Summary:Isis observes Nicks dream. Perhaps they need to be a little more worried. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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It's late by the time that Nick and Isis decide to sleep. To sleep and to dream for Nick. For Isis, she's going walking … walking in Nicks dreams. Trying to work out what the hell is happening to him and, potentially, them.
Nicks been dreaming about a blue eyed mutant - eyes as blue as Isis' but it's not Isis.
Tonight Nicks dream starts and he's training as usual. With the mutants he saved from the bigger werewolf. They all follow him now. He's … the leader.
Nick is training. There's a gym. Punching bags. Things of that nature. He knows he has to train for… um… he's not sure why. But he's in his paragons gear. A lot of people here are wearing something similar but… not quite the same. If Nick notices he doesn't say anything about it though.
So right now it's just him and the bag. Punch. Punch. Punch.
Victoria Breen is there, she always seems to be, on the edges of Nicks dreams supervising. His mind has cast her in the role of Instructor - someone who had been with the Institute when he was young. Right now, she's just watching.
The others around him are also working working, punching bags and sparring as Nick does.
"Alpha, will you spar with me?" It's the girl from his original dream - a real feline with bright blue eyes. She often seeks Nick out to train.
Neck lets out a low growl-purr and nods. He backs up half a pace to make room for Is… er. No. That's not Isis. It's just a feline. With bright, piercing blue eyes.
"Are you ready?" He doesn't go too hard on her. He can't. She might break. But he doesn't go too easy on her either. Because then she would never learn.
Also he's really strong. So best not to hit her too hard. He's not even ware Isis is watching.
Isis is watching and it's interesting that she hasn't inserted herself into Nicks dream. Well it would be if Nick could think on it. She was trained though from a young child to do this. In this case, watch and observe.
The sparring starts and the blue eyed woman manages to hold her own against Nick. "Very good Nicholas." Victoria's cool voice floats over the room. "Now, why don't try something harder."
It's disorientating as the dream swirls about Nick, now the Pack - or is that the Paragons? - is out on mission. They're storming a building - that's quite well defended.
"Alpha, I'm covering the west entrance." The voice comes in his ear. "And we're taking fire. We need a distraction and we need it now." He knows that voice, it's on the men from his squad when he was young.
None of them had ever called him Alpha though. He wasn't the leader. He wasn't even 'a' leader. And the group had been young. Still finding it's feet. At it's best it had never worked particularly well together. Even though they had all the best intentions.
"On it." He nods to two nearby animal mutants in the same colors. That's new of course, they were never there. But it doesn't matter. "Follow me." He makes right for a wall. They need a distraction? He'll Kool-Aid Man in. That'll be a HELL of a distraction.
It's a notable difference that Nicks mind might recognise but each time it tries to correct the dream, the dream morphs back again. He *is* the Leader. This is his Pack. They are his to command and protect.
The response to Nicks sortie is immediate. Gunfire opens up on them as they move. One of his team throws up a psionic shield to deflect most of the bullets. The other one gestures and a body go flying from behind one of the barricade.
As the trio progress, an armour clad figure comes barrelling out at Nick, managing to skirt the psionic barrier and throw themselves at him.
"Keep going!" Nick calls to his companions moments before he is tackled. The big brown werewolf flips his opponent over and separates, then scrambles to his feet and goes back in with claws. Armor. That's always been a problem and Nick, while strong, can't just ignore it the way some super humans can. Thankfully he knows he doesn't have to. When claws prove ineffective he switches back to punches.
Armor is great, but if you can break apart the squishy thing inside, it does no good.
Nicks team mates do keep moving, but one of them turns and lets out an almighty "whoof". This isn't a normal whoof, it's enhanced, for certain. In fact, Nicks waking mind will be telling him he's heard this before.
The armoured figure falls back, giving Nick a good opening to get his claws on him.
Claws that seem to rend that armour- so much more easily than Nick would think they should.
Recovering, the armoured figure draws a knife and slices at Nicks exposed face. This is serious - and this is guy is playing for keeps.
Nick tears the armor off and howls as he's cut on the face. Then he pounds down and just flattens the guy. Possibly literally but more likely in a more figurative and painful - but nonlethal - sense. That whoof… well. No time to think of it now.
Once he's back up he starts to run again. "Go! Go! Through that door." They need to make it to an area where they can threaten the people covering the west entrance. And quickly.
