All characters belong to Stan Lee and Marvel except for Marie and Dr. Stan who belongs to me. This takes place before Alex was revealed to be alive to the X-Men.
Fantasies
Dream One
By Maria Cline
Beyond the realm of sight and sound likes a place of the mind. In the mind, fantasy is reality, and reality is beyond the realm of the mind. Does love have to be physical to be real? Or can love be a figment of one's imagination?
*****
The first time she laid eyes on him, he was like any comatose patient. Annie stared at the man in the bed; his eyes were glazed over with a thick beard. "Who is he?" She asked as she came up and stared into his eyes. They were dead but interesting somehow.
"Some people found him in the alley and he was just out of it. No clothes, no ID, not even his fingerprints are in the system." Dr. Stan said as he checked him over. "He's a real mess. Can you clean him up for us?"
"Of course." Annie nodded as she took the man in her arms and took him into a wheelchair. "Come on, Mr. John Doe."
*****
Annie was nearly taken back as she observed her latest patient. He had that glassy look in his eyes and yet after she cleaned him up and shaved him, he looked better. His muscles were strong, firm, and his hands were callused like he had worked with them all his life. Annie took one of his hands and held it up to her cheek. His hands were so warm and electrifying somehow.
"You better be careful." Marie said as she came in and Annie dropped the hand. "If there's one thing we learned in this place is-"
"Never fall in love with your patients." Annie finished as she blushed slightly. "I'm sorry it's just that he seems... strange. I wonder how he came like this. There are no brain injuries or chemicals in his system."
"I don't know. He's cute though." Marie said as she eyed him. "Way better than the other patients that's for sure."
Annie tilted her head. "I wonder who he really is. He's so strong and his hands... have you felt his hands? They're amazing."
"Just be careful." Marie warned, "It's easy to turn a man into your dream man when he's vulnerable like this. Remember, he could be anyone or anything. He could be a nutcase, a terrorist, or even a republican."
Annie laughed as she heard the last comment. "A republican? Seriously, I am a professional. I will keep my distance."
"Okay." Marie sighed as she walked away. "Just remember to stay professional; it would be a lot easier for the both of you."
*****
"Hey, Mommy." Carter said as he came up to his mother. Annie's eyes lit up as she did some paperwork.
"Hello, Sweetheart." Annie said as she came up and hugged her son. "I have a new patient. We call him John Doe." The woman led the boy through the room and showed him the comatose man. "Mr. Doe, this is my son, Carter."
Carter gasped as he gazed at the man's eyes. "He seems so sad and lonely."
Annie frowned at him. She leaned down and whispered, "Carter, I told you not to say anything about the 'you know what' out loud."
"I can't help it. He's very sad." Carter said as he put his hand on his forehead.
Annie sighed as she looked down. Her son's powers have not been revealed yet but they have been growing. She's afraid if this keeps up, no telling what Carter will do or what anyone else would do. The last thing she wanted was to be hunted down by sentinels. She shook her head and then smiled, "Well, we'll keep Mr. Doe company as well as we can then. Let's go home.
*****
Annie tossed and turned in her bed. She couldn't get the mysterious 'John Doe' out of her mind. He was lying alone in that bed so far away. Was Carter right? Does John really feel so lonely? She stared at her own empty bed, in a way she can understand how he must feel. Ever since Carter was born, she had little if any social life. She couldn't trust anyone with her secret.
Slowly, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
*****
Annie blinked as she opened her eyes to find herself on a couch in the hospital. "What am I doing here?" She wondered as she yawned.
"I don't know but you are one cute figment of my imagination."
"I am not a fig-" Annie blinked as she turned around to see John Doe dressed in a strange black outfit with a group of circles on his chest. "YOU'RE AWAKE!" Annie screamed as she looked around to see no one around. "Where are the doctors? The night shift?"
"No one here." John sighed as he shrugged his shoulders. "I guess this is because I didn't know anyone here and so I made you up."
Annie glared at the man. "Hey! I am not a figment of your imagination! You are a figment of my imagination! You're my new coma patient, John Doe, and I am having some weird dream about you."
"No way... I am not a figment of your imagination and my name is not John! It's Alex." Alex said as he glared at her.
"This is a freaky dream." Annie sat down and buried her head in her hands. "I am having a bizarre fantasy with the coma patient and he calls himself Alex. I must be losing my mind."
Alex sat down beside her and put his arm around her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be mad at you. You are just as confused as I am. Let's start over, I'm Alex, Alex Summers." He held out his hand.
