In the Arms of an Angel

by Moonchampion

Part 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men, or any of its original characters. Nor do I have any type of claim to those characters. However, the characters of my creation belong to me, and cannot be used without my permission.

The red convertible came to a stop just in front of a guardrail. Scott Summers and his companion, Rogue, stepped out of the car and walked towards the railing. One the other side of the railing was a steep hill, which disappeared into the darkness below. Directly across the horizon were the streams of light that made up New York City. Behind them was a wall of trees, with a narrow dirt road running through the middle.

As Scott gazed out at the horizon of lights, he grew restless and sighed. "Rogue, what are we doing here?" he asked. He turned to face Rogue; however, she had lain down on the hood of his car gazing at the stars above. "Rogue?"

The young southern girl paid no attention to Scott, but continued to stare at the stars. For a few moments, they both remained silent as they looked upon the constellations. "Scott, what are ya thinking about right now?" asked Rogue finally breaking the silence.

The question totally caught Scott by surprise. Scott’s mouth opened, but no words were able to emerge from his lips. Rogue had turned her attention towards Scott, who sighed and slightly shook his head.

"Yow were thinking of Jean, weren’t ya?" asked Rogue with a hint of disappointment in her voice. Scott turned away at the accusation. "That’s the only thing you’ve been thinking about since we left. Even though you’re here with me, in the middle of nowhere, all ya can think about is Jean."

"Rogue, I’m sorry," began Scott.

"Doesn’t that tell you something," interrupted Rogue. "You obviously care about Jean a lot. Maybe ya even… love her." Rogue slid off the hood of the car and began to rest on the guardrail as she stared into the heavens. "So what’s the problem?"

"The problem is Worthington!" Scott exclaimed. "He’s deceiving Jean, and she can’t even see it."

"I thought Jean was a telepath," said Rogue. "She knows exactly what Warren is thinking. As a matter of fact, she knows what you’re thinkin' and how you feel."

"Well, if she knows, then why doesn’t she do something about it?" replied Scott.

"Perhaps she could, if you would give her the chance to," said Rogue. "Since Warren came into the picture, you’ve treated Jean like a piece of property, a claim that you and Warren can fight over." Rogue stood up and looked into Scott’s eyes. "She’s a person Scott. A person who cares for you as strongly as you care for her. Just trust here."

Rogue began to turn away and head back to the car. Then, she felt Scott’s hand grab her shoulder. She turned around to see Scott looking directly into her eyes. "Thanks, Rogue," he said softly. "It’s good to know I have friends like you that I can count on." Scott started to smile before he removed his hand from her shoulder and circled the car.

"Yeah," whispered Rogue to herself, "good to have a friend like me."

Warren lowered his arms as Jean finished wrapping his ribs with the bandages. Jean looked up briefly into the eyes of her patient to find a smile on his face. Jean returned the gesture as she placed the bandage roll on the rolling cart. When Jean turned around, she found herself within inches of Warren’s face. Jean cleared her throat and then stepped across the room to finish packing away the materials she had used.

Suddenly, Jean felt a pair of hands seize her arms. Jean turned around to find the owner of the hands to be none other than Warren Worthington. Warren stared into her eyes still smiling as he brought his lips closer to hers.

Jean placed her hand on Warren’s chest to stop his advancement. "Warren, no," said Jean. "This isn’t right."

"What’s wrong, Jean? Don’t you like me?" asked Warren.

"As a friend… yes, but not like this, Warren," replied Jean.

"A friend?" Warren said slightly surprised. "I can’t believe you’re actually taking your little fling with Summers this seriously."

"Well, I can’t believe that Scott was right about you. You are a jerk, Warren," said Jean. "I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt, but now I see I was wrong. You really believe that all your family’s money and influence make you better than everyone else. Well now it’s time for a reality check, mister.

"Your money can’t buy friends, it can’t buy love and it can’t buy me," continued Jean. "People should like you for who you are, Warren. What you can do for them, or what you can buy them doesn’t matter. Scott knows that, and that’s why I love him. That’s why I can’t betray my feelings for him, even if you could give me the whole world."

