dizi's Zelig, aka Firewall

So here's his history. If you don't want to read it just skip down. WAY down.

It all starts for him before he was born actually. His biological parents were both mutants. Lacy, his mother, was physically mutated having deep red skincolor and white hair, her only actual power was that she could see in the dark. Her parents didn't kick her out when she manifested but they didn't want her staying around once she turned eighteen. She was working in a fastfood restaurant when some of the patrons found out it was a mutant cooking for them in the back where she couldn't be seen, usually. Lacy was attacked, nothing serious but they were throwing trash and stuff at her when Danny stepped in.

Now, Danny wasn't anyone's vision of a hero. He was an insurance saleman. He was fairly normal, generally considered a geek before that was in the least bit cool, and pudgy. But he just couldn't watch Lacy get treated that way. So he stepped in front of her and used his own mutant power, a personal forcefield, to block the debris from hitting her. And instantly became her hero. Always. It was very sweet. In full hero-mode, Danny insisted she come home with him because he didn't trust that someone wouldn't follow her and cause more trouble. Three weeks later they were married. His parents did not approve. They didn't care, Danny was her hero and Lacy was his angel.

But their relationship was to be short-lived. Six months later Lacy discovered she had cancer. Danny was on his way home from work to take her to a doctor's appointment when he was in a car accident and died instantly. His parents took possession of his property and left Lacy with nothing. She found herself on the streets. Shortly after she found out she was pregnant. Danny died without knowing that but they had discussed children and he had wanted a boy so she hoped for a son.

This is where we get more into Jenny and Kurt. They had already met and were falling in love (well, they really were in love but hadn't realized it fully yet). Jenny was a waitress at Harry's Bar but donated time and energy (at least) to a local homeless shelter that allowed mutants in (the only one in West Chester that did). Lacy went to the same shelter but disappeared after arriving. That night the shelter was firebombed by the FOH and Jenny was kidnapped! Turned out Jenny's father was a scientist who was trying to find a way to detect whether a fetus would be a mutant before it was born. Lacy was taken to experiment on and Jenny to attempt to get ahold of her father's research which was purportedly completed and successful. It is unknown if this is true or not.

Jenny and Lacy met in a holding cell in an FOH stronghold. Once Jenny was taken out and questioned about her father's research, she quickly understood they would experiment on Lacy and most likely kill Jenny herself whether she gave them what they wanted or not. It should be said that she did at one time posess the research but she gave it to Hank. Would the bad guys have believed her if she told them she no longer had it? If she told them who DID now have it, how long would they keep her alive? Or the very pregnant Lacy? So she told them nothing but the truth, which was that she didn't know where the research was anymore (which really was true because she didn't ask Hank what he did with it). But they did not believe her and she was beaten/tortured for the information. Jenny held on knowing that she had good friends in the X-Men and they would come for her. Kurt would come for her.

Of course, they did, also rescuing Lacy and bringing her to the mansion/school. Lacy did not tell anyone she had cancer. Fully aware there was a possibility she could be cured/saved, she also knew that in the process her unborn child would die. That wasn't an option. She did tell Hank since he is the team's doctor and her physician at that time and Logan was able to smell her illness, but they were the only ones who knew.

Her pregnancy progressed. She and Jenny became as close as sisters, Kurt also having brotherly feelings for her since he spent so much time with Jenny. He did during this time ask Jenny to marry him but he bungled the proposal unknowingly by mentioning children (Lacy's influence) when he didn't know Jenny couldn't have children. So Jenny refused because she didn't feel that she could give him the family he deserved. Lacy moved in with Jenny and time went by. Kurt didn't give up. His background inspired Lacy to look under German names while searching for names for her baby (she now knew she was having a boy since Hank did a sonogram); she selected 'Zelig' because it means 'the blessed one' and she felt blessed to have met Jenny and the X-Men.

Zelig was born. He got lots of attention from all the X-women but Jenny was his main caregiver. Lacy, weakened by the delivery, started to seriously decline after his birth. Jenny and the others thought it was simply that she was taking time to recover after childbirth. Hank had already told her she would only have possibly two months to live after Zelig was born. But she refused to tell anyone else she was sick as she did not want her remaining time to be filled with them grieving for her. Six weeks after Zelig was born, Hank finally talked her into telling Jenny who was planning outings for the three of them (Lacy, Zelig, and Jenny) which could never happen.

Jenny broke down after being told. For the first time since he was born, Zelig cried and Jenny didn't come (unless she'd been working). Lacy called Logan to come for her (they were at Jenny's house) because Kurt was out. Word quickly spread about Lacy. Hank felt guilty that he could not save her, others had grown close to her, Bishop had the beginnings of feelings for her but had held back since she had just given birth, the entire mansion was affected in some way. Even Logan who had not really been close to her because she was afraid of him, was affected because he respected her reasons for dying and telling Jenny herself instead of leaving it to someone else. Feelings were running high and strong.

