Hi all!! Here's the next part of Dreams of an Angel. Hope you all enjoy it! Any comments or suggestions, well, you know how to contact me. My Yahoo ID is Goldenknightuk if you wish to send me an instant message. Sorry for any bad grammars boys and girl. C'mon! Nobody's perfect!! :)
Before the show, onwards to the boring part! Legal matters! Hehehe. You can press 'fast-forward' now.
Well, first of all, this story, as you will certainly find out soon, is TOTALLY fictional. So! If any of you truly believe in it... dude, I'm worried about you. Secondly! None of the guys in the Backstreet Boys are gay! (No matter how hard I wished it :P). But nobody say we couldn't dream it, heh heh. Thirdly, Warren Worthington is actually a character from Marvel Comics, X-men known as Angel or recently Archangel. Okay fine, I admit it. I'm bored and I am making a pathetic attempt to make life a lil' bit interesting. Its not like I'm gonna publish it or something. What else to talk about hmm? Oh, there may be some adult gay scenes in this story. Unlike my brother, I don't mind writing naughty stuff ;) so! If you're underage, naughty, naughty! I can only ask you to go away, but I cannot do anything else to stop you from reading on anyway. Hell! I've been sneaking into the internet to watch gay porns since I was 13! So, if your parents or whoever responsible for you catch you, don't say I didn't warned you. However, if you're homophobic... well maybe I can seduce you enough to turn you around heh heh. I do so love a challenge ;)
Anyway, enough talk. Any comments or boos or suggestion or whatever, just sent it to the same address as in NNTs, goldenknightuk@yahoo.co.uk . Yeah, we shared the same address. Don't ask. Long story.
Okay then! On to the show. Now, don't be shy now. If you got any comments or suggestions, just drop me a note. You do the request, and I'll do the show.
Andy
Nick watched the training session from the control room in silence. There's really nothing for him to do at the moment. Jean stood beside him; it's her turn to be in charge with the controls.
Down below in the Danger Room, the training session is in full swing, but Nick's eyes are fixed on one man and one man only. He watched with pride as Warren flew by smoothly, dodging every obstacle skillfully as if nothing is there. He swooped down again and laughed as he easily dodged Bobby's hurled icicles.
Remy's kinetically charged cards came up his way next, each exploding in the air in Warren's path but always with him being just ahead of it.
"You've got to do better than that, Cajun." Warren smiled confidently.
"Y'mock dis t'ief, mon Ange?" Remy smirked. "Y' should know by now dat de best of Cajuns always 'ave somethin' up 'is sleeve. Isn't dat right, chere?"
"Damn right," Rogue smiled as she suddenly floated into Warren's view. "Missed me, sweetie?"
"Old tricks never work on me, Rogue." Warren smirked back as he evaded Rogue's attempt to grab him easily. He then flipped to the side quickly, just in time to evade Scott's optic beam. "Does that always work, Scott?"
"Keep still, you mutant jumping bean..." Scott grumbled in frustration as he shoots fourth his optic beam again and again at Warren. "Jubilee, Remy, keep distracting him. Bobby...!"
"I got him, Slim!" Bobby cried out as he let loose his ice-blast, intending to encase Warren in ice.
"I don't think so, Ice-Cube." Warren laughed as he dodged aside the blast easily with one strong flap of his wings. The blast shot past him and struck Rogue instead. "Try harder."
"Bobby, NOOO!!!" Rogue yelled before her body became encased in ice. Using her strength, she broke herself free from the ice. "Good thing ah'm invulnerable. Great! Muh make-up is ruined and now ah'm wet 'n' cold. All right, Bird! Now it's personal!"
Nick smiled as he watched his lover moved swiftly through the air, dodging every attack that was thrown at him. Warren looks truly beautiful as he flew through the air with his wings fully spread behind him. Nick has never seen such breathtaking sight in his life. He watched, mesmerized, at every wing beats, every muscle contractions, every glides, every twitches, every smiles, even the twinkles on Warren's eyes. Even in the midst of a battle, he still managed to maintain his graceful pose in flight.
"Nick, you're drooling." Jean grinned beside him, startling Nick from his awe-struck gaze. "Try not to let it drop on the computer panel will you?"
"Sorry," Nick mumbled, his face flushed in embarrassment.
