Neena shrugged as casually as possible. Actually, she did mind a little. Her head had been filled with worried thoughts, thoughts she wouldn’t want him to hear so easily, thoughts she’d rather express in her own words, and she was terrified that he’d actually taken a…
Remember earlier when Nathan thought the only reason he could see Domino coming to see Wade would be for headaches…He had no idea how right he was.
The ride in with Neena seemed very slow, no matter how fast they we’re going. He could tells he had gotten better on the bike as she turned each corner with such ease. He wanted to say sorry. He could tell that digging around in her head didn’t set to awfully well. In his defense he didn’t look at anything but where she was and where she was headed. Considering it a break of trust. He was ready to tell her just to clarify but they pulled in to Wade’s place.
As they walked to the elevator, or as he was pulled to the elevator he could only smile. He couldn’t help it. Being with Neena somehow relaxed him for a change. He had been so tense of lately. This was just the vacation he needed. He causally looked her over as they stood in the elevator, trying not to make it obvious. That one eye hidden behind her hair. He had got lost in the moment. Then…With a loud “Who is it” the moment broke.
To be honest, he had no true idea what to expect. That could be said with any other human being behind the door, but with Wade, you pretty much kicked that up seven notches. He stared at the door handle and the next thing he knew it began to jiggle and out popped Wade. He figured it’d be the normal Wade and within moments Wade was in his arms…Yep, normal Wade.
For some reason he couldn’t help but to smile, normally this kind of thing would it just piss him off but Wade was just the annoyance he needed to make everything feel right again. Before he could even tell Wade hello he got jerked into a three way hug with Neena. With a cheerful tone.
Damnit Wade. Now I owe Neena five bucks. I thought for sure you’d be able to hold off the leaping hugs for at least longer than a minute.
Itinerary of a Lucky Merc.: Breadsticks And Bodyslides: Old Friends Meet Up
Inside of his current rundown HQ Nathan sat. His arms crossed and his brow very narrowed. In front of him was a coffee cup moving up in the air then back down on the table again. A true sign of his bordem. The coffee cup went up, then down again. Suddenly his eyes opened wide as the coffee cup came down on the table shattering it into several tiny pieces. He hurried to the window and focused. He had her. He felt her. Neena.
He ran the moment of their last meeting over and over in his head. Changing every moment in every way imaginable. In some instances he acted a lot calmer, less fun. In others he was a lot more open to Domino, it felt right. He also had one that he played the most, everything went perfect and ended that way too, but it wasn’t time to play pre-tend. With a slight hope of getting in contact with Neena he listend to her thoughts.
Focusing as hard as he could he figured out she was going to meet Wade. To unwind. Wait…Wade? To unwind? It didn’t make sense. If she wanted a headache he could easily see going to see Wade, but to unwind? As much as he didn’t understand it, he was willing to meet up with Wade if it meant seeing Neena. As he used his powers to focus on her he opened his eyes to see his reflection in the window. His normal focus face was a very blank and emotionless. This face was different, this face had a smile. He snickered and shoot it off as he focused harder trying to find out exactly where she was, cause lets be honest, finding Wade would be impossible, he could be anywhere.
“Ouch! Dang.”
[Try again. Again.]
“I’ve been trying. I know I’m good at a lot of things but maybe this isn’t one of them.”
Wade grasped the handle of a large, medieval-looking mace and tugged, pulling it out of his foot with a gross squelching sound. He held the weapon up and scowled at it while his foot started to heal, tissue knitting back together seamlessly.
[Are you kidding yourself? Juggling maces should be one of your fortes.You can do it, tiger. Imagine how cool it will be when we can break this out at parties.]
“It would be pretty awesome… Maybe I can set the maces on fire for some added ‘oomph’?”
[Maybe later. We just put a lease on this apartment. No insurance. It would blow if we burned down another apartment building.]
Wade dropped the three spiked maces he’d been juggling, letting them splinter the hardwood floor of the living room with their weight. He collapsed back into a squishy armchair and sighed. Being alone in New York usually wasn’t this bad. He could find work or play easily on a regular day but now… He had a few very disturbing things he couldn’t stop thinking about. Logan, Laura… Stryker. His blackouts.
[Pick up the maces again.]
“Nah. I might just shoot myself in the head to knock out for awhile…” Wade’s fingers found the grip of the handgun he’d squished between the cushion and the arm. A second later, the gun was pointed at his temple. He squeezed his eyes shut, ready to pull the trigger and —
His phone buzzes. Tossing the gun aside, he checks his messages. Text from Neena, oooh.
[Our savior.]
“Hush your mouth. Well… Neena’s on her way…” Wade looked around the loft. Pizza boxes and take out containers were piled everywhere. Was that a homeless dude sleeping in the corner? …No, more garbage.
[Dude. Slob. Right?]
“Yeah. Okay. Might as well… Throw all this crap out the window. Try and peg a kid. Ten point system. Yes.” He grinned and got to work. Everything would be tidy enough when Neena got there. Enough to make it look like he wasn’t moping, at least. Which was totally not what he’d been doing… Okay, it was what he’d been doing, but Neena didn’t have to know that.
An involuntary shudder crept past Neena’s spine as Nathan established a connection with her, and her bike swerved a little before she straightened it again. She may not be a telepath, but she sure as hell shared enough of a bond with him to know something was happening. Her pitchblack eyebrows arched upwards and she tipped the dark sunglasses she was sporting to check the sign next to the road. Upcoming gas station. Her bike needed a refill anyway, and taking a breather sounded like a good option, especially if someone was looking for her. When she pulled the bike into the gas station, out of sheer habit she took the glocks out of their holsters to slam a pattern into both of them. She didn’t like people messing with her head. Had always told Nathan not to do so, either, but with him she could tolerate it. But hey…it wasn’t like she knew it was him, in the first place.
