First off, I'd like to apalogize to all of you for not updating. These past few months have been very stressful for me and I just want to let you all know that I never gave up on this story and had no intent on leaving it unfinished. thank you to all of you who are reading now and stuck with me. Unfortunately, this is the end of Harper's story but she has been the most fun, lovable OC that I have written yet. Thank you to all my followers, likers and commenters for your support!

There are German phrases in this and I hope the translator that I used was right... anyways the translations are in Italics next to the phrases.

I just want to say that you again and this finale is two parts! Also, please read carefully for hints about Apocalypse. Since I don't know exactly what will happen in that movie, I tried to avoid any kind of overlap but I did reference it in one of these two finale chapters. Only briefly though. Also, I don't exactly know what DOFP changed with Magneto's future so that is why I chose the year for the second finale part. You'll understand what I mean once you get there! THANK YOU ALL! ENJOY!

Much, much Love

-Dakota Lyon

Harper slowly regained consciousness. She tried opening her eyes but her eyelids were too heavy. She felt around with her hands. She was in a bed, not sure if it was her own. She smelled the air and she thought she smelled smoke. She forced her eyes open and looked around for a fire. Her eyes scanned the room, which was hers, but didn't find the source. Then the ache started. A low, burning ache deep within her muscles and chest. She felt hot. Really hot. A bead of sweat ran down her temple. She ripped the covers off of her and she was only wearing a pair of spandex shorts and a sports bra. How could she be this hot when she was practically naked? Harper looked down at her hands and tried to scream but she couldn't do that either. Her throat felt as if she had swallowed fire. Her hands glowed with golden veins, which ran up her arms to her chest to her abdomen and down to her legs. She started sweating even more. She was smoldering.

Harper looked over at the bedside table and there was a pitcher of water sitting there. Harper lunged for it but instead of drinking it she dumped it on her body, soaking her hair and the bed. The water sent a wave of brief relief through her. Then with wide eyes, she watched the water droplets begin to sizzle and evaporate off her skin. Suddenly, Harper felt like a blaze was burning her alive but she had used all the water in the pitcher. Panic started to set in. She needed to cool down. Now.

The Shower.

Harper leaped off the bed just as the bedroom door opened. Harper stop her rush to the shower as Hank stepped into the room. He looked to the empty bed to Harper standing up. His face was full of shock. She saw his eyes scan her skin, no doubt noticing the gold streaks all over her body. Harper wanted to say his name, ask him what was happening but her throat was so raw.

"Harper—" He started but just then, a burning ache racked her body and Harper nearly fell to her knees. She let out a strangled cry of pain. She turned away from Hank and ran to the bathroom. "Harper!" he called after her but she ignored him. She reached the shower and turned the water to the coldest temperature. She climbed in and let out a silent sigh as the freezing water hit her searing skin. She closed her eyes, tilting her head back and opening her mouth to drench her mouth and throat with water. She swallowed gulps of the water. A dull pain ran through her which shocked her. She gasped and fell to the shower floor. Her wet hair stuck to her face as she tried to push away the pain. She focused on her breathing. Slowly, the ache and burn dissipated. She brought her legs up to her chest and hugged them with her arms. She rested her forehead on her knees and let the water run over her skin. She was aware of Hank standing in the doorway, watching her. She couldn't bear to look at him but eventually she did lift her head. Curls were pasted to her cheeks and the water from the shower mixed with her salty tears. She watched swirls of steam rise off of her skin and then she finally looked over to her friend.

"Hank," she said in a voice that didn't sound like her own. "What am I?"

After Harper had asked the essential question Hank had looked away from her. He told her that she should get out and dry off and that they should talk under better circumstances. Harper couldn't fathom walking away from the water which was the only thing that was keeping her sane. Eventually she found the strength to stand and dry herself off. She looked at her face in the mirror. Her one cheek was still slightly black and blue from Max hitting her. The dressings on her arm and leg wounds got ruined in the shower so she changed them. There was also another patch over her shoulder, where her bullet scar was. When she had pulled off the bandage, the scar looked like it had somehow ripped open… She changed into another pair of black spandex shorts and then a sports bra and white racer-back tank. When she came out of the bathroom, Charles was next to her bed and Hank had pulled up one of her arm chairs next to Charles. They both looked up at Harper when she walked out.

"Harper," Charles sighed. "Harper, how are you feeling?" That was also a key question, wasn't it? For some reason she no longer felt that aching burn and the gold veins that ran throughout her body had dimmed but there was still the faint glow underneath her skin. Her throat still felt a little sore but she could talk.

