A/N: A little O5 fun one-shot to cheer everyone up and prove that Cyclops is one helluva strategist.
As you know, the X-Men aren't mine. Please read and review.
A Fantastic Wedding
"So, we've been invited to Susan Storm's and Reed Richards' wedding," Professor Charles Xavier informed his five students as they recovered from yet another Danger Room session.
"Sweet! I love a good heroes' party!" Iceman cheered as he disentangled himself from Beast's limbs on the floor. He had fallen from one of his ice ramps while dodging an A.I. missile and had accidentally crashed into his fellow teammate.
"You love any festivity providing there is free food and flaring skirts, you little frosty party animal," Hank retorted. Bobby stuck out his tongue in response.
"When is it happening, professor? I'm not sure the suits I own are fitting for the occasion," Angel said as he landed on the ground and offered his hand to help Marvel Girl up. "I'll probably need to do some shopping before attending the ceremony."
The young woman accepted his hand, smiling at her friend as she stood up. "Come on, Warren… You must have at least four or five Boss suits that you haven't even tried yet."
Cyclops chose to pay no attention to his teammates' concerns regarding the wedding. Instead, he watched them and made sure that no one had gotten hurt during training. He had noted that Iceman and Marvel Girl hadn't completely accomplished their goals; he would need to have a private word with them later.
"For your information, Mr. Worthington, the ceremony will take place in three weeks. However, before your hopes get too high, I must inform you that you will not be all attending it," Professor X declared.
"What?!" Jean, Warren, Hank, and Bobby yelled. Xavier flinched. Scott just shook his head.
Charles took a deep breath. "If I remember correctly, last time you decided to have a get together with the Fantastic Four, my Rolls Royce was returned without its rearview mirrors, and Warren ended up in the infirmary for two whole days. I don't trust you boys to behave, and I won't allow you to ruin Dr. Richards' wedding."
Yeah, that had been a complete disaster, Cyclops recalled. It was a Saturday afternoon, and Sue Storm had invited the X-Men to lunch in the Baxter Building. She and Jean had engaged in nonstop girl talk about plants and decoration while the rest of them were more interested in seeing what Ben Grin and Reed Richards were up to in the Fantastic Four laboratory. To cut a long story short, Hank and Bobby had made a stupid bet against Ben and Johnny involving a linear accelerator and mirrors. Scott hadn't stopped them, and Warren hadn't been far enough. Needless to say, Xavier hadn't approved the outcomes.
"But sir, I had nothing to do with what happened in their lab!" Marvel Girl whined, staring at the professor with a mix of puppy green dog eyes and fiery temper. Cyclops knew their mentor would yield. Who wouldn't?
Charles regarded his only female student with a kind smile. "And that's exactly why I will let you go, Jean. I said I didn't trust the boys to behave, not you," he explained, earning a happy grin from the redhead. The professor could be so predictable, Scott thought.
"That's so unfair, sir. My wings got singed thanks to those two morons," Angel pointed to Iceman and Beast, "and still I'm being punished again," he complained.
"No one is being punished, Warren. Besides, I'm aware that you weren't exactly innocent during that particular incident," the older man replied.
Angel looked down, embarrassed. He was the one who had tipped Bobby that cars had mirrors, after all.
Xavier continued. "Except for Jean, you are all to blame – at least to some degree. Nonetheless, since you have apologized and fixed the Rolls Royce, I will give you the opportunity to prove that you've become responsible, grown-up men in the past months," he looked his four male pupils in the eye. "One of you gentlemen will be accompanying me and Ms. Grey to the wedding; I'll let you decide who that shall be. You're dismissed for today, X-Men."
That said, Professor X wheeled himself out of the room. Jean eyed her companions with distrust and, fearful for the future of her friend Susan's wedding, said, "Please behave." Then she left too.
Beast made a motion for his teammates to stay put. He waited a few seconds, listening in. When he was sure their mentor and female friend were out of ear range, he spoke.
"Let's be rational in regard to this crucial matter, my fine colleagues. Apart from the professor -evidently- I'm the oldest cohabitee of this house. That should grant me the privilege to be present at Dr. Richard's wedding."
"No way, you oversized ape-man! I was the first to say I wanted to go; therefore, I should go!" Iceman demanded.
"Hah! Like either of you have the required charm or class to attend the wedding of the decade," Angel intruded, and suddenly a full argument had blown among the three friends. Cyclops watched them with amusement.
