An: Review or else...lol
Back at Xavier's School for the Gifted, Scott Summers was settling into the black leather chair in the recreational room preparing to watch a much anticipated hockey game. As he slouched down into the couch, he opened the bottle of beer he had stolen from Logan's secret stash, before propping his feet up on the arm of the couch with an relaxed smile. Even though he knew that Emma hated to catch him with his feet up on any of the furniture in the school along with any form of alcohol in his possession, he decided to make an exception seeing how he had been on his feet for most of that day. While he loved being a teacher at the school, Scott sometimes felt that his nerves and patience were growing short after dealing with a bunch of rowdy, rambunctious students with mutant powers on a day to day basis. Scott knew that if the school's staff hadn't been already nearly depleted with the absence of several key teachers, he would have been taken a vacation a long time ago.
As he took a swig of beer, Scott made a bitter face. He made a mental note to inform Logan, once he returned, that his choice in beer was disgusting. Thinking of Logan and the other members of the deployed team, Scott began to wonder how the mission was going. The last he had heard from the feral man was when he had called Emma earlier that week to brief her. When he asked his wife how things were going, she assured him that everything was fine, and that team was making progressive in their mission. Putting the long neck down on the coffee table, he grabbed the remote and turned the volume up. The hockey game had barely gotten under way when he heard someone enter the recreation room. As he reluctantly tore his gaze away from the television screen, he looked over his right shoulder and was surprised to see a face he hadn't seen in months. Warren Worthington.
As the former X men walked into the room, trailed closely by Jubilee, he could tell by the look on Scott's face that his presence at the school was completely unexpected. Warren had left the school months earlier to oversee his father's corporation, but he had remained an honorary member of the team showing up for visit every now and then. While the winged man hadn't planned on showing up at the mansion for another two weeks, he had received a phone call earlier that night from Jubilee that had left him mortified and deeply disturbed. Immediately, Warren had rushed over determined to talk to Scott to confirm that what he had heard from Jubilee's mouth was in fact true.
Rising from the couch, Scott went to pleasantly greet the other man when he noticed that the expression on Warren's face was less then pleasant. Just staring into the other man's eyes, he could see that Warren was unhappy. Very unhappy. Before he could inquire what was wrong, the blonde haired man began to speak softly.
"I didn't mean to stop by unannounced, but I received some deeply troubling news about Ororo that I had no other choice but to come to you for clarification," Warren said stiffly.
Scott stared at him blankly. He had absolutely no clue as to what Warren was talking about. For the first time since the winged man entered the room, Scott noticed Jubilee's presence, and was baffled when he caught her glaring at him with an angry expression on her face as well as her arms were folded across her chest defensively.
"I don't know what you have heard, but Ororo is fine, and so is the rest of the team. May I ask you why you would think otherwise?" Scott asked startled.
Before Warren could explain, Jubilee interrupted rudely.
"You let Storm go back to Smallville to help Clark and not only was she stabbed in the back by the team she was working with in the field, she was stabbed in the back by you," the Asian girl said coldly.
Feeling the less then subtle hostility quickly filling the room, Scott immediately grew tense.
"I didn't let Ororo do anything. She is a grown woman. She made the choice to go organize a team, head to Smallville to provide aid to Clark. That was her choice. If you have any hostility about it, you should take it up with her," he said stiffly.
Jubilee folded her arms across her small chest and stared at him with a look of disgust.
"Aren't you at least concerned about what had happened over the course of the past two hours?" Warren asked mortified.
"I have no idea what either of you are talking about," Scott said startled.
Jubilee gasped softly.
"Oh my gosh...you seriously don't know?" she asked mortified.
Scott sighed exasperated as he shook his head vehemently.
"No, and I wish that one of you would start explaining what is going on," he said impatiently.
Jubilee exhaled softly before filling Scott in. As he listened to Jubilee explain how Anna was allegedly involved in some conspiracy with Chloe and Oliver, he felt a wave of disbelief wash over him. What the hell was going on in Smallville? While he was worried about the mission, his first concern was for his friend. He couldn't believe that this was the first time he was hearing about any of this. Hearing that Anna had known Lex Luther was alive and had kept it from the others had not only disappointed him, but angered him as well. Before he ponder on the matter any further, Jubilee began to speak again.
"I know that this doesn't have anything to do with , but Kitty told me that Ororo gave Remy back his ring and called off their engagement. She wouldn't go into details, but she said there was something highly inappropriate that had taken place between swamp rat and Anna," she said sadly.
