To The End

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters, Marvel does.

A Note: things written 'normally' are after the battle. Things in 'italics' are during the battle.

Another Note: An idea that came to me listening to My Chemical Romance's 'The Ghost of You'. Trying a different way of writing, so if you get lost, read all the stuff in italics first, then the stuff normally.


He crouched beside her broken form, one hand running over her pale, cold cheek. Sorrow gripped him when the familiar pull, one they had desperately fought against, prayed that they could someday conquer, didn't reach him.

She spun around to face Mystique. Her hands bunched into fists as she glared at the woman before her. Mystique merely grinned in return, seemingly relaxed as she stared down the girl before her.

His fingers gently traced her chin; moving over slightly parted lips, hoping for the non-existent breath to lit upon them. Gently wiping the fine sliver of blood from her nose away as they continued over rested features until they stopped on a forehead that would never again crease with worry, a thought, a frown.

With a cry of anger she jumped at the woman, slamming into the elder mutants chest and forcing her to stumble to the ground. She was on her in an instant, slamming a hand into Mystique's stomach. It seemed not to deter the woman, she still grinned at the girl, her own hand ramming into Rogue's face, sending her flying back.

He stared into her eyes, the blank emerald pools fixed on a non-existent point somewhere above, the fire once in them extinguished, gazing unseeingly until his index and middle finger travelled back over them, dragging her eyelids closed for the last time.

She carefully pulled herself to her feet, spitting out a small amount of blood, she'd bitten her tongue when Mystique's fist rammed home. Her eyes scoured the rest of the battleground quickly, running over her fellow X-Men. Stopping briefly on him, fighting Pyro with Bobby almost effortlessly. The scowl set in his face showing the anger he felt at having to fight alongside the 'Ice-Man'. She turned back to Mystique; she stood there silently, smirking at Rogue with determination.

The first tear welled into his eyes as his fingers gently stroked through her hair, untangling the white strands from the congealing blood that layered them. His fingers allowing the fine hair to fall back against her face as he remembered the 'Cat and Mouse' chase they played for years before finally admitting they loved each other.

She jumped back at her, anger boiling in her veins. Her hands closed around Mystique's neck, knocking them both to the floor. Mystique's smirk faltered, morphing into the metal form of Colossus, she heaved her off, slamming the girls' head into the floor. She rolled over, seeing stars on the ceiling above her.

The tears fell onto her cheek, mixing with the blood and dirt there to run to the floor as his hand traced past her ear and over her chin again before running over her neck, stopping on her shoulder, lying on the deep wounds there; tearing through uniform, skin and bone to immobilise the whole arm.

Once her sight had cleared the girl pulled herself up. Noting only Sabertooth before her, she whipped her head to the side. Mystique wasn't there, though the movement caused her to sway slightly and noticed her white hair was tinged with blood. Her head whipped to the other side, gaining her the same response as before, but also noting that Sabertooth locked in battle with Logan. The Sabertooth patiently standing before her grinned as realisation dawn. She rushed him, screaming in pain as 'Sabertooth' sidestepped her, running a hand over her shoulder, cutting deep and leaving her arm useless as blood ran freely.

His hand started its slow journey again; he didn't notice the blood coating his hand, congealing under his fingernails as it moved stealthy over her breast, resting on the unmoving chest. Silently willing it to move, begging the punctured and collapsed lungs beneath to take in oxygen.

She staggered to the floor, about to try and raise herself when Mystique flipped her onto her back, standing over the wounded girl with a crazed grin as she morphed into Logan, ramming both Adamantium hands onto the girls ribs, driving all breath from her lungs as the bones protecting them broke and shattered, filling her chest with endless pain and forcing blood into her throat.

Painfully slowly, his hand crept further down her body, fingers wrapping around the pole that pinned her to the floor beneath her, punching through her abdomen, ensuring she would never again move. With a shudder and a silent sob, he gently pulled the metal pole from her body, letting it clatter to the ground beside him

As she gasped for the breath that would not return, Mystique's grinning face left the area of clouding sight above her. She returned only moments later, when her oxygen starved brain finally registered that she had gone. In one hand she held a short metal pole, the light reflecting from it reflecting into her eyes, burning into her mind. With a crazed smile, arm and pole struck out. Biting through uniform, Her and hitting the concrete floor beneath. Pain exploded in her body and she screamed, convulsing around the pole in one awful reflexive curve.

Paying no attention to the tears falling freely from his eyes, he tugged the blanket someone had draped over his shoulders off, laying it over her still form after arranging her into a slight curled-up sleeping position, noting how venerable she looked as he took one last anguished look at her face before twitching the blanket over it.

Quietly giving into the pain, She stared at the ceiling above her, Mystique leaving her alone for the last final moments of her painful end. Allowing her to collect her thoughts.

A hand gently rested on his shoulder as the tears trembled his body, he allowed himself to be pulled up and walked towards the jet, sitting in tormented silence as they brought her in and laid her gently on the cot at the back.

He didn't move or speak once during the flight back to the Institute, neither did he do anything once they'd landed, her body taken to the med-lab for the final time before they buried her, the others left him to give him some time. Allowing him to collect his thoughts.

Each and everyone was trained specifically on her

Each and everyone was trained specifically on him

Rogue

Remy