Wheelsy AU ~ Bad nights

[noteasytobepink]

The scream was probably a little unsettling. Ringing out sudden and piercing in the night. The walls of the house and blankets over her head did little muffle it as she thrashed. Nightmares. She had them most nights but she usually managed to bite her tongue...

...today had been bad though. She'd started physical therapy for her arm, wore herself out, couldn't wake up as easily as she tended to. How she hated being broken and weak. It was bad for her mental state and brought on more nightmares.

"No NO NO NO NO NO!" Each word was accompanied by the thick thump of her fists on the bed as she worked to tear herself free from the past and finally ended up tossing herself straight off the bed with a firm 'thunk'. The jarring of her shoulder helped yank her free of sleep until finally, gasping, she was awake and shaking, nearly in shock.

Coffee. Caffeine. Something to keep her awake. She was NOT going back to sleep again after that.

That decided she stumbled down the hall to slump, shaking and exhausted, at the table. "Hell..." she muttered, thunking her forehead on the cool surface.

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[noteasytobepink]

"Well, you're cute. They'd have given up by now if you weren't." That was the truth. So he remained a cute, sexy little challenge living all alone in a town who wanted to change that.

She grimaced and tossed back the rest of her drink, trying to scrub the taste of pills out of her mouth. "We were kept drugged, often, when I was young. After...there was never medicine to go around really so it remains a...bad thing."

[no_andy_taylor.insanejournal.com]

"Thanks." He was getting better at taking compliments and being called cute by her, this time he only ducked his head a little.

Unfortunately, that glimpse down reminded him he hadn't put a shirt on, and that was cause for some sudden embarrassment that he tried not to show.

Hearing more about where she came from was enough to sober him up.

"Can't see how anyone would treat a person like that."

[noteasytobepink]

"You're welcome," she offered simply. She was in the habit of complimenting, and hey, he was getting used to it so it was all good!

Ah, yeah. She sobered a bit as well, staring out the dark kitchen window instead of at him. "Survival of the Fittest. It was the only law Bill. The only one. I'm sure you've seen something like it even here. People who feel the have the right to do terrible things because no one else can stop them. When the only law of the land is survival, the strong triumph, and very few of those strong are good people. Or stay that way once they are higher in the hierarchy."

[no_andy_taylor.insanejournal.com]

For whatever reason, Bill immediately thought of the slugs; and what Kylie said they'd planned to do to this world, and had done to others.

"Pretty screwed up. I'm glad you're away from all of that."

[noteasytobepink]

"For all it was screwed up...I miss it sometimes. They way you'd miss Wheelsy if you never got to come back, slug history and all. It was my world."

[no_andy_taylor.insanejournal.com]

Wheelsy's different-- he starts to say, but holds it in.

Of course there was the slugs, but that wasn't Wheelsy, that was something from outside. Something terrible that came in, and it was gone now.

Her world, all of it, just seemed full of that evil that had invaded here.

"Still," he maintained, offering her a shadowed smile. "I'm glad you're here."

[noteasytobepink]

Was it? Was it really? Wheelsy was his world, no matter if it wasn't as grim and dark as her own world, it was his. He would miss Earth less than he would Wheelsy.

"I think that's one of the nicest thing anyone's said to me, Bill." Just saying. It was sweet, and he was genuine.

[no_andy_taylor.insanejournal.com]

Wheelsy really was his whole world, and it was that love for his town that kept him from understanding or believing she could feel that way about where she came from.

Her world was nothing like his hometown, and he didn't think it was possible to have the same kind of affinity for a place like that as he did for Wheelsy.

"Well, I mean it," he replied, warmth creeping into his features again.

Recovering, he looked her over.

"You gonna stay here? Kitchen table ain't the best place t'sleep when that pill kicks in."

[noteasytobepink]

Yes, well, different circumstances. Different circumstances. Hard to imagine losing something good, so it remained unfathomable.

"Good to hear. I'd be crushed if you were just being polite." Utterly heartbroken even! Honest!

"...thinking about it. Gonna make me move?"

[no_andy_taylor.insanejournal.com]

"I am," he nodded about making her move.

"If only so I don't have t'carry you later on."

