#Whose brilliant idea was this, anyways?#"Nate, get outta my head," Logan growled, shooting a warning look sideways at Cable, who was sitting beside him at the bar, nursing a drink and looking pensive.
#What, you'd prefer me to shout over the music?#
Logan had to admit he had a point. The music was FAR too loud--sometimes having enhanced senses was a bitch--and the crowd, mostly made up of youngsters who shouldn't be partying in a club called 'Oblivion' on a school night, was beginning to get out of hand. Thought Marcus had more sense than to pick a place like this, he sent back to Cable grudgingly.
#Different tastes, I suppose.# The thought was tinged with sardonic amusement. #Too bad Bishop insisted on staying at the mansion and playing guard dog tonight. All three of us could have sat here and shit on the party--#
Logan nearly choked on his beer. Once he could breathe again, he looked sideways at Cable, and wasn't particularly surprised to see him smirking.
"You bastard," Logan said hoarsely, trying not to laugh. "That's--"
#A bad joke, I know. But I couldn't help myself--#
"You were much easier to get along with before you decided you needed a sense of humor."
#Dom says I'm making progress,# Cable sent back amusedly.
"She would," Logan scoffed, and was about to order another drink when Bobby Drake came up behind them.
"What're you two doing sitting over here by yourselves?" he shouted. Logan smiled ruefully as he got a good whiff of Drake's scent. *Boy's going to be paying for this tomorrow morning--* "Everyone else is having a good time, and here you are, brooding!"
Cable gave Bobby a level look. "Drake? Go away."
"Aw, c'mon, Cable! You're part of the wedding party, you should be--well, partying!"
Cable gave Drake a flat look, and Logan decided it was time to step in. "Drake, that girl over there's giving you the eye," he said casually.
"Who--where?" Bobby said, craning his neck around. Logan indicated the lissome blonde in question, and Drake's expression brightened. "Wow--I mean--well, Cecilia'd never know, would she?" He gave a curiously disconsolate sigh. "Well, it's not like she's given me any sign lately that she'd care one way or the other."
"Just don't do anything you'd regret, Drake," Logan said, caught between amusement and a certain sympathy as Drake made his slightly unsteady way over to the girl's table. He wasn't the popsicle's biggest fan, but Bobby had a pretty hard row to hoe in the romance department. Cecilia ranked right up there among the most contrary women he knew, and he'd known a few.
#How sweet. Does that include me?# a different 'voice' asked him.
Beside him, Cable's mouth twisted in a smile. #She's just like Dom. The worst possible timing.#
Ignoring Cable's comment, Logan slid off the bar stool, scanning the club for her. He caught her scent, but the crowd was so tightly packed, he couldn't tell which direction it was coming from--
#Right behind you, silly man,# her rich voice said. He turned around just in time to nearly get knocked off his feet by a hundred and ten pounds or so of amorous Askani.
"Sulven--" he started. She flung her arms around his neck, staring up at him with that distinctly mischievous look that always made him nervous. Except for the sunglasses she habitually wore in public to hide her prosthetic eye, she was dressed to fit in with the other patrons of the club, in a red dress that had only a little more material than Betsy's uniform or one of Emma's get-ups. Logan had always found it peculiar that a woman born in the thirty-eighth century should have taken to the more exotic fashions of the twentieth so--gleefully. She still wore her long dark hair in the odd multiple braids she'd had when he'd first met her--some kind of tradition from her home, she'd told him once. It was an eye-catching hairstyle most places, but here, she fit in just fine.
"Miss me?" she said, almost singing out the words as she pressed against him. Logan swallowed, silently telling his body to behave itself. She was just trying to get a rise out of him--quite literally.
"Umm--yeah," he finally said, cautiously. In almost three years of living with Sulven, he knew how mercurial she could be, especially when she reappeared after one of her 'vacations', the euphemism she insisted on using for her periodic disappearances. Not that he wasn't glad to see her--he worried himself sick every time she was gone, and damn the double standard--but he was well aware of how quickly her mood could turn. That was what made their relationship so--lively.
#You're overwhelming me with your enthusiasm,# she said, adding the telepathic equivalent of a pout. #Maybe I should have stayed away a few more days, then.#
"'Ven, you've been away for two months," Logan felt obligated to point out. Her expression hardened. "Not that I'm complaining!" he amended swiftly.
Sulven raised an eyebrow, a tiny smile playing on her lips, and let go of him, sitting on the stool he'd just vacated. Logan couldn't suppress a chuckle--she looked like a little kid, with her feet dangling several inches off the ground.
She glowered at him and then stretched, langorously, with a decorous little yawn. Her prosthetic eye was flickering behind the sunglasses. "Bright Lady, I'm tired," she said with a sigh. "Three centuries in as many days is a little much, even for me."
