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Syd(ney) Barrett ([info]_donttouch) wrote,
@ 2017-04-06 19:48:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
[log 2] Syd/David

The days went by fast, too fast. But there were tactics to discuss and work to put in, all things that took up time. Sydney had put her two cents in, brash as it might have been in comparison to everyone else's thoughtful plans, and then took off. Now it was time for personal work of her own.

She had been thinking about it since their conversation, contemplating the logistics and possible horrible effects of what might happen were she wrong about this idea. It might even be worse than the first time she and David switched bodies; he was so much more powerful now. And while he knew it, was aware of it, she still didn't think that she herself was strong enough to keep everything in check if they did switch. And she didn't think her conscience could take another murder -- no matter how accidental it was. Especially not of these people. They had already seen enough loss. She had seen enough loss.

She often wondered whether David would have been able to suss out the Shadow King earlier, had she not accidentally killed Lenny and leave her to be a hallucination in his mind. Or would it have simply taken another form, another person to confuse him?

Enough of those thoughts, Sydney, she mentally chastised herself. If they could hold on to scarves together, then they could do this. Resolve found, she wound her way toward David's dorm before she lost her nerve. David wasn't there, at least she was pretty sure that he wasn't; it was odd, but she swore that she could sometimes feel him around. It was easy to find him, though whether that was part of some weird connection or by merely knowing him, Syd wasn't sure. It wasn't like she had that particular link with anyone else she had switched with. Perspective and empathy, sure. But an actual possible link? Maybe it was because she entered his headspace. It was a question she would have to ask the others, whether they had the same feeling.

Entering his room, she looked around and grabbed the closest piece of clothing that she could find, a jacket. The theft was quick, partially because that was how a theft should be and partially because she wanted to find out what would happen as soon as possible. Her fingers snuck out of their protective cover of long sleeves, gingerly touching the fabric of the jacket with eyes half squinted shut. Eyes still squinted, she threw the jacket on one shoulder then the other, and then looked around wide-eyed to see what had happened.

Those wide eyes looked down first thing, seeking out -- yup. Still had boobs. Releasing a sigh of relief, Syd cozied up in the jacket, zipping it up halfway. It was bigger than her normal size, which was nice. Safe. More room between others' skin and her own. And it smelled like him! Like a little kid, Sydney wiggled around in the fabric happily and then turned around to leave and go about her day.

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[info]xgene
2017-04-09 05:54 pm UTC (link)
The matter of Kerry's disappearing act, the literal part, was met with a shrug and a dismissive, "I thought it might help," from Cary. But least he could help in getting Syd back to her feet from what must've been a rough tackle. Thank god she hadn't hit her head. Just some minor bruising, inconvenience compared to the damage Kerry could inflict, considering the state she as in. Cary didn't blame her, of course he didn't. All that pent up energy, no end in sight...

With the two of them up and alone, he sighed, obviously frustrated and a little flustered. More than a little flustered -- he was practically buzzing with energy, with the potential this situation allowed them. If somewhere the timelines had diverged, time travel having been discovered before this happened? Then there was a chance, however slim, that it could all be avoided. It could bring an end to an eternal dark night that had carried on for far too long.

The questions were met with small frowns of varying degrees until he could at least address the immediate one. "Patrolling. She observes the lower-level halls. I told her only six of us can access it, but she's never fully trusted it." Frowning at Sydney, he couldn't help but add, "You're the only one that's showed up since I set up that protocol." Even using the DNA of the dead, just in case. "She's on high alert. Nerves and all." Nerves. Her nerves and his taking on very different tones, hers violent and action-oriented while his just made him a twitchy as he motioned for Syd to follow.

"She was talking about David," he explained, cautiously. "But yes, imagine the worst-case scenario where Farouk's involved and you have what happened up there," he motioned vaguely to upstairs. "It's a long story, but let's leave it at the simple fact that he won. Against us. But he's still at war with the world as a whole." Without allies in the form of human or mutant, the Shadow King had stirred up a third, world-wide war that had kept him, it, the most powerful of all while everyone else destroyed themselves.

