Decisions: Part 3
by Morrioghan
Standard Disclaimer: Domino, Rebecca, Cable, X-Force, and all other X-Types mentioned in this story are the property of Marvel Entertainment and are used without permission for entertainment purposes only. Only, the cats belong to me. :)
Authors Note: This story is set between Cable #56 and X-Force #82. Feedback is desperately wanted and will be promptly responded to. Flames will be contemptuously ignored. Archivists - ask and you shall recieve. :)
Thanks to Alicia and Lynxie, my wonderful beta-readers, whose encouragement and pestering (Yes, I mean you, Lynxie J) made this story happen. And also to Stac, my dear friend and proofreader - who puts up with way too much from me <g>. You guys are the greatest! :)
Special Thanks to BJ for reminding me that a story won't work unless you put a bit of yourself in the mix. And to Lyssie for sending muses and clones to keep me going. :)
* *'s are thoughts.
Looking up from her drink, Domino was surprised to discover that the bar had filled with people. She glanced down at the stage below and saw that the band was gone. *How late is it?* She wondered, idly swirling the amber liquid in her glass.
Domino had come to the Violent Overthrow to think. The loud, crowded club suited her mood. It was filled to capacity with the faceless and nameless, all searching for something, all hoping to find it in someone else. For a moment Domino lost herself in watching the ebb and flow of the crowd.
*Did I do the right thing?* The question ran through her mind, as it had for the last month. *Maybe I should have stayed. Should have fought it out with him.* She shook her head. *Hell, there wasn't any fight in him. If I'm honest, there wasn't much in me either.*
Domino put down her drink and stared out at the crowd around her. Her gaze stopped on a large group in the opposite corner. They were an almost even mix of men and women, all talking and gesturing furiously. She guessed that at least three conversations were going on at once. She watched as a particularly energetic young lady reached across the table to hug one of her companions. Domino smiled.
*I miss the kids,* she thought ruefully. *Maybe 'Becca was right.*
Langley Virginia...
"Dammit, Dom. How do you keep getting yourself in these situations?" Domino groaned as Rebecca tightened the bandage over her ribs. "I could maintain my practice just patching you up."
"Look 'Becca, it's not like I asked to get the shit beat out of me."
"Yeah, yeah." Shaking her head, Rebecca asked "So, you don't even know who or why?"
"Not a clue. I was walking down the street and next thing I knew I was waking up in a hospital." Domino answered in a level tone.
*Now why do I get the idea that there is more happening here than she's saying?* Rebecca thought as she moved over to the counter. "That's it? Some guy jumps you, lands you in the hospital, and that's the end of the story?"
"Well, maybe not the end, but that's about it, for now." Domino's voice conveyed the message that the topic was closed. "So, how about getting me outta here?" she asked, changing the subject.
Rebecca looked at her friend. Don't think you are getting out of this THAT easily, she thought. I can wait, for now. Picking up her paperwork, she said, "Look Dom, I'm going to check you out on one condition..."
"Which is? "
"You stay with me for a few days, at least until you get back on your feet." *And I can figure out what's going on inside that hard head of yours,* she finished silently.
Domino began to refuse "Damnit 'Becca I don't need a babysitter..." She started to get up, but quickly changed her mind as the room spun dangerously. She glanced ruefully at Rebecca, "Well, on the other hand, maybe a couple of days wouldn't hurt."
Rebecca could only laugh. Shaking her head, "It's good to have you back, Dom." she said. "Let me take care of this, and we'll get out of here." Rebecca stepped out into the corridor to flag down an orderly to process Domino's release paperwork.
***
Domino watched her friend leave. *Yeah, it's good to be back. If only I knew where the hell I was supposed to be. And why the hell someone wants me planted underground,* she thought with a grimace that wasn't entirely due to the pain from her injuries.
She glanced down, taking inventory of her injuries. *'Becca's right. I'm one huge bruise. Whoever that goon was, he sure knew his job. I just wish I knew who hired him,* she thought as her hand rose unconsciously to rub the back of her neck. *I wasn't kidding when I told 'Becca that I don't remember much of the attack. 'Course, I didn't mention that vague feeling I've got that Nate was there, or that woman who was at the hospital. I'm just not ready to deal with that just yet,* she thought ruefully.
However, as she lay there her memories of that night kept intruding into her thoughts.