"Well my wounds aren't infected, I have a swollen cheek and my skin glows," she responded, a little more bitter than she wanted to seem. Charles gave her a pitiful look and never took his eyes off her until she sat on her bed Indian style. She looked between the two men. "What happened?"

"Harper, I don't—"

"Just tell me, goddamnit!" she yelled, cutting Charles off. She felt her chest heat up and she closed her eyes and took deep breathes. The heat turned to a low simmer. "Please. Please just tell me," she said quietly, opening her eyes again. Charles sighed and Hank sat completely still in his chair.

"Before you were accidently injected with the serum, Max was going to kill us and take the rest of the serum with him." Harper nodded, already knowing that but didn't say anything. "Before I knew it, you had been exposed to the serum and you latched onto Max's leg. His skin started burning and then char and he was screaming in agony. When I looked at you… you were glowing. Then there was this bright light and it blinded us all. Erik, Hank and I woke up not long after and Max and the other mutants were nowhere to be found."

"You mean they got away?" Harper asked with a hint of panic.

"No, Harper. They're gone." Harper stared at Charles.

"Are you…." She paused and started again, "Do you mean that they're dead?" Charles nodded his head.

"I tried using Cerebro to find them, just in case, but there is no trace of them. Any of them." Harpers head started to throb. Her hands started to shake and her heart sped up a little.

No stay calm, she said to herself. It'll keep the fire away. Harper took a deep breath before asking very calmly and softly,

"Did I kill them?"

"Yes, Harper. You killed them," Charles said just as calm. Harper covered her face with her shaking hands. She let the tears stream down her face. They were so cold compared to her warm cheeks.

"I'm a murderer," she sobbed. Someone pried her hands away from her face and held them tight. She looked up through her tears at Charles. His eyes held something she had never seen before. A kind of compassion that made her sob even more.

"No, Harper." Harper let out a staggered breath and looked to Hank, who gave her a reassuring nod, and then back to Charles. He put a hand against her tear soaked cheek. It was almost impossibly cold against her skin. She thought she was burning him but her didn't take his hand away and didn't seem in pain. "You saved us all, My Dear." She took Charles' hand from her face and grasped it in her own.

"How long have I been unconscious?"

"Three days," Hank said.

"Three?" Harper repeated with disbelief. Hank nodded.

"Well, today marked the fourth day but you're awake. So yes, three days. We got most of the school cleaned up and the students don't exactly know what happened but they are back to their regular class schedules and daily lives."

"Good. That's… very good." Harper released Charles' hands and clasped her own in her lap. "Three days. That's enough time to do some testing." She stared up at Hank. He gave her a small smile.

"I knew you would say something like that."

"Hank. What am I?"

"I also knew you would ask that," he said with a small smirk.

"Alright, smartass. Just answer the question."

"I don't know," he said plainly. Harper's muscle stiffened.

"What do you mean 'I don't know'?"

"I've done several blood tests and DNA tests, as well as a dozen scans. The whole time you've been unconscious, you would burn up and then cool down and then it would repeat. You were making painful noises each time you burned up, so we would try to cool you down but the ice would melt as soon as it touched your skin and the water would evaporate. Your skin was also glowing with veins of bright gold." Harper glanced down at her arms. The gold lines were faint but still there. "You burned through several bedsheets and we were doing whatever we could to cool your body down."

"We weren't even sure you'd wake up," Charles said.

"Why? What did you see on the scans? The tests?" Harper asked Hank. He sighed before speaking.

"Harper, I've never seen anything like this before. Your organs, muscles, cells… it's as if everything's just stopped."

"Stopped? What is that even supposed to mean?" Neither men spoke. Harper placed a hand against her chest and waited.

No heartbeat.

"What…. What the hell?" she exclaimed. "My heart isn't beating! How am I alive? How is this possible?" her voice grew slightly frantic.

"We think it had something to do when you released that light n Max and the others. It somehow altered your biology in a way we can't even begin to understand," Charles said.

"I also think that for some reason, you knew or your power knew, who to target. None of us were scorched from your—"

"Fire," Harper said quietly. "So I'm a mutant but still human?"

"Harper I've studied all the samples I took from you. I think whatever you released the night of the attack was a onetime thing. While you were unconscious, I think your body was trying to fight the serum, like an infection or common cold. Your body needs to release anything that is left behind from that blast. I checked for your heartbeat everyday but I never heard it through the stethoscope."

