The New Mutants were going through it.
Again.
But when weren’t they?
When they were in situations like this though, the thing that they did best was have fun anyway. And a pool was just put in at the mansion, so Tabby wanted to make sure it was put to good use. She sent out a text to the New Mutant group chat simply saying: “Pool. Today. No questions.” before heading over herself.
Well dis thugds (Well this sucks.)
Tabby looked into the mirror and saw just how messed up her jaw was after her nasty fall while fighting Maggot. Probably broken, but she didn’t have time to worry about that.
Chusd gweat, how am I gwonna geep dawlging dwisha busded chaw. (Just great, how am I going to keep talking with a busted jaw.)
In reality, she would likely be better off not talking; however, there was a higher chance of Sam getting hurt while blastin’ than of Tabby being quiet. It just meant that everyone else would have to deal with listening to her talk like this. As Sam Guthrie said when he found out: “God help us all (what a gal)”
In a way, this physical state reflected her mental state equally well. Just as she wouldn’t stop talking despite the pain in her mouth, she was going to keep on pushing through her life. Tabitha Smith was a survivor, no matter the pain. When life knocked her down, she kept on moving. Every challenge had a solution, even if it was off the beaten path. She would keep showing up for X-Force missions and for New Mutant scraps where she was hopelessly outmatched. Because that’s how you move forward. One step at a time, always evolving to survive.
(ooc: feel free to respond if you’re a new mutant or x-force member or other character close to Tabby. just be ready to deal with her broken jaw speech)
Something about X-Force ops and watching a friend almost die really worked up an appetite, and even though Emma’s bonus went uncollected, Tabby still owed Sam dinner. Both of them returned to their rooms upon arriving at the mansion to unpack, and Tabby placed a quick phone call. Shortly afterwards, Sam got a knock on his door. Before he even finished saying “Come in,” she was already halfway to his bed with a tower of chinese takeout boxes.
“I wasn’t sure what you’d want, so I ordered a variety,” she explained while starting to lay out the feast in front of them.
“Ah can tell. Ya sure we can eat all a’ that?” Sam asked.
“Oh ye of little faith,” Tabby smirked and sat down on the bed, “I’m sure we can make a good dent in it tonight, and worst case? I love leftovers.”
Sam rolled his eyes at her, and Tabby acted indignant and tossed a pillow towards him, and they laughed and ate and enjoyed their time together like young adults do. It was almost enough to let them ignore the critical state of their friend and the hordes of vampires they fought off.
Almost enough.
Tabby set down her egg roll, noticing the somber attitude that Sam had maintained since returning, “It’s not your fault Sammy. You didn’t do this to James. He knew the risks when he sign–“ She stopped herself. That wasn’t her talking, it was Cable. Maybe Cable could’ve given that spiel to Sam and made him listen and believe it, but that wasn’t what she was here for. She wasn’t Cable, and she wanted to stop Sam from becoming him. “He’s a fighter. He’s made it through worse.”
*“*Ah know he will. But Ah can’t stop thinkin’. What if it was you instead. Ah’m nigh invulnerable while Ah’m blastin’,” she elbowed him for that, but let him continue, “an’ Ah can’t really die. Laura would’ve healed back from most anythin’, Dom and James’ll both bounce back from whatever gets thrown at ‘em, an’ Hope woulda copied whatever ability she needs. But Tabs, if you got hurt? Ah don’t think Ah coulda forgiven myself.”
For a girl whose mouth wouldn’t stop moving normally, Tabby had a habit of losing her words when things got serious. She wanted to tell Sam not to worry. To tell him that she could take care of herself, and that she’d made it this far. But she worried about herself too. When on missions, she often felt like she was the same kid that X-Factor found on the street, and who Cable had to teach to fight. To know that Sam was this worried about her as well? It scared her more than she could ever admit, even to herself. If a mission came down to saving her or getting the job done, could he make the hard choice and complete the task at hand? Would she even want him to?
She’d been silent for almost a minute now, just about setting a new record for the longest Sam had heard her go without talking. She needed to say something, and all she could muster was, “I know. Every time we take off, I know it might be the last. But somebody’s got to watch your back, and I don’t want to be kept away from you.”
She leans against him, breath still smelling of crab rangoons and orange chicken, and gives him a kiss. Pulling away, she managed to mutter an apology, “I shouldn’t have brought him up. He’s going to be ok, and so are we. I promise.”
