CHAPTER 6: FAMILY REUNION
Emma sighed to herself, she was on her stomach in a white bikini only with the top undone with a familiar pair of strong hands running sun tan lotion on her back. 'This is the life,' She thought feeling her husband's hands work their magic on her back.
Her long hair was pulled aside as she lay down on the beach on her blanket. It was the last day of their time here and she wanted to make sure she got a great tan. She already had a full body tan after sunbathing nude while they went to a very 'special' beach. Mainly one that was clothing optional because she wanted the full body tan although it had taken a few days to convince Vince to try it out.
He was still somewhat of a shy man when it came to his body just because of the scarring. It was also kind of cute seeing him try not to look at the other people and try not to get too 'excited' at seeing her naked. But he eventually managed to get used to it, you could only see someone naked for so long before it got boring after all.
They had just finished a nice swim and now it was time to enjoy the last day. They already had gotten a few souvenirs and had them shipped to the mansion. Wasn't any bother to keep them with them as they were going to collect quite a few things she figured. Emma then sighed to herself hoping to do something like this again in the future, but with a baby on the way would they have the time?
That was one of the things that worried her since a baby was a lot of responsibility and a lot of time. They had to set up a nursery when they got back as well not to mention a few other details. She was already thinking of setting up a trust fund just in case. She had no illusions that one day she and Vincent wouldn't be around.
"You're getting too tense," Vince said to her rubbing her back, "And I can feel how tense you are in your mind. What's up hon?"
She sighed not wanting to spoil this moment but she knew he would worry. "Just thinking about the future…"
"Ah," he only said nodding. He himself had been thinking a lot about that as well sometimes. When the baby was born would he go to college or would he stay home to help Emma out with caring for the child? Would he have the chance to even go? Although at the moment he was thinking of becoming a permanent staff member as was Emma at the mansion.
Sure with Emma's money they could just concentrate on that and live fairly well. Emma though was thinking of making an office building soon and running it from the mansion. She would have to have meetings eventually but she hoped not often. It would be a stretch at first but she knew with her husband by her side they would eventually overcome it.
Emma wondered if she wanted to raise her children up into the world she grew up in though. Sure Betsy and Warren had done fairly well but her own experiences with her own family made her wonder if she should not let her children into that type of world. It could change you and not always for the better.
Vince finished up and leaned down and kissed her shoulder, "Hey no matter what I'm sure we can do it together."
His optimism must have been rubbing off on her because she had thought the same thing a few times. "I don't see why not, after all we did face the end of the world."
Vince smiled down at her, "Yeah that's true so anything else after this should be easy in comparison."
The two of them continued to enjoy the sun and it was a beautiful day out, it was the kind of day that helped to remind you just how good it was to be alive. It was true they had faced the literal end of the world and it seemed like they earned this kind of day. After all the hell they went through it was nice to find a piece of heaven for once.
After a while Emma got a bit thirsty and sat up, she had of course made sure the back of her bikini was tied up. "I think I'll go for a drink, you want anything?"
Vince on his back with shades on thought about it, "Sure whatever is handy will be nice."
Emma nodded and placed on a pair of shades all her own and walked to the bar set up for the guests. It was too bad she couldn't have alcohol with the baby and all but she just shrugged it off, not like she was a heavy drinker anyway. She got up to the bar and ordered two sodas with no ice she knew how sometimes where you shouldn't drink the water the ice could just be as bad.
Maybe she was paranoid but with a baby inside of her she was taking good care of herself anyway. This was her first child the child she thought she never would have so it was understandable that she wanted to keep her baby safe.
She was waiting for the drinks and her mind was too focused on her thoughts and didn't notice the three men coming up to her. "Hey there pretty lady," The tall one said, obvious the type that looked like he used steroids. The two others were nearly as big as he was and from the feelings of lust coming off of them as well as a slight hint of drinking she got a bad feeling. "Since you're here all along we were thinking we could keep you company."
"I don't think so," She told him in a flat tone of voice.
"Oh hey she is American," The other said, obviously they were here on vacation as well. "It's nice to finally meet another person from the States here."