She didn't look tired. She certainly didn't SMELL tired. Logan coughed to hide a grin.
"Sulven, if you don't quit broadcasting 'take-me-now' vibes, you're going to start an orgy," Cable put in acerbically. She stuck out her tongue at him, and he snorted.
"Jealous, little brother?" she asked with a lazy grin. "Too much work and no play makes Dayspring a dull boy--"
Logan laughed helplessly. SHE'D never had any trouble with idiom. Cable gave her a martyred look as he got up.
"That's my cue. I think I'll go see where Pete got to," he said dryly. "I noticed him slinking out looking harassed when the waitress pointed out the no-smoking sigh. Anyways, have fun and try not to get yourselves arrested, all right?"
Sulven threw her head back and laughed as Cable headed through the crowd. "He seems well," she finally said, fondly. Fortunately for everyone's peace of mind, she'd never displayed any of the mothering tendencies so many of her Sisters felt towards Cable.
"Don't let him fool you," Logan muttered, taking Cable's seat. "You should have seen him when he first dragged himself in a few weeks ago. Looked like shit--Dom's convinced he's working himself to death."
#And he would laugh himself to death if he ever caught you worrying about him,# she pointed out, leaning forward and touching the side of his face, making a disapproving sound at the stubble. He reached up and took her hand, callused and strong yet oddly fragile-feeling in his grip. She was about as petite as they came, the top of her head barely reaching his chin when they were both standing, but he never let that fool him. She was an alpha-class psi, and one of the siondahri, the warrior Askani--she could swing a psimitar with the best of them. Anyone who underestimated her inevitably got a nasty surprise--and sometimes even lived to learn from their mistake.
She leaned forward until they were almost nose to nose, and the familiar, cherished scent of her nearly overwhelmed him. He pulled her closer, relishing her nearness after the last few lonely weeks. You knew you were good and caught, like a flaming fish in a net, when you started sleeping on only one side of the bed.
I did miss you, you know, he sent to her, knowing she'd hear him. They didn't have a psi-link, but she was always listening for him. They'd gotten involved during the little 'civil war' that had erupted between the Askani factions when the Sisterhood had converged on this era after the mess on Easter Island. When the conflict had been resolved and the others had gone back, she'd stayed. He hadn't asked her to--he'd wanted to, but hadn't been able to work up the courage. So she'd taken things into her own hands, much to the surprise of her 'sisters'.
She said nothing for a moment, merely stared into his eyes as if she was trying to memorize his features. #You're improving. You didn't ask me where I've been.#
"I know better," he said dryly. Sometimes he thought she wanted him to ask--that she was just too proud to share whatever bothered her so much about her 'vacations' that she had nightmares about it when she got back. Now wasn't the time, though, his instincts told him. He knew damned well what she wanted, and it wasn't to talk.
Sulven laughed again. "I may get you properly trained yet," she said with a challenging smile.
The comment demanded a certain kind of response. But they needed a slightly more--private place to be, before he could do it justice. "You know," Logan said, trying to sound casual, "the music's giving me a headache."
She batted her eyelashes at him. "Isn't that my line? 'Not tonight, dear, I have a headache'?"
"'Ven, you watch too much T.V," he said with a snort.
Chuckling, she slid off the stool. #Let us find ourselves a nice, secluded corner where we can teleport from, shall we?# she suggested, taking his hand and pulling him with her.
Just so long as you keep your mind on where we're going, this time. Try not to land us in the lake again--
#Perish the thought. Still--what do you call it? 'Skinny-dipping'? The thought of that has a certain appeal--#
Sulven!
***
"Dana, don't make us carry you into the mall." Kitty grinned.
"Fine, I'm coming. Jean, will you telepathically contact Sam and tell him that I'm about to die of embarrassment, so he doesn't have to show up tomorrow?"
"Very funny. Come on, it'll be fun." Jean took Dana by the arm and lead her towards the mall. "Of course, in exchange, you'll have to tell us if they had the desired result."
Dana turned bright red. Domino took Dana's other arm. "You've got it easy," she whispered conspiratorily in her ear. "Sam's much easier to embarrass and he's with the guys now. Instead of Jean and Betsy, he's got Bobby and 'Berto."
"Oh, God--"
Betsy pushed the door open for them all and they entered the mall.Victoria's Secret wasn't far. "So what have you already gotten?" Betsy asked. "Anything blue? That would fill another one of the requirements."
"It's not blue." Dana replied quietly.
"I bet it's black," Betsy grinned slyly. "With little cut-outs--"
"No!" Dana sighed. "It's green. It's a chemise. "
"No offense, Dana. I'm sure he'll love the chemise, but for a honeymoon you need something a little more dramatic-- and something a little harder to take off."
