Welcome to another of my so called "crazy pairing" X-men stories, as once positively called by a reader to one of my fics. Anyone who knows me knows I strive for these types of fics. This is my first shot in the X-men: The Movie category.
Please let me know at the end of this chapter what you think of it, what you think will happen in future chapters, and anything else you may have to say, including suggestions for other pairings you may like to see done that haven't been done justice in your opinon.
I always take suggestions. My list of pairings to do, just in X-men: Evolution, is sky high in the 30's. I promise I will put your suggestion on that list even if I'm not a fan of the pairing. It allows me to service the needs of those who would like to see certain things done.
Anyway, enough of the rambling that you're probably not going to read. Onto the story!
Jean had been taken aback the day she had heard what Charles was suggesting. She knew he didn't mean any harm to anyone, but it was a pretty crazy idea, even if good in prospect.
Jean was standing in the control room of the Danger Room with a bunch of the women of X. Marie and Kitty were talking about the latest teen gossip in the mansion and trying not to look nervous over the idea of what was about to happen. Jubilee was listening to the conversation, waiting for the right time to join in the coversation. Ororo was talking with a new guest X-member who was thinking of joining: Elizabeth Braddock.
Elizabeth was a very rich young woman from England, who just happened to be dating a rich young man: Warren Worthington III. She was a mutant though with unique telepathic abilities, her trademark being a psychic knife she could create. It looked like a knife coming off the knuckles of her closed fist. If she hits somebody with it, she could knock them out or kill them if she wanted to.
The test was unusual. It was taking place in the Danger Room as normal, but the girls weren't the only ones involved in this. In fact, they weren't the ones actually being tested. Charles had told Jean, and only Jean, what was going to happen. You didn't have to be a genius to know why.
The boys were definitely not supposed to know as they were the test targets. The boys' team consisted of Scott, Logan, Warren, Bobby, Peter, and a new boy student by the name of Samuel Guthrie. He was a blond southern hottie with a lot of spunk.
The test was to send them all in at once, but the boys would be at one end, the girls at the other. The girls would be quickly overpowered, and this was part of the plan. Jean had been told so she 1.) wouldn't use her powers to try and stop it from happening, as she could stop it with a wave of her hand after gaining a massive power increase after surviving Alkali lake and 2.) might actually help with the girls' loss.
After the girls were to lose, the boys would obviously come to help. Now at this point in the situation, the girls would all be separated and incapacitated. The theory is that with the girls in danger, the boys would go to save the girls they want most to be saved. Jean thought this exercise was kind of pointless, but Charles was adament that they do it, saying that it would show those who don't know what was really going on.
Jean could already predict what was going to happen. Scott would save her, Logan - Ororo, Rogue - Bobby, Kitty - Piotr, Jubilee - Sam, and Elizabeth - Warren. Really, Jean thought everyone knew this.
Charles sent her a little telepathic warning, telling her they were about to start. Jean looked at the other girls, "Get into position. We're about to start."
They obeyed without question, as grilled into them from being a X-man (or maybe just because they were scared to death of her boyfriend, the leader). All too soon, the familiar blare sounded telling them to begin. The girls ran out, unknown to all but one of them what was about to happen.
Ororo and Jean took to the air, while Rogue, Kitty, and Elizabeth stuck to the ground, as they had no way of getting into the air. The most difficult part of this task would be helping Charles make the girls lose while trying to help them escape their peril. Jean decided to deal with the Rogue first.
Jean lept in front of a giant club swinging down, though not too noticeably. She heard Ororo scream a warning at her that her heart clenched to have to pretend not to hear. It hit her down into the Rogue, making sure skin was exposed enough for a good, long touch to proceed.
Jean barely felt it, thank God for that power increase. Rogue's sleeve got ripped off in the fray. The force of the hit also hit her into Kitty and Elizabeth. The both were smart enough to break contact before it could do any real damage, though it did weaken them. Rogue was passed out on the floor, clutching her head. 1 down, 3 to go.
Kitty had her back to what she thought was Elizabeth. Elizabeth had actually left Kitty unprotected, which would result in a good tongue-lashing later from Charles, Jean was sure. Kitty was done phasing for the moment, as being in an already weary state, having to stay whole was hard. Her natural state was actually her phased state. She had to work hard to stay herself.
