She found him outside at the infamous gazebo of the Xavier Institute, all alone. The snow had long since melted, and though the ground was muddy and the wind was cold, it might as well have been spring, for all the beauty the students saw in it. Everyone was eager to get out of the lab. He was just staring out at the horizon, watching the sun set on what had been a very trying day... for all of them. She smiled faintly, making her way closer before announcing her presence.
"Hey... is this spot taken?" she asked, standing next to him and leaning against the railing as he was.
"Jean... no, of course not," he said, turning to face her, smiling that warm smile that never failed to reassure her.
"You must be tired, Scott," she remarked, trying to find something to say. "Bobby went to bed exhausted... you can't tell me you're not the same. You wore yourself out in that fight."
"Far be it for me to argue with a telepath," replied Scott, giving Jean another smile. "But I can't sleep right now," he added.
"Why?"
"I'm scared," he replied, his voice lowering so that the Sam and Rahne, busy playing frisbee nearby, wouldn't have overheard him.
"Scared of what?" she asked, lowering her voice as well. She, better than anyone else, knew that Scott was a deeply private individual. He seemed like the honest sort and he was, but he had his own little inner demons that needed confrontation once in a while too. He wasn't perfect.
"Jean..." he said softly, placing his hands over hers. She squeezed back softly. "You know that link we have... that bond we share?"
She nodded softly. It was never something far from her thoughts, her telepathic bond with Scott. She was surprised it was on his mind, however. While she was able to sense a great deal about Scott, even when separated by vast distances, he could barely feel the link at all. Then again, he wasn't very attuned to the workings of his psyche the way she and most other telepaths were.
"I... I felt like it was gone, for a moment. While I was away from the Institute... I thought I'd lost you," he murmured, his voice choking on emotion.
Jean gently wrapped her arms around Scott's neck and drew him in close. She sighed softly, comforting him in her embrace. She didn't want to tell him. Hank had told her, and so far as she knew he was the only one who knew. Well, and Professor X. As Evan had once put it, it was impossibly to keep anything from their telepathic mentor. Jean had, for a few brief seconds, passed on. Her heartbeat had flat-lined, and she'd barely been brought back. Hank had been very worried about her. This had been while the healthy mutants were away battling sentinels and soldiers. Even when their powers had been nullified, their link had stayed. Only death could break it completely.
She didn't tell him that, though. It was the last thing he needed to hear.
"I'll always be with you," she assured him. "I promise."
He nodded silently, still holding her close.
Jean smiled, feeling nowhere more comfortable than in Scott's arms. She lifted her head, about to closer her eyes when she noticed something. Sam was about to give a shout of warning, but Jean raised her hand, and the frisbee stopped inches from the back of Scott's head, and he was not even vaguely aware of it.
Sam and Rahne jogged up to retrieve it, Rahne reverting to her human form as she bounded up alongside him. Jean smiled, gesturing with her hand and returning the frisbee to Sam's hands.
"Sorry 'bout that," said Sam, as Scott realized what was happening and reluctantly broke his embrace of his redheaded girlfriend.
"Fine, no problem... just play on the other side of the yard, alright?" he asked.
"Sure thing," he replied, immediately running off. Rahne giggled, morphing back into her wolf form as she bounded after him, playfully nipping at his heels.
Scott and Jean just stood their, gazing out at the sun as it set, just happy to be in each other's presence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You... you cannot be serious."
Wanda's statement was quickly echoed in similar terms by most of the other members of the Brotherhood. They were gathered in the front hallway of the Xavier Institute. They'd been preparing to return back to the boarding house, when their on and off again employer and provider had stopped them, saying he had something important to tell them.
But this... this was unthinkable!
"I am very serious, Mr. Tolenski," stated Magneto in very cold tones. Toad immediately cowered behind his favorite hiding spot... behind Wanda's legs. Fortunately she was a little too shocked at the moment to smack him.
"But... but... where'll we find the room?" asked Lance, grabbing for any possible escape from such a horrible fate. "We've got no more space left. All the rooms are filled, well..."
"You will -find- room," stated Magneto. "Like it or not, Pyro is going to be living at the Brotherhood Boarding house."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Callisto... think this is yours," said Evan with a smile, handing back her iron staff. Callisto accepted it, using it as much as a crutch as a symbol of authority. She hadn't fully recovered yet, and her strength was still very much beyond her.
"You made a good leader in my absence, Spyke," she stated.
