Title: This Love
Fandom: X-Men/Avengers
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: Emma/Tony
Rating: PG-13/T
Summary: She never expected a love, or a man, like this.
Word Count: 1,433
Written For: Fan FlashWorks 495. Amnesty: 493. Gardens and 494. Brilliant
Date Written: October 2025
Warnings: Spoilers
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.







The man is brilliant. There's no denying that, or that he's charismatic, suave, sophisticated, or a skilled lover. For all her years, and all her own expertise in the sex game, Emma still finds herself truly drawn to Anthony.

Sean had played with her mind and heart for a while, for a few years if she dared admit the truth even to herself. Scott and Sebastian took even more of her heart and years. She doesn't regret her time with two of the three. She most certainly doesn't regret her time now with Anthony.

But she does regret, she admits to herself with a soft sigh, that this time must end, and it must. Even if she's developed genuine feelings for the arrogant man who once frustrated her so much, it cannot be helped. Developing genuine feelings for the people she sets out to help has always been her greatest weakness. She's supposed to be strong, and she is, but the hurtful truth is, her heart is very far from the diamond she becomes or the ice that's long been rumored to encase her heart. She'd like to be able not to feel, but if she could master that art, she would have left this war many years ago.

But she can't. The truth is far different from what they all want to believe: she cannot help but to care. She's always been driven by her passion for her people, especially mutant children like she once was herself, her brother, or the scores of precious students she has lost. She does her best, but her best is never good enough.

For a sweet, short while, death had lost its sting. She should have known it wouldn't last. Death has always seemed to circle around her, ever since she lost her beloved Hellions. She's promised herself time and again that she would stop caring, stop giving people the ability to hurt her, stop opening herself to others.

Yet she never quite manages to keep that promise. She promised herself she wouldn't fall for Anthony, so of course, she's come to care for him far, far too much. She actually likes having someone to come home to every evening, someone whose night may well be turned upside down if she doesn't, someone who seems to want to share every detail of her life. She likes having his body next to hers, and his smiles do lighten her days. She's never been matched better when it comes to making love, working, idealism, or just sheer determination.

She's never shared her life like this. The closest she came was Sean, but they never actually acted on the feelings she knew they both possessed. With Scott, there had always been a great deal of pleasure and passion, but also sorrow, and there had always, always been a certain divide. She was not, after all, Jean Grey, or that damned Scot. But if she had been, she never would have had this time with Anthony, as bittersweet as it is and as short-lived as it must be.

"Emma?" His hand on the small of her back is so gentle, something she's never been allowed to become accustomed to, and his voice so subtle and quiet. He's deliberately trying not to push her boundaries, but he knows something is wrong and genuinely cares not just about their plans or teams but about her. You know you can tell me anything, he says, just as softly and tenderly, in her mind.

But she cannot, no matter how inviting he makes it seem, forget that this will not -- can not -- last. It was always only meant to be a temporary guise at best. She never intended to see the man now standing behind her as anything more than a temporary end to a needed means.

She never intended to feel for Anthony, but then she didn't fall for the image the world knows, or even the one she knew when she first agreed to this plan. The man she's come to know, the man for whom she does have feelings, is a far gentler soul than she ever would have believed.

There's a scared, little boy within him, buried far below the layers of spoiled, rich playboy and nerdy, powerful Scientist. She's seen glimpses of him, especially when he cries out in his sleep to his father or to lost friends, and she can feel him rising up again now. her heart tears all over again, but then it skips a beat and her breath quickens in hope when she hears him whisper. "We don't have to go out tonight."

"You want to stay in?" she asks, careful to keep her tone even and casual. She knows how important their media coverage is, but she's come to treasure their alone times. She prefers spending what she's learned they call quality time here at "home" with him, but in truth, she'd gladly take any time with him away from the limelight. There's even come to be a certain reassurance when it's just them and Jarvis on a mission. Speaking of which, he's not come to take her designer bag or jacket yet.

It's Anthony instead who slips her purse gently from her shoulder and lays it on a nearby table. He slips her jacket from her shoulders next, and she lets him. His strong, skilled hands then move into massaging her back, and for a moment, Emma is shocked into silence. He's greeted her like this before, of course, and it's quickly led to sex, but she's learned to read him and knows this has nothing to do with any sexual conquest.

Emma lets Anthony lead her out of the mansion and all the way to the gardens so few know he's created. He's a man of science and technology, the world knows, but Emma knows better than most -- all, she'd like to believe -- that there's a part of the man who longs to cherish and care for something more than his creations, something actually living and breathing. To most people, caring for such creatures would lead to them having or at least adopting children or pets -- or teaching as she does --, but with their life styles, plants are far easier.

Only she doesn't remember this section of gardens from her last visit here. She certainly doesn't recall nearly every inch being covered with delicate, white roses. They're not unlike the ones she herself had cultivated at the Massachusetts Academy, but these are all growing wild.

The traditional candlelit table stands in the middle. Emma knows the covered dishes are her favorite eats, but the roses make her smile even more. They're not the only new touches: small robots buzz lightly in the cool, evening air, playing their song on even smaller violins. "Anthony -- " She finds herself, to her shock and dismay, blinking back actual tears.

He moves to her side, kisses her hand, and most importantly for Emma, does not call her on her obvious emotions. He bends a knee, but the silent panic growing in her widening, blue eyes stops his movement. Instead he stands before her, grips her hands harder, kisses them each again, and says, "I just wanted to say thank you."

She swallows her tears and nods mutely, not daring to allow herself to speak.

"Thank you for being here with me."

She nods again; he steps closer and entwines his fingers with hers. She moves closer too, takes her hands from his gentle grasp, and wraps her arms around him instead. She feels his heart beating, his breath quickening, and knows what he wants to say her, knows what they both ache to say. Words are a disguise, but it's pure, unspoken truth that buzzes between them as they hug tightly in their secret place on what would have been a lonely night, had either of them spent it with anyone else.

She has, of course, heard the old cliches about time standing still, but now she understands. She understands, too, the passion, warmth, and treasure of a hug that floods her heart far greater than any amount of sex ever has or will. They cling to each other, speaking truths they cannot voice, for a long time before they slowly move together into waltzing to their song, still being played by his flying, violist robots. Emma knows another truth too: She'll never leave Anthony until she no longer has a choice, and even then, this sweetest side of him and this night, this moment, this love with stay with her forever.



The End