3rd POV:
Bell snuck up on Gwen and put a cold can of coke to her neck. She jumped up and whipped around ready to defend herself only to relax when she saw Bell. He gave her a smile and very lightly shook the can as a gesture at her.
She rubbed her neck quickly, but then took the can with a:''Thanks.''
''I have to say, I'm disappointed. Though you may have that spider sense of yours, you should still pay attention to your surroundings. Constant Vigilance!,'' Bell opened his own can and sat down. They were in the abandoned train yard, ready for another training session.
''Alright, Moody. What will we be focusing on today?,'' Gwen asked him sitting herself back down from where she jumped.
''Before we continue I need to know something. You only fought one super powered entity up till now, but more are sure to follow. Sooner or later. I want to know how you plan on engaging them. Do you plan to kill them or merely subdue them?,'' Bell asked her. It was also a way to tentatively gauge her stance on what he was doing.
Gwen looked startled.
''No, no, no. No! Look, I.... My conversation with my father before fighting the Lizard as well as other developments have shown me that ... sometimes people need to die. I don't like it and I wish it were otherwise, but... the alternative is to have someone that is too much of a risk factor continue living and then harming innocents. I mean, dad sometimes has to kill criminals when they refuse to put down their guns or he is given the impression that the criminals plan on harming civilians. It's just... I don't trust myself to make that choice,'' Gwen explained to him.
Bell slowly nodded his head. He could understand where she was coming from. Killing is a hard thing to do and there is no going back. He was just of the opinion that if one wants to do something, they should go all the way. She would be a far better hero if she were to kill her enemies. It also put his mind at ease as she would have less enemies that hold a grudge on her. But perhaps it was for the better that she did not start killing her enemies, not this early at least, the public was still impressionable and Gwen did not have his talent to kill as cleanly and in the shadows.
Still, Bell was glad, it was not a hard 'no'. That was good.
''Very well. I needed to know that so that I would know the next thing to focus on. I will train you on how to gauge your enemies strength in just a few exchanges. This way you can come up with a plan on the dot and know how much you need to hold back so that you don't accidentally cave in someones skull and kill them,'' Bell told her and stood up.
They had the entire day today and while she knew Bell had powers, she did not ask questions. She gathered that whatever power Bell had was multipurpose, she just couldn't nail the exact power down.
She listened as Bell explained to her that he will engage her at different power levels. Weak humans, which she was already familiar with, all the way to tanks that could punch as hard as her.
While Bell was training her, he was not completely altruistic this time around. He also paid attention to her spider sense. It had yet to activate in their spars.
Why?
It was not defect, Gwen told him how it was constantly at work when engaging goons with knives or guns.
Bell hit her often enough that it should have activated in their spars too.
Unless...
Bell went through several possibilities in his head.
The intention to harm or kill needed to accompany the attacks.
It was the only conclusion Bell could come to with what he had. In that case his suspicions that there was more to her spider sense was borderline confirmed. Now it was only a matter of seeing it in action and how it functions to understand why the spider serum he was working on was constantly hitting a wall and not performing as it should.
Maybe he could attack her with the intention to harm her? No. He could not quiet get himself to harm her, not seriously or to this extent. His fist would stop on her skin before he could break her bones or risk killing her.
Hmmm.
He needed to catch her in the action when fighting an enemy.
All his loved ones had small energies inside of them courtesy of him. It was not quiet a puppet clone. More like a program with directives and stipulations. It is the system he arrived at, least he had a tether to his loved ones that other people could track back.
It manipulated the world around them to give them 'luck' if their life was ever in mortal danger and they could do nothing. Emphasis on 'they could do nothing' as he did not want them to get a big head and put their lives at risk more and more. And if that was not enough, they would be teleported away from the dangers.
He would deal with the questions later, if they were gonna ever connect it to him.
Like for example when The Lizard slipped before he could stab George.
And so Bell added the stipulation that the energy in her, should notify him whenever she engaged in battle with a super powered person again.
For now, continuing to teach her should suffice.
---
Bell had to admit, in a way he massively missed having to train his control like this. Stan revealed to him that while he was powerful, the easiest and most certain universes that could be destroyed were dead universes.
Living universes on the other hand would be more difficult as there were ... contestants that would push against his energy. He already suspected that in some form, but it was nice to have confirmation.
So, with that in mind, Bell settled for creating small time bubbles for now. He could always go to a dead universe and push the limits there, but for now familiarizing himself with time should be enough.
Bell starred at the cut apple in front of him. Using nothing but time, the apple slowly began reassembling.
Bell was not satisfied.
He cut the apple again and began working on his speed.
...
Bell left his small pocket dimension satisfied with the progress he made.
Since he had nothing else to do, now that he was done training for now, he might as well take care of something else. HYDRA was dead, the spider serum was not going anywhere without him finding out more about the spider sense and The Scepter and Godkiller, were a passing fancy. Something to be studied, why so many people covet it (at least the former), but not particularly something that gave him great urgency.
So he might as well do something else.
Bell and Gwen have been together for close to two moths now. They were all the same age. Gwen was the oldest of them, born in the beginning of January, Bell was second oldest born in the beginning of August and Peter was born at the end of August.
It was the almost the middle of December now.
Bell could tell Gwen now that he had solved his issues, but why not make it memorable? But for that he needed help.
Bell climbed up the house and knocked on Peters window. Bell saw him jump up, distracted by his music as he was doing his homework before turning it off. Peter looked at the window and finally opened it upon seeing Bell.
Before Peter could say anything Bell smoothly climbed into Peters room.
''Yo,'' Bell greeted casually.
''Bell, are you insane? You could have fallen and broken your neck or something,'' Peter worriedly chastised, closing the door.
''I'm a really good climber. Anyway, Peter, my brother from another mother, the brother I never had...,'' Bell began.
''What have you done and what do you need help with fixing?,'' Peter asked amused, immediately offering his help. He knew that since Bell was joking it was probably not TOO serious.
''Done? I am not some scruffian that misbehaves like a child. I am incensed, I tell you. INCENSED!,'' Bell theatrically waved his finger adamantly.
Peter have him an amused look.
Bell smiled, but the shrugged and took a seat on Peters chair as Peter took a seat on his bed.
''Jokes aside, Gwens birthday is coming up. I want to prepare something special for her and I wanted to ask you for your help,'' Bell finally got to the point.
''A date?''
''Not just a date. A want to throw her a party for her. She should spend time with all her loved ones. Afterwards I will take her on a date,'' Bell told him his plans.
''Hmm. I see, you want me to help you prepare that party. Sure, I can do that. I just have to note that you clearly are putting more effort for her birthday then on mine. I thought it was bro before hoes?,'' Peter joked.
Bell raised an eyebrow and slightly turned to the lego death star he was displaying on his open closet.
