Disclaimer: Characters belong to Marvel.

Notes: Spoilers for X-Men #113, which I haven't read myself. 
Otherwise, pure fan-fiction that hasn't got much to do with that 
issue. An AU of sorts, because Oberon wanted me to write this 
character, and what I heard got me thinking. The format 
is...something entirely new for me. All feedback would be loved 
and worshipped at cosmic1982@hotmail.com

Translucent
by Cosmic

I remember dying.

White light, tunnel, music, peace. And then something happened. 
Death turned into--

--something else. Something even more beautiful than the light and 
the peace and the singing of...sirens?

Police cars, driving by me, I look down. Anonymity is good. It 
keeps me alive, safe.

I was all and I was none, I was one and I was something far 
greater than anything I'd ever felt or seen or touched or smelled 
or heard.

It was so beautiful. Strong. Serene. Translucent. Golden.

Then the gold turned ashen, all died. The light...faded.

And I remember falling. Hard. Fast. Into somewhere dark. Cold. And 
I yearned back to the light and peace and eternal work to guide, 
to keep the universe at--

Balance?

I stumble, fall into the murky sewage waters, hearing laughter 
from all around me.

I'm blind. The light made me so.

But I remember seeing once. A long time ago.

I remember faces, images, feelings. Even if the faces are 
nameless.

Even if it's all translucent and like quick silver. Gone before I 
can see all of it. I see only--

Glimpses.

Brown hair, white in it, green eyes. Sad eyes. Love.

Auburn hair. Eyes like the devil's. Something almost like 
friendship, but also hate, deep and sure. With the girl.

She chose...neither.

There are two circles, like coins, the one with the boy and the 
girl. And then there are two men.

Old eyes, old face. No hair. Respect, fear, something akin to 
brotherhood. Except he's old, much older than I.

But not older than my...father? White hair, blue eyes. Sadness. 
Hate. Fear. Anger. Darkness.

'Luke, I am your father.' I laugh. No...not right. But not wrong 
either.

There are others, as well, but those are the ones that plague my 
nightmares. When I see, but don't hear, don't remember, don't--

He died. That's why I'm here.

Claws, ripping into his flesh, some rapid animal? I feel the 
shudder going through me, the finality seemingly endless. 
They...killed...him. The others. Revenge.

A savage beast.

A gentle doctor.

A psychiatrist.

Mental blades.

Skin and bones.

A time-lost warrior.

A timeless legend.

Rebirth from ashes.

Sulfur, elf.

Kitten.

Goddess.

Thief.

Rogue.

And the memories come, flooding through the gates. Too 
many...Sand. Time ending. No more--

Sunlight...blinding.

I can see.

I remember. Two men. Two men in my mind. One of them me, one of 
them yes and not, lurking in the background. Hurt. Almost dead.

Need alive. I bury him deep, somewhere no one can find him.

I close my eyes, think hard. Focus. The beginning and the end. Who 
does it always--

--go--

--to?

**

A man opens his eyes in Westchester. "Joseph?"

~fin