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The Distant Calls of Fall
Chapter #04 “More than Words”, Part 2


West Texas Desert (Section X H.Q.)
6:48 a.m. CST

The sound of the Senator’s voice was like a low hum to his ears as Daniel’s mind drifted from the introductions being made for him. This meeting was probably going to be the most important in his career as he officially moved from the U.S. military to Section X. At long last, he felt like his work, his sacrifices and his ambition were finally getting him where he deserved to be. It didn’t matter that he was the replacement for the murdered General Ackens; nothing and no one could take the feeling of pride from him as he’d passed by his office here at HQ seeing a staff worker sliding his name plate across the door of the office formerly occupied by the deceased General. After several weeks of an “interim” title, the Secretary of Defense finally gave the okay to make the move permanent. He nearly did cartwheels in the streets.

“So, with no further ado, I’ll shut up and let the man get down to business. Ladies and gentlemen: Lt. General Daniel Forge; the new head of Section X.”

Standing, Daniel nodded to the Senator, taking his thick folder of confidential notes and ideas to the podium with him. He didn’t meet any of the eyes watching his slight (but noticeable) limp as he made his way forward; they could think what they would, but he was here for one reason and one reason only”to clean up this unit and bring some order to the chaos Jason Ackens seemed to ignore (or propagate). Starting with the Creed case.

His stern, dark gaze was a contrast to the rest of his features as he chose that moment to look his evaluators head on. It was true he was young for a Lt. General, but he never let people’s preconceived notions of age get in his way, any more than he had the physical limitations he’d dealt with most of his life. Like the latter, he’d proven people wrong about the age-thing. Proving himself right was the biggest thrill of Daniel Forge’s life.

“Thank you, Senator. I’ll dispense with the pleasantries and get to the point: this is the most talented and potentially effective covert ops group in the U.S. defense arsenal, and I’m here to make sure that talent is no longer squandered. There’s some changes in store for Section X; ones I hope you’ll agree with me need to be done in order to streamline the department’s mission conversion ratio.”

One of the seated, high-ranking officials didn’t wait to be acknowledged before she spoke up. “Wait a moment; it sounds like you’re talking about a complete overhaul of almost 30 years of precedent, Lt. General.”

Meeting her gaze squarely, Daniel didn’t hesitate before responding, “If that’s what it takes, then yes, I am. We can ill afford the sort of set backs we’re currently facing: we’re down several agents, Christoph Nord is a fugitive on the loose and the Creed Case still hasn’t been closed. This is unacceptable, and it won’t go on”not on my watch. That, I assure you.”

Several members of the group nodded, evidently agreeing with Daniel’s statement, but the woman who’d raised the question wasn’t satisfied. She’d seen people like him before, and knew if Jason Ackens was alive, he’d had none of this “re-vamping” B.S. at such a critical point.

Considering that matter closed, Daniel glanced down at the notes he’d made, pushing on with his speech, starting with the first topic on his list. “And to that end, I think we need to evaluate the team currently in charge of tracking down Victor Creed.”




The Xavier Institute, New York
Monday, October 11th, 2004
7:02 a.m. EST

Though the sun was still struggling to come up over the horizon, Ororo had been up all night. For the past several days, it was her nightly ritual sitting at the vanity in her room, scribbling on stationary into the wee hours of the night. Her thoughts were coherent for the most part, but it was a ‘conversation’ she wished she could have with someone who wasn’t there.

Each morning when her sickness began she took it as a sign to stop, and by the time her stomach settled, it was nearly time to get ready for the four classes she taught before noon. This morning was no different, as he knelt in front of the toilet again, dry heaving for the most part as she’d not had much to eat the day before.

*Ororo? Are you up? I thought we could have a quick breakfast before the day starts.* Beth’s usually soothing voice jolted her mind.

