Eye of the Beholder

Author's Notes 1: So I posted that last chapter and then went out to dinner and a movie with my husband. When I left, I had something like seven messages in my in box and when I got home there was over twenty messages waiting for me. Thank you onewing, blue_lioness, Aymiah, jesi, Cougar, Michael, MrFantastiBeast, Anon, Dragonpink, Kris_A, WeepingAngelOfDeath, Sarah and Capt_Davy_Jones_Lover. You guys are the best.

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For over twenty years she's had to watch her parents put her sister on a pedestal while it felt like she was almost completely forgotten and ignored. More than twenty years of knowing that no matter what she did, it would never be good enough in her parent's eyes. Twenty plus years of living in her sister's shadow and always being compared, usually unfavorably, to Annie has at the best of times, been a real pain in the ass. The delight of watching her sister come crashing off of her pedestal in less than twenty seconds is an absolutely heady, priceless experience and she almost giggles at the giddy feeling.

“Here, I fixed your computer,” a voice grumbles from nearby.

She turns towards it and she can see the look of hurt and anger on the boy's face. She can feel her stomach drop to somewhere below the basement and she reaches for her nephew, ignoring the laptop he's trying to hand her. While her sister definitely deserves to be brought down a few hundred pegs, Mike and the kids don't deserve this pain or the humiliation.

“Paul,” she barely whispers as her world suddenly tilts at a strange angle.

She stumbles a step towards him before the world begins spinning and it become harder to see the boy's face. She can see him trying to say something to her, but it sounds like he's a hundred miles away. She tries to reach for him just as everything goes dark and she knows no more.

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The gloating in her voice disturbs him greatly, but before he can say anything about it, the twins arrive on the scene. With their arrival, more voices are added to the yelling and crying and he cringes as his sensitive ears are assaulted with the volume that seems to be going up every second. So intent on his own pain, he barely notices anything going on right in front of him until he hears Paul worriedly calling his aunt's name. Only his lightning fast reflexes keep her from crashing to the floor and he gently pulls her limp form in his arms as he ascertains her condition.

“What happened?” Hank asks Paul.

“I don't know,” Paul answers, clearly upset. “I was trying to give her her computer back and then she looked at me funny and her eyes rolled up into her head and then she fell down.”

“What's wrong with Amy?” Mike inquires as he tries to dislodge Annie's fingers from his person.

“It seems she's fainted,” Hank replies as he carries her into the living room. “I imagine the combination of her injuries, the drugs, the lack of food and this most recent bit of excitement has been a bit too much for her.”

“Where are you taking her?” Stuart demands and Hank beats Beast back down before answering.

“The couch,” Hank responds calmly while he carefully lays her on the aforementioned piece of furniture. “Fainting is caused by a sudden lack of blood flow to the brain. Lying her down with her feet elevated should alleviate the problem.”

“You said lack of food,” Cathy states, latching onto something that she can handle. “Would eating help?”

“Once she wakes, yes,” Hank says as he slides a cushion under her feet.

“Then I'll go make some lunch for the two of you,” Cathy offers and then hurries out of the room.

Slightly relieved that there's at least one less person staring at him and watching his every movie, he perches on the edge of the couch near her head. He can practically feel Stuart glaring at him as he gently brushes the hair out of Amanda's face and he's in no mood to play diplomat, so he just ignores the older man. Briefly he smiles to himself as he remembers her warnings and he has to admit that at this particular moment, she's right. Her family is nuts.

He hears the twins sniffing off to one side and he glances over at them where he can see them clinging to each other. Paul doesn't look much better than his sisters, but he's managing to hold it together. Hank glances at Annie and Mike and finds her clinging to his arm, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Please, Mike,” Annie begs.

“Who is it, Annie?” Mike demands. “How did you manage to do it with the kids always at home? How did you keep it from them? Why did you do it?”

“There isn't any one else,” Annie wails. “I swear! I would never...”

“Then how do you explain...this?” Mike snarls as he points at her abdomen.

“If I may,” Hank interjects before there can be any more yelling. “On very rare occasions, vasectomies have been known to spontaneously reverse themselves. I suggest having yourself tested, Mike, before you accuse your wife of any impropriety and risk damaging your marriage any further.”

