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halfamoonTitle: Diamonds and Hearts
Fandom: X-Men
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: Tony/Emma
Rating: PG/K+
Summary: Tony slips his wife one last valentine.
Word Count: 1,414
Written For: HalfAMoon 2025: Day 6. Weaknesses or Character Flaws
Date Written: 4 February 2025
Warnings: Spoilers, Cannon Character Deaths
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
Emma eyed the small, velvet box now that she was alone. She lifted it slowly and traced its outside. She already knew from where the box must have come, and could care less that Katheryne had been at first enraged and then just plain suspicious about the box that had simply appeared on one of the window ledges. She knew who its sender must be, and was not at all surprised -- and perhaps even a little touched -- that Tony had cared enough to keep track of her.
She supposed she could understand Katheryne's concerns, but Emma knew her ex-husband could be trusted. After all, she had only annulled the marriage because she had known there was no other choice if she was to continue with her life's work. She could not sit in the lap of luxury or stay with the Avengers, if she was going to forge a future for the mutant children, for the children who otherwise may well never see adult simply because they carried an extra gene that frightened lesser minds. Children whose very parents, Emma knew all too well from very private and personal experience, may well be the ones to snuff out their bright lives far too early, all out of fear, hatred, and perhaps even jealousy.
No, if the next generation of mutants were to stand a chance, they needed people like herself, and Katheryne, and she could not rest well knowing that she might be failing them. Her dreams were no longer plagued on a nightly basis with the children whose lives had been shattered before her, some even at her own hands (Emma remembered them too with pangs of regret, even if she had been a child herself the time she had ended their lives), but she remembered all every day, at least once a day. The least she could do for the Hellions; for Everett, Angelo, and Clarice; for the girls whose pretty, little throats she had had to slice through in order to live herself -- the least she could do for them all was to keep fighting for a better future for all mutantkind, and she could not do that if she was too busy being married to any man.
That did not mean she did not miss Tony, however, or think of him almost as often as she did the children. She knew the box was from him, had known instinctively from the moment she'd first spotted it and swept it out of Katheryne's hand, but what did it contain? She had slipped it into a hiding spot on her uniform and carried it all throughout the night's training, the mission that had followed, through her... releases after and right up until now, when she set in the privacy of her own bedroom and her own crimson, silk sheets.
Had anyone seen Emma's bedroom, they would have known she had changed. She never used to use red in any of her decor, but after living with Tony, after being wed to him for a few, sweet months, she no longer found the color as garish as she always had before. The bright, reflective shades of the silk especially made her think of the crimson of his armor, when sunbeams had sparkled on it. The man was beautiful in his own way, and his mind certainly was far from being the least of his considerable attributes.
But she'd had to leave him. She'd had no other choice. This was the first time, in a long time, she had spent Valentine's Day alone, and so she had kept herself moving from the time she'd first awakened this past morn to this very minute now as she held his box in her hands and gazed intently down at it. Emma felt herself gulping and realized that she was perhaps at least a little afraid of what she would find when she opened his gift. If it was a key, she would have to return her. If it was a ring, a new engagement ring -- She gulped again and snapped the box open.
A pair of perfect diamond earrings glittered up at her. Emma gently procured one from the velvet box. It was authentic, clearly a perfect gem from Tony's own diamantaires, but Emma recognized the instant the pad of her finger touched the earring's back that there was something invisible on these earrings. "Keeping tabs on me, eh, darling?" she murmured, but she couldn't seem to mind. At least it meant he still cared.
She knew he still cared, she thought as she fashioned the earrings to her lobes. He loved her, in his own way, as much as a man like Tony Starke was capable of loving anyone. She had come to love him as well, she could admit now even if only to herself, in her own way which was far deeper than that for which anyone who knew her would credit her. She was purported to be cold by all but only those very select few who knew her deepest. Scott had understood, eventually, that she was a teacher before and beyond anything else. But Tony --
Things had been different with Tony, but they could not last either. He had his mission, and she had hers. As she sat reflecting, Emma spotted a tiny slip of paper in the back of the box. She pulled it, and a new layer opened, revealing an additional gift and a small two-word message: "Propter tutelam". Her curiosity aroused, Emma piqued a slender, black eyebrow. This layer held a choker made of the finest Italian silk with a blue and red X symbol in its center. Tiny diamonds twinkled along the X.
