Chapter 1: Guardian Angel
Things had so quickly gone out of control, and now all Laue could do was run, hoping that someone up above would listen to her.
She had a lot of faith and trust in her own two legs, but in a godly creature that was supposed to make miracles happen and make the world a happy, peaceful place? Yeah – whatever faith she'd had in a god had long since vanished, along with anything else she might have believed in.
For what seemed like an eternity, Laue kept on running. She wasn't even close to an athlete however, and after a while she was out of breath. She was panting hard, and every time she took another step, it was as though an electric current was running through her aching muscles. But she had to keep going – it was the only way she would escape.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid..." she panted, glancing down at her body every other second to see if her ability was working. It wasn't – as she'd expected. It was a touchy thing, her ability. When she so desperately needed it, she couldn't get it to work. But when she didn't – when she least wanted it to show its ugly head – well then, there it was!
Funny how things worked sometimes.
Laue cursed as she turned a corner, glancing behind her and spotting the officers gaining on her. She cursed again.
Her long mane of jet black hair whipped at her face as she ran against the November wind, her slim black leather jacket doing next to nothing to keep her warm. There was a hole in the left knee of her jeans and her skin was torn, dried blood smeared around the small, gaping wound. Her black nail polish was chipped and her nails were bitten down to the skin. She was skinnier than she'd ever been, looking so vulnerable at only five feet, two inches.
Her dark green eyes were determined and fierce, however. She wasn't about to give up.
The MRD can screw themselves if they think they'll catch me, she thought to herself as she made yet another unexpected turn, hearing the sounds of heavy boots and trucks behind her – she needed to put more distance between herself and those people, but how?
Without thinking, she made her way into an alley and managed to grip the iron pole that was connected to the safety exit of a building. She kicked her legs and flipped over the pole, climbing the stairs four at a time. She had almost reached the roof, three floors above, when she saw the MRD helicopter.
"Shit!" she hissed before glancing below her at the set of stairs she'd climbed. The MRD was already climbing up. She was trapped. Unless...
Adrenaline seeped through every fiber of her being as she started to run straight for the roof's edge. She didn't think – didn't look down – and let herself jump into the air, knowing full well that she was a couple dozen feet above the ground and that if she couldn't grip the building on the other side of the alley... she was kind of royally screwed.
Fortunately for her, the fingertips of her left hand grazed the edge of said building she needed to grab at for dear life, her right hand quickly moving up so as to steady her hold. Her muscles were weak from lack of proper nutrition and from running, but she forced herself to climb onto the roof, only giving herself a split-second to recuperate before she started running again.
She climbed down a brand new set of stairs, skipping the last floor completely and landing on a dumpster. She could still hear the MRD chasing her; they were somehow finding intelligent ways to catch up to her.
She began running again, but quickly found herself trapped before three brick walls and about half a dozen MRD officers, two trucks and many loaded weapons.
The young Mutant stopped dead in her tracks before slowly backing away. Her muscles were suddenly frozen as she felt the brick wall against her boney back. She waited for her death to come, knowing there was absolutely no hope left.
But then, as if some godly creature up above had listened to her pleas, she saw something – or someone – falling from the sky, coming straight for her. But the thing is, he wasn't falling. He was flying. All she could see was his silhouette; he was a tall and broad man, but what caught her attention most of all was the massive wings that were keeping him steady in the air.
Without wasting a second, the MRD officers had aimed their weapons at the flying man, preparing themselves to shoot. Laue took this opportunity to silently and stealthily hurry to the nearest hiding spot, a battered old dumpster.
"The Mutie is getting away!"
That was when everything became a blur. Laue felt a fist connect with her jaw and vaguely saw the asphalt getting closer and closer before she felt her entire being impact with the ground.
She blinked rapidly, hearing a gunshot somewhere to her right before hearing a curse and the sound of a weapon reloading. Good, she thought, they missed.
She blinked again and, with difficulty, focused on the winged-Mutant. A part of her wanted to make sure he was okay, even though she couldn't be sure he truly was on her side. Not all Mutants were nice people; she'd learned that fact by watching way too many news broadcasts these past couple years.
As his white-feathered wings flapped, Laue could feel the wind playing with her hair and stroking her dirty, sunken and bruised cheeks. She saw him punch and kick his way towards her, and then the next she she recalled was being hoisted away in a pair of firm, muscular arms.
Laue didn't realize she'd been holding her breath until her chest felt like exploding.
"I must have someone watching over me," she said breathlessly, holding onto him for dear life. She really wasn't fond of heights. "I've been sent a Guardian Angel." she added with an embarrassed laugh.