"Speaks the underwear expert," Domino said with a sardonic grin.
"I'm never going to live down the wedding dress episode, am I?" she asked. Domino shook her head, her grin widening. Chuckling, Betsy took Dana by the hand and lead her to the back of the store. "Anyways, like I was saying--something more dramatic. Something like--this." She held aloft a black satin and lace teddy.
Dana put her head in her hands.
Domino chuckled. "Sam'll have a stroke."
"Try it on." Paige urged. Dana looked at it doubtfully for a moment, then sighed, grabbed her size and headed for the changing room.
"No offense, Paige, but there is a sort of perverse pleasure that comes from setting up your brother like this." Kitty said quietly, over the sound of Dana's distressed muttering coming from behind the changing-room curtain.
Paige chuckled. "You didn't grow up with him. I can't even begin to imagine how he'll react to something like that. It's too bad Dana won't let us stick a video camera in the suite."
"Did she actually SAY that or are we just assuming that she would say that. Because if she didn't EXPRESSLY say it--"
Jean grinned."Kitty! We're awful. I almost feel sorry for them."
"Well at least we're not throwing them a shiveree," Kitty smiled.
Rahne raised an eyebrow. "What's a shiveree?" she asked innocently.
Domino trotted over to the dressing rooms. "Hey, Dana?" she called, her violet eyes dancing with mirth. "We're starting a betting pool on whether Sam passes out before or after he gets that off of you."
"Domino!" Dana exclaimed. Domino chuckled, and walked back over to the rest of the group.
"You know, if she does get that, she's going to need a really great pair of black heels. Really high heels."
"I HEARD that!" Dana called, sounding almost mournful. "Dom, just because you can walk, dance and kill people while wearing stiletto heels doesn't mean the rest of us are that talented! I can just see it--I'll strike a seductive pose and fall flat on my face. That should go over well."
"Actually, I was looking at this-- if she does get another outfit." Paige spoke up and they all turned in surprise. No one was really expecting Paige to pick out anything. And there was nothing restrained about her choice, either--she was holding out a red bustier.
One of Betsy's elegant eyebrows rose. "That's eye-catching-- and she will need something strapless to go under the dress." She grinned. "Do they have it in blue?" Paige nodded and held out a royal blue model for inspection.Betsy took it off her hands. "Okay, this is going to need some additional pieces."
***
Trying to tune out the increasingly alarming-sounding discussion taking place outside the dressing room, Dana looked at herself in the mirror. She cocked her head to the side, analyzing her reflection.
She couldn't recognize herself. She couldn't quite get herself to believe that the dark-haired woman in the glass was her. The image in the mirror didn't match the one she carried around in her head as what she was. The woman in the mirror was harder, more muscular, with thick dark brown hair, and eyes that shifted from green to brown in the harsh fluorecent lights of the changing room. Dana shifted her weight uneasily under the scrutinizing gaze of her reflection. The woman in the mirror did as well, but it was with dangerous feline grace, as if she did it merely to get a better look at Dana. Dana took a breath and touched her fingertips to the cool glass of the mirror. The woman in the mirror did the same.
The muscles had been refined in the trip to the future. The grace drilled into her after years of training. The wary and hard glint in her eye from years of fighting.The unapologetic posture from years of being nurtured and loved and away fromher father. The touch of wry humor in her eyes and the corners of her mouth learned from Marc and Bobby and Sam. The skeptical raised eyebrow as she scruitinized her reflection from Jean and Betsy and Ororo. Her control over her powers and confidence in herself from Cable. Her emotional health from Sam. Her link to her family, Marcus. They were the three most important people in her life: her 'father', her fiancee, and her brother. The three of them defined who she was, and supported her. Without them she would crumble. Despite Cable's insistance on self-reliance, she still needed to depend on people, but as long as her three favorite people were a phonecall away, she could be everything she needed to be.
She looked back down at what she was wearing and blushed, melting back into her somewhat shy, but otherwise normal, 21 year old persona. Her reflection grinned shyly at her, took a breath, and for a moment might have been mistaken for a sultry seductress, before the grin came back. She couldn't believe she was wearing something like this. She ran her hands down her sides, and then through her hair. Tomorrow--tomorrow night. I can't believe it. She was having difficulty wrapping her mind around even the most basic of changes that marrying Sam would cause in her life. She couldn't understand how other women did it. The changes in her life would be relatively small, compared to other marrages. She'd beliving in the same house, working at the same 'job'--
Dana Guthrie. She thought to herself. Mrs. Samuel Guthrie. I'm going to share a bedroom with him.I'm going to share a bathroom with him! How is that going to work? She took a deep breath. She had to admit that she did look good in it, and it made her feel--reckless. She pulled hair up into a makeshift french twist and grinned.
