Disclaimer: Everything in here, with the exceptions of Serena, Becky and Thoresa, belongs to Marvel. I'm not going to say Marvel treats them well, but they do belong to them.
A/N: Right, hello y'all. As this piece's original intention was a birthday present from me to Nightshade Darkholme, there are three OC's in here you need to know just a bit about before going on.
Serena Finch, aka Vixen: nineteen years old, she's the daughter of Sabertooth and Birdie. Has minor telepathy, retractable claws (Sabe-style), advanced immune system and two-year-old daughter,
Rebecca "Becky" Finch: product of rape, the toddler's only current mutations are gills and an inherited healing factor that kept her mother's immune system from rejecting her. Her favorite person is, of course, the interesting
Thoresa, aka Harpy: Age unknown, Mystique's daughter and therefore Kurt's half-sister, Thoresa is a recent convert from the Bad Guys and her one and only good friend is Serena, and vice versa. She has a healing factor, retractable wings, extended finger-claws, a quick temper and a nasty sense of humor.
Dedication: To Nightshade Darkholme, because we're both suckers for this stuff at heart!
In Unison
It was a dark and stormy evening.
No, really, it was!
That's why there was a lounge full of X-Women who were absolutely, positively bored out of their minds. Harpy took up an entire three-cushion sofa, her legs draped over one end and her long, once-extendable claws draped over the other. Serena was sitting on the floor with her back resting on the sofa, her red tipped blond hair spread across the cushion and Harpy's arm. Jean (for once) had tied up her long and patently dyed red hair and was sitting on a rather poofy chair, staring mindlessly into space. Ororo was artfully draped across a window seat, her long hair restrained by a braid that hung over the side of the pad in a mirror image of her right leg and arm. Sprawled artlessly over the table in the center of the room was Rogue. Even Amanda, who was supposed to be visiting Kurt, had thrown herself onto a futon and refused to move. The weather was too depressing.
The X-Men had eventually escaped to another part of the mansion on pain of death.
(Or something like it, anyway.)
Serena, being the telepath of the group (no, Jean doesn't count, she's not coherent often enough), was beginning to become irked by her teammates mood. So, feeling sarcastic and rather bored herself, she suggested, "Hey, why don't we all tell everybody that worst thing that ever happened to us!"
They all turned and stared at her.
"Well, it was a suggestion," Serena defended huffily.
Ororo shook her head. "I have no wish to rehash every awful thing that has ever happened to us. We all have horrors in our past that do not deserve the light of - hmm - semi-grayness."
"Can't ya fix this?" Rogue demanded. "Ah know you don't like using your powers for the trivial, but if we don't do something, we're gonna go mad!"
"We could go for a session in the danger room," Harpy suggested.
"No," Jean sighed, coming out of vegetablism. "I mind-tapped Scott a second ago, and he and the boys are in full swing down there."
Amanda rolled her eyes. "And we couldn't go down there and join 'em why?"
Harpy smirked. "Because we'd run the poor things ragged, that's why."
Rogue, Serena and Amanda laughed, and Ororo smiled. "Poor men," Amanda gave an evil grin. "I, personally, am cutting Kurt no slack."
Serena turned to look at her fellow blond. "I've been meaning to ask about that. I'm not very good at shielding yet, so I tend to, ah, head-hop accidentally," she went a little red at that, but continued. "What's with the two of you?"
Amanda sighed. "It's something I've been wondering about for at least a year now. I guess . . . I guess I thought that maybe, after all this time, being back with the X-Men after Excalibur would make Kurt settle, a little. He was a great leader for Excalibur, but something in him missed all of you. I was the only one who ever knew, when he'd confess to missing Ororo, or Logan, terribly. So I stuck around. But we've been back for a year, and well . . ."
"Well what, girl?" Rogue asked, a sparkle in emerald eyes. The sorceress had center stage.
"I was hoping he'd propose."
There was silence for a moment as even the telepaths tried to figure out what to say to a comment like that. Harpy, being the most practical of the group, said after a moment:
"Why wait? You propose."