She holstered the glocks again and started filling up the tank, meanwhile keeping a wary eye on her surroundings and taking her possible exit routes in regard, as well as the given weapons the area provided her with. Three massive iron bins that she probably wouldn’t be able to lift, but perhaps a stronger opponent would. If she was lucky, which was the case most of the time with her, she would be able to evade them. Powerlines overhead, a single lucky shot could disconnect them and send them crashing into whomever would bug her. And then the gas tanks. Gas tanks would be a final option, it would involve a lot of casualties and she might hurt herself in the process.
The area was fairly open, however, which was both an advantage as well as a disadvantage for her. She would be able to see her enemy coming…but they would also have a perfect shot on her if anyone had sent a sniper after her. Grand. With that thought in mind, she shuffled behind a large pillar to fill up the last bit of her tank, groaning at the slow tempo in which the oil seeped into the motorcycle.
“Oh c’mon already…”
In times like these, she rather envied Wade and Nathan, with their ability to simply fly or press a button on a teleportation device. She’d have to fix herself one of those too, but she hadn’t seen Weasel in a long time, and she had severe doubts Wade would give her his spare teleporter, if at all he had one left.
Still focusing on her location Nathan managed to figure out one thing imparticular. She was on the move, because she was booking it. Good news was, she was slowing down, but not to Wade, but to…A gas station? Thats perfect!, he thought to himself. That smirk had returned to his face as he found the gas station and bodyslid there.
The gas station wasn’t that busy. It had a few truckers refueling for the next trip. The lack of people was actually a good thing, easier to sort through things and figure out where Neena was. With a large flash behind the gas station he appeared. He stretched a little bit, those body slides always cramped him up. He noticed a mouse run past him and straight to the trashcan full of other mice, in other words this wasn’t the fanciest place to see her, but he’d been in worse.
He looked around to much surprise to see that he had beat her, so he was going to make this a bigger shock than it already was. He walked into the gas station getting the obvious look of “Oh god, I’m getting robbed aren’t I” but he simply nodded to the employee and went on with his business. Walking to the back he found the perfect spot to spy out the window, next to the coffee machine. He pulled up a newspaper and began to read as waited for Neena.
Neena finished filling up the gas tank of her newly acquired motorcycle and made her way over to the shop, still wary of her surroundings, pushing the sunglasses she’d been wearing up into her hair to stop from blocking her vision. The cashier looked a little shaken, but she didn’t pay much attention to it; this was usually the case when she marched into a public place fully armed and with her eyepatch uncovered. It wasn’t until after she’d paid that she noticed he wasn’t looking at her. Her eyes followed the cashier’s gaze and a pang of recognition surged through her.
“Nate?!”
She shoved her wallet back in the pouch it came from and made a “keep the change” hand gesture at the cashier before swiftly closing the distance between him and her…and stopping right in front of him. She’d almost pulled him into an overly enthusiastic hug. Almost. In stead, she shifted her weight onto one leg and flicked his nose.
“Damn, it’s good to see you. Don’t take it’s a coincidence you’re here, huh?”
She turned on her feet, ending up beside him and boldly hooking an arm through his cybernetic arm, flashing him a cheeky grin as she pulled him along with her, to her bike.
“First, you’re gonna hop on my bike. Then you can tell me why the hell you’re stalking me.”
She uttered the word ‘stalking’ with a clear hint of humor, since it mixed in with a soft snicker, and she slid onto her bike, patting the space behind her to indicate he could sit down there.
He waited for what seemed like forever. Forgetting the fact that he could easily just track her down again and check her distance. Then he heard a bike pull up. He turned around outside to see her filling up. That smirk returned to his face as he watched her. She slowly made her way into the store and right when he thought he’d have some time to actually hide himself, she had already found him.
Almost at a loss for words she made her way to him and struck up the conversation with that flick of his nose. He was grinning like an idiot. She finally gave him the opportunity to speak, so he opened his mouth, and the next thing he knows he’s being pulled to her bike. Without question he hopped on and finally was finally going to talk to her.
Coincidence? No.
He said in a very cheerful, yet loud, voice. Them being on a bike made it harder to talk and hear but at this moment he didn’t care.
I was sitting at the hideout boring myself and came across someones thoughts almost yelling for me to pay them a visit. I hope ya don’t mind, I kinda found you through your head. I know you never liked that to much.
Hello, Nate. It’s good to see you. Thank you for the follow. *smiles*
Anytime Scott. Sorry I didn’t get to it sooner, still getting used to all this social network nonsense. You’d think me being as advanced as I come handle such a task.
I would very much like that, Nate. It’s been far too long since we’ve seen each other. I’ll have to look at my schedule. Let me know when is good for you and I’ll work it in. *smiles*
*nods in agreement* Yes sir, not to much on my plate these days. Doing a lot of running, could use a sit down every once in awhile.
Hello, Nate. It’s good to see you. Thank you for the follow. *smiles*
Anytime Scott. Sorry I didn’t get to it sooner, still getting used to all this social network nonsense. You’d think me being as advanced as I come handle such a task.
It’s no problem at all. It’s hard to figure this stuff out sometimes. I know I’ve had a bit of trouble with it but I’m getting it. I’m very glad to see you again.
Feelings mutual. We’ll have to get together some time your free and catch up. A family reunion, if you will.
Hello, Nate. It’s good to see you. Thank you for the follow. *smiles*
Anytime Scott. Sorry I didn’t get to it sooner, still getting used to all this social network nonsense. You’d think me being as advanced as I come handle such a task.
Itinerary of a Lucky Merc.: Breadsticks And Bodyslides: Old Friends Meet Up
Inside of his current rundown HQ Nathan sat. His arms crossed and his brow very narrowed. In front of him was a coffee cup moving up in the air then back down on the table again. A true sign of his bordem. The coffee cup went up, then down again. Suddenly his eyes opened wide as the coffee cup came down on the table shattering it into several tiny pieces. He hurried to the window and focused. He had her. He felt her. Neena.
He ran the moment of their last meeting over and over in his head. Changing every moment in every way imaginable. In some instances he acted a lot calmer, less fun. In others he was a lot more open to Domino, it felt right. He also had one that he played the most, everything went perfect and ended that way too, but it wasn’t time to play pre-tend. With a slight hope of getting in contact with Neena he listend to her thoughts.