Fighting the nausea and the mental intrusion, Ororo was a little weak to cast a psi-shield. Wiping her mouth and flushing the toilet, she stood at the sink, washing her hands and face. *Not this morning, Beth. I’m running a little late. I’ll meet you and Marie for lunch, okay?* Just the thought of food or eating was enough to get the bile forming in her mouth, however.

*Hey, rough night? I’m”I’m getting some…weird vibes off of ye.*

“I’m fine, Beth.” Ororo said and thought simultaneously, hoping her sister would just leave it at that. “I’ve got to get ready for class, okay?”

*…Yeah, okay.*

“See you at noon.” Ororo was finally able to get her thoughts together and closed their communication. Heading back into her room, she went to the vanity, where the leaves of papers were still spread out over the wooden top. The night before she’d gotten a little long winded. Picking up one of the pages, she re-read some of her words and the tug to her heart was renewed thinking about Logan’s absence.




“…It’s hard to imagine what you would think if you were here. I spend a lot of time thinking about that, though. I’m not showing”not yet”but I’m wearing a couple pants sizes bigger already.

I miss you a lot. Between the sleepless nights and the early morning sickness, I wish all the time you were here to rub my back, or just hold me and tell me everything would be fine. Sound childish, doesn’t it? Well, can’t blame a girl for how she feels, right?”




Letting the paper slip from her grasp back onto the vanity top with the others, Ororo sighed, then gathered them up, folding that day’s letter threefold, and sliding it into an unmarked envelope. On the outside, she only wrote the date, then opened the drawer on the bottom left, pulling out the others bound by a large rubber band. She’d decided they’d never be mailed.



Later in the day, Ororo was feeling better than she had in weeks, though she couldn’t explain why. She’d skipped breakfast due to her morning sickness, and though she was fairly starving at this point, really wasn’t relishing having to avoid lunch when she met up with Marie and Beth in a couple hours. Now in her 10:00-hour class, she was experiencing a surprising burst of energy”one her students seemed to notice and feed off of, as she changed up her usual test review format for a game of Pictionary.

The kids were having a blast trying to find creative ways (that stayed within the rules) to depict their U.S. History terms. Standing between the two sides at her desk, Ororo held the answers on 3x5 index cards, almost giddy, as the boys’ team was desperate in guessing the answer. At the chalkboard, Franklin Richards scribbled furiously, creating an impressive chalk drawing of the White House. Behind him, leaning forward in their chairs or perched on the desks or standing against the wall, the boys yelled their answers as the timer on the edge of Ororo’s desk ticked down their turn.

“The Declaration of Independence!” Arthur Maddicks grinned, but received a groan from Franklin.

“Democracy!”

“The Oval Office!!”

As Franklin kept shaking his head, then going back to his impeccable drawing, clearly irritated at his comrades, Ororo stood behind him, trying not to laugh. On the other side of the classroom, the girls were barely able to keep their excitement in check; several of them seemed to think they knew the answer.

“Come on, guys, 10 seconds left.” Ororo reminded them, “Remember the period we’re talking about here”“

“Hey, Ms. Munroe, that’s not fair!” Jubilee piped up, “You’re giving them hints!”

Clamping her hand over her mouth, Ororo glanced at the boys, wondering if they’d picked up the hint. The confusion on their faces told her the answer. At the board however, Franklin suddenly grinned, and turned back to the drawing, shading in flames around the top of the White House. Turning back to his team, he was sure they’d get it now.

“What the--?” Everett’s face scrunched at the image, and his fellow male students were even more confused than ever.

“Time!” Ororo called as the clock buzzed. Turning to Jubilee’s team, she asked the girls, “A chance for a steal?”

Almost in unison, their airy voices sang “The War of 1812!”

“Aghh!!” Franklin threw the chalk into the air above his head, grabbing his gold locks in frustration. “Geez guys, come on!”

“That’s right.” Ororo smiled, trying not to chuckle at the boys’ sudden understanding.

“What part of a burning White House doesn’t scream ‘War of 1812’??” Franklin admonished his male buddies, and he received a paper ball barrage for his critique.

