Christina Frost (whosperfectnow) wrote in marvel_nextgen,
@ 2010-09-22 21:30:00

Entry tags:

inactive - bruce gotham, inactive - chris frost, inactive - justin rhodes

An Introductory Reunion.
Tina had to get away from Xavier's for a bit. The closer in proximity she was to her fellow X-types and mutants the higher the odds that she'd develop a new ability. Tina was growing weary of the now-normal searing pain of her genetics rewiring to accommodate something new and while it was fun she couldn't go drinking with Rose every night. She elected to go home for a bit, to go stretch out on her own couch and just relax in the relative peace and quiet of her brownstone. Justin could come stay the night when he wanted to (provided she could lure him out of the lab...some flirtatious texts often did the trick) and she would be safe to try to get a handle on what the hell was going on with her since Providence. Dr. McCoy still had no lead on fixing her and Tina realized she had to psychologically brace herself for the possibility that she might never be her brand of normal again.

Today, she'd gotten up early. Just had been there for the night so she got up, made him breakfast, sent him out the door (which made her feel kind of like a housewife, which as nice) and then sat herself down with a cup of coffee. The day was still pretty early and she had a blank canvas. A second cup of coffee in hand, she tried to decide what to do for the day. It was kind of liberating to have no plans, but boring just the same.

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nextgen_baddie
2010-09-23 02:38 am UTC (link)

Bruce lets Melanie fix his tie as he frets over his hair for the third time in as many minutes. He's not sure that he should do this, but meeting his little girl again for the first time has him nervous. What if she rejects him? What if Emma's poisoned her against him?

What if she just doesn't want a father?

Put it out of your mind, Bruce. Either she'll go willingly or she won't, but you need to show her the way.

One hour later, Bruce watches the Colored Boy (his name does not matter) leave the brownstone Tina is staying in. He still hates the idea of his daughter sullying herself with such a man, but there is time to change her mind.

Eventually, he'll make his way to the door with a bouquet of flowers and knock, breathing deeply as he waits for her to answer.

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whosperfectnow
2010-09-23 02:50 am UTC (link)

TV was an option. She still hadn't caught the last two episodes of "V" and the new season would be starting up soon. Also there was Morris Chestnut. That thought pretty much clinched it for Tina and she sat down to call up the recordings on her TiVo when the knock came.

"Damn," she said to herself but got up just the same. Through the peephole she saw an unfamiliar guy with flowers and, for a moment, she thought maybe he was delivering them. Though the suit was weird, but hey...it was New York.

"Hello?" Tina opened the door and smiled a bit at the stranger. "Can I help you?"

Weird. This guy...kinda looks familiar. Sorta.

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nextgen_baddie
2010-09-23 03:01 am UTC (link)

"Hello, Christina." Bruce says, holding the flowers out to her. "Ah was hoping that maybe you and Ah could help each other."

His southern accent colors each of his words as he offers a slight, but hopeful smile in her direction.

"My name is Bruce Gotham. Twenty-one years ago, Ah met Emma Frost at a dinner party and we...we were intimate for a time.

Ah believe Ah'm your father and Ah would like it if we can get to know each other." Bruce says.

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whosperfectnow
2010-09-23 03:08 am UTC (link)

Blink.

Blink blink.

"You...what?" It took a great deal to shock or stun Christina Frost but this man, this Bruce Gotham, had just done it where homicidal living islands and weirdos with syringes of mutant making serum couldn't. Just a few weeks ago, she'd been reunited with her dad, with Namor. She'd set aside any idea of finding out who had biologically contributed to her existence and suddenly someone was standing at her door, handing her flowers, claiming her.

Her only reaction was hurt.

"Where were you when I legitimately needed my father? And what the hell do you want now?" She held the flowers, but looked at him with eyes far older than her twenty-one years.

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nextgen_baddie
2010-09-23 03:51 am UTC (link)

Bruce had expected a reaction like this. Of course, it also confirmed what he'd suspected; Emma hadn't told her anything about him at all.

"Christina, Ah know what you must think of me right now. Ah've missed so many important moments in your life and now maybe Ah'm here looking for a hand-out or something. Ah assure you that is not the case.

May Ah come in and explain myself?" he asks.

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	whosperfectnow 2010-09-23 03:53 am UTC (link)
	She could almost hear Rose in her head telling her to kick him in the jewels and send him packing but...she was a Frost and if there was something she'd learned from that was the fine art of letting people explain themselves...and through explanation incriminate themselves. Tina sighed and stepped aside. "Come in." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

nextgen_baddie
2010-09-23 04:21 am UTC (link)

Bruce walks into the home, looking around at everything. He knows so little about her and he's trying to find anything that she might have inherited from him.

Meanwhile, he tries to settle on what to say.