Walking in the direction towards the individual who would be the most interesting to Sydney, 2017 Sydney at least, Cary tried to illuminate as efficiently as possible. "Kerry's not wrong. It's just us," he offered solemnly, looking to her seriously. "Ptonomy was one of the first causalities, then Melanie... then you." A beat. "David, he's here, physically, but mentally?" He shook his head and looked away. "I'm a geneticist, not a psychologist. He's not in the Astral Plane or anywhere else, just in his own head. I've tried everything in my power to help, all while his own seems to keep us hidden from Farouk, but that's it. We've lost."

It was as simple as that. It was only a matter of time before the world ripped itself apart, the human vs mutant sentiment boiling from a new Cold War to a hot one that would destroy them all.

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[info]_donttouch
2017-04-09 06:28 pm UTC (link)
Syd nodded in understanding, remembering the nerves of Kerry before, and that she had shared as well when they were stuck in the terrible mind palace of Clockworks, fighting against imagined monsters and facing off with Lenny and the Eye both. "I don't blame her." She reassured Carey, though did rub absently at her shoulder. There would be a ripe bruise there later.

Worst case scenario. Well, fuck. Which possibly meant that they wouldn't be able to count on Oliver pulling through in the end. But the fact that he had set up the elevator as he did, sciencing the shit out of it even with dna of the dead. "You thought this might happen. The time travel." Which meant that he hoped that time could be fixed too.


"When did this happen?" What sort of timeframe were they looking at? How fast would they have to act if, when, they returned? She returned the look, frowning the way he had been just moments ago, each deepening just a little as she learned another piece of the puzzle. But to be told of your own death, that earned a wide-eyed sort of look. It was one thing to know of your mortality, to accept that it could very well happen in the scheme of what was yet to come. But to be told of it was another thing entirely.

"It's here still, looking. He--" she started, stopping briefly and turning to Carey. "David -- my David," there was no time to be bashful of semantics. "He could feel Farouk. I caught a glimpse too." She continued walking, following Carey, listening.

So. What did they have? Two Carey/Kerrys, herself, and two Davids. ..Two Davids.. That could be something. If they could keep present David from becoming like future David, and bring future David back. And keep the universe from exploding by having temporal copies of the one of the most powerful brains like ever. And keep from said powerful brains lighting their locations up like fireworks from one of the other super powerful brains. Again. Easy. No problem.

"Do you know anything at all about time travel? All I know comes from movies and a marathon of a season of Doctor Who."

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[info]xgene
2017-04-09 07:14 pm UTC (link)
Cary didn't blame her either, something made evident by his exhausted expression. He understood from an objective standpoint -- but despite the shift in time, the many years that had passed, Kerry remained raw action and emotion while Cary was objectivity and statistics. It was a balance Cary had always valued, a first-hand look at the emotional, subjective view from his counterpart -- but as soon as it shifted from protecting him to fighting in a war? It became difficult to follow the black and white from the growing gray.

"I tried to think ahead, to read between the lines of his powers," Cary admitted with a shrug. It made sense, considering the immense psychic power David had. If it wasn't Syd he sent hurtling through time, he'd send anyone who could handle the details better than he could. Syd, Ptonomy, Melanie. Anyone that could be trusted. Anyone they both knew. Cary took that risk, used each of their genetic markers as a key just in case.

But how this all happened, that was a question that had him frowning even more severely. "The first year was all planning, every intricate detail. Probably too much," he said unhappily, knowing now that it was his own and Melanie's influence that allowed that. Too much time spent plotting, too little time acting. "By the time we fought back, it was like hitting our heads against a wall, with mutant and human kind." By then, mutants had been outed as a public fact, a threat, and the bigger mess, bigger problem, began to spread.

