You & A Promise

Participants:

magnes_icon2.gif wf_quinn_icon.gif

Scene Title You & A Promise
Synopsis Shortly after arriving in the Wasteland, Magnes is confronted by an old friend who is uncertain to say the least.
Date November 8, 2017

Resistance HQ


The abandoned, burned out building the Resistance has made their home in for the moment is busier than most have seen it in some time tonight. It hasn't been too long since they arrived in from the bizarre rescue attempt that they had been led on by Eve. There was one person among them that counted it lucky that this hadn't turned out to be another flight of fancy or prophecy gone wrong.

Not that anyone can see Robyn Quinn right now. But then, she tends to keep it that way when she's not needed.

She's been out of sight pretty much since the moment they got back. And quiet too, which to most people would be a sure sign something was wrong. For once, though, it's not so simple. Today, Quinn has taken up stalking, using the sounds and her knowledge of the place's layout to follow behind one Magnes Varlane.

Or well, a Magnes Varlane, as it turns out there's more than one now.

It's not until they're both a bit away from the others that she sheds her invisibility, and from behind him, begins to hum.

Magnes, in his long black overcoat, is quite different from the Magnes she knows. For one, he didn't immediately go find a spot to meditate in, he seems significantly more anxious, like he has a sense of urgency about him, not the slow-paced relaxed atmosphere that her Magnes exudes.

He turns around, looking confused. "That's what the weird thing I felt in my field was." Then, his eyes go a bit wide, and he steps toward her once before immediately stopping. "Quinn… god I hope you actually know me in this world. You should know me in this world…"

"God, I missed being able to talk to a Quinn who actually knows me…" He shakes his head suddenly, holding out his hand. "Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself, the stress, everything going on, and I'm thinking about my daughter a lot…"

"Y'r fuckin' right i know you, Magnes Varlane." Quinn's eyes narrow as she watches him, studying him carefully. "Y'know, I didn't really buy int' this whole thing Eve was talkin' about, but sure as hell, here y'are." She steps closer to him, head cocking to the side slightly as she moves to close the distance between them.

"Y'r not like him," she notes. "The Magnes I know here. Don't really talk t'him much anymore." She reaches up with one hand, waving it in front of Magnes' face - leaving little trails of light with each movement. "'Cause I'm still not really sure I buy int' it, but you don't have the same energy he does."

She lowers her hand back down, letting it fall to her side. "Wait. Daughter?" That's certainly a big difference.

"Yeah, uh… fuck, the you back home is probably gonna kill me. Hell, the Elaine back home is probably gonna kill me. But uh, years ago, in the Virus world, I kinda sorta got an Elaine pregnant. She's here somewhere… she's not the Elaine from my world." He rubs the back of his neck, coughing slightly. "I didn't really plan it like that. Me and the Elaine from my world broke up, but I got involved with an entirely different Elaine and I'm bringing her back to my world and yeah…"

He looks her in the eye after blinking a few times at her hand. "I at least like to think that this isn't entirely outside the expectations of a situation I'd end up in? The thing is… our daughter got kidnapped, and taken to another world, so I'm following something like a probability prophecy to get her back."

Quinn just stares at Magnes for a moment. "You did what?" Quinn hand runs down her face, a long sigh escaping her throat. "You would do that, wouldn't ya? Finally make it int' one a' y'r comic book stories, an y'just look for your friends." Her expression flattens a bit, before she closes her eyes and shakes her head.

"Kidnapped?" She murmurs, before letting out an oddly amused huff. "An' you're off t' play hero t' get 'er back, then?" Rolling her eyes, she takes another half step towards Magnes. "Lord, y' just never change, do ya? Like, it's literally not somethin' you're capable of…" Trailing off, she looks back over her shoulder. "I guess until ya do."

She hesitates for a moment, before suddenly she moves forward, wrapping her arms around Magnes. "I missed ya, kid."