"Christina, your mother and Ah had a very, very...tumultuous affair. Ah was married at the time and Ah'm not proud of my actions or the way Ah treated my wife. Ah felt very much like Ah wasn't myself and Ah still have no reasoning for many of my actions to this day. But Ah took them and Ah own them, no matter the reasons.

But Ah /never/ walked away from you. Your mother left me after tellin' me that she was pregnant. Ah told her Ah wanted to know you, to have a relationship with you, but she wouldn't hear of it." Bruce says, pacing the floor.

"She was involved with a man named Sebastian Shaw and they robbed me of my business and helped me destroy my family. Then they left and took you as well. Ah spent years lookin' for you, and Ah finally found you...but she was now with another man, doin' the same thing she did to me.

Ah confronted her, but this new man, Namor...he was under her spell as thoroughly as Ah was. He threatened to kill me if Ah ever came near you or Emma again. Ah wanted to fight, but...he had money and more important, people who could do things to you if Ah acted against Emma. So, Ah had to walk away.

But Ah never stopped lovin' you, Christina." he tells her.

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whosperfectnow
2010-09-23 04:58 am UTC (link)

Tina listened to his story, her face still and neutral. It was an entirely plausible story, but when he mentioned Sebastian Shaw's name, Tina flinched. She regained her composure quickly, but she had flinched.

When Bruce told his story regarding Namor, however, Tina understood that he was telling the truth. Namor had been so protective of her. And Emma had left Namor after Kassia was born...

"Namor is a good man and I still call him Dad," she said quietly. "Emma took his child, and me, from him as well. I'm sorry for what she did, to you and to him."

Tina nodded in thought.

"So you're actually my father?"

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nextgen_baddie
2010-09-23 05:19 am UTC (link)

"That Ah am, Christina. Ah...Ah know we don't know each other, but Ah would love it if we could talk for a bit. Do you have any plans for today? Ah could pick up somethin' you like to eat and we could talk for awhile." Bruce says.

He noticed the flinch at Shaw's name and wondered what that meant. Shaw was a bastard. Did he abuse her in some fashion?

"Wait...did Ah wake you?" Bruce asks.

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whosperfectnow
2010-09-23 05:39 am UTC (link)

"No, you didn't wake me. I got up early so I could make my boyfriend breakfast." Her eyes lit up as she spoke. "He doesn't like when I fuss, but it's really important to me that I take care of him. Justin's wonderful." She picks up a photo from the bookshelf."See? He's really amazing. Too good for me, really."

Tina gestures for him to sit.

"I have coffee and we can get lunch. I...would like to talk to you. I spent a long time wondering why you didn't come save me."

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nextgen_baddie
2010-09-24 01:26 am UTC (link)

Bruce forces himself to smile at the picture of Colored Boy that Tina shows him.

"He has interesting eyes." Bruce says enigmatically. He'd like to cut those eyes out of Colored Boy's skull and feed them to him. His daughter shouldn't be subservient to a base creature like that.

"Lunch is good for me. Ah...Ah cleared my schedule for this, Chrissie. Ah also want to explain why Ah wasn't there for you and hope that maybe you will find it in your heart to forgive me." Bruce says.

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whosperfectnow
2010-09-24 01:33 am UTC (link)

"I love his eyes. He doesn't look at me like I'm garbage. I hope our children end up with his eyes."

She smiles before putting the picture away.

"Chrissie." She repeats his truncation of her name as thought it's a word in a foreign language.

"No one has ever called me that, Mr. Gotham. Justin and my friends call me Tina, but Namor, Emma, and Sebastian," and all his sick friends "always called me Christina." She frowned for a moment.

"I thought you explained why you weren't a part of my life until now. Is there more to the story? Where have you been with your life in the past twenty some years? Do I have siblings? Any weird genetic disease or anything?"

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nextgen_baddie
2010-09-24 02:41 am UTC (link)

"Have you talked about children with him?" Bruce asks.

The mention of Chrissie having children with this abomination confirms what Bruce's gut told him at first sight: the man needs to die, and soon.

As in, as soon as he can arrange for it to happen.

"Ah would have called you Chrissie, just so you know. If it's uncomfortable, Ah'll call you by whatever name you want." Bruce says.

"You do have a brother, slightly older, from my marriage with my first wife. His name is Patrick and he's a doctor in California.

Now, it's not a disease, but...with your mother bein' a mutant and Ah myself bein' one, there's a good chance that you could be a mutant as well." Bruce says.

"Are you?" he asks.

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whosperfectnow
2010-09-24 02:55 am UTC (link)

"Justin and I have talked it over, but not seriously. It's usually one of those things where he insists our kids need to look exactly like me and I protest that we don't want to burden our kids with my looks." She pushed some of her hair behind her ears and for a moment looked a little vulnerable and uncertain.

"You can call me Chrissie, if you want. It's okay. Does Patrick...know about me?" Tina felt her chest get tight. If she were a dirty secret for her father just as she often was for her mother...

Her chest got even tighter when he mentioned he was a mutant.