This was what she wanted. Something that Sam would never expect.
Dana slipped her clothes back on, and exited the changing room.
"So? How's it look?" Kitty asked. Dana just grinned and nodded.
"Oh, good." Jean smiled and took the pile of lingerie from Betsy's arms. "Here--we've just got a few more things for you to try."
***
"I didn't know Victoria's Secret made bags that big." Kitty giggled as they finally left the store.
"I think there may be a Fredrick's of Hollywood down the way."
"Paige, don't make me hurt you." Dana groaned.
Since they were in the mall anyways, a few of the other women decided they were going to do some other shopping. Jean claimed she had the BEST idea for a last-minute gift, and all but dragged Ororo off by the hair down the mall. Betsy and Rogue wandered off a few minutes later, Rogue muttering something about being so starved she could eat a horse, and gradually the rest of the group broke up, agreeing to meet back at Victoria's Secret in an hour.
Not being particularly in the mood for more shopping, Dana found herself sitting with Domino in the mall's indoor version of a sidewalk cafe. "You didn't have anywhere you wanted to go?" she asked Domino curiously.
Domino shrugged, and took a sip of her coffee. Dana had ordered a camomile tea--her nerves were definitely in need of a little calming. "Not really," Domino said casually. "I'm not much into shopping, truth be told." She suddenly grinned. "Although that little purple lacey thing back in Victoria's Secret was tempting--I'd have loved to have seen Nate's face."
"Maybe you should have bought it, then," Dana said tentatively. "You still could--"
Domino laughed. "Not much point. Lately, anytime the two of us even get near a bed, we're both so exhausted that sleeping is the only thing on our minds." Her mouth quirked. "It's been a little better since we've been staying at the mansion, I must admit--"
Dana frowned, hesitantly reaching out to Domino empathically. She didn't 'feel' frustrated or angry--just strangely rueful. "I'm--um, glad," Dana muttered, not sure what to say, or whether dropping the subject would be better. Domino was not the sort of person with whom you struck up a casual discussion of her sex life.
Domino gave her a patient look. "I'm not going to bite your head off, Dana. It's really not a big deal. Things with the network just get a little hectic at times, and everything else gets shoved to the back burner. It's happened before, it'll probably happen again." She paused, thoughtfully. "Now, if Nate wasn't TALKING to me, I'd be angry. Everything else is secondary."
"But he is--talking to you, I mean."
"Yeah." Domino chuckled. "Consider that my token piece of advice, Dana, since everyone else seems to be full of it--" She closed her eyes as Dana giggled. "That did NOT come out right," she groaned.
"It's all right," Dana said, grinning. "I know what you meant." She tilted her head thoughtfully. "Actually, what you DIDN'T mean is probably pretty much right, too. There aren't very many X-women out there who can justify giving me advice on successful long-term relationships. You, Jean, Kitty, Meggan--maybe Betsy, although she and Warren seem to be off as often as they are on--"
"I'm flattered to be included," Dom said dryly. "I suppose it's only natural that there'd be so few stable relationships among us, considering the line of work we're in. Hell, up until the last few years, I don't think I'd have classed mine and Nate's as stable, either--"
"I don't think you're giving yourselves enough credit," Dana said quietly, staring into her tea. "There had to have been something really strong there to begin with, or the two of you would never have made it through all that crap with the Askani."
"Mmm," Domino said, bleak memory shadowing her violent eyes for a moment. Then, deliberately, she changed the subject. "I wonder if Kitty and Wisdom are ever going to follow yours and Sam's sterling example--"
"I don't know," Dana said with a sigh. "They seem perfectly happy the way they are--like you and Nathan." She chewed her lower lip. "What's the difference?" she asked abruptly, and then muttered a curse. "I didn't mean it that way--"
"I know what you meant," Domino said with a smile. "Neither of us are being particularly clear tonight, are we? But it's a good thing you didn't come out with that particular statement in front of Paige or someone."
Dana winced at the image. "I just--I want nothing more than to stand up there tomorrow and swear myself to Sam for the rest of my life," she said, trying to explain. "But then I look at you and Cable, and Pete and Kitty, and it makes me wonder if Sam and I are being old-fashioned or something. None of you seem to feel the need to take a--formal pledge, but I'd never dream of questioning how committed you are to each other."
Domino was silent for a long moment. "I can't speak for Kitty and Wisdom," she finally said. "But Nate and I--" She shook her head, and Dana sensed an odd sort of frustration from her. "I would never dream of leaving him, Dana, but sometimes, the psi-link scares me. It's gotten so much deeper, so much stronger--I don't feel entirely separate anymore. And Nate--we both know how the Clan Chosen regarded marriage. I don't have a doubt in my mind how he feels about me, how devoted he is to me--he's made that perfectly clear--but there's a part of him that's still scared to death of 'making it official'."
