Disclaimer: The X-Men & other characters belong to Marvel Comics & are used without permission. Don't sue.

Note: First of all, sorry this chap took almost two weeks. I had trouble with it, and I've been very, very busy lately. Projects, exams (math!), & an oral presentation. Bleh.

To Jean ^ ^ My answers are in the order you asked your Q's. First, Gambit's an empath...he could have mind shields and/or I mean, Rogue's nowhere near any control of her powers, so it could take a while to actually sort out his memories....2) How does Scott know Jean loves him? Well...when did I say he did? ^ ^ But I mean, seriously, though, after all they've been through, there's gotta be something special between them! 3) About Bobby, um...I just wanted him to be more 3-dimensional, whatever the heck that means...4) Rogue & Remy did meet, as in they were gazing into each others' eyes for like 5 minutes...lol...but no words were exchanged. And Remy did throw an explosive card at her then ran away.

And to Lady MR...I'm trying. I really am.

What Happens Now?

by:

kojie

==

Chapter Fifteen

==

"We're sharing one, right?" Scott asked Jean as they walked. She nodded. "Of course."

"Scott," Logan called. Scott turned around. Logan was leaning against the front door of the Cassidy Manor. "I need to talk to you for a sec."

"Oh, uh, sure," Scott yelled back. "You go on ahead, Jean," Scott said to her as he started jogging towards Logan. "What is it?"

Logan waited for a while, then looked at him seriously. "I'm putting you in charge, kid."

"W-what?" Scott asked, not quite believing what Logan was saying.

"You heard me, I'm puttin' ye in charge."

Scott stared at him like he was crazy. "Why?"

"You really wanna go into this?" Logan asked.

"I just want to know why."

"Because..." Logan started, "nah, forget that. Truth is, I wasn't made to be a leader, kid. You are. Being a leader, ya gotta make lotsa decisions, important ones. And uh, I ain't good at making decisions. Sometimes I think the only good choice I made was join Charles' side, instead of that Magneto maniac..."

"And so you want me to be in charge? So I can make the "right" decisions?" Scott asked, his voice rising involuntarily. "But what if I make the wrong choices? What if I fail? Logan, I'm only a kid, I can't--- "

"But you can, Scott. I trust you. Jean trusts you. Hell, we all do.. 'cept maybe for that Alvers kid," Logan's expression changed for a second, "Er, Cyke, lemme tell you something. I know you, and I know you can do this. You're not a kid anymore, you're Scott Summers, Cyclops. Leader of the X-Men. We've been through tough times, and we can survive this. And besides, you saw how I exploded back there, what if that happens in this mission, huh? I'd be endangering everyone. Jean, Kitty, Rogue, Kurt, Bobby....everybody, Scott." Logan paused, thinking. "I don't want that, and I know you don't either. Guess you could say I'm a loner. But you're a leader. And that's why I'm giving you this job, this responsibility. Now, what d'you say, huh? Up for it?"

Scott pondered the whole thing for a few seconds. This was huge. "Fine, Logan. If this is what you want, then I'll do my best."

"Good."

==

Jean ran her long hands though her hair as she headed towards one of the pods. She walked cautiously, almost expecting those giant tentacles to grab her again. But she reached their transportation safely, and without any surprises. She levitated herself up and into the opened pod. She sat down on the cold, round bottom of the sphere, and waited quietly for Scott. There was nothing else she could do except hope this wasn't all a trap.

==

"So..." Bobby said, staring at his hands. It was dark inside the pod, and he could barely see anything...except Kurt's yellow glowing eyes which were looking straight at him.

"So," Kurt repeated. "Vhat's up?"

He acts like everything's normal...like none of this is actually happening, Bobby thought incredulously.

"How do you do it, Kurt?" he asked.

"Do vhat?"

"That--I mean, like...how d'you act like nothing ever happened, y'know?"

Kurt's eyes narrowed a bit as he thought. "I guess I'm...used to it," he said slowly.

"Used to it? How can you be used to it?"

"Vell, I'm not sure. But I remember, when I still lived in Germany, because of my uh, strange appearance, people were very...not so understanding sometimes, and I guess I've learned how to deal with those hard times, you know, when things aren't the way you vant them to be...no matter how much you want them to change," Kurt managed to say. "And...right now is one of those hard times."

"Oh..." Bobby said, regretting he asked.

"Ah, don't vorry about it, mein freund," Kurt said a little too cheerfully, " You just need to think...uh, vhat's the word?"

"Optimistically? Positively?"

"Ja! Zats it! We all have just got to look at the bright side of things, and in this mission, zats seeing our friends again."

==

It wasn't as cramped inside the pod as Lance expected. It was getting colder as they rose up towards the sky.

He heard someone take a deep and shaky breath, and Lance looked beside him, where Kitty was sitting.

"You okay, Kitty?" Lance asked.

"Yeah...just a little nervous, I guess," Kitty answered.

"Hey, don't worry. Whatever happens, I'm here for you," he whispered. "I promise."

Lance smiled as he felt Kitty squeeze his hand.

==

Ororo Monroe was known to be a very calm woman, always in control...and as Evan had put it, "she always kept her cool." But as she quickened her pace in the corridors, she was nervous as hell. She turned left, and stopped a few feet from a locked metal door at the end. It led to a small bare room. On the other side of the room was another door. But that one was huge, almost like a garage door, and the room acted like the main "docking" space.

Troubled thoughts flew across her mind as she started pacing back and forth. Magneto had received news just minutes before, and announced that the X-Men were coming. The whole time she'd been in this base, Ororo fought her claustrophobia. It was hard, but she thought she may even be adjusting to closed spaces. Maybe...her fear was disappearing. But whatever it was, she'd always be glad to set foot back on earth. It would be such a great relief. She tried to remember what happened in the last few days. Everything started when Charles sensed Creed prowling down the sewers. Of course, Logan volunteered first to check on it.

And he disappeared.

With his mutant healing ability, and his knack for surviving desperate situations, Ororo was sure he's still alive somewhere. But that didn't stop her from worrying.

Is Logan coming, too? Did they find him?

After what seemed like a thousand hours, she suddenly heard strange whistling sounds---from the other side of the door. Her heart started beating fast again. They were here, right inside the docking room, right behind this door.

She pushed a series of buttons on the door panel, and it slid open. Ororo saw Logan helping Rogue out of a pod.

Without thinking, Ororo ran towards him, wrapping her long arms around his neck.

Logan was caught by surprise.

He hugged her back.

==

Ah, feel the love, right? Okay, that wasn't much. Sorry. I promise I'll try to make CH 16 longer. A lot longer.

Um, quick recap. The people who were in the pods are: Scott, Jean, Kitty, Lance, Kurt, Rogue, Bobby, Logan and Remy. I think that's it....I'm not sure about Sean. D'you want him to be included? Either way's cool :)

Man, not to sound conceited or anything...but I do love this story ^ ^