The next Saturday, Warren was peeking around the corner carefully, hidden at the top of the stairs. Xavier was paying a visit to his family's penthouse, and Warren wasn't supposed to be seen with his wings out in front of guests. Obviously, he couldn't reveal to his parents that he'd already met Professor Xavier before.
He heard him introduce the white-haired black woman who had accompanied him as Ms. Munroe, the principal at his school, and he watched his parents listen in petrified fear as he told them their only son was something called a "mutant", and that he was invited to continue his education at his very prestigious, elite institute.
A deep pause hung in the air after Xavier finished his explanation. Warren's father broke it. "I thought your school - the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youth - was for at-risk children." Warren Worthington II. said, with the air of someone who had just found out he'd been cheated out of his money.
Xavier nodded. "It's true. All of my students are at risk, Mr. Worthington. They are at risk of being rejected by their family and society and cast out; as such, they are at an increased risk of homelessness, mental health problems, dropping out of school, or resorting to criminal activity."
Warren's father made a short "hm" sound, as if he still didn't entirely believe Xavier's story. Then his mother cleared her throat and spoke up.
"I don't know what kind of backgrounds your students usually come from, but we would never cast Warren out of the family," Kathryn Worthington said coolly. "Warren has a good life here and everything he could ever want."
Warren's heart sank when he heard his mother say that. It was just evidence of how little she understood about him. He had never had anyone he could relate to, for example. He had never had real friends.
"Mrs. Worthington," Xavier said calmly, ""Tell me: how much does your son see the outdoors nowadays?"
Kathryn Warrington furrowed her brow in perplexion. "He has all that he needs here at home, Professor Xavier. I'm not sure what you're implying."
"Don't his needs include contact with other people, or fresh air, without the need to hide who he is?"
"How dare you suggest that we're mistreating our son!" Warren's father spoke up in defense of his wife.
Warren could see Xavier raise his hands. "I don't mean to seem like a threat to your family, Mr. Worthington. I understand that you may need some time to think over what I've said." He nodded to Ms. Munroe, who produced an envelope from her portfolio. "These are the forms of consent for Warren to be admitted and boarded at my school. We'll be back next week. Take as much time as you need to decide if you want to sign them or not."
Warren watched as they said polite good-byes and his mother walked the guests out. "Good-bye, Mrs. Warrington," Xavier said on his way out the door. "Here's my card if you have any questions. It was very nice to meet you."
And good-bye, Warren, Xavier's voice suddenly echoed in Warren's head. Warren almost fell over in shock. Don't be alarmed - this is my 'gift', you see. It's how I knew you were listening in on the conversation. And it's how I know you belong at my school. Then Xavier was gone.
Warren heard his father storm out of the foyer and into his office. "I'm going to call our lawyer to look over these papers. I want to make sure we don't see our son in the news for being a kidnapping victim." Then his father slammed the door closed. Soon after, he heard his mother approaching the stairs. Warren scrambled to his feet and back into his room across the hall, acting as if nothing had happened.
"Who was that?" Warren asked innocently as he leaned out the door to his room. He was well-versed at hiding his feelings from his parents.
Kathryn motioned to have a seat in Warren's bedroom. She sat down opposite him, in a matching luxury lounge chair. But she did not look very comfortable in it.
"That was Dr. Charles Xavier. You may remember him from the gala the other night. He also brought the principal of his school, Ororo Munroe. They think you would be a good fit for his...institute. "
She drew out the word, as if it were something distasteful now. Warren listened as his mother told him his school is for other children who are mutants, and he said Warren was, too. He tried to look surprised, as if hearing this all for the first time. It wasn't too difficult; he was still in shock that there were other people with strange powers in the world.
"Will I find...more people like me there?"
"I have no idea if there's anyone else with wings, but Dr. Xavier seemed to indicate that his school is only for unusual people with strange abilities. There isn't even an admissions exam or essay requirement. All we would have to do...is say yes." Kathryn paused.
"Warren…" Her face was a mix of conflicting emotions. "Do you...do you wish to go with these people? Do you really think we're not doing enough for you here?"
Warren looked his mother in the eyes. They were bright, piercing blue eyes, just like his. He'd always thought his mother was very beautiful, when she wasn't frowning. It was too bad that she almost constantly was. At least he had inherited his mother's beauty; it was the only reason he was grateful for what his genes had given him.
Warren had always wished he could be closer to his mother in more than physical resemblance. He wished he could tell his mother how flying made him feel: how soaring on the air currents felt as natural as breathing to him. He wished he could tell her how he hated being forced to wear what was practically a straitjacket every time he went outside, and how he literally felt like a caged bird inside their apartment, and how a luxurious and spacious prison still felt like a prison.
He wished he could tell his mother all these things. But couldn't find the words.
Instead, Warren took a deep breath and simply said, "Yes. I want to go."
His mother's stare was so intense he looked away. When she spoke again, her voice was icy cold.
"Are we not good enough for you? Do you not understand that we've done everything in our power to give you the best life possible? Despite your 'issues', despite the fact that you've never lived independently, you would abandon us? Do you have any idea how ungrateful that is?"
They were rhetorical questions, of course. It was almost an exact repeat of the conversation they'd had when he was in the tabloids last month. Warren didn't respond, letting his mother release all her frustrations. He was very much hoping his mother wouldn't act out in anger when he told her he wanted to go to Xavier's Institute. Once again, she had let him down.
