X-Men Fan Fiction ❯ Witness ❯ Rebuilding ( Chapter 35 )

Authors Note/Disclaimer:

 

I do not own XMen Evolution, its characters, or the universe they live in. I intend no disrespect or copyright infringement. This is a work of adult fan fiction and is intended only for entertainment purposes. I make no money from this work.

 

I tore them apart and I just don't have the heart to leave them that way…Somebody kill me now…I've gone all mushy. Aaarrrgh!

 

A little bit of sex, character development and plot. Not necessarily in that order.

 

Warnings: Sex and some very minor M/M interaction.

 

As always, constructive criticism is welcome.

 

Please see the first chapter for complete warnings for this piece.

 

<b>Chapter Thirty Five: Rebuilding </b>

 

~

Synergy: When applied to the idea of mutants, synergy refers in part to the tendency of those with similar mutations or close genetic relationships to be resistant to each other's abilities. Therefore—While Wanda can wreak havoc on most people, her charms have little effect when used directly on her brother or her father. Affecting nearby objects or persons however, is not a problem. Source: Wikipedia, “Homo superior”, as listed in the Marvel Database. Paraphrased.

~

 

He had thought she'd be angry with him. Or at least with Remy and Wanda for ganging up on her like that.

 

But she wasn't. Instead she was cheerful and smiling. And affectionate -- He'd had to stop her from starting something he was pretty sure she was still too sick to finish.

 

She asked for them, both of them and shooed him out of the room, sending him to bring her some breakfast. When he looked hurt, she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

 

“You've given me an idea…I need to run it by them, see if it will work. See if they can work together.”

 

“Work together?”

 

“Yeah…Wanda can't really work her Jedi mind trick on her father, or Pietro…at least not without help. I've borrowed both their powers more or less…I think I have a way around that.”

 

“How did you…”

 

“I'm pretty sure you don't want to know all the details.” She squeezed his hand, sitting up straighter in her bed. “I'm not keeping secrets again…Just trying not to rub your nose in things I'm pretty sure will upset you, O.K.?”

 

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Todd scowled.

 

“I can make you feel worse…” Marissa tilted her head to the side. “If you push it.”

 

“All right…You want milk or juice?”

 

“Both.” He left, passing Wanda and Remy on their way to her room.

 

It took a while to fetch everything she'd asked for…He doubted she was going to eat all of it. He suspected she just wanted to keep him busy while they had their meeting.

 

“Is she really going to eat all that?” Lance was still at the kitchen table, slowly working his way through a plate of toast and eggs. He looked tired, with dark circles under his eyes. Since it was the first time he'd actually spoken to him in a week, Todd decided to sit down and talk a few minutes.

 

“I dunno…She asked for it.” Todd looked at the leftover plates of food. Fred would probably be back soon to clear it up. The big guy really hated seeing people argue and had taken to making himself scarce during meals. And Angie was little more than a ghost, spending all her time in the basement covering Marissa's work as well as her own. Shrugging, Todd reached for a plate and started to pile food on it for himself.

 

“Did it work?” Lance put his toast down and reached for a cup of coffee.

 

“I think so…She sure seems to be feeling better this morning. Said she was hungry.” Todd speared a bite of cold waffle with his fork.

 

“Look…I'm sorry, man. Wanda…She gets these ideas, and she doesn't always tell me everything.” Lance looked uncomfortable.

 

“Know the feeling, yo.” Todd chewed thoughtfully. These things were really better hot.

 

Lance was talking to him again. That was good. He still looked guilty, but at this point, Todd really didn't care. He'd missed the closeness they'd had before. He hoped Wanda and Riss could patch things up…As long as Wanda didn't play anymore tricks.

 

 

When he entered the room, Wanda was sitting in the chair next to the bed and Remy was leaning against the wall on the far side of the room. Riss was still in bed and she smiled at him. Wanda looked pleased and Remy…looked uncomfortable. Todd got the impression that the man didn't like Wanda.

