Heart of Ice

She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Who she was seeing. The woman smiled. “Gwen? Darling, we’ve come to take you home,” she said in a simpering tone meant to console Gwen.

“I am home,” the blonde answered, moving to shut the door on the couple. The man stuck his hand in between the door and the doorframe, effectively stopping Gwen from shutting it. She sighed loudly. “Get off my fucking property,” she said loudly.

“That’s no way to talk to your father, young lady,” the woman scolded. Gwen glared.

“He is not my father.” Her gaze iced up as she looked up at him. “He’s just a sperm donor, in my opinion.” The man raised his hand, as if to strike her, but he stopped right before reaching her left cheek. He was staring in confusion at his wrist, where his watch was being pulled in the opposite direction, stopping his movement.

“Are you alright, Gwen?” A deep voice questioned from behind her. She saw Erik’s shadow looming over her before she felt his hand land on her shoulder, giving a comforting squeeze.

“I’m fine, I just want these people out of my sight,” she huffed. Erik looked over at the two, his stormy eyes growing colder.

“Why were you about to lay your hand on my daughter?” The man looked affronted.

“Your daughter? She’s my daughter, you piece of mutant filth!” The man shouted. Gwen struck out, knocking the man on his ass.

“Don’t talk to him like that, Patrick,” she seethed. “He’s my father in every way that counts.”

“Gwen, sweetheart,” the woman, Fiona tried, reaching towards Gwen’s face. The blonde moved away swiftly, backing up into Erik. The man was very tense; an immovable force standing behind her. Fiona opened her mouth to say something, but looking over Gwen’s shoulder had her freeze. “Oh my God, what are those things?!” Turning to look over her shoulder, Gwen saw Raven and Hank standing there. Both of them looked a little hurt, not used to being called names in their own home.

“How dare you,” Gwen snarled in a quiet voice. Anyone who knew her knew this was when she was at her most dangerous. Her icy resolve was cracking and her fiery temper was about to rear its ugly head. “You come into my home and insult my family? I’ve killed for less.” That wasn’t exactly true, but from the look in her former parents’ eyes, her scare tactic had worked.

“We’re your family, honey,” Fiona whispered in a broken, teary voice.

“You stopped being my family the second you tossed me out on the street when I was fourteen. Now leave. If I see you again, you’ll see why they call me Frostbite,” she threatened. Frostbite was the name that Clint had given her, and Fury had decided that it would be her new codename. Fiona looked like she wanted to protest, but Patrick held up his hand. After getting to his feet, he leveled Gwen with a glare cold enough to rival hers.

“I always knew you’d be a disgrace to our family. We should’ve aborted you when we had the chance.” Okay, that hurt, Gwen thought as she flinched back slightly. Not enough to really notice unless you knew her well. Unfortunately, all the people standing behind her did.

“Leave.”

The two walked off the porch, Patrick supporting a weepy Fiona down the driveway to their car. Gwen shut the door with a loud bang, taking a deep breath to calm herself. Arms wrapped around her in a comforting manner, and Gwen breathed in slight metallic scent that was all Erik.

“Are you alright, leibling?” She nodded into his chest, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

“I never wanted to see them again,” she stated in a low tone. Erik’s arms tightened.

“I know, and Charles and I will never let them hurt you again.” Gwen tucked her head under his chin, basking in the warmth that radiated off of him.

“I know.”

The door bust open behind them, making Gwen jump and Erik raise a bemused eyebrow. Charles stood there looking a bit panicked until he set his gaze on Gwen. “Are you alright?” He questioned, attempting to hug her but Erik’s body making it difficult. Erik just sighed in a way that told Gwen how used to Charles’ actions he was. She chuckled, letting the shorter man embrace her tightly.

“I’m alright, Charles.”

“They are never going to come near you again, I won’t let them,” he promised. Gwen believed that he would try; they would all try. Though, if there was one thing she remembered about her parents, was their commitment to something. Well, something other than her, of course. When they set their minds to something, there was no changing their minds. If they truly wanted to see her, there would be no stopping them.

“What’s really bothering me, though, is why they wanted to see me,” she mused, not letting go of Charles.

“You were on TV, Gwenie,” Alex commented, appearing in the doorway. “With superheroes. Captain America. Fucking Ironman. I hate to say it, but this could just be a ploy to get some fame.” Gwen frowned. She could definitely see her parents using her new Avengers status to help themselves.

“Can’t even say I’m surprised,” she said dryly. “It’s sad that I never noticed until I left that they were useless as parents.” Alex snorted in agreement, remembering a lot of the stories Gwen used to tell him about her parents.