"Guys, it's just a wedding. Why are you fighting over it?" he inquired.
His teammates halted and stared at their field leader like he had grown a second head. "Don't you wanna go, Slim?" Bobby asked, sheer incredulity in his tone.
Cyclops shrugged. "I would go in consideration of Reed and Susan, but I'm not willing to fight you over it. It's just a wedding."
Warren shook his head negatively. "It's not just any wedding, Scottie. It's a Fantastic Four wedding. Professor Xavier will want to mingle and spend hours debating the course of mutantdom with Dr. Strange or Captain America, or any other available superhero…"
Scott furrowed his brows. "So?"
"So… Jean will be left alone," the blonde millionaire concluded.
"Exactly. Whoever is chosen to join them will be escorting the alluring Ms. Grey for the rest of the evening," Hank clarified.
"Oh," Cyclops voiced. He hadn't thought about that. "Oh."
That explained, the trio promptly resumed their argument. Scott considered whether he should point out a few reasons why he should be the one accompanying Jean and Charles to the wedding. But Cyclops was a strategist, and if there was one thing Sun Tzu had taught him was to never engage in a battle he couldn't win. The second was, know your adversaries. He smiled inward; he did know his teammates, Marvel Girl in special. Perhaps, if he gave them just the right push…
Scott addressed his friends. "You all have qualities that I'm sure Jean would appreciate," he told them, "but I just don't see how you'll be able to reach a conclusion as to who should go to the wedding based exclusively on your personality traits. It's visible that none of you is willing to step aside in favor of the other."
"Of course I'm not willing to step aside. I've been trying to win Jean since the day we met her," Angel said, outraged.
"And failing miserably," Beast whispered to Cyclops, who held back a smirk. Then Hank and Warren began to argue again.
"I have an idea!" Iceman shouted all of a sudden. "We should start a competition! The winner takes the prize, which is escorting Jean to the wedding."
"Mutant powers allowed?" Hank asked, one eyebrow raised.
"Mutant powers required," Bobby answered decisively.
"Oh, I'm in," Warren declared. "You insects won't even see what's coming for you."
"You wish, bird boy," Iceman retorted, eyes narrow.
"Wait. We need a referee," Beast realized, immediately turning to Cyclops.
The X-Men leader gave a step back and made a negative motion with his palms. "Oh, no. No way. I'm not taking part in one of your childish gambles again."
"Please, Slim. We can't ask the professor or Jean to be referee. It has to be you," Bobby pleaded.
"The Ice Cube is correct, oh Fearless. Only you can guarantee that our less favored colleagues will play it fairly."
"Shut up, big-foot," Warren told Hank, addressing Scott next. "We won't tell the professor that you were involved, Scottie. X-Men's word," he promised, being immediately endorsed by his two new adversaries.
Cyclops pretended to consider the proposition for a few seconds, and after a deep sigh finally acquiesced. "Fine. But if he ever finds out that you morons dragged me into this, I'll blast the three of you directly into hell."
"Deal," the three young men said in unison.
"It's our luck that Slim's not interested in Jean," Warren commented with his teammates, who nodded in agreement.
Yeah, your luck indeed, Cyclops thought with a mischievous grin.
The competition began on the following day. There were no evil mutant threats on the horizon, so the X-Men didn't have much to do once daily training was over. Xavier locked himself in his studio to do whatever he was accustomed to do in there; as for Jean, she used the opportunity to go out and shop for a brand-new gown for the wedding.
The four remaining mutants met in the Danger Room. Today, their test would be a level ten session specially designed by Cyclops; whoever beat it first would gain 10 points.
The three X-Men gave their best, and Scott had to admit that Jean's company seemed to be a great incentive for his teammates. Their performance was formidable, but only one could triumph. Beast proved to be the fastest and opened the score.
On the next day, their new challenge took place in the School's lakeshore. It consisted of an arduous swimming competition with a few treacherous obstacles – also known as random optic beams. Clearly, Iceman was favored by the water; he froze his two teammates' feet and got to the finish line first.
A different dispute took place on the following day, then on the next, and on the one after that. Cyclops' mind seemed to have no limits to come up with the trickiest tasks, and the competitors started to wonder whether it had been a good idea to put their field leader in charge. It seemed almost as if Scott was enjoying making them suffer… Thank God the man wasn't interested in Jean.