But it was Farouk that cut them down, thinned their numbers. Ptonomy, then Melanie, then Syd. The last had been used as an extreme example to the only individual who could stand up against the Shadow King, an individual who was already emotionally and mentally unstable.

The matter of the Shadow King observing, even now, wasn't surprising, though the matter of another David being here most certainly was, and Cary's eyes went wide immediately. "If he's here, the two of them can't meet," he said immediately, severely. "It's all theory, but the two of them meeting? Bad, bad idea." He shook his head and waved his hands around wildly as if it would it would be the end of the universe as they knew it. It was only a theory, but he'd rather be safe than sorry. "As long as he's busy keeping you from the Farouk's eye, then we're okay. It'll buy us some time to fix this."

Because he wanted to fix this. This world? It was a ticking time-bomb, little more. There was no saving it. Stopping at a particular door, Cary looked at Syd intently: "I know he's still in there, and he knows something. After losing you, there was no getting him back. But if you can get through to him and figure out a way for you and your David to get back and to stop all this from happening?" Cary motioned to the scar on his face, "It never has to happen at all." It was a big ask from someone displaced in time, but he had to -- he had to try. She was the only variable that could make something happen. "I've been trying for years without success," he offered, trying to give some kind of timeline. "Year one: slaughter, year two: causality after casualty... plus a new cold war between human and mutant kind."

Cary's eyes fell to the hand that had found its way to the latch on the door from the hall to another chamber, one that was dark on the inside. Dark and quiet. "The last couple years have been a stand-still. Kerry and I just... waiting. I couldn't lose her too." So they'd both been stuck down here waiting, hiding, unsure of the next best step. "You're the only person that might get through to him and get some idea of how to prevent all this from happening." Blunt and to the point, by neither Cary nor Kerry were one for subtlety.

"I'm so sorry," he offered suddenly, his expression a mixture of desperation and exhaustion. "This can't be easy, but we might not have much time..."

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[info]_donttouch
2017-04-09 07:55 pm UTC (link)
She offered a small smile of sympathy to Cary. To be two sides of nerves, but feel the other had to be annoying sometimes. It was annoying enough for her when she tried to stay calm and rational when all she wanted to do was lash out. "We fix this, and I'm demanding a possibility/probability spread." Closest to a manual they might get.

Okay. Less plan, more action. That would probably be easy..as long as she could convince them of it. And while she suspected that Melanie would be the hard sell, Syd planned entirely on appealing to Cary's theories in order to convince him of the timeliness needed on the situation. "Clark couldn't get the Division on board. Or didn't." Or they didn't square with the man enough to get him to ring the alarm. It was nice that they were walking; it alleviated the want to pace as she thought. "We should probably be straight with him." Which meant that they should probably work together, too. She paused though, at the mention of the human and mutant war outside. "If only to buy us time. From that."

Okay, no double teaming the time-Davids. Damn. "So that's not just a dramatic movie thing." Fine. She pushed her hair out of her face, determination etched on her face as she looked at her friend. "We'll fix this, Cary. I promise."

They had stopped and Sydney stared at the door, taking a breath before nodding her readiness. "I can do this." When he opened the door, she continued down the hall, looking around. It was quiet, as had the rest of the area been, but this was different. Like static.

The second door reached and she tried to peek in, but couldn't see anything. It was fitting, really. Going in literally blind to match her metaphorical one. "I'm ready." As she ever would be, at any rate.

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[info]xgene
2017-04-09 10:54 pm UTC (link)
Cary understood the want and need to act, to do something. But he was most useful in a lab, not a battle zone. Then only person he had left in this world was Kerry, but if she left to fight? She'd be slaughtered just the same as everyone else had been. That left them both with plenty of time to think, to go over exactly what happened in intricate detail. "Good thing I've taken up journaling," he offered with a faint smile. He could take entries from said journal and make them useful, give Syd and her David as much ammunition as they could handle to fix this.

