2013-08-22 - I Will NEVER Forgive You

Ororo was the one that answered the phone at Xavier's Institute. She was obviously suspicious at first, but when Nathaniel explained he was Iron Lad of the Avengers Academy and that is how he knew Hope, she relaxes. The white haired, exotic beauty smiles softly as she says, "Actually, a visit would likely help her. Hope has been injured and is currently recovering," not going into details.

The teenager has been surly, grumpy, more tight-lipped than usual, sarcastic, and generally difficult to deal with. Keeping her drugged up and sleeping has been the easy way to deal with it. In either case, Ororo helps move Hope up to the nurse's office, settling her in carefully. The visit would be monitored of course, with Ororo just outside the door of the nurse's office, but at least Nathaniel would get one.

Ororo is actually waiting at the front gate for the young man. She is dressed in white slacks with a white, stylish top. Her boots are black with heels, and she added black fingerless gloves to finish off the contrasting and sexy get-up. It goes well with her dark complexion and white hair.

Nathaniel didn't start worrying until about 10 days after last seeing Hope. He doesn't know the redhead very well, so it was probably her being difficult and not wanting to date anyone. But just in case, he made some research, and then some calls. He has to admit he felt a little guilty when he found out about her getting injured.

There was plenty about Xavier and his school, both in current and in future databanks. It is certainly an historical landmark, but this time he is not going to do sightseeing. Nodding politely to the tall, white haired woman (wait, shouldn't she be ruling Wakanda? His armor historical database is getting worse) he goes straight to Hope's room, knocking at the door just before going in.

Ororo actually leads Nathaniel to the nurses' office, speaking a little bit about the classes held here, and asking about the Avengers Acadmey a bit. But she then settles into a chair outside the nurses' office door and picks up a book that was resting on a TV tray there to start reading after she smiles gently at Nathaniel. She introduced herself earlier with her real name, rather than codename.

There is a groggy, "Ya, come in," from Hope. Her throat doesn't sound rough anymore, but it is still a little dry feeling cause of the drugs. She has a water bottle with a straw this time rather than a glass, and is sitting up somewhat thanks to a bed that tilts up in the nurses' office. One side of her jaw is bruised and even has some yellow ones to indicate healing. She wears Xavier's Instituted red sweats with the gold logos on them. The rest of her injuries are not visible.

Hope narrows her green eyes slightly when Nathaniel enters, "Someone tracked me down." She doesn't really sound overly upset however, and didn't indicate to Ororo that she didn't tell Nathaniel where to find her.

Nathaniel thanks Ororo, and then closes the door of the nurse's room. "I had to. I am not used to being stood up," he offers Hope a guarded smile, looking at her injuries and frowning. "Although I see you had good reasons to stay here. What happened to you?"

Hope snorts, "I was a bit pre-occupied, and it wasn't set in stone," her expression a little wary. "I was grounded anyway." But...in reality, she dodged the question of what happened with the bruises, which likely has nothing to do with the grounding.

"You are injured." Nathaniel can get more on her injures from the sensors of the armor than just by looking at her, and this time he does just that. "And avoiding my question. But alright, keep your mysterious ways. It is true it was not 'set in stone', but it was important enough for me to look for you." He smiles again, patting her hand if she lets him. "Do you still want to watch a movie?"

She has bad bruising all along her torso from her right shoulder across her chest to her left side, like she was wearing a strap over her shoulder and across her torso of bruising. Hope's expression clouds with confusing, the hand pat something, she's unsure what to do with. "Why...I'm a crazy girl that kills people Nathaniel. Why are you so interested in me?" It's as if Hope is truly lost as to what to do, or even how to deal with Nathaniel. Tender feelings were never her speciality, sadly.

"I am the crazy boy that is going to end up destroying whole civilizations," replies Nathaniel. "Not really. You are a hero, Hope. How could I not be interested in you? Besides, you are a beautiful time traveller."

A redness to her cheeks at the term beautiful, "Geez, you really are strange." The only one to really call her beautiful so often was...Emil. Hope glances away, "I'm not much of a hero right now...," she says anyway. "I'm more dangerous than anything, even to my friends and loved ones. Not sure if I wouldn't be more harm than help." Still, those green eyes flicker back over toward Nathaniel.