Before Scott could pry any more information from Jubilee, the door to the room opened and he felt his jaw muscle's tightened as Emma walked in casually. Spotting Warren, she plastered a smile on her slender pink lips. Closing the door behind her, she walked over to the winged man and greeted him pleasantly.
"Someone told me that you were here. What brings you by for such a late visit?" she asked curiously.
Warren smiled at the voluptuous blonde coldly.
"I think you know exactly what I'm doing here. You had no right doing what you did to Storm. She is the leader of the X men. You have no right to take her position away from her," he said evenly.
Emma's icy blue eyes flashed with indignation and anger. She was getting ready to respond viciously to Warren, and Scott quickly interfered.
"Jubilee, Warren, can you give me a minute alone with my wife?" Scott requested quietly.
The Asian girl cast a dirty look in the blonde woman's direction before haughtily stalking out of the room with Warren close behind her. Once the door to the room closed rather roughly, Emma turned her glare towards Scott who's handsome face was darkened with anger.
"What did you do?" he demanded suspicious.
Emma stared back at her upset husband unflinching.
"I made a decision concerning my team," she said simply.
Scott stared at her in disbelief.
"This isn't just your team, Emma. I thought I made it clear that when you took the position of headmistress that we would discuss all matters concerning the X men,"
Emma glared at him balefully.
"Don't use that tone of voice with me, Scott. I didn't feel the need to ask you for permission to do what I thought was in the best interest of the X men when it was more then obvious what should happened," she growled angrily, "I made the right decision."
Scott stared at her in disbelief.
"I heard everything that happened. Anna and two others were responsible for the reason why we have yet to see any results from Ororo's mission. Why would you fire the only person who has an expressed interest in finding the very man that could ruin Clark and endanger this planet?" he demanded.
"Everyone knows that Storm has an ulterior motive for helping our friendly Kryptonian. Was it so wrong of me to assume the reasons why we were failing to see any results was because she was too emotionally invested in Clark?" she asked stiffly.
Scott stared at Emma incredously. He couldn't believe that his wife would actually believe that Ororo would jeopardize a mission because of some alleged emotional attachment she still had for Clark. While he had heard mild rumors about the weather witch still harboring feelings for the native Krytonian, Scott knew Ororo a little too well to know that she more integrity to allow something in her personal life to effect her professional life.
"Ororo have her priorities straight. That is more then I can say for you," he said hotly.
Emma inhaled sharply as she narrowed her eyes at her husband evenly.
"If she wasn't so emotionally invested in two men, do you care to explain to me how she allowed those working beneath her command was able to undermine her authority without her knowing?" she asked bluntly.
Scott clenched his teeth in frustration. He knew that while Ororo and Emma had a professional and civil relationship, his wife had never made it a secret that she lacked confidence in the wind rider's ability to lead. She never gave a reason, but Scott suspected that his wife was slightly threatened by Ororo's commanding presence in the school and never truly took a liking to the other woman. However, beneath the pettiness, Scott knew that Ororo wasn't responsible for the mess that had taken place in Smallville, and the fact that Emma was insisting that the weather witch should be held accountable wasn't sitting too well with him. While he felt slightly hesitant to go against his wife with the fear that he would reap consequences in his marriage, he couldn't in good conscience allow Ororo's rank to be stripped without challenging Emma.
Clearing his throat loudly, he stared at the beautiful blonde evenly.
"The fact that Ororo didn't have any knowledge of what Anna and her cwere up to doesn't give you a right to fire her. Can you imagine how she must be feeling right now? Not only have people in the field betrayed her, but due to your highly inappropriate actions, she feels that don't have any leadership, and that doesn't sit too well with me," Scott said coldly.
Emma stared at him stunned feeling a mixture of anger and hurt.
"I only did what I thought what I thought was right," she said defensively.
"Yeah, and because of that, I somehow have to undo what you have done, if that's even at all possible. When all of this is over, you are going to have to answer for a lot of things you have pulled over the past few days. I am angry that you went behind my back and did what you did. Ororo is the best thing for this team, and without her leadership, the chance of the others finding Lex is slim to none," he snapped angrily.
Emma was opening her mouth to explain, but Scott had already whirled around his heels and stormed off. As he stormed away from the room, he felt that he was practically steaming from the ears. He couldn't believe that his wife had been capable of being so deceitful. He knew that he would have to deal with her eventually, but his concern at the moment was Ororo. Learning everything that had taken place earlier that night, he knew that he had to do something to make things right for the weather witch, but he had no idea of what to do.