Because they had to. They'd lost -- not just their group, but the world. "Division 3 lasted a about two whole seconds when the actual fighting began. For all their weapons and bravado," he offered in explanation, vaguely gesturing it off before he finished the sentence with a shake of his head. "The entire US government barely stood a chance when Farouk put things into motion. Clark... tried. He did." Cary could give the man that credit, but he was one man, and while Division 3 took everything seriously, the other Divisions? Not so much. But they could buy time if used in a different manner. Cary made a mental note to write that down for Syd.

Nodding a little at the matter of movies and their concept of time travel duplicates meeting each other, he offered in elaboration: "If only because I think seeing himself like this wouldn't... be productive." To put it mildly. They reached the only other doorway in this hall, and as Syd peered in, Cary watched her with a soft, sad frown on his face.

She was ready. They would fix this. He believed that, he really did. Didn't change that it was still remarkable seeing her again. Remarkable and a little heartbreaking. "It's been five years," he explained, giving her context for what was to come. "I don't know what exactly happened, all I know is Melanie was first, then you." Five years and the world came to a complete stand-still, a cold war brewing, ready to go nuclear any second. "Take it slow," he warned. They might not have all the time in the world, but when dealing with a man who was either catatonic or screaming blue murder? Slow was the best method.

At that he nodded and murmured a good luck before settling himself to lean against the opposite wall -- here in case he could help in any way.

Inside, it was just as dark as everywhere else, though the lights tinted more towards blue than orange. Calmer, as much as they could be. Within there was another wing of the underground bunker, room to wander, to tend to every need, to survive underground until food or water ran out. But there wasn't much need to go far, or even look far to see David, tucked in a corner. Legs drawn up, hair longer and wild, fingers tangled in, he didn't register the door opening, didn't react at all to the second presence in the room. Hell, he didn't even look up from the point on the ground he stared at -- arms wrapped tight about his knees.

There was nothing within him to reach out with, to sense who was there, so it was left. A noise. One of many that sounded in this place. Cary or Kerry. Just noise.

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[info]_donttouch
2017-04-09 11:39 pm UTC (link)
A frown appeared at the knowledge that the Divisions didn't help. SO much for that idea, and the notion of self preservation. Menacing toward zebras when there was a hungry lion on the loose. Awesome. "I'll try to be nicer to him, then."

"I can see that," Sydney conceded that point in regards to whether them meeting would be conducive, time implosions or not.

Take it slow. Okay. Dead for five years. Yeah, seeing a ghost after that long would freak anyone out. Taking it slow sounded like a good idea. She looked back at Cary once more, taking in everything that had happened to him, everything that could happen, and promised whoever was out there that she would do everything she could to make sure it didn't. That this was all just a bad dream. "Tell Kerry--" What could she say? "That this is a shitty dream. And we're waking up soon." Syd took the well wishes to heart and nodded, taking note where Cary was before tossing her shoulders back and stepping fully inside.

She walked slowly, an intruder in this world and treading lightly because of it. But Sydney didn't have to go far; she saw him there, unseeing and closed up, wild hair and likely big eyes. Treading lightly was thrown out the window as she crossed the room and crouched down level with David. She stared silently for a minute, head tilting to the left as she contemplated where -- or how -- to even start.

Digging in the jacket pocket, she pulled out the fabric and gingerly placed half of it on his knee, then mimicked his legs-up position with her arms around her legs as well. Not that she was expecting a damn thing, but it was a start. For her. For David who was upstairs and who she absolutely refused to see like this. Ever. For this David who lost so much and for Cary and Kerry who lost even more.

They said that catatonic patients could hear you talking to them, somewhere deep in the recesses of wherever they were. But did that count for people who were in a catatonic state and focused on hiding from the Big Bad Wolf? "I stole your jacket today." She informed the man who was staring at the ground, fingers idly twisting up in her half. "You'll probably get it back. When it stops smelling like you. And then it's mine again when it does."