The third one moved behind Emma as the three of them surrounded her on all three fronts and her back was not to the bar. She showed no fear although she did feel it, mainly due to the fact that if things got violent she was more worried if something happened to her baby. She was already feeling the motherly urge to protect her child rising up in her mind.
"I said no and if you can't understand that then you're not even close to my league." She said in a cold defiant voice.
"Oh check out the hostility on this bitch."
"Hey we just want to have some fun girl nothing wrong with that."
Emma raised her hand with the wedding band on it to them, "Yes there is I'm happily married."
"Hey so am I," one of them said raising up his own ring and she got an image of a wife of his taking a tour at the moment from his surface thoughts. "Besides what they don't know won't hurt them."
"I said get lost," Emma sneered at the pathetic excuses for men.
"Ma'am do you want me to call hotel security?" The bartender asked her.
"Hey bud out of this!" One of them said to him grabbing him and shoving him down. The biggest one of the bunch grabbed Emma by her arm hard and dragged her a few steps.
"Now come on baby, you can't expect to be showing off like that and not expect to draw in men," he said to her and she had to admit that she knew her looks attracted men and had used it in the past but that was al behind her. "Now you're coming with us and-ARRG!" He screamed out as a hand gripped his wrist with enough force to send the man to his knees.
He looked up to see a young man with dark hair, a tattoo and many small scars on his body giving him an extremely dark look. "Hey what the hell are you doing?" One of the men shouted at him.
Vince turned to them with his ice cold glare, he had felt Emma's distress and came to find these men harassing her and this was one thing he would not tolerate. "What I'm doing is making sure my wife is okay and not manhandled by strangers." He said to them in a dark tone.
He knew the kind of things Emma went through and these men who were going to do what he thought made his blood run heated. Emma saw him and she knew that despite all the kindness inside of him there was a dark spot that he kept locked up. It was rare moments like this she saw it, she wasn't afraid of it but it was scary with how he could be when he was pushed or when those he cared for were in trouble.
She saw the hulking brute that had grabbed her arm trying in vain to get him to let go, she could sense the righteous fury in her husband. She knew that not only could he crush the wrist to much that the hand would just pop off but a part of him wanted to. Emma noticed on of them men making a move and it was her turn to act.
He turned her fist into its diamond form and hit him right in the gut, the man went down holding his stomach whimpering. The other saw her arm and his eyes widened, "Holy shit! She's a fucking mutant."
"We both are," Vince said his eyes took on a crimson glow as he let go of the man's hand and punched him in the face. Vince felt the bone in his nose break and he heard another outcry and looked to see Emma standing over the other man holding his head.
Emma was using her telepathy to ensure this man never tried anything like this again. She also reached out and altered the thoughts of everyone that saw this, it just happened the same only that they didn't know they were mutants. All everyone would agree were three men picking on a woman and her husband coming to her aid.
After that and the hotel security taking them away both Emma and Vince pretty much just went back to their room to forget about this. It was their last day here and at the moment both were glad for it, Emma just wanted to forget this and move on she didn't want three assholes to just ruin her entire honeymoon.
But thankfully when they finally got back to their room Vincent wrapped her up in his arms and she just enjoyed the feeling. She didn't want to admit if but a part of her had been scared for herself and the child but thankfully things worked out. "It was going so well…" She sighed leaning into his hug.
"Yeah I know…but we got many more places to go and tomorrow we'll be on the other side of the world enjoying what Europe has to offer us." He gently said, Emma smile and nodded she was looking forward to that and leaving this ugly day behind her.
-Xavier Mansion-
In one of the empty room there was some work actually being done. In this room there was Sage, Hank, Logan, Ororo with Warren, Betsy and Rogue helping out. They were painting and modifying the room, since they had just installed sound proofing inside of the walls and the new ones needed a white coat of paint. So there were a few of them with paint on them, although Hank and Warren were busy with putting the finishing touches on a new door since getting paint on either their fur or wings was a major pain to get off.
"Ah sure hope they appreciate this," Rogue said with a roller putting on the final touches. She was glad in work overalls they had used the last time while working on the mansion. "And where the hell is Remy? He was supposed ta help."
