Until you crash
Until you burn
Until you lie
Until you learn
It was no longer pouring rain, but only drizzling. The air was filled with an eerie silence and there was no movement. The snow was white as bleach and the temperature was still cold. The only noticeable difference in the surrounding area was the red…blood red. It stained the white colored snow, showing a hard fought battle between to opposing sides. But the rain was washing all of that away, so no evidence would be left of the fight.
Marie, Bobby, Peter, and Remy all walked, looking around carefully for the X-Men; there was no sign of them. On the far right side of them, was Mystique, Sabertooth, Pyro, Kitty and Jubliee. The further Marie got, the more worried she was. Not just for the X-Men, but for Jean as well.
"Hello?" Marie called out.
"Marie, is that you?" she heard Ororo ask.
Marie sighed in relief as they came into view; Scott, Ororo, and Hank. Kitty screeched in happiness and hugged her friends. "You guys are okay!" Ororo smiled and shot Marie an amused look but all she did was smile back at her, unsure of how to respond.
"I don't know how you did it," Scott commented.
Remy frowned. "How we did what?"
"Stopped us without killing us," he answered.
"Please," Kitty said rolling her eyes. "If we even went too close to you, Jean would've fried us."
Scott looked at Sabertooth but all the latter did was growl. "Speaking of Jean…where is she and Emma?"
Until you see
Until you believe
Until you fight
Until you fall
Until the end of everything at all
Until you die
Until you're alive
Jean felt dirty; disgusted. She didn't know if it was because of the heavy rain that soaked her; or her actions. Phoenix invaded her thoughts, telling her it was right…it was essential. But Jean knew better. She wasn't a killer. Of course she defeated the everyday bad guys, but this was different. Madelyne Pryor wasn't an everyday bad guy…she wasn't even a bad guy. She was a lost, lonely soul. Madelyne didn't deserve to be killed; imprisoned, yes, punished, yes…but not murdered.
Jean stood there…over her enemy's body, unable to step away, or to look the other direction. It was like a higher power was keeping her there, making her look at what she had done, and subsist in it. It took a hand on her shoulder to snap Jean out of it. Looking over, Jean watched as Emma's eyes followed Jeans…to Madelyne's dead body. Even then, Jean felt the shock and disappointment within Emma; at the same time that she felt the liberation.
"This is what he meant," Jean whispered. Emma looked at Jean, who looked back down at Madelyne, but said nothing. "This is what he wanted. He wanted me to kill an innocent person. To have Madelyne beg for her life, and for me to just…end her."
Emma gazed at her desolately. "She gave you no choice, Jean…"
"No…she did," Jean replied. "I had my powers restored…but I killed her anyways. I killed her because I wanted to. Because I could and because it felt good. Not right…good." Sighing, Jean titled her head back and looked up at the stars in the sky as the rain began to fall more heavily. "I killed hundreds…thousands of people as Phoenix on that island," she whispered.
Don't save me, don't save me, cuz I don't care
Don't save me, don't save me, cuz
I don't care
"So, what makes this so different?" Emma asked carefully.
Jean lowered her head and looked at Emma, straight in the eye. "What makes this different is…I wasn't Phoenix…I was me. I was simply Jean Grey."
"Jean!"
Jean closed her eyes. She didn't want them to see this…she couldn't let them. She looked at Emma and the woman nodded right away, knowing what Jean was thinking and what she wanted. Emma quickly turned the other way and began to walk...slowly disappearing into the fog. Looking back at Madelyne's dead form, Jean shook her head sadly and backed away. She knew what Sinister was capable of; he was a scientist after all. After reaching a distance, Jean's eyes glowed, her attention still on Madelyne's body. Using her energy and focus…all Jean did was stare, until the body finally burst into flames. Even then, Jean could hear Madelyne begging for her life, screaming in pain of the torture, even though she was already dead. Jean closed her eyes tightly and looked down, refusing to let it drive her insane; refusing to see the body being scalded to nothing but ashes. She told herself that it was necessary, so history would never repeat itself. It was essential. As a single tear rolled down Jean's cheek, she looked up, opening her eyes, and saw that the flames were no more. Madelyne Pryor was an end to. All that was left were ashes. Madelyne was dead. Even though Sinister somehow escaped…it was finally over. Ashes to Ashes.
Until you give
Until you've used
Until you've lost
Until you lose
Just as Emma snapped out of her daze, her telepathic connection with Jean, she saw Marie and the X-Men and Brotherhood members run up to them.
"Where's Jean?" Scott asked, worried. Emma looked down at Logan, still attempting to do the CPR on her. Scott immeidatly fell to his knees. "Oh god..."
Kneeling down, Emma grabbed Logan's hands gently and made him stop. Even though Logan looked at her sharply, Emma didn't back down. Logan looked down, fighting the tears that were stinging his eyes as he stood up, looking over at Ororo, who only watching the scene, not believing her eyes.
Looking around, Hank asked, "Where's Sinister?"
Everyone then snapped to attention and looked around, realizing that he had disppeared. "Shit," Logan muttered.
Until you see, how could you believe?
Until you've lived a thousand times
Until you've seen the other side
This is my chance, this is my chance
But at this point...no one cared. As Emma was about to tell them to leave, Jean's eyes fluttered, and her chest gradually rose and fell. Logan's eyes widened and he fell back to his knees next to her. "Jean?"
As Jean looked around at the group, she saw how tired, bruised up, and worn down they were. The odds weren't that bad. Madelyne was dead, the X-Men were back, and Sinister was defeated, but escaped. Besides Madelyne, those were good odds. Sighing, Jean whispered, "Can we please get out of here?" No one argued.
Don't save me, don't save me, cuz I don't care Until the truth becomes a lie This is my chance, this is my chance Don't save me, don't save me, cuz I don't care Save me, save me, save me
Don't save me, don't save me, cuz
I don't care
Until you change, until you deny
Until you believe
I'll take it now because I can
This is my chance, I want it now
Don't save me, don't save me, cuz
I don't care
Save me, save me, save me
I don't care
-30 seconds to mars