”No, I don’t think that was the case because if they did up doing that it would negate the brilliance that was Sherlock. Not saying that he can’t be a mutant but I think the story would be better with his mind working like that. I mean Eve could do that but we always joked she was no Sherlock.” Sam said as he lifted the large bag of popcorn as they walked down the hallway from the kitchen to his office where they’d just finished their first episode of Sherlock before taking a quick break for snacks and libations.

”Look I’m just looking forward to Moriarty. If he is as brilliant as you say I might have to dismiss the movies.” Sam said as his hand tightened around the six pack in his other hand. He wasn’t thinking about drinking for once and his mind was focused on who he was with, Juliette a woman who he was falling hard for.

Juliette in Sam’s mind was the best thing that had happened to him in a long time. He was drinking less and sleeping more something that was unheard of since he had experienced his ideal world be burnt down to the ground. It was a painful experience that with the help and encouragement of the woman beside him he didn’t think he’d ever be able to move on from but here he was not drunk on a Saturday afternoon and having no intentions of being so. A few beers maybe but that was it.

”Also I was told that I’d enjoy the process of winter’s coming from Chess of Crowns.” Sam said trying to recite what Jorge had told him. He also had heard a few times that it was never there but he knew Jorge wouldn’t set him up like that.

Sam looked to Juliette and smiled, ”Just saying… the rain isn’t supposed to stop anytime soon.” he said about the weather outside. Surely they could finish all of Sherlock and Chess of Crowns there was no way there were that many episodes.

The kitchen was just a short walk from Sam's office, but it seemed to be just the perfect length to discuss the merits of Sherlock being a mutant or not when coupled with the wait time for popcorn. "Why would it negate anything?" Juliette began to counter, "would someone who's good with tech be any less good with it just because it's part of their mutation? Would you be any less chill if you weren't a mutant? There are plenty of good stories to be told about mutants."

The movies did need to be dismissed, along with Sam's general lack of exposure to any sort of media. It was his first time watching the Sherlock series, despite their popularity. "Oh, trust me. Moriarty is all of that and more," she told him.

Her eyes shot to the six-pack in his hands, but she looked forward without saying anything. His drinking had been somewhat better in recent months, and it wasn't as if she had any ground with judgement. Things in her own life had been rocky, and she wasn't sure where she stood on anything anymore. She was trying hard not to let Sam see, but she wasn't as alright as she used to be.

She looked back at him to respond to his game of thrones comment but smirked a little. Whoever had suggested it clearly hadn't filled him in on all the details, but she would let him figure that out on his own.

When they reached his office again, Juliette took up her former perch in one of the chairs and let herself sink back into it, ready for more twists and discoveries made by the ever-absurd Sherlock Holmes. 

>>”Just saying… the rain isn’t supposed to stop anytime soon.”

"You're right, I doesn't look like it will," Juliette agreed as she turned her head to take a peek out of the window in his office. The rain was coming down hard, and the sky was black. She was just thankful that she was inside so she didn't have to deal with the overwhelming darkness that had eclipsed the sun. "It's going to have to rain for an awfully long time if you're expecting to finish all those things, though."

There was no way that they would be able to get through Sherlock and Game of Thrones in a reasonable timeframe. Absolutely no way.

Through the open door, Juliette could hear a noise coming from the front foyer. There was a chance that it was just a student coming in from the rain, but there was also a chance that it was a newcomer looking for someone to offer them a place to stay. She wasn't a mansion greeter, but Juliette was usually willing to lend a hand whenever it was necessary. 

"Do you want to go, or should I?" Juliette asked, nodding her head to the sound that was coming into the room.

“Niet, Tatia. It’s not just another nude painting! It’s the nude painting of the senator’s wife!” Alexandra sneered into the phone, rolling her eyes as Tatia – her assistant slash receptionist slash everything in between yammered into her ear about the current situation. She only half-listened, more focused on trying to understand how the young art student she’d hired could one day be the master of organization and a perfectionist to the bone, only to manage to mix up painting deliveries the second day and send a rather incriminating painting into the wrong hands. Tatia’s voice continued undisturbed – switching from English to Russian and back according to the owner’s emotions. Alexandra cleared her throat, letting her eyes shift to the window of the uber that was driving her around. Yeah, it didn’t look like the heavy downpour that cut her errands run short was planning to stop anytime soon.