"Afraid of losing you like he lost--" Dana trailed off, not completing her sentence.
Domino nodded, the look in her eyes sad for a moment. "I think--I think that in some ways, we both need the illusion of freedom." She made an exasperated gesture. "Am I making any sense?"
"Perfect sense," Dana said softly.
***
Sam sat on the porch swing and stared out at the Appalachians.
Lord, he prayed silently, please don't let me screw this up.
His gaze drifted down to the lawn, to all the tents and tables set up in preparation for tomorrow's events. He sighed and thought of his dad. Wish you could be here now, Dad. Would have liked to have seen what you thought of Dana. He'd gotten advice from everyone, but he really wished that he could have heard what advice his father had. He closed his eyes and tried to remember his father. He tried to think of a father-son bonding outing where he might have been imparted with such advice, but he couldn't recall anything specific.
#Just because you can't remember doesn't mean he didn't give you the advice you're looking for,# Cable's voice said softly in his mind. #Sometimes you learn the most important things without knowing it.#
Sam turned his head and looked up at his old teacher as Cable came out onto the porch to join him. "Was ah thinkin' too loud?" he asked a little ironically.
Cable shrugged, and sat down beside him on the swing. "It's quiet enough out here, I'd thinned my shields out a bit. Didn't mean to eavesdrop." He leaned back, closing his eyes.
"It's--okay," Sam said. "Ah--kinda like that idea, about not realizin' how much you'd learned--"
"I thought you would," Cable said with a deep sigh, rubbing his right shoulder as if it were sore.
"Sir? Somethin' wrong?" Sam asked, a little worried by the weary tension on Cable's face.
"Nothing you need to worry about, Sam," Cable said without opening his eyes. "Just some news from the 'front'." His mouth quirked in an ironic flicker of a smile that vanished instantly. "Cruz claims he can handle it himself--he just wanted to keep me updated."
"Oh," Sam said helplessly. The silence dragged on for a moment, awkwardly. "Ah--guess that's good," Sam said. Cable didn't answer, and Sam wondered if he was meditating or something. Still, this was as good a time as any--they hadn't had a chance to talk alone since Cable and Domino had come home, so Sam hadn't gotten the chance to ask the question that had been nagging at him for a while now. Mustering his courage, he gave it a shot. "Um--Cable, somethin's been botherin' me--"
"Please don't ask me for advice. I don't have a very good track record."
"No, sir, that wasn't it," Sam said, wincing. "It wasn't about Dana or the weddin' or anything--it's about this 'war' of yours." He paused, and then plunged on past the point of no return. "How come you decided you have to do this all by yourself?"
Cable's eyes opened, and he gave Sam a sharp look. "Domino and several thousand network operatives hardly class as no one," he said, a little more brusquely than Sam had expected. "Now drop the subject, Guthrie. You're getting married tomorrow--focus on that."
Sam straightened, obscurely irritated. "Ah think ah'm beyond the stage where you can tell me to go do something else and not worry mah head about it. Ah am one of your Twelve--"
Cable stiffened. "Not 'my' Twelve," he said harshly. "Do you think I would have gotten you--ANY of you into this if I'd had any choice in the matter?" He sat up straighter, and the tension Sam had been sensing from him grew much more noticeable, so much so that Sam wondered if Cable was unconsciously projecting what he was feeling. "Besides, the Twelve don't need to be running around fighting Dark Riders and stepping on Apocalypse's various nasty little schemes. He'd take advantage of that. You and the others have one purpose, and I don't intend to have any of you fall by the wayside before the right day comes."
"Now you're talking about us like we're tools, sir!" Sam snapped. "Just when ah think you're turnin' into a normal human being, you go ahead and revert right back t'your old callous self--"
Cable flushed. "Oath, what do you want from me?" he asked, clearly nettled. "I have a job to do, Sam!"
"Sure you do, but you also got a life, sir!" Sam said forcefully. "Thought you'd learned that by now--" He sighed, rubbing his eyes. He certainly hadn't celebrated as much as Bobby or 'Berto or some of the others, but he still figured he'd be wishing he'd taken it a little slower, once morning came. "Never mind," he said quietly. "Ah shouldn't be picking a fight with you--but damn it, Cable, we miss you! You AND Dom--you don't even bother checking in to make sure we all know you're okay anymore!"
Cable winced, leaning back against the rail of the porch. "You and the X-Men have your own role to play," he said, sounding curiously depressed all of a sudden. "Apocalypse isn't the be-all and end-all, despite how myopic I can be. I've disrupted your lives enough in the last few years. Or don't you remember the months you spent wondering if the woman you're about to marry was even still alive, after she got caught up in that time-rip with me?"
