May 4, 1975
Alex heard the crash. He looked up from where he was trying to dodge Boom-Boom's erratic blasts. Warren stumbled onto the top of the stairs, bleeding from his shoulder. He fell down and clipped his head on the top of the stairs. It was obvious he was out. He saw Ororo step back, looking panicked. Lightning was dancing around her fingers, but none of it was concentrated.
From the left he heard someone fall to the floor. He glanced over, still worried about what he couldn't see happening at the top of the stairs. There was too much going on, and he wished Jean was there. Clarice had told him what had happened to Jean, how she was back at the Blackbird. At least Emma, Lance, and Mystique were out.
An explosion from his right knocked him back. Boom-Boom narrowly managed to avoid the latest blast from Scott, before falling to the ground. He waved to Charles, who nodded.
He saw a door open and Angel walk through. She looked as though she'd been crying, and for a moment her tearstained eyes locked with his. Her mouth opened as she took in the scene. She was surprised. He wondered how loud she'd been crying not to hear the explosions.
Now he had to deal with her before he made it up the stairs. He moved forward, but someone knocked him down. He flipped over and saw Toad. Alex snarled at him. He didn't have time for Toad.
"You bastard," Toad said.
Alex didn't care enough to ask him what he was talking about. The stress and frustration of the moment was driving him out of his mind. He hadn't seen anything of Lorna, hadn't even made it past the first damn floor.
He just blasted Toad with as much light as he could. The only thing that stopped him from turning up the intensity was that he remembered Lorna telling him stories about Toad, about his friendship meaning so much to her. He didn't have much to ground him at the moment, but he didn't want to kill Lorna's friends if he could help it.
He ran past Toad on his way to the stairs. Scott peeled away from Calvin and Charles and headed up the stairs. Alex ran past where Angel had been. She was gone now. He didn't care. Angel wasn't really a threat as long as she stayed out of their way.
Alex reached the top of the stairs just as a metal chair crashed into Ororo. She was hurtled over the stair rail in Scott's direction. Scott leapt over and grabbed her hand before she fell. He struggled to get her back onto the stairs for a moment before she found her footing. Alex looked up, already knowing what he was going to see.
Magneto walked into the room. At once he looked at Alex. Alex forced himself to fight the urge to just launch himself at Magneto, scream at him and attempt to rip him apart. It would only get himself killed, and it wouldn't help Lorna.
"Erik!"
Alex and Magneto looked down. Charles was on the bottom floor with Calvin, looking up at them.
"Erik, listen to me," Charles said, "You can stop this. It doesn't have to be this way."
Magneto threw his head back and laughed.
"Charles, the time for talk is over," he said, "It was over when you let your star pupil steal my daughter."
"Nobody stole anybody!" Alex said.
Magneto glared at him, but Alex wasn't going to let that stand.
"She decided to stay because she wanted to, because she knows what you are," Alex said, "You might not believe her capable of making her own decisions, but she didn't fall in love with me because I forced her! And she's not staying because I forced her either!"
He knew that most of the members of the X-men were gawking at him. It wasn't the best way to tell them about his relationship with Lorna. He didn't care.
"The only one who stole anyone was you," Alex said, "You talk big, but you're only in favor of free will when it suits you!"
The metal chair that had knocked Ororo back flew out again. Alex dodged it and got up, his hands full of light.
"Erik, it doesn't have to be like this!" Charles called.
Magneto laughed again.
"It's too late for that," he said.
Lorna could hear the sounds outside her door. The X-men were there: she had no doubt about that. She wished she could get up, try to fight, but they had cuffed her after her last escape attempt. She wanted to fight, to protect both the man she loved and her father from each other, but she couldn't do anything.
Moira's words kept running around in her head. Alex was willing to die for her. It had shocked Lorna when she'd heard it, but she hadn't thought that it would really happen. Tears were welling in her eyes, her shield of anger cracking. She couldn't lose him, not after everything.
Lorna had known that, on some level or another, her decision was going to ruin her relationship with her father. She hadn't thought it would be to this extent though. Lorna hadn't expected him to drag her away, to have Emma invade her mind, to keep her prisoner. She didn't want him to die though, even after everything. He needed to live.
For the millionth time she tried to pull apart her plastic cuffs. Her wrists were chafed raw from her other attempts. Blood had started to bead from her skin, but there wasn't enough moisture to slip from the cuffs. Her feet were tied too: her father knew she was capable of fighting with her feet unbound so they had been cuffed too. He'd overseen her training after all.
The feet cuffs were aggravating her broken bones: they were too tight. Lorna hadn't told them about her injury, but she didn't think they'd go easier on it. Besides, it was only an annoyance. She cursed the injury for slowing her down. The cuffs made it feel as though it was breaking it all over again.
