Warren stood shock still in the hospital corridor, his eyes riveted on Raven. She looked exactly the same as when they had entered, though the gleam of mad joy remained in her eyes. She'd stared dead at him and demanded that he take her to see Eric. He didn't want to think about why an angry refusal had leapt to the tip of his tongue. Jealousy, he knew. Warren wasn't a teenager any longer, he was a fully-grown man; in five or so years he expected to take the company reigns from his father, full responsibilities would soon weigh on his shoulders.
He was a man, attracted to a beautiful woman. There was nothing wrong with that, he knew. However, he cursed himself for becoming attracted and even a little attached to this woman in particular. You couldn't have chosen worse if you'd tried, he berated himself. She belongs to Magneto of all people; better to just enjoy what you can get…
He swallowed his disappointment and nodded to her. "Follow me up to the roof,"
The three of them mounted a stairwell and began to climb, though luckily they had been near the top floor already- three flights up and strong, hot winds coursed over them as they stepped outside.
John put a hand over his eyes to shield them from the merciless sun. "How are we going to get to Eric from here? You don't even know where he is,"
"I've seen him a bunch of times in the same place, usually around this time of day. I can't see the park from here, so we'll just have to fly by to check." Warren said, some of his disappointment starting to ebb away. I might not get the girl, but no one else will give her a ride like this, he thought. Ideas sparked in his head, and he felt a small measure of satisfaction with himself.
Warren unhooked the leather straps that bound his wings; he couldn't lie and say that it wasn't uncomfortable, but it drew attention away from that part of his body- his brother had teased him, calling it an Angel Bra. Warren hadn't thought it was funny.
He stretched his wings, concentrating on the winds as they flowed through his feathers. Instinct had occurred to him once he'd begun to fly- temperature, wind speed, thermals, tidal shifts- all the factors that added up to bring out the best flying weather, his body was attuned to nearly every detail of the air. His hearing was acute, his eyes could rival any raptor's.
In a way Warren resented the nickname of Angel, a being that, although a powerful beacon for truth and goodness, was nonetheless quite feminine. With his abilities, he often thought of himself as an eagle, a falcon or a hawk, a deadly bird of prey. Well, this Raven seemed attracted to dangerous men, perhaps he'd show her that there was more to Angel than lily-white wings and cherubic features…
He concentrated on the wind for a moment more, and then turned to Raven. "Ok, I'm ready when you are,"
"What were you just doing?" John asked, clicking a flame in and out on his Zippo.
Warren shrugged. "I was just testing the weather, and it's good. Very good, I couldn't have asked for a better day, to tell you the truth…Raven," Warren held out his hand. Since the hospital room, Raven hadn't said a word, only commanding him to take her to Eric.
She had been staring out over the city, her green eyes still bright. Raven turned to look at him and Warren used his keen eyes to memorize her features as she stood there before him, framed by the setting afternoon sun. Beautiful, but not his.
It's all right, you did this good thing for her, it has to be enough.
She came forward and took his hand. Warren abruptly pulled her closer to him, her body so close to his that their lips were barely an inch apart. He then kneeled down and swept her into his arms and ran for the edge of the building, top speed, just as he had in his father's laboratory all those months ago.
He was vaguely aware of a voice shouting at him, but he ignored them and instead listened to the call of open air.
"Warren, hey what about me!" John yelled, chasing after them. After a few steps he gave up the chase. Warren was faster, and once he reached the edge of the roof, he dropped like a stone, out of view, with a terrified Raven in his arms.
"Figures, all the flying mutants get the girls," he muttered, thinking first of Eric and then Warren. He sighed and watched as Angel bobbed back into view, hundreds of feet away from the roof and now easily gaining altitude, rising about the skyscrapers and finally disappearing into the clouds.
John rolled his eyes, "Showoff!"
He didn't like Warren's obvious attraction to Raven- as what he thought himself to be, a loyal protégé of Eric's, he didn't like to see someone else trying to move in on who he thought of as Eric's woman. But then again, did Raven see herself that way? Or was she only so eager to see Eric so that she might try to attack him for leaving her that night.
