Post by Lab Rat King on Dec 14, 2020 14:47:43 GMT -5
Thank you as always to the incomparable handler of Silvio Leon, who also handles Grace. You are limitless.
“Do you want to see her?”
Getting back to Grace’s hotel room had been a blurry affair. She’d been so caught up in the emotion of finally finding her husband again. Everything was just watercolor shades of sense memory. The rush of being in an arena, the cold, hollow feeling that followed the shock of adrenaline that propelled her through security officers that tried to stand between herself and Kane. He hadn’t been out of her sight since he’d first gone into his match; Hell, she could hardly bring herself to let go of his hand. Everything in between then and now had been an inconsequential blur that existed outside of her and the man seated with her on the hotel bed.
Kane--not Zane, as he’d found out he was misremembering his own name--was admittedly still reeling. It was hard to think… it was hard to… process anything. He’d resurfaced from the black depths of his own mind, clutching a few precious pearls of memory, just to find that the voice calling him home had been hers. Hers. The one he’d been looking for all this time--the one he couldn’t fully remember. But now Grace was here, and during his absence from consciousness his more vicious half had taken the title of Ultraviolent Champion of Carnage.
Oh. And he had also just learned about Luna.
“Yeah,” he murmured; his voice was low and raw, still rough from screaming. At least he’d been able to shower and then change into a clean hooded sweatshirt and fatigues. He squeezed her hand as gently as he could. “Please.”
Nodding, Grace took out her phone. “She’s with my parents right now, but I have...about a million pictures. I figured you’d want to catch up on everything once I finally found you.”
Opening the album, Kane saw the first photo - a pudgy, pink-faced baby with wispy blonde hair and his own amber-colored eyes swaddled in a blanket patterned with UFOs, stars, and planets.
“This is our Luna.”
Kane’s heart jumped into his throat.
For a long moment, he didn’t breathe. He stared at the photo, suddenly dizzy; overwhelmed. There was no mistaking it. The wide, round eyes looking back at him were mirrors of his own, the same colour he saw in his reflection.
“Our daughter…” His voice cracked; he swallowed the tightness in his throat, eyes glassy. His world had gone from a marble to a moon in less than a day. “My… my daughter.”
Grace smiled, feeling tears somehow welling up again in spite of the buckets she’d already cried. She tucked a lock of blonde hair behind one ear, letting out a breathless little laugh. “Yeah. She’s a year-and-a-half old now. You...disappeared...while I was still pregnant.”
It had been devastating for her. Her family had done everything they could to support her; she never lacked for a helping hand. But it hadn’t been the same without him; how could it be? And the idea of their child growing up without ever knowing her father was all but unbearable. Going through the last part of her pregnancy not only without him, but with her being the only one who believed he was still alive while the rest of the world thought he was an adulterer who died in a car crash had been a trial. And while this was all far from over, a least she had him back.
Kane drew a deep breath to steady himself; he moved his arm around to circle her waist. It felt natural; subconsciously, he felt he’d done it a thousand, thousand times. He couldn’t look away from the photo, his world tilted on its axis.
Luna.
He was a father.
“It’s been that long…?” He shook his head in disbelief, his fingertips feeling numb from the shock. “I’ve been with Carnage since the summer, so… I must’ve been trapped in that place for… for a year, at least…”
He winced; the memories were fresher, now. Sharper. They were like bile in the back of his throat that made the beast in him growl, threatening to charge ahead again. Holding onto Grace seemed to calm the instinct.
“You crossed the entire country. I don’t know how much of this you cleared on your own, but we live in Oregon.” She shook her head. “You don’t remember anything about how you...how they took you? I just...can’t imagine the kind of connections these people would need to have to do a cover up like this.”
Why?
Why had they taken her husband? What had they done to him? To what purpose had they shattered him and what did it mean for the rest of their lives together? He was unquestionably her spouse, but the holes in his memory were enormous, and that was to say nothing of the physical changes to his body. While it didn’t matter to her what he looked like, she had no idea what kind of impact this would have on his long term health. As desperately as she may have wanted to, she also didn’t know if it was safe to take him to a doctor or a hospital.
“I…” The mutant sighed helplessly, bringing his free hand up to press his fingers against the bridge of his nose. Everything was still a blur, but he could grasp fragments from further back with increasing clarity the more he thought about it.
“I don’t remember the details… I know I went in voluntarily for something, and then I couldn’t get out. They wanted me because I could… handle whatever they were doing to me. They always spoke like they were surprised when I survived to the next day… it’s a mess, but… maybe it’ll come back to me. Some things are coming back. It’s like having random pieces of a jigsaw puzzle in a box, with a bunch missing… they don’t really make sense alone, but sometimes two things connect and the picture gets a little easier to see.”
Grace nodded, leaning against him gently. “I’m sorry to bring it up, I just...have so many questions. And I want to make sure we’re as...well, as safe as we can be given the circumstances.” Tilting her head up, she kissed his cheek softly. “I can relocate us out here if that’s what we need to do. I just can’t...I can’t lose you again. I can’t.”
Even now, he felt like a mirage; an illusion. She was petrified that she would blink and he’d be gone or that she would find herself back in her bed, left alone by a cruelly departing dream.
