Avenger Assembled

"Could burn the Fens down," Avenger suggested with a teasing glint in his eye. "Clear out a crackhouse and burn it down so the neighborhood can stay warm on Christmas." Jack actually knew better than to do that, as Taylor well knew, but it was part of the character. "Or maybe we go out and kick some lowlifes, and then come back here and light a fire for just the two of us. " The fire actually meant nothing to him, physically...but there was no use dwelling on that. Besides, the canoodling before it was nice.

"That's right," said Mark, a little unsettled but certainly in far better shape than he had been earlier. "Friends to the end, right?" He reached down and picked up Oliver, stroking behind the little kitty's ears. "You're my friend too. I'm sorry I yelled at you, James; I'm glad you guys were here. Maybe we can figure more about this genie thing some other time."

Jack hmmed at that. "I don't really think what happened on the honeymoon was liable to promote fertility, unless we both got hit by a really wicked curse there at the end." On the other hand, he supposed, there had been good memories on the honeymoon too...well, maybe it was better not to think about. Who knew how fast a vampire baby would grow in Taylor, drawing on her blood as it prepared itself for birthing. He dialed up his Bluetooth as they got out on the road, and was soon dialing Viktor Archeville's number, the one he'd picked up just before the Knights exploded.

"Okay, well, that's a good idea," Jack admitted begrudgingly. Ace did know a lot of people. "I'd rather he not hear about this, if that can be helped. The last thing we need is him deciding that you're an abomination. Or I am." Was that a guilty bit of projection? He led her down through the building, taking the back stairs and out the door of the oddly mundane high rise. He'd left his sunglasses on the roof, but fortunately he had a spare pair in his glove compartment, and put those on before he took the wheel again. "Wait...does this mean you were pregnant when we got married?" he asked her.

"Okay," Jack agreed, his arm around Taylor's shoulders as they began walking to the stairs down from the roof. "I'll call Archeville as we go. And we'll go right home from here." His heart was twisting inside with fear and worry for Taylor, but he kept it off his face as best he could, the better to keep from worrying her. "So Stesha knows?" he asked her quietly.

He squeezed her hands, gazing deep in her eyes with worry on his face. "I'm scared too," he admitted softly, raising her hands to his lips and kissing them softly. "But...but we'll get through it," he said, hope and belief in his words. "We've done enough impossible things together, right?" He gave her a weak little smile. "We'll go and we'll talk to Archeville, and you'll research...and we'll figure things out." He blinked back the ache in his eyes, deciding that crying blood at this juncture would just make things even more stressful.

"I'm...I'm not suggesting that," said Jack, raising his hands in surrender. Yet. What the hell sort of thing was inside her? "All I'm saying is that we go to someone who can give us more information." He looked at her levelly. "Taylor, I have nothing but respect for your knowledge about magic; you certainly know a lot more than I do. Or ever am likely to. But you can't tell me this is something you can deal with objectively, because I know for a fact I can't deal with it objectively! If we talk to a third party, we can get more information that we can both trust." He looked down at his hands, picturing them covered in Taylor's blood. "I'm sorry, Taylor. I don't want to hurt you. I love you."

Jack rubbed his eyes, not quite looking at her. "Goddammit, Taylor, you think I'm worried about you cheating on me!?" he shouted. "Do you have any idea how much trouble we're in?" He gave her an agonized look. "I have heard of this happening, and it's not...it's not good!" He looked down at her, eyes wide with fear and shock. "But we haven't done any of that, we haven't done any of the rituals, you haven't drunk any of my blood..." He licked his dry lips. "We need to get you to a doctor, now. Someone who knows how to take care of this."

Akira will go on 12, Kevin will go on 9 Roll for initiative

As many of the fans begin to tire of all the questions, a gentleman with long, blonde hair and wearing a red suit stood towards the back of the room. “Excuse me,” he said with a smile, “I have one last question. How many more minutes do you expect to live?” And with that, he ripped the sleeves off his suit, hurling them aside to the shocked cries of the crowd as he exposed his muscley arms, and assumed a karate combat pose!

"It was described to me as being like a communicator," said Jack, pleased that she liked the present so well. His new mask was better at conveying his emotions than his old hockey-ski mask, he'd have to work hard to master his facial expressions. It was a good thing his nature already made that a little easier. "The wearer can use the magic in the amulet to reach out to their sub...er, friends, even in other dimensions."

"You what?" Jack dropped his sunglasses and gave her a flat, impenetrable look with his dead eyes. "How...how did THAT happen?" he asked sharply, the crack in his voice the only sign of emotion in him as he stood there, the animate dead wilting in the sunlight.

