Title: Guardian Angel
Author: IndigoNight
Summary: Nearly a week after a huge attack on the institute, Rogue grieves the friends she lost.
Feedback: Yes please, yay reviews!
Pairing: Rogue/Angel
Disclaimer: I do not own X-men or the characters I'm just borrowing them for fun.
Spoilers: Nope, not really
Warnings: Character death.
Author's Note: Randomly inspired angsty bit. I almost cried writing it. Oneshot. Please review and I'll love you forever!
Enjoy!
It was a bright, sunny day. Warren sat comfortably at the base of a tree on the school grounds. His blue eyes were trained on the form of a young girl, not far away, her dark hair pulled back into a ponytail so that only the single white streak hung down around her pale face.
Thunk
She drew the string of the bow back again, shooting another arrow straight into the bull's eye of the wooden target that had been set up on the lawn. Warren remembered when he'd first taught her to shoot, shortly after they'd met. He remembered all the long afternoons they'd spent together.
Thunk
Warren himself had learned archery as a child, one of the mandatory things his dad had told him to learn. Why archery, he'd never really understood, but he'd learned it nonetheless, and developed a liking for it.
Thunk
When she'd first asked him to teach her, she could barely draw the string of his hefty bow, but now she did it like it was nothing at all.
Thunk
So often he'd stood behind her, his hands on her gloved wrists, gently guiding, teaching, until she could hit the bull's eye almost every time. But he wasn't helping her today.
Thunk
The sound of the force of the arrows burying themselves in the wood made him wince. He hadn't realized just how strong she'd gotten.
Thunk
But, he reasoned, it wasn't pure physical strength that powered her that day. No, she was forcing out with each and every arrow a load of emotional pain.
Thunk
It was nearly a week after the fight. The school was still being rebuilt. A group of anti-mutant extremists had attacked the school in the middle of the night. They'd been heavily armed and taken the mutants by surprise. Even so that battle had raged well into the next morning. Suspiciously, no help had come from the government, or anybody else.
Thunk
Many students had been killed, even more injured. Lots of Rogue and his friends were included in that number. Kitty, Peter, Jubilee, and many, many more. So Rogue's passion when she shot the arrows was understandable. She was hurting. They all were, but Rogue had all but lost herself to it, and Warren was worried.
Thunk
Warren glanced around when he noticed Logan and Hank approaching. They both looked tired and worn, and Hank had his right arm in a sling. They were talking softly, both watching Rogue. She hadn't noticed them.
Warren stood up and walked over to them.
"She was hit badly," Logan was saying, his eyes following Rogue's motions, dark with worry.
"Her grief is perfectly understandable," Hank said, "Normal."
But Logan shook his head, "I'm worried about her."
Hank sighed sadly.
"But the kid's strong, she'll heal," Logan added, although he didn't quite sound convinced.
Thunk
The sound made Warren wince again, and he feared that Logan's doubt was well placed, but nonetheless he said, "I hope you're right."
Neither of the adults answered him, he hadn't really expected them to.
Thunk
There was a minute of silence, then Hank remarked sadly, "She's crying."
Warren whirled, so she was. She had run out of arrows and was now curled on the ground, sobbing violently. "Rogue," he whispered, going to her. He felt like his own heart was breaking as he gazed down at her thin, shaking frame. This was the first time she'd cried since the battle.
"Please, Rogue," he whispered, kneeling down next to her, longing to comfort her, "Please, don't do this, don't loose yourself to this."
He reached out to hug her to his chest, but drew back quickly as his hand passed straight through her.
Oh yeah, some times he forgot that part. He was one of the ones who had died. He didn't quite remember how it had happened, everything had been so confused during the fight. Just that after it was over nobody could see or hear him, then he watched as they'd cared his body away with the others.
Hank and Logan were by now approaching, and as soon as Rogue noticed them she quickly tried to hide her tears.
"I'm fine," she lied before they could say anything, as she stood up and pick up the bow again.
"No you aren't, kid," Logan said bluntly.
"He'd want you to move on," Hank told her, in a comforting tone.
"You think I don't know that?" she all but shouted, her eyes suddenly flashing with a rage of emotions. "God, I loved him so much." The tears were falling from her eyes again, but this time she ignored them. "But I never told him," she whispered, shaking her head as a sob rolled through her. She looked in danger of her legs giving out on her as she wiped her eyes furiously.
"I knew," Warren whispered, bring up a hand, but stopping just short of caressing her cheek, "You didn't have to say it, I always knew."
"He loved you too," Logan said.
"I know," she whispered, nodding and wiping her eyes again. This time the flood began to slow a little. She sniffed, wrapping her arms around herself and staring straight through Warren. "I-, Sometimes, I-I think I can feel him, you know, like watching over me," she admitted, biting her lip, "Like my personal guardian angel or something."
"I'm sure he is," Logan told her, pulling her into the hug that Warren could no longer give.
"And I always will," Warren promised, tears threatening to fall from his own eyes as he watched the pain of his love.
And for a moment, just a moment, as Rogue blinked tearily under Logan's arm, she could have seen a flicker of Warren's own tear streaked face watching her, and heard a ghost of his voice whispering in her ear.