"Your father wants to cut you off, you know."
Warren looked up and there were tears in his mother's eyes.
"If you decide you want to leave us, he wants to cut you off. He wants you to have no money, or support, or even contact with the family. Do you want that kind of life for yourself?"
Warren thought about it for only a moment. He found that he honestly didn't really care. He didn't care about the money, and his parents had never given him much emotional support, so any additional loss of support would be minimal.
He remembered how he felt when Xavier had told him there was a place for someone like him. It felt like someone had offered him a way out of a future of captivity. Warren had never had an opportunity like that, and for the first time, it was in his grasp. And he was going to take it.
"Even if you left me with nothing," Warren said slowly, "my decision would remain the same. Do whatever you like."
"Warren! We're just trying to do what's best for you!"
"I understand that," Warren said as calm as he could. His patience was wearing thin, and it was taking much of his effort not to become angry at his mother. "You've always tried to protect me from the outside world, to try to shield me from people would perceive me if they knew about my wings. But I don't feel that is what's best for me anymore."
This could be one of the last times he spoke to her, if his father truly cut him off like he said he would. Warren had to seize this chance to tell his mother how he really felt, or he would forever regret saying nothing at all.
He picked up his mother's hands. Perfectly manicured and impeccably moisturized, they felt soft and light in his. Then he looked her in the eyes again.
"Mother, I was literally born to fly. And when I use my wings, when I'm out there, in the sky...I feel like it was what I'm meant to do! I can't go the rest of my life without that feeling again." He steadied his voice, trying to speak firmly before his mother shot him down again.
"So you can cut me off if you like. However, when Dr. Xavier returns, with or without your support, I'm going with him."
A dead silence hung in the room. Was she too shocked that Warren had begun a sentence with a conjunction? Or had his mother actually heard what he had said?
Tears fell from Kathryn Worthington's eyes. She wordlessly stood up and left the room.
The next few days were filled with paperwork, and visits from the Worthington's family lawyer. Requests was made to his online school for his transcripts. A strange tension filled the home that no one mentioned, but Warren could definitely feel.
In between filling out forms, packing his bags, and his regular amount of schoolwork, Warren could hear his father yelling on the phone. "What kind of 'prestigious' institution doesn't even require a teacher recommendation, or a personal essay- what the hell is going on here, Xavier? What do you mean you take students of all academic levels? I thought this school was supposed to be ELITE!" His father's booming voice echoed through the apartment.
However, he never once told Warren that he wouldn't be attending the Institute. So Warren continued his preparations.
He completed his parts of the application, and Warren's parents filled out the section that asked for a personal opinion of their child and their school performance. Then they sealed the envelope. He never got to read what it said.
Finally, the big day was here. Dr. Xavier and Ms. Munroe returned. "I take it you've accepted my offer, Mister Worthington?" He looked directly at Warren.
"Yes," Warren said quickly. His parents nodded reluctantly.
"Enough of this," his father stepped forward. "I won't have my son going attending some shady, haphazard, newfangled experimental school."
Warren glanced at his father. He knew he had said he was leaving with or without his parents' approval, but he'd never fought his father on anything before. Would he have to oppose him, here and now? His mother looked equally shocked.
"I certainly won't have him going anywhere I don't think he'll be properly taken care of. Dr. Xavier, I will personally see to it that all your school's needs are provided for. Any facilities, services, or supplies you need funding for, you come to me. I'm giving my boy a regular stipend, to cover anything he'll need as well."
Warren smiled. His father wasn't cutting him off after all; in fact, he was supporting him, without apologizing directly. Warren knew money and gifts was his father's way of saying, "I love you, stay safe". He also knew his father would never be caught dead saying those things aloud.
"Well, what are you standing around for?" Warren Worthington II asked his son. "Don't leave our guests waiting. Are you packed? Is everything ready to go?"
It was a redundant question. Warren had been packed since last night, and he'd placed his suitcases right by the door. He picked up his bags as his mother stepped forward, handing him the thick envelope with his admissions forms in it. She smiled and smoothed his hair.
"Good-bye, Warren. I love you." She hugged him tight.
"I love you too," Warren hugged her back, not remembering the last time his mother had hugged him like this.
He raised a hand to his father, who simply nodded back.
"I'm ready." Warren picked up his suitcases and turned towards Xavier and Ms. Munroe. "Please, after you."
Ms. Munroe promised his parents they'd take very good care of Warren, and Xavier thanked them for giving his school a chance, but Warren didn't bother reassuring his parents. He didn't look back.
He walked out of the home that held the only life he had ever known, and into a brand new one.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
This was originally going to be in "Anxiety & X-Men", my X-Men: Evolution AU fanfic, but I could never find a place for it in story proper. Once again I fell to my complete inability to summarize, and probably went into too much detail, but in some ways, that was probably a good thing. It made it a good standalone piece.
A lot of my inspiration for this came from "Mission X", a Yu Yu Hakusho / X-Men: Evolution crossover, hosted on this very website. It's been abandoned for years, but it's one of my favorite stories in the world. It covers seldom-seen topics like breaking the news to mutants' parents, testing students' powers and physical ability once they get into the Institute, and how normal high school dynamics would be changed. Give it a read if you can.