Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 414 HOME IS WHERE

I sat in my room thinking as I stared at my last quest reward. 

I had found all the secrets, but not figured them out yet. After nearly a week in London, I felt I was ready to finally use my reward. The last time I had used one of these the item randomly picked my Bond skill to make it Union. I hoped a more useful skill was picked this time. 

I clicked the Ability Evolution in my status screen, it asked if I wanted to use it and I picked yes. 

“Holy fuck,” I said as I brought up my screen. 

That was exactly what I wanted to change for my skills. Before I had really only been able to fuse myself to stuff and tear me away. When I fused other objects together their spiritual energies fused, making it impossible to tear them back apart. Since other Weston and I were both searching for a way to combine and separate, I hoped this was one step closer to that answer. 

Getting off the hotel bed I moved to the cloth covered chair and footrest. Activating the part of my brain that controlled my Fusion I called it and pushed the similar cloth together. They became one. Risking it I let the power go, allowing their Spiritual Energies to mix. Holding my breath I activated my power again. Slowly pulling them apart they didn’t budge for a moment. Applying more strength the Haki ripped and the two pieces broke away. 

Confused, I studied where the footrest and chair had melded. They each had threads from one another still attached. Yes they had pulled back apart, but it was far from perfect. Frowning, I considered how to do better but stopped as someone approached my door. Looking toward the door a light knock sounded from it. 

Hesitating, I got up slowly and walked to the door. I didn't need to guess who it was. “Hey there, Delilah,” I said as I opened the door. The red head smiled up at me in the hotel hallway. Wearing kitten pajamas she was tired and nervous. “How can I help you?” She had been discharged from the hospital a few days ago. Xavier had introduced the girl as the newest addition to the school for mutants and no one batted an eye at her.

Though I could easily see Jean in her, no one else saw the similarity. Positive that the old psychic was using some sort of glamor or illusion on her so they couldn’t see the resemblance. I left it alone. I didn’t want the poor girl freaked out more than she already was. 

“I can’t sleep again,” she mumbled, her bare feet scratching at the carpet. 

“You know, you’ll have to stop sleeping in my room at the school,” I reminded her as I stepped back inside. 

She smiled wide like I had given her the best gift ever. She ran inside and began jumping on the bed. “I know, I know,” she said plopping on the bed before I could scold her. “I just sleep so much better next to you.” 

“And I sleep better next to you,” I admitted with a sigh. My shirt off, she stared at it for a moment then looked up to my face. 

“Did you say something?” She asked. 

“Nope,” I said, laughing as I laid on the bed. She took her spot on my left side, turning off the bedside light. She rested her head on my shoulder and draped her leg over my thigh. Taking a huge whiff of me she sighed contently. 

“You smell so good,” she mused once more.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” I said, rubbing her back. Keeping my erection away, she had slept in my bed every night since the hospital. I hadn’t fought it, and hadn’t taken it beyond anything but sleeping. 

Delilah was…something I couldn’t describe. A bundle of energy one minute, a detective the next. She was smart, funny, and I really couldn't remember laughing so much as she got used to the outer world. Everything was new to her and she was eager to learn. To be honest, I spent probably too much time with her. Taking her all over the city, she marveled at everything and made me remember to enjoy the little things in life. It was hard to stay away from her. 

I couldn’t get enough of her. The pure Haki that emitted from her was somehow more clean than even the innocent Luffy’s. Though she didn’t know what it was, I could tell she loved me dearly. A feeling I basked in as I laid next to her night after night unable to help but mirror it. 

For so long I had been jumping from girl to girl in Marvel. Hoping for some sort of spark. Like trying to find a unicorn, it had been rare but I knew that with Delilah, I was closer than ever before. 

“You’re like…perfect,” she mumbled as her eyes stared up at me. 

“How’s that?” I asked. My hand pulled her closer against my side. 

“I don’t know,” she said. “You know I don’t remember a lot of things, right?”

“Right,” I said with a nod. 

“Okay good. I hate to have to keep bringing it up, but I don’t want you forgetting too,” she said. I nodded. “Good. But yeah I don’t know. You smell so good. Feel so good. Look…” she looked down to my chest. “What am I feeling?”

“Sleepy?” 

“No,” she said with a yawn. 

