I.
It was hardly the weather that was expected for a funeral.
The sun had come out bright that morning, evaporating the dew that usually stayed on the grounds until nine o'clock. The cloudless sky was a deep, peaceful blue, birds occasionally gliding through the vast space above everyone's head. A temperate breeze caressed everything in its path, hoping to somehow impart its own warmth on anything in its path. Still, none of this was enough to lift the somber mood that hovered over the congregation.
Professor Charles Xavier looked on somberly at the casket as Hank McCoy's eulogy found its way to his ears. Even with being the most powerful telepath on earth, Charles couldn't concentrate on his student's sincere words. All that he could reflect upon was the fact that his oldest friend and fiercest enemy, Magneto, had accomplished what he had failed to do so many times in the past...murder one of his students.
Jean Grey-Summers, not only a member of the infamous X-Men, but also like a daughter to Charles, now lie peacefully in a mahogany casket. She had been dressed in a charcoal black dress that reached up her neck, the same design that she had been wearing when Jean was first found by the Fantastic Four and Avengers. Her face was peaceful, smooth, just as it had been when she was alive. If Charles didn't know better, he would say she was simply sleeping, ready to wake up at any given moment.
Charles took a moment to survey the crowd. Many people had come to the funeral, mostly mutants, but there were people like Stevie Hunter, Trish Tilby, and Tom Corsi. Members from several other teams were there, to include the Fantastic Four, Avengers, the previous students of Generation X, X-Force, and X-Factor. Charles was surprised to see so many people there, but then again, he wasn't. Jean always had the ability to touch people in ways that weren't easily forgotten.
Charles couldn't help but take a glance towards Scott. His recently changed demeanor unsettled Charles, but he couldn't imagine what it would have been like to have been possessed by Apocalypse. Still, Charles expected something more from Scott, who simply sat staring straight ahead, his strong jaw clenched and unmoving.
Charles noticed that Rachel Summers, who was Jean and Scott's daughter from a timeline which had been completely erased, sat three rows behind Scott. She hadn't said anything to Scott since she arrived. She made her way to Nathan, talking to him for a few minutes. They consoled each other, and she made her way to her seat and hadn't moved since. Her green eyes stayed transfixed on Jean, as if she were waiting for Jean to return the gaze.
Emma had stayed in the back, coming only out of what Charles presumed was courtesy. Jean and Emma had never gotten along, and the current situation only made things worse between the two of them.
When Charles finally turned his attention back to the front, he saw Hank leaving the front of the audience and approach Scott. Hank looked at Scott for a moment, offering no condolences or even a handshake, turned and walked to his seat. The preacher took his place back at the front and said a final prayer for Jean.
II.
Michael McNeal couldn't believe everything that had happened. Not only did they have to worry about human terrorist groups attacking them, but mutants were killing each other. It was just hard because these recent deaths had been so close to home.
Angelo had been murdered on the front lawn of the Xavier Institute by the Church of Humanity. Betsy had been struck down by a powerful enemy almost immediately when she set out to pursue Destiny's diaries. From the letters he received from Jubilee, many of the other X-Men had had near-death experiences as well. Remy, Anna, Paige, Warren, and Emma all had fatal encounters in some form or another.
Now this...Jean was gone. He couldn't believe that the woman he had met while a student at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters had been slain.
"It's not fair."
The words snapped Michael out of his thoughts. Jubilee stood in front of him, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Why, why does it always have to be us? The good guys? Aren't we doing what's right? Why do we always have to pay the price for every other crazy mutant out there?"
Michael couldn't answer. There would never be an answer to those questions. All he could do was extend his arms to his former teammate and hug her. He felt Jubilee sob in his shoulder and wondered how she was handling this. It was only a few months ago that she was a victim of the Church of Humanity, almost dying at their hands.
Michael looked up to see Emma looking at them from under a tree.
'Is she doing alright?' Emma telepathically asked Michael.
He was hesitant to answer. Michael knew all about what had happened from Jubilee: the rivalry, the affair, the deception. He respected Emma before all this...she had been his and the rest of the team's guiding light through their time as Generation X. Now, it seemed as though Emma was a complete stranger.
'She's fine,' Michael telepathically replied and flatly as possible.
'Look, Michael, you don't know...' Emma began.
