fissionmailed | We're Strange Allies With Warring Hearts

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We're Strange Allies With Warring Hearts

[A year.]

[Gray Fox had been in a relationship for an entire year. The thought was almost depressing. He'd been involved with Elisa for a year but how much time did he honestly spend with her? The existence of Ursula immediately cut that time in half, coupled with the long stretches of time he'd gone with barely speaking to the young woman, the end result was not the most desirable. This, however, wasn't the only thought that plagued his mind.]

[Another Naomi had found herself in the Nexus. One from a time Fox didn't want to fathom; a version of his sister that had come here after facing her own death. She appeared no older than any other Naomi he'd encountered in his time here - to think that every one of them may have been suffering in silence, to think he couldn't be there in her time to care for her as he'd done when she was a child.]

[It was almost too much for him.]

[Tonight, however, was about Elisa. He'd asked the girl to meet him here at this restaurant tonight. He had to swallow his feelings and push these thoughts to the back of his mind. He'd canceled engagements with Elisa all too frequently; their anniversary dinner was something he knew he couldn't put off. Clad in his dark green suit, he idly paces at the entrance, glancing out down the hallway now and then as he awaits her arrival.]

(ooc: for [Bad username or site: elisula title=Elisa @ livejournal.com])

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[She gasps lightly as she's forced back away from him; blinking as she stares in silence]

....

[Finally able to focus, snapping out of her drunken haze, Elisa slowly removes herself from Fox's lap and sits herself next to him on the cot once more. Once the reality of how she just forced herself onto him again hits her, the girl's heart feels heavy with a deep sense of shame and guilt.]

[Looking down at her own hands as they lay in her lap]

...

I'm sorry...

[That's better. Fox reaches over and gives her a nudge with his hand, indicating he wants her to get up.]

...Move. I'm laying down.

[Furrowing her brow, Elisa immediately complies.]

[There's really no other place to sit comfortably in the room. Elisa figures that she should take that as her cue.]

[The girl gets up from his cot and swallows hard. He definitely seems upset with her now, and she is possibly even more upset with herself. Elisa's eyes sting as they begin to water. What a horrible girlfriend she is; blatantly disrespecting Frank's boundaries like that...]

[She bends lowers, and begins slipping on her shoes] I... um... Should really get going, I guess..

Thank you, for dinner.

[Elisa would rather not start crying in front of him. After slipping on her high-heels, the girl heads for the door.]

[Fox, having just lain back, now sits up and looks over to the door.]

...You're leaving?

[Her hand just grabbed hold of the doorknob as he spoke. She's a bit confused as to why he wouldn't just let her go if he's upset with her.]

...

[Elisa can't exactly meet his gaze; feeling guilty and ashamed] I... I don't know.

[Finally bringing herself to turn toward him] ....Should I be...?

[He lays back down and closes his eyes. Yes, being alone would almost be preferred at this point but she seems to have calmed down. Spending a short while longer in her company wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing... It may even keep him from delving too deeply into his own thoughts.]

You're permitted to stay longer, should you so choose.

..........

[She doesn't know what to make of that. Is he just doing his best to tolerate her now, so that she wouldn't feel bad? Part of her wants to leave- so that she can just stop fighting back tears and allow herself to cry in private. Another part of wants to stay. Pity or not; if he stopped her from simply leaving, maybe he's not quite AS upset with her as she thought?]

.....

[Eventually, Elisa decides to cling on to that tiny hope. She makes sure the door is closed fully and lets go of her hold on the knob.]

[She says nothing as her back is resting against the closed door; gaze lowered to the floor as the room falls into an awkward silence.]

[Opening an eye and lifting his head, Fox shuffles his body in closer to the wall, making a bit of room next to him on the cot. He says nothing and makes no other movement, aside from laying his head back down on his pillow.]

[She looks to the empty space he created. Is that a hint?]

...

[Nervously biting on her bottom lip, Elisa steps forward and sits on the edge of the cot. Her heels are slipped off once more, before the girl allows herself to lay down beside Fox.]

Hn. You've decided to stay then?

[He turns his head a bit to look at her, opening his eyes. He drank that wine a bit too fast, it would seem.]

[Elisa just nods her head; looking somewhat like an apologetic puppy. She shifts on her side to fully face him.]

I really wanted to spend a meaningful evening with you tonight...