''Peter, you threw a hissy fit at the thought of me spending some money for your gift. What do you think you would have done if I threw you an actual party? Besides, have you seen your face? Of course I prefer Gwen over you. And one day you will prefer your girlfriends face over mine. Doesn't mean we can't continue being bros,'' Bell explained to him.
Peter rolled his eyes.
''Yeah, I guess you are right. Besides, it is not like we both really celebrate our birthdays, aside from a cake and well wishes. I was just teasing you. However, as your dearest bro, I need to suggest you take her to the date before the party. She will think that the date will be her birthday party. We will actually manage to surprise her thinking that will be it for her birthday,'' Peter offered and explained his thoughts.
Bell tapped his fingers on the table. Before the party, huh?
Bell nodded at Peters suggestion.
''How are you doing?,'' Bell asked him suddenly.
''I'm doing good. Don't worry, I don't feel guilty or bad for what happened with Connors. It is just, I wish things would have turned out differently,'' Peter sighed and Bell nodded again.
''Good, good. If you ever start feeling responsible for that, come to me so that i can box in your ears. Now, lets plan,'' Bell told Peter. He turned around and grabbed a blank paper before writing suggestions.
Peter engaged in the planning, but he also looked at Bell every now and then.
He looked... relaxed and social. Peter and Gwen sometimes saw peaks of this, every now and then, before he returned to his melancholic self. They often offered to help him only for him to close up. In the end they learned to just be there for him.
This seemed permanent now. Peter would have liked to know what troubled him. But he settled for not mentioning it. Bell, while no longer melancholic would probably still not appreciate talking about that issue and Peter respected that.
He was just glad that his friend was no longer crestfallen.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve came into the lab of the Avengers Tower. He approached Bruce who was doing his own experiments while watching Stark from the corner of his eyes.
''Bruce,'' Steve greeted after seeing he was only looking under the microscope and judged the experiment to not be dangerous.
''Captain,'' Bruce greeted back, taking a break from his research to talk with Steve.
''How long has he been like this? Some of us are growing concerned,'' Steve asked gesturing to Tony.
''He has become obsessed. He is convinced that there is a reason for such a peculiar name as Nexus. But don't worry. Thankfully, he has also been diverting his attention to finding Raezen, whenever he does not improve his suits,'' Bruce replied lowly, they both looked over at Stark pouring over holograms of all kind. Videos of Nexus, definitions of the word nexus in dictionaries, etc.
Or trying to make progress with Ultrons AI, but at Starks request he said nothing. Hopefully nothing would come of it.
Stark who, while distracted, was still attentive enough to listen, was about to address them, but before he could do that JARVIS jumped in.
''I wish to inform you that Miss Hill wanted to urgently speak with you all,'' the AI informed.
''Tony!?,'' Bruce called out to him to get his attention.
Stark just rolled his eyes, annoyed at the bad timing, but put a pause to his research and followed them.
...
''We have a situation,'' Hill began briefing the Avengers once they were all gathered.
''We always have a situation,'' Barton murmured. Natasha gave him an elbow to his sides.
''It took us a while, since we had other priorities as well as bolstering our personal back up after so many of 'us' died, but we finally managed to do an accounting of all the damage inside of S.H.I.E.L.D, aside form the obvious. Loki's Scepter has been stolen,'' Hill moved on not saying anything to Barton.
''What?!,'' Thor barked,''You have assured me that you will manage to safe keep it. That is the only reason I haven't taken the Scepter with me. Where is it now?''
And the fact his father did not want to have all his eggs in one basket. Thor asked further questions, but Odin merely said that he was not yet ready to understand some of the universes dangers or truths. The Tesseract he wanted home on Asgard, but the Scepter should stay on earth. It was the less dangerous of the two after all.
''We don't know. We already have used Dr. Banners and Starks previous equipment to do our own tracking. And while there was a brief gamma spike of the signature some time ago picked up by the equipment, it was not enough to track it down,'' Hill explained to them.
''Any suspects?,'' Steve got to the point before they could descend into a shouting match.
''We managed to narrow it down to two entities. The first one is HYDRA. Thanks to Thors report we know our weapons will never be able to damage the Scepter, so we suspected that it was in the rubble of the destroyed HYDRA bases. Those we know of at least. Our agents have been hard at work, but we have found nothing. The more likely suspect is Nexus, either himself or his group,'' Hill told them.
''It always circles back to that guy,'' Bruce murmured.
''So it seems. I'm guessing you want us to establish contact with him and question him?,'' Natasha asked.
Hill winced slightly.
''The situation has changed. The public is starting to get impatient and unrest is starting to spread thanks to some people fanning the flames. Sooner or later they will all become vocal why Nexus hasn't been seen since the Chitauri invasion. Especially alongside the other Avengers. Some already have suspicions why it took you so long to disclose his hero name to the public or why they don't know his identity like the rest of you. One way or another it is imperative that you find him, question him and get him on your side. Now more then ever,'' Hill told them.
Tony rolled his eyes. What did she think they were doing this past few weeks.
''You want us to invite him to The Avengers now?,'' Steve asked. That request was certainly a new addition to the previous request.
''Preferably so. But you are an independent group now. Discuss my suggestion amongst yourselves,'' Hill began taking her leave with her bit said.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pietro entered their room with a bowl of cereal. Wanda was sitting with her arms crossed in the chair starring at the wall.
''What you thinking about?,'' Pietro asked her while chewing.
She scrunched her nose at him in disgust.
''Eat before you speak, you pig. As for your question, I'm thinking about everything that happened to us recently and our current situation,'' Wanda replied to him.
He sat down on his bed, the two of them shared a bedroom separated by a small retractable wooden wall. It saw only use in the mornings and evenings when they needed to change for the day or bed. It was at their request that the two got this room. Normally everyone had their own room.
''Mhm,'' Pietro encouraged her with a gesture to carry on.
''Everyone here is kind and I'm sure we could stay here so long as we take up some kind of job, but...,'' Wanda sighed. This is the first time they actually had a moment to rest. After Stark Tech killed their parents, they wandered the streets for a while till the Baron picked them up with an offer.
Now that they were older they knew that it was no offer at all. It was just easier when a victim complied and was given the illusion of choice.
But at least they got food, some sort of education as well as powers from that deal.
Or at least that is what they believed for the longest time.
After a talk with the professors, mostly Xavier but the other were there too, they knew that Pietro had his powers from his birth, it was only a matter of when they manifested. All who possessed the X-Gene had powers from birth. Maybe the Baron did give Wanda powers as she did not possess the X-Gene, but if he lied in regards to Pietro why wouldn't he lie about Wanda too.
''So what do you want to do then?,'' Pietro asked her. He almost always followed her lead, since she was the leader of the two.