She put the choker on without hesitation as well and hid the box amongst her stash of secret mementos. She dreamt of Tony that night as she slept and one of the rarest times in her long life when she had actually been happy, at least most of the time and at least for a while, but it would be many weeks before she would discover the depths of Tony's ingenuity. She herself had slipped a million dollars into Tony's own personal account, but money only went so far. She discovered the true merits of his gift when she was blindsided by an attack, too busy guiding and protecting the children to keep her own safety a priority.
The explosion that rocked her should have shattered her diamond skin, but instead her choker was glowing. Her entire body tingled with a deep, reassuring warmth afterwards. As she lay there, thankful she had been able to sweep Axo out of danger's way just in time, she realized what Tony had done, the extra and far more sophisticated layers of protection he had somehow managed to engineer between the earrings and choker. He wasn't even with her, and he was still looking out for her.
She turned her head so the children would not see her tears. Shadowcat and Bronze had finished taking down the enemy. She could feel each of their four minds not too far away from her, dazed, angry, or both but still very much alive. She, however, should be dead, but she was unharmed. Tony had seen to it. Even though she had not seen or spoken to him in months, he was still finding sneaky ways to protect her -- while also allowing her to live her dream of seeing to her life's mission, or at least giving her all to do so. She laid on her side, silent tears streaking down her face. She'd vanquish the tears in a moment, but for just a moment, in this heartbeat of time as she realized how close she'd come to dying and the only reason she still lived, Emma allowed herself the luxury of tears.
"MISS FROST!"
And then her children were crying out for her. "I am fine." Quickly she wiped her tears and turned back to them, already rolling to her feet. As she walked to them, she let the fingers of her right hand reach up to touch the choker. Thanks to her ex-husband, the only man she ever had and ever would willingly marry, she was fine. She was still alive. And far more than the day she had actually spoken the words "I do", Emma still loved the one who had kept her alive. Perhaps love, even that given to a human man, wasn't a weakness after all.
The End
Fandom: X-Men
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: Tony/Emma
Rating: PG/K+
Summary: Tony slips his wife one last valentine.
Word Count: 1,414
Written For: HalfAMoon 2025: Day 6. Weaknesses or Character Flaws
Date Written: 4 February 2025
Warnings: Spoilers, Cannon Character Deaths
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.
Emma eyed the small, velvet box now that she was alone. She lifted it slowly and traced its outside. She already knew from where the box must have come, and could care less that Katheryne had been at first enraged and then just plain suspicious about the box that had simply appeared on one of the window ledges. She knew who its sender must be, and was not at all surprised -- and perhaps even a little touched -- that Tony had cared enough to keep track of her.
She supposed she could understand Katheryne's concerns, but Emma knew her ex-husband could be trusted. After all, she had only annulled the marriage because she had known there was no other choice if she was to continue with her life's work. She could not sit in the lap of luxury or stay with the Avengers, if she was going to forge a future for the mutant children, for the children who otherwise may well never see adult simply because they carried an extra gene that frightened lesser minds. Children whose very parents, Emma knew all too well from very private and personal experience, may well be the ones to snuff out their bright lives far too early, all out of fear, hatred, and perhaps even jealousy.
No, if the next generation of mutants were to stand a chance, they needed people like herself, and Katheryne, and she could not rest well knowing that she might be failing them. Her dreams were no longer plagued on a nightly basis with the children whose lives had been shattered before her, some even at her own hands (Emma remembered them too with pangs of regret, even if she had been a child herself the time she had ended their lives), but she remembered all every day, at least once a day. The least she could do for the Hellions; for Everett, Angelo, and Clarice; for the girls whose pretty, little throats she had had to slice through in order to live herself -- the least she could do for them all was to keep fighting for a better future for all mutantkind, and she could not do that if she was too busy being married to any man.
That did not mean she did not miss Tony, however, or think of him almost as often as she did the children. She knew the box was from him, had known instinctively from the moment she'd first spotted it and swept it out of Katheryne's hand, but what did it contain? She had slipped it into a hiding spot on her uniform and carried it all throughout the night's training, the mission that had followed, through her... releases after and right up until now, when she set in the privacy of her own bedroom and her own crimson, silk sheets.