Amanda and the telepaths glared at Harpy.
"What?!" she demanded. "It's a reasonable idea. Admittedly, Lazarus proposed to me, but I see nothing wrong with a woman proposing!"
"Hrumph," Amanda fell back onto the futon. "Don't think it hasn't occurred to me. But every time I think about it, I see Mother's face when she found out I proposed to him. She'd flay me alive and send me to Limbo."
"Margali never has to find out," Harpy suggested reasonably. "So let's do this. Amanda, tomorrow night, you're proposing to my half-brother, and that's that! Who's with me?"
A "You bet!" from the floor.
"Ah'm in."
"It'll be fun."
Ororo studied them all from the window seat. Then she smiled, a smile that hatched plots and was not often seen on Ororo's face. "Anything to relieve the boredom," she acquiesced innocently.
Amanda stared at them all from the futon, shell-shocked.
Oh, gods and goddesses of my ancestors! What have I gotten myself into?
~*~
Mein Gott, what have I gotten myself into? Kurt asked himself as he panted in the offline Danger Room with the other X-Men of the male persuasion.
"It'll be easy, Kurt. You only have to say four words."
"Coming from the man who married a telepath," Kurt muttered. "Two telepaths!"
Logan threw an arm around his best friends' shoulders. "Proposing to someone you love ain't hard, elf. Once ya actually tell yerself ta do it, ya do it."
Indigo eyebrows shot in to his hairline. "And you would know . . ?"
"What, ya think M'iko did the proposing?"
Kurt nodded in understanding. "Nein."
"So, how many people in this room have been married before?" Bobby asked. Remy, Logan and Scott just looked at him. Bobby put his hands up. "Just wondering! Well, Kurt, since it seems everyone but me as done this before, I'm gonna use it as a learning experience."
"Oh?" Remy leaned towards Iceman. "T'inkin' of askin' de healer-'path to tie de knot?"
Bobby went red in the face. "Not anytime soon . . ."
"Back to the problem at hand," Scott rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "It can't be tonight, we don't have enough time to plan. So ask Amanda to have dinner with you tomorrow night, BEFORE she leaves this mansion."
Kurt suddenly became indignant. "And why should I do that?"
"'Cause if you don't, we'll do it for you."
Kurt groaned. Logan grinned.
~*~
"Now, nothing that would alarm Kurt, or maybe tip him off," Serena suggested. "I think we need to see your wardrobe."
"Ah'm all for that!" without bothering to ask whether or not Amanda particularly agreed with them, Harpy and Rogue picked her up off the futon, set her down on her feet, and propelled her towards the mansion door.
*Scott?* Jean felt his mind shuffle around as he tried to ignore what he'd been talking about. She considered prying, but decided to let things be. *Amanda's on her way out. Us girls are going shopping to relieve the boredom, so if Kurt wants to say goodbye he'd better bamf.*
Jean smelled sulfur from down the hallway. Then she got up, slowly, not bothering to hurry because Harpy and Rogue would be harrying Kurt and Amanda's goodbyes as much as they could. Nothing like a pair of sort-of siblings looking on to end things quickly. Ororo, who was also getting up, smiled at Jean. "You remember, years and years ago, how we used to talk about you and Scott? Whether he would ever ask you to marry him?"
The redhead grinned. "And I teased you for having no romantic life. That hasn't changed much, has it?"
Ororo rolled her eyes. "It never seems to."
The two old friends, the only two X-Women of their time, stood and shared a memory of the good old days. Before there was ever a Dark Phoenix, or even a Phoenix.
Serena slipped silently out of the room ahead of them, catching up to Harpy. Settling in next to the tall mutant, she sighed. "I still feel like so much of an outcast here, Thoresa. Jean and Ororo have known each other forever, Bobby and Hank were friends at sixteen, even Kurt and Logan laughing together about something only the two of them really understand," the last brought a grin to Harpy's face.