“And that’s why you now have us,” Erik joked. She chuckled, letting the metal manipulator pull her closer to his side.

“Speaking of Ironman,” Alex started, smiling coyly at Gwen. “When are you two going out again?” A slight flush worked its way across Gwen’s cheekbones.

“This Friday,” she answered. “We’re going to a drive-in.”

“Sounds cozy.”

“Shut up, Al.”

||

“So, they just showed up, out of the blue, at your house?” Tony questioned while handing the girl behind the concessions counter a one hundred dollar bill for the popcorn and drinks. “Keep the change,” he added with a wink before kicking the door open lightly, letting Gwen through before following himself to the Lamborghini he picked her up in for their drive-inn movie date. Gwen nodded.

“Yeah. Alex thinks that they only did it because they saw me on TV with you guys.” Tony smirked.

“Well, we are kind of awesome.” Gwen smacked him lightly with a chuckle.

“If your ego gets any bigger, we’re going to have to get a larger car,” she joked. He shot her a grin, opening the passenger door for her, closing it softly once she was settled with both of their drinks in her hands. Gwen put them both in the cup holders, and smiled at Tony when he got in.

“What movies are we seeing again?” Tony questioned before leaning over to press a gentle kiss to Gwen’s cheek. She smiled softly at him.

“The Hobbit and Snow White and Huntsman,” she answered.

“Is that the one with the guy that looks eerily similar to Thor?” Gwen nodded. “Wanna skip that one and make-out instead?”

“Aren’t I supposed to be the horny twenty-something?” Gwen teased, playfully pushing his face away when he leered at her with a grin.

“If you want to be, I’m not going to stop you.” She tossed some popcorn at him in retaliation.

“How’s Bruce settling in?” Gwen questioned after a comfortable couple minutes of silence.

“Very well. He spends most of his time in his lab, though. I hardly get to see my science bro.”

“Poor baby.”

“You should feel very sorry for me.” They talked for a few more minutes before the opening sequence for The Hobbit started playing, and the couple lapsed into a comfortable silence once again.


||


The next morning, Gwen woke up to someone knocking on her bedroom door. “Go away,” she groaned, tucking her head under her pillow to block out the noise. The knocking went away for a blissful moment before the right side of the bed sunk with the added weight of someone sitting down next to her.

“Gwenie, seriously, wake up.” It was Alex. And he was serious. A serious Alex never boded well in Gwen’s opinion. She un-tucked her head and glanced blearily up at him.

“What’s wrong? Is it one of the kids? Did something happen?” She fired question after question at him. Alex shook his head.

“No, Gwen, the kids are fine.” He took a deep breath, and seemed to have been steeling himself for something.

“Alex, whatever it is, just tell me.” He paused for a moment, before locking his gaze with her.

“Your parents went to a news channel. It’s… it’s not pretty.” Gwen shot up.

“What?!”

”She used to threaten us,” forty-two year old, Fiona Falcon, reported. “The day she got her powers was the most terrifying time of my life.”

“She once froze our dog completely solid!” Patrick Falcon continued, piping up when his wife seemed to be getting visibly upset. “It was the happiest, yet saddest day of my life when Gwendolyn ran away.”

Gwendolyn Falcon, the twenty-two year old mutant that is a part of the superhero group known as The Avengers, seems to not be a hero after all. We all saw her the day of the alien invasion, where she was fighting the good fight. We all saw the heroic, and brave girl that could manipulate ice. According to Miss Falcon’s family, we were terribly wrong.

Patrick and Fiona Falcon both have reported that Gwendolyn was always a loose cannon, prone to fits of violence and rage-”

Gwen stopped reading, throwing her phone across the room after she read half of the article. Alex, not having left her side, wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to his chest. “I’m so sorry, Gwenie.”

“How could they do this to me?” Gwen questioned, tears welling up in her eyes. “I knew what happened a couple days ago would piss them off, but do to [i]this[/i]?” She whispered the last part, her voice breaking slightly. Alex just tightened his hold on her instead of answering. She had started shaking; her powers getting a bit out of control. “Get out of here, Al. I don’t want to hurt you,” she warned, feeling her control slipping as the seconds ticked by. She felt him hesitate for a split second, deciding whether or not he was going to heed her advice, before tightening his hold.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he promised. She bit her a lip, a last attempting at keeping a vice on her emotions, a sob slipped out. And-

She let go.
__________________________________________
Date: Gwen
Next morning: Gwen

Notes