Thunder and Black Wings

Summary: Blake had been living a mundane life, always feeling like something was missing. Day after day, he drifted through an existence that seemed too small for him, never suspecting that supernatural forces were lurking just out of sight, until one of them tried to kill him. That attempt failed, and it pushed him onto a path far greater than he could have ever expected. OC - Blake Himejima - DxD/Multi-Cross Story. Occasional Smut/Lemons.

Chapter 1:

– Blake Smith –

For as long as I could remember, there had always been something missing in my life. And it wasn't hard to figure out what that was—it was my memories. 

At ten years old, I'd turned up in front of some random social worker's office in New York City with no clue how I got there or even who I was. I didn't know my name, my real birthday, or where I came from. 

Hell, I didn't even know if I had a family. It was the social workers who ended up giving me the name Blake Smith. Generic as hell, but it wasn't like I could argue at the time. 

For the next eight years, I got bounced around the foster system like a bad penny, never staying in one place for too long. Some homes weren't so bad. Others? I'd rather not think about those places ever again.

Did I want to know who I really was? Of course I did. I tried everything I could think of—therapy, hypnosis, even some shady psychic bullshit once. None of it worked. Every year of failure made me wonder if I should just give up and move on with my life. 

Especially today. Today was my eighteenth birthday. 

"Don't come back here after school today," my foster mother said that morning, leaning against the doorway with a cigarette dangling from her lips. She already reeked of booze as well, whether that was from last night or she'd already started drinking this morning was anybody's guess. Probably both since I knew how disgusting she was. "You're eighteen now, and the government ain't giving me no more money to take care of you… unless you wanna accept my other offer…?" She grinned disgustingly at me. She was a toad of a woman in her mid-fifties, easily pushing 300 pounds. 

She'd been hitting on me since I showed up a few months ago…

"Fuck off," I said, slinging my backpack over my shoulder. 

"Your loss!" she snorted as I walked out the door for the last time. 

Good riddance. 

I hopped on my skateboard and started down the street, weaving through traffic and ignoring the honking cars and angry pedestrians who shouted when I got too close. I wasn't in the mood to care, so I flipped off a few of them just for good measure. 

By the time I made it to Midtown High, I still had plenty of time to spare. Not that it mattered. 

Eighteen years old and still stuck in my junior year. Not because I was stupid or anything—I wasn't—but bouncing around foster homes had completely screwed my records. Missing weeks, sometimes months, of school at a time will do that. Most days, I wondered why I even bothered coming at all. 

But I still did. 

Because no matter how much my life sucked, no matter how much of a dead end everything seemed, I always had this nagging feeling in the back of my mind. 

I was meant for more. 

I just had no idea what the hell that was! And that was frustrating as hell! 

The bell rang, and I sat back in my chair, tapping my pencil against the desk. The teacher made her rounds, dropping graded tests on each student's desk. My palms were sweaty—not because I thought I'd failed, but because I couldn't help but want the validation. 

"Nice work, Blake," the teacher said, sliding the paper in front of me. 

I glanced down and saw the big red "99" circled at the top. 

"Thanks," I said quietly, sliding the paper into my folder as she moved on. 

A good grade. I should've been happy about it. And part of me was. 

But the rest of me? The part of me that had walked out of a foster home for the last time this morning and didn't know where I'd sleep tonight? That part felt like a hundred-pound weight pressing down on my chest. 

"Damn, dude," Peter said from the desk beside me, leaning over to nudge my shoulder. "Another A? You're killing it. You gotta tutor me sometime, man—I'm barely holding on to a B in this class. History is so boring! I like math and science so much better." 

I chuckled, but it was hollow. My mind was in another place.

Peter quickly picked up that something was wrong. "Hey, man. Are you good?" he asked me.

I hesitated, my hands tightening around the sides of my desk. He was my best friend, but how the hell was I supposed to tell him? Hey, Pete, guess what? I'm homeless now. Oh, and I'm eighteen, so technically I'm on my own. Cool, right? 

"Yeah," I said quickly, forcing a grin. "I'm fine..." 

Peter raised an eyebrow. "You sure? You seem… I don't know, distracted or something." 