“Look,“ she interrupted, with a heavy sigh, raising her voice enough to cover her voluble assistant “I’m almost out of battery and I still need to make a phone call.” Somewhere in the middle of her phrase, the line finally went silent on the other side. “Just call delivery and change the address, okay?”

Silence. Furrowing her eyebrows, Alex removed the phone from her ear, staring at it. A black screen stared back at her. Well, f**k. There went her phone call. Her jaw tightened as she slid the phone into her pocket and wondered if there was any chance for this day to get worse than it already was.

Taking a deep breath, she shifted her attention to the rearview mirror. “How much longer till we reach Xavier’s?” she questioned the driver – the man glanced back at her via the mirror. “We’re almost there, miss.” He answered calmly, switching his attention back to the road. Alexandra just nodded, leaning back into the seat and turned her gaze to the car window and the glimpses of her surroundings she managed to catch through the pouring rain.

The change in weather had been unexpected and from a day she’d planned to run around the city and solve this and that for the gallery, Alexandra found herself stuck under a Starbucks umbrella, watching her plans go down the drain. It was a spur of the moment decision to come to Xavier’s. Her first thought was to go back to the gallery but, then again, free time was more of a luxury for her nowadays. Two months had passed since she had promised Xavia not to be a stranger. Sure, they talked over the phone and texted occasionally but she kept postponing her visit to Xavier’s and seeing the other woman because Elysium kept eating up all her time.

But now, with her being expected to be gone for the day, with Loki taken care of, she’d decided to drop by and see how Xavia was doing. She’d texted the plant manipulator earlier but with Tatia’s mishaps, she hadn’t gotten the chance to check if the redheaded mutant had replied to the text before her phone died. It was too late to change her mind anyway - the car slowed down to a stop and the gates of Xavier’s School for the Gifted rolled into view.

“We’re here, miss.” The uber driver announced, looking over his shoulder. Alexandra turned towards him, nodding in response. “Yeah.” She looked at the rain pouring down, the gates, then back at him. “Thanks.”

Alex inhaled deeply, preparing herself to go out into the rain. Because, of course, she didn’t have an umbrella. She pulled the flimsy cardigan she was wearing over her head for a makeshift umbrella and out she went.

Boy, was it cold. And so goddamn wet.

Never in her life – or what she remembered of it, anyway- had she talked so fast than in the discussion she had over the intercom to get the gates opened.

The Mansion’s foyer felt like heaven compared to what was outside. She had barely managed to get out of the wet cardigan when the sound of footsteps reached her ears. Brown eyes shot in the direction of the sound.

”First episodes are usually the longest… right?” Sam asked raising an eyebrow as they entered his room. Without hesitation Sam sat down in the chair next to Jules and set the popcorn down on the desk next to the beer. Sure they could have gone to the ‘man-cave’ but he was trying to be more personal than he used to be the lack of drinking was a good encouragement for new students to knock on his doors so why not watch some shows in his office.

Sam already took a sip from a newly opened beer and sighed, ”I mean… no one can get it right?” Sam asked knowing that answer wasn’t going to fly. ”I guess I can do it? Good exercise?” Sam asked not really sure if that was a good reason. He just wanted it to be clear he was going to the front door to greet someone… not because it was technically his job but because Juliette asked him too. Not that he’d admit that was the reason for him doing it either.

”Guess I can ‘ave a lil fun with this then.” Sam said adopting a faint British accent. It wasn’t the first time he had donned the accent and he was sure it would be the last, while it was sometimes fun most of his accents were taught to him during his time in T.A.T. where subtle accents were key it had a tendency to ask less questions unless it was grossly out of place.

