hey guys... Yeah I know it's been months since I updated and I apologize for that. Life's been a little hectic with work, school and life in general.

I can't promise that I'll update soon but I will release the next chapter as soon as I can. Enjoy and let me know in the reviews how you're liking the story.

And now on to the show...

~•~

"Clint, when I ask you this, I want you to be completely honest with me." I said, throwing the hay bale over the fence.

"Okay…." He dusted his hands off. "Fire away, Ange."

"When you were my bodyguard," I began. "Did Fury ask you to spy on me?"

Clint tensed up. "Why do you ask that?"

"Just answer the question."

He closed his eyes, and sighed. "What do you want me to tell you? Because whatever he did ask me doesn't really matter."

"I'm sorry I don't see it that way." I replied, crossing my arms. "What did you find?"

"After the incident, he was worried that you might lash out or worse."

"I was fine after the fact."

He shrugged. "Just for extra precautions, I guess. I studied your relationships: Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, coworkers, etc. At first, I thought you acted strange around Pepper, but…."

I raised a brow. "But what?"

"I realised you acted weird around everyone except her. Like you were hiding something."

"We all have our secrets don't we."

"Not with family."

Not with family….

I sighed. "There are somethings that I don't talk to Tony about. Maybe it's because I turned into him, not asking for help. Maybe I'm scared. Maybe I am so ashamed that I bottle it up, and I am just waiting to explode." I looked down and noticed my hands shaking.

Clint walked over and grabbed my hands. "Look at me." I kept staring at my hands, shivers running down my spine. He grabbed my chin forcing me to look at him. "Ange, talk to me."

My vision blurred and I fell to the ground.

"Steve, shut up." I closed my eyes, holding back the tears that threatened to fall.

"Yes, you lost your team. You lost your best friend." I gulped. "I lost everyone. My father, my husband, my boys, my little-" I choked. "I have no one, Steve."

He shook his head. "You have us."

"No, Steve. I haven't had y'all in a long time."

I gasped, bolting up from my slumber.

"Ange, can you hear me?"

Laura called out from the house. "Clint, are you sure we don't need to-"

"She's up, honey. She's okay." He placed his hand on my cheek, giving me a quick once-over. "Ange, talk to me."

"I need to lie down." My eyes began to droop.

Clint tapped me on the cheek. "No you don't." He slowly stood me up and slung my arm over his shoulders. "When was the last time this happened?"

"When what happened?"

"You passing out and muttering something about losing everyone?"

I gulped. "I don't know…." What's happening to me….

"Well, you must know something," he argued, stopping in his tracks. "Because you did the same thing in Malibu."

"I did?" My voice shook. "What did I say?"

"That someone was coming, and no one could stop it." He sighed. "You never said why, but Fury got extremely nervous." He started us towards the house again. "Let's please just leave it at that."

~:~

A few nights after the incident, I found myself in the barn again, tinkering with the old tractor.

Everyone was inside fast asleep, but I couldn't. My mind wouldn't shut up. Voices and images flashed in my head; Apocalypse, New York, and our impending doom.

Who could sleep with that on their conscience?

I continued to pull out parts, replacing them along the way. A voice called out, causing me to hit my head on the hood.

"You know, Jarvis," Fury said as he came out of his shadow. "If you keep this up, I'm gonna have to start calling you Stark Jr."

I smirked. "Like you haven't been calling me that already." I hopped down and wiped the grease off my hands. "What are you doing here? And this late at night?"

"I need your help."

~:~

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?"

"I'm never sure, Laura, but I try to be." I grabbed the last of my things, throwing it in the bag. "I have to….for everyone's sake."

"If you ever need a place to stay, our door is always open."

I gave her a smile. "That's the greatest thing anyone could ask for." I slung my bag over my shoulder. "I guess this is goodbye."

"Yeah…." she murmured. "I guess it is." She pulled me into a hug. "Call me when you get settled, okay?" I nodded in reply. "Okay…."

She followed me out to the car where Clint was waiting for me. I turned around and gave her one last hug.

"Thank you...for everything."

"Your welcome." She smiled. "Take care of yourself."

"Yes, ma'am."

As I got in the car, I gave the farm one last look.

"Come on, Ange. It's not like you're never gonna see them again."

Maybe...just maybe...

~:~

"You're back!" Marcos said, running up the driveway. "What'd you bring me?"

I smiled, opening the trunk of the car. "Well, I didn't get you anything. But…." I pulled out a bag. "Your new Uncle Clint told me to give you this."