"We're both out of the continuity loop, Vix. All that means is that we get to make our own," Harpy's grin turned a little evil, a grin that was fairly common on Thoresa's face. She strode forward with purpose. "Alright, come on Amanda, you'll see him tomorrow night. Bye-bye!" she called in a sing-song voice as she dragged the hapless Amanda out the door after her. Rogue, Serena, Ororo and Jean followed at a far more sedate pace.
"Shopping," Jean commented as they stuffed themselves into Scott's car. "The only excuse that means the guys won't follow us."
"Well, unless one of them is hiding something," Ororo stated with a straight face. It even managed to stay straight through her next statement: "For example, with Logan, you never know."
The image of Logan in drag caused every person in that car to keel over with laughter. They very nearly killed some poor dumb squirrel who just happened to chose their car to walk out in front of. It was a good thing they had one telekinetic with them; crashes tend to be nasty when you can't explain why at least three members of the car remained unscathed.
Amanda was the first to sober. "You don't think - "
Jean turned to look at the sorceress. "No, but you do!"
"Kurt just - I mean, Logan's - verdammt, Logan can communicate with Kurt on some level I just don't get! What if - what if that's why Kurt missed Logan? What if - "
Serena grabbed her telepathic cue from Storm and clamped a hand firmly over Amanda's mouth. Ororo turned to Amanda from the front seat. "Kurt does love Logan, and Logan loves Kurt. Just not the same way he loves you. If Kurt is guilty of anything, it is having a very big heart," her gaze bored into Amanda.
"It's just pre-proposing jitters," Jean reassured her. "So, since Logan's obviously going to be the best man, who gets to be the maid of honor?"
~*~
Kurt was pacing. There wasn't much else for him to do, really, because Remy, Scott, Logan, Bobby and now Hank had taken it upon themselves to toss around ideas without Kurt in the room, so he couldn't stop them from doing something "fun".
The blue-furred mutant had taken to pacing on the ceiling by time the other X-Men got out. Bobby did his best to cackle maniacally, but the boy just didn't have it in him. Remy's red-on-black eyes sparked in a decidedly conniving manner, or so Kurt thought (and was probably right).
"Well, my fellow blue-furred mutantis, we have a plan," Hank declared.
"Oh goody," Kurt rolled golden eyes. "Do I get to find out what it is?"
"Nope," Logan told him. "We'll give ya the basics sometime tomorrow."
He squeaked. Then he started pacing again. Bobby found it rather disconcerting, although Logan and Scott didn't even bat an eyelash. "What if you go through all this trouble and she says no?" he asked.
"Elf, de bruja loves you. No worries, mon ami," Remy pointed out rather sensibly from the floor.
"How can she?!" he cried from over their heads. "Not only am I practically her brother, I killed her real brother! I deserted the Romani! How could she possibly - "
Logan, who was quite frankly fed up, reached up and grabbed Kurt by the collar of his shirt. "If I remember right, elf, she went ta hell ta get ya back. Nearly got killed by her own mother, for that matter."
Now the other four guys were looking at Logan. "Hell?" Bobby finally ventured.
"Ach - mein foster-mother Margali thought I killed Stefan in cold blood, and came back years later to sentence me to his fate. Amanda - Jimaine - she brought the X-Men to Margali's facsimile of hell to bring me back," Kurt explained. "The problem is, I did kill Stefan. How can I expect her to forgive her brother's blood on my hands?"
"You and 'Manda worked this out a long time ago, Kurt."
He nodded.
"What about the X-Men - "
"Mistress Sefton is a sorceress of no mean ability, Kurt. She has been quite able to defend herself and others in the past."
Kurt nodded again and leaped (if a little heavily) off the ceiling. "Right," Scott said. "Emotional angst aside; you need a ring."
"Shopping," Remy laughed. "Let's hope we don' run into de femmes!"
~*~
There was little chance of that, as Amanda was being shoved in and out of her own bathroom with various selections of her own clothing. Ororo would hand her one thing, Harpy would make a few alterations, then Jean would bat it down and the whole thing would start all over again, with everyone changing roles but her.
"Well, damn," Serena muttered.
