Terri's Peep Hut ~~ Fiction Archive

"Are you feeling OK?" Now she's lookin' at me like I got three heads or somethin'. "You never forget when there's any kind of nationally televised game on. Let alone the season opener featuring the defending Stanley Cup champs, the Avalanche, and Mario Lemieux of the Penguins. You know, 'it's a hockey night in Pittsburgh'? 'Wednesday night hockey is back on ESPN?' Seriously, did you hit your head or something?"

There are many, many reasons why I love watchin' hockey with Marie. She likes all the same teams I do. OK, I cheated a little there 'cause I probably put everythin' she knows 'bout hockey inta her head. But there's more than that. We sit and talk while we're watchin', usually 'bout nothin' much, but we have some time for just her and me. She's still in school - college, first semester - and she has classes most days and I have drills or workouts or missions most nights. Plus, some nights I just needta get the hell outta this mansion. Never on a hockey night, though.

It's been kinda rough on us, stayin' here, but it's best for Marie in the long run, so we did it. Chuck's her legal guardian until her birthday, and all in all, he's been pretty good, pretty understandin' of our situation. But she's young - she's turnin' eighteen this birthday - and he ain't inclined to let her do things like live in my room or sleep over. I was kinda pissed 'cause we weren't even doin' anythin' then - she'd just come over when the nightmares got bad - but Marie and Chuck and me had a long talk 'bout how it didn't look good no matter what was goin' on.

I thought about sneakin' around. Hard to do in a house with two telepaths, but I was willin' to give it a try. Marie didn't like the idea of lyin' and I think the bottom line with her is that she appreciates Chuck takin' guardianship of her and providin' a roof over her head and school and all. She don't wanna be disrespectful, and, honestly, neither do I. It's kinda unspoken, but the deal is that Chuck's got me on the team until Marie turns eighteen - kinda like payment or payback for what he's doin' for her, so she don't owe him nothin' outta this. When she's eighteen, deal's over. I already got a place for us close to SUNY Buffalo, where she's transferrin' next semester. Pretty soon, once I find a water pump, she'll have her own car too. I can support us both for the next few years while she finishes her education - not hard to get across the border from Buffalo and catch some good fights. I don't mind. Frankly, outta the two of us, she's the only one with a shot in hell of gettin' a college degree. It'll be nice for us to have that to fall back on.

"Oh, just watching hockey." I know that I usedta be after her before. And she is a babe, no question. But she's one of those people that, the more you get to know her, the less ya like her. Marie - she works in the exact reverse of that. Marie's usually the one who talks to Jeannie now. I can't do it without gettin' shitty. "What's up with you?"

"Well, have a good night." Marie's meticulously polite to Jeannie. Didn't get that at first. Thought she'd be jealous, at least some, and I wouldnta blamed her for gettin' irritated at Jeannie constantly reportin' on what we're doin', if we're ever alone together behind closed doors, how long we've been gone when we go out, and all that kinda shit. I know it irritates me to no end. But Marie - she's a patient person. She said not to let it bother me and to just let Jeannie do whatever. Marie's favorite sayin' is - we won't be here forever. Damn straight.

"Heh." That's true. Jeannie broke up with Scooter a coupla weeks after I got back. It was just after the first time I kissed Marie - a nice kiss on toppa her head - and sometimes I wonder if Jeannie knew 'bout that. She never did like Marie. Don't think it even has anythin' to do with me, necessarily. Got somethin' to do with Marie and Scooter bein' close - and believe me, I don't go for that either, but he was here for the month I was away in Canada, and he's been pretty good to her. It's a brother-sister thing, and nothin' for Jeannie or me to worry 'bout. And you know, I think Jeannie actually knows that too, she's gotta, 'cause of her 'gift'. Still pisses her off, though, and I think it's just attention. Before Marie got here, Jeannie was always the center of attention, and Marie changed that. It's really not Marie's fault, but Jeannie don't like her for it and tries to find little ways to punish her for it. Like I said - the more you know, the less you like. Jeannie's been tryin' to get back with Scooter lately, but I think the one-eyed wonder does have a brain cell or two 'cause he's not jumpin' right inta that.

"Yeah." There's a definite pattern to hockey night with Marie. First period - lotsa talkin' and watchin' the game. I sneak Marie a beer or two and it loosens her up, relaxes her. By second period, she's nice and mellow - less talkin', more snuggly. It's usually in the second that she grabs the blanket off the back of the couch and puts it over us. I kick off my shoes and so does she and we both curl up together on one side of the couch. First time we did a hockey night together, I started out rubbin' her back and ended up with my hand on her ass. Fine by her, but if Jeannie'd come by just then - well, me and Marie woulda been spendin' lotsa quality time in Chuck's office.

