A Fork In The Road
By V.Valentine
A/N: Wow, Valentine's Day is complete. If any of you have ideas for a sequel, and there will be one, let me know. And yes, Vincent's alias is a mixture of the song from The Eagles and from Desperado, the movie with Antonio Banderas. Both seem to suit him pretty well. I want to thank everyone who have reviewed this story, and invite you to check out my other works. Next to be finished is Shifting Sands, my FF7-Star Trek: Voyager crossover. As always, please read and review and know I'm not making a damn cent off of any of this. Read on, True Believers!
Christmas could certainly be an annoying time. At least that's what Vincent thought, despite all the cheery overtones and his own love of the holiday. It was the one day where it seemed that everyone decided to drop everything and actually be civil to one another. Vincent wasn't sure what it was about the holiday that made it that way, but he wasn't about to argue the facts. No one had tried to attack him or the X-men for at least the past month, and since the final fight with Hojo, he was certainly glad for that fact. It gave him time to re-cooperate for the changes he had undergone to fight the madman, but he was finally out of bed and moving around. Though, he didn't necessarily mind Emma's bedside manor.
But despite having just regained his strength from the fight, Emma and the other adult teachers had decided to make him in charge of putting up the Christmas decorations around the manor. So, for the past week, he had been putting up things like the ornaments and the tree itself in the main lobby. He had actually gone out into the forest and picked out the tree himself, and with the help of Chaos, he had managed to carry it back here. That in itself wasn't bad, but the constant barrage of Kitty wanting to know what he wanted for a present, Ororo trying to get him into the student pictures for the Christmas cards, and Jean trying to help him out by mentally placing the popcorn strings along the tree's branches. Of course, as soon as Emma found out Jean was helping him, she quickly put a stop that. Emma did have a tendency to get rather possessive of him sometimes. And Emma, in her own right, had been helping him cope with all this responsibility by sending him "images" of her mentally. Vincent had decided he didn't mind that at all one bit.
Almost as if on cue, Emma came into the living room, looking to Vincent as he was putting the decorations up on the tree. "Darling, would mind coming down for one moment?" Emma asked semi-sweetly as Vincent looked back to her and nodded, moving from the tree and slowly floating down to the ground level and to stand right next to her. "What's up?" Vincent asked, as Emma smiled as he looked to her, and then when she handed him a brightly wrapped gift. Vincent looked to the gift, then to her, and smiled slightly as he took the gift gently from her. "I suppose I'm getting a gift early?" Vincent mused as Emma nodded. "I figure you've been a good boy. You deserved something." She stated as Vincent removed the top of the box, only to find a Santa Claus outfit inside. To be more precise, a Mrs. Claus outfit. And Vincent was certain that any logical thinking mall official wouldn't allow their Mrs. Claus to wear something like this. Vincent held up the skimpy woman's costume, as he looked to Emma. "This is what I get for being good?" Vincent asked, as Emma shook her head and leaned closer to him.
"No. That's what you get when you're being bad, and get sent to my room." She sensuously purred as she lightly leaned forward and kissed his lips softly, but then let it turn into a much deeper and passionate kiss. And as soon as the kiss broke, he looked to her and smiled. "I'm pretty sure I just did some bad things before you came in. I better get going then." Vincent teasingly said, as Emma slightly giggled and took his hand, but stopped abruptly as the rest of the X-men came into the living room. Emma quickly grabbed the box and tossed it away from the two of them, and quickly smiled to Vincent before looking to the others. Professor Xavier rolled out into the front of the group, as he looked to the tree that Vincent had put up. "Wonderful Job, Vincent. It looks splendid." Xavier commented with a smile, as Vincent nodded. "Thank you. It should be ready to be lit. It just needs to be plugged in. Jubilee raced out into the front, offering to do it, as she moved over to the plug and moved it into the wall socket. And there before them all, the tree lit up in a myriad of colors, the rainbow variety of lights illuminating all the branches on the tree. And there everyone stood for a moment, just looking to the wonderful sight, content with being with each other and not having someone attack them for once. "Well, if I'm not mistaken, I believe I heard someone mention the prospect of opening a few presents early before tomorrow morning?" The Beast pondered out loud, as the younger students immediately raced over to the tree and started sorting through the presents, handing out the appropriate ones to the correct people. Vincent could see that Scott and Jean had immediately paired up and sat in one of the loveseats, already exchanging gifts with each other. He looked to Ororo with a present behind her back walking up to Logan, who had taken his usual spot in the corner of the room, cautiously watching everyone. And Vincent saw the look on Logan's face when Ororo presented him with the present, and Logan taking Ororo's hand as an affectionate gesture, the only one he could give out in pubic, and especially out in front of the kids. Vincent then looked to the reunited pair of Rogue and Kurt, their first Christmas together since finding out that they were brother and sister. And Vincent especially remembered letting out a small laugh when the opened each other's gifts, a batch of homemade strudel for Rogue, and a Slayer t-shirt for Kurt.