“You think that's what's happened?” Mike asks, calming slightly.

“It seems the most likely cause,” Hank answers as he starts to stroke Amanda's hair, barely even aware that he's doing it.

“Would mind not pawing my daughter?” Stuart snaps and Hank belatedly realizes what he's doing.

“I hardly call stroking her hair 'pawing',” Hank grumbles quietly while he stops his actions.

“Don't stop,” Amanda softly murmurs as her eyes slowly open.

“How are you feeling?” Hank asks, smiling down at her.

“Not so good,” she answers as she tries to focus on his face. “What happened?”

“You fainted,” he tells her.

“Great,” she grumbles. “So much for being the strong one.”

Before he has a chance to question her about her comment, Cathy returns with a couple plates piled high with food. Hank stands and relieves the woman of her burden, smiling his thanks.

“Do you think you can sit up and eat?” Hank inquires as he looks down at her and immediately has to slam an anxious Beast back.

“I think so,” Amanda replies.

She slowly starts to sit up and the girls come over to help her, only to be stopped by Hank.

“She needs to do it on her own,” Hank explains, watching Amanda carefully as she slowly rights herself. “Only she can gage how fast she can go. If someone pulls her up too quickly, she could faint again.”

It takes her about a minute to get upright and she doesn't look too happy about being in that position.

“How do you feel?” Hank questions and she looks in his general direction.

“Your honor, I would like to move that the room stop spinning,” she moans and he quickly puts the plates on the coffee table.

“Put your head between your knees until the dizziness passes,” he instructs, sitting down next to her and gently pushing her over.

He rubs her back as he waits for her to get her equilibrium back and out of the corner of his eye he can see Stuart starting to get all puffed up with indignation. However, before the man can open his mouth, Cathy grabs him by the back of his collar and drags him out of the room, choking out his protests the entire way. A quick check of the others finds Annie and Mike sitting on the love seat, the twins on the other side of Amanda on the couch and Paul sitting in an overstuffed chair with Amanda's computer on his lap.

“I must say, Paul, I am most curious about your gift,” Hank states, turning his attention towards the boy. “What exactly are your abilities?”

Annie makes a funny sound and Hank turns his attention to the very upset woman.

“It's a little late to be pretending that he's perfectly normal, Annie, so give it a rest,” Amanda grumbles, though her words are a bit muffled by her position.

Annie shoots her sister a withering glare before slumping her shoulders in defeat and dropping her face into her hands.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause any more trouble,” Hank says.

“Annie's just afraid you'll steal him away to Xavier's,” Amanda tells him, sitting up slightly so she can turn to look at him.

“I can assure you, neither I, nor anyone at Xavier's, would just steal your child away unless he was in danger of being harmed,” Hank assures the mother. “It is quite apparent to me that your children are very well cared for and loved. You have nothing to fear about him being taken from your care. However, I would advise you to at least contact Xavier's and talk to Ororo Monroe, the headmistress. They could test him to see the extent of his powers and then help you set up a lesson plan to help him get a handle on his powers. Have the girls shown any signs of being mutants as well?”

“Nothing yet,” Mike answers. “Do you think they will be?”

“More often than not, if one child develops mutant abilities, then any siblings have an increased chance of being mutants as well,” Hank answers. “In the case of twins, especially identical, if one is a mutant, it's a given that the other will be as well.”

“We'll keep an eye on them,” Mike assures him and Hank nods his appreciation.

“So, young man, what exactly can you do?” Hank asks, turning towards Paul and never seeing the look exchanged between Annie and Amanda.

“I can send my mind into the computer and do anything I want in there and if it has an Internet connection, then I can go into any computer that's also connected,” Paul eagerly answers. “That Friends of Humanity website isn't going to be coming back any time soon.”

“Oh?” Hank questions as his eyebrows rise towards his hairline.

“Yeah, I totally destroyed their computer,” Paul replies smugly. “Though I think I over did it a little bit.”

“You passed out,” Annie nearly growls.

“So?” Paul shoots back. “It's not like I was in a coma or anything. I just wore myself out a bit.”