"He's beautiful, isn't he?" Jean purred as she fiddles with the computer before her but her eyes are fixed on Warren too.
"Very." Nick smiled back as he continues to watch his lover in action. "I don't know why you pick Scott over him."
"Well, it was a difficult decision, but it's one or the other." Jean answered simply. "You have no idea the trials those two put me through just to attract my attention. But in the end, I have to choose which of those two who needed me the most... and believe it or not, it was Scott."
"Scott? You're kidding! The man is rock through and through! I doubt he'll bleed even if you plunge a dagger into his chest." said Nick.
"That's Scott for you. Stone on the outside but believe me, he's all flesh and blood on the inside; with a big heart filled with love and feelings. He needs someone to preserve that. Without me, he'll turn into stone completely, inside as well as outside." Jean answered softly and Nick could detect a great deal of fondness emanating from her mind.
"And Warren?" asked Nick.
Jean fell silent for a moment before answering.
"Warren has a big heart too." She answered at last. "With lots of love to give that could last several lifetimes. But he was strong at the time. Stronger than Scott. I loved both of them... but I could only choose one. Scott was the logical choice."
"But Apocalypse... and Candy's death... and Hodge's betrayal... shattered that strength in the end." She whispered softly. "And Betsy's rejection only made it worst. He became a wandering soul... looking for someone to hold on to... someone to be his strength..."
"Who's Candy?" asked Nick.
"The only one person before Betsy whom he truly loved with all his heart. Sure, he went out with countless other girls... but Candy and Betsy... these are the ones whom he truly loved."
"She died? How?" asked Nick again.
Jean looked at him quietly for a moment or two.
"You better ask him about that. Better that it came from him instead of me." Jean answered at last. "You need to make him talk to you about all of his past too, Nick. Confronting the demons from the past may help him but he cannot do it alone. Do it together. Help him... the way you helped him this morning."
Nick looked at her briefly before turning his gaze back on Warren who is dodging Rogue and Bobby's attack. Jubilee, Scott and Remy attacked from below but to no avail. Warren is simply flying too fast for them. Watching his angel flying gracefully through the air makes him warmed up on at the inside again.
Catching his feeling through the link, Warren looked up at him as he flew and blew him a kiss before grinning as he dodged Rogue's attempt to capture him. Mentally, Nick sighed as he felt the returned affection from Warren's mind. His dreamy smile was rudely interrupted as his mobile phone rang in his pocket.
Cursing vilely that made Jean laughs beside him, he flipped open the phone and pressed the answering button.
"Hello?" He answered in an annoyed tone.
"Hi... Nick?" A deep voice appeared from the other end hesitantly.
"Yeah. Who's this?"
"It's me... Lance. Remember? From 'Nsync?"
Nick's eyebrow shot up as he immediately remembered the airplane incident last night. His eyes widened even further as Jean whirled around to gaze at him disapprovingly. Looks like the cat is out of the bag. Curse all telepaths!!!
"D'oh! I mean... oh hey, Lance! How are you doing, dude?" Nick greeted cheerfully as he smiled sheepishly at Jean.
"I'm doing great! I'm not catching you at a bad time, am I?"
"No, of course not. I was just... umm... daydreaming when you called. Where are you now?"
"I'm in New York. Just arrived last night."
"Really? Great! So what's going on, man? You need something?"
"No, no. I just thought I call to see what's going on with our Backstreet buddies." Lance laughed from the other end. "I heard you guys just started your holidays."
"We did. Everyone's scattered now, spending some time alone for a week or two. After being cooped up together for so long, looking at each other's ugly mug all the time... whew! God knows how much we needed to spend some time away from each others."
"Hear, hear. Our holiday is starting next week. So where are you now anyway? Home?"
"No, I'm in New York too."
"You are?" Lance asked strangely.
"Westchester, to be exact. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, no reason. Just asking." Lance mumbled back hesitantly but Nick smiles, as he knew why Lance asked him that question.
"You had a good flight last night, dude?" Nick asked; his smile slowly grew into grin now.
"What? Oh... yeah." Lance answered hastily. "You know how night flights are. Dark, quiet, boring. I... err... well, I had a nightmare though. I thought I saw you outside my window."
Nick smiled in the face of Lance's nervous laughter.
