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Title: A Fortune For Theirs
Fandom: X-Men/Avengers
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: Tony/Emma
Rating: PG-13/T
Summary: So much has changed, even if she is trapped again.
Word Count: 2173
Written For: Half A Moon Day 2 2024: Changes, X-Men 15 5. Marriage, 100 Ships 80. Metal, and Ficlet Zone 71. Song Titles - Elvis - Teddy Bear
Warnings: Light Spoilers
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
So much had changed in her life, Emma thought as they passed a bustling group of tourists. Children were being corralled by adults, undoubtedly both parents and teachers. Emma's hand dropped unconsciously to the smoothness of her own belly. So much had changed. The whole world had changed in her life!
She was no longer a terrified child, she reflected, watching the children as they ran pass them. She had not been afraid to use her powers in many, many decades, which, honestly, too many days, felt more akin to centuries than decades. She had the gray hairs to speak of those centuries now, but also the ease of telepathic masks and hair dyes to hide them, to hide her whole, true personality from this cruel world. So much had changed, and yet too much had stayed the same.
She was no longer a child, no longer afraid of her parents or the world at large or much of what had convinced her to allow her parents to abuse her as she had when she had been those children's ages. The woman she had become would never tolerate being placed in a cage, or allowing another mutant to be placed in a cage simply for different, for the powers with which God had chosen to bless them. Some mutants did belong in cages, like Sabertooth, and many more humans belonged in cages where they could not harm anyone, their own kind or hers. She also wielded the power, in every way possible and at means possible, to place them within that cage.
Except that she was, again, hiding. For as much had changed and her lack of fears, she had again allowed herself to be submitted to a cage of sorts. This face she wore on this crowded street was not her own. But she was not hiding out of fear of what would happen to her, Emma sternly reminded herself, just as she had tried to explain to Kamala. She was not hiding for her own sake, but for those of her species. If, or, rather, when the humans discovered mutants were still among them, war or worse was likely to break out. They needed to keep their identities secret now, more than ever before. Staying hidden was not for her protection; it was for children like the ones they had just passed, but children of her own species, children like that ones she had taught before, and the ones she had buried before.
Faces flashed through her mind, swift as lightning, bright, radiant, and alarming. She had let down so very many of them! She had buried far too many innocent lives, children who had entrusted her to protect them! She would not let this generation down as well. If it meant having to stay hidden, having to live every moment in a cage in order to make sure they were kept safe, then so be it. The humans could not attack, let alone kill, who they did not know existed.
A little girl's wail ripped through the busy, city street. Emma dropped into a fighting position, her hands balling instinctively at her sides. Her icy blue gaze swept the streets, but there were no enemies to see, no Sentinels, no Hounds, no monsters of human or mutant variety... She reached out, swiftly scanning the minds around her.
A hand touched hers. Emma's fingers flinched, but the slightly calloused fingers of the stronger hand closed around hers. Through the madness, the fear, and the memories that were threatening to overwhelm her, Emma knew immediately who the man was. He was no stranger even if the name he was currently calling her seemed strange, in the moment, to her ears. "It's all right, Hazel," Tony soothed, squeezing her hand and pulling her to him. He wrapped his other strong arm around her slender waist. "The child just lost her teddy, Hazel."
Hazel. That was the name of her current trap, her current alias meant to hide her true self from the entire world. This man beside her was not even a mutant, but he had proven himself, time and again, her friend. Unlike most of their fellow heroes, he knew what it meant to have a world of wealth and the hard decisions that came with that particular resource. They had both worked hard to earn their fortunes, both in unscrupulous and honest but cutting-edge business techniques, and they had both had to make not only hard decisions but legit sacrifices throughout their years to maintain their wealth.
Tony, like herself, came from money, but being born rich did not have nearly the privileges those who could not understand their society class believed it to hold. They had to play the game. They had to rub elbows and noses, and whatever other body parts might be required, to be able to make and keep the alliances they needed to stay on top of the game. Tony had inherited a good amount of his starting capital; Emma had had to fight for hers.