Vincent also looked to the Professor and Hank, each exchanging their favorite pieces of literary masterpieces with each other. Both of them, of course, immediately cracked into both of them, already turning pages of the books totally enraptured in them. But what surprised him the most was when Kitty walked up to him with two presents in her hands. "Here Vincent. This one is, like, yours." She said with a soft smile, as he nodded a thank you with a small smile as he opened. And he looked to the obsidian black electric guitar that was laying in the case in front of him, and the thought that Kitty had put into his present. "Thank You, Kitty. I...don't know what to say." He said with a smile, as Kitty nodded. "And this one is for Chaos. Do you think he'll want it?" Kitty asked as Vincent shrugged. "I'm not sure, why don't you ask him yourself?" Vincent asked and then, without effort, shifted to Chaos as the mighty demon looked to the present in front of him. Kitty had gone him a knife sharpener for his claws and talons. He looked to it for a moment, and then looked to Kitty. "Thank You, Katherine. I appreciate it." Chaos said with a nod, as Kitty nodded back and went back to the others handing out more gifts.
Within the next moment, Vincent was back in Chaos's place as he looked to Emma, who was sitting right next to him on the arm of the second loveseat. "Does that mean that you're going to be playing that guitar for me in the future?" Emma asked coyly, as Vincent smirked and shrugged. "Maybe. If you're good." Vincent stated simply as he looked to the others and their gifts. And this was probably the first time in his life that he didn't feel alone, and that he truly did have a family. He wasn't just some lone wolf, or a freak of science that was never meant to be, but a person. And that was possibly the greatest gift to him that anyone could have ever given him. Emma slid down to sit next to him, her arms contently around Vincent's waist, as Amara lit a fire in the fireplace, and they stopped to watch the Yule log burning. Hank went out of the room quickly only to come back with a bottle of Champagne for the adults, and sparkling apple cider for the younger kids.
And as the drinks were being poured, Vincent looked to Emma, and then looked to the window outside. With a slight use of his material, he gently began to make it snow outside, deciding to give them a white Christmas as a present to everyone else. He gently took Emma's hand, and lightly kissed it, and looked deep into her china blue eyes. "You know, I don't think I could have survived without you. I hope you know that." Vincent said, as he could see Emma blush slightly and nod. "I knew that. I can read minds after all. Nothing comes to me as a surprise." Emma stated smugly, but with a hint of jesting, as Vincent nodded. He then reached into his jeans and pulled out a small box as he gently lifted the lid, to show a pure diamond ring in the center. "Then you must already know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And then I'm going to ask you to marry me." He says with a smirk, only to see Emma's jaw drop. "But, if you already know, no point in asking you then." Vincent said, moving like he was going to close the box and put it away. "No!" Emma cried out slightly, drawing attention from some of the others. Vincent couldn't help but laugh, as he nodded and reopened the box. "Will you marry me, Emma?" Vincent asked, as Emma drew a deep breath in before answering.
But before anything could be said, a large thud could be heard outside, as then the door sounded like it was flung open. And within a few moments later, before anyone could react, a very large red lion came bursting into the parlor, skidding to a halt in the center of them all, accompanied by a muscular black man with what looked a gatling gun on his right arm, and a blonde haired man with an oversized spear across his shoulders. The three of them came to a halt and took up a defensive fighting stance. The blonde haired man, with a lit cigarette in his mouth, looked to all of them before anything could be said. "Alright, you god damned numbskulls. Where the fuck is Vincent Valentine?"