"JC said I've been working too hard that I started seeing things. I guess I was."
Suddenly, Nick felt guilty for scaring the guy last night.
'You should!' Jean's scolding voice appeared without warning in Nick's head, causing Nick to yelp in surprise.
"Nick? You okay?" Lance's voice appeared again from the other end.
"What? Oh yeah. I'm okay. I'm okay. I just... err... dropped something on the floor, heh heh."
"What are you doing in Westchester, anyway?" Lance asked curiously.
"Oh, I'm just staying with some friends. Nothing serious. And you? Don't tell me you're back at Freelance, because if you do, then JC was right. You are working too hard." Said Nick. He grinned and waved back at Warren when he noticed the other man waving at him from the room below. The training session appears to be over and he watched appreciatively as Warren stripped to his waist and started wiping himself with a towel. He must be aware that Nick is watching him because he made every effort to show off his muscles, God blast that man! While Nick can control his heartbeats, he definitely cannot control the slowly developing hard-on in his pant.
"Naah. After that little nightmare, JC has been watching me like a hawk. He forbade me to even look at the documents I got from Freelance. The only time I get to do any work is when he decided to go out for a date or to the gym. He even dragged me to the clubs with him at night, even when I claimed to be sick!"
"Well, quit complaining. I'm on his side for this one." Nick laughed. "From what I heard from Joey and Josh, you are working too hard."
"Hey! If I didn't work hard, the whole thing will collapse." Lance protested. "Okay, okay. Let's not argue about it. I've done enough of that with JC, I don't need to do it with you too."
"Fair enough." Said Nick. "So what's new in your life?"
"Nothing much. Pretty boring most of the time. Sarah is coming up for a visit this weekend."
"Sarah? The girl you met six months ago? I didn't know you kept seeing her." Nick smiled. "Six months! Sounds deep. Well done, buddy."
"Yeah. I didn't quite like her at first but... I dunno. Somewhere down the line, she kinda grew on me." Lance replied happily.
"And the romance and passion rages on." Nick smirked.
"Shuddup. At least I've met someone. The same cannot be said about you." Lance replied smugly.
"As a matter of fact, I... did meet someone. Hah! The joke on you, Spiky." Nick laughed back.
"Really?" said Lance. "Anyone I know?"
"Nope. And I ain't tellin' yuh, pard-nuh. Not yet anyway."
"C'mon! What's her name?" Lance laughed.
"Sorry, Lancey. I'll tell you when I'm ready. But not now. I promise, when I'm ready, you'll be the first person to know." said Nick.
"Fine! Be that way." Lance replied as he pouts. "But don't be angry when I refuse to do you any favor in the future. If you want it, it's gonna cost you."
"Hey, if I need a favor in dance lesson, I'll go to Justin or JC. Not you." Said Nick before bursting into laughter upon hearing Lance railing at him with all the dirtiest curses his innocent Mississippian mind could muster.
"Wooo-hooo! You go, dude. Keep it coming!" Nick continues to laugh. "Alright, alright. My poor innocent ears have suffered enough. You know I was just pissing you off, right Lancey-poo?"
"I know." Lance laughed. "But it feels good to let my dark side go all out once a while."
"Yeah, you let it go all out alright." Said Nick and his eyes lights up when Warren entered the control-room, half-naked with a towel hanging loosely around his neck. "Never thought your dark side can be so foul-mouthed. Anyway Lance, I better go now. Talk to you some other time?"
"Sure. Call me anytime, Nick. I'll be in New York for a week or two, so if you want to meet up and have a drink or something, just let me know. You can meet Sarah and maybe you can finally tell me who is your mystery girl." Said Lance.
"What about next week?" Nick smiled as Warren wrapped his arm around his waist at that time. "I'll call you first to see if you're free."
"Cool. Next week it is. Later, Nick." Said Lance before hanging up.
Nick immediately turned around and quickly pulled Warren into a long, deep, lazy kiss.
"Sheesh! Baby, you're sweaty all over." Nick laughed as he pulled back after a while.
"Well, don't act like you don't like it." Warren smiled back.
"Where are the others?" asked Nick.
"Taking a shower. But I'd rather do that with you." Warren grinned as Nick blushed. "Who was that on the phone?"