"It was terrifying," he replied. "You can keep your job."
She laughed softly at that, hefting the staff over her shoulder as she and Evan rejoined the other Morlocks, who were scattered over the Xavier Institute in various places, examining their surroundings. Thus, it was hard to find them all quickly. Fortunately they quickly ran across Calliban, and he was instrumental in locating the others. Like Torpid, who was playing marbles with Jamie... or Façade, who was rummaging through the fridge... or even Lucid, who was in the flower garden. They were all gathered together at the gates to the Institute, just out of sight of any passerby.
It was going to be difficult for them to leave, Callisto realized. She hated this, hated bringing them here. This Institute gave a false hope, a hope that mutants could live in peace with humans. They couldn't. They would never except those who looked like the Morlocks. Even Evan had realized this in time. They only needed each other.
Callisto opened her mouth to speak, but Spyke beat her too it.
"Come on everyone... let's go home," he said.
The Morlocks followed him and Callisto without a word of complaint. And only Torpid lingered, waving to Jamie, who watched from a nearby window, as she skipped after Callisto and Evan, and they found a manhole. Spyke kicked it open, catching the cover, and the Morlocks descended back into the darkness, heading home to the Alley.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tabby sighed, tilting her head back and letting the hot, steamy water wash over her sore body. Getting smacked around by giant robots tended to do that to even the most hardy of individuals. And right now she really envied the invulnerability of her former housemate the Immovable Blob. She certainly didn't envy anything else he had, however. The kid had a sweet heart, though. She knew.
She was relaxing, as she was wont to, in the women's hot tub in the basement of the Institute. Sub-level two, same as the locker rooms with their X-Man uniforms. It had been installed a year or so ago, as well as the men's adjacent. A third had been added out of necessity for Kurt and Hank, specially designed to drain out any leftover fur. Tabby sighed again, content in the hot water which never failed to put her in a good mood. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the rim of the hot tub, deaf and blind to the world until she heard a single word.
"Tabby?"
Tabby's eyes shot open as she heard that voice. Amara. Tabby shivered a little, sliding deeper under the water of the tub. She didn't know why she bothered. Despite her natural inclinations she was wearing a suit, as was required when using the public hot tubs. And besides, she never felt like she had to hide her body before. But something about Amara always made her... just a little nervous, even as her presence soothed her.
"Oh, hey girl... come to join me?" she asked, then mentally smacked herself for asking such a stupid question. Of course she was, you dolt, she told herself. Why else would she be standing there in a bathing suit? She's not putting on a fashion show for you.
"Yeah, if you don't mind company that is," replied Amara meekly.
"Long as its yours," said Tabby with her trademark grin, scooting her legs back to give Amara room. Amara smiled, grabbing a Do Not Disturb sign and hanging it over the handle of the door as she closed it, then slipped into the hot water across from Tabby, sighing contently.
"Just what I need right now... healing bubble water," replied Amara with a smile, mimicking Tabitha's phrase from their ill-fated Caribbean Cruise. Tabitha, catching her reference, laughed openly as she flung her head back.
"Amara... can I talk to you about something?" asked the blonde-haired girl quietly.
"Sure... what is it?"
"I... I care you," she whispered softly, lowering her gaze. "Listen I didn't want to speak about this before. But, today... we nearly lost you. And I realized I'd never get a chance to say how I felt. So... so now I want to say it. I've been given another chance and I don't want to waste it."
"Alright," replied Amara, equally quiet. She braced herself, unsure of what was coming. "Tell me."
"I love you," said Tabby. There it was, she'd said it. She'd bared her soul and given in to her feelings.
Amara was literally stunned for a moment. She liked Tabby, that much was obvious, they were best of friends. But, but this... it boggled the mind. She wasn't completely ignorant of course, but she'd never suspected such a thing coming from Tabitha Smith. And, to put it mildly, she didn't know what to say.
A long, uncomfortable silence hung in the air.
"Amara...?" asked Tabby, suddenly nervous. What if Amara rejected her, thought she was sick or perverted for doing this. "Please say something."
Amara nodded thoughtfully, as if she'd come to a decision, then drifted over through the steamy hot water and planted a soft kiss on Tabitha's lips. Heck, she couldn't think of anything... except the kiss. It wasn't her first, though she abruptly realized something. It was Amara's first. During the tenure of their friendship Tabby had once asked Amara about her personal life. She'd never been kissed before.
