Recent Posts

After the last fiasco in the Danger Room, Evelyn felt a small hint of hesitation when the idea came up to try some training again with Mirror. As excited as she was to spent time with the mirror-walker, she felt like her constant string of bad luck recently was going to make the encounter end in disaster. Only a few days prior she got attacked by her sewer monster friend, only to have the night topped off getting jumped on the way home. She was only glad DocProf didn’t harp on her too much when he learned the events that caused her injuries. It must have been clear the terror of the event reprimanded her better than his words ever could have.

Evelyn had stuck to her room for a bit after that though, and beyond working she did little but remarkably, sleep. The playbacks she got were fairly calm the past couple nights, and she managed to make up for lack of sleep, feeling rested today, which was rare. Wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and her hair back in a braid, she fidgeted as she made her way down the hallway. Maybe she could at least learn something useful today. After getting beat up so badly, her desire to learn to defend herself was even stronger.

Memories flickered through her mind, but she focused on redirecting them before Mirror came. It was hard to believe so much had happened since they really got a chance to hang out. So long as the training session didn’t turn into a date, then back into training, then back into a date, they would be fine.

Now she only had to worry about looking silly trying to fight.

Evelyn blinked back at Aiden, somewhat surprised by his...well...surprise. She was used to people keeping their distance from her that she assumed whatever made her disagreeable must have been something everyone would notice. Her companion didn't think she was quite that odd though. She fidgeted slightly, feeling off her game by his reaction. She watched the screen for a moment and fiddled with the ends of her hair.

"I guess it's always been a mixture of things. My family has always sort of been anti-mutant, and...well, they have me. When I got the job at the museum they sort of pushed their weight around to make sure I stayed there. I'm not really great with customers. I mean, you over-analyze someone once and most jobs will try to keep you in the backroom. I guess some of my coworkers just felt like I was getting special treatment... I like where I work though. I know a lot about art and I can remember all the useless facts no one wants to remember....Maybe it's a little rude, but I feel like part of it might be my fault still..." She trailed off. She was rambling again. She focused on the movie, trying to sort out where the plot was at.

She had no idea what the hat shop had to do with people walking in the air still....

Evelyn could sense the shift in Sam; it was both a physical transition and a mental one. The muscles on the back of his neck tensed, then relaxed slightly, as if some of the weight of what he was saying took pressure off him physically. She couldn't learn as much without seeing his face, but she didn't feel like she needed to now. The words he spoke were enough. She was learning the answers, but it was a lot to swallow. She wished there was more she could do to help.

His sadness felt heavy on her, and his anger had a certain sting to it, but she wasn't sure if that just came with his ability to form and control ice. She couldn't really understand what it would have been like to be in his shoes. To have a life, have a relationship, a family, and feel like it's real, only to have it snatched away. She didn't dream, but she still knew how disorienting it was trying to separate her memories from reality. He had to do the same, but with someone that only felt real, and was a lie.

Whatever she did at the end of those dreams, she could only guess. Did she kill his family? Did she make Sam kill them? She could only imagine... and those thoughts put a cold chill in her heart. She felt sad, and mad for Sam, and what he was put through. She stared at the city below them, and the doubt settling into the conversation got her to speak a bit more quietly.

"I...can't even begin to understand what that feels like. And I won't pretend to. The only thing I can relate to is knowing what it's like to not be able to forget. My mutation means I don't forget anything, and I relive my memories. Every stubbed toe, every papercut, every page of every book I've ever read. Most people gradually forget details. Memories grow hazy and time heals. It doesn't work that way for me. I'll remember every bad memory, and face it again further down the road. Sometimes it scares me. Sometimes... Sometimes I don't know how to deal with it.

"But I've learned really the only thing I can do is look forward. I can't change the past. Can't control it. When I relieve my memories, they always end the same way each time, and that's just how it's going to be. But you can control the future. No one can tell you who you'll be, or what you'll do from here. You find better memories, and do what you can to make things better from here.

