Disclaimers: Usual stuff, don't own em, wish I did, you know the drill.
Chapter 16
Gambit found himself doing extra time in the Danger Room for his lapse in judgment in the War Room. Scott was furious that he had allowed a non powered woman get the best of him. Logan couldn't stop laughing every time he saw Remy in the halls. Jubilee learned all kinds of dirty tricks for dealing with rapists and Logan found that he agreed with what Kate was teaching her. Learning to deal harshly with larger and stronger men was important because, as a beautiful woman, she was already a target. If she were to reveal that she was also a mutant, she would become an irresistible target.
Charles pulled some strings and got her a slot to speak to joint session of Congress on May 6th. As the date approached, she began to make final plans. The mutant rights group, HALO was having a rally the same day in Washington, DC. She made arraignments to speak at the rally after her Congressional speech. She spent the entire day on the 4th with Charles in his study. Neither Kate nor Charles would discuss what they talked about but Storm remarked that he looked upset. Jean noticed that his shields were unusually strong after talking with Kate.
She spent the day of the 5th playing. A Softball game broke out in the early afternoon. Remy refused to play on the same team as Kate and she could understand why. Logan continued to snigger every time he saw Remy and the girls kept asking him if he still slept with and ice pack. His sex life was suffering, badly from the whole incident.
Later, after the softball game, she locked herself in her room and began to write. This was one of the last things she needed to do before tomorrow. The letters would explain everything.
That night, after she fell asleep in Logans arms, the nagging disquiet he had been feeling all day returned. She had been affectionate and wild in bed tonight. It had been a while since they had been so wild. He blamed himself. Ever since the chip was removed, he had been treating her like she was made of glass. He was afraid that any aggression on his part would hurt her so he had reined himself in. She had made it clear that she was not happy with his treatment of her several weeks ago. Most of the mansion had to have heard their argument but no one had remarked on it.
He awoke on the morning of the 6th with a feeling of impending doom that he couldn't shake. He begged her not to go but she refused.
"I won't get another chance, Logan," she told him. "Everything will be fine."
"I have a real bad feeling about this, darlin'"
"Don't worry," she told him as she kissed him softly on the lips. "Everything will go as planned."
They took the Blackbird II to Washington. It was the only craft that could fit all of team. They didn't expect trouble on this trip but they felt the needed to show their support for Kate. They dressed in civies to keep from looking like a military unit and scaring the crowd.
Her speech before Congress was straight and too the point. She gave them the data she had been collecting for over two decades. She and Charles had decided not to inform the Congress of the mutant birth rate for the past seven years. They didn't think the world was ready for that kind of information. She answered many questions about her numbers and agreed that an independent study was needed. She insisted that all participants be volunteers and their anonymity be guaranteed. She also requested that testing on mutants against their will be classified as a felony and violators be prosecuted. She insisted that mutants be granted the same rights as any other citizen and until their rights were secured, she would not disclose her data.
"You do realize, young lady, that we can compel you to testify?" Senator Benson remarked.
"I'm aware of that, Senator," she relied. "But it would be several years before you could place it on the schedule. By that time, it may be a moot point."
She answered several more questions and left the House chambers to rejoin the X Men.
"That didn't go very well," Rogue complained.
"I wasn't expecting it to go well, Rogue," Kate told her. "The real reason I'm here is the rally. People change the world, not politicians."
"You don't count politicians as people?" Bobby asked.
"I don't consider politicians human," she said, dryly.
The rally was at the Washington Monument. As they made their way toward the crowd, Kate caught sight of Magneto near the reflecting pool. She asked the team to find places near the front and wait for her there. Logan didn't want her to wander off by herself but she insisted she needed tome alone to clear her head. She asked him and Jubilee to be with her on the podium and they both agreed. She told them where to wait for her and left them to make their way to the stands.
"Mr. Lensherr," she called.
"Dr. Dempsey," he replied. "I'm happy to see you well."
"I'm happy to be well Mr. Lensherr," she replied.
"Please, call me Erik," he asked.
"I would be honored. Please call me Kate. I wanted to thank you for what you did for me. I know it was not an easy decision."
"I was pleased that I could be of some help. I'm sorry I could not do more."
"You did enough that day to save my life. I need to ask two more favors of you."
"I must hear these favors before I can commit to granting them."
"The first is easy. All I ask is that no matter what happens today, you do nothing ."
"Nothing?" he ask, confused.
"Events will take place today that will affect you years from now. I ask that you do not interfere with anything that happens. No matter how much you want to, please do not act."
"You know what is going to happen," he said with dawning comprehension.
"I'm precognitive," she told him. "Of course I know."
"What do I get out of this?"
"The mutant world you have been dreaming of but without bloodshed."
"All right, I agree. What is the other favor?"
"When the time comes, you will hold Logan back."
"Why me? Mrs. Summers is capable of keeping the animal out of trouble."
"He will be nearly feral. Jean can't hold him back when he is that wild. Jubilee will be near enough to him to calm him down but if he gets into the crowd, people will die. There must be only one death today. You can hold him by his skeleton. He will not be able to break your hold."
"You have seen your death today, haven't you?"
