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Behold the Hurricane; Shepherd and Alison (Thread 1)
Topic Started: May 8 2014, 01:27 AM (117 Views)
Shepherd
Unregistered

May 11, 2014
Almost lunch time


Dan was stretching himself thin again but that was nothing out of the ordinary. He was taking two online classes, teaching two history classes at the mansion, volunteering at the shelter, and taking part in his normal power training with the students. The mutant always found room to add more activities to his plate. He managed to shave off a few extra minutes here and an hour there to make sure he devoted his attention to completing his task. The tracker hated to leave anything unfinished or half-assed so he would work himself sick to finish a project. He would say that he excelled under the pressure; that he fed off of it. The sense of satisfaction from any success was worth all of the hard work.

Daniel leaned back in his chair and pushed away from the computer screen. The phone on his desk rang and he recognized the number as being the front office. Apparently, he had a visitor and Daniel almost dropped the phone when he was told the name. He was struck speechless but Daniel eventually found the words. “Y-yes, let her in,” he replied.

Alison had come to visit him and they screened her at the front gate. Why was she here? What did she hope would happen? The past few months had been rough and Aly had made it apparent at the funeral that she never wanted to see Daniel again and would had preferred he had died in the crash. Daniel looked down to his clothes. Basketball shorts and wrinkled t-shirt to fit his lazy Sunday mood. Both of which bore the Xavier logo. The school was very much a part of his life now but he had the feeling it would serve to antagonize his ex-wife who had no love for the mutant race. For the first time in years Daniel agonized over what to wear to see the woman who had been such a large part of his life. After a quick jog to his room Daniel switched to a pair of jeans and one of his plaid shirts, both were well worn around the edges and soft from years of use. The clothes were comfortable and familiar which were two things that Dan needed at the moment.

Daniel could smell Aly’s perfume wafting from the parlor before he rounded the corner to the parlor. He stopped mid step, he even paused as he rolled up his sleeves. Daniel had loved that fragrance once upon a time. The dam in his mind broke and the memories rushed outward. There had been dancing and laughter. They had slept with their baby son between them. The tracker took a deep breath and entered the parlor. Like a Band-Aid, he would just have to get it over with. Daniel entered the room and Alison had her back to him. Upon hearing someone enter she turned. Alison was ravishing but the weight of the words already exchanged and the gulf of all that had remained unspoken prevented Daniel’s synapses from connecting. Dan’s words never made their way out so Alison spoke first. “Hello, Daniel. I shouldn’t be surprised that you still have that shirt.”

Dan looked down. Her words were enough to jog his memory and sure enough Alison had gotten the shirt for him for one of his birthdays. Dan nodded. “You’re looking…good,” he replied and Alison had the grace to smile.

Mr. Oliver took a deep breath he opened his mouth to speak. His shoulders sagged. Again he was at a loss for words. “What brings you…what brought you here? To this place, I mean,” he asked knowing that she must have hated being in the school for mutants.

“I shouldn’t have expected you to remember. It’s Mother’s Day,” she said with a tremble in her voice. Her arms were crossed over her chest in a self-embrace.

Daniel took a step forward and put his arms out to hold her. Alison raised one hand in protest. “Today is hard and I know his birthday will be harder…but I’m managing. I’m managing without you. But I can’t seem to cut you out completely,” she explained. “God knows I tried Daniel, to cut you out, like a tumor, but the memory of our son and what we had…”

Her fist was clenched and she turned away. “When I drove to the gate, I wondered if you would vouch for me to let me in. I didn’t even know if I’d get to speak to you.”

“The memory of our son and what we had…” Dan echoed her words.

The pair looked at each other for a moment. Alison strolled to the window and ran her fingers over the drapery. Daniel could tell that she was impressed with the new digs. They were both subject to awe in the face of elegance.

“You tried to cut me out…but here you stand in one of the last places I expected to see you,” he said shrewdly. He didn’t want to play any games.

Alison’s eyes rose to inspect the ceiling and then to the furnishings of the mansion. “I wanted to see where Brandon could have gone to school to learn his powers. At the funeral, you revealed that Brandon was a…mutant. You both hid that from me. From his mother,” she accused with her voice rising slightly.

“Aly, Brandon was afraid…” Daniel began.

Alison cut him off. “He was afraid of his mother? That I’d turn on him like I did his father? His lying, deceitful, and manipulative father? You might have made him something else besides human, but I deserve more credit than that,” she said.

“Aly, please. You need to be careful what you say in this house,” Daniel warned her sincerely. “A lot of people would be put off by what you’re saying.”


Alison’s eyes were tearful and he noticed her neck and chest were growing red. She was getting upset. “Of course you want to protect them. You have your new family here. What do I have? Support groups in church basements with old coffee and stale donuts, that’s what. Little pamphlets from strangers whose only connection to me is that they’ve lost their kid, too. You, though? You? You explained at the funeral that you copied his power, his DNA. You literally have a piece of what made him special inside you and it will be with you forever. Me? I’ve got an empty house of echoes,” she said, the tears spilled over her eyes at this point.

Daniel instinctively moved to comfort her but she pulled back once more and clenched her fists. “Don’t touch me!” she said loudly, with all pretenses down.

He could tell that his ex-wife was not coping. Dan knew that he carried around an imprint of his son’s abilities but he had never thought of his ability affecting Alison in that way. Dan would have a reminder of their son, it was copied down to his DNA. Alison only had her memories.

