[@propranksterpropaganda here is (part of) the scene that I think would fit perfectly into the Hypnotists Five Things fic that I mentioned in this post.]
“Okay, but there could have been other Opus and Sparks kids before me?”
“Just because I haven’t traced them doesn’t mean they never existed,” Axel says. “And we don’t know how many people figured out your ancestry before I did. For all we know, it wasn’t an accident that your own parents met each other and decided to start a family.”
Monica doesn’t wait to hear Jax’s response, nor does she care how much noise she’s making on the stairs as she turns back the way she came.
Not for the first time, the house feels like it’s pressing in around her, and as much as she wants to fling open the kitchen door and take off down the quiet street, she’s keenly aware that she has nowhere to go. She hasn’t made any friends in Haywood, and wasn’t allowed to say a real goodbye to the ones she left behind in New York (or to her mother, her siblings, or their families). She’s irrationally tempted to simply walk away from the family that she can no longer protect, away from their charade of a life, without any planned destination. It’s exactly the kind of impulsive thought that she’s learned not to trust.
Instead, she collapses into a chair as she hears footsteps approaching. “That probably wasn’t easy to hear,” Axel says.
Monica raises her head but avoids eye contact, which has become another habit. “So, which one of you gets to take away my memory of hearing it?”
“Neither of us do.” Axel’s voice is infuriatingly calm. “Neither of us have, since we moved here.”
“Can I trust you on that?” Monica retorts. “Seems like I can’t even trust that my own marriage is real.” She knows that even the possibility of hypnotic meddling in their courtship would send Ashton into a spiral of self-doubt, but she already hates the idea of keeping this secret from him. “Were we always just toys for you and your super-powered buddies?”
“I never said that I was involved, even indirectly,” Axel tells her. “Assuming that anyone did meddle the way I said.”
“Then why did you tell Jax that someone did? How does it help him to think that he might have been… bred like some kind of pedigreed horse?”
“You might not like to hear about your family history, but ignoring the truth won’t make it go away. The more he understands where he came from, the more prepared he’ll be…”
Monica cuts him off. “What exactly are you preparing him for?” Axel has done so much to help her family that she’s tried to ignore her suspicions that he might have his own agenda.
“For his next run-in with a mind-bender who doesn’t have your best interests at heart,” Axel says readily. “We all remember what Dr. Mako is capable of, and I know you don’t believe we’ll be able to hide from him forever. You’re smarter than that.”
“Not smart enough,” Monica says under her breath. Sometimes, she still hears the shriek of the subway train that almost ran her and Ashton over, even though she remembers nothing of their attempt to jump from the platform. The memory of Jax trying to leap from the roof of a hotel is much clearer. Assuming that his “next run-in” is inevitable, can she really hope that he’ll survive?
She closes her eyes until the image recedes – at least for now – and she realizes that Axel is still speaking: “But I got carried away this evening, and I’m sorry. In the future, I’ll try not to speculate too much about who might have manipulated what, especially if I don’t know for sure.”
He sounds sincere enough, so Monica holds back another resentful barb and says, “Thank you.” Her next words spill from her mouth so quickly that they unsettle her all over again: “I did ignore the truth.”
Am I choosing to say any of this? “I should have known what Mako really was.”
“You and your husband were both under his control,” Axel reminds her.
“But not from the first time we met him. And he couldn’t hypnotize us over the phone – could he?” Monica asks suspiciously. Axel shakes his head. “He told me that Jax had such a unique mind, that Sentia could help him reach his fullest potential, that he’d have so many opportunities if they continued to work together, and on and on. I didn’t even ask for specifics. And when I found out what his institute really was, I still didn’t ask as many questions as I should have.”
“He told you what you wanted to hear,” Axel supplies.
“What any parent wants to hear, I guess.”
“Elias Mako doesn’t need hypnotism to charm people. Believe me, I know,” Axel says bitterly. “Even if you had protested, do you think that would have stopped him from trying to get what he wanted?”
“Do you really think he can be stopped?” So far, Monica hasn’t let herself think in the long term.
“Hypnotists aren’t gods, Monica. We’re all human and fallible.” Axel’s usually mild, unbothered voice is as intense as she’s ever heard it. “And in case you were wondering, we all have the potential to be as bad as he is. Jax, me, the rest of the guild… every minute, we’re tempted to use our powers to get what we want. We don’t have any special governing body or law enforcement, so we have to be accountable to ourselves and each other. Mako has decided that he’s not accountable to anybody, and if I have the opportunity to prove him wrong, I’ll take it. In case you haven’t asked recently, Jax wants the same thing, whether it means a return to your old lives or not.”
“I don’t know if we can return to anything,” Monica says. “But I want my son to stay alive long enough to find out. No matter where you and I disagree, I hope that we can agree on that.” Other footsteps sound on the stairs, reminding her that she’s not the only one who can eavesdrop. “Please don’t prove me wrong.”
