Saying Goodbye, Part V - Conclusion
Posted on Mon Jan 9th, 2023 @ 5:55am by First Lieutenant Bethany Harrison
Edited on on Thu Jan 12th, 2023 @ 7:04pm
Mission:
The Mutant Underground
Location: Underground Base
Timeline: Present Day
----------
Content Warning! Some Adult Themes.
----------
I’ve tried so hard to tell myself that you’re gone
But though you’re still with me
I’ve been alone,
All along
~Evanescence, My Immortal
----------
The events that she barely remembered had delayed their plan to get married by a week or so, but she was still eager to become Jon’s wife. They had planned on eloping and having some kind of party when they went back to let people know. When she had gone missing, though, he had pulled the team in and Dyami had noticed the ring box. As a result, they wound up planning a small, intimate wedding on the island instead.
Dyami had worked hard to set up the island for the small celebration, complete with weird shamanic magics that caused her veil to glitter with strange, pastel lights, and allowed her to walk across the pool to meet Jon at the end of the trail on the beach. He had gasped as she walked out in the shimmering dress that had been custom designed for her in the span of three days by one of the women that she had saved.
As the beautiful scene progressed, a dark cloud loomed on the horizon. She didn’t want to see this again! She didn’t want to relive this nightmare! No matter how hard she tried to fight it, though, Dyami’s words rang true. She wouldn’t wake up until he told her to, forcing her to relive one of the worst moments of her life.
Just as they were exchanging vows, Jon glanced up and over Bethany’s shoulder. What happened next, happened so quickly that it caught her completely off guard. Jon paled, grabbing her and dragging her around him, shielding her from whatever it was that he saw coming.
She had felt him jerk and grunt, felt his pain, his fear flash beyond his control. “Jon! No!” she screamed, turning to catch him before he fell, only falling to the ground on top of him. She grabbed his face, tears streaming down hers. “Nonononono! You can’t leave me, Jon! No!” she pleaded, trying to fight off the terror flooding both of them.
Jon reached up, gasping for air, to caress Bethany’s face, wiping away some of her tears. “I do, love.”
Bethany’s entire body shook with grief and fury as his hand dropped limply to his chest, the link between them going dark, cold. With what little self control that she had left, she kissed Jon’s forehead ever so gently. “I do, my love. Until time ends.”
The scream that tried to burst through the anguish never really made it to fruition. Instead, what bubbled up from some dark pit deep inside, was broken, feral laughter as the one chain that was holding her back from being the monster that she could become, snapped.
As she stood and turned to survey the chaos of the attack that had just ruined her wedding and destroyed her life, her eyes furiously swirling with colored light, her stunning wedding gown began smoldering, bits of it floating off in the wind in cinders.
None of the HYDRA team had survived her wrath, and only one member of her team, besides her and Dyami, had survived the attack.
----------
Jon’s mind and memories diverged from hers at that point, and she gasped sharply as things seemed to wind back and play out differently. She felt a presence that she hadn’t felt in months, and it nearly caused her knees to buckle. “Jon,” she whispered as she wept.
He put his fingers beneath her chin and gently raised her face to his. He smiled, wiping the tears from her face, fighting back his own. “I do, love.”
She couldn’t drag her eyes away from his and she felt herself say, “I do, my love. Until time ends.”
----------
That bitterly happy scene faded and Bethany found herself standing in front of a painting from the wedding, of that very moment, both of them gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes. Cecily had obviously painted it, as she had painted all of the other ones from visions that she got from time to time.
She heard the motorcycle pull up, but she couldn’t seem to drag her eyes away from the portrait, tears falling down her face as she struggled with the fact that she had been robbed of that precious moment. When Jon came in, looking concerned, pulling his leather jacket off to hang on the back of one of the kitchen chairs, she turned and gave him a weak smile.
“What’s wrong, love?” he asked, moving to her to wipe the tears from her face. It hurt him to feel her pain and he didn’t understand where it was coming from.
“I’m fine. Everything is fine,” Bethany said, smiling at him, so happy to look into his azure-streaked eyes, to hear his voice, that it was nearly overwhelming. She fought down her emotions and asked, “What’s for dinner?”
“Isn’t that my line?” Jon teased, kissing Bethany on the forehead, then stepped back into the kitchen. “I brought home fish from the market. I figured we could have some real fish and chips tonight.”
Bethany followed him into the kitchen, not having answered him, just watching him and listening to his precious voice. She wasn’t going to be able to take this much longer, and Jon knew her too well to hide everything from him. The last thing that she wanted was to disrupt his world.
“Jon, are you happy?” She asked, fighting back the tears that wanted to start up again.
Jon turned to look at the woman that he loved, his sharp eyes studying her briefly before he put the bag of fish down and walked over to her again. “What’s going on, Beth? You’re being a little weird.”
Bethany shrugged, putting her arms around him and resting her head on his chest, listening to the sound of his heart beating, feeling the rise and fall of each breath. “Nothing. I just want to make sure you’re happy.” It wasn’t a great misdirection, but it wasn’t a lie.
Jon pulled her close and held her tightly for a bit, feeling her need to be close to him, needing his reassurance. “I have a beautiful, loyal, and loving young wife, a beautiful house to come home to. Our lives can be a little chaotic, but yes, love. I’m very happy.”
“Good. That’s all I ever wanted. I just want you to be happy,” Bethany said, struggling to put the words together without bursting into tears again. After holding him there long enough to clamp down on her anguish, she smiled up at him. “I’ll go get some potatoes from the garden.”
Jon looked down into her green eyes and gave her a concerned smile. He kissed her gently, holding her there for a while before finally letting her go. “That sounds good, love. Hurry back.”
Bethany turned and finally managed to make her feet move. All she wanted to do was stay with him, just tell the world to go to hell, and make them put her in stasis with him. But she pulled herself together long enough to walk out to the garden and begin hunting through the potatoes, before she stepped back, separating herself from the dream that Jon had created of her.
“Take good care of him,” she whispered to her dream doppelganger, before turning and walking away, down a path that seemed to create itself with every heavy, tear-laden step. Leading her away from her most cherished dream, and towards the desolate reality that awaited her.
----------
FIN
I will always miss you, my friend. Until time ends.
----------
Bethany Davies
Fractal
Mutant Underground
