Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike. I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family and the new offspring of the LeBeau and Summers families. Thanks!
Through the Years
Chapter 35: The End, The Beginning
David Daniel Williams was sound asleep, as were most people in Westchester County that night. His dreams were the same nearly every night, laced with images and fantasies of him and his real-life dream girl Jessica Rose LeBeau enjoying each other's company and living in a world where they could just be happy. Being the human lover of a mutant woman might have made some people give up by now, but not him. He loved her no matter what! In his dream Jessica was about to run into his arms when her appearance changed into that of Professor Xavier.
"AHHH," he woke with a gasp, and then noticed a mental projection of the Professor in front of him.
"I'm sorry if I disturbed your sleep David," the image said.
"Disturbed is a good way of putting it," he muttered shaking his head, recalling the image of the Professor's face on his girlfriend's body that was still fresh in his mind.
"I need to speak with you; this is a matter of grave importance. You may say no, but I'm afraid this mission won't succeed unless you do exactly as I say," the image said with a hint of distress in his voice.
"Just tell me what I have to do Professor," David said sitting up ready to do whatever was asked of him.
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"Attention, ALL available X-men report to the War Room IMMEDIATELY!" The alert came too early in the morning for anyone's liking. But they were the X-men, sworn to protect the world at any cost. After all, that's what they do. The members of the Mansion stumbled into the War Room and grabbed any available seat. The LeBeau family took a little longer to get there than most since they lived on a piece of property down the road from the Mansion. As X-men though they received the alert like everyone else. Rogue heard the alert first and woke her sleeping husband. She threw on a robe over her summery nightgown as Remy went to wake their daughter, the X-man Wildcard, who was a very heavy sleeper. Rogue ran down the stairs and met her husband and groggy daughter by the door. They had done this before, they knew the drill. Gambit, who slept in boxers and nothing else was handed a robe by his wife while Jessica put on some shoes. Due to her powers causing a constant drain on her small body, she was always colder than most people, especially at night. Therefore she slept in flannel PJs no matter what the season. The LeBeaus were pros at this and could be ready to leave the house in 2 minutes, 3 in the winter if they had to bundle up. Rogue carried Gambit and Jessica carried her boyfriend David as they flew to the Mansion. David, AKA Hacker, lived behind the LeBeau's and was already waiting outside on their doorstep. As the only non-mutant member of the X-men he almost felt it was his duty to be one step ahead. He didn't want to be seen as a liability. They were so use to this routine that they even beat a few of their team members who live in the Mansion. They were in the War Room less than 7 min after the alert was sounded.
Rogue took a seat next to her husband Gambit and put her head on his shoulder. Their daughter Jessica flopped into a chair on the other side of Gambit and put her head on the table. David sat next to her kissed her cheek saying "Sleeping Beauty wake up, you might miss something important." Wolverine barged into the room cursing under his breath and mentioned that this had better be good or someone was going to pay. Storm glided into a seat next to the Professor, as co-leader of the X-men she wanted to make sure she would pay full attention to the matter at hand despite the early morning hour.
Ten minutes after the alarm had sounded, it seemed like everyone had assembled into the War Room. Lack of chairs made it evident that the team had grown and changed over the years.
"I think we need a bigger War Room" quipped Bobby Drake, the last one to arrive, as he was forced to stand in the back.
"Thank you all for being here." Professor X started.
"Though I think we can use some work on getting here quicker, perhaps a few practice runs will do us some good," Cyclops interrupted. He received threatening looks from nearly everyone, but none as deadly as the one from Wolverine.
The Professor continued, "We are faced with an issue of grave danger, the fate of the world as we know it is at stake."
"So tell us something we don't know, I mean that's usually the case when we are called in here at such a lovely time of day" chirped Iceman from the back. This time the deadly look he received came from Cyclops while Bobby tried to hide behind his very pregnant wife Jubilee and Wolverine.