 

“Got your breakfast.” He held up the heavy tray.

 

“Great! I'm starving.” She waved him over eagerly.

 

“We done wit dis?” The Cajun looked from Marissa to Wanda.

 

“Yeah. Are you going right now?”

 

“Non. Gon' pull some reports for de boss and get some more blood from you. Need an excuse for dis visit.” He straightened up.

 

“See you later then.”

 

He nodded once at her and shot a dark glance at Wanda before leaving.

 

Yeah, the dude definitely didn't like Wanda. But, Wanda seemed completely oblivious, turning to watch him leave.

 

“So...um…What's the verdict, yo? Your idea gonna work?” Todd settled the tray on Marissa's lap and sat down next to her.

 

“It should. Remy doesn't like it…His power works differently from Wanda's. He doesn't like the idea of getting that close to Magneto. Or anybody else really.” Marissa drank her milk in one long pull.

 

Todd nodded, though he wasn't quite sure what she meant.

 

“It's more intimate.” Wanda added and Marissa shot her a frown.

 

“Never mind.” Todd pushed a plate of scrambled eggs and toast closer to Riss. “So, are you two girls made up?” Riss was probably right about him not needing to hear all the details.

 

There was silence for a moment while Riss concentrated on her food. Guess not.

 

“Riss…Marissa…I am sorry.” Wanda spoke first. “I didn't mean for you to get hurt.”

 

“You didn't seem all that worried when I was playing dodge the psychopath with Victor and John.” Marissa's voice was cold. But, at least she was eating. All the eggs and half the toast were already gone.

 

“I was…I was…I know there's something wrong with me.” Wanda picked at an invisible bit of lint on the bedspread. “And we talked about it, didn't we?”

 

“Wanda…Do you even know when you're doing it? Or does it just happen?” Todd listened curiously. He'd never had the nerve to question Wanda about her powers.

 

“I know…Most of the time. Sometimes I'm not sure. Sometimes I don't care when I know I should.” Wanda stopped picking at the spread and looked up, dark eyes flashing between Marissa and Todd. “I don't like this…I want things to go back the way they were.”

 

“I don't know if they should, Wanda.” Marissa pushed the tray away. “It's one thing to play little sex games…This is another.”

 

“I know.” Wanda looked disappointed. More than that, she actually looked hurt. Todd looked at Marissa, but she was watching Wanda.

 

“We'll see Wanda. This isn't something you get over in a day.” Marissa sighed. “I'd like to be alone with Todd for a while, O.K.?”

 

“Yeah. O.K.” Wanda left quietly, pulling the door closed behind her. Todd watched her leave, and then heard a sniff behind him. Marissa was crying.

 

“Hey, babe. It's all right.” He lifted the tray away to curl up with her, pulling her against his chest. He stroked her hair and kissed her forehead.

 

“This sucks Todd. I still love her…I should be mad…But, all I really want is for things to be the same, too. And I don't know if it's real or something she did.”

 

“Yeah…Me too.” And it was true…

 

 

Marissa's health improved astonishingly fast, though she remained very pale. The gold flecks in her eyes spread until there were gold rings around her pupils. She began to recover all the weight she had lost, eating hungrily with no sign of nausea.

 

The specialist was amazed at her recovery and insisted on more blood work. The twins were growing well with no sign they'd been harmed by Marissa's illness or Wanda's tampering.

 

When the blood work came back, the doctor ordered it repeated.

 

The results were the same.

 

Marissa should be dead several times over with the levels of toxin in her blood.

 

The specialist was unable to explain it, other than some sort of late onset of mutation. She wanted to do more tests, but Marissa refused.

 

“Adapt or perish.” She had said with a shrug. “See you next month.”

 

 

Marissa continued to sleep in her own room. Todd often joined her, but sometimes it was a relief to have some space. She was restless in her sleep and often seemed hot to the touch.

