Good Enough
Posted on Tue Jul 2nd, 2024 @ 10:18pm by Connor Bruin & Bliss Hawkins
Edited on on Tue Jul 2nd, 2024 @ 10:21pm
2,695 words; about a 13 minute read
Mission:
Episode 4: The Savage ConneXion
Location: Skull Mountain | Savage Land
Timeline: September 7—11, 1990
September 7th
The quick flight from the Aerian encampment to Skull Mountain brought down Sauron and his enforcers on their heels, but everyone made it to the bunker's entrance in short order. Levi had cast a whirlwind against the attackers and sent them away, which allowed for everyone to make their arrivals and claim their spaces inside the bunker which was becoming more increasingly crowded.
Within the main area was stockpile caches of food, medicine, and other supplies that would last a fair portion. Beyond it were various rooms filled with utility equipment to manage the plumbing, power grid, and other amenities within the bunker. Assorted dormitories existed, but for the most part this facility had not been designed to house a large number of people indefinitely. Quarters were cramped.
That didn't matter to Connor, though, who carried Bliss to the shower area even though she wasn't really harmed—at least not outwardly. Having spent so many days apart, he didn't want to let her out of his sight. His boorish behavior was almost chivalrous in a way, but there was no hiding the big feelings he had been trying to manage on his own.
The typically jocular Bliss was quiet as she washed the mud and blood down the drain from her abused form. In terms of abuse, this was far from her first rodeo. But it had been a long time since she had been helpless. It inspired bad memories that she normally kept carefully packed away and out of sight.
"I'm sorry you had to come rescue me. I should have been stronger."
Even though he had seen her without clothes before, Connor had still turned away to give her privacy. He was not wearing his gloves that could allow his speech-generating device to vocalize, so he faced her in the shower but still averted his eyes. As best he could, at least, as they had been romantic before and there was only so much self-control a young man could muster.
<. You escaped on your own. .> Connor's hands were a blur as his signing rushed to keep up with his thoughts. <. We were just there to back you up. I am sorry we took so long. Everybody was slow. But we were all good enough. .>
As he continued to ponder, Connor realized quite a few things. He switched to manually typing into his speech-generating device while Bliss finished showering and began dressing herself in fresh clothes. That way she wouldn't have to keep one eye on him and another on what she was doing.
"YOU RESCUED THE AERIAN PRINCESS. WITHOUT ALATE, KA-ZAR COULD NOT HAVE BROKERED AN ALLIANCE WITH HER RECLUSIVE PEOPLE. THEY FLEW US BACK HERE DESPITE THE RISK POSED BY SAURON. KA-ZAR IS HEALING ALONG. THE UNITED TRIBES ARE RALLYING TO SKULL MOUNTAIN. MAGNETO IS EXHAUSTED AND STRAINED FROM TOO MUCH USE OF HIS POWER, BUT WE ARE IN A BETTER POSITION THAN WE WERE, THANKS TO YOU." He couldn't help but grin at Bliss with admiration. "YOU MADE LEMONADE FROM LEMONS."
Despite his kind words, Bliss still looked unconvinced. Connor wondered why or a moment. But the answer came to him quickly enough. As much of a lightning rod as Bliss could be, her mind was often with others. She always doted after him, made sure he'd had enough to eat and was sleeping properly. Even on the way to the Savage Land, she had tried to reach out to Magneto was an unexpected but not uncharacteristic act of kindness. Magneto had summarily rejected her olive branch with a backhanded EM burst that slammed her into a cargo locker. But the sentiment had spoken louder than any terse rejection could deny.
If Bliss was feeling dejected because she felt like she had let everyone down, then the answer would be finding a way for her to help people, particularly in ways that only she could do. Connor set his mind racing for a solution. Time was nearly up for him to suggest something meaningful. Bliss was fully dressed and was now fixing her hair. She had even skipped over her lip balm, something that Connor knew to be almost ritual behavior for her. Depression was taking her before his very eyes.
Just as she took a breath, perhaps to suggest going to sleep in indulgence of a stupor from which she might not recover, Connor interjected with an epiphany.
"REMEMBER WHEN YOU MADE ME A MILKSHAKE? YOU HEALED MY HEADACHE. PERHAPS YOU COULD TRY THAT WITH OUR WOUNDED FRIENDS."