Ororo continues to read as she sits with one leg crossed over the other. She can hear talking, but she doesn't bother listening in to the actual words.

Nathaniel tilts his head, then finds a chair to sit down, dragging it close to Hope's bad. "How so? You should tell me what happened to you, because I think I am your friend and I plan to be around quite often."

A light snort at that, "I almost wish I could tell you, but...then there is a chance you could betray all of us in the future Nathaniel." Hope shakes her head slightly and winces a bit before reaching for her water bottle to take a drink from it via the straw. Ya, that bruising? Forgot to mention, the ribs are cracked a bit.

"I screwed up. May have let important information that could...royally screw up the world slip to a very...dangerous monster. Then I used as a drama pawn, and sicked on the people I want to protect. So ya, fun days, mind raping," Hope grumbles. "You should join in the fun, everyone should try it at least once." Details are still missing, and she isn't going to provide them at this time...maybe she won't ever share them with you...but this explaination likely explains some of her grumpiness and twitchiness.

"So ya, got to get my head checked out later too. Make sure no hidden 'surprises' were left behind." Hope mmms, "Hate to stab one of my allies in the middle of a cook out or something. That would royally suck." She tries to make light of it, but there is an edge to her tone that betrays how much this all truly and utterly bothers her.

Ouch. This is the first time someone tells Nathaniel they are afraid he might betray them. It stings more than he though it would. But Hope has good reasons to be upset if someone has messed up with her mind. "I am sorry, Hope. But there are skilled telepaths here, right? I am sure you will be fine soon."

"Ya...but what might they see, and how might it affect them? You...know I came from a time where the heroes failed, where your future is...just a 'make believe' thing. People don't even have enough hope to -dream- up your type of future. It...ends with the extincition of humanity. How...," Hope sounds frustrated, "How do you give someone hope, when you know they fail Natey?" Yep, it's the pet name again, but apparently, this time it is at least sub-conscious. "What do I do if...they see that, how can I even reassure them? Tell them I'm some big bad, and apparently fuckin' useless Messiah that gets herself mind raped, and oh, don't worry, trust the future of the human race to me. It's alright, it's already prophesied." And finally...since first waking up, Hope cries. It hurts her ribs...a LOT. She raises a hand to wipe at her eyes. "Damn-it...I really am a mess. If you become Kang, I'm really killing your ass, you know that right? Cause I'm not forgiving you, -EVER-. Not -EVER-." You will just need to give her a few to stop crying.

Nathaniel stands up and reaches for Hope, pulling her close and hugging her gently. "Yes, yes, you have told me that many times. Kill me, girl. I am sorry, Hope. But you cannot win all the battles. You are alive, you escaped, and you can try again. A setback should not stop a woman like you, hmm? What would Captain America do?"

Hope winces at the movement, but she does actually lean into Nathaniel. "I...don't know, never met him. Guess pick himself up and move on." Her arms have reached up to hold onto Nathaniel's arms in return, though not about his body. "Sorry...crying over this is stupid...it can't be undone, just...got to make counters in case a move is made." Her crying is slowly, but there is a bit of sniffing still. Boy...that hurt, Hope is glad she is calming down. She closes her eyes though, while leaning against Nathaniel.

Nathaniel shakes his head, "I think it is normal if you are feeling down right now. Just... you will get better, I know you can. You have already endured terrible events before, and you were still fighting. I know you can overcome anything, and I will be honored if you let me help you."

A soft sigh, not a deep one due to her ribs. "You really are a strange one Nathaniel. I really should just punch you and make you avoid me." But Hope is still leaning against you, not pushing away. She does move one hand to rub at her eyes and cheeks though, trying to dry it off as she sniffs. She must like strange. "How do you want to help out anyway?" Hope is finally listening, really listening. Likely not a chance Nathaniel should neglect to take advantage of.

"I am strange because I am comforting a girl I like?" Nathaniel strokes Hope's hair. "It is not particularly strange, I think it is what friends would do for each other. I admit I do not have much experience having friends, but I am sure I am doing the right thing. And I would stay even if you punched me."

