Title: The Master and the Mistress
Author: Viral
-=-=-=-
"I heard of fashionably late, but 'Ro dinner's over," Logan said, with an unlit cigar in his mouth as he sat at the Dining Hall table. The rest of the older mutants were also present, carrying on conversations.
"I was busy, Logan," Ororo said before she sat down at the table. "In addition to that, I do not have much of an appetite, but I found it rude to not sit with you all at the table, so I have come."
"Wouldn't matter either way," Logan said before sniffing the air. "And it's about time you got Magneto's stench off of ya." Logan's ears perked up as he heard a phone ring, all the way from the mansion's Parlor. "Phone," he said bluntly for everyone in the room to hear, as if he knew it wasn't for him and didn't care if it was answered or not.
"I shall answer it," Ororo chimed in and stood up from the table. She exited the room, everyone taking an extra second to look at her. Normally Ororo wouldn't answer the phone. Her known family members were all dead and her village in Africa was not to keen on electric inventions. Either that or she was worried about frying the phone because all the extra buttons such as 'flash' and 'speed dial' confused her.
Ororo reached the Parlor with time to spare. She picked up the phone and spoke clearly, "Hello, you have reached the Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters."
"Quite an astute speech," came a heavy, baritone voice over the phone. "How are you?"
"Hello Erik," she said, twiddling her fingers in the phone wire. "I am actually uncomfortable right now."
"Uncomfortable?" he asked, confused.
"Yes," she answered. "Normally I am content among family and friends, but I feel as if I do not wish to be around them right now. As if I would rather be... somewhere else. I have a loss of appetite and my mood is imbalanced."
"Those aren't signs of discontent," Erik said, smiling on his side of the phone. "Those are signs telling me that you want me."
"I want you?" Ororo laughed. "That is not an incontrovertible fact and it seems as if you are wishing that I want you."
"Maybe it is a wish," he replied, a serious tone in his voice. "So will you make my wish come true?"
"I do not have anything planned for the night," she said, running through her mental scheduling plan. "I guess we could actually go out."
"Wait," Erik said, sounding masculine and in control. "We're acting like a bunch of teenagers; like the little students who run into your classroom complaining about why they couldn't do their homework. Let's be real. Ororo, would you like to go on a date?"
Ororo, pleased by Erik's assertiveness, replied, "I would love to."
-=-=-
"Oh mah God!" Rogue screamed, green eyes widening as she turned up the volume on the TV in the security room. She had the duty of monitoring the grounds and cameras for the night, but had been more in tuned to what was going on in the local news. She nearly fell out of her chair as she reached to press the intercom button that would blare a notice to Xavier's Study and Bedroom, "Professor, there's a problem, sugah. Check the news out."
At that moment Xavier's wheelchair rolled into the War Room where Rogue was at, with several of the X-Men behind him. "Yes, Rogue, I am well aware of the situation," he said as he stopped at his position at the table and the large screen television turned on, displaying the broadcast.
"Two bombs and a propane tank are responsible for the ghastly explosion here tonight, but the Friends of Humanity are claiming responsibility for a preconscious decision to blow up this Mutant Safe House," a news reporter said as she stood outside of the police barriers with a huge, burning building in the background. "Trish Tilby, Channel 9, New York."
"That was a report from New York City Manhattan where the Friends of Humanity have been attacking mutant institutions densely for the past few days. Authorities are still investigating the issues but have little power to persecute the Friends of Humanity for anything but arsenal and vandalism. Apparently, because mutants are not considered humans, a decision which will be decided within the Supreme Court later this week, the Friends of Humanity can not be legally be charged with murder," the news anchor said. "More on this Breaking Story in just a few minutes."
Professor Xavier put his hands to his temples and suddenly opened his eyes, "Ororo is not in the mansion –- Iceman, you and Cyclops will fly to the Mutant Safe House and calm the flames as much as you can. If you can calm them enough, the firemen may be able to enter and rescue anyone still alive."
"Got it," Cyclops said as he stood up and ran out of the War Room, followed by Iceman, as they made their way to the Hangar.
"Logan is missing as well," Xavier said as he probed the mansion for all its residents. "He must have gone out with or after Ororo." Xavier put his hand under his chin as he looked at the others in the room. "The rest of you are free to go. Hopefully there will be need, but just in case, be ready for the remainder of the night for anything else to pop up."
-=-=-
"It is quite interesting for you to say something like that," Ororo smiled as she took a sip of Raspberry Iced Tea. "I too lost my parents at a young age, although mine died before my very eyes."
Erik looked up to Ororo with sad eyes, a look that could never be seen before. He was a masculine, powerful, dignified man –- yet now, with a beautiful woman and a delicious dinner in front of him, it would never be guessed that he was the mutant terrorist known as Magneto.
Ororo noticed his silence and tried to pursue the conversation, "At least now you have Pietro and Wanda to live for – and of course, your dream."
"I have made a lot of mistakes in my life," Erik began, sitting straight in his chair as he stretched out his muscular build. "But my children are not in that list. I have not always been loyal or honest to them, and they have many times plotted against me –- but they are truly wonderful."
"So, former Magneto villain turns into soft, sappy father Erik," Ororo smiled, her blue eyes focusing on his face before she jumped with fear. Into the restaurant paraded six Friends Of Humanity members with their guns in the air.
"We got those muties good!" they yelled and cheered and received an enthusiastic clap from the restaurant patrons who were more concerned with the guns than speaking their minds.
Erik's soft facial features suddenly transformed into anger and rage as he turned around to face the FOH members. The guns were ripped out of their hands as Erik moved his eye from weapon to weapon. Soon the metal was stretching and bending until each member was individually tied and wrapped in a strong ring of metal that was continually being tightened around them. "Erik," Ororo harshly whispered, "Stop! You will kill them."
