All in all that I know
There's nothing hear to run from
'Cos yeah every body here
Has somebody to lean on
Don't Panic - Coldplay
Cupping the side of his face, Ororo looked into Logan's eyes. She could have told him she loved him. She hadn't been treated this way in a long time. Instead, when he dropped her off at her motel, she smiled and kissed him.
"I have a fight comin' up pretty soon. I mean, you can stay for that one, right? I mean, and then after that - you know, you can leave." He shrugged.
Ororo sighed and leaned against the door frame. She thought about it for some time and slowly nodded her head. "Yes, I'll go."
"If you don't get to come, well, you can have these..." he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his dog tags. He carried these around with him absently, often forgetting them. They had become a part of his life and him. He never thought about them, never even talked about them.
"What? You don't have to."
He held up his hands. "No, come on now. Just take them. I want you to have them."
There was a long pause and he looked off at nothing in particular.
"My father gave them to me."
It had nearly been a month, Ororo realized, leaving the central bank of downtown with her money in tow. Her passport rested in her back pocket and she felt her stomach give a jolt of happiness. Soon she would be free from here. She would go to Africa, find her grandparents, and if she had it her way, live there for the rest of her life.
There would be no Victor, no David, no drug dealers, no one to find her and put her through the things she had gone through these past five years.
She pulled out the passport once her taxi was ordered and looked over it.
"Where to?" The driver asked through a heavy New York accent.
"Westchester," she said it without a moment's hesitation. She then recited the address that Jean had recited to her. There was no way she could leave without seeing her father. No matter what bad blood they had between them, she felt she owed herself and him this much.
If she hadn't been afraid to face him, she was now. His foster home looked more like that of an institute. The steel iron gates that greeted her seemed to dare someone to try and trespass. Her long arm reached out and pressed the white intercom button to her right and she waited patiently for a reply.
"Yes?" A woman's soft voice asked.
Butterflies in her stomach, Ororo cleared her throat and leaned in closer to the intercom.
"Yes, this is Ororo Munroe, I am here to see a Charles Xavier."
"I'm looking for the ugliest, filthiest, most disgusting spot you can think of," Victor leaned against a young woman so hard that her back was pressed into the wall. This was one of his favorite thing about being big, scary, and ugly. It intimidated women. The only woman it hadn't intimidated was Ororo. It just flat out frightened her.
The girl's mouth bobbed up and down like a fish out of water and Victor tilted his head to the side to show interest. She reminded him a bit like Ororo when she was seventeen. The only difference was that this girl had dark hair and eyes. "What's your name, baby?" He rested the palm of his hand against the wall to block her exit. When she moved to the other side, he moved his other arm up to block her other escape.
"I ain't gonna' hurt you..." he gave her a feral grin, "unless you tell me your name."
She looked down and look back up at him, clearly trapped. Her eyes darted around like a scared mouse would if it were surrounded by snakes.
"Come on baby, just tell me your name."
Her breathing began to pick up and Victor could feel her chest pressing into his each time she took in a deep breath. Her breasts were small, too small for him but her legs were never ending and she had a certain air about her that had called him to her. He'd seen her with her friends before they had went their separate ways, getting the most attention of the group and making everyone laugh.
He wanted to break her.
"It's Lina," she said softly.
"Like the actress?" He frowned at that. His father loved Lena Horne.
She shook her head.
"Well," Victor pulled back from her and sighed, "that's too damn bad. I would have left you alone had you said yes."
Young Lina opened her mouth to scream but no sound came on account of Victor punching her fiercely in the side.
Suddenly, for Lina, there was just darkness.
Ororo had to literally hold her feet down with her hands as the cab driver drove them through the iron gates. Upon the gates there was a large "X" in the middle and it split in half once the gates were opened. Lush green life surrounded Ororo and she laughed a little at that. When they lived in the city, Ororo would always complain to Charles that there was never enough green life. Along the winding path to his mansion, she was greeted by Weeping Willows. The road to his home was not a long journey and in less than a minute they were pulling up to neatly placed cobblestone. The cab driver stopped and turned to Ororo.
"Should I wait?" He was seeing her for the first time and he gave himself the pleasure of a quick once over.
Ororo looked from the mansion and backed to the cab driver. His eyes were glued to her chest and she pulled her blue jean jacket closed and shook her head. "No, no I should be fine." She reached into the duffel bag and pulled out a rolled wad of money and slapped it on the back of his seat. He reached a hand around and took the money from her.
He opened it and his eyes widened.
"Keep the change," she told him quietly.
