Disclaimer: All of these characters are property of Marvel. A/N: Events in
this story take place before Hank left for the X-Treme X-Men.
****
Cecilia Reyes smoothed out her black dress as she scrutinized her self in the full-length mirror of her New York apartment. It had been a just over two months since she officially moved out of the mansion and decided to take another stab at a normal life. She grabbed her make up kit and rooted around for her eyeliner while she thought of what was taking Hank so long.
She glanced at the clock on her work desk as she wondered what could be holding him up. Cecilia leaned into the mirror as she carefully applied her make-up on when she heard a hard knocking on the door that made her jump and draw a line all the way to her forehead.
"HANK!" She yelled angrily as she looked at herself in the mirror, she headed to the bathroom to wash it off but she heard Hank knock again this time a little more softly. "Hold your freaking horses, I'm comin'." Ignoring the make-up line leading to her neatly breaded hair she swung the door open to curse out Hank. "What took you so long, we're gonna be late and those restaurant snobs are gonna cancel are reservation." She pushed Hank lightly in the chest and he staggered a little farther back then she thought he was. It was then she realized that Hank was in a bit of a sweat and didn't seem to be on his feet very well. "Are you okay, Hank?" She walked out into the hallway and pulled one big blue arm over her shoulder and led him into her apartment.
"That's not necessary," he removed his arm from her shoulder and gingerly headed to Cecilia's wheeled office chair. "I assure you I'm fine." He sat down lightly and let out his breath. "Just a little sore."
"What happened to your leg?" She was still worried about him a little as she went to get a cold cloth.
"One of Bobby practical jokes gone to far." Cecilia came in from the bathroom and put the wash cloth to Hank's forehead. He relaxed under the pressure of her hand while looking her over and raising a bushy, eyebrow comically. "What happened..." He trailed off and pointed a finger to her face. Her eyes went wide as she realized her little make-up incident was still there. Cecilia handed the cloth to Hank and rushed to the bathroom and closed the door behind her.
Hank just sighed and put the wash cloth back over his face. "So anyway, I was stepping out of the shower and Bobby thought it would be funny to see if soaking fur could skate." He chuckled now that he thought back on how foolish he must have looked. "He froze the ground on the bathroom floor and I slipped and fell back wards on my leg. However, fear not, my spine broke my fall."
Hank laughed as he remembered the look of concern on his friend's face. Despite being a genuine screw-up Bobby Drake was a friend to the end. Twirling around in the chair he admired the apartment he knew so well. Every since Cece left to pursue her medical career Hank insisted that they should keep in touch. It started out with a few, harmless dinners whenever she could settle down and find some free time and when Hank wasn't busy fighting the latest threat to humankind. It eventually escalated into a reservation for a portion of every Friday night between them to enjoy each other's company and to unwind from the daily grind of life. Even though his relationship with Trish was still intact and quite frankly the only thing keeping him and Cecilia from becoming more serious.
He stopped at her desk and read one of the application letters that she was filling out to yet another hospital. "Still no luck finding a job, Cece." He called out in her general direction.
"Nothing, Hank." She said, her voice muffled a little bit from the running water and the closed door of the bathroom. "It's like they see me and they don't believe I'm a surgeon, like those white collar hospital pricks think I should be some brown-nosed nurse." The water stopped running and the door opened as Cecilia dried her face in a towel. "It's just not right, ya know." She threw the towel on the bed and looked at the clock on the on the desk next to Hank. "Crap we're gonna be late."
Hank looked at the clock also. "No, if we leave now we'll make it."
"I gotta redo my make-up, that's at least twenty minutes." Cecilia said reaching for her purse but was stopped by Hanks large hand.
"Don't do that, you look absolutely exquisite as you are." Hank said earnestly. Normally Cecilia would have shot back with a sarcastic retort but when she saw the sincerity in Hank's eyes she caught her tongue and let an awkward moment of silence slip between them.
The silence passed when the slight mechanical crackle of Hank's image inducer took form around his big blue features turning him into a different person. Cecilia sighed and removed her hand from Hank's image altered one. Every time he turned that thing on it made her realize that he wasn't a 'normal' human. Granted the first time she ever saw she was a little startled but that passed when she got to know how smart, funny, and kind a man he really was.
"...and if other people could just see the real you." Cecilia began venting out loud unknowingly while Hank looked over his appearance in the full- length mirror.
"What's that?" He asked as he turned around to see what Cecilia was talking about.
She quickly regained herself. "Nothing, I'm just wondering why you gotta be a middle aged white guy." Why don't you make a Brad Pitt image inducer or Ricky Martin, yeah." She laughed as she thought of how many heads she would turn if she walked into the restaurant with Ricky Martin.
