Christmas 2016: Bruce

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Svartfreja
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Christmas 2016: Bruce

Post by Svartfreja »

<Bruce> With a long groan as the Skype box on the borrowed computer did the same, shutting down and taking his parents away again, Bruce sat back, muttering a curse at how uncomfortable the chair he was sat in felt against his body.

<Bruce> Truth was, it wasn't the chair. Same as it wasn't his clothes, the place he was in, the food he was eating there, or the people he was around. It was none of those things, but somehow all of them at once. 'Uncomfort' had become the entire world. 'Unbeautiful' and 'unerving' had become his day-to-day life. Colour seemed washed out, taste seemed bland, smiles - even frowns - seemed hollow now.

<Bruce> The world had little to no life left in it, at least for him. Fitting, too; since he took so many away from it. Since those he'd done that to had taken so many more away themselves.

<Bruce> Still, it was hardly 'justice'. Cessily Kincaid's words aside he knew that there was no 'good' or 'evil' in this. Just hate and fear. Mindless carnage that tore lives apart carelessly. And in its wake only damage. Removing his glasses, Bruce rubbed his eyes. God but he was tired...

<Jessica> It had taken Jess some time to find the building but once she had, she went inside and asked around for the location of the person she wanted to see, being directed to a small room. She knocked on the door gently, moving partly into the room, "Bruce...?"

<Bruce> "Wh'ay aye...." Bruce deadpanned, glancing over his shoulder as he slipped his glasses into his shirt's chest pocket. He mentally registered again that it wasn't 'his' shirt; just a borrowed bit of clothing. He had no items left. "Jess Drew." he waved, "Alreet?"

<Jessica> She nodded and shrugged at the same time, "Well enough... how are you?" she moved a little further into the room, eyes wandering over the furniture. The place struck her as some kind of immitation of Xavier's but it had none of the warmth.

<Bruce> With a nonchalant shrug, Bruce stood, pacing over to the window and looking out on the bitter, cold world beyond. He leaned a hand against it, looking past his ghost-like reflection onto the icy grounds of Cassandra Nova's school and frowned, his mind thinking the same as Jessica's own.

<Jessica> "I've been looking for you..." Jess broke the somewhat tense and awkward silence, "I wanted to talk to you..."

<Bruce> Bruce looked back at her again, "...yer off te' a good start then." he said simply, mirthless smile offered alongside his comment, empty of his usual humour, "Anythin' specific?"

<Jessica> She nodded, moving over to him carefully. "Wanted to thank you... well... your alter-ego really...."

<Bruce> "How? Send the daf'-cunt a postcard?" Bruce snorted, though not unkindly, "I'm sure it's well happy yer' ok...couldn' possibly commen', but..."

<Jessica> "He saved my life... more than once... helped me get Sebastian and Monet out too... I didn't know it was you... not til later..." she fiddled with the cuff of her blousse.

<Bruce> "Welp, secret's out." he shrugged again, care-free as the last, "Really dinnae have much t'say on it...."

<Jessica> "And you're okay?" She stopped beside him at the window, "What are you going to do now?"

<Bruce> Swallowing dryly, Bruce turned to look at her. He didn't really have an answer for that, not one he was sure on, anyway: "...I'm gan' h'yem." he scoffed, again mirthless, "Goin' back t' the fam'."

<Jessica> "Just for the break?" she turned her gaze from the view outside the window to look at him, "Or for good?"

<Bruce> "Haven' decided." he responded shortly, his own gaze going right back to where hers had just left from.

<Jessica> "Don't leave..." she looked down at the floor, "I know we haven't exactly been friends... but I can't stand the idea of any one of us throwing this opportunity away because of her... because of me..."

<Bruce> Bruce rolled his eyes, "Pegged ye' for 'intelligent'..." he sighed, "Jessie: look at it. There's no 'opportunity', ya daft bastard. Death isn' an 'opportunity'. It was a school full o' sociopaths and retards, torn down by a bunch of other sociopaths an' retards." he grit his teeth, taking a deep breath.

<Bruce> "An' listen t' yerself an' all: 'because o' me'. Yer' part of the reason this shit happened an' yer sayin' 'well, it's still worth it'." he shook his head, "It isn', is it? Not really."

<Jessica> "I didn't mean that..." She turned back towards the window, "Death isn't the opportunity... but we shouldn't let it tell us how to live our lives. We shouldn't let her win like that... otherwise what's the point? What was the point of all of it if we just give up now? What were we fighting for?"

<Bruce> "Good fuckin' question." Bruce answered, "What were YOU fightin' for, Jessie? You 'X-Men' and yer' 'great mission', what was yer' purpose? Who were YOU SPECIFICALLY fightin' for yerself? Them? Shaw? Yer' bestie who walked in and murdered everyone?"