If they killed Stark then she doubted they would be welcome back to Xaviers School. Brief as their stay here was, the two learned that Xavier was a big pacifist...
''For now we stay here. We can use this time to learn more about our powers and get better at controling them. More so I then you. We still don't know what exactly my powers are. Whenever I think I have the hang of them, something else crops up. When we have become sufficient enough at using them we can attack Stark,'' Wanda made her decision and looked at Pietro to see if he was on the same page as her.
Sure, she was the leader, but he had just as much input.
Pietro quickly ate a few spoons of cereal looking contemplative.
''Sure. And afterwards? Where will we go and what will we do?,'' Pietro asked her.
Wanda sighed hanging her head back towards the ceiling.
''I don't know, brother. I don't know. We get there when we get there,'' she replied. For now, she was happy on settling just killing Stark.
Pietro hummed and continued eating his cereal.
Thanks to his super speed, he needed more calories then normal humans. He was more often then not eating a snack here or there. Wanda was a little jealous that he could eat so much unhealthy food and come out fine.
---
''So, men and women have both DNA strands that we named, for our convenience and understanding, the X and Y chromosome. They contain the genetic material of their human body in that DNA strand and also the piece that decides our gender. Men are made up of the XY Chromosome and women of the XX Chromosome. Both parents can only give one chromosome for the conception. As you can see it is the man that decides the gender as the woman will always give an X Chromosome. Laura, are you listening?,'' Sarah asked her suddenly.
Laura blinked in boredom, that didn't mean she wasn't attentive.
''Yes. I just fail to understand why that is important in life. I doubt if I go out and ask a random pedestrian, they are gonna remember these things,'' Laura muttered.
Sure, Laura was now enrolled in Xaviers school. But she still had much catching up to do. Sarah was giving her extra lessons, wherever she could so that Laura could catch up to the others.
It helped that Sarah was employed like Dr.Hank to work in the lab, so she had more free time than the teachers. Though, it was more accurate to say that she worked in the medical wing, but still. People didn't require patching up all the time.
While Laura no longer saw herself as a weapon, she still failed to understand why learning that was important. It served her in no way.
''If you want to become a well adjusted member of society, you need to know these things. You think Nexus doesn't know this as well?,'' Sarah coyly played her card.
Laura was adorable. While she experienced the harshities of the world much earlier then most children, in a way she was still sheltered and socially awkward. Of course, Sarah would be there for her to help her.
Laura grumbled, but sat straighter in her chair. She still didn't understand. If one wanted to become a well adjusted member of society, wasn't it better to know the tax system or laws and rights? Yet none of those things were taught in school, an institution that should prepare you for the outside world.
Laura did not want Nexus to see her as an idiot. While she preferred to be active and do something, she supposed she could also keep up with her academics.
Sarah looked at the clock.
''But perhaps you are right. I talked your ear of enough for today. Make sure to read page 335 till 337 so that we can continue next time. Now, let us talk about something else. have you made any fiends?,'' Sarah asked her eagerly.
Laura shrugged a little abashed. But at Sarahs look she explained anyway.
''Katherine and Rogue are kind. But I don't know if I want to call them friends quiet yet,'' Laura told her.
It was true. But they weren't Nexus. Nexus, despite knowing of her past, never treated her with any pity. He also took the lead most of the time, something she was very comfortable with after he didn't harm her the first few times he did that. She could take initiative in battles, but taking initiative in social interactions was another matter. The two were too afraid to push her into anything she wouldn't like.
Sarah pursed her lips and hummed.
''Well, I am sure you will grow closer together. Just give it some time. You never know. I mean just look at yourself and Nexus. You two became good friends, didn't you?,'' Sarah assured her.
Laura quickly nodded.
''Good. I kept you long enough. Now go to your session with Xavier. He said that you are almost rid of that trigger scent. Aren't you excited?,'' Sarah asked her.
They were both a little anxious to agree to the sessions, but need must and all that.
''Goodbye, ...mother,'' Laura awkwardly waved as she left.
...
''How you doing, bub?,'' Logan came over to her and asked her on the meadow. They both just stood there watching the people around them walk by and do all other kinds of activities.
''Logan. I'm doing good. Better now that I am almost rid of the trigger scent,'' Laura politely replied, hiding her awkwardness. He was technically her father, but she doubted she could ever see him as such. It was easier to think herself as his clone. Just a little bit better.
''Good. At least this way you are no longer an unwilling weapon,'' Logan muttered lighting up a cigarette and smoking it.
Laura frowned.
''I'm not a weapon, one way or the other. I'm just glad, to get rid of a means of control over me,'' Laura told him, causing Logan to give a sharp sarcastic laugh, short as it was.
''You kidding? Have you seen ourselves? We are killers, it is what we do,'' Logan took a puff from his cigarette.
''If that is what you want to believe then suit yourself. But Nexus showed me that it was not the case. My claws are tools, it is up to me how I use them. Nexus uses swords, tools also designed only for cutting living beings, but he uses them for so much more then that,'' with her piece said Laura began walking away after that short exchange.
Logan watched her go away while continuing to smoke his cigarette, a little envious but mostly happy for her.
It was a matter he struggled with for a long while. That all he was good for was cutting and killing. He made his peace with it, even if he did not like. And now he was too far gone and too old, too set in his ways to change that mindset. He was probing to see if Laura was thinking the same so that he could offer advice. This way she would at least not struggle as long with that dilemma.
He was glad to see her have a supportive environment that made it possible for her to come to a better conclusion then him.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bell starred at the Scepter while he was sitting on the couch in his living room. He just brought it out since he has WAY too much time on his hands currently. His mother wasn't home too and he insulated his home with his magic so nothing would come out,
After inspecting it a little he determined with his powers that the metal, while none that he knew of on earth, was a good conductor of energy. The real gem lied in that... well, shining blue gem.
It secreted energy like crazy, as well as gamma radiation.
But the more he inspected the more he was getting curious. It was not a exothermic chemical reaction that produced energy, it was just energy for the sake of being energy, if that made sense.
Bell narrowed his eyes.
No, wait. There was a layer over the energy. Bell put the gem in his hand and began squeezing until the barrier cracked and then finally shattered.
He starred at the new gem in his hand. It was a yellow stone. Now that the barrier was no longer there, Bell could feel the energy much better then before. It was ... an infinite amount of energy.
Weirdly fascinating.
But so what? He had infinite energy too.
Surely this stone was coveted for more then just being an infinite source of energy, because aside from that he felt nothing form it.
Well, actually he also felt noise from it, but no matter what he tried it remained just that. Indiscernible noise.
He put both the Scepter and the yellow gem back in his pocket dimension as Raezen noticed something that grabbed his attention.
There was a catastrophe in Japan. A tsunami swept and flooded areas.
