Disclaimer: The X-Men & other characters belong to Marvel and/or Kids WB & are used without permission. The story belongs to me, the one and only kojie....here at ffnet. anyways.

Note: I jus gotta laugh, when I was reading your reviews (thanks!!!!!) I laughed. Truth is, I have no idea why Jean took off Scott's visor. I was just typing stuf and there it was. It wasn't a very good idea, was it? lol. I never really caught that one, till evolutionary spider actually said it:) It's pretty hilarious.

And...I'm not even gonna worry about the accents. Seriously, a Cajun, a German, a Southern, a Scottish, and an Irish. lol.

And! One more thing, I have not read the original comics. I wasn't born yet:) So I changed a few things...

*WARNING! WARNING!* Out of character Duncan. Sorry, could not help myself.

What Happens Now?

by:

kojie

==

Chapter Eleven

==

Duncan picked up the cordless phone lying on the couch. He turned it over, his right thumb hovering on the number '9'.

Just three numbers, dude. 911. Easy as that.

Should he? Should he call the police and say, 'Hey, there are mutants here at my house! Come and get `em!'

He'd be turning over his girlfriend, so what? She was just for fun, anyways, wasn't she? Didn't he pick her because she was beautiful, popular, and smart? Oh, and the fact that more than half of the guys at school also wanted her. Can't forget that.

But she is a mutant. Can't forget that, either.

Dangerous and cunning. Cunning because they were able to hide themselves for all this time. Dangerous because of their amazing powerful abilities...

"Duncan?"

The redhead was leaning against the doorway of the living room. Duncan shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He looked at her. She was looking at the phone in his hand. "Uh, how's....Scott doing?" he asked uncertainly.

"He's better now," she replied quietly, as she took a few steps forward. "But he needs more experienced help. A professional doctor..."

"You want to take him to the hospital?" Duncan glanced at her, surprised.

"No. There'd be too many risks. I just need to contact our friends. Mind if I use the phone?" she asked.

"Uh..." he hesitated, gripping the phone more tightly. "Sure," he said quickly, throwing the phone gently towards Jean. The phone stopped in midair, a foot above the couch between Jean and Duncan. Duncan let out a small gasp in surprise. "How..?"

Jean gave a warm, reassuring smile as the phone slowly floated to her hand. "I think you already know that I'm a mutant. And," she said slowly, "I have the power of telekinesis, which means I can move things using only my mind and thoughts."

Duncan nodded slowly, but took a step back. Jean saw his scared reaction, and felt her heart being torn into two pieces.

This is what I've always feared...he doesn't trust me. He's scared of me.

"Duncan, I'm not going to hurt you. I would never do such a thing," Jean said calmly, pleadingly. "You know, I would never do such a thing...don't you?"

Duncan tried to steady himself, standing up more erectly. He took a deep breath. "Prove it," he said, almost coldly. Then, seeing the hurt obvious in Jean's eyes, he added slowly, "please."

==

Rogue stepped into the kitchen and saw Moira and Sean sitting by the table, having coffee. It was almost five in the morning. The phone was on the table in front of them. "Did ya'll even sleep?" Rogue asked as she pulled a chair. Normally, Rogue would not have done anything like that. She wasn't that kind of girl. After all, they did just met. All she knew was that they were friends of the professor's. But...things were a bit different now. Much different.

"Rogue, isn't it?" Moira asked. The pale-faced girl nodded.

"Actually, I tried t'sleep, but I couldn't, so I came down here and joined Moira," Sean spoke up. "Although I dinna think Moira even tried to. She's been too worried, I think," he said with a tired smile. Moira raised an eyebrow. "Are you aware that I am sitting right here, Sean? I can speak for myself, love," she said teasingly, as she elbowed her fiancé gently. "Ouch!" Sean said softly, rubbing the spot where Moira had elbowed him. As Rogue watched the two in front of her, she was suddenly reminded again, by Scott and Jean.

Damn. I never knew how much my friends and teammates meant to me until now.

"Ye alright, lass?" Sean asked her, his face showed concern. "Yeah, I'm okay, Mr. Cassidy," Rogue replied as she forced a smile.

"Aye, ye'r not the only one who's worried, Rogue. We all are."

"I-I know..."

"Tell us, yuir problems, lass. Maybe we can help. Because y'know, I cannae stand feelin' more helpless than I already do," he smiled sadly.

"No, it's okay. Really, it is," Rogue assured him.

"Hmm.." Moira murmured, touching her chin thoughtfully with her forefinger, "Would you tell us if we gave you a mug of tasty hot chocolate?" she asked, with a soft smile. A joke. She made a joke.

Rogue smiled. This time, for real.

==

Jean glanced at the phone in her hand, then Duncan. Which problem should she try to solve first? She made her decision quickly as she put the phone on the couch, and walked towards Duncan. She could see his struggle: run away, or stay and find out. She stopped a few steps in front of him. "I can show you, if you'll let me."

Duncan just stood there, and looked at her. Her form-fitting black suit was torn, her long red hair ruffled, parts of her face covered with dried mud and dirt. Her beautiful, yet solemn green eyes staring straight back at his. "Okay."

She stepped closer toward him, their faces mere inches apart. He could feel her steady breathing. She raised her hands to the sides of his head, never breaking eye contact. "This will sting a bit, but close your eyes, just relax, and trust me..."

Duncan did as he was told, and tried his best to relax. It was almost impossible.

It did hurt, at first. He could feel his mind being touched by another's. Something was happening, but the had no idea what. Surprisingly, he was getting calmer. Calm, and relaxed.

Was he in Jean's mind? The dark surroundings around him were forming something. He blinked, and found himself standing in somebody's front yard. He saw two girls playing happily with a Frisbee a few feet away from him. It was almost like being inside a movie. One of the girls looked like a smaller and younger version of Jean... As they were playing, the Frisbee flew to the middle of the street. The other girl ran towards the street, and was suddenly hit by a passing car.