And no matter how many times they changed the topic of conversation and tried to move past it, some things could never be unsaid.
Perhaps though, there could be some way to address the concerns they shared.
Some way to ensure that Tabby could survive among the strong.
While she was trained by Cable in stealth ops and subtlety in her powers, Tabby always preferred letting loose and blowing $#!* up. So when she helped Sam plan out the mission late into the night, she leapt at the chance to be in the “Blow $#!+ up and keep ‘em busy” squad.
Now though, now boots were on the ground and the horde of undead was coming at them. Her and Dom were wreaking havoc in the further ranks as Laura took care of anyone getting too close. The three of them made a well-oiled machine, creating a small perimeter free of vampires and safe for the rest of the squad and for Emma.
With Hope running psychic comms, they were able to react to any incoming threats before even starting to call it out.
“Tabs, incoming at–“ BOOM “–5 o’clock.”
“Laura, 3 be–“ Snikt “-hind me.”
BOOM “Dom– wait, how did you know?”
“Got lucky,” Dom shrugged, staking a vampire that none of the three of them had noticed behind her.
However, the perimeter they’d fought so hard to maintain was shrinking fast. The horde kept coming, and for every one taken down, five more noticed from around the castle and stormed them. Tabby was becoming useless, holding back for fear of hurting her teammates and only lobbing time bombs further and further back. Dom had put her gun and grenades down in favor of some makeshift stakes she’d fashioned during the fight. Laura was dashing around like mad, her role as “last line of defense” becoming the first strike.
“Sam, get ready for our team. We’ve got too many here to hold this line. Gonna’ leave ‘em a big surprise though. Dom, toss me a grenade, your holy water, and any tape you’ve got.”
Domino made a show of patting herself down, “Tabs, why would I have any–“ she found a roll and tossed it to the blonde with a smirk before going back to the vampires at hand.
Tabby took her vial of holy water out as well, figuring that this probably counted as a last-ditch scenario. She quickly taped the two bottles to the grenade and handing it back to Domino.
For the first time in the fight, one of them spoke out loud instead of via their psychic link. “Make it count,” Tabby said.
And boy did she. The explosion was magnificent, with holy water and glass and shrapnel flying in every direction providing just enough carnage and distraction for X-Force to reunite and begin one last defense.
When things got too good for Tabby, her first instinct was to run. These moments never lasted, and it was better to get out before things went wrong. Right now was one of those times, things seemed to be falling into place too neatly and it was only a matter of time before they crumbled again and she got hurt.
Her and Sam were back together, and it was incredible. Somehow everything at the wedding went perfectly, as if it was scripted to get them back together, and she was enjoying this nice period. But it felt so fragile. It could end at any moment, and had in the past. Most recently, Sam ran off to the Externals without a word. He’d promised that he wouldn’t do it again, but what if he did…
Bobby had finally come back as well, turns out he was in space? He was always up to something, but it was good to see him back on Earth again. He and Sam picked up their friendship without missing a beat, and both of them were about as happy as she’d ever seen them. But who knows what the future could hold, something could easily go wrong. It might be better to run from them both so that neither could leave her.
She hadn’t even fully finished unpacking since X-Force disbanded, so it would be very easy to hit the road again. In fact, she was in the middle of packing the last of her stuff when she decided to quickly pop into a common area to rest and clear her head before loading it all up and heading out. While there however, she noticed just how nice the current state of affairs at the mansion was. The New Mutants were just about back together, Sam was being sweeter than ever, and she was going to enjoy having a good time, living right here and right now.
Nothing could bring about the Death of this feeling.
Sitting alone in the mansion common area, Tabby nursed a drink, pondering the day that was upon her.
The man who shared Tabitha Smith’s DNA, Marty, wasn’t important to her. When he kicked her out of his life, that was the last she thought of him.
From there on, she spent a long time on the run, from hanging with the Beyonder to Vanisher’s gang to X-Factor to the New Mutants before finally settling in with X-Force. That team changed her life, introducing her to Sammy who she now couldn’t imagine life without, as well as Cable.
What to say about Cable…
He was the closest thing she had to a father since running away. Almost everything she did, she did to try and get him to notice her. She yearned for his approval, but he only ever had eyes for Sam (not that she could blame him). Still though, on the rare moments when he cared for her, she felt like she had a father again.
Since then, he came and left over and over again, never sticking around for long. Maybe the next time he came by, he’d stay, and finally notice her potential.
Happy Father’s Day Cable. This drink goes out to you.