Series: Seasons Change vol.1

Title: A Summer of Sunsets

Category: AU

Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of the X-Men or any other Marvel characters that may or may not pop up in the course of this fic. There are several original characters introduced for the sake of the story, which are of my own creation, whose identities will be obviously apparent from trademarked entities belonging to Marvel. No offense is intended by the use of Marvel properties, and no $$ gleaned from this story. Just havin' some fun.

Feedback: Please, and thank you

Dedication: To Jasmine33 and NemesisBecoming (You guys know why)


A Summer of Sunsets
Prologue, "Worlds Apart"

8:30 a.m. EST in Brooklyn, NY
August 1st, 2003...

It was an unusually warm summer for the northeast, but the recently released school children couldn't have cared less as they filled the streets of the neighborhood with high-pitched laughter.

Unable to help a smile, Ororo Munroe turned away from the scene on the street as she finished raising the windows on the 2nd floor of her brownstone. As she carefully sipped her green tea her thoughts began to reflect on how quickly this summer vacation was passing. Smirking to herself bittersweetly, she had to admit that it was mainly referred to as "vacation" by her students. Not many members of the faculty at the prestigious private school she worked for ever referred to those quick summer months as "vacation". For many of them it was hardly much more than a 'break' in the madness.

'And you wouldn't trade it for all the gold in Fort Knox.' She admonished herself with a wry grin. Ororo had been teaching since she was 22 years old, all through her B.A. and 1st Master's Degree. The challenge was something that she found almost as rewarding as the act of teaching itself. After moving back to the NY area and beginning her tenure-track at The Masters School, she had begun to feel as though the hardships she'd endured in life may just have been worth it.

Sipping from her cup again, she came back farther into the bedroom of the quiet brownstone, and her eyes rested on the pile of opened mail she'd been trying to go through earlier. On the top of said pile rested two unopened letters. One envelope was neatly stamped with the official stationary of the Xavier Institute for Gifted Students and the other was a plain pale blue with only a small dark blue colored embossed insignia on the upper left corner. Ororo would've recognized the up-turned wings over the diamond-shaped pins even if she'd had her eyes closed.

The former, she was sure, was the usual correspondence from her beloved adopted father Charles--probably another invitation to spend a few weeks of the summer back home just in time for the family reunion they always held at the end of August. Ororo grinned at the thought of her father carefully penning the letter with a quill and fresh India ink; Charles Xavier was nothing if not old fashioned, firmly believing that the world's technological advancements--which he used daily--were meant for everything except letter writing. She was sure the man had never typed nor emailed in the place of a personal letter in his entire life.

Chuckling to herself at that, Ororo sat at the edge of her bed, still holding the cup of warm tea. Her smile faded somewhat, when her clear blue eyes shifted and landed on that other letter. Bringing her cup up to sip, her gaze never left it, as she visually burned a hole through that cloudy-blue envelope embossed with the insignia of the U.S. Air Force. 'What could You possibly have to say to me, after all this time?'

With a heavy sigh, she reached for the Professor's letter, sliding it out from beneath the AF envelope. At the moment she really didn't want to spoil the pleasant morning she was having, so whatever was contained in that envelope would remain there for at least one more afternoon.

Delicately opening her adoptive father's carefully penned letter, Ororo confirmed her initial belief of his intent, admiring the beautiful script of the hand-written invite to the Xavier family reunion. It was a tradition nearing its 1st decade--one that Charles Xavier had pain-stakingly nurtured to be of a prime importance among the diversified group he'd taught and those he'd adopted over the years. They were more than simply fellow students at his successful school in Westchester County. Many of them had grown up as his legal children...Ororo was one of them.

Carefully setting the invite down beside her, 'Ro picked up her cordless phone beside the bed, pressing the 1st stored number that was in her phone's memory. She'd suddenly had an overwhelming need to hear his voice.

After only a single ring (of course, he had known) the line was picked up, and his deep, melodic voice spoke clearly, "Hello, Ororo."

She smiled, sighing as she felt comforted immediately. "Hi dad."




16:25 hrs. Fort Hamilton Army Base near NYC
August 13th, 2003...


Private First Class Benjamin Campbell raced down the halls of the military base, his spindly brown arms pumping in time with his legs as they carried him through the corridors. The cell phone in his hand nearly slipped a couple of times as the sweat from his clammy palms counteracted the grip he had on the device.