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[info]xgene
2017-04-10 12:07 am UTC (link)
At first, it'd been a tie between how much time he'd spent screaming or silent, lost in himself. David hadn't been able to deal, not even remotely, with how quickly everything had fallen apart. Months of planning, trying to become stronger, only to lose Ptonomy in the first attempt to do anything. Then Clark and the entirety of Division 3 were gone. People were picked up as they went along, all of them dying as quickly as they came.

And, in the second year, the entire United States government began to crumple under a very sudden, very public outing of mutant kind. All orchestrated by the Shadow King. At the same time the mess upstairs happened. The broken walls, the blood, the burn marks, the ash. Ash everywhere. On the ground, in the air, coating his skin. In the blink of an eye everything crumbled.

But it'd been the mess upstairs, the people lost, how they'd been lost... David shut down, literally. Every power he had, gone in an instant. There'd been words, Cary's words, empty and echoing, about it being all in his head -- he still had every power he had before, but had, what was it he said? Regressed. Ashes in his head.

The footsteps didn't stir him, still silent and unseeing despite the vague notion of something being there that wasn't before.

It was the sound of her voice that stirred something, deep, deep down. There was an immediate, visceral reaction of no. He'd heard her voice before -- ash in his ears. Words of blame, anger, all the things a dead woman who shouldn't have died would say to the man who'd been completely and utterly unable to protect her.

But these words were different as they echoed. The subject matter, the tone. A slow sensation, like ice water being poured, washed down his face and he closed his eyes, letting the blurred details be closed away entirely. Ash in his eyes. "Don't." One word, voice rough and quiet from disuse. "Don't. I can't, I can't." Why was this happening again? A new trick of the mind, a new self-torture. Wasn't he past this? He'd already promised not the slit his own throat to make it stop -- and it'd worked. It made everything quiet.

Why was it back again? Everything that wasn't here, his old world, his everything, pressing into that which was empty and yet had no room left all at the same time.

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[info]_donttouch
2017-04-10 12:37 am UTC (link)
Falling quiet, Sydney frowned just a bit. His voice was rough, less like the roughness of sleep finally catching up with him and more like -- like something she hadn't personally experienced at this point in her life. Like something she never wanted to experience again.

"I'm real. This is real." This was real and he was who he was, she was who she was. No mind tricks and no bullshit. "And I'm not going to hurt you, David." She replied quietly, reassuringly. But how reassuring was a ghost?

His hair was longer, like the memories she had seen before, and just as messy. It had been more of a pain than her own hair when they had switched, floppy and with a mind of its own. The urge to push through it was there again, to sooth it away from his face.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you." This time, because of gloves and situation, Sydney allowed herself to do it. She moved slowly, not wanting to startle him, likely unable to do anything but.

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[info]xgene
2017-04-10 12:58 am UTC (link)
No. No. David drew in a sharp breath, air that burned. Ash in his lungs.

Jaw set firm, tight, teeth practically grinding together, he shook his head, stiff muscles making the motion anything but smooth. He wasn't afraid of pain, of screams, of accusations. The only sympathy he'd ever heard in the echoes were in the prevention of every move, every thought of ending his own life. God he wanted to, every second of every day. When his mind was active, it consumed him. Ash sinking in through skin, bone deep, fusing within him.

There was a sudden warmth, a radiation that countered the chill of cement and sunless air. David immediately recoiled from it, eyes flying open as he violently pushed himself up and away. Pale blue eyes stared at her, their color made to look even paler due to the dark circles under them, pallid skin bringing out every harsh shadow, every sharp edge of neglect.

She looked exactly as he used to think of her. No pain, no fear. Eyes bright, full of life -- not empty, not shadows of what had been ripped apart from within.

But why? "Why?" His head spun, every thought brought out without filter. "Why are you doing this again? I already promised you I wouldn't!" He said, voice getting steadily louder. "I never questioned why, gave you the benefit of the doubt," his words sped up, body shaking as he began to pace. "But I can't, I can't, I can't--" Head shaking, he gave up on finding the words, instead letting out a frustrated growl as his hands went to his hair, pulling on it harshly.