Bliss closed her mouth as she considered his suggestion. That was just a headache. She wasn't even sure she'd done anything at all. Would she be good enough to help serious injuries? Connor's eyes said yes. After just a second's passing, she flashed him her winning smile.
September 7th
On their first night at Skull Mountain, Bliss had gone for gusto and tried to bring Magneto out of his degenerating condition. He had brushed her off after just a moment's attempt. Despite his cantankerous disposition, Jade had noted the next day that his condition had stabilized. It was enough to make Bliss wish to try again.
But first she went to check on Ka-Zar. The Lord of the Savage Land had taken a knife wound meant for her from Zaladane. While no poison had been detected, the wound refused to heal even with stitching. It was like some malevolent force had embedded itself within his flesh and held it open for light bleeding and infection.
Connor had been astounded when he watched Bliss place both her hands on Ka-Zar's muscular back and concentrate as much as she could. At first there was nothing to see. Blood oozed as it had for the last two days. Ka-Zar reported a tingling sensation but nothing else. Bliss didn't let her smile damper much, but Connor noted the micro expression and wrapped an arm around her shoulders while they walked away that night. Tomorrow would be another day.
September 9th
There was indeed good news on the morrow. Ka-Zar was back on his feet with a fresh stitch in his back. It would more than likely scar, but whatever obstruction that Zaladane had put upon him with her stone dagger had been eliminated after Bliss's ministrations.
Connor was elated to see her confidence was greater than ever before. Not unexpectedly, her confidence rose along with it. She wanted to try something even more impressive.
The Aerian Princess Alate's wings had been crippled by Zaladane's Mutates. She was, in large part, the primary reason for the Aerian alliance with the United Tribes. Had Bliss not escaped imprisonment with her, then Archaeo would likely have simply returned back to Aerie Shalan to report the worst to their father. Instead, Prince Archaeo remained among them to watch over his sister's recovery and to coordinate the battalion under his command in the developing resistance against Zaladane's usurper empire.
Riding high on Magneto's remission and Ka-Zar's recovery, Bliss was eager to try out her newfound ability on Alate. It was unheard of for a crippled Aerian to regain flight, at least in the adult years. The complex number of bones simply could never be set in the proper configuration or with the necessary tensile strength to sustain their body weight in midair.
The fact that she owed Bliss her life was the only reason Alate consented to the attempt. This was a little more difficult, as Bliss lacked the fundamental familiarity with Aerian wings as she did with knife wounds. However, there wasn't the same block in Alate's wings that had been present in Ka-Zar's back. Whatever the difference, Bliss found even quicker success. The number of bones that had to be restored were in the dozens. Ligaments and cartilage recoiled back to their original states, though the process took far longer than expected.
Three hours later with only minimal breaks for water and catching her wind, Bliss had stepped back, short of breath but grinning with a look of victory.
Alate stood up from her bed and gave her wings a cautious flap. They were perfect as the day of her proving where she had earned the right to be a scout in their army. Tears began to flow from her eyes.
The two girls joined together in an embrace where they clung to each other and shared tears of joy. Connor stood back while they whispered words to one another that ended in soft giggles and nods of affirmation. After one more hug, Bliss turned back to Connor and practically collapsed into his arms. He was more than happy to carry her back to her bunk.
September 10th
Several days had passed since their arrival at Skull Mountain. A dark cloud still hung over Bliss, especially in quiet moments of reflection when she didn't realize Connor was looking. She often dispelled them with a wan smile for Connor's sake, but he wasn't fooled in the least. After awhile, he pushed the issue.
"DO YOU KNOW WHAT IS BOTHERING YOU?"
Bliss had shaken her head. Words had been scarce for her. Despite all of the wins she'd had recently, the time she had spent imprisoned by Zaladane and Vertigo had done a number on her. Her years in the foster system were not happy ones. Memories which she fought every day to forget had come rushing back to her, culminating in her ruthless killing of Vertigo and her attempt to do the same to Zaladane. Helping her friends had taken some of the edge off, but old wounds had been reopened, provoking feelings that she had no intention of ever burdening Connor with.
"ARE YOU SAD THAT MAGNETO IS STILL AN INVALID?"
As far as escapes went, that one wasn't bad. Bliss lied and nodded her head. That deflection was better than an outright lie.
"DO YOU WANT TO TRY AGAIN?"
A shrug. Bliss didn't really feel up for much. She'd tried before and she wasn't good enough to help Magneto like she had the others. But Connor insisted. She'd looked so happy before. Of course he would be pushy.