"Oh, great. You're still on the whole 'Ah'm the Chosen One, that makes it mah fault' kick," Sam grumbled. Cable glared at him for a moment, and then laughed. After a moment, Sam smiled, grudgingly.
"I am getting predictable in my old age, aren't I?" Cable said with a snort.
"You? Old?" Sam shook his head firmly. "Never."
Cable gave him a faint smile. "The rejuvenative benefits of chronal-variant powers aside, Sam, I feel as old as the hills these days." He half-turned, staring off into the distance, at one particular hillside, and Sam's heart did an odd flip-flop. "I haven't been up there to see him, yet," he said softly.
The flip-flop happened again, leaving an ache behind. "Ma goes up every so often, puts flowers on the grave," Sam almost whispered, his mind flooding with vivid memories of burying Tyler Dayspring up on that hill. He still occasionally had nightmares about that night in Apocalypse's stronghold, when Genesis--Tyler had tried to restore Logan's adamantium and Logan had gone feral, killing him.
"That's good of her," Cable said in that same quiet voice. "I think I'll take a walk up there now. I'm not all that tired."
He was down the porch stairs before Sam found his voice. "Cable?" he said hesitantly. Cable stopped, turning and giving him an inquiring look. "Ah--ah just wanted to say how glad ah am that you're here. It means a lot t'me--and t'Dana--that you'll be part of our wedding."
He thought he saw the beginnings of a smile on Cable's face. "You catch more insects with root vegetables than a club, Sam." Sam blinked, and heard Cable's grating laugh. "And yes, I know I'm mixing as well as mangling the metaphor, kid. You were just looking so somber, I had to lighten things up."
Sam shook his head, unable to hold back a grin. "You're impossible, sir."
"So Dom tells me." Cable gave him a severe look. "Now go to bed. Not good for the groom to yawn his way through the ceremony."
"Oh, ah'm heading off soon," Sam said, raising a defensive hand. "Don't worry."
"Good. Sweet dreams, Sam," Cable said, and, turning back in the direction of Tyler's grave, continued on his way.
"Night, sir--Nathan," Sam said softly, too low for Cable to hear him. He shook his head at his own cowardice and then leaned it back against the back of the swing.
"Anything wrong?" He turned his head to look at Dana. She was smiling faintly and standing by the front door wrapped in a thick terrycloth robe.
"Nah, just being an idiot and tryin' t'give Cable a lecture," he said with a straight face.
"And you're still in one piece?" Dana said with a grin. "He must like you, then--"
"Ah guess so," he said, chuckling. "Why are you still up, Danes?"
She came over and sat next to him on the porch swing. "Too excited." she said sheepishly, laying her hands in her lap. "I heard you guys come home and felt that you were staying out here for a while so I came down to see how you were. I hope you weren't too traumatized." She smiled at him, but he had the feeling that she was actually a little scared.
He smiled reassuringly at her and stroked her hair. "Ah'm probably scarred for life," he joked.
"Someday I will have the courage to find out what happened, but right now, I REALLY don't want to know."
He grinned and slipped his arm about her waist. "Aw, heck, it wasn't too bad. Oh--and Sulven finally showed up."
Dana straightened, looking excited. "She did? That's great--where has she been?" Before Sam could respond, she shook her head with an exasperated sigh. "Never mind--I should know better than to even ask, I know. But I'd pretty much resigned myself to the fact that she wasn't going to be here tomorrow. I'm glad I was wrong."
"Well, she said she lost track of time," Sam said quizzically, and Dana suddenly giggled. He gave her a patient look. "Let me guess. Some kind o'Askani joke?" Dana nodded, and Sam shook his head and went on. "Logan sure was happy to see her--"
"I bet," Dana said with a snicker. "Please tell me they did find some nice, secluded corner or something--"
"Dana!" Sam said, blushing despite himself, and she chuckled wickedly.
"Hey--I spent the better part of a year with them when we went to the future. I know damned well how hard it is for them to keep their hands off each other--it's kind of cute, actually. And absence does make the heart grow fonder." She yawned, and he checked his watch.
"Oh, geez," he said, startled. "We'd better get SOME sleep or it's not goin' to be pretty in the mornin'."
"Actually, Sam, before you go to bed, I want you to look at something for me." She pulled something out of the pocket of her robe and handed it to him. He took it from her. It was a document of several pages in length. "And sign it if you would." She added quietly, handing him a ball-point pen.
Sam frowned as he unfolded the paper and skimmed the first page. It was written in legal language and had something to do with money. He nodded and sighed. "Ah thought we talked about this," he said sadly. There was only one thing he could think of that Dana would want him to sign before the wedding.