Focusing as hard as he could he figured out she was going to meet Wade. To unwind. Wait…Wade? To unwind? It didn’t make sense. If she wanted a headache he could easily see going to see Wade, but to unwind? As much as he didn’t understand it, he was willing to meet up with Wade if it meant seeing Neena. As he used his powers to focus on her he opened his eyes to see his reflection in the window. His normal focus face was a very blank and emotionless. This face was different, this face had a smile. He snickered and shoot it off as he focused harder trying to find out exactly where she was, cause lets be honest, finding Wade would be impossible, he could be anywhere.
“Ouch! Dang.”
[Try again. Again.]
“I’ve been trying. I know I’m good at a lot of things but maybe this isn’t one of them.”
Wade grasped the handle of a large, medieval-looking mace and tugged, pulling it out of his foot with a gross squelching sound. He held the weapon up and scowled at it while his foot started to heal, tissue knitting back together seamlessly.
[Are you kidding yourself? Juggling maces should be one of your fortes.You can do it, tiger. Imagine how cool it will be when we can break this out at parties.]
“It would be pretty awesome… Maybe I can set the maces on fire for some added ‘oomph’?”
[Maybe later. We just put a lease on this apartment. No insurance. It would blow if we burned down another apartment building.]
Wade dropped the three spiked maces he’d been juggling, letting them splinter the hardwood floor of the living room with their weight. He collapsed back into a squishy armchair and sighed. Being alone in New York usually wasn’t this bad. He could find work or play easily on a regular day but now… He had a few very disturbing things he couldn’t stop thinking about. Logan, Laura… Stryker. His blackouts.
[Pick up the maces again.]
“Nah. I might just shoot myself in the head to knock out for awhile…” Wade’s fingers found the grip of the handgun he’d squished between the cushion and the arm. A second later, the gun was pointed at his temple. He squeezed his eyes shut, ready to pull the trigger and —
His phone buzzes. Tossing the gun aside, he checks his messages. Text from Neena, oooh.
[Our savior.]
“Hush your mouth. Well… Neena’s on her way…” Wade looked around the loft. Pizza boxes and take out containers were piled everywhere. Was that a homeless dude sleeping in the corner? …No, more garbage.
[Dude. Slob. Right?]
“Yeah. Okay. Might as well… Throw all this crap out the window. Try and peg a kid. Ten point system. Yes.” He grinned and got to work. Everything would be tidy enough when Neena got there. Enough to make it look like he wasn’t moping, at least. Which was totally not what he’d been doing… Okay, it was what he’d been doing, but Neena didn’t have to know that.
An involuntary shudder crept past Neena’s spine as Nathan established a connection with her, and her bike swerved a little before she straightened it again. She may not be a telepath, but she sure as hell shared enough of a bond with him to know something was happening. Her pitchblack eyebrows arched upwards and she tipped the dark sunglasses she was sporting to check the sign next to the road. Upcoming gas station. Her bike needed a refill anyway, and taking a breather sounded like a good option, especially if someone was looking for her. When she pulled the bike into the gas station, out of sheer habit she took the glocks out of their holsters to slam a pattern into both of them. She didn’t like people messing with her head. Had always told Nathan not to do so, either, but with him she could tolerate it. But hey…it wasn’t like she knew it was him, in the first place.
She holstered the glocks again and started filling up the tank, meanwhile keeping a wary eye on her surroundings and taking her possible exit routes in regard, as well as the given weapons the area provided her with. Three massive iron bins that she probably wouldn’t be able to lift, but perhaps a stronger opponent would. If she was lucky, which was the case most of the time with her, she would be able to evade them. Powerlines overhead, a single lucky shot could disconnect them and send them crashing into whomever would bug her. And then the gas tanks. Gas tanks would be a final option, it would involve a lot of casualties and she might hurt herself in the process.
The area was fairly open, however, which was both an advantage as well as a disadvantage for her. She would be able to see her enemy coming…but they would also have a perfect shot on her if anyone had sent a sniper after her. Grand. With that thought in mind, she shuffled behind a large pillar to fill up the last bit of her tank, groaning at the slow tempo in which the oil seeped into the motorcycle.
“Oh c’mon already…”
In times like these, she rather envied Wade and Nathan, with their ability to simply fly or press a button on a teleportation device. She’d have to fix herself one of those too, but she hadn’t seen Weasel in a long time, and she had severe doubts Wade would give her his spare teleporter, if at all he had one left.
Still focusing on her location Nathan managed to figure out one thing imparticular. She was on the move, because she was booking it. Good news was, she was slowing down, but not to Wade, but to…A gas station? Thats perfect!, he thought to himself. That smirk had returned to his face as he found the gas station and bodyslid there.
The gas station wasn’t that busy. It had a few truckers refueling for the next trip. The lack of people was actually a good thing, easier to sort through things and figure out where Neena was. With a large flash behind the gas station he appeared. He stretched a little bit, those body slides always cramped him up. He noticed a mouse run past him and straight to the trashcan full of other mice, in other words this wasn’t the fanciest place to see her, but he’d been in worse.
He looked around to much surprise to see that he had beat her, so he was going to make this a bigger shock than it already was. He walked into the gas station getting the obvious look of “Oh god, I’m getting robbed aren’t I” but he simply nodded to the employee and went on with his business. Walking to the back he found the perfect spot to spy out the window, next to the coffee machine. He pulled up a newspaper and began to read as waited for Neena.
Neena had been sitting in the mansion she shared with Daken, alone with her thoughts, for far too long. It had barely been a day since the shitstorm caused by Daken’s drunken rantings had hit her like a smack to the face, but already her thoughts were catching up with her. She had to get out of…
Inside of his current rundown HQ Nathan sat. His arms crossed and his brow very narrowed. In front of him was a coffee cup moving up in the air then back down on the table again. A true sign of his bordem. The coffee cup went up, then down again. Suddenly his eyes opened wide as the coffee cup came down on the table shattering it into several tiny pieces. He hurried to the window and focused. He had her. He felt her. Neena.