They wound up back in the infirmary section where Magneto still laid in bed, though less pale than before. He took one look at Bliss and sent her away. Had Connor not been present, she may have even complied. But for his sake, Bliss decided to make one last attempt.
Whether he was too tired to argue or that perhaps Bliss's earlier attempt had made him feel better than he wanted to admit, Magneto consented to another attempt. Bliss took hold of his hands and did her best to attenuate whatever felt wrong in his body. Her power required tactile contact, a direct interface between nervous systems through which her body could connect to his and deduce, even if on an intuitive level, what might be wrong.
Magneto was simply running out of steam. Every time he pushed himself, he ran his well dry. The nature of his power which drew off the magnetic field of the entire planet meant that his body deionized whenever he exerted his power. Rest and nourishment could only go so far to heal the strain that was occurring to him on a cellular level.
In short, the Master of Magnetism was running out of time.
Knowing what she had to do, or at least an educated guess that would guide the flower of her tingling power into his body, Bliss pressed her intent to heal onto Magneto. It felt like pushing a power line up a utility pole, but Bliss didn't hold back. The lighting would go back into the bottle.
Connor stood back, watching the entire scenario. Beads of sweat formed at her brow. He brushed her face with a towel and nonverbally encouraged her to keep at it.
Catalyzing a process that already wanted to happen, such as healing a wound, was one thing. But the disruption to Magneto's body was systemic. It was like his molecules wanted to fall apart. Coaxing them back into stable cellular configuration was almost like raising the dead.
It was unlikely that Magneto would let her try again. His patience was wearing thin even now. Bliss took a breath. "I can do this," she whispered. "I can. I'm good enough."
She redoubled her efforts and pushed for stabilization at the most base levels throughout Magneto's body. He was an ocean of cells, trillions of microscopic pieces stitched together through astronomically complex protein chains that were beyond her ability to even perceive, much less process and understand. The best she could do was focus on the energetic central nervous system. That would have to do. Bliss sucked wind and then let loose with everything she had.
Magneto gasped, clearly in pain. His eyes shot open with wide, dilated pupils. But through the pain, a focus came over him that hadn't been there before. Extending his open palm, he summoned the metal tray with an empty plate on it. In a gesture of defiance against his condition, Magneto turned his palm to a fist, and in the same moment, the metal tray folded in on itself like aluminum foil wadded into a ball. He sent it against the wall with a flick of his wrist.
"Thank you," he'd said. "I... will remember this."
But Bliss was dead on her feet. Once again, Connor carried her back to her bunk. Tonight, he had a grin on his face. How many miracles was she good for this week?
September 11th
Bliss had slept all through the morning and well into the afternoon. Each day had spent her power more and more until she finally had to give in to exhaustion. When she finally stumbled out of bed, she found Connor undergoing mounted riding lessons with one of the United Tribe beast masters.
There was something adorable about the way his big, burly frame jostled about on the back of a baby brontosaurus. For all his agility, there was something lacking in the attempt. Bliss allowed herself a giggle, the first in days.
While she was still wrestling with nightmares of her past that bled over into her waking life, Bliss realized that a silver lining in her personal struggle was discovering there was more to her than even she knew. Her power had dimensions to it that she'd never realized before. It had taken great effort which left her exhausted and her body aching from the expenditure, but she had done the impossible. She had made a difference.
It might be enough for the coming battle and it might not. Either way, it presented a spark of hope that she hadn't had before. Hoping in hope sounded dumb, but it was all Bliss had at the moment. Every hour was a test in not spiraling. She'd take what she could get. Beggars couldn't be choosers.
Connor caught sight of her and gave her a wave before letting out a loud whoop. He was calling her over. His antics brought another grin to Bliss's face. Hoping against hope wasn't the only thing she had after all.
As she headed over to join Connor in the beast riding lessons, she resolved not to place her inner turmoil and darkness on him. It would have to wait for Chuck, for someone who could bear the weight of her shit and not be tarnished by it. Connor was too good for this world. She would spare him the hot mess of her past that was rearing its ugly head through present circumstances. Maybe he would understand and maybe he wouldn't, but Bliss saw no two ways about it. Her inner world was too dark, ugly, and bloody for him to see, at least until she found a way to heal those wounds like she had for others.
Connor banished the moment's darkness by snatching her up and setting her on the ridge of the dinosaur's back along with him. For today, riding lessons together would be good enough.
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