I scrambled for a distraction, something to change the subject before he started asking more questions. My brain landed on the one topic I knew would get his attention. 

"Did you see the trailer for that new game?" I asked, feigning enthusiasm. 

Peter's eyes lit up immediately. "Hell yeah, I did! The Revengers! Dude, it looks insane. Fifteen classes, open-world dungeons, and they're saying the AI is completely dynamic—like it adapts to your playstyle or something." 

I nodded along, letting him ramble about the mechanics, gear systems, and all the upcoming DLCs he was already hyped for. It was working; he was too caught up in the details to notice I wasn't actually paying much attention. 

Peter was a good guy. The best, really. But I couldn't drag him into my mess. Not when I didn't even know how I was going to fix it myself. 

As he kept talking, I just nodded and smiled where it seemed appropriate, hoping he wouldn't see through me. Hoping he wouldn't realize how lost I really was. 

The bell rang, and I headed for my locker, weaving through the large crowd of students shouting, laughing, and jostling down the hall. 

Then I saw them.

Jean Grey and Emma Frost. 

They were standing by my locker, looking as poised and perfect as ever. Jean's fiery red hair fell around her shoulders in soft waves, framing those emerald green eyes that seemed to see right through people. She had a kind of natural warmth about her that made you want to trust her, though something in the back of my mind told me to still be careful. 

Emma, on the other hand, was the opposite of warm. She was cool and confident, with platinum blonde hair that shimmered like silk and piercing blue eyes that could cut glass. She carried herself like she owned the place, her posture was flawless, and she always had a small smirk permanently etched on her face. 

They were seniors—transfers from Bayville High, which had mysteriously burned down about a week before they arrived. 

The rumor mill had been working overtime on that one, with theories ranging from a freak gas explosion to something about a "mutant" with fire powers. Most people didn't take the mutant stuff seriously, though. 

Mutants were still nothing more than a rumor. Blake had certainly never seen one.

Jean noticed me first, her face lighting up with a genuine smile. Emma was right behind her, leaning against the locker next to mine with her arms crossed, her gaze fixed on me like she was trying to read my mind or something... 

I paused, taken aback for a second. Beautiful girls weren't exactly rare in Midtown High, and I wasn't a stranger to their attention. Peter thought I was crazy for not taking up any of the countless passes I'd gotten over the years. But none of those girls had ever really interested me. 

Jean and Emma, though? They were different. Way different. And it wasn't just their drop-dead gorgeous looks. There was something about them—something magnetic, almost otherworldly—that made it impossible to ignore them. 

"Blake," Jean said softly, "we were wondering when you'd show up." 

Emma glanced at her nails, her smirk growing wider. "We're starting to think you were avoiding us," she added, her tone teasing but with just enough edge to make me wonder if she was joking. 

I stepped closer, doing my best to keep my expression from becoming flustered. "You know, there are a lot of lockers in this school. Why do you keep hanging around mine?" 

Jean laughed softly, her eyes crinkling in a way that made it hard to look away. "We just like talking to you. Is that so bad?" 

"Right," I said, opening my locker and starting to swap out my books. "Well, I'm sure there are plenty of other interesting people around here you could talk to…?" 

Jean leaned a little closer, her voice dropping just enough to make it feel like the conversation was meant for me and me alone. "Maybe, but we only want to talk to you..." 

I paused, my hand hovering over a textbook. There was a strange weight to her words, almost like they carried more meaning than she was letting on. 

Emma chuckled, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "So, what's the plan for lunch today?" she asked, obviously inviting herself for some reason.

…

Sitting at the lunch table with Jean and Emma wasn't exactly nerve-wracking—it was just… surreal. 

This wasn't the first time they'd asked me to join them for lunch. They'd been persistent all week, and I'd been dodging them, using Peter as an excuse. 

But Peter wasn't here today, he was off geeking out with the math and science kids on some field trip to Oscorp's headquarters. Honestly, that sounded boring as hell, but right now, I would've traded places with him in a heartbeat. 

I could feel the stares from all over the cafeteria—guys glaring at me like I'd stolen something from them, girls whispering like I wasn't sitting right there. Normally, that kind of attention didn't bother me, but this was different. 