She turned her gaze to the hospital room, with its off-white walls and sterile environment. Various suspicious looking instruments lay strewn about a silver tray resting on a rolling table near the door. The room had all of the characteristics that she liked least about hospitals. Nothing relieved the monotony of the not quite white walls, except for a generic print of a rather lifeless still-life. Only the bed, a slightly worn chair, and the rolling table occupied the space. The room was impersonal and cold. *I don't know, Dom, it kinda suits you,* she thought bitterly, thinking of Nate and the way she'd left things. Left him. *I should've stayed, made him talk to me. Made him listen.*
Domino sat up slowly, attempting to keep the room's spin to a minimum. *This is ridiculous,* she thought as the room tilted dangerously. She looked about the room, spotting her clothes laying on the chair across the room. Grimacing, Domino eased herself around until her feet were on the floor. She looked at the chair and her clothes. *Okay, fifteen feet. I can do fifteen feet,* she thought as she gingerly began to stand up. *How the hell can I deal with Nate, if I can't walk fifteen freakin' feet?*
"Sorry to take so long. You and your damned aliases..." Rebecca returned, paperwork in hand. "Dom? What the hell do you think you are doing?" she asked. "In case you've forgotten YOU have a concussion, a rather bad one at that, not to mention two broken ribs and three others with some nice sized cracks in them. Oh and let's not forget that you're one large walking bruise. A bruise who does NOT need to be walking! I don't even want to know how you made it from New York." She marched over to stand in front of Domino. "Sit," she commanded brusquely. "I will get your clothes AND a wheelchair. Then WE will leave. Got it?"
"Got it." was the uncharacteristically quiet reply.
Rebecca Schuyler lived in a small house just outside of Langley. It wasn't much, just big enough for her and her four cats, but she called it home. As Rebecca watched her longtime friend play with one of her feline roommates, she couldn't help but wonder if there was a place Domino called home. "So Dom, aside from getting beat up, what have you been doing with yourself?" she asked.
"Not to much." Domino answered, as she idly stroked the cat in her lap. "A job here and there, nothing exciting."
*Okay, conversation starter number thirty-three bites the dust,* Rebecca thought ruefully. *Let's try a more direct approach.*
"I'm surprised to see you are doing the solo thing again." Rebecca watched Domino, who seemed to have become enraptured by the tortoiseshell's left ear. This is getting ridiculous, she thought. There is only one person I know of who, can knock her for a loop like this. "Whatever happened to that muscle-bound lug you were babysitting?" she asked casually. *Bingo,* she thought as Domino froze. *Now maybe we'll get somewhere.*
***
Domino stared at the tan and gray tortoiseshell in her lap. She and Rebecca had been playing this game for the last two days. *Obviously 'Becca's decided to change the rules.* She watched as the cat rose, stretched, and leaped onto the back of the sofa. *Wish I could retreat that easily,* she thought.
Looking over, she met Rebecca's eyes for the first time that afternoon. "I wish to hell I knew," she answered. *What to tell 'Becca?* she asked herself.
Domino had always been careful to keep certain information from her friend. It wasn't a question of keeping secrets, at least not entirely, it was a matter of making sure Rebecca didn't learn anything that could put her at risk. *As far as 'Becca's concerned I am a sometime merc/sometime teacher at Xavier's. She knows the school's for mutants, but not that it's filled to overflowing with X-Types. So, how the hell do I explain that the "muscle-bound lug" is actually a time traveling mutant with an overgrown messiah complex?*
Looking at her friend's concerned expression, Domino started, "He's in New York doing his own thing. He's got..." she paused, "issues to deal with." *Damned Askani bullshit to be precise,* she finished silently.
"Issues that don't include you, I gather." Rebecca asked.
"Well, that's the impression I got when I talked to him." Domino answered. *God forbid the blessed Askani'son should be distracted from fulfilling his damned 'Destiny.'* "It's something he thinks he's gotta to deal with on his own."
"You don't sound so sure." Rebecca said, as she shooed a gray tabby off the coffee table.
"Hell, 'Becca, I don't know. I just get this feeling that he's gotten himself in way over his head this time. And the worst thing is, I think he knows it." *He knows it all right. So why the hell is he hiding in Hell's Kitchen?* she thought as she watched the tabby settle on the window seat and start to bathe himself.
"Did you offer to help?"
"Sorta."