"Hey, not even you are worth that, toots," snapped Warren.

Jean swung her hand and slapped Warren across the face. Warren’s head followed the impact of the slap. When he faced Jean again, he saw her eyes filled with tears. "I can see why you’ll always be alone Warren. You make it impossible for anyone to care about you." Jean turned away and started to head towards the door. As the she reached the entrance, the door slid open to reveal Ororo Munroe.

Ororo immediately focused her attention on Jean’s face, covered by tears. "Are you all right, my child," she asked. Ororo placed her arm on Jean’s shoulder to offer whatever support she could. The young teenage girl nodded, and Ororo turned her attention towards Warren. There was a skeptical look in her eyes as she looked at Warren. "The Professor would like to see us all in his office. By his demeanor, I feel some great tragedy has occurred."

Ororo and the two teens immediately left the infirmary, and headed towards the Professor’s office. They entered the office to find Charles Xavier and Logan waiting for them. Logan stood next to the window, waiting for the Professor to begin. Jean and Storm sat in the chairs in front of the Professor’s desk, and Warren leaned against the bookshelf in the back of the audience.

"My friends," began Professor Xavier, "I’m afraid that I have some extremely tragic news. I have been informed that Evan, Kitty and Kurt are being held hostage. The kidnappers assure me that if their demands are not met, then they severe harm will befall the students."

"What do they want, Professor?" asked Jean.

"They want… Cerebro," he answered.

"You can’t be considering handing over Cerebro, Charles," said Logan. "With that technology in the wrong hands, we’ll have our work cut out for us. No mutant would be safe."

"I also must consider the welfare of my students, Logan. I cannot allow harm to befall them if I can prevent it," responded the Professor.

"So, what are we going to do, Professor?" asked Jean.

"We will do nothing, Jean," replied the Professor. "You and Warren will stay here. When Scott and Rogue return, tell them to wait here also. Logan, Ororo get changed. We will handle this alone. I refuse to place anymore of my students in harm’s way."

Logan and Ororo disappeared from the Professor’s office. After the Professor collected several blank CD’s, he informed Jean that he was going to download Cerebro’s program on the discs. With his students’ lives on the line, he wasn’t willing to take too many challenges.

Evan shook his head to rid himself of the lingering sensation of dizziness. Once he had done so, Evan began to survey the room. The sights around him were totally shocking. Evan looked through the bars of his cage to see that he was hanging over a row of spikes. As his eyes chased the spiked floor, he noticed a thick column emerging from the floor. His eyes traced the column upwards. He found that his own cage was connected to the column as well as two other cages. Inside the cages were his friends, Kitty and Kurt.

"Ah you’re finally awake," said a voice from the shadows. "I’ve already told your friends not to escape." The owner of the voice moved into the light. It was Mystique. "You see, the cages are balanced by your own body weights. If either of you manages to get out of the cage, the other two will plummet straight down into the spikes."

Evan looked at his friends from his own cage. Kurt had his hands on the bars, and was staring at Kitty. Kitty sat in the center of her own cage holding her legs against her chest. Evan even noticed the tears that started to roll from her eyes. Evan turned his attention back to Mystique. One of her students had joined them. He was whispering something into her ear. Then, a large smile began to spread across Mystique’s face.

"Thank you, Lance," said Mystique. "Tell the others to get ready for their arrival." Mystique glanced back up at the cages. "Well, children it seems that Professor Xavier has decided to meet my demands. You will all be out of your cages soon." Mystique turned and began to leave the room. Then, she paused as if she had forgotten something and said, "I suggest you pray that it be in one piece."

Scott and Rogue walked through the front door, only to be met by Jean running down the steps. She ran towards Scott, obviously distraught over something. Scott opened his arms and the two embraced in a hug as if they would never let go. "Jean, I’m sorry for the way I’ve been acting. I promise, I…" said Scott. He paused as Jean began to sob. "Jean, what’s wrong?"