"I sent him on a coffee run," Betsy replied in her cut off jean shorts that both hung low and were cut so far up her legs a bit of her ass showed. Her top was a plain t-shirt that was tied off at the front and her long purple hair in a pony tail. Rogue gave a glance and wondered if that woman just had to show off her body all the time.
'You should try it yourself more Rogue, you got nothing to be ashamed off,' Betsy's voice said in her head.
'Hey! Get out of mah head! Ya know ah don't lahke people in there without tellin' meh!' She thought back angrily.
"Sorry," Betsy said honestly getting a couple of odd looks but with a house with so many telepaths they were used to this. Rogue nodded her head she hated it when people just walked into her mind now. It was bad enough with all the voices which were thankfully silent more often now. But after being turned into that 'Green Knight' as well as the horrible nightmares that were forced into her mind she felt really vulnerable when someone just walked into her mind.
And vulnerable was one thing she didn't want to be again.
Sage had her long raven hair much like Psylocke's but was more moderately dressed as she overlooked the room. She had analyzed the inner structure as she had planned out what they needed to do. She looked at the new door and nodded, "I believe that you both have done great jobs this will really help the couple with their new living arrangements."
"Yes I think it was a great idea while they were away to help them out," Ororo said as she was finishing up her own work. "I'm glad that they had this spare room next to theirs so we could turn it into a nursery."
"Yeah plus the soundproofing will be nice to only they get woken up at two in the morning for feeding' times," Logan grinned to himself. That was something that he had told them that they had to put in there. There was no sense in the entire mansion waking up in the middle of the night.
"Too true," Hank tested the new door that now led to Vince and Emma's room it seemed to work just fine. "Why did we put a lock on the one side of the door?"
Sage gave a small smile, "Well it stands to reason when the child is growing up and this may become a room for a small child instead of a baby. I would think that the Freemans will want their privacy."
Hank and the other caught her meaning, "Ah very astute of you my dear, I believe they shall like that."
"Oh trust me they will," Betsy rolled her eyes and shook her head, "I wish my parents had a lock on their door I still remember coming home from school early and accidentally walked in on them when I was returning something to my mother's dresser…God that's a memory I wish I could bloody wipe out."
"Oh gross…"Rogue shuddered remembering how she and Kurt had caught Slayer from coming out of their mother's room early in the morning and after the sounds they heard they knew what they had been up to. She was just thankful she never saw that. "God how old were ya?"
"Old enough to know what they were doing," Betsy winced at the memory she couldn't look her parents in the eyes for a week after that.
"Well this conversation just took a disturbing turn," Logan muttered to himself.
Unfortunately things didn't stay quiet in the air above the mansion a few metal spheres flew through the air as they came to towards the mansion. At first nothing happened but when they go within sight of a few of the people in the mansion that's when an alert was used. Everyone ran to certain areas and when word came of the metal orbs everyone started to head out to the front lawn.
Those that were first to arrive saw the spheres open and several figures walk out of them. There was the white haired speeder Pietro, Sabertooth as well was with them looking as nasty and menacing there was a new face with them a tall and handsome man that carried himself with an arrogant pose in black and what looked like a rope over it.
The last was of course the Master of Magnetism; Magneto himself stood up and got out of the sphere. He looked over those there from behind his helmet. Scott and Jean were the ones to approach him first, "What the hell are you doing here Magneto?" Scott demanded of him. He couldn't believe the gull of this man to show up, this man knew of the Hellfire Club plans and did nothing, and Jean had been kidnapped and went through an ordeal that she still had nightmares about. He was nearly killed twice alone in that not to mention the others.
Magneto studied the two of them for a moment before speaking, "I see that not only you survived your little trail by fire but are stronger for it."
"You son of a bitch!" This came from Mystique who just made it out of there and was walking angrily to him. "You knew you bastard! You send me on those errands so I wouldn't figure out that you knew!"
"Ah Mystique so there you are, when you just dropped off the face of the Earth I had a feeling that you might have ended up here. I don't take well to those that abandon me or my cause, and I did what I felt was necessary." He said making no apology.
