Disclaimer: I own nothing, nada, zip. Blaze has and always will own me.

Scene 10

The card exploded. Air rushed outwards with a terrible whooshing noise. The brightness of the explosion made those who saw it instinctively shut their eyes. Blaze didn't scream or cry out. She didn't leap out of the way. She didn't change back to her human form. When the dust settled and everyone could open their eyes again, she was just…gone. Blown away. Blown out. Gone.

Rogue worked it out fastest. She cried out, "No!" Gambit fell to his knees, staring at the tangled, scorched wreck that had been Blaze's precious car. He rocked backwards onto his heels, utterly speechless. Rogue looked from the car to the Cajun and then was on her feet. She wanted to kill him. She would have done it. Her gloves were off and Gambit would not have put up a fight.

"Everybody freeze!"

Abruptly it was like noon. Overhead a helicopter turned on a massive searchlight, lighting up the whole street. The sound of the rotors made everyone look up. Zack, Blaze's South African cop friend, was leaning out of the chopper with a megaphone. As the helicopter came in low over the heads of the protesters, three massive vans pulled into the space between the opposing lines. All four vehicles were dark blue with the letters FBI emblazoned on the flanks in gold.

Wanda had dropped the camera as she realised Blaze had been murdered. Her friend… Pietro, acting quickly, had caught the camera and now turned it on the newcomers. He only got seconds of footage though, as suddenly their father had appeared and grabbed both of his children by the arm. This was not somewhere Magneto wanted to be. With Sabretooth reluctantly helping Pyro, the five made their escape. The live TV feed died as the camera suffered magnetic interference.

With FBI backup the police found they had control of the situation. The protesters were driven back and dispersed into the Bayville night. Berserker, Spyke and Rogue came close to being handcuffed before Zack intervened. The South African leapt from the helicopter and granted the X-Men his protection. Weirdly the FBI bowed to Zack's decision and the X-Men were not arrested.

The hardest part came when Zack saw the car. He turned to Rogue and started to say Blaze's name. Rogue shook her head and bit her lip. The other X-Men hadn't realised until then exactly what had happened. Kitty cried out wordlessly. Jubilee covered her mouth with her hands whilst the boys all stuttered, lost for words. Zack was the worst. Rogue saw him shake his blond head, clinging to denial. But it was too late. It was all too late.

Gambit was arrested. He didn't care. The handcuffs bit into his wrists. He didn't care about that either. He had to wait in a van whilst the FBI stormed Jacobi's building. They dragged Jacobi out, creasing his immaculate suit. The media mogul was thrown in the back of an FBI van like any criminal. Not a single TV camera saw the incident. So much for television gold dust…

Jacobi's court case got good TV coverage. Angel was a key witness for the prosecution. Jacobi had invested in Warren's company's R&D department not long after arriving in Bayville. It was a cover, a way of laundering the proceeds of crime. Jacobi intended that if anything went wrong, he could pin any crimes on Warren's company. Warren would suffer and Jacobi could walk away. Angel, Zack and the Professor had worked out that Jacobi was up to no good. Together they had used Warren's company to gather evidence for the FBI to stop Jacobi once and for all.

It worked. Jacobi was sent to jail for a very long time. Pizzazz! Entertainment was sold and its new owners decided it would be better if they left Bayville for good. Mayor Kelly had to admit that his election campaign had been paid for by Pizzazz! He apologised publically but swore he knew nothing of Jacobi's criminal activities. Without evidence to the contrary his apology was accepted. Bayville started to get back to normal.

Bella Donna checked herself out of hospital and disappeared soon afterwards. Gambit supposed that she had gone back to New Orleans but he didn't know for sure. Magneto and the Acolytes had gone quiet too, as had Mystique, but the Brotherhood carried on as ever. Some things didn't change. Some things changed for the better. The captured X-Men and Morlocks were released. They could go home. After a few days Gambit was released too. The television evidence was clear. He had launched a mutant attack on another mutant, but without a body he couldn't be charged with her murder. No one could prove that she was dead.

At the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, Rogue and her friends were struggling to adjust. There was a gap where someone that they had seen every day, talked to every day, was suddenly gone. Sometimes that gap seemed like a canyon, some days it was a hairline crack, but it was always there. The Professor did what he could. So did the other instructors. With time the hurt would fade, but knowing that would happen seemed worst of all.

Ilehana Xavier was a telepath like her father. The Vixen had brought Blaze to Bayville. They were friends. They had been friends. Vixen had been arrested along with her father so she hadn't seen Blaze die. Now she refused to accept it, spending day after day in Cerebro searching for any sign of Blaze. She wanted to reach out with her mind and touch Blaze's flame. She was left cold and alone. There was no one there.

"Let her go," Wolverine told Ilehana, reaching out to touch the nape of her neck, just below the Cerebro helmet.

"No," Ilehana shook her blonde head, eyes focused on something Logan couldn't see. "I have to find her. She has to be out there."

Logan gave a sad sigh. "She's gone, Ilehana. Let it go. Blaze didn't die so you could imprison yourself in Cerebro. She wanted you, wanted us, to be free." Ilehana lifted her hands to her head and removed the helmet. She looked up at Logan, who gave a slow nod in encouragement. Together they left the Cerebro room and the doors slid shut behind them. Darkness fell.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Rogue? You in here?"

"Yeah Kitty, Ah'm here," Rogue turned away from the window and watched as Kitty turned on a lamp on the desk. Rogue's bedroom at the Institute flickered into existence around them both.

"What are you doin' hiding in the dark?"

"Thinkin'," Rogue shrugged. She turned back to look out at the night sky. Up above a shooting star creased the blackness. Somewhere someone was burning wood, the smell drifted on the breeze. Fireflies danced under the trees, performing waltzes and jigs. Kitty joined Rogue at the window and the girls watched for a few moments in silence.

"All this time, I never took Blaze seriously," said Shadowcat finally. "I guess I never really thought she was one of us. Now she's made such a sacrifice, y'know? She was more of an X-Man than I'll ever be."

"She should have gone to Paris," Rogue said. "Ah know Gambit wanted to, when he asked her. He told her to leave Bayville but she wouldn't. They could have run away to Paris an' lived happily ever after."

"You got that from touching Gambit?" Kitty asked. Rogue said nothing, inspecting her chipped nail varnish. "Do you know why he did it? Y'know…"

"I know," Rogue admitted, but she wouldn't elaborate. Kitty decided to let her friend keep her secrets. What difference did it make, in the end? What was done was done.