I didn't want to walk out of here with you hating me.

I'm sorry... for being dumb again.

Learn from your mistakes.

[Now if only he could take that advice to heart.]

[Giving another nod] ...It wont happen again, Frank.

[Thankful for him not giving up on her, Elisa cuddles just a bit closer to him and tucks her head under his chin; closing her eyes. It's been a long time since she's simply allowed herself to simply listen to the rhythm of his heartbeat, so she hopes that he doesn't mind this contact at least.]

[The warmth of her body feels nice in the air of the cooler storage room, this is something he can tolerate. Unfortunately, it serves to remind him all the more of his dear sister in her youth; curling up with him on the couch, clinging to him, falling asleep. It's a bittersweet memory of sorts, Naomi is no longer a six year old girl. She's a woman well into her thirties, a woman tat loses her struggle with cancer.]

[A grimace breaks through his stoic visage for only a moment before he turns his body a bit, bringing an arm around Elisa.]

...This is fine.

[It feels nice; being this close with him, feeling his warmth... but with the added contact comes added awareness, even in her inebriated state. She can feel that there's definitely something wrong with him, but even though she's concerned... the girl doesn't want to risk driving him away again by prying.]

[So she'll ask once, and only once...] Frank...

[She speaks against him, one arm draped around his waist.]

...Is there anything... you'd like to talk about?

No.

[His response comes quickly, shaking his head a bit. His grip against the back of her dress tightens a little as he draws the girl closer to his body.]

...I'm fine.

...Okay.

[Of course, if she really wanted to know, Elisa could just read the information off of him. -But that's not the way she wants to be. Frank is allowed to have his secrets. ...Just as she should be allowed to have hers. All that matters, right now, is finally sharing a truly intimate moment with the man right now, after an entire night of awkward distance.]

[The girl cuddles closer and places a gentle kiss to his collarbone. This is nice. Her eyes close once more and she relaxes greatly; thankful for the warmth that Fox's large body brings.]

[Turning his head, Fox presses a light, appreciative kiss against Elisa's forehead.]

...Just keep talking to me, Elisa.

Oh- um, alright. I'm not the most entertaining talker in the world, but...

[Elisa trails off as she tries to think of a topic, but comes up short. She figures that Frank would probably not want her rambling any more about Null or work so... what else is there?]

...What... do you want to hear?

Anything.

[He needs to keep his mind off of Naomi right now. As much as he cares for the woman, he needs to improve his mental state.... Even if many of the topics Elisa's knowledgeable on are things that would serve to remind him of his dear sister.]

...hm. [Elisa pauses, for a long time. She doesn't want to go on about the usual subjects again. He's already heard her thoughts on pretty much everything already, before. Well... except...]

[She sighs.] ...Alright. [The girl chooses to delve into a topic that she actually hasn't spoken a whole lot about- surprisingly.] Then I'll talk about... me.

You already know that I was born in East Germany. My parents were nuclear physicists... [She sighs] I suppose that's where I got my love of science from. My memories of them are a little foggy, but I still remember a lot. They were kind people; I know that. But ultimately, it was their work that killed them. I think I told you of that briefly, already... It was an explosion in the Ural mountains- we moved to Russia due to my parent's line of work, you see. I was about 3 years old or so, at the time. My body was hit with intense radiation... But as you know, the effects of that radiation were... unusual. I didn't understand it. I couldn't understand it. What was happening to me? I started to hear voices... It took me a while to realize that they were actually thoughts of people around me. ...It was scary. I spent a little while just... wandering aimlessly; watching as the people of Snezhinsk fell to radiation sickness and depression. I thought that all I could do nothing but sit and wait my turn... until people finally came to help us. People from other countries. I was found, taken to a facility and stripped of all my clothing, then thoroughly washed and scrubbed by people in strange suits. They said it was a miracle that someone my age survived such heavy radiation, and that I should be very glad and thankful to be alive. ...I wouldn't.. say that I was "glad" at all. But I was thankful. Thankful that I was found and fed, and given a bed to sleep on- even if I was never actually able to sleep at the time.