Well, while he would love to help them just for altruistic purposes, that was not his style even if he did enjoy helping people. He just wanted to help better by preventing something in the first place.
Time for the next phase of his plan.
---
''English?,'' Nexus landed near the Prime Minister of Japan causing several body guards to tense and draw their weapons. Nexus made his sword wings disappear. The reporters began taking pictures like crazy as Nexus made his second public appearance.
The Prime Minister had the good sense to gesture to his body guards to lower their weapons.
''Yes. I can speak english. Are you here to help? You could have offered your help in a different way,'' the Prime Minister politely asked. He spoke english well, even if heavily accented.
Ohhhh, how Nexus loved to ruin a leeches plan.
Were the cameras not here and were he not put on the spot like this, this leech would have refused his offer for help immediately or reacted differently. This leech hoped to use this as a publicity stunt to garner political support among the public as well as bolster his popularity and approval rating among them.
Now he would get neither as credit for the rescue would fall to Nexus. And with the PM being put on the spot in front of cameras he could not refuse as that would undermine his own goals.
Checkmate, leech.
''I like being efficient and other ways would have taken too long and cost lives. Who is the head of these rescue operations?,'' Nexus asked and thus snubbing him. As if a bureaucrat that is out of touch with reality knew everything that needed to be kept in mind for a successful rescue operation.
''I am. I don't know how you plan on rescuing them and how many you can rescue, but every little helps. We have established a medical base up there on the hill,'' the PM snubbed him back and gestured at a space slightly higher then they were currently at.
Nexus gave a nod, suppressing a snort at that pathetic counterattack and flew back up with his sword wings. Let him doubt him all he wants, the results will speak for themselves.
He found a lot of victims, the first one he actually had to forcibly shove in the sword boat as the victim was apprehensive. All swords were massively dulled during the rescue operation.
Sure, he could have spoken japanese, but that was an ability he preferred the public not knowing. He did have a safe house here as well. Instead he took a little time to show the victim that the edge of the blade was dulled heavily.
Afterwards whenever he brought a new victim to the sword boat the fist victim assured them in japanese that they would be safe. After the third Nexus settled on sending out blades so that the victims would be carried back to the boat, it was taking to long otherwise. He also made more sword boats as the first one was filled up, and some needed to be immediately sent to the medical base. Those boats escorted one sick person per boat towards the medical wing.
In the end he brought all boats towards the base. Unfortunately some people did die while drowning, but that was because it takes a while for people to gather their bearings and assess the damage. Raezen could only report back what happened digitally, since Bell reduced his AoE, where he felt everything, significantly.
Nexus did not stop there. After being done with rescuing people. He flew above the water and summoned several swords before letting them fall into the water. The water began visibly draining and the swords began growing as a result. Finally there was no more flooding. Sure there was still the damage done from the flooding, but now people could start much earlier finding the dead and burying them as well as start repairs.
He sent the blades out into the ocean.
Without much fanfare he slashed open the space in front of hims with a sword and flew through the portal.
---
There was an accident in Chile. The entrance to the mining shaft collapsed and the lift with it. Surprisingly not because the boss pushed for speed instead of safety when it came to working. It was because of an earthquake.
Bell was still gonna put the blame on the leech anyway. Give them an inch and they take a mile. Just because they were blameless here, did not mean they weren't possibly skimming out on other safety regulations.
He gave out a small and gentle seismic pulse, by tapping the sword tip in the ground. It was mostly for show as he increased his AoE, but he did not want the people to know that.
Having felt the people trapped inside, he could now safely summon blades as support pillars from behind the collapsed entrance without skewering the people. Then he summoned blades in the earth in the form of a cup cone and began digging.
Some people were telling him to stop fearing that he would kill all of the victims by completely collapsing the shaft once the support from the entrance was removed.
He ignored them and continued working.
In the end the entrance was opened just one day after it collapsed and Nexus walked in, rescuing and bringing out the trapped people one by one up the empty lift space. All of them survived, minus the scare and possible trauma.
---
There was another accident. Two pilots reported a 'Mayday' situation while flying over Spain. The flaps on the bird stopped responding as they should and they wouldn't stop descending no matter how much they tried to pull the bird back up.
He picked it up as Raezen the moment it was sent to the air traffic control tower.
He just so happened to fly near the plane and he came to their rescue. First he damaged the flops and removed them, then he pierced the flops with swords so that he would bring them with him. He was not gonna let debris fall to the ground and risk harming some random hiker.
Then he quickly put blades with their flat part under the entire planes belly. The reason he removed the flops from the wings was so he didn't need to push extra because of the downward force generated by them when he would move the plane. Doing so would only risk damaging the planes integral structure and killing everyone.
The plane was now still flying because of the turbines, but the pilots could only control the direction thanks to the flop on the back of the plane.
Nexus flew to the cockpit and wrote something in his notebook after pulling it out from his pocket. Then he landed on the nose and held the paper on the window. All pilots needed to know english to communicate, so communication was no issue.
'Have no fear for I am here. Turn off the turbines and give me the geographical coordinates to the nearest airport. I can easily carry the plane with my swords.'
The pilots argued for a bit, as they could not just take his word. But in the end they judged their situation out of control and it did help that Nexus was only getting more and more known. He was certainly seen in action more then any other Avenger, at least publically.
Good choice. Otherwise Nexus would have turned off the turbines himself.
The pilots quickly wrote something on a paper and held it on the window. Nexus made a show of slowly typing the coordinates in his phone by looking up and down. It also gave the turbines time to stop.
In the end all 208 guests and 5 workers descended from the sky unharmed. The emergency landing ended in a happy ending this time.
Nexus decided to stay this time a little longer and dismissed his sword wings, mostly to report to the TVA if they wanted to have his report in addition to that of the pilots.
Say what you want about what some.....geniuses....claim, but the TVA did good, tight work. Thanks to their efforts flying is more secure then any other form of transportation.
This did have the unfortunate side effect that the people he rescued came to him, after the pilots explained the situation, and thanked him one by one including the workers.
Nexus suppressed a grumble.
Sure, he was not rescuing these people just for the sake of rescuing them. He was also saving them for the next part of his plan. He could achieve both without any grandstanding.
Nexus ignored the camera flashes and instructed the pilots to bring the TVA here if they have need of his report as he would leave otherwise. They told him one working for the TVA would come in 5 minutes.
He ignored the reporters questions gave the report and then just left through a portal after opening it with his sword.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
''What did you think of the last training session? Do you think the kids are good enough to...,'' Logan tuned Xavier out the moment his hair began standing at an end and tensed.
They were all in the teachers lounge.
''What is it?,'' Bucky asked him, making the other professors look at Logan. While he was still a little awkward in getting his bearings, from all that happened to him, he decided he could not sit idle. He was no teacher, but he was a combat instructor alongside Logan.