"My thoughts are my thoughts. Can't stop them," he muttered, pushing himself back up against the opposite wall, sliding back down to the ground. "Can't help them. I can't." Eyes shut, he slammed his head hard against the cement wall behind him with every I can't that followed.

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[info]_donttouch
2017-04-10 01:18 am UTC (link)
When he recoiled, she stayed where she was, unafraid of him -- she meant it when she gave David her trust, good or bad -- but worried as hell. God, this world was a crapsack. Standing as well, because action wanted for action, she watched him pace for a minute.

"Your thoughts are your thoughts. You can't stop them, it's shit to think that you can stop them." She agreed, slowly moving, close but not touching, slid along the wall as well sitting next to him. She wanted to stop him, hold his head and make everything better. She had to settle for making sure that this never happened in the first place.

Her head turned, forcing herself to study David, really study. Sydney was in over her head and she knew it.

And she was jumping in further. You jump, I jump, kid. "But it's your brain, and you can change them. You can direct where your thoughts go." A pause. "So let's change 'em." Together. Inviting herself along without even being asked.

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[info]xgene
2017-04-10 01:31 am UTC (link)
The sharp pain in his head gave him something else to focus on, it slowed his mind just enough to try drawing in a deeper breath, air that still burned, but was needed. All the basics needed to stay alive, he'd accepted them only because she told him to. Only because, for some reason, he should still be here. He didn't want to be here, didn't want to keep breathing, keep feeling everything and nothing.

"Nothing to change," he practically spat out, dropping his hand from his hair to ball his hands into fists, nails digging into his palms. Ash in his mouth. "All I want to do is die and you won't let me."

At that he David returned his gaze to her, glaring for a fraction of a second before all the anger and vitriol bled away, replaced swiftly with regret and a nice, hefty dosage of guilt. "Your eyes are alive." He said suddenly, voice soft again as he curled up on himself once more. Not entirely convinced she was, he at least recognized that it was... different.

"What is there to change?" He asked suddenly, unable to keep looking at her, his gaze returning to the floor in front of them.

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[info]_donttouch
2017-04-10 01:45 am UTC (link)
"Of course I won't!" She fired back, still staring. Trust was given, but that sure as hell didn't mean that she'd just placidly go along with whatever bullshit ideas he had. When they were crap, she was going to point that out. Stupid boy. Flash in the pan yelling done, Sydney couldn't help but turn sullen at the whole idea of it. "What was all the fighting for anyway if you're just going to quit?"

Glare met for glare, she huffed and hugged her knees close as David cooled down. "I am alive. Right now. This--" One hand released its hold, waving to their surroundings. The pale, sickly blue light in a bunker underneath Summerland. The walls stained with ash and dust and too many memories for anyone to handle. Cary and Kerry stalking and waiting for something, nothing. Anything. "This hasn't happened. This isn't home."

"And I need you," always need you. "I need you to tell me how to go home. How to make sure this never..ever..happens." She was unsure if that was the right answer, but it was the honest answer. And honesty was all she had at the moment.

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[info]xgene
2017-04-10 02:16 am UTC (link)
There was no fighting any more. They'd all fought and he failed. He failed, plain and simple. There was no reason to be alive, to stay when she was gone. For a moment David was entirely convinced that this would degrade to the same screaming match again, the same circular argument. No point in being alive, but he had to be, he always wanted to ask why, because she always said he had to. There as never an answer to be had -- he just trusted her, as much as he hated everything. Hated the nothing.

What she said next was confusing. Everything happened. He'd been there, he'd gone over it a million times, every way he'd failed, every way he'd been completely and utterly unable to save the one thing that mattered in the world. And everything that happened after? There was nothing. The thoughts of others were a mystery in a way they'd never been before. The world couldn't move around him. The door to the Astral Plane was shut. He was trapped, trapped in his own body, and no amount of screaming did anything any more.

