Main Character: John Allerdyce/ Pyro

Rating: T forlanguage

Disclaimer: I do not own John Allerdyce or Pyro.

I regret only One thing…

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John Allerdyce regained consciousness. Lying down somewhere, not warn but neither cold place, he remembered Bobby's hard, cold fist coming at him. And then… nothing more. (Where am I?) He tried to move, and expected his head to hurt. It didn't however and he was slightly taken aback. It should hurt, somewhere at lest, but he felt fine. As a matter of fact, he'd never felt this good ever before. The fire didn't consume him anymore, but neither did the cold. He felt, completed in a way.

Slowly opening his eyes, he dreaded what he might se, the black sky above Alcatraz, the ceiling inside the X-mansion, anywhere? He didn't want to go back, there was no going back. No matter if he wanted to stop, the fire would drive him forwards, never letting him go… But he saw nothing. It was not dark, but not light either. Instead of staring up at a ceiling, or at the bare sky, he was facing nothing at all. (What is this?) He sat up, and still nothing hurt. He looked down and saw the same clothes he'd worn during the battle on Alcatraz. What had happened after he'd passed out? He remembered the phoenix, and then a thought struck him. Could this have been the end, the apocalypse? Could former Jean Grey have destroyed the world? He turned his head round, searching for something, anything that could tell him where he was.

Then his eyes fell on it, and his breath got caught in his throat. A bit away stood a shape, draped in black. It was staring at him, and then it approached him. Though it didn't take one single step, the thing came towards him, silent. But he wasn't afraid, maybe though he ought to have been. He felt fine still, like he didn't have a trouble in the world. So instead of crawling in the dust for this horrifying sight, he got up on his feet. The silent shape came to a halt before him. Though no eyes stared back at him from under the hood, he knew it was watching him.

"What are you?" He asked the shape. It didn't look as if were going to answer him.

"I am the grim reaper… I have come for you." A voice said. It didn't come from the shape, but from everywhere, echoing through the nothingness. He felt confused, what was that supposed to mean? Then it suddenly became clear to him.

"Am I dead?"

"Yeeesss" The answer came in a long, heavy sigh.

"Oh shit," was the only thing he could think of saying. He somewhere inside him felt that he should be scared, sad or desperate at the mention of these news… but he felt nothing except surprise. "So I did die at Alcatraz, who would have though so?" He mumbled to himself more than to the thing standing in front of him.

"What happened? Did she destroy the world?"

The reaper didn't answer him. Instead a scene appeared in front of him, or in his head, it was hard to tell the difference. He saw the phoenix, in her terrible glory. He saw everyone her eyes touch turn to dust, including himself. Weird feeling, seeing himself perish in her flames. Then he saw Logan make his way towards the phoenix. The skin on Logan's body dissolved, only to come back a second later. He was groaning in pain, but the determination in his eyes was obvious. Then Logan thrust his claws into Jean Grey's body, and the phoenix existed no more.

"Oh shit," he repeated. It seemed to be the only thing he could say. There were no words to describe how it felt to see yourself die.

"Come…" the reaper said and soared away in a direction. Like a mighty ghost, the cape whirled out behind him. Hurrying after John asked him:

"Where are we going?"

"To the judgment…"

"And what is that?"

"Where your sins shall be measured"

"Hm, so this is it. I'm finished, there is no more Pyro, or John?"

The reaper shook his head. John nodded to himself. That actually made sense in a way. The whole experience was so absurd, so ridiculous, but in a way it all made totally sense. It felt all right, and if not all right, you can almost say it felt good.

"So, what's there after the judgment? Where am I going then?" Silence, nothing but his own heartbeats… but wait, no not even that broke the silence. He put his hand over his chest, but felt nothing. His heart had ceased beating; he really was as dead as you can be. Again, he didn't think the reaper would reply. He wasn't very talkative.

"Depends…" the answer came.

"Depends on what?"

"Your heart." the reaper replied and raised his arm. In his fleshless skeleton hand, he held a heart.

"Hey, that's mine!" John exclaimed.

"Not anymore"

"Give it back!" He tried to grab his heart, but was stunned as he felt his hand glide right through the reaper. It laughed.

"Sorry, no can do"

"What are they going to do with my heart?" He asked angrily. At least they could have let him keep that; they had already taken his life for god's sake.

"It shall be weighed…"

"What for?"

"To determine your verdict."

"My verdict. Do you mean like innocent or guilty?" The reaper nodded.

"What if I'm found innocent?" John asked. This was getting increasingly strange… um, strang-er.

"You shall be rewarded"

"And what if I'm guilty?"

"Redemption…"

John nodded. At least that seemed fair, first they killed him, then they took his heart, and after that, it was time for redemption. He realized the reaper and he had stopped moving. To his right, there was a light shining through the nothingness. Not a blinding light, but a soothing light. It was the final destination, he realized with a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Do you have any regrets?" the question came from everywhere. It was kind of spectacular in a way, to have a voice filling every inch of nothing. Strange thought…

"Well, come to think of it… maybe there is one thing." He mumbled. Once upon a time, he'd made a silent agreement with himself that he would take this to the grave. But what the hell, he was dead after all.

"The only thing I regret is never telling Her…I always loved the way she walked, the way she talked.There are no words to describe the smooth caress of her hand, the grace in which she existed. Every time I looked her in the eye, I felt the world cease to exist. The first time she spoke to me, I knew that if there was ever going to be anyone, it was going to be her… I just wish… that I'd, if only once, taken the time to tell her how beautiful she was." He paused, a bit awestruck by the fact that it was really the one thing he regretted not doing.

"But I guess its too late for that now, right?" he threw a glance at the reaper, who nodded confirming.

"Yes"

"Oh well, shit happens." John Allerdyce said, shrugging.

Then he stepped into the light, and disappears from all knowledge…

The End