Chapter 2: Heat and Pain
Hank came back from training to find Izabelle lying on the floor of their apartment.
"Izabelle?"
"Henry," was the gloomy reply that reached him.
Izabelle opened her eyes and was surprised when she found him laying on the floor beside her. She smiled in spite of herself. "What are you doing?"
"I am joining my wife in laying on the floor and contemplating the ceiling. Unless, of course, there are other reasons she is lying on the floor?" His warm smile seemed to relax her tight muscles and she snuggled up to his shoulder. There was a long silence where Hank could sense that she was trying to think of what to say.
"I just feel so useless," she finally whispered. Hank turned his head from the ceiling to Izabelle and saw her emotion in her eyes. "I just sit here all day and swell up. I can't go outside in this heat so I'm trapped in here until it all cools down. But by that point everyone else has worked themselves to exhaustion and they just want to lie around. And I'm not working out because the work-out rooms are filled with teenage boys and skinny girls and I'm embarrassed and not training any more and I'm so hot ALL THE TIME and I NEVER get fresh air!"
Hank propped himself on his elbow and gently brushed the hair out her eyes. "Don't hold it in. Get it all out."
"I'm serious, Hank!"
"I know," he murmured, looking concerned. "I just don't know how to fix it."
Izabelle watched as his attention fixed on some point over her head. His blue eyes snapped back to her and he smiled.
"Get dressed. I'll be back." He jumped off the floor with agility that made her smile; he had a lot of grace for being so big, while she was much smaller and had no grace at all.
"Why?"
"You'll see," he winked at her and ducked into the shower. Ten minutes later, Hank was toweling off and Izabelle had changed to longer shorts and a tank. Another five minutes and Hank was leading her through the school, teasing and promising she would find out soon enough as they went.
"But you had Danger Room for an hour and-"
"Izabelle. I know very well where I was. But I know where I want to be."
Izabelle stopped protesting and allowed herself a smile. Forge walked out of the garage as they were heading in and Hank dropped her hand momentarily. Izabelle watched with growing curiosity as Hank had a tête-à-tête with the mechanical genius. It was clear the conversation was about her but would not include her, so she let her mind wander. It really was impressive the people she could call her friends because she lived here: a mechanical genius, a world class geneticist, an omega level mutant, a billionaire's son, and a man of unknowable age were the first to cross her mind.
Their conversation ended and Izabelle found herself being driven through the early evening light. Quickly, she rolled down the window and breathed deeply. The cooling night air filled her lungs and whipped her hair around her head. A thought came to her as she breathed in the fresh air.
"You don't have your holowatch," she observed.
"It is not necessary where we are going."
Izabelle laughed. "That sounds ominous."
"Hold this for me," was Hank's reply and he pulled a quarter loaf of bread out of his pocket.
"Picnic?"
"Not quite."
Izabelle could get him to divulge no more of his secret destination to her so she half slept until Hank announced that they had arrived. A glowing sunset lit up the park before her. Izabelle was led down to a pond where she could not resist a loud coo of delight. The pond was filled with more ducks than she had seen before.
"It's a duck pond. They set it up so people could feed them here."
"It's wonderful!"
Hank looked over at her with a smile; he had always adored how much she appreciated things, anything really. It struck him that she had been much less…herself as of late. It would be difficult for her, being the only one in her peer group to have a child. And it was not as though there were many older people she could go to about how she felt.
"Bread! We must feed them!"
"But of course my lady!"
A little beach had been built up after a stone wall around the pond so they sat on top of the low wall and threw bread to the ducks that quickly surrounded them.
"This would be a really terrible time to have a 'The Birds' moment," Izabelle smirked.
"We are at a bit of an advantage, however."
"How so? There's a million ducks."
"Well, because I am here of course," he gestured dramatically.
She laughed loudly and elbowed him. "I have no doubt you would do your best, Mr. Humility. How did you know this was here?"
"I used to come here ages ago, when I first moved into the school."
Izabelle's attention was caught. She had not heard a lot about his early mutation days and she had not asked. Things like that could be very sensitive, depending on the mutant. "When was that exactly?"
"My teens. Scott and Bobby were there as well. And Jean and Warren."
"You've been here forever." She realized after she said it how derogatory her comment could sound but it just amazed her. She had not lived in the same place more than four years since high school. To have the same people in your life for that long was something that impressed Izabelle.
Luckily Hank knew what she meant and was not offended. He understood Izabelle's sense of time was different than most, more far reaching. When she had vowed to stay with him till death, he knew she had meant it.
"It was beginning to feel that way," he answered.
She squeezed his hand sympathetically. She could identify with feeling old, alone, and done for. "What made you decide to come back here?"