"Home," he repeated, frowning. The past? Where this hadn't happened yet.

"It's going to start a war, using Oliver's face to bring mutants together, the angry ones," he said, despite his suspicion. The near-sickening feeling of maybe had the words forming before he could stop them. "We let it happen. But I--" He stopped then, looking to Sydney again and letting himself think her name, take the sight of her in despite the sting of it. "I can't get you back. I can't do anything any more." He was nothing. Empty. And yet he was supposed to be alive.

His brows furrowed then, his mind slowly processing everything. "How-- how are you here?" If she was alive, if she was real, how?

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[info]_donttouch
2017-04-10 02:34 am UTC (link)
She wondered for a moment whether she would be able to get through, whether she had the time it would take to break through the cracks in walls and let sunlight back in. It was funny how time travelers still found themselves without the luxury of that time. And by funny, she meant annoying.

But there it was. A spark, an ember in the ash. She nodded in encouragement, a small smile offered as David recounted a painful past. "Do you know who they were? Can we get to the angry ones first?" More mutants, a full house, safety and camaraderie created rather than more fear and anger. Anger led to hate, hate led to the Dark Side. "How did we let it happen?"

It was a lot of questions, and her mouth screwed up in silent apology for it. It screwed up more when he said that he couldn't do anything anymore. "Could you tell me how to do it?"

Never the 'twain shall meet, but did that count for knowledge? Sydney took a deep breath. All she had was honesty. "You brought me here. On accident. We were.." She stared thoughtfully, wondering how much of their timelines were the same and where they branched off, like trying to guess where a pingpong ball would land dropped on a board full of pegs. "You can time travel. We were at your Dad's funeral. Accidentally found ourselves here."

She jumped, metaphorically, again. Alice and rabbit holes had nothing on Syd. "You're keeping me safe. It's still out there. Watching. And you're keeping us safe from it."

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[info]xgene
2017-04-10 03:08 am UTC (link)
There were too many, too many that were angry. Too many that didn't want to listen to Melanie, too many that were already set in their ways and wanted to lash out at the world. The few they'd been able to bring to their side paid for it with their lives. But he didn't know who they were, he didn't know how the Shadow King found them. All he knew was a specific event, an attack happened somewhere and suddenly... they all managed to find their way to it.

"There was a school," he tried to remember the name of it, but the details were fuzzy. Most of what he remembered was the death toll. "Southwest New York. Apparently it was some cover, a place for mutants to learn how to control their abilities." That was all he knew about it. "It was blown up and... all of a sudden, they flocked to Oliver. I don't-- don't know how, or why, but it started after that school was destroyed." Maybe there was a mutant who could find other mutants, like he sort of could once.

An overwhelming feeling of uselessness hit him when she asked if he could tell her how. He didn't even know he could travel through time. His expression said it all -- he didn't have a clue and it drove his worthlessness home all over again. The pointlessness of being here, being alive, wasting air, resources.

The mention of another version of himself being here made him look away once more, feeling a sense of relief that they were being shielded from that monster's eyes. "I can't help you. I couldn't help you then, I can't help you now." Old, dark anger crept back into his tone. "Division 3 focused on Oliver and that thing inside him, pissing every mutant on his side off. The rest of them, the other Divisions, the government, they just made it worse."

He shook his head before he tipped it down, resting his head on his knees. "A fight broke out, public, messy. Mutants were outed and everything fell apart. The world got so loud, and when I got close, when I tried to--" David wrapped his arms tighter about himself. "Everyone around us died. Everyone."

That was how Ptonomy died. He'd been there, had been too close.

"I practically leveled a mountain trying to stop it, but it didn't matter. It just came here, killed Melanie, and it--" Tilting his head back, eyes staring at the ceiling now. "It grabbed you, touched your skin... but you didn't swap, it just pulled you right out of your body and..." He couldn't finish. David shook his head, eyes closing as he stopped. Stopped talking, stopped thinking. He pushed it all away, everything.

