Author's Notes:
(1)I belatedly realize my first chapter did not contain the standard
disclaimer - I do not own these characters in any way, shape, or form other
than the fantasies they inspire. That honor belongs to Stan Lee, Marvel
Comics, 20th Century Fox, WBKids, Cartoon Network, and lot's of others who
are not me.
(2) Anything you see in ~~ ~~ are telekinetic conversations between
characters, * * indicates private thoughts.
(3) Flight time for cross-country journey calculated using information on
Concorde Jets, which I imagine the Blackbird would fly at least as fast.
(4) Two original characters make their first appearance here. I could find
no existing X-Men that suited my purposes, so I had to create them.
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Even in the darkest moments there is light and life somehow goes on.
I never thought I would be living proof of that. Yet, as my eyes glide over the students to rest on the man observing us, I know I am.
*Kurt*
I smile gently at I meet my lovers' eyes.
Part of me feels guilty for having found happiness so soon after such tragedy, but I know Jean would approve.
The students are growing used to his presence, but still shy away from him. His yellow eyes and scarred blue skin are unusual even to these mutants. To me, though, they are beautiful. Every inch of him a work of art that takes my breath away.
He heals me, I think, teaching class automatically while my thoughts focus on him.
It was in his arms I grieved upon returning here that day.
After shedding a single tear I could not contain at the Lake, I calmly flew us to Washington to prevent further trauma for us all. Raging from my loss, I used my powers to whip nature into a fury that spoke of the depth of my pain as we faced the President. Once we'd presented our case and prevented the speech he would have made to seal our fate, I returned us safely to the institute where I no longer had anything to focus on besides the reality.
*"She's gone."*
Those two little words Logan uttered in the seconds after we saw our beloved comrade fall said it all.
I had made it to my bedroom before the tears began.
They just started falling until I found myself on my knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Kurt had been with me and he knelt beside me. Without a word, he had simply taken me into his arms while the grief tore at my soul. We stayed like that until my throat was raw from sobbing and I could cry no more. Even then, he didn't speak. Once the flood of emotion had ebbed, he simply cupped my face in his palms, wiped the tears from my cheeks with feather-light touches of his fingers, and tucked my head into the crook of his neck. Exhausted, I had fallen against him and he put me to sleep with a gentle rocking motion of his body.
Never had I known such love and care.
Not even I, who was thought to be the most caring and gentle person here, had ever treated another as delicately as he did me. Had he not shown me that night, I never would have believed anything - human, mutant, anything - could show such compassion.
He has restored my faith in everything.
Because of him, I again have hope that one day all living beings can live together as one peaceful race, no barriers against human and mutant. With him, my bitterness at humans for rejecting us all for our mutations was once again the pity Kurt also felt for them. Though I do not share his faith in God, I even find myself sharing his conviction that Jean will know eternal rest in the gentle arms of angels.
A student asks a question, dragging me from my thoughts. I respond without pause and continue with the class. I stifle a sigh at the fact that there are still thirty minutes to go in this class and I have another 45 minute one to teach after these students leave. Again, I worry about the Professor and wonder why he suddenly had me take over this class.
~~Storm.~~
He suddenly calls out, almost as if he knew of my thoughts. Which he probably did.
~~Storm, I need you to get below and prepare the Blackbird for takeoff immediately.~~
Frowning, I reply ~~But, I am teaching a class..~~
~~Cancel it quickly and do as I ask. There is no time to waste, Ororo.~~
Worried, I tell the students here in the garden to return indoors and finish reading the next two chapters in their text, before rushing to prepare the jet.
"Vat ist vrong?" Kurt asks, keeping pace beside me.
"I don't know. The professor contacted me and told me I am to prepare the jet immediately. Something is very wrong, but I've no idea what." I say, almost running through the school.
Suddenly, a pair of arms wrap around my waist and the world goes black.
In the blink of an eye, I am inside the cockpit of the Blackbird in Kurt's embrace.
I just stare at him for a second, startled, causing him to blush and say, "You indicated zhat dere vas no time to vaste."