"Our friend from last night, Mr. Lance Bass." Said Nick before dropping into an urgent whisper. "Lets get the hell out of here quickly. Jean knew about last night."
Unfortunately, a shadow loomed up before them at that moment.
"Warren Kenneth Worthington the Third! How could you! We need to talk about what you and Nick did to that poor man on the plane last night!" Jean scolded.
"D'oh!!" said Warren and Nick at the same time.
Nick threw his hands up in frustration.
"Is there any way to hide anything from telepaths??" He groaned.
A couple of hours later...
"Aaargh! Jean, I can't concentrate anymore!" Eyes tightly shut; Nick slumped in his chair as he leaned forward and rests his head in his arms on the table.
Jean stood up from across the small table and moved to the small mini-bar to fix herself a small glass of light brandy.
"Practice, Nick. You must keep on practicing if you want to master this ability." Said Jean.
"But I think I already did the same thing again and again a gajillion times or more today. I've done more than mastering it!"
"But you still wavers!" Jean replied in exasperation. "The way that you project different kinds of emotions to more than one subjects is excellent, but you need to learn how to maintain the projection properly. That's where your problem lies. You lost your focus as soon as you think you have achieved something and then you start to waver. You know how to start something, but you seem to have problem in maintaining it. Focus! Okay, last try. Try making me feel sad."
Inhaling deeply, Nick focused his concentration on the other woman. Reaching out empathically, he summoned the saddest emotions he had ever experienced in the past, amplifying it appropriately and projected it to Jean.
It was working beautifully. Jean's eyes began to moisten with tears and she looks like she was about to cry. But then, her eyes hardened and she looked at Nick steadily. Seconds after that, Nick gasped as his felt something blocks his projection and instead, the emotions he projected into Jean's mind came back into his own psyche full-force. He immediately finds himself being overwhelmed by sadness. Having no desire to have it all go out of control, he quickly ceased his attempt.
"Wha... what happened?" Nick gasped out at last.
"You wavered again. You see how easily I blocked your projection? That's is why it is important to maintain your focus. If you truly were focused in your task just now, you can ignore the block and continue on with the projection."
"But... you reflected it back to me too..."
"A simple and small lesson for you today to be aware of the fact that if you are facing an enemy psionist, they will not be as kind and gentle as I am. That is one of the least harmful thing they could do to you." Jean replied seriously. "Always be prepared for any counterattack, Nick. Sharpen you wits and be quick-minded, if you want to survive."
"I should have erected my mental barriers as soon as I felt that." Nick replied after some thought.
"Sharp." Jean smiled encouragingly. "But thinking of it will do you no good when that happens, if you don't do it. Work on it. Work on you reflex. When you face a situation, you should have a solution well thought up and put into action before you even realize it. When you truly mastered that, it should have already become second nature to you."
Sighing heavily, Nick began massaging his temples gently. These are too much big stuff for him to deal with right now. He has been practicing his ability with Jean for over three hours now, immediately after the training session ended, and he is exhausted.
"I'll work on it." He mumbled tiredly. "But I need a break first."
He perked up when he heard the sound of a car passing by outside. Warren is back from town with Scott. He wasn't even aware of the happy smile that suddenly broke out on his lips.
"You do that." Said Jean as she heard the car too. "I have some stuff to do with Scott right now in the Danger Room, so let's call it a day, okay? Remember... practice, practice and practice. You're a singer and a dancer right? Then you should know the importance of practicing to improve one's skills. So do it. Keep on practicing until you get it all right. When we next meet, I expect you have be able to do this."
"I'll work on it." Said Nick as he bounces off his chair and rushes out of the room. "See ya later, Jean."
"I thought you're tired!" Jean called out and she smiled when Nick ignored her.
He found Warren in his room. Come to think of it, this is the first time he ever enter Warren's room.
"Holy moley! This place is even worst than AJ's. Did your wardrobe explode or something?"
Warren turned around and smiled when he saw Nick gaping at the piles of clothes scattered all over the room.
"Well, hello there, handsome. Come right in. Don't mind the clothes. I haven't got the time to put it all away yet."
"You don't say." Nick chuckled as he made his way slowly through the swamp. "I can see the tabloid headline now: Famous multi-billionaire and the prettiest boy on earth - also the biggest slob in the universe."