Marcos opened it eyes widening in excitement. "How did he…."

"A little bird told him you loved video games just as much as him."

"Thank you," he replied.

"No problemo, bud." I slung my bag over my shoulder, and closed the trunk. "Let's get inside. I'm pretty sure the others are waiting for me."

Once we walked in, Logan came running around the corner. "Marcos, I told you-" He stopped in his tracks. "You're back."

"Yeah, I am."

He snorted. "You know for someone who retired recently, you sure come around a lot." I stuck my tongue out at him in reply.

"Nice to see you too, Logan."

"Now, back to what I was saying…." He glared at Marcos. "I told you to stop running off after training-"

"-Training? What training?" I barked. Both tensed in response.

"I've kind of been training with Logan's group for the past month."

"Logan!" I exclaimed, glaring at the Canadian."I told you to teach him how to use his powers, NOT train him to be an Xman."

"Well, he is but…."

"But what?"

Marcos shrugged. "How can I learn if I can't defend myself against other mutants?"

"It's not that, Marcos." I ran a hand over my face. "Can you give me and Logan a minute? We can talk more about this later."

He glared at me in reply. "We need to talk about this now or we never will."

"Marcos, go," Logan barked. Marcos huffed, quickly running off. "What did you expect me to do, Ange? He has his mind made up; You can't change that."

"He's just a kid. I don't want him to-" I choked back a sob.

Logan pulled me into his arms. "It's not gonna happen, Ange." I shook my head.

"Yes, it will, Logan. I don't know when, but he will."

"Then, let him fight," he replied. "So he'll be ready."

"He's just a kid."

"So, were you. And you were the best of us."

I ripped myself from his arms. "It still doesn't change anything."

"Come to the Danger Room tomorrow. Watch him. Maybe it will change." He raised his brows. "Can't hurt anything, will it?"

I brushed past him. "I'll think about it."

~:~

LATER THAT NIGHT

"So…." Marcos drawled. "We gonna talk about this?"

I dug at my food. "Why do you want to fight? Be honest."

"At first, it was because everyone was doing it."

"And that's a good reason?" I questioned.

"You wanted me to be honest," he replied. "So, here it is: when Logan told me what happened to you, it set it in stone. I was gonna be an X-man. I was going to defend humans and mutants so that nothing like that would ever happen again.

"I want to fight because you and Logan and everyone else aren't always going to be here. And I know you know that too. So, please...don't blame Logan or me for wanting to do what's right."

Tears welled up in my eyes. All this time of keeping him away from training, I didn't realise why he did it. How could I keep him from that?

"One more thing:" I wiped away a stray tear. "What haven't you asked about Warren?"

"Logan told me not to ask. That you'd tell me in your own time."

"It's time." I took a deep breath. "I met Warren when I was fifteen. Tony was working on a project with Warren's dad. We became friends and we just...clicked. One day, we both figured out we had powers and that made us closer. He was alone and so was I, and…" A smile slowly crept onto my face.

"A year later, we started dating. We were joined at the hip. The perfect team. We could talk about anything. We didn't need to worry about revealing our secret. Another two years later, we got engaged."

"You two were engaged?" He gulped. "I didn't know that."

"Yeah, we were. And soon after, Apocalypse showed up and….you know the rest." My jaw slacked. "After he was...sane ...we tried to make it work. But he pushed me away. And we haven't been good since."

"Mom, it's not your fault."

I shook my head. "Yes, it is. I'm the reason Apocalypse got him."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, brow furrowed.

"I-" I froze, vision blurred, throat constricted.

"Mom?" I fell to the floor. "Mom!"

And my world went dark.

~:~

(NO ONE'S POV)

"Mom!" Marcos bolted to the door. "Someone, help!"

Logan and Jean ran down the hall.

"We were just talking and she just dropped."

Logan knelt down and took her face in his hands. "Angie, talk to me."

She muttered something inaudible to the others.

"Jean, I know she's gonna hate this but-"

"-she can yell at me later." Jean placed her hand on her forehead and quickly pulled away with a shriek.

"What?"

"Something threw me out." She cradled her head. "We need the Professor."

"I am already here," the Professor said, rolling into the room. "Sit her up." He placed his hand on her head, reacting the same as Jean. "She's having a vision. We can't stop her."

Logan looked down. "She's not breathing. Angie, wake up!" He placed a finger to her neck. "Barely has a pulse. We need to get her to Hank. NOW."

"Mom, wake up!"

And with that she bolted up, gasping for air.

~:~

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