Speaking of Marvel Girl, the observant redhead began to get suspicious of her teammates. Unaware that she was the reason behind a testosterone dispute secretly taking place in the mansion, she didn't understand why her friends seemed to disappear every day at four o'clock only to reappear after a couple of hours looking like drowned dogs, or just too worn out to hang out or even talk to her. Only Cyclops was acting like his old self. She went after him for responses.
"What's going on?" she questioned him one evening as he sprawled himself into the den's couch.
"What do you mean?"
"Why haven't Hank, Warren, and Bobby joined us for dinner lately?"
"I don't know," Scott responded, holding back a smirk. "Maybe they're tired?"
"Of what?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Want to take a walk? It's nice outside."
So the two friends went for a stroll in the garden. From his bedroom window, Angel watched how Cyclops and Marvel Girl talked and laughed. Son of a bitch, he thought.
Warren informed his teammates/foes of the occurrence, and on the following morning, as soon as X-Men training was done, the three of them cornered their referee in the Danger Room.
"Why were you flirting with Jean yesterday?" Angel demanded.
"I wasn't flirting, you idiot. She asked me why you've been acting strange, so I had to make up a bunch of excuses to distract her."
"Oh. Okay. What should we do?"
"Maybe we should stop the competition now and just declare who the winner is," Iceman proposed, knowing he was ahead of the others.
"Shut up, Icebox!" Beast and Angel yelled.
Cyclops scratched his chin, thinking. "We need to change strategy before Jean finds out about the competition," he determined. "I must confess, I was expecting more of you guys, you being trained X-Men for years… But since you seem to be so exhausted, the tests will happen indoors now."
"Oh, thank God," Warren uttered. His sore feathers could use a rest.
"And given that Marvel Girl is suspicious of your sudden distance, today's test will consist of talking to her. The one who gets to chat with her for the longest time wins."
The three young men rushed out of the Danger Room to search for the redhead. Scott had noticed that she had been massaging her temples this morning, what usually meant she was having a headache. Good luck to them.
Unsurprisingly, Bobby didn't last one minute, irritating as only he could be. Hank resorted to poetry and scientific topics, but Jean didn't seem to be in the mood for any of that today. More sensitive to women's needs, Warren was able to entertain her for nearly half an hour. He was the day's winner.
Next, there was a culinary competition. Beast and Iceman spent the afternoon bent over cooking books, and McCoy even succeeded to prepare an edible dish. But seeing the chaos they had done to the kitchen, Xavier lost his patience and kicked them out; alone in his studio, he ate the French take out that Angel had ordered. Warren, as expected, was immediately disqualified.
"You want to grab a bite at Harry's?" Scott asked Jean.
She glanced at the mess in the kitchen. "Sure."
Enjoying a short night flight, Angel spotted his two friends returning from their late dinner in Xavier's car. Son of a bitch!
On the following day, after the kitchen counter and floor had been satisfactorily scrubbed by Bobby and Hank, Cyclops assigned a new task to the competitors.
"You want us to steal something from Marvel Girl's room?"
"Not steal, borrow. It has to be something interesting – I'll be the judge of that. But hands off her lingerie, you hear me?"
"Are you nuts? Jean will kill us!" Iceman said with fear in his eyes.
"Only if you get caught. Oh, and this assignment will be worth double the points."
The three contestants accepted the challenge. They took turns distracting the young woman while the others searched for interesting items.
An hour later, Cyclops took his time analyzing the items. "The Revolver LP, from The Beatles; a teddy bear from last year's Winter Fair; and – oh… Jean's personal diary." The pink notebook had a tiny lock on it, and Scott felt guilty as his fingers trailed its surface.
"I couldn't find the key," Warren explained.
Cyclops returned the item to Angel. "Put it back where you found it. Quick."
The blonde didn't argue. As interesting as Jean's diary could be, it was wrong to invade her privacy like that.
Two hours later, Marvel Girl's yell echoed across the hall and reached the men's wing. "Which one of you morons was in my room?"
"Damn!" Hank, Bobby and Warren cursed.
Xavier was beyond mad. No boys allowed in the women's wing and vice-versa, was the School's number one rule. He gathered his four male students in his studio, and soon enough Drake spilled the beans about their little competition – no telepathy needed. All the while, Scott glared at his friends with a menacing look behind the red-tinted glasses. They didn't dare to snitch him.