Kurt since he had first asked Jenny to marry him had been carrying the ringbox in his pocket. He often toyed with it, having it out where she could see it, as a reminder that he still wanted to marry her and was not giving up. It became habit for him to have it in his hands. Most of the X-Men sort of pushed at Jenny that she should marry him, putting lots of pressure on her. That night while everyone was upset about Lacy, Kurt again had the ringbox in his hand. Jenny saw it and exploded. She knocked it out of his hand and shouted at him that they were NOT getting married. He, in turn, became equally upset and shouted back that they certainly WERE even if he had to drag her to the church to do it. Jenny indignantly drew back that she was not getting married in any church (she has issues with organized religions since they generally do not acknowledge mutants) and that their friend who was a priest could marry them anywhere. Just like that Kurt took it as a 'yes' and they were engaged (he had witnesses and was holding her to it). They immediately started planning the wedding as they wanted Lacy to able to be there.

When Kurt took Jenny home that night, Jenny and Lacy spent hours talking and discussing the wedding plans. But the stress of the day combined with forgetting to take her medicine was too much for Lacy. She died during the night. Having thought ahead for her child's well-being, she had left Jenny custody of Zelig, also hoping it would make a difference in Jenny's stance of not marrying Kurt. Once Jenny and Kurt were actually married Matt Murdock processed the adoption and Zelig became their child.

They never forgot Lacy and Zelig grew up knowing that his mother died for him and left him to Jenny and Kurt so he would grow up with good parents.

It was all very moving. I got many good reviews for the story.

Later, in short stories, Jenny finds an abandoned mutant baby near a dumpster and they basically kept her. Zelig helped pick her name with Scott's assistance, they chose Liese because the name has a similar meaning to his own and is also German. He informed them "It means 'beloved by God', and God must have loved her a lot to give her to us because we want her when her mom and dad didn't." He was six years old at the time, Jenny and Kurt thought it appropriate too.

When he was thirteen and had already manifested, he was at that time enrolled at Xavier's and excited to be dorming there; Liese was almost seven. Mystique shape-shifted into a little girl and befriended Liese who didn't have many friends since she herself was green-scaled with red hair and amber eyes; Liese was mutated suitably for the ocean with gils and able to withstand pressure of deep water (I suppose this means she would have enhanced strength but never got into that). Jenny and Kurt were happy their lonely daughter had a friend and complied with frequent requests for "Michelle" to stay the night. One night after many snacks, "Michelle" was 'sick' from overindulging. Liese went running for her Mommy and Daddy to help her and Kurt found Mystique in the bathroom instead of the child he expected.

Kurt then immediately, while Mystique was occupied throwing up from morning sickness (which as every woman who has been pregnant will tell you doesn't just happen in the morning), ordered Jenny to take Liese out of the house and called for back up. Jenny did intend to do what he said, but she ended up going into the bathroom (totally enraging Kurt in the process once he found out). It should be known that Jenny hated Mystique for abandoning and attempting to kill Kurt as a baby. In between bouts of throwing up, Mystique informed Jenny that she was pregnant.

They did confirm Mystique's pregnancy at the mansion later. A large conference was held wherein Mystique informed them that she had inviegled her way into their home to determine for herself that they were indeed the parents she wanted for her child (supposing she wanted to avoid another Greydon Creed episode). Mystique further revealed she had impersonated a substitute teacher of Zelig's while he had been going to public school, now involving Zelig in the conflict. At first Kurt didn't care that Mystique was pregnant and wanted her away from his family. Jenny however understood he might later feel guilty for not helping his own brother or sister when he'd had the chance. In general, the meeting turned into a question of trusting Mystique and helping her child. Once Zelig offered to come back home to help take care of the baby, they agreed to take the baby in as they realized what kind of son they had raised that he would make such an offer. So Zelig and Liese ended up with a new baby brother named Simon (assume Mystique named him that for reasons of her own).

This is where my more 'mainstream' stories related to Zelig end. However in another alternate future story, he has grown up. In that one, Kurt and Liese died in a car crash (hit by a bus since I love having X-Men die by mundane causes, and Liese had to die because the reason Kurt didn't teleport out of the car in time was that he was trying to get to her in the back seat) before Simon was concieved. Jenny has been grieving ever since. Zelig in the meantime is basically Scott Summer's underling and some-day-when-he-actually-retires successor to leader of the X-Men. When he first started dorming at the school, he developed a crush on a beautiful yellow skinned girl named Sunshine, who left the school the next year. She recently moved back to West Chester and opened a florist shop. Zelig finds many opportunities to buy flowers for his mother and all the X-women just so he can go in and see her, perhaps flirt, and again get turned down for coffee or a date. That's as far as that story has gone but he will not give up. Eventually he will win Sunshine over and make her happy, whether she likes it or not. He is a very determined and capable young man.

Zelig's powers are a stronger version of his father's, Danny's. He can create a very strong forcefield which he is capable of expanding to cover others over a limited range. With the forcefield up, he can use it offensively to augment physical fighting, able to enhance his strength with it, as well as use it to 'push' and 'shove' his opponents. Personality-wise, he is usually very serious when it comes to his work, willing to do the paperwork Scott abhors, and is surprising in his playfulness since it isn't seen often as he is so involved in school and X-Men business. Rob and Kenny are fine with him taking over from Scott as they have dreams of being secret agents, they are twelve and thirteen respectively to his twenty. The story currently leaves off with Zelig working with Rogue's son Rey to determine his capabilities and limits after he has just manifested. I imagine that Zelig keeps a picture of his birth parents in a frame beside Jenny and Kurt's wedding picture in his room at the mansion.

I know that was long but it is a shortened version of Zelig's ENTIRE history.
~dizi