Her mind flashed again, back to when she herself had been a child and she had made those first few difficult sacrifices to earn her freedom. She had fought to stand alongside the Hellfire Club. She had killed another female child with her bare hands and then sacrificed her body to earn her place on the Council, to begin climbing that ladder to where she was now, and had been for the last several decades, the uncontested White Queen, no matter with whom she chose to stand.
She could have chosen worse than Tony, Emma thought, blinking through the memories and trying to focus on his bearded face. There was no condemnation in his dark eyes at this unexpected sign of weakness, just concern. "She just lost her teddy, is all, Hazel," he was whispering. His mind touched hers, opening to her telepathy, as he willed her to hear him speak, Emma.
She pulled away, repulsed by her own reactions, and straightened. She smoothed down her business skirt, a disgusting, boring brown shade, and righted her glasses on the bridge of her nose. "So, it is."
"I'd buy her a toy store," Tony remarked with a sideways, coy grin, "but they found her teddy bear already."
"Hmph. Of course, you would."
And, if you knew she was a mutant, you would too.
Emma glanced back at the child, who was proudly carrying a ragged teddy bear in her arms. She clung to a portly lady beside her with one hand; Emma presumed it was the child's mother. Is she? she asked.
Tony grinned at her. You can't tell?
Not any more, Emma spoke softly, the admission slipping quietly between their minds.
Wordlessly, he tightened his grip on her hand and tugged her along down the busy, New York street.
So much has changed. She hadn't meant to allow that honesty to whisper between their minds, but it did. She'd lost secrets to Scott like that over their years together, but only while she had been in love with him. And she had loved that man! God help her! In some ways, it had been one of the worst mistakes of her life, but she had genuinely fallen in love with Scott Summers. She'd first started romancing him to have a reason to stay with the X-Men, and a way to do so, after Generation X had disbanded, without too much protest. They had to welcome the lover their fearless leader chose, after all.
But letting that man into her life, into her heart, had changed her in so many ways! Some might even say... The romance had humanized her -- and here she was, walking with a human and wearing his ring on her finger! It could be worse, though, she knew. She could have chosen a lot worse. She had made this union to combine the X-Men and Avengers against the X-Men's greatest threats, not unlike how she had forced her way into the X-Men by bedding their leader. Allowing her heart to get into the way had been her mistake, and eventual downfall.
Still, she could never have guessed that things would change so much, and so swiftly, to have her once again living in a cage. She had already married Tony. The nuptials and honeymoon were over and done. It was easy to get a divorce, but that would undo all her careful planning.
You don't want a divorce, he said suddenly, squeezing her hand.
"I -- " She was flustered. She had not expected him to pick up her thoughts so easily. She cleared her throat. He was right, damn the man! If she divorced him, all her hard work would go down the proverbial drain. Besides, the next generation of mutant children were relying on her to protect them, and it was going to take considerably more than her fortune alone to do so. Looking away to pigeons flying above the smelly taxi cabs in the highway, she asked instead, "Do you ever feel old?" Her fingers moved, as though with a nature of their own, to curl more tightly around his. She well remembered a time when his hands had been completely smooth as her body, completely uncalloused despite all his hard work with robotics and machines.
It was his turn to look away. He took so long in answering her that eventually, Emma's eyes returned to his face, seeking the answers to her question. He grinned at her, but she'd long ago learned the difference between Tony's usual mirth and the jokes he told to hide painful truths. "Who me?" He flashed a broad, brilliant smile, and she knew somewhere, not too far away from them, paparazzi were clicking pictures. "The infamous, multibillionaire playboy?"
"Yes, you," she said and crinkled her nose as though flirting with him. Their pictures would be all over the front pages, securing her cover any more. After all, if Peter Parker could grace the front page of the Daily Bugle almost every day and none of his colleagues ever deduce that he was the infamous Spiderman, what better way to hide the fact that boring, little Miss Hazel Kendal was one of the most powerful mutants alive?
