It was a beautiful afternoon at the Xavier’s institute for gifted youngsters. The sun was high in the sky, with not a cloud in sight. All school lessons were over, and the students had come outside to enjoy the good weather, some were doing homework, and others were just showing off their powers. The teachers were also out, sitting on the patio, drinking tea or small glasses of red or white wine. To any outsider, it would look just like one big happy family. And of course they were a family.

The only three teachers that could not be found were Scott, Logan and surprisingly Ororo, who were all in the garage working on old cars and Logan’s bike. It was something she did quite often these days, visiting Logan when she needed the company. Scott however, was just tuning his car so he and Jean could go out, and get away from everything here. Time off, which was very rare for the couple.

It was relatively quite, as it was everyday, she and Logan never found the need to fill in the silence if one ever crept up, things were more comfortable that way. Every now and again, Logan would break that silence, but only if he needed a tool or her help, which usually consisted of “put your finger here, and insert as much pressure as you can” or “put your foot on the gas, see if it’s working.” and of course he was generous and gave her some kind of thanks, which usually sounded like, “Get me a beer would ya, and get one fer yerself too.” She couldn’t help but smile, he was funny that way.

She looked up to the sky, and sighed. It was glorious. If it wasn’t a school she would be riding the winds by now, no item of clothing on her person, letting the heat hit her naked flesh. She turned back to see how Logan was progressing, by the sound of things he’d be asking for wire cutters soon, for what, she had no idea. She held them in her hand, awaiting his signal, and there it was. His hand came up over his shoulder, his gruff voice slowly moving towards her ears. Before reaching her third step she stopped, an image caught in the corner of her eye, her eyes widened in fear.

“Hey ‘Ro ya gonna give me those cutters or what?” It was when he received only silence for an answer that he stopped all activity and looked at her; the wire cutters hit the floor with a clang. “‘Ro?” Scott came from under the bonnet of the car he was working on, and as Logan had done he followed Ororo’s gaze. Unlike her, the two men saw nothing. She looked back quickly at Logan; the mansion grounds had gone still and eerily quiet. The two men soon noticed the black dot in the distance, it was falling and gathering speed as it plummeted.

“How far?” Logan asked, a strong breeze gathered around them as the weather witches eyes turned white, her snowy locks dancing around her head uncontrollably.

“Five miles.” She answered, the wind picking up more strength, as to carry Ororo’s lithe form.

“Storm, can you get there in time?” It was Scott, he sounded concerned, but he always did if a life was in danger. It was too late for an answer, she was gone. All they could do now was watch and wait.

Riding the winds was amazing, each time Ororo found herself gliding upon their very essence; she realized that this is what she truly lived for. She loved it, but right now she had no time to enjoy it. Playtime was over. Every now and again she changed the winds velocity, by joining the different air currents together. Slowly the black dot that had first caught her eye, was forming arms and legs, a cloud of white seemed to surround the weak form acting as a cover, shielding away prying eyes, whereas her eyes stayed glued to the beauty of the falling being.

A child. The falling object was a child. Ororo stopped in midair, rain? She brought her hand up to her cheek; it could not be rain, for there was no source. Looking at her hand, in the centre of her palm there was a small smear of…blood. The child’s frame dropped straight past her, dammit. Twisting her body awkwardly, she race downwards, switching from one air current to the next gaining some, yet insignificant, speed. Ororo gritted her teeth. There was no way she would let this child die, she couldn’t let that happen. That’s all the strength she needed, holding on to that thought and the vow she’d made over her parents grave, it gave her courage. She would stop the death of this innocent being.

She overtook the child, moving around in order to block its path. The child fell into her arms hard sending her forwards, the earth’s floor closing in as they fell. Pulling on the winds, Ororo was able to miss the hard ground by inches, her hair skimming the long blades of grass. Ororo’s eyes fell onto the child’s face, it was cut but not too badly, there was blood…lots of it in the young girl’s hair, on her clothes, everywhere. The child’s hair was a brilliant gold, curls formed at the tips of the long stands, Ororo guessed that she was about nine years old, her body was thin and weighed hardly anything in Ororo’s arms. Ororo smiled at the sudden realization of the ‘clouds’ that had covered the child had actually been wings, broken and bloodied, that stretched eight maybe nine feet. She was beautiful. Ororo found it slightly ironic, a fallen angel.

