A/N: Thank you to all of my loyal reviewers. You make it so much easier for me to continue on writing with your words of encouragement. Thanks again WandaW for you're very insightful review and you're insight into the life of Victor Creed. It will make evolving his character even more fun.
"The families will start to arrive today," Bobby "Iceman" Drake told me with a sigh. It had been nearly three years now since we had been together and both of us have grown up to be such different people than we were then. I was no longer shy and scared of the world and Bobby was not nearly as naive and innocent as he used to be.
"Do we know which ones?" I asked as I sat next to him in the kitchen.
"No. Some people just hung up the phone the moment we said their names. Other's never even said a word after we finished explaining what had happened. But a few did seem to actually care about what had happened," he explained to me.
Bobby, Kitty, John and Jubilee were assigned call duty. They were the ones who had to call each family member and give them the bad news. They were the ones who had to tell parents that their children would never come home again because someone thought they were superior to everyone else.
It was a depressing job.
"When will the burial service begin?" I questioned as I shifted in my chair.
"In three days. The Professor has already hired some extra people to help burry all of the bodies. Magneto's group is also coming to pay their respects. Apparently one of their own was part of the masses."
"Looks like everyone had something to lose that day," I said as I looked over at him.
"Yeah," he replied to me simply as he too turned to look at me.
Even though our relationship had ended badly we still remained close. We still had feelings for each other. His more so than mine of course. But the day Jean died and Logan left to go find whatever it was he was looking for I lost a little bit of myself too. And I knew that no matter how much Bobby loved me, I would never love him as much as I had loved Logan .
We continued to sit in silence as we waited for the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, daughters and sons of the dead to arrive. As I sat there, I continued to wonder, who would come for Victor if he had died? Who would say nice things about him when we placed his body six feet beneath the Earths crust?
As I shifted through what I had already gained from Victor I realized that if Logan didn't remember him, no one would be there. He would be forgotten, just like all the others. It nearly had tears come back up to my eyes.
"The first are here," Bobby spoke solemnly as he stood from his chair. I followed like wise and began to place a more indifferent face on. But I don't think anything would have prepared me for what I knew was to come.
The mansion was silent as the dead as the families started to be ushered into one of our larger banquet halls. Earlier that day we had set up tables with pressed white linens and chairs. Our finest china was placed out in honor of our guests along with our best silver. Storm had the whitest lilies and roses brought in from a local florist to adorn the tables and monuments that had been built in the last few days. It would be a beautiful service.
"You ready," Scott asked me as he stood in a perfectly pressed black suite next to me.
"Are you?' I asked him. This would be the hardest on him. It was his dead wife after all that had caused all of this. But we won't let any of them know that.
"Let's go then," he said to me not answering my question. He placed his hand on the back of my long sleeved black dress and ushered me into the dinning hall.
I was surprised to say the least. Nearly a hundred people gathered about different tables. Each group holding pictures of their loved ones, hoping I suppose to find a connection with anyone.
But the moment I saw the family nearest to the main table I all but froze in my tracks. There they sat the relatives of the family that we found first. The purple skinned woman who held her child tightly to her chest as she smothered him looked exactly like her mother (minus the purple skin of course). Then there were the twins, their lifeless blue eyes and shinny silver hair looked exactly like their fathers.
I brought the memories of finding their children's lifeless bodies to the forefront of my mind as I looked at them. The mother of the purple skinned woman, Susan Powers, the report had said her name was, locked eyes with me the minute I had entered the room. Her daughter was a chameleon, she changed color with her surroundings, when she wasn't using her power her skin was a beautiful lavender color.
"Mrs. Powers," I said politely holding out a black gloved hand.
"How do you know my name?" She asked with a confused expression.
"I know most of you're names," I replied as I looked from her to her other daughter. They looked a lot alike.
"Did you know my Marsha?" She asked with this doe eyes look.
"No," I replied, "not personally. I was the one who found her."
"Oh," She responded. The small light in her eye seemed to fade with my answer.
"There are something's concerning her death that we need to talk to you about," I explained to her. She looked at me for a second like I was going to tell her the worst wasn't over. Then I realized for her nothing could be worse than this.
"I...I mean we think it will make this process easier for you," I tried to tell her as I motioned for her to sit. I could see Scott doing the same with the twins father and mother at another table adjacent to our own.
"Is there anything that could make something like this easier?" she asked me as she took her seat.
"No I am afraid not," I told her with a sad look.
"Then I guess it's rather irrelevant," she said solemnly as she sipped some of the coffee she had taken when it was offered earlier.
