Two weeks later.
Jean and Scott were on cloud nine, almost every waking moment they spent together. Overjoyed that someday (someday soon) they were going to be man and wife. There was nervousness, to be sure, but it was far outshined by the joy. They wanted to get Professor Xavier's blessing (since to Scott he was the closest thing he had to a father, and to both of them he'd been both guardian and mentor) but he'd been called away Muir Island before they'd gotten the chance. Troubles with a very powerful mutant there by the name of Kevin. So it was that they'd decided to wait until his return.
They'd decided not to sleep together, of course. That wouldn't have surprised anyone who knew Jean or Scott very well. They were both mature, level-headed individuals, even when it came to the one they loved. They'd decided to remain abstinent until the proper time came. They'd even maintained their separate bedrooms, on opposite ends of the Institute, and had refrained from sleeping 'next' to one another.
Unfortunately, this left very little time for them to see one another. Since Scott was starting his internship at the Legacy company, and it was a full-time job, they only got to see one another on weekends or very late at night. Still, they made the most of any and all time they could together.
"Very well, Mr. Summers. All seems to be in orders. Head down to research and they'll handle you from here. Speak to a Mr. Wyngarde."
"Yes sir," replied Scott, unconsciously fiddling with his necktie as soon as he was out of his supervisors office. He hated dressing up as a rule, preferred to keep his clothing as casual as his nature. But it was part of the things he had to get used to, now that he was working at the Legacy company. They wanted to make a good company image. His sunglasses were allowed, of course. It was fairly public knowledge at the company he was a mutant, but for the most part he'd been spared from racial prejudice. The Legacy company seemed genuine in its desire to actively hire mutants and give them jobs same as everyone else.
It seemed too good to be true, and for that reason Scott was very wary.
Scott sighed as the elevator doors opened, stepping inside to hit the ground floor, almost thirty levels below, down where research was. The leaders had their offices at the top, probably because they thought it made them feel superior. Seat of the gods and all that.
"Hold that elevator!" shouted a voice, causing Scott to instinctively thrust out his arm to block the metal doors. They slid back open, and Scott's eyes widened behind his sunglasses.
It was a young girl, probably not much older than he was, with short blonde hair that fell just short of her shoulders. She had the most startling blue eyes behind a pair of wire-rim glasses that, until now, Scott would never have considered even remotely sexy or beautiful. But the way this girl wore them, they were. She was dressed in a tight, crisp white business shirt and black skirt, all practical, all what Scott would expect, but she wore them like she was a lingerie model, and she certainly had the body to fill that occupation.
Get a grip, Summers, he heard himself say. You're engaged now.
Not like I can't -look-! He replied to the other half of himself.
Jean'll be pissed.
Maybe she won't know...
Fool a telepath?
Reluctantly, Scott's libido surrendered to his conscience and his common sense, and he did his best to ignore the perky blonde as she slipped into the elevator beside him, moving to tap a button... but gave a mild cry of joy when she saw they had the same destination.
And so the elevator started to descend, and Scott tried desperately not to look at the young woman sharing it with him without appearing overly rude. This, coupled with his desire to check her out, made things considerably difficult. Still, having sunglasses twenty-four seven helped. He could peer at her through the corner of his eyes if he kept his head straight.
Odd thing was, -she- was checking -him- out. She was trying to be discrete of course, looking through him through lowered lashes, but that only made her that much more obvious. On the job one day and already he had an admirer. She was going to be crushed when she found out he was engaged.
Suddenly the elevator lurched to one side, sending both its occupants hard in one direction. Scott slammed lightly against the far wall, his X-Men training managing to helping him catch the blonde as she lightly slammed into him. Reluctantly ignoring the feel of her curves against his body (she was even softer than Jean, he thought, before pushing that thought down) he turned to more immediate concerns.
The elevator had stopped.
"What on earth happened?" she asked, adjusting her glasses that had nearly been thrown off in the rough shudder.
"Not sure," replied Scott, reaching down and pressing the emergency button on the elevator. That done, he set about to examine the problem from the perspective of a man trained to deal with trouble.
He could hear it. The cables were creaking. Frayed, likely. The elevator car was going to fall the remaining twelve stories and hit the floor, killing Scott and the blonde inside unless they got out.