"I have seen it every January 1st since I was thirteen. Every year the vision became more detailed until last year, it became clear. I didn't have the vision this year. That's how I knew that this would be the year. I will live the vision rather than watch it."
"If you know it's coming, why don't you change it?"
"If I live, the world will fall into civil war. With in one year, it will go nuclear. Three billion people will die. I have seen both sides of the vision. My life is a small price to pay to prevent the death and destruction of civilization as we know it."
He looked at her thoughtfully.
"Will you do as I ask?" she asked.
"I will," he replied.
She nodded her head and turned to return to her friends,
"She is the noblest woman I have ever met," Magneto remarked to no one. "Either that, or the stupidest. Time will tell."
As she made her way through the crowd, she noticed several FOH badges. The other players were here and ready. All the pieces were in place now. She met Charles at the bottom of the stairs.
"I had to let Jean see the visions," he told her. :I will need her help to control the X Men."
"Erik will control Logan," she told him. "Neither you nor Jean will be able to hold him. Jubilee will be close by."
"I wish you wouldn't do this."
"The alternative is too horrible to contemplate," she said. "Well, I go to meet my destiny."
As she climbed the stairs, she found that she was nervous. There was a great deal riding on this. Don't screw this up, she told herself.
Logan and Jubilee met her at the top of the stairs. Jubilee was bouncing with excitement. Logan still had a concerned look on his face. The feeling of dread had been growing in him all day. He couldn't shake the feeling that this was a very bad idea.
Kate moved into his arms and laid her head on his chest. He could feel her trembling with nerves.
"I'll be right beside ya," he whispered"
"I love you, Logan," she said, pulling his mouth to hers. She kissed him with all of the passion she had. Their tongues dueled in a dance as old as time. Her hands swept his hard planes, committing them to memory. It went on so long that Jubilee had to clear her throat to break them up.
"Let's do this," Jubes said.
She gave him a look of longing and went out onto the stage. He followed close behind. Logan and Jubilee took seats behind her and waited for the applause to die down.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Katherine Dempsey. I am a geneticist. Today, I have given testimony to the United States Congress on the mutant population and the growth of that population. That is dry statistics. If any of you have taken a statistics class, you know how mind numbingly boring it is. I won't go into numbers today because I'd rather keep my friends.
What is a mutant? By scientific definition, a mutant is any organism that has undergone a change in their DNA for any reason. In that case, we are all mutants. We started out as single cells in a pond of protoplasmic goo. A couple of million years later, here we are. What most people are concerned about is a small segment of DNA also know as X factor. X factor activates portions of out DNA that are normally dormant. The interesting thing about X factor is that is gives a small number of people powers that are not normally associated with humans. Does that change their basic genetic make up? No, it does not. They are still just as human as everyone else. They just have a little extra talent. Why, then do we fear them? So we fear the child that can play Bach at three? Do we fear the child that graduates high school at twelve? So we fear the people that can do complex equations in their heads? No, we don't. We admire them. We celebrate their talent. We want to be like them. Why so we fear these so called mutants if they're talents are just as genetically directed as the kid who plays Bach? It doesn't make sense."
Murmurs began to rise from the crowd. Many heads were nodding.
"They're animals," came a cry from the masses.
"Is your child an animal?" she countered. "Children born today have a one in four chance of being a mutant. The poisons we have released into our environment has caused the mutations. We created them. We must be responsible for them. We must give them equal rights in our society."
Behind her, Logan stood. "This is getting ugly," he growled.
"Sit down," she hissed.
People, we have no choice in the matter. The mutant population is our future. We are evolving in to them. They are us."
"They want what we have," yelled a man near the front. "We can't let them take our lives from us."
Logan caught the flash of a gun and was up in a heartbeat. By then, it was too late.
The pain surprised her. She didn't expect it to hurt that much as the bullet tore through her chest and inch below her left breast. The vision never included pain, just the sight of the blood and panic. She dimly heard screaming and realized it was Jubilee. The noise of the crowd crashed over her as she lay in Jubilees' lap, bleeding to death.
Logans' loud cry echoed across the green and the crowd fell silent. He was being held about six inches off the ground in a stiff posture. His eyes were wild with blood lust, needing to get to the shooter. The growling coming from his throat shook the air so much that those in the first five rows would later swear that they could feel it.
"Wolvie, help me," Jubilee cried.
H looked over at her. She was covered with blood, crying and scared. The blood lust drained out of him.
"Let me go, Magneto," he said through clenched teeth. "I need to help my girls."
He felt the pressure ease and disappear. He dropped to the stage and ran over to Jubes and Kate. She was bleeding badly. Her breath was shallow and rapid, her skin cold and pale. He could smell death on her and knew he was loosing her.
"Supposed to happen," she gasped. "Saw it."
He looked up to see the X Men surrounding the shooter, preventing his escape. Charles and Jean were both crying. Logan knew then that they both knew this was going to happen.
"Don't," she stopped to cough up blood, "be angry. Needed to happen."
"No, Kate," he begged. "Don't go."
"Sorry," she gasped. Her chest stilled. He heard her heart falter then stop.
