Chapter Nine

Vixen and Wolverine dumped Chimera's body at sea. Wolverine offered to take Beast along instead, but Vixen had insisted that it was something she needed to do herself. She'd let Logan pilot the Blackbird, lost in her own thoughts. Concerned, Logan had sent her many a sideways glance, but she'd returned none of them. Vixen had held her father close when he'd appeared behind her in the corridor, and though no words had passed between them, Logan suspected much had been said telepathically. Not wanted to intrude, he'd not asked her about it.

When they reached a good spot, Logan let the Blackbird hover on autopilot. Vixen had opened the tail ramp of the jet, and less than carefully rolled the body, wrapped in a tarp and weighted heavily, to the end of it. With a final kick, Chimera was gone. Vixen watched with a grim but satisfied smile on her face as it splashed into the water and quickly sank from sight. Job done, she accepted Logan's hand in hers and they stood side by side, staring at the darkening ocean.

Later, the faculty were all gathered in Charles' study, each and every one exhausted from their day and from trying to get the upset and all the more unruly kids into bed and asleep. Charles was by the window, Storm and Beast on the sofa. Jean was in one armchair, with Scott perched on the arm. Logan was in Vixen's armchair, with her, unusually, sat in his lap. She rested her head on his shoulder, and her fingers curled into his t-shirt. Her eyes were closed, though she was not asleep. Instead, she found some measure of contentment in breathing in Logan's masculine, slightly musky scent, revelled in the strength of his arms holding her. This was what she had chosen; she took comfort in it, for once not caring what everyone else thought. In fact, they all took comfort in the closeness of one another; though some of them had hesitatingly shared their illusions, there could be no words to truly describe what they had lost.

"Might be in for a tough night." Logan commented, his sharp hearing catching the students tossing and turning in their beds upstairs.

"Yes, their thoughts are definitely disturbed." Charles agreed, pinching the bridge of his nose, his head aching from coping with all the emotion in the Institute that evening.

""When I waked, I cried to dream again."" Beast quoted softly from Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'.

"They'll be alright." Storm patted Beast's furry hand. "They're resilient. I think it will be us who suffer more."

""A dream itself is but a shadow."" Vixen opened her eyes, smiling at Beast because she'd managed to come up with an appropriate Shakespeare quote. "If any one of our dreams had come true, just one, the chances are the seven of us wouldn't all be sat together, here, now."

They all pondered her words in silence. Eventually, one by one, they peeled off and went to bed, though none of them really expected to get much sleep. Their hearts were heavy with all they had lost, and the students were restless. Eventually, only Logan and Vixen remained. She kissed him softly, running her fingers through his blue-black hair.

"Are you gonna tell me what happened?" He asked her gently.

"I saw my Mom, Logan. She was so, so beautiful…" She buried her face in his neck and clung to him. He held her tight, stroking her hair. "I could have had my family, Mom, Dad, Scott and David… but there was no you."

"Me?" He asked, surprised. "You chose me over you Mom?"

"When I realised you were missing, the illusion cracked and suddenly there was no choice. You and I chose each other Logan, what feels like such a long time ago." She sat up and kissed him again. Words fell away, and she held him close. Logan sensed something was amiss, but could never have guessed that she was wondering how long it would be before that choice was taken away.

After all, you can't always get what you want.

THE END

Author's note: This is my first completed X-Men: Evolution story, and my first posting in many, many years. It's not designed to fit it with my once co-author Lamby's Evolution timeline, but wouldn't be out of place either.

Vixen has definitely matured over the years, she was a lot more temperamental and unpredictable when I first started writing for her. It does, however, mean that her character has changed a little and not everything fits anymore, but I wanted to attempt to do her justice at last.

Thanks for reading!

Corrinth x