"She may have messed with you then, but she shouldn't be allowed to control you still. Maybe, take it as a challenge. You're the only one who can decide who you'll be, decide what you believe in, or what you care about. It's not going to make it suck any less, not going to make the memories any less clear. But it's a start. You'll come back from this. I've got faith in that." She gave a half smile, but unless he turned he wouldn't have seen it. Then she looked back away and out across the city. She felt tired, and there wasn't much left of the ice in her numbed hand. She was going to be a mess when they got to the mansion, and she didn't want to have to face Doc Prof when he helped patch her up.

Evelyn was quiet as she listened, politely taking in what he said. She let the information sift through her mind, the echoes sorting and placing it, matching it with different memories, creating a separate place for the rest of it. Her thoughts moved so fast, it was useful in situations like this. It kept her own emotions from surfacing for long, and the surprise of his statements didn't have long to linger. Kidnapping transitioned to kidnapper, the word redemption was linked to memories of his past. She caught the pause, and the shifts in his movement that said he wanted to say move, but for now, he returned to the conversation of the present.

Mind control... she couldn't imagine what that would feel like. Mostly because she couldn't dream, and the things she faced in her head were all real. She wondered if Sam could forget. If he willed it away the images would leave. She knew what it would feel like if he couldn't though. Everything in her life was clear like glass, with nothing obscuring the visions.

"I guess it explains why the kids are afraid of you. But it doesn't explain everything. You're a fighter, Sam. Before you found the mansion, you were someone else. You used to have a grip on that, but something broke it. It's more than you let on... I'm sorry, I wish I could turn off my powers so I didn't see it, so I could let you just pretend everything is ok... Maybe I'd believe it then. But I can't. And I don't." She said quietly. The ice was melting against her face, and her cheek was feeling numb. She moved it away so she could talk clearer, adjusting her grip on his back so she wouldn't slide off.

"She screwed with your mind, didn't she? More than you want anyone to know? Something she made you do, made you see, made you feel; she did more than just control you. You react to the memories still. It makes it hard for you to deal with the present. I may not really get what she put you through, but I know what it's like dealing with a lot of crap in your head." She said. She watched for the warning signs she was pushing it too far. It was a delicate balance letting him talk without making him feel like she was prying. Even when he didn't speak, the echoes just kept reading though. It was impossible for him to really say nothing. Sometimes actions spoke just as loud as words.

Little by little, Evelyn got pieces to a giant puzzle, but nothing definitive. Sam had a rough few months. Rough enough to make him angry. Rough enough to make him kill. Something had happened that made the students nervous around him, and the flickers of rage and emotional swings were similar to what she'd describe as someone suffering with PTSD. He was struggling, and she didn't know how to help. Here he was saving her. She felt like she wasn't the only one that needed help though.

She leaned against the wall obediently, adjusting her posture where the bruises gave their twinges of disapproval to the contact. She frowned slightly and glanced back at Avery, shrugging her shoulders. "Used to be one of the security guards at the museum. During the riots he came up with this brilliant idea for him and a few of his buddies to kidnap me for ransom... Mirror and I sort of...spoiled their plans though." She said with a shrug, giving him the cliffnotes version. She watched as he worked, and kept the ice to her face. His next question just brought a slight nod, and she looked at the freshly wrapped ankle.

"It's nothing too bad...I didn't reboot at least, which...probably helped." She looked up at him, feeling the temperature change. She forced herself not to turn back to her shoes though, and felt the echoes prompting her to speak.

"Listen...I...I know you're not a bit talker, and you don't have to say anything if you don't want to. But I guess I'm just...I'm a little worried about you." She found herself saying. She hoped he wouldn't get upset, and tried to keep her voice as neutral as possible. "I may not know what happened, but I can see the effects. I see the changes in you, and the people around you. I didn't want to ask anyone else what happened though, because I view you as a friend and I think it's your business. I don't want to just listen to hearsay. When I met you, you were someone who came from a darker life, and I told you that you acted like someone fighting for redemption. Now, when I see you, I still see the battlefield. I don't know what brought it back, but..."

