YAY! 17 months in the making, finally, the last chapter of The Trials of Anna. So, with out further adue, here is the final chapter. Enjoy, and please don't forget to review. Thanx
Disclaimer: If you think that I own any of these Marvel characters, then you're screwier than a Squirrel trying to eat a lug nut!
"I lost you once Dick, I'm not letting you go again." Anna says before lurching forward, meeting Dick's lips with hers. The two are locked in a passionate kiss. Unexpectedly, Anna begins to lose herself in the kiss. She closes her eyes and begins to forget about where she is. After several seconds, Dick pulls away from the Kiss causing Anna to lean forward more as her eager lips search for Dick's. She leans forward until her bindings prohibit her from going any further. She can feel Dick's breath on her face. Dick leans in so that they are cheek to cheek, and begins to whisper in her ear.
"That was good, just like I remember it..." Dick says softly, "But not good enough!"
Suddenly Anna opens her eyes just in time to see Dick spring to his feet. With in a split second, he is next to the Joker head. He reaches behind it, and pulls Jean out of the shadows by the hair. Jean screams as Dick pulls out a knife and holds it to her throat. "Well well well, what do he have here?" Dick says and he looks back at Anna. "I always thought that you would make a great actress Anna, but there is one thing that you just can't sell. Your eyes. Your eyes gave you away Anna, and now, Jean is going to pay for it!
"NO, DON'T!" Anna yells as Jean lets out a terrifying scream.
The room is silent as Anna closes her eyes tight, terrified of what she will see if she opens her eyes. Horrific images rush through her mind. The image of Jean with her throat slit, lying in a growing pool of her own blood. The pool gets bigger and bigger as her blood spurts out of her jugular in rhythm with her fading heart beat. Her eyes calling out to Anna for help. She would yell out if she could, but her vocal cords where cut when he throat was slit. This is one of the many horrifying images that flood Anna's mind. If Dick were willing to do that to Jean, what would he do to Tim? What would he do to her?
Anna is filled with terror, then, the stillness of the room is broken by the should of laughter. It isn't maniacal laughter like she would expect, but a child like, even innocent laughter. It catches Anna by surprise. So much so that it takes her a while to realize, that it is a woman's laugh. Anna is now completely confused. Was there someone else in the warehouse with them?
Against Anna's better judgment, she hesitantly opens her eyes to find Dick and, a very much alive, Jean standing before her. Both with equally mischievous grins on their faces. Anna looks at the two of them more confused than ever. "J-J-Jean?"
Back in the boardroom, the children's parents are starting to get anxious.
"Hey now how do we know that you're not low balling us?" Sam's father yells.
"You mean them right?" says Alex's mother. "They are the ones with the jobs, not you."
"Look lady, if I wanted an opinion from a woman, I wouldn't have left my wife at home!" Sam's father says matter of factly, which obviously doesn't sit well with Mrs. Summers.
"Here we go!" Jamie jokingly whispers to Tabitha who seems unfazed by what is going on.
"Look you lazy, sponging, trailer trash piece of Shit!"
"Mrs. Summers, Mr. Guthrie, please!" Yells James as he tries to regain control of the meeting.
"I quit!" Tabitha stands up and loudly blurts out. Everyone in the room is hocked, and is not entirely sure that she said that they thought she said.
"Tabitha?" James asks as if that one word could convey his confusion.
"I sorry, but I'm 18 years old, and I can't keep doing a kid's television show." Says Tabitha "My agent has found me some really good opportunities, and basically, I popularity has peaked as far as this show is concerned."
"Tabitha, why haven't you talked to me about any of this?" James asks.
"I tried James. Do you know how many times I tried calling your office for a meeting, but you were always too busy. I tried to do this right, but you just didn't have the time for me, so it's come down to this. Goodbye James."
Sam stands up, grabs Tabitha by the arm, and whispers in her ear. "Tabby, why didn't you tell me? So what does this mean about us?"
Tabby pulls away from Sam and makes no attempt at being discreet. "Us, there is no us Sam. Give me a call when you grow a spine and finally have enough balls to tell your dirt bag father to stop checking out my ass and to Fuck Off! Oh and by the way, I've been cheating on you with Roberto. Have a nice day Pencil Dick!" Tabitha says before storming out of the room.