Oh, my god. No...

Duncan almost ran towards the injured girl, but he stopped. He had the feeling that there wasn't going to be anything that he'd be able to do to help her. The younger Jean ran towards the fallen girl and cradled her best friend's head on her lap. "Anne...no," she murmured, and started to cry. But as she did, she felt a stab of pain shot through her mind. She felt her pain. Jean was in her best friend's mind when she died.

All this Duncan watched, with no idea why Jean was showing it to him. The scene in around of him changed. He was in a strange room. The walls looked like they were made of metal. The room was huge. He saw a door slide open, and Scott and the present version of Jean walked in, both oblivious to the fact the Duncan was standing there. They were in their strange uniforms. "Ready?" a deep voice asked loudly, coming from up in the control room. "We're ready, Logan," Scott answered, raising his hand to the right side of his head, near his visor. Weapons of all kinds appeared from the metallic walls. Lasers, spinning spiked discs, and a small dangerous-looking 7-foot robot were coming straight at them.

Duncan froze. But Jean and Scott didn't. They were dodging them. Scott was somehow firing red beams of light from his eyes, hitting the spiked discs. Jean raised both hands to her temples and she began to fly. She concentrated on the laser guns, and a moment later, they were pointing at the robot, destroying it in a matter of seconds.

Everything happened in less than a minute.

Duncan was still shaking. His two schoolmates however, were celebrating with high-fives. The door slid open again, and this time, Professor Xavier, the owner of the institute, appeared. "Congratulations, both of you. That was excellent work."

"Ah, it was nothing," Scott shrugged. Jean slapped Scott's arm playfully. "No, it wasn't. It was hard work!" Scott had a weird expression on his face. "That's only because you're new at this," he teased. Jean rolled her eyes, and turned to the professor. "Why do we have to do all this anyway?" she asked.

The professor thought for a moment. "Because I know, that there will be other mutants, powerful mutants, who will not share our point of view. They will threaten mankind, even use their powers against them. We must be ready to stop them. No matter what happens, I think...I believe, that someday, mutants and humans can learn to live together. It'll only be a matter of time."

More images came after that, but more quickly. Instead of being part of the scenes, Duncan was now watching them, like he was in a movie theater. He saw the training, the fighting, the soldiers and the Sentinel, the rescue, and more things that he never could have imagined were real.

Finally, Duncan opened his eyes. Jean was still standing close in front of him. He nodded at her, telling her that he understood everything.

"I'm also a telepath," she whispered quietly, but Duncan almost ignored it.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, referring to her best friend's death.

"Duncan, why are you saying sorry? It wasn't your fault," she replied, as a tear rolled down her cheek. "Besides, it was years ago..."

Duncan did the only thing he could do. He wrapped his arms around her slim figure. He held her close to him, and whispered, "Nothing's changed between us. You're the strongest person I've ever met, Jean, and I promise, I'll always be by and on your side, no matter what happens."

==

The phone rang. Rogue, Sean and Moira stared at it in surprise. After the second ring, they all lunged for it at the same time. Rogue grabbed it first. "Hello?"

"Rogue! It's me, we--"

"Jean?! Are you alright? Where are you?"

"I- We're alright. We're at Duncan's-- "

"Duncan's??!! Are ya'll crazy?!" Rogue yelled on the phone.

"Rogue, let me finish!" Jean said, impatiently, getting annoyed at being cut off again.

"Sorry," Rogue apologized. "It's alright, now, listen to me," Jean said quickly, a bit surprised at hearing Rogue's apology. "Look, we're heading to that closed beach resort that we went to last Friday."

Could it really have been just last Friday? It seems as if so much has happened...

"Rogue, d'you know where that is?"

"Uh-huh," Rogue said, almost timidly.

"Good...Um, Scott's hurt. But don't worry, I think he's gonna be okay," Jean said.

"Okay.." Rogue's voice a bit worried.

"Try to come before daylight, it'll probably be safer."

"Alright. We will."

"Uh...I'll see you?"

"Ya'll can count on it... And Jean?"

"Yeah?"

"Ah'm so glad you're safe."

==

"Kitty!" Rogue shouted as she burst into the room she shared with Lance.

"Wha- huh?" Kitty mumbled as she sat up, almost hitting her head on the low ceiling. Rogue switched on the lights and Lance murmured an "ow" as he rubbed his eyes. "Rogue?"

"Jean just called," Rogue started. The moment the name "Jean" reached Kitty's ears, she was wide-awake. "That must mean they're alright, right?" she asked Rogue eagerly.

"Yeah, they are. They said to pick them up at that old deserted beach...thing. C'mon, Kitty, get dressed," Rogue said as she half-ran towards the hallway. "Ah'm wakin' Bobby up!"

==

Note: I researched a lil bit and saw in one Jean profile that Jean was in Anne's mind when she died. But, shouldn't it have been fatal for Jean? hehe I dunno. I'm not an expert at those kind of things.

Oh, and about Duncan....er, I never really expected him to have a big part on this chap... although he is a jerk in the show, I can't help feelin' that he's really good inside, very, very, very, very deep inside:) And that's why this chap came out this way. Weird, ain't it?

Review! Please do that!!! I'd love for you to do that. Constructive criticism are welcome, of course. But flames...well, what good will they do except hurt people's feelings? So, please review:) "Reunion" is next...I want more Remy/Rogue and more Lance/Kitty. But for some unknown reason, I couldn't do it! Aargh. That's why this chap took a while for me to post. I really wanna put some more romancy, mushy, fluffy stuf in. lol. So, watch out for that in later chapters... I guess. Oh, and some action! Yeah!