They had all left her- John hadn't wanted to do it, he'd argued with Eric, but his loyalty to mutants had outweighed his loyalty to Raven. He didn't know what was going to happen, it felt like too much to wrap his head around. Still, he couldn't get much done while stuck up on the rooftop of a hospital in downtown San Francisco.
He took a deep breath of the salty sea air. "I need a drink, a swim and a woman- in that order," he said out loud to himself. With his motivation in place, he turned back to the stairwell door.
Meanwhile, thousands of feet above the ground, Raven was frozen, terrified, and huddled close in Warren's arms. He sifted her just slightly and Raven grasped him tighter. "Don't worry, I'd never drop you," he said reassuringly. "Open your eyes, Raven, look at me. I promise you nothing is going to happen,"
Reluctantly, Raven did as she was told, and first looked at Warren before looking around her. Fluffy clouds were all around them, pressing in on all sides. Then, she looked down and almost screamed.
He felt her body tense. "Raven, haven't you ever been flying before?"
"Y-yes, just, never like this," she said shakily. He grip remained iron-strong on Warren, but she wasn't so terrified anymore, rather, she felt exhilarated.
"Can't Magneto fly?"
"Sort of, he used magnetism to levitate himself and other things- people, metal…he can- could use the earth's magnetic field to levitate anything," she said.
Warren had nothing to say to that, he only flapped his wings harder and leveled out, gently descending until they were only just above the city's skyscrapers. "I never used to fly over the city, my parents were terrified that someone might try shooting at me, or that something would happen and that I would fall…I would fly over the water at our beach house, we usually spend the summers there. I've flown over the city everyday since everything that happened at Alcatraz. My father begged me to forgive him for making me believe that my mutation was something to get rid of, and I did, of course. He is my father."
Raven broke her gaze from the view and looked up at him. "My parents were terrified- one day I was me, then I woke up with scaly patches, one eye was yellow, my hair started to streak…I wasn't their girl anymore. They didn't truly try to kill me, but they told me to leave and not to come back until I was 'normal' again. It's been over 15 years."
Warren didn't say anything, but held her closer to him.
John took a swig from his fourth longneck bottle of beer and turned his eyes to the beach. When they had arrived in California for the fight, of course he hadn't had any time to admire the scenery. And what wonderful scenery it is, he thought as he followed a few girls with his eyes as they laughed loudly and ran down the boardwalk.
He felt good- free. When he'd been under Eric, his thoughts were mostly consumed with anger at what humans the world over were doing to his fellow mutants- anger and vengeance filled his mind, and Pyro still felt that way. He still wanted to fight to protect mutants, and not with diplomacy or discussion as had been the Professor's weapons of choice. True, Xavier had done much for mutants, but in John's honest opinion, Eric had done so much more.
Eric, Magneto the mad terrorist, whatever he was being called these days. One man's terrorist was another man's freedom fighter. Pyro wondered if Raven had caught up to him yet, and what was going to happen now. He knew that he was no leader-if Eric ever needed him, he knew that John was loyal, but for right now, the mutant effort was exhausted and a truce seemed to have been called. There hadn't been any conflicts in months, it was peacetime and John was grateful.
He paid for the beers and took the last bottle with him, heading toward the beach. Funny, how as a pyrotic, one would think he'd do all in his power to avoid water, but he'd been born in Australia and spent most of his youth there. With such scorching heat, it was only fair thatthe countrywas surrounded by wonderful ocean on all sides. He could swim, surf, water ski and snorkel with the best of them, and he intended to show off once he reached the shore, and hopefully gain some company for his efforts.
Not that he was just looking for an easy lay, but he didn't see any way that he could get into a real relationship while he and Raven were going to be in California for just a few more days. Better to just test the waters, not jump in headfirst.
John finished off the last of his beer and chunked it into a trash bin. He walked forward and slipped off his flip-flops, relishing the feel of hot, gritty sand between his toes. He had never minded the heat. With Warren and Raven otherwise occupied, he'd been able to slip back up to the penthouse of the Worthington family and snag a few things he needed for the beach- cash, a toweland his pair of swim trunks.
He left the shoes on the dry sand and walked right into the waves. The water was cold and salty, unbearably refreshing. In an instant, John's skin had puckered with gooseflesh and he laughed out loud at the sensation. He dove under the surface and sprang back up, in love with California and everything in it. He ran a hand through his hair and took a look around- bikinis and beautiful exposed skin as far as the eye could see.
