Aggressive Negotiations [6/14]

[shadowcat]

Title: Aggressive Negotiations
Author: enochiansigils and not_from_stars
Fandom: X-Men
Pairing/Characters: Dani Moonstar/Mikhail Sorokin
Rating/Category: R
Warnings: One scene of consensual sex between a minor who is older than her years and a an adult.
Summary: Danielle Moonstar was raised by Magneto and his Brotherhood and became a member of the MLF at a young age. She met and fell in love with Mikhail Sorokin. But the course of true love never does run smooth and when Dani dies as the result of a mission gone wrong, Mikhail is left to pick up the pieces of his life. Five years pass and Mikhail learns that things are not as they have always seemed.
Words: 31,122
Notes: Written for au_bigbang 2011. Thank you very much to queenmidalah for the wonderful art and fanvideo she made for us! We've loved writing this story and have very much enjoyed taking part in the challenge this year.








As soon as they were back to their base, Mikhail headed for Dani's room hoping she was in some kind of condition to see him.

Locus was guarding the door, but when she saw him she nodded. "She's in there. She bruised and scraped up pretty good and has a concussion." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Did you know she turned seventeen today? She told the doc when she was sedated so they could take metal out of her shoulder."

Oh, that wasn't a good look.

"I'll have to wish her happy birthday, then."

"Yeah, you should. Apparently no one here knew. Her father called her this morning and told her there was more money in her accounts and a new bike to race. He apparently didn't know I was in the room because he said he loved her and was proud of her. For some reason, it made her sad. Possibly because not even her secret sex toy seemed to know her birthday."

"She's never said anything and I didn't know how to find out." He blinked as the rest of it processed. "How'd you know?"

Because really, lying to Locus wouldn't get him anywhere. At least, not anywhere pleasant.

"I saw you once, sneaking into her room. I stayed close because if you hurt her..." She shrugged. "I'm her friend and I needed to know what level this was at. It's not just about the sex. She's in love with you, Concussion. You break her heart, I'll leave only your head behind."

"I love her, too," Mikhail said softly. "I've loved her since she was fifteen. We just wanted to keep it quiet until she was old enough."

"She's old enough. At least in our world."

"She's old enough now that she's seventeen. And now that she is old enough, I'm not hiding our relationship any longer."

"Then why are you out here? They sedated her."

Mikhail just shook his head, smiling faintly, and let himself into Dani's room.

Dani was laying on her back in her bed. There was a bandage wrapped around her upper arm and her eyes were closed.

He approached the bed and perched on the edge of it, reaching out to take one of her hands in his.

When she felt the bed move, she opened her eyes. "Mikhail?"

"Hello, love." He smiled gently.

"Sssh," she whispered faintly. "Don't want you to get into trouble." Oh yes, someone was clearly sedated.

"Don't care," he said, leaning in to brush his lips against her forehead. "You're old enough now."

"You know what today is? I wasn't going to tell anyone."

"Locus told me." He smiled and squeezed her hand. "Happy birthday, sweetheart."

"I think Locus knows about us."

"She does," he said with a nod. "She saw me sneaking into your room one time."

She chewed on her lip. "You're not mad?"

"Why would I be mad?"

"I don't know." She reached up to his face with her other hand. "Hurt?"

"Am I hurt?" he guessed. "No, I'm fine. I promise."

"Bombs. There shouldn't been cars."

"Wildside took some initiative," Mikhail said, his voice clearly indicating how displeased he still was.

"Could have killed us all," Dani murmured. "I wanted to hurt him for that."

"I had words with him, and I'll probably have more later." He used his free hand to touch her face gently. "Wanted to see how you were doing first."

"Stopped me from killing him."

"Yeah, I did."

"Why?"

"Because we were on a public street. Someone could've seen you."

She winced. "Sorry. So angry. Head hurt and saw red."

"It's okay," he said, trailing a finger down her cheek. "You're safe now and that's the important thing."

"I was afraid, but not for me." She never seemed to be afraid for herself these days.

"You were afraid for everyone else."

She nodded, wincing slightly. "You."

"I love you, Dani," he said softly. "And I love the way you worry about me."

"I love you. When the one bomb went off... I thought others did, too."

Mikhail looked at her for a long moment before stretching out beside her on the bed, wrapping an arm around her waist and snuggling up against her. "They didn't, though. Everyone's safe. I'm safe."

Dani was surprised but pleased, and she curled into him. "Good. Couldn't handle losing you like that."

"You're not going to lose me, babe."

