A/N: Good to see you all liked the last chapter. Yes, I know it was an evil, evil cliffhanger. I promise not to do that again. Heh heh. It was fun though. Anyway, I hope this chapter was worth the wait. I personally think it was. Also, I forgot to mention last time that no, I have not had any first-hand experience with prisons such as Blackwall, or any other prison for that matter. I am a good law abiding citizen. The history and details of Blackwall Detention Center came only from books I've read, movies I've seen, and my own personal imagination. But its good to know I was convincing, Lyranfan. Lol. Anyway, enjoy the new chapter!

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Scott turned the wheel sharply and the stolen car skidded to a stop just outside the secret entrance to the X-Men's underground bunker. He parked the car and turned it off, then stepped out and stretched his arms and legs. The escape had been easy enough. Ever since the fight with Ridge, which had left his attacker in a body cast at the hospital, Scott had appeared to be taking things badly. He had refused to eat at meals and had complained of gnawing pains to the guards. It had all been an act, of course, and it had all led up to his grand finale tonight. Scott had gone to dinner and refused to eat, just as he had for the last three days. About halfway through the meal he slumped to the ground and "passed out." An ambulance came and picked him up to transport him to the hospital. Just as Scott had hoped, the guards at the prison didn't bother to put handcuffs on him since he appeared to be unconscious. Likewise, only one guard accompanied him in the ambulance.  When the ambulance got to the middle of town, Scott jumped up and attacked the paramedics and guard. He gave each of them a blow to the back of their necks, using careful precision to hit a nerve there that knocked them out for ten to twenty minutes. It was a handy little attack called a nerve strike that Rogue had taught him once after a hectic Danger Room session. He knocked out the driver last and brought the emergency vehicle to a stop on his own. Then he jumped out the back and stole the first car he saw, making sure to get the owner's name so the Professor could return it quietly later. It had gone perfectly and exactly as planned. Now he just had one more thing to deal with. He had to face his friends at the mansion.

Scott sighed, unlocked the secret door in front of him with a fingerprint scan, and entered the bunker. He walked down a long hallway until he came to another large metal door. He opened it and entered a homey underground room with couches and a small dining table. This was the X-Men's underground living area, should things one day get so bad that they couldn't live upstairs. Scott kept walking to a locker room where he opened the small compartment allotted to him and found a simple black knapsack. He opened it and found two pairs of clothes, his visor, and a plain white envelope, just as he had requested. He put the knapsack over his back and made his way towards the underground kitchen where he picked up a pair of kitchen shears. Finally, he turned and walked to the nearest bathroom. There he changed out of the prison uniform and put on normal clothes for the first time in nearly a month. He used the shears and the mirror to cut the strap holding the glasses to his head and replaced them with the visor as he slipped the shades into his pocket. He looked at himself once more in the mirror and sighed. Maybe he didn't have to do this. Maybe he could just…

He cut himself off and resolved not to second-guess himself anymore. This was the only way to ensure the safety of himself and the X-Men. It had to be done.

He stepped out of the bathroom and returned to the subterranean den again. He stood still for a moment in the middle of the room and simply looked around. He was going to miss the mansion. There were a lot of memories here, some better than others. He had made friends here. His conscience told him that he should at least be saying good-bye to them. He owed them that much. But he knew he couldn't do it. If he had to face them he knew it would be ten times harder to leave. Still, it would be nice to see Jean just one more time. His head dropped to his chest in a heavy sigh. It hurt, but it had to be this way.

"Scott?"

At first he thought he had just imagined it. There had been so many times that he'd thought he'd heard her voice while inside Blackwall. It took nearly a minute for him to realize that the voice he had heard was not just in his head. He turned around slowly and there they were. Jean, Kurt, Kitty, Rogue, Evan, Logan, Ororo, and the Professor were all looking at him from across the room.

 "Hey," he said finally, adjusting the knapsack on his back.

The X-Men slowly filed into the room and formed a semi-circle in front of Scott. If they were happy to see him, they didn't show it.

"Jus' what do ya think yer doing, kid?" asked Logan gruffly.

Scott braced himself for the coming reprimand. He had made up his mind and no one could make him change it. He took a deep breath for courage.

"I'm leaving."