Use to this, the Professor continued his briefing unaffected, "My X-men, when I first founded you I dreamed of a world where normal humans and mutants could co-exist peacefully. It has taken many years, the costs have been tremendous and all of our lives have been significantly changed, but we are on the road to achieving that dream. Mutants have gone from being a handful of outcasts, to a sizable portion of the population. Over time those that hate and fear us have gone from being a large majority to a small minority. Most people have come to realize that mutants just want to live peacefully in society. Many know that there is a chance that their own children or grandchildren could become mutants. They want a world where their families will be safe, just as we do. We have worked hard for this acceptance, but now we are at a crossroads. Something has happened that will either make or break this existence we have carved out for ourselves."
He paused and glanced around at those assembled. Beast, Iceman, Cyclops, Jean Grey, and houseguest Archangel were his original students. To him they represented his original dream. Storm & Wolverine, Jean & Cyclops and Gambit & Rogue represented those who had experienced what it was like to raise a family in this world. They themselves had grown up in a world where there was nearly no chance of acceptance. They however raised children in a world where mutants were in less danger than they had been as youngsters. Their own children met others their own age who were more accepting of mutants, and even had human friends. Iceman & the expectant Jubilee would soon face those same hardships themselves. Jessica and David represented the future. Here existed a relationship where a flatscan human loved a very powerful mutant. David's membership with the X-men, and his family's relationship with the team members proved that there were humans who felt they too needed to fight for mutant rights.
"Well, what is it Charles?" Storm's soothing voice brought Xavier back to reality.
"Yeah Chuck, what's the deal," Wolverine grumbled, obviously ready for battle, "Someone doesn't like the future we built."
The news that followed resulted in shock and horror from everyone in the room, even those who had a passing knowledge on the subject from helping the Professor track the information on Project: Noah's Ark for the last few years. Xavier explained that the FOH had built a weapon of mass destruction that once activated, would become a giant timebomb counting down the seconds until anyone with an X-gene was destroyed. Not only would those with fully developed powers be affected, but those that carried the gene as well. The FOH planned to use this weapon to wipe mutant kind off the face of the planet forever. And the X-men didn't have much time; the weapon was already being powered up. A weapon that large needed time to warm up and build up power, so they had a few hours to spare, but would it be enough time if they succeeded. Xavier split the X-men into two groups. One group would be in charge of keeping the FOH forces at bay, a diversion if you will; the other team was given the task of fighting their way into the compound and shutting down the weapon. Wolverine, Archangel, Bishop, Sage, Cyclops, Iceman, Hacker, and Wildcard were on that team. Storm, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Gambit, Jean, Blaze, and the others were on diversion. Professor Xavier and Beast were to monitor activities from the Blackbird and take care of any wounded brought to them and the pregnant Jubilee would monitor things back at the Mansion and keep an eye on the sleeping students and young children. When Cyclops asked why Hacker would be going with his team instead of staying with the command team as usual, Professor X explained that to get close enough to the structure his computer talents would be needed, an answer that satisfied everyone. David gave the Professor a small smile, happy that he didn't have to make up an excuse for the true reason he was going into the field.
The moments that followed the briefing were heart wrenching as family and friends said good-bye to each other, fearful that if they failed this mission these would be their last words to each other. Wolverine and Storm took a moment to look at their sleeping son Munroe before wishing each other luck and going their separate ways. Jean-Grey, Nathaniel, and Cyclops also looked in on the sleeping twins before Jean and Nathaniel said goodbye to Cyclops. Jean was glad that she was on the same team as her son. Even though he was turning 21 in August, he was still her baby and she wanted to watch after him as much as she could. At this time Iceman could be seen rubbing his wife's large belly, telling his unborn son or daughter about how he hoped to see them grow up, and then he pulled his wife in for a long, meaningful kiss. David shook hands with Nathaniel before he went to join his girlfriend in her good byes with her family.
"Momma, Poppa, Uncle Kurt, I love you, please be careful," Jessica pleaded as she embraced her family for what could be the last time.
"Gal, ya know we will be," Rogue said as she fought to keep from crying. It didn't seem fair to her that Charles had split her family up. The Summers family had been split as well, but at least Jean was staying with her son. She only wished that somehow she or her husband or her brother was staying with Jessica. But Xavier's mind was set with the teams. Their strengths and weaknesses were made to balance each other and achieve the eventual goal of the mission.