"Promise me you won't ever leave me."

"Why would I leave you?"

"Just promise me, please?"

"I promise," he said, nuzzling the side of her face. "I promise."

"Thank you. I need to know that one person I love isn't going to leave me or hurt me."

"I will never leave you and I will never hurt you."

She nodded, curling against him trustingly. "I know. I love you."

"I'm sorry I didn't know when your birthday was."

"I didn't tell anyone."

"I'm still sorry. I shouldn't known." His lips quirked in a smile. "After all, as Locus put it, I am your secret sex toy."

Her gasp echoed in the room. "She... no... what?"

"Yeah, that's what she called me. She was talking about how your father called for your birthday and it made you sad, probably because not even your secret sex toy knew when your birthday was."

"Killing her, oh yes."

"Why?"

"Best friend prerogative for embarrassing me."

"Why are you embarrassed?"

"You're not a sex toy." She growled.

"Have I told you how sexy you are when you growl?"

"No?"

"Well, you're very sexy when you growl like that. All pissed off and upset at someone."

"You're not a toy."

"No, I'm not. But you know how Locus is."

"That's why she's my best friend," Dani admitted. The two of them were scarily alike sometimes.

"Which is probably why I get along with her as well as I do most of the time."

"She knew about us?"

"Uh-huh. Not sure how long, but she knew."

"And she didn't threaten you?"

"Oh, she threatened me."

She lifted her head to look at him.

"Said if I hurt you, she'd leave only my head behind."

Dani blinked. "She means that."

"Oh, I know she means it."

"I'm sorry she threatened you, Mikhail."

"Don't be. I'm not. I like knowing your friends are loyal to you."

"I have no doubt about the loyalty of Locus or of Tempo." She assured him. "They're protective."

"That's a good thing."

"Yeah, it is. Besides you, I know I could trust them with my life."

"I'm glad you have other people you can trust."

"Because it makes you feel better when we're doing separate jobs." It didn't happen often, but it did happen.

"Exactly," he said with a nod.

"What will happen now, that it becomes public we're together?"

"I'm not sure," he said honestly.

"Are you worried they'll try to reassign us?"

"I'll try not to let them."

"I won't let them take me from you." Her voice was hard.

"If we have to be reassigned, it's a small price to pay for getting to be together."

"But we work really well as a team. They have to see that. It would be stupid to separate us."

"We may have to choose between being teammates and being lovers."

"Lovers."

"That'd be my choice, too."

She nodded, curling into him again.

"But let's not worry about that until we have to," he said, rubbing her back gently with one hand. "Maybe that's a choice we won't have to make."

"Hmm. I hope not."

"Me, too." He sighed. "Because I like the idea of us working together and being together."

"Me, too. Easier to protect each other."

"And an added incentive for protecting each other, too."

She smiled, kissing his chest through his shirt. "Good point."

"Plus I'd like Locus to leave my head attached to my body, thank you."

She laughed groggily.

"Because really, it's kind of hard to do anything when I don't have a head."

She laughed some more. "I'm fairly attached to both of your heads."

"Well, I should certainly hope so."

"I love you, Mikhail."

"I love you, too."

"Stay with me tonight?"

"Of course."

"I need to know you're close by."

"I'll stay right here," he promised.

She nodded, lifting her head up to kiss him.

He returned the kiss gently. "I love you, Danielle," he said softly. "And now, I don't care who knows it."

"I love you so much, Mikhail. I don't care who knows."

"We're not hiding anymore," he promised, kissing her again. "Now that you're old enough, we'll tell everyone. If it comes up, that is."

She moaned softly into his kiss, her hand moving up beneath his shirt. "No more hiding... can hold your hand or kiss you no matter who sees."

He shivered at her touch. "Don't have to jump apart at every sound when we make out in random spots because we can't control ourselves." Which had happened more than occasionally.

She tugged at his shirt. "No more thinking that maybe I should disappear so me loving you doesn't get you into trouble."

He pulled his shirt off and tossed it aside. "No more worrying that you'll get tired of someone older than you and want someone more your age."

Dani couldn't get her shirt by herself because it hurt to move her arm. "That would never happen, Mikhail. Never."

Mikhail kissed her fiercely before trailing kisses along her jawline, his hands working under her shirt.

She busied herself trying to get him out of his pants, making soft growling noises.

"Your shirt first," he murmured, smiling at those little noises.

"Help me, then."

He slid his hands under her shirt again, tugging it up slowly.

Dani got herself as much out of the shirt as she could, and then let Mikhail remove it the rest of the way.

