nextgenerationmarvel | Having The Talk (Among Other Things)

To say that Stephanie had been eagerly awaiting seeing Marcelo again was an understatement. She'd been more active than at any previous point, making sure everything was as perfect as could be for his arrival. Most of the restrictions against her had been loosened. Which was a good thing, because she desperately needed to shave her legs. They were still watching, of course, but her telepathic sessions had been progressing well enough. They'd probably be doing better yet soon, as the worst of the psionic traps began to be clared out of her head.

Stephanie wasn't really thinking about all that right now. She missed Marcelo. She missed just about everything about him- his silly jokes, his unfailing support (though she knew she always had that) ... among many other things, sweatly and lewdly physical ones. There was little doubt that he'd be staying the night at the very least, and indeed, she'd made sure that was no problem with the Mansion staff. Thankfully the soundproofing on the rooms was excellent.

The waiting, however, was utterly dreadful. She wanted him to hurry up and get there. Nevermind that he wasn't late or anything.

She was, of course, aware that they probably had some things to talk about too, but it wasn't near the front of her mind at the moment.

Right now, she just wanted her damn man.

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Stephanie listened carefully when he started talking, the knot in her stomach thickening. And then she heard what it was, and it twisted itself horribly.

She took a breath for a moment.

"You think I would regret being with you?"

"I'll ... I'll be your default weak spot. When all the manipulations and whatever else don't work, it comes down to that human man you love to be the thing to get to you." He held onto her hand. He didn't want to let go. Irrationally, he thought if he let go, she'd pull away and this couldn't be settled.

"I don't want to cause you pain, Stephanie. I want to be the one thing in your life that has never hurt you. But I can't compete with what comes after you. Or even with what can help you after things go horribly wrong."

Stephanie glared at him. He didn't understand, didn't fucking get it one bit. She wanted to yank her hand out from him. She wanted to get mad, to yell and scream and point out exactly what an idiot he'd been.

But damn her, she thought about it a little before she said anything. The glare dissolved with a sigh.

"Marcelo ... do you really think of yourself as my weakness?"

The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to cry instead of yell.

He was not quite prepared for the glaring. He blinked like a deer at an oncoming Land Rover.

"I..." His grip on her hand loosened, but he didn't let go. "I think of myself as weak. Since the charity gala and Vargas and the Hellfire Club..."

He shrugged and looked away. Admitting it was more painful than he thought.

"And I with all my supposed strength got victimized just as much by all that. Having superpowers is no guarantee of safety.

And ... I'll never be able to promise that you'll be safe, not completely." And that was a painful admission for her to make.

"But you're not my weakness. You're my strength. If it weren't for you, I'd quite possibly be a willing collaborator with my father right now. He's only done this much because I've continued to resist him.

I think the only reason that there's any me left at all is because you're my anchor. I can always count on you. You've always been there for me, even when I'm involved in all this insanity."

She took a breath.

"Why do you even stay? That's what I wonder sometimes. How can being with me be worth all this?"

He was quiet for a moment, fighting off tears. He drew in a breath to steady himself. His thumb brushed lightly back and forth across her skin.

"I stay," he replied when he had marshaled enough to keep his voice steady, "because I completely and foolishly love you with every fiber of my being. I'd be dead right now if I didn't have you."

She gave him something to live for outside of vengeance.

"And I love you too. With every thing I have." Stephanie replied, resting her forehead against his gently. "You are my life. Otherwise all I am is anger and ambition. Just like my father."

She wrapped her arms around him.

"I love you more than anything and anyone. More than I ever thought I could love someone. I ... I don't even think I'd know what love was without you, Marcelo."

And then she started to cry freely as she held him.

He swallowed thickly. This was going slightly better than he had dreaded. She hadn't shoved her hand into his ribcage and torn his heart out. That was something.

Her crying made him shake off his morose self-pity. He wrapped his arms around her and held her. He stroked a hand up and down her back.

"You are greater than anything your father could be," he murmured in her ear. "I'm sorry, querida. I didn't mean to hurt you."

She held onto him tightly, at least, as tightly as she could without being fairly sure she was hurting him. She did sometimes have to be careful about that.

"I'm sorry too." She murmured, nuzzling his throat. "It'll be better one day, I promise. We're going to get through all this.

We've got a wedding to plan, after all."

He didn't care how tightly she held him. That she would still want to hold him was enough.

"You can see why I brought the pizza. So you'd stay in New York," he joked lightly. He kissed her temple.

"I brought some wedding magazines for you." Every one he could find on the rack.

"New York does have the best pizza." Stephanie managed a small smile and a half-chuckle. She pulled him into a lingering kiss.

"You'll get so sick of me texting you about what I see in them. Good thing we're rich." She laughed. She had a taste for the good things in life.

"Speaking of that pizza, we should eat. You'll need your strength."

She gave him a significant little look.

He enjoyed that kiss. He wasn't sure he was going to get anymore after talking to her.

"Well, I can ignore texts," he joked. "Harder to ignore you, though. I promise not to route them through Sage."

He raised an eyebrow. "Not sure pizza goes there when I eat it."

"You had better not ignore my texts." Stephanie punctuated the point by tossing a pillow at him. She then looked at him more thoughtfully for a moment, stroking his cheek.

"Things better for you? Now that we've cleared the air some?" She planted a kiss against his cheek while she waited for his answer.

"Oof!" He exaggerated the blow from the pillow. He fake winced until she stroked his cheek.

"I... think so? I hate this distance, but it's needed for your recovery. Not much I can do about it."

He gave her a wan smile. "At least I know for certain how much we need each other."

Having The Talk (Among Other Things)

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