As the teams went their separate ways Gambit grabbed David's arm and looked straight into his brown eyes. "I know Jessica is able t'take care of herself, but please watch after my baby girl. I know dat you above all people would do anyt'ing to save her." Gambit knew Jessica was capable of taking care of herself, but he always worried about her, just like he worried about Rogue. Even though he knew that Rogue had a better chance of surviving a major battle than he did, Gambit couldn't help but try to protect her anyway. It was his nature; it was how he showed his love.
Having known Gambit his entire life, David knew that this was something he meant with all his heart and soul. For that one moment, the two men who loved Jessica LeBeau more than anyone else in the world looked at each other with a certain understanding. David could see the pleading in Gambit's red-on-black eyes, the eyes of a father who didn't know what to do when he couldn't be there to watch out for his child.
"You have my word, sir, I'd never let anything happen to her if I could help it."
Gambit nodded, knowing that David understood; they were men in love with women who were more powerful than they were but they felt obligated to protect them. It was in their nature, they were one in the same. They shook hands and David felt something being slipped into his palm. He turned it over and it was a Jack of Hearts playing card.
"For luck," Gambit explained. "My wife and my daughter are t'queens of my heart. But you hold a special place dere too, son." With that he went with his wife to one of the mini-jets that would be used for this mission. David slipped the card in his utility belt and headed to the Blackbird to meet with his team.
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The location was Upstate New York, in fact surprisingly not far from the Mansion in the grand scheme of things. Wolverine made note of this by muttering "How could we have let them get this far, we should have known, we should have done something earlier."
But the fact of the matter is that they couldn't have done something earlier if they tried. The Professor knew the machine was at its most vulnerable while it was powering up so destroying it before hand was not an option. Plus, other information that the Professor possessed verified that destroying this device would have been impossible for the X-men to do under most conditions. This was it, there was no previous opportunity in the past and there wouldn't be another if they failed.
The diversion team met with a heavier force than they expected, but nothing that they ultimately couldn't handle. After all, the FOH forces were armed humans, while the X-men had their abilities to aid them in the battle; although they did not underestimate the strength of these FOH soldiers. Their hatred for mutants gave them extra courage in the fight for what they thought to be a righteous cause. The X-men also did what they could to avoid hurting the FOH soldiers, knowing that these men and women had families of their own that they were just trying to protect, not that there would be any heart felt reasoning on the battlefield, but they didn't want to escalate the situation with human fatalities.
Storm was the leader of the diversion team, using her calm, cool command to keep the team focused on the task at hand, as well as making sure to minimize the injury on both sides.
"Gambit, blast those soldiers in the trees. Rogue, catch them as they fall, but don't let them get away."
"You've got it Shugah," she said as the husband and wife team went to carry out their orders.
Unfortunately the blast from Gambit's cards took down a large oak tree instead of just knocking the soldiers out of it. Rogue caught two of them while Jean was able to catch the third with her mind. Blaze ran towards a fourth soldier, one who was taking potshots at the X-men. The soldier stood in the path of the falling tree and Blaze shot an optic blast at the tree to buy a few seconds as he lunged at the soldier, getting him out of the way in the nick of time, though the soldier did take a heavy blow to the head when Blaze tackled him. When the dust settled Blaze was surprised to see that the unconscious face staring up at him was familiar. Jean sensed that her son was stunned and went over to him to see what was wrong. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder as he stood up and looked at the man on the ground.
"I went to school with him Mom, years ago. And I mean we never liked each other but I never thought he was capable of such hatred."
Jean looked at the unconscious soldier and recognized him as well. She wrapped her arms around her son, "Oh Nathaniel, I'm sorry you have to see such ugliness in the world." With that she gave him a kiss on the forehead before running of to help Storm deal with a group of armed guards.
"No Mom," Nathaniel muttered to himself. "At least I know the good of the world, I just wish Max could see the good because all he tries to see is the ugliness." His thoughts were interrupted when the Professor mentally contacted him. Nathaniel nodded with understanding. I'm on my way, he thought. Then he ran as fast as he could to get to where the fight/shut down team was headed.
