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Post by Skyfire on Aug 27, 2010 11:13:12 GMT -5
Buzz shook his head, even though she couldn’t see him do it. “Honey, I just… have. Different times. I can’t recall anything specific.” He bent down and kissed her dusty forehead. “Now what about the future?” he murmured.
***
“We fell,” Buzz said simply, blinking dust out of his eyes. That was dust, right? “We hit the floor. Ouch.” He didn’t trust himself to say much more—inside, he was a roiling mess of thoughts and emotions.
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Post by cherryproductions on Aug 27, 2010 21:43:11 GMT -5
"That wasn't much of a story," She muttered tiredly. She wanted to rub her eyes but she could seem to get the energy to move her arms.
"The future," She began faintly. "The year Alec died." She chocked back maybe tears maybe grime, maybe both. "Alec was a very important person in our lives. He was my best friend, my closet companion, also my brother. In other words, your son."
*** "I can see that," Mira stated, rubbing gently at his face. "XR get to Cora first. She looks worse."
She rubbed her bangs back from her head. "Cora, honey can you hear me?"
"Yeah," She said, muffled. "Head hurts tho."
"That's understandable. XR's going to stop the bleeding and we're going to get your out of here real quick. We got to make sure you're stable to move, okay honey?"
She nodded but it strained her neck.
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Post by Skyfire on Aug 28, 2010 6:21:15 GMT -5
Son. He had a son. “Alec…”
…No, he would have a son. And that son would… Buzz’s face twisted. “Cora, he… I… how? How? What happened?”
***
“All rightie,” XR murmured, wheeling over to Cora and springing out his medkit. “This is gonna sting, kiddo.” He started cleaning the wound, then dabbed disinfectant on it. A moment later, he squirted something directly into the wound. “That’ll stop the bleeding.”
His extendable laptop pinged, and he checked it. And grimaced. “Mira, the laptop finished scanning these two. Results are a little less than favorable.”
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Post by cherryproductions on Aug 28, 2010 16:09:23 GMT -5
Cora took a deep breath and found that hurt too. But she still told him the story despite the pain.
"It was early December and we were going to Light-up Night downtown in Capital City. Its was the first time you and mom had the weekend off for a long time so we were making the most of it,
"When it got dark, however that's when it happened. Zurg did a surprise attack on the city, surprising everyone. Machines, robots, you name it they were there. They were everywhere.
"I got split up from you guy and so did Alec. He found me in the middle of the street, on my knees because I twisted my ankle in all the confusion.
"Some kind machine lost control then, rampaging down the street and he saw what was going on and pushed me out of the way. He never stood a chance."
She stopped to let a few tears fall down her face before recovering. "All I remember was a lot of shouting and seeing you and Mom and....after that we drifted apart. You were bent on killing Zurg and Mom was behind you. And both of you never really came home. I was practically raising myself, as harsh as that sounds it's true,"
She paused, letting it all sink in. "You missed a lot of birthdays and a lot of everything else."
***
"What's wrong?" Her voice was tense with worry. What now?
"What's going on? More bad news?" Cora asked.
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Post by Skyfire on Aug 30, 2010 17:13:22 GMT -5
He’d been taking too many punches lately. All Buzz could do was stare at his daughter, his blue eyes wide with shock. He couldn’t even really believe what she’d just said—not yet. “Cora,” he breathed.
He was going to have an emotional breakdown later—he just knew it. There was only so much even he could take.
***
“Well, concussions, cracked ribs, the whole nine yards, basically,” XR reported, wincing sympathetically. “You guys need some serious medical attention.”
“Yeah,” Buzz muttered. “Thanks a lot.”
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Post by cherryproductions on Aug 30, 2010 19:12:26 GMT -5
She nodded. "I think when I joined the Junior Ranger Association it kind of opened your eyes a little more. You came home and yelled a lot and sounded a lot like grandpa. You never wanted me to join but I had to. I....I always always blamed myself for Alec. It was my fault for what happened."
***
"That's lovely." Both Mira and Cora said at the same time. Cora let out a weak laugh, feeling pain creep up in her chest.
"Hey, if I live you can ground me later."
"Then expect yourself being grounded for a good while. Because I'm still pretty peeved for you to leave like that. Do you know how worried I was when you weren't there?! I about had a heart attack!"
"I get it," Cora rasped. "I'm grounded till I'm forty. What about Dad?"
"After you two are alright I'll deal with both of you later."
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Post by Skyfire on Aug 31, 2010 6:19:46 GMT -5
Buzz’s grip on her tightened instinctively. “Oh, honey… I’m not sure what to think, Cora, but I do know this: you carry around guilt like that in your heart, and it’s not going to help the person that got hurt, and it’s not going to help you. It only hurts. I’ve been there, okay? Maybe not in your exact situation, but I’ve been there. That kind of guilt only destroys. You have to let go.”