All the kids try to hold back the laughter while Sam and his father sink into their seats. Roberto's father looks at his son with a sense of pride. An odd feeling fills the room as an uncomfortable silence descends upon the group. Suddenly, Sam springs from his seat at Roberto. He tackles him to the ground, and the two boys roll around on the ground. All the kids gather around the two boys and cheer them on. Mrs. Summers, and Mr. Guthrie pick up where their fight left off, leaving James to break up the fight when suddenly, the door swings open. X, along with her mother and various other members of her entourage enter the boardroom. She looks at the mayhem in the room. "Ummm… Did I miss something?"
Meanwhile, in the warehouse, Anna quizzically looks at Jean, then at Dick, and then at Jean again. "W-W-Wait a Minute. What the FUCK is going on here!" Anna demands. Her voice is so loud, that Tim is startled awake by her outburst.
"Huh, What happened?" Tim groggily stammers as he comes to. Before he has a chance to fully gain his bearings, Jean punches him in the face, knocking him out again, causing Dick to wince before letting out an amusing chuckle.
"I don't understand." Anna sighs, "What is happening here?
"What do you mean you don't understand?" Jean chuckles, "You mean that you haven't figured it out by now?" Jean leans in close to Anna so that she is eye level to Anna. "I released the tape!" Jean declares. "I lured you to my house that night so that Dick could take those pictures of us." Jean walks over to Dick and gives him a passionate kiss, "I gave Dick the key to your apartment, and I made sure that your stooges at the gossip magazines didn't know about the tape until it was too late. Just like how I was always in this warehouse with you the whole time. That is why you didn't hear me come in. It was all me Anna, and you fell for everyone on my tricks. I manipulated you from the start!"
"The whole "No Don't" thing when you thought that I was going to slit Jean's throat was a nice touch though." Dick adds, "It was all I could do to keep my self from breaking out in laughter."
Anna slouches in her seat as she tried to absorb everything that Jean just said. "Why?"
"What do you mean why?" Jean says in mock shock, "I'm and Manipulative Bitch who always gets what she wants."
"And what do you want?" Anna asks still trying to make sense of all of this.
"I want you Anna." Jean says plainly, "You wer..."
"Wait a minute." Dick interrupts, "This wasn't part of the agreement. I help you humiliate Tim Drake, and I get Anna."
Jean turns on her heals and slaps Dick across the face with the back of her hand. "Don't you EVER interrupt me again! If it wasn't for me, you'd still be living in a tent under the Hollywood sign." To which Dick just sulks in the corner.
"Wait, what does Tim have to do with all of this?" Inquires Anna.
"As I was saying," Jean says while shooting a death stare at Dick, "You were the only person who rejected me Anna. I would have given you everything, but you still wouldn't have me. Normally my reaction would have been, "Your Loss", but, the more that you rejected me, the more I wanted you. I guess it was kind of a forbidden fruit kind of thing."
"But what about Tim?" Anna asks, still trying to make sense of it all.
"Tim was just tying up lose ends. He dumped me to be with that twit who plays Starfire on his show."
"You did all this, the lying, the manipulating, basically ruining my life to get back at jilted lovers?"
Jean rushes to Anna and kneels by her side. "No, I did all of this because I loved you Ann..."
"Now wait a minute," Dick intercedes, "this is getting out of hand. You never said that you wanted Anna. All you said was that you wanted my help to get back at Tim."
Jean springs to her feet, and slaps Dick across the face again. "WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT INTERRUPTING ME!" Jean tries to slap Dick again, but this time, Dick catches her hand. "Ow! Let go of me you brute!"
"Brute eh? I'll show you a brute." While still holding her hand, Dick proceeds to slap Jean across the face repeatedly.
Jean tries to fight back as best she could, but Dick is too strong for her.
Anna cries out, "Stop it! You're going to kill her!"
Dick punches Jean once more sending her falling to Anna's feet. "I knew I shouldn't have listened to this crazy bitch!"
Jean looks up at Anna from the floor, blood trickling from her nose and lip, "I'm Sorry Anna, I never meant for any of this to hurt you."
