I DO Not own X-Men

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Henry McCoy, better known to his friends and teammates in the X-Men as Beast was going through his closet at the mansion. Thanks to his newest mutation, giving him a more leonine appearance and a larger size, he was moving to a new, basically larger, room to accommodate his size comfortably. All he had to do was finish moving his personal belongings from one room to the other.

The work also helped him keep his mind off of Trish, his now ex-girlfriend who had been unable to handle this evolution of his mutation.

As he went through his closet, he came across a box whose contents he had forgotten. Opening the box, he smiled sadly as he saw the picture laying on top. Picking the old picture up, he carried it over to the bed and sat down, staring at the picture and remembering happier days.

It was in this position that Rogue found him.

"Hey Hank. Yah need any 'elp movin'?" the southern raised mutant asked.

Henry looked up and smiled at his friend. "No thank you Rogue," he said with a smile. "I'm pretty much done. All I have is a box from my closet." He looked back at the picture in his hands. "I'd forgotten I had this," he said to himself.

"Wha' is it?" Rogue asked, sitting down next to her friend.

Henry smiled and showed her the picture. Revealing a handsome looking young man, with oversized hands, putting one arm around a blonde haired girl. Rogue figured that the man was Beast, as she hadn't been a part of the X-Men when his secondary mutation had taken effect. But she had no idea who the girl was. "That you?" she asked curiously.

Henry smiled. "Me and my high school sweetheart, before I came here," he looked down at the picture. "You could say she was the reason I joined the X-Men when Charles offered."

"What happened?"

Hank stood up and put the picture back into the box, where it rested with an old ring box, which he pulled out and opened, revealing a simple diamond ring. "She died," he said sadly. He showed Rogue the ring. "The night I was going to propose to her, she was on her way home from her job at the local ice-cream shop. A car ran a stop sign, she died en route to the hospital."

Rogue put her gloved hand on her friends arm, showing her support. "I'm sorry."

Hank smiled, and gently placed his own, fur covered hand over hers. "I was in bad place then," Henry continued. "Especially when I found out that she had been pregnant. When Charles offered me the chance for a new start, here, away from the memories, I grasped it with both hands."

Henry put the ring back with the picture and closed the box, and with it the memories it contained. Standing up, he picked the box up and began through the door,, but before he could get to far, Rogue asked, "What was her name?"

Henry McCoy smiled when he turned to face her. "Hatfield. Andrea Hatfield." He chuckled. "And before you ask, the feuds been over for a few years now."

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I watched the History Channel mini-series Hatfields & McCoys this week. My mind then drifted to the only McCoy I knew, Beast. So I set out to right a story with him. Originally, I was going to have a Hatfield come to the mansion and them not get along because of the feud, but I couldn't get that down to a one-shot, and I don't want to post any new multi-chapter stories until I finish one. So you might see it posted later, after I finish some of the stories I'm working on.

I also hope I didn't offend anyone out there reading this who happens to be related to either the Hatfields or McCoys, I don't think there's anything offensive in this story, but you never know. If I have, then I apologize.

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