I wasn't sure why Jean and Emma were so interested in me. They talked like they genuinely enjoyed my company, pulling me into their conversations about random topics. 

Too bad I was distracted. 

My thoughts kept drifting back to this morning, to the fact that I was now technically homeless. I had a couple hundred bucks saved up, which would get me a few nights at a motel and maybe some cheap food, but beyond that? No clue. At least lunch here was free, so I had that going for me. 

"Blake?" Jean's voice pulled me back to the present. She was looking at me with concern.

"Hm?" I blinked, realizing I'd completely zoned out. 

"You okay?" she asked, tilting her head. 

Emma gave me a look too, her sharp gaze narrowing slightly. "You've been quiet," she said. 

I shrugged, trying to play it off. "Just got a lot on my mind." 

Jean leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. "Like what?" 

"It's nothing," I said quickly, waving them off. The last thing I wanted was to dump my problems on two girls I barely knew, no matter how friendly—or gorgeous—they were. 

They didn't seem to buy it. Jean's frown deepened, and Emma's smirk turned into something closer to a scowl. 

"Come on," Emma said, her tone flat but firm. "What's going on?" 

I sighed, realizing they weren't going to drop it. "Fine," I muttered. "I got kicked out of my foster home this morning. I turned eighteen, so they're done with me. I'm on my own now." 

Their reactions weren't what I expected. For a moment, they exchanged a glance, some unspoken tension passing between them. Jean's warm expression faltered, and Emma's smirk disappeared entirely. 

Then Emma spoke. "You can stay with me," she said, her voice steady and matter-of-fact. "Frost Manor has plenty of space. It's just me, my little sister… and a whole bunch of armed guards." She added the last part like it was no big deal. 

"Wait, what?" I asked, completely thrown off. 

Jean shook her head, her red hair shifting slightly as she turned to Emma. "No way. He should stay with me. Xavier's School for the Gifted is perfect for him. The professor would definitely want to help." 

I raised an eyebrow. "Help someone like me? A broke eighteen-year-old foster kid?" 

Jean hesitated, her confidence faltering for just a second. "Err… yes?" she said, clearly realizing how bad that sounded. 

Emma rolled her eyes dramatically. "Great job, Jean. Really inspiring pitch there, Red."

"Don't call me Red!" Jean pouted.

They exchanged another one of those glances, like they were having a silent argument. Emma's smirk came back, sharper than ever, while Jean's lips pressed into a thin line. 

Finally, Emma turned to me, her tone confident and final. "You're staying with me!" she declared, like the decision had already been made. 

Jean let out an exasperated sigh but didn't seem to argue the decision.

I opened my mouth to do so, but Emma immediately shut me down.

"You're staying with me, Blake." Her Icy blue eyes narrowed in on me and I gulped. 

Something told me not to say no to her. As if I would come to immensely regret it for the rest of my life if I did. 

…

When the final bell rang and the school day came to an end, I slung my backpack over one shoulder and headed toward the main doors. The plan was to skate around for a bit and clear my head, but that plan screeched to a halt the second I stepped outside. A limo. A freaking limousine was parked at the curb right in front of me, Jean, and Emma.

It wasn't just any limo, either. It was the kind you'd see in movies or on reality TV, the kind that screamed money with its glossy black finish and sleek design. For a guy who'd been poor for as long as he could remember, it was a shocking sight. Hell, I wasn't used to seeing that level of wealth in person, let alone having it pull up like it was waiting for me.

I turned to Emma, raising an eyebrow. "If your family has the money to send a limo to pick you up, then why are you going to a public school?"

She shot me a cheeky wink, her icy blue eyes sparkling with mischief. "Of course I'm going to this dump of a school because you're here. Why else?"

I felt my cheeks heat up at her words, a warmth that was both embarrassing and confusing. I shook my head quickly, trying to dismiss it. "Yeah, right. Seriously, why?"

Emma just smirked, and Jean exchanged a knowing glance with her before chiming in. "We're completely serious. You'll believe us eventually."

I opened my mouth to argue, but Emma had already slid into the limo, her blonde hair flipping over her shoulder as she did. "Come on," she said, motioning for me to follow. "We have a lot of shopping to do before the day's out."