"You fucker!" Raven screamed at him ready to tare him apart. "You're little spy was there in the Hellfire Club and you did NOTHING! You knew they were going after my daughter and the did! Do you know what they did to her? To my son and to the rest of these children?"
Before he could respond Mystique went after him but the new mutant on his side raised his hand and she was flung back, "You dare try to assault Lord Magneto?"
"Mama!" Rogue said going to her helping her up and then glaring at the tall man, "Who the hell are ya?"
"You may call me Exodus," The man said crossing his arms while floating, "I serve Magneto the only hope for our kind."
"Yeah right," August said stepping up closer to him, "You really got a few major problems in that head of yours if you think he's the only hope for mutants."
Exodus was about to teach the young woman some manners but a gesture from Magneto stopped him, he floated back to his place his head bowed down as he stood by his lord. Magneto then saw the man that he wanted to see Xavier coming to the front door. For the first time ever his old friend actually looked like he didn't want to see him.
"Hello Charles," He started off politely.
Xavier nodded but his face didn't soften, he could never forgive Eric for knowing that his students were in danger and not once gave him any warning. "What do you want Magneto."
He was surprised by his tone, "I see your children aren't the only ones to have gained an edge to them."
"I need to ask you why, why did you do nothing?" Xavier stated this was a question he needed answers too. Mystique was there with her daughter glaring daggers this was something she wanted to see as well.
Magneto sighed to himself, and then looked at his old friend. He had to make a hard choice but in the end he felt that he had to do what he did. "They were enemies of mine and I couldn't let my hand slip that I had a spy among them. I also felt you needed to be taught a lesson Charles, the world can me a dark and cruel place you needed to grow up and realize just how foolish your dreams are."
"Well then consider that lessoned learned," Xavier said to him coldly, he was still working with the children with dealing with some of the events that had happened. "But I think you should know our resolve is stronger then ever now and my X-Men and I will fight to protect this world and that's both with Human and Mutants."
Magneto shook his head, he just couldn't understand how Xavier could still be so naïve about this. "What about you Mystique? Do you of all people believe in fighting for this dream?"
"No I don't," She said honestly but then a small grin came to her face, "But I've learned something, I will fight for and with my children in their beliefs and I learned something else from…from someone close to me. I learned to fight for something that you will never have or understand."
"What?"
She smirked, "Honor."
That surprised a few on both sides but to Rogue she smiled proudly at her. Magneto narrowed his eyes as he looked about them, there was still the matter of why he came here to deal with but not everyone was here. He saw a few faces that he knew and some he didn't since not everyone was here.
"Come on why are we wasting our time?" Pietro asked him getting impatient with all the talking, "Let's just get her and go."
"Her?" Ororo asked but then she realized what he meant by that.
"Yes I've come for my daughter, she's coming home. I've tolerated her staying here long enough her place is with her family." Magneto looked around but she wasn't there. "Where is she?"
"I told her who was coming and she doesn't want to see you." Xavier told him honestly she was with Kurt now in his room most likely trying to control her anger at the moment. She could feel Kurt trying to keep her calm.
"Yeah right I'll see for myself," Quicksilver said and in a blur he dashed through them all and into the mansion. He ran into all the rooms it didn't take him long and when he did find her she was with of all people Mystique's kid. He didn't stop moving he just picked her up and carried her off to the front steps.
"What the fuck?" Wanda said startled and then glared at her twin as he set her down, "You! What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Hey easy we just came to talk," Pietro said backing up knowing how pissed she could get, "Look when I left I offered for you to come with me and I still want you to come with us Wanda. I mean we got a lot of stuff going on and well…you know…"
Wanda couldn't believe what they were doing of all the times for them to show up. "Are you nuts? He threw me away, messed with my memories, you kept that from me and left me all alone in that stupid house. If I hadn't swallowed my pride and came here who knows what would have happened to me."
"And you just walk right back into my life and ask me to come back?" Wanda was starting to actually shake with rage she couldn't believe this she just couldn't. Magneto took a few steps closer but she activated her powers and raised her glowing hands, "You! Stay right where you are! I'm not letting you get within ten feet of me again."