Magnes wraps his arms around her, smiling, closing his eyes. "I missed you too. In the world I just came from, you're kind of an asshole pop star and you don't know me at all. We were there for like five years, trying to find a way back. It was… a lot happened. It was marginally better than the apocalypse world ravaged by a virus…"

He shifts back slightly, to look her in the eye. "I've had to fight Kazimir in Gabriel Grey's body, and the Vanguard. We fought Samson Grey who was apparently pretending to be Arthur Petrelli. We have refugees from multiple worlds with us, trying to get them back to my world, or at least somewhere they're comfortable staying."

Taking a deep breath, he looks around, his expression serious. "I know a lot about what I'm supposed to do here. Before I left the previous world I received a lot of information from an amplified probability intuitive. There's a chance that what we do here might change the state of the war, but the first thing I'm supposed to do is meet Eve Mas. Who, oddly, I've never met in any world before, but I've heard of her…"

"This is the world my daughter from the future came from, different girl from my daughter I told you about, but history is already so different from what I've heard, I guess this is its own unique timeline now. In her world, you, me, Elaine and Sable all stick together, the band was successful before the robot war…" He starts trying to find somewhere to sit. "Come on, let's find a place to sit."

As Magnes talks, the hug stiffens slightly. When Magnes looks her in the eye she doesn't look back, instead looking off to the side. It's a lot to take in, everything he has to say. Her brow stitches together, and as he steps away, her shoulders slouch the slightest bit and she lets out a sardonic chuckle. "So y'r tellin' me I managed t' actually make it, somewhere out there?"

It's an uncomfortable statement, and Quinn wears that on her face as she scratches at the back of her head. "Sounds like y'been through a lot out there. The you here, I dunno what his deal is anymore. We don't… really talk."

Her expression sours a bit more as he turns to find somewhere to sit, trailing slowly behind him. "So you're here t'do whatever it is y'gotta do, an' then you're off again?" Her tone is flat, clearly displeased. She doesn't follow it up with anything, just walking behind Magnes.

"It's been that way for a few years. We saved the last few people in the Virus world, but we also lost a lot of people. We left the last world because, well, the last world was complicated. This world… it's going to be difficult, but I was told how to potentially stop the robots, so I don't plan to leave before we do whatever we can. My mission aligns with yours, I have to do this to get home." Magnes smiles, though, taking a seat on a small crate.

"There's one more world, the flood world, before we get home. I know it sucks, that I have to leave, but my daughters are waiting for me, my Quinn, my Elaine, well, my other Elaine, they're all waiting for me." He reaches out, offering his hand to her. "You're my Quinn too, but I can't abandon my home, and everyone in it. But also… well, I'd say I find it hard to believe that I wouldn't be interested in talking to you again, the other me I mean, but I clearly didn't know myself as well as I thought."

"The me in the virus world, he worked for the Vanguard, he led Abby to her death, killed himself right in front of me…" His expression drops as he remembers this, even though it's been a few years now. "There's so many things I learned about myself, my past, my family. The me here doesn't need to know any of that, but he does need friends, I think I always need friends."

Quinn doesn't sit, instead she stands over Magnes with folded arms. "Mission?" she scoffs. "It's life here, Magnes. Not a mission." She glances down at the offered hand. "There aren't many a' us left out here at this point, Magnes. If y'r just passiin' through, y' maybe should get on with it as quickly as y'can."

His Quinn. His Elaine. Her scowl deepens. "I haven't spoken t' Elaine or Sable since everythin' went all t'pot. Not in any sorta meaningful way. Couldn't even tell ya what they're up t' at this point…" Her voice takes a sad turn at the end, bvbefore she closes her eyes and shakes her head.

She made that choice.

"Friends are in short supply here, kid," is the next response she eventually settles on. "Y'' kinda have two options - lay low an' take what's given t' you, or try t' be a hero. An', well, th' hero dies in this one." She finally sighs, before moving to sit next to him. "If y'think you can help, that's pretty well an' good, but just… keep that in mind."

She clearly doesn't buy into the "stop the robots" idea. Still, she scoots the crate a bit closer to Magnes, and leans against him. "I missed this you, though. Th' you here has this whole… I dunno how t'describe it. Thing, goin' on. Was a few years after I left that I saw 'im again, an'… I dunno."