Jean followed her inside with a casual grace, and I hesitated for a moment before climbing in after them. The interior was every bit as luxurious as the exterior, all leather seats and polished wood accents. I made sure to avoid staining the expensive leather with my shoes.

My efforts must've been obvious because Emma and Jean giggled softly, clearly finding it amusing.

The driver started the car, and as we pulled out of the parking lot, I couldn't help but facepalm at the sight of hundreds of students gawking at us in shock. Some were even pulling out their phones to snap pictures. Great. Tomorrow was going to be fun.

I decided to shove that problem into the "deal with it later" category and turned to Emma. "So, what kind of shopping are we doing?"

Emma's lips curled into a smile. "I was going to ask you that."

I stared at her blankly. "What?"

Jean rolled her eyes, lightly nudging Emma with her elbow. "Stop being so obtuse. You're making him uncomfortable."

Emma's cheeks turned a light pink, and she gave me an apologetic look. "Sorry, Blake. I didn't mean to be weird about it." She cleared her throat before continuing. "Since you were kicked out of your foster home and all you've got on you is your clothes and skateboard, I figured you'd need the essentials. Clothes, toiletries, maybe a few other things."

I nodded slowly, appreciating the thought. "I've got some money saved up," I said. "I should be fine to get all that stuff."

Emma immediately pouted, crossing her arms. "Nope. I'm paying for everything." Her icy blue eyes flicked over me, and she pursed her lips thoughtfully. "And while we're at it… Blake, it's no exaggeration when I say this, you're the most handsome guy in school by a landslide. But you're holding yourself back with those… dumpy secondhand clothes." She glanced at Jean, who nodded in agreement. "Since you're going to be hanging out with us from now on, you need to start representing yourself better."

At first, her comment made me bristle, but then I caught the sincerity in her eyes. She wasn't mocking me for being poor. If anything, she seemed genuinely determined to help. I hesitated for a moment, unsure how to respond. This was probably the nicest thing anyone had offered me in… well, ever.

Finally, I nodded. "Alright," I said, my voice quieter than usual. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

Jean smiled warmly, and Emma's smirk returned, this time less sharp and more genuine. They looked at each other for a moment before I asked the question that had been nagging at me. "Why are you guys doing this? Why are you being so nice to me?"

Jean's smile turned playful, and she leaned back in her seat. "You'll find out soon enough. We promise it's nothing bad."

Emma's smirk grew as she exchanged another glance with Jean.

…

For the first time in a long time, I thought things were genuinely looking up for me. I was riding in a limo with the two most beautiful girls in my school, and judging by how rich Emma seemed to be, I was pretty sure I was going to be staying in a genuine mansion by the end of the night.

Emma and Jean were still both a complete mystery to me, though. During the limo ride, I tried my best to observe the two of them as they playfully chatted with each other, but it wasn't like staring at two pretty girls was going to help me figure them out.

Of course, both of them caught me staring, which made my cheeks heat up yet again. "There's no need for you to be so shy, Blake," Jean told me sincerely.

"You can stare at me as much as you want," Emma added with a cheeky grin. "In fact, you should look at me more than Jean because I'm obviously more beautiful, aren't I?"

"Uhhh…" I had no idea how to respond to that. In fact, I was pretty sure the correct answer was to not respond to that at all.

"Nice try, Blondie," Jean shot back, "but it was obvious Blake's eyes were all over me much longer than you."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Everybody knows that blondes are more popular than redheads."

This time, Jean rolled her eyes before turning to me. "You don't think that's true, do you? Obviously redheads are better."

"Uhhhh…" Once again, I chose not to respond.

Both girls just started giggling, clearly messing with me. I couldn't help but smirk a little myself. Yep, it really did seem like things were finally starting to look up for me.

Or so I thought…

Suddenly, Emma and Jean's eyes widened in shock and panic.

"What's going on?" I tried to ask, but I was cut off.

The sound of shattering glass pierced the air, followed by a grunt of pain from the driver. A sickening gurgle and splattering noise came next. The limo began to swerve violently across the New York streets, jerking left and right. Before I could fully register what was happening, the car veered heavily to the right and slammed into the side of a parked van with a deafening crunch.