Annie smiled slightly; this dream was getting to be very interesting. "Oh well, it's just a dream. I'm Annie, Annie Ghazikhanian."
"Hello, Ms. Ghazi-khan-ian, that is a real tongue twister, mind if I call you 'Annie'?"
"Only if I can call you Alex." Annie said as she took his hand. It was warm, almost vibrant, even in this dream. "You have such warm hands."
"Oh..." Alex blushed as he looked at his hands. "Yeah... well... so, what do you want to do?"
Annie blinked as the two got up. "I don't know. Alex, why are you wearing that strange suit?"
Alex looked down at his outfit and chuckled. "Oops. Let me change for a second." He looked around and a pair of clothes appeared on his body. "Wow... must be mental manipulation." Alex sighed as he tugged at his clothes. "Cool."
"You look nice." Annie said as she looked him over. She blinked as he gazed into his face. His eyes are lively and almost glowing with power. "Where's your scar?"
"Scar?" Alex repeated confused. "What scar?"
"I must have forgotten it when I conjured you up somehow." Annie logically said as she smiled again. "You had a scar over your right eye."
"You did not conjure me, I conjured... you are so lifelike. Your will is so strong." Alex sighed as he put both hands over her shoulders.
"So are you. So, what do you want to do? I mean, you are my patient after all."
"Can we walk around for a while? It was so boring floating around in nothing but vast open blackness. I want to see some sights, even if they are just imaginary."
"We can do that." Annie said as they walked out of the door. "Where do you want to go?"
"How about... we go to Washington D.C.? I know a few sights and we can talk." Alex took her arm and found themselves in the middle of the street in front of the White House. "Wow."
"Oh my, I was never in Washington D.C. before?" Annie admired, "How did we get here?"
"It's the convenience of mental imagery. We can be anywhere and anytime we want." Alex explained as he took her hand. "Why don't we eat here?"
"In the White House?" Annie gasped as she tried to pull back. "But, won't we get in trouble?"
Alex smirked as he opened the gates. "With who? The imaginary secret service? This isn't real and besides, I've been here, it's very nice."
Annie blushed as she walked in the gates. She had never met anyone like Alex before. He was bright and outgoing and very nice to her despite his arguments that she wasn't real. He would make a great father for Carter. "Okay."
*****
Annie never had such a wonderful dream before. The moment they entered the vast dinning room, they were wearing formal clothes. She was dressed in a sleek red dress while Alex was in a black tuxedo. Alex pulled back a chair and Annie sat down in it.
"Thank you." Annie said as she placed the napkin across her lap. "I never had a man pull a chair for me before."
"Well... I'm kinda chivalrous like that." Alex grinned, "I've always been taught to treat a woman right."
"Even those who are 'figments of your imagination'?" Annie asked smirking slightly.
"Sorry." Alex winced at the dig.
"That's okay. You would think that I'm not real. Why don't we talk for a while?"
"I would like that."
Annie leaned forward and said, "Why don't you tell me about yourself first? You're not a racist right?"
"I hope not."
"And you're not a Republican?"
"Only vote Democrat or Independent."
"And you are definitely not a terrorist."
Alex winced and said, "No. I'm a superhero, mostly."
"A superhero." Annie repeated, "Okay, you must be a figment of my imagination, a superhero found in a vegetable state. Okay. Sure. And I bet that you are part of the Avengers too."
Alex rubbed his head as he shrugged. "Oh well, why not? No, I used to be in the X-Men and X-Factor."
"X-Men?" Annie gasped as she remembered an old magazine article. "YOU'RE A MUTANT?!" The woman fell out of her chair and stumbled up. "I'm sorry, it's just... I didn't know. You don't look like a mutant." She blushed as she looked down embarrassed.
"Most mutants don't really look like mutants." Alex said as he looked down. "Do you... have a thing against mutants?"
"Me? Yes! I mean no! I mean..." Annie blushed as she put down her drink. "It's really complicated. I don't want to talk about it right now."
"Oh, okay, no 'mutant talk' for a while, let's talk about something else. So, what do you do?" Alex said as he thought of his experiences. He didn't really want to talk about his 'mutant past' with this woman. He didn't really know her and while she may be a figment of his imagination, he still didn't feel comfortable about revealing everything about himself.
"I'm a nurse; I take care of patients all the time." Annie answered as she blushed slightly. "That's how I know you."
"I see, well... when I wasn't a superhero, I was a geologist." Alex recalled, "I love to study rocks."
"Really? I couldn't guess. Your hands are so... soft." Annie blushed as she gestured to Alex's hands. "They are so soft and warm... it's amazing."