"What?" Amanda looked hopefully across the room at Serena, begging the girl to save her.
"It's Becky. She's misbehaving at her "day care". Seems she refuses to get out of the fountain.
Harpy smothered a giggle.
Becky was an endless source of amusement to everyone in the mansion. Problem was, they couldn't have her underfoot all the time. So, a few times a week, the gilled two-year-old was shipped off to Generation X, where she got to annoy a different blond telepath for a change. Jubes and Paige loved her. Emma was just annoyed that SHE got stuck with the child of a child of the enemy.
"Thoresa? Can you give me a lift over there? My range doesn't extend that far," Serena shrugged sheepishly. "It's not as if I can drive myself. Never learned."
"C'mon. Let's go get your fish," Harpy turned to glare at Jean just before she vanished through the apartment door. "Oh, and Jean? No feathers."
~*~
Considering that he had never really thought about it before, it was only a mild amusement to Kurt that he now knew exactly how many holes there were in the ceiling of his room.
Ach, Wagner. You're going to propose tomorrow. You can't do that while drowsy and half-asleep.
Well, he could, and it might actually be easier, but it wouldn't make for a good story to tell his children. "Then, right after your mother said yes, Daddy fell asleep."
Wonderful, frightening images of tomorrow night.
Reaching over to the small nightstand next to his bed, Kurt lifted the simple black velvet box and opened it slowly. Inside was a slim, elegant ring that he hoped to slide onto Amanda's finger tomorrow. Resting on a silver band was a single brilliant blue topaz in the shape of a heart, ringed with small diamonds. It had cost a fortune, but when asked, Scott only stated that the rings he gave to Madelyne and Jean cost more. He'd also turned red, so Kurt was fairly certain he didn't want to know how much more.
The gems seemed to give off a light of their own, even in his darkened room, and it gave Kurt a little hope. Night didn't seem to be a good time to think about all the wonderful things he'd done with Amanda.
What if . . .
~*~
. . . he says no? Would I move in with the X-Men? What if he really is attracted to Logan?
Rodents running in wheels came to mind.
What's Mother going to say when she finds out?
Amanda fiddled with the thin black box she'd bought earlier that day with Jean, Ororo and Rogue. She'd been flicking it open and closed for the last half hour. Silver-blue/black. Silver-blue/black. Popping it open again, she studied what was inside.
A silver necklace woven in an intricate pattern made a U on the black velvet case. At the _ of the U, in the very center, rested a pointed, eye-like oval of golden/yellow topaz, ringed in small sapphires. It was the image of Kurt's eyes . . .
She hoped he would forgive her for not having a ring. They just didn't make them in Kurt's size. She'd looked.
Amanda was so confused. She loved Kurt Wagner. She'd known that forever. So why did marrying him seem like such a big step?
Because it's permanent, an insidious little voice in the back of her mind whispered. When you find out you can't stand to live with each other, you'll see. You'll regret buying that necklace. And you'll be branded for life. You already catch hell 'cause you're a gypsy. Why do you want to attract more by marrying a literal freak of nature?
Something in her rebelled at that. Kurt's not a freak! And I don't mind being branded, long as it's something good.
The voice quieted, but she could tell it wasn't finished.
Tomorrow ought to be very interesting.
~*~
There did end up being feathers, but they were good feathers and added to the ensemble instead of taking away from it. Harpy glared but didn't say anything. Amanda's tumble of shoulder-length blond curls had been tamed into waves, and parted to the side to suggest that they hid her face, even though they didn't. Makeup was applied sparsely to a face that was overcome by bright blue eyes, and the blue dress was stunning. An array of dyed-blue feathers fanned out from between her shoulder blades, giving her the impression of wings, and the cut at the bottom began at her knee on the right and ended at her ankle on her left.
Kurt flashed a fanged smile when Amanda walked into the mansion. "You are absolutely stunning, liebchen."
Hand absently fingering the black box in her purse, Amanda smiled in return. From opposite sides of the front hall two interested parties watched their "private" meeting. "You look pretty good yourself, for an elf who claims he doesn't clean up well."
