X-Men 3:Here To Stay An original X-Men movie fan fiction

Written by: Jennifer S. a.k.a. AssassinElektra

Disclaimer:

I do not own the X-Men or any other Marvel Comics characters. This is a fan fiction story meant solely for the enjoyment of myself and other X-Men movie and comic fans.

Title: Here To Stay

Genre: Action/Adventure, Romance, science fiction, Marvel comics

Setting: This fic takes place shortly after the X-Men 2: Mutants Unite movie and is set in the movieverse.

Rating: PG-13, for violence

Author's Note: Yes, I stole the title of this chapter from The Used's song. I'm a huge fan and as I was driving home from work tonight listening to the song, I realized that it was exactly what Jean was thinking in this next chapter, that she knows everything and can't escape it, but she wants to. So, since I didn't have a title for this chapter yet, I stole some lyrics.

Chapter 10

Knowing Nothing Is Better Than Knowing It all

Manchester, New York Professor Charles Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters

"I'm so tired, Scott." Jean said as she looked at him from the CAT scan table. It broke his heart to see her lying there, but he knew that the tests had to be run.

"I know." Scott said, leaning down and kissing her forehead gently. "It'll be over soon." He ignored Lilandra's look as he backed away and watched the woman he loved begin her CAT scan.

Once inside the machine, Jean tried to make herself relax. The lights were blinding and she was so uncomfortable. I need you Scott. She projected her thought to him, and she could sense by his sudden mood change that he had heard her. Just hold me.

How? He asked, sending his thoughts to her with the faith that she would hear them.

Just free your mind. Jean told him, and she felt Scott relax and turn his mind completely over to her. In seconds they were both standing and facing each other in a completely mental world that no one else could ever share.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you, Jean." He told her, reaching out and pulling her close. It was like a dream for both of them, but it felt so real that they both took the temporary comfort it gave them. "I wanted to save you, but you…"

"Wouldn't let you." Jean said, finishing for him. "It had to be done, Scott." She told him, pulling away. She looked into his eyes, because in their mental world he did not need his visor to hold at bay his mutant ability. "Everything happens for a reason."

"You've been saying that since the day I met you." Scott said, leaning his forehead against hers. Jean closed her eyes and enjoyed his touch.

"And I mean it." Her voice was sad, and Scott, picking up on this, leaned back and gave her a questioning look. "Scott, you have no idea what the future holds, but I do."

"How…"

"I am a vessel to an incredible amount of power, and I know what is coming. I know that Emma Frost has switched bodies with Storm and infiltrated the school," Scott opened his mouth to speak, but Jean kept talking, "I know that Pyro was sent to spy on us from Magneto. I know that the Hellfire Club is planning on destroying every last mutant out there. But I also know that the X-Men are going to be okay. You're going to walk away from this Scott, because you always do." She smiled. "Kitty and Peter are going to make great X-Men." She told him. "But you need to watch out for Gambit. He needs a little more…guidance. Let Rogue help him."

"Jean…"

"Scott, we'll beat the Hellfire Club, but there will be losses in the process."

"Don't say that, Jean." Scott said, beginning to argue.

"I love you." Jean told him. "Remember that no matter what happens."

"But…"

"I'm only human, Scott." She told him, giving him a half smile. "I'm not ready for this kind of power."

"You can handle it." Scott argued, but Jean broke their mental connection as the CAT scan was completed and she stood to look at him. Only the two of them knew about their conversation. Jean had taken special care to hide it from the Professor and Lilandra.

But when she looked at Scott once the test was completed, Jean knew exactly what he was thinking. She could feel the tears behind his visor, and that hurt her more than anything else had in her entire life. She walked over and placed a hand on his cheek while the Professor and Lilandra worked on the computer recording the test results.

"Scott, I shouldn't have told you." Jean told him, knowing it with every part of her being. "I was just…I was tired of being the only one who knew."

"It's a burden you shouldn't bare alone, Jean. I'm glad you shared it; I don't mind that you told me." Scott said, with a thick sadness in his voice as he spoke.

"But I do, Scott." Jean said. "Knowing nothing is better than knowing it all." She said quietly. Then her hand moved from his cheek to his forehead, and before Scott could react Jean stole his memories of all that she had told him of what the future held, leaving their more personal moments of their mental connection in his mind.

New York, New York

Hellfire Club Headquarters

"I know why it didn't work out with Bobby." Rogue said suddenly, and Storm looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "He never talked to me. And for someone who can't touch," She looked at her hands sadly, "talking is everything." Rogue sighed.

Storm smiled and said, "But there is someone else now."

Rogue looked at her quickly. "No!" She shot back. "There isn't."