"Prettiest huh? Hmm... well, I suppose just for that, you earned this." Warren smiled as he pulled Nick closer and kissed him.
"It's soo easy to please you, isn't it?" Nick laughed, as they pulled apart at last. He licked his lips a little as he frowned thoughtfully before grinning. "I can tell that someone had pizza not so long ago. So, how was your time with Scott at the mall?"
Warren carefully peeled off his shirt, and proceeds to put on another shirt.
"Nick, help me adjust those straps okay?" Warren murmured as he struggled with the shirt.
The downside of having a pair of giant wings sprouting from your back is that it greatly interferes with your clothing. All of Warren's clothes are specially designed. Each has two slits at the back to accommodate the wings. Each was also specially cut at the back and has its own special straps or zippers that can be fasten or unfasten without difficulty to allow him to take the shirt off or put it on easily without involving his wings too much.
"We talked." Warren spoke at last as Nick helps him with his shirt.
"You and Scott?" Nick asked gently as he guided Warren to sit on the bed. He sat behind Warren and began smoothing and straightening the feathers on those wings. "What did you two talk about?"
"Things." Warren replied. "Everything."
"How do you feel now?"
"You were behind this, weren't you?" Warren turned around to smile fondly at him.
Nick immediately shifted his eyes elsewhere and started whistling nonchalantly. Grinning now, Warren slaps his shoulder.
"Alright! Alright! I may have... umm... given Scott a gentle nudge towards that direction." Nick laughed at last. "Don't deny it. You needed it. And Scott was very worried about you."
"You've been here for less than five days and you already started sneaking behind my back." Said Warren as he turned around to touch Nick's face.
"Hey, stop wriggling, will you? I'm not done taking care of these messy wings." Said Nick as he firmly turned Warren back around. "Anyway, I did it because I care about you. And making you open up to your friends will do you good, no matter what you say."
"Oh, man! That feels so good. This feels so much better than me having to twist around painfully to do it by myself!" Warren groaned happily before biting his lips against Nick gentle touch. Nick has no idea how sensitive each of those feathers are to touch. Enjoying the tender manipulations, he unconsciously spread his wings a little.
"Oh great, more feathers to deal with." Nick laughed playfully as his fingers move on to the newly exposed part of the wings, smoothing and straightening and sometimes preening each and every one of them carefully. "How were you able to keep these feathers slick and shiny all the time anyway? Do you use special oils or somethin'?"
"Well, there's a gland at the base of each feathers that secrete some sort of fluid to prevent it from drying up completely and keeping it soft and slick." Warren smiled with his eyes closed as he silently enjoys Nick's tender ministration. He gently spread his wings further apart invitingly. "But at times, when it became too dry or particularly when I'm... umm... molting... I'll use that special ointment over there beside my bed."
Nick burst out laughing at that.
"You actually molt??!" He finally gasped out between his laughter.
"Hey! Don't laugh!" Warren glared at him before laughing himself and smacks Nick playfully behind his head. "I can't help it if I molt every season. I got a pair of giant bird wings on my back, remember?"
"Okay, okay. I'll behave! I'll behave!" Nick relented at last but still losing himself into giggles times and again. "Do you lay eggs too?"
"Oooh, that does it!" Warren snatches a nearby pillow and hit Nick right on the face. Nick fell back onto the bed and retaliates by snatching another pillow and hits Warren with it, laughing all the time.
Soon enough, the whole room is filled with laughter and flying clothes when Nick decided to add the scattered clothes around him into his arsenal. Warren gave a startled and muffled cry once when he suddenly found himself blinded as one of his underwear smacked squarely on his face. He glared grimly as he peels the undergarment away before launching an all out tickling assault on Nick, and the laughter escalates quickly into shrieks.
The scene continues for several minutes before a familiar but urgent voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere in their mind.
'Archangel, tell Cyclops to gather the whole team and meet us at the hangar immediately.' Professor Xavier's telepathic voice echoed in their mind.
"Professor?" Warren looked up, startled. "Where are you? Is everything all right?"
'I'm in the Blackbird with the rest of the team, and we'll be arriving soon. Get the medical lab ready. We have several wounded with us. I'll explain everything when we get there. Hurry!'
"We're on it." Warren replied before pulling Nick up from the bed. "Come along, little tiger. We may need your help with the wounded."