Proposal - What Happened After

Polygirl was sitting with FireBrandi and Soviet Superwoman in the lounge area of Guardians’ hall as they waited for Gordon to return. They were chatting happily about the fact that Gordon had just proposed to Poly. When they heard the elevator door open they looked over to see who was joining them. They were surprised to see Poly come out of it, but then realized that it was the `rogue’ free-willed duplicate who had taken to calling herself Tangent. “Um, hi,” she said. Can I speak with Poly privately?”

The two heroines both nodded and got up and left. As Tangent walked over to her, Poly held her hand up to show off the ring. “Look! Gordon proposed to me!” she said excitedly.

“Hey, that’s … that’s great. I’m happy for the two of you, I really am,” Tangent said. “But I have something just as important, if not more so, to tell you.”

“Really? What is it?” Poly asked, her excitement changing to concern.

Tangent took a deep breath and then said, “I’m pregnant.”

“What?!” Poly exclaimed, her mouth falling open. “How … how did that happen?” Her other self gave her a look that indicated that the answer should have been obvious. Poly rolled her eyes and admitted, “OK, I know HOW it happened, but …” She paused for a moment before continuing. “So I assume Frank is the father?”

“Yes he is,” Tangent confirmed, sounding more than a little peeved at being asked that.

“Well, I couldn’t be sure,” Poly said apologetically. “I don’t have the link with you that I have to the rest of my copies.” She paused, an awkward silence passing between them. Poly broke it by asking, “So, when did the two of you start, you know …”

“It would have to have been …” Tangent paused, think about the date. “A week or so before Gordon returned from his abduction.” Then she saw Poly looking at her with a shocked expression on her face. “What?”

“After he did, I went to him to, you know, have sex with him. We didn’t, and still haven’t, ‘cause he’s got issues due to his abduction. But anyways, the thing is, afterwards I thought that it was out character for me. I think…” Poly paused to get her thoughts in order. “I think there still may be a link between us, but one that works on a more subconscious level.”

“Oh,” was the only response Tangent could give. The two young women sat there, letting what had just been revealed sink in.

* * * * * *
Gordon looked at the Occupant, terrified. He stammered, “But you’re, you’re …”

“Dead?” the Occupant said, give him a smirk. “Did you really believe all that? That aliens would appear out of nowhere, all deus ex machina like and kill me? The whole thing was a deception to get you and your friends off of my tail.”

The telepath paused for a moment and then said, “Or maybe not. Maybe I’m just a figment of your mind, brought on by the guilt of how you screwed me over!” The last few words were delivered in a shout. Gordon winced and then looked towards the door, expecting that someone heard the outburst, but there was no response. The Occupant chuckled. “Oh don’t worry, no one heard me. Now, why don’t you come over here and see if I’m real or not.”

Cautiously, Gordon made his way over and then reached out to poke the Occupant’s cheek. His finger passed through where the flesh should have been. “See, what did I tell you?” he said.

“I’ll tell my teammates about you!” Gordon said.

“Sure, go right ahead. I won’t stop you,” the Occupant said. “Of course, they’ll think you’re crazy. After all, you little girlfriend made a machine that prevents telepaths from intruding in here, now didn’t she? So the most logical explanation of me being here is that you got a few screws lose up in your head room.” Gordon didn’t reply, he just stared fearfully at his former mentor. “Now, I’ll be going for now, but I’ll be back. Probably went you least want me to return.” He laughed again and then faded away.

Gordon continued to stare at where the Occupant had been. When it was apparent that he wasn’t going to return, he looked over in the mirror. He saw that he looked afraid and was visibly trembling. He focused on suppressing his feelings. If he went out there looking worried, then he’d be asked what was wrong, and he’s not a good enough liar to bluff his way out of that question, and he didn’t want to admit that he might be losing his mind. When he was satisfied that no one would question him, he took a deep breath and left his room.

When he got to the living area, he saw that Poly was there with one of her duplicates. As he got closer, he noticed that there were subtle differences with this copy, things that only he would notice since he was so close to Poly. He sat down on the couch next to Poly. “So, anything interesting happen while I was gone?” he asked.

Poly snuggled up next to him and said, “I tell you later. How about with you?”

He forced himself to smile as cheerfully as he could and said, “Nope. Nothing at all.”