There was another explosion from the bottom floor. Lorna pulled herself forward on the bed. After she had been knocked out she had been put back, like a child who had stayed up past their bedtime and needed to be sent to their room. It made things even worse.
Lorna took a deep breath. It was time to do something. She pushed herself off the side of her bed, taking care to fall on the side without the injured foot.
It hurt anyway, but it allowed her to inch forward towards the door. Lorna wasn't sure how she was going to break it down this time. There was so much noise from outside the door and Lorna couldn't help. She pulled her arms up to her face and tried to work the lock with her teeth. It wasn't the best idea, but there was nothing else in the room she could pick it with.
There was a scrabbling outside the door. She paused and felt her heart in her throat. Alex? She listened closer. It sounded as though the latches were being pulled down. Her heart fell. Alex wouldn't bother with the latches. He probably would have just blasted the door open.
The door opened. Angel stood in the doorway, her eyes red rimmed from tears and looking shell-shocked. She knelt next to Lorna, her eyes wide.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
Lorna swallowed and turned her head away. As if things couldn't get worse. Now she was going to have to figure out a way to knock out Angel. She wanted to apologize, say something to make what she had to do better. It hurt, almost worse than fighting her father. Angel hadn't been the one who had dragged her away from the life she had chosen.
"You're angry," Angel said, "And I'm not going to try to tell you that you shouldn't be. Because it was wrong what your father did to you. I'm so sorry."
Lorna looked up at her. She couldn't believe this was happening. Not after everything.
"He's doing this because he loves you, because he can't let you go," Angel said, wiping away tears, "And I understand that."
Her heart sank. She didn't understand. Angel closed her eyes for a moment.
"I never told you this. I never told anyone this," she said, "But...when your father was in the woods looking for you, your mother talked. And I..."
Lorna paused and pushed herself up.
"What?" she whispered.
"Your mother was dying," she said, "We all knew that. We just wanted to give you and her a moment. But she...she told me...she said that she loved you, that you were precious to her, and she kept asking if your father was coming back for you."
Lorna struggled not to break into tears.
"And I told her he was," Angel said, "And she asked me...asked me if you were going to be safe where we would take you. So I told her we'd protect you. That he would, that nothing would be able to stand against him."
Angel swallowed.
"And then...and then she asked if you would be happy."
Lorna pushed herself up fully. Angel closed her eyes.
"And I told her that you would be," she said.
Angel's eyes opened. Tears were streaming down her face, but her expression was determined. Lorna had never seen her looking more ferocious.
"I've tried to live up to that ever since I made that promise," Angel said, "And letting your father lock you away and have Emma erase your decision from your mind...well..."
She smiled softly.
"That's not keeping you happy, is it?"
Time slowed as Angel pulled a small key out of her pocket. Lorna watched as Angel unlocked the cuffs around her hands and ankles. Angel took them off and threw them to the other side of the room.
"I really hope you're happy where you're going," Angel sobbed.
For a moment Lorna stared at her. Then she threw her arms around Angel's shoulders, unable to keep the tears back any longer. Lorna felt Angel's hand digging into her back, her tears soaking her shoulder.
A thousand memories blossomed into her mind, starting with the day she'd first seen Angel at Fall River, giving her mother the change for the Hershey bar. Angel had braided her hair, helped pick out her clothes, read her bedtime stories alongside Azazel when her father was away.
"Come with me," Lorna managed, "You don't...you don't have to stay here-"
"I do though," Angel said, "I still believe in this."
"What if my father-?" Lorna started.
"He doesn't scare me right now," Angel said, "But...well, I'll think of something. Everyone knows what an escape artist you are. I can blame that."
She pulled away slightly and gave her a lopsided smile.
"And I hope Alex is good to you," she said, "Or I'll break his neck."
Lorna laughed.
"He loves me," she said.
"I know," Angel said, "And I know you think you're doing the right thing."
She took a deep breath.
"But your father will never understand," she said.
Lorna felt something crumple inside of her.
"I can try to make him," Lorna said, "He's my father. And I love him."
She hugged Angel again.
"I love you too," she said, "You helped raise me, you...I still care about you. I always will."
"And I'll always care about you," Angel said, "But it doesn't change anything."
She pulled away.
"Go on," Angel said.
Lorna let go and got to her feet. Her broken foot hurt, and she could feel every bruise flare up. Nonetheless she made her way towards the door, feeling herself straighten, her mind beginning to focus.
"And Lorna?"
She turned back. Angel was still sitting on the floor, her face streaked with tears.
"Take care of yourself," she said.
"You too Angel," Lorna whispered.
Feeling like she was ready to collapse Lorna turned back to the door. She had a job to do.
A/N: Two more chapters left.