She flinched slightly as the cold settled against her leg and started to numb the pain. She looked at her shoes then back up at him. "I guess what I'm trying to say is if you want to talk about it, I can listen. One way or the other though, I'm good at keeping quiet about stuff..." Part of that was directed towards the figure back in the alley they were leaving behind. She wouldn't tell the x-men what he did, and those images would just get pressed into the corners of her mind with the other dark images.

His bad side.... the memories flickered through her mind like clockwork, and the painful sensation of injuring her arm returned as sharp as when he first attacked her. It was always hard to keep a straight face when the playbacks started up like this. She managed to though as she turned and started putting away the rest of the bandages.

You're smart... His comment brought a small smile to her face and she chuckled slightly as she turned towards him. After the night so far she doubted that 'smart' was a good word to describe her. "Hopefully by then I'll have more than just book smarts. I don't think my street smarts have really improved much since last time we met..." She admitted somewhat more quietly. She moved out of the bathroom and flipped off the light, watching him eat for a moment and nodding at his comments.

Right. She really wasn't sure if there was a right. It was odd though when someone agreed with her on that. "I think it's just up to you to decide what you feel is 'right' I guess. May be wrong to everyone else, but if 'right' is always changing, and you change with it, then there is no way to really have any direction in life. You'd just be...wishy washy." Like her. She accepted the offer of pizza finally, and picked one of the pieces from the box, taking a bite. It was pretty good, for delivery. She wasn't too hungry but it did hit the spot.

Evelyn may have shut her eyes, but she couldn't shut out the sounds. The echoes picked up on every blow, every crack of knuckle to face. It sounded awful. Even injured and bleeding and hurt, she felt a flicker of pity for the x-security guard. His words cut, and part of her believed him.

This was her fault. She angered him to the point he attacked her, and Sam was there defending her now. Tears made her eyelashes stick, her cheeks stinging and her lip burning as the salty taste cling to her mouth. She looked up when the sounds stopped, and her eyes flickered to where Avery was left. She tried not to glance, tried not to look. Tried not to see what Sam had done.

But she did anyway. And it was an image she would never be able to forget.

Her stomach turned slightly, and she looked up at the ice mutant, holding her arms tightly to her stomach as she watched as the anger subsided. She slowly reached out and took his hand, sniffling slightly as she looked at the ground. "I'm fine..." Her voice sounded quiet, still shaking slightly from the events the night had held. She forced her weight to her good leg and tried to stay on her feet, however unsteady she felt. She swiped the back of her hand across her eyes, and trembled slightly, whether from cold or stress though, she couldn't tell. "I was bringing some food to a friend...phone died while I was out and didn't have a way to call a cab...It was dumb to be out at this hour anyway..." Her voice cracked, and she folded her arm over the freshly bandaged cut on her arm. As the fear peeled away, she just felt shame take it's place. Shame, and a little bit of concern.

She looked up and the echoes flickered across Sam's face, their remarks pricking and sticking to her mouth in words she tried resisting. She saw the anger, saw the rage, that momentary flicker of some distant memory he was struggling with. Then she saw the guilt. She wanted to forget, to pretend nothing had happened, for both of them. But instead the words moved free, and she didn't stop them.

"I'm not sure you're alright, though...The riots...now...You've changed, Sam. You're still changing. I'm just not sure who you're changing into." Her voice was quiet, but non-judgmental. Part of her was unnerved by what he had done, but part of her didn't feel as surprised as she should have been.

She heard whispers of conversation, students being somewhat distant with the ice mutant. But she didn't know why, and hadn't really bothered to ask. She figured it was his business, she didn't need to be involved. But seeing the anger, seeing the results, she couldn't stop that questioning look from crossing her face. It wasn't fear of him, it wasn't even disapproval. If nothing else, it was concern for her friend. It was like she could see something dark trying to crawl its way out, and he was trying to stuff it back inside. There was nothing anyone else could do but watch.