"Sorta?"
"Well we kinda got into a shouting match..." Domino sat up and shifted uncomfortably on the couch, trying to get into an upright position that didn't make her ribs ache more than they already did. She scowled at the tortoiseshell, who watched Domino silently from her perch on the back of the couch.
"And you stormed out? Right?" Rebecca asked, watching Domino's maneuvering with an amused smile.
"Basically," she answered, not looking at Rebecca, as she concentrated her efforts on a particularly recalcitrant pillow.
"Dom..."
"Yeah, 'Becca, I know. I know. It's not one of my smartest moves." Domino stopped fidgeting, and reached up to scratch the tortoiseshell's chin. As she began to purr, she continued, "He's cutting himself off from everyone he knows or cares about, even those kids I told you about." Domino turned to face Rebecca. " I'm so damned tired of watching him pull this shit. He's got this mentor, a little bug-eyed snake, that won't let him be. I'm just sick of trying to compete with his blasted 'Destiny,'" she finished wearily.
"Destiny?"
"Yeah, I realize this sounds stupid, but he's got this 'messiah complex' that just won't quit."
"Sounds to me that this guy needs a shrink."
Domino eased back down on the couch. The tortoiseshell, seeing her prone form, leapt down to settle across her lap. "Yeah. Him and me both."
"So what happened with the kids? You said he cut ties with them. Are they still at that school you were teaching at?" Rebecca asked changing the subject.
"No, last report I had they were heading out west. I think they're 'finding' themselves," she answered with a laugh, imagining all the trouble X-Force was most likely getting into.
"Is that wise?" Rebecca asked skeptically, thinking of some of the stories she'd heard over the years. "A couple of them sounded like they needed looking after."
"Well, I don't know about that. They're good kids. Maybe a little messed up in some areas, but then who isn't?" Domino answered defensively, not about to let anyone disparage her team. "I don't think there is much that bunch can't handle," she finished proudly.
"Sounds to me like you miss them." Rebecca got up from her chair. "I'm going to go get a soda. Ya want one?" she asked.
"Yeah. Thanks." Domino smiled. *'Becca always did know when to make an exit.*
*Hell, I do miss them.* she thought. *Nate would laugh his ass off if he saw me getting sentimental over X-Force. Not that he's around to notice.*
Scowling, she shifted on the couch to get a better view of the two cats squabbling over Rebecca's, now vacant, chair. *I wonder what kind of trouble the kids are getting themselves into.* She watched as the black and white shorthair tried in vain to persuade the calico to give up her perch. *Hell, I hope the west coast survives their arrival,* she thought with a grin.
"Hope you don't mind grape. It's all I had." Rebecca called from the doorway. She set the drinks on the coffee table, and moved over towards her chair.
"I don't know if I'd try it, 'Becca. That's some hot real estate." Domino laughed as she took a sip from her soda.
Rebecca looked at her laughing friend then back at her cats. Smiling, she picked up the calico and sat down. After a moment the cat settled in, accepting the lap in lieu of the chair. A few seconds later the other cat leaped onto her lap and happily stretched out next to his former adversary. "They're a bit rambunctious, and I'll admit it seems a bit crowded around here at times." Rebecca laughed, as she gestured towards the tabby stretched out on the window seat, and the tortoiseshell in Domino's lap. "But you know, I like it that way."
Domino smiled, thinking of her own collection of misfits, "I know what you mean."
Later that evening...
"Did you say dead?"
Rebecca froze in the doorway.
"How the hell? Look, Patch, I realize... Yeah, I know. Well, thanks for the info... No, I don't think I'll be hitting the windy city anytime soon... Yeah, I'll let you know when I'm ready for another job. Okay... Later." Rebecca watched as Domino put down the phone and slowly made her way to the window.
*Did she say dead?*
She stood there for a moment, silently observing the tense stance of her friend. *What the hell is going on, Dom? Who's dead?* This wouldn't be the first time Domino had made a long distance call that never appeared on the phone bill. *I wish I knew how to do that,* she thought as she made her way into the room. *Well, then again, maybe not.*
"Uh, Dom..."
"Hey, 'Becca. I didn't see you come in." Domino's voice was casual, too casual.
"Who's dead?" Rebecca didn't bother to pretend she hadn't heard, or to make an excuse as to why. They had known each other too long.
"Sorry you heard that." Domino said as she continued to face the window.
