Disclaimer: Anyone or anything you recognize the name from a Marvel comic book, does not belong to me. I have no money, sue if you want you can't get blood from a stone. Any likeness of people you recognize, I may know them as well and they know I have no money and they can't get anything from me.
Dark Holidays; Part 3
By
NoHaven
It had snowed off and on for a week in New York City. At Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, roughly and hour and a half away in Salem Center, the snow piled high with hardly a trace that anyone had exited the large mansion in over a week. It was December 23rd, two days till Christmas, yet it seemed as if a dark cloud hung over the mansion and all that lived inside. Christmas was not a pleasant time of year for the group known as the X-Men. In General memories of lost friends and family rushed back leaving a dark sense of history filling the air.
Just two days ago some of the extended "X" family had arrived to the mansion for the holidays, Sean Cassidy AKA Banshee, one of the headmasters of the Massachusetts school had arrived with the young Jubilation Lee. Dani Moonstar and had arrived late that same night. Much like the rest of the residents a tone of sadness surrounded the new arrivals. Sean Cassidy had spent most of the time speaking with Charles Xavier; the topic most guessed was the recent death of Moira McTaggert, a woman they both loved deeply. Jubilee had spent hours talking with Wolverine, her surrogate father figure, but when she wasn't with Logan she was sulking in a corner of the rec room staring intently at a picture of her and Everett Thomas. She was taking Everett's death very hard and despite her hard faced exterior it was tearing her up inside that her good friend would no longer be around. Dani Moonstar had visited the grave of Illyana Rasputin and then spent her time going through old pictures in the empty room of Kitty Pryde.
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Deep in the bowels of the mansion Henry "Beast" McCoy sat quietly in his lab, however he was not brooding over an experiment or the results of various analysis going on throughout the lab, instead his thoughts drifted through his memories. He reflected on conversations with Moira McTaggert and Scott Summers, both recently had been lost and both were close to him for most of his life. They were two of his best friends, two people he respected above all else, and losing the two had weighed a heavy tole on his mindset. So caught up in his thinking was Hank that he failed to notice the lab doors opening and a figure walks in.
"Hank, mon amis how are you?" the visitor said through a heavy Cajun accent.
"Remy, I am fine and yourself? May I ask what brings you to my dungeon?" Hank replied, pushing his glasses back up his nose.
"Doin Fine…as for what I am doing down here, well you seem to have cornered de market on Twinkies, so I tought I would come and silently pilfer a few." Gambit said with a wry smile.
"Ah so the truth comes out…the golden treat of the gods has brought forth the presence of my Cajun friend." Beast said rising out of his chair and walking across the lab to a small refrigerator with a keypad lock on it. Carefully hiding the code from his guest beast quickly opened the refrigerator exposing the contents. The entire upper shelves were stocked almost to bursting with boxes of Twinkies, and a few boxes of Snickers bars. Below them the shelves were split with lab specimens and liquid refreshments, both chocolate milk and soda.
"'Oly shit, Gambit 'ave no idea that you ave so many in your possession and so protected, would have taken Gambit a few moments to gain entrance to such a stockpile." Gambit said smiling at his friend and approaching the fridge.
"Well my larcenous companion surely you know that I took into account your ability to gain entrance into anything, and devised a security system, both to protect my emergency stockpile from you and our teammates and the lab specimens from others." Hank said coolly while flipping a Twinkie to his friend.
"Gambit did and Gambit would ave been prepared." Remy said while quickly taking a bite out of the snack in his hand.
"I'm sure." Hank replied before sitting down and looking at results that were printed on a screen in front of him.
"McCoy, I know we ave never spoken all that much but, I ave the feeling that something is bothering you. Care to talk about it?" Remy said. "All it will cost you is a few more of deese." Gambit said shaking a half eaten Twinkie in the air.
Hank turned to look at his friend, before rising from his chair and proceeding to the fridge, opening it he reached in and pulled out two boxes of Twinkies, tossing one to Gambit he placed the other under his right arm and moved to a second fridge, reaching in he pulled out two six-packs of Harpoon Winter Warmer Ale. Handing one to Remy beast sat down on his chair and put his feet up.
"LeBeau, my larcenous colleague, I accept you gracious offer." Hank said smiling.