 

Things with Lance and Wanda were slowly improving, though it was still awkward. Marissa avoided being alone with Wanda. It wasn't hard to accomplish because there was one more thing that had happened…

 

Riss always knew where Wanda was. She had only to close her gold-ringed eyes and think of the girl and she would see her, wherever she was. At least within the town of Bayville. Todd had questioned it at first, but it took only a couple of demonstrations to prove it.

 

They had come to a quiet agreement about Lance at least. While they both wanted to regain the closeness they'd had as a foursome, they weren't sure how much Wanda had manipulated Lance. So they waited for Lance to give them some sign of what he wanted from them. Anything else hinged on that.

 

So when the nervous young man came to Marissa's door in the middle of the night, she let him in. He didn't speak at all, just buried his face in her shoulder when she opened her arms to him.

 

She murmured reassurances in his ear. Felt a ghostlike tremor pass through the floor as he clenched his fists, struggling for control. She stroked his hair with one hand as she wrapped her arm around his waist, holding him until it passed.

 

He'd woken her from her sleep and she responded slowly to his tentative kisses. His hands too were tentative, lacking the sure strength she was accustomed to from him. This, more than anything caused her heart to ache.

 

She began to touch him, stroking and caressing him as he'd never let her before. He let her pull him to the bed, pull him down beside her. He groaned as she nibbled at his neck and trailed kisses across his chest while her hands worked to strip them both of their clothes. She was made a little awkward by the changes in her body and he seemed reluctant to touch her growing belly.

 

“You can't hurt them.” She pressed one of his hands to the swell of her belly, liking the feel of it there.

 

He looked at her unsure.

 

She pulled him closer, hands caressing and teasing. He closed his eyes and groaned as she stroked him slowly. And now his hands began to move with the old firmness she'd missed.

 

She moaned as he kneaded her sensitive breasts and hissed as he pinched the nipples. His fingers tested her wetness as his mouth claimed hers with a demanding kiss. Strong fingers found her aching center and she found herself whimpering into his mouth. No teasing this time. His fingers drove her quickly to the edge and beyond it and he swallowed her moans as she shuddered against him.

 

Then she couldn't wait any longer, hungry to feel him inside her. She shifted to straddle him, letting him guide her with his hands on her hips. She sighed a long slow exhalation as she engulfed him. She held still for a moment, caressing his chest and feeling the warm skin of his belly. Then she began to move against him, letting his hands guide her, to control the rhythm.

 

His eyes were dark pools in the dim light as he watched her above him. It always sent chills of excitement through her to know he was watching her. His hands drove her faster as he moved with her, small gasps and grunts of effort and pleasure escaping his lips.

 

She cried out and arched above him as she climaxed, trusting his strong hands to hold her steady until it passed. Then he began to move her again, becoming more insistent as his groans became deeper and more urgent. She could feel the smallest trembling beginning in the room around them and felt the change in his thrusts as he neared his pinnacle.

 

Then he was calling her name, driving himself deep inside her, holding her tight against him. He twitched and jerked inside her and she watched his face in the darkness. She thought the peaceful look that spread across his face was almost beautiful, but she didn't say it out loud. Instead she slid off of him to lie beside him and kiss and stroke his face.

 

Now he touched her belly curiously, stroking the round contours. She drifted off to sleep soon afterwards, soothed by his gentle stroking and his warm solid presence beside her.

 

 

Todd found them still curled up together the next morning after having searched for Lance everywhere else. He hesitated to wake them up, Riss needed her sleep and Lance had been looking haggard lately. As if he hadn't been sleeping though he never admitted it.

 

“Hey, Lance.” He leaned over Marissa's sleeping form to nudge Lance's shoulder. The arm that circled Marissa's waist pulled a little tighter and Lance turned his face deeper into the pillow. “Psst…Come on, yo! I gotta go to work.”

 

Lance woke with a jerk and blinked in confusion.

 

“What?” He looked from Todd to Marissa's sleeping face and back again. “Oh man…I…uh…” His cheeks darkened as he blushed and looked away guiltily. He rolled away from the sleeping girl to stare at the ceiling.