I give him a smile of understanding and thanks then turn to get the jet online.
After just a minute, the ramp lowers and Logan enters, pushing Xavier in front of him. Without speaking, he straps the Professor in for flight, closes the ramp, and straps himself into the co-pilot's seat.
"Is this bird ready to fly?" he demands.
Sensing their urgency, I simply continue pushing the necessary buttons and flipping the right switches until the engines roar to life. Having made sure Kurt is prepared for take-off, I open the bay doors and we're airborne.
"Now would be a good time to fill me in. Where are we going?" I ask the Professor, hovering over the school for a moment.
Silently Logan hands me a slip of paper bearing the coordinance of our destination in response to my question and I instantly plug them into the navigation system. Letting the autopilot take over, having given it a target, I take a second look at what the slip of paper says and gasp.
"Alkali Lake?" I whisper, recognizing an area so close to the place now seared in my brain.
"Near it, yes. Approximately 10 miles southwest of what remains of the dam." Xavier replies.
Jean?! I think, too stunned to say anything.
~~Yes, Ororo. Jean.~~
~~Why there. What have you.?~~
~~We have reason to believe she may have somehow survived.~~
~~Oh, dear Goddess. How?! When?~~
~~I do not know "how" yet, but Cerebro confirmed her location just before I contacted you.~~
~~But ... Cerebro is broken.~~
~~Logan and I completed restoring what was taken this morning.~~
I absorbed that and realized something - someone - was missing from the mission.
~~Where's Scott? Shouldn't he be here?~~
~~I cannot be sure until we arrive that she is there and alive, Storm. I could not risk bringing him in on this and being wrong.~~
At his use of my codename, I settle into mission mode and release the autopilot. Taking the controls, I shut off all thoughts and push the jet to its limits, racing toward our goal.
For once, I could not disconnect my emotions in a similar fashion. All kinds of feelings were whirling within me, pushing me to go as fast as we could and still wishing we were moving faster.
We made the cross-continental flight in less than three hours, but it still felt like too much time had passed.
After setting down in a clearing as near our destination as possible, Logan and I are on our feet before the engines die down. Xavier had to call to us twice, before we stopped our headlong rush out down the ramp to go charging blindly into the wilderness searching for our teammate. Though we knew we had to wait for him to locate her, our bodies were tense with the need to move immediately.
Releasing their own straps, the Professor and Kurt joined us at the ramp and we all moved down it.
I shiver as the cold air hits my ill-dressed body. The thin white blouse had been ideal for teaching outside in Westchester, but it was not suited for the icy winds of Northern Canada. Sensing, my discomfort, Kurt ports into the jet and back, returning to my side with the leather jacket from my X-Men uniform, a spare of which was kept on the jet. Smiling at him distractedly, I watch the Professor concentrating on Jean.
He seems to be straining - hands gripping the arms of his chair, eyes clenched shut and a frown touching his lips - which causes me to worry that we are too late. Biting my lip and pressing myself into Kurt's arms, I watch as he maintains that level of concentration for a few minutes.
Then his face clears and he opens his eye to stare at something to our left.
"It appears, we will not have to search for her after all," he says.
We all follow his gaze, but all I can see is a white wolf stepping cautiously into the clearing from the dense woods surrounding us.
It hesitates and sniffs the air, seeming to be checking us out. Logan lunges forward, claws extended, when the animal suddenly throws it's head back and howls. I can sense the Wolverine in him, feeling unsure and threatened, wanting to attack the creature, but Xavier calms him.
As we watch, the wolf begins stalking toward us again.
I gasp in surprise as the animal slowly begins to transform. Its lupine features began softening into those of a woman and the animal's white fur becomes the pale flesh of a human. Within seconds, the wolf that had just turned itself into a completely naked woman shifted to its feet and came to a stop a short distance from us.
Kurt was the first one to break the freeze we all seemed to be in at these events.
Ever the gentleman, he took off his overcoat, rushed to the woman's side and wrapped her in it. She was obviously startled by his actions or physical appearance or both, but she gladly huddled into the item still warm from his body.