Sam smirked and left the office and started down the hall sipping his beer. It was a woman, he felt her body heat before he had seen her, mainly because his one good eye was still closed as he took a swig of his drink he then shifted his gaze to see/feel if Juliette was going to see what kind of fun he was going to have.

”Wet afternoon to ya.” Sam said with his slight accent. He took a swig of his beer then added, ”Welcome to mutant manor.” it wasn’t the name but rather a popular nickname (one he coined when he first came to the school). When his eye locked on the female his brain didn’t register the all to familiar frame.

Sam was about to take another sip of his beer when his brain finally clicked who he was looking at his stomach dropped along with the bottle he was holding. Sam’s hand instantly went to his temple and he revealed a shaken expression. ”Can’t be… Not real… not again…” the air around him started to get cold as his brain tried to tell itself there was another person back from the dead. His ‘not-real wife and mother of his not-real children’.

"Have fun," Juliette waved Sam off as he trekked down the hallway to the front foyer. She knew that he probably wouldn't have gone if she hadn't asked him to, but at least he was willing to make the best of, you know, doing his job. She was using her power over him for good.

She stayed seated in the office, flicking through the Sherlock episode guide on the laptop as she waited for him to come back. It had been a while since she'd seen the series from the beginning.

Waiting was somewhat uneventful. There wasn't really anything to do other than listen for anything interesting, which she didn't hear for a few minutes. That was, until there was a crash. It sounded distinctly like a bottle of some kind. Sam didn't just drop bottles for any old reason.

She stood up from her chair and ran around the corner to see what the commotion was, only to find that there was... really nothing. It was just Sam and a woman she'd never seen before. Clearly, though, Sam knew who she was. The way he was looking at her and muttering suggested some kind of history.

"Sam?" she asked gingerly, glancing between the glass on the floor, his hands on his temples, and the mysterious woman in the foyer.

Her body soon followed her eyes – Alexandra fully turned in the direction she’d heard the sound coming from, hoping for the familiar red tresses to come into view. But alas, no Xavia. A man entered the room and she found herself eyeing him curiously – mostly, the eye patch and the beer bottle glued to his hand. Did they greet all their visitors with beer? Wasn't this some kind of school?

”Wet afternoon to ya. Welcome to mutant manor.”

The joke went vastly unappreciated – mostly because Alexandra was in kind of a bad mood. Still, she gave a polite half smile as she pushed the locks of wet hair plastered on her face behind her ears with her free hand. “Thanks. I’m Al-“

She swallowed her words as her introduction got abruptly interrupted by the bottle of beer leaving the man’s hand and the sound of glass shattering against the floor. Her eyes darted up from the mess to him, just in time to see his reaction. He looked as if he’d seen a ghost. He muttered something but from across the foyer, Alexandra was only able to pick up bits. Her forehead creased with confusion and she opened her mouth to say something – it was then when she felt the sudden shift in the room’s temperature. She quickly figured out that it wasn’t a coincidence – not in Mutant Manor, as he’d called the Xavier’s Sister School.

Her whole body tensed up, going into defensive mode; brown eyes darted back to the entrance - smart people looked for escape routes and smart people didn’t want to be near a mutant when his powers were going haywire… or whatever was happening with him right now. Her attention shifted back to him but she was prepared to make a run for the door, should the need arise. “Are you okay?” she asked, scanning him from head to toe.

A second set of footsteps could be heard, this time rushed. Alexandra glanced beyond the man’s shoulder, just as a woman came around the corner, looking worried.

"Sam?"

Alex watched as the woman scanned the surroundings – the shattered bottle of beer on the floor, the man- Sam, and finally, her. She met the woman’s eyes with a confused look and redirected the question toward her. “Is he okay?”

The air in his opinion was getting far to dry as it was becoming increasingly hard to breath. His vision shifted to Juliette who appeared and things had a certain clarity till he heard Alex again. She was dead. She wasn’t alive in this world, he was sure of it. After the Romania camps they split but he had kept tabs on her after that she vanished for a time and then nothing. No trace of the woman he had once loved and raised a family with several times over.