“Grumpy.”

She frowned. “No.”

“Constipated?” She grunted more. “Please don’t fart. I’m joking.” She giggled, smacking her lips slowly. “What could it be?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “It’s like on the tip of my brain.”

“Tip of your tongue,” I corrected. 

She stuck her tongue out trying to see the tip. “It’s not there.”

“That’s weird,” I said. I stuck my tongue out. “Is it on mine?”

“No,” she said leaning closer. “Wait, wait,” she said looking at it. “There it is.”

“It is?”

“Yeah it’s there,” she said with a nod and rested her head back down. 

“Well don’t keep me in suspense. What was it?”

“What was what?” She asked. “I forget what we were talking about.”

“I knew you were going there with that. I think this whole amnesia thing is a big hoax,” I said. 

“What?” She asked, offended as she sat up. 

“Yeah,” I said. “You just like to pretend to forget things.”

“I do not.”

“Oh yeah? What about when you pretended to be drowning at the pool?”

“I told you, that was a drill. I had to be sure you knew how to save me,” she said. 

“What about when you forgot to give me back my change?” 

“That was a gift and you know it,” she laughed. Her fingertips moving along my chest she hummed happily. “I sleep so much better next to you. But so much less as well. Why is that?”

“One of my skills,” I assured. 

“Right,” she said. “Will I awaken one?”

“Maybe,” I said. She wasn’t a full fledged mutant yet, but I had a feeling she would be. She snuggled up into me further. 

When she finally got the nerve she asked, “can we do that thing again?”

“I’m not carrying you,” I said. 

“Not that…the movie thing,” she mumbled. Her face buried in my chest to hide her blush even though it was so dark. 

“Oh,” I said. We had gone to see her first movie earlier. I had picked an action one because she didn’t know any better. She actually loved it. All the explosions and gunfire. I’d never seen someone clap when someone ran out of bullets but it was pretty funny. 

Of course there had been a romance scene and kissing. Delilah had seen a few people kiss, but it wasn’t until it was in the movie that she became interested. After it was over she asked to try it. Not wanting to ruin her perception of me or take advantage of her I gave her a slight peck and we moved on. I could see now that it had stuck with her though. 

“If you want,” I said slowly. Trying to manage this without feeling like a creep. I was already walking a tightrope as it was. 

“Now?” She asked. 

“Hold your horses,” I said and began to wiggle down to her level. When my face was straight out from hers I could just barely make out her eyes from the dim light of the window. 

She was nervous and excited. Keeping it simple I moved closer and pressed my lips against hers. She held her hands hovering away from me and I pulled back. 

“Good?” I whispered. 

“Better,” she said with a sigh. “But not what I saw in the movie. Are you perhaps not as good at this?”

I threw my reservations out the window. “Oh,” I said, holding back my anger. “You want a real kiss?” 

“Was that not-“ I grabbed her hip and pulled her to me. She gasped as my lips pressed against hers and my tongue ventured into her mouth. Delilah actually shook as my other hand snaked under her and pulled her full body against my front. Her leg wrapping around my thigh she moaned louder as her own tongue mirrored mine. 

Slow and methodical I kept it simple as all the tension that had built up over days was finally let loose a little. Her nails scratching my arm, her chest pressed against mine and we became a moaning mess. 

No more jokes or questions she acted on instinct. Flipping her over to be on top of me her legs opened to straddle my thighs as she writhed on top of me. Her hands feeling everywhere she could touch I did the same. Running my hands to her firm ass, pulling her groin into mine she began to pant in between us kissing. 

We stayed like that for a long time until she finally had to catch her breath. Her head laying on my chest she spasmed slightly but let out a soft sigh of relief. 

“That was…far better than I thought it would be,” she said. 

“Am I a good kisser then?” I asked. 

“You are good at everything,” she said and was latched onto my lips again. I didn’t fight it as I showed her all of my skills. She had challenged me, and I had decided some time ago to never lose another challenge. 

—- 

Delilah laid her head on my lap as she slept. My hand stroking her short hair behind her ear we hadn’t gotten much sleep. Wolverine munching on a cigar across from us we were playing chess as Xavier made calls to Fury and others in the back of the plane. Jean and Scott at the Blackbird controls, we were almost home. 