''I sense danger. My instincts are screaming at me to run away,'' Logan warned them. Laura was not a perfect clone of him, that is why Sarah needed to donate her genetic material in the first place. She was not as feral as him, her senses were the same as his, but not her instincts. And Logan was also someone that lived for much longer then Laura so he had more trust in his instincts.
Hank immediately looked at the monitors to see if their defensive measures would report anything. A breach or an attack maybe.
''Our defenses report nothing. Wait no... The report Nexus on our doorsteps. Should we attack him?,'' Hank asked them.
''Why is Logan reacting like that? He brought the children previously as well as Laura and Sarah. He didn't react like this then,'' Ororo asked.
''That is because he was far away then. At the edge of our defenses. We will not attack him, but we will be vigilant and watch him for now,'' Xavier pacified them, while rubbing his chin and looking at the monitor. He tried to read the mind of Nexus only to stumble upon... nothing. Nexus briefly looked up starring at the monitor.
Fascinating. Xavier never encountered such a phenomenon before.
---
Lauras phone rang and she looked at the caller. The moment she saw Nexus she immediately picked it up.
''Yo. Wanna hang out? I'm at the front of the mansions entrance,'' Nexus asked her.
''Be there in a moment,'' Laura hang up and made her way quickly to the entrance and opened it.
''Yo. Haven't seen each other for a while, but I did promise to come visit you,'' Nexus greeted amiably. Laura nodded in understanding.
''It's fine. You were busy. I saw it on the news,'' she told him.
''Wanna hang out here or somewhere else?,'' Nexus asked her after nodding back.
''Here, actually. I have lessons later in the evening. There is a nice meadow in the backyard. Or I can show you the mansion?,'' Laura offered.
''Whatever you want. I'm just happy to spend time with you,'' Nexus left the option to her. He already knew the layout of the mansion thanks to hacking into the mansions servers years ago as Raezen.
Laura turned around, hiding her expression from him and gestured him to follow her.
''This is the kitchen. We have a cafeteria, but this one is for professors and those who are part of the X-Men,'' Laura told him after they walked a bit. She wasn't going to show him everything, but the kitchen was on the path to the meadow.
She had no problems revealing to him the existence of the X-Men. If he knew about the X-Gene already, despite it being kept a secret from the public (largely), then she reasoned he already knew about the X-Men, especially if he brought all the X-Gene victims here.
''Over there is the library. And this is a room full of things to pass the time with activities. Billiards, Darts, etc,'' Laura continued to tell him as they walked.
''Comfy,'' Nexus commented, hiding his disinterest in these things.
''Yes. You were right. Professor Xavier is a good person. He helped me by completely removing the trigger scent and he does watch out for those with an X-Gene whose parents kicked them out,'' Laura informed.
Yes, Nexus knew that too. As his friend she also enjoyed his protections. There was a reason he let Xavier enter her mind.
Personally he did not like telepaths, but he was not that much of a hypocrite to wish their death. Nexus has found a moral compass when it came to using telepathy. If the system did not pick someone up as an enemy, then he would not read their mind. The system was wildly complicated, but it included a plethora of stipulations why someone would be considered an enemy. If they were not an enemy, but he caught them in a compromising position, like Sarah, then he would manually read their mind. Otherwise he left people alone.
He could not expect everyone to abide by this conduct. But he could protect his loved ones. IF Xavier ever meant any harm to his loved ones he would have died at Nexus' hands as he would count as an enemy from there on out.
As they finally neared the end of the hallway a girl came crashing into Nexus from the girls dormitory, when she rounded the corner quickly. She landed on her butt and her papers landed on the ground.
''I'm so sorry. Please forgive me,'' the red head quickly apologized and picked herself back up only to kneel back down to pick her books up.
''No worries. What had you in such a rush?,'' Nexus bend down and helped her pick up the books as well.
Instead of answering or continuing to gather her books she stopped and looked at Nexus with wonder.
Nexus stood back up with the books, looking down at her.
''This is Jean Grey. She loves spending time in the library as it is quiet there and most people don't frequent there,'' that was as much as Laura was going to tell Nexus. The rest was too personal and it was Jeans prerogative to decide who to tell that. Laura knew that she would not like if Nexus told complete strangers about her past. She certainly did not like it when Sarah told Xavier about her past even if she understood why Sarah did that.
''Oh. Well, nice to meet you Jean Grey. I'm Nexus. Forgive me if I won't reveal to you my real identity. That rather defeats the purpose of the mask, don't you think?,'' Nexus chuckled a little as he held the books with one hand and offered the other to her to help her up.
Instead of reacting to anything he said or did, she just continued to stare at him.
Riiiiight. There was definitely something more going on here, Nexus immediately deduced.
She suddenly jumped up eagerly shook his hand.
''Right. What Laura said. I'm Jean Grey, nice to meet you,'' she continued to smile at him as she shook his hand for a awkwardly long time. Nexus had to gently but firmly shaked her hand off.
''Well, Miss Grey...''
''Jean!,'' she interrupted him.
''...Well, Jean. It was nice meeting you, but I only came here to visit Laura,'' Nexus handed her the books.
''Can I hang out with you two?,'' Jean asked him eagerly. Nexus merely shrugged and looked at Laura leaving the matter to her.
''No. It has been a while since the of us have seen each other and we hoped to spend time together. Just the two of us,'' Laura denied her.
Jean looked devastated as the two carefully left, watching her to see if she would do anything foolish.
''Do I want to know?,'' Nexus asked her once they were far away from Jean. It was phrased like this, but he did want to know and was fishing for information, without putting Laura in a difficult spot. She seemed to know the girl and got along with her.
''I actually don't know what happened. Maybe you have an idea if you know what plights her, but it is not my story to tell,'' Laura told him.
Hmm. Perhaps he should visit a few more times then, to investigate this mystery
''Have you made any friends here?,'' Nexus asked her as they sat down on a swing.
''Maybe. I don't know if I can consider them friends,'' Laura replied back.
''Do you like them?,'' Nexus got up from his swing and pushed Lauras swing.
''I do.''
''Then whats the problem?,'' Nexus asked her.
''...It's silly,'' Laura revealed. Nexus snorted.
''Trust me. i have struggled with something for a while myself only to find out that the solution was actually pretty simple. That whole experience looks quiet silly now, when I look back. I promise I won't laugh if that is what you worry about,'' Nexus assured her, downplaying his matter a little.
''... I don't want to replace you as my friend,'' Laura murmured, not able to tell the complete reason.
Nexus cooed and immediately gave her a head pat which she leaned in to.
''I like you too, my socially awkward friend. I assure you, you can have have more then one friend. Though be mindful not to turn into those types that have a 100 friends. Their friendship is quiet shallow,'' Nexus told her kindly, while teasing her too.. She hang her head in embarrassment and he chuckled.