A light snort, and then a wince of pain from it. "You are strange for liking me," Hope informs as a correction. But she still leans. She's still mentally exhausted from the experience, and very much emotionally exhausted as well. "Will you really help me? I need to find and stop someone or something, that I have no idea...but helps lead the world to destruction. It's a conspiracy, a spider-web of hints and broken clues that suggest of this figure's existance, but no firm proof. How do you find something you don't know for sure exists?" Hope does sound tired. "Think you can help with something crazy like that, Nathaniel?"

"Of course," replies Nathaniel. "If you give me all the hints and clues you have, I will correlate data on my computers, check out of it is statistically likely to be random or if there is good evidence of an outside agency. If there is evidence, I can compare with other incidents in the Avengers databanks to see if the patters fit any known suspect. If not, I can still try to draw a profile. Sounds good?"

"It's not that simple Natey. Some of it is...just gut feeling. Like the Kobra activities suddenly getting a rush of meta-humans in development for an army, and spreading activities in varying cells in America...it seems so...bold compared to their previous history. And in Central City, stealing vials from S.T.A.R. Labs that would have been used to develop a mutant virus that Flash and I stopped...I remembered Nay-Nay talking about it before, so I tracked the incident, but couldn't find out who or why they would do that. The assassination of the Queen of England by Slaymaster that...well, I stopped that too. Who hired him and why? No one found out in my timeline, and we still don't know. It just seems so random."

Hope opens her eyes finally, rubbing them a bit more before she tilts her face to look up at you. "How can this be compiled, Natey?"

"I am a scientist, I can handle the technical part," replies Nathaniel. "You know, the rest of the 21st century is not too good in my timeline either. The Second Dark Age starts with some obscure events during the next few years and does not end until the beginnings of the 22nd century, with the fall of the mega-corporations and the restoration of democracies. Hmm, Spiderman, Dr. Doom and the X-Men are involved in all that, although I think they are spiritual descendants of the heroes of this age, not the same people. I can easily believe there is a concerted effort by some human agency to end the Heroic Age for their own benefit. I would like to help preventing it."

"Never heard of mega-corporations, and democracy began to fail...about...twenty years from now? In either case, it disappears forever." It isn't...that far in the future, the beginning of the end. "It's not something that can be just 'stopped'. History has to be rewritten. That means not only preventing key events from happening, but stopping whatever or whoever is behind them. Some are building blocks, the happening of some events, cause more dramatically damaging latter events. It's...controvulted, and it's mostly based on stories from Nay-Nay," her dad.

Hope shifts to lay back against the bed, her ribs hurting a bit too much. She raises a hand to rub at her face and sighs, "I'll try. I'll do some research and try to make sense of it. Just need a place to lay it all out I guess. Got to meet with Grace, owe her drinks. I think the beer or liquor kind."

"We will talk about it, and go over your notes carefully," replies Nathaniel. "But I think right now you need a break. I can't take you to the movies, but I can assemble a holoprojector and we can still watch a movie. Would you like to try that?"

A quiet mmmm, "Not sure about right now, feel...kind of exhausted." But Hope does look up at you, her expression more gentle than it was earlier. "But you win, we will watch a movie together. Just make sure it's not something boring. I like Back to the Future and Labyrinth, they are great movies. Stuff like that." Awwwww, is this a date?

Nathaniel checks with his computer, "yes, they are available, give me five minutes." Not much of a date, given Hope is bedridden, but the holoprojector he setup is better than the best modern television. "I will get you a pain killer too, you look in bad shape," there must be something in the room. 21st century drugs, just a step over leeches and getting the patients drunk from his point of view. But one has to work with the tools at hand.

Hope gives the long, techniqual name of the drug, "Half a pill. Ororo cut me back so I wouldn't pass out while you were visiting." She mmmms, "And gee, thanks for commenting how bad I look." She rolls her eyes. She isn't about to pull up her shirt and show Nathaniel the rest of it...anyway, that be embarassing! She doesn't have a bra on, it would hurt too much.

"You look great, as always. Except for the constant wincing and favouring you left side," observes Nathaniel with a grin. "Seriously, you look like you got in a serious fight and need some rest and healing. So relax and forget your problems for a couple hours."