“I thought those were clouds.” One of the boys shrugged in reference to the flames, eliciting chuckles from some of the others.

“That was a very good picture, Franklin.” Ororo corrected, turning to look at it. He’d even included bushes and a waving flag of 15 stars and stripes.

Sulking in his seat, Frankin murmured, “Thanks Ms. Munroe.”

“Our turn!” Kitty and Jubilee chimed in together.

Ororo smiled, nodding as Kitty came forward from her desk. Looking down at the next answer, she felt the room begin to spin again. She closed her eyes for a bit, thinking it was going to subside, but that didn’t help, and when she opened them again, she saw Kathryn approaching her but from an angle.

“Ms. Munroe?” Jubilee caught the look on Ro’s face first, standing from her desk.

“Oh, um…I’m”I’m okaaayyy…” Ororo’s words faded as her eyes rolled back into her head and her body gave in after her mind lost consciousness.

She was out and crumpled on the floor before she could hear the gasps and screams of her students.




At that moment in the Section X HQ in Texas, Daniel Forge was settled into his (officially) new office going over the finer details of his plans, when a knock came to his door. Glancing to his right, he saw the image from the camera hidden outside in the hall reflected on the small monitor built into the desk (his idea). “Enter.”

Closing the door behind her, the woman stood just inside, her arms crossed loosely as she met Daniel’s eyes. Light gold hair tightly swept up and pinned, blue eyes evaluated him over a small pair of specs. “May I have a word with you?”

Setting aside his work, Daniel rose, coming around the desk to lean against it in a more relaxed way than he normally behaved; she could tell it was for her benefit, to let her know he knew he was in charge around here. “Of course, Advocate Cooper. What can I do for you?”

Valerie Cooper adjusted her glasses, still looking at Forge. “As you know, I was on the Tribunal panel that recommended we hold Christoph Nord responsible in the training accident a couple months ago.”

“I do. I read the official reports from all the panel members.”

“Then you understand how important it is that we put adequate resources toward his immediate capture.”

His eyes widened briefly, and Forge was about to remind her he knew what his duties were, before he stopped himself. Calculating his response he said, “I understand that Victor Creed has been on the loose much longer than “Maverick” and is twice as dangerous, Judge Advocate Cooper. It’s been several weeks and none of Christoph Nord’s aliases have even shown up as a blip on any domestic or international radars.”

“None of his known aliases, you mean.” Val extended her right hand, and Daniel looked down to see a flash drive in her palm. “Right after his escape, our people did a sweep of his apartment in Manhattan as well as his parents’ home in the Hamptons. There was a laptop at the apartment with the remains of a hard drive that had been wiped. Professionally. I’ve still got agents working on it downstairs, but so far we’re leaning toward the belief that Maverick may have set up aliases unknown and therefore unauthorized by the bureau. Everything we have so far is here.”

Accepting the flash drive, Daniel remained quiet for a moment. He didn’t want to admit that the idea Nord may be using an unknown alias never crossed his mind. Up until a few weeks ago, he thought Section X only employed reliable agents…

“That’s crucial information. Thank you.”

Her eyes narrowed for a moment at the stiff way he said that, but she chose to ignore it; Val Cooper wasn’t going to sit on the sidelines while a man she’d voted to put behind bars was out on the loose. Neither her pride or ego was too big for that; she wanted Christoph found before he found his way onto her doorstep. “I just want to make sure you have everything you need to bring this issue to a resolution, General. The last thing we need is another rogue agent on the loose.”

‘Especially one that might have you in his cross hairs, huh?’ Forge couldn’t help but add silently. “Understood. Will that be all, Advocate Cooper?”