"Do you know who we are?" Xavier asks.
The woman looks at him with inky black eyes and nods her head, causing her long silvery hair to fall forward into her face.
I watch as she pushes it back and wonder if she can speak.
*How will we find Jean if we cannot communicate with this person?*
"You are here for the injured one." The woman suddenly says with a slight French-Canadian accent.
"Yes, we are. Where is she?" The professor asks calmly.
"They will be here soon."
"'They?'" Logan growls, stepping toward the woman.
She jumps back and gives Xavier a startled look.
The professor again calms Logan, urging the man back, then silently prompts the woman to explain further.
Weary, she puts more distance between herself and Logan, then answers. "My brother is bringing her. They should only be a moment or so. It is not far and he will have begun moving the second he heard my call."
The Professor nods and turns to me. "Storm, I want to be able to leave the second they arrive. We need to get her to the institute without any further delay. Prepare the jet to fly her back and then ready us for takeoff."
Nodding, I rush up the ramp, knowing what needs to be done. Even if she truly has managed to survive, Jean will be injured and we have to be very careful transporting her.
There is a table in the back of the jet used for just that purpose - keeping anyone injured on a mission stable while in flight. It folds up out of the way when not in use, so I must unfold it and make sure it is locked securely in place. Double-checking that it is locked down and able to support the weight of a body, I go to the locker containing our medical supplies. Not sure what will be needed, I get everything from a simple first aid kit to IVs, heart monitor, and heating blanket.
Not that anything besides the first aid kit will be of use without Jean, I think wryly. We all have a knowledge of first aid to help ourselves and others in combat, but we had always left the real stuff to Jean because she was trained and always there to do it.
Not wanting to get distracted by any thoughts of her possible condition, I move quickly away from the area and begin preparing the jet. I rush through a full systems check, wanting be make sure my pushing to get here hadn't damaged anything. It all checks out and I bring everything online, ready to takeoff the second everyone is on board.
Done carrying out Xavier's instructions, I hurry back down the ramp to watch for Jean's arrival.
As if on cue, a big bear of a man comes bursting into the clearing, pulling what appears to be a small wooden boat behind him. I am so focused on that makeshift sled, I only faintly take in his wild brown hair, the beard that nearly covers his whole face, and the animal hides covering his body from top to bottom. He comes to a running stop at the foot of the ramp and drops the rope he had been using to drag his load.
Kurt, Logan, the Professor and myself huddle together and hesitantly look into the boat - eager to see it's cargo, yet afraid of what we may see.
Barely visible among the blankets and hides it was wrapped in was a body. Slowly, our eyes move up from the feet, unable to determine if the person we're looking at is male or female. Finally, our gazes' land on the only part not covered - the face.
*Jean's face.*
She was very pale, making the cuts and bruises that were visible, look all the more painful and vivid. There was a scrape along the left side of her face and a bump the size of an egg on her forehead.
She lay there so still; I swallowed painfully fearing again that we were too late.
Gathering his courage, Logan kneels beside her and carefully moves the coverings aside until her throat is revealed. He hesitates there, knowing he must feel for a pulse, but afraid he may not find one.
I kneel behind him and grip his shoulder, encouraging him to continue.
I feel him inhale deeply, bracing himself, the second before he leans forward to place his fingers on the flesh just below Jean's jaw, where the pulse would be felt.
The breath he'd drawn in leaves his body like the air in a balloon that has been pricked and I drop my head down to his back, thinking the worst.
Suddenly, he settles back on his heels and grips my hand on his shoulder.
"She's alive." He says rising.
In disbelief, my eyes shoot to the woman lying beside me, as do Kurt and the Professor's. As if sensing us all so anxiously watching her, Jean's eyelids flutter briefly, but do not open.
That small, barely visible movement puts us all into motion. We've got to get her home.
Now.
After learning that she is laying on a board laid across the bottom of the boat, Logan and the man who had brought her to us, carefully lift that board out and carry it into the Blackbird. Deciding to move her as little as possible, they settle their precious cargo onto the table and strap it - board and all - down so that it will not move during flight.
