Time Warner Center, Now

The second hand moved too slow to be normal.

Tick, tick, tick, the seconds went by. Far too slow. They couldn't go that slowly, could they? That didn't seem normal. They hadn't gone that slow before... He picked up the clock on top of the piano and shook it, trying to see if there were any loose cogs floating around that would cause the disturbance. 

Nicholas' thoughts were interrupted suddenly by a loud cough. There were a few people standing nearby, waiting for him to continue playing. That was all he had to do. Play the piano. Maybe sing something. Not too difficult, right?

Easier said than done. Nick set the clock back down on top of the piano and let his fingers rest gingerly on the keys. He'd already played the two pieces that he had memorised the best, but people expected him to keep playing. That was who he was - the guy that came to that mall every once and a while to play piano at that blue baby grand. It earned him a few extra bucks and made him feel like he was doing something again. People really seemed to like his music.

When he played, anyway.

He stroked the keys gently, trying to come up with some kind, any kind of pattern that would resemble a song. He looked up for a second - a mistake. They were staring at him. He didn't like it when they stared. It made him... it made him worse.

For a minute, just a brief minute, he considered making them believe that he wasn't there, but the moment was fleeting. He didn't really want that. In fact, he wanted them to know that he was there. Maybe if someone knew that he was alive, he wouldn't wind up alone and dead in his apartment.

Focus! He had to focus! Music notes! 

The man panicked and played a G major triad in an arpeggio. The rest of the chords followed, copying the pattern. He hadn't intended to play that song. It just... came to him, and then he was playing it.

The words tumbled out in a similar suit. Before knew it, he was playing Landslide by Fleetwood Mac. It seemed to be popular with the crowd, though, since more people had already gathered around him, their phones out to record his song, his requiem. 

Miguel's face flashed in his mind. Strike two for the day, but it was alright. He had gone four hours without thinking of him.

X-MEN HEADQUARTERS, 2009

“You look stupid, Cariño,” Miguel laughed and clapped his hands together, rocking backwards on the barstool.

“And you love me anyway,” Nick grinned, positioning the top hat to sit farther onto his brow. It had been a gag gift from another member of the team, Madelyn; a nod to his powers and their common association with magic. With a wink, he removed the hat and pulled an illusion of a rabbit out of it before taking a bow and returning to his seat.

“Maybe I shouldn’t,” Miguel teased. “If you’re going to do that, at least pull out something good, like a million dollars or a new car.”

Nick chuckled, set the hat down on the countertop and paused for a moment before saying anything else. He rested his hand atop his boyfriend’s and began to speak, “I don’t have a million dollars, but I do have the greatest guy in the world. The greatest guy who I wouldn't ever want to lose."

Nick stopped for a beat. His heart pounded. He'd been planning exactly what to say for ages. "What would you say to us… taking the next step? I mean, it’s been two years, and I was thinking… what if we got a plac-”

His proposition had been cut off by a sudden intruder. The door to the kitchen slammed, altering both men to the stranger’s presence. Nick whipped around to face them.

It was a man. He was tall, with no particularly recognizable features, but he wore a large trench coat that hung loosely over his misshapen body. Or, perhaps it wasn’t his body at all. There was something… on him. Strapped to him, perhaps.

“Stay here a second,” Nick whispered to Miguel. He intended to handle the situation. Show off, as it were, all that he’d learned over his time with the X-Men. He liked feeling helpful. Especially if Miguel would see it.

Cautiously, he approached the man. “Can I help you?” He asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

The man’s head whipped around to face him. He seemed surprised, as if he legitimately hadn’t been expecting anyone to be there. He seemed to fumble with something in his jacket, a device of some kind…

A device! That was what was strapped to his chest! Nick could see the flash of his SUPER badge, the hardened look in his eyes, and most importantly, the object strapped to his chest. It wasn’t difficult to piece the rest together.

“Miguel get down!” Nick shouted, but it was too late. He could feel the heat of the fire on his back, the force of the explosion going through the room.

Then, all of a sudden, he couldn’t. His ears registered something, words coming from where Miguel had been sitting. “I lo-” were the only two syllables that were able to leave his boyfriend’s lips.

Nick should have been feeling the explosion overtake him. The burning sensation of the fire. Or even some falling debris. He felt none of it. Instead, he felt safe. Protected, even.

He turned his head to see that he had been covered by a layer of blue energy. A protective shield; one put up by Miguel. Nick breathed a sigh of relief. That meant that he was okay, too. If he had shielded Nick, then he must’ve shielded himself, too, right?

Only, there was no shimmer of blue energy peeking out from under the debris. No screams or struggles or any signs of life… except…

There was a hand. It was undeniably Miguel’s hand. Nick felt his breath catch in his throat. He didn’t care about the base or anyone else in it. At that moment, there was only one thing in the world that he cared about.

He inched forward along the floor, making his way to him. He grabbed the free hand with his own left and squeezed it tightly. “Miguel, Miguel… please,” he heard his own voice say. It felt somehow disconnected from him. The whole situation felt like a dream.

There was no response on the other end. Warm tears trailed down the man’s cheeks as he continued to squeeze the hand and yell, trying to elicit any kind of response from him.

Before he knew it, the universe was working against him again. What little of the structure above them that had survived shifted and collapsed. It tumbled to the ground, on top of the exposed limbs of Nick. Again, he heard his own voice ring out, but it was no longer words coming from his mouth.

Within seconds, he was no longer conscious.