"Lovely. So I'm like what? A Vampire?" Hank rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"That's not funny."

"I wasn't trying to be."

"You were in some kind of coma. We..." Hank hesitated before continuing, "we thought you were burning to death. Then suddenly, last night your skin cooled and the golden veins faded."

"But my heart wasn't beating," Harper said softly, reaching up to touch her chest but then recoiled.

"Harper, it's some kind of miracle that you're alive. We have be thankful for that," Charles said, closing his hand around hers again. She looked down at their hands blankly.

"What does it mean, though? I have no heartbeat, I don't need to breath, none of my organs are working…"

"Well if my theory and tests and science match up correctly, it means that you won't be able to age," Hank said. Harper looked up at Hank with wide eyes. She was about to say it sounded like she was really was a vampire or a zombie. "As far as I can tell, you don't even need to eat or drink to survive. It's kind of like your immortal. But you can still die from injury."

"So your saying thirty years from now, I'm going to look exactly the same?"

"That's exactly what he's saying," Charles said again. Harper didn't know what to think about it. Never aging. No working organs. It was scientifically impossible but… reading minds should be impossible as well. Charles must have seen the distress on Harper's face because she heard him politely asked Hank to leave. Charles didn't speak again until the door shut. "Harper, you're going to be okay."

"Charles." Harper stressed his name. "I killed all of those mutants. I burned them, disintegrated them!"

"And they damn well deserved it, Love!"

"I also slashed the throats of two mutants down in the lab! Their blood," she paused to look down at her hands: the only color to them now was the pale golden glow. "their blood stained my hands. I took a scalpel and I just… right across their throats…."

"You did that to save yourself! And Hank! Harper, look back at all the pain and suffering they've cause us. Your brother, threatening your parents, gaining your trust by sending Mystique here to befriend you, almost killing Erik—" Harper's unbeating heart jumped at the name.

"Erik." Harper gripped the bedsheets so tight her knuckles turned white. "Erik…. He's not…. Did I…" Harper stared at Charles' grave face, saying nothing. Harper's heart dropped and she went numb. But she was only going after the Brotherhood. She shook slightly. Did she kill the man she loves?

Oh my god. Not only did I murder the Brotherhood members, I killed him! I murdered him! I'm a murderer! Harper screamed in her thoughts. She felt those terrible gold veins start to burn her skin again. Her hands trembled and her gut was in knots. If she truly killed the one she loved, Harper didn't know if she could live with herself. Especially not when she knew she would live… forever. If she walked down that hallway where it all happened, would she be able to keep herself from falling to her knees, weeping, knowing what she had done?

"Please calm down, Harper. You didn't kill Erik."

Harper furrowed her brows at Charles.

"He loves you. He told me. Just as you love him." Harper's throat tightened.

"How… Charles… No, Charles," she tried to say firmly but her voice still quivered. He was reading her thoughts. Erik may have said he loved her to Charles but she had never said anything to him herself. What she didn't understand was why he was reading her thoughts. He knew what would happen if he did.

No….That's exactly why he was doing it. He read her thoughts about staying here, remembering the horrible things…

"Charles, please." A tear streamed down her cheek but fizzled out before it fell to the white bedsheets.

"You feel that what you did was horrible. That you're a murderer. Harper," Charles looked right into her eyes, "I'm telling you that you are not a murderer. You are a savior."

"Then why do I feel like this?"

Charles put a hand to her cheek. "You are such a good person. An extraordinary one. I have never met anyone with a heart like yours. You need to trust me when I tell you that you are still that same person." Harper managed to smile slightly. Again, she wondered if she was burning him but he didn't show any signs that she was.

"If I didn't kill Erik, where is he?" Charles sighed.

"Harper, I'm sorry. He stayed the first two days while you were in your coma. None of us knew if you would wake. He couldn't stand watching you slowly burn yourself to death all for the sake of saving us." Charles' hand dropped from her face and he reached into his suit pocket. He pulled out something small and silver. He held it out for her.

It was a perfectly smooth, round ring. The light glinted off of the metal.

"Before he left, he did do something just in case you did wake. The bullet in your shoulder melted as your body was burning, so Erik extracted it." Harper placed her hand on the patch on her shoulder. "He told me to give you this." Harper reached out for the ring but hesitated. She didn't want to melt it. She took a deep breath and shook her head.

"I can't. I don't want to risk touching it and melting it. Not until I've got this thing… this fire suppressed." Charles nodded and placed it on the bedside table.

