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Waiting.
She always used to expect him to walk right through that door. After all it wasn't too much to ask for, was it?
It had been such a long time.
It was a mission. A normal mission. They had heard of a new mutant – a powerful one. The Professor had sent the three of them: her, Logan and Scott to a warehouse, where the mutant was last seen. It was to be her last mission until the baby was born. They split up as a strange noise was heard.
She remembered him telling her to stay and guard the jet – he didn't want any harm coming to her. Yes, that was Logan, always overprotective.
Time passed though, and something felt strange. Something gnawed away at her.
Then suddenly, Scott returned, breathless and had asked if she knew where Logan was. That was when she knew for sure that something bad had happened. She remembered running up the stairs; Scott yelling at her to come out back, while all the time running after her. She searched every corner, yelling for him.
Where could he have gone?
She even ran back down to the jet, expecting him to be there, waiting.
They had tried to contact him via their communicators. They were baffled, the warehouse was empty. The two men had split up, and that was it, he was seen no more. Scott basically had to drag her onto the jet.
The Professor couldn't locate him. Even Cerebro couldn't locate him. It was as if he had simply vanished into thin air…
She wouldn't believe. She knew he had to be out there; he couldn't die for god's sake! And he would never certainly leave both of them.
She searched for days, weeks and even months. Eventually the professor had to ban her from leaving the mansion – for the baby's sake at least.
But yet, she still couldn't believe. She would stay up for nights on end. She would stand by the windows and peer, occasionally jumping up, every time a motorcycle entered the mansion's driveway
When Hope had been born she had been inconsolable. A tiny part of her had hoped that she wouldn't have to go through this herself.
But, nothing.
That was five years ago.
He was so happy when they found out they were having a child. He was even more so when they discovered they were having a girl.
Pity he never got to see her.
There were no kids around Hope's age, so she had to take her to a public school outside the mansion. Hope would see the other children, with both their parents, and then ask her mother where her father was. Her mother tried to explain but death would have been easier to explain to a child.
They had so much together. They had so much to look forward to. And one day changed everything. It wasn't fair.
So, one day she woke and decided she was through waiting for him. She was going to go and find him. So that very same day, she kissed her daughter good-bye and left, promising to return with him. The Professor and others had begged her not to go, that it was pointless. But what did they know?
Days passed, weeks passed, months passed. Leaves turned golden, fell off and grew back in a variety of green. Exams were done, students arrived, babies were born, people were married. Time went on.
Bu she never came back.
And now there was someone else to sit and wait. To stay up all night; to stand by the window. To remember that last day, that last moment.
To never have an answer.
To just simply be waiting.
For something that would never return.
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