She looked at him oddly for a moment and then chuckled. "Oh, no! It's not a pre-nup. Actually, it's kinda the opposite." He looked at her in confusion. "I had some of Marcus's lawyers whip it up." She sighed. "Sam, when we came here to announce our engagement, I could sense the coal dust in Josh's lungs. Not much--not enough to make him sick, but it was there, and it really bothered me. We've talked about your dad, and I don't want that to happen to Josh or any of your siblings.I want Josh out of that mine. I don't want to have to keep secretly healing him during a hug or handshake whenever I come. Marcus agreed, and he said he's willing to give Josh a scholarship of sorts. It'll be in an account under our name, that we can then transfer to your mother or to him.There should at least be enough to send Josh to school and support your family while he's away."
Sam looked at the paper with a strange sort of longing, but then folded it up and handed it back to Dana. "Ah can't take his money. Itwouldn't be right."
"Don't give me that. By tomorrow we'll all be family. I don't want to go back to the mansion knowing that Josh is going back to the mines!" She brushed his hair off his forehead with her hand. "I know how you felt about the mines. I know sometimes you even have nightmares about them.How long could it be until there's a cave-in?"
Sam swallowed. "Ah did not choose to marry you for your money.You do not have to pay my family a dowry to join it."
"It's NOT a dowry! Don't be stubborn. Sign the damn paper!"
"No. Ah'm not going to let you and your brother take them on as a charity case. 'Berto's my best friend. Do you think he hasn't offered to help? The Guthries have never taken charity."
Dana's eyes flashed green in frustration. "Fine. Let's burn the paper. Let's forget about the account. I'll just come down here with a wad of cash."
Sam met her gaze with a cool one of his own. "No."
"Dammit!" She stood up and stalked out on the lawn. "You know, he could probably get a full music scholarship on his own-- he wouldn't even need the money. I just want to give him the chance to go! What the hell is all the money for if I can't do this? What is it going to buy instead? A car? A boat? Maybe a nice Christian Dior little black dress that I can wear to his flonqing FUNERAL!"
He flinched at her words. You always knew Dana was seriously losing her temper when she started to swear in Askani, and she was getting REALLY loud. He really didn't want to wake up the whole house and have all the wedding guests find them out on the front lawn screaming at each other about money. He walked out on the lawn to join her.
"Dana--" he started.
She looked up at him then, her anger fading and a clarity coming into her face that hadn't been there before. "It's not about me or Josh or your family at all, is it?" A faint, sad smile touched her lips. "It's about Marcus."
He closed his eyes and pressed his lips together in frustration. "Damn your empathy," he muttered shaking his head. "Fine. It's Marcus. Ah'm petty--if he'd known that ah was going to propose when ah was he would have given me money to buy a bigger ring. Don't try to tell me otherwise.The point is, ah saved muh money and ah bought it for you. It means much more to me that way, ya see? If the size of the diamond really represented how much ah loved ya ah would have saved until ah could have afforded the Hope. Fortunately, Ah don't have to. Yer here with me, and ya can feel it."
He took her hand and pressed it to his chest, over his heart. "It's all right there, and that's all ah need. Marc is one of muh best friends, but sometimes ah think he doesn't realize that. Ah've never been in a position to express how much ah love someone with my money. Marcus loves you: he buys you a car for yer birthday. Ah love ya--what can ah do to compare to that? Ah can fly ya somewhere beautiful, ah can pick ya a flower, ah can kiss ya and somehow try to put all that ah feel into it. Ah dunno--you were raised in the same environment as your brother--if some day, God forbidding, you were to lose your empathy, would you even know how much ah love you? Do cars and jewelry and money mean more love to you? Can ah provide for you the way you need me to?"
Her cheeks were wet and they reflected the silver moonlight. "Sometimes you can be so stupid, Sam Guthrie."
Sam swallowed, but forced himself to continue. "Maybe. But Dana, if you need Ferrarris and Christian Dior and caviar--ah can't provide that for you, and ah don't want to depend on Marcus to make you happy. If that's what you need then let's go inside and tell everyone to go home. Then you can go to New York and find a doctor or an executive." He bent down and picked a daisy that was growing on the lawn. He straightened and offered it to her. "If you can tell me that this flower means as much to you as a 3 carat diamond and a BMW, then tomorrow afternoon ah will swear myself to you--for rich or for poor." He swallowed and blinked at the tears that were threatening to come. "If you can't--"
She took the flower from him slowly, and looked at it for a long time. "I know this is going to make me sound like Domino, but Sam, you are SUCH an idiot at times."