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The fight/shut down team gathered at the edge of the cliff. It had been no small feat getting to the ridge above the complex. While the diversion team did a good job of keeping the bulk of the FOH forces away from them, they still faced some troops stationed throughout the woods leading to the complex. The X-men did their best to render the troops unconscious or to capture them in some way without hurting them. Even David took out a few soldiers with the powers that Jessica had infused in him. Before they left the Professor asked Jessica to absorb powers from Wolverine and Bishop and he asked her to try to hold them as long as possible, periodically giving them to David. He also told her to give him her father's powers since they would provide useful. She didn't know why specifically but if that's what the Professor wanted, she knew better than to argue. Professor X was always one step ahead of the game.
At the cliff above the complex, they gazed down at their future, or what would end it. Sage did a quick scan and told them what they had all feared. "It is protected by a forcefield. This forcefield was merged with the most powerful mutant scanner I have ever come into contact with. If anyone goes down there and comes into contact with the forcefield and is detected as a mutant, the bomb will launch. Ironically enough, the only thing that will safely destroy the weapon is mutant energy from the inside."
This revelation left the X-men stunned. Iceman finally broke the silence when he quipped, "So they X-men proofed it, now what?!"
Cyclops looked over the schematics Sage had projected into a handheld device, "The odds aren't good. The.."
"I'll do it," Wildcard interrupted. "I've never been detected so far. All my life I've shown up as a flatcan because my power can't be registered. Let me do this."
"Jessica," Cyclops said trying to reason with the hot-headed young woman, "You heard Sage, it is the most powerful scanner she has ever come into contact with, if there is a chance that you will set that thing off, we can't risk it."
So help me he had better not be saying this because he thinks I'm still a child, thought Jessica. If there was one thing she couldn't stand it was the X-men babying the younger team members. She was twenty years old, a great deal older than many of them when they first joined. "So what do we do, just wait for the timer to run out so that we all die anyway, what other choice do we have?"
Hacker, who had been awfully quiet during this debate, picked this moment to speak up. "Me." Everyone looked at him. "You might not have been detected in the past, Jessie-Rose, but there is a chance since you have the gene, with me there is no chance. I'm not a mutant; I'm not even a carrier for the gene. Even when you temporarily give me powers, it doesn't touch me on the cellular level, it CAN'T be detected, I CAN'T be detected. I have Gambit's powers that you gave me earlier. Sage, is that enough?"
Sage scanned for a second, "Yes, if you can aim a burst of kinetic energy into the core of the weapon that should be enough to shut it down." Cyclops handed him the handheld device with the schematics of the weapon.
"NO," Wildcard cried out! "It's too dangerous, I won't allow it! I'll do it, I'm going and you can't stop me, I won't let you die David!"
A psychic field surrounded Jessica not allowing her to move. Normally a field of this sort wouldn't hold her but this time it was different, the person making the field knew her better than nearly anyone else. She glanced over and saw Nathaniel standing there, using his mind to hold her in place. He couldn't hold her in place forever, just long enough for David to make her understand. The Professor told Nathaniel briefly what was going to happen has he made his way up to the ridge, and he knew that David had to do this.
Hacker nodded at Nathaniel grateful for the assist. "You have to let me do this. You can't go down there. If you do, you die. I have a much better chance of being undetected." He reached over to her, cupping her face in his hands. "I love you Jessica and I refuse to let you do this. And if that isn't reason enough for you, consider this. The X-men are like family to me. They've saved my life more times than I can count; let me do this for them." David embraced Jessica, kissed her, trying to convey all the love and passion he felt into her. He released her, gazed into her eyes, turned away, and went to the rope that Wolverine had already set up on the side of the cliff.
"What are the odds Cyclops, you said that the odds weren't good so what were they." The leader of the X-men refused to look at her. He knew that whoever went down there was not coming back up. Her eyes changed from green to red, the way they did when she was getting ready to use her powers. She tried to break out of the mental hold her friend had her in. "WHAT ARE THE ODDS DAMN IT! MERDE! You know I beat the odds, it's what I do, how could you all let him stop me!"
Wildcard had no choice but to watch the man she loved descend down that cliff into the unknown. She broke free of the mental hold and ran toward the edge. Iceman was ready to freeze her in place but he didn't have to. She stopped at the edge of the cliff and just stared down. Her hair had broken free of its ties and flowed wildly around her. Tears welling up in her eyes, she turned to Wolverine, buried her head in his chest, and cried. She knew David was right, he HAD to do this, but she didn't have to watch.