[noteasytobepink]

"You are just being polite? I did warn you I'd be crushed!" She lifted her wrist to her forehead, mock swooning. HEARTBROKEN!

"You don't have to carry me. That'd be a cruel thing to inflict on you for politeness sake!"

[no_andy_taylor.insanejournal.com]

"I meant I was gonna make you move."

He shook his head, and reached over to poke her.

"I was bein' honest about what I said."

[noteasytobepink]

"I was teasing, Bill." She offered a small smile and held up her good hand. "Help me up?"

[no_andy_taylor.insanejournal.com]

Bill stood and took her hand to help her stand.

"I know. I'm startin' t'get how you work."

Which means she'll have to work a little harder to mess with him. Maybe.

[noteasytobepink]

"Hey, it's all in the cause of getting a smile Bill, so don't stop just because you're catching on." She groaned and lurched up to her feet when he tugged, then leaned against his shoulder. She was tired. Screaming nights always seemed to cut to the bone...

[no_andy_taylor.insanejournal.com]

His arm went around her waist automatically to help support her.

"I'll be sure an' keep on smilin'," he promised, walking with her back to her room.

"Don't think there's much reason for you t'worry, though. I got a pretty easy goin' nature."

[noteasytobepink]

"Well, there's easy going because people expect it...and easy going because you're actually happy." And she was hoping to increase to latter? It was a personal goal. Her new physical therapist said personal goals were important!

[no_andy_taylor.insanejournal.com]

"Hey, I'm happy. You seem t'have it in your head that I'm a sad old man, or somethin'."

And like he said earlier, he had a few years before he fit that description.

Getting the door, he helped her to the bed.

[noteasytobepink]

"You remind me of people I've known Bill. Happy or content because they think they should be a lot of the time." She barked her knee on the bed and winced, pain killers making her clumsy. She hated that. Another try got her kneeling on the bed so she could get to the other side, leaving room for him to sit if he wanted.

"I'm not calling you some tragic hero or something, suffering in bucolic silence, i"m just saying you settle sometimes."

[no_andy_taylor.insanejournal.com]

He winced with her when she banged into the bed, and made sure she was good before pulling back from her.

The offer of a seat was plain, and he took it; resting on the edge of the bed.

"Now, just because I remind you of someone, doesn't mean that's me."

He prefers to think of it as accepting things, instead of settling.

"I think I do pretty alright for myself. I like my job, I've got my friends, an' it ain't like I'm hurtin' for money or anything."

[noteasytobepink]

She plumped a pillow against his knee and rested her head on it. Her diabolic plan had been to get him to sit so she could rest against him and know she wasn't alone before passing out again! Haha!

"No, you're not Bill. You're very much yourself," she allowed easily. "Just aspects sometimes." She chuckled softly.

"And you're not hurting, you're just not always as happy as you let on sometimes. It's in the crinkles around your eyes, the set of your shoulders sometimes. That's all. I'm not telling you to go run for president, I'm just saying I feel like getting you to smile and laugh more often is a good thing."

[no_andy_taylor.insanejournal.com]

Her resting against him was a surprise, but given the night she's had he was glad to be there if it'd be a comfort to her.

He had already got the impression that she was observant, what she was saying now made him realize just how much.

"Hm, remind me t'never play poker with you," he quipped.

[noteasytobepink]

"I don't think anyone on this world plays by the rules I know anyway, so no card games, I promise." She chuckled. "You grow up around a bunch of people who could be spies, and who might just be idiots driving themselves into the ground well, you learn to pay attention." She wrapped her fingers in her hair, twiddling with it.

"And, well, comes in handy when you end up leading knuckleheads from across the known realities."

[no_andy_taylor.insanejournal.com]

"Good. I'm lousy at cards as it is."

Her situation is still more than he can fathom, but she talks about it so easily he's quickly coming to respect her personality and strength.

"You were a leader than? With the team of folks you talked about?"

[noteasytobepink]

"You don't strike me as the type to be cutthroat enough for card playing." she agreed easily. "'Casual' and 'good card player' don't go together really." And she thought he would play for fun, rather than to win.

"Hmmm?" She turned her head to look up at him properly as she spoke. "Yes. By default really. I was the constant you know? And...had the most hard experience. Calvin led a team in his reality but he wasn't so good with...non X-men?"