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JP was, as almost always, in the shop trying to occasionally keep the kids out of trouble by letting a mechanical baby brontosaurus take a walk around Mutant Town, or loose a fire extinguisher to the delight of the hot bored to play in. Today was a pile of ribs on the work benchand what looked like parts from teh payphone salvaged in a box, and parts to a Chevy that he was currently refurbishing. Millie Smalls crooned in her high voice on the radio leaving the Cajun to half dance and half work along with it singing whatever the hell lyrics he wanted to. The sure thing withthe garage was there was always soemthing happening, and there was always food.
Approaching the garage once again is Nate Grey. Dressed in his leathers, he actually comes down from a landing. Clearly he flew here this time. "Yo JP, got that part you wanted." and he tosses the handheld object at JP so he can use it on his work.
"So, what's new?" he then moves over to the cooler, pulling out a bottle of beer.
JP reached up, leaned and caught the part out of the hair- soft hand catch! "Yas! Nate, this why someone ask, you mon ami, mon ami." That cooler was nearly aways stocked for this reason. Man, Gearhead and Sparkplug loved their damn gadgets and pieces and parts. "Eeeeh other than mon frere bein back? Was informed by Elmo that I can' make him take no acation for a while." He shook his head. "F'what it's worth? I got nine soeur an' freres. Raised half of em, but Severin? Sev m'best friend. He Sev tho so he does what he do I think you like em."
JP headed up the stairs with a mention to Nate offering, "Ya know, I know you from the future an' all, but if like your place ain' built yet or you between things and need a place t'drop a duffel bag? Welcome to do that here, man. Sev's usually a cat. I'm not… used to have the place real quiet. Got Elmo and V moved over. Feel more like home that way." He let his heavy boots carry the mechanist up the metal stairs to the loft. "Helped raise 9 soeur an' freres. M' brothers an' sis'ers. We always trippin over one another. it's pretty great. You got any family like that back home?" He never really asked Nate before but wanted to and thus, did. He had that way of using eyebrows and focus to genuinly listen for these answers. He might be a problem case, but really, he liked people.
Nate walks up with JP up those stairs, with his hands in his pockets as he looks at JP. "Heh, well hey, I appreciate it. Never really had a place before." He takes that slow breath before he pauses, looking to JP at his question. He takes a deep breath. "Complicated. Basically….guy named Scott Sumemrs and Jean Grey were my DNA progenitors. I wasn't born normally, JP." he states then. "Moment I came into the world and opened my eyes to the wrathed-out coma the world was in…wasteland. cities of titanium and machines, of mutants stomping lesser mutants and humans alike into dirt with the Sentinels hunting all of the above. "In short…I had no one. This is the first and only family I ever really had."
JP listened and arched an eyebrow. JP wasn't a soldier, but he grew up in and out of prison doing a lot of time for dumb shit. This seemed to speak to him something he can understand. He nodded slowly and got out a couple of bowls, "Bein on the inside? Limited space. Tryin to make sure anyone havin access to you ain' gonna shank ya decidin if it's safe t''sleep or not? I get that. Not's well as you, but enough to appreciate comin up fightin man." HE gout out bread and peanut butter and the preserves and set to making a couple sandwiches.
"Well… the way I see it? Some people got a home. I got one. It in Louisiana…" He pauses and pointed down with the sticky butter knife, "That like way south a here where the weather gets real wet but never shitty. V? You heard bout his family. He's a tool t'them. Elmo's family… they want him t'be what he ain't. They call it like… livin in the dark. Where I'm from we call em masks. lotta names for it though, but it hidin in plain sight, it ain't livin. Ain' my definiation of family ya know?" He paused and looked apologetic, "Maybe ya don't."
He sat at the table, "What I mean t'say is I got this… like… one 'them visions ya know? If you livin in fear? You ain' livin. I'm tryin t'get rid of that an if people got a shitty family? Well… fuck it we make our own. I mean it. You have my back. You treat these people well. You don' try to make em what they ain'. Anyone who can do that is welcome t'find a home here an' family in it." He finished the sandwich and brough it over for Nate setting it on teh table for him. The table had 4 mismatched chairs but they were real wood and that made em nice. "Jes' wish I had my kid here. Then it be perfect ya aknow?"
Nate listens to JP as he appears to give him the long story, a small smile coming from Nate as he just listens, pulling out a Beer in the process since he's now forced to remember. After sipping it, he remembers the deaths of those he called his 'friends'. He takes a deep breath then. "Yeah….what kinda group are we? School of hard knocks?" Nate almost scoffs a bit, but he nods.
"Yeah…but hey, it's like what keeps us all together. None of us has had a real family, minus you and your kid." Nate says with a small smile for him. "But hey, if you're offerin' me a place to live…I'll take it." and sandwhich set in front of him, that's a sandwich Nate will eat. "Thanks."
and he sits down, falling silent.