Michael shot her a cold look. 'Not now, Ms. Frost. I don't want to hear your side of anything. I'm here for Jean and my teammates, not you or Mr. Summers.'
Michael felt a hand touch his shoulder. "Don't blast her too hard," a woman similar in appearance to Jean said.
Michael was shocked and embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."
The woman gave a slight smile. "Don't worry about it. I just wanted you to save some for me. I'm Rachel. I...I'm Jean's daughter."
Michael nodded, but looked at her with a puzzled look. "I didn't know she had a daughter."
Jubilee had pulled back and explained. "She's from a different timeline, which doesn't exist anymore from what I understand."
Rachel nodded in agreement. "I'm a psi too. Your response to Emma was quite loud, if I do say so."
Michael suddenly felt quite warm. "I hope no one else heard."
"Oh, I'm sure anyone with a slight psi ability heard you loud and clear."
Michael glanced over and saw a stern glance being shot his way by Charles. "Yeah, I think I might be in trouble. I'll try to straighten things out. I...I'm sorry about Jean."
Rachel smiled, the same smile Jean had given him when he first met her. "I appreciate it."
Michael smiled at Jubilee and walked the direction of Charles.
III.
"You should talk to your father," Ororo Munroe shook Nathan, known by most as Cable, out of his thoughts.
"I don't have anything to say to him."
"Nathan," Ororo said. "Jean was like a sister to me. I cannot imagine how you feel, but Scott needs support right now."
Nathan frowned. "Maybe you should talk to him then."
"I cannot say that I would say anything helpful to him right now."
"Well, then, sit down and maybe we can figure out how to say something helpful."
Ororo smiled. She sat down carefully next to Nathan.
"I am glad you came."
Nathan sighed. "I had to. Even though Jean isn't my mother, she was there for me so many times. I mean, she kind of was my mother but..."
"I understand," Ororo placed a comforting hand on Nathan's.
She saw a tear well up in his eye. "If there was anyway I could have traded places with her, I would have."
Ororo paused for a moment. She looked at Jean, then turned back to Nathan, "She wouldn't have had it any other way." She felt a tear fall from her own eye. Ororo and Nathan sat in silence, watching over the woman that was going to be irreplaceable in both of their lives.
IV.
Bobby Drake looked stared over the lake, off into the cloudless sky, thoughts a mystery to Hank as he approached his longtime friend and teammate. Warren accompanied Hank as they made their way to the top of the hill.
"Why did this have to happen?" the question was directed at everyone, but no one at the same time. Bobby turned to face his two friends. "It wasn't supposed to be like this...we were the original X-Men. We've faced Magneto countless times and a thousand other so-called bad guys. Yeah, we got hurt but now...it's like its serious now. Everyone's dying. Who's next?"
Warren was stunned by Bobby's last question, but knew that he was hurting. He was the youngest of the five of them and always felt he had something to prove to them. In that quest, he grew more attached to the four of them as if they were his older brothers and sisters.
"Robert," Hank soothed.
"No, Hank. And it's crap the way Scott treated Jean."
Hank sighed, and out of the corner of his eye noticed Scott who had stopped in his tracks. The three of them returned Scott's gaze. The four simply stared at each other for what seemed like and eternity. There was so much that needed to be said, but no one wanted to say it.
Scott understood, turned, and descended the hill.
Warren, Hank, and Bobby simply looked at each other, then turned their gazes toward the lake wishing that things were different, but knowing things could never be the same again.
V.
"Excuse me, sir?" A short man with a heavy Spanish accent touched Charles on the shoulder. "I just wanted to make sure this was correct to have engraved on the headstone."
Charles smiled as he read the form. "Yes, yes. This is correct."
He looked over Jean as they closed the casket. He couldn't bear seeing it lowered into the hole, so he turned and wheeled away.
"She will rise again," Charles repeated the words to be engraved on the headstone, somehow hoping they were true.
Goodbyes are always hard, especially when there are things that still need to be said—Jean Grey.
Notes:
The X-Men, Fantastic Four, Avengers, Generation X, X-Force, and X-Factor and all characters related to Marvel belong to them. Any other characters are fictional
Michael McNeal is a character from the Generation X: Lost Adventures storyline. He met the X-Men, Generation X, and quite a few others of the X family during his stay at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters.