So, when a fiery raptor and a night bat talk...

[vesper_verde]

Marcelo was hunched between his shoulders as he made his way to the visitor’s parking lot. His visit to Stephanie at Xavier’s was over, and he ostensibly had things to do back in Manhattan. Not that he really felt like doing them after visiting his fiancee when she was recovering from what had been done to her.

“Mr. da Silva? If I may have a word with you?”

For a man with very acute hearing, the feminine voice coming from behind Marcelo caught him off-guard. He jumped slightly before he spun on his heel. Though rather than see some female assassin in a black bustier, he saw a respectable-looking redhead. It took him a moment to place her as the new headmaster of Xavier’s. Also, he had to stop himself from trying to put her in an assassin’s bustier.

One red eyebrow arched in amusement, and Marcelo realized Stephanie had told him this woman was a telepath. He slapped a hand over his eyes. “Eu sinto muito.”

“A man’s thoughts are his own.” The redhead paused. “Even if I’m happily married and your heart belongs to another.”

Marcelo wiped his hand down his face, pulling his features down for a moment. “I am … not used to the intricacies of the superpowered world.”

“No harm done,” Rachel Grey-Ramsey assured. She stayed where she had been when he turned around, seemingly waiting for something.

“Oh. Right. What did you want to talk about?”

“Recent events and how you’re doing with them. It might be a very long word. We could walk around the grounds or go to my office.”

He blinked at the woman who did not look much older than him. His brows knit as he considered it. She didn’t know him from anyone, but she was one of the people taking care of Stephanie. If his fiancee could trust her to crawl around her head, he guessed it was safe to talk to her. He glanced around at the school grounds in the warm early summer light. “Your office seems like as good a place as any.”

She smiled gently at him. “Good. This way, Mr. da Silva.”

“Marcelo,” he corrected as he moved to follow her.

“Then you can call me Rachel.” She waited for him to cover the space between them before starting toward her office. She stayed beside him rather than lead him to her office. “I had been planning on visiting you and Stephanie at home to do this, but Sebastian Shaw likes to mess up timetables.”

And his daughter, Marcelo thought bitterly. He didn’t mind if the telepath heard that, but she had no reaction he could see. They walked to a different part of the mansion than he had been in. Then again, he had only been in their infirmary and guest quarters before. Maybe some day he could get a tour. He seemed to show up here every quarter or so.

“Right this way,” the redhead directed as a door opened in front of them.

He glanced around quickly to look for a pressure plate or censor over the door to automate it. He hummed softly to himself when he didn’t see anything.

“Telekinesis,” Rachel commented as she waited outside the door.

“Oh.” Yet another mutant power to make him feel inadequate. He thought that quieter than normal. Or tried to, at least. He wasn’t sure how to make his thoughts softer. So many things he was behind on by being a normal man.

“Please, have a seat.” Rachel gestured to a couple chairs away from her large cherrywood desk. They were set by a similarly styled small table and faced each other.

Marcelo walked over to the nearest one. It looked more comfortable than he felt sitting down in it. He wondered why he was getting called to the principal’s office. He shifted a bit to try to get comfortable while the redhead settled with an ease into the chair across from him.

“Marcelo, I know you don’t know me from anyone else here, but I wanted to see how you’re handling life since Vargas led the assault on Veridian.”

“Fine. I guess.” He wasn’t sure why this woman was concerned about him. Stephanie was the alumnus.

She was quiet a moment. "No, you're not," she countered quietly.

"Is that your professional telepathic opinion?" He tried to ask that with a lightness he did not feel.

"Professional, yes. Telepathic, no." She settled back more into her chair. "Stephanie, while an alumnus of this school, has become an important ally and prominent example of our ideals here. We will offer her all the help and support we have available. You, on the other hand, could fall through the cracks if we're not careful. I'd rather offer a hand to the single greatest iinfluence on Stephane than watch you drown in the aftermath of two very traumatic events."

He swallowed. Marcelo wasn't sure what to make of this. The mutant/Xavier's part of Steph's life had always seemed so separate and out of his grasp to him. Possibly because when they first met, she had to keep some secrecy about the school she attended. Even if she had been open and frank about being a mutant. "So, you want to make sure I'll be okay with... being Stephanie's weak spot?"