There was a moment of quiet confusion on the faces of the X-Men. Scott's gaze traveled across all of their faces. He did his best not to linger on Jean's, but it was a wasted effort.

"So," said Scott after a long moment, "looks like the gang's all here. What is this? Some kind of intervention?"

"Well," said Rogue, "ya did jest escape from prison without botherin' to tell us that ya were plannin' on doin' it."

"I told the Professor," said Scott, pointing towards the wheelchair-ridden man.

Now everyone's attention fell on Xavier. Scott welcomed the break from the accusing stares.

"You never told me what you were planning," said Xavier defensively.

"Not in so many words, but it shouldn't have been hard to figure out," said Scott.

Xavier bit his lower lip gently. "I suppose I just didn't think you'd actually go through with this. Scott, I beg you to reconsider. Its not too late."

"Actually," said Scott, "it is. I doubt I could go back now." He gestured towards the knapsack with his head. "Thanks for the help though. I have to admit I wondered if you'd really do it. I assume the tickets are in the envelope?"

Xavier nodded his head slightly, his voice defeated. "Yes, they are."

Scott stepped toward the man with his hand outstretched. "Thank you,  Professor. For everything."

Xavier closed his eyes as if in deep thought, then looked up at Scott with deep sorrow in his face. "You don't have to do this, Scott. There are other ways."

Scott winced slightly at the words and let his hand fall back to his side. Its not like he wanted to do this! But he had given it a lot of thought and there was simply no other way!

Kurt spoke up now, utterly confused by the exchange he had just witnessed. "He doesn't have to do what? Scott, vhat's going on? Vhat tickets are you talking about?"

"I already told you," said Scott. "I'm leaving. The tickets are one-way plane tickets to Chicago and then Atlanta. From there I'll buy some tickets on my own."

Kurt was taken aback now. His eyes remained fixated on Scott. "Vhat?!"

Scott sighed. "There's no life for me in Bayville anymore. I can't stay here, but I can't live in that hell of a prison anymore either. This is the only other option."

"So you're running away?" said Jean, the distress apparent in her voice.

Scott frowned and averted his eyes from Jean's face. The last thing he wanted to do right now was talk to her. Everything would be so much easier if she just didn't speak.

"I'm starting a new life with a new name in a new city. Existing as Scott Summers is too risky now."

There was a general gasp around the room from all the X-men, followed by a long pause where they all stared at Scott's unmoving figure.

"So…so then how do you prove your innocence?" asked Kurt

"I don't," said Scott, his face cold and dark.

For a moment, nothing moved. No one spoke. There was pure silence in the bunker. Finally Jean began walking towards Scott angrily. "Are you crazy?! You're just gonna roll over and run away because things got bad?! You can't do this!"

"Yeah!" chimed in Kitty.

Scott's eyebrows dipped down towards his visor and his frown tightened, his jaw set in stone. He turned and began to walk to the doorway that would lead him to the garage.

"I'm leaving now. Don't try to follow me, it won't do any good. I've made my decision and you can't change my mind. This conversation is over."

As he walked away, Rogue ran forward and grabbed his arm, spinning him halfway around so that his side faced the group.

"No it's not! This conversation hasn't even started yet!"

Scott glared down at the southern girl over his shoulder.

"Let go."

"No! Not until you tell me you didn't do it first!"

Scott whipped his arm out of Rogue's grasp angrily. Rogue's eyes widened as she realized what she had just demanded.

"So, is that what this is all about?!" he yelled at the group.

"No!" Kurt said back adamantly.

"Yes," admitted Jean meekly.

"Maybe," said Rogue, her hand dropping from his arm.

Scott stood like a statue and stared at the X-men with a cold look on his face. Suddenly he turned to Xavier sharply.

"No! Stay out of my mind, Professor!" He turned to Jean briefly. "Same goes for you. Both of you stay out!"

"Alright. I'm sorry, Scott," said Xavier defensively. "I won't try again and neither will Jean."

"Look, Scott, none of us want to believe you did this," said Jean, now hoping she could talk the information out of him.

"I don't believe you did!" interrupted Kurt with an annoyed glance at the other X-Men.

"I don't either, really," continued Jean. "But you have to consider the evidence. Look at it from an outsider's point of view for just a minute."

Scott remained standing perfectly still while Jean took a deep breath.

"You have to admit," she said, "that if someone is framing you, they're doing an incredible job of it!"