Jean lifted her head slightly; "It’s terrible Scott. Kitty, Kurt and Evan have all been captured. The kidnappers wanted Cerebro for ransom."

"What?! Where’s the Professor and the others?" asked Scott.

"They already left," said Jean. "They told us to stay here and wait."

"Us?" said Scott.

"Warren’s still here too. By the way, you were right about him. I’m sorry too," said Jean.

"Come on, if we’re going to be a team, we had better make peace. Then, we can decide how we can help the Professor and the others," said Scott as he led Jean and Rogue into the living room.

They found Warren in the room talking on the phone. "Yes, the Professor is coming…. He’s only bringing the adults…. Yeah, he’s bringing the program too," whispered Warren into the telephone.

"It was you!" exclaimed Jean. "You set up our friends! You’re working for Mystique!"

"Jean you don’t understand," said Warren.

"There’s nothing to understand," countered Jean. "Nothing, except the fact that you lied to us, all of us."

"Listen, Warren, you can’t trust Mystique," said Rogue. "If anyone should know it’s me. She was only using you."

"Using me? No one can use me! I Warren Worthington, III!"

"If that’s true, Warren, then where are they now? Are they here to help you?" asked Jean. "No, they’re not. Mystique was going to leave you to take the blame all on your own."

Warren swallowed as he looked at the faces of the X-Men standing opposite him. He noticed that there were no expressions of anger on their faces, but a different emotion. It looked as though they pitied him.

"It’s not too late, Warren," said Scott. "You can still change. All you have to do is let us help you. What do you say?" Scott held out his hand, waiting for Warren to grasp it. Slowly, Warren raised his hand and grasped Scott’s.

"I’m sorry," Warren apologized.

"Listen, you can apologize later. Right now, we’ve got some friends to save," said Scott. "Everyone change. Rogue, prep the X-van."

"Scott, what about the Professor’s orders?" asked Rogue. "He told us to wait here."

"He doesn’t know he’s walking into a trap. Besides, Mystique doesn’t think we’re coming. It’ll give us the element of surprise," explained Scott.

"Scott Summers, I just love it when you’re naughty," said Jean as she gave him a small peck on the cheek. Then, Jean followed Rogue out of the living room to change clothes.

"You’re a lucky guy, Summers. Hold on to her and treat her right. Otherwise an angel may come along a sweep her off her feet," teased Warren.

"Yeah, right," said Scott. "Now, I know your head’s in the clouds. Let’s go." The two teens then disappeared through the door to change into their combat suits as well.

"Oh my God," said the Professor as he gazed upwards at the cages hanging above the spikes. Three of his students were trapped inside the cages scared to death. "Hang on, you three. We’ll get you down." The Professor turned towards Storm. "Ororo, do you think you can get them down safely?"

"I wouldn’t try it, Charles," said a voice. A screen flickered to life revealing Magneto. "If either of your accomplices makes the slightest move towards those cages I will allow your students to fall to their death. The only way they will leave alive is for you to hand over the discs."

"Erik, please let’s discuss this rationally," pleaded the Professor.

"The time for discussion is over, Charles. Place the discs on the platform and I will release your students," said Magneto.

"Very well," said the Professor. The Professor nodded and Wolverine stepped forward and pulled the discs out of his belt. He placed the discs on the platform and took a step backwards. The platform began to rise into the air, towards a source of light. That obviously had to be some sort of control booth. "Thank you, Charles. Now, I hope that you can catch!"

There was a loud click, and suddenly the three cages began to fall. Screams began to fill the entire room, as the three students began to fall to their deaths. All of a sudden the cages stopped moving. All three became stopped in mid-air.

"What’s going on?" said Magneto. The screen flickered off, as the discs reached the control booth. Magneto’s shape slowly began to change into the figure of a woman, Mystique. She grabbed the discs and started to make her escape. She ran towards a ladder that led to the roof.