Usually a pretty busy place, for some eerie reason there was no one in the halls for him to trample, which was lucky for the 20 yr. old because way, waay in the back of his mind, he knew he shouldn't be going quite so fast, but under the circumstances, he didn't care. 'Gotta find 'im..!'

His squeaky, military-issue Oxfords gleamed and twinkled in the fluorescent light of the halls, and their rhythmic tapping against linoleum was the only accompaniment to his panting breath and thumping heart.

As Campbell rounded the next corner, his frantic eyes darted back and forth between the numbered doors to either side of him, desperately seeking one in particular all the while dreading the moment he'll inevitably find it. After passing roughly six or seven sets of doors, he came to an abrupt, skidding halt before one marked '1122-Conference', and didn't so much as knock before roughly twisting the knob and barreling through.

Inside the small, dimly-lit conference room, the gathered group of men and women all looked up with surprised alarm. They were all Officers, their varying ranks clearly visible on their uniforms, and evidently had been in the middle of some extremely important--and confidential--material, as the man standing at the head of the conference table angrily slapped off the portable projector which had previously displayed a map's image on the silk screen set up at the front of the room. "Private! What the hell're you doing bustin' up in here like that, son!?!"

Private 1st Class Campbell straightened himself immediately, standing rigidly erect and eyes forward as he quickly saluted the Marine Corps Officers before him. It was the only gesture of respect he gave, his concern obviously elsewhere. He tried not to look any of them in the eye, knowing his ass was in hot water. "Sir! Excuse the interruption, General Ackens, Sir!"

As the other Officers grumbled beneath their breaths, quickly confiscating confidential papers into folders and briefs and shooting Campbell daggers, the General stepped around the table, closing the distance between them with such speed, Campbell had been unsure for a moment if the man intended to stop before trampling him. None noticed one of the Officers hadn't moved an inch since the young man's entrance; his grey eyes wide and watching the young Private closely.


"Well, speak up, Marine," General Ackens towered above the 6' tall young man at an impressive 6'5", "what've you got t'say fer yourself?! I oughta have your ass tossed in the brig--"

Behind them, a deep, gruff voice broke through the air. "The Boy's with me, Ackens."

The General turned quickly, as Campbell's expression was one of guarded relief. "What??"

The man sitting at the conference table looked at the General with weary eyes, his expression more dark and solemn than anyone would've thought possible. Even for him.

"What is it, kid?" The man transferred his gaze to Campbell, who took that as his cue to come forward. Stopping with a good 2 to 3 feet between them, Campbell extended his hand, holding out the cell phone.

"Sir, it's urgent! I came to get you, just like you said--"

"Howlett, what the blue fuck is goin' on?!" General Ackens had obviously had enough of the subterfuge. "The whole point to this meetin' was that no one was supposed to know, and here you are tellin' Privates??!"

Ben Campbell swallowed hard, his brown eyes wide as he looked down at his superior. "Colonel Howlett, it's your wife. I've got her on hold."

The General bit back whatever it was he was about to say, as the small gathering of Officers suddenly came quiet. Colonel James Howlett NEVER took personal calls while on duty. He refused to even carry the cell phone the Private was now handing him. When the Col. was on duty (but then, when wasn't he?), nothing else mattered. He'd been like that since General Ackens had first met the man. What in all hell could it be that was important enough he'd interrupt their mission briefing??

Howlett flipped the Samsung SPH-i500 open, and took the line off hold, bringing it up to his ear automatically. His voice barely breathed into the speaker, "Jean?"

The first sounds he heard were of background noise, someone speaking on a P.A. system, and pieces of garbled conversation that only ears as acute as his would've been able to pick out...had he been listening. For a moment he thought she wasn't on the line anymore. After another second, he heard her raspy sigh, as she collected herself to speak. "Logan, hurry..!It's Amahra...she needs you..."

Barely able to control his hand's tremble, Howlett gulped forcefully before he spoke quickly, "I'm on my way."

Ben Campbell was hot on the Colonel's heels as the two men headed to the exit. Behind them, Gen. Ackens hesitated before he called out, "Howlett! Where in hell are you goin?! We're in the middle of--"

Logan shook his head, turning just briefly to make eye contact with the General. "Fuck it, Jase. It's my kid."


TBC in A Summer of Sunsets, Chapter 1 "Always Something There to Remind Me",pt. 1 (Coming Soon)





You must login () to review.