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[info]_donttouch
2017-04-10 01:16 pm UTC (link)
Her eyebrows lifted up at the mention of school, and how integral it would be. Committing the general location to memory, she figured that the specifics of it could be figured out later. Earlier. In the present-future, not this future-present. However it worked out. But when Syd waited for that recollection of time travel, that memory of the crazy amazingness that happened without him even realizing, and it didn’t come, she looked at him with heartbreak. Not just for herself or the David upstairs, but for him. This David and the notion that he didn’t get what he needed, what he had wanted for so long. Did he not ask? Did she say no? What changed? Also, time was apparently not a loop. Her gaze dropped, watching fabric-covered fingers play with one half of another fabric, a rosary shared between them more times now than she could count. “You didn’t even get to go—“ She stopped, shaking her head.

But then her head tilted, gaze slanting over thoughtfully. “Cary said that they didn’t help.” She nodded, “but he also said that they ran away?” There weren’t mental tables long enough to put this jigsaw puzzle together, but she was plucking away at it anyway. Couldn’t do anything but try. And Jesus..leveled a mountain? Super brains on overload, she imagined.

Didn’t swap. She didn’t know that was possible, really. So where did she go? A body was just a body. Where did she go? Sydney looked around, half ready to believe that she’d see her own ghost haunting the tunnels. Ghost of Christmas Future warning about the consequences of fucking up. “I love you, David.” The statement popped out, quiet but firm, leaving no room for denials or arguments, no room for palpable guilt and regret to take her emotions away. “If I didn’t get to tell you. Before, I mean. You are so loved.” It was important to her that he know that. Important to her that he heard it, felt it. It was a long time to spend with the ghosts in your head. Alone. She knew from alone.

She needed to regroup. There was a way to look at this, there had to be another way, that she hadn’t thought of yet. Vaguely, she wished that her brain would allow a split from normal and Rational, giving Rational whatever kind of accent it thought would make her listen. Make her think. “After the funeral, we were trying to figure out how to get home. I suggested that – since you were focusing on the emotions about your dad to go backward – you focus on the feelings of home to go forward. We got lost.” Obviously. But it was driving a stick shift in an area they didn’t know. She just had to draw the map, and found herself wanting for actual pencil and paper.

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[info]xgene
2017-04-10 01:43 pm UTC (link)
Division 3 helped as much as they hurt. It'd been like trying to hit a mosquito with a sledgehammer, all raw power with no good way of being utilized for the specific target. David didn't know how to fix that, didn't know how to change what happened. It was all just a blur, a haze of death and horror. Everyone around him had all these plans, ideas -- he reacted as best he could, but nothing he did was ever enough.

One clear memory though, was what happened to Syd, the very essence of her being, when it was ripped out of her, her own power turned against her. But he couldn't say it. Couldn't repeat it. It made his blood run cold like it'd been replaced by ice water.

The admission of love had his eyes opening again, looking at Syd with every ounce of guilt he had in him. David loved her, so, so much. Not a day went by where she wasn't on his mind, active in a ghostly manner, or simply re-running every memory he had of her as much as possible to keep himself from giving up the only thing he had left: his damned life.

Words stolen from him, his eyes fell as she spoke about getting lost in time. "Emotions made everything I could do unpredictable," he offered, voice soft and rough again as he felt himself shutting down. Any energy or flicker of hope there once was drained by the image of Syd's death. "They're a trigger, and they work, but... triggers also make an ex-junkie want to use again." Essentially, they were dangerous when used too much and pushed too far.

"It used a blade," David said suddenly, eyes distant as his shoulders went slack, "made of pure, psychic energy... to cut your soul into pieces." A beat. "Then ash. Nothing but ash."

Falling silent then, looking much as he had when Sydney first entered, the memory of it ran over and over and over again. Unstopping, no detail missed. Over and over.

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