(Note: "All My Life"{the song} was written by JoJo Hailey and is performed by K-Ci and JoJo on the CD "Love Always". I don’t own this song in any way shape or form.)
ALL MY LIFE
PART ONE
"Mon Dieu! Where you goin’ lookin’ like dat Chere?"
"Out. "
"Hittin’ d’clubs?"
"Do you never knock?"
"T’ieves don’ knock. You should know dat."
"Were you planning on stealing something?"
"You look like you ready t’steal a few hearts."
Storm was having difficulty fastening her hair with a pin. She saw Remy approach in the mirror’s reflection. He took the partially attached pin in his left hand and playfully smacked her hands away with his right.
"Leggo."
She let her hands heavily fall to her sides.
"You didn’ answer my question, Stormy. Where you goin’?"
Storm gave him a wicked look via the mirror at his "Stormy" remark. It was a game between them. She was continually chastising him for calling her that ridiculous name. She secretly loved the nickname, though she would never admit to it.
"I do not know where I am going, exactly. The city, I suppose."
"D’ere." He had set the pin perfectly. "Want some company?"
"No." she turned and smiled after admiring his work. "I need some time on my own. I need to get out."
"Cabin fever?"
"Something like that." She picked up her loose wrap off the bed, then kissed Gambit (who looked hurt, not being allowed to tag along) on the cheek.
"I will see you later, my friend."
"Be ‘xpectin’ you back by t’ree Chere?"
"This from a man who disappears for days or weeks at a time without so much as a word."
"Yeah, but dat’s me . . ."
"Good night, Remy."
"Be careful, Stormy. Watch yourself."
She smiled and allowed the winds to take her through her skylight.
* * * * *
She sat down on the stool and glanced at the clock behind the bar. 1:30am. This was her third bar/club in four hours.
She hadn't drunk - much: an Orange Bang, two Tom Collins' and a Fuzzy Navel. The drinks had little effect on her. Growing up in the back allies of Cairo, she learned many things: drinking, cards pool and dice. They were just some of the abilities most of her teammates would never associate with her. 'Storm, our leader, forthright and honest. Her, drinking and hustling??? Never!' They had accepted her being a street thief on only the most surface of levels, never considering the things that went along with it. Not that she indulged herself often enough for anyone to notice. Occasionally she would sneak out with Wolverine or Gambit for a few hours, but those times were few and far between. She wondered what Scott would have said about her roughhousing with the boys.
She smiled to herself at the thought and ordered her third Tom Collins of the night.
She took a few sips and then sighed. She was not enjoying herself, not as much as she had hoped to. Her responsibilities at home had been weighing on her lately. She had spent the last year and a half as sole leader of the X-Men, while Scott and Jean were in Alaska. Professor Xavier had not yet been found, and there were new additions to the team, one of which she would gladly have liked to send back to the sewers from whence she came. Things had become easier in the past few months. Scott and Jean had returned and Scott had resumed active duty four weeks earlier. Gambit had returned to the X-Men and apologies had been made on both sides; he for his past and his silence, they for their overreaction and harsh judgement. The mansion had been rebuilt and thanks to Muir Island, they were almost at the technological level they had been before Zero Tolerance. The Professor had not yet returned.
"Hey'ya legs! You wanna dance or somethin'?"
Storm was startled by the slurred and aggressive voice of the large man who was now leaning towards her. Too closely for her taste.
"No. Thank you." She said pushing him back with her hand. 'Goddess, his breath!!!'
"Aawww, comeonnn! You gotta dance. Comeon…."
He grabbed Storm's hand and tried to pull her from the barstool.
"I said, no!" she repeated more forcefully.
The man ignored her and continued the tug-of-war with her slender arm.
"I think you'd better do as the lady says."
A man, two stools down was nursing his drink.
"Why? You gonna do somethin' 'bout it?" The drunken man stood taller, ready to take on a challenge to his manhood.
The man on the barstool looked up. "No. But it looks like she might."
As if on cue, Storm reversed the man's grip on her and twisted his wrist in a way that forced him to drop to his knees in pain.
"Told ya!" the other man said with a chuckle. He took a drink.
"Go-- away." Storm hissed to the man who was nearly in tears at her feet. He nodded quickly and she released him. He stumbled to his feet, gripping his wrist and clumsily backed away into the small crowd of dancers.
"Nicely done."
"Thank you. A friend taught me." She remembered the countless hours Wolverine had spent honing her skills in hand to hand combat.
"Good friend."
"One of the best."
There was a silence between them for a moment.
"If- if I were to ask you to dance. . . you wouldn't break my wrist would you?"
"I did not break it. He will, however, remember that for the next several days."
"I wouldn't want that either. . . Well?"
"Well what?" She asked innocently.
"Would you hurt me if I asked you to dance?"
"I do not know. Perhaps you should ask and find out."
The man put his drink down and stood up, defeated. "Words are too risky."
He stood in front of her. "Take it or twist it." Bowing humbly, he held out his hand as if to help her down from a carriage.
She smiled and stifled the urge to laugh. She gracefully, to his relief, took his hand and he led her to the dance floor."
* * * * *
Remy stuck his head through her bedroom door. His brow knitted and he frowned. It was 3am and Storm wasn't back yet.