As Dick stalks closer to Jean, Anna, and a still unconscious Tim, Jean pulls out a razor blade from her pocket. Dick get close enough so that he is now standing over Jean. He takes a quick glance at Anna, which is all the time that Jean needs to use the razor blade to slash into Dick's left calf muscle. He screams out and slaps Jean across her face, causing her to drop the razor. She quickly punches Dick in the groin, and as he falls to the ground, Jean springs to her feet. She runs over and picks up the razor. She quickly cuts the ropes that bind Anna, and take her by the hand.
"W-Wait! What about Drake?" Anna yells.
"Forget Drake. He's dead weight." Jean yells back, "He'll slow us down, we can come back and get him after we get help."
Anna quickly looks at Tim's still unconscious form. Realizing that Jean is right, she goes along with her.
The two women run to a different part of the warehouse, and hide. They can hear Dick stalking after them. He limps through the warehouse calling out their names. "JEAN!" "ANNA!"
"What are we going to do?" Jean asks with a petrified voice.
Anna looks at Jean with an expression of extreme distain, "What do you mean WE?"
"What are you talking about Anna?" Jean whispers, "If he finds us, Dick is going to kill us!"
"How do I know that Jean? How do I know this isn't just another one of your games!"
"Look, I'm sorry about this whole getting you wrapped up with this whole stalker thing, but I really really did all of this because I loved you."
"JEAN… ANNA…" Dick sings out whimsically.
"Love? Love!"
"Shhhhh" Jean covers Anna's mouth with her hand, "Dick is going to hear you."
Anna slaps Jean's hand away from her face. "What do you know about love anyway? Is there anyone In Los Angeles who you haven't slept with?"
"Whoa, Low blow! Yes I admit that I have been… well… friendly with a lot of people."
"FRIENDLY? Jean more people have gone down on you than the Titanic!"
"WHOA! Again low blow!" Jean says as she shoots a death stare at Anna. "It's true Anna I do love you. I mean when we were together; It was different than when I was with other people. With them, it was just sex, but with you, it was… well it was just different. That and you make my toes curl every time you go down on me." Jean says with a wry grin.
"JEAN… ANNA…"
"Well thanks, but let's try and remember that there is a psycho stalking after us."
"Anna I am so sorry about all of this."
"Forget about this, we have to get the hell out of here."
"And how do you plan upon doing that, ladies?"
"GAAAA!" Jean and Anna scream as they look up to see Dick crouching on a Joker head above them. Anna grabs Jean by the hand and they run through the maze of props in the huge warehouse.
"Just how big is this damn place!" Anna gasps exasperatedly. "How the hell do we get out of here? Jean? Jean?"
Anna looks around trying to see if Jean just made a wrong turn. She hears a noise from behind her, which causes her to turn around quickly. On the floor, she finds one of Jean's shoes. She looks around, but Jean is nowhere to be found. Anna turns her sights upward to find an unconscious Jean tied up, and hanging from the catwalk.
"Shit! Now what the hell am I going to do?"
Sneaking through the various props and sets in the warehouse; Anna finally makes her way to the catwalk. She knows that it is a trap, but she knows that she has no other choice. After all that she has been through, she's tired of running from Dick, and she refuses to live the rest of her life looking over her shoulder.
She slowly makes her way along the catwalk towards Jean. Anna scans the warehouse for Dick as well as for a way out. She warily looks over the side of the catwalk at Jean.
"Jean…" Anna whispers while carefully scanning her surroundings.
Anna reaches down and grabs a hold of the chain from which Jean is dangling. She uses all of her might to pull her up onto the catwalk. "Damn it Jean your anorexic ass still weighs too much."
Anna pulls Jean up and tries to wake Jean up. "Damn it Jean, wake up! I don't have a clue how the hell to get out of here."
Unbeknownst to Anna, Dick is perched above her in the rafters of the warehouse. He jumps down from the rafters onto the catwalk. The sound of his feet hitting the steel of the catwalk startles Anna. She looks up at Dick as he stalks towards her while she ties to drag Jean with her. "You're mine Anna. The sooner you realize that, the better. We'll be happy together. I'll dispose of Jean and Tim, a quick stop over to the office to throw that cheating bastard James out the window, and then we hop in the car for Vegas and get married."
"You're Sick Dick, you need therapy… You need a lot of therapy." Anna continues to cautiously back away from Dick.
"I don't need therapy Anna, I need you. We'll be happy together, I promise."