Rachel arched an eyebrow but kept her voice calm and caring. "Nothing of the sort. From what I've observed, you're one of her strengths. I wanted to see how I could help, Marcelo. Being impaled by Vargas and then having to deal with Sebastian Shaw's machinations so soon after would put a strain on anyone."

He clenched his teeth for a moment. He didn't want to think about either incident and how powerless both had made him. "What's to say? They both showed how useless I am when things get rough for Stephanie. I'm just..."

"You're just...?"

He looked to the floor, not wanting to admit it. But how could he keep anything from someone who read thoughts? "I'm just trying to hold on long enough. That it will calm down. So there's less reminders that I'm not her equal."

Rachel scooted forward on her chair. She reached out and gently took his hands. “You are her equal. I don’t think she would settle for anything less. She adores you. I’ve seen it inside and out.”

He winced slightly. He just didn’t want to deal with Stephanie’s heart break. With everything else in her life having been so terrible, he did not want to add to it.

“Marcelo. Look at me.” She gave his hands a small squeeze.

He let out a slow breath and raised his eyes to look at Rachel.

“Stephanie likely won’t see any inequality between you two. Powers aside, she is a particular and driven woman with exacting standards. She came from a cold and cruel family. She could have been just like them, and I have no doubts we wouldn’t be sitting here like this if she were. We here at Xavier’s might have given her good directions while she was here, but the course she chose and the guiding star she looks to is all you.”

Marcelo was quiet for a moment and shook his head slowly. He was trying to wrap his head around it. How could someone so beyond humans with what she could do want one forever? His heart ached thinking of losing her again, but if it made her happy…

“She loves you and wants to spend her life with you. That is amazing for someone of her background.”

He swallowed and stared at their hands holding. Hers felt warm. Not as warm as Stephanie’s, who always ran a little hot. “... yes,” he finally admitted.

“I know what we mutants can do is a little frightening, but our powers don’t define us. Sure, there are things we can do that are extraordinary. I have to admit that. But underneath what we can do, we’re still people. Unlike me, Stephanie can’t read minds. She needs to know about your fears and doubts, so both of you can put them to rest. Whatever you think the future has in store for her, all of her plans include you there.”

He looked down again and saw their hands still holding. He very gently pulled his hands from hers. “When we were on our first date, Stephanie told me she was a mutant. I didn’t really pay it much mind. She could take down muggers, sure, but it was the lovely young woman underneath I found more interesting. It’s not… it’s not her powers or being a mutant that’s the problem.” He pressed his palms together and set his hands in his lap. “It’s… the world she’s in. I’m not even on the same level. Where humans are just… cannon fodder. Where every problem is bigger than anything I could ever do to help. When it gets at its worst, she can’t or doesn’t want me around. I’m great for visiting, I guess.”

If he wasn’t looking so intently at a pattern on the floor rug, he would have noticed Rachel frowning slightly. Though he wasn’t so intent that he didn’t hear her voice. “What do you mean?”

He slowly dragged his eyes up from the hypnotic carpet pattern. “When I was hurt in the attack and in the hospital, she hardly left my side. When Vargas attacked her and this brainwashing thing…” He took a breath and swallowed. He probably was going to mangle this explanation, but it was hard to put the emotions he had there to words. Or at least English ones. “I’m sent back to New York to handle things. Sure, I can visit, but I feel like I shouldn’t hang around too long. There’s supposed to be more important things to do, I guess.”

Rachel sat back in her chair and rubbed her chin. “Well then. It looks like neither side is blameless.”

He blinked at her. The woman’s tone and delivery just sort of hit him. It made a light go off behind his eyes. “Then we should talk,” he concluded slowly. “Just not tonight. I need time to… think. So I do this right.”

“The only thing to doing it right is just doing it. But probably not when you’re tired and drained. Get some rest, Marcelo. Come back tomorrow.”

With a slow nod, he pulled himself to his feet. “Tomorrow, yes.”