Sometimes we sneak little touches underneath the covers, but not really anythin' too much. We save that for trips out. Every now and then - once a week or every ten days, Marie and me spend an afternoon in the city. First few times, it really was just a fun trip to the city - me lookin' out for her as she went around and saw the museums and checked out colleges and whatever. But one time, we got caught in the rain in central park and we almost ended up doin' it right there, behind a hedge. That's when I told her - look, I ain't gonna do this with ya in cars or behind bushes or in some sleazy motel. I said, Marie, I wanna do this, but I don't wanna have it be like I'm ashamed of what we're doin' and I don't wanna have you get the short end of the stick 'cause of what Chuck and Jeannie think 'bout how you and me should be. So we settled on stayin' at a nice hotel, havin' a nice lunch together, then goin' at it all afternoon, then dinner, then back to Westchester. I think Chuck knows, but he hasn't said nothin' 'bout it so far. Maybe he knows it's somethin' we both need, and maybe he don't care as long as it's not under his roof, not in fronta the other students and x-men.

It's hard for me not to touch her other times, especially times like this when we are kinda alone in the TV room and we probably could get away with it a little. But I remember how good it is when we do have those afternoons in the city, and I remember Marie tellin' me once how I was right - how we should make it nice for ourselves. So I try to keep my hands mostly to myself.

Third period depends on the game - if it's a good one and a close one, then we'll both go back to watchin' it pretty closely and talkin' some more, but Marie stays snuggled in close to me. If it's a bad game, she falls asleep and I watch her. We both fell asleep down here a coupla times, only to be shaken awake by a cranky-ass Jeannie. That's a helluva wake-up on it's own, and plus, if I'm sleepin', that ain't the best way to wake me, and Jeannie should know that. I mean, what if I'd claw Marie or somethin'? And both times, Jeannie goes, "Marie - what are you doing?" I don't like that. Whenever someone has a complaint 'bout us, I handle it. When Chuck first talked to us and said no to Marie sleepin' over in my room, she was real upset 'cause of what she thought it implied 'bout her. She started sayin' all this stuff 'bout how could Chuck think she was slutty or somethin' and why would he assume right off that she'd go and do that. She thought he might think bad on her 'cause of the eight months she spent on the road. Well, the reason he thought we'd be havin' sex is probably 'cause that's the only thing that musta been runnin' through my brain. Didn't really have nothin' to do with Marie, and I told her so. But I wanna avoid that in the future and Chuck and Scooter have been pretty good 'bout directin' their whiny-ass complaints to me and not Marie. Jeannie - she hasn't quite got the hang of that, though.

Tonight's game is gonna be a good one. Means we'll still be pretty awake and we'll probably stay up and talk a while after it's over. I like those times too. Sometimes it's serious stuff and sometimes just playin', but it's time for her and me to just forget 'bout all the crap in our lives and just hang out with each other. One time we worked out the plan for us to move out, another time we talked 'bout what we were gonna do after she was done with school, one time she got real emotional and said all this stuff about how much she loves me. Sometimes she's like that. Still seems weird to me sometimes that she loves me as much as I love her, but she really, really does. I don't have a single doubt 'bout that, and she doesn't have a single doubt 'bout my feelin's either. She's got me in her head and plus I tell her I love her too.

I think that's why we've been able to get through these seven months since I got back. It's rock solid. I mean, unshakable. What we got between us - I don't think it's the usual guy-girl thing. It's better and deeper and bigger and it's carried us through waitin' for her to turn eighteen and dealin' with all the assorted crap life throws at us.

Only bad time was when she got kidnapped. I was out on a mission - a decoy, as it turned out - and Sabretooth came here to get her. He had her for four hours before we caught up with his mangy ass, and they were the worst four hours of my entire fuckin' life. And I mean the whole thing, 'cause whatever's in there that I can't remember couldnta been worse than what I felt when Marie was gone.

We caught some good luck and some bad luck. The good luck is - Sabretooth never got her to where he was supposedta, to Magneto's new machine. Would you believe that fucker got one built while he was still in prison? That's another good bit of luck - Mags tried to break out a coupla times, but they nailed him every time, and the night Marie got taken it was no different. The bad luck was that Sabretooth got it inta his head to have a little fun with her. She fought him, and he didn't get too far, but she got all slashed to hell by his claws. We caught up with 'em just as she was drainin' him with her skin. She hung on until he was dead and gone. Scooter, and even Jeannie and Chuck, assumed that she couldn't let go, that she didn't mean to do that. But I saw the look in her eye then, and Marie knew what the hell she was doin'. That's just between us, though, just her and me.

She was pretty shaky for a while after that. Had a hard time fittin' Sabretooth in her head, but she finally got it under control. I stuck pretty close to her then, and I still make sure she don't go nowhere outside the mansion without me. Sabretooth - him and Mystique are the only ones that could probably get past mansion security and his ass is dead and hers is in jail now too. I think Marie's OK here. And Scooter - he felt so damn bad 'bout bein' led away by the decoy call, 'bout fallin' for it - I think he'd do just 'bout anythin' to make that up to Marie. He should. He did fuck up there. But we all did. Pisses me off to this day to think 'bout it, but Marie's alive and OK, and the fact that she's got a permanent healin' power and some boosted strength is a good thing.

It also means she'll be with me for a lotta hockey nights to come. And I guess she's right - we won't be here forever, just another few weeks until she's eighteen. Then it's her and me, for the rest of whatever time we both got. We can afford to be nice and respectful to Chuck and I can even try toleratin' Jeannie 'cause they ain't got what we do and they sure as hell won't be around as long as we will. Marie - she's a pretty smart woman. I love the hell outta her, you know?