Remy smiled, white cream filling on his chin as he ravenously tore through a Twinkie. "Gambit comes ere every day if you are willing to give me Twinkie's and good beer."
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In the back of the mansion a non-descript doorway leads to a small chapel. Inside a sole figure sits quietly reciting prayers from heart, a bible pressed to his chest. A small black and white rosary passed through a set of blue fingers. Quietly entering the room was an attractive woman with Asian features and a tattoo across one eye. Betsy Braddock quietly sat in the back of the chapel and watched as Kurt Wagner dutifully recited his prayers. After a few moments Kurt quietly rose, and suddenly a single sound permeated the room.
BAMF!
With an odor of brimstone surrounding her, Betsy Braddock found herself suddenly sitting next to Kurt Wagner. His devil like features and shining yellow eyes now staring at her made for quite a contrast to his humble priests garb.
"May I be asking you mein freund vhy you are sitting ere? Can I be of assiatnce?" Nightcrawler said through a heavy accent.
"I suppose I was just wondering how you do it Kurt." Betsy said in an uncharacteristically sheepish tone.
"Vhat do you mean." Kurt said quizzically.
"I mean with all you have seen, with all the people you have lost, all the pain you have endured, all the hatred you have suffered….how do you remain so fixed in your beliefs?" Betsy asked.
"Ah, it is a good quvestion, and one that is difficult to answer…I suppose I 'ave my beliefs and my faith because vithout them, ah vould be in more pain den if I did not ave them. I simply believe that everything I have seen everything and everything I 'ave done are for a reason. Dat some day down the road, all my questions vill be ansvered and I vill no longer need to feel the pain I feel now." Kurt said quietly.
"Yes, but how…I mean you have as much reason to be angry and despondent over your past and you…" Before she could finish her thought she was interrupted by a load bang from the front hallway. Quickly Kurt and she moved to the hallway and found the source of the noise. Standing in the doorway with arms around each other were Sean and Logan, each with a mostly empty bottle of whiskey in their free hands. As the inhabitants of the mansion gathered in the main landing they were treated to an unscheduled concert from the two inebriated teammates.
"I'll tell me Ma when I go home,
The boy's won't leave the girls alone.
They'll pull my hair, they stole my comb,
Well that's alright till I go home.
She is handsome. She is pretty.
She is the bell of Belfast City.
She is courtin' one, two, three.
Please won't you tell me, who is she?"
As they sang the chorus they linked arms and swung around screaming the lyrics.
"Albert Mooney say's he loves her.
All the boy's are fighting for her.
They knock at the door and ring at the bell
Sayin' "Oh my true love, are you well"?
Out she comes as white as snow,
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes.
Oul Jenny Murray say's she'll die
If you don't get the fella
With the roving eye. "
Looking around the room, Neal Sharra noticed that for the first time in close to two weeks all the X-Men were smiling, while they enjoyed the drunken version of "I'll Tell Me Ma" performed by their two friends. He himself could not help but smile.
Ororo Munroe stood at the top of the steps with her face in her hands, laughing out loud. A hearty laugh emitted from the massive body of Piotr Rasputin. Cable and Bishop both simply shook their heads and smiled. Angel, Nightcrawler and Psylocke stood laughing out loud. Bobby Drake stood with Beast and Gambit as they all exchanged amused looks. Rouge, Jean, Jubilee, and Dani Moonstar all tried to hold in the laughter, with little luck as tears flowed from Rogues eyes as she held her stomach. Even Professor Xavier smiled as he watched the two grown men dance and sing. After a few moments, it was Hank McCoy who joined the two and began singing with them.
"Let the wind and the rain and hail blow high
And the snow come tumbling from the sky,
She's as nice as apple pie.
She'll get her own lad by and by.
When she gets a lad of her own,
She won't tell her Ma when she gets home.
Let them all come as they will
For it's Albert Mooney she loves still. "
Maybe everything is all right Neal Sharra thought to himself. Maybe Bobby had been right, all they needed was a little space and time, maybe they just needed to talk with their friends, and maybe they all just needed to get drunk.
Author's Note: This is what I recovered from my computer after a nasty hard drive crash; I don't think it was my final version but I figured I would put it up anyways. Hope you enjoy the gibberish.
NoHaven