𝖡𝖫𝖠𝖢𝖪 𝖲𝖳𝖠𝖱 - 𝖫𝖮𝖦𝖠𝖭 𝖧𝖮𝖶𝖫𝖤𝖳𝖳 [𝖷-𝖬𝖤𝖭 𝖴𝖭𝖨𝖵𝖤𝖱𝖲𝖤]

𝐈𝐈. 𝐋𝐀𝐁 𝐑𝐀𝐓

𝗦𝗜𝗫 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗔𝗚𝗢

"Have you seen her yet?"

Scott shakes his head. Today must be a bad day, considering she'd woken up from a nightmare about ten minutes ago and had disappeared to God knows where.

Ororo didn't know everything about Elena's past, but she knew enough. Hearing what'd been done to her made her sick to her stomach.

She was just a little girl when it happened. Even now, years later, that place and those people still haunted her.

She couldn't count the amount of times Elena's screams had woken her or the others up, like tonight.

In the time she'd been with them, she'd become one of them. A part of the family, in a way.

Xavier seemed to think of her as somewhat of a daughter, and he was always concerned for her, whether it was because of the lack of sleep she seemed to get, or the effects of her time in that place.

"I think I'm gonna go check on her."

Scott nods, he's worried, but definitely isn't equipped to deal with what she's going through.

"Let me know how she is."

"I will."

Ororo sets off in search of Elena, not quite sure where she might be. She has a few usual spots she likes to hang out, like the upstairs storage room, her room, or even the balcony.

She heads up the stairs, checking her bedroom first, with no sign of her. Then she goes to the storage room, and hearing a flickering sound, and seeing a faint sliver of light from underneath the door, and the smell of smoke.

Gotcha, she thinks, because rarely anyone ever goes into there. She pushes the door open softly, the wood creaking as it goes, as she pokes her head in.

The room is small and cluttered, full of old furniture, boxes stacked with books and papers, and various junk. In the center of the room, a few feet away, is a figure sitting cross-legged on the floor.

The person is facing away from her, but she can just make out the figure's dark hair, lit up in the faint glow of a cigarette light. She can hear the person taking a drag, and she realizes that's the source of the smoke and flickering sound she heard earlier.

The person straightens up at the sound of the door closing, their muscles tensing visibly. They quickly turn their head in Ororo's direction, and she can see their face now- it's Elena.

She looks surprised, and her eyes widen a bit when she sees her. She takes one last drag on her cigarette, before stubbing it out in a makeshift ashtray on the floor.

Her eyes roam over her face, taking in her features- her dark hair, her sharp eyes, the subtle fire-like flicker in her gaze. And she can see the exhaustion etched across her face, and a hint of something darker. Something that speaks to a deep-set trauma and pain.