“So that's why you weren't feeling well the other day,” Hank observes, neatly cutting off another argument. “Are there any limitations to your skills?”

“I have to touch some part of the computer,” Paul tells him. “It doesn't matter what part, but I have to be touching it at all times.”

“I take it that what we saw earlier is what happens if you lose contact with the computer before returning to yourself,” Hank says, idly noting that Amanda is slowly starting to sit up.

“Yeah, someone took me away from the computer before I was done,” Paul grumbles, glaring at his mother.

“You were passed out again,” Annie says defensively. “How was I supposed to know not to pull you away from the computer?”

“Well, if you'd just let me tell you what I can do, instead of being too busy all of the time, then you'd know,” Paul retorts just before he stands up and then shoves the laptop towards his aunt. “Even Aunt Amy knows what I can do better than you. Here, I fixed your computer.”

“Thank you, Paul,” Amanda replies as she takes the item from him, a bit surprised about how heavy it suddenly seems.

Before anyone can say anything, Paul runs out of the room and Annie starts glaring at Amanda again.

“This is all your fault,” Annie snarls and Amanda rolls her eyes.

“This should be good,” Amanda snorts. “Please explain how I'm at fault for this when I wasn't even here?”

“You left your computer out where he could find it,” Annie retorts.

“And who's job is it to watch your child?” Amanda shoots back. “Last I checked, it wasn't me!”

“Perhaps this isn't the best time to pick a fight with your sister,” Mike strongly suggests, taking a firm hold of Annie's arm. “Let's let them eat their lunch in peace, shall we?”

Before she can protest, Mike pulls his wife to her feet and nearly drags her out of the room. Amanda and Hank both sigh with relief as she leans against him. He gently kisses her forehead near her bandage and then hands her one of the plates of food.

“Let me guess, you told Mom I needed to eat something,” Amanda says, eying the food heaped upon her plate.

“Well, part of the reason you fainted could be due to the fact that you haven't eaten since breakfast and what you did eat wasn't very much,” Hank points out.

“I just wanted to get out of there,” she grumbles in response as she tries to pick up her sandwich with one hand and Cathy sticks her head back into the room just at that moment.

“Girls, come help me in the kitchen, please,” Cathy requests of the twins who are still huddled down at their end of the couch.

“Yes, Grandma,” they respond as they get up and leave the room.

“Where's Dad?” Amanda asks, still trying to get a hold of her sandwich.

“I sent him to the store to get something that I absolutely have to have,” Cathy answers.

“What was it?” Amanda questions, trying not to smile.

“I don't remember,” Cathy replies with an ill concealed grin. “Eat up. You look like death itself.”

With that, the older woman turns and disappears down the hallway, supposedly headed for the kitchen. Hank stares at the empty doorway for several seconds in surprise before turning his attention back to his lady. He finds her still struggling to get a hold of her lunch, the thickness of the sandwich added to the inability to use both hands makes it difficult to get hold of the thing and with an amused smile, he picks it up for her, holding it for her so she can eat it.

“There's no one here but the two of us, so no audience to watch,” he assures her when she gives him a scrutinizing look. “I swear, no one will take a picture of you and then post it on the Internet.”

“Is it a bad thing that I want to kick Johnny Storm's butt when I get back to New York?” she grumbles just before taking a bite.

“No and I'll even hold your coat for you,” he chuckles as he starts alternating between eating his lunch and helping her with hers.

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“Is that everything?” Hank asks as Amanda brings the last bag out of her room.

“Yeah, if I missed anything, I can replace it or get it the next time I come down,” she answers while she shuts her bedroom door and then her voice drops down into a low growl. “Of course, it'll be a while before I'm going to come here again.”

“Then we should get going,” he states and she nods her agreement.

They head downstairs where most of her family is waiting. Cathy, Mike and the kids are all standing near the front door, none of them looking really happy about their departure. Annie's absence doesn't go unnoticed and Amanda gives her mother a cold, hard stare.

“I see Annie couldn't be bothered to come say goodbye,” Amanda nearly snarls. “Something you never let me get away with.”

“Well, considering Annie's condition...,” Cathy starts.

