Snow had finally started to gather on the hood of the car, and mist on the glass had become pockmarked sheets of ice. The only remaining two heat sources in the car came from the clouds of the two mouths breathing within.
The cold rarely bothered Ororo. She really only felt it if she allowed herself to. It was similar with the heat or the humidity. Logan, on the other hand, was red-nosed and repeatedly flexed and relaxed his grip around the base of the steering wheel. Occasionally, he would fidget with his orange and red gingham scarf in some attempt to get it to cover any more of the goosepimpled flesh of his chin and neck.
Beyond the occasional throat clearing on Logan's end, the car had been silent for hours. During that time, though their bodies were still, their minds ran laps. Both had made routines of checking mirrors, immediate surroundings, and their watches for updates on the time as well as any movement back at the mansion.
Ororo noticed her partner favoring the steering wheel more and more for support and how leaden his eyelids had gotten since they'd arrived. He'd take the occasional sip of black coffee from his thermos, but she knew he only had a few hours left in him, even if he didn't. Though she knew even after his slim remaining waking hours had passed, any meaningful sleep would likely continue to elude him.
"It's three," Logan said with a sniff and grunt.
"Give him five more minutes."
Around the four minute mark, Ororo could feel everything fall away from her vision aside from the pay phone standing under the sole street light on the long street ahead.
"It's time," her partner said with a slow rolling grumble. "If he was going to call -"
"He said by three, I know." Ororo ran her hand across her collarbone. "Just give him a few extra minutes."
More time slipped by. Enough now for the car to have a nice slick coat of powdery snow. She could feel Logan's eyes on the side of her head, but she couldn't get herself to look away from the phone.
"It's time, Ororo."
As she blinked, she could feel the small muscles in her temples struggle to assist the movement of her eyelids to scrape across her watering eyes. When Logan started the car, she finally let her eyes close to bring an end to hours-long vigil… when she heard it. Originally, she mistook it for the car struggling to turn over, but the next loud clattering of tinny bells was impossible to mistake.
Without looking to her partner for confirmation, Ororo threw the door open and rushed to the payphone.
"Pawn to H6," said a cool voice.
"Rook to H5."
After a pause, a familiar voice brought immediate calm to the storm in Ororo's chest. "It's good to hear from you, my friend."
"Xavier…"
"I apologize for the delay. I wanted to be sure no one would be aware of our communication here. I purchased a burner phone earlier today and intend to destroy it after this conversation. There are a lot of prying eyes on me these days, I'm afraid."
"Professor," The questions all accumulated in her throat at once, and any single one struggled to find its way out.
"How have the children been? I heard about a transgression at school."
"Yes," Ororo looked back at the car. Beyond the dark windows, she could just spot the glint of Logan smoking a cigar inside. "The children have been struggling, Xavier. The mansion was also attacked by a Sentinel in your absence."
"I'm aware."
"You are?"
"A mutual friend of ours has been sure that I was abreast of that particular situation. I am also aware that I have his thanks for handling the situation."
"Professor, you know I could have handled it. Given the circumstance -"
"I'm not casting doubt on your abilities, Ororo. If anything, I'm relying more on them now than ever before."
Ororo paused and clasped the thick metal cord of the payphone with her free hand. It was the first time that whole night she felt cold. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, I'm not sure when I'll be able to return to the mansion. I'm afraid this position I've had to put you and Logan in may have to be more long-term than I initially had hoped."
"Why?"
"There is a lot of attention on me and who I associate with. Already, without my being there, the mansion has been attacked once. If I were there, I'd be afraid of what sort of risk I could inadvertently pose toward the children."
"But surely now more than ever we should be united. Together we must face what is ahead."
"And you and the others will, Ororo. Right now, though, my presence will bring only more difficulties than benefits."
Another long stretch of dead air. Ororo glanced back at the car. Logan was still sitting there, but now with his cigar hanging out the window by a gloved hand.
"Ororo?"
"I'm here."
"I'm hoping that sooner than later, the interest in our people will fall to the wayside in favor of something else that can capture the attention of the masses. At that point, I could return to the mansion. However, at this point, it's difficult to tell when that would be."
"Yes, of course," Ororo said with some snap to her voice. "I understand, Professor."
"I am sorry I have to put you in this position, Ororo."
"Did your sources also tell you that Anna was attacked?"
"She was attacked? By whom?"
"Boys at her school. They tried to stab her with a knife."
"Is she alright?"
"She's fine. In fact, she's completely unscathed despite a direct blow to the shoulder. She did more damage to the weapon than anything."
There was some minor shuffling on the other end, like the professor was shifting hands or shoulders to hold the phone. "Are you telling me the knife deflected off her skin somehow?"
"That would appear to be the case. She also unintentionally destroyed one of the chairs in the dining room by squeezing it, and slammed a boy hard enough into a wall at school that he nearly lost consciousness."
"Well, that is interesting…"
"Interesting? Professor, her abilities are developing, and I'm not sure how to help her!"
"Patience, understanding -"
"They are good qualities to have, but this girl needs to understand what's happening to her body. These are answers I can't give her."
"What she needs is a level head and a steady hand. These are both things you are equipped with, Ororo."
Ororo laid her hand atop the pay phone housing and stared into the neighboring woods. The darkness beyond the trees stared back at her. With a crisp snap, she muttered, "Is there anything else you'd have me do in your absence?"
"Don't underestimate your abilities as a leader, Ororo. I know I put these children in good hands when I trusted them with you."
"Thank you, Professor. Goodnight." With that, she slammed the phone hard enough down on the receiver that the internal ringing mechanism chimed. As she walked back to the car, she could feel the impact and vibration of every step travel up her body.
"That looked like it went well." Logan greeted her along with a small cloud of sweet-smelling smoke when she got in the car. "What words of wisdom did the prof have for you?" Logan took another drag off his cigar.
Ororo's eyes snapped from him to his oral fixation. A sudden localized channel of wind shot through the car from Ororo's window to Logan's. The vortext sucked out all the smoke along with the last part of the cigar Logan was savoring. Small sparkles of frost formed around his lip and the hand he had been using to hold the cigar.
He wiped the loosely formed snow and ice off his face, started the car back up a second time, and flashed a cheesy smile. "Back to the mansion then?"