“Aly, we can help you if you let us try. They’ve all helped me to learn to cope, or at least try to cope. There are so many great people here. I’ve made so many new friends. . I’m sure you’d love them all, if you gave them a chance. I’m staying busy. I’m back in classes. I even teach history here, you know that’s what I’ve always wanted to do.”

Alison let out a cynical snort. “You’re throwing yourself into your work again like a typical people pleaser. You never could say no. You did that even before he died. Do you know why you always dive headfirst into a new project? You’re a broken vessel, Daniel. You. Are. Broken. You’ve always been broken. Even the ocean can’t fill a teacup with a hole in the bottom,” she sneered.
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Shepherd
Unregistered

Daniel wondered if Alison thought he was throwing his new life in her face. From what she said his ex was struggling with life since it had all happened. Daniel had known Alison to have friends but she didn’t seem to have the support network that gave him all that he needed in his time of struggle. Sure, it was difficult. He had his ups and downs and at times it was as if he didn’t have the strength to breathe let alone eat or get out of bed. His plan did involve devoting his entire schedule to something, anything, everything. If he wasn’t averse to letting down the people that depended on him he would have been willing to pull the shades and sleep away the entire day.

Daniel moved around a leather armchair toward Alison but made no motion to hold her or touch her. His ire was rising but he didn’t want to fight. She was emotional and a fight wouldn’t help anything. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to fight. Here let me give you a tour of the mansion and the grounds,” he said comfortingly.

“Oh thank you for that. I’m so grateful you don’t want to fight,” Alison drawled.

The mutant could feel his face growing hotter. At the funeral when Alison had berated him in front of their families and wished he was dead Daniel was more embarrassed and remorseful than anything. He had wished that he had died instead and Brandon had survived. He would trade it all in a second. But standing with Ali in the parlor was a different issue. She was disrespecting everything that Dan stood for and he was trying to protect her. Many of the mutants at the school would not stand for that kind of treatment of their race. “Now listen,” Daniel began with his voice rising to match hers.

“No, you listen,” Alison shot back. “Either way, you were ready to take Brandon from me. You were training him with mutant powers and turning him against me. You had your mutant bond. Or you would have sent him here, to this place. To this mutant safe haven separate from the rest of world in a dreamy little bubble looking down on the rest of us…normal people.”

“No!” Daniel snapped. Alison’s eyes widened in surprise. “I know you blame me for what happened. But that was an accident. I can’t change it; it was out of anyone’s control. But mutants aren’t safe anywhere they go. This school was blown up. Forty-seven people died! They were murdered!”

Alison’s eyes softened from her sense of surprise and then twisted into another sneer. “Not nearly enough if you ask me. You all could die and I wouldn’t give it a moment’s thought,” she hissed. “We’d be better off.”

Daniel dashed forward and grabbed his ex’s arms. “What?! What did we ever do?! What did i do?” he demanded and shook her.

“You ruined everything! You ruined my life! You gave me a son that I love more than anything in this whole world and after he died you ruined all of my memories by telling me he was a mutant! You made me fall in love with you! You were a mutant and made me fall in love with you!”

“Shut up, Alison! Stop it!” Daniel yelled.

“Do it!” Alison hissed back. “Show me you have a spine, Daniel! Do it”

Daniel was very angry. He hadn’t been this angry in a long time. He looked into Alison’s eyes. There was malice burning in her hazel eyes. Her eyes were glazed with a dark frenzy. The mutant shoved her away and Alison stumbled backward to catch her balance on another chair. “I want you to leave. Right now. I want you out of this school,” Daniel said pointing toward the door.

Alison ran her hands over her hair and straightened her blouse. She regained her composure and was once again as beautiful as Daniel had ever seen her. “One day, Daniel. One day you’ll see. You’ll know exactly how I feel. Everything you love will just vanish. It’ll be ripped away and leave a ragged hole where your heart used to be,” Alison said icily and then moved toward the door.

Daniel fell into step behind her. He could feel his pulse throb behind his eyes. He had held his temper but he did regret grabbing her. He shouldn’t have done that, he knew. The mutant tracker opened the door and motioned Alison through. Her perfume filled his nostrils and he tensed up. Alison crossed the threshold and then turned, halfway to the rental car. “I’m staying at the Roosevelt,” Alison called.

“Swell,” Daniel replied sarcastically. “I’ll swing by after I sell this box of snow cones in Hell.”

Daniel regretted what he said. He wasn’t helping the situation with smart ass remarks. “One day, Daniel. You’ll see,” Alison said tapping a forefinger to her temple.

The mutant watched his former lover walk to the car and drive away down the lane to exit through the gate. He looked at the sun for a moment, shielding his eyes. It was a beautiful day but why did he feel like shit? Daniel knew exactly why. Alison had practically spat in his face and he took her bait. He sank to her level and reacted exactly how she wanted. Wasn’t that how anyone else would have reacted? Dan slammed his fist against the door frame. It stung but he slammed the doorjamb again. The pounding with the heel of his hand gave way to a full knuckle punch. “Dammit,” he hissed and then shook out his hand.

Dan needed something. He wanted to break something. He wanted not to hurt. He wanted to stop hurting. He wanted to fill that place in his soul that he had lost. Was Alison right? Was he really a broken vessel that couldn’t hold on to anything? Daniel had made progress in his grief, or so he thought. Alison and raked open the wound and poured in the salt. I need a beer, he thought.
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