"Will do," he had begun to talk about her being the best cab ride he had ever experienced, but his voice seemed to fade as she turned to find Charles Xavier sitting in his wheelchair, in a well tailored black pinstriped suit. He was dressed like royalty, as always. Ororo jumped from the cab and ran over to him and without a moment's hesitation, she leaned over and gave him the biggest hug she could muster.
The cab drove off and she wiped at the absent tears that had fallen.
"Charles," she began, and looked down. The duffel was weighing heavily on her shoulder now. "I am so sorry. What I did was wrong. It was wrong and I was foolish and stupid and reckless. If I could take it all - "
He held up a hand to silence her.
"And hello to you, Ororo." His gentle voice washed through her like silk on her skin. She closed her eyes and knelt down to face him. He cupped her face in his hands and smiled, "It is so good to see my daughter again." They looked into each other's eyes for what seemed like forever until he nodded towards the mansion. "Come inside and join me for tea."
Ororo did not hide her admiration for Charles' new living quarters as she looked around and gotten more comfortable in the plush antique armchair. Charles sat across from her in his chair and she noticed that he had done an upgrade on it. There was a control that resembled a joystick used for a video game. His wheels had a large metal "X" in the center of them, and his chair looked even more comfortable than the one she sat in.
"Charles," she began and looked down. The butler Joseph had offered to put Ororo's bag away but she had flat out refused. "Charles, I am so sorry."
It had been nearly five years since she'd seen him.
"Ororo, please," he held up his hands to stop her, "it is in the past. What matters is that you are here now."
She was no older than seventeen and according to Victor she was just as much a woman as any thirty year old. Ororo wasn't stupid, however, she knew the reason Victor had been saying those things. He was ten years older than her and from the moment she met him, he had rubbed his crotch like he had an itch that just couldn't be scratched there.
Though... Ororo wanted her first time to be special.
She slipped into her slippers and flitted down the hall of the brownstone that belonged to Charles. Jean had been visiting her maternal grandparents for the summer and Ororo flat out refused to join her this summer. She talked to Jean about Victor but the truth was that she wanted alone time with Charles.
Her nightdress flew at her sides as she crept her long legs down the hall.
She had no what she was doing. Not only had Charles been old enough to be her father, he was paralyzed from the waist down. And yet, nothing stopped her from her destination.
Not bothering to knock, Ororo slipped into his bedroom and closed the door behind her. Her stomach fluttered from nerves but she stepped towards his large canopy bed and climbed in, slipping out of her slippers as her knees hit the mattress. It sunk just a bit and he gently stirred.
Ororo crawled up to sit beside him and she leaned her head down and pressed her lips to his.
"I was so foolish," she laughed at her own mistakes.
"We are all young once," he said with a twinkle in his eye and leaned over to get his tea.
She looked up to meet his kind and gentle eyes and laughed a little.
"How are things with Victor?" He asked her suddenly and she could not hide the frown that made her forehead crease.
Not wanting to sound like a fool or a horrible liar, Ororo simply shrugged and looked away. The window seemed to catch her attention and she saw two children run by.
Charles had absently wrapped his arm around her tiny waist and when his eyes opened, he made a strangled sob and pushed Ororo away.
"What are you doing?" He asked her, confused more than angry.
Ororo simply smiled, "I am making it special for the both of us." She leaned in once more to kiss him and he pushed her away.
Shaking his head, Charles pushed himself up with his hands and looked at her. "You don't think I'm beautiful?" She asked, her eyes filling with tears. He cupped her chin in his hands and couldn't help but chuckle lightly. "Ororo, you are beautiful. You are so beautiful that often times I must stop myself from staring. Dear, Ororo, I see you as my daughter and nothing else. Every moment with you as a child of mine is special. A moment like this should be with a man you love."
"But I love you!" She piped in, tears falling down her face.
"And I to you," he replied. "But as a father would love his daughter. He gave her another one of those warm smiles only Ororo did not return it. She merely jumped out of the bed and ran from the room.
"Ororo," Charles interrupted her thoughts, "if there is something that you wish to tell me about Victor, please do not hesitate."
She turned back to face him and sighed.
"He has come searching for you." Charles could not hold it for much longer. He had been bursting to tell her. The expression she had given him was quite clear that she had absolutely no intentions of being found by Victor Creed.
"When?"
"He came just two days ago. I have no idea how he has managed to locate Scott and Jean and then my headquarters, but he seems to be a man on a mission."
Charles leaned over and said quietly, "And whatever you've run away with, he wishes to have it back."
He added ominously, "Badly."
