock out everyone in the room, carry you out over my shoulder and manage to find a way of you saving the mutant race without upsetting the Avengers or your team or my team."
"How are you planning to do that?"
Tora grinned.
"And that would be telling. So, Hope? What's your choice? Bear in mind, your chances of remaining out of custody and with a surplus of breath increase exponentially if you're with me."
Hope stared at Tora for a long moment, then nodded.
"Where are we going?"
One gloved hand was held out, and Hope grasped it.
"Where it ended and began. And now it begins again."
Phoenix winced.
"It's there, isn't it?"
"You always hated it there, didn't you?"
"Committing suicide isn't conducive to your enjoyment of a place."
Logan opened the door and froze. The kids were all lying neatly and comfortably in seats, but were all asleep. All except the conspicuously absent Hope. And neatly pinned to the wall was a sheet of paper, with all-too familiar writing on it.
To whoever finds this note. I have taken Hope away from this fight, because it isn't about the Phoenix. It's about old scores that need to be settled and an excuse for them to have a go at each other. I plan to take Hope somewhere safe, where I can train her and prepare her for her future. There are too many distractions and factions for her to be safe anymore. I don't know how long we'll be gone. It shall depend on so many factors, I cannot list them all.
The children are fine. It was a simple act to protect them. They should wake at around eight. Keep them safe and do not be too harsh on them. They will remember nothing when they wake.
Hope came with me of her own free will. While with me, she stands the greatest chance of learning to control her innate talents and when the Phoenix comes, I hope that it will not be to burn but to rejuvenate.
I need to state something. Birj was stagnated. The world was in its death throes, brought about by a foolish and tyrannical leader. Life was not wiped out but given a chance to move forward again. Those with the ability to adapt and grow, to flourish and evolve shall survive. The Phoenix has expanded the lifespan of that world by millennia.
And finally. To Logan. I'm sorry I went behind your back. I'm sorry I lied. I'm sorry I screamed at you when you told me your plan. I'm sorry I hit Steve. I'm sorry I scared you. But I have to do this. Phoenix and Dragon are intertwined. Tangled together so tightly, we cannot pull ourselves apart. I have to help Hope as she is our future and past and triumphs and failings. She is not the Mutant Messiah. She is Mutantkind. If she rises, so shall we. And if she falls… then extinction shall be our price to pay for the follies of our kind. Logan, you must believe me. Do not follow. Only grief lies down that path. Grief, suffering and the cries of those whose loved ones are dead. The dreams… The dreams, always there, never ending, nightmares every night, blood and tears across the whole world. This fight must not escalate!
Instead of a signature, the dragon was burnt into the paper, gleaming silver in the half-light.
Logan ripped the page from the wall and violently scrunched it up. He couldn't believe this! He wouldn't! There was no way Tora would go behind his back like that! But unbidden, the memory of their last conversation flitted to the forefront of his mind, just after he told Tora he was going with Steve to stop the Phoenix from possessing Hope.
Tora's lips slid back in a snarl.
"You would strike out at the Phoenix, yet not at me?"
Steve held out his hands placatingly.
"Tora, you are a handgun. Phoenix is an atom bomb. Dragon isn't powerful."
She stood up, eyes glowing silver.
"All cosmic entities have the power to destroy or heal entire planets. And if Phoenix is an atom bomb, then I am the Big Bang. I am the Librarian of All."
And she'd stormed out, muttering archaic curses under her breath. Logan had forced it to the back of his mind with difficulty. After all, Tora would come round to his way of thinking eventually. But now…? Now he hadn't a clue of what to do. He suddenly heard Parker behind him.
"Logan? Oh… What happened here?"
"Tora happened, that's what."
And without another word, Logan turned around and stomped off. He was going to have to have words with Tora about this.
Phoenix had the decency to blush.
"Look, I didn't know how badly he would take it."
Tora was lying flat on her back, swearing softly in French as she gently pushed wires together. And then she felt Hope slip under the low belly of the machine with her.
"Can I help?"
"Know anything about rockets?"
"Only weapons. Sorry. My education was a bit patchy. It was all you could do to make sure I could read and write properly. Nathan was more worried about keeping me alive."
Tora swore again as her fingers were zapped by a small spark.
"This stupid machine! SWORD need to keep their equipment in better condition."
"We're hotwiring a government space probe?"
"Yep. Shouldn't be too hard in theory. In practise… Well, that's a different story."
Tora grinned as the LED panels turned pink.
"Typical Brand. It's based on the Kasheri colour-code system. Pink is good, blue is bad."