Scott turned around again. "I don't wanna listen to this."

Kurt teleported between Scott and the door quickly, stopping him in his tracks.

"Move," demanded Scott.

"No," said Kurt as he returned Scott's glare. "You're gonna listen to the facts that we've found and you're gonna explain everything that's happened."

The two boys spent a moment trying to stare the other down. Finally, Scott sighed slightly and nodded his head as he turned around. He looked up at Jean for a second, then averted his eyes.

"First off," said Jean, "here's what we know. Duncan knew about my powers."

Most of the X-Men gasped. In the excitement of the moment, Jean had forgotten that Rogue, Kitty, Evan, Ororo, and Logan all had no idea about her fight with Duncan. She had only told the story to Scott, Kurt, and the Professor. She turned now to face the five shocked X-Men.

"I'll explain it fully later. For now you just need to know that Duncan found out and threatened to hurt and blackmail me." She turned back to Scott. "I told you about all of that the morning before the murder. After lunch that day, you got into a fight with Duncan to protect me from him. You were sent home while he got to stay at school for the rest of the day. That afternoon, Duncan grabbed me in the hall and threatened me again, this time even saying that he would hurt me and all of my friends if I didn't do what he wanted. You found out about that," she said pointing at Scott, "and got mad. Then you said, and I quote, 'I could kill him.'"

Scott didn't respond. He simply crossed his arms and listened while his gaze studied the floor.

"You were worried about my safety, as well as the safety of the other X-Men, and I appreciate it, but it also qualifies as a motive. For the rest of that afternoon, you acted really strange. You locked yourself in your room and refused to talk to anybody. That night, we found out through the mansion's security system that the Brotherhood was attacking the school," she turned to look at the Professor, "which is something I still don't understand by the way."

Xavier's head lowered. He had hoped never to have to tell the students about this. "You all know that I trust you completely," he began. "I know you would never use your powers out in the open, but I linked the school's security system to our own a few months ago in order to keep an eye on the Brotherhood. They use their powers in the middle of the school far too often. If anyone ever saw them, I wanted to be able to protect their secret. If anyone learned about their powers, it surely wouldn't be long until all of you were forced into the open as well."

"We know you trust us, Professor," said Kitty reassuringly.

"Thank you," said Xavier with a smile.

"It's alright Professor. I was just confused by that one thing," said Jean before turning back to face Scott again. "So the X-Men went to stop the Brotherhood. I told you what was going on, but you refused to go because you said you didn't care what they did to the school. We left without you and were gone about an hour and a half. So there's a big window of opportunity for you."

Scott still didn't say a word.

"The only question left is where you got the gun."

Jean glanced over at Kurt, who soon nodded and teleported away.

"Kurt has a video that answers that question."

Kurt reappeared and put a black VHS tape into the VCR in the corner of the room. He hit play and everyone watched in shock as Scott appeared on the TV screen and began talking to the man at the counter. While the video played, Jean continued talking.

"This tape shows you buying a handgun, the murder weapon to be specific. That is you, isn't it?"

Scott's head dropped a little. "Yes."

Kurt's eyes opened in shock. "Why would you buy a gun?"

Scott didn't reply, but simply watched the cash exchange between himself and the man on the tape.

"So," said Logan when the tape had ended, "we've got yer biggest enemy killed with yer gun in yer house while everyone else was gone. Plus, they've got phone records that show a call placed from the mansion to Duncan's house 40 minutes before the 911 call came in."

"Do you understand our concern, Scott?" asked Jean.

Scott looked up for a moment and took a deep breath. He resituated the knapsack on his shoulders and looked out at the X-Men, who stood before him accusingly.

"It's clear that all of you have already made up your minds. I don't see any reason for me to stand here any longer to answer those questions."

He turned his back to them and began moving towards the door again. As he walked, he turned his head over his shoulder to say one final thing.

"Don't bother looking for me. You won't be able to find me."

Then he turned his head back to his front and reached for the door handle. As his hand grabbed the metal handle, Kurt's voice called out to him from the group.

"STOP RIGHT THERE, YOU HYPOCRITE!" he yelled with his finger pointing towards Scott's back.

Scott stopped, but didn't turn around.

