Only You Can Save the World
by awayshegoes

Chapter Two: "Phase Half-Way Through the Sun"


"What?" Bobby asked with a look of confusion, "Wait, hold up. What do you mean 'we've sent everyone'?"

Rogue kept her eyes locked with Kitty's for a moment, before turning to acknowledge Bobby's question, "It means exactly what it sounds like," she shot back, a little harsher than Bobby had obviously expected her to, judging by the momentary look of surprise that crossed his face, "We've sent ev'ryone to the past to try and change the world. You, me, Logan, Piotr, Erik—" she said, counting off each name on her fingers as she spoke.

"But...Erik's dead," Bobby cut in and crossed his arms across his chest, his look becoming more skeptical as he watched Rogue.

Rogue rolled her eyes at this, "Ya, and based on the looks y'all are givin' me, ah' bet ah' ahm too," she said flatly. At this point, Piotr reached over and placed one of his large hands on Bobby's shoulder and squeezed lightly.

"I think ve need to give her the chance to explain, Iceman, rather than playing tventy questions," Bobby seemed to relax slightly at this, but his arms remained crossed tightly across his chest ("Yeah, yeah. Fine," he grumbled). All the while, Logan's eyes didn't stray from Rogue. Kitty seemed mesmerized by the orb in the other woman's hands, which was still glowing that same purple color she had grown so familiar with: the color she had been staring at for the past few hours while she phased Logan into the past; the one she had dedicated her life to harnessing for the past few months.

Rogue took Piotr's advice to Bobby as her cue. She turned her attention back to Kitty and held the orb out closer to the other woman, "In mah timeline, it's just you, me, and Kurt," Kitty's eyes snapped from the orb to lock with Rogue's, "In anotha timeline, you phased the Professa to mah timeline and in yet ANOTHA, you phased someone to the Professa's, and it goes back quite a few timelines like that." Rogue took a breath before continuing, "But, anyways, the Professa let us know that you from yet anotha timeline, way, way back, realized somethin' that no other Kitty they'd encountered had realized before: that ya only had enough energy to phase someone into the past twice," Rogue held up two fingers on one of her hands,"Thankfully, that Kitty realized it before she phased someone into the past a second time. That's what got the ball rollin'. That Kitty formulated this idea that if she could use that second phase to send someone to a parallel timeline, they could see who that timeline's Kitty sent back on their first phase, use that Kitty's second phase to send someone to anotha parallel timeline, and, by process of elimination, they could eventually find out who may be capable of changing the world. So, I guess with her second phase, that Kitty sent her Bobby Drake to some parallel timeline, that timeline's Kitty sent someone to another parallel timeline, and so on and so forth, until the Professa's Kitty sent him to mine," she kept counting things off on her fingers as she spoke, "All with the hope and faith that they'd reach a parallel timeline before that Kitty had the chance to phase anyone a second time."

Kitty was silent. Logan's fists clenched at his sides and he growled slightly, seemingly still stuck on the first words of Rogue's explanation, "Why'd they have to send you and not blue boy?" He asked lowly. Rogue shifted her eyes in his direction.

"Not that it's any of yohr business, but we all agreed it'd be less stress on Kitty if ah were sent heah and not Kurt." Out of the corner of her eyes, Rogue could see Kitty's shoulders slump just slightly, so she continued, "The Professa that was phased to mah timeline warned us ta be very selective with who was sent to otha timelines. Ah guess—sorry Kit—" Rogue paused, glancing at the other girl for a moment, whose eyes had returned to the orb, "In some timelines, Kitty's had an awful bad one when her once-dead teammates came prancing through the doorway. Ah guess it almost caused some groups ta be apprehended, before she had a chance ta phase someone to a parallel timeline. That would have ruined everything: Ah wouldn't be standin' here right now."

"Okay, so say all that's true," Bobby cut in with a skeptical look still on his face, "Our Kitty's already phased Logan back and she said she doesn't have enough energy to do it again. So, watcha gonna do about it?"

"Well, if it wasn't for this," Rogue paused for a moment to hold up the glass orb, purple smoke swirling within it, "That may be an issue. But, with this...Kitty—" she turned to face the other woman, "You and Kurt worked so hahd on this in mah timeline. The you in mah timeline fihmly believes that this is ah only shot at savin' the entiah world." Kitty's eyes remained so fixated on the orb that Rogue was unsure whether or not the other woman had heard a word she said. "You told me ta give this only ta ya," the time-traveler said quietly, holding out the orb even closer to Kitty.

