X3: Fight for the Future
An Angel Without Faith
Scott and Ororo pulled up a long gravel drive in Scott's blue sports car. Bobby and Jubilee rode in the back. Ororo had driven as Scott watched out the window. It had been a long drive to get to this place in Massachusetts. It was the first location of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Now there was only rubble. It had never been cleaned up, since the public had never known it. This was the last place that the original members of the X-Men had been together; Storm, Beast, Angel, Cyclops, and Marvel-Girl. 'Jean hadn't used that name in forever,' Scott reminded himself. And there it was, this time he had made it eight minutes before thinking of Jean. He knew he would have to move on, but some part of him told him that she was still out there somewhere. Somehow, he felt, beyond all reason, that she was still alive… somewhere.
The first site had been destroyed by Xavier's sadistic stepbrother, Cain Marko. His hatred and jealousy of Xavier had lead him to seek magic to find the power to destroy all that Charles had created. The X-Men had been able to put him down, but just barely. Hank McCoy had so badly injured that his parents pulled him from the school. That was around the time Warren's parents fell ill, so he left then too. By the time they had the school set up, the original X-Men, were no more.
Now there was nothing left of the old mansion but charred bricks and fallen roof segments. When the blue sports car reached the end of the old gravel drive, Ororo parked it and all four got out. "Keep your comms on, and stay together," she told the younger X-Men. She walked with Scott and tried conversation. "Scott," she asked. "Are you okay being back here?"
"No," he said with a feeble laugh. "But we don't have much choice in this. I know this is where he would come." At that moment, he knelt down and picked up a long white feather, about as long as his forearm. Scott looked at Ororo and she nodded in agreement. They walked around a bit more debris, and there, on one of the larger pieces, was Warren Worthington III.
"Warren!" Ororo called, and wrapped him in a hug.
"O?" Warren asked in confusion. He looked up to see Scott. "Slim? What are you guys doing here?"
"We saw you on the news," Scott explained. "We knew you would come here."
"The last place we were a family," Warren agreed with a nod. He broke away from Ororo's hug. "Its all wrong now," he said.
"We're still family," Scott said. "Distance doesn't break a family."
"How's Hank?" Warren asked sarcastically. He knew that Henry McCoy hadn't seen the X-Men since they left here while they were all teenagers.
"Not fair Warren," Scott said.
"Sorry, I've been stressing the last few days," he explained. Storm looked at him sadly and ran back to the car. She came back with a blanket and draped it around the still shirtless Warren. "Thanks O," he said, the sadness still prevalent in his voice.
"Come back with us," Scott said.
"To the new Westchester school?" He asked. Scott nodded. "No, that's not home."
"It is to us. And to the students who live there," Scott smiled brightly. Besides, we could use a good economics teacher." 'With Jean gone,' he added silently to himself.
"I don't know… I just wish I were…" he trailed off.
"We are what we are, we can't change that," Ororo said.
"Cyclops?" came Iceman's voice. He and Jubilee poked around a corner.
"What are these?" Warren said lightly. "Some new little soldiers?"
Cyclops waved them over. "These are the newest X-Men, Warren; Iceman, and Jubilee. Guy's this is Angel."
"Don't call me that Scott," Warren said. "I've never wanted to be this… thing."
"Warren," Ororo pleaded kindly. "No, O. I want to be human…." He paused for a moment. "And there is a way. It's a pharmaceuticals company called Desino de Vicis. They say their close to a gene-therapy cure for mutants."
"Being a mutant isn't a disease, Warren," Scott said defensively.
"Maybe not for you guys, who can hide it, but I can't. Not any more. I don't want to be a mutant. I have invested heavily in this company, and they can give me what I want… a cure."
"A cure for what Warren?" Scott said, almost yelling. "A cure for what you are? A cure for what I am?"
"Listen, I know you and Jean bought into Xavier's philosophy the most, but me… I don't need it. I don't need these." He said. His voice was that of someone who had resolved to take his own life. "I know what I want." He turned to take off and leave, but paused. "Tell Jean I send my love."
"Jean's dead," Scott said, his voice breaking.
"What?" Warren said whipping back around.
"She drowned," Ororo said, seeing how much this hurt Scott. "She was saving so many lives…"
"Ours," Jubilee spoke up.
Warren shook his head. "See? This is what being a mutant gets you. An early grave." Warren gave Scott a hug. "Heal well friend." And he finally flew off into the sky.
"Now what?" asked Bobby.
"We follow," Scott said simply. "We promised we would bring him back, and we will."
A blind woman tapped her way into a small bar. This was obviously far from the cool air of either institute. This was the south in spring. She was old, not yet ancient, but old. She called the bartender over to her and whispered in his ear. After that, she left an envelope with him and walked out. As she almost out she stepped suddenly to the left. From the right a man, in a drunken stupor, vomited on the exact spot the blind woman had been standing in. she stepped around the mess and out the door.