Foreword: This fic isn’t really set in any particular X-Men verse. I had movieverse and ultimate verse in mind sort of, and I took the liberty of making Ororo’s eyes blue since her eyes are not blue in either verse.
There has been no one brighter than you
I can't deny these things that I do
Feels like the world's at stake 'cause
I have been waiting
I have been waiting for you
Heavenly, that's what you are
You're burnin' me like a shining star
How am I supposed to be that king without you
Waiting For You by Seal
- - -
Prologue
New Beginnings
Ororo stood uncomfortably on the fringes of the crowd, trying not to look too bored. It wasn’t proper etiquette for the best friend of the bride-to-be to actually be bored at her best friend’s engagement party. Wasn’t there even some clause in the Best Friends’ Guide to Life that said she had to be happy for Jean? She was truly happy for Jean. Marrying Scott was all Jean had ever talked about since they were young. And what kind of friend would she be if she missed Jean’s engagement party? It didn’t matter that no one aside from her knew it was an engagement party.
The rest of the people there thought it was just another fancy party thrown by the ever-illustrious couple Scott and Jean”Jott, as she referred to them in private with her good friends Yukio and Yuriko. They were going to announce their engagement at the party as a pleasant surprise for their guests. She didn’t think anyone would truly be surprised. There would probably be a collective sentiment of “finally, what took so long!” They’d been dating off and on since Ororo and Jean were thirteen. They should’ve been married a long time ago.
“Champagne, miss?” a young, tie-clad server asked her, proffering a tray with fluted glasses.
“Thank you,” she said, helping herself to one of the glasses. The server nodded at her, walking away to repeat his task with the next person.
She brought the wineglass to her lips, taking a dainty sip of the clear liquid, as she looked around the room, looking for familiar faces. The room was full of yuppies, doctor and lawyer types who liked to compare business cards. As much as she hated to admit it, she was part of this world. She saw some of those people in her office two to three times a week, but she wasn’t looking for those people. She was looking for people she knew before she became Dr. Ororo Munroe”over-priced psychiatrist”people she had shared her life with growing up.
Earlier, she had glimpsed Bishop and Hank in one corner of the room chatting good-naturedly, and she hoped they weren’t trading stories about her, both of whom she’d dated at some point or another in life. She knew it was ridiculous to believe they were gossiping about her, as if they were still kids, but she hadn’t missed the sly smile that either of them had shot her way. Goddess, she hoped they didn’t, but at least she could take comfort in the fact that neither man was crude enough to rub anything in her face. Her relationship with both men had ended amicably, and she still considered them close friends. But they were still men, and men talk.
Yuriko, who had accompanied her to the party, had wandered off somewhere. No doubt, a man was involved. Jean had mentioned Rogue and Remy when she rattled off the people she’d invited. Those people had known her a long time. Everyone else in attendance was pretty much for show. You couldn’t have a party without inviting all the powerful, rich people in your life. At least, that was what Jean said when Ororo asked her why she hadn’t invited more people from their old neighborhood or college.
Ororo walked among the crowd, mingling, trying to partake in the boring conversations these people rendered. She didn’t want to talk about lakeshore property or the newest hi-tech DVD player. She didn’t care that Mrs. So-and-So was wearing a ten-thousand dollar dress that Giovanna Versace had given her. It was all so mind numbing and meaningless, and these were the people that Jean wanted to spend the rest of her life getting to know.
It was all so fake. When she got married, if she ever married, she wanted her engagement party to only include the people that were closest to her. She didn’t need an impressive guest list to make such an occasion truly memorable. She loved Jean and wished her all the best, but sometimes, it bothered her how one-dimensional her best friend could be. She couldn’t think of anyone who could possibly be having a worse time than she was.
She excused herself from another dull conversation and grabbed another glass of champagne off a tray, pushing herself through the crowd, walking out onto the spacious balcony. She kicked off her pumps, letting her feet touch the cool concrete beneath her feet. The wind blew slightly as she stared up at the stars. Freedom, at last. Now, if she could just find a way to ditch the dress without causing a stir, she’d be happy. She chuckled to herself.
She heard the tap of hard sole shoes behind her, and she turned slowly, offering her company a cordial smile. Logan walked toward her, pulling uncomfortably at his tie, and she’d forgotten how much he made her heart stir. But she remained silent, allowing him the opportunity to speak first. They hadn’t seen each other in passing for a few years, but she still thought about him from time to time, especially about how things could’ve been.