''You have been active, I saw you on the news. Is HYDRA now truly dead?,'' Laura changed the subject.
''Yup. And since I am no longer occupied with HYDRA I can focus on other things,'' Nexus told her.
''Do you need help?,'' Laura immediately offered, even if she knew the answer.
''No, No. Right now, I just help people by happenstance. I don't want to trouble you by making you anxious for constantly waiting on me to call you for help. But I promise if I do need help with my next scheme then I will ask you, alright?,'' Nexus promised her again.
She nodded and continued letting herself be pushed on the swing by Nexus.
The two continued talking and catching up. Laura told him some things about her life here and Nexus revealed some things about HYDRA, of course he was not telling her every little detail. They also talked about trivial stuff too, just general small talk.
''Hm, it has gotten pretty late. Sorry, Laura but I have to go. BUT!! Though it may be two days early, I wish you a Merry Christmas and, of course, your present,'' Nexus brought out a gift box and handed it to Laura after she jumped from the swing.
''I haven't gotten you a gift,'' she pointed out. Nexus just shrugged.
''Next time then, but I really don't care (*Laura nodded and was about to open the gift*) No! Not now, Laura. You are supposed to open the present on Christmas,'' Nexus stopped her before she could open the present.
Laura frowned but nodded. She didn't understand why that was important, but she would do as Nexus ordered her and open it later.
''Good. Don't you worry your little head, I will visit again. Use that time to make friends with the two you told me about,'' Nexus suggested to her. Besides, he needed to unveil the mystery that was Jean.
''Promise?,'' Laura asked him.
''Of course, this time it will not take that long. I'm a man of my word. Stay safe, Laura,'' Nexus waved as he was walking away before cutting the space in front of hims and walking through the portal.
''You too,'' Laura waved back before he could walk through the portal, despite finding the action of waving silly.
...
Jean, who was (unknowingly) just outside Nexus AoE range of detection spied on the two of them and watched Nexus go away with longing.
She never encountered his situation.
Sweet nothingness.
He involuntary telepathic probes went finally muted. In his presence. Thought they were not entirely silenced, but still.
''Jean, there you are! Do you want to hang out?,'' Scott came over to ask her after finally finding her.
Great, just what she needed. She suppressed as despairing sigh. As if she wasn't aware of the intentions he had for her and how he lusted for her. It just made Jean feel very uncomfortable to be near him. It did not help that she was too polite to tell him to fuck off.
But then again that is what she did. Act how most people expected of her in a desperate attempt to unify the voices. If every one thinks the same thing of her, then at least the voices would be more bearable. She would not get rid of the voices, but at least she would reduce it to background noise. Or at least that is what she hoped.
''Not this time Scott,'' Jean told him kindly all the same.
''But Jean...,'' Scott began.
''Fuck off, Scott!,'' she rudely spat, suddenly feeling an overwhelming and unreasonable amount of anger.
Scott was gaping at her in surprise and before he could say anything Jean used her telekinetic powers to shove him out of the room and close the door behind him. This room was a public room so it had not key, which meant she could lock the door, but she could just as well hold the door closed.
Jean turned around and looked at the swing. By now Laura departed the place as well. Jean put her hand on the window, as if she wanted to grab Nexus back from wherever he went.
A sudden possessive desire spawned in her body.
She couldn't wait for him to come back.
Or maybe she could find him herself, but that would risk pushing and driving him only more away.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They were in Bells room.
''Bell, do I really need to be blind for this?,'' Gwen asked him as he tied a blindfold around her head. If he wanted her to be blind for this it only meant he went above and beyond for this date.
She didn't need all this, so long as she could spend time with him.
''Do you trust me?''
''Of course,'' she immediately replied. Perhaps more then she reasonable should considering all the secrets he kept, but she trusted he had a good reason for that.
''Then just be patient and let me guide you,'' Bell told her and finished tying her blindfold.
Bell gently grabbed Gwen by the hand and dragged her through a portal.
He sat her down on a chair and lighted the candles and then sat down on his own chair.
''You can remove the blindfold,'' Bell told her.
Gwen frowned at that. They barely moved from the previous spot, but she removed the blindfold all the same and looked around.
She gaped. It was nighttime, despite previously being daytime. There was snow all around her and up in the sky she could see the Aurora Borealis. The greenish bluish lights standing in stark contrast to the black sky.
She finally looked at Bell and the way he observed her reaction. Then at the table and the candles as well as the empty plate with the cutlery on the side.
''Bell, how...?,'' Gwen let her question hang and looked at him for answers.
''You still haven't tried my cooking even after all this time. Do you want to talk while eating or do you want to talk to now?,'' Bell kindly offered her.
She blinked, but then jerkily nodded.
Bell waved his hands and the dish simply appeared in front of her as well as on his own plate.
''I cooked your favorite dish, lasagne. Please dig in,'' Bell gestured her.
She slowly picked up the fork and then dug in.
''It is ... REALLY good. You really cooked it? You didn't use your powers to spawn it into existence like some sort of Djinn?,'' Gwen asked him after complimenting him.
''No. Nothing of the sort. I cooked it, it was just waiting to be teleported here. Anyway, before I confess, i just want to know. What do you think my powers are?,'' Bell asked her.
''Well... From everything I have observed, I would have guessed some sort of super human constitution like that of Captain America or even my own body. For a while I believed that. Then you told me you were the one that fixed the sink and that you felt my body starting to change. So I would have guessed some way to manipulate genetics. That would also explain how you had your bodies constitution. You could have just snuck in and fixed my sink, weird as you breaking into my home would have been.
But with this? Teleportation? I am only in a hoodie and jeans and yet, we are clearly at the north pole and I feel not cold at all. I don't know what your powers are,'' Gwen shared her thoughts with him. Bell merely nodded.
''Hmm. Do you remember how you told me that once I resolved my issues you wanted to see me laugh and smile like there was no tomorrow?,'' Bell asked her.
Gwen narrowed her eyes at him. He left one detail out. Seeing him give her a small wink she huffed. Jerk.
''Did you resolve your issues already? is that why the past month you have been so ...upbeat?,'' Gwen asked him.
Still, she was a dejected and disappointed. She hoped to be the one to help him. Did he not trust her? No, she would not feel like that she decided. She would instead chose to be happy that he was finally feeling better.
''Mhmh. Gwen... I'm sorry, I don't think I can ever tell you about what plagued me. But... you are a smart woman. Of that I have no doubt. You can make an educated guess and I will confirm or deny it,'' Bell told her, fully confident she would never guess right.
That he killed innocents by lashing out and then died before getting reincarnated here was too specific.
''How many guesses do I have?,'' was the first thing she asked.
''As many as you can bother to name of,'' Bell replied.