Sam caught himself on the wall as he doubled over trying to focus it was hard to focus on anything at the moment and the more his head seemed to swim the colder it got. Sam looked at Alexandra and muttered a name he had once called her in her native tongue. It seemed unfamiliar to him as he said it but he suddenly felt like things weren’t the way they seemed.

Sam shook his head once then looked to Juliette then back to Alexandra. Sam shifted his neck causing it to crack as he shook his head. She wasn’t real. Alex was dead. Juliette was in front of him bright as could be and he focused for a second. ”I thought I saw something that…” his eye shifted again and he suddenly felt the urge to run. He was afraid of what was going to happen now that he was seeing his ‘not-real ex-wife’. She wasn’t alive and he was so the only way he could see her was….

Sam formed an ice knife and jabbed it into his leg. A spot he had stabbed several times in the past few months though this was the first time he had done it in front of Juliette. Sam grunted in pain and looked over to where Alex was seconds before. She was still there. Sam closed his eye and shook his head pushing himself up against the wall. ”Focus… Damn it focus!”

>>“Is he okay?”

"He's..." Juliette started to say that he was fine, probably just a little drunk, but she stopped herself. He really, really didn't look fine. There was drunk Sam, and then there was whatever that was. There was a line, and he had crossed it a few miles back.

Sam was doubled over, muttering to himself. No, he most definitely was not alright. That much was very clear. "Sam? What the hell are you doing?" she asked him, looking once again at the broken bottle on the floor and the broken man against the wall. What on earth could have made him react like that? She'd never seen the woman standing in the doorway before, but maybe he had? Was she a ghost from his past; his days as an assassin? Juliette didn't know if she had it in her to deal with something like that.

"Look, I'm really sorry. I don't know what's gotten into him. I'm sure there's a broom here somewhere," Juliette said, trying to cover for her boyfriend's strange actions. She hoped he would get over it soon while she led the woman into the mansion, around the broken glass.

She had extended her hand for the woman to take, when out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Sam moving again. Only, he was just moving. He was raising an ice knife and-

Juliette screamed, raising her hands to her face and taking a step back. He'd just stabbed himself in the leg. She'd seen him to just about everything, but she'd never seen him do that. Not even at his darkest. "What the f**k?" she shouted, not caring about how the scene might have seemed from an outsider's perspective. 

That was too far. Way too far. 

It became apparent that the other woman in the room couldn’t exactly provide an answer to her question; Alexandra found herself growing more uncomfortable with every moment that passed while she stared at the woman, waiting for an explanation that wasn’t coming.

His movement caught her eye – her attention quickly darted to him, to Sam, just in time to see supporting himself on the wall. Somewhere in the back of her mind, her brain registered the other woman asking him what the hell was happening but by that time, their eyes have met. They locked gazes. He muttered something; she didn’t hear but it seemed as if she was supposed to understand and know what the hell was happening. A shiver went down her spine and at this point, she wasn’t sure if the reason was the air growing colder or his stare. All she knew was that every cell in her body was screaming to get away from whatever the hell this was.

“Look,”

Alexandra blinked, breaking eye contact. She found herself looking at the woman, her expression dumbfounded. What the f**k had she gotten herself into?

“I'm really sorry. I don't know what's gotten into him. I'm sure there's a broom here somewhere,"

She eyed the extended hand, distrust clearly visible in her eyes. The last thing she wanted right now was to come any closer to – she looked over – him. Just in time to see an ice knife form into his hand. The shiver on her back intensified as she felt something she hadn’t felt in a very long time. Fear. It crawled inside her body, making the hairs on her arms stand up. She took a tentative step backwards, keeping her eye on the threat.

He raised the improvised knife into the air.

Alexandra prepared herself to take another step back when-

Plot twist. He stabbed himself.

The scream filled her ears and she found herself paralyzed in place, eyes widened, looking back and forth between the two people in the room.

