>> "Are you really sure? Just seeing it... it could change in the knowing. All you have to do is look into my eyes."

And so she did. She looked into his deep brown eyes for a long moment, and despite the gravity of the situation, she smiled; and then she was pulled into her own future.

>>"Momma?"

She froze in shock, looking at the scene; it took her about a second to make sense of what she was seeing. Emotions clashed with hormones on the battlefield of 'WHAT THE...' and then Jude must have decided the same because he was pulling away.

That, however, was not the only thing she saw. And the other thing she saw made her blush a thousand colors of crimson.
Well, not like it was such a big surprise. Duh. But it was weird...

>>"Omigawdomigawdomigawd... Are you... are you sure zat in ze park we...?"

Gasping for air, she looked away, and covered her mouth in shock. Her brain was doing the math. It apparently came down to two plus two...

Also, Jude was kind of freaking out.

Sliding the glasses back over his eyes, she made sure they stayed in place before she allowed herself to continue being in shock.

"Yes, I am sure." she sounded very sure about that. Because she was. "I'm not pregnant." yet.

Still. Those images from the near (hopefully) and far (hopefully) future? They stuck. You couldn't just unsee them.
Also, she could not even begin to imagine what her and Jude's genes would be capable of. She decided not to go there. Right now.

"Do you think that... that we... um." rubbing her forehead, she sighed "Was dat real?!..."

Jude moved his hands when he felt her replace the sunglasses but still kept his eyes shut. He didn't have a job. How would he possibly support a child? Two children? He had been a child not too long ago. And he certainly hadn't given a single thought to what would happen after they averted the apocalypse. How long would it take to keep the world from ending, anyway?

Shaking his head in answer to Svetty's question made him open his eyes to gauge her reaction through his polarized lenses. "Ze future does not lie." But it could change… Did he want it to? Did she? Svetlana seemed very calm about all of that. They had talked about kids before in an abstract sort of way…

"Zat was far off." Yeah. Really far off. Had there been something to identify the date? He was betting it was a million years from now. "Don't usually see zat far off."

What kind of job could he find? Jude's case was a bit special, but he was betting his paperwork would keep him from finding anything worth doing until he technically got old enough. What should he do in the meantime? What kind of career would possibly fit him? How could he possibly provide for a family of four?

Before, he'd used his telepathy to his advantage. He'd leveraged secrets against people to further his own placement in politics until one day, his talents got him stashed away in some government program.

He wasn't about to make that mistake again.

One thing was clear, he couldn't live at Future Sight forever. Those kids were not his brothers or sisters or (gulp) sons or daughters. If he had family, this time around, he was going to make them count. His heart sank as soon as he'd come to that realization.

"Svetty… I sink I've made a horrible mistake."

He explained about his future past. He explained in no unclear terms how he'd sent Sebastian away. He explained his fears about the future. By the time he'd finished explaining they'd been sitting on that bench long enough that he'd gotten cold and stiff and felt like all the words that poured out earlier left him empty.

It felt like hours. It felt like days. It felt like lifetimes.
Well, technically, it was lifetimes.

Sveta sat and listened, holding his hand, trying to wrap her mind around all the things he was telling her. He had been back and forth between past, present and future, and as it usually goes with time-traveling, virtual or real, thing were getting really messed up. And the things they just saw were not helping at all. He sounded quite desperate about... the future. Not just the big picture, save-the-world part of it, but... well. His future. And hers. And theirs, as weird as it sounded.

She was staring to see more clearly. The whole past-future thing had been really confusing, but Sveta was smart when she needed to be. The same went for being strong. Guys never really grow up.

Once he was done talking, and there were no more words pouring out, she moved closer to hug him.

"It's okay, Jude. We can figure dis out." she hummed, letting him hold her "It will be all right."

No idea how, or when. But it was a start.

"First of all, you are not going to be a daddy anytime soon." she chuckled against his shoulder "I promise you dat."

It would be alright, but right now he felt like he was at the crossroads of his life. He could go in any direction from here. Infinite choices is too many to choose from. What if he picked the wrong one?

> "First of all, you are not going to be a daddy anytime soon."

"Well yeah. It's takes 9 months to cook 'em." He was only half kidding. Accidents happen! How could she be so confident? Svetty scooted in and he wrapped his arms around her until she settled into a place that seemed made just for her. From the outside, it would look like he was comforting her when the opposite was actually true. He planted a kiss at the top of her head.

"It would be okay if you were. I'm not ready now, but I would be." Or at least he would try to be. Kids. Two of 'em. *Jude hugged her tighter around her shoulders.

"And second of all?"