***
“Hey, I got pulled into all this!” Buzz protested. “Literally!”
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Post by cherryproductions on Aug 31, 2010 6:28:19 GMT -5
"My fault or not, if I wasn't right there maybe Alec would be alive. And maybe things would be different,"
She sighed. "Just make sure your get Zurg before you get mom pregnant."
***
"I'm not talking about this I'm talking about how in the world you caught caught up in this mess with SID and Woody and nearly getting yourself killed...again." Mira groaned.
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Post by Skyfire on Aug 31, 2010 7:06:18 GMT -5
Buzz shivered instinctively. “Cora, if Alec could have done it again, he would have. If he’s my son, it’s a sacrifice he would have gladly made.” He pulled her closer. “I’m not sure how we’re going to fix this, but we will, okay? We will.”
***
“And that’s what I happen to be talking about!” Buzz retorted. “I go over to say ‘hi’ to Woody, he pulls me down, and I end up agreeing to help him. End of story!”
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Post by cherryproductions on Aug 31, 2010 7:12:05 GMT -5
Cora nodded, not wanting to say anything more about blame. "He was a really great person. He was an accident, really. He was born about ten months after me. We were practically raised as twins. He had red hair the same as moms and had a slim build. But he was kind and protected me like he was the older one.
"In that way he was a lot like you."
****
Mira clicked her teeth. "Remind me to give that cowboy a piece of my mind later."
"Yeah, but now can we get out of here?" Cora asked, feeling even more tired than she was before they found them.
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Post by Skyfire on Sept 1, 2010 10:54:19 GMT -5
Buzz listened as Cora described her brother, and couldn’t help but smile softly. Alec. He promised the son that would not be born for a good two years yet that he would find a way. “Sounds like it,” he murmured.
***
“Sure thing, sugar,” XR replied, turning then to the hole they’d come through. “Hey, Boost, get down here and bring these guys up!”
“Comin’!” Booster called back. He swooped down and moved over to Buzz, who carefully shifted Cora into Booster’s arms. “I’ll be right back for you, Buzz!” Booster flew back up and set Cora down on a stretcher, then returned to pick up Buzz.
“Agh, careful, Ranger,” Buzz said through gritted teeth.
“Sorry!” Booster then flew Buzz back up to the ground floor.
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Post by cherryproductions on Sept 1, 2010 12:13:30 GMT -5
"You really think that we'll be able to change the future before I go back?" Cora asked drowsily.
*** Cora groaned as Booster lifted her into his arms. Her body ached and she felt more light headed than she did before she fell.
"Hey Boost, can you, like slow down a little?"
***
As Mira watched Booster fly Cora up she turned back to Buzz. "You ok?" She asked, sitting next to him. After a few minutes of silence and XR's tapping at the laptop she spoke up again. "So, what happened down here? You look, upset. And my upset I don't just mean about all that just happened, but with what happened between you and Cora."
She stopped, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Did she say something?"
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Post by Skyfire on Sept 2, 2010 6:05:08 GMT -5
“Maybe,” Buzz murmured. “Anything is possible.”
***
“Oh! Sorry, Cora!” Booster apologized, distressed, slowing down obligingly.
***
Buzz looked down, trying to think of how to word something he hadn’t even properly absorbed, himself, yet. “She, uh—” he took a deep breath, let it out—“she said something, yeah. Umm… XR? You think you could leave us alone for a minute?”
“Huh?” XR’s head swiveled back and forth between the two. “Oh… yeah, sure. Okay. I’ll just… go. Yeah.” He zoomed back up to the ground floor.
Buzz didn’t look up as he tried to gather his thoughts. “Cora… told me that we have a son in the future, too. Alec. Only, he… he… he dies. Because of Zurg’s forces.” A tear finally slipped down his cheek.
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Post by cherryproductions on Sept 2, 2010 6:11:40 GMT -5
Cora hoped so. She really wanted to believe that they'd be able to change the ways of the future.
***
"Thanks Boost," Cora muttered tiredly. She felt herself nodding off in his arms before she even arrived back to the surface.
*** Mira was quiet for a long time. Her hand slipped off his shoulder and into her own lap, staring at nothing. "So...we have will have a son. In the future. Along with Cora we have another child?"
She stopped and looked at the wall again. "And he dies? Because of Zurg?" She wasn't sure why she was asking these questions, but it just seemed like the only thing to do at the moment while her brain was in a stupor.
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Post by Skyfire on Sept 2, 2010 6:19:53 GMT -5
Buzz nodded, then realized Mira wasn’t looking at him. “Yes.” Pause. “Cora says he’s just ten months younger than she is, but… he protected her. That’s how he… how he died.”
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