Kitty's eyes widened slightly. She cupped both of her hands together and allowed Rogue to place the orb between her palms. The glass surface was warm to the touch and the purple glow seemed to brighten once it was in Kitty's possession. The brunette held the orb securely in her hands before turning her eyes back to the other woman, "How does it work?" she asked quietly.

Rogue sighed softly and shrugged her shoulders, "Honestly, I'm not too sure." Kitty stared at her, a look of disbelief crossing her features.

"What do you mean you're not sure?" she asked, the pitch of her voice raising and its pace quickening, "What does it do? What did they say I should do with it?"

Rogue shrugged her shoulders again, "Kitty, ah'm being honest when ah say ah'm not sure. None of us know how it works or if it will even do what they intended it to do. Ah mean, they just made it: it's not like they tested it out ta see how it works. Ah think it's a one-time-use sorta thing."

Kitty's hands trembled at this, "Well, I mean—" she started, her mind beginning to race, "—I sure don't know how it works or what it does." The others watched on in silence. Logan still seemed on-edge as he switched between pacing and watching the two women, Bobby's look remained skeptical, and Piotr stood still as stone, making sure he didn't miss a single word.

Rogue pursed her lips, "Well, ah guess the best ah can do for ya, Kit-Kat, is to tell you what ah do know," Kitty stared down at the orb in her hands as the other woman spoke, "Ah don't really know any of the technical aspects of how they made it, but ah know the idea behind it," Rogue paused, which caused all eyes to turn to her. "You told me that once ya found out you could phase yourself back in time, ya perfected it..."


((In Rogue's Timeline))

It all started with an idea.

Kitty was standing in line for Rationing at the end of a hard day. Everyone was silent, as usual. Kitty was mostly zoned out, exhausted from the floors she had scrubbed for hours: her arms, elbows, and knees felt like they were on fire and her mind felt numb.

She didn't notice when he got in line behind her.

Maybe it was the pain in her legs or the fog in her brain, but she didn't even react when something slithered across the side of her knee and wrapped around her leg for just a moment. When it pulled away is when she comprehended what had just happened. Her eyes watered: she knew exactly who was behind her in line, exactly whose tail had touched her leg. She hadn't felt his touch in so long, nor any friendly touch in what felt like a lifetime. She sniffled once, quietly, and held the tray tighter in her hands. What wouldn't she give to turn around and look at him, for just a moment? The risk to her life was the only thing that stopped her from doing so: were she killed for insubordination, she'd obviously never see any of her friends ever again.

In that moment, the only thought in her mind was how she wished he could just teleport them back to the Mansion, back to her school bedroom, back to anywhere. 'No one can teleport through time, though,' she thought sadly, stepping forward as the line of mutants moved. 'Oh, what I wouldn't give to get out of here and go back in time.'

No one at Rationing, except for the guards, took much notice of when Erik's tray slid off his lap and clattered to the floor, before his body slumped over in his wheelchair; his motionless form was wheeled away and the line moved forward.


That night, while laying her her bunk, Kitty found that she was dwelling on his touch so much that she couldn't sleep. She laid still, staring at the ceiling and reminiscing on the past. She fantasized about him breaking them out of the camp: miraculously removing their power-nullifying collars in line at Rationing, saying something cocky to the guards with a big grin, grabbing her around the waist, and then they'd be gone in a puff of smoke, only to reappear standing on top of a pyramid somewhere, laughing so hard until they collapsed. A smile settled upon her lips as these images played in her mind on repeat.

That's when she took her fantasies to the next level: she was determined to make them reality. She began her self-training: with only a safety pin (a piece of paraphernalia she found attached to a curtain one day, while she was cleaning windows), which she kept shoved into the top of her mattress, she spent her nights training herself to unlock and re-lock the power-nullifying collar clipped around her neck.

Within weeks, she was an expert: she could unlock and re-lock it in a matter of seconds.


And then it was a waiting game.

Everyday, Kitty anxiously stood in line at Rationing and waited for the day she either got in line behind Kurt or he got in line behind her. After two months of waiting, she had a sinking feeling that it would never happen. She hadn't seen Kurt in all that time.

So she got angry. She worked harder at each chore she did, allowing her anger to take control; she no longer savored the substance that she received at Rationing: she barely chewed as she shoved the food into her mouth, so she'd wouldn't have to sit at the table with her bunkmates any longer than was absolutely necessary: she could just put her head down and ignore the world.

But, as she would later find out, her anger was what made everything fall into place.


It happened a night when she laying in her bunk and silently clicking her collar off and on in frustration (a newly-formed habit). Her anger and frustration caused a momentary lapse of control, in which, just as she was about to re-clip her collar, her hand phased right through it. She nearly jumped out of her skin as the electrical components sparked and snapped for just a moment. This woke up most of the women in the room, who sat up in their bunks and looked around in the darkness, trying to find out what the sudden noise was.