"Beautiful, even when injured," he said with a grin.

"Your pants are in my way."

"Oh, so they are. Sorry about that," he said with an impish grin as he undid his jeans and pushed them and his underwear down.

"You need to wear less clothing," she murmured reaching out to caress him.

"Clothing's kind of required when going out in public."

"You could go commando like I do sometimes. Or wear a thong." Then again, that was easy for her because most of her clothing was leather.

"Sorry, I just went to a happy place there for a second," he said with a grin.

She grinned and pulled him down to her. "Kiss me."

He was only too happy to oblige.

"I love you so fucking much, Mikhail."

"I love you just as much."

She took his hand and placed it between her legs as she leaned up to kiss him.

"Is that an invitation, Danielle?"

"What else would it be?"

"Just making sure," he said with a smirk as his hand slid up her inner thigh.

Her legs shivered already as her dark eyes watched him.

He teased her folds slowly, gently, with a single finger. "Like this?"

She nodded. "Like that."

He slid that single finger inside her slowly, as his thumb found her clit.

Her eyes darkened and she watched him. "I like that."

"Wonder why I never thought to do this to you before," he mused aloud as he moved his fingers slowly.

"I don't know, because you certainly have magic hands."

He laughed softly. "And with everything else we've done, it's even more amazing I never thought of this before."

"That is very true, you know."

He let a second finger join the first, slowly and carefully.

She squealed softly when he did that and lifted her hips gently.

His hand stilled. "Too much?"

"Never too much, not with you. Just caught off guard."

"Sorry," he said, letting her get used to the two fingers before he started moving them slowly, teasingly.

"It feels so damn amazing."

"Glad you think so," he said softly. "Tell me if it's too much. I don't want to hurt you."

"It's not possible for something so good to hurt, love."

"Even so, tell me." He shifted his fingers a little, as his thumb pressed against her clit.

"God," she gasped lifting up slightly.

"Not the first time I've been called that," he teased.

"Mikhail," she growled, moving against his hand.

"That's it," he encouraged, his thumb pressing against her again. "Let me hear you, Danielle."

The growl became a little louder as she writhed against his hand.

"Oh, you're a little wildcat, aren't you?"

She probably would have had a pithy retort if she wasn't overwhelmed with so many sensations right then.

And he knew it, too. He knew so many of her responses, so many of the ways she reacted to things. But he didn't know it all and God, did he look forward to learning the rest.

Dani moaned softly, her hands tangling in her sheets. It was amazing how this man knew how to undo her with a touch.

"That's my girl," Mikhail said softly. "Let go, Dani."

Between his hands and the tension that had been riding her before the drugs, it didn't take long for Dani to throw her head back and growl his name as she came.

"Fucking beautiful," Mikhail declared as he pulled back. "Absolutely fucking beautiful."

She whimpered his name again, her body trembling from the aftershocks.

He smiled softly and leaned in to kiss her lightly. "Happy birthday, sweetheart."

"I love you," she whispered. "Gods I love you."

"I love you, too." He smiled at her. "And damn, I love being able to say that."

She smiled up at him, her eyes still a little glassy. "I love being able to hear it."

"And I love that I'll be able to say it in public now."

She nodded. "No longer having to hide how I feel about you is a very good birthday present."

"If I'd known when your birthday was, I'd have actually gotten you a gift, though."

"I haven't really made a big deal out of my birthday in a few years, Mikhail. Only Dad has ever done that."

"You're my girl. I'm supposed to make a big deal out of your birthday."

She smiled. "Next time, then."

"Next time." He grinned. "And really, a mind-blowing orgasm isn't a half bad substitute birthday present."

She laughed softly. "It's a wonderful one."

"I'm so glad Locus never decided she needed to kill me for sleeping with you when you were underage."

"Me, too. I don't think she sees my age as a number, though. As long as I was happy, you were safe."

"She didn't seem too disapproving, either," Mikhail said. "That it was me, I mean."

"She knows that you're good people."

"I wonder how long it's going to take before the others realize we're involved... or that we have been for years."

"As soon as the bosses know, everyone in the organization will know. News travels fast."

"Whatever happens, it isn't pulling us apart."

"No." Her voice was fierce.

"No," he agreed, nodding in agreement.

"We've lasted this long in secret. We can last forever in the open."

"Damn right we can."

She smiled at him, pulling him closer to her. "Hold me."

He wrapped an arm around her waist. "This good?"

She snuggled closer to him. "Mmm hmm."