The momentum of the crash sent me flying forward since I wasn't wearing a seatbelt. But just as I braced myself for impact, I felt an invisible force grab me, stopping me mid-lurch and gently setting me back.

I didn't have time to think about it, though, because Emma and Jean were both yelling at me. "Move! Get out of the limo! We're under attack!"

My eyes widened in shock, but I didn't hesitate. I was closest to the door, so I threw it open and scrambled out as fast as I could. 

Both girls were right behind me, diving out just in time.

Not a second too soon, because the moment we hit the pavement, glowing energy spears rained down from the sky, impaling the top of the limo and puncturing it like a pincushion.

I gulped at the sight, my heart hammering in my chest. If we'd been a couple of seconds slower, we'd all be dead.

I gazed up at the figure who had just tried to kill us, completely shocked and unsure if they were even human. First of all, the guy had a face like a monster—the kind you'd expect Dracula to have in one of those old horror movies. His skin was pale and gaunt, his red eyes glowed with an unnatural intensity, and his lips twisted into a snarl that showed off sharp, animalistic teeth. Behind him, ten massive black, feathery wings spread out, casting an imposing shadow over the street.

And of course, people were running away in terror…

"I was planning on being merciful and granting you a quick and painless death," the winged man growled, his voice dripping with disdain. "But it seems like you want to make me put in a bit of effort. So be it."

His hateful glare was fixed solely on me, which only made the whole thing even more unnerving. What the hell did I do to piss this guy off?

"Who the hell are you, and why are you trying to kill me?" I shouted, my voice shaking despite my best efforts to sound tough.

"His name is Kokabiel," Emma said, her tone sharp and unflinching. "And he's a fallen angel."

A fallen angel. Seriously? The world was still struggling to wrap its collective head around mutants being real, and now I was supposed to believe that everything from the Bible was apparently true too?

"You're remarkably well-informed for regular human trash," Kokabiel snarled, his venomous gaze shifting to Emma.

Emma stepped forward, her icy blue eyes narrowing. "There's nothing regular about me," she snapped. "And you're going to regret trying to kill the man we love!"

"Love?!" My jaw practically hit the ground. "What the hell?" 

When did we get to that step? I was still trying to process the fact that these two insanely gorgeous girls wanted to be friends with me! Now they were throwing out the L-word like it was no big deal? Did we just skip a whole bunch of steps!?

Jean's face turned as red as her hair as she glared at Emma. "Emma…" she hissed. "What the hell is going on? This was never supposed to happen!"

Emma sighed, looking more annoyed than anything. "We messed with TIME, Jean! Things were bound to turn out differently than we remembered!"

I stared at the two of them, my confusion skyrocketing. Messed with TIME? Remembered? What the hell were they talking about? And why did it sound like I was at the center of whatever this mess was?

I watched in shock as Emma's entire body transformed into diamond. Her smooth, crystalline form caught the light, refracting it like a human-shaped gemstone. Next to her, Jean suddenly erupted in a red aura that looked like pure fire, her body lifting off the ground as if gravity no longer applied to her.

I wasn't the only one stunned. Kokabiel froze for a moment, his red eyes wide. "What the hell? I've never seen sacred gears like this before!"

"We don't need to rely on something like that!" Jean shouted back. "We're mutants, and this is our own power!"

With that, she raised her hand toward Kokabiel. The red aura surrounding her flared brighter, and suddenly, Kokabiel's body was yanked violently out of the air. He slammed into the asphalt with an earth-shaking crash, leaving behind a genuine crater.

"Holy shit!" I exclaimed, staring at the scene in disbelief. "That was fucking awesome."

Jean turned back at me and smirked. "Damn right it was."

"Focus!" Emma snapped, her diamond voice sharp and commanding. "This guy is super tough, despite being a battle-crazed moron!" Without another word, she charged forward. She couldn't fly like Jean, but with Kokabiel grounded, that didn't matter. She began pummeling him with her diamond fists, each punch landing with a sickening crunch.

I sucked in a breath as I watched. Kokabiel's face was dripping with blood, and I swore I saw a couple of teeth fly out. But even as he took the beating, the bastard created one of those glowing laser spears out of thin air and tried to stab Emma with it.