JP chewed his sandwich and shrugged. He thought about it and while Nate didn't ask for his life story but JP was not shy about hangups. "I dunno. Ain't been the best papa. I was away f'most Amelie growin up and she live with her mama, but… she think I hang the moon so… We can get this place workin out? Maybe Mozelle let her come visit." He paused as that sat a little heavy for him, but he shook his head and moved on, "An' Severn had it damn good. He get' me as he' frere. Ask em. I'm the best older brother he got." He left off that Severin was hate second oldest in their family.
Nate just chuckles a moment then. "Hey, any father who cares a great deal about their kid as much as you do is already the best dad, JP. You're more noble in that regard than about 90 of men in the world. Congrats." Nate speaks in honesty. "Regardless of that…he chuckles a bit. "Sure." he smiles. "Heh, I believe it."
JP took a drink and waggled the bottle, "So long as we tryin? Eh we could be doin worse." He bit his sandwich nad looked to Nate shakin his head, "Had another dream… bout the future…" He left it there for a moment, the recall weighing on him as no small thing. Looking to the only man that might believe him he asked, "You ever think you'll go back? Would you want to?"
Nate chuckles a bit. "Yeah? Well, we could always do worse. But-" then JP drops that bomb. "Another dream?" he asks curiously, before he's asked about the future. "A part of me thinks I have to…to save those already there. But…another part of me thinks the here and now is more important…so I can change the future."
JP sucked in his cheeks lost in some deep thought on that, listening acutely. One nod confirmed yes, yes he did. "First time? Someone pulled me across that way like you came this way. the rest? It was a dream. I know cause I see the same thing over and over. I kinda." He took a deep breath nodding with slow, profound agreement, "I keep thinkin that too. like if we fix where we at now? Avoid those futures… or that future whatever. I dunno if it same or different. Either way, like say we fix it. Say the Mutant Regulation thingie don't happe. Say… Say Mutant Free Brooklyn Day don' happen… the things I saw? THose places we been what happens to them?"
Nate looks to JP. "Yeah…we could create a whole tree of alternate futures but…time fixes itself. time keeps going. saving one timeline doesn't guarantee another." he sighs lightly. "Tell me…who dragged you to the future?"
JP nodded quietly and winced. It was fiant but it wasn't the optimal answer. It was the honest answer and that was what was important. He nodded though taking the tally of truths. "Yeah." IT wasn't a positive yeah so much as an acknowledgement. Picking up out of the funk of thought he murmured, in slight slurred French, "I… I dunno. I htink…" He squint, "Maybe was that JeanLady. The one you mentioned? I met her a couple times, but I think… maybe some older version of mon petite soeur, Terese. THey twins. Her an' Tybalt. He can see all sort s of the stuff that ain't happened yet. She can do real weird and crazy things withthe past. I think maybe…I needed to go to that future to tell Elmo… it ain't his fault they killed me." His jaw tightened but really it was some disappointment. In the end it was what it was. "Best we could hash out I remember was I needed t' know what was gonna happen. He needed to knowmy death on my hands, not his so maybe he can pick up finishin all…*this* that we buildin here."
Nate just looks at JP. "So you did die in the Future." Nate ponders that terrible thought for only a moment. before a sigh touches his lips. "But I know the feeling. Jean is a crazy-strong Psionic like me…maybe stronger. but…as long as you did what needs doing…that is all that matters."
JP licked his lower lip and it… well it was hard. This one the bayou badass was struggling with. Weirdly there was some odd calm in talking to Nate about this. Likely because they were both men of action and Nate could actually understand this experience better than even JP could and he was there.
"Yeah I was in an accident. Elmo succeeded in keeping our rogue subway car goin to hide from being found. I woke up there. I asked, ya know, how m'daughter was. Is Amelie okay? He said she was in canada. She writes t'me all the time… or did. I died three year ago so she write to him now t'keep him goin. He um,"
JP winced and fought with this one shaking hsi head, "Apparently Elmo an' I have a big fallin out. I say fight em. He said hide. An… I won't… life… in fear. Like She said I ain' afraid. I ain't gonna be afraid. I was born for this. But I got killed and he blamin himself for me dyin so… ya know I tell em," JP shrugged still working on dealing with this part, "I'd f'give him but the choice was mine and ya know I'd make the same one. I ain't afraid of dyin. Dyin can only hurt for so long I reason. I'm afraid of not bein here t'protect the people I need to. I'm afraid of not being able TO fight. but…"
His palm came up and rubbed at his eye tiredly with a shrug, "Had t' tell him he don't eed t' be forgiven and t' take up where I left off. y aknow, I wait. Whatever. I guess I will anwyas. It sounds so messed up sayin it out loud, but like no matter what I do it's gonna hur the people I love most. At least i can try to make sure it's gonna be worth it. I need t'know we gave em the best shot to win."