"I wanted to bring our baby here, to feed the ducks, and when you told me about how you felt I thought we could start a bit earlier than I first assumed."
"It's perfect."
Hank stared out over the water absently. "I would never have guessed I would have a baby to bring here all those years ago though…"
"Seriously? You've always had some lady or another after you."
Hank's head jerked around to Izabelle and he tried to find the motivation in her comment. But she was just quietly feeding the ducks. For her it was a statement of fact.
She caught a glimpse of his face and smiled. "You forget I grew up at the same time as you. And I even covered the lurid breakup." They had discovered last year that Izabelle had actually ran a smear campaign against Trish without realizing it was Hank she had dumped. "I know more about you than you think."
"How alarming!" Hank exclaimed, only half joking. But there was another thread of conversation he wanted to pursue. "Might I ask a personal question?" He lobbed a piece of bread into the middle of the pond and watched the ducks rush for it.
"Of course."
"What were your parents like?"
Izabelle worked on crumbling up some bread in her hand as she pondered out her answer. "They were fine. No better or worse than anyone else's. As far as me being a mutant they were exceptional. They looked for cures and such but I was right there with them. My mom's tall and thin and my dad's average height and squatty. I look like my dad, if course."
Hank let out a loud bark of laughter. "You are not squatty!"
Izabelle hunched over, puffing out her stomach as far as she could and doing her best to look like a toad. "Sure I am."
Hank rolled his eyes and she straightened up. He was trying to figure out a way to delicately bring up what had been stirred up in the back of his mind since the wedding. "Can you be sure they would not remember you?"
She stared out over the duck pond and her hand went to her belly. "I assumed they would have found me by now. If they remembered or if they cared."
"But you are hard to find. You have not stayed long in one place and –"
"Have been on the front page several times since our wedding and my pregnancy. And Barrie was able to find me…"
"Barrie was a sociopathic fool," Hank snarled reflexively; his fur bristled and his lips pulled back from his teeth. The mention of the MRD ex-official was enough to stir up pure rage in Hank; the memories of what had been done to Izabelle and himself were no so faded and he did not easily forgive.
Izabelle hugged his thick bicep and stroked the fur until it stayed smooth. "It's okay. He's dead."
"Fortunate for him." Hank's voice was less angry and he kissed the top of her head. "Mayhap your parents are looking."
Izabelle shrugged. "And maybe they're not. How about yours?"
Hank sensed it was time to let the issue go. "Hmmm…normal too I suppose. They felt very oppressive at the time but I was also a teenager so that is worth relatively little. My father tended to be ambitious and removed. My mother followed him and didn't seem to mind that at all."
"Leave it to Beaver?"
"I suppose so. Yes. We were the 'ideal' nuclear family: we ignored one another and drifted through our ambition-driven lives."
"I would hardly call your life ambition-driven," Izabelle interjected, surprised.
"I suppose you might not. Ask Bobby and see what answer you receive, however. There have been times."
"We all have our vices."
Hank gave her a side smile. "That we do."
They had used up the loaf and the ducks were finally scattering, realizing there was no more food for them.
"Follow me." Hank led her over to a part of the park that was further into the woods with another, smaller pond. It was clear, shaded by trees, and a stream ran in and out at different ends of the pond. "Not only ducks but wading as well," he exclaimed, 'presenting' the little pond to her.
Grinning, Izabelle kicked off her shoes and socks and walked up to her knees in the cool water. Hank on the other hand carefully removed his shoes, folded his socks, placed them into his shoes, and painstakingly folded up his trousers to just above his knees.
"You are the most meticulous person I have ever met!" she called out to him. She had known this before but it seemed to always appear in new and more baffling ways. "The point of wading would be the casual atmosphere."
"And I would like to casually keep my trousers dry and my socks casually free of sand," Hank retorted, making a deliberately serious face.
The water was cool and Izabelle could almost feel the heat seeping out of her.
"Perfect for swelling," Hank teased from about a yard to her right.
"Whenever you would like to volunteer to carry our child, it is all yours," Izabelle returned, splashing water at Hank.
He faked a splash at her and when she moved to dodge, Izabelle's foot hit a patch of slippery rocks. She fought to catch her balance and Hank reacted instinctively. Unfortunately, the stones beneath his feet were no less slippery than her own patch, with the added disadvantage of his lurch forward to catch her hand. Izabelle regained her balance while Hank did not. Bright peals of laughter rang out throughout the woods as Hank stood up, his fastidiously rolled up pants now soaked.
"I don't know why I even try," he joked as Izabelle held her sides from laughing.
It was agreed the best solution was to let him dry out some before driving back so a picnic table was found and the two sprawled across it, curled up together as they watched the sunset.