What the f**k, indeed.

Sam looked back at her – as if expecting something to happen while he willed himself to focus. Alexandra averted her eyes, feeling uneasy after the moment earlier. She locked her gaze on the woman instead, opening her mouth to say something. Except she had absolutely no idea what to say. The whole situation was too damn surreal for her to even begin to understand.

“I-“ she briefly glanced at Sam, and the ice knife protruding out of his leg. “Should probably get-“ as far away as possible from here “-help.”

This was something you couldn’t come back from. It wasn’t the first time he had thought it and it wouldn’t be the last. The frozen blade digging into leg was pulled and dropped to the floor and then shattered. A few drops of blood remained there as more red exited the self inflicted wound. His gaze shifted to his leg, which coated over instantly with ice where the wound was. He had a feeling Doc was going to yell at him again for the wound but… he looked back to Juliette who was horrified, there was a scream then she shouted something she rarely said. She was mad.

Sam looked back down to his leg then it clicked. He just stabbed himself again; his brain was playing catch up while the adrenaline was pumping through his veins. He only did that when he was starting to lose control or… his gaze followed the heat signature back to Alexandra, someone who once again should have been dead. ”Pitic” Sam said a little louder this time still not sure what he was saying. The word just came to him again.

”You were dead.” Sam said pointing to Alex, ”I looked for you….” Sam said, trying to force the words out. He was happy she was still alive; it was hard accepting she was dead. Pushing himself up from the wall.

His instincts too, told him to run. The sight of Alexandra was usually accompanied by the sound of their children’s screaming or the smell of burnt flesh. It was hard right now associating her from his other reality one where they were family.

He needed a drink… badly. He’d have to get himself. First Jorge came back then Gawain and now Alex. Sam closed his eye and tried to breath too much information was being processed. The dead never stayed dead it seemed. ”I shouldn’t have done that.” Sam said making sure not to meet Juliette’s gaze.

He was ashamed with what he had just done. This was far different than stabbing himself in front of Jorge or Gawain. He did this in front of his girlfriend and his ex. It was bad enough showing your current girlfriend how far you were from actually being ‘okay’ but he had to show it to Alexandra who was now not dead. He didn’t want either of them to see him like this. ”I’m sorry…” was all he could manage to say.

Juliette wasn't really paying much attention to the woman at the door when she suggested that she go get help. Really, there wouldn't be anyone there to help them. Ruddy was all but useless in that sort of situation, DocProf wouldn't dare help out with something like that, and any other mansion official would either be out of their comfort zone or would only add to the commotion. Sanity was optional when living at the X-School.

There were so many thoughts and emotions swirling around in Juliette's head that it was getting difficult to discern what she was feeling at that moment. She was terrified, confused, and a little angry. She wasn't sure whether she was angry that it was happening or that Sam was letting it happen to himself, because yes, by that point, she was starting to see it that way.

>>”You were dead. I looked for you….”

What the ****?

Juliette was lost. She knew some of Sam's past, but not all the details. Was she the woman that he saw each night? That he'd watched die repeatedly? She had no real idea.

She wanted to scream. Or to shake something. To shake Sam. To shake everything that was wrong right out of him and not have to worry about him stabbing himself when someone walked through the door. She couldn't do any of those things, so she just took another step back, keeping her eyes on the ice mutant, and steadied herself against the wall.

>>”I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry…”

He wasn't meeting her gaze, which was locked on him. She wasn't particularly interested in an apology. She just wanted to not be there. 

Her lips remained pursed as she continued to watch the situation. She didn't say anything; what could she possibly say? She was missing context and she felt like the odd man out, watching her boyfriend lose it over a woman who'd just walked inside the building. No, she had nothing to add to the conversation.

The sound of the ice blade falling against the floor made her turn her attention to the source of the sound. She eyed the tragic painting drawn on the floor – pieces of ice, the broken glass, the beer, the blood. She swallowed, feeling her body growing stiff with the discomfort.

“Pitic.”