"Dana--"
"No, Guthrie. You said what you needed to say, now it's my turn to talk." She stared into his eyes, without even blinking. "Do you think any of that--cars and clothes and money--mean ANYTHING to me at all? Do you really not know me? Sam, I don't even need a flower from you," she said with total conviction. "The feeling that I get every morning when I wake up and am completely overwhelmed by the mere fact that you've chosen me over everyone else--that I'm the one you kiss and hug and share things with and love--that feeling alone is worth a hundred thousand BMWs or about ten of these flowers." He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her with an almost painful tightness. "Oof--Sam, I need those ribs, okay?" He eased up a bit, but didn't let her go. "I can live without jewelry and cars--I can't live without YOU," she went on. "Sam, I NEED you." She put a hand on either side of his face and made him look at her.
"There's something Domino told me once, years ago--back when I first met her, actually," she said, more quietly. He felt her open her heart to him--he felt more from her than he ever had before. "She said that even with everything Nathan had done in the past, even with how angry he made her sometimes, she wasn't a whole person without him. I feel the same way, Sam. You--complete me. I can't even imagine a life without you."
He knew she was telling the truth. He could feel as much from her, but he searched her eyes anyway, out of habit. Her hazel eyes were soft, and pleading with him to believe her words. "Sam, I'm sorry for even bringing it up, but they'll be my family too. You know as well as I do that Josh needs to get out of the mines. I've got some rainy-day funds stashed away, and maybe with the right investing we can turn that into a college education."
"But it's yours."
She chuckled. "But with Ororo around, there's never a rainy day for me to use it."
He finally grinned. She pressed her advantage and kissed him lengthily. He smiled against her lips and pulled her closer to him, lowering his head so he could return her kiss with enthusiasm.
***
"What the heck are you doing?" Logan asked, rolling over to see Sulven standing at the window, wearing nothing but her skin and staring down at the Guthrie's front yard. They'd been given a tiny attic rooms to themselves--Sulven was going to be doing some teleporting in the morning, and she claimed she needed to get the 'sense' of the place before she could start transporting people here en masse.
She turned, giving him one of those 'I know something you don't know' smiles. "Eavesdropping," she said, with perfect honesty.
"Well, quit it and come back to bed," he growled. She laughed and disappeared in a flash of light, reappearing right in his arms. He nearly jumped out of his skin. "You could just WALK across the room like normal people do, y'know," he grumbled, but didn't let go.
"What fun would that be?" Sulven asked, snuggling against him like a contented cat. He half-expected to hear her start to purr. "I think I'm satisfied, Logan."
He snorted. "I should damned well hope so--"
"Silly man," she said, slapping his bicep lightly. "I didn't mean with THAT. I meant with the boy."
Logan frowned and pushed himself up on one elbow, staring down at her. She looked right back up at him, arching an eyebrow. "What boy? Sam?" he ventured.
"Of course."
"He's hardly a 'boy', 'Ven--"
"He's a boy," she said decisively, her left eye flashing. "But a sweet boy. I think he'll be very good to my little sister--"
Logan shook his head ruefully, and laid down beside her. He could have pointed out that Dana wasn't REALLY an Askani, despite all the training Cable had given her, but it wouldn't have done much good. Sulven wasn't the only Sister who'd considered Dana as good as adopted. "You've known Sam for a couple of years, now, darlin'. Don't tell me you hadn't made up your mind about him yet?"
"There's a different between courtship and a bonding," Sulven said, poking him in the ribs. "And I approve--what more do you want?" She sounded almost petulant.
"'Ven, I don't think your approval means much to either of them," Logan said forthrightly.
"Immaterial," she muttered. "I doubt our DISAPPROVAL means much to Apocalypse, either, and that doesn't stop me from wanting to dance on his corpse."
Logan fought the urge to roll his eyes. There really was very little point in arguing with her. Sulven didn't lose debates. She had all the tenacity of a hyperactive pit bull-- "OUCH!!! Damn it, Sulven!"
"Compare me to a canine again and I'll break more than your ribs, Old One."
He rubbed his side gingerly and thanked God for his healing factor. "You're in a mood tonight--" he muttered, rolling onto his back.
She sat up, leaning over him, her braids dangling free, tickling his bare chest. Her smile was positively savage. "What can I say?"
"You know, ever since I met you, my life's been like a roller-coaster that violates every safety code in the book--"
"I'll take that as a compliment," she said, and, with a benign smile, tweaked his nose before she laid back down, putting her head on his shoulder. "Dream well, Logan," she said with a sigh. He could already feel her body relaxing. She didn't sleep much--she was constantly working at an energy level approaching that of a deranged gnat--but when she did go, she was out like a light.
"You too, darlin'," he said, kissing the top of her head and shifting slightly into a more comfortable position, careful not to jostle her too much. Drake and Worthington could make all the jokes they wanted about 'Ven having him wrapped around her little finger. They were probably right, Logan reflected with a grin, but that didn't mean it was a BAD thing.
to be continued...
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