Aware of their precarious situation, Scott moved towards the door and pounded on it, trying to get the attention of those on the other side. It proved to be a bad idea... the car groaned again.
"Oh god... we're going to die aren't we? I don't want to die!" said the blonde, already broken down into hysterics. She must've been claustrophobic. Ororo would've been acting the same way. Or at least, would've felt the same way. Storm could've kept it together.
"We're going to be fine!" Scott half-shouted back towards her, doing his best to pry the doors open manually. On the other side, it seemed some of the people there were trying to give them a hand, but both sets were stuck, and it was far too small for even the lithe blonde to slip out. The cables creaked again... ominously.
"Everyone out there, get back!" shouted Scott, seeing no alternative. Recognizing his tone of voice, the others quickly fell back to a safe distance.
Scott ripped off his ruby-quartz shades and blasted the frame out of one door, sending it to the ground with a thundering crash. This upset the already tenuous hold of the cables, and the car lurched as one gave. The others barely managed to hold.
"Go!" shouted Scott, grabbing the blonde and as gently as he could pushed her out of the broken doorway, where her co-workers quickly grabbed her and helped her out. Scott dived out after her, and only in the nick of time. The elevator cable broke and it was sent howling to the ground, followed by a muffled boom.
"Was there anyone else in there?" asked somebody. Scott couldn't tell who as he slipped back on his glasses, re-opening his eyes.
"No, just us," he replied, barely able to finish those three words before he suddenly found himself being hurled to the ground by an overly emotional co-worker. Specifically, the blonde woman he'd just saved from certain death.
"Oh my god you saved my life! Thank you thank you thank you thank you," she said hysterically, sobbing on the front of his chest. More than a little embarrassed, Scott gently disentangled himself from her arms.
"It's nothing, really," he replied, regaining his feet and doing his best to smooth out his rumpled white shirt. "I'm sure you would've done the same."
After things had died down a little, Scott was once more called into the office of his supervisor, as well as the blonde, who also worked in research, he later found out. He expected a chewing out about having blown off the elevator door, but Scott was pleasantly surprised when the man stood up and shook his hand. If not for him, he said, there would've been two deaths today, and he'd managed to avert it. His supervisor said he saw 'big things' in store for Scott Summers.
So it was that Scott came out of the office, shaking his head in disbelief. Did he wake up this morning and enter some strange alternate dimension? Somewhere where mutants were accepted for what they were, he was engaged to Jean, he was surrounded by hot co-workers (alright, only one so far), and when he wreaked something he got a pat on the back instead of a bill? Had to be an alternate dimension.
Ah well, might as well enjoy it, he thought. Jean did say he worried too much.
"Uhm... Summers was it?" came a voice behind him, startling Scott out of his reverie. He turned, spotting the blonde co-worker he'd rescued.
"Yeah," he replied, offering his hand to be polite. "Scott Summers. Guess we didn't have time for formal introductions earlier."
"Emma Frost," she replied, taking his hand and giving a soft yet firm handshake. "And... thank you again for saving me," she added, a blush creeping over her features.
"It was nothing," he replied again. "I'm just glad I didn't get chewed out over using my powers."
"Yeah, you're a mutant aren't you? The eye-beam thingie kinda gave you away," she added with a giggle, making her blonde hair bounce.
God, did she have any idea how desirable she was?
Jean Grey, Jean Grey, Jean Grey, he thought, almost as a mantra. Gotta block out this blonde. He loved Jean, after all. He wanted to marry her. He wasn't about to let his hormones tell him otherwise.
"Yeah, I am," he replied evenly, unsure of how she'd react.
"Oh wow, that explains why you're in the genetics division with me and Wyngarde. I'm glad. I hope I can get to know you better, Mr. Scott Summers," she said with a broad smile that showed off every one of her pearl-white teeth. Before he could come up with an appropriate response, she whirled around on her foot with the grace of a dancer and walked off towards the stairs.
Great, he thought. So much for letting her down easy.
"She's alone. Do I take her?"
"No."
"I thought you wanted the girl? This is a perfect opportunity!"
"Do not take that tone with me. I saved you from damnation. You will serve me faithfully or I shall send you right back."
"My lord."
"That is better. Must be something your mother left you."
"Speak not of her, my lord... please."