"Don't want to hold you too tight," he said as he adjusted slightly.

"Never happen."

"Yeah, but you're sore right now. Not the time to be holding you tight."

"Maybe I need that."

"Then that's what you'll get," he said, tightening his arm around her a little.

"Good," she said, curling as close as she could. "Mikhail? Can I ask you a question and you promise not to laugh at me?"

"Of course," he said. "Name it."

She struggled with the question she wanted to ask and finally blurted it out. "Do you ever get tired of the death?"

"What do you mean? Of seeing it or of causing it?"

"Seeing it." That was the safer answer right now.

"Yeah," he said after a moment. "I do."

"So why do you stay?"

"What else would I do, for one thing? For another... I believe in the cause, even if I don't agree with the methods sometimes."

She nodded, thinking quietly to herself.

"What about you?"

"I believe in the cause... and I owe my dad."

"But the death still gets to be a bit much sometimes, even when we believe."

"Yeah," she said softly against his side. "Sometimes it does."

"So we do the only thing we can -- we cling to each other."

She nodded. "It scares me sometimes that I may be getting used to the death and it won't bother me one day."

"Why do you think you're getting used to it?"

"Because when the car exploded, it didn't bother me until I lost my bike and I felt pain."

"That's not getting used to it, it's compartmentalizing things," he said gently. "You were doing what you had to do to get the job done."

"Maybe," she nodded. "It was just a surprise."

"It's always scary to think you're getting used to death."

"What's scary is that X-Men team that my dad is fighting a lot lately. I keep waiting to see when he's going to summon me from here so I can help against them."

"They're dangerous in their own ways," he said. "How overprotective of me does it make me to want to go up against them with you when your father pulls you away?"

"Makes you knowledgeable of the danger and how good of a team we make."

"So when or if he pulls you away, I'm there."

"Thank you for wanting that."

"You're welcome, sweetheart."

"May not happen for awhile, but that day is coming."

"When it does, I'll be there." He kissed her gently. "I promise."

And she'd become the one person he tried never to break a promise to.

She kissed him back, happy to hear that.

"But I'm still allowed to hope it doesn't come for a good long while, right?"

"Yes, because I'm hoping that same thing."

"I'm also hoping for a vaguely peaceful tomorrow so we can spend it like this," he said softly. "Though I don't think I've ever just cuddled with a woman before."

"You haven't?"

"No, I haven't."

"I like that I'll be your first in that."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be my first for plenty of things."

"Like saying I love you?"

"Yep." he grinned cheerfully.

She smiled. "I knew that." Somehow, she had known that.

"How do you know so much, little one?" It was said as an endearment, as she'd know by now.

"Because you've let me see inside you and see parts of you that you don't show others."

"Parts that I will never show anybody else."

"Just ours."

"Just ours," he agreed.

"I like that, you know," she said groggily. "That there are things about you only I know."

"And there are things about you that only I know."

"Never told anyone," she murmured, closing her eyes.

"But you told me," he said, running a hand over her arm gently.

She nodded her head against him. "Told you," she agreed.

"You'll tell me a lot of things you won't tell anybody else."

"That's true," she said snuggling closer and closing her eyes. "Wouldn't trust some of the things with anyone but you."

"I will never violate that trust."

"I know. I have faith in you."

"Few people have ever had that much faith in me."

"I do."

"Thank you for that. It means the world to me."

"You're welcome. I love you."

"I love you, too." He thought he would never get tired of saying that.

"Mikhail? It's hard to stay awake."

"So go to sleep."

"Will you stay?"

"Already said I would, love."

She nodded. "They gave me something."

"They gave you a whole lotta something, by the sound of it," he teased gently.

"Locus made them. She said I needed rest."

"She was right. You do."

"You guys just didn't want me to skin Wildside alive."

"That, too."

"I wouldn't have killed him." Maybe.

"Sure you wouldn't have."

"Maimed him? Fed into all of the stupid Indian stereotypes by scalping him?"

"Hey, it's not feeding into a stupid stereotype if he deserves it." There was logic in that somewhere.

"He could have killed the rest of you with his stunt with the bombs."

"And believe me, he'll be hearing about that later."

"Ok. Good." She curled her body against him and buried her head in his shoulder.

"Just go to sleep, sweetheart. I'll be here when you wake up."

Dani nodded, her eyes unable to stay open. Mikhail was here. They could be honest about their relationship now. Nothing could go wrong.

Mikhail watched her until he was certain she was asleep before finally letting himself start to drift off.






Chapter Five || Chapter Seven