Chapter Fifteen: Left Behind/Evolution Leaps Forward

And here's Chapter Fifteen, the final chapter! I posted this along with the previous chapter, which was about the X-Men's intervention at the White House. Though there wasn't much to change about it, I felt that it was important to post anyway. I'm not sure if anyone is actually interested in that scene, but it's there anyway.

genbo: Thank you so much!

thewriternextdoo: Thinking about it, the movies didn't seem to want to focus on how characters feel about other characters unless it's a love triangle or between enemies. It's like friendship didn't exist for the X-Men. Even if Bobby wasn't strong enough, it'd be nice to see him at least try; would have added more tension to the situation. I came across the idea that Jean sacrificed herself to save the others from the Phoenix on the TV Tropes website. I'm not sure if that's how Bryan Singer intended for it to be, but I just went with it because it sounded plausible.

0001234: Haha, I'm glad you found that bit funny! I had a goofy smile as I wrote it; I thought of Kitty driving for the first time in X-Men: Evolution, and Logan was freaking the hell out. I'm happy you like my choice to have Jean speak through Rogue instead of the professor. :)

ARey77: Thanks! It seems that the Rogue and Charles swap (regarding who Jean spoke through) was a hit! I hadn't really thought of writing Rogue dealing with Logan or Magneto's memories in the next story, mostly because I figured she'd have found a way to deal with repressed memories of people she drained between this movie and the next (at least in my version). As I said before, I never read the comics, so I'm not quite familiar with these types of plots. But speaking of Magneto, Rogue is definitely gonna get him back for what he did to her in the first movie. That'll be something to look forward to, at least.

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men.

Charles Xavier sat in his office with Logan and Scott, the latter staring solemnly out the window.

"You know, even when Jean was a student," Professor Xavier said softly, "she was always hesitant about her powers. Always looking to others." Logan looked up at him. "Feeling that in some way she was left behind."

Scott sighed. He was emotionally exhausted from all the tears he'd shed. "Do you think – could we have done more to save her?"

Professor Xavier thought about it. "In the past, she may have let us."

"There had to be another way," said Logan quietly. He almost looked angry with himself. "Why did she leave the plane?"

The professor stared at him. "Because she made a choice."

A choice to protect us, he thought.

There was knocking on the door.

"Yes, come on in," Professor Xavier called out.

The doors opened, revealing Piotr, Jubilee, and other students. As they filed in, Scott and Logan left. When Scott walked out, he saw Rogue standing there. Neither of them said anything, nor did they need to. She placed her arms around him in a hug, and he immediately responded. Over his shoulder, Rogue shared a sad glance with Logan. Breaking the hug, she and Scott walked away, hand in gloved hand.

Logan watched them walk away. At least he has her, he thought, his heart aching for Jean once more.

Back in Xavier's office, the students all sat down in their chairs, waiting for the lesson to start. The professor looked out the window, thinking...

"Professor?" Jubilee's voice broke him out of his daze. "Is everything all right?"

He turned to face his class, a smile on his face. "Yes, I think it will be."

Then he began telling them about a book called The Once and Future King by the English novelist, T.H. White.

"Mutation. It is the key to our evolution. It is how we have evolved from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet. This process is slow, normally taking thousands and thousands of years. But every few hundred millennia, evolution leaps forward."

- Dr. Jean Grey

And there's the final chapter! Rest in peace, Jean Grey...or will she?

The Last Stand is up next, and the final X-Men film I'm including in this AU. As you can no doubt guess, I'm not having Rogue take the cure, nor am I killing off Scott (as I said in Chapter Twelve). I'm actually going to have them partake in the final battle! But will Rogue gain full control of her powers?

Time will tell...

Also, I sadly won't be adding Nightcrawler in The Last Stand, because again, I'm not creative enough to think of how useful he'd be. Story-wise, a possible reason why he's not with the X-Men is because he couldn't handle their violent lifestyle, due to his peaceful nature. Well, we can all just assume that he's back in Germany, and maybe after The Last Stand, Rogue can reach out to him to further develop their family relationship.