"My dear, the only point of this device is that I don't cause a scene." Hank frowned. "You'd really choose Ricky Martin over me?"
"He has a better ass." She replied holding in a laugh. "Then there's that rich beyond imagination part and he can cut a rug."
"Enough, I get it. Iv'e been known to cut a rug on occasion." He turned off his image inducer and pouted playfully. "What women can resist a hunk of big, blue, burning love." He took Cecilia hand and pulled her to her feet. "The mere sound of my voice turns them to puddy." His attempt at being suave fell short of its desired affect as Cecilia broke into uncontrollable laughter. "I'll be in the car." He sighed as he made a mental note never to take advice from Remy again.
Dinner was great. Cecilia slouched in her chair, stuffed from her meal and sore from laughter as she waited for the waitress to bring the check. The evening went wonderfully as they often do. During the week she found she took for granted how far a friendly face and good conversation could go. However when she looked across their table-for-two she saw that Hank was a little distant. "You okay, big guy?"
His attention snapped back to her as he pulled himself back in the moment. "Just thinking." Hank looked across the table at the women and friend that took the time out of her schedule every week to put up with his insistent babbling. He thought of the chemistry between them and the undeniable attraction he had for her since the moment they met, and then he thought about Trish. Granted he was attracted to her as well but she just didn't have...
"Hank you're spacin' again." She kicked him lightly under the table. "You cool?"
He focused his attention back to Cecilia. "I have something to tell you." He said, unusually serious.
Cecilia swallowed hard and tensed up. "What's the matter." She matched his seriousness.
"Ororo Munroe has decided to take a few of us X-Men to Spain for classified reasons. [X-Treme X-Men] I agreed to accompany her. We're going to be gone for quite some time so I'm afraid this is sort of a last meal kinda deal, until next we meet of course." Hank looked up to see the waitress standing over him waiting to accept his credit card. He handed it to her and returned his attention to Cecilia as the waitress walked off to charge it. "Your silence is kind of scaring me, so please say something."
"Wow." She let out her breath and slouched back into her chair.
"Just' wow', Cece?" Hank let out his breath in return.
"No, it's just I thought you were going to say something else. Not that I don't care you're going to Spain, it's just..." She trailed off trying to find the words as she twirled the edge of the table cloth in her fingers she sighed and returned her eyes back to Hank's. "Good luck with that whole Spain thing." She forced a smile on her face and excused herself to the bathroom.
When she returned to her table the waitress informed her that Hank had paid for the bill and was waiting outside for her. She left the restaurant into the star lit night obscured by the constant haze of New York fog. She found her self just staring at her breath in the cold night air when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"You're gonna freeze." Hank whispered into her hair. She turned around and buried her face in his chest. "What was that for." Hank was a little thrown off by her closeness and was really stunned by what she did next.
"Turn this stupid thing off." She grabbed the image inducer off his belt buckle and shattered it against the ground right in front of the restaurant and all its diners.
Hank's eyes shot around to see how many people were watching him and was relieved to find that it was just old couples, who were quickly walking away and a few teenagers. "Why did you do that?" He asked still in a little shock.
She got in his face and jabbed a finger in his chest "Because you're 'absolutely exquisite' just the way 'you' are." She didn't quite know exactly what she was doing but she kept on anyway. "And I hate when you hide behind that thing." She pointed a finger at the shattered machine on the floor as a tear tried to fight its way out of her eye. "It's not fare to you. You shouldn't have to please them." She through a look over her shoulder at the small crowd gathering behind them.
"Maybe we should leave?" He put an arm around her shoulder and led them quickly to the car. He only brought his attention back to her when he was assured they were a safe distance from the restaurant.
"You okay?" He asked softly.
"No." She sat arms crossed looking out the passenger side window. "I'm sorry, Hank, for causing a scene like that I don't know what got into me. I think it's not right you don't get to be who you are. If everybody could know you the way I do then..." She sighed. "...then there would be no more racism or sexist or protestors or hate or... X-Men"
Hank pulled in to the hotel parking lot and turned off the car leaving nothing but dark silence between them. "I know its bleak, Cece, but I'm in the business of changing the world. Things can only get better." Hank felt a warm breath and a light kiss on his cheek before Cecilia opened the door and stepped out of the car.
"Promise you'll call before you leave to Spain." She said softly trying to keep her voice even. "I don't want ya making any long distant phone calls from God know where and runnin' up my phone bill. You understand?" She forced yet another smile and closed the car door behind her.