Jack pushed back the sunglasses he always wore in the daytime, his arms around Taylor as he looked worriedly down at her. "Taylor, what's the matter?" he demanded, tenderness and something like a nascent anger in his voice. What could have upset her so badly? "Are you hurt?" He didn't smell any blood on her, but there could be a million other things wrong. His head was already beginning to ache from the sunlight overhead.

"Okay," said a suspicious Jack, trusting that Taylor would explain everything as soon as she could. "I'll be on the roof of the Roger Office Park on Green Street in...ten minutes." He didn't like wandering out that far into the sun, but it was the most private place in the building he could think of. "Love you. See you soon." Hanging up his phone, worry in his undead breast, Jack headed upstairs.

"Uh, sure, I can get over there shortly," said Jack, checking his watch. "Maybe a half-hour with traffic, I'm way over in Ashton and it's game day. What's going on?" he asked her, sounding a little concerned. He couldn't move very fast in daylight, and certainly couldn't use any of his vampiric powers to get him to Taylor any faster.

At that moment, Taylor's cellphone over on the counter started to ring. Jack was busy, in fact, wrapped up in an urgent business meeting that would hopefully keep werewolves out of the sewers of Freedom City, but he made a habit to make time for Taylor when she called. Like it or not, when she interrupted him at work, it was usually pretty freaking important. When someone picked up the phone, he said, "Hello?"

"Have to see what I can do. Anyone out on Christmas Eve needs a good scare." At that he stealthily made his way into the refrigerator, removed the box there, and silently drifted up in front of Taylor. "For you," he told her, hefting a grey and black jewelry box into her line of vision. "Picked it out myself from a friend's collection." The box hummed quietly with a softly active trace of magic, and when open revealed a gorgeous little silver skull with tiny red gemstones in the eyes, suitable for wearing around the neck on a silver chain. "The Necklace of Voices. Go on, put it on," he suggested.

"I'll take your word for it," growled Jack, but Taylor could hear the humor in his voice. "Looked good; can't check myself out in the mirror." He looked her over as well, a predatory glint in his eye. "I've got something for you, too...but you'd better close your eyes first." He laughed a truly evil laugh that he hoped was a good cover for where he'd have to go to get what she needed.

"This is...wow," said Jack in admiration, looking with a close eye over all the work she'd done on his costume. Or had done, more likely. "This is the big leagues now!" he said with a chuckle, standing up to kiss her. With a vampire's lack of modesty, he started stripping out of his clothes right there to change into the costume. "I've got to try this out! Thank you," he told her with a little smile. "Let's see here, I think this goes around here..."

"Never," said Mark, shaking his head. "I mean, even when I blew things up early on, everyone at school knew it was an accident. And I always helped clean up afterwards." Left unspoken was his elementary and middle school record, or lack thereof. "He's been pretty approachable most of my life, but he's backed off a little lately. I guess that's fair, since I'm a powered student at school now." He smiled a little, studying the picture. "My parents didn't have an extended family, but I had a lot of aunts and uncles growing up. " Eventually, after they'd all watched part of the football game, the evening began winding down. There were plenty of leftovers, and Martha Lucas seemed interested in pressing as many as possible on Erin. "Well at least take some pie and turkey," she suggested as she pressed several sealed casserole dishes on Erin. "You should have something good to eat at that school, so you're not stuck eating at the cafeteria all the time."

Surprised, but not displeased, Jack dropped down next to the box with an inquiring eye. "Well, that's interesting..." He picked up the box and shook it gently, like a child on Christmas Eve, and looked up at her. "I have no idea what this is," he admitted with a smile. "If you want your present, I'll..." He thought about telling her exactly where it was; tucked away safely in the refrigerator. "I'll get it," he suggested, even as he began to tear into the box.

"Oh really?" asked Jack, a pleasant smile on his face. From the predatory look in his eye, it was obvious he'd made certain assumptions about the nature of that gift. "Well, I think I can open that. I had something similar for you, actually." He reached down, caught her by the butt, and smoothly lifted her up into his arms as if she didn't weigh a thing.

"All done," Jack agreed. She didn't ask for more details than that, most nights, and Jack usually didn't give them. "The doors are locked and the wards are up, and I'm ready for a holiday indoors." It was his first Christmas in a long, long time...well, the first that he was celebrating, anyway. He kissed her back, reveling in the peace and quiet of the house. "Did you call your folks?"

Jack took a moment to enjoy the cheesy sentimentality of Taylor's radiant beauty at the holidays before he broke the mood with a discreet, entirely feigned cough. His wedding had taught him not to let such feelings drag on forever. "It looks fine, you know," he said with a laugh in his voice, walking up behind her to put his arm around her shoulder. "Just like you. Perfect for the holiday."

Jack and Taylor's Christmas