A/N: Sorta-Tiny Little Adiantum omake/deleted scene, sorta its own thing. Just a Tyke/Gwen snippet that didn't fit with TLA's tone.

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Pain

'When this pain consumes my heart

Will I be able to hold on to my soul?'

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It was pouring when Gwen arrived. Drenched and with her head downcast, it was very clear that something was very, very wrong.

Wordlessly, Scott grabbed the hand-towel from the dining table, placing it atop her head as her suit morphed into a black tank-top and jeans, and then quietly ushered her in. As soon as the door closed, however, Gwen buried her face in his chest and circled her arms around his back.

"Gwen?" Scott called to her, worried. What happened?

She glanced up at him. Her blue eyes were brimming with tears, but he could see she willed none of them to fall. Instead, it seemed the sky wept so that Gwen wouldn't have to.

"It hurts, Scott." Gwen whispered and clenched her eyes shut. "I just don't—I don't understand."

"It's alright, Gwen." Scott consoled, and navigated them to the couch so she could sit. Her arms wouldn't leave him; instead, they only tightened.

They stayed like that for a moment. Patiently, Scott waited, arms around her while Gwen wrestled with the torrent of emotions swirling inside her.

The deluge outside continued to pour.

"Does it get any better, Scott?" Gwen finally said, her voice shaking and uncertain as she looked up at him. "I was a vigilante, labeled a super-villain, and then hailed a hero. And yet I'm still not welcomed in the city I've saved. In the city I grew up in."

Scott took in the sadness in her bloodshot, watery eyes. He knew what she wanted him to say. He knew she wanted him to lie and say that things got better. To whisper the promise of a sweet paradise to her desperate ears.

But his adult self was forsaken by his friends and then murdered. His grave was spat on and his name was cursed. While tomorrow is never promised, that didn't mean life would always end up rosy.

"They'll always come, Gwen." He closed his eyes and imagined how the older Cyclops must have felt. All the wars, and losses, and sacrifices, and knowing that nothing had changed. Even seizing their destiny and carving out their home in an asteroid only served to frighten the masses into militant action. "They'll come at the worst times. They'll come when you're down, and bleeding, and even after you're dead."

People, humans and mutants, could be very flawed, and ugly, and jealous creatures that could never be satisfied. And those were marginally worse than the ones that just wanted to watch the world burn.

His heart twisted painfully in his chest. He could feel Gwen tremble in his arms. Her grip on him tightened as she buried her face deeper into his chest.

"But…but that doesn't mean we should stop trying." He whispered as he combed through her golden locks comfortingly. "Especially not us. Not with our gifts."

"It's almost like a curse." Gwen snidely mumbled against his shirt.

"It's a gift, Gwen." Scott gently insisted. "So we owe it to the ones without gifts but continue to struggle to make life better to continue fighting. Your friends back in your world. Your band. Your dad." He brushed his lips against the top of her head. "Miracles don't happen on the first try— sometimes, you just have to keep trying, and trying, and trying harder even if the possibility is zero."

It was why every bit of happiness had to be treasured. Every small victory, celebrated.

Gwen pouted up at him. "That's insane. You're insane."

Scott shook his head. "You asked me if things got better, earlier. I honestly don't know." He admitted with an embarrassed smile. "But what I do know is the future isn't set in stone."

"Oh my," Gwen giggled, rubbing the water from her eyes with his shirt. The sound was forced even to Scott's ears, but she was trying again and that was all that mattered. "We've got a philosopher here." Gwen joked.

She was still skeptic, in truth, but knowing the rotten hand Scott was dealt with in life, and his continued struggle to surmount it kept the fire in her burning. It wasn't quite right to compare who had it worse, but misery loved company, and Scott's was a steady, unyielding, but comforting force.

Scott scoffed at her playfully. "Hey, now. I'm just saying what I believe."

At Gwen's melodic giggle, Scott was reassured that they'd be alright, no matter what came at them.

Tomorrow was never promised.

Not even his death.

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'Kindness is something I don't want or need

The sunshine would just dissolve me into night

Give me a pain as pleasing as your sigh

So I can feel you all the day and night

And keep me from fading away'


A/N: Song choice is Pain by Yasunori Mitsuda & Tetsuya Takahashi from the Xenosaga Trilogy.

Again, just a short piece. The Tyke/Gwen pairing struck me when I realized how similar their situations were. At least, in the personal tragedy department.

And while I feel the OC5 idea was something only meant for fanfiction, it was also a wasted opportunity. Their book meandered, and the only real "consequence" to it was Wifi/Teen!Cable. I mean, dudes, Hickman can pretty much cherry-pick continuity now that the soft-reset button was hit with HoX/PoX.

If the X-Office really wanted to do something drastic with BMB's OC5, Tyke shoulda hooked up with Laura, or gone on to more adventures with the Champions. But as things stood (pre-Fox Studios buyout), it really felt like DisMarvel were half-committed to the X-Men—including trying to replace them with the Inhumans.

But that's enough rage from me.

Cheerio to y'all and thanks for the reviews. Didn't think this crackship would be received as well as it did.