"I don't know how long we'll be here, but I know that we have to help you before we leave. In every world we've been in so far, we've stopped the main person making everything shitty and oppressing anyone, so I don't plan for this world to be any different." Magnes reaches over to wrap an arm around her. "They have robots and technology, but we have information and destiny. I can't leave without trying."

"Information an' destiny?" Robyn openly scoffs at that, rolling her eyes. "You've gone all messiah complex on 'em, huh? God, that's just like you." Her expression sours a bit as she regards Magnes with a distinct uncertainty. "If our destiny was t' be saved by people not even from our own world, I'd say that's a right shitty situation t' be in, really. A crummy pass at fate or whatever th' fuck you wanna call it."

Staring at him for a moment, she huffs out a breath as she looks off to the side. "Don't get cocky, kid. Dunno what y' had t' go through in all those other places, but I don't think this is going t' be as simple as y'think it is, an' honestly if it is I'm going t'be right pissed about it."

There's a beat, a quiet moment before she speaks again, this time sounding more thoughtful. "But if there's anythin' I can do t'make it happen, I'd be remiss not t'. You just gotta make me a promise, Magnes. Two. Can y'do that?"

"I'm following kind of a cluster of multiple people's predictions. It's been working out so far, but it's not always accurate. Some things change. But… I trust the broad strokes. And it's never easy, none of it is ever easy. There's always sacrifices and losses…" Magnes looks a bit distant at that, but when she asks about promises, he smiles and nods. "Of course. If you need something I'll do it. Talking to you is like water in a desert, you have no idea how much I miss you."
Pursing her lips, Quinn gives a slow nod. "I'm just gonna- pretend like I know what that's like an' all that. At least y'know that kinda thing isn't all it's cracked up t'be. That makes me feel a bit better, at least." Crossing her arms, she leans back on her heels for a moment, before rocking back forward. She holds up two fingers, practically thrusting them into Magnes' face.

"One," she starts, without the sense of mirth or the smirk he might be used to when she begins listing off things like this. "Y'gotta promise me that, no matter what y'do?" She looks back over her shoulder, back over at where they'd all arrived from. At where one person had been in particular. "Eve says y'r all…" She waves a hand back and forth. "I dunno. Something like that shit Hiro does that I hate." She reaches up, scratching at the back of ehr head. "Elaine. Her, an' any others? Keep 'em safe, yeah. Number one priority. Sable too, priority number two. Dunno where either a'them ended up these days… it's been a while." She looks off to the side. "An' I miss 'em."

A second finger raises up. "An' two…" She looks back to Magnes for just a moment, her posture straightening for a moment, before her shoulders slouch and she lets out a long sigh. "Take me with y', if you can? I can't- I hate this place."

"I don't want to lose anyone, of course I'll keep them safe. It's probably better if they aren't directly involved in everything we're doing, until we fix this mess. This will get better." Magnes smiles, reaching up to take her cheeks in between his hands, nodding quickly as a few tears fall from his eyes. He can't help it. "Of course. God, you have no idea how much I need you with me through all of this. Just… you don't even have to ask."

As Quinn's face scrunches between his palms, she raises an eyebrow. "Okay, I dunno what world y'come from where this-" she motions up to his hands on her cheeks, "is okay, but let's not." She pulls herself out of his grip and rolls her eyes. "Y'know what is okay, though?" She leans forward and wraps her arms around him in a hug.

It lingers for a moment before she pats him on the back and leans back, tapping two fingers against his cheek twice. "Good. Y'gotta keep that promise, now. I'll hate y' forever if y'don't, an' you an' I both know we don't want that."

"You probably would have slapped me in my world, but I guess I got carried away." Magnes' grip has a sort of gentle firmness about her, as if he doesn't want her to just fade away into nothingness. "We'll be okay, we'll get out of here. You're one of my best friends in the entire world, I wouldn't just leave you behind."

"At least one a' you wouldn't," Quinn remarks in a low voice. She reaches up and pats him on the shoulder. "I gotta go get some things ready f'r Eve, yeah? Y' keep it t'gether an' if what y'think y'know is all good an' not a load a shit?"

She snickers, and pats one more time before turning away to rejoin the rest of her crew. "Maybe we'll actually get through this."


Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License