A quiet mmm, "Still, thanks a lot," a hint of sarcasm from Hope still in her tone. She rests her head back though, looking at the holoprojector. "What can't your suit do anyway?" She will use her water though to take the half pill when you fetch it for her.

Ororo pauses, concentrating on the words briefly, before returning to her book. She picked a good one, cause she really had no idea how long the visiting would go. If all else fails, she will trade out with someone.

"Do you want a list of the limitation?" Ask Nathaniel as if he already had the list. "If given enough time the nanobots can reconfigure as almost any machine from my timeline, but it can only draw a certain amount of energy from hyperspace per second. This quantity is not very impressive compared with what some current super-humans can do. Good enough to see a movie, though, and I think you will enjoy this one."

"Umm...O.K." She does -not- ask what hyperspace is, no way! Hope is not opening that can of worms. "Movie, check, what movie hot shot?" She just doesn't want to fall asleep during it, but no promises with that. Still...she feels a little weird to be watching a movie privately with Nathaniel like this knowing that he...well...likes her. Poor Hope, she isn't even sure what to do about that still.

Hope does squint, as it was strange. But she quiets down, starting to watch the movie, curious on what Nathaniel found.

Ororo does look up a bit confused, and does stand up to peek into the room to see what was going on! "Oh, pardon me," she says softly when she sees it isn't anything bad. She then moves to take a seat outside and picks up her book. As the movie goes on, she will think about needing to see this movie as well visually.

In the meantime, Hope blinks at Ororo, but then turns back to the intro of the movie. "This...is kind of neat. I wonder how they did that." She doesn't realize they are puppets. Movie magic was not something she learned about. "It reminds me of Labyrinth a lot, the goblins in it." She starts to smile as the movie goes on, not even seeming to mind the dark spots of it.

"We can seek all the secrets of the movie, but later," replies Nathaniel. After all it is a form of art, and art should be first experienced, and then explained. He is going to be a bit surprised too it was puppets and not computer-generated animations when he checks it out. Ororo interruption makes him smile vaguely. "If it is too loud, I can tone it down, just trying to make it feel more like a movie theatre."

"Don't worry about it," Ororo says. "Enjoy yourself. Let me know if Hope gets too tired." It was all she said before she had resettled herself.

Hope mmms though about waiting to find out the movie magic, "Alright, alright, we wait for that." Still, when she seems to start to doze off at times during the movie...well, the first time, she ends up searching for Nathaniel and reaching out to touch his hand.

Hey, no sleeping. Nathaniel takes her hand and squeezes when it looks like she is about to doze. Truth is he is paying more attention to her than to the movie. He has seen very few 20th century movies, though, so it is interesting enough.

A slight smile, almost as if it isn't really there. But she raises her other hand and rubs her eyes, opening them up wider to get back to watching the movie. The little reminders help keep her awake, though she thinks she missed some detailed tidbits through the movie. It is kinda cute, how she rubs her eyes at time to get rid of the sleep in them and become more alert. Or how she yawns at times, trying to keep her mouth closed. She doesn't seem self-conscious at all when Nathaniel isn't calling her 'pretty' or 'beautiful'. Her bruise faces you, discolored still in the darkness. It likely knocked her out cold, whatever hit her on the jaw. She doesn't take her hand from yours, unless it is dropped...just leaving it held in yours.

Well, Nathaniel does his best to keep Hope awake until the movie ends. As the credits roll by, he has the screen fade and lets sunlight back into the room. The sun is getting low in the horizon, though. And Hope seems needing some sleep. So he leans forward, "I hope you enjoyed it, sleep now," and kisses her brow. "Get better soon. We have a mystery to unravel." And he leaves.

Hope mmms softly, giving your hand a weak squeeze. "Will kick all their asses, they will have to stand in line." But there is a slight smile to her lips as she starts to fall asleep. And this time...she will rest more restfully.

Ororo is there to escort Nathaniel out after checking on Hope. When they get to outside, she smiles softly, "Thank you." Why...perhaps it isn't clear, but she thanks Nathaniel anyway.