lighted eagle: Would you believe me if I told you that wasn't meant to be evil? …well not that evil. It just seemed like a good place to end. Yeah, most of my chapters are short, usually about four or five pages. I try to make it manageable. In the future I'll see if I can write longer chapters. Thanks for the review.

Anything but ordinary3: LOL! To defend Xavier, he's not trying to be cruel. He's trying to get these kids to take care of themselves. Some of his reasoning is in this chapter so I'll say no more. Sorry no Beast yet, and I'm not too certain how long he will be in this story. Thank you for once again taking time to review one of my chapters, whenever I get reviews it inspires me to write more. School permitting of course. I hope your workload lightens soon and that you did well on your exams.

Polka dot: Thank you. I'm not really sure what you mean by shiny. If you mean that he's not goofing of playing pranks like he did in early issues, well, I don't see him doing much of that yet. Not until Warren settles in and I think he really gets into it after Hank comes. The Bobby I have written does sometimes get short-tempered, like on the ride on the jet where he almost froze Warren in front of the Prof. As for being a screw up I don't think he is. The only writer that has truly showed him acting like one is Chuck Austen and he admitted that he didn't really understand the character.

fireweaver: Thank you for your kind words. It's funny to see just what makes these characters tick. Bobbys' humor has always been something that interested me. Warren never stuck me as the type of guy that lets people get too close to him, I can't recall him doing so too often.

Special Thanks to Beaubier for doing such an awesome job Beta Reading this chapter and be able to make some sense out of my sleep deprived writing.

Chapter 24: Show me the way to go home again

He had to have been joking. That was the only explanation for it. Surely the Prof would sense my agony over the psychic link. That being the case he'd know that I wasn't capable of movement without the pain overwhelming me. Being a telepath he'd obviously 'heard' my concerns…

We can't get you Warren, we have neither the resources nor the--

Do you think I can do this, sir?

My pride had been snatched away from me and left me with my own share of reservations about my abilities. Without it I felt naked, and some what blind. I knew, however that I could trust Charles Xavier to be brutally honest with me.

Of course I do. You'll be fine, son, and you will not be alone. I will be with you the entire way.

He sounded almost...parental. Strange thing was that I had never thought of him caring about us--about me like that. It was comforting in a bizarre way.

To make your journey more bearable I will help relieve you of some of your pain, as well as Robert's. I released the breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. Maybe we could pull this off after all…

Can't you just get rid of all of it at once?It seemed like such an obvious idea to me, unfortunately he didn't seem to share my excitement.

Theoretically I could… The Prof stated in thatwould-be-calm 'voice.'

But?

It might be for the best if we do not risk it. One or both of you may come to rely on my telepathic abilities like a drug. Making you two forget the pain could do more harm then it will help.

I didn't fully understand what the problem was. I was just a kid at the time, and the concept was strange to me. How could something that was meant to help me harm me as well? Even so that wasn't the most unsettling thing. I was old enough to realize that Charles Xavier was just a man, though that was sometimes easy to forget. I was young enough however to feel disturbedby the fact that he wasn't perfect. The idea was mind-boggling, and to be honest, frightening.

Get ready to take off, Angel.

Right, sir.

I adjusted Bobby's weight in my arms wincing as my sore muscles protested at the strain. My teammate blinked up at me sorrowfully, not even having the strength to taunt me. Things were definitely bad. His darkened brown eyes briefly flickered to my bloodied face before his head lolled back.

"Oh come on, I'm not that bad. I could do this blindfolded." I informed him, a bit distressed by his grayish skin tone. The words tumbled out of my mouth and I had no idea why I had bothered to utter them. For Bobby? Maybe, but he didn't seem to be paying much attention to anything. It could have been a force of habit, but whatever the reason, I was lightly chastised by Xavier for letting my focus slip. Not that I could blame the him for worrying

A dizziness was beginning set in, not the best sign for a regular flier like me. In an instant I felt the Professor touching my mind, easing some of the burden from me. I was pleasantly numb from the most of the pain. If the small grin on Bobby's face was anything to judge by I'd say that he was feeling the effect too. After some prompting from Xavier I started some mindless chit-chat to keep Bobby conscious. To this day I have no clue what I said to him. I might have been babbling like a moron, who knows, but it was a battle I had to win.

Every time his eyes drifted shut. I would nudge him in the arm, grating his nerves further each time. I suppose it's best to stick with what you know; and I did seem to excel at annoying him. But the real reason I bothered him was that I was scared. I was terrified of letting him slip into unconsciousness. In the state he was in Bobby could wind up in a coma.

How's his pulse, Angel?

It's still weak, sir. I flinched when I touched his wrist. Was Bobby always this cold or was he getting worse?

Focus, Angel. Bobby needs you to keep alert. Didn' the think I realized that? For being a telepath the man was surprisingly dense. Still, he did have a point. The hospital roof was so close, and if Xavier hadn't shaken me out of it, I would have flown past it.

