X2: What If: AU
Scene: Jean's Death
Warning:
This is very different from the movie. Also, a tiny spoiler for my X3 job.
It wasn't working. The jet wouldn't fly. As the words of Storm and Scott echoed through out the interior of the plane, Rogue's mind drifted.
It's all my fault. I crashed it. It won't fly. It's all my fault.
Rogue stared into space, not noticing Bobby's worried glance or the rest of the Xavier's Institute student's cries. She looked up at the adults that she grew to appreciate.
Storm, her now hacked off-white hair plastered to her head from sweating, her eyes close to tears as Artie started to cry. Scott, his face set like stone, but she could see past that visor, to the nervous eyes. Professor Xavier, his eyes closing as he waited for the inevitable.
It's all my fault. The words echoed within her minds' cells.
Logan, almost to the point of tears, looking at Jean who was now standing; his wishful beloved. Rogue turned her eyes to Jean and watched the emotions drift across her face. Rogue saw the fleeting fear and the stern determination, then the following sad sorrow as she placed her sad glazed eyes on Scott.
NO!
Rogue watched as Jean started to hobble to the back of the jet, ready to walk down the steep.
No.
Rogue got up, glad that Bobby was turned the other way, trying to comfort Artie as he started to burst like a dam of tears. She slipped off her white glove, snuck up behind Jean and placed her cool pale hand upon the back of her neck.
Rogue watched as Jean stiffened and held on longer until Jean's tall frame came tumbling down into Rogue's waiting arms. Rogue gently placed Jean into the back seat, noticing that she was in a short-lived coma.
Rogue looked backed, glad that no one was paying attention. She knew what Jean saw coming, and prepared herself for it. She now knew everything that Jean was going to do in order to prevent anyone from coming to her rescue.
She set off down the ramp and onto the wet snow that's decorated with mud and used her newly attired powers to seal the hatch up. She took off her other glove, dropped it and walked to the side of the plane, watching a line of thick white mist hurtling towards them.
'Sorry Jean' she sent out into Jean's mind.
Jean's eyes fluttered open and realization dawned upon her.
"No." she said quietly, but loud enough for Bobby and Logan to hear.
"What?" Logan asked, gathering the other's attention.
Jean concentrated, focusing on dragging Rogue back into this plane. But it was of no use, she was tired from her leg, from the drainage, and -to her surprise- Rogue used Jean's own power against her, causing her to be temporarily sustained from the majority of her power. She didn't have enough juice left to lift a pencil much less a healthy weighted teen girl.
Jean sighed and closed her eyes, "Rogue stole my powers."
"WHAT!" Logan yelled. Jean watched as Logan's face turned from red to white and finally settled to pink: fury and fear mixed in his features.
She also watched Bobby's already pale face turn to ghost white and faint. Professor Xavier closed his eyes in sorrow as the rest just stared at Jean, not truly believing their ears. A deathly silence prevailed in their wake until Jubilee pointed toward the front: "LOOK!"
Everybody turned around to face the front and watched in slow motion horror as Rogue stood firmly between the jet and the oncoming stampede of water. Jean tried to get up, but from lack of energy and her leg, she started to fall back until Bobby caught her and placed her back in her seat. Logan leapt up along with Jubilee and Kurt to watch as Rogue stood there, waiting for the opportune moment to unleash her fury.
Rogue watched her foe: the water. It was her Grim Reaper. Rogue sensed everyone knew of her presence outside and quickly turned around to see Logan strangling Kurt.
"Oh no you don't." she whispered and put up a wall to prevent him.
"GO OUT THERE AND GET HER!" Logan yelled after he couldn't bust through the hatch door. She outsmarted him; she put up a wall there.
"I can't. She von't let me.," he whispered as he tried countless times to teleport out there.
'You saved me once. I'm returning the favour.' a soft southern accent whispered in his mind.
Rogue watched as Kurt bent his head, tears falling down his face. She caught wind of Logan knocking large fist size dents into the side of the jet and immediately sent a mind bolt. She took in great humour that she received a pain filled howl.