He ran the moment of their last meeting over and over in his head. Changing every moment in every way imaginable. In some instances he acted a lot calmer, less fun. In others he was a lot more open to Domino, it felt right. He also had one that he played the most, everything went perfect and ended that way too, but it wasn’t time to play pre-tend. With a slight hope of getting in contact with Neena he listend to her thoughts.
Focusing as hard as he could he figured out she was going to meet Wade. To unwind. Wait…Wade? To unwind? It didn’t make sense. If she wanted a headache he could easily see going to see Wade, but to unwind? As much as he didn’t understand it, he was willing to meet up with Wade if it meant seeing Neena. As he used his powers to focus on her he opened his eyes to see his reflection in the window. His normal focus face was a very blank and emotionless. This face was different, this face had a smile. He snickered and shoot it off as he focused harder trying to find out exactly where she was, cause lets be honest, finding Wade would be impossible, he could be anywhere.
Dom couldn’t help but smile at this. The way his expression changed when he talked about Hope, the protective nature. She’d seen it in him when they’d been together, but it was different. The little redheaded baby had really made him a different man, in the good sense of the word, though undoubtedly he still went through great lengths to keep up his reputation. She was also very glad to hear they hadn’t had to run in a while; she knew all too well what it was like always being on the run, and having a place to return to, to actually call home, was very rare for her. But that made it all the more special when she found a peaceful place to retire to for a while in between jobs. Kicking her feet up on the table and just relaxing, not worrying about a damn thing. She really wished the same for Nathan and Hope.
She lead the two of them around the corner, the gardens she’d spoken of reaching out in the distance, and then she noticed the change of expression on Nathan’s face. Her eyebrows pulled into a frown, and she halted to listen to what he had to say. It seemed like he was protesting against a remark she’d made, though the security remark had really only been about the peace and quiet factor, not the fact that she would get in trouble. Hell, if she would get in trouble, she’d walk out of there with a shrug. She wasn’t obliged to do anything for S.H.I.E.L.D. unless they paid her for it, and she’d pick Cable over them any day. Shaking her head in response to his remark, she did the bold thing; lifting a finger up to place it on his lips. To silence him.
“Don’t be silly. I just wanted a little peace and quiet for ourselves, ‘sall. If these bastards give us hell because I invited you over, I’ll pump ‘em so full of lead they’ll shit spoons for the rest of their miserable lives.”
Now over the course of their time they had spent together, Nathan had met a couple of the many personalties of Domino. He met the very polite, Domino. He had seen the excited one and even saw the sneaky Domino. But at that very instant he saw one of his favorite versions of her. The spunky Domino. With that little line, he remembered on of the greatest qualities about that girl, her spunk to anyone that didn’t agree. Sure it made it difficult to win a fight with her, and those I told you so moments were very hard to come by, this was one of the things he loved about Neena.
He looked up ahead and saw the garden she was talking about. It looked like the perfect spot to catch up and just get away from things. Looking up at her she finally reached the topic he had been waiting on. Relief wasn’t exactly the word he would use to describe how he felt about her reaction. She wasn’t subtle at all. Very blunt that she wanted clearly what he had wanted.
Smiling warmly he looked back at her.
Now that’s the Neena, that I missed. Won’t take shit from no one.
He walked up to the bench and sat down with her. His eyes never leaving hers not even for a second. He didn’t exactly have all the time in the world, so he was going to make sure he soaked up all this time with her he could.
So tell me more about your S.H.I.E.L.D gig? Anything interesting that you Can tell me about it? Or hell, just get me back up to speed on all things Domino. You know I’m a sucker for your stories.
“Oh, you’re a sucker alright.”
Her sentence ended with a playful chuckle as she slid down onto the bench next to him, casually leaning back and crossing one leg over the other. Now that the tense atmosphere was lifted, things were so much easier. She leaned forward and swung one of her legs back and forth as she thought. Very uncharacteristical, that. But she didn’t even stop to think about it. What could she tell him about their time apart? About S.H.I.E.L.D? She wanted more than anything to tell him all there was to know, but she was a woman of her word, and she’d signed a contract to keep things quiet. Her eyes darted across the gardens and the base grounds before focusing back on Cable’s, and her tone of voice lowered to a whisper.
“They’re working on a ‘cure’ for Banner. Special weapon development that fires rounds of antidote at him, so he can snap out of it, if y’know what I’m saying. They still need to test it, but they’ve been busy with that for a while now.”
The fingers of both her hands intertwined with each other before she pulled them away and repeated the same thing a few times, thinking things over. She couldn’t grasp how things still felt so natural to her. He had left. He’d travelled to the future and gotten married there. He’d lost his wife. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how he must’ve felt…how he must still feel. Her eyes closed for the briefest of moments before she slowly opened them again and turned her body towards him to look him in the eye.
“Nathan, I…”
She inwardly cursed herself. How the hell was this so hard? She never had any trouble finding the right words. Ah, right. But this was about emotions. Personal stuff. Things neither one of them were particularly good at.
“I think your experiences far outweigh mine. It’s been dull around here. Really not much to tell, unless y’want me to go into details about the merc jobs I’ve been working. It’s just—-yeah. I don’t have an awful lot to update you on, really. Not much has changed here.”
{Not much. Except you went away, got married, your wife got killed and you came back with a teenage daughter and a life of experience. I can never live up to that. I can never make that right.}
Well that didn’t get her talking as much as he had hoped. He really did enjoy hearing her stories, she could always make things seem so interesting. Cable didn’t like talking about himself to much, it wasn’t exactly a fun story. He really couldn’t make it sound interesting. He traveled through time sure, but whats so interesting about a guy with a kid, who’s wife died. He didn’t want the conversation to be all about him, but after all it was a her reunion too.
Well, to be honest their isn’t two awfully much to tell. After finally settling down in our “Home” as Hope calls it, things have been really quiet.