As he walked across the foyer towards the stairs leading to his bedroom, he noticed Warren and Jubilee standing close together near the front door. A frown marred his handsome face as he noticed that Jubilee had an overnight bag draped over her right shoulder. He couldn't tell what they were discussing, but whatever it was, it seemed pretty serious. For a moment, he felt like he was experiencing a sense of deja vu. Several years ago, this was the exact same scene that had greeted him when Ororo had went missing in Smallville, only back then, Remy had been the one who had chased after Ororo along with Jubilee and Warren.
"You have plans on going somewhere?" he asked Jubilee curiously.
She stared up at him stubbornly, with rebellion dancing on the surface of her jet black eyes.
"I'm going with Warren to Smallville. She need us," she said curtly.
Scott was about to object when Warren stepped forward with an warm smile.
"She didn't back down the first time when it came to running to the aid of the Wind rider, and I think both of us would be wasting our times trying to stop her yet again," he said amused.
The pair began to make their way out of the door when Scott stopped them abruptly.
Scott knew that he had to find someway to make things better, and in that moment he came to the sudden realization of what he had to do.
"Give me a minute to gather some things," Scott said stiffly, "I'm coming with you."
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"Ororo!"
Clark called out the weather witch's name desperately, searching for any sign of the missing woman. As he searched his property frantically, he flinched at the sound of lightning striking the earth somewhere close by, causing the ground beneath his feet to tremble. Starring up the sky he watched warily as several purple lightning bolts dance across the ominous sky causing him to grow concerned. The sound of thunder was growing more louder with each passing moment indicating that the storm was going to get a lot worse before it got better. He knew that Ororo was wanting to be alone, but he had to find her before things completely got out of hand. Drenching wet from head to toe, he continued to walked around in the storm and despite the rain blurring his vision, he had every intentions of searching high and low until he found her.
As Clark continued his search, his mind drifted back to the last time he had seen the wind rider. He had stormed out of the house after learning about Kitty's revelation and had ran into her and Chloe outside on the porch. He had been so angry and betrayed that he had barely acknowledge Ororo when he had been lashing out at the other woman. He and Chloe had their share of falling out before, but this was different from the other times. When he found out that Chloe had been had been hiding the fact that Lex had been alive along and had intentionally hindered Ororo's and the X men's mission, he had never been as shocked and livid as he had been in his entire life. After he had taken off to clear his head, he had come back he had been greeted by a violent storm and the news that Ororo had taken off disappeared just as abruptly as he had after learning the shocking truth from her teammates.
A strong gust of wind suddenly brushed past him nearly causing him to stumble backwards. Debri was whirling all around him, and he could hear the animals in the barnyard complaining nervously at the intensity of the abrupt storm. Feeling like he had run out of options, Clark was preparing to check his house again when his ears perked up. His sensitive hearing had detected an distinct sound over the noise of the loud thundering of rain. Tilting his head, he focused and listened closer and realized that the sound was soft crying. Narrowing his eyes, he looked over his shoulder and realized that the sound was coming from the barnyard. Seconds later, he stormed into the barn, and was preparing to search the entire stables when he heard he noticed a dark silhouette upstairs in the loft. Moving quietly, he slowly walked up the stairs and was relieved to find Ororo standing near the window looking across the property with her back facing him.
Hearing his entrance, Ororo whirled around facing him with her eyes shining apologetically. Clark felt his heart tightened in his chest as he noticed that her dark face was wet with a mixture of tears and rain.
"I am sorry. I did not mean to lose control," she whispered thickly as she fought back fresh tears threatening to fall from the corner of her eyes.
There was compassion and understanding in Clark's eyes as he closed the distance between them as he made his way to her side. As the rain began to ease up, Clark combed his fingers through his wet locks pushing loose black strands of his hair out of his face that was obscuring his view of Ororo. Staring at the white haired woman, he couldn't help but be floored by what he saw. Her long white hair fell limp and slightly damp around her slumped shoulders, and tears mixed with rain danced down her quivering cheeks. Even when she was consumed with grief, she was still so incredibly beautiful.
"I'm ao sorry, Ororo. I'm sorry about Chloe, I'm sorry about Remy...I'm sorry about everything," he said remorsefully.
She smiled faintly as she stared off into the darkness bleak fully.
"You have nothing to apologize for Clark. It wasn't you who lacked faith in my leadership skills, and it wasn't you who lacked faith in my relationship," the weather witch said, her voice barely above a whisper.
Clark was stunned by her admission. He couldn't believe that Ororo was feeling as if she was responsible for everything that had taken place. Clark knew that Chloe, Oliver, and Anna's deception was something that had been out of her control. There was no way the wind rider could have known they were operating outside of her command.