One of the most powerful mutants alive, who, of course, humans had thought they had killed... That thought rushed through her mind, but there was something suddenly more demanding of her attention. There was a depth in Tony's brown eyes that she was not accustomed to see, a depth that he had only ever revealed to her a few times after they had made love, which, in truth, had started so many decades ago between them as a contest to see who could outlast the other and had which had picked up the juiciest movements.
She heard his thoughts, his honesty, deep and gruff within his mind, and knew instantly he was not trying to share them with her. Of course, I do, he admitted, with surprise, to himself. There were flashes of Captain America and many others he'd lost for one reason or another, and a great, deep sensation of pain and sorrow. Emma reached out, without even considering her movements, and stroked his beard. She placed her hand over his chest, over where she knew the piece of advanced metal lay that kept this strong man, with a streak of determination that matched hers, alive.
"You're right," she said. He blinked, looking at her in surprise. She smiled and felt the genuine warmth in her expression. "I don't want a divorce." She kissed him. His arms wrapped around her and pulled her closer. She leaned into him. The cameras went wild.
They'd be all over the newspapers, helping keep her cover complete, but in that moment, Emma wasn't thinking about that. She wasn't thinking about all she had endured, or how much had changed and stayed the same, or all those precious lives she had lost. She was thinking instead of the pain she felt reverberating off of this man who had been her friend for so many years, this man who had helped her when no other soul could be bothered, this man who had agreed to be used by her, to be the toy or the tool she needed with which to build the next chapter of her life -- and maybe, just maybe, she could indeed build quite a fantastic life with him by her side.
She could not love him, but she could give him love, as she did in that moment, her lips allowing his to cover them and his tongue to part her teeth. Perhaps, with enough time, she could learn to love him, or act more often as she did. What she could do, though, she knew, with his aid and partnership was to build a fortune, a future despite everything, for hers and his people too.
The End
Fandom: X-Men/Avengers
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: Tony/Emma
Rating: PG-13/T
Summary: So much has changed, even if she is trapped again.
Word Count: 2173
Written For: Half A Moon Day 2 2024: Changes, X-Men 15 5. Marriage, 100 Ships 80. Metal, and Ficlet Zone 71. Song Titles - Elvis - Teddy Bear
Warnings: Light Spoilers
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
So much had changed in her life, Emma thought as they passed a bustling group of tourists. Children were being corralled by adults, undoubtedly both parents and teachers. Emma's hand dropped unconsciously to the smoothness of her own belly. So much had changed. The whole world had changed in her life!
She was no longer a terrified child, she reflected, watching the children as they ran pass them. She had not been afraid to use her powers in many, many decades, which, honestly, too many days, felt more akin to centuries than decades. She had the gray hairs to speak of those centuries now, but also the ease of telepathic masks and hair dyes to hide them, to hide her whole, true personality from this cruel world. So much had changed, and yet too much had stayed the same.
She was no longer a child, no longer afraid of her parents or the world at large or much of what had convinced her to allow her parents to abuse her as she had when she had been those children's ages. The woman she had become would never tolerate being placed in a cage, or allowing another mutant to be placed in a cage simply for different, for the powers with which God had chosen to bless them. Some mutants did belong in cages, like Sabertooth, and many more humans belonged in cages where they could not harm anyone, their own kind or hers. She also wielded the power, in every way possible and at means possible, to place them within that cage.
Except that she was, again, hiding. For as much had changed and her lack of fears, she had again allowed herself to be submitted to a cage of sorts. This face she wore on this crowded street was not her own. But she was not hiding out of fear of what would happen to her, Emma sternly reminded herself, just as she had tried to explain to Kamala. She was not hiding for her own sake, but for those of her species. If, or, rather, when the humans discovered mutants were still among them, war or worse was likely to break out. They needed to keep their identities secret now, more than ever before. Staying hidden was not for her protection; it was for children like the ones they had just passed, but children of her own species, children like that ones she had taught before, and the ones she had buried before.