The truth was, he was in some serious debt. Nathan was a kind hearted person despite his rough exterior. Played by the rules as long as it didn’t involve Hope. He had found a place for them to stay but for the sake of having the tiny things in life like water, electricity, and even the internet. He didn’t want to mention it to her, after all she did have a better life now that she was with the suits. Then it hit him, who better than Domino to test his luck on? He wasn’t going to make it obvious for her, but he’d drop a small hint at his money issue.
Actually, come to think of it, I do got a funny story. See the other day, I was looking for some work, came across this ad to do a night watch at an old mining company. I jumped on the offer. Well, the night went pretty smoothly, until some boys came across the mining site looking to cause some trouble. I started walking toward them and I heard one of them yell, “Is that a flash light?”, in reference to my bad eye. It actually was enough to make me snicker. Wound up getting closer, turns out they were willing to get a little rough as the took off after me, but the one who called it a flash light just about crapped his pants at the sight of my eye. “Damn it Jones! That’s no flashlight! What the hell is wrong with his eye!” They took off running ‘for I could even say a word. Probably some of the easiest money I’ve made that time I bet on Wade in a taco eating contest.
Domino stared idly at the bottom of her now empty cup of coffee, her communication device placed carefully beside it. Just minutes ago, she’d received word from Cable. How he managed to pick up on the signal of her comm time and time again remained a mystery to her, as did a lot of other things…
As he sat there almost dumbfounded by finding his old friend, Domino, he thought about what luck it was that he had found her. Which in itself was ironic, her luck managed to pay him a visit every now and then. He thought to himself, how a simple check on Hope turned into seeing her again.
Trying to keep his thoughts in line and focused. Although, he was gaining some excitement from the thought of seeing her. He had told her 15 minutes. It had been about 8. Looking around he made his way to the closet and grabbed a change of clothes. She was in Seattle, on the other side of the country, but he didn’t have to tell her that. A simple Bodyslide and he’d be right next to her. 12 minutes.
He went to grab his shoes and managed to run past the mirror. Turning he looked at himself trying to see if he was looking good enough for this reunion. What was going on? This whole meeting had him turned into an excited teen, he had to get more focused, after all she had been dealing with S.H.E.I.L.D as of lately. The clock hit 14:30. It was time for the reunion. Within the 30 seconds he teleported right outside Domino’s location and managed to find her within seconds.
“Hello Neena” he said, trying to hold back his excitement in seeing her.
Neena’s thoughts were consumed with, well, with thoughts. Thoughts about everything. About her actions while they had been sepparated…about the reason for their sepparation. So many questions, one too many to handle. She rubbed her temples to try and get rid of the buzzing thoughts, trying to calm down a little. And then she caught sight of him. He had teleported just off the property and she clenched her teeth to hold back her part of the excitement. Gods, he hadn’t changed one bit. If anything, he was a bit more rugged, had a few more lines across the face, but hell, that was how she knew him to be.
She raised two fingers to the side of her head and saluted him, accompanied by a cheeky smirk…and then changed her mind. What the hell, Neena. Salutations? No. She took one too many a step towards him and ended up clearly within his personal space, looking up at him with slightly quirked eyebrows. He made her feel so awkwardly small. Then she raised a fist to give him a playful punch to the chest.
“Nate…good to see ya again.”
Her voice sounded moderately confident. Just moderately. So much had happened, hells, she’d even thought him to be dead at some point. And here he was, casually greeting her with a “Hello Neena”. Silly lil’ soldier.
“Hello Neena”? What was that he thought. Why couldn’t he have just given her the hug he oh so wanted to give her. He shook off the thoughts and started back with the conversation.
“You look great. How have you been recently? Merc business still going strong, I hope.”
Way to play 20 questions there Nate. Keep it simple. Its just Neena. She’s not going to think anything less of you for acting a little civilian like.
She couldn’t keep her lips from twitching into a slight grin. His ‘good’ eye reflected at least a small amount of emotions, none of which he was usually very keen on sharing, but it made him look a little socially awkward at this point. Not like he was ever bothered by being socially awkward. He had a large quantity of give ‘em hell attitude to make up for it.
Though still grinning, her lips pursed at his question. Merc business was dull as hell lately, and she realised she hardly had any interesting stories to share with him.
“Honestly? It’s been hellishly boring. Not on a team, taking crappy jobs? Yeah. Not my kinda thing. S.H.I.E.L.D. employment brings more excitement to the job, though.”
She paused for a moment, knowing he would start asking questions about this.
“…Yeah, I know what you think of ‘em. But it’s good payment and I get classier jobs. And better places to stay than crappy old motel r—-“
At that point, she pressed her lips together, stopping herself mid-sentence. Ever since he’d taken up the duty of looking after Hope, Cable had been moving around constantly. He didn’t even have the opportunity of sleeping in a real bed. And here she was, complaining to him. She flashed him a small, apologetic smile.
“…Yeah. Y’know what I mean.”
Deep down he knew how it sounded. He also knew that he didn’t live the most extravagant life style, but he did know Domino knew it was all for Hope. As he stood there listening, almost studying her. She hadn’t changed a bit, in fact she was just as he remembered. That black hair falling down her face, leaving that one dark eye of hers poking out almost trying to say hello.
Instantly he wanted to get the subject off of his living arrangements, as he could tell it bothered her.
“Hm, I hate to hear that about the Merc buiss. Just wish you didn’t have to work with the suits.”He looked around almost not knowing what to say to her then finally something just escaped his mouth without him even thinking about it.
“It’s really nice to see you Neena.”
He tried to hold back his confused look. How did that come out? Sure, thats what he wanted to say, but he was trying to be professional. Somewhere he wondered if Wade had gained control over him.
Neena pressed her lips together, slumping her shoulders the slightest bit as she sighed. Yeah. She knew how much that disappointed him. Cable and certain authorities mixed as well as Wade and keeping his mouth shut. Not in the slightest.
She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, unsure of what to say, silent suspense filling the air…and then that remark. Her eyebrows arched upwards and her eyes shot towards him, catching his gaze as he said it, right before his expression went back to neutral. Oh. Oh.