With all my skill and remaining strength, I managed to make a safe landing, but that was about it. I felt theProfessor's mind leave me and the pain he had help my mind suppress came back in full force. I won't lie, it was overwhelming for me. I could barely hold on to Bobby, my feeble grip on him was slipping as my vision began to blur.

"W--W--War…?" I think even the most hardest of hearts would have broken at the sound of Bobby's voice. So weak, childlike, and obviously filled with agony.

"I'm…here Bobby…" I managed to choke out. The world around me was swaying, whirling back and forth. I wasn't even sure where he was much less where 'here' was…

"C--can't," he gasped, "breath."

I struggled to find him, but it was an impossible task. Everything was getting dark. Where the hell were they?! "B…Bobby?"

I was met with silence, I tried to form his name again but the task proved too difficult for me. I attempted to 'call' out to the Prof but I didn't have any energy left. In the distance I heard a door slam open and oncoming footfalls. I should have felt something akin to terror at being a 'mutie' trapped on the roof. I should have-- but I didn't. As long as Bobby was okay, I didn't care.

"Bobby?! Warren?!" I know that voice, was the last thing I thought before I slipped into unconsciousness.

----------------------------------------------------

Sometime later, though I'm not certain how long, I awoke in a room I had never been in before. I knew it wasn't the hospital that I had landed on. The room was a little too plain, almost military-like in design, with none of the warmth. Not that I really cared at that moment. My head was pounding and my body still felt battered. I was going to try to go back to sleep... until I recalled what had occurred. Of more specifically, who might need my help.

"Bob--!" I yelped as my body protested against my sudden movement. A pair of hands gently pressed against my shoulders forcing me back. I looked upexpecting to see a nurse only to find Scott's lanky form hovering uncertainly over my bed. "Scott?"

"You should be resting, Warren. You've been through alot." He said, pacing around in a restless manner. Normally I'd be amused by his nervousness... but it had been a long day.

"And I will be, right after we straighten a few things out." Back into Worthington mode now, straightforwardness, no more dancing around the problem. Scott regarded me in that uncanny manner of his, weighing out whether or not he was up to this. Then with a sigh he sat next to me, knowing that I would not let up. "Okay, I'm listening."

"Good, but before we get into this I want to know what's happened. Where are we? Is Bobby--?"

"We're back at the mansion in the sick bay. Bobby's sleeping next to you on the other side of the curtain. It'll be sometime before he can get up, by himself, but he'll be alright." Scott spoke in a relieved but tired tone. When he tilted his head a certain way I could see dark bags underneath his eyes, through his ruby glasses. He was just as worried about the kid as I was, though I knew he'd never let Bobby know that. Like me, Scott had his own intimacy issues, though his were more severe, and with good cause

"We heal faster than most. At least, that's what the Professor says."

"'We'?"

"Mutants." Scott answered with a shrug.

"Oh." Well, what else could I say? "What happened at the hospital though? Why did the Prof quit giving us mental painkillers?"

If possible, Scott looked even more uncomfortable. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger vigorously before he reluctantly continued. "Well…you see the Professor lost his contact when another mutant—another telepath was killed."

"The M.E.F.?" He nodded.

"The Professor felt her death…and well I found the two of you and we got you fixed up enough to travel--"

"Wait a moment, you're telling me that no one cared that a winged mutant was getting treatment?"

"No one really noticed…" Scott trailed off but I got his meaning. The Professor must have 'convinced' some people into helping us. I was glad that we made it, yet the idea made me feel uncomfortable. An uneasiness loomed in the air as Slim and I both considered this prospect. What would Xavier do to make his dream a reality? How far was he willing to go?

Attempting to clear both of our heads I broke the silence. "Thanks, Scott."

"For what?"

"For looking after us, for telling me the truth, I guess." For teaching me a few things also, but I couldn't bring myself to say that part out loud. Many people have mistaken Scott (myself included) for the bootlicking boyscout. There's more to him though, he doesn't do things because it's what he's told. Scott genuinely cares about the X-Men, his family. And I was shocked about how much this somewhat dysfunctional 'family' was coming to mean to me too.

"Look, about what I said earlier, I didn't mean--"

"Yes, you did," he started to protest but I gave him adismissive wave. "Did you make me mad? Yes, and I said some bad things too. Things I didn't mean but said all the same."

"I just want to--"

"Don't."

"Why not?"

"Your heart was in the right place…Slim." He grinned at the use of his nickname then looked expectantly at me. "I am NOT going to say I'm sorry to you though." I informed him. "You're not the one I need to say that to."

"I know; I was just making sure you knew that."Scott's voice had slight edge to it, laced with that protective tone of his. A couple of days before, this the tone would have irritated me, that day I found it almost charming. He rose from his chair and started to walk away when I called after him. "Slim?"

"Yes, Warren?"

"While you're up can you fluff my pillow?" Scott stared at me for a moment before he gave an exasperated sign and turned to leave.

"What?"

A/N: In a flashback issue where Xavier meets Legions' mother he tells Erik that he can't keep using his telepathic abilities to cure her because she will come to depend on it like a drug.

Next Chapter: Bobby and Warren have a little chat and Duncan has some news about the M.E.F.