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Hacker made it passed the forcefield, just like he knew he would. He knew exactly what he had to do. Unbeknownst to the other X-men, he knew this was his duty. The Professor psychically told him the night of the briefing just before the alarm went off. Professor X knew that David was the only one who could make it past the forcefield and the powers that Jessica set him up with were specifically the ones needed to shut it off and hopefully make it out alive. He knew this was a mission that he probably wouldn't come back from, but that woman up on the cliff gave him all the reason that he needed to try to make it back alive.
He reached into his utility belt and pulled out the card Gambit slipped him before they left. "For luck" he murmured to himself. He looked at the card for a moment and recalled what his girlfriend's father said to him before they left. He even called him "son." In all the years he had known him, which was all his life, he had never been called son by that man before, and that really meant a lot to him. The LeBeaus were as much his family as his own mother and sister were; in fact, he felt that all of the X-men were one big extended family to him. For a simple flatscan human like himself, that meant everything to him. He reached into his belt again and pulled out a picture of him and Jessica at the Xavier Institute Prom a few years back. He touched her face for a moment and vowed that if he made it out alive he was going to spend the rest of his life with her. The next item he took out of the utility belt was a simple engagement ring. It was the one his father had given his mother so many years ago. One day his mother gave him the ring and told him that he should give it to the woman he was going to marry. David fully intended on doing that right away if he made it out alive. He slipped the picture and ring back in the belt, charged the playing card and prayed that this was would work.
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3,2,1
It was a site unlike anything they had ever seen. The complex soundlessly collapsed. Instantly there was nothing but unidentifiable rumble left. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Jessica screamed and broke free from Wolverine's arms. She flew down to the rubble followed by Archangel. The others scaled the side of the cliff as fast as they could.
"DAVID, DAVID!!!! This can't be happening Uncle Warren, he has to be alive."
"I'm sorry Princess," the winged X-man spoke with a shaking voice, "But you know as well as I do that there is no way he could have survived that collapse."
"I know, I…I," she cried as Archangel enveloped her in his feathery wings.
A familiar voice came up behind them, repeating a saying that her father constantly said throughout her life, "Oh I don't know, life's a gamble, sometimes you get a crap shoot, and sometime you get a wildcard."
"DAVID!!!!" He was covered it dirt and soot and his uniform was torn in a number of places, but he was alive! He stood there with that smirk on his face that he got when he was being sneaky and he looked absolutely charming. She ran into his arms, "How did you…What… they…There's no way…" she couldn't find the words at all.
"You're speechless, Ms. LeBeau that's a first," he commented which resulted in a mock look of anger from his beloved. "Jessie-Rose, you know as well as the rest of us that you temporarily transfer some powers into me. Well maybe you gave me more than just some X-men power. Perhaps you gave me some of that LeBeau luck as well," he said with a wink. "Besides, not to get all mushy on you, but how could I allow myself to die when I have this to come back to?" And with that he pulled her into a deep, passionate kiss.
Bishop stared in disbelief. "She's right Rookie, there is no way that you could have survived that collapse. How did you do it?"
"And I have you to thank for that Bishop, Wolverine too," he wrapped an arm casually around his girlfriend as it this was an everyday occurrence. "Let me explain, the Professor told me just before we left that I was the only one who not only had a chance of making it past the forcefield, but surviving the blast as well, although surviving it was a longshot. Jessica transferred various powers into me during the battle to get up here, making sure to give me enough to hold onto for a while. I managed to maintain them for longer than usually possible, something I had been working on with Jess and the Professor over the years. I also held onto more than one, also something we have been working on. When the blast hit, I simultaneously used Bishop's ability to channel energy and Wolverine's healing power. With that, I had a split second to survive the blast. And somehow it worked."
Wolverine looked at the unlikely hero. "You know Kid, you didn't have to do all this. It wasn't your fight. You could have walked away and no one would have blamed you."
"No, Wolverine, I had to. I might not be a mutant but it is my fight. You guys are my family and if someone wants to wipe you have the planet, well, I'm going to do what I can to stop it, even if the solution is illogical and almost impossible."