'Serves you right Logan.' she sent him and smirked, feeling the tidal wave approaching on fast winds.
Everyone stayed quiet while Logan proceeded to make the jet look like an exploding toad. Scott watched helplessly as Logan kept up the futile attempt to plough down the walls of the jet to get to her. Scott got up suddenly and grabbed hold of Logan's shoulders as his fists went limp against the wall.
Scott didn't know what to do, accept squeeze Logan's shoulder. Logan shut his eyes tightly to prevent the tears cascading down his flushed skin, but it wasn't any good, they came any way. Scott and everyone else blinked back tears, as the coming wave was only yards away.
Rogue blinked back her tears as she sensed and heard what Logan was trying to do. She cleared him from mind and focused on the drawing wave.
'Scott, take care of Jean, she really does love you. Logan, stop flirting with her or you'll find yourself missing a lovely piece of chest and back from your body. Storm, help Bobby, he won't really understand. Jean, make sure Scott doesn't blow a whole in Logan, and take care of Logan for me.'
With her last thought send out to their rightful owners, Rogue turned her attention back to the jet only briefly to set the controls right again.
Scott, hearing his last duty from Rogue to fulfill, nodded his head absently and took his seat at the controls as they came back online. He and Storm worked their way through, always stealing glances at both Rogue and the wave of doom or Logan, the emotional wreck from Hell.
Storm got up after her controls started to take over, took this as a clue and went to Logan.
"Sit down Logan." she said quietly and led the now gazing onto space man into the seat behind hers.
"That goes for the rest of you." Storm heard Jean say as the other students slowly climbed into their seats.
Storm went back to her seat, saw a sight she soon won't forget as Scott and her exchanged brief glances, and slacked their jaws wide open.
Rogue was now concentrating on lifting the jet, which was surprisingly easy, though it wouldn't have been if it were Jean.
Wonder why? She thought, but quickly banished the question when her cue to raise the heat clicked. She turned her attention back to the now wave of water towering above her, leaving a shadow. She held up her left hand and focused the most of her concentration on the wall of water as she wedged the jet out of which mud hitch it was in.
Soon, her concentration for the jet and its mud ditch friend was no longer required as the jet now hovered, free from its confines. However, a new problem arose to the occasion: the engines were failing.
Just my luck.
With her mind holding off Kurt as he was still trying to rescue her, trying to keep the jet hovering and keeping the water at bay, Rogue was soon growing tired and wondered if Jean would be able to hold off this wave with the fatigue and nausea that she was feeling.
No. a voice whispered in her head, a voice that belonged to Jean.
Hold on. Keep going. You're almost there. Keep going. You can do this.
Rogue focused on this encouraging voice raving these chants over in her head and pulled the last ounce of power that was from her being into lifting that jet and giving power to the engines.
Storm's and Scott's eyes almost popped out of their sockets when not only did the two bad engines start to work properly, but that they lifted in the air by at least fifteen feet and that the wave of water violently flew back about thirty feet.
"She did it." Storm gasped out.
Logan's insanely glazed eyes snapped back to reality, "We can get her then," he said, hope and helplessness carrying strong in his voice.
Before Logan could order, Kurt got the idea and so when he waited for the right moment when Rogue's walls were down the most, he'd grab her.
YES! You did it!
Yes. Both the voice and Rogue whispered in her mind.
Rogue almost giggled and sighed in relief as the engines roared loudly above her and the wave still standing at bay.
Oh no. Rogue thought as Jean's mind's voice started to slip away. She overexerted herself; she depleted the last borrowed power that she had of Jean.
Rogue looked up to see her invisible barrier fall down with the wall of water. The last thing she saw before the blue smoke was the white spraying mist grazing her cheeks none too softly.
AN: And that's all folks. Unless you feel the need for me to continue. If so, please leave that comment in the review box! Nevertheless, follow these instructions for those of you kind at heart:
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P. S. I'm not trying to make you people feel or sound retarded, but I'm felt like writing that. Sorry if any are offended.