Warren Worthington III smiled, his blue eyes twinkling a little due to the city lights. Down below, Laue could see the MRD trucks zooming away – something told her they were far from finished with her however.
"Why did you save me? You don't even know me." she asked the Angel. "You could have gotten yourself captured – or killed!" she added, unable to believe that someone would actually risk that for her.
"Us Mutants got to stick together." the young blond man said with yet another one of his charismatic smiles. It was then, as they flew over streets and buildings, that Laue recognized him.
"You're from the family that funds the senator's campaign, aren't you?" she breathed, momentarily unsure whether she could trust him. If he truly was responsible for the funds that were helping the MRD catch and imprison Mutants, then he was as bad as the rest of them. Especially considering he was a Mutant himself. But then why risk his life – and identity – saving her from those he was supposedly helping?
"You're thinking of my father," Warren clarified, a solemn expression falling on his handsome face. "I'm not like him." he added simply. Laue didn't understand what he meant, but she didn't question it further, instead focusing on his face to keep herself from looking down at the ground – it was so far away and if Warren was to drop her...
"Don't worry, I've gotcha." Warren said, evidently feeling Laue's heart pounding heavily against his own. She tightened her grip on him, her cheeks pigmented with red. She was grateful it was night time, knowing that her features were harder to make out.
"I'm sorry, I'm just not used to flying around in someone's arms." Laue said.
At this point, Warren had silently landed on the rooftop of what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse a couple miles from the alley Laue had been certain would be her final resting spot. She smiled a little awkwardly at the man before dropping to her feet and flexing her tense muscles.
"Well um," she said, "Thanks for saving my ass out there..." she added, unable to meet his eye. Truth be told, this was the first time someone had helped her out since her powers had been discovered by her foster family almost a month ago. She didn't really know how to handle it.
"No problem..." Warren trailed off, a white gloved hand extending to shake the young woman's. Laue felt as though introductions were necessary since he had literally saved her life. So she gave him her best attempt at a smile and shook his hand.
"I'm Laue Aberdeen." she said shyly.
Warren walked over to the edge of the roof and look around at the cityscape. Laue followed suit, standing next to him, her eyes unable to look at anything but the massive wings that had been contracted against his back, the tips almost reaching his ankles.
"Do you have a place to stay, Laue?" he asked.
Laue opened her mouth, about to tell him that she did, but then thought better of it. An alley located between a coffee shop and an Italian restaurant couldn't be considered as a residence, could it? So instead she shook her head. "No, I don't." she admitted warily.
She regretted her words instantly, for Warren was now looking at her with a pitying look plastered across his clean-shaven face. Laue suddenly grew very defensive, the girl she'd been turned into these past couple weeks making its first appearance of the night.
"Don't pity me, rich boy. So I'm not living in some posh mansion like you, that doesn't mean I'm not fending for myself just fine." she snapped. Laue suddenly felt both ashamed and hostile. She took a few steps back and looked at the glow of a light through a window on the other side of the street.
"Would you like me to–" Warren began.
"I'm not going to some homeless shelter." Laue cut him off, spinning around so that she was completely facing him, her hands balled into fists. She didn't even realize what was happening to her body, but Warren sure did. He saw her limbs slowly disappearing to the point where she was completely invisible.
"That's not what I meant," Warren said carefully, his eyes suddenly darting back and forth. "Are you still there...?" he asked uncertainly.
That was when Laue glanced down at herself and realized her power had kicked in. She snorted. A couple minutes too late, she thought. Closing her eyes, she forced herself to concentrate on being visible again. It was a hard task that demanded a lot of energy. When she opened her eyes again, Warren could see her, but she felt drained.
Adding the stress of running around without stopping for half an hour and not eating anything in the last twenty-four hours, not to mention how emotional she was at this very moment, it was perfectly natural for her to suddenly collapse, falling onto her knees before letting herself fall into a sitting position.
"It's called the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters." Warren began again, taking a careful step forward. "It's a place for Mutants like us to learn how to control their Mutant abilities and feel safe." Warren explained. He took another step towards the tired young girl before bending down and placing a hand on her slim shoulder. Laue made no move to shrug him off, staring into his eyes.
"You'd be accepted in a heartbeat." he said, but Laue didn't have to be convinced much more. She couldn't not trust Warren. All he'd done was try to help her – and this school, Laue had heard of it. Wasn't it some expensive private school in Westchester? She had heard of it on the News a couple times. "Or you can stay here and freeze to death on the streets – unless you get caught by the MRD again." Warren added with a somewhat playful smile.
Laue rolled her eyes before letting Warren help her to her feet. She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and closed her eyes shut until he had taken off and they were in the sky.
"Thanks." Laue said softly.