"I just thought you might want to know," I told her, "that she didn't die alone in the dark and that she didn't suffer a painful death."
"What do you mean?" she asked me with that hopeful glimmer in her eyes again.
"We found her in a cell with three other people. A pair of twin boys who were about her age," I began to explain to her. My eyes had immediately flickered over to the silver haired man and his wife, "and a young boy of about two or three years old."
"Marsha has been missing for nearly four years," Mrs. Powers explained to me.
"Yes, that's what Mr. Drake told me," I paused again as I pulled out a photograph of the four of them together in the cell.
"What I am about to show you isn't ethical by any means. But if I was a mother and in your position I think I would like to see this last picture of my daughter. You may hate me for showing it to you, of making your pain more real for you. But I think in the end you'll be happy to know that she was loved and was loved in return."
I handed her the hard cop of the photo we had taken of her daughter and her grandson. I wanted to hope that she would be able to see the family resemblance and know her daughter wasn't alone in her finale hours.
"He looks just like her," she said to me as tears began to fall uncaring down her face. She let an olive skinned finger trace an outline of the two together. Her other daughter peered over her shoulder to look as well. Both seemed captivated by the image.
"Yes, he was her son. In the end she smothered him to death so he wouldn't have to die alone, scared and in the dark," I started to explain, "the man holding her was the boy's father."
"She looks peaceful," Marsha's sister said.
"Mrs. Powers," Scott said as he stood next to my hair.
"Yes," Susan Powers replied as she whipped some of the tears that had fallen off of her face.
"This is Mr. and Mrs. Stronghold. Their sons were the twins from the picture, Peter and David," Scott explained as he motioned towards the silver haired man and the blue eyed woman.
Susan stood up from her hair and looked at the two people as fresh tears fell from her face. With out saying a word she stepped forward and hugged Mrs. Stronghold in a fierce grip. It didn't take long for the two women to break down and begin to cry in each other's arms.
Scott turned to me then and I knew that it was time for us to leave them in their moment. We walked out together from the reception back towards the main hallway. A few people still trickled in as Ororo and The Professor greeted each of them. It was almost hearts breaking to watch them all come in; each dressed in different shades of black.
"How will they ever get over this?" I asked Scott as we walked arm and arm towards the back of the school.
"I don't think they ever truly will," he replied to me with a truth I hadn't heard from him in awhile. It was a sad truth that spoke volumes about what he had been through himself, about what he was still going through.
We continued to walk in silence towards the covered patio that had numerous swing benches and rocking chairs. For a moment it reminded me of Mississippi and the patios of all the old civil war homes. They all had long, wide patios accented with rocking chairs and swing benches.
As we sat side by side on one of the swing benches I couldn't help but think of Victor. Who would come here and mourn him if he had died like all the others? From what I can tell the only person living that was family was Logan and well Logan doesn't remember a whole lot about that.
I thought Magneto might, or Mystique but then shook that from my head immediately. Those two would rather die than pretend to be associated with Victor Creed. Especially Mystique after she finds out it was her son that did it. I knew Eric was coming to the funeral service. But deep down I knew that was all just a front. He was just showing his support for Xavier and his monument.
So really, as I really thought about it, no one would be here to mourn for Victor Creed. And the thought of that pulled at my heart strings. He really was a good person deep down. But with life's constant stream of hate and abuse, it's no wonder he turned angry and mean in the end.
"I don't think Victor will have any problems working with the X-team during danger room sessions," I told Scott lightening the mood a little.
"Really?"
"Yeah, I sadly have to admit I didn't have a chance in hell against him. He's almost too good," I told him with a smile.
"So you want me to put him in the sessions starting next week?" Scott asked me. I nodded; I had forgotten Xavier had canceled all pre-assigned practices for the rest of this week.
"I think he could possibly be a better asset to us than Logan ever was," I told him truthfully.
"Rogue, don't get too attached," Scott warned. I was totally thrown by his comment.
"What do you mean? Logan's not going to come back here; he's not going to come back to me no matter how much I want him too. Just like Jean isn't coming back here for you. I'm finally moving on with my life," I said defensively. Why I was acting so defense I had no clue.
"He's just like Logan Rogue, he'll string you along and then leave you when the going gets to be too tough. That's what men like them do Rogue. You can't bring the bad boys home and you need a good guy. Someone who will always be there for you no matter what," Scott said with earnest. I knew he was only looking out for me like an older brother should. But damn him for being so annoying.
