poison ivy - the boys

thirty-nine

             Yes.

              The three letter word implied agreement. It could also express delight at a prospect. For Ben, it was his favorite word in existence at the moment for his angel had said yes.

                He could hardly comprehend the idea that she had in fact agreed to marry him. He was on cloud nine.

               For Jane, she thought about the future. She thought about being Jane Buchanan. She'd never had a last name before because she'd only ever been an experiment. But she could finally be someone to somebody and not just a supe. She could be a heart, a mind, a soul, and tie every part of her to somebody. To Ben.

                 So saying yes delighted her immensely. She was in love as much as one could be. She was excited to live and breathe each new day with Benjamin Buchanan.

                   So she currently sat at the bar table in the kitchen of Vought Tower, flipping through a wedding magazine. It had been a week since the gala and there was so much planning to be done.

                  Ben came in from working out in the gym downstairs and he smiled. He immediately came over to her and wrapped his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

                 She smiled before her nose crinkled and she frowned, "Ben...you reek of sweat."

                 She pushed him away from her, "Go take a shower."

                 He uttered huskily, "Take one with me."

               She shook her head, "I'm busy."

            "You have plenty of time to plan marrying me, angel," he said before he picked her up off the stool, carrying her with her feet dangling off the ground. She giggled as he took her towards their bedroom.

                 "Well, I scheduled us to pick out our rings later today," she said as Ben started kissing her neck.

                  She bit her lip before turning her head and connecting her lips with his as he set her down in the adjoining bathroom. As she pulled away, she giggled again, "I still can't believe you asked me on a whim."

                "It was a fucking lucky whim," he smirked as he pulled his shirt off over his head before pressing his lips to hers again.

                 She let herself get lost in the burning kiss of paradise. And the rest of their clothes followed before they turned on the steaming walk-in shower. Her legs were wrapped around his waist as he carried her into running water and she reminded breathlessly, "We only have an hour, Ben."

                "An hour?" he smirked before pressing his lips back to hers as water ran over them and she regretted saying the actual amount of time. Because he would take up the whole hour and prove again that his stamina was otherworldly. It wasn't like she minded, though; she loved to get lost with him and that was exactly what she did.

_____

They had picked out their rings; well, mostly, she did. Then Ben cutely got down on one knee and properly asked her. She thought it was stupid; he had already asked her. They were buying rings because she said yes.

But she shook her head with a smile she couldn't help, yes, you utter goofball. And she sweetly kissed him.

Then she realized they were a couple that was always in the honeymoon phase. They never argued, not even once; their form of arguing was teasing each other.

But then she thought about how the two of them had argued and fought with other people their whole lives. He had war, she had Vought. With each other, they had finally found a place where there wasn't trauma. Where it was just Ben and Jane; and they didn't need anymore than each other.

_____

The next week, she was training Venus. The girl had an event in Miami on a party boat where she'd be making a little show with water.

So Jane placed ten buckets of water in a circle around the training mat. She had Venus stand in the center.

"Okay," Jane placed her hands on her hips. "So we'll start with controlling water out of one bucket but by the end of this, I want you to be able to control them all...at once."

Eve breathed and raised her hand, making water lift out of one bucket. She made it move in the air before letting it splash back down into the bucket.

"Good. Now two," Jane said.

The process continued but once she got to lifting water out of five buckets, Eve started to struggle. At seven, she felt too weak and her arm dropped, making water fall onto the floor.

"It's too difficult," Eve crossed her arms. "There's too much going on. There's so much to focus on."

Jane sighed and flicked her hand out. The water rose from the floor and traveled back into its individual bucket.

Jane walked onto the now dry mat and placed her hands on the girl's shoulders. She smiled reassuringly, "You'll get it. You just need to practice. Everyone does."

Eve huffed, "I'm not supposed to be like everyone else."

Eve pushed past her and stomped out of the training room. Jane looked on in shock and shook her head. The girl was so full of anger and...she used to be, too.

Now, none of the things that Eve worried about plagued her anymore. Jane was free because she'd let go of that life but she'd gained other things, too. Happier things and she smiled.

She thought Eve would be happier, too, if she let go of the anxiety and pressure. But Eve would never let go.

              ____

                Jane went with Eve to Miami. They were on the boat for a concert that would raise money for some nonprofit. Eve was acting as the introducer.

               Jane was backstage and she watched as Eve was on stage. She was speaking and at the close she welcomed everyone to a thrilling night as she raised her hands. But nothing happened.

                 Jane could see panic in her eyes as the crowd started to whisper. So she took a deep breathe as she simply thought and the water in the ocean rose high and tall.

                Everyone gasped and marveled. Eve smiled slightly and walked off the stage as the band came on; and Jane let the water fall back down.

                 Eve frowned as soon as she was off stage and near Jane. She sneered, "Why did you do it? It was supposed to be me."

                 "Hey, calm down," Jane scolded. "I was helping you."

             "I don't need your help. I am you," Eve said in disillusionment. "I could've controlled it."

                Jane furrowed her eyebrows as Eve stomped off. She understood the anger but there was a warped righteousness in her eyes that only spelt trouble.

                 _____

It was a couple days later and they were back in New York. Eve still hadn't talked to her at all.

Although, the news started to play a new clip. Someone asked Venus about how she came up with her superhero name.

"Well, that was just a placeholder," Eve waved her hand like it was silly and smiled sweetly. "My new name is...Poison Ivy."