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⋆ fourteen ⋆
At the sound of Peter's voice as they enter the undercroft, MJ and Ned jump up from their seats in alarm. Their eyes stay warily on the man walking in beside Peter and Xara, the latter pulling her mask off at last. "Guys, this is Mr Osborn-"
"Hey, it's Doctor."
"Sorry. Um, Dr Osborn, these are our friends. Ned and MJ."
Norman furrows his eyebrows, staring down a slightly terrified MJ. "Mary Jane?"
"It's... Michelle Jones, actually."
It's another moment of processing before Norman mutters to himself, "Fascinating," walking off through the undercroft and towards the crypt.
It's at the sound of Norman's voice that the mysterious captive woman's head snaps towards him, only for her heart to stop for a moment. Then it speeds up in alarm and disbelief, staring at the man walking towards the cells.
Slowly, she pulls herself to her feet for the first time in almost an entire day, hand pressing against the magic glass. No... It can't be possible...
Norman freezes in his tracks. Whereas when he entered he was amazed by everything, now he can't help but feel horrified, blood running cold. His eyes focus on the woman in the cell before him, older, but he'd recognise her from anywhere.
"Lily?"
"I'm sorry, did you say 'Lily'?" Xara repeats from the undercroft, only to gasp at the sight before her. The woman and Norman staring at each other, as if they know each other. As if that's the Lily Norman had said was her age just a short while ago...
"What do you mean?" Peter mumbles to her, grabbing the attention of the other two. "Who's Lily?"
"His daughter. He told me back at the shelter that she was our age. She is not our age. She looks... what, forty?"
They turn their attention back to the reunion, Norman taking step after step slowly till he's standing right in front of her. Almost his height. Older. And angry.
For all Lily Osborn said to the others about giving him a piece of her mind, she hadn't planned what she'd say. She hadn't betted on him being alive, even if none of this makes sense. But... that's her dad. Her dad, alive and well, after twenty years.
All sorts of emotions rush through her at once. Joy. Anger. Sadness. Grief. Frustration. She remembers all she went through back when she was a teenager, the good moments, but also the bad. And then what happened when she figured out exactly what he'd done.
"You've got a lot of nerve standing in front of me right now."
Her voice is low, almost threatening, taking Norman by surprise. This isn't exactly how he wanted this to go, struggling to comprehend anything that's happened since he landed in this universe. "What did I do?"