He spied a group of girls- blondes, his favorite!- a little ways down the beach and headed towards them. They all were similar in their attire: teeny bikinis, though John wasn't about to complain over that. Golden skin was on display; naturally tanned by the sun, too, none of that spray-on nonsense. Luckily, he could distinguish them by their suit colors and hair lengths.
He was coming closer and flexed his visible muscles once he saw that they noticed him, but immediately as they saw him, they turned away to greet a couple other guys that ran over to them, aggressively getting the point across that they were all spoken for.
Disappointed but not discouraged, John moved further down the beach in search of other bikini blondes who would, with any luck, be unattached except for a few hours spent with him that night.
"Where the hell is he?" Raven demanded in a state of near despair. The disappointment was crushing. Even from thousands of feet in the air, Warren had told her that he couldn't see Eric at the park- Raven had refused to accept this, and ordered him to land so that she could see for herself. Now she not only felt powerful disappointment, but also very foolish.
"It wasn't a guarantee that he'd be here. I've seen him out here several times but I can't make any promises…do you want to try again tomorrow?" he asked. In truth Warren wasn't too bothered by Eric's absence, it gave him a little more time to be alone with her. He wasn't too selfish, was he? After all, from what he understood, Eric might not have treated her the way she'd deserved.
Raven hung her head. "Okay, fine…tomorrow we can do a stakeout."
Warren stretched his wings again, adjusting the right feathers for takeoff, but stopped once he felt Raven's hand on his shoulders. "Warren, do you mind if we just walk back to your place, please?"
He shrugged and nodded. Maybe he had overdone it earlier- first times can be pretty jarring. "Yeah, all right."
The walk back to the building that housed the Worthington family penthouses was a short one. Raven was quiet in her anger and disappointment, while Warren walked silent beside her. He didn't like to see her hurting, but what more could he do than what he had already?
They walked through the lobby and stepped onto the elevator. Warren's alert eyes took no notice of the older, distinguished gentleman who had followed them nonchalantly from the park. Eric's eyes lit with disbelief as he watched Raven and Warren step onto the elevator together.
How could she...?
Raven did not speak on the way up to his penthouse, but Warren hadn't expected her to. She was upset and disappointed and angry, he knew all of that, and more or less understood the why of it, but all the same it didn't make him feel much better. They stepped off the elevator together and Warren brought out his keys.
He quickly unlocked the door and strode in.
"Aaagghhh!"
Warren started at the sight of a young blonde woman clad in nothing more than a towel. Bright flashes of color lit up the entire apartment, blinding him for a moment. He raised an arm to shield his eyes and instinctively puffed his feathers to make himself appear more threatening- not that he couldn't physically subdue the intruding girl if he had to, but old habits die hard.
"Jesus, who the hell are you?" He demanded.
John stepped out of the bathroom asecond later, a towel draped around his waist. "Whoa, whoa, let's everyone chill out!"
Raven blinked the floaters from her eyes and instantly made the connection. "John, you could have asked first you know, or at least given some warning!"
"Hey, I- you're right, I know, but hey, let's have a fresh start, ok? Look, this isn't as bad as it looks, I promise. There's only one girl this time," he rambled.
Raven rolled her eyes. "You sure she's not a multiplier like Jamie?"
John smirked back, "I wish, but no, this is Alison- we, ah, used to go to Xavier's a couple years ago," he explained as he slid an arm around the blonde's slim waist.
The girl's eyes were riveted on Warren's wings, but she seemed more awed than afraid, which was something to be thankful for. Raven didn't acknowledge the girl, her annoyed eyes remained on Pyro. "Just get her out of here within the hour,"
With that, she took Warren's arm and they both left the apartment, heading off towards the roof.
John turned to Alison, "Well, what now?"
She smiled, his golden dancer. "You heard the lady, we still have an hour to spare,"
John nuzzled her neck, "Not long enough…where did you say your family was staying?"
She pouted, "Nowhere nearly this exciting, who were they?"
"Ah…friends of the family. Let's go down to the boardwalk, I'll tell you all about it."