She parted her lips to speak, but in stead she just took a deep breath before closing her mouth again and letting out an exasperated sigh through her nose. Frustrating, that. She had no idea what to say or do. She was only inches away from him, invading his personal space rather harshly, and she’d thought it to be awkward after such a long time, but…he didn’t even seem to mind.
Involuntarily, her hand brushed past his arm and she pulled it back as if she had burned herself, her skin tingling, her mouth slightly agape at the sensation. Then she closed her eyes and let out another sigh before turning back to him and taking his non-mechanical hand in hers. No words were exchanged for a long moment as she traced her fingers past the lines on his rugged hand, until a mutter under her breath escaped from her lips.
“I’ve missed ya, Nate. A lot.”
The akward tension he felt at the begining of the conversation almost seemed to melt away as Domino grabbed his hand. When she uttered those six little words, not only put a smile on his face, but one on his heart as well. His eyes lit up and that serious face of his lifted.
Almost not knowing what to say next he decided to make another plan. If that whole “speaking from your heart” thing worked a few moments ago, maybe it’ll work now. He took a deep breath as his eyes locked onto to hers.
“Hm. Neena, I vaguely remember you mentioning something about sitting down and catching up. If the offers still open, I’d really like that right about now.”
He waited for an answer almost knowing it would be a yes, it was the simple fact that he couldn’t believe how his heart was acting right now. Moments ago Neena seemed the same, but when he thought about it, something was different. It wasn’t with her though. It was with him.
Normally he would sit and talk, answering with those short winded answers. Things were different today. He wanted to talk with her. For as long as possible. He wanted to get to know her. Check up on her and make sure she was actually doing okay, and not just saying it for his sake. He was even considering seeing if he could help her find some new work, some work that isn’t full of suits.
Neena pondered his words over for a moment. Sitting down and talking would be fairly difficult, sure she could arrange for them to enter the building if she put some effort into it, but there was a lot of security, and Nathan hadn’t been registered just yet. That, and she quite liked the fresh morning air that filled her lungs. It was good to be outside for a while.
“Tell you what. How ‘bout we make that a ‘morning walk and catching up’, shall we? It’s nice to catch a bit of fresh air.”
She didn’t wait for him to answer, interlacing her fingers with his and giving a sharp tug, dragging him along with her, her expression turning back to the usual cheeky grin mixed with a determined upward tilt of the head.
“There’s a garden here that’s pretty okay. There should be a place for us to sit and talk there. Doesn’t mean we can’t talk while we’re walking.”
She loosened her grip on his hand and ran her hand through her hair, ruffling it slightly as she looked out into the distance, trying to determine on what route to take.
“Hmm…lessee…I think going left’s the easiest way. At least there’s far less security on that side of the building, for some reason.”
Her eyes focused on the ground ahead of her, her footsteps a consistent, casual pace. It was actually quite peaceful. With the soft sound her boots made on the pathway, the silence wasn’t as deafening as before, and the tension that had been in the air at first seemed to slowly fade away. She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly before re-opening conversation, shooting him a sideward glance every now and then. Just watching him from the corner of her eye.
“So how’ve you and Hope been holding up? Still a bumpy road, or did you guys finally get a break from things for once?”
She allowed her thoughts to be consumed by this idea. It had to be the latter. It had to be. He wouldn’t leave Hope behind just like that, leaving Hope unguarded, just so he could check on her, would he? No, certainly not. He’d dedicated a large part of his life to that girl and she meant the world to him, surely he’d be more responsible than that.
If he could have pictured the perfect way for that to go down, you might as well frame him, cause he was in it. The difficult thing about trying to talk to Domino was he didn’t exactly know where they stood. He didn’t know if he should act more business professional with her, or if he could let his guard down with her. He knew what he wanted, but the question was, what did she want.
As she grabbed his hands and they walked he she said something about less security. This was probably for the best, after all he and S.H.E.I.L.D weren’t on the best of terms. Still it bothered him to think what they would say if they caught him talking to her. But realistically what they would do to her if she was caught talking to him. He didn’t want her to lose her job. Despite how suit filled it was.
As they walked he could see her giving him the stare out of his good eye. It put a smirk on his face. This was good for Nathan. He needed times where he could let out some of his more human emotions. He couldn’t do that around Hope. She needed to see the soldier in him. To stay strong, but she could probably use this time as well. Maybe next time he would bring her a long, but for now, it was his reunion.
Well, to be honest, we’ve actually went for a while with out any incidents. Hopes doing a very good job of keeping watch and is beginning to live out a little bit more of a normal life. I let her get a Facebook so she could stay in touch with a few children she met at a trailer park we crashed in. Not to mention with some of the mutants at the institute. I figured she wouldn’t care if I stepped out to see you for a while.
He thought back to her saying things about the security and how their was a less chance of getting caught. He still pondered on this as they talked. He wanted the best for her that was for sure, and if that meant getting out of her hair so she could live her new life, he would understand. It boiled in him as he continued to think on the subject, but eventually he let it out.
Neena, your not going to get in any trouble by talking to me right? I can go if those suits are going to tare you a new one? I mean…I just want this little reunion to go smooth as possible. I really just want to unwound and catch up with an old friend.
Dom couldn’t help but smile at this. The way his expression changed when he talked about Hope, the protective nature. She’d seen it in him when they’d been together, but it was different. The little redheaded baby had really made him a different man, in the good sense of the word, though undoubtedly he still went through great lengths to keep up his reputation. She was also very glad to hear they hadn’t had to run in a while; she knew all too well what it was like always being on the run, and having a place to return to, to actually call home, was very rare for her. But that made it all the more special when she found a peaceful place to retire to for a while in between jobs. Kicking her feet up on the table and just relaxing, not worrying about a damn thing. She really wished the same for Nathan and Hope.