"You're grounded," the professor told Beast, Iceman and Angel. "That leaves me no other option – Mr. Summers will be accompanying Jean and I to the wedding tomorrow."
They exited Xavier's office together. One week without leaving the School didn't sound like such a bad punishment.
"Phew! I'm glad this competition's over. It's been too much trouble over one girl," Bobby said.
"Too much trouble indeed, Mr. Drake," McCoy commented. "I don't recall ever needing to work this hard to go out with Vera."
"That reminds me – I should give Zelda a call."
Angel remained silent, and Scott could feel his blue eyes scrutinizing him. "What?"
Worthington stared at his friend for a moment, then chuckled and shook his head in amusement. "You clever son of a bitch."
Everyone that mattered had been invited to the Richard's ceremony, and the press coverage was simply huge. Both the church and the wedding venue were magnificently decorated, and Jean thought that Susan looked absolutely gorgeous in her impeccable white gown and veil. Everything was… fantastic.
Soon after the dinner reception had begun, Professor Xavier engaged in deep conversation with Hank Pym. Scott Summers and Jean Grey -not Cyclops and Marvel Girl tonight- sat alone at a corner table. The young man was dressed in a brand-new dark grey tuxedo, while the redhead was wearing a long golden dress and matching heels, her hair tastefully done in pinned up curls.
Scott cleared his throat. "Y-You look great, Jean."
"Thank you," she said, blushing. "You don't look half-bad yourself, Slim. Do you want to dance?"
"Yeah."
They waltzed together for a couple of minutes, until Scott halted all of a sudden and told her, "Don't go anywhere."
He walked to the small stage where the band was and whispered something to the guitar player, who nodded in return. Soon, the wedding band began to play "Here, There and Everywhere," from The Beatles.
"Scott! This is my favorite song!" Jean exclaimed, a broad smile making her look even more beautiful.
"Really?" he asked. "I had no idea."
They danced together, closer than before, and Scott felt like he was in heaven. A series of other songs were played, the young couple chatting and dancing to them all. The rest of the evening went by too fast, and by the time Cyclops realized that the night was over, he was already escorting Jean to the women's wing.
"I had a really good time tonight," the redhead told him as they faced each other in the mansion's hall. Then she stepped out of her heels and stood on tiptoes to kiss Scott's cheek.
He was in heaven indeed. "M-Me too."
Jean bit her lower lip. "We should go out to dance again sometime."
Scott's heart almost burst in his chest. "We-We should?"
"Sure," she smiled.
"G-Good. I mean, uh… okay," he stumbled with words. "So, uh… Good night, Jean."
"Good night, Slim," she said back and was about to turn around when she suddenly remembered something. "Oh, one last thing… How did you now my favorite song?"
Cyclops scratched his nape. "I-I didn't-"
Marvel Girl placed her hands on her hips and stared at his face.
Watching her, the young man sighed in defeat. "It was the track with the most scratches on your vinyl record," he finally admitted. "You see, there was this silly competition, and I asked the guys to-"
"I know about the competition," she told him.
His eyebrows raised above his glasses. "You do?"
"Yes." She was a telepath, for Christ's sake, and her friends had terrible mental blocks.
"Are you… are you mad?" he asked insecurely.
"Not really," Jean answered, her arms relaxing beside her body. "But maybe you guys should let me choose who I want to accompany me next time."
"Of course," Scott replied, embarrassed. God, how stupid had they been, competing for Marvel Girl's attention when she could have solved the impasse from the beginning.
"Thanks again," Jean voiced, making Cyclops snap out of his daydream. "I guess I'll see you next Friday then."
The young man furrowed his brows in confusion. "Next Friday? Why? What's happening next Friday?"
"Well, you're taking me out to dance," she informed him.
"Oh," Scott uttered.
Was he dreaming, or Jean Grey had just asked him out? Could he be that lucky?
Then he noticed that she was waiting for an answer.
"Okay," he finally said, his voice dry. God, how stupid had that sounded?
Marvel Girl smiled and turned around. "Good night, Slim."
"Good night."
Cyclops slowly walked to his room, feeling like he was floating on clouds. Singing a famous The Beatles' tune, he realized that Warren and the guys had been right all along. It hadn't been just any wedding.
It had been a fantastic wedding.