Kurt began taking a few steps toward him. "You think the rules don't apply to you?! Well you're wrong! We're a team and we can work through this as a team! Damn it, Scott! You're the leader of this team! What gives you the right to think you can just walk out on us without even saying goodbye?! I don't believe for one second that you did this thing, Scott. I can't! And so here I am going to bat for you, in the face of all this evidence, with the entire world stacked against Scott Summers and you're just going to walk away from it?! How can you do that?!"

The dark figure in the doorway slowly turned to face Kurt, his mouth curled into a tight, cold frown.

"I can do it because there is no Scott Summers anymore."

"Vhat are saying?" asked Kurt, his words timed evenly.

"Scott Summers lived a life where nothing ever worked out right. Just when his childhood was going great, a tragedy killed his parents and his brother leaving him completely alone in the world. He went from orphanage to orphanage, foster home to foster home, until finally one day in a hospital in Juneau, Alaska he met Charles Xavier, who offered him a new life. He had nothing to lose, so he took it. Suddenly, he had a new name, Cyclops. He could put on a mask with a red visor and blue uniform and he wasn't Scott Summers anymore. He became a new person entirely. One that fought to help other people, to save lives, and to accomplish things that would make the world better for all the mutants who would be born after him. As Cyclops, he was strong and fast. Slowly, Cyclops took over his personality until Scott Summers became the mask. Cyclops was a hero, a man who could help people. Scott Summers was nothing more than a high school loser. Now, Scott Summers has become a liability, so it's time for me to take the mask off."

Silence gripped the room as the X-Men watched the man before them. He stood tall, his chest out as if a weight had been removed from him. He was proud and seemed completely in control of the situation.

"You…you can't mean that," said Kurt in a near whisper.

"I do," he said as he turned back to the door again.

"No," said Kurt, shaking his head. "No, you're wrong! When I first got here three months ago it was Scott Summers who first accepted me. It was Scott Summers who agreed not to make fun of my looks. It was Scott Summers who joked and laughed with me when I needed laughter most in my life. It was you who became my best friend! Well now you need a friend and I'm here for you when everyone else is ready to write you off! You helped me, Scott. Now its time to let me help you!"

"I'll be fine on my own," said Scott calmly.

Kurt was now huffing in anger as he spoke. "What makes you so arrogant?! Are you too good to accept someone else's help?! You're a hypocrite, Scott! An arrogant, cocky, foolish hypocrite and if you leave here you'll regret it for the rest of your life!"

Scott turned around and stepped up to Kurt so that they were inches apart. "Was that a threat?"

Ororo spoke up now, hoping to be the voice of reason before things got any more out of control. "Scott, what Kurt's trying to say is that we're here to help you. We want to help you. But you have to let us do it."

Scott looked out at the X-Men and panned across the group slowly. He pulled the knapsack higher up on his shoulders and took yet another deep breath.

"There's a car outside the back bunker entrance with a note on the driver's seat about who it needs to be returned to. It'd be best if you did that as soon as possible. Logan, I'm taking your bike. You can pick it up tomorrow at LaGuardia Airport's parking deck G."

"Now hold on, bub! Ya can't…"

Scott turned away from the protesting Logan and stepped into a long dark corridor, closing the door behind him. The corridor would lead him to the garage and away from the mansion for good.

The X-Men all stared at the closed door for a long time before anyone said anything. The sound of Scott's words still echoed through their minds.

"Shouldn't we, like, be going after him or something?" asked Kitty finally.

"Why?" asked Evan. "I think its pretty obvious he's not gonna listen to us."

"But he's still our friend," insisted Kitty.

"Yeah? Try telling him that."

A tear fell from Jean's cheek. She wiped her eyes and turned to leave the room through the hallway behind her. Logan, Storm, and Xavier followed her upstairs. Eventually, Kitty, Rogue, Evan, and Kurt turned to go upstairs as well.

"Man!" said Evan to Kurt as they walked, "I really thought he was gonna deck you there for a second when you said all that!"

Kurt frowned, the pain obvious on his face. "Who says he didn't?" With a sudden puff of smoke, Kurt disappeared.

"What'd that mean?" asked Evan with a confused look at Rogue and Kitty.

"Are you really that clueless?" asked Kitty in frustration.

Evan's face looked completely confused. Finally, Rogue explained it to him.

"Scott never really answered the question. He never said he's innocent."