"Taylor?" Julianna asked hesitantly as she walked over to the lioness. Taylor looked at her with a soft rumble as Julianna sat down next to her. "Can you come back for a few minutes?" Julianna asked softly and Taylor rippled briefly, before she was curled up in a naked ball with her arms wrapped around herself.
"I'm sorry." Taylor whispered softly and Julianna was looking over at her. "I dragged you back into a fight that you had gotten out of and now, now two of your children have walked away from you." Taylor murmured.
"Taylor, stop." Julianna said sharply and Taylor looked at her, stunned by the sharp and painful tone in her voice. "Stop blaming yourself, all right? It isn't your fault, none of it is."
"Then whose fault is it?" Taylor asked and her voice was cracking with pain. Julianna looked over at her, before she lowered her head. "If it isn't my fault, Jules... Then whose is it? Because it feels like it is, I should have been there and maybe, you wouldn't have lost so much." Taylor said and Julianna glanced back up at her.
"If you had died that night instead, then John would be in your place right now." Julianna pointed out gently and Taylor said nothing. "You have seen what happens when John and the others break down, you have been a therapist for so many people. You helped Gus through attacks and you helped me, trying to help the kids through it. How many people can say that they have done, what you have?"
"Plenty, all around the world. Human therapists, human counselors, all of them. Julianna, they hate us for who we are, for what we are." Taylor shook her head. "We all lost our jobs, the guys were discharged... It is hard not to feel like the one who is responsible, even only considering the fact that I have the least control out of all of us." Taylor mumbled.
"You only have the least control, because you have arguably been through the most." Julianna said and Taylor stared at her. "Your mutation and your panic, it caused you to rip someone apart. You were in the foster system for years until John's dad unofficially adopted you. You lost many of your friends to the war and the ones you didn't, got busy with their own lives." Julianna sighed quietly. "Me included, and I left you out."
"You were raising three kids on your own, Jules. I was happy to be a babysitter..."
"But were you really?" Julianna asked and Taylor was surprised by the words, it flashed all over her face in shock. "You can't even have kids of your own and I just made you babysit, for years at a time for all of them." Julianna reminded her. "I would prefer that you shouted or screamed at me, rather than blaming yourself. Because all I did was ice you out, especially after that night. I iced you out and left you nothing but a phone number, I effectively abandoned the Mutant Underground and I left you completely alone."
"You're my best friend, Jules. I would never scream or shout at you and if I ever did, I wouldn't be doing it at you. I would be angry or upset at myself, you know that." Taylor murmured as she was shaking her head. "Hey, I don't suppose that you have any extra clothes?" Taylor asked as Julianna stared at her, before she was laughing at the words.
"Here." Julianna said quickly as she tossed a bag over to Taylor, who caught the bag in her hands. Taylor began to ruffle through it quickly, before she found a shirt, jacket and jeans in quick succession. "I'm glad that I don't rip through my clothing, every time whenever I use my abilities." Julianna admitted and Taylor laughed.
"The only things that ever stick around after a change are my shoes." Taylor said and then now, she was swiftly just tying up her sneakers. "So, are we done crying now?" Taylor asked Julianna who chuckled softly at the words.
"Your demeanor is definitely not considered a normal demeanor for a therapist." Julianna remarked as she was getting up and Taylor was following suit as she picked up the duffle bag and they were walking back towards the main house.
"I am a mutant who turns into a lion whenever I'm pissed off." Taylor remarked as Julianna walked with her, taking the bag back. "There is nothing normal about me, at all." She pointed out and Julianna shrugged, before they saw that it was a big operation going on ahead of them.
"What the hell?" Julianna murmured, thunderstruck as she watched the chaos going on.
The Struckers were loading things into vehicles, while Marcos was bellowing out orders real loudly and John was reinforcing the area. "Jesus Christ." Taylor murmured quietly as she was watching Bernie and John, working together to reinforce the area and Taylor glanced over at Julianna, who shrugged as they were both walking forward to help.
"We move out tomorrow, so, let's get this done!" John shouted loudly and at the bellowed words, the mutants were picking up the pace even more so.
Taylor was lifting up blocks of concrete and Julianna was there as support, since Taylor could not lift outright as much as John, but she was strong enough with support to lift almost as much and they were working together to try and shore up the defenses.
After it was all done, Taylor was sitting on top of the wall of hard and gray concrete blocks and little while later, some sharp whistles came from down below. Taylor carefully turned herself to look down, to see that Bernie and Lauren were standing there. "Come on, get down here! We have got some beer and a bonfire!" Bernie called out and Taylor laughed at the words, before her tail unfurled from under her jacket and she was leaping down from the top of the wall.
Taylor walked with the two teenagers towards the bonfire and Taylor was swiftly grabbing a warm beer from Marcos quickly. Taylor handed it to Bernie, who laughed before he chilled it with a quick tap of his finger on the side of the bottle. "Thank you." Taylor said quickly and now, she was sitting on a nearby picnic table and she was drinking her beer.
Taylor watched as some of the younger teenagers were egging on Bernie and John, right along with Marcos and so many other mutants as they were all participating in a chugging contest and Taylor was shaking her head. Taylor tipped her beer back and finished it, silently putting the bottle down as her eyes flashed with a memory, before she was looking down at the table again and she sighed.
"Come on you guys, chug!" Taylor called out as she and Julianna together now, they were watching as Gus and John were chugging beers and Julianna laughed, holding out her hand for the money as Gus once again, finished first and Taylor gave her the money. "How do you always win?" Taylor asked Gus, as the guys were walking over to them and Gus shrugged.
"I was a bartender." He replied simply as he yawned loudly, almost unhinging his jaw in the process and Julianna was shaking her head.
"That is always your reply." Julianna pointed out as she was shaking her head and the baby monitor was going off, as she sighed. "That's my cue." She said and while the guys continued to drink around the fire, Taylor and Julianna were walking back into the house.
Taylor was shaking her head as she watched the craziness of the bonfire festivities going on around her and she saw Julianna standing on her own, silently watching the craziness. Taylor saw that she was spinning the rings on her finger, the wedding bands and Taylor had a feeling that Julianna was also thinking about that same night.
The last happy night that they had, before the guys went back out and then sadly later that same year, 7/15 had rocked their entire world. Actually to be more frank, 7/15 had brought their entire world crashing down.
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¹ Roar || The Gifted: John Proudstar
Fanfiction"I never thought that I'd see the day, when we would ever hear you roar again." ~~~~~ It had been years since they had seen each other. One enlisted in the military, the other became a licensed therapist. When one fell into a dark hole that seemed t...