Cyclops nodded his approval. "That's because you're one of the X-men."
"Yeah," Iceman added. "Illogical and impossible is what we do best."
Jessica gave David an unsure sideways look, "Why did you tell me that you and the Prof had this all figured out?"
"Because I know you Jessica Rose LeBeau, you would have tried to stop me, as seen up there on that cliff not too long ago. I couldn't risk that."
"Well I'm so glad that you both had that figured out Mr. SmartyPants."
"So am I. And do you know why?"
"Why's that?"
"Because I want to spend the rest of my life with you, that is, if you'll take me?"
Jessica looked at him in disbelief for the second time in the past few minutes, "Oh my… I know we've talked about this, but are you saying what I think you're saying?!"
Her parents and the rest of the team made it up there just in time to witness what was going to happen next.
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"Jessica, Jessie, wake up," Rogue said as gently shook her daughter out of her dream land. "Honey, whatevah ya are dreamin', Ah can guarantee that today will beat it if ya get out of bed."
A year had passed since the situation with the FOH and Project: Noah's Ark. David's sister Carlie had won the election and became a powerful young Congresswoman. That power gave her the ability to start the wheels in motion for taking down the FOH in her own way. There were more people in the world that were for mutants than against them, even though the bigoted mutant haters tended to have louder voices. The Noah's Ark incident left the FOH in shambles, after all, any group that was willing to destroy a large portion of the world's population would have a difficult time gaining money and support again. The hatred towards mutants was far from gone but at least things would be better and continue to get better.
Jessica, David, and Nathaniel all graduated from college and came back home to the X-men in Westchester. As Remy told Wolverine a few days before his own wedding, "it always seems like we're being pulled back to dis place." Those words were still the truth for the next generation. Nathaniel had worked his way up the chain of command in the X-men, becoming group leader on a few smaller missions, a fine start to achieving his ultimate goal of being leader of the X-men someday. When he wasn't working with the X-men, he was patrolling the streets as a police officer, helping to enforce the safety of mutants as well as the safety of everyone everywhere.
David started his own computer repair business. He would run it out of the home office of his newly constructed house, a wedding gift to him and Jessica from Archangel, though he did spend a lot of time at the Mansion helping Hank with the computer needs of the X-men. Jessica took a teaching position at the ever expanding Xavier Institute. Both stayed on the team as reserve members.
"Mmmm, ouiMomma," Jessica said as she woke from her slumber. "That was the last night I'll ever spend in this room isn't it? Are you going to turn it into a sewing room, or a personal gym, or something?"
"No Shugah, this room will always be here for ya when ya want to visit."
"Momma, I'm living down the street."
"Well then get out of mah new home gym," Rogue joked. "Seriously though, Poppa and Ah will keep this as a guest room. Never know when we'll have grandbabies spendin' the night."
"Momma," Jessica exclaimed as she rolled her eyes.
"Now come on, Poppa's made breakfast, then it's time for us to get ready and get to Uncle Kurt's chapel," Rogue called to her as she made her way out the bedroom door to head downstairs.
Jessica put on a robe and giggled at the idea of her parents as grandparents. Then it hit her, they were getting older, not just her and her peers but the X-men as well. Her mother's white streak was getting wider and her father was also getting white hairs sprinkled throughout his pony-tailed tresses, but they still looked young in her eyes. She spotted a photo on her desk of her parents on their wedding day. She hadn't packed it yet because she wanted to look at it before she got dressed. After all she was wearing her mother's wedding gown, so she wanted to see how much they truly looked alike in it. In the photo her parents looked so young, so happy, and so very much in love. Maybe that's why they never seemed to age in her eyes, because they were still happy and very much in love over two decades later. She looked around her room one last time before heading downstairs for breakfast.
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The ballroom at the Mansion was filled with people laughing, talking, and enjoying each other's company. David and Jessica's wedding was beautiful, words couldn't describe how everyone who witnessed the event felt. Many thought that they were too young for marriage, after all David was only twenty-two and Jessica wouldn't be twenty-two until October, which was still three months away. But the X-men known as Hacker and Wildcard knew better. They had already been through life and death situations, they knew that life could be taken away at a moment's notice and neither wanted to take the chance of dying before they could give married life a try. Gambit and Rogue not only agreed but gave their complete undying blessings. They knew too well how horrible life could be without the one you loved and they didn't want their daughter to go through the same heartache either of them felt at various points in their courtship.
