Angel Wings and Tiny Things

Disclaimer: I own nothing, the X-Men and everything to do with them are owned by Marvel, and whomever else they sold their rights to.

A/N: Thanks to all of you who reviewed. It really does get you writing when you know that there are people out there who are enjoying what you do. A special thanks goes to my Beta Pearlroses630, thank you so much for the help. The improvements that you made really make a big difference!

A/N #2: I'm having trouble differentiating between Angel and his father. As a result I'm going to call his father Worthington II.

Chapter Three

Hank was tired and frustrated. He had been working nonstop on Bobby's situation and was getting nowhere. He had run every test in the book, and a few new ones that he had found in recent journal publications.

Sighing in frustration, he decided a change of pace was in order. There was nothing more he could do for Bobby right now, so he instead turned his attention to figuring out why Rogue suddenly regained her powers.

Hank had taken Rogue's blood back when he had done her initial pregnancy test, and had began to compare it to a sample taken after she was admitted to the infirmary. From what he understood, the cure worked by remarkably simple means. It was a molecule that bound directly to the X-gene in the nucleus of a cell inhibiting protein production. The proteins, enzymes and all other molecules encoded on the X-gene suppressed, consequently suppressing the mutation itself.

Jimmy's mutation works by releasing a similar molecule via his pheromones into the air, but the molecules his body secretes are extremely unstable and break down in a short amount of time. Close proximity to Jimmy's body allows for continual exposure to the molecule, suppressing another mutant's powers within that close range.

Even knowing all of this, Hank still couldn't explain three things about the whole process. Firstly, how Kavita Rao had managed to stabilize the molecule in order to maintain its effect over a long period of time. Secondly, why her modifications had stopped working over time, and finally, how Jimmy's body counteracted its effects. In theory Jimmy's mutation should have suppressed itself, but Jimmy also had immunity to the molecule. He remembered from his brief conversation with Doctor Rao, when he had met with her at the Alcatraz facility, that she needed to map the rest of Jimmy's DNA. Unfortunately she never got the chance to do so before the facility's destruction, or her own.

Hank turned to Rogue's blood tests where he would look to see if the cure was still present in her blood stream. If it was, then it meant that Rogue had developed immunity to it and there was little he could do to suppress her mutation should she choose to do so again. If the cure was no longer present in her blood, then it had likely broken down over time and been expelled from her system. In this case it would be a matter of repeating Dr. Rao's work and making sure Rogue was immunized every few years to maintain its effects. He hoped for Rogue's sake the reason for the return of her powers was the latter.

Hank brushed way any negative thoughts.

"They won't help you now," he said to himself and turned to focus on the task at hand- the lengthy process of separating the cure from Rogue's blood. With that, he would hopefully gain the answers he was looking for.

Angel Wings and Tiny Things Angel Wings and Tiny Things

"Angel, slow down. Read the note from the beginning." Storm knew that Warren was upset.

He was one of the strongest men she knew, but he had never been exposed to the truly dark side of humanity during his very sheltered life. Every day since he began to grow his wings he had worn a thick leather harness pulling them tightly against his back to hide who and what he was. He had grown up home schooled, and sequestered away from the outside world by his father's fear. His father convinced him that to be publicly known as a mutant was to be rejected. His father wanted to protect him, but instead taught him fear and shame of what he was. Then one day Warren decided to stand up and be who he was meant to be. He had taken responsibility for his own life the day he fled from the cure his father had created for him escaping to the freedom of the open skies. He'd never worn the harness since, it had been a symbol of the shame he no longer felt. The only thing he wore these days was a heavy overcoat when traveling to work, or out in public to avoid the paparazzi and the stares of the public. He had gotten all his clothes and suites tailored to allow his wings freedom.

When Storm first met Worthington II she had thought that she would hate the man for his shame he had felt of his son. She found she felt quite the opposite after the meeting. He had only attempted to protect his son from the bigotry and pain of being a mutant. His sponsoring of the cure was just a misguided attempt to give his son a normal life. It was the same thing that she was doing- sequestering mutant children in a school where they were far away from the fear and judgment of the general population. Protecting them from the outside world until they were ready to deal with it and stand up for themselves. The only difference between what she was doing and what he did was that she was trying to teach the children to embrace who and what they were, where Worthington II had taught Angel to hide it. She could see how a loving parent could make that mistake, and she knew Worthington II had paid more penance then the situation called for through the guilt of what he had done to his son. For that she pitied him.

The old saying 'what doesn't kill you can only make you stronger' truly applied to Angel. He had every reason to hate his father and feel resentfully toward him, but he harbored no ill will. What should have killed his spirit only caused him to spread his wings, rise above it, and carry on. For that she could only admire Angel, and do whatever was in her power to help him when he needed her. She also knew he would do the same for her, the school, and anyone he would call friend. Right now though, Angel was pissed.

"Warren, calm down, just read me the note." Storm said gently.

"Don't tell me to calm down, there's a fucking ear on my desk. What kind of crazy sickos would do something like this? We have to get him out of there before they do something worse!"

"Look Warren, to help your friend we need to know what they want. You need to read me that letter."

Warren took a deep breath, gathered himself, and responded.

"It says:

Mr. Worthington,

The mutant known as Daniel Johnson is in our possession. It will be sent back to you piece by piece until you comply with our demands. While it is in our possession it will be treated as the animal that it is. We suggest that you comply swiftly or it will face the consequences of your tardiness. We demand the following:

1. You will produce the source of the cure.

2. You will produce instructions on how to extract and manufacture it.

3. You will not contact the police or Daniel will die.

4. You will not make any attempt to find us.

Every day that you do not comply with our demands a mutant will be taken at random from the streets of New York and killed. Their lives are in your hands- you have the power to make of this all stop. All we ask is your obedience. Instructions on how to make the drop will follow in 24 hours. We suggest you make whatever preparations you require.

You and your kind are a plague on this earth. We offer you the chance to reform, and live. Otherwise we will see that you are all put to death in a manner fitting the animals you are.

Signed,

The Friends of Humanity

"Storm, I have no idea what to do. We can't give them what they want, but these people are insane! We have to get Danny out of there."

"We will, but we can't sacrifice Jimmy to do that. We both know that's not the solution, but we need to figure this out."

"I'll be there as soon as I can." With that Warren tucked his cell into his pocket and took off out the window, leaving it unlatched behind him. If the wind was behind him, he could be at the mansion in no time at all.

Angel Wings and Tiny Things Angel Wings and Tiny Things

Sorry for the longer wait for this chapter. I really am trying to do a chapter a week, but got caught up in work so am running a little behind schedule. This chapter has a lot of fake science in it, and I had fun writing it! If you know anything about microbiology let me just apologize now.