"Then why are your cheeks red?" Storm kept smiling, unable to hold her amusement back. Rogue looked away, irritated. "What is his name?" Storm asked, tauntingly.

"What does it matter?" Rogue snapped in answer. "We'll probably never get out of here anyway." She was pouting, like an angry child.

"Have some faith." Storm told her, and Rogue smiled at her.

"You've been hangin' out with Nightcrawler too much lately." Rogue told her, and Storm smiled too. "You two an item?"

"No." Storm said. "We are dear friends, but we could never be more. Kurt helped me find an inner peace that my soul has needed for years." She explained. "I grew up as a thief, Rogue." She added.

"So did Remy." Rogue said, before she could stop herself. She looked at Storm, embarrassed.

"So that is his name." Storm concluded, smiling. "What is he like?"

"He's kind." Rogue said, Gambit's face coming to her mind more clearly than anything else. "And he's gentle." She said, thinking of how he had started wearing gloves for her. "And thoughtful." Rogue did not even realize that she was smiling, but it amused Storm quite a bit.

X X X X X X X X X X

"As nice as being stuck with you in a closet is," Pyro said, "I think we should get out of here and look for Rogue."

"I agree." Kitty said, reaching for the handle quickly. She hated the way he looked at her, like she was a toy.

Opening the door they found that the hall was clear of any guards. "Guess they gave up." Kitty commented, taking a cautious step forward.

"So where's Rogue?" Pyro asked, flipping his lighter open and lighting it. He winked at Kitty and the flame jumped onto his fingers. "Guess you've never seen me do my thing, huh?" He asked her.

"Only during class that one time Bobby froze it." Kitty said. Her wide eyes were staring at his burning fingers.

"It doesn't hurt." He told her, as if trying to comfort her. "It actually kind of gives me a buzz." Pyro said, smiling slyly at her.

"That's weird." She said, starting down the hallway. Pyro followed closely behind her.

"So, you and the Russkie, huh?" Pyro asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I guess." Kitty said, but she was beginning to believe that she would not survive long enough to go on even one date with Peter.

"Too bad." Pyro said, sounding disappointed.

"Why's that?" Kitty asked, surprised at his reaction.

Pyro flashed her an almost goofy grin. "Just means the prettiest girl around is already taken." He told her.

"Oh please." Kitty said. "Even you can come up with a line that's not that cheesy!" She said, scoffing.

"I'm really not good with lines, babe." Pyro said as he stopped walking.

"Really? I couldn't tell." Kitty said sarcastically. She stopped and looked at him expectantly. "What?"

"Not good at lines, but…" Pyro leaned over and kissed Kitty before she could pull away. When she finally did get enough of her senses back from the shock of it, Kitty pulled pack sharply, glaring at him.

"Coming on a little strong, aren't you?" She snapped.

"Hey, I see something I want I go for it." Pyro told her.

"Something?" Kitty looked at him in disgust. "Bobby was right about you. He warned me that you were a conniving jerk, but I thought I'd give you the benefit of the doubt."

"Look, we're on the same side." Pyro told her. "Sorry if I crossed the line. Won't happen again." He held his hands up in mocking surrender.

"It better not." Kitty said sharply as they started walking again. "Why did you ever leave the X-Men anyway?" She asked after a while, and the question surprised Pyro.

"Magneto's not really that bad of a guy actually. Just because he doesn't like normal people doesn't make him evil." Pyro told her. "I saw him for what he was, an admirable, respectable teacher. He taught me a lot in the short time I stayed with him. He gave me a…" Kitty could hear that Pyro was getting choked up but fighting it, "home." He finished.

He smiled to cover up the tears in his eyes. "My parents hated mutants." He explained. "They hated me."

"I don't get why people hate us." Kitty remarked. "All we do is help them. Most of us anyway."

X X X X X X X X X X

Gambit walked in silence down the hallway, heading for the stairs. He had learned from years of being a thief how to adapt to a strange and new environment, and this building was just that. The whole place stunk of an evil that he had never felt before, and he wanted nothing more than to get Rogue out of there as quickly as he could. But, in order to keep her safe, he had to be careful about how he did things. Yes he was impatient and ready to fight someone, but Rogue's life was on the line.

Once at the stairs, Gambit began to make his way quietly down them, taking each silent step one at a time. His red eyes were ever watchful, alert as to everything that was going on around him, and his hand—held in his pocket and clasping a deck of cards—was ready as well. It wasn't long before Gambit found that he was not alone.

"And just who is it that intrudes on Sebastian Shaw's home?" Gambit turned and looked at the man who spoke to him—presumably Shaw himself. Nothing about this stranger impressed Gambit, in fact he was a bit embarrassed for the man.