"I talked to Forge, as you know. He's been having issues with the Danger Room that really require two hands. Even geniuses need assistance. If you are interested –"
"Yes!" Izabelle interrupted, energetically. "Anything!"
"Good because I volunteered you beginning Monday."
"Sneak!" She poked him in the ribs, causing him to squirm. "I really do appreciate this though, Hank."
He smiled as he gently lifted her and set her on her feet. "We should head back. I would hate for you to catch cold."
Izabelle had been caught by the fan club and was chatting idly about the book they were reading in her English class when Logan caught up to Hank.
"Where've you been? Couldn't find you."
"Hiding. What is the matter?"
"Nothing…yet. You see the news about the attacks?"
Izabelle's ears perked up and she excused herself from the group of girls. Joining Hank's side, she listened quietly. She was never X-Men material but the politics and insider information was very interesting to her.
"Have they placed the source? Who could have done that?"
"It's being reported as a mutant or several and Chuck says it checks out."
"The guards who were cut up you mean?" Izabelle asked quietly; it had been all over the news. It was not the first attack and they were always gruesome and total, laying waste to anyone in their target zone.
"The same," Logan answered, before turning back to Hank. "Point bein' we might need to go check this out: you, me, and Kurt. Stuff like this can't keep happenin' without doing a lot of damage to the rest of us. Especially with their focus on anti-mutant groups."
"That certainly will not endear us to anyone. Any idea who they might be?"
"Not Magneto. He's politicking for a mutant island and this would not help him right now."
"But they're a class four military threat! Surely a handful of you can't match that!"
Logan raised an eyebrow at her. "Forge been lettin' you listen to the military scanner again?"
She glowered back at him evenly. "It's something I can actually do. You have a complaint about that?"
"Not at all. But you can't let your feelings get in the way of what needs to be done."
"So I should trust your judgment?"
Hank coughed awkwardly and stared at the floor. Izabelle and Logan generally got along. The conflict came when Logan's need for urgency and bold action came up against Izabelle's fierce protectiveness and desire for her husband to not be dead. Two years previous, Hank had been extremely ill and Logan had, unintentionally, allowed him to be badly injured. Since then Izabelle's inherent trust in Logan's judgment was gone. Her remark was a challenge and the three of them knew it.
Logan took a step closer to her but did not seem angry. "You're not the only one who cares about the people in this building. If you want those little girls that follow you everywhere to be able to keep walking free outside these walls, you might want to accept that there's going to be some risk involved. Anyway, it's just a heads up. Night, you two."
Izabelle had left without a word to Hank. She wanted to kick Logan in the face but he was right. She hated Hank being in danger but he wanted this. The X-Men was part of who he was and she knew that long before they were married.
"Izabelle? Would you like an ear?" Hank sat on the edge of the bed behind her and ran a hand through her hair.
"Yes, but not yours." Izabelle jerked away from him, frustrated. She grabbed a jacket and headed for the girl's wing of the building. "I'll be back later."
Hank watched her go, knowing she was angry about the mission and knowing that they would eventually have to have a conversation about his role as her husband and as an X-Man.
Izabelle was halfway to her destination when she crashed head on into another person. She swore loudly and caught herself on the wall as she ricocheted off to the side. Looking up she had to keep going to find the person's face. The young man she had slammed into was enormous.
"I'm sorry, woman. Are you okay? Your baby?" His accent was thick with Slavic tones and she could not help but smile. He could crush her with one hand and here he was worrying over her and half picking her up to set her back on her feet.
"Pardon, but who are you?" Izabelle asked.
"Pitor. Or Colossus."
"Good name," she grinned up at him.
"And you, woman?"
A voice interrupted from further behind Colossus. "That's not really the best way to address people, Pitor." Kitty strode up to them, winking at Izabelle from behind the new mutant. "Calling people 'woman' tends to be offensive here."
"So sorry!" He began to apologize but Izabelle laughed and cut him off.
"I'm Izabelle McCoy."
"Hank's wife. You'll meet Hank tomorrow," Kitty filled in. She was giving Pitor quite the look so Izabelle decided to make herself scarce.
"I am sure I will be seeing you around, Pitor. Nice meeting you."
"And you!"
Sighing and checking a clock Izabelle decided she might as well head back. She hadn't made it very far and she doubted that staying up any later would make her feel better.
Hank gave her space when she returned and Izabelle tried to push down her worry. They would deal with all of this later, she told herself. They chatted idly about Colossus, neither knowing what his powers were before Hank drifted off peacefully. But as she slept, Izabelle's dreams were dark and troubling.
Hank and herself were wandering through the dark streets of New York. She was pregnant and it worried her that they were alone. Hank did not have his holowatch and it was a bad idea to be out alone like this.
