Flint and Steel: A Warren Worthington III Series

Chapter Two: Repercussions

You had hoped that news of your little mix up on the roof of the school had stayed solely between you and Warren, but when you finally slump into your usual seat at dinner, you're met by wide eyes and knowing grins. Jean Grey leans across the table to talk to you. "So, did Warren kill you or not?"

You make a face at her. "Did you really tell everyone here?" Jean frowns. "Not everybody. Just Scott and Ororo." Scott grins. "I told Kurt." Peter Maximoff pauses from a quest to lob oranges at random kids' heads and blame it on someone else, then glances over at you. "Oh, and I overheard it. Sounds like you had a great afternoon." You groan, rubbing one hand tiredly over your face. "I guess we all know, then."

Ororo chuckles. "How'd you mix up the dates? I thought you'd want to know something like that." You give her a look. "It wasn't intentional, obviously. I didn't realize I was wrong until Jean tried to talk me out of it, and by then I was already on the roof. I know it might come as a surprise, but I can't be perfect all of the time."

Jean snorts with laughter. "That would be the first time I've heard you mention it. How'd Warren react? I kind of assumed that he would do something Warrenish like drop you off the roof by your ankles." You shove her shoulder playfully. "Rude. I managed to talk my way out of it, so he only shows his anger verbally instead of physically."

Ororo nods fervently. "Yeah, we kind of got that. He's been glaring at you since you walked in." You follow her line of sight and sigh when you see who she's talking about. There's a familiar blond boy sitting in a corner of the room. You would have noticed him by the giant steel wings alone, but his glowering stare is like a beacon. The only time you've seen someone look so angry to be in your presence is when you were fighting soldiers dedicated to exterminating all mutants in the world.

Warren refuses to look away once he realizes that you've seen him, only sets his jaw and waits. Although you hate to give him anything, you glance away after a moment or two. Out of your peripheral vision, you can see his shoulders straighten with pride, but you can't really care about the outcome of a hate-fuelled staring contest. You still feel your insides twinge with guilt to think about the way you'd made his near death experience a joke earlier.

Instead, you turn back to your friends, and grimace. "Think it'll get better over time?" Scott shakes his head. "I don't know. I mean, I don't really get it. Why Warren hates you so much, I mean. We all had equal parts to play in that plane crash, yet he forgave the rest of us a long time ago. I don't know why he seems so fixated on getting you back for it."

You shrug, reaching for your fork even though you can't quite find the stomach for your food. "Maybe because I'm the one who lit the plane on fire in the first place?" Ororo drapes her arm around your shoulders, pulling you close. "You're going to have to stop blaming yourself for that eventually, you know. Maybe you lit the spark, but we all had an equal hand in it. You don't get to take all the blame for what happened, and Warren doesn't get to push it on you, either."

You smile gratefully at your friend. "Thanks. It's nice to have a reminder every now and then." Ororo smiles back. "Well, it's true anyways. If we were still sticking to our grudges I think you guys would have to be mad at me for nearly electrocuting all of you." Scott waves a hand dismissively. "The only thing I hold against you is that you didn't take out Peter while you had the chance." A moment later, the speedster has his revenge, and Scott receives a vengeful orange to the head. "Hey!"

Jean speaks quickly, possibly to avoid further citrus warfare. "Seriously, don't worry about it, Y/N. Besides, you've got something a bit bigger that you're going to want to focus on." You frown at her. "What do you mean?" Jean smiles secretively. "I heard something while I was passing by Xavier's office. Apparently, he's got another mission to be fulfilled, and I believe that you were one of his top candidates."