Jean looked up at Ororo and saw and opportunity. She used her telekinesis to make a box of metal, making sure she was preoccupied at the moment so as to have a reason not to respond to Ororo's frantic cries for help and enclosed it around her friend. In doing so, as it was a metal box, a lightning bolt hit the edge, bounced off, and hit Kitty square in the back. 3 down, 1 to go.
Elizabeth was going to be a little more difficult. She had had ninja training, so she knew how to keep herself hidden and move with practiced skill and grace. Jean was going to have a hell of a time finding her.
Go! Get yourself overpowered! I'll take care of Elizabeth! Charles sent Jean telepathically.
She was happy to comply. A huge metal ball came spining out and Jean pretended not to see it, but did use her telekinesis to slow it down a bit. It would have killed her if it had hit her in the head at full speed. Instead, it hit her with enough force to knock her out cold. It didn't though, because she needed to stay awake. She needed to see the action. Just as he said he would, Jean soon heard a defeated cry from Elizabeth.
After a bit, feeling both like hours and seconds, Jean heard the grunts and groans of who must be the guys. She felt her body being held in electrified tendrils with needle sharp spurs on them as well. She knew not to struggle, from years of seeing them. By the sounds of things, Elizabeth and Rogue didn't. Kitty and Ororo must both have been trapped in boxes, as she could hear pounding on metal.
Jean had that weird feeling like something, not someone, was looking at her. She was sure it was a few of Charles' drones he liked to make of their enemies. Some were original creations, but there were usually some of Magneto, Mystique, and now, she gulped, John who only responded to Pyro. Her eyes flew open, partly for theatrics, but also because she liked to see what was happening around her.
It was chaos.
There would be no better word to describe what was happening. Logan had gone completely feral, destroying everything in his path. Scott was clearly pissed off, but it wasn't clear what he was aiming at, as he was hitting pretty much anything. He looked rather distracted. Warren was trying his hardest to stay in the air, but with Charles messing with the air pressure, Jean was shocked he wasn't clutching his head, writhing on the floor in pain. Bobby and Sam were fighting back to back, both extremely angry, both losing bad. Piotr was stuck, pressed between two large forces, bringing a whole new meaning to the words 'stuck between a rock and a hard place'.
Jean was finding it hard to focus. She didn't like to see those she loved in pain. Seeing her fellow Women of X screaming in terror (Ororo) and pain (everyone) was just too much for her. Many more than a few people have told Jean that she was far too kind. This was the first time in her entire life she had felt the part. Kindness was what had led her to put her own life on the line in the fight for mutant rights. Kindness was what had led her to finally "work in the field". Kindness was what had led her to become a doctor. Kindness had shaped her life in so many good ways, life was certain to eventually balance itself out and add more bad. If this was it, she hated life.
Then all of the lights in the Danger Room went out. Jean didn't remember this part of the plan. Her telepathic link with the Professor was being blocked, probably by him. She was sure she could try to engage a telepathic battle, but what would be the point? She would still be in danger. Damn that man if he wasn't full of surprises.
When the lights came back on, Jean found herself and all of the other girls lying in a circle around the boys. They were spaced far apart from each other. All of the boys were in a small circle, back to back, in the center of the one created by the girls. It was clear all of the girls were tired and worn. They wouldn't be fighting.
Suddenly, a bunch of spinning sharp ninja stars came out aimed right for each of the girls. Jean was so shocked and scared she forgot to put up a shield. All of the other girls must have been in her same predicament as their expressions told her.
Grunts and shouts from the boys sounded as they jumped hopelessly toward the girl they most wanted to protect. Just as a few of the ninja stars would have punctured the delicate skin of Jean's face, they dissolved.
A hologram.
Looking around, the scene told Jean that the Professor had accomplished exactly what he had set out to. Loves had been revealed. As Jean was helped to her feet, her heart broke in two. Just then, all of the truth she had been ignoring, all of the blindness love had provided her, was shown.
The man she loved hadn't saved her.