The kisses ended far too soon, and for once the blonde bombshell could think of no witty remark or snappy comeback.
"That's for telling me how you feel, Tabby," stated Amara quietly, her dark brown eyes boring into Tabby's blue ones. "I... I care about you too but... I need time to... to sort through my feelings."
"Sure girl... go ahead, take all the time you need... I can wait," replied Tabitha with uncharacteristic kindness. And patience. Because she meant every word. "I just... wanted you to know. In case something happened, you know... that's all I care about."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Brotherhood left in a similar manner, bidding their good-bye's to the Institute kids and reluctantly piling into Lance's jeep. They'd accepted Magneto's offer (like they had much of a choice) and John would be living in what had previously been a storage basement. In a way it was a good idea. The walls were cerement and thus it was less likely he'd burn the whole house down around them.
John was quite the animated conversationalist on the way back. Which was slightly odd considering absolutely nobody was talking back to him. Well, except Fred, once he wandered into the topic of cooking. And -that- led to the topic of a celebration barbeque. Armed with a little extra spending money from dear ol' Mags, Pietro leapt out of the still moving jeep and zipped to the store to gather what they needed. He arrived back roughly the same time they did, and then only because he stopped to pay the clerk, instead of just snatching what they wanted and running before anyone saw him.
"This is your place?" asked John, stepping into the living room. He'd changed into his civvies before leaving the Institute, and had all his worldly possessions stuffed into a bag over his shoulder. And, of course, his lighter in his hands. "Hmmmm... well I've seen worse, I guess. You guys get cable?" he asked, glancing at Lance.
"More or less," he replied.
"I love this place!" shouted John suddenly, giving Lance a huge hug, to his disgust, then with a whoop grabbed the remote and immediately began channel surfing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eric rejoined his old friend Charles on the balcony overlooking the Institute. Even thought it was growing dark, and number of his students were down below, playing games in the fading sunlight. He could still make out the little boy, Multiple, being chased by Jubilee and now Sunspot, in some version of tag he didn't recognize.
"It is times like this I am reminded why we fight," remarked Eric quietly, watching the children beneath them. Charles nodded quietly, agreeing with him on that much at least. Their particular methods of how to fight differed, but their cause was in some ways similar.
"Don't you ever wonder, Charles, if mankind will never accept us? What then, would you do?"
"Continue to dream," he replied, calmly, still facing forward. "And fight for that dream." Out of the corner of his eye, Professor X caught sight of a small plane leaving the hangar, flying out over the horizon, and bid another silent farewell to his colleague and friend Moira MacTaggert as she returned home to Muir Island. He'd already bid her farewell in person down in the hangar, only moments earlier.
"Ain't that bad of a dream," came a gruff voice behind them both, as Logan joined Eric and Charles on the balcony. "I've seen stranger things happen."
"Such as?" asked Eric quietly.
"You've lived almost as long as I have," replied Logan, glancing at their on again, off again enemy. "You've seen that mankind can be evil. But its growing, I say. Its learning. Even without mutations, most of the kids here would've led persecuted lives a long time ago. Two hundred years ago," he remarked, pointing at Ororo as she watered the outside plants "'Ro and her nephew... heck the whole family, would be nothing more than slaves. An another century before that," he added, pointing over at Rahne as she caught a frisbee in her mouth, carrying it back over to Sam on all fours. "Rahne'd be burned at the stake."
"Being a werewolf?" asked Eric, seeking clarification.
"Wiccan," interjected Charles smoothly. "I believe Logan refers to the days of Salem."
"Didn't even need to read my mind... or didja, Chuck?" he asked with a smirk.
"What is your point, Logan? Mankind may overlook such trivial matters like skin color and religion... but we are mutants. We are powerful. We are different from them," stated Eric.
"No, we ain't. We're all people. And my point is that sometimes man can't see that, even if its right up in his face. But eventually they'll learn. Heck, may even be sometime during my lifetime," he remarked with a smirk.
"Perhaps," remarked Eric quietly. "But if you are wrong... I intend to be ready," he stated, placing his helmet upon his head and levitating himself upward. He floated off into the horizon without so much as backward glance at his old friend. Though he did hear his last words.
"Farewell, Eric."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well, far be it for me to wear out my welcome..."
"Too late for that, cajun."
"Dat hurts, chere... really it does," remarked Remy, shrugging on his trademark trench coat. "Besides, if its too late, dat makes things easier in the long run."