"That's what Lorna said about them too when we were going out." Alex sighed as food started to appear out of nowhere. He frowned and said out loud, "I don't know who you are or if this is my own doing but can you at least conjure up some servers? I don't want to do a repeat of a scene from that 'Beauty and the Beast' movie!"
"You watched Beauty and the Beast?" Annie asked almost surprised.
"Yeah. I watched it on a dare. It's pretty good. You watched it too?"
"Yes, with my son, Carter." Annie replied as she relaxed. "I swear we must've watched it over a hundred times."
Alex blinked as he stared at her. "You have a son?"
"Yes." Annie nodded, "I had him with my ex-boyfriend." Annie paused as she looked at Alex for a reaction. He will dump her now and act somewhat nervous.
"I see." Alex smiled slightly. "How old is he?"
"Seven. Does that bother you?" Annie asked and then felt silly for asking her companion such a question.
"Not really. Does it bother you that I'm a superhero mutant?"
"The only thing that is bothering me is the fact that I imagined you to be a superhero mutant who likes to study rocks. What's next? Your parents are from Mars?" Annie said as she leaned on her elbow.
"No, but my birth father does travel around in space and my stepmother is some kind of alien warrior cat." Alex quipped and Annie nearly fell off of her elbow.
"What? No two headed monkeys from Mars?"
"Two headed monkeys?" The man stared at her in disbelief. "Oh come on, everyone knows that Mars is uninhabited." He paused and added, "At least I think it's uninhabited. The moon had the Inhumans... the Microverse... yup, Mars is barren."
"You are a very odd man." Annie concluded as she giggled, "But very nice. I want to know more about you."
"And about you." Alex whispered back almost astounded. He placed his hand onto her cheek and a single tear trickled down his face. "Why don't we talk some more?"
Annie stared into his eyes and realized how blue they were. They were also so sad and lonely, almost a reflection of what she felt. Every ounce of logic begged her to pull away and wake herself up. She was getting into this fantasy too far. If this keeps up, she would end up drawing an innocent man into a bizarre expectation, and become insane. What would happen to Carter after she lost her mind? Yet, his hands felt so warm and it had been a long time since she had been touched like that, even in a non-personal way. "I would like that." She finally whispered back. "I would like that very much."
To Be Continued...in the next dream
Fantasies
Dream One
By Maria Cline
Beyond the realm of sight and sound likes a place of the mind. In the mind, fantasy is reality, and reality is beyond the realm of the mind. Does love have to be physical to be real? Or can love be a figment of one's imagination?
*****
The first time she laid eyes on him, he was like any comatose patient. Annie stared at the man in the bed; his eyes were glazed over with a thick beard. "Who is he?" She asked as she came up and stared into his eyes. They were dead but interesting somehow.
"Some people found him in the alley and he was just out of it. No clothes, no ID, not even his fingerprints are in the system." Dr. Stan said as he checked him over. "He's a real mess. Can you clean him up for us?"
"Of course." Annie nodded as she took the man in her arms and took him into a wheelchair. "Come on, Mr. John Doe."
*****
Annie was nearly taken back as she observed her latest patient. He had that glassy look in his eyes and yet after she cleaned him up and shaved him, he looked better. His muscles were strong, firm, and his hands were callused like he had worked with them all his life. Annie took one of his hands and held it up to her cheek. His hands were so warm and electrifying somehow.
"You better be careful." Marie said as she came in and Annie dropped the hand. "If there's one thing we learned in this place is-"
"Never fall in love with your patients." Annie finished as she blushed slightly. "I'm sorry it's just that he seems... strange. I wonder how he came like this. There are no brain injuries or chemicals in his system."
"I don't know. He's cute though." Marie said as she eyed him. "Way better than the other patients that's for sure."
Annie tilted her head. "I wonder who he really is. He's so strong and his hands... have you felt his hands? They're amazing."
"Just be careful." Marie warned, "It's easy to turn a man into your dream man when he's vulnerable like this. Remember, he could be anyone or anything. He could be a nutcase, a terrorist, or even a republican."
Annie laughed as she heard the last comment. "A republican? Seriously, I am a professional. I will keep my distance."
"Okay." Marie sighed as she walked away. "Just remember to stay professional; it would be a lot easier for the both of you."
*****
"Hey, Mommy." Carter said as he came up to his mother. Annie's eyes lit up as she did some paperwork.