It wasn’t long before the winds carried them back to the mansion’s main doors, tears from no where had formed in Ororo’s eyes, she blinked them back effortlessly as her feet touched the floor, the doors blew open as the winds Ororo had used deposited. Hastily walking inside, not wishing to run as not to dropped the child, she was met by many students, unaware of the fact that outside a down pour of rain had begun. Some of the teenagers stood and others remained seating but turned in their places to see what the commotion was about.

Marie was the first student to approach her, she took one look at the young girl and gasped. She stayed close on Ororo’s heels, as they moved.

“Get Hank!” Ororo whispered, choking on the lump that had formed in the back of her throat, a tear broke free and ran down her cheek, as Rogue ran down the corridor, screaming “Hank!” repeatedly as she went. No other pupils had ever seen their ‘emotionless’ teacher cry before, so many questions filled the air, burning Ororo’s ears, and soon being blocked out, so they were nothing but blurred sounds. The child’s wings fluttered slightly, as her eyes opened warily. Blue, the deepest blue Ororo had ever seen, it was like staring into a mirror.

“My stars and garters!” Hank said as he met Ororo half way down to the medi-lab. Even with the child in Ororo’s arms, he took her pulse, tried to take her blood pressure but failed miserably bringing a small smile to Ororo’s lips; he looked for any signs of concussion, just as the child’s eyes closed tightly. “We must hurry!”

“I’m going as fast as I can Hank.” She said as she slowed down, as they came up to a corner. Ororo looked down at the child’s face again; every time she looked down time seemed to stop, and her heart felt as it had been torn out from her chest. She bit back more tears, as they clouded her field of vision.

“Then give her to me!” He said in shear panic as Ororo’s shoulder badly scrapped the white wash walls. Hank moved closer to them both, reaching out his arms in order to take the child.

“NO!” She screamed, withdrawing herself from Hanks presence, tightening her grip around the small structure in her arms, not wanting to let go. Hank nodded silently, as they continued to race down towards the basement. Hank tugged on her arm lightly, motioning her to the lift, but she carried on going, her feet trenching forward, one after the other, they lead her down the stairs. Her lungs burnt and her heart ached.

She had beaten Hank down to the basement, now thankful she had taken the stairs. Logan was waiting, leaning against the wall as he usually did; Marie sat on the chair, hugging her legs, her head resting on her knees. They both looked up at her as she came in. Jean awaited her by the door; the surgical equipment was laid out neatly, as it usually was.

Jean watched her intensely as she held her arms out, waiting for Ororo to transfer the child over to her. She didn’t, not at first anyway.

“Ororo, please give her to me,” Jean said lightly, “I want to help her just as much as you do, but I can’t do that while standing in the hallway.” She gave Ororo a small smile. Ororo then moved her arms in order to take off the extra weight of the child, loosening her grip as she did so, and slowly placing her small body in Jean’s arms.

Logan came to her in that moment, turning her around to face him, “Shhh, its okay.” He whispered into her ear as he drew her close, running a hand through her hair in order to soothe her. Her sobs were muffled by his jacket.


Ororo had fallen asleep on the cold tiled flooring of the basement. After hours of waiting, her body had slowly shut itself off; her feet ached as did her arms. She had cried on Logan’s shoulder for at least an hour, and in that time Marie had left, wanting to feel the comfort of her own bed and because Logan had told her to go, giving Ororo some space. And all this time Logan had waited patiently with her. He was her own guardian angel.

Jean soon came out, followed by Hank. The blue mutant gently touched Jean’s shoulder, giving her some comfort as he made his way upstairs. She ran a hand through her matted hair, as she tried to shake the tired feeling from her eyes. She smiled at Logan as he watched her warily. Crouching down, the redhead lightly touched Ororo’s shoulder. The weather witch jumped slightly, but focused her attention on Jean’s face. No words were spoken between the two women, Logan noted. Ororo stood from her place on the floor and made her way into the medi-ward, and sat in the lone standing chair. Logan soon followed after exchanging a few quiet words with Jean; he stood by Ororo, his hand on her shoulder, comforting her. For the first time in Ororo’s life, she had felt something deep, and all of it was for the fallen child, as a mother would love her own child, Logan sensed it, the moment Jean asked her to hand over the child, and he knew she would do anything to protect the young child.

And she would wait for the child to wake, however long that may be.





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