"Dick you need help"
"Stop saying that!" Dick lunges at Anna. She screams, but suddenly, Tim jumps down from the rafters onto Dick's back.
Tim springs off of Dick and assumes a fighting stance. "Alright Has Been, lets see what you really got!"
Dick looks at his diminutive opponent. He suddenly gets a fiendish grin on his face. Dick reaches behind him, pulls out a gun, and then shoots Tim twice in the leg. Tim yells out in pain as he falls over, and lies on the catwalk. "Normally, I would have enjoyed kicking your ass, but right now, I just don't have the time." Dick says as he stands above Tim. Dick takes aim at Tim for the kill shot when from behind, a chain comes over his head and wraps around Dick's throat. Dick's arm flails and he pulls the trigger. The gun goes off and hits a propane take below. The tank explodes sending other tanks next to it shooting off in different directions, causing explosions all over the warehouse.
Back in the boardroom, James has finally gotten control of meeting again. He was half tempted to send everyone home and take care of the contracts later, but he really wanted to just get the whole thing over with. Suddenly everyone in the boardroom hears a series of explosion. Seconds later, people are running by the door. James runs out into the hall. "What's going on?"
"There was an explosion in the warehouse next door" Someone yells "I don't know about you, but I'm getting the hell out of here!"
James runs back into the boardroom and tells everyone what is going on. "Okay, there has been a accident next door, so we have to leave the building." Not needing to be told twice, everyone clears the room.
Fire has broken out in different parts of the warehouse. Anna, tired of everything that has happened to her. The stalking, the lies, everything has finally pushed her over the edge. Dick falls to his knees as the chain constricts over his windpipe. Anna is in a blind rage as pulls the chain with one hand, and starts punching Dick with the other. Dick tried to fight back, but his face is starting to turn blue due to lack of oxygen. In a last effort, he somehow makes it up to his feet. Anna continues her onslaught, and starts punching Dick in the kidneys, which cause him to wince in pain.
In the office building next door, James and the others are running down the stairs when Rahne trips and sprains her ankle. James runs over, picks her up, and carries her the rest of the way as Rahne looks at James with googily eyed admiration.
As Dick and Anna struggle in the now flaming warehouse, Dick finally is able to reach back and grab the chain behind the scruff of his neck. He pulls it out of Anna's hand. He doubles over as he tries to catch his breath, but Anna doesn't stop. She runs up to Dick and kicks him in the face causing him to fly backwards. He teeters on his heels before he falls over the catwalk railing. Dick holds on to the railing with one hand. "Anna, help me please!"
Anna looks over at Dick hanging over the railing. Her first impulse is to help him, but then she remembers everything that Dick had put her through. She realizes that he would never stop. She is about ready to send him over the edge when Dick reaches over, and grabs her by the throat. "You're mine Anna… forever."
Anna holds on to the opposite railing, but Dick is too strong. Dick has almost climbed back onto the catwalk, when suddenly, Jean runs over and pushed Dick off, and grabs on to Anna, preventing her from falling. The two women embrace each other, and hear Dick yelling as he falls to the ground below. "Anna, I Love You…"
As the warehouse burns around them, the two women stay in their emotional embrace until Tim who is still lying on the catwalk interrupts them. "Ummm, I'd hate o interrupt such a beautiful moment, but can we get the hell out of here?"
The two women look down at Tim, and then at their surroundings. They lean over and pick up Tim.
"How the hell do we get out of here!" Anna yells as they make their way across the catwalk.
"Well the main door is pretty much out of the question." Jean answers as they look down at the inferno below them. "We'll have to make out way to the catwalk exit on the other side of the warehouse."
"Perfect!" Anna says irately.
Out side, people from the neighboring buildings have gathered to watch as the warehouse goes up in flames. The fire department has finally arrived and has begun to fight the blaze.
James and the New Mutants cast have finally made it out of the building. James comes running out of the building with Rahne in his arms. "My hero." Says Rahne before planting a big wet kiss on James's lips. Rahne's mother comes running to James, and pulls her daughter away from him. She slaps James across the face. "How dare you take advantage of my daughter like this, you'll be hearing from my lawyer!" Says Mrs. Sinclair before storming away, leaving James very confused. As they walk away, Rahne looks over her shoulder at James and waves.