Everyone, including the two strangers, quickly moves to fasten him or herself into a seat as I close the ramp, taking off before it even locks shut. We are all silent and I again push the jet to fly it's fastest toward home, but we are all thinking the same thing.
*She's alive.*
Even in the darkest moments there is light and life somehow goes on.
I never thought I would be living proof of that. Yet, as my eyes glide over the students to rest on the man observing us, I know I am.
*Kurt*
I smile gently at I meet my lovers' eyes.
Part of me feels guilty for having found happiness so soon after such tragedy, but I know Jean would approve.
The students are growing used to his presence, but still shy away from him. His yellow eyes and scarred blue skin are unusual even to these mutants. To me, though, they are beautiful. Every inch of him a work of art that takes my breath away.
He heals me, I think, teaching class automatically while my thoughts focus on him.
It was in his arms I grieved upon returning here that day.
After shedding a single tear I could not contain at the Lake, I calmly flew us to Washington to prevent further trauma for us all. Raging from my loss, I used my powers to whip nature into a fury that spoke of the depth of my pain as we faced the President. Once we'd presented our case and prevented the speech he would have made to seal our fate, I returned us safely to the institute where I no longer had anything to focus on besides the reality.
*"She's gone."*
Those two little words Logan uttered in the seconds after we saw our beloved comrade fall said it all.
I had made it to my bedroom before the tears began.
They just started falling until I found myself on my knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Kurt had been with me and he knelt beside me. Without a word, he had simply taken me into his arms while the grief tore at my soul. We stayed like that until my throat was raw from sobbing and I could cry no more. Even then, he didn't speak. Once the flood of emotion had ebbed, he simply cupped my face in his palms, wiped the tears from my cheeks with feather-light touches of his fingers, and tucked my head into the crook of his neck. Exhausted, I had fallen against him and he put me to sleep with a gentle rocking motion of his body.
Never had I known such love and care.
Not even I, who was thought to be the most caring and gentle person here, had ever treated another as delicately as he did me. Had he not shown me that night, I never would have believed anything - human, mutant, anything - could show such compassion.
He has restored my faith in everything.
Because of him, I again have hope that one day all living beings can live together as one peaceful race, no barriers against human and mutant. With him, my bitterness at humans for rejecting us all for our mutations was once again the pity Kurt also felt for them. Though I do not share his faith in God, I even find myself sharing his conviction that Jean will know eternal rest in the gentle arms of angels.
A student asks a question, dragging me from my thoughts. I respond without pause and continue with the class. I stifle a sigh at the fact that there are still thirty minutes to go in this class and I have another 45 minute one to teach after these students leave. Again, I worry about the Professor and wonder why he suddenly had me take over this class.
~~Storm.~~
He suddenly calls out, almost as if he knew of my thoughts. Which he probably did.
~~Storm, I need you to get below and prepare the Blackbird for takeoff immediately.~~
Frowning, I reply ~~But, I am teaching a class..~~
~~Cancel it quickly and do as I ask. There is no time to waste, Ororo.~~
Worried, I tell the students here in the garden to return indoors and finish reading the next two chapters in their text, before rushing to prepare the jet.
"Vat ist vrong?" Kurt asks, keeping pace beside me.
"I don't know. The professor contacted me and told me I am to prepare the jet immediately. Something is very wrong, but I've no idea what." I say, almost running through the school.
Suddenly, a pair of arms wrap around my waist and the world goes black.
In the blink of an eye, I am inside the cockpit of the Blackbird in Kurt's embrace.
I just stare at him for a second, startled, causing him to blush and say, "You indicated zhat dere vas no time to vaste."
I give him a smile of understanding and thanks then turn to get the jet online.
After just a minute, the ramp lowers and Logan enters, pushing Xavier in front of him. Without speaking, he straps the Professor in for flight, closes the ramp, and straps himself into the co-pilot's seat.
"Is this bird ready to fly?" he demands.