''infinite tries? That seems stupid, it mean it is only a matter of time till I get the guess right,'' seeing Bells shrug she narrowed her eyes and continued,''Or that the issue that plagued you is so outlandish that I will never guess it right. Jerk. You were setting me up for failure.''
She playfully glared at him.
''Well, one should never say never. Just know that you have the option. But as for the rest? I'm more then willing to confess. Unless, you see it as a betrayal that I will never willingly reveal that part to you, then we can put an end to this all,'' Bell informed her. she quickly shook her head.
''No. I would wish for you to tell me. But since I haven't been the one to help you I have no right. I'm just happy you gave me the chance to one day find out the truth anyway. Please continue. I want to know more about you,'' Gwen assured him.
Bell closed his eyes and released a sharp sigh.
He really hoped Gwen would take kindly to everything he was doing. He was not keen on breaking off their relationship and wiping her memories. Even if only the last few minutes.
He would do it. He just would really prefer to not have to do it.
''I'm a reality warper,'' he told her simply while starring her in the eyes.
She blinked, starring at him for a moment until what he said registered in her mind. She chuckled a little, before bursting into full blown belly laughter. She laughed for a while, until finally looking at Bells serious face and her laughter slowly began dying out.
She blinked again, this time in comprehension and a stone settled in her stomach.
''Oh, you're not joking. Reality warper, as in ALL powers?,'' Gwens voice was thick, he previous feeling of dejection and disappointment in herself returning full force. So if she couldn't help him with his issues, then what did she even contribute to this relationship anyway? He could have anything he wanted by himself and needed to rely on no one.
''Yeah, no. I'm gonna put a stop to that. I did not just solve my issues so that you can sprout some from absolutely nowhere. Why do you are you making that expression,'' Bell addressed her after seeing her expression.
''You're a reality warper. What can I give you or contribute to this relationship that you couldn't get yourself?,'' Gwen sighed.
Bell blinked at her, before snickering. Gwen cast him a nasty look making him clear his throat and adopt a serious expression.
''Sorry. It's just... this whole situation is a bit comical to me. Gwen, most people who enter a relationship with the mindset 'I can fix her/him' often find themselves severely disappointed. But I am not a sociopath and I was raised with good morals.
At the time, you practically showed your love down my throat and told me to shut up. How could I not try earnestly to solve my issues so a wonderful woman like you wouldn't be disappointed and waste her time on me?
Gwen you may not helped me directly, but you did something far more important. You are the sole motivation why I went to someone and asked for help. Without that I would have been content to stay in my spot of the world and perhaps even drift away from you all. I reasoned, I understand now that it was wrong at the time, that no one wanted someone like me around.
I assure you, you helped MORE then enough.
I suppose I could just take things. But that is not really my style. I would much rather prefer to be handed things. Like companionship, good memories, banter etc, etc,'' Bell explained to her.
Gwen bit her lip and anxiously moved a strand of her hair behind her ear.
''Come here you silly girl,'' Bell instructed her and shoved himself with his chair a little away from the table. Gwen quickly came around the table and sat on his lap while hugging him sideways. He hugged her back and they stood like this for a bit.
''Sorry, for acting so stupid. You must think me really silly for that,'' Gwen remembered what he called her when he instructed her to sit on his lap.
''I was just teasing you a little. Take it from me, emotions are hard to control and sometimes they make you reach unreasonable conclusions and act silly too. I don't think less of you for it,'' Bell assured her and she tightened the hug.
''Is it really fine with you that I am just some spider woman?,'' Gwen asked him.
''I don't care about that at all. I just want you to be true to yourself. And I'm glad to see you safe and that you have a means to protect yourself. Though with your profession I suppose I have to settle for reasonably safe,'' Bell assured her, causing her to giggle.
She separated the hug and gave him a kiss on the cheek, before moving back to her chair.
''You are not you when you are hungry. You should eat some of the lasagne to feel even better,'' Bell joked.
''Haha, funny,'' she rolled her eyes and commented. One thing she noticed the past month was that Bell had some sort of guilty pleasure by referencing pop culture every now and then. Sometimes she caught the references, sometimes it flew right over her head.
It was really endearing to her, but this time he ruined the moment.
Still she dug back into her food.
''Any other things you want to share with me?,'' Gwen asked him. She did not mind him keeping some secrets, but she wanted to know as much as she could about him.
''Well, I can't share every secret with you. I need some things to keep me mysterious and interesting to you.,'' seeing her annoyed expression, Bell stopped joking,'' Jokes aside, I don't really have secrets for you to keep away from, side from my former issue and even then you have the chance to guess. That said I am doing a lot and I do not want to give you an information overload right now, but I can share two things with you right now.
First I am Nexus,'' Bell revealed to her.
The moment The Avengers found out about his name they revealed it publically. So there was no reason to explain who Nexus was.
Gwen blinked. She was doing that a lot today, wasn't she?
''Well, let me thank you then for saving earth from aliens. As well as saving all those other people the past few weeks. But why go through the trouble of sending out all that technology. I can understand the weapons, but what about the ability to fly like they did. I suspect some sort of anti gravitational propulsion system,'' Gwen entered what Bell called Nerd Mode.
He watched he for a bit as she gushed enthusiastically about the different forms of applications and what not. He mostly tuned her out and just took in her excitement.
She suddenly stopped and pouted.
''You're not listening to me,'' she accused and Bell shrugged.
''I'm not a scientist, but I am not dumb either. I have a general gist what you were saying,'' Bell replied, downplaying himself a little. He did not want her to return to thinking things like previously, so he supposed he could keep this part a bit of a secret and not steal her thunder.
''You could share my enthusiasm,'' Gwen grumbled digging back into her food.
''I could. But trust me, it was better that no one had that sort of technology just yet. As for the other thing. I was responsible for the 'Day it Rained Fire','' Bell told her that as well.
''What? Why would you do that?,'' Gwen asked not immediately jumping to conclusions and willing to hear Bell out.
As she said, she didn't like killing ans she doubted she could do it herself, but she understood it was sometimes a necessity.
She widened her eyes as Bell revealed to her the existence of HYDRA and what they planned on doing.
''The idea was to create a world so chaotic that humanity would be ready to abandon their own freedom for security. When ever history did not comply, it was made to comply. They engineered quiet a lot of incidents. But I personally would not give them too much credit. The world was going to get here one way or another.
I assure you, I have taken great strides to reduce casualties as much as possible. I busted several bases in cities, which I did not attack with the Triskelion, I saved victims that HYDRA experimented on. All for the sake of HYDRA dying out without the public finding out, least they get ideas. Or that they suspect super powered people were involved,'' Bell sneered.
''Why is that last part important?,'' Gwen frowned.