Alexandra looked up to Sam – mostly by instinct and against her better judgement. Pi-tic? It didn’t even click with her at first that the word was spoken in another language. She narrowed her eyes, confused, feeling yet again that there was something that she was supposed to understand. And she understood its meaning but she couldn’t put her finger on the language or why was it addressed to her.

He sounded melancholic almost – as if that single word brought back memories.

Did he-

”You were dead. I looked for you….”

Her lips parted, feeling as if the air had been punched out of her body. She turned her attention to the accusatory hand pointing towards her. From that moment on, everything else was a blur, her brain going into overload at all the questions spinning around in her head. All of them revolving around those two sentences. You were dead. I looked for you…

Dead? Was he a part of the life she’d lost when she’d lost her memories? Or did he know the woman that Xavia mentioned? The one that looked like her. The mutant. Did she have a twin? Did-

Alex rubbed at her temple with her free hand, absently gazing at the mess on the floor while trying to put make order into the chaos in her mind. She wanted to run away. She wanted to ask so many questions. And she was torn between standing there, looking like an idiot and disappearing as fast as humanly possible from this place.

She shook her head, her eyes darting back to the man. Her hand fell away from her temple, and she let it hang limp against her body.

“What are you talking about?!!!” she finally blurted out, her voice higher than normal. “I don’t know who you are!”

Sam tried to take a step towards Juliette but felt his weight go out from under his recently stabbed leg that was now iced over. He caught himself up on the wall then leaned against it knowing that the wall was one of the few constants till someone decided to remove it from him. Like everything in his life everything seemed temporary. ”Heh….Me either…” Sam said without thinking about it.”[/color]

The icemancers head rested on the wall behind him as he finally called out, ”Maybe you’re right.” Sam doubted it but he was happier not knowing she was still alive for the time being. He was finally seeing her less frequent in his nightmares and dreams so that meant surely that he was getting better. Maybe she wasn’t who he thought she was… even if she was carbon copy.

”I’m sorry…” he followed imagining how bad this looked to an outsider, it was clear Juliette saw it the same way. Still not sure what to do or say Sam waved his hand. ”I’m sure you know where you need to go. If not just head straight through there and you’ll find someone who can help you.” Sam said before turning back to Juliette still making sure not to make eye contact.

Pushing himself up and pointing back to his office Sam finally glanced to meet her eyes. Not sure what he would find he was sure the office would be the best place to talk about whatever the hell just happened.

For all of what had just happened in the last few minutes, Sam seemed to be very alright. He was articulate, attempting to stand, and laughing. On second thought, maybe he was very much not alright. Perhaps she was really witnessing him lose it completely.

Brown eyes followed Sam's form as he finally pushed himself up from the wall. Her expression was hard and unwavering as she watched him, deep in thought. For the first time since she'd gone into that hallway, he met her eyes. She narrowed hers at him, not sure of what she was going to say or how exactly she felt. All she knew was that she was not okay with what had just happened.

Juliette watched him hobble off in the direction of his office, but stayed where she was. Still standing against the wall, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. There was so much to process.

There was also still a woman standing in the foyer that had to witness that entire mess. Whoever she was, it was unfair for her to have to see that. Juliette opened her eyes and looked at the brunette whose name she still hadn't gotten. At that point, a name was the least of her worries.

"I-" Juliette started to say something with wide eyes, but she stopped. What on earth could she say? 'Sorry my boyfriend just stabbed himself because he thought you were his dead ex-wife? You know, the one that he married in a vision given to him by a psychic? Yeah, sorry about that.' The whole situation was absurd.

The brunette let her head fall back against the wall again as she blinked away tears. She was supposed to be following Sam to hash things out, but she just didn't know if she had it in her. Then, if she didn't go, when would she? It had to be then.

"I'm sorry." She used the edges of her fingers to wipe any moisture from under her eyes as she blinked at the woman. With that, she ran off down the hallway.

((OOC: Continued for Sam and Juliette in Everything's Made to Be Broken))