Nick really does tear the armour off. His claws are amazing. By the time he makes the door, the others are tearing it open. There's the bodies of the few unfortunate gunmen strewn over the ground - some torn up like Nicks guy, others just seem to be knocked out.
The doors thrown open and in they go. Meeting little more resistance till they make the West entrance. They can see the barricade of gunmen that's holding the entrance - Nick and his team are approaching from behind.
The canine mutant with Nick, lets out an almighty bark again - one that reverberates off the walls, stunning their prey.
Nick bolts forward just before the bark. By the time it lands - like a well oiled machine - he's on them. Bouncing among them. Using one to smack another into unconsciousness. Attacked from behind by mutants, it won't be long before they're done for. That was never in question. Why does this simulation seem so easy?
Either way it's not long before Nick is standing victorious amid a pile of defeated enemies. It'd be a lie to say he didn't break a sweat but with his amazing claws - they were always that amazing right? - it's a lot easier.
Were Nicks claws always amazing? Does he remember if they were or not?
"End simulation …" Victoria Breen saunters into the group, scritching the members as she passes them. "You all did well. Nicholas, you lead as an Alpha but tell me …"
Her fingernails stroke down his throat "You didn't use your voice…"
Use his voice? What does she mean?
From the edge of the dream, Isis watches and frowns. She doesn't want to interrupt just yet.
"My… voice?" It's hard to think when she's stroking him like that. His voice. He used his voice. He talked to people. What is she talking about? He shivers a bit.
Isis might see his eyes got a little bit blank.
"I… don't know. Maybe I forgot my voice?"
Forgot his voice. Is that what hs'e done? Or what hse wants him to do?
"That happens Nicholas with the new ones." Victoria murmurs still stroking his throat as she speaks. "You heard Gavin, did you not? And you saw what your claws did …"
She holds his hand up to him … the claws have a silvery metallic sheen to them.
"I think you forgot your voice but now you remember, don't you? Look over there and let it loose …"
Nick turns slowly. He blinks. He's looking right at Isis now but of course he can't see her. He coughs and whuffs. Nothing happens. Then he… WHUFFS.
And immediately a shockwave comes out from his throat. And Isis can see the silvery implants there. This is a dream of being modified. And… working for the people who modified him. As 'Paragons' sure but the Paragons never did this. It's all just window dressing.
It's more than that but Isis can't feel the rest of it. She can't feel the way Nick is being pushed to lead - how it makes him feel good to have the others follow and do as he says.
"Very good Nicholas." Victoria murmurs again, stretching up to ruffle his ears. "Doesn't that feel good? Doesn't it feel good to be able to do all these things?"
He can feel the dream fading … leaving him with just impressions. Of a job well done and having people following him. The details … start to get hazy.
"Wake up, Nick …" That's Isis beside him. The feline-like mutant sprawled over him, peering down into his eyes as he opens them.
Nick blinks himself awake. The details of the dream always fade and he's only left with impressions. It's a pleasant impression though. One of accomplishment. The concerned look on Isis though has him shaking the cobwebs away.
"What happened?" He says sleepily. That was not just a little nap. Well, it wasn't a full night's sleep but he was deep enough in REM sleep that pulling himself out of it is a bit of a chore.
The dream does fade but the 'urge' to achieve what he experienced is there. He might not recognise it, Isis doesn't - she's not a telepath after all, but it's there. Working on whatever that serum had done while Nick was affected and on his instinct that seems to be getting stronger and stronger.
"Tell me what you're feeling first." The feline-like mutant purrs a bit, rubbing her ears against his chin. "Quickly before you loose it." If he gets the feeling she's done this before, he'll be right. This is Isis in operational mode - not his flighty Kitten.
Nick blinks a few more times. "Good. Satisfied. Like I've done something important." His voice is still thick and sleepy. He shakes himself a little bit. It's fading rapidly and that's probably the best he can do. Also Isis rubbing her ears on him is really distracting.
"What… did you see?" Because he honestly can't remember. It's just feelings.
Isis is worried. She didn't like what she saw but she knows enough to try and stay focussed. Sitting back, the blue eyed mutant holds Nicks gaze and runs her fingers, claws, down his throat - trying to elicit the memories of the dream through touch.