Faces flashed through her mind, swift as lightning, bright, radiant, and alarming. She had let down so very many of them! She had buried far too many innocent lives, children who had entrusted her to protect them! She would not let this generation down as well. If it meant having to stay hidden, having to live every moment in a cage in order to make sure they were kept safe, then so be it. The humans could not attack, let alone kill, who they did not know existed.
A little girl's wail ripped through the busy, city street. Emma dropped into a fighting position, her hands balling instinctively at her sides. Her icy blue gaze swept the streets, but there were no enemies to see, no Sentinels, no Hounds, no monsters of human or mutant variety... She reached out, swiftly scanning the minds around her.
A hand touched hers. Emma's fingers flinched, but the slightly calloused fingers of the stronger hand closed around hers. Through the madness, the fear, and the memories that were threatening to overwhelm her, Emma knew immediately who the man was. He was no stranger even if the name he was currently calling her seemed strange, in the moment, to her ears. "It's all right, Hazel," Tony soothed, squeezing her hand and pulling her to him. He wrapped his other strong arm around her slender waist. "The child just lost her teddy, Hazel."
Hazel. That was the name of her current trap, her current alias meant to hide her true self from the entire world. This man beside her was not even a mutant, but he had proven himself, time and again, her friend. Unlike most of their fellow heroes, he knew what it meant to have a world of wealth and the hard decisions that came with that particular resource. They had both worked hard to earn their fortunes, both in unscrupulous and honest but cutting-edge business techniques, and they had both had to make not only hard decisions but legit sacrifices throughout their years to maintain their wealth.
Tony, like herself, came from money, but being born rich did not have nearly the privileges those who could not understand their society class believed it to hold. They had to play the game. They had to rub elbows and noses, and whatever other body parts might be required, to be able to make and keep the alliances they needed to stay on top of the game. Tony had inherited a good amount of his starting capital; Emma had had to fight for hers.
Her mind flashed again, back to when she herself had been a child and she had made those first few difficult sacrifices to earn her freedom. She had fought to stand alongside the Hellfire Club. She had killed another female child with her bare hands and then sacrificed her body to earn her place on the Council, to begin climbing that ladder to where she was now, and had been for the last several decades, the uncontested White Queen, no matter with whom she chose to stand.
She could have chosen worse than Tony, Emma thought, blinking through the memories and trying to focus on his bearded face. There was no condemnation in his dark eyes at this unexpected sign of weakness, just concern. "She just lost her teddy, is all, Hazel," he was whispering. His mind touched hers, opening to her telepathy, as he willed her to hear him speak, Emma.
She pulled away, repulsed by her own reactions, and straightened. She smoothed down her business skirt, a disgusting, boring brown shade, and righted her glasses on the bridge of her nose. "So, it is."
"I'd buy her a toy store," Tony remarked with a sideways, coy grin, "but they found her teddy bear already."
"Hmph. Of course, you would."
And, if you knew she was a mutant, you would too.
Emma glanced back at the child, who was proudly carrying a ragged teddy bear in her arms. She clung to a portly lady beside her with one hand; Emma presumed it was the child's mother. Is she? she asked.
Tony grinned at her. You can't tell?
Not any more, Emma spoke softly, the admission slipping quietly between their minds.
Wordlessly, he tightened his grip on her hand and tugged her along down the busy, New York street.
So much has changed. She hadn't meant to allow that honesty to whisper between their minds, but it did. She'd lost secrets to Scott like that over their years together, but only while she had been in love with him. And she had loved that man! God help her! In some ways, it had been one of the worst mistakes of her life, but she had genuinely fallen in love with Scott Summers. She'd first started romancing him to have a reason to stay with the X-Men, and a way to do so, after Generation X had disbanded, without too much protest. They had to welcome the lover their fearless leader chose, after all.
