Usual: Characters? Not Mine. Money? None Being Made. Credit for the title and quote belong to Wilfred Owen. Set in AOA. I've been away from my copies for a long time, so forgive any character inconsistencies. This is a long delayed response to the ever-popular "Kill Your Favorite Character" Challenge.

Dulce Et Decorum Est
by Jeanne M.

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

Her blood was everywhere. The stones and dirt were stained an angry brownish-red, and her face had lost what little coloring it had. His coat was discarded in a heap a few feet away, saturated from the vain attempts at bandaging her wounds. The screams from the battle had long since died away, leaving nothing but debris, blood, and shattered bodies. The few survivors were left to pick their way through the crumbling wreckage and hazy air. He felt someone come up behind him and simply ignored them, focusing on the rattled breathing in her ruined chest. It sounded like a punctured lung, but he couldn't be sure. She had lost consciousness to the pain sometime ago. It was probably a blessing.

"What happened?"

"I don't know." He stroked her hair softly, wiping blood from her face. "One moment she was covering my back, den the next thing I know she's in a heap ahead of me, with a fucking Infinite standing over her. She's bleeding badly, it looks like someone drove a spear inta her side." His hand clutches the makeshift bandage over her bloodstained abdomen. "I can't stop de bleeding."

"It doesn't matter, you know." His companion shifts to the side, shading her eyes and looking skyward. "We're all dead anyway. The Europeans have let loose the bombs." She glances at the still form in his arms, jealously and pity warring in her face. "She's lucky, she won't be alive when they hit."

"Lucky?!?" He grits his jaw, anger boiling behind his eyes. "Look what dey did to her." He lightly traces one of the shattered, swollen hands. "Her beautiful hands. Dey took a chunk of concrete an' dropped it on her beautiful hands. She's always had such graceful hands, an' dey took that away from her with everything else. She's in a heap of pain, dey broke every bone dey could before I got to her. Instead of snapping her neck, or killing her with one shot, she's gonna die slow. Tell me how dat's lucky. I ain't gonna let this girl die, Dazz. Not if I can help it. Not here, not like this."

They are quiet for awhile, the stillness only broken by the wails of the wounded and his occasional whispered assurances to the girl in his arms. His companion lights a cigarette, offering one to him silently. He shakes his head, cradling the pale form closer to him. "Non. She hates it when I smoke."

"Goddamn it, LeBeau! Are you going to leave her like that?" Allison Blaire throws her cigarette to the ground in frustration. "She's in pain. She's a warrior, Remy, she'd want you to let her die with honor." Her face softens at his anguished look, but presses on. "We are all about to die, Remy. The bombs are coming, and we can't escape. Even if she survived her wounds, she would die from the explosion. If she survived the explosion, she would die from the radiation poisoning. Don't force her to die that way. She's a soldier, your soldier. Take away her pain."

"Don' you think I know that! I'm responsible, Dazz, I'm the one who brought her into this. She woulda been better off if she'd never heard a de X-Ternals. I coulda sent her to Erik, or to Kate, an' I didn't. I saw what she could become, an' I kept her. An' now she's gonna die, 'cause I took her to the stars and back again. 'Cause I let her face down Infinites and Prelates. Dis girl is gonna die, an' it's all my fault."

"Boss, ya gotta be one of the dumbest shits left alive on this rock." They turn to face the girl, startled and horrified to see life flickering in her blue eyes. A coughing spasm rips through her body, bringing blood to her lips as she laughs. "I woulda ended up here no matter who took me in. Mags doesn't spare his warriors, Kate's kids are dead, and 'Pocy's Infinites woulda junked me into the stew. 'Least you ain't as bad as some."

"Shhhh girl, don' be trying to talk." He wipes the blood from her lips as he looks at Dazzler. "Dazz is gonna get Lila or Blink, and we're gonna 'port you outta de trouble, okay?"

"Lila couldn't 'port herself right now, let alone me. She's fried after that last jump, no more juice. An' Blink's been fighting all day. If she's not dead, she's close to a power burn-out. 'Sides, ain't no where safe." Her face contorts briefly in pain as another cough wracks through her. "We both know that it's over. We didn't win, but at least neither did he."

"Jubilee...." His eyes plead with Allison, but she turns away to watch the sky. "Don' be talking like that. Yer gonna be fine, you hear me girl?"

"No, Remy, I'm not." She smiles slightly, eyes crinkling with mirth. "Look for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave woman."

"Merde!" He slams a hand on the pavement. "Girl, I am not letting you die! Not here, not like this!"

"That's enough!" Her eyes crackle white fire, and small paffs circle in the air around them. "Don't you get it? I've always been afraid, always! But I'm not scared anymore. I failed Ev, I failed when I let Guido take the crystal shard, I've never been good enough. This one time, I'm not scared." Colored lights begin to run under her skin, lighting her up from the inside as Remy and Allison look on in horror. Strands of blue and pink swirling together, pulsating in time to her heartbeat. Calm white-blue eyes meeting theirs. "I'm not scared anymore." She smiles softly, touching his face with her mangled hand. "Remy? Help me stand up?"

*****

He helps her lean against a wall, then backs away like she asked. Her eyes are closed as she slumps against the crumbling structure. Suddenly they snap open and she straightens, a beautiful smile coming to her face. Then there is nothing but light. A pillar of shimmering lights towering towards the sky, with her in the middle, hands raised above her head as she laughs delightedly.

**I'm not afraid anymore, Remy. It's so beautiful!** The pyre grows in brightness and size as her clothes burn away, leaving a luminescent being in the center. She hovered a few feet off the ground, hair made of snapping purple fire and bright blue eyes looking out steadily. **Thanks, Rem.**

Remy watches, tears streaming openly down his face as he watches his 'le petite's' powers rip her apart. The column grows in intensity as her laughter is broadcast telepathically, reaching X-Man and Infinite alike. Pure energy, she dances on air, twisting ropes of colored fire from her hands. Then the power level of the column surges, white light washing out over everything in a silent explosion. For a moment, everything stands still. Then the air howls in violently, filling the void caused by the explosion.

When his vision finally returns, he sees the other survivors picking their way towards him, eyes still blinking from the influx of light. In the center of a small crater lies a prone figure, female, who is not breathing. As he moves towards her, he is aware of Allison blocking the way of the curious, answering their questions and giving him space to do what he needs to. He is aware of Lila's hysterical voice in the background, and glances back to see Creed restraining her from running over to Jubilee's body. Creed meets his eyes, nodding once, one of his massive arms enfolding Clarice, the other holding Lila.

His mouth twists bitterly into a smile, acknowledging the bigger man. He breaks contact with Creed, and continues walking foward. The lone living figure in a tableau of death. He kneels beside her body, startled to find it already cold. Her eyes are still open, and a soft smile is on her lips. He could almost swear her eyes are still glowing. "Good journey, p'tite." Very deliberately, he takes two pre-Apocalypse coins from his belt, placing them on her eyes. "Remy be joining you soon, p'tite. Don' be gettin' into any trouble without him."

Then he hears the faint whistling, and smiles. Standing, he walks over to Lila and takes her from Creed, whispering soothing platitudes as she sobs for the girl, and for their own impending fate. Looking upward, he holds Lila and smiles. And as whistling noise grows louder, he laughs, throwing his arms wide as he embraces the fire.



FIN.



Dulce Et Decorum Est : Latin for "How Sweet and Fitting It Is"