 

“Shh…Let her sleep. It's O.K.” Todd circled around the bed to sit down next to his friend. “Really. It is.”

 

“I just…I couldn't sleep…And I missed her…us…Shit.” Lance covered his face with one arm. “Don't believe I did that.”

 

“I'm not mad, dude. If you guys want to sleep, I'll just take the jeep. Make sure she eats when she gets up.” Todd started to rise, but Lance stopped him with a hand on his arm.

 

“Todd…” Lance sat up and pulled Todd closer. “You serious? You don't mind?”

 

“Like to be invited next time, maybe.” Todd gave him smirk. Then he went serious as he leaned closer to Lance.

 

“I miss you too, yo.” He watched Lance's expression, giving him a chance to pull away. He moved to give him a quick hug and brush a brief kiss across his lips. Lance drew in a surprised breath, but didn't pull away. Good enough, for now.

 

Then he rose and moved around the bed to plant a quick kiss on Marissa's forehead and a gentle rub to her belly. He pulled his hand away quickly when she moved and mumbled in her sleep. He flashed a reassuring smile at Lance before leaving them alone, pulling the door shut behind him.

 

It didn't surprise him that Lance had gone to her first. Riss and Lance had never gotten their fair share of time together. And Lance had always seemed a little uncertain about what he and Todd did together. He'd never shown any interest in guys before or since. And that made Todd wonder if it had ever been what Lance wanted or if it was just more of Wanda's games.

 

This was good. At least as far as Todd was concerned. Now if only he could get the girls to make up with each other. Then things would be back to normal.

 

It wasn't long before the others noticed the change. As Marissa and Todd got reacquainted with Lance, the tensions within the Brotherhood seemed to fade. Fred and Angie returned to the breakfast table and Pietro no longer scowled at his sister. Wanda watched wistfully from the sidelines. Her relationship with Lance had suffered too, and Lance made it clear where he preferred to sleep most nights.

 

Lance no longer looked so tired and seemed happiest when he was doing something useful. Driving Wanda to school, helping Marissa rearrange her office, or repairing the kitchen faucet.

 

Todd knew Marissa couldn't hold out much longer where Wanda was concerned. And Wanda did seem genuinely contrite. It didn't matter to him anymore whether Wanda had used her powers to suck them all in or not. Leaving her out was leaving a gaping hole in their little family. Wanda looked hurt…And it hurt him to watch her like that.

 

And then, it changed. He wasn't sure when or how it changed. But, it did. Marissa and Wanda were talking again and twice in one week he interrupted them in Marissa's room, faces flushed and hair out of place. He pretended not to know what was going on.

 

Marissa had her pride after all, didn't she? And seeing Wanda smiling again was great.

 

The third time he caught them, they didn't pretend. They just scooted over to make room for him. And that was fun…

 

And it was different this time…A little better maybe. Wanda was a little more careful with her games…A little less possessive.

 

Now, if Magneto would just go away, life would be perfect.

 

 

A return to health for Marissa meant also a return to the training sessions with Rogue. Only this time Pietro refused to let her even enter the Danger Room and she became the designated observer in the control room. She stared down all the curious looks her belly got amongst the Institute's students, secretly betting herself how long it would take someone to ask about it.

 

Of course, the first person to ask about it was the last one she'd expected.

 

For today's session, Rogue was in the Danger Room with the Brotherhood, directing the action and sometimes playing the part of the enemy. Her partner for the day was Logan who took in Marissa's appearance with a sniff and a surprised grunt.

 

“Ain't seen you in a while…”

 

“Not since the party, I think. I've been sick.” Marissa checked the monitors and craned her neck to see for herself that the readings were correct. A chair creaked as he sat down and she heard the tap of keys.

 

“So whose kid is it?”

 

“Most people ask me how far along I am…” She fought the urge to pull a coin out of her pocket. Her fingers twitched and she rubbed her fingertips along her denim covered thigh.

 

“Can see that fer myself.” His tone was gruff and disapproving.