They asked me why, and I told them that I kept hearing voices and seeing visions. At first no one believed me, but then I proved it to them. I told them their own thoughts and secrets. After that, not many adults wanted to deal with me. Soon after, I was taken away from that facility and brought to one in Germany. I thought that I scared everyone in the old rehabilitation facility too much for them to want to be near me any more. But the men in military suits assured me that I was only going to a better place, suited to my unique needs. One 'closer to home'... They spoke German, and that made me feel better... -knowing that I could be away from the scene of that accident and closer to my old hometown. I was told that I could be around other children like myself; ones that were going through the same things I was.
When I got there, I quickly learned... that I was only told a half-truth. And when the officers mentioned that I would "get better"- they weren't talking about making the voices go away. They were talking about becoming even more powerful in what I could do.

The 6 long years that followed... were filled with nothing but a series of experimentation and forced training. But none of it really amounted into anything spectacular until... Ursula came. I was around 10 of so. My so-called "caretakers"- the scientists in charge of strengthening me, specifically- were getting frustrated. I wasn't responding to anything they did to me like the other children were beginning to. So one day, they decided to... intensify things. The sort of "shock therapy" that followed was meant to loosen the part of my mind that was resisting their experiments so fiercely. They said that I'd be able to 'handle' it; that my endurance had proved to be pretty high from the fact that I didn't die from radiation poisoning alone. This is going to sound strange, probably, but... when the shocks began, it actually hurt so much that I... didn't feel it. I can hardly remember the sensation. I do remember screaming though- and my hair standing on end. Eventually, their attempt to prod me into 'letting loose' succeeded... but I can't remember the moment, exactly. Actually- I passed out completely from the pain in the middle of it. While I slept, Ursula woke up for the first time... to protect me. For that, I was thankful. Even if I was scared because everyone in that room had been killed... part of me... was relieved...

[At that, she looks guilty] ...Ursula was sedated and thrown into a cell-like room of the facility for what she had done. Ever since then, she was the one they experimented on- not me. I felt so bad... they were much worse to her than they were to me. But Ursula told me it was okay. She said that she was there to protect me, and that one day she'd use the powers given to her to free us both. No matter how much she tried, though, that day never came. She was given a lot of power- but even with their "training" it could only do so much. She didn't know how to control it properly or focus it on a single thing at a time. Both of us got really down a lot; but we kept each other's spirits up. And Ursula never let me stop believing that we'd get out of there one day.

In the end, she was right. It took 10 years of being in that place... but eventually, we got our freedom. It was the CIA. They raided that facility, and it was then that we met an American man who we called "Mr. Viper". Ursula and I gladly went with him to America. I was so happy... We had been rescued; and no one would ever force us into using our powers for them again. -Or so I thought.

[Shaking her head, Elisa gives a sigh.] On the outside, it looked like everyone just wanted us to be free. But that wasn't the case. No; the CIA didn't save us for nothing. In the end, it didn't matter where we went. Whether it was the communists, or the Americans... they only wanted us for our abilities. To use us for war. We were just shiny new weapons to them, and nothing more. But I... didn't want that. It was then that Mr. Viper... Gene... came to us with an offer, which we gladly accepted. So, once again, we ran away with him instead. He never forced us into anything... and best of all; I wouldn't have to fight. I could just be a doctor... I could help people. Ursula chose to fight, and Gene taught her to become a soldier. He also helped her to control and focus her abilities. He... gave us both an objective. A purpose. Kinda... made us feel special, even. We weren't guinea pigs anymore; we were people. People capable or great things...

[The girl exhales slowly, and trails off- leaving it at that. Frank already knows the rest of how that story goes. She doesn't say anything at first, but eventually she lifts her gaze and manages a small smile]

....

Oh.

[She laughs a bit] ...Gottschalk... is my last name, by the way.

My name is Elisa Gottschalk.

[Fox's eyes remained closed as he listened to her story. It wasn't an issue to get Elisa to open up to him, she'd always seemed to speak freely to him. Having been subjected to torture on numerous occasions throughout his own life, he understands the difficult life the girl had growing up.]

[He lets out a bit of a disbelieving snort and lightly shakes his head, eyes cracking open as she finishes.]

Together for a year... And this is the first time you tell me your last name.

[The girl just laughs; slightly embarrassed by that realization]

I know, I know.. it completely slipped my mind, honest! But really- I don't even like my last name. I always tell my staff- "Miss Elisa" or simply "Chief" is just fine with me. No need for... Ms. Gottschalk.

[She speaks the name in an exaggeratedly dreary tone that emphasizes her dislike of it.]

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