“Hello, Dr. Munroe,” Logan said teasingly, letting his eyes travel up and down the length of her body.
He had been checking her out discreetly since she arrived, but had avoided talking to her, waiting for a moment just like now where they weren’t overwhelmed with the hustle and bustle of the conversations of the elite. She was easily the most beautiful woman at the party in her simple, elegant black dress. Her snow-white tresses were pinned up in an elegant chignon, showing off her graceful neckline. She was wearing little makeup, if any at all, the only natural beauty in the place who hadn’t spent a fortune getting plastic surgery.
“Hello, Mr. Howlett,” she responded, noting the roaming eyes, surprised at how giddy it still made her feel. He hadn’t change a bit, though, and she would never let this go beyond a little casual flirting. “How are things at the firm?”
“Don’t tell me that you’re getting all formal on me, too,” he complained, sidling up beside her. “All night I’ve had to listen to, ‘Hello, Mr. Howlett. How are things at the firm?’ They might as well ask me how much goddamn money I make because that’s what they really mean when they ask how things are at the firm. Maybe I should start every conversation by saying, ‘Hello, I’m James Logan Howlett, I work at Swanson & Swanson & Howlett, and I make one-hundred thousand a year representing assholes like you, and you are?’ I bet that would really shake them up.”
“I don’t care how much money you make, Logan. I was trying to be conversational,” she said a little offended. She’d forgotten how touchy he could be at times”something that hadn’t changed much since they were kids.
“I know you were, darlin’, and I’m sorry for snapping at you.” He apologized, still looking at her. He had hurt this woman repeatedly, but she had still forgiven him time after time. Gone was the innocent girl he first met with the wide eyes, in her place stood this beautiful, poised woman. “I never apologized about to you about that day“”
She waved a hand into the air. “Logan, let’s not talk about that. I forgave you a long time ago. Let’s talk about anything, but not that.” She didn’t want to talk about that day, not that she was surprised it came up. They stood in silence lost in their own thoughts, each thinking the same thing. How would things have been different between them? If only…
“Who would have ever believed that I would be putting on a suit everyday and going to a job in an office?” Logan mused after a few minutes of silence, smiling a little.
Ororo laughed. “Not me, that’s for sure.”
She had always thought that that Logan would end up doing something exciting like a firefighter or a forest ranger. He shocked the hell out of her when he actually went to college earned a degree in pre-law and actually got accepted into a top law school. He wasn’t dumb, but he’d spent so much of their childhood so wild, so unfocused and erratic. He always had his own beliefs about the way life work, and she hadn’t thought it included law school. In fact, the year after they graduated he worked for a construction company. He shocked the hell out of her when he told her he was going to college the following year.
“I never expected you to become a psychiatrist. I thought you would end up teaching and getting married to Bishop, having two kids, living in some suburban neighborhood like the one we grew up in.” He said, leaning against the rail of the balcony. She’d always been that type of woman in his mind. He’d always thought that she would make a good mother and wife.
“You had already planned out the next thirty years of my life for me?” she joked, not that she hadn’t thought about how life would’ve been different if she’d married Bishop.
“You were predictable, except when you weren’t predictable.”
“You want to run that back by me again?”
“When we were growing up, I always felt like I knew you, like I knew exactly what you were going to do in certain situations, and most times you did. And just when I thought I had you all figured out, you’d pull a complete one-eighty and leave me speechless. I think that’s what I liked best about you. You could make a guy feel comfortable, but there was still something about you that made you mysterious.”
Mysterious? Me? I don’t think so. You were the mysterious one. You always looked like you were hiding secrets from the rest of us. You always seemed so much older than we did, as if you had experienced so much more than we had. Even though I grew up with you, I still don’t know much about you now,” she said.
Well, since that’s the case, I think formal introductions are in order.” He stuck his hand out to Ororo, smiling mischievously. “My name’s Logan and you are?”
Nice to meet you, Logan. I’m Ororo,” she said jokingly, shaking his hand.
He concentrated his gaze on her hair. “So,” he said, resting his hand lightly on the side of her face. He felt her relax against his touch. “Does the carpet match the curtains?” They chuckled together, remembering the first time he had asked her that question back in 1987 when they had first met.
Author’s Notes: So… I’ve been letting this lay for three years for no apparent reason. I actually have more chapters of this that I’ve just not posted. So, I decided to give this story a makeover. Hope you all like it.