When she opened the hatch, she saw that she wasn’t on the roof alone. The rest of Xavier’s X-Men were there as well including Warren. It seemed like Jean Grey and Rogue were using telekinesis to hold the cages in place. Cyclops fired an optic blast that shattered a window. Warren grabbed Cyclops and the two slowly descended into the building.

"Kurt! Teleport out of the cage and grab the others!" shouted Cyclops as his feet finally touched the floor.

Kurt teleported out of his cage and into Kitty’s. He grabbed her hand, and the to teleported out of the cage and next to Cyclops. The Professor and the others moved over towards them. "Hang on Evan! I’m coming!" yelled Kurt.

"I appreciate it, Elf," said Evan. Kurt teleported into Evan’s cage, and was back out quickly. "Thanks man, I owe you one."

"Don’t vorry about it man," said Kurt, "I vill alvays be here to save your butt."

The joyous reunion was interrupted by screams from above. Jean and Rogue had been pushed through the window by Mystique. Both of the girls screamed at the top of their lungs as the fell so quickly to the ground.

"Jean!" yelled Cyclops.

Storm used her powers to thrust a gust of wind into the air where she was able to support Rogue. The gust wasn’t wide enough to capture Jean also. Suddenly, a blur streaked by and grab Jean. The Angel had leaped into the air and caught Jean. He soared around the room once, and dropped Jean into the arms of Cyclops. "I’ll be back. I’m going to see if I can get those discs back."

"Warren wait!" shouted Jean.

The Angel exploded out of the roof and soared high above the building. As he surveyed the roof, he saw Mystique sprint across the top. "Stop!" Mystique looked into air behind her to find Warren in close pursuit. Mystique immediately began to change her shape into the form of a hawk. As she leaped off the building and began to fly, the discs were tucked safely within her claws.

"Give me that!" shouted Warren as he tried to wrestle the discs free. One of Mystique’s wings hit Warren in the head, which threw him off balance. As he started to fall, the discs were ripped free and began to fall as well. The large hawk gave a loud screech as the discs fell and shattered onto the ground. Warren managed to recover and started to soar back towards the other X-Men. The hawk turned and soared in the other direction after realizing she had suffered defeat.

"Well done, Warren," said the Professor. "I can see that you will make a fine addition to the team."

"I’m not so sure Professor," said Warren. "This was all my fault. I’m the one that told Mystique that you guys were going to the movies. That’s how she knew you where you guys were and managed to capture you. I kept feeding her information, and almost got you guys killed. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’m cut out to be an X-Man."

"Nonsense, child," said Storm as she approached Warren. "You have made your mistakes in the past. What truly matters is that you came through in the end."

"Yeah," chimed Kitty. "Besides, you’re way too cute to be a villain."

"I suppose the same goes for me too, right Kitty?" said Kurt as he stroked his hair back. "I mean it’s not every day that you come across someone vith my genuine good looks." Kitty sighed and turned away. She started to walk towards the X-van along with everyone else. "Vat did I say? Is it my breath?" Kurt cupped his hand and placed it over his mouth to test his breath. Then, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, Elf. It’s my turn to rescue you," said Evan. "I’ll help you get your foot out of your mouth." Evan and Kurt joined the rest of the team as they loaded up into X-van and drove home behind the Professor’s car.

"Hey, Warren where are you going?" said Jean as she and Scott descended the stairs. The other students, along with Ororo, Logan and the Professor were already at the bottom of the stairs saying good-bye.

"I’m off to Europe with my folks," he answered.

"But you just got here. You can’t leave now," said Jean.

"Trust me, it’s for the best. I don’t think I’m ready to do the hero thing just yet," said Warren. He turned to Scott and extended his hand, "Besides, you’re in good hands."

Warren smiled and picked up his suitcase and walked out the front door. Everyone came to the front of the house and waved as Warren got into the limousine. They all stood there as the car disappeared from view.

"Do you think we’ll ever see him again?" asked Scott.

"Someday, when he’s ready he’ll be back," said the Professor. "Especially, now that he knows that he has friends and a second home with the X-Men."

THE END