She lead the two of them around the corner, the gardens she’d spoken of reaching out in the distance, and then she noticed the change of expression on Nathan’s face. Her eyebrows pulled into a frown, and she halted to listen to what he had to say. It seemed like he was protesting against a remark she’d made, though the security remark had really only been about the peace and quiet factor, not the fact that she would get in trouble. Hell, if she would get in trouble, she’d walk out of there with a shrug. She wasn’t obliged to do anything for S.H.I.E.L.D. unless they paid her for it, and she’d pick Cable over them any day. Shaking her head in response to his remark, she did the bold thing; lifting a finger up to place it on his lips. To silence him.
“Don’t be silly. I just wanted a little peace and quiet for ourselves, ‘sall. If these bastards give us hell because I invited you over, I’ll pump ‘em so full of lead they’ll shit spoons for the rest of their miserable lives.”
Now over the course of their time they had spent together, Nathan had met a couple of the many personalties of Domino. He met the very polite, Domino. He had seen the excited one and even saw the sneaky Domino. But at that very instant he saw one of his favorite versions of her. The spunky Domino. With that little line, he remembered on of the greatest qualities about that girl, her spunk to anyone that didn’t agree. Sure it made it difficult to win a fight with her, and those I told you so moments were very hard to come by, this was one of the things he loved about Neena.
He looked up ahead and saw the garden she was talking about. It looked like the perfect spot to catch up and just get away from things. Looking up at her she finally reached the topic he had been waiting on. Relief wasn’t exactly the word he would use to describe how he felt about her reaction. She wasn’t subtle at all. Very blunt that she wanted clearly what he had wanted.
Smiling warmly he looked back at her.
Now that’s the Neena, that I missed. Won’t take shit from no one.
He walked up to the bench and sat down with her. His eyes never leaving hers not even for a second. He didn’t exactly have all the time in the world, so he was going to make sure he soaked up all this time with her he could.
So tell me more about your S.H.I.E.L.D gig? Anything interesting that you Can tell me about it? Or hell, just get me back up to speed on all things Domino. You know I’m a sucker for your stories.
Domino stared idly at the bottom of her now empty cup of coffee, her communication device placed carefully beside it. Just minutes ago, she’d received word from Cable. How he managed to pick up on the signal of her comm time and time again remained a mystery to her, as did a lot of other things…
As he sat there almost dumbfounded by finding his old friend, Domino, he thought about what luck it was that he had found her. Which in itself was ironic, her luck managed to pay him a visit every now and then. He thought to himself, how a simple check on Hope turned into seeing her again.
Trying to keep his thoughts in line and focused. Although, he was gaining some excitement from the thought of seeing her. He had told her 15 minutes. It had been about 8. Looking around he made his way to the closet and grabbed a change of clothes. She was in Seattle, on the other side of the country, but he didn’t have to tell her that. A simple Bodyslide and he’d be right next to her. 12 minutes.
He went to grab his shoes and managed to run past the mirror. Turning he looked at himself trying to see if he was looking good enough for this reunion. What was going on? This whole meeting had him turned into an excited teen, he had to get more focused, after all she had been dealing with S.H.E.I.L.D as of lately. The clock hit 14:30. It was time for the reunion. Within the 30 seconds he teleported right outside Domino’s location and managed to find her within seconds.
“Hello Neena” he said, trying to hold back his excitement in seeing her.
Neena’s thoughts were consumed with, well, with thoughts. Thoughts about everything. About her actions while they had been sepparated…about the reason for their sepparation. So many questions, one too many to handle. She rubbed her temples to try and get rid of the buzzing thoughts, trying to calm down a little. And then she caught sight of him. He had teleported just off the property and she clenched her teeth to hold back her part of the excitement. Gods, he hadn’t changed one bit. If anything, he was a bit more rugged, had a few more lines across the face, but hell, that was how she knew him to be.
She raised two fingers to the side of her head and saluted him, accompanied by a cheeky smirk…and then changed her mind. What the hell, Neena. Salutations? No. She took one too many a step towards him and ended up clearly within his personal space, looking up at him with slightly quirked eyebrows. He made her feel so awkwardly small. Then she raised a fist to give him a playful punch to the chest.
“Nate…good to see ya again.”
Her voice sounded moderately confident. Just moderately. So much had happened, hells, she’d even thought him to be dead at some point. And here he was, casually greeting her with a “Hello Neena”. Silly lil’ soldier.
“Hello Neena”? What was that he thought. Why couldn’t he have just given her the hug he oh so wanted to give her. He shook off the thoughts and started back with the conversation.
“You look great. How have you been recently? Merc business still going strong, I hope.”
Way to play 20 questions there Nate. Keep it simple. Its just Neena. She’s not going to think anything less of you for acting a little civilian like.
She couldn’t keep her lips from twitching into a slight grin. His ‘good’ eye reflected at least a small amount of emotions, none of which he was usually very keen on sharing, but it made him look a little socially awkward at this point. Not like he was ever bothered by being socially awkward. He had a large quantity of give ‘em hell attitude to make up for it.
Though still grinning, her lips pursed at his question. Merc business was dull as hell lately, and she realised she hardly had any interesting stories to share with him.
“Honestly? It’s been hellishly boring. Not on a team, taking crappy jobs? Yeah. Not my kinda thing. S.H.I.E.L.D. employment brings more excitement to the job, though.”
She paused for a moment, knowing he would start asking questions about this.
“…Yeah, I know what you think of ‘em. But it’s good payment and I get classier jobs. And better places to stay than crappy old motel r—-“
At that point, she pressed her lips together, stopping herself mid-sentence. Ever since he’d taken up the duty of looking after Hope, Cable had been moving around constantly. He didn’t even have the opportunity of sleeping in a real bed. And here she was, complaining to him. She flashed him a small, apologetic smile.
“…Yeah. Y’know what I mean.”
Deep down he knew how it sounded. He also knew that he didn’t live the most extravagant life style, but he did know Domino knew it was all for Hope. As he stood there listening, almost studying her. She hadn’t changed a bit, in fact she was just as he remembered. That black hair falling down her face, leaving that one dark eye of hers poking out almost trying to say hello.
Instantly he wanted to get the subject off of his living arrangements, as he could tell it bothered her.