"Just remember what Hank said. It was a once and done thing. That burning ache is just an after effect."

"Yes, but I have a feeling it will always be with me." Charles gave her a weak smile but she just looked down at her lap.

"Charles. You read my mind. You know I can't…." Harper choked on the words, tears threatening to spill. "You know I have to leave."

"I know."

"I have nowhere to go Charles."

"Yes, you do." Harper lifted her head to look at her friend. "I set you up in a beautiful house by the bay in Maine. Your brother will be going with you, of course." Harper smiled. Truly smiled.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." Before she could stop herself, she leaned forward and hugged Charles as hard as she could. He wrapped his arms around her and held on as tight as he could. "I'm going to miss you," she said into his shoulder, her voice muffled.

"I as well. This place will always be your home Harper. You are always welcome back. Even when I'm an old man and your still a stunning beaut." Harper choked on a laugh and heard Charles chuckle. Harper pulled away and wiped at her eyes. "I don't want you leaving just yet. I want you to stay here a few days, to recover. I'll have Noah make sure he gathers all of your things.

"Okay," she said quietly.

"Okay," he reverberated. "You should take a shower and get some sleep."

"I've been in a coma for three days, Charles. The last thing I want to do is sleep."

"Well you look like you could use some sleep."

"We'll see. I'll definitely take a shower and maybe I'll get sleepy."

"Alright, love." He placed a hand behind her head and kissed her on the temple. She smiled slightly and he turned to leave.

"Wait, Charles."

Charles turned halfway in his wheelchair to look at her.

"What about Mystique? Did I… did she…"

"She's fine. She was released from Max's control. I was able to convince her to stay a day but ran when she got the chance." Harper frowned and shook her head.

"I'm sorry."

"Raven needs to find her own path. Everything she did wasn't her fault and this messed with her mind. I don't blame her for wanting to get away. I will see her again."

Harper's chest tightened and thought about possibly seeing Erik again. Though, he would be older and she would look the same.

"How do you know that? How can you be so sure you will see some—Raven, again?"

"With some people, you just know," Charles said with a small smile and then left her room.

Three more days passed and Harper's wounds healed. Despite her refusals to sleep, she actually found herself nodding off while trying to read a book or while packing up her things. She had no flare ups of her so called "flaming ache" but the golden veins still lingered underneath her skin.

Harper finished up in the shower and dried herself off. She still felt abnormally warm and couldn't wear anything but shorts and tank tops. She slipped on a sports bra, grey tank top and black spandex shorts. She looked at herself in the mirror. A day after she woke up from her coma, Harper realized she had burned the ends of her own hair. So she had to cut it. She had one of the students who was good with hair, cut it for her. Her brown curls now ended up just brushing her shoulders. She didn't mind the change, actually. Then she moved onto her injuries. She no longer wore a patch over the newly reopened bullet wound because it was practically healed. Her upper arm and calf wound she rewrapped with a clean white bandage.

Harper looked down at the sink. Resting on the counter was the silver ring. Harper had finally gotten the courage to put the ring on her finger. It fit perfectly and… it didn't melt. She picked it up and put it on. She admired the ring on her right hand: the surface was smooth and the light from the bathroom glinted off of it. There was something eerily beautiful about it. She sighed and started to put away all of the medical supplies she had gotten out.

Then, just for a moment, she thought she felt the ring pulsate on her finger. Harper stopped what she was doing and stared at it.

Nothing.

Her dead heart fluttered and then settled from disappointment. It was just her head playing tricks on her. Cruel tricks. She heard movement from the other side of the bathroom door, in the bedroom. Harper thought about a conversation she had with Noah earlier, how he would possibly come upstairs tonight to pick up the rest of her suitcases and take them downstairs for her.

"Noah?" she called as she finished putting away things. There was no response. She stood up and opened the door while talking. "Noah, be careful with the—" Harper's words got lost in her throat as she looked out into her bedroom. It wasn't Noah standing by the closed door.

"Erik?"

The tall man standing in the shadowy room turned their head towards Harper. The only light in the room was her bedside lamp and the bathroom light behind her but she would have known it was him if the room was completely dark. She took a step out of the bathroom, her hand reaching for the ring on her finger unconsciously. Erik took a step forward as well, closer to the light. He wore black slacks, a grey crewneck sweater underneath a jacket. Harper took in his face and noticed the fading bruise along his jawline from where one of the Brotherhood mutants punched him.

"You're… you're alive," he said, quietly, almost stumbling over his words. Harper had never heard him speak like that before. It was so vulnerable. She slowly nodded her head and smiled slightly.