''Because most humans are retarded. And such a thing as herd mentality does exist. One way or another these politicians will want control of people with powers. And certainly some want them gone for being jealous, spiteful or hateful or just because. I assure you there will be a civil war one way or another. One that is unavoidable. As the first heroes we must set a standard that the following heroes should, hopefully, look up to and follow. This way we swing the public to our side and have more political support. It will reduce the bloodbath, because you have to be an absolute idiot to think you will win a war on evolution or progress.
Eventually laws need to be addressed and reworked in consideration with super powered people in mind,'' Bell told her. While it was one reason, there were many others, which he was not going to get into with her. Now now at least.
So she was unknowingly helping his cause, by helping old ladies across the streets and stuff whenever she was patrolling. She felt happiness at that.
''So there will be more like us or the Avengers?,'' Gwen asked him.
''There already are. As a future geneticist the X-Gene will be your wet dream, but we already talked enough about business. I promise to tell you more later, but I have already told you enough and I just want to focus on us right now,'' Bell waved her question off for now.
Gwen pouted, but understood.
The was gone, she didn't even notice. The fork made an uncomfortable noise as it hit the plate full on. Bell simply handed her his own portion.
''I can't,'' Gwen denied. It was not right.
''My favorite dish is Spaghetti Bolognese. You can make it up by me, by cooking me that, if this troubles you sooooo much,'' Bell put his portion on her plate anyway.
''I don't know how to cook that. Maybe... you can teach me?,'' Gwen moved a strand behind her ear and ducked her head a little to hide her blush.
''Already planning our next date? I approve. Sure,'' Bell smiled at her.
...
The two were lying on a blanket, the cold not bothering them as they starred to the sky. They were holding hands.
''You were right. You are a superb cook,'' Gwen complimented him.
Bell just hummed in contentment.
''Bell could I meet this person that helped you? I want to thank them,'' Gwen asked after a while.
''I will have to ask. But sure, if the answer is positive,'' Bell answered. He actually didn't know what Stans stance was on this. He would not reveal his powers, that was Stans prerogative. But was Stan going to refuse an introduction all together? Bell needed to ask him, not wanting to risk insulting him. He was immensely thankful to Stan for what he did.
Minus the absolute beat down.
Gwen nodded and they continued staying in comfortable silence for a while.
''Did you enjoy this date?,'' Bell asked suddenly.
''I loved it. Sure going above and beyond is appreciated, but I don't know. I think I like the simpler things more. There is just something about a simple picnic that does it for me. And it was out first date to. I loved it more, no offense,'' Gwen told him.
Bell blinked and then pushed himself to his elbows.
''Hold up. You loved our first date? I thought you hated it. That is why I tried making this one so special. I wanted to make it even more special, but that would have been probably too much,'' Bell asked her surprised.
''What? Why ever would you come to that conclusion?,'' Gwen asked him astonished.
''I heard you sigh through the door...,'' Bell told her.
The two looked at each other and Bell collapsed with a groan as Gwen snorted.
''We really need to stop jumping to these sorts of conclusions,'' Gwen told him.
''At least we are good at communicating, so even if we do draw silly conclusions we resolve them quickly,'' Bell continued.
''And we can laugh about them afterwards,'' Gwen added.
''Ehhh, not all of them. Some are a serious matter. Like my issue or your conclusion previously,'' Bell pointed out.
''Hm. True that. What did you mean when you said you wanted to make the date even more special?,'' Gwen asked him.
''I wanted to take you to the moon, but perhaps that would have been too much for a second date,'' Bell revealed to her.
Gwen blinked again. She chose not to ask about radiation or lack of air. He would have probably done the same as right now. It was really fascinating to her how her back was not cold at all.
''You think?,'' Gwen sarcastically replied,'' Still, I prefer simple dates, but I can't deny space is beautiful. I probably would have liked a date on the moon. Maybe much later,'' Gwen left the option open.
''It really is beautiful,'' Bell confirmed.
Something about Bells tone made her narrow her eyes.
''Bell, what did you do?,'' Gwen asked him cautiously.
''... I may or may have not went to a dead universe and played around with Black Holes. But hey, I can officially confirm if the mass of the Black Hole is massive enough the Big Bang will occur. Planets have already formed in that universe,'' Bell told her. He already got much better in controlling time.
''...''
''Sorry.''
''No,'' Gwens voice sounded slightly hysterical, she swallowed and continued normally,''No. I thank you for sharing this with me. I appreciate it.''
She gave him a squeeze while holding hands.
The two continued to sit in comfortable silence for a little while longer.
''Ugh, screw this. I let the anticipation build up long enough,'' Bells impatience finally won out.
He climbed over Gwen and interlocked their fingers on one hand. She giggled.
''Jerk. You intentionally left out that part when recounting that memory,'' she complained getting antsy.
Bell merely hummed while starring into her eyes and stroking her cheek.
Gwen swallowed in anticipation as Bell lowered his head slowly and she closed her eyes.
She did say she would wait on him, but she couldn't deny. The waiting has been killing her.
Finally she could feel his lips on hers. It was tender, chaste, careful and also intense.
But perhaps the best way to describe it was electrifying. She felt her entire body tingle from that kiss.
It was everything she hoped for and more.
Finally the two parted and returned to looking into each others eyes. Bell removed a strand of hair from her forehead and simply observed her. He was burning every atom in his brain to preserve this memory.
''Kept you waiting, huh?,'' he finally broke the silence. It was a much better first kiss then the one in his previous relationship. Maybe because Gwen meant more to him. Not that he actually cared enough to analyze and compare, having much better things to do.
Gwen knew, she knew, from his smug tone, that it was another reference of his to something. She didn't know to what however.
She rolled her eyes at him. Endearing as this emerging trait of his was, he really had a talent to throw references at the worst time.
''Shut up and continue kissing me, you dolt,'' she pulled his head back down.
---
''Happy Birthday!,'' the confetti exploded in her face the moment she went through the door to her apartment.
Bell who pretend to see her off at the door entered and closed the door behind them.
She looked at all of them and then at Bell.
He gave her a smile and a shrug.
''Sure, we wished you well wishes on you birthday, but you didn't think we would actually skip out on partying it,'' Bell whispered to her as May and Evelyn were bringing out the cake, while the men sang the song.
''Bell, thank you,'' Gwens voice was thick with gratitude.
'Good', Bell thought. She was starting to learn that 'you shouldn't have' was not working on him.
''Guess we both have both things to be grateful for each other for. I really couldn't have done this without you Gwen. Now go, blow out the candles and wish for something,'' Bell continued to whisper in her ear and gave her a gentle push towards the chair.
Gwen closed her eyes, after looking around at all her loved ones, and blew out the candle while making a wish.
(A.N.: 11998 words. A bit of an intermission to close off some plot threads, answer some questions as well as provide a transition to the beginning of the next story/character arc. Hope you enjoyed. Cheers.)