Thankfully, Jean had her back. A car on the side of the street suddenly flew into the air and smashed into Kokabiel's side, forcing him to drop the spear. Jean raised her hand again, and the car lifted back into the air like it weighed nothing. Then she began slamming it down like a hammer, with Kokabiel as the nail.

"Damn you two humans… gah!" Kokabiel screamed, his voice a mix of pain and fury. "I won't be denied my revenge against Baraqiel! I will kill his son!"

Baraqiel? Son? Was that… my father? Did this guy know something about my missing past? For a second, I almost wanted to yell at Emma and Jean to stop, but then I remembered this asshole had killed Emma's limo driver without a shred of remorse. He was trying to kill me too. Fuck him.

"Puchi!"

"Huh…" I muttered… "What just happened…?"

I looked down to see one of those glowing spears sticking out of my stomach. I'd been impaled from behind.

"I did it, Lord Kokabiel! I killed him!" a voice cheered from behind me. Turning slowly, I saw some bastard in a trench coat and fedora grinning at me with a crazed look in his eyes. Unlike Kokabiel, this guy only had two black wings, but it was obvious he was another fallen angel.

Jean and Emma both screamed my name. Their voices were filled with a mix of horror and rage.

"No! No, no, no!" Jean shouted, her voice cracking. "This wasn't supposed to happen!" Her red aura flared wildly as she turned to the fedora-wearing asshole. "I'll kill you!"

The smug bastard didn't even have time to gloat further before Jean's aura enveloped him. With a flick of her wrist, he was violently flung across the street, crashing through the window of a storefront.

"We need to do something!" Emma cried, running over to me.

I slumped down to my knees, suddenly feeling very cold. The spear in my stomach burned like fire, but it was the icy numbness spreading through the rest of my body that scared me. My vision blurred, and I could barely hear Jean and Emma's frantic voices.

"What a shitty birthday," I muttered bitterly. I didn't want to go out like this. There was so much more I wanted to do. That feeling I'd always had—that I was meant for something more—was slipping away, replaced by an overwhelming sense of failure. Was this it? Was I just going to let it end here?

No. Fuck that. I grit my teeth against the pain, refusing to let it win. This wasn't the end of my story.

Suddenly, I felt something warm stir within my chest and back. It was nothing like the burning pain of the spear. This was something different, something… familiar. Like a part of me that had been missing was suddenly back. Too bad I was on the verge of blacking out and couldn't figure out what it was.

– Jean –

Jean watched as the man she and Emma both loved, the man they had literally traveled back in time for, was slowly dying in their arms.

How could this have happened? It wasn't supposed to be this way. They just wanted to make things better, to give the young man they loved a better future than the inevitable failure he had died for in the original timeline.

"Wait? What's happening?" Emma suddenly asked.

Jean's eyes went wide.

Blake's body was suddenly being enveloped in some kind of blue light. That had never happened before. She always remembered his powers being golden lightning and black wings. Where was this blue light coming from?

And then Blake suddenly vanished. His body, along with the light spear still sticking out of him, disappeared into motes of that blue light.

"What was that!?" Jean asked, her voice trembling. "Did Blake just die!?"

"No… child. He didn't. He awoke an ability that he never could in your previous timeline. One that was granted to him by the one being who's power exceeds even my own. Your love will live…"

The Phoenix Force spoke in her head for the first time since Jean had traveled back in time, and those were its words. Relief flooded through Jean at the knowledge that Blake would survive… and then rage surged in her veins as she realized someone had almost taken him from them! Emma was forced to back away as the flames around Jean turned hotter and more crimson. The street underneath her started to bubble and melt as she glared at Kokabiel.

The fool hadn't left yet for some reason. He would regret that.

"What the hell happened!? Where did that bastard Nephilim go!? I won't be denied my revenge!" Kokabiel declared, his voice filled with frustration.

"You're going to be denied a lot," Jean shouted so loudly all the nearby buildings shook. "Because I'm going to kill you!"

XXX

Welcome to another new Story! This one is going to be a bit more slow paced in Blake's adventures, but I've been getting pretty good reception so far over on my Patreo n. I hope you all like it too!