"I love you too." Hank whispered to himself before starting the car and heading home.
****
Cecilia Reyes smoothed out her black dress as she scrutinized her self in the full-length mirror of her New York apartment. It had been a just over two months since she officially moved out of the mansion and decided to take another stab at a normal life. She grabbed her make up kit and rooted around for her eyeliner while she thought of what was taking Hank so long.
She glanced at the clock on her work desk as she wondered what could be holding him up. Cecilia leaned into the mirror as she carefully applied her make-up on when she heard a hard knocking on the door that made her jump and draw a line all the way to her forehead.
"HANK!" She yelled angrily as she looked at herself in the mirror, she headed to the bathroom to wash it off but she heard Hank knock again this time a little more softly. "Hold your freaking horses, I'm comin'." Ignoring the make-up line leading to her neatly breaded hair she swung the door open to curse out Hank. "What took you so long, we're gonna be late and those restaurant snobs are gonna cancel are reservation." She pushed Hank lightly in the chest and he staggered a little farther back then she thought he was. It was then she realized that Hank was in a bit of a sweat and didn't seem to be on his feet very well. "Are you okay, Hank?" She walked out into the hallway and pulled one big blue arm over her shoulder and led him into her apartment.
"That's not necessary," he removed his arm from her shoulder and gingerly headed to Cecilia's wheeled office chair. "I assure you I'm fine." He sat down lightly and let out his breath. "Just a little sore."
"What happened to your leg?" She was still worried about him a little as she went to get a cold cloth.
"One of Bobby practical jokes gone to far." Cecilia came in from the bathroom and put the wash cloth to Hank's forehead. He relaxed under the pressure of her hand while looking her over and raising a bushy, eyebrow comically. "What happened..." He trailed off and pointed a finger to her face. Her eyes went wide as she realized her little make-up incident was still there. Cecilia handed the cloth to Hank and rushed to the bathroom and closed the door behind her.
Hank just sighed and put the wash cloth back over his face. "So anyway, I was stepping out of the shower and Bobby thought it would be funny to see if soaking fur could skate." He chuckled now that he thought back on how foolish he must have looked. "He froze the ground on the bathroom floor and I slipped and fell back wards on my leg. However, fear not, my spine broke my fall."
Hank laughed as he remembered the look of concern on his friend's face. Despite being a genuine screw-up Bobby Drake was a friend to the end. Twirling around in the chair he admired the apartment he knew so well. Every since Cece left to pursue her medical career Hank insisted that they should keep in touch. It started out with a few, harmless dinners whenever she could settle down and find some free time and when Hank wasn't busy fighting the latest threat to humankind. It eventually escalated into a reservation for a portion of every Friday night between them to enjoy each other's company and to unwind from the daily grind of life. Even though his relationship with Trish was still intact and quite frankly the only thing keeping him and Cecilia from becoming more serious.
He stopped at her desk and read one of the application letters that she was filling out to yet another hospital. "Still no luck finding a job, Cece." He called out in her general direction.
"Nothing, Hank." She said, her voice muffled a little bit from the running water and the closed door of the bathroom. "It's like they see me and they don't believe I'm a surgeon, like those white collar hospital pricks think I should be some brown-nosed nurse." The water stopped running and the door opened as Cecilia dried her face in a towel. "It's just not right, ya know." She threw the towel on the bed and looked at the clock on the on the desk next to Hank. "Crap we're gonna be late."
Hank looked at the clock also. "No, if we leave now we'll make it."
"I gotta redo my make-up, that's at least twenty minutes." Cecilia said reaching for her purse but was stopped by Hanks large hand.
"Don't do that, you look absolutely exquisite as you are." Hank said earnestly. Normally Cecilia would have shot back with a sarcastic retort but when she saw the sincerity in Hank's eyes she caught her tongue and let an awkward moment of silence slip between them.
The silence passed when the slight mechanical crackle of Hank's image inducer took form around his big blue features turning him into a different person. Cecilia sighed and removed her hand from Hank's image altered one. Every time he turned that thing on it made her realize that he wasn't a 'normal' human. Granted the first time she ever saw she was a little startled but that passed when she got to know how smart, funny, and kind a man he really was.
"...and if other people could just see the real you." Cecilia began venting out loud unknowingly while Hank looked over his appearance in the full- length mirror.
"What's that?" He asked as he turned around to see what Cecilia was talking about.
She quickly regained herself. "Nothing, I'm just wondering why you gotta be a middle aged white guy." Why don't you make a Brad Pitt image inducer or Ricky Martin, yeah." She laughed as she thought of how many heads she would turn if she walked into the restaurant with Ricky Martin.