"I want the girl, but I want her to come willingly. That is of course, the reason for all this."
"What is to be done then?"
"Contact our pawn. He'll put things in order. And have Black Bishop report to me. Its time for him to make himself useful."
Author's Notes:
And the plot thickens. Longtime X-Men fans doubtlessly recognize Kevin and Emma. I evolized them both, though Kevin was plot device, you won't see him again. Emma, well... you'll see. Doubtlessly the name Wyngarde also got a few people's attention. The plot will soon be too thick for an adamantium katana to cut through it. Still, guesses are always welcome.
Lyranfan: Everyone is nervous when they ask that question. And if they're not, they should be. Glad of course you enjoyed Bobby's opening, since he won't be back for a while.
X00001: You'll see what the evil plotting voices are up to soon enough. The chess pieces are moving.
Ray1: It's a gift. A gift acquired by sleepless nights, daydreaming, insanity, and large quantities of caffeine.
Nessie6: Not to begin with, of course not… you know me too well. I love to torment my characters. But, if you know me too well, you know I'm a stickler for happy endings. As for the mystery people, well you'll be able to figure them out soon enough. Brotherhood'll show up soon enough.
Sandoz: Riiiight. Whatever crazy you Lanccity shipper you. Glad you're enjoying the developments and don't fret, I'll be including both your fav characters as soon as I can, since they were in the future Ascension scenes.
ViciousAssassin: Wow, what a mouthful, you must really be enjoying this. Well yes, I steamlined most of the cast with the ones you guessed. Danielle and Forge I have, so far, left out of the plot. As for special chapter, believe me I'm considering it, but we'll see what happens. Jean goes Phoenix before they marry, and they want to save such 'specialness' until after that. You see my difficulty?
DoubleL27: Perhaps, but I won't say about the evil voices too much. I love making my readers curious. Don't worry though the X-Men'll be back as a huge team soon enough. As for Gambit… he has already been 'dealt' with. Hehehehe.
Star-of-chaos: I have stated at the beginning of this story there will be at least one major character death. I am deliberately withholding who it is. But its just one. So enjoy the ride.
Evan fan: Logan/Sarah? I hope you mean that in a father/daughter kinda way. But yes, Logan does indeed rock. As do Scott and Jean. But they're in for a bumpy ride. All of them are.
Todd fan: Thank you, I shall (Don't let the Alligators Bite).
Risty: On the contrary, when watching one thing, the mind can instinctively wander into another area of enjoyment. Why do you think most make-outs happen during horror movies? Ooooh… you're so close it hurts. Guessing the voices, I mean.
Rogue14: I think I will be, in future. Less smashing involved, more cuddling and kissing. I'll update as soon as I can but as you can see, that's close to once a week. Not often.
UniversalAnimeGirl: Yes I know I forgot Rogue… but not Sam. And even if he could've beat Logan, would he admit it to himself? Heck no. Its his mindset… he is the best. End of story. X24 was a semi-clone of Sabertooth. X25 was a clone of Yuriko. That much I'll tell you, since you could probably read back and find it yourself. And there are no such thing as too many Japanese chicks. If anything the world needs more Japanese chicks! Curveballs, low balls, hard balls, they're all comin' right at Scott and Jean. And yeah, sunlight isn't as sinister as shadow. Just like discussing taking over the world is not done in Hawaii over mai tai's. It's just now how you do it. Ask Dr. Evil.
Comet-hime: Of course you inspire me, your artwork always does (except when it is I who inspires you, of course). Of course you know, you know everything that's about to happen, because I've told you. You must feel privileged to know all my deep, dark secrets. But believe me, the whole gang will be back… this is only a temporary situation. Makes it easier to write.
Elizabeth Braddock-Grey: You won't once I keep going, since it'll be a Romy for a little while. Don't hate me, it's what the audience wants. And gladly more… but kisses would certainly speed the procedure along, maybe? Hehehe.
Princess Myra: Alex yes, can't involve Darcy without confusing non-Kinomi fans (as if anyone couldn't like her writing). But in the epilogue she'll make her brief appearance, fret ye not.
SperryDee: Soon as I can, glad you're enjoying my latest work. Fantastic, you say? That's all? Ha I'm just kiddin, thanks for the review.