Police officers made their way through the circle of X Men to take custody of the shooter. Cuffing him, they read him his rights.
Logan stood and looked at him
"Is this what we are? Have we become a people who kill each other because of a strand of DNA? Some say we want to take your lives from you. You couldn't be more wrong. We want our own lives. We want the chance for a peaceful death, not this. We want the right to an education without bias. We want the jobs we are qualified for. We want to die in our beds of old age.
"Yes, some of us have powers. Yes, people are curious how they work. All I can say is most of the time we have no idea how they work, just that they do. Some people think they have the right to experiment on us even if we say no. They believe it is their right. They think we don't have feelings. Tell that to the girl crying because her friend has been murdered in front of her. Tell that to the people she touched for the past six months. Tell that to me. I loved her. We have feelings and needs and wants. But our biggest want is the right to say no. No to participating in Frankenstein like experiments that a lot of us have been through, myself included. No to having our DNA messed with like we were an ear of corn. No to being forced to a war that we don't believe in.
"I have been a warrior all my life. All I want is peace and the chance to be something other than a warrior. I long for the day I don't have to watch my back all the time. The day when I don't have to worry when the ones I love go to the mall to buy new clothes.
"We don't want war, we want peace. We are willing to help in any way we can as long as you ask first and if we say no, we mean no. We can be good neighbors. Give us a chance."
The crowd was silent. Slowly, a man in the front row began to clap his hands. More joined in. Soon, the green was ringing with applause. Logan didn't hear it. He was carrying Kates' body through the crowd to the Blackbird , followed by the silent X Men.
Three days later:
The morning of Kate's funeral dawned cool and cloudy. It wasn't supposed to rain that day but Storm was unable to contain her feelings. She was buried on the estate in the cemetery Kurt had consecrated when he arrived at the mansion. After the funeral, Logan was in his room, packing. Charles knew he would leave after all that happened. He hoped he would return.
"Logan," Charles called from the door.
"I'm leaving for a while, Chuck," Logan told him.
"Will you come back?"
"I don't know."
"Kate left this with me to give to you after her funeral," Charles told him as he pulled the letter from his jacket.
"Thanks," Logan said taking the letter.
"She wanted you to read it before you left."
"I will."
"There is little I can say that will ease your pain except, I will miss her."
Logan turned toward the bed and nodded. Charles sighed and left the door heading for the next delivery.
Knocking on the door, he waited for her to answer. The door opened after a minute to reveal the tear stained face of Jubilee.
"He's leaving," she stated.
"Yes," Charles replied.
"I need him," she cried. "I can't do this again without him."
"You need to tell him that."
Pulling the letter from his coat, he handed it to her. "Kate wanted you to read this before Logan left."
"I will."
He turned to leave.
"Professor," she stopped him. "Will it ever stop?"
"Kate has made sure that it will."
She nodded and closed the door. She moved to the bed and opened the letter.
My dear Jubilee,
By now, events have taken place that will assure a peaceful future for all mutants. I'm sorry that you had to loose another friend this way but rest assured that my death will usher in a new understanding between human and mutant.
I know you are hurting, but Logan is hurting more. He needs you. He will try to leave and I am afraid that he will never come back. If he leave without you, he will never get beyond the anger. You need to go with him. It may take months, it may take years but if you are not with him, he will loose himself and you will never get him back. My last will and testament will be read while you are gone. I am willing you Logans' heart. He loves you Jubes. Make him see the woman you are and you can make him happy. You are the part of him he has been searching for most of his life. Take good care of him. Love him enough for the both of us.
Your friend Kate
Tears splashed onto the paper. She jumped up and began to pack.
Logan dreaded opening the letter. He didn't know if he could stand to hear Kate from the grave but Chuck would know if he didn't read it. He flicked out a claw and slit the letter open.
My dearest love,
By now, events have taken place that will prevent the war you dread. My death was a necessary part of those events. I wish I could spare you the pain you are feeling right now, but I can't. I know you will leave the mansion and retreat to Canada to lick your wounds but please don't stay too long.
I know you have questions and I will try to answer some of them. I had a vision on New Years Day the year I turned thirteen. The vision showed me the end of my life. I wasn't all that clear then but as the years went on and the vision recurred, it became clearer. I knew that I had to make a sacrifice to stop a war that would be more horrible than you can imagine. I knew I would meet you. You would become pivotal to my vision and my life. I don't regret any thing I've done in my life except BioGen. I suppose that if I hadn't gotten involved in BioGen, I wouldn't have found you but I hate that I was involved in such awful activities.
Before you leave, I have one last request. I want you to take Jubilee with you when you go. She needs you now more than you realize. And you need her more than you realize. Talk to her about me. Get her to talk to you about me. This way, you will both heal. Take your relationship with her where ever it needs to go. Remember that I love you both.
All my love Kate
He folded the letter neatly and returned it to the envelope. Tucking it into his bag, he crossed the room and opened the door to find Jubilee standing there with her bag on the floor beside her.
"Your letter must have been longer," she remarked.
"Come on, kid," he said gruffly. "Let's go."
"Stop calling me kid," she called as she ran after him.