Memories

Dark Angel

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If you want to use Tora, or any of my other characters, PM me.

She sat in silence, eyes unfocussed as she spoke with a woman long dead.

"Etana?"

"Tora."

"I need your advice."

"On what?"

"On how to react to something."

"How to react to what?"

"How to react to death."

"Whose death?"

"Many people. Something is going to happen. Something that will tear us asunder."

"How do you know…? Ahhh. Dragon."

"Of course. How's things with Steve?"

"We've agreed to wait until all the Raft escapees have been rounded up and the Skull is away before having children. Cap on three. No more. Two years minimum between them all."

"Three? I'm impressed."

"He wanted… Steve, how many kids did you want? Oh, he just grinned and said three but he originally said five to be able to bargain down to three. The sly dog."

"Come on Tana, you know you're madly in love with him."

"Of course. But I can still moan about him. Tell me truthfully that you don't moan about Logan and I'll swap you."

They both burst out into bubbling laughter. Steve stuck his head in the door.

"Anything I should be worrying about?"

"We're planning to swap husbands."

He laughed as well.

"Not going to happen. Tana loves Logan like a son."

"Really?"

"Shut it Tana. You just want to get me annoyed."

"Well, haven't you heard? A lot of women try to chat him up when he's out on X-Men missions."

"Yes. I have to beat them off with a big stick."

"See? I might just find him attractive."

Tora ruined the illusion by giggling. Steve grinned.

"I happen to know you like tall blond Super-Soldiers, not hairy Canadian midgets."

"HE'S NOT A MIDGET!"

Both Tora and Etana burst out laughing at their in-synch defending of Logan's height.

"No, really. Come on Tana, he's nine inches shorter than you!"

"So? Napoleon was five foot two and Josephine was taller than me."

"Yes, you promised to tell me about Napoleon. Go on, spill the beans."

"He chucked a wine bottle at me."

"WHAT!"

"I told him I thought it was funny that a leader of a Revolution to disestablish the monarchy was now Emperor. He didn't like it."

"Do you go out of your way to cause trouble?"

"No. I just told him the truth."

"Etana!"

"Look, Robert liked the truth! Leo liked the truth! Newton didn't. I have always got on with the people who liked the truth."

"Robert?"

"Bruce? Robert the Bruce? Come on! You've heard the spider-story! I told him that! I had to tell him it three times before he got the message."

"That…was you?"

"Well duh Steve. Does Logan ever do the stupid husband routine on you?"

"Sometimes. Not often though."

"Right, I'm swapping."

"Not a chance."

Steve pouted.

"No one wants me?"

"Of course not Steve. We'd have to share you with a country, not just the entire female population of three states. Oh, and some of the guys as well."

He laughed and let Etana hug him.

"Come on. You all know I have far more fanclubs than Logan."

"Actually…"

"Tora, please tell me you haven't been researching this…"

"Logan has fewer fanclubs but the members of his fanclubs total 3,987 more than yours. Sorry Steve."

"Tora, I can't believe you actually look these things up!"

"Have you seen the shipper sites? There's a group of misguided people who think that Etana and Logan are engaged in some sort of romantic relationship after a photo of the pair of them in the late 19th century turned up."

Etana spluttered and started to choke on her laughter.

"That photo was in the style of mother-son photos! Oh, if people are so stupid they can't work out I was his mother then they deserve to be wiped out in the next time some alien comes and tries to take over! Did I ever tell you I was responsible for fighting off the first ever alien invasion. Of course, I had help, but I was the founder of the Order of the Shield. Well, co-founder. I still have the honouree seat on the Grand Council. I have a rather…strained relationship with the current Grand Master."

"Is that the man you spoke to very harshly at the wedding, then both of you bowed stiffly and he gave us a bag of gold coins?"

"Yes, that was Isaac."

"Isaac?"

"Newton? Oh even you must have heard of him?"

"Isaac Newton died… years ago."

"He brought immortality into the Brotherhood. Do you remember the blond man I danced with?"

"The dance Herc identified as a fifteenth century Italian court dance?"

"Yep. That was Leonardo Da Vinci. He left the Brotherhood but he remained immortal."

Steve started spluttering.

"I had LEONARDO DA VINCI at my wedding!"

"Yes. So?"

"SO! Etana, that man is a genius! You could have told me!"

"He's Leo. He's my friend. I didn't know you had some sort of obsession with him!"

"Tana, Tony would have been in raptures if he knew! Leonardo Da Vinci is like…like the Supreme Artist and Inventor of All-Time!"

"Do you want his number?"

"Wh… WHAT!"

"Do you want his phone number?"

"You have Leonardo Da Vinci in your contacts?"

"I have Leo on speeddial."

Steve closed his eyes and slowly started counting to ten. Etana grinned and flicked out her phone, the private one, not the work one.

"Hi Leo. Yeah it's me. Steve wants to meet you."

She rolled her eyes.

"I haven't had this much trouble since I told Thor I knew Sif and then he suddenly realized 'Oh, she's the Black Angel we all thought was a god'. Idiot Asgardian…"

Tora laughed as she withdrew from the now familiar banter between Steve and Etana. They had a much lighter relationship than Tora and Logan, finding it easier to tease and joke, which just showed the deepness of their emotions to everyone. There was something about their soft teasing that made people just want to leave them alone to joke in private. Tora could only suppose that a year and a half of just being friends gave you that. The easy, joking way of talking. The way of softly teasing, especially when Etana found the Iron Man/Cap fans who seemed to think they were going out. Apparently she was still teasing him about it three months later. Tora let a smile twitch on her lips. Suddenly Jamie was crawling onto her lap.

"Read."

The brightly coloured picture book was rammed under her nose.

"What do you say?"

"Please read?"

"Good."

"So…"

She smiled and changed her position slightly so he could be nestled up on her stomach and opened the book.

"DNA helix. Chromosome. Gene. X-Gene. Bacterium. RNA…"

She was going to kill Hank for this picture book.

"Of course, James Logan was considered on a par with Reed Richards."

"Well of course. He had a mainframe mind."

"I'm sorry, I don't understand twenty-first century computing speak."

"I'll explain later. Or rather, she will."

A.N. Would anyone be interested in some Curt-centric fics? I have a friend who's willing to write them. Warning, Krekka has a warped (Deadpoolish) sense of humour!