Had anyone seen Emma's bedroom, they would have known she had changed. She never used to use red in any of her decor, but after living with Tony, after being wed to him for a few, sweet months, she no longer found the color as garish as she always had before. The bright, reflective shades of the silk especially made her think of the crimson of his armor, when sunbeams had sparkled on it. The man was beautiful in his own way, and his mind certainly was far from being the least of his considerable attributes.
But she'd had to leave him. She'd had no other choice. This was the first time, in a long time, she had spent Valentine's Day alone, and so she had kept herself moving from the time she'd first awakened this past morn to this very minute now as she held his box in her hands and gazed intently down at it. Emma felt herself gulping and realized that she was perhaps at least a little afraid of what she would find when she opened his gift. If it was a key, she would have to return her. If it was a ring, a new engagement ring -- She gulped again and snapped the box open.
A pair of perfect diamond earrings glittered up at her. Emma gently procured one from the velvet box. It was authentic, clearly a perfect gem from Tony's own diamantaires, but Emma recognized the instant the pad of her finger touched the earring's back that there was something invisible on these earrings. "Keeping tabs on me, eh, darling?" she murmured, but she couldn't seem to mind. At least it meant he still cared.
She knew he still cared, she thought as she fashioned the earrings to her lobes. He loved her, in his own way, as much as a man like Tony Starke was capable of loving anyone. She had come to love him as well, she could admit now even if only to herself, in her own way which was far deeper than that for which anyone who knew her would credit her. She was purported to be cold by all but only those very select few who knew her deepest. Scott had understood, eventually, that she was a teacher before and beyond anything else. But Tony --
Things had been different with Tony, but they could not last either. He had his mission, and she had hers. As she sat reflecting, Emma spotted a tiny slip of paper in the back of the box. She pulled it, and a new layer opened, revealing an additional gift and a small two-word message: "Propter tutelam". Her curiosity aroused, Emma piqued a slender, black eyebrow. This layer held a choker made of the finest Italian silk with a blue and red X symbol in its center. Tiny diamonds twinkled along the X.
She put the choker on without hesitation as well and hid the box amongst her stash of secret mementos. She dreamt of Tony that night as she slept and one of the rarest times in her long life when she had actually been happy, at least most of the time and at least for a while, but it would be many weeks before she would discover the depths of Tony's ingenuity. She herself had slipped a million dollars into Tony's own personal account, but money only went so far. She discovered the true merits of his gift when she was blindsided by an attack, too busy guiding and protecting the children to keep her own safety a priority.
The explosion that rocked her should have shattered her diamond skin, but instead her choker was glowing. Her entire body tingled with a deep, reassuring warmth afterwards. As she lay there, thankful she had been able to sweep Axo out of danger's way just in time, she realized what Tony had done, the extra and far more sophisticated layers of protection he had somehow managed to engineer between the earrings and choker. He wasn't even with her, and he was still looking out for her.
She turned her head so the children would not see her tears. Shadowcat and Bronze had finished taking down the enemy. She could feel each of their four minds not too far away from her, dazed, angry, or both but still very much alive. She, however, should be dead, but she was unharmed. Tony had seen to it. Even though she had not seen or spoken to him in months, he was still finding sneaky ways to protect her -- while also allowing her to live her dream of seeing to her life's mission, or at least giving her all to do so. She laid on her side, silent tears streaking down her face. She'd vanquish the tears in a moment, but for just a moment, in this heartbeat of time as she realized how close she'd come to dying and the only reason she still lived, Emma allowed herself the luxury of tears.
"MISS FROST!"
And then her children were crying out for her. "I am fine." Quickly she wiped her tears and turned back to them, already rolling to her feet. As she walked to them, she let the fingers of her right hand reach up to touch the choker. Thanks to her ex-husband, the only man she ever had and ever would willingly marry, she was fine. She was still alive. And far more than the day she had actually spoken the words "I do", Emma still loved the one who had kept her alive. Perhaps love, even that given to a human man, wasn't a weakness after all.
The End