"Yeah, um...about that." She smiled a little uncertainly and as she did, her body built its diamond armor around her in a spectacular display of the glittering gem.

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nextgen_baddie
2010-09-24 03:08 am UTC (link)

"Well, it appears that Justin has some good sense to him. No child would be burdened with your looks, Chrissie." Bruce says genuinely. He almost reaches out to push away that lock of hair, but he remembers himself and that he's still a stranger to her.

"Honey, Ah would love to tell Patrick about you, but...he and Ah haven't spoken in years. After his mother, my wife, died...Patrick and Ah were at odds over everything. He blames me for her death, and Ah can't say that Ah disagree. Ah allowed our family to fall apart because of my affair with Emma. After my wife killed herself, Ah fell into drinkin'.

Patrick raised himself. Ah know this does not paint a good picture of me, Christina, but Ah am tryin' to mend my ways. Patrick won't take my phone calls or speak to me, except to tell me to go to Hell." Bruce says sadly, finally sitting down.

"That's why it has become so important to me that Ah get to know you. You're all the family that Ah have left, Chrissie, and Ah don't want to go from this world without havin' tried to show you that Ah am a better man than my past would paint me as.

Did your mother ever tell you anythin' about me?"

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whosperfectnow
2010-09-24 03:16 am UTC (link)

Ah. His son wanted nothing to do with him. Tina couldn't help but feel like a consolation prize, not unlike the way she felt after Kassi had been born. He had a family, then he made a mistake and lost it all. He said it himself, she was all that was left. She nodded just the same, listening with interest.

"I'm sorry to hear about that," she said genuinely. "Emma never mentioned a word about you, I'm afraid. I just assumed that whoever my father was, he didn't want me. It was a pretty logical explanation for me, that I was disposable.

"You're Southern, yes?"

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nextgen_baddie
2010-09-24 03:27 am UTC (link)

"Well, Ah do want you. Not just because Ah've screwed up my relationship with my son, either. As Ah said, Ah did find you at one point, but Emma told Namor about it and Namor threatened to kill me if Ah came near you again." Bruce says.

"Ah like your diamond skin, Chrissie. You look beautiful." he says.

"Yes, Ah was born and raised in Louisiana to a farmer and a seamstress. We have land there, our family does." Bruce says.

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whosperfectnow
2010-09-24 03:34 am UTC (link)

The armor went away and she was regularly skinned again.

"It's one of my abilities. I have several. What about you? What is your mutation? Tell me who you are, Mr. Gotham. It would be interesting to me to know who you are." She paused for a moment.

"Please don't think ill of Namor. He really was very protective of me. I wish he could have been around when I was older. There are some unpleasant things about my personal history that might have been avoided."

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	nextgen_baddie 2010-09-24 03:41 am UTC (link)
	"Ah...Ah can turn off mutant abilities, Chrissie." Bruce says. He doesn't mention the other part of his abilities right now, because that might scare her. "If you'll use your ability again, Ah can show you." he says. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	whosperfectnow 2010-09-24 03:46 am UTC (link)
	"You're a nullifier." Her eyes widened. She hadn't absorbed from him, this she knew, but he could also, at least for the moment, take away the pain that the abilities she'd already absorbed caused her. "Okay." She held out her hands and they crackled with electricity, blue and green arcs of energy. It was the most recent ability she'd absorbed. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

nextgen_baddie
2010-09-24 03:51 am UTC (link)

Bruce looks at the power between Tina's hands and extends the field that normally surrounds his body. Tina will feel every single one of her powers shut down immediately.

Bruce takes a deep breath, concentrating on the space between them. He looks at Tina with a great deal of surprise.

"Ah didn't know that you were an absorber." he says, his voice filling with wonder. "You're amazing."

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	whosperfectnow 2010-09-24 03:55 am UTC (link)
	Her body went quiet for the first time since Providence. There was no pain, no uncertainty, just quiet and normal. Tina smiled. "Oh wow. This...this feels amazing. Does this hurt you at all?" Her eyes widened with amazement. "It's a recent development actually. My mutation went crazy." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	nextgen_baddie 2010-09-24 04:02 am UTC (link)
	"You have several, which Ah have no issue with...but the level at which you possess them makes it so that Ah have to work a little to keep them all negated. Ah'm sorry Ah didn't come to you sooner, but Ah'm glad Ah could spare you some discomfort, sweetheart." Bruce smiles. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	whosperfectnow 2010-09-24 04:08 am UTC (link)
	She was a quiet for a moment. "The discomfort from the mutations really is nothing. Mr. Gotham...you might not really want to claim me as your child." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	nextgen_baddie 2010-09-24 11:13 pm UTC (link)
	"Please, call me Bruce." Bruce requests. "Now, why would you think something like that, Christina? Ah've come a long way to meet you. Ah can't imagine any reason why Ah wouldn't want such a beautiful girl as my daughter." Bruce says. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)