Sensing their urgency, I simply continue pushing the necessary buttons and flipping the right switches until the engines roar to life. Having made sure Kurt is prepared for take-off, I open the bay doors and we're airborne.
"Now would be a good time to fill me in. Where are we going?" I ask the Professor, hovering over the school for a moment.
Silently Logan hands me a slip of paper bearing the coordinance of our destination in response to my question and I instantly plug them into the navigation system. Letting the autopilot take over, having given it a target, I take a second look at what the slip of paper says and gasp.
"Alkali Lake?" I whisper, recognizing an area so close to the place now seared in my brain.
"Near it, yes. Approximately 10 miles southwest of what remains of the dam." Xavier replies.
Jean?! I think, too stunned to say anything.
~~Yes, Ororo. Jean.~~
~~Why there. What have you.?~~
~~We have reason to believe she may have somehow survived.~~
~~Oh, dear Goddess. How?! When?~~
~~I do not know "how" yet, but Cerebro confirmed her location just before I contacted you.~~
~~But ... Cerebro is broken.~~
~~Logan and I completed restoring what was taken this morning.~~
I absorbed that and realized something - someone - was missing from the mission.
~~Where's Scott? Shouldn't he be here?~~
~~I cannot be sure until we arrive that she is there and alive, Storm. I could not risk bringing him in on this and being wrong.~~
At his use of my codename, I settle into mission mode and release the autopilot. Taking the controls, I shut off all thoughts and push the jet to its limits, racing toward our goal.
For once, I could not disconnect my emotions in a similar fashion. All kinds of feelings were whirling within me, pushing me to go as fast as we could and still wishing we were moving faster.
We made the cross-continental flight in less than three hours, but it still felt like too much time had passed.
After setting down in a clearing as near our destination as possible, Logan and I are on our feet before the engines die down. Xavier had to call to us twice, before we stopped our headlong rush out down the ramp to go charging blindly into the wilderness searching for our teammate. Though we knew we had to wait for him to locate her, our bodies were tense with the need to move immediately.
Releasing their own straps, the Professor and Kurt joined us at the ramp and we all moved down it.
I shiver as the cold air hits my ill-dressed body. The thin white blouse had been ideal for teaching outside in Westchester, but it was not suited for the icy winds of Northern Canada. Sensing, my discomfort, Kurt ports into the jet and back, returning to my side with the leather jacket from my X-Men uniform, a spare of which was kept on the jet. Smiling at him distractedly, I watch the Professor concentrating on Jean.
He seems to be straining - hands gripping the arms of his chair, eyes clenched shut and a frown touching his lips - which causes me to worry that we are too late. Biting my lip and pressing myself into Kurt's arms, I watch as he maintains that level of concentration for a few minutes.
Then his face clears and he opens his eye to stare at something to our left.
"It appears, we will not have to search for her after all," he says.
We all follow his gaze, but all I can see is a white wolf stepping cautiously into the clearing from the dense woods surrounding us.
It hesitates and sniffs the air, seeming to be checking us out. Logan lunges forward, claws extended, when the animal suddenly throws it's head back and howls. I can sense the Wolverine in him, feeling unsure and threatened, wanting to attack the creature, but Xavier calms him.
As we watch, the wolf begins stalking toward us again.
I gasp in surprise as the animal slowly begins to transform. Its lupine features began softening into those of a woman and the animal's white fur becomes the pale flesh of a human. Within seconds, the wolf that had just turned itself into a completely naked woman shifted to its feet and came to a stop a short distance from us.
Kurt was the first one to break the freeze we all seemed to be in at these events.
Ever the gentleman, he took off his overcoat, rushed to the woman's side and wrapped her in it. She was obviously startled by his actions or physical appearance or both, but she gladly huddled into the item still warm from his body.
"Do you know who we are?" Xavier asks.
The woman looks at him with inky black eyes and nods her head, causing her long silvery hair to fall forward into her face.
I watch as she pushes it back and wonder if she can speak.
*How will we find Jean if we cannot communicate with this person?*
"You are here for the injured one." The woman suddenly says with a slight French-Canadian accent.