"Look at me, Ororo. You have no reason to blame yourself. What happened was not your fault; its theirs. They should be the one feeling guilty, not you," he said firmly.
"What happened is an reflection of my leadership. I should have been aware that there were members of this team doubting my ability to make all of the necessary decisions. I failed to inspire confidence in those who are suppose to trust me to lead them into any situation," she said quietly.
Gazing at her beautiful devastated face, it was obvious to see that she was so deeply hurt, and her raw pain nearly crippled him. He would give and do anything to take away the pain away from her. Suddenly, he felt a force driving him to be closer to her and before he knew it, they were standing inches apart with their faces hovering dangerously close to one another. He could see the apprehension flash in her tear filled blue eyes as he reached up and gingerly removed some of her tears from her face with the gentle stroke of his finger. Her beauty was so intoxicating that he couldn't tear his eyes away from her dark lovely face . Moving slowly, he reached down and rested both of his hands lightly on her waist, drawing her closer until her body was pressed up against his. Her breathing grew shallow as he smiled down at her with a promise in his deep green eyes.
"How can you say you fail to inspire anyone? I am constantly inspired by you and the way you lead your team. Kitty and Logan both trust you unconditionally, and despite what Remy and Anna may have done, they trust you too. I'm not excusing what anyone did, but I think they realized that they made a mistake and are wishing that they can take it back. Especially since they seen how much they hurt you," he said gently.
His words of comfort made her blush lightly, but Ororo couldn't help but still feel the anger and resentment that Anna, Chloe, Oliver, and Remy's deception had caused her both professionally, and personally.
"I came here to help you find Lex and rid him out of your life permanently, but how can I do that now?" she asked quietly.
"I know that you are no longer apart of the team, but you and I can find Lex together," he said earnestly, "I trust you."
Ororo could tell from the warmth and sincerity in Clark's eyes, that he meant every word that he said and she felt touched. The way Clark was making her feel caused her heart to flutter lightly in her chest. Smiling appreciatively, she moved closer and placed a sweet kiss on his cheek before pulling away with a small smile.
"Thank you, Clark."
She could tell by the look on Clark's face that her kiss had been taken by surprise and a warm flush began to flood his face. Before she could say anything, he moved closer to her and Ororo shuddered as he reached up and rested his fingers at the nape of her neck as he trailed his lips from her cheek intending on returning her kiss.
Moving her head slightly, the white haired woman felt her breath being stolen away as his mouth tenderly molded against hers. As Clark's tongue tangled with hers, he felt his heart thundering his chest keeping in sync with the rain drops thundering down on the roof above them. Her lips parted slightly as she deepened the kiss while wrapping her arms around his neck. As they exchanged hot and passionate kisses, soft, sweet whimpers danced from her mouth as he pressed his body against hers firmly. Tearing his lips away from hers momentarily, he showered her face with soft kisses while whispering her name tenderly. He had missed her, and judging from the way she was returning his kisses, he could tell she had missed him too. Starring down into her blue eyes filled with anxiety and passion, he could tell that she was still hurting after her split with Remy, and while he knew that she was extremely vulnerable in that moment, he was more then willing to be there for her in whatever way she needed him.
Almost as if she had been reading his mind, she pulled away abruptly with a mortified look on her face. Before she could say anything, Clark smiled comfortly.
"It's okay," he whispered repeatedly as he embraced her tenderly, "I completely understand."
"If you want to stay here with me, I don't mind," he offered gently.
Ororo knew that staying with Clark was ultimately what she wanted, but apart of her was still clinging to the emotions that she had for Remy. She was preparing to turn Clark down politely, when she realized deep down she didn't want to. As much as she still cared for her ex fiancé, she wasn't sure that her and Remy sleeping her under the same roof was such a good idea. Staring at the couch Clark had fixed up with several pillows and some blankets, she smiled appreciatively before walking back towards him and joining him on the sofa.
She rested her head against his chest and Clark couldn't help but feel his pulse quicken at the nearness of the weather witch. Starring down at her relaxed figure, there was so much he wanted to tell her, but he knew that now wasn't the appropriate time. However he knew that when the right moment came he would assure her that after all the hurt and the betrayal she had just experienced, he would always be there for her and she will never have to worry about him ever having to betray her. As the storm finally came to an end, Clark heard a soft snore escape Ororo's lips and a smile crept across his lips. She looked so peaceful and beautiful with her eyelashes still wet with tears and her lips parted slightly. Wrapping his arms around her tighter, he held her close to him and less then several minutes later, he had fallen fast asleep as well.