Golden eyes made his smile wider, and he offered her his arm. "To our carriage, milady?"
There really was a carriage, an honest-to-goodness horse-drawn carriage waiting for them as they left the mansion. "Kurt!" Amanda exclaimed. "How did this get here in the three seconds I was inside?"
"You know a magician never reveals his secrets," he replied mysteriously, opening the door and helping her climb in. "This is just until the boat to Manhattan, liebling, so don't expect the poor horse to swim."
Amanda grinned. "I have a better idea." Looking in for a moment, she drew on the part of her the had been passed down through the Romani for centuries. Kurt felt a jolt, and stared at Amanda in astonishment.
"Tell me we're flying."
"Flying," she whispered, then drew him over for a kiss. It was going to be a short flight, so they might as well take advantage of it.
~*~
"Well, bugger," Harpy commented. "She made it fly. She wasn't supposed to do that!"
"The only thing we told her was 'try to keep it romantic'," Jean pointed out. "I think flying to Broadway in a horse-drawn carriage counts."
"That was so Kurt," Rogue commented. "He's kinda sweet like that." Well, Harpy, that's our cue. We're following 'em."
Great black wings extended from the other mutant's back, and the two took off after the flying carriage, a little girl with gills waving after them.
~*~
"Shit!" Logan screeched in surprise. "Even after all this time, I keep forgetting the things 'Manda tends to pull with magic."
Remy and Bobby pulled up to the back of the mansion on Remy's motorcycle, Bobby clinging on for dear life. "We'll be back once de play ends. "De Phantom of De Opera", oui?"
"Yes," Scott nodded. "Good luck, troops!" he saluted Bobby and Remy.
"We be off den, O Fearless Leader," Remy shot back, then revved up the motorcycle and was gone. Logan thought he heard Bobby scream something along of the lines of "Oh my Goooooood!!" but since that really wasn't all that important, he ignored it.
~*~
They jumped in all the right places, every time the lights went out and when the chandelier came crashing to the ground. Amanda stared as Christine hit a note she was certain could break glass, while Kurt wondered what Dazzler would make of the incredible music being produced by Andrew Lloyd Weber's instrumentals.
Over dinner, eaten at an upscale restaurant whose name neither could pronounce, they laughed at the astonished expression on the carriage drivers face, both a little nervously, and neither noticed the other's nerves in an effort to cover up their own.
Amanda broke first. She couldn't take the mounting internal tension any more. "Kurt," she bit her lip, and Kurt stopped laughing. His heart stopped. She's going to tell me that no matter how wonderful this is now, it will never work, has never worked, and she wants to break up and actually go out with a normal gypsy who doesn't have all these weird problems, among which is the fact that I'm her foster-brother and she's never felt comfortable with that! in the space of a single heartbeat.
"Kurt, I don't know how to ask you this. So . . ."
She pulled the thin, square box from her purse. During the musical she had gotten an idea, and had taped a slip of paper to the top that read, in her handwriting:
Love me,
That's all I ask of you
"What . . ." Kurt fell silent when he opened the box.
Oh, gods! He's going to tell me that he wants us to stay friends, that he thinks I'd be in danger with the X-Men, that he loves me but really wants to be with Logan . . !
Amanda forced a laugh through her lips. "They don't make rings in your size."
Stunned golden eyes looked up at her over the rim of the box. "No," he said slowly. "but they do in yours." he pulled the smaller, more traditional black velvet box from his pocket and handed it to her. The blue topaz reflected in her blue eyes and sharpened them, brightened them, a hundredfold.
"For tonight?" she whispered.
He nodded.
They sat there a moment or two, both shocked. Then Amanda peeked at Kurt over the rim of the necklace's box. "C'mere, you. Let's see if that fits."
Kurt grinned, absolutely lost in her eyes and her smile. As she reached over and took the necklace out of its box, he plucked the ring out of its.
The kissed over the table, fastening the necklace and slipping the ring on at the same time. "Love you," they whispered in unison.
Still smiling only for each other, they laughed.