"I saw … you training and then on a mission. Your claws were … coated. So was your throat." beat "Who was the woman who was talking to you? Do you remember her?"
Nick shivers when Isis starts mimicking the dream and he sinks back onto the bed, closing his eyes a bit dreamily. "Mmmm. Breen. Victoria Breen. She's an instructor at the Institute."
If he thought on it, he'd know that's not true. He knows all of the instructors at the Institute and he can be sure she's not an older one from before either, since the school wasn't that big back then and he knew all of them then as well.
No, she's someone who has inserted herself into his psyche. Very cleverly.
Someone certainly has and is directing Nicks 'training'. The insidious part is Isis doesn't know enough to question that - Nick really doesn't talk much about the Paragons. "You remember her, then? This instructor? She's not at the Institute now, is she?"
Sitting on the bed, next to Nick, legs crossed in front of her, Isis watches as Nick starts to doze. "I … couldn't find a dreamer like me. That dream looked like it was just that, a dream." Which might be concerning for the werewolf because it felt so damn good to be enhanced like that and have the Pack respond to him.
"Yes. She was an instructor there while I…" Nick trails off and blinks again. "No. No she's never been an instructor. There's never been anyone there named Victoria Breen." He looks up, somewhat disturbed. If someone can make him dream like that, what else can they do?
"It felt so… nice. Should it do that?"
Isis frowns, running her claws through Nicks fur as she thinks. "She wasn't? And the others there? Were they in the Paragons? You told me once that mutants like yourself are very rare…" She had been listening.
"Nice? Maybe. Dreams are strange. They're ways of your subconscious mind working out things. That is until some like me gets into them - then I can use them for all sorts of things. Maybe it's just a reaction to the drug … and what happened to you."
She's quiet for a little longer, still stroking the fur on his arm "We should work on your telepathic shields, still."
"About that…" Nick murmurs. "My shields are a bit on the weak side right now, or that's what they told me the last time I was at the Institute." It's from being around an empath so much. He's gotten used to the way Isis broadcasts and that impacts his ability to put up a fight if he needs to, because the stimulus isn't always a threat.
"But yes. We should." Because otherwise he's terribly vulnerable.
"No those other mutants… I haven't ever seen them except in that dream. The Paragons was a much smaller group."
"They are?" Isis doesn't know that she's to blame for that. It's just so natural for her to be with Nick. So easy. "I should be able to help you. If not, you should see someone at the school. You need to guard dreams better - even from me."
That's going to have an interesting an effect on the feline. She might not be able to feed from Nicks dreams so easily.
"So anyone of those people or none could have given you that dream. I've never had to find a Dreamer in a dream before." Shifting so she can lay next to Nick and rest her head on his shoulder, Isis thinks. "Do the dreams make you want to be … that, Nick?"
What, exactly?
"I don't know if I can Isis. I don't have any way to do that." Her power is fairly unusual after all. Nick has experienced it many many times but other than recently he's only ever seen her use it.
"Not… quite that simply. I never remember them. I only remember that I did something important and it felt good." It might be shaping him subconsciously but he doesn't want that yet. he doesn't even really know what 'that' is.
"Telepathic shields will help, Nick. They require work and practice though. I know it's hard work and maybe one of the telepaths can put a block on you." That actually makes Isis a little sad - if he's blocked, she won't be able to feel him either.
They're assuming it is a Dreamer who's doing this. It might be a telepathic suggestion that's been bolstered by the drug.
"Well that's something though I suppose." The feline-like mutant curls against Nicks side and nuzzle his neck - seeking comfort from what she observed. "I can stay in your dreams, mostly, and protect you, Nick."
"I think you'll have to for now." Though Nick doesn't mind that. He trusts Isis and she's done a lot of good things for him in her dream. He settles as she curls up against him. He's not going to move, she has seen to that.
Not that he minds. He's quite comfortable. More perhaps than he should be. And possibly she is more comfortable than she should be given what is going on. But neither of them have much noticed.
"I'll practice some shields." He will. But will it be enough?
"As long as you don't mind me dozing during the day…" Isis murmurs, getting comfortable and stroking his fur.
"Do that and I'll help." Will it be enough? Probably not. They both are far too comfortable and blase about this. So much so they've not mentioned it to others …
Why is that?
For now though, Isis plans to slip into Nicks dreams and stand sentinel. They'll work this out - won't they.