Here's the next chapter, and before the end of the week. Thank you so much to my readers and reviewers!
Ariana marked another day off on her calendar. Staring at the small black 25 near the bottom, her heart fell just a little bit. What if Abel wasn't back in his father's arms by Christmas? She spun and threw the pen across the room. It hit the opposite wall and bounced off. She didn't keep track of where it landed.
She had experimented enough to be sure that her fire could show her no more than the person or animal in question, and so far only in the present. She thought, perhaps, that if she practiced enough she might be able to look into the future, but it was only a hope, a theory.
A knock on her door summoned her from her thoughts. Ariana thought about ignoring it, but after a few seconds she sighed and turned to face the door.
"Come in," she called, and Storm quietly entered.
"I heard you did a wonderful job helping Hank in the kitchen a few days ago," the white-haired woman said.
"Yeah," was Ariana's short reply. Storm sighed, recognizing that she was in no mood for idle chatter.
"I came to tell you that the Professor would like to see you in his office," she said. Ariana nodded and followed Storm to Xavier's office. Once she was seated in one of the plush chairs in front of the Professor's desk, he folded his hands and looked at her.
"How are you doing exploring your power?" he asked.
"Good. It doesn't take much to sustain a flame now," she said, unsure if she really wanted to tell him about the visions. She suspected there would be no choice.
"And what about other aspects of your power?" he asked, the hint of a smile at the corners of his lips. She mentally face-palmed: of course he knew, he was a telepath. How could she have overlooked such a key element? I'm losing my touch, she mused silently.
"I can see things in the flames, if I try," she admitted. Xavier nodded.
"Would you mind showing me?" he asked her.
"Sure," she held up her hand and focused on pulling up her fire. In under a minute she had a steady flame dancing in her palm. She considered for a few moments, and then decided that she should take the opportunity to see how Gemma was handling her grandsons kidnapping.
"Show me Gemma," she said firmly, commanding the flames to show her the only real mother figure she could clearly remember. She saw Gemma in a parking lot, but the background was indistinct. She was listening to someone one a cell phone. Whatever the person said painted a horrified expression onto Gemma's face and had her clutching at her chest.
Ariana used both hands to shape her fire into a small ball, large enough to show them a detailed image, but small enough to fit in both of her hands. Gemma dropped the phone and fell, visibly trying to breathe properly. In the background, multiple headlights appeared. Ariana recognized a large group of motorcycles interspersed with a few cars.
As the club began to run towards Gemma, Ariana lost the vision. It faded, still moving, into the blackness until it was completely gone. Ariana downsized the ball before crushing it into her palm. The fire melted back into her skin quickly.
"You are dismissed, Ariana. Let me know if you need anything," he said softly. Ariana left the room as quickly as she could without running. She didn't bother stopping to let anyone get out of her way, instead choosing to shove past them. This earned her a few worried, confused stares, and a few annoyed glares, but she paid them no heed.
She grabbed her phone from her room and escaped from the mansion into the grounds. The phone was ringing before she was even off the steps. She paced through the deepening snow, listening to the phone ring. When it went to voice mail, she slammed it shut.
"Fuck," she spat, staring at the trampled snow around her with contempt. She heard the crunch of snow behind her and spun, ready to scare off whomever it was. She calmed herself marginally when she saw it was only Rogue.
"If ya want ta be alone, I'll understand," she said softly. Ariana remained silent for a few minutes, while Rogue stood by patiently waiting.
"No, stay. I just need to reach someone," she said, opening her phone again. It had barely been five minutes since she had seen Gemma fall.
"Answer the damn phone!" she yelled, just as the phone was picked up.
"Woah, Sis, got a bit of a temper there," Juice had answered the phone.
"Yeah? So would you if no one picked up the damn phone after you watched the woman you see as a mother have a heart-attack or some goddamn thing!" she kept her voice away from yelling, but it most certainly was not calm.
"God, Ari, how'd you find out about that?" he asked.
"It's a long story. Tell me what happened," she replied.
"We just got her to the hospital, so we don't know anything yet," he said.
"I want to come home, at least for a little bit," she told him.
"I'll have to let you talk to Clay," he said, followed by silence.
"Well?" Ariana asked impatiently.
"Clay's a little busy right now. I don't think it would be a good idea for you to bother him yet," he said. Ariana sighed.
"Call me as soon as you know anything," she said.
"I promise I will," he told her sincerely, and hung up. Ariana closed the phone and stared at it for a long minute before tucking it into a pocket. It was only then that she realized just how cold she was in her thin t-shirt, with snow blowing all around her. She turned to Rogue, giving her a small smile.
"Let's go inside," she told her friend. They hurried back to the warmth of the mansion, only to be met by curious faces.
"C'mon, y'all! Back off a little. Ya don't need ta know every little thing goin' on in this place!" Rogue shooed the curious students away, all but a select few. Remy, Kurt, and Kitty stayed, following Rogue and Ariana to her room.
"I'm going back, no matter what they say," she told them quietly. "I don't care if Clay tells me to stay here. I'm going back to Charming, and then I'm going after Abel. I will find him, I'll watch him until I see something. Anything." The others didn't object.
"I t'ink we all want t' help y', Ari," Remy said after a few beats of silence. Ariana nodded.
"I have to wait for Juice to call me back, then we can start planning."
It was a half hour before Ariana's phone rang again.
"Yeah," she answered.
"Gemma's fine," Clay's voice surprised her, as she had been expecting someone else.
"I want to come down," Ariana insisted.
"Not yet. There's too much shit going on, and now that you're out of it I don't want you back in until it's over," he told her.
"I want to see her. I saw her fall, Clay. I don't care if you say she's fine. It was that phone call that caused it, and I want to see her for myself," she growled.
"I understand that, but for now we need you in New York. You can be a much bigger help to us if you don't make yourself a target," he told her slowly. Ariana held back her temper, breathing in and out slowly before answering.
"Alright, Clay. Tell Gemma I said hi," she said, and then hung up. She brought her hands to eye level and summoned her fire.
"Show me someone who knows something about Abel," she whispered, her voice urgent and fierce, looking for any little bit of information she could find. It left no room for argument, and this time the fire complied almost immediately.
The others gathered around to watch as moving pictures rapidly flashed through the dark depths, before a slower one lingered. Ariana moved her hands gently around the ball of flame, expanding it to make it easier for them all to get a look at what the vision was showing.
A bearded man was speaking with a younger woman, long-haired and only a few years older than Ariana at most. The woman handed the man a slip of paper with something written on it. They exchanged a few words, and once again Ariana cursed the silence of her ability. The man turned his back to them after a few moments. His cut was Sons of Anarchy, and the bottom rocker read 'Belfast'.
"SAMBEL," Ariana whispered.
"Ve are going to Ireland?" Ariana looked up at Kurt to answer his question.
"Yeah, Kurt, we're going to Ireland."
There we go, getting to some exciting stuff!