"My dear, the only point of this device is that I don't cause a scene." Hank frowned. "You'd really choose Ricky Martin over me?"
"He has a better ass." She replied holding in a laugh. "Then there's that rich beyond imagination part and he can cut a rug."
"Enough, I get it. Iv'e been known to cut a rug on occasion." He turned off his image inducer and pouted playfully. "What women can resist a hunk of big, blue, burning love." He took Cecilia hand and pulled her to her feet. "The mere sound of my voice turns them to puddy." His attempt at being suave fell short of its desired affect as Cecilia broke into uncontrollable laughter. "I'll be in the car." He sighed as he made a mental note never to take advice from Remy again.
Dinner was great. Cecilia slouched in her chair, stuffed from her meal and sore from laughter as she waited for the waitress to bring the check. The evening went wonderfully as they often do. During the week she found she took for granted how far a friendly face and good conversation could go. However when she looked across their table-for-two she saw that Hank was a little distant. "You okay, big guy?"
His attention snapped back to her as he pulled himself back in the moment. "Just thinking." Hank looked across the table at the women and friend that took the time out of her schedule every week to put up with his insistent babbling. He thought of the chemistry between them and the undeniable attraction he had for her since the moment they met, and then he thought about Trish. Granted he was attracted to her as well but she just didn't have...
"Hank you're spacin' again." She kicked him lightly under the table. "You cool?"
He focused his attention back to Cecilia. "I have something to tell you." He said, unusually serious.
Cecilia swallowed hard and tensed up. "What's the matter." She matched his seriousness.
"Ororo Munroe has decided to take a few of us X-Men to Spain for classified reasons. [X-Treme X-Men] I agreed to accompany her. We're going to be gone for quite some time so I'm afraid this is sort of a last meal kinda deal, until next we meet of course." Hank looked up to see the waitress standing over him waiting to accept his credit card. He handed it to her and returned his attention to Cecilia as the waitress walked off to charge it. "Your silence is kind of scaring me, so please say something."
"Wow." She let out her breath and slouched back into her chair.
"Just' wow', Cece?" Hank let out his breath in return.
"No, it's just I thought you were going to say something else. Not that I don't care you're going to Spain, it's just..." She trailed off trying to find the words as she twirled the edge of the table cloth in her fingers she sighed and returned her eyes back to Hank's. "Good luck with that whole Spain thing." She forced a smile on her face and excused herself to the bathroom.
When she returned to her table the waitress informed her that Hank had paid for the bill and was waiting outside for her. She left the restaurant into the star lit night obscured by the constant haze of New York fog. She found her self just staring at her breath in the cold night air when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"You're gonna freeze." Hank whispered into her hair. She turned around and buried her face in his chest. "What was that for." Hank was a little thrown off by her closeness and was really stunned by what she did next.
"Turn this stupid thing off." She grabbed the image inducer off his belt buckle and shattered it against the ground right in front of the restaurant and all its diners.
Hank's eyes shot around to see how many people were watching him and was relieved to find that it was just old couples, who were quickly walking away and a few teenagers. "Why did you do that?" He asked still in a little shock.
She got in his face and jabbed a finger in his chest "Because you're 'absolutely exquisite' just the way 'you' are." She didn't quite know exactly what she was doing but she kept on anyway. "And I hate when you hide behind that thing." She pointed a finger at the shattered machine on the floor as a tear tried to fight its way out of her eye. "It's not fare to you. You shouldn't have to please them." She through a look over her shoulder at the small crowd gathering behind them.
"Maybe we should leave?" He put an arm around her shoulder and led them quickly to the car. He only brought his attention back to her when he was assured they were a safe distance from the restaurant.
"You okay?" He asked softly.
"No." She sat arms crossed looking out the passenger side window. "I'm sorry, Hank, for causing a scene like that I don't know what got into me. I think it's not right you don't get to be who you are. If everybody could know you the way I do then..." She sighed. "...then there would be no more racism or sexist or protestors or hate or... X-Men"
Hank pulled in to the hotel parking lot and turned off the car leaving nothing but dark silence between them. "I know its bleak, Cece, but I'm in the business of changing the world. Things can only get better." Hank felt a warm breath and a light kiss on his cheek before Cecilia opened the door and stepped out of the car.
"Promise you'll call before you leave to Spain." She said softly trying to keep her voice even. "I don't want ya making any long distant phone calls from God know where and runnin' up my phone bill. You understand?" She forced yet another smile and closed the car door behind her.
"I love you too." Hank whispered to himself before starting the car and heading home.