"Pardon?"
"Thought I'd hang around for a while. Dat is, if its okay with you..." he stated with a smile, his red on black eyes boring into Rogue's green ones.
"What're ya talking about? Ya say ya want to... to... to live here?" she asked.
"Just for a little while. Remy need to get his strength back, is all. Plus, haven't got much anywhere to go right now. Things getting' a little too hot down in Nwaleans, if ya get my drift," he stated quietly. "Rippers reformed and got really violent… and wit me sick an all, dad thought it best I make myself scarce. That's when I had Magneto bring me here."
"Oh? Is ya dad ahlright?" she asked, suddenly concerned. She hadn't care much for the elder LeBeau, but Gambit did, and he was in trouble...
"Nah, Jean-Luc fine... hidin' out in grand ol' Pari. 'course, don't tell anyone I said that, otherwise I'd have ta kill 'em," he stated with mock humor, idly flipping a card between his hands in a nervous habit he'd picked up. Rogue gave a snicker at his joke. She knew for a fact Remy didn't like killing people. Just robbin' 'em blind.
"Ahlright fahne. Ah'll go ask the Professor if he'll let you stay. But if you do stay here we got plenty of rules ya got to follow. And one of the big ones is stealin,'" she stated gruffly, folding her arms.
"I'll follow your rules, provided you don't make me wear one of them silly uniforms. Besides, you just broke a big rule, chere."
"What rule?"
"Stealin' Remy's heart..." he said with a smirk, leaning in close, and Rogue again stammered. Jeez, how did he do that? Just when she thought she'd make a good shot at him he'd turn it around and against her.
"Ya'll're really somethin', swamp rat," she stated angrily. "You know damn well I can't touch, why do you bother...?"
"Remy like a challenge," he stated quietly. Then, with a deft motion of his hands, held out a piece of silk... the very piece... Rogue checked her pockets. That bastard! He'd taken it right out of her pocket while they'd been talking!
"Oh look, what is dis?" he asked with a smirk, stretching it between both hands. Before she could managed to form a reply (or at least, a coherent reply) he'd leaned in, placing his lips against the silk and through it against hers, giving her the second kiss she'd ever received since discovering her powers (she did not like to think of that one she'd received while they'd been nullified... EVER). And Rogue, unable to come up with a proper reply, just relaxed into the kiss, and let her teenaged hormones take over. And felt happy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ororo bid a fond farewell to her favorite (alright, only) nephew and floated up and past the roof of the Institute, stretching out her limbs. She'd never felt so good in her entire life. She could feel totally in sync with nature again, and it felt glorious. She felt like a Goddess again, even though she held no such delusions about her life anymore.
"It is good to be alive," she murmured, closing her eyes and floating amongst the clouds. Normally she never flew or used her powers frivolously, but today she felt like enjoying herself. Letting the winds become her soft cushion as she lay amongst the ivory clouds, carefully out of sight of the citizens of Bayville below, yet below the line normally followed by aircraft. No sense in getting run over while in mid-air, she thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The room was shrouded in shadows, the figures therein could be seen only as vague outlines of themselves. They gathered around an equally dark table. They could not seen one another, but those present had no need for eyes. Words were exchanged, but no names were mentioned.
The first figure rose from his spot at the head of the table, shrouded in darkness.
"Gentlemen," he began. "And lady, of course," he added as an afterthought. "Gathered at this table are some of the most powerful, and influential mutants in all the world. We have among us the potential to rule. To do whatever we wish, answering only to one another. Already our organization's influences, legitimate and otherwise, have stretched worldwide. And none even know our names."
"Why then, I wonder?" remarked one figure in a deep voice. "Do we have one empty chair at this table?" he asked, indicating a spot between one of his companions and the shadowy lady who'd been addressed earlier.
"Indeed. There is a reason, I assure you. Because our power is incomplete. This is why I brought him," he added, indicating a slightly shorter, slightly stockier figure sitting next to the first and the empty spot. "The unique nature of his powers will be the key to unlocking our final member. And then… limitless power will be ours."
"Sounds like fun," remarked the only female member present.
"And we need only wait… our plans are always in motion. It is only a matter of time before things come full circle."