She shimmed out and stretched as the lights in the cockpit all started glowing. Hope stood up next to her.
"So where exactly are we going?"
Tora sat down and started acquainting herself with the controls. Then she sighed.
"What do you know about the Blue Area of the Moon?"
"Doesn't it have a breathable atmosphere?"
"Is that it?"
"Yeah."
Tora sighed.
"The Blue Area was where the trial of Phoenix took place. The Phoenix had committed genocide and the Shi'ar were trying to sentence her to death. The Phoenix committed suicide. She wasn't Jean Grey. But she thought she was. And at that time, Jean would rather die human than live a god. So the Phoenix 'killed' herself. But you can't kill something like that. Plays havoc with the fabric of the universe."
Hope sat down in the co-pilot's seat. Tora's eyes weren't telling anything.
"Tora?"
"Yes?"
"Will… Will it hurt?"
"You'll suddenly know. Yes, it hurts. But then you are so strong. It's the most wonderful feeling in the world…"
"What was it like for you?"
"Well, I was a bit of an idiot. I fought it. If you accept it, the pain will be over in a flash. In my case, I was in agony for about a week."
Hope gulped but Tora was busy flipping switches. The engines fired up and the capsule sealed. Hope strapped herself into the deep seat with its strong black belts made of an unidentifiable material. Tora reached up and placed the thin metal probe on her forehead, grinning when she saw Hope's questioning look.
"Telepathic interface. Gives me micromanagement over things like speed and direction and automatically warns me of incoming threats."
The ship lifted up and out of the hanger with barely a sound. Hope snuggled further into the seat.
"Nathan said something I didn't understand."
"What?"
"It was when he'd come back and you helped him… Before he slipped into that sleep…"
"Yes?"
"He… He said something about… about… about Phoenix not being a threat to the Avengers but Dragon being their destroyer. Tora…?"
For Tora had stiffened and her lips had tightened.
"Tora?"
"I had to tell someone. It's been sitting so heavy in my heart for so long."
"Tell me."
"There are books of prophecies…true prophecies… The Shadow… Etana… Hope, what's wrong?"
For the girl was shivering.
"Nathan… He used to use her name as a curse… I…I think she was one of the few people who scared him…"
"That was his world. In this one… In this one, she was so much… She was a saviour to so many, so brave and strong. And she died for us all. But… she always knew so much… So much, all the time. And she had the Prophecies…"
"What prophecies?"
"The story of the world, written in a hand I know far too well."
"Whose?"
"My own. I am condemned by my own hand. 'Dragon shall destroy those who Avenge, and none may stand in her way.' Hope, do you realise what that means? I can't ever trust myself."
"Why does that prophecy have to come true?"
"Because everything else has. All of it. Including your coming. Hope, this conversation is recorded word for word in the books but…"
"But?"
"There's nothing about what happens next. That happens rarely, normally when something pivotal happens and I'm not supposed to know. Or don't know, which normally happens when I'm…you know, away or comatose or dead or something."
"Have you died often? And now I feel like an idiot for saying that."
Tora shrugged.
"Medically, I've died loads of times, by which I mean my heart has stopped beating, or I've suffered such trauma my body just shuts down. But properly? I can only really say I've given it a good shot once, but even that didn't quite work out. Death seems to have started ignoring me. So I just sort of…hovered… It was really rather boring."
Hope smiled sadly.
"Will…will that happen to me?"
Tora shrugged.
"It all depends."
"On what."
"On how much of a Phoenix you are."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"It's hard for me to explain. Dragon… It's kind of possessive. One person and one person only. And for some stupid reason, the scaly reptile chose me of all people. But the Phoenix… Basically, it flits from person to person as the situation demands. Some people… like Jean Grey… are closely tied… In fact, Jean is my equivalent. The One True Phoenix, the only true house of the Firebird. But you… I can't work you out…"
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"You look like her, you act like she would if she'd had your upbringing, you…you feel like her, but you aren't. Are you another One True Phoenix? Are you Jean reborn? Are you something completely different that I can't understand? I'm confused, Hope, and that's not normal."
The rest of the journey took place in uncomfortable silence.
Phoenix blushed.
"Look, I didn't have time to explain everything properly!"
"Well you should have! Then it maybe wouldn't have turned out so bad!"
"Well, if you weren't so secretive and insisted on doing everything your 'own way' then we wouldn't have got into that situation in the first place!"
Death placed a placating hand on their shoulders.
"Stop being so immature. You're primordial beings, you can't behave like Earth teenagers."
"We are NOT!"