"Me?" Gambit pointed at himself. "I be da' one who's gonna bring you down. You got a friend of mine here, and I want her back, safe."

"We'll see about that." Shaw said, smiling. Gambit smiled back, accepting the silent challenge, and pulled a few cards out of his pocket. "Are you going to gamble for her life?" Shaw asked, looking incredibly amused.

"Now why would I do dat'?" Gambit asked, treating Shaw like he was as stupid as he looked. Shaw glanced at the cards in time to see them begin glowing a soft, pink color.

"You're a mutant." He concluded, looking incredibly angry suddenly.

"All my life." Gambit said, tipping his imaginary hat again. He watched and anticipated Shaw's next move, which was an attempted punch. But Gambit ducked and threw a card at Shaw. The impact knocked him off of his feet and against the wall, where he slid to the floor. "I'm willin' to bet you never come across someone like Remy." Gambit told Shaw, as he shuffled his cards.

"And you," Shaw said as he stood up, "Have obviously never dealt with the Hellfire Club."

"I like what I be seein' so far." Gambit told him sarcastically.

"Take a good look, mutant, because it will be the last thing you see." Shaw slammed his fist into Gambit's stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs so violently that it was painful. Gambit held his stomach and backed away quickly, trying to escape any other attempts. "You strong." He said, gasping and coughing.

"You have no idea, boy." Shaw told him.

X X X X X X X X X X

"It's a mutant!" One of the guards shouted angrily, pointing to Peter. "He's like a strong metal guy or something."

"Colossus." Peter told the man, and he almost peed his pants at the sound of Peter's booming voice. "I will not hurt you if you free Rogue." He told them all—there were five and they all had guns aimed at Peter.

"We will give you nothing, mutant scum!" The farthest guard away from Peter shouted, pulling his trigger. The other guards watched in awe as the bullets his Peter's metal chest and bounced off, landing as little knots of torn metal on the ground around his feet.

"Impossible!" The guard said, looking at his gun in disbelief.

"You Americans!" Peter said, knocking the front guard who ran towards him aside as if he were nothing. "You always resort to violence!" Peter said, kicking the next guard off of his feet. He fought for a few minutes with the five men, knocking them around painfully while he himself went unharmed. His armored body gave him an extraordinary advantage over their flesh and blood, and Peter found that he kind of enjoyed fighting them.

It was not the violence that he liked, but the strength he could feel that he had. He had discovered his mutant ability when saving his sister's life only years before, and he was still getting used to the idea that he could become metal.

X X X X X X X X X X

"That's got to be where they're keeping Rogue." Kitty said, pointing to the door at the end of the hallway.

"What gave it away?" Pyro asked sarcastically. "The fifty billion guards standing around?" Kitty glared at him and he smiled. "I'll give you a distraction so you can slip in and make sure it's her." He told her. Pyro lit his lighter again and grabbed the flames, then walked out into the hall in plain view of the guards.

"Hey guys!" He said, looking at the ball of flame in his fist.

"Stop right there!" One of the guards shouted, reaching for his gun.

"Now see, that's where you're confused." Pyro told him, giving him a sly smile. "Because I don't take orders from anyone." He took a few more steps forward.

"Stop now or I will shoot!" The guard warned.

"I've heard that one before." Pyro remarked sarcastically. "Gets old real quick. You thug types don't have much of a vocabulary."

"Stop where you are!" The guard yelled, getting irritated.

"No." Pyro snapped, throwing the ball of flame toward the guards, it flared up and caught them all on fire.

"Pyro!" Kitty shouted. "Stop, you're killing them!" He smiled at the sight of the guards in pain, then glanced back at her.

"They would have killed me." He said in his defense.

"But that doesn't make it right!" She shouted. "Now take the flames away!"

"Or what?" He asked. "You'll be a bad kitty and claw me to death?"
"I'll do a lot more than that." Kitty remarked, kicking his jaw so hard she was afraid she had broken it. Pyro fell to his knees and the flames on the guards died. But most of them were already dead, and those surviving were critical.

"Get these men help, or I'll make sure you get what you deserve." Kitty told Pyro, who was holding his jaw in surprise.

"Wow." He commented. "Never would have expected that from someone so dainty and beautiful."

"Welcome to the world of the X-Men." Kitty said dryly. "Expect the unexpected." She turned away and phased through the door that the guards had been standing in front of. Looking around the small cell she had walked into, Kitty was overwhelmingly relieved to see that Rogue was there and that she was all right.

"Kitty?" Kitty glanced at the strange, blond woman who she did not recognize and wondered how she knew her name.

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