Author's Notes:
No, that's not it either. I've barely begun to write the sappy happy endings you'll be forced to see. Or the multitude of cameos. Or did you not yet notice I haven't covered Kurt and Amanda! That's what happened to Pyro, he's joined the Brotherhood. As seen in Ascension, this was inevitable. Plenty more of the new Brotherhood and its wacky antics to come later, but for now just the gradual return home of the non-Institute mutants. Poor Morlocks, living in that dank sewer. Hope you enjoyed Torpid and Jamie's brief interaction though. If not for the fact that she's mini-Rogue, in about five-ten years those two would make a cute couple. And of course, the couple scenes. I hope you all enjoyed the first... as it won't last long! Muwahahahaha! I seriously hope I didn't offend anyone with the Tabby-Amara. Believe me, I could've done much worse than just one girl on girl kiss. Hope you all also enjoyed my conversation with Eric, Charles and Logan. Seemed somehow fitting for Logan to be the voice of reason between those two, since he's seen firsthand what man can do, yet he remains hopeful. And, of course, something for the large number of Rogue-Remy fans out there. The kiss she's referring to was in 'Nullification.' Read that if you wanna find out who it was, I won't spoil it. As stated above, am gradually working towards the future glimpses seen in Ascension. Thus, while Remy was not a member of the future team, he was seen in the big Institute photo. Thus, he stays around... for now. But I have more on that next chapter, to outline specifics. Oh, and his comment about not wear an X-Man uniform? I stole that from Julia345's "End and the Beginning." Julia writes Remy so much better than I do. Oh, and I snuck in a little something to allow for sinister foreshadowing. Not for Annihilation, but beyond that, for Redemption.
DoubleL27: Well truth be told I also prefer sap to angst, but you can't really have one without the other. At least, not and have a good story. Hope this chapter had plenty of it for ya. Also glad you liked my Evo take on the Legacy Virus. And I had planned to kill of a few, but I couldn't decided on who.
Comet-hime: Wonderful, I've been waiting for the mail to come for ages now. And don't let those models give you any trouble now, here? I'll send over Leech to nullify their powers, make them easier to manage. And yes, here's your TabbyAmara scene, as promised.
JustAnObsessedFan: Well, there's your sap. Enough sap you could blow your nose with a pancake, no less. And of course I can't kill someone like Toad. He's comic relief in the Brotherhood. He's just so underappreciated.
Rogue14: I'll live, if you call that living… *sobs in a corner* You are evil! Evil! Evil! Evil! Evil! But I understand, some stories you just can't work on as fast as you want. Believe me, I know. Its all good. You know I was just kidding. I'm glad I have such a loyal fan.
Todd fan: Of course there's more! Gotta have stuff for not-dead Todd and Forge to do. I mean, dead people just decompose, but living people gotta do stuff. Interesting stuff, dontcha know?
Raphaela: Evil is very good. But as you can tell from my work, I'm about evil, followed by climactic good vs. evil, followed by sappy moments, followed by everything back to normal, followed by lunch. Just a happy little pattern I've gotten into. Glad you're enjoying it.
Nessie6: Wiggles is some Australian kids show I heard mentioned, I don't know what its about, hence I avoid details about it. Character deaths will commence when I'm damn good and ready! I mean I still wanna kill Jean really bad.
Risty: Muwahaha. I'll kill plenty later. And I'm afraid I'm not a very good writer of Australian, and I'm only good at British because my dad is such. And I do know Neighbours, actually… I saw it once in England while visiting my grandparents. Maybe Pyro will watch that though, he is a gothic romance author.
Taineyah: Well glad you enjoyed it, at least. Always a good thing. And actually, biologically speaking, I dunno if it does make a whole heck of a lot of sense. But ah well, my audience likes it, so I'll smooth over that plot hole and move along to what we all enjoy… sap!
Kat: I know exactly what you mean. I've also seen like a dozen Age of Apocalypse Evo style stories out there as well… which is what I'm going to be trying next. I hope I do a good job. It's a semi-sequel. It mentions elements of this, like Infection mentioned Nullification and my other stories, but you could read it alone and still be satisfied.
Dark_serpeant89: Well, I do like to throw surprises and suspense at my audience, but its hard sometimes when half of 'em are frickin' telepaths! Thank you for compliment, will indeed continue good work. For as long as you all can put up with me. And maybe a bit longer.
Elrohirthewriter: I see no reason to slay Irene, so you keep your muse under control. Or at least take her scythe away for a bit. But glad you're liking my work, hope you enjoyed the couplings above and in the coming chapter. Also pleased you liked what happened with X23 and the cure and all.