“You aren’t so bad at this,” Wolverine said as he moved his rook. 

“I was pretty good in another life,” I said. “Check.”

“Fucking hell,” he said and moved out of Check. 

“What now?” I asked as I moved again. 

“With what?”

“Sinister,” I said. 

“He disappeared,” he said. “I want to find the guy more than ever. But he’s better at disappearing than Houdini.” I nodded. Having assumed as much, I had tried not to ask too many questions. 

“What about other stuff? Me finally becoming an X-Men,” I clarified. 

“You got training to finish. Like it or not we have a lot of standard formations made up. Code words you need to learn. You’ll probably need a month of that before you’re ready for leading your own team.”

“My own team?” I asked, perking up. 

“Yeah. You impressed the professor. Despite some lacking character you want to get the job done. He thinks you could have your own team if you wanted. Pick them from this year's seniors. Start them training now. The X-men are growing thanks to another infusion of cash.”

“Courtesy of the American taxpayer?”

“Courtesy of us, yep,” he said. “Check.”

“Damn,” I said and got out of it but was stopped as we began to descend. 

The Blackbird diving low to just above the ocean, we flew into a side hatch inside the cliff under the school. It felt so long ago since I had been back. Only a few weeks ago it had felt stifling. Stuck with Cyclops for a trainer, the tight ass made every day feel more boring than the last. 

Thanks to some fortuitous happenstance, I was finally able to get the kid gloves off. Raised my Viltrumite form, hopefully helped my Fusion skill, and…to be honest found Delilah. I hadn’t been looking when I found her. But she truly made me happy. 

“Come on,” I said, tapping her side. She groaned and sat up. Her short hair sticking up where it pressed against my leg she looked at me with bleary eyes. They slowly but surely transformed into puppy dog eyes. 

“Fine,” I said with a sigh. She smiled wide and was jumping on my back as I carried her off the ship. Taking the luggage of clothes I had bought her, we came out to the hangar to find Storm and Colossus standing there. 

“Grab another straggler?” Storm asked, eyeing Delilah. Neither she nor Colossus noticed the similarities between her or Jean either. 

“Yes, please get Miss Delilah here set up in a room, Ororo,” Xavier said. 

“Come on, honey,” she said. 

Delilah held into my neck tightly. “I forgot how to walk,” she said meekly. 

I barked a laugh. The others looked at her oddly for a moment. Her fear spiked but I said, “I’ll walk her there.”

Storm shrugged and we were walking the underground halls toward the school. “Quite the adventure eh?” Storm asked. 

“Yeah, sad that you missed it?” I asked. 

“Hell no. This place becomes a battlefield of its own,” she said. I laughed and continued walking. We got to the elevator. Delilah was nervous but excited as we moved upward. 

“We have plenty of rooms for you to choose from,” Storm said. She began introducing herself as the elevator door opened. Talking about meal times and this or that I ferried her outside. Smiling as I walked out into the lobby. 

About to follow the teacher I stopped in my tracks though as I saw someone I hadn’t seen in a long time. My heart skipping a beat, she locked eyes with me. Slowly putting together what I was doing, her Haki exploded in rage while her face stayed placid. 

“Uh Delilah. I need to um, say hi to someone,” I said. Letting her go she dropped to the ground, a little hurt I wasn't carrying her. She looked to who I was staring at. Storm did as well. Finally catching on the teacher grabbed Delilah’s shoulder and pulled her away. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I assured Delilah. She frowned but allowed herself to be led. I turned to face Anne Marie on the other side of the hallway. 

“Oh snap,” Kitty Pryde said standing next to Rogue as she fixed me with a death glare. 

“Hey…Anne,” I said with a wave. My contentment with Delilah dimmed greatly as I got flashbacks of our time together. Our pain at not being able to touch. The joy she felt when we finally could.  It flooded over me and I became quite confused. 

“Didn’t think you were coming back,” I admitted with a shaky smile. 

“I…see that,” Anne said as she eyed the direction Delilah had left in. “Kitty-“

“Yep, I’m going to go like disappear,” she said. Walking over she locked eyes with me and mouthed Good Luck. “Glad you’re alive,” she said aloud and patted my shoulder. As she did everything turned black.