All James can do right now is shake his head. He is about to just climb into his car and go home when people in the crowd point at something towards the warehouse. He looks up to see Anna, Jean and Tim coming out of the warehouse and descend down the fire escape stairs. James runs to see what is going on. "Anna what happened?"
:cough:"Dick:cough: He's still in there." Says Anna as paramedics come at assist them.
"We can't get in, the fire is too bad, the best we can do is contain it." Yells a fireman.
As Tim is loaded into an ambulance, Anna, Jean, and a very confused James stand back as the warehouse goes up in flames.
Several weeks pass, and Kitty and Anna are sitting in their favorite café in Hollywood. Production is about to begin on the latest season of X-Men: Evolution and the two friends are spending some time to relax before Kitty will be busy filming. Anna on the other hand had left her job at the studio, and had also left behind her days as the "Squid".
"So what are you going to do now Anna?"
"I don't know Kitty, maybe go back to school, but I'm pretty sure that I'm done with show business."
"And what about Jean?" Kitty teases which garners an evil look from Anna.
"Oh God, why did you even say her name?" Anna quips.
"Don't even try to act, you know that you like her."
"Yeah but how can I ever trust her again after what she put me through?"
"Well the psycho bitch did sorta save your life in the warehouse."
"Yeah well, the psycho bitch was also the one that got me into the warehouse in the first place." Anna shifts her weight in her seat. "Why are you defending her anyway?"
"I'm not defending her, I'm… I'm just saying that maybe you could give her a second chance." Kitty says reassuringly. "Scott says that she has been a wreck, and that she really feels bad for what she did."
"I don't know Kitty"
"What are you doing tonight? Why don't you come with me to the cast party?"
"No, I don't think that I'm ready to go back to the studio yet after what happened with Dick, and then James disappearing when he fell into one of those Acme Portable Holes."
"Yeah freaky! I always knew those things were dangerous. I can't believe that the studio just leaves stacks of them around the lot."
"Besides, I still have a lot at home that needs to be packed."
"Where are you gonna go? You know you're welcomed at my place. I have lots of room."
"Don't worry about me; I've got some money put away. I'll be fine for awhile."
"Well, you know you can always call me if you ever need anything." Says Kitty as she looks down at her watch. "I need to go get ready for the party tonight, you sure you don't want to come along? You could at least come with me to my place, and help me pick out a dress."
"Sorry Kitty, I guess I'm just not in a social mood."
"Okay," Kitty says hesitantly. "I'll call ya later, kay?"
"You know where I'll be, it's not like I'm going anywhere soon."
Later that evening, the cast and crew have gathered for a cast party at the WB studios to kick off the new season. Jean and Scott are keeping up appearances, and came to the party together, and are sitting at one of the tables talking with Marian. As usual, Kitty is trying to avoid Kurt like the plague, and the New Mutant boys, Bobby in particular, pout in the corner because all the girls are ogling over Bobby's brother Tim who showed up to the party with his leg heavily bandages from being shot by Dick.
"Can I get you a drink Tim?" Offers Amara
"Oh I can't believe he shot you!" says Jubilee "You're so brave to stand up against him."
"I would have been so scared" says Rahne.
Even though he is no longer a part of the cast, Pete was dragged to the party by his brother "Wanda" and her confused Aussie date St. John. Pete pouts in his seat while Wanda and St. John act all luvy duvy like another couple. They stare longingly into each other's eyes until they are interrupted when Raven bumps the table as she hurries by. Moments later, Todd runs by with a pen and videotape. "Come on, Please! Just one autograph…"
As Todd rushes past, a picture falls out of his pocket. Pete bends over to pick it up and is nearly floored when he sees that it is of a very sexy and scantily clad woman. Wanda and St. John lean over to take a look. "Wow she's hot!" says St. John which draws an evil stare from Wanda. "She's not that hot."
"She looks familiar" remarks Pete. He looks in the direction of Todd and Raven "You don't think that… Nah it can't be"
"Who Mrs. Darkholm-Horowitz?" Quips Wanda "You're crazy! That Prude! Every time she wears the cat suit, she runs to cover up as soon as we finish the scene."
"Yeah, not her mate" Says Wanda's Aussie date. "Although I admit, that she is a milf." Wanda kicks St. John under the table. "OW!"
