eleven !
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Being able to walk without pain once more is a welcome relief.

Rosa takes full advantage of this gift and paces up and down the room. Restless as the grand plans whirr inside of her mind. Everything she'd seen when she'd stepped into Apocalypse's mind still imprinted and undying on the four walls of her head.

All her anger has found its channel and this will be her dying purpose. A focusing new beginning to centre her as her world has shifted entirely from what it had been.

Not so long ago, she'd been a teacher. Teaching youthful mutants how to fly without crashing and burning.

That feels like an entire lifetime ago.

Now, she's beyond that. Beyond those trivial lessons and hours of frustration. This is exactly who she's meant to be and there's nothing holding her back anymore. No professor breathing down her neck, watching her every move.

Maybe he'd always feared she'd stray from whatever path he'd intended for her. A good reason for him to keep watch of her mind, check up on that dark part of her regularly. For months, she'd slowly been blocking him out. Showing him only what he wanted to see, not the reality hidden beneath.

On the night she left, she shoved him out entirely and locked the door behind him. He must've realised, but by that point it had been too late to talk his way back in. Rosa is done listening.

"Quit pacing," Psylocke snaps, glowering at Rosa with those dark eyes of hers that just seem to bleed into the pupils. "Just sit down and relax."

"Relax?" Rosa halts and whirls to face the woman, wings flaring in a heartbeat. "How can you honestly be telling me to relax right now? We're about to cause the apocalypse and you want me to relax?" She hisses, taking a step towards her.

"Stop whining, you're giving me a headache," She complains, rolling her eyes at the younger woman.

Rosa barks out a bitter laugh. "Oh, I'll show you a bloody headache," She bites, lifting her hand to infest her mind with vines and poison ivy, but a hand clamps over her wrist.

Her wild eyes snap to the culprit. Warren.

Ever so slightly he shakes his head at her, warning her against starting this fight. A fight she'd likely win, but not without consequence.

They share a silent exchange before Rosa yanks her arm from his grip and storms away. Furious and needing air to breathe through the forest fire raging in the pit of her stomach.

She hurdles up the stairs and exits into the night air as quickly as she can, drawing in a heavy breath as soon as the breeze hits her. She launches herself into the air and seizes control to lower herself to perch on the roof, content to stare out over the city as the wind centres her once more.

Rosa doesn't flinch as Warren flies up to sit beside her, the tips of his metal wings scraping on the roof tiles.

"You have to be more careful," He tells her and even the night sucks in a sharp breath as her vision rounds on him, staring him down.

"I'm not going to let her walk all over me, Warren," She replies, a tinge of annoyance still rampant in her voice. "I'm done with that."

"I know." Is all he says, not wavering under the weight of her stare.

Her features soften and she lets out a sigh, shoulders deflating as the last of the forest fire is snuffed out. She knows he's right. She does have to be careful around these people. While she's more than capable of defending herself from Storm or Psylocke, she isn't so sure she would be able to withstand an attack from Apocalypse himself if he suddenly deemed her unworthy.

Her wings expand a little as she involuntarily shudders at the thought of being crushed by the same hand that feeds.

"Thank you," She mumbles, despite her pride, and shifts a little closer to him so she doesn't have to be quite so loud as she lets her guard fall. "I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't stopped me."

She knows, but that's a fact she keeps to herself.

Finally seeing what lies behind the wall of defence, Warren's eyes flicker across her every feature, drinking it in while he has the chance. Taking advantage in the time he's given before she slams the walls back up again.

"You would've done the same for me," He says, the British twang to his voice evident as he speaks lowly to her, never tearing his eyes from her, even as her tender hand slips over his and squeezes him tight. "It was the least I could do."

The corner of her mouth tilts up into a lopsided smile, the moonlight dancing across her every feature and dotted scar. Their fingers lock together and she glances down to them, wondering how this came to be and wondering how long it will last.

Forever wondering, never asking.

"I don't know what I'd do without you," She breathes out, her voice dancing on the wind.

"You'd be perfectly fine," He replies, though his fingers curl a little bit tighter around her hand.

He momentarily tenses when she rests her head on his shoulder, but relaxes when she speaks again.

"Yes, I'd be fine, but I'd be alone," Rosa whispers.

She absorbs his comfort, relishes in the touch of another. Tender and yet firm. Unyielding, even. She doesn't want to think about how she'd be coping if she was alone. Can't imagine having been through what they went through alone and walking out of it still sane. In one piece and functioning.

"There's nothing more terrifying than being alone," She adds. Shoulder to shoulder, she soaks up his warmth even as she lifts her head from him to dare to peer at his expression.

At her absence, he looks to her.

Under his gaze, something else inside of her shifts. A realisation of what's been brewing inside of her for a couple of days now. A new kind of fire. Burning deep and vibrant in the roiling pit of her stomach, begging for her to act before they diminish and the chance is lost.

Rosa doesn't give herself time to wonder whether he's thinking the same thing as she acts on impulse once again. Letting her heart guide her rather than her head, as usual. Often it runs her right into trouble, but, tonight, she follows and knows it's right.

He watches as her free hand moves up and slides onto his jaw. A delicate touch by a hand that could rip his mind to shreds with half a thought.

And yet he does not fear her.

How could he when she looks at him as if he's the best thing she's ever seen?

Just once, her gaze flickers from his ocean eyes to his mouth and back again before she leans right up to him, kissing him once, kissing him so softly he's not even sure it's real.

Not until she kisses him again and he responds, melting into her as if they were always destined to cross paths. Hand winding into her hair as they kiss beneath the stars.

Desperation to fulfil a craving takes over the both of them as the sweet little kisses evolve rapidly into open mouths, grabbing hands and ragged breaths.

The kind of touch neither of them had experienced for far too long.

And now they're getting their fill while they have the chance. Taking it out on the other. Barely pausing for breath as heat floods their bodies, urging them to keep going, to go all the way, without a second thought.

But Rosa draws away, holding herself back even when he steals another quick kiss. Foreheads resting together, she knows this is the beginning of a new part of her life and she isn't sure if she's ready for it.

She supposes she has to be. There's no turning back now.

Her hands drop to his chest and her swollen lips curve into a gentle smile. She's relieved to witness Warren mirror her expression without hesitation and knows that their trust in one another has shifted once again into something more.

An unspoken promise to defend until the final breath.

A promise she will honour with all her might.

-

1411 words
27.2.19

i'm sorry i love them so much