"Yes. Yes, I'm alive."

"I didn't… I lost hope, Harper. I didn't think you would wake. I couldn't watch you die. I couldn't stay…" a single tear fell down his cheek. Harper's own eyes stung as her chest grew tight and she couldn't stand the distance anymore. She ran to him. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, standing on the balls of her feet and tucking her face into his shoulder. She felt his arms instantly wrap around her: one around her waist and the other around her back, his hand pressing firmly into the back of her head.

"It's okay," she said, her voice muffled. "It's okay. I understand. You don't need to explain." She paused and took a shaky breathe. "I never thought that I would see you again." Erik pulled away and so did she, her hands still on his shoulders. He took her face in both of his hands and leaned his head in close. Their foreheads rested on one another's. Harper closed her eyes and just took in the closeness of them.

"I'm here now," he said softly, his thumb brushing across her cheek. "I'm here." Harper moved her hands from his shoulders and placed them on top of his. Erik leaned his head away from her and looked into her eyes. "You're so warm. You were always warmer than me but it's… it's different now." Harper nodded her head.

"Yes, it's different. I won't hurt you though."

"What do you mean?" he asked, his brows furrowing. Harper let out a small laugh and shook her head.

"Don't worry about it. At least, not for now. I'll explain later."

Harper lifted her head up and kissed him. The action sent a wave of heat through her but she pushed it down, tucking it away. Erik leaned into the kiss, deepening it. Harper wrapped her arms around him and drug him back with her, step by step. They fell onto the bed and pieces of clothing made their way to the floor. Erik kissed her jawline and all the wat down to the crook of her neck. Harper gasped as she felt an instant burn inside her chest but kept her eyes closed. She wouldn't let the fire ruin this. Not after everything they've been through.

"So, you're immortal?"

Harper laughed and shook her head as they both got dressed that morning.

"No, I'm not immortal. I can still die… I just won't age." She slipped her tank top on and turned to Erik who was shrugging on his jacket. He grabbed his shoes and sat on the edge of the bed and began to put them on.

"So then when I'm sixty years old, you'll also be old but just look like," he trailed off, gesturing to Harper.

"Yes. Just like this."

"That's not such a bad thing, is it?"

Harper knew he was making a joke but she couldn't find the humor in herself to laugh or smile.

"I noticed that your hair is shorter."

Harper instinctively reached up to touch the flat curls.

"Yes, well, I kind of burnt the ends of my hair so I had no choice. I'm just glad it was my hair and not my eyebrows." That brought a smile to his lips. Erik finished putting on his shoes and stood up and grabbed her hands. He intertwined his fingers with hers and lifted them up between them. His eyes trailed up her arms, looking at the faint gold veins.

"Those will hopefully go away as well."

"I like them. They make you glow." Harper couldn't hold back the smile and Erik laughed slightly. Though the smile didn't stay on her face when she glanced at her bags by the door. "Come with me," he said. Harper looked at him in shock.

"Erik." Her voice cracked as she said his name. "I can't. Noah—"

"He'll understand."

"No, Erik. I need to stay with him. We're family and I'm all he's got." Harper saw the disappointment in Erik's eyes as they looked past her and she sighed. "Erik." His eyes moved back to meet her own.

"Ich liebe dich." I love you.

He smiled.

"Ich liebe dich," Erik echoed.

"Wir sehen uns wieder. Ich weiß, wir werden." We will see each other again. I know we will.

"Wie können Sie so sicher sein?" How can you be so sure?

"Mit einigen Leuten, die sie einfach wissen." With some people, you just know.

"I didn't know you knew German so well."

"I'm full of surprises," she said with a smile. Erik smiled he kissed her, deeply, compassionately. She didn't want it to end. When he pulled away, his grip on her hands grew a little tighter.

"Thank you, Harper."

Harper didn't even need to ask what he was thanking her for. She already knew. She gave him a quick lingering kiss before he released his grip on her.

"Don't do anything you'll regret. Make good choices," she said, a little force behind the words.

"I will try my best. For you." There was a pause of silence between them before she finally said the words she was dreading. She cleared her throat and said,

"Goodbye, Erik."

"Goodbye, Doctor." Tears stung her eyes but she held them back. With one last glance at her, watching her as she held the ring bearing hand close to her, he smiled and left her room.

Then, finally, she let the tears come. She slumped to the floor and sat there for a good while. She felt the ring on her finger pulsate one last time and she kissed the cool metal.