Thankfully, Hank is back on his medication, and was able to get out of the hospital in time to attend the party. Hank, Ororo, Logan, Charles, and Eric discuss the up coming season with the show's script writers, no doubt trying to convince them to add some last minute plot points that would be favorable to their characters. Everyone is more or less having a good time… that is until Kathleen, the head of programming for KidsWB makes an appearance. She slowly makes her way to the front of the room. "Ahem, Can I get everyone's attention please?"
Everyone stops their individual discussions and gives Kathleen their attention. "First of all, I'm sure that it goes without saying that it is unfortunate that James is not here to share this celebration with us. He worked really hard to bring this group back together for another season, and I'm sure that if he could, he would want to be here." Says Kathleen "I would also like to say that this is probably one of the best casts that we have ever had here at KidsWB… which is why this was a particularly difficult decision."
The once jovial feeling in the room has suddenly turned somber. "The upcoming schedule is a little heavy with the new shows that we are introducing, and the powers that be have thought long and hard about this. We regret to inform you that there will be no Fifth season of X-Men: Evolution. Don't worry, we are not leaving you all out in the cold, we have what we think is a very generous pay out for each of you. Thank you for all the hard work that all of you have put in to make this show a success. We couldn't have done it with out you. Enjoy the rest of the party, oh and remember that the parking lot closes at 11:00." That said, Kathleen calmly walks out of the room leaving everyone in a state of shock.
Meanwhile across town, Anna's apartment is filled with stacks of boxes. She sits in one corner of her apartment packing the last of her things. She looks around her apartment, and reflects on the twists and turns that her life has taken to bring her to this point. She breathes a sigh of relief knowing that it is all over. But little does she know that her life is about to make another unexpected turn.
As Anna sits in what used to be her living room packing her things, she hears the phone ring. Anna rummages through the mess of wrapping paper, tape fragments, empty boxes and stacks of boxes filled with various nick knacks, looking for the phone. She finally finds the phone, and expecting it to be Kitty, she answers the phone. "Bit early isn't it? That party must really be a snoozer."
"Well, I heard that you had connections through out the studio, but I didn't know that you kept tabs on cast parties as well." Says Kathleen on the other end of the phone.
"Kathleen! Err, I-I didn't know that…" Anna stammers "H-How can I help you?"
"Well I must say that I was rather intrigued when I heard about your little information network."
"Yeah… Well, that was uh…"
"Don't worry Anna you're not in trouble"
"Really? Then why are you calling me then? Err I mean what can I do for you?"
"If you're network of spies is as extensive as it sounds, then you probably already know what happened with the show."
"Yes. What I don't get is that I heard that it wasn't getting picked up for a fifth season months ago, why bother meeting with the cast if the show wasn't slated for the fall line up."
"Well, how else are we supposed to keep the gossip hounds at bay?" Chuckles Kathleen "Which brings me to why I'm calling. How would you like to come and work for us?"
"I'm sorry, but I think that I'm threw working in the secretary pool." Anna says politely
"We don't want you to work in the secretary pool; we would like you to become the Head of Media Relations here at WB. The way we figure it, people are going to talk no matter what, so it would be beneficial to us if we had someone who had the skills and know how to capitalize on it."
"Are you serious!" Anna says as she balances herself against a stack of boxes.
"Yes we are Anna, and if you are willing to come in tomorrow morning, we can discuss all the details."
"I-I-I don't know what to say."
"You can say yes." Kathleen chuckles.
"Uhhh… YES!" Anna says nearly jumping through the phone. "I'll uh see you tomorrow." Anna hangs up the phone and begins to jump around the maze of boxes in her apartment. She dances around, filled with the excitement of her new life without stalkers, sex scandals, definitely no more videotapes… at least she hopes.
Well, with the exception of the epilogue, this is pretty much the end of the Saga of Anna. I hope that everyone enjoyed this fic. I would have liked to have finished it months ago, but due to circumstances out of my hands (i.e. my fic being removed my with no explanation, even after multiple letters of appeal.), but it's finally done, and I must say that I liked the way that it all turned out. I hope that you liked reading it as much as I liked writing it. Thank you to everyone who reviewed (Over 200+ reviews before it was removed from the server), I valued every review, and they kept me writing even when I was bummed out from having my fic pulled. You guys rock!