“Hm, I hate to hear that about the Merc buiss. Just wish you didn’t have to work with the suits.”He looked around almost not knowing what to say to her then finally something just escaped his mouth without him even thinking about it.
“It’s really nice to see you Neena.”
He tried to hold back his confused look. How did that come out? Sure, thats what he wanted to say, but he was trying to be professional. Somewhere he wondered if Wade had gained control over him.
Neena pressed her lips together, slumping her shoulders the slightest bit as she sighed. Yeah. She knew how much that disappointed him. Cable and certain authorities mixed as well as Wade and keeping his mouth shut. Not in the slightest.
She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, unsure of what to say, silent suspense filling the air…and then that remark. Her eyebrows arched upwards and her eyes shot towards him, catching his gaze as he said it, right before his expression went back to neutral. Oh. Oh.
She parted her lips to speak, but in stead she just took a deep breath before closing her mouth again and letting out an exasperated sigh through her nose. Frustrating, that. She had no idea what to say or do. She was only inches away from him, invading his personal space rather harshly, and she’d thought it to be awkward after such a long time, but…he didn’t even seem to mind.
Involuntarily, her hand brushed past his arm and she pulled it back as if she had burned herself, her skin tingling, her mouth slightly agape at the sensation. Then she closed her eyes and let out another sigh before turning back to him and taking his non-mechanical hand in hers. No words were exchanged for a long moment as she traced her fingers past the lines on his rugged hand, until a mutter under her breath escaped from her lips.
“I’ve missed ya, Nate. A lot.”
The akward tension he felt at the begining of the conversation almost seemed to melt away as Domino grabbed his hand. When she uttered those six little words, not only put a smile on his face, but one on his heart as well. His eyes lit up and that serious face of his lifted.
Almost not knowing what to say next he decided to make another plan. If that whole “speaking from your heart” thing worked a few moments ago, maybe it’ll work now. He took a deep breath as his eyes locked onto to hers.
“Hm. Neena, I vaguely remember you mentioning something about sitting down and catching up. If the offers still open, I’d really like that right about now.”
He waited for an answer almost knowing it would be a yes, it was the simple fact that he couldn’t believe how his heart was acting right now. Moments ago Neena seemed the same, but when he thought about it, something was different. It wasn’t with her though. It was with him.
Normally he would sit and talk, answering with those short winded answers. Things were different today. He wanted to talk with her. For as long as possible. He wanted to get to know her. Check up on her and make sure she was actually doing okay, and not just saying it for his sake. He was even considering seeing if he could help her find some new work, some work that isn’t full of suits.
Neena pondered his words over for a moment. Sitting down and talking would be fairly difficult, sure she could arrange for them to enter the building if she put some effort into it, but there was a lot of security, and Nathan hadn’t been registered just yet. That, and she quite liked the fresh morning air that filled her lungs. It was good to be outside for a while.
“Tell you what. How ‘bout we make that a ‘morning walk and catching up’, shall we? It’s nice to catch a bit of fresh air.”
She didn’t wait for him to answer, interlacing her fingers with his and giving a sharp tug, dragging him along with her, her expression turning back to the usual cheeky grin mixed with a determined upward tilt of the head.
“There’s a garden here that’s pretty okay. There should be a place for us to sit and talk there. Doesn’t mean we can’t talk while we’re walking.”
She loosened her grip on his hand and ran her hand through her hair, ruffling it slightly as she looked out into the distance, trying to determine on what route to take.
“Hmm…lessee…I think going left’s the easiest way. At least there’s far less security on that side of the building, for some reason.”
Her eyes focused on the ground ahead of her, her footsteps a consistent, casual pace. It was actually quite peaceful. With the soft sound her boots made on the pathway, the silence wasn’t as deafening as before, and the tension that had been in the air at first seemed to slowly fade away. She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly before re-opening conversation, shooting him a sideward glance every now and then. Just watching him from the corner of her eye.
“So how’ve you and Hope been holding up? Still a bumpy road, or did you guys finally get a break from things for once?”
She allowed her thoughts to be consumed by this idea. It had to be the latter. It had to be. He wouldn’t leave Hope behind just like that, leaving Hope unguarded, just so he could check on her, would he? No, certainly not. He’d dedicated a large part of his life to that girl and she meant the world to him, surely he’d be more responsible than that.
If he could have pictured the perfect way for that to go down, you might as well frame him, cause he was in it. The difficult thing about trying to talk to Domino was he didn’t exactly know where they stood. He didn’t know if he should act more business professional with her, or if he could let his guard down with her. He knew what he wanted, but the question was, what did she want.
As she grabbed his hands and they walked he she said something about less security. This was probably for the best, after all he and S.H.E.I.L.D weren’t on the best of terms. Still it bothered him to think what they would say if they caught him talking to her. But realistically what they would do to her if she was caught talking to him. He didn’t want her to lose her job. Despite how suit filled it was.
As they walked he could see her giving him the stare out of his good eye. It put a smirk on his face. This was good for Nathan. He needed times where he could let out some of his more human emotions. He couldn’t do that around Hope. She needed to see the soldier in him. To stay strong, but she could probably use this time as well. Maybe next time he would bring her a long, but for now, it was his reunion.
Well, to be honest, we’ve actually went for a while with out any incidents. Hopes doing a very good job of keeping watch and is beginning to live out a little bit more of a normal life. I let her get a Facebook so she could stay in touch with a few children she met at a trailer park we crashed in. Not to mention with some of the mutants at the institute. I figured she wouldn’t care if I stepped out to see you for a while.
He thought back to her saying things about the security and how their was a less chance of getting caught. He still pondered on this as they talked. He wanted the best for her that was for sure, and if that meant getting out of her hair so she could live her new life, he would understand. It boiled in him as he continued to think on the subject, but eventually he let it out.
Neena, your not going to get in any trouble by talking to me right? I can go if those suits are going to tare you a new one? I mean…I just want this little reunion to go smooth as possible. I really just want to unwound and catch up with an old friend.