>>"Well yeah. It's takes 9 months to cook 'em. It would be okay if you were. I'm not ready now, but I would be."

She smacked him on the shoulder for that, but chuckled none the less. As if he knew anything about how to cook up a baby. That was girl stuff. Besides, she was pretty sure that she was in control of that situation. Unless mutant genes decided life has to find a way despite safety measures, well. She was supposed to get married two years ago, she couldn't get any more ready than that. Jude, on the other hand, as being heroic, and that was cute.

>>"And second of all?"

"Second of all, you don't have to support me." she smiled "But if you want to work for yourself, I am sure dere is a way. It is a big country. And I was illegal until people at the Mansion helped me get a decent visa. I am sure dey can help you out with that too if you need. Believe me, finding work around here is not all that hard..." she grinned up at him "You can teach French. I used to teach Russian. Stuff like that."

Sveta was born to survive...

"What if I wanted to support you?" She was destined to be his baby momma after all, right? If he didn't think that would earn him a second smack he would have reminded her. He would do it because of obligation, but before that he would do it because he just plain old wanted to.

"Teach French... huh." He mulled that one over because it had never honestly occurred to him. He hadn't ever imagined himself as a teacher. Ghost was the teacher.

"I should maybe reconnect withs ze Mansion." Plenty of grownups freeloaded off the Mansion. There didn't seem to be any shame in it so long as they pimped themselves out as X-men every now and again.

Though, the thought of staying around all those powers... "I don't sink I could live zere again." Svetlana was his own personal teddy bear, perfectly sized for insecure snuggling.

"Remind me to look for Ghost again in your future sometime when we aren't touching." Which pretty much meant he had no intention of letting her go for a while.

>>"What if I wanted to support you?"

Sveta smiled to herself. Jude was such a knight in shining sunglasses. It was weird too, when she first came overseas she expected a man to take care of her, full-time; but things have changed since then, and now it just sounded like something too... simple. Besides, good intentions or not, they would need to work, both of them, to support themselves... at least for now.

>>"Teach French... huh. I should maybe reconnect withs ze Mansion. I don't sink I could live zere again... Remind me to look for Ghost again in your future sometime when we aren't touching."

"Mhm" she nodded, hugging him back. Hugs are addicitive. Once you start doing it, you don't want to let go. Some people take them for granted. Big mistake... "I don't want to live dere either, that is why I live with Aurum. He is human. I don't like all the powers around..." she chuckled "I don't think you do either. But dey understand that, and they helped me when I needed. It is worth a try."

He was still holding her. She didn't complain. People came and went, waking down the street, never sparing more than a glance at the two of them.

"We'll find her" she said, looking up at him "Sebastian would never hurt her. Between you and me, we just have to find the right power and use it..."

Jude's power, he imagined in different states depending on what he wanted it to do. When seeking a new power, it clung to him loosely like a an invisible hand or searching wind that pointed out his options. Before he had control over it, the choosing had felt random. The wind would pick up anything that passed through it.

Now it was easiest to pick a power up with a touch. The wind would point them out, but unless there were no other options around, it wouldn't stay pointing at, for example, Alister when the rest of the Future Sight gang was around. His power didn't care which one he wanted. It just merrily danced around between options trying to grab whatever it could. Jude had contained that, but that was why he had to touch people to pull their power.

He imagined it like a child at the grocery store, arm ever reaching. He kept it inside the metaphorical shopping cart, literally inside himself so when it needed to hold something he had to put it in that hand himself. Now, touching Muse for so long, the arm was getting impatient for what was on the shelf right next to it. It tried to let go of its current power and ooze over to get the new one.

The resolve Jude held over his power softened the longer he stayed close. After she spoke, he sighed and gave Svetty one last good squeeze before letting her go and scooting away for some distance. It wouldn't help anyone if he just let it have whatever it wanted. Someday, he'd have it trained to go fetch things for him, but today he just had to get a little space.

"What would the right power be?" His power didn't tell him what his options were, only that he had options and, of course, that it wanted them. "It took me a while to find ze right people to help me stay looking like myself. Even if we know what we're looking for, it doesn't mean we'll find it when we need it." They could spend their time looking for Ghost or they could spend their time looking for the right power to find Ghost. Seemed to Jude that they should just keep trying to find her.

"Svetlana?" He rubbed his eyes behind his sunglasses. It was possible that they already had the power that could help them find her, but he wasn't good enough at using it to make it do what he wanted. "Are you... I mean, will you be my girlfriend?"

>>"What would the right power be? It took me a while to find ze right people to help me stay looking like myself. Even if we know what we're looking for, it doesn't mean we'll find it when we need it."