No, she now knew what had happened. All of this time, Scott had been harboring an infatuation turned love with Elizabeth Braddock, his best friend's girlfriend. She had seen the signs, but had chosen to ignore it. Jean had seen the betrayal, seen what was there, but she had ignored it for fear of what was right in front of her this very moment.
Warren was the one who had helped her to her feet. Jean knew he didn't love her, not like he had Elizabeth. This was as much of a surprise and heartbreak to him as it was to her, if his tear filled eyes and dropped jaw were any indication.
Scott and Elizabeth were standing together in an embrace that was extremely obvious and revealing to anyone who could see them. When the real danger had been unleashed, Scott must have immediately looked to his true love, Elizabeth, to see if she was okay. When it was clear she wouldn't be, he lept into action and toward her. Warren, who was going to save Elizabeth, had seen Scott running toward her, but didn't immediately register what that had meant. He had seen Jean open and exposed to the danger, and even though it was hopeless, he had ignored his girlfriend who was already being saved, and run toward Jean.
Jean made no effort to conceal her tears, but cries and sobs refused to come. That's when she realized she was smiling. It shocked her for only a moment, but only then had she really felt the relief of the secret her heart had been harboring for her lover. Well, who she thought had been her lover.
She and Warren had both been cheated. Ignoring the scene that was the source of her heartbreak, she looked at the rest of the Danger Room, who happened to be looking between the two real lovers, herself, and Warren.
Ororo had a hand to her mouth and tears to her eyes as they darted back between Jean and Scott. It was obvious that this was in sympathy and shared pain for her best friend. Jean's heart smiled and sang with one simple word hanging on her thoughts as she saw what should have been a long time ago. Logan had jumped for Ororo, and was now standing by her side, unable to take this pain from her.
Bobby and Rogue were caught in an embrace, but also entranced by the scene of one of their mentors (and a personal idol of Bobby's) caught in one of the worst acts in their minds. Cheating. Jean knew at this moment Bobby and Rogue would take this new development extremely personal, and a lot of respect had just been lost on just their side. As hard as it was for the two of them to be together, cheating was always the last thing on their minds at the end of the day.
Piotr and Kitty were also embracing, but it was different. Piotr was comforting Kitty as she cried into his chest. Kitty's favorite teacher had always been Jean, that was no secret, and to see this happening to someone who had been a mother, sister, teacher, and best friend to her was more than she could take at the moment.
Sam and Jubilee obviously knew what was wrong, and that it was wrong, but they, for the most part, just looked lost. Neither wanted to get involved in a fight this close to home.
Scott and Elizabeth eventually came back to the real world, with every eye in the room, and beyond, watching them. Scott looked guilty beyond all reason while Elizabeth just looked impassive. Elizabeth was showing her true colors as someone who had cared for Warren as a friend, if that, and nothing more. Scott was all she needed. Scott looked like he wanted to come and comfort Jean, explain something, but he didn't want to let go of his purple haired beauty.
Jean just smiled even bigger and shook her head as more tears fell down her rosy cheeks. She then turned and walked out the doors of the Danger Room with not a word being said to her or her to anyone else, but everyone's eyes following. The students watching from the spectators position along with Sam, Jubilee, and Elizabeth were waiting for a scene. The rest knew one would never come from her. Jean wasn't that type of woman.
Everything that had happened over the past few weeks was beginning to make sense. All this time, Charles had been trying to warn her, to get her to open her eyes. Something must have snapped and he called this test, so as to finally force their hand. Jean knew Charles well enough to know that this couldn't be easy on the man, but she also knew him enough to know that he had felt it necessary.
Jean felt no pity for herself. She had known what was happening. She could have opened her eyes, but she had refused. The only person she felt sorry for was Warren, and she prayed that this wouldn't hit him as hard as people thought it was hitting her.
His icy blue eyes had looked absolutely shattered. Jean knew Warren well enough to know he wouldn't cause a scene there for everyone to see, but Lord only knows what he would do when it was just him and Scott and/or Elizabeth. Jean hoped he wouldn't do something stupid when he was alone. That violet haired woman didn't deserve him anyway.
After all, no one deserves an angel.
Review please! Next chapter will be up soon, but I can't tell you for sure.