"Yes, we are. Where is she?" The professor asks calmly.
"They will be here soon."
"'They?'" Logan growls, stepping toward the woman.
She jumps back and gives Xavier a startled look.
The professor again calms Logan, urging the man back, then silently prompts the woman to explain further.
Weary, she puts more distance between herself and Logan, then answers. "My brother is bringing her. They should only be a moment or so. It is not far and he will have begun moving the second he heard my call."
The Professor nods and turns to me. "Storm, I want to be able to leave the second they arrive. We need to get her to the institute without any further delay. Prepare the jet to fly her back and then ready us for takeoff."
Nodding, I rush up the ramp, knowing what needs to be done. Even if she truly has managed to survive, Jean will be injured and we have to be very careful transporting her.
There is a table in the back of the jet used for just that purpose - keeping anyone injured on a mission stable while in flight. It folds up out of the way when not in use, so I must unfold it and make sure it is locked securely in place. Double-checking that it is locked down and able to support the weight of a body, I go to the locker containing our medical supplies. Not sure what will be needed, I get everything from a simple first aid kit to IVs, heart monitor, and heating blanket.
Not that anything besides the first aid kit will be of use without Jean, I think wryly. We all have a knowledge of first aid to help ourselves and others in combat, but we had always left the real stuff to Jean because she was trained and always there to do it.
Not wanting to get distracted by any thoughts of her possible condition, I move quickly away from the area and begin preparing the jet. I rush through a full systems check, wanting be make sure my pushing to get here hadn't damaged anything. It all checks out and I bring everything online, ready to takeoff the second everyone is on board.
Done carrying out Xavier's instructions, I hurry back down the ramp to watch for Jean's arrival.
As if on cue, a big bear of a man comes bursting into the clearing, pulling what appears to be a small wooden boat behind him. I am so focused on that makeshift sled, I only faintly take in his wild brown hair, the beard that nearly covers his whole face, and the animal hides covering his body from top to bottom. He comes to a running stop at the foot of the ramp and drops the rope he had been using to drag his load.
Kurt, Logan, the Professor and myself huddle together and hesitantly look into the boat - eager to see it's cargo, yet afraid of what we may see.
Barely visible among the blankets and hides it was wrapped in was a body. Slowly, our eyes move up from the feet, unable to determine if the person we're looking at is male or female. Finally, our gazes' land on the only part not covered - the face.
*Jean's face.*
She was very pale, making the cuts and bruises that were visible, look all the more painful and vivid. There was a scrape along the left side of her face and a bump the size of an egg on her forehead.
She lay there so still; I swallowed painfully fearing again that we were too late.
Gathering his courage, Logan kneels beside her and carefully moves the coverings aside until her throat is revealed. He hesitates there, knowing he must feel for a pulse, but afraid he may not find one.
I kneel behind him and grip his shoulder, encouraging him to continue.
I feel him inhale deeply, bracing himself, the second before he leans forward to place his fingers on the flesh just below Jean's jaw, where the pulse would be felt.
The breath he'd drawn in leaves his body like the air in a balloon that has been pricked and I drop my head down to his back, thinking the worst.
Suddenly, he settles back on his heels and grips my hand on his shoulder.
"She's alive." He says rising.
In disbelief, my eyes shoot to the woman lying beside me, as do Kurt and the Professor's. As if sensing us all so anxiously watching her, Jean's eyelids flutter briefly, but do not open.
That small, barely visible movement puts us all into motion. We've got to get her home.
Now.
After learning that she is laying on a board laid across the bottom of the boat, Logan and the man who had brought her to us, carefully lift that board out and carry it into the Blackbird. Deciding to move her as little as possible, they settle their precious cargo onto the table and strap it - board and all - down so that it will not move during flight.
Everyone, including the two strangers, quickly moves to fasten him or herself into a seat as I close the ramp, taking off before it even locks shut. We are all silent and I again push the jet to fly it's fastest toward home, but we are all thinking the same thing.
*She's alive.*