<Jessica> She cringed away from him when his voice increased in volume, trying to protect herself from the words. "For my family... my home..." she sniffed, turning her back on him. "I know it was my fault... and you're well within your rights to be angry with me, everyone is... but that was my home too. It was the first place I ever felt like I belonged and the only family I have."

<Bruce> "So ye' helped yer enemy kill them?" Bruce shook his head, "Listen t' that......are ye' fucking retarded or what? 'Yer only family' and ye' sell 'em out?" he tensed a fist, "And I saved you?"

<Jessica> "I didn't help her! Not on purpose!" She pushed her hands through her hair, "She asked questions all the time and confused me and I upset her... it's my fault because I upset her... I threw everything she offered back in her face..."

<Bruce> Sighing, Bruce rubbed his face, "Well, thanks fer' doin' that, aye...." he grumbled, moving away from her, "Did a great job there...."

<Jessica> "I didn't mean to!" She hid her face behind her hands, "I didn't want any of this to happen! Why would I do that? Why would I want my friends and my family to go through that? Why would I want people to die? People I loved..."

<Bruce> "So, what did ye mean t' do? Ye had some kinda special idea in mind?"

<Jessica> "No, I-... I don't know!" She sank into a chair, "Please don't... please, I already feel awful..." She'd barely slept since it happened and the exhaustion was showing, "I knew not to cross her, she warned me often enough... but I had to leave... and I couldn't leave them there... I shouldn't have called the school..."

<Bruce> Bruce shrugged again, a frustrated sigh leaving him, "Well, that's good, isn' it? Ye' 'feel awful'. Which is well helpful to all the dead people a' had t' walk past and leave lyin' there 'cause you and yer' fancy-pants boyfriend cannit be trusted t' make decent mates..."

<Jessica> Her head snapped up, "Sebastian had nothing to do with it! I was the idiot that let her take me in and don't think for a minute I wish I hadn't been so stupid! People I loved died in that attack! My first home was destroyed! This shouldn't have happened but what was I supposed to do? Leave my friends in her care? Leave my brother there? Let her attack city after city? How could I?"

<Bruce> "Aye, the needs o' the many, eh?" Bruce looked back at her, "So...now yer sayin' y' did right?"

<Jessica> "I don't know..." she bowed her face into her hands, resting her elbows on her knees. "There's no right or wrong in this... things just happened... it's her fault more than anyone else's..."

<Bruce> With a loud roar of frustration, Bruce turned around, flipping a bedside table across the floor with a thunderous crash, eyes glinting emerald for just a moment. The sound subsiding, he immediately felt terrible for doing so, the lamp atop it had shattered and the drawers had been strewn across the carpet. He sat down on the bed, hands covering his face.

<Jessica> Jess yelped and curled up protectively at his outburst, peeking out at him from behing her knees, "What do you want me to say?"

<Bruce> Not answering, Bruce just looked away at the damage he'd caused, unsure himself. Maybe he wanted her to say she was responsible, and she had; partly, at least. But he didn't feel any better. Maybe she, like he, was just blaming herself for what she did in a moment of weakness and panic; a domino midway down the line, blaming itself for the person knocking it over, and the damage it caused in the end.

<Bruce> "...I don't even know." he all but whispered, "...I cannit do this anymore."

<Jessica> She sighed, getting to her feet and going over to him, reaching to put a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry for my part... I am... I don't know if there's anything I can do to help but I will do what I can..."

<Bruce> "There's nothin' TO do, d'ye not get it?" he looked back up at her face, "Jessie, it's all gone. And that's the end. Nothin' else to it."

<Jessica> "It doesn't have to be the end... We survived, Xavier's message survived... SHIELD have given us somewhere to live, offered their help... it doesn't have to stop here... we don't have to let her win..."

<Bruce> Shrugging, Bruce shook his head, pushing her gently away, "Yeah, well a'm out." he stated firmly, "An' that's that."

<Jessica> "I'm sorry to hear that... really..." she dropped her hand to her side. "Take your break... maybe you'll feel differently after the new year... I hope so..."

<Bruce> "Ye' can forget it." he stood, going for the door, "I'm leavin', and there isn' a damn thing ye' can say that'll stop me. Fuck the lot of y', fuck this freakshow, and fuck tha' Hydra bitch too; I'm OUT."

<Jessica> She went after him catching his arm, "Whatever your feelings are right now... don't burn your bridges... I'm really grateful to you for what you did... I know people are questioning their actions, everything they did to save the lives of others... but don't... don't do that to yourself. You saved lives. Focus on that. Focus on that and be proud of it."

<Bruce> Bruce shook free of her grasp, pushing the door open, "Tell that t' yer friends, Drew." he spat over his shoulder, departing as soon as he'd done so.

<Jessica> Jess sighed heavily, watching him walk away, "I don't have any friends..." she muttered, shaking her head. At least she'd done what she came to do.
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