"Maybe we will" she muttered, scooting away from him. She did not need to ask why he was doing it; she had an understanding of how his powers worked and the last thing she wanted was the whole city to go crazy with her coffee buzz. Bad enough that certain people already knew what that would mean.
She had no clue what the perfect power would be, but she was sure it was out there somewhere. Maybe Jude would just bump into a mutant who happened to be able to find people. Wouldn't that be useful? You can never know...

>>"Svetlana? Are you... I mean, will you be my girlfriend?"

That was...
... a very valid question.

After all they had been through together, it only made sense that he would ask. Still, saying it out loud made Sveta blush. Not because she was shy about talking about these things, she just... Jude. Was complicated.

She smiled none the less. He defied all the rules and all the exceptions, and she wanted to be with him.

"Do you... think it could work?..."

Could it work? He tried to think on that question seriously instead of just insisting. "I want it to work." He also wanted to hold that blushing cheek in his hand or capture her hand in his. Neither was a good idea until he could get a handle on his control. His power waved inside of him pointing emphatically just in case he hadn't figured out that she was a mutant yet. It wanted him to hold her too.

"I don't sink I would trust myself to fall asleep touching you..." Seriously, where was their own personal island? "I don't even know if sleeping in the same room would be a good idea."

Now he sounded a bit miserable again. "Do you sink it could work?" Plenty of people dated without living together and eventually he assumed that he would be the boss of his own power and she would be the boss of hers. Just... It would take time and practice.

>> "I want it to work. I don't sink I would trust myself to fall asleep touching you... I don't even know if sleeping in the same room would be a good idea. Do you sink it could work?"

Well. Damn. He was, of course, right, but that did not make the situation suck any less. There were things that were attached to being boyfriend and girlfriend; things like sleeping in the same bed, or kissing without blowing up half the city. Things that Jude and Sveta, for obvious reasons, could not do. At least for now.
Then again, that was not all it was about.

"I don't know" she admitted, looking at him. He was probably trying to control his powers right now. She was not even close to controlling hers. "It is... not going to be easy."

It was going to be damn near impossible.

"But... we just saw it work..."

She didn't know. He didn't know. He felt like he was getting dumped before they'd even actually been on a proper date.

"What we saw... Zat wasn't a date. And ze children... I wasn't zere." They might not have been his kids at all.

They should talk about something else now or go on a walk if they weren't going to snuggle. Jude stood. Sebastian was right. Being a grown up was hard, but as a child this situation would have been much worse. "I can't just sit. Walk withz me?" He had been hoping this talk would cheer him up...

>>"What we saw... Zat wasn't a date. And ze children... I wasn't zere."

Again, he was right. On both accounts. That was not a date, even though it was definitely... something. Something that would not happen if they didn't come to some kind of an agreement. The future doesn't lie, does it? And the children... she tried not to think about the children, it was too much to handle right now.

>>"I can't just sit. Walk withz me?"

She nodded and stood, not taking his hand this time. She could tell he was not happy about the conversation. She wasn't either.

"I want it to work." she admitted as they walk, staying as close to him as she could "I really do... but we have to figure out how..."

How... "Does it all come down to finding ze perfect power?" Jude stuffed his hands in his pockets. His power pointed at Svetlana. Her power was right there. Totally still an option.

"Maybe we are sinking about zis all wrong. We can't break up before we ever date." Could they? He voted no.

"We kind of skipped a bunch of steps in fact. How do normal people start ziz off?" It felt like a million years since he had picked up a girl, flirted, asked her out all official like...

Svetty and Jude had already lived together, in fact. Yep. Skipped too many steps. He steered them into a flower shop. Screw saving for kids. People just starting to date shouldn't know that twins were in their future.

"Do you sell blue roses?" The shop assistant pointed them to a small section with a few bouquets.

>>"Does it all come down to finding ze perfect power?"

"Maybe. Or maybe it's just about control..." she mused as she walked along. If Jude could control his power from switching over, and if she could turn the boosting of, things would be just peachy. That would need a lot of practice though, they were nowhere near that level. Judging from the last time they decided to practice together, 'control' was the last word to come to mind...

>>"Maybe we are sinking about zis all wrong. We can't break up before we ever date. We kind of skipped a bunch of steps in fact. How do normal people start ziz off?"

"Ummm..." now she was confused. Going back to dating? It sounded weird, considering what they had been through together, but... at the same time, it kind of made sense.
Sveta smiled as she was dragged into the flower shop.

>>"Do you sell blue roses?"

That was... sweet. She felt herself blush. Maybe the dating thing was not such a bad idea after all.