Overwhelmed, Other Sue Asks Sue To Stay With Her

Other Sue showered. The pajamas for "guests" were basic blue unstable molecule fabric, thin but serviceable and shiny. Designed to be comfortable, they were baggy on Other Sue's scrawny frame. Sue had prepared a simple meal: chicken soup, homemade bread, milk and tea, a dragonfruit for dessert. She set the tray down on the bed and said:

"I'll leave you to it..." and rose to go.

"Wait," Other Sue's hand caught her wrist. The grip was tight for a moment, then slackened. "Don't...leave me alone. Please. Talk to me."

"About what?" Sue asked, immediately sitting back down next to her doppelganger.

"Your family. Your life. How did you meet your Reed, what was pregnancy like...anything. Just..." Other Sue shivered, and her voice fell to a whisper. "I don't want to be alone right now."

So Other Sue ate, slowly and carefully, and Sue told about her life. Her father, the criminal. The death of her mother. Helping to raise Johnny. Attending university. Meeting Reed, and then Ben. The rocket flight. Other Sue nodded, sometimes offering tidbits of her own life, how things had been a little different.

"HYDRA actually approached me in college," Other Sue said. "I remember now. I didn't know what they were, then. Just another tech startup, very hush-hush. They wanted to recruit me for their science division, which became AIM. Can you imagine what that would have been like?"

Sue shook her head. She remembered some of the recruiters she had met. None of them had been HYDRA, as far as she was aware, but she could easily see the evil organization going after the best and brightest. "I'm glad you didn't go with them. Especially with what happened. How did you know they were HYDRA?"

"She talked in her sleep," Other Sue said, and from the shocked expression on her other self's face, the tired woman's face twisted in confusion. "What?"

"I, uh, I've never..." Sue said.

"Oh!" Other Sue's eyes went wide. She held her spoon above the dragonfruit and set it down. "So you aren't...I mean, my Reed was understanding. About being bisexual. I was still faithful."

Sue licked her lips. "I mean, I won't say I've never thought about it, but I never experimented. And after I met Reed..."

Other Sue nodded as if she got it. She gave a crooked smile. It was like a part of the wall between them both washed away. An admission, a shared mindset. The same feet in different shoes.

"It's nice to have someone who understands," she said. "I wonder if this is what twins feel like, after being separated for a long time."

Sue nodded toward the fruit.

"Finish your dessert. You need your strength," she said.

Other Sue nodded again. "Alright. But I still want to talk."