But letting that man into her life, into her heart, had changed her in so many ways! Some might even say... The romance had humanized her -- and here she was, walking with a human and wearing his ring on her finger! It could be worse, though, she knew. She could have chosen a lot worse. She had made this union to combine the X-Men and Avengers against the X-Men's greatest threats, not unlike how she had forced her way into the X-Men by bedding their leader. Allowing her heart to get into the way had been her mistake, and eventual downfall.
Still, she could never have guessed that things would change so much, and so swiftly, to have her once again living in a cage. She had already married Tony. The nuptials and honeymoon were over and done. It was easy to get a divorce, but that would undo all her careful planning.
You don't want a divorce, he said suddenly, squeezing her hand.
"I -- " She was flustered. She had not expected him to pick up her thoughts so easily. She cleared her throat. He was right, damn the man! If she divorced him, all her hard work would go down the proverbial drain. Besides, the next generation of mutant children were relying on her to protect them, and it was going to take considerably more than her fortune alone to do so. Looking away to pigeons flying above the smelly taxi cabs in the highway, she asked instead, "Do you ever feel old?" Her fingers moved, as though with a nature of their own, to curl more tightly around his. She well remembered a time when his hands had been completely smooth as her body, completely uncalloused despite all his hard work with robotics and machines.
It was his turn to look away. He took so long in answering her that eventually, Emma's eyes returned to his face, seeking the answers to her question. He grinned at her, but she'd long ago learned the difference between Tony's usual mirth and the jokes he told to hide painful truths. "Who me?" He flashed a broad, brilliant smile, and she knew somewhere, not too far away from them, paparazzi were clicking pictures. "The infamous, multibillionaire playboy?"
"Yes, you," she said and crinkled her nose as though flirting with him. Their pictures would be all over the front pages, securing her cover any more. After all, if Peter Parker could grace the front page of the Daily Bugle almost every day and none of his colleagues ever deduce that he was the infamous Spiderman, what better way to hide the fact that boring, little Miss Hazel Kendal was one of the most powerful mutants alive?
One of the most powerful mutants alive, who, of course, humans had thought they had killed... That thought rushed through her mind, but there was something suddenly more demanding of her attention. There was a depth in Tony's brown eyes that she was not accustomed to see, a depth that he had only ever revealed to her a few times after they had made love, which, in truth, had started so many decades ago between them as a contest to see who could outlast the other and had which had picked up the juiciest movements.
She heard his thoughts, his honesty, deep and gruff within his mind, and knew instantly he was not trying to share them with her. Of course, I do, he admitted, with surprise, to himself. There were flashes of Captain America and many others he'd lost for one reason or another, and a great, deep sensation of pain and sorrow. Emma reached out, without even considering her movements, and stroked his beard. She placed her hand over his chest, over where she knew the piece of advanced metal lay that kept this strong man, with a streak of determination that matched hers, alive.
"You're right," she said. He blinked, looking at her in surprise. She smiled and felt the genuine warmth in her expression. "I don't want a divorce." She kissed him. His arms wrapped around her and pulled her closer. She leaned into him. The cameras went wild.
They'd be all over the newspapers, helping keep her cover complete, but in that moment, Emma wasn't thinking about that. She wasn't thinking about all she had endured, or how much had changed and stayed the same, or all those precious lives she had lost. She was thinking instead of the pain she felt reverberating off of this man who had been her friend for so many years, this man who had helped her when no other soul could be bothered, this man who had agreed to be used by her, to be the toy or the tool she needed with which to build the next chapter of her life -- and maybe, just maybe, she could indeed build quite a fantastic life with him by her side.
She could not love him, but she could give him love, as she did in that moment, her lips allowing his to cover them and his tongue to part her teeth. Perhaps, with enough time, she could learn to love him, or act more often as she did. What she could do, though, she knew, with his aid and partnership was to build a fortune, a future despite everything, for hers and his people too.
The End
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