"Wanda I know I made many mistakes…I can't change that but I want to make up for them. I've been working on making a place for all mutants to go and I want my family there. I want us together again, when I learned that you were with Xavier I had hoped you were in a safe place. But I fear that may not be the case anymore." He said to her calmly and rationally.
"Yeah come on sis, we got this killer place now and you won't believe it!" Pietro said smiling and hoping for her to come with him. He had been kind of depressed leaving her behind again, but he had to do what his father told him to do.
Wanda started at the both of them for a moment before answering, "Fuck no."
"Wanda listen to reason-" Magneto started but she cut him off.
"No! Since when have you ever been reasonable? I have a life here now, I got my GED and I'm thinking of going to college. I got friends, real friends now. I have a great home, I have people who care about me and I have people I care about. You said I should be with family? Fine…This is my family," She gestured to the mansion and the others there behind her.
Just then Kurt teleported in and looked around surprised by what was going on, he was about to say something but he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to see his mother there in a silent gesture to not interfere. Mystique knew that this was something that Wanda had to do for herself.
Wanda gave a small smile at seeing Kurt and walked over to him, "I've found a lot of the stuff I was denied in life…and I found something else, love." She linked her arms with Kurt's to the shock of both her father and brother.
"What? You're dating Mystique's freak boy!" Pietro blurted out and was met by at least a dozen angry glares. He took a few steps back as Exodus and Sabertooth took up flanking positions. Only Magneto looked at her defiant daughter, she had always been the stubborn one even as a child. It was a trait her mother had and it seemed she got that from her.
"Eric," Xavier said to him getting his attention, "Wanda is home now, she's a part of our lives here and she's happy for the first time in her life she's truly happy here. Now you can try and take her by force but I promise you a fight. We protect our friends and family here and I promise you if you take her we will come after her."
There were many voiced agreements with this as well as all the mutants there stood as one with each other. Magneto stared at them his expression neutral he did want his daughter back in his life but would a 'war' with Xavier over it be worth it? At the moment he was outnumbered and a fight here he would lose. Perhaps there would be another time to convince her of his intentions as well as to come with her family.
But it became obvious that this wasn't the time, he turned his back to them and going back to his sphere. "We're going." The others went back to their own transports but Pietro shocked at this.
"What? You said that we'd get her back! We can't leave her with the x-geeks and that blue fur ball!"
Magneto stopped for a second not even bothering to look at his son, "She's made her choice now come along." He said in a cold tone. Pietro visibly winced at his father's tone and slowly even for him went back to his metal ball. He gave one last look at his sister before going back in there.
As Wanda watched them leave Kurt noticed that she was gripping him a bit more tightly. "Kurt…Take me back to my room please," She said in a small voice. He nodded his head and teleported them there.
As soon as she was there she let go of him and for a minute said nothing, then she let out an furious scream as her powers activated and the room started to shake, glass shattered and things started to fall apart. She was screaming and yelling things all about her father. Kurt stayed to make sure she didn't hurt herself and after five minutes she was just exhausted and fell to her knees.
Kurt was there at her side in an instant, "Vanda, are you okay?"
"…No…just hold me…" She had tears in her eyes as he held her close. She actually just broke down and cried into his chest. All that pent up anger, fear, hatred in her had just blown out in a massive outburst. She had to control it just enough not to destroy the mansion. But now she was just emotionally drained, she didn't know how long she just cried in his arms but by the end of it she felt just so tired.
She looked around her room and sighed, "Oh god…What a mess…This is going to take me days to fix up…"
He kissed her head then holding her and running a hand over her back, "Hey you can alvays stay in mien room until you do."
She smiled as she laid her head on his chest holding him feeling the warmth of his body and the softness to it there, his comforting arms around her. "That sounds nice…" She said before she just enjoyed the moment of being held by his loving arms. Kurt after a few minutes realized she had fallen asleep. He smiled down at his love and planned to put her on his bed while she slept and he helped to clean this place up. He just hoped that Magneto didn't show up again or at least not anytime soon he wasn't sure how much Wanda or the mansion could take it.
NEXT UP CHAPTER 7: RETURN TO HOME