 

“I'm a little big…since it's twins.” He was getting on her nerves. Making her nervous actually…He reminded her a little of Victor.

 

“Hmph. You gonna answer my question?”

 

“I was pretending I didn't hear it…Pretty rude.”

 

“You don't know then?”

 

“Of course I know. They're Todd's. Who else's would they be?” Marissa turned to look at him. He was smiling, having succeeded in needling her. Then his smile faded as he studied her face.

 

“Ya look different.”

 

“I'm pregnant.”

 

“Nah. Not what I meant.” He rose and reached for her chin, eyes locked on hers. She flinched away.

 

“NO touching!” He stared at her for a moment, his eyes narrowed.

 

“Twitchy aren't ya?” But, he pulled his hand back and crossed his arms as he studied her. “Yer eyes are different…So's yer skin. And ya smell different.”

 

“I'm pregnant and hormonal…And I don't want you touching me.” She felt stupid about overreacting.

 

“Thought ya were a normal, but ya don't look it now. When did it happen?”

 

“About a month ago…The babies are poisoning me…Must have triggered it.”

 

“Poisoning?” He frowned at her.

 

“Yeah.” Then her phone rang and she grabbed it, relieved for a way out of the conversation. She rose and moved to the far side of the room as she answered it.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Got dat bit of info you needed.” Her eyes widened and she dug in her pockets for her PDA.

 

“Great, cause the clock is ticking.”

 

“You ready, cher?”

 

“Yeah. Tell me.” She jotted down the location, carefully turning her shoulder so the other man couldn't see.

 

“Gon' call Rogue next.”

 

“Wait about an hour, hour and a half. We're in the middle of a training session at the Institute.”

 

“What you doin' dere? Dat not safe for de little ones.”

 

“Don't worry about that, Pietro won't let me anywhere near the action. He's taking the over-protective brother bit a little too far.”

 

“Could be worse…”

 

“How are you doing? Still having migraines?”

 

“Mon Dieu…Remy feel like his head gon' split in two. Dem two hot-head's gon' drive him to drink.”

 

“Maybe it's time to let the big guy in on things.” She glanced at Logan who had returned his attention to the monitors, at least outwardly.

 

“Non. He do someting stupid he find out where de girl is.”

 

“I'm not the only one who keeps too many secrets…”

 

“Who de `prentice here?”

 

“Feel free to thump me for it later. Knowing you, you've got a list of beatings I'm due.”

 

“Remy don' beat de pregnant woman.”

 

“I won't be pregnant forever.”

 

“You almost sound like you askin' Remy for sometin'.”

 

“I'm just tired of being treated like a china doll, that's all. It's not just Pietro that's being overprotective. Makes me almost miss the daily ass beatings.”

 

“Remy startin' to tink you want out o' dis.”

 

“Oh, no. You're not getting rid of me that easy. You said everything…”

 

“Oui…If we live trough all dis.” She heard him sigh on the other end. “Remy keep his promise.”

 

“You watch your back, all right? I gotta go.”

 

“Remy call again when he got sometin' else.” She hung up and slipped the PDA back in her pocket.

 

“That him?” The man almost growled.

 

“That who?” She crossed back to her chair and sat down, glancing at the monitors again. There really wasn't much for her to do here.

 

“That damned Cajun.”

 

“You heard all that?” How sensitive was his hearing anyway? How much had he heard?

 

“Nah. I seen ya fight.” He paused to type something and glanced at a couple of monitors. “Not hard ta figure out.”

 

“Guess not. Rogue figured it out pretty quick.” She sat and pretended to watch the monitors as she ran plans through her head. She was interrupted by the sound of the man clearing his throat.

 

“Didn't mean ta spook ya earlier. Not saying ya need it, but if ya did, we're here ta help.”

 

“Actually, there is one thing that maybe you folks could help me with.” Marissa swiveled her chair around to look at him.

 

“And what's that?”

 

“Can you get this damned tracking chip out of me?”