"Hello, Sweetheart." Annie said as she came up and hugged her son. "I have a new patient. We call him John Doe." The woman led the boy through the room and showed him the comatose man. "Mr. Doe, this is my son, Carter."
Carter gasped as he gazed at the man's eyes. "He seems so sad and lonely."
Annie frowned at him. She leaned down and whispered, "Carter, I told you not to say anything about the 'you know what' out loud."
"I can't help it. He's very sad." Carter said as he put his hand on his forehead.
Annie sighed as she looked down. Her son's powers have not been revealed yet but they have been growing. She's afraid if this keeps up, no telling what Carter will do or what anyone else would do. The last thing she wanted was to be hunted down by sentinels. She shook her head and then smiled, "Well, we'll keep Mr. Doe company as well as we can then. Let's go home.
*****
Annie tossed and turned in her bed. She couldn't get the mysterious 'John Doe' out of her mind. He was lying alone in that bed so far away. Was Carter right? Does John really feel so lonely? She stared at her own empty bed, in a way she can understand how he must feel. Ever since Carter was born, she had little if any social life. She couldn't trust anyone with her secret.
Slowly, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
*****
Annie blinked as she opened her eyes to find herself on a couch in the hospital. "What am I doing here?" She wondered as she yawned.
"I don't know but you are one cute figment of my imagination."
"I am not a fig-" Annie blinked as she turned around to see John Doe dressed in a strange black outfit with a group of circles on his chest. "YOU'RE AWAKE!" Annie screamed as she looked around to see no one around. "Where are the doctors? The night shift?"
"No one here." John sighed as he shrugged his shoulders. "I guess this is because I didn't know anyone here and so I made you up."
Annie glared at the man. "Hey! I am not a figment of your imagination! You are a figment of my imagination! You're my new coma patient, John Doe, and I am having some weird dream about you."
"No way... I am not a figment of your imagination and my name is not John! It's Alex." Alex said as he glared at her.
"This is a freaky dream." Annie sat down and buried her head in her hands. "I am having a bizarre fantasy with the coma patient and he calls himself Alex. I must be losing my mind."
Alex sat down beside her and put his arm around her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be mad at you. You are just as confused as I am. Let's start over, I'm Alex, Alex Summers." He held out his hand.
Annie smiled slightly; this dream was getting to be very interesting. "Oh well, it's just a dream. I'm Annie, Annie Ghazikhanian."
"Hello, Ms. Ghazi-khan-ian, that is a real tongue twister, mind if I call you 'Annie'?"
"Only if I can call you Alex." Annie said as she took his hand. It was warm, almost vibrant, even in this dream. "You have such warm hands."
"Oh..." Alex blushed as he looked at his hands. "Yeah... well... so, what do you want to do?"
Annie blinked as the two got up. "I don't know. Alex, why are you wearing that strange suit?"
Alex looked down at his outfit and chuckled. "Oops. Let me change for a second." He looked around and a pair of clothes appeared on his body. "Wow... must be mental manipulation." Alex sighed as he tugged at his clothes. "Cool."
"You look nice." Annie said as she looked him over. She blinked as he gazed into his face. His eyes are lively and almost glowing with power. "Where's your scar?"
"Scar?" Alex repeated confused. "What scar?"
"I must have forgotten it when I conjured you up somehow." Annie logically said as she smiled again. "You had a scar over your right eye."
"You did not conjure me, I conjured... you are so lifelike. Your will is so strong." Alex sighed as he put both hands over her shoulders.
"So are you. So, what do you want to do? I mean, you are my patient after all."
"Can we walk around for a while? It was so boring floating around in nothing but vast open blackness. I want to see some sights, even if they are just imaginary."
"We can do that." Annie said as they walked out of the door. "Where do you want to go?"
"How about... we go to Washington D.C.? I know a few sights and we can talk." Alex took her arm and found themselves in the middle of the street in front of the White House. "Wow."
"Oh my, I was never in Washington D.C. before?" Annie admired, "How did we get here?"
"It's the convenience of mental imagery. We can be anywhere and anytime we want." Alex explained as he took her hand. "Why don't we eat here?"
"In the White House?" Annie gasped as she tried to pull back. "But, won't we get in trouble?"
Alex smirked as he opened the gates. "With who? The imaginary secret service? This isn't real and besides, I've been here, it's very nice."
Annie blushed as she walked in the gates. She had never met anyone like Alex before. He was bright and outgoing and very nice to her despite his arguments that she wasn't real. He would make a great father for Carter. "Okay."