'Calm down Remy.' She a big girl. She can take care a herself.'
He closed the door and returned to his own room.
* * * * *
I will never find another lover, Sweeter than you, Sweeter than you,
I will never find another lover, More precious than you, More precious than you
Girl you are, Close to me just like my mother, Close to me just like my father, Close to me just like my sister, Close to me just like my brother
You are the only one my everything, And for you this song I sing
For all my life, I pray for someone like you, And I thank god, that I, That I finally found you,
For all my life, I pray for someone like you, And I hope that you feel the same way too, Yes I pray that you, Do love me too.
Storm spun around happily in the arms of her companion. His name was Rafe Wallace. He was slightly taller than she, around 6'2" and was devilishly handsome. He was part Asian and had silky black hair tied back in a ponytail. It brushed against her hands when she placed them on around his shoulders.
"Wow, it must be pretty late." Rafe said into her ear. "I never notice before but the crowd's almost gone."
'Crowd?!' Storm pushed away from Rafe suddenly and looked about her. He was right. There was only a handful of people left in the room.
"I say something wrong?"
"I-I-No. You did nothing wrong. It is just - well, you see, I am claustrophobic. Extremely claustrophobic. Yet we have been dancing in the center of this crowd for the last two hours. I-- did not even notice where I was!"
Rafe smiled and took her in his arms again. "I've been known to have that effect on women." He chuckled.
"Of that I have little doubt."
Rafe looked to the clock behind the bar. "Damn. It really is late. I have to work tomorrow."
"I should be heading home as well."
The two left the establishment arm in arm. They stopped outside the doors.
"Can I give you a ride?"
Thank you, no. I am. . . covered."
Rafe was staring intensely at Storm.
"What is it?"
He shook is head. "All evening, I just can’t get the idea outta my head that I know you from somewhere."
"I've been known to have that effect on men." She said with a smile.
"I'd like to see you again Ororo. Could I, maybe give you a call sometime."
"I- well-." Ororo looked a bit uneasy.
"Here." He retrieved his wallet and pulled out a business card, as well as a pen from his jacket. He wrote a number on the back and handed the card to her.
"It's my home number. This way there's no risk, it's up to you. You call me if you like and you don't have to worry about some psycho you met in a bar stalking you by phone."
"That was not the reason for my hesitation, but thank you."
"Are you sure I can't drop you anywhere? It's pretty late."
"I am certain. I can find my way home almost every time now."
He smiled. "As long as you're sure then."
"I am."
Rafe cupped Ororo's chin in his hands and gently kissed each of her now closed eyelids.
"Please call." He whispered, then turned and left.
Storm backed away, then left in the opposite direction, turning at the first corner.
Rafe cautiously came back around the side of the building from the parking area. He followed in the direction that Storm had gone. He liked strong women, but independent or no, he wasn’t about to let a lady walk home at three in the morning. His mother had raised him better than that. He just wanted to make sure she caught a cab or had a car parked somewhere.
He turned the corner and stopped suddenly. "Where. . ."
She was gone; the streets were empty enough so that he would have seen her in an instant, had she been there. He walked down a bit, looked up an ally. Nothing. ‘Maybe there was a sitting cab here.’ He thought to himself and made his way back to his own car.
The thought had never occurred to Rafe to look up. Had he done so, he would have seen a set of cat shaped blue eyes watching him from above.
* * * * *
‘What a woman.’
Rafe was in his high rise apartment. He was staring at his reflection in the en suite washroom mirror. ‘Oh, I hope she calls.’ He thought and splashed some water on his face. After drying, he went into his bedroom to change. All lights were off as he had left them. He had just started to take his shirt off, when he heard the music.
I promise to never fall in love with a stranger, Your all I’m thinking of,
I praise the lord above, For sending you my love, I cherish every hug, I really love you so much,
For all my life, I pray for someone like you, And I thank god, that I, That I finally found you,
For all my life, I pray for someone like you, And I hope that you feel the same way too, Yes I pray that you, do love me
It was the last song he and Ororo had danced to, All My Life by K-Ci & JoJo. He walked to the bedroom door. His shirt was still stuck over his head, his arms in the sleeves. He had thought for a moment that it might have been coming from the apartment next door, but he now knew it was definitely his own CD player. He pulled the shirt completely off.
"How-"
On the other side of his apartment, was the kitchen with an open counter. Ororo was sitting on it, legs crossed at the knees. The bottom of her long white dress hung loosely around her elegant bare ankles and feet.
Rafe silently stared at her.
"I changed my mind." She started. "I think I would like you to drive me home after all."
He continued to stand there for a moment, then tossing his shirt onto a chair, he walked towards her. "Really?" Standing directly in front of her, he raised an eyebrow. "Right now?"
"No." She rested her arms on his shoulders and leaned forward, slowly kissing his lips. "In the morning."
You’re all that I ever know, When you smile my face, always seems to glow,
You turn my life around, You pick me up, when I was down,
And I hope that you, Feel the same way too,Yes I pray that you, Do love me too.
For all my life, I pray for someone like you, And I thank god, that I, That I finally found you,
For all my life, I pray for someone like you, And I hope that you feel the same way too, Yes I pray that you, do love me too.