“A condition she brought upon herself,” Amanda snaps. “I can't believe you're still coddling her!”

“Amy, try to be understanding,” Cathy says, starting to fidget.

“All I understand is that your still babying a woman who may or may not be pregnant with her husband's child,” Amanda shoots back. “If the situation was reversed, would you let me skip out on saying goodbye?”

Cathy looks down at the floor, not answering her daughter and Amanda lets out a snort.

“I thought not,” Amanda grumbles, shifting the straps of the bags she's carrying.

“Amanda, perhaps this isn't the best time for this,” Hank gently interrupts.

Amanda finally looks over at the others and sees the looks on their faces. Mike is barely containing his anger and the kids look hurt and confused.

“Mike, kids, I'm sorry,” Amanda moans, feeling lower then a worm's belly at the moment.

“Have a safe trip,” Mike replies stiffly and then stalks off.

Before Amanda can say anything, the kids give her brief hugs and then take off for parts unknown. Amanda starts to call after them, but at that precise moment, her father arrives. He sees her bags, mostly carried by Hank and scowls.

“Well, you certainly know how to make the holidays memorable,” Cathy states coldly, her arms folded across her chest and a disapproving look on her face.

“Bye,” Amanda mumbles as she quickly opens the door and all but runs out it.

She makes a headlong dash down the front steps towards Hank's car and gets about half way down the front walk before slipping on a patch of ice. She starts to scream but a pair of strong arms catches her, stopping her fall. She clings to those arms as her body trembles from the shock of nearly falling again, never even noticing that one of his hands is crushing one of her breasts.

“Are you alright?” he worriedly inquires as he gets her back on her feet and then moves his hands to a more acceptable place.

“No,” she whimpers as she buries her face into his chest, leaning heavily on him. “I want to go home. I want to go to the moon. I want to be any place but here.”

“Well, I don't think I can manage the moon, but I can definitely take you away from here,” he tells her fondly.

“Like Hell you will,” Stuart growls just as the sound of a shotgun cocking reaches their ears. “Amy, get inside right now.”

They turn and find Stuart standing at the top of the steps with a double barrel shotgun in his hands and he has it trained on Hank.

“Stuart, stop this foolishness right now!” Cathy demands as she tries to pull Stuart's arms down.

“Forget it, Dad,” Amanda snarls and then spins around, marching towards the car.

Hank simply ignores the gun and picks up Amanda's dropped luggage before heading towards his vehicle. He can hear Stuart racing down the front steps, but he doesn't stop until he reaches the trunk of the car. He puts the bags down to open the trunk and finds the barrel of Stuarts weapon practically in his face.

“Step away from her bags,” Start orders and Hank stands up to his full height and glares back at the other man.

“Jesus Christ on a pogo stick, Dad, give it a rest!” Amanda yells. “I'm leaving! Deal with it!”

“Watch your language, young lady!” Stuart snaps back. “You're not going anywhere! Now get back in the house!”

“And you wonder why I moved to New York!?” Amanda shouts.

“Stuart, enough already, put the gun away!” Cathy adds loudly as she grabs him and tries to drag him back into the house.

While all of this is going on, Hank and Stuart stare at each other, neither one of them moving or even blinking. While Hank remains calm looking on the outside, inside Beast is doing its best to take over and tear the other man limb from limb. Stuart makes the mistake of jabbing the shotgun towards Hank to get him to move back, but instead Hank rips the gun out of the other man's hands in a move that's too fast to be seen. Stuart stares confoundedly at his now empty hands and Hank starts to squeeze the barrel of the weapon in his hand.

“I will thank you to never point another weapon at me ever again,” Hank growls as he gives the gun one final squeeze before dropping it on the ground.

Stuart quickly grabs the weapon up and starts to aim it at Hank again but stops when he notices that the end of the barrel is completely crushed.

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Author's Notes 2: So a few years ago I met a lady with four kids, a boy, boy and girl twins and another boy. We got to talking about kids and during the course of the conversation I found out that her husband had had a vasectomy after the twins were born. A couple of years later, she got pregnant again because his vasectomy had reversed itself. I have been dying to stick that in one of my stories for the longest time...