Kane couldn’t help but to wrap both arms around her, drawing her close against his looming frame; she felt so small in his hold, but so.. Familiar. So right. He breathed in, and the smell of her hair brought a wash of memories home; tangled up in a bed of navy blue sheets… waves tickling her neck in a resplendent backless dress, lit by candlelight... drawing it back over her shoulders in the sun. He remembered the barrette again, a shining moon and a blue stone that hung in his thoughts like the true moon itself.
“You won’t,” he promised, his voice barely above a whisper. “Not like that. I swear. I fought like hell to find you again.. I fought through hell. I’m never letting anything take us away from each other again. And I… I need to be there… not just for you, but… for Luna.”
It was such a tremendous weight, but it was one that he welcomed. He was strong enough to carry it.
“If we stay here, I can give us a good life,” he murmured, looking up at the window without unwrapping his arms from her. “Carnage… it’s been my home, the only one I really know right now. With you here, it feels even moreso… and it’s somewhere I’ve been able to cope with what happened to me, where it’s safe, and there are people who can stop me if I… get out of hand.”
He drew back just enough to look at her, forehead nearly to forehead.
“This is what I’ve always done… I can feel that in my bones. It’s what I’m good at. And now I can finally take that skill and use it to give you and Luna the comfortable life I’ve always wanted for you… even though I know I’m… not exactly the man I used to be. I’m sorry…”
Shaking her head, Grace looked up at him, reaching up to cradle the side of his face with one hand. “You’re my husband. You’re here with me. That’s all that matters. We’ll figure out the rest as we go. And you have nothing to apologize for. You were kidnapped. People abused you. They lied to your family to make you think you were someone you weren’t. They made the whole world think you died. I don’t care what apologies they spew, I swear to God I’m going to burn those bastards to the ground and salt the earth when I find out who they are.”
This wouldn’t be the end of it. She wished it was, but if the people responsible for Kane’s current condition had spent that much time and energy doing this to him and covering it up, Grace doubted they’d just forget about him. He was a walking, breathing liability if he ever remembered or someone found a way to trace him back to the organization responsible for whatever they’d done to him.
“I can do my job anywhere, so here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to rent us a place out here and have my folks bring the baby.” She bit her lip. “Do we tell them anything?”
Kane looked pained at the thought, but he shook his head. As much as he wanted to reach out to anybody who might be able to fill in the blanks… “It’s too dangerous right now. I knew doing this would lead you to me… but I don’t know how long we have before they catch up. The last thing I want to do is put you and Luna in danger. Once we know more, once we’re safer…”
He sighed, pressing his face into her slender hand.
“... and hell, I know I’m not doing good. My lungs are shot and my guts are a gamble on my good days. I don’t want any of our extended family and friends panicking and trying to drag me to a hospital. At least here I have friends who might be able to help in quieter ways.”
Grace sucked in a breath through her teeth, brow knit in concern.
“...Like a back alley doctor or something? Kane...Please. I can’t do this alone. I need you. Luna needs you. We have to take care of you as well as we can.”
Kane was living with heaven only knew how many physical and mental disabilities and atypicalities now. He would need medical help; needed it now, in fact. That wasn’t an option.
“I’ll tell our family I’m out here for research or something. I need to get on writing that sequel, anyway. My publisher is going to be furious with me.”
He understood--he really did. He knew he needed serious, professional help. But if he checked in somewhere and those people were tracking that kind of record, even passively…
“We’ll make it work… and I promise I’ll try to get the best help that I can. I want to be here for you so badly, Grace. I’ve fought tooth and nail to get back to you… nothing’s gonna stop me from staying. Not the people who took me, not my health… nothing.”
He cradled her face gently in both hands, really looking at her. He remembered her so well, now; the colour of her eyes, the softness of her cheeks, the subtle gloss and swell of her lips.
His shoulders sank and he sighed, feeling himself tremor from the heart.
“With you here… I feel like… I can survive anything. I feel like even if it’s hard… we’re gonna make it.”
Nuzzling close, she nodded, lips soft and tickling against his ear as she whispered.
“That’s what she said.”
Kane snorted and coughed, the sound bubbling over into a low, raspy laugh. He slumped over her, resting his head in the crook of her shoulder.
“I needed that.”
“I figured,” she giggled in spite of the stinging in her eyes. “I missed you so much, baby. I’m so grateful you’re still here.” Turning her head, she kissed his temple. “...and...not to...press the matter, but...it has been like a year and a half and...it’s obviously not the most important thing in the world, but I’m not going to lie - seeing you almost naked in the middle of that ring with the belt in your mouth and finally getting to touch you after so much time has passed is bringing a lot of long-unfulfilled needs to the foreground.”
“Oh thank god,” Kane muttered, closing his eyes. “I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to bring up right now, but I’m wildly attracted to you, which I guess, makes sense, all things considered. I’ve been thinking about kissing you, among other things... for the past hour, and… I can’t pretend I’m not worked up after carving my way to that belt.”
Rotating herself so she was straddling his lap, Grace sat up and smirked, taking her shirt off and tossing it onto the floor in one smooth motion. Placing one hand on his shoulder, she laughed. “My sweet Sugar Kane,” she purred. “You are so easy.”