"They deserve to die!" he frowned and scoffed angrily. Yes, he was indeed a brand new person when people were persecuted, and she could understand why. He had experienced racial injustice at the hands of Hitler. Surely, that experience must have been even more horrendous than the killing fields of Pol Pot in Cambodia –- but even if that was true, he couldn't kill people for revenge.
Her eyes turned white as she began to slightly disrupt the magnetic spectrum, something she hadn't tried to often, but was able to do. Erik's psionic abilities became dysfunctional and confused long enough for the metal to stop tightening the FOH members. At this very moment Wolverine charged into the restaurant, claws sheathed and an angry scowl on his face. "Magneto!"
Erik stood up angrily as his eyes squinted and he softly whispered, in a dissenting tone, "Put those things away." Wolverine's claws were immediately shoved back into his fists as Erik magnetically forced his body out of the store and into someone's car.
"Erik!" Ororo shouted as she stood up, anger in her eyes as she crossed her arms. "I thought we were on a date."
"Pressing matters and unexpected circumstances have arrived Ororo," he said as he turned to face her. This was the man she had grown to dread, the man filled with anger. Someone she hoped she would be able to turn his anger around. "And I have a job to do."
"There is no need to take unnecessary actions," she said, forgetting that the restaurant was still full of fearful patrons. "Professor Xavier and the X-Men will handle this peacefully."
"This has been happening for weeks now, Ororo!" he yelled, causing her to gasp. "I will not tolerate it anymore. My patience has worn thin and I'm sick of waiting for Xavier. His dream for peace is a wimp's fairytale. I'm through!"
"I... I am speechless," Ororo said, her eyes said as she titled her head to the side and then turned away from Erik.
He turned, facing her back as his tone of voice went back down to normal speaking level and genuine concern, "You will have to trust my judgment."
-=-=-
"What were you doing with Magneto?" Scott yelled in the War Room, hitting his fists on the round, metal table. "You have responsibilities, Ororo! What were you thinking?"
Ororo sat, her eyes focused on Scott's angry face. She wanted to say something so much, but thought not to embarrass Scott with so many people present.
"We needed you and you weren't there!" Scott continued yelling. "You abrogated your responsibility as a team leader and an efficient follower. Now, I want to know, why were you with Magneto?"
"I told you already, one-eye," Logan growled, "The woman was on a date with our arch-enemy."
"I am not concerned with where Ororo was," Professor Xavier said in a calm voice, slightly depleting the tension in the room. "I trust her to act as a responsible woman. She made one mistake."
"But she was with Magento!" Scott yelled. "As if... she was seeing him for weeks maybe months already! How long has this been going on?"
"Scott," Ororo began, standing up. She spoke in a calm tone. Her white hair back in a ponytail with two thick stands falling on each side of her face. She placed her hands on her hips as she always did when she was entirely annoyed. "My personal life is absolutely none of your business. Whether or not I abrogated my responsibilities, as an X-Man, is also something you cannot accuse me of. How can you judge me on something you have failed at doing plenty of times before? How many times in the past have I been forced into leadership because you were too busy whining, crying, tearing over Jean? How many times has this team nearly been killed because you wanted to protect her so much that you forgot about your responsibilities?" By now Ororo's tone was growing into one where it was clear she was reprimanding Scott. "It is hardly possible for someone like you to raise a standard to which you yourself cannot reach!"
"This has nothing to do with Jean!" Scott yelled, a red light flaring behind his ruby quartz shades. There was a playful smirk on Bobby's face as he wished this would turn into a big fight between Scott and Ororo.
"True, this has nothing to do with Jean!" Ororo yelled in response. "It has everything to do with your failure on your most recent mission and the fact that you need someone to blame it on, other than yourself. Scott it is a childish endeavor and I will not feed into it!"
"You know wh--," Scott began but was cut off by Ororo's hand in the air.
"Speak no more!" she commanded. "I shall be in my room for the remainder of the night. Professor, I shall speak with you tomorrow?" He nodded as he let Ororo leave the room and shook his head at the entire argument.
-=-=-
"But Professor, she was with Magneto!" Scott said as he paced around Xavier's Study.
"I knew she was with him," Xavier said calmly, followed by an exhausted yawn. "I knew when they began to share feelings for each other."
"And you didn't tell us?" Scott frowned.
"As she mentioned, her personal life has nothing to do with you or anyone else in this mansion," Xavier explained with his hands folded. "You need to realize that not everyone is perfect Scott, and Ororo, although she may seem like a divine entity, is probably more human than many of us."
-=-=-
Ororo angrily scribbled words into her journal as she layed in the grass, outside of the dark Institute:
My thoughts,
This has been quite an eventful day. Erik, or should I say Magneto, nearly killed six Friends of Humanity members and would have dismembered Logan if I wasn't there. It seems as if he is not the type of man I was looking for after all. Or is he?
Scott and I quarreled today. He thinks he is exempt from all the standards he places on the other X-Men, but I believe I have made it clear that he is not. I will not suffer myself to go through another one of his yelling tantrums. And if he thinks a little glow behind his glasses will frighten me, he has another thing coming, including a lightning bolt in places that have never seen light.
I suppose I am becoming quite -– ornery lately. My attitude has become much easier to strike. Perhaps it is because of my time around Erik. Hmm... I pray Charles takes some type of action against the Friends of Humanity, otherwise I see a legitimate reason for Erik to follow his own plans. It is sad to know that I think Charles' dream is not worth the fight anymore... but I will continue, won't I?
Ororo closed her journal and hid it within her plants before she laid in the garden swing and fell asleep under the starry night.