"Are you okay?" Rebecca asked, her concern growing. "It wasn't..."
"No." Domino turned to face her friend. "He's fine. Well, as fine as he gets." Domino's eyes were veiled. Haunted. "Apparently he went after the guy who did this," she said, gesturing towards her various bandages.
"You don't mean that he..." Rebecca began, shocked.
"Yeah, he did." Domino answered calmly, as she idley stroked the cat on the window seat.
"Dom, are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?" Rebecca asked. *She can't mean that he did what I think he did. I mean, I knew her life was dangerous, that her friends were dangerous. But this? This just doesn't happen in the real world.*
"It's a long story, too long to tell. Look 'Becca, you know that I try to... Well, that I..."Domino began, clearly uncomfortable with this conversation.
"That you don't always tell me everything that you do? Yeah, Dom. I'm not stupid." Rebecca finished for her.
"Sorry, 'Becca. It's just that there are things that you just don't need or want to know. Trust me. There are things that I wish I didn't know." Domino sat down wearily, her expression and movements lethargic. She looked defeated. The cat, irritated at the prospect of sharing his seat, rose, glared at the offending human, and left the room. Domino stared numbly at the retreating cat.
"Dom, it's okay. Really." Rebecca said reassuringly. "I just want to try to understand."
"Yeah, so do I," Domino said distractedly, almost to herself. She seemed to catch herself, and turned to Rebecca. "Well, the long and short of it is that Nate took out the guy, and he did it using his mutant ability."
"Oh, Shit." Rebecca stared at her friend in shock. *She's never told me his name before. Never, in fifteen years,* she thought, stunned.
"Yeah, Shit." Domino said, staring at her hands. "SHIELD's after him."
"Oh, God." Shaking her head, Rebecca wondered how much worse this could get. "But didn't you say that you guys used to work with some guy from SHIELD?"
"Yeah. That's the reason I'm worried." Domino looked up at Rebecca. For the first time Rebecca could see the depth of pain and worry in her eyes.
"Dom..." Rebecca began, the concern evident in her voice.
"He did it for me, 'Becca," Domino met her friend's gaze, her voice laced with pain. "I left him in a snit, and he went after this guy. For me."
Rebecca rose, crossing the room to stand at her friends side. Domino had never been one to accept comfort easily. *Well, this time she is. I refuse to watch her beat herself up over this,* Rebecca thought as she reached out towards Domino.
Suddenly Domino stiffened, every muscle in her body suddenly tensing. "Dom! What's wrong?" Domino didn't respond, her mouth silently working as her body began to shake violently. Rebecca grabbed hold of Domino's arms trying to hold her steady. "Dom. Please, Dom, look at me."
Desperately she tried to ease Domino onto the sofa. Rebecca's brain worked furiously as she tried to determine what could have caused this sudden seizure. *A side effect of the concussion, but I checked, she'd been fine. Everything came up normal on the CAT scan.* She managed to settle them both awkwardly on the sofa, her arms straining with the effort of moving Domino, without jarring her ribs.
"Come on Dom," she begged, as she tried to remain calm. *Come on 'Becca. You're a doctor. You can't panic here. Gotta stay steady. Think of your patient,* she told herself sternly, consentrating on keeping Domino as still as possible. *Okay. You have a patient with half-healed ribs, going into violent, possibly concussion related seizures. Gotta keep her still. Gotta stay calm. Can't think about anything else. Can't think about anything else.* The litany ran through her mind as she held her best-friend in her arms. *Keep it calm. It'll be okay. It has to be okay.* "Come on Dom. I've got you," she said aloud, her voice breaking. "I've got you."
As suddenly as it began, the seizure stopped. Sighing with relief, Rebecca reached up to check Domino's pupils, but stopped as she saw the expression on Domino's face. Fear. Grief. And a terrible hopelessness, that shattered Rebecca's heart. "Dom..." she began.
"Gone... He's gone... Nate's gone..." Domino's voice broke, as she curled up into a fetal position. "Empty... so empty." She looked up at Rebecca, "How can I be so empty?" she asked in the small, broken voice of an abandoned child.
Rebecca wrapped her arms around Domino. "I'm here, Dom" she soothed. *I won't pretend to understand what just happened. But you're not alone.* "You're not alone," she finished aloud, as she held her friend in her arms, and they cried.