Fin?
By V.Valentine
A/N: Wow, Valentine's Day is complete. If any of you have ideas for a sequel, and there will be one, let me know. And yes, Vincent's alias is a mixture of the song from The Eagles and from Desperado, the movie with Antonio Banderas. Both seem to suit him pretty well. I want to thank everyone who have reviewed this story, and invite you to check out my other works. Next to be finished is Shifting Sands, my FF7-Star Trek: Voyager crossover. As always, please read and review and know I'm not making a damn cent off of any of this. Read on, True Believers!
Christmas could certainly be an annoying time. At least that's what Vincent thought, despite all the cheery overtones and his own love of the holiday. It was the one day where it seemed that everyone decided to drop everything and actually be civil to one another. Vincent wasn't sure what it was about the holiday that made it that way, but he wasn't about to argue the facts. No one had tried to attack him or the X-men for at least the past month, and since the final fight with Hojo, he was certainly glad for that fact. It gave him time to re-cooperate for the changes he had undergone to fight the madman, but he was finally out of bed and moving around. Though, he didn't necessarily mind Emma's bedside manor.
But despite having just regained his strength from the fight, Emma and the other adult teachers had decided to make him in charge of putting up the Christmas decorations around the manor. So, for the past week, he had been putting up things like the ornaments and the tree itself in the main lobby. He had actually gone out into the forest and picked out the tree himself, and with the help of Chaos, he had managed to carry it back here. That in itself wasn't bad, but the constant barrage of Kitty wanting to know what he wanted for a present, Ororo trying to get him into the student pictures for the Christmas cards, and Jean trying to help him out by mentally placing the popcorn strings along the tree's branches. Of course, as soon as Emma found out Jean was helping him, she quickly put a stop that. Emma did have a tendency to get rather possessive of him sometimes. And Emma, in her own right, had been helping him cope with all this responsibility by sending him "images" of her mentally. Vincent had decided he didn't mind that at all one bit.
Almost as if on cue, Emma came into the living room, looking to Vincent as he was putting the decorations up on the tree. "Darling, would mind coming down for one moment?" Emma asked semi-sweetly as Vincent looked back to her and nodded, moving from the tree and slowly floating down to the ground level and to stand right next to her. "What's up?" Vincent asked, as Emma smiled as he looked to her, and then when she handed him a brightly wrapped gift. Vincent looked to the gift, then to her, and smiled slightly as he took the gift gently from her. "I suppose I'm getting a gift early?" Vincent mused as Emma nodded. "I figure you've been a good boy. You deserved something." She stated as Vincent removed the top of the box, only to find a Santa Claus outfit inside. To be more precise, a Mrs. Claus outfit. And Vincent was certain that any logical thinking mall official wouldn't allow their Mrs. Claus to wear something like this. Vincent held up the skimpy woman's costume, as he looked to Emma. "This is what I get for being good?" Vincent asked, as Emma shook her head and leaned closer to him.
"No. That's what you get when you're being bad, and get sent to my room." She sensuously purred as she lightly leaned forward and kissed his lips softly, but then let it turn into a much deeper and passionate kiss. And as soon as the kiss broke, he looked to her and smiled. "I'm pretty sure I just did some bad things before you came in. I better get going then." Vincent teasingly said, as Emma slightly giggled and took his hand, but stopped abruptly as the rest of the X-men came into the living room. Emma quickly grabbed the box and tossed it away from the two of them, and quickly smiled to Vincent before looking to the others. Professor Xavier rolled out into the front of the group, as he looked to the tree that Vincent had put up. "Wonderful Job, Vincent. It looks splendid." Xavier commented with a smile, as Vincent nodded. "Thank you. It should be ready to be lit. It just needs to be plugged in. Jubilee raced out into the front, offering to do it, as she moved over to the plug and moved it into the wall socket. And there before them all, the tree lit up in a myriad of colors, the rainbow variety of lights illuminating all the branches on the tree. And there everyone stood for a moment, just looking to the wonderful sight, content with being with each other and not having someone attack them for once. "Well, if I'm not mistaken, I believe I heard someone mention the prospect of opening a few presents early before tomorrow morning?" The Beast pondered out loud, as the younger students immediately raced over to the tree and started sorting through the presents, handing out the appropriate ones to the correct people. Vincent could see that Scott and Jean had immediately paired up and sat in one of the loveseats, already exchanging gifts with each other. He looked to Ororo with a present behind her back walking up to Logan, who had taken his usual spot in the corner of the room, cautiously watching everyone. And Vincent saw the look on Logan's face when Ororo presented him with the present, and Logan taking Ororo's hand as an affectionate gesture, the only one he could give out in pubic, and especially out in front of the kids. Vincent then looked to the reunited pair of Rogue and Kurt, their first Christmas together since finding out that they were brother and sister. And Vincent especially remembered letting out a small laugh when the opened each other's gifts, a batch of homemade strudel for Rogue, and a Slayer t-shirt for Kurt.
