Angela looked down and gave the girl a soothing smile.
“Rest now, child. What comes next is grown-ups’ business.”
She tucked the girl back into the arms of the woman beside her and added a quiet instruction.
“Cover her eyes. What happens now isn’t for a child to see.”
The woman still hadn’t come back to herself.
All she knew was that in the space of a blink she had walked to the edge of death and back; the arrows were still lodged in her body, yet she no longer felt that same agony—none of the pain of dying.
On instinct she pulled her daughter close and, doing as she’d been told, covered the girl’s eyes.
Angela turned to face the band of thugs, who had yet to snap out of their daze.
Expressionless, she put the Caduceus Staff away and drew her Caduceus Blaster, leveling it at the head of the man who had loosed the arrow at the girl.
Her voice was cold.
“Some are dead. Some are still alive. On the road toward death, they might need a little help along the way. I’m happy to provide it.”
Bang.
One shot, straight through the head, flawlessly precise.
The man’s startled expression was still frozen on his face as his skull burst into a spray of blood.
“She’s a ‘monster’ too! Quick! Kill her!”
The dead man’s companions finally came to their senses, shouting in a panic and snatching up their bows again.
In that moment, a sinking feeling crept over them.
They’d assumed only “Magneto” would be here, which was why they’d taken care to bring no metal of any kind—never imagining a brand-new mutant monster would turn up.
Angela nearly wanted to sneer.
Threatening her with bows and arrows—who did they think they were, Hanzo?
Short of Hanzo’s spirit possessing them, since when did someone holding a gun have anything to fear from someone holding a bow?
Without hesitation she swung the muzzle toward the next man.
Scott’s shockwave and Jean Grey’s Phoenix power reached the field in the same instant, slamming down with sheer force.
The men’s formation was shattered outright.
One was cut clean in two by the shockwave; the rest dropped, one after another, as they tried to flee.
Not a single shot went wide.
Not a single shot strayed.
Every last energy bolt struck home, dead center, on the enemies’ skulls.
Only once the final man had fallen did Angela put the Caduceus Blaster away and turn to tend to her two patients.
The arrows were still in them; they just weren’t immediately fatal.
Left untended for too long, though, death remained a real possibility.
“Your injuries still need further treatment. I’m a doctor. If you’re willing to trust me, please let me operate on you.”
The woman held her child, staring blankly, still not fully back to herself.
She had no idea what any of this had been.
Out of nowhere, people had come with weapons to seize them, and then, just as suddenly, had tried to kill them.
But this much she knew for certain: the “angel” before her had saved them.
“I’m Magda.
Thank you…
please, save my daughter, Nina.”
“Don’t be afraid.
You’re both going to be fine.” Angela bent down and held out a hand to the mother and daughter still seated on the ground.
“We need a quiet, undisturbed place to begin the operation.”
Magda reached out on instinct and took the hand the “angel” offered her.
Cradled in her mother’s arms, Nina found herself looking up at the golden ring of metal adorning Angela’s head.
In the sunlight the gold halo shone, its glow mirrored, brilliant, in the little girl’s eyes.
“Angel… are you an ‘angel’?”
Who could help but love a sweet, innocent child?
Children are the future, and they are hope.
Ana had once said it was precisely so that Fareeha could live in a better world that she kept on fighting.
In this, every member of Overwatch was the same.
They fought with everything they had to protect something—and what they wanted to protect was exactly that “better future.” They wanted these children to grow up in a better world, hoped they would never again have to face gunfire and war.
Even the coldest agent would never harm a child on purpose.
Without realizing it, Angela softened her expression and answered gently, “Yes. I’m an ‘angel.’ You’re going to be all right, child. Trust me.”
Nina nodded obediently, her whole face alight with innocent longing.
“Mm. I trust the angel.”
It was at this point that Scott, Jean Grey, and Hank—who’d lagged behind to hide the jet—all came hurrying over.
And so did someone else: a man who, until moments ago, had thought he was about to lose everything.
When Erik Lehnsherr had watched his wife and daughter fall, the grief had been unbearable; it felt as though the whole world were collapsing around him.
Just as his power was about to spiral out of control, he witnessed the impossible.
An angel had saved his wife and daughter and killed the brutes who’d attacked them.
Others, because of the distance, might assume the “angel” had merely pulled two gravely wounded people back from the brink.
But he could not be mistaken.
For one moment, Nina’s energy signature had stopped entirely—she had, however briefly, died. The source of this chapter is g.com.
And the “angel” had brought her back to the world of the living.
He had heard the angel’s words, too.
Heroes never die.
A power to bring back the dead?
Was this a new kind of mutant?
Erik Lehnsherr strode over quickly, calling his wife’s and daughter’s names with desperate urgency.
Magda looked up, overjoyed.
“Darling, you’re back.”
Erik nodded, then turned a still-wary gaze on Cyclops and Phoenix.
“Cyclops, Phoenix—why are you here?”
Scott put his glasses back on and let out a sour grunt.
“What do you think we’re here for? The Professor sent us.”
Phoenix used her power to pulverize the thugs’ corpses completely, so no one would find them, and only then took up the thread.
“The Professor heard someone was coming after you and sent us to help. If we hadn’t happened along when we did, your family…”
What Phoenix left unsaid couldn’t have been clearer.
If the four of them hadn’t arrived, Magneto would have had to watch his wife and daughter die before his eyes.
The order to get out that Erik had been about to give caught in his throat.
“…Charles sent you?”
Scott rolled his eyes.
“You think we came all this way to pay you a social call?
Stop wasting time—their wounds still need to be dealt with.”
“That’s right.
I’ve stabilized them for the moment, but if the arrows stay lodged in their bodies too long, they’ll trigger a secondary infection.”
Angela had been quietly listening to the others spar with words, picking up the gist of it well enough, and the instant the talk turned to her own field, she spoke up at once.
Hearing this, Erik Lehnsherr looked again at the unfamiliar female mutant.
“I have you to thank for what just happened. I’m ‘Magneto’—I imagine this lot has already told you about me.”
The moment the man gave no name of his own, Angela guessed he’d changed it while in hiding and wouldn’t speak the old one.
Considerate as ever, she played along with his lead.
“I’m Angela Ziegler, the newly appointed physician at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. You may also call me ‘Mercy.’ Your wife’s and daughter’s wounds shouldn’t be put off—it’s best to remove the arrows and treat them as soon as possible.”
Erik Lehnsherr nodded, his face dark.
“Come with me. Our home is nearby. Or do you need to get to the nearest hospital?”
Angela shook her head and corrected him.
“In theory that would be best, but the timing of the treatment matters more. Please trust that I’m more than capable of handling their condition.”
A soft beep, and the system’s voice prompt popped up.
(Mission “travel to Poland and rendezvous with Magneto” complete. Reward issued: one Supply Pack. EXP settlement—First Win of the Day: +1500 EXP; Victory: +500 EXP; gold medals in healing, damage, and eliminations: bonus +150 EXP. Final total: 2150 EXP. User promoted to Level 2. One Supply Pack obtained.)