"Bobby was suppose to be the good guy," I told him looking him straight in the eyes, "but we know how that turned out for us in the end. The people you think are the good guys are the ones who won't touch me. They don't push the boundaries to make me feel, even for just a second like a normal person! So for all you know Victor Creed might very well be the good guy that I am looking for!" I all but screamed out as I stood up and stomped away from Scott Stupid Summers.
I didn't even make it five feet off of the porch before I ran into something solid and very manly.
"Offph!..." I yelled out in agitation. But as I looked up I was surprised to see the main man in what seems to be the only conversations I had been having lately.
"Frail?" he said with a questioning look.
"Oh don't you go pretending you didn't hear that entire conversation. For all I know you were probably hiding in some bushes or something," I said with the same fiery agitation I had with Scott.
"I do not hide in bushes," he said with that stupid cocked eyebrow that every man I know can do. Hell I can even do it!
"Ha! So you were listening," I said with a pointed finger before I turned abruptly and marched off towards the left side of the mansion.
The forest tree line was only a few feet ahead of me and I really wanted to go for a quite walk in the woods. And when I mean quite I mean I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs and beat the hell out of a tree.
I was almost there; I could see the soft grass of Xavier's lawn fading to that dirt covered terrain that was so common with forests, when his hand grabbed my arm. It didn't hurt like it had before when he had grabbed me. It was just a gentle tug that forced me to stop and turn and face him.
"Did you mean it?" he asked me with such a serious look in his eyes all of my anger towards Scott and the world melted away.
"Mean what?" I asked stupidly.
"Did you mean what you said to Summers?" He asked me again.
"Yes," I told him with a stern look.
He let go of my arm then and a look that was a mixture of elation and defeat spread across his face. Then I realized it, for the first time, I completely understood Victor Creed. No one, in his entire life had ever stood up for him. No one had ever told him he could be the good guy. No one ever told him that he was perfect just the way he was. No one cared. I reached out to him this time, no longer afraid of what might happen.
"Victor, you could very well be the most honest, trust worthy person I have ever met in my entire life," I began to tell him, "you let me fall down so that I can learn how to pick myself up again. You treat me as an equal and don't shy away from me when I touch you. You don't sugar coat reality and you don't let anyone keep you down. To me Victor, that's the definition of what a good guy is supposed to be about."
Then he smiled at me. Not his usual sneer, that leaves you shaking in your boots. But a genuine smile that made him look even more handsome than he had ever been. Then I knew then as well that I wanted to be the only person in this world that made him smile like that. I wanted to be the only person he smiled at like that too.
I knew what was about to happen even before he did it. Because, I knew deep down that I wanted it too.
He kissed me.
Full on the mouth, tongue battle kissing. It was amazing.
I had never been kissed with so much passion in my entire life. His hands moved over my body like he was touched his last life line to this world. I tangled my hands into his thick blond hair and prayed it would never end.
But sudden reality started to set back in and after only a few moments of hot making out my mutation kicked back in. But he didn't stop; he didn't pull away like everyone else had done. He grabbed me tighter and kissed me harder, as if he was willing my mutation to try and kill him. And it made my body tremble with a pleasure I had never known before.
Eventually it was me that had to break the kiss. His memories and thoughts were overloading my senses and well I just really need to breathe. We stood there looking at each other with a haze filled look. My breath came out in little short pants that reminded me of a horse that just completed a track race.
"Wow," I said with such stupidity I almost hit my self up side the head. He didn't say anything about my stupidity he just gave me another one of his beautiful smiles.
"I think you nailed it frail," he said to me with a deep laugh that echoed in the forest.
It was such a beautiful laugh. It was a laugh that lifted my heart and warmed my toes. I could say nothing but continue to smile idiotically up at him as he raised his hand and brushed some of my hair out of my face.
"Thank you," he said again and I knew in that moment I had found a shared soul. I knew I found my good guy.
A/N: So what do you think? Not really as interesting as some of the others, no new information found out. It was more of a lets tie up some lose ends and make some new ones kind of chapter. Also, sorry that I didn't get a chance to respond to all of my reviewers. I usually try and do that but I've been mega busy and I just started this new book series called the House of Night by P.C. Cast. I love it because it's like a mixture of Twilight and Harry Potter AND they mention X-Men a lot! I screamed the first time I read a part that mentioned one of the X-Men, Scared the beegezus out of my boyfriend. He thought I had a heart attack and died (which is pretty close to the truth). So anyways, I recommend it, it's a good read. Thanks again.