*****
Annie never had such a wonderful dream before. The moment they entered the vast dinning room, they were wearing formal clothes. She was dressed in a sleek red dress while Alex was in a black tuxedo. Alex pulled back a chair and Annie sat down in it.
"Thank you." Annie said as she placed the napkin across her lap. "I never had a man pull a chair for me before."
"Well... I'm kinda chivalrous like that." Alex grinned, "I've always been taught to treat a woman right."
"Even those who are 'figments of your imagination'?" Annie asked smirking slightly.
"Sorry." Alex winced at the dig.
"That's okay. You would think that I'm not real. Why don't we talk for a while?"
"I would like that."
Annie leaned forward and said, "Why don't you tell me about yourself first? You're not a racist right?"
"I hope not."
"And you're not a Republican?"
"Only vote Democrat or Independent."
"And you are definitely not a terrorist."
Alex winced and said, "No. I'm a superhero, mostly."
"A superhero." Annie repeated, "Okay, you must be a figment of my imagination, a superhero found in a vegetable state. Okay. Sure. And I bet that you are part of the Avengers too."
Alex rubbed his head as he shrugged. "Oh well, why not? No, I used to be in the X-Men and X-Factor."
"X-Men?" Annie gasped as she remembered an old magazine article. "YOU'RE A MUTANT?!" The woman fell out of her chair and stumbled up. "I'm sorry, it's just... I didn't know. You don't look like a mutant." She blushed as she looked down embarrassed.
"Most mutants don't really look like mutants." Alex said as he looked down. "Do you... have a thing against mutants?"
"Me? Yes! I mean no! I mean..." Annie blushed as she put down her drink. "It's really complicated. I don't want to talk about it right now."
"Oh, okay, no 'mutant talk' for a while, let's talk about something else. So, what do you do?" Alex said as he thought of his experiences. He didn't really want to talk about his 'mutant past' with this woman. He didn't really know her and while she may be a figment of his imagination, he still didn't feel comfortable about revealing everything about himself.
"I'm a nurse; I take care of patients all the time." Annie answered as she blushed slightly. "That's how I know you."
"I see, well... when I wasn't a superhero, I was a geologist." Alex recalled, "I love to study rocks."
"Really? I couldn't guess. Your hands are so... soft." Annie blushed as she gestured to Alex's hands. "They are so soft and warm... it's amazing."
"That's what Lorna said about them too when we were going out." Alex sighed as food started to appear out of nowhere. He frowned and said out loud, "I don't know who you are or if this is my own doing but can you at least conjure up some servers? I don't want to do a repeat of a scene from that 'Beauty and the Beast' movie!"
"You watched Beauty and the Beast?" Annie asked almost surprised.
"Yeah. I watched it on a dare. It's pretty good. You watched it too?"
"Yes, with my son, Carter." Annie replied as she relaxed. "I swear we must've watched it over a hundred times."
Alex blinked as he stared at her. "You have a son?"
"Yes." Annie nodded, "I had him with my ex-boyfriend." Annie paused as she looked at Alex for a reaction. He will dump her now and act somewhat nervous.
"I see." Alex smiled slightly. "How old is he?"
"Seven. Does that bother you?" Annie asked and then felt silly for asking her companion such a question.
"Not really. Does it bother you that I'm a superhero mutant?"
"The only thing that is bothering me is the fact that I imagined you to be a superhero mutant who likes to study rocks. What's next? Your parents are from Mars?" Annie said as she leaned on her elbow.
"No, but my birth father does travel around in space and my stepmother is some kind of alien warrior cat." Alex quipped and Annie nearly fell off of her elbow.
"What? No two headed monkeys from Mars?"
"Two headed monkeys?" The man stared at her in disbelief. "Oh come on, everyone knows that Mars is uninhabited." He paused and added, "At least I think it's uninhabited. The moon had the Inhumans... the Microverse... yup, Mars is barren."
"You are a very odd man." Annie concluded as she giggled, "But very nice. I want to know more about you."
"And about you." Alex whispered back almost astounded. He placed his hand onto her cheek and a single tear trickled down his face. "Why don't we talk some more?"
Annie stared into his eyes and realized how blue they were. They were also so sad and lonely, almost a reflection of what she felt. Every ounce of logic begged her to pull away and wake herself up. She was getting into this fantasy too far. If this keeps up, she would end up drawing an innocent man into a bizarre expectation, and become insane. What would happen to Carter after she lost her mind? Yet, his hands felt so warm and it had been a long time since she had been touched like that, even in a non-personal way. "I would like that." She finally whispered back. "I would like that very much."
To Be Continued...in the next dream