Vincent also looked to the Professor and Hank, each exchanging their favorite pieces of literary masterpieces with each other. Both of them, of course, immediately cracked into both of them, already turning pages of the books totally enraptured in them. But what surprised him the most was when Kitty walked up to him with two presents in her hands. "Here Vincent. This one is, like, yours." She said with a soft smile, as he nodded a thank you with a small smile as he opened. And he looked to the obsidian black electric guitar that was laying in the case in front of him, and the thought that Kitty had put into his present. "Thank You, Kitty. I...don't know what to say." He said with a smile, as Kitty nodded. "And this one is for Chaos. Do you think he'll want it?" Kitty asked as Vincent shrugged. "I'm not sure, why don't you ask him yourself?" Vincent asked and then, without effort, shifted to Chaos as the mighty demon looked to the present in front of him. Kitty had gone him a knife sharpener for his claws and talons. He looked to it for a moment, and then looked to Kitty. "Thank You, Katherine. I appreciate it." Chaos said with a nod, as Kitty nodded back and went back to the others handing out more gifts.
Within the next moment, Vincent was back in Chaos's place as he looked to Emma, who was sitting right next to him on the arm of the second loveseat. "Does that mean that you're going to be playing that guitar for me in the future?" Emma asked coyly, as Vincent smirked and shrugged. "Maybe. If you're good." Vincent stated simply as he looked to the others and their gifts. And this was probably the first time in his life that he didn't feel alone, and that he truly did have a family. He wasn't just some lone wolf, or a freak of science that was never meant to be, but a person. And that was possibly the greatest gift to him that anyone could have ever given him. Emma slid down to sit next to him, her arms contently around Vincent's waist, as Amara lit a fire in the fireplace, and they stopped to watch the Yule log burning. Hank went out of the room quickly only to come back with a bottle of Champagne for the adults, and sparkling apple cider for the younger kids.
And as the drinks were being poured, Vincent looked to Emma, and then looked to the window outside. With a slight use of his material, he gently began to make it snow outside, deciding to give them a white Christmas as a present to everyone else. He gently took Emma's hand, and lightly kissed it, and looked deep into her china blue eyes. "You know, I don't think I could have survived without you. I hope you know that." Vincent said, as he could see Emma blush slightly and nod. "I knew that. I can read minds after all. Nothing comes to me as a surprise." Emma stated smugly, but with a hint of jesting, as Vincent nodded. He then reached into his jeans and pulled out a small box as he gently lifted the lid, to show a pure diamond ring in the center. "Then you must already know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And then I'm going to ask you to marry me." He says with a smirk, only to see Emma's jaw drop. "But, if you already know, no point in asking you then." Vincent said, moving like he was going to close the box and put it away. "No!" Emma cried out slightly, drawing attention from some of the others. Vincent couldn't help but laugh, as he nodded and reopened the box. "Will you marry me, Emma?" Vincent asked, as Emma drew a deep breath in before answering.
But before anything could be said, a large thud could be heard outside, as then the door sounded like it was flung open. And within a few moments later, before anyone could react, a very large red lion came bursting into the parlor, skidding to a halt in the center of them all, accompanied by a muscular black man with what looked a gatling gun on his right arm, and a blonde haired man with an oversized spear across his shoulders. The three of them came to a halt and took up a defensive fighting stance. The blonde haired man, with a lit cigarette in his mouth, looked to all of them before anything could be said. "Alright, you god damned numbskulls. Where the fuck is Vincent Valentine?"
Fin?