Everyone mingled and danced while taking turns congratulating the happy couple. Jubilee and Bobby took turns feeding their nearly one year old daughter Hope Elizabeth Drake little bites of wedding cake. She was born not long after the Noah's Ark operation and was named in honor of the hope the X-men had for surviving whatever life threw at them. Kitty and Damien sat at the table with them with recounting how life was like when their young son was that age. Professor Xavier chatted with Kurt and Congresswoman Carlie Williams about how lucky they all were to be here today with all they had faced over the years. Logan sat to one side of the room with Kitty and Damien's son Michael, Alex and Charlie Summers, and his son Munroe telling them tales about the X-men; it was their favorite pastime, they loved to hear all about how the X-men would ultimately save the day. While Logan weaved a tapestry of tales for the youngsters, Ororo, Monica Williams, Jean-Luc LeBeau, and Tante Mattie chatted at the table next to them. The dance floor was of course occupied as well. Jean and Scott enjoyed a slow dance together while Best Man Nathaniel asked the Maid of Honor Jane, Jessica's college roommate to dance. Beast also took to the dance floor with his date Trish Tilby. After the near destruction of mutant kind they decided to rekindle what they once had and their on again off again relationship was back on. After all these years hopefully it was on for good. They did hint more than once that there might be another mutant-human wedding around the corner. Bishop and Sage also went on the dance floor after being persuaded by Warren who was enjoying a drink at the bar. Rogue danced with her son-in-law while insisting that he call her "Momma" and call Remy "Poppa." She didn't have to do much asking, it felt natural to him; after all, they had been like family all along.
Finally Remy enjoyed a dance with his daughter Jessica Rose Williams. He recalled how he taught her to dance when she was little, how she grew into the beautiful woman that he held in his arms now. Although he knew she was now a married woman, she would somehow always be his little girl, nothing would change that. As Remy twirled Jessica and proceeded to dip her, he couldn't help but think to himself that so many years ago he never thought that he would have happiness like this. He married someone that he loved with his entire heart and soul, they had a family, and now he was helping his daughter start a new life of her own with the man that she loved as much as he loved Rogue. Lady Luck may have handed him nothing but pairs in the past, but he knew this was the royal flush. After all, perhaps something this wonderful could last forever. That's all he kept telling himself. It was inevitable.
The End
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Author's Notes- Wow, after all these chapters, we have reached the end of our journey. I'd like to extend a great big thank you to everyone who has read this story. You are the reason I kept posting. Little side note: This, with a few alterations, was the first chapter I wrote. But I can't believe I have finished telling this tale. After a while it seemed like the characters began to write themselves, and in some cases I think they really did. But I'm glad it did, I'm pretty happy with the way this story turned out. But it's been so much fun and I hope to see you all again someday in another story. Until then…
Now on to the last comments section of this story: (EEEP! It's so sad!)
Tammy- I'm glad that you have enjoyed this story and I hope you like how the FOH storyline was resolved. It was one of the things that I came up with before I wrote the rest of the story. Just thought it would be interesting and something that was never done before (to my knowledge anyway). Thanks for sticking with me all this time! :-)
Calliann- Corny jokes are A-ok in my book!:-) I thought you made a good analogy.
Sweety8587- Oddly enough I had a dream with the whole Jean-ix thing when I was up late one night trying to write one of the other chapters and I just had to put it in (you know it's bad when you are still writing the fics after you fall asleep:-P)
Ishandahalf- Glad you liked the codename, I was trying really hard to think of something good and then I thought, maybe Angel of Death since Archangel brought Xavier the news, but then Project: Noah's Ark came to my mind and just sounded cooler:-P Thanks for sticking with me all this time and I hope you enjoyed the rest of the story! :-)
GiveGodtheglory- Glad you enjoyed the previous chapter, I hope you enjoyed this ending as well! :-)
Liliput 83- I'm sorry you have mixed feelings about the story coming to an end, but you know the old saying, "All good things must come to an end," or something like that.:-P I hope you join me in future stories! :-)