Without warning, a dark mob spilled out of a building. They weren't fast enough and Izabelle was easily caught.
"Mutant filth! You shall not pass on this curse!"
Somewhere a tazer made an appearance and Izabelle watched in horror as it was pressed into her belly.
Izabelle's hazel eyes snapped open. In the next moment, a wave of pain engulfed her and she jerked up in bed, grabbing at her belly.
Hank was awake in an instant and looking around the room for some threat. "What is it, Izabelle?"
"I – I don't know." Her voice was thick with confusion and pain. A new wave of pain shot from her belly and radiated through her body. She sucked air in loudly as it nearly took her breath away. Her body lurched forward and then jackknifed back out as the pain only increased.
Hank's eyes betrayed his fear as he watched his wife writhe in pain. The pregnancy had been very uncomplicated so far and now this. Catching a glance of his face, tears began to roll down Izabelle's cheeks.
"I'm going to lose the baby!"
Hank was out of bed and carrying her through the halls of the school in a moment. "No such thing will happen," was his only answer.
She let out a loud cry and dug her nails into his arm. He only held her closer to him, praying it would not be too late. Behind him a bedroom door swung open and there was a familiar sound of metal blades.
"What's goin' on, Hank?"
"Izabelle…she's in pain."
The claws were back in but Logan was by their side.
"Take her to the Danger Room. I'll be there once I program in what I need."
Logan deftly took a whimpering Izabelle from Hank and quickly disappeared down the hall. Hank tore off down the opposite hall, grateful for the speed this could add. He flew into the Control Room, kicking everything on as fast as possible.
"Not my baby!" he breathed. He would have never said such a thing anywhere near Izabelle, but alone in the Control Room he acknowledged his fears.
His fingers flew across the keys and below him the room provided a shoulder deep pool of warm water. He was off again as he glimpsed Logan entering with Izabelle.
Hank quickly took Izabelle from Logan and strode into the tub of water, both of them fully dressed and clinging to one another.
"Breathe, Izabelle. The warmth will help," Hank murmured, holding her close. He hoped this worked. He could medicate her but he would greatly prefer not to medically treat a problem he did not understand.
Izabelle forced herself to take and hold deep breaths of air. Hank rested his lips against his ear and began a low, calm stream of words. Logan made himself to stand still so as to not add to the tension in the atmosphere. He could not catch what Hank was saying beyond words like 'relax' and 'weightless.'
Slowly, Izabelle was soothed and the cramps faded, the muscles relaxing. Hank spoke to her quietly and after she nodded he left her in the tub and emerged dripping in his pajamas.
"Could you stay here with her for just a moment longer? I would like to give her a sleep aid but–"
"Go on, Hank. It's fine."
Beast's paw rested on his friend's shoulder before he sped out of the Danger Room. Logan was left with a loss of what to do. No chairs or anything else in sight, he sat next to where Izabelle held the edge of the deep tub. She didn't look up when he sat beside her and though he was usually one to leave himself to himself the behavior surprised him.
"I never thought I'd see the day when Izabelle McCoy wouldn't look me in the eye," he observed, trying to draw her out.
She shrugged but he could sense she was thinking and left her alone. She would talk if she wanted to. In the silence, the water echoed loudly in the room and he could her shaky breathing.
Finally she spoke: "I'm not strong enough."
"It's got nothin' to do with strength, Izabelle. Carrying a baby all the way through is hard."
She didn't press him on how he knew this. "But so many people have babies easily and it's –"
"A lie. It's only easy in movies."
They both slipped into silence but somehow it seemed to have helped.
Hank was back quickly and helping Izabelle out of the water. An injection was given to her to help her sleep. Logan followed the couple back to their room to make sure no further complications would set in. As he was leaving, Hank caught him by the arm.
"I would be much obliged if you could keep this quiet. Izabelle will not want to be questioned about this."
Logan smirked. "I'd guess bein' stalked by well-meaning people has its disadvantages."
"Thank you, Logan. Truly."
"Get some sleep, Beast."
Izabelle was asleep almost before she had changed into dry pajamas. But even after Hank had tucked the covers around her and curled up beside her, fear gnawed at him, keeping him awake into the morning. The first thing he wanted to do was order an ultrasound for the mansion.
Thank you to everyone who commented and liked and favorited! I honestly did not expect such an enthusiastic reaction and I really appreciate it! :-)
I know it's a little out of character for Pitor to call people woman but I always think it's funny that in Russia this is the respectful way to address a woman you are not familiar with. So I thought I would slip that in for kicks.
I made 'cover art' of a sort for Forget Me Not; the link to two versions of the pic is in my profile. It's not wonderful or full of talent but it makes me happy. Let me know what you think!
Reviews get a selection of the next chapter in advance!