Nodding once, she turned on her heel, leaving his office. Daniel looked down in his hand at the flash drive labeled with Christoph Nord’s ID number on it. He wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of hunting down a fellow Marine; especially one as highly trained as Nord. Not only had he somehow made the location device all Section X agents were required to have implanted inoperative (making tracking him virtually impossible), now he’s apparently using an airtight alias they didn’t know of. It could takes weeks just to track down the various people who willingly (or otherwise) helped him set that up and try to ‘flip’ them. Tossing the drive on his desk of papers, Daniel rubbed his tired eyes, knowing he was in for many a long night. “Fantastic.”





The Xavier Institute, NY
12:25 pm EST

The sound of the heart rate monitor’s beeps was the first thing she sensed before being able to slowly convince her eyes to struggle open. The infirmary room’s lights were turned down lower than normal but still bright enough to see. The only thing in Ororo’s line of sight however, was the ceiling, which spun slowly into focus and then stopped moving. When she realized where she was, her heart skipped a beat and she moaned, trying to sit up.

“Hey, hey. Easy there.”

Confused, she didn’t immediately recognize the voice near her, but resisted a little when she felt hands keep her from sitting up. “Wha..? What happened?”

David North’s face came into view above her and he smiled gently. She felt his hand pat her arm briefly, the dimmed lights in the room still playing off of the rims of his expensive-looking glasses. “You took a tumble in class this morning. Gave everyone quite a scare too, I might add.”

This morning?? “I’m in the infirmary?”

“Yes”“

Looking down at her arm, Ororo saw the I.V. taped to the inside of her elbow. The next second a look of pure panic colored her features, confusing and concerning David at once. ‘Oh God”the baby!’

Leaning over her, Nord’s eyes widened when Ororo’s face crumpled into a mask of pain for a moment. She couldn’t hide the quick tear that ran from her eye into her hairline. Moving away from her bed, he murmured, “I’ll go get Cecilia.”

In the several seconds she was alone, Ororo’s mind raced as she admonished herself. All the instances of skipped meals and late nights resulting in a lack of rest came crashing back to her in a sick wave of guilt. She admitted to herself just in that moment how much she actually loved and wanted this child…

“Ororo?” Dr. Cecilia Reyes’ voice broke into her thoughts before she saw the School’s resident physician come up to the bed, followed quickly by her sisters Marie and Beth, David and Scott bringing up the rear.

Grabbing Celicia’s hand, Ro stared into the woman’s eyes, a silent question. Her hands shook and she grasped the sheet just over her stomach as if that would tell her anything.

“Sugah, how are you feeling?” Marie took one side of her bed while Beth stood next to Cecilia on the other. Scott and David stayed at the foot of the bed, but Summers’ expression was colored with worry as he turned his eyes to Cecilia for the answer to that question.

“She’s tired.” Beth’s voice came out for her, feeling her sister’s fatigue and communicating the obvious. Brushing Ro’s hair from her face, Beth inadvertently picked up a stray thought that puzzled her: ‘”Logan, I’m so sorry--!’

Moving away from Beth’s touch, Ororo looked up to the physician. “How long…have I been out?”

“Just under a couple hours.” Cecilia watched her carefully, then added, “I need to go over the tests I ran, Ororo.”

To the rest of the visitors, she said “Will you guys excuse us for a moment?”

Laying a hand on the doctor’s arm, Ororo shook her head. She knew what her decision was, and good or ill, there was no point in hiding it any longer. “It’s okay, Cecilia.”

“…Um, are you sure?”

Nodding, Ororo went on, “I just need to know now. Is It alright?”

The others looked between themselves, confused.

“Yes.” Cecilia saw the immediate relief in Ororo’s face and her body visibly relaxed as well.

Wiping a tear from her eyes, she whispered, “Thank the Bright Lady.”

“Although,” Dr. Reyes continued, “You aren’t helping the situation with your poor health. Your electrolytes are severely imbalanced, you have a vitamin deficiency and by the looks of you I’d say you haven’t been getting much sleep either.”

“Situation?” Scott echoed, looking at Ororo. “What’s going on?”

As all heads turned to Ro, she glanced at each of them in turn, but her eyes came back to Scott’s before answering. “I’m pregnant.”



TBC…





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