Kitty's skin paled, but instinct caused her to clip the collar shut and sit up in her bunk, mimicking the other womens' curiosity. The Bunkmaster burst in the room and told them all to get back to sleep, which they did without question, and the noise was forgotten.

While completing her duties the next day, Kitty's eyes widened as she reached into a bucket of water, grabbed hold of a washcloth, and her hand pulled out dry: she had short-circuited the collar and could now phase undetected.

After this turn of events, Kitty became less angry. With her ability back (which she could use, so long as she was careful to remain undetected), her spirits seemed to lift just slightly. Her newly-restored ability also caused her to become more anxious during Rationing all over again: now, she wouldn't have to pick the lock on Kurt's power-nullifying collar, she could just reach in and short circuit it.


Weeks went by and she still didn't see him. Instead of getting angry, she decided she needed to develop a different approach. She began savoring her substance during Rationing and stopped ignoring the world. Each day, as she picked at her substance, she'd watch the sky amid the silence that felt like a blanket over the camp. The sky was the one thing that never changed: despite the sordid conditions of the camp, the sky seemed blissfully unaware, shining that same brilliant blue that had been ever-present since the days when she was happy, innocent, and unaware of what lied ahead.

Kitty watched as the orange sun began to sink on the horizon. She'd accepted the fact that she'd never be able to see the sun set on the actual horizon, due to the towering walls that surrounded the camp, but she could watch a make-shift sunset: the sun sinking behind the top of the walls, like a bomb falling through the sky and out of sight and then, just like clockwork, there would be a calm moment when it's rays faded from view, before an explosion of colors appeared at the top of the walls: red, yellow, pink, blue, and orange.

She counted in her head as the sun touched the top of the wall and then began to sink behind it. She stopped eating, focusing on the setting sun in a way she hadn't in such a long time. 'It's so beautiful,' she thought, 'What I wouldn't give to be like the sun and move through the sky into another day,' she squinted her eyes against the bright rays, 'I wish travelling to another time was as easy as walking through that wall to see the sunset.'

That night, as she laid in her bunk, the image of walking through that wall and into the sun played in her mind on repeat. It was just her: a lone figure, forever walking towards the sun through an empty, desolate landscape.


After that day and that image of walking through that wall to see the sunset, Kitty began to obsessively think about her spatial surroundings. Every time she phased through something (always unbeknownst to everyone around her), she wondered how it was physically possible for her to do so (or whether it was a simple explanation: that all mutants just somehow defied the physical world). She wondered where the molecules that made up her body went when she phased through something: were they sent to another dimension or did they simply disperse so thinly that it allowed her the ability to walk through solid objects?

Her now science-oriented mind began to see the wonder in everything. Her demeanor changed: she always seemed lost in her own mind. She took notice of how disconnected from the world she was one day, following a confrontation she had with a guard, in which he had ordered her to do something and she didn't even notice he had been speaking to her. This situation then caused her to think on whether it would be possible for her to phase into her own mind: could she phase into her memories and just stay there?

Each night, Kitty thought on these unanswerable questions. When exhaustion would eventually wear on her mind, that image of her walking into the sun would take over and play on repeat, until she'd fall into a dreamless sleep.


The first time it happened, it was completely unexpected.

Kitty sat straight up in her bunk with a gasp. She reached up and quickly wiped her bangs away from her forehead, which were damp with sweat. Her eyes darted around the room: aside from the woman in the bunk next to her, who shifted slightly in her sleep, no one showed any sign of being awake. Kitty held her hand against her heart for a moment, trying to calm herself, before hesitantly laying back down and staring up at the dark ceiling, 'Was that a dream?' she thought, 'It felt so real.'

With her mind racing ('My body's still tingling. It felt like I went right through the sun.'), Kitty was unable to fall back asleep. She laid in her bunk for hours, wide awake and still on edge, until the Bunkmaster stepped in and called for all the women to wake up for their daily duties. She dressed for the day, stripped the sheets off her bunk when ordered, and got in line to deposit them in the laundry bag, before beginning another long day.

It wasn't until she was scrubbing the same blood smear off the same wall in the same bunkroom, which she had already done about a week ago, that she had a sinking feeling that something was wrong. Further confirmation came later that day, during Rationing, when a man in line in front of her suddenly fell to his knees, clutching his chest. The guards marched over to him and hauled him to his feet, his head lolling from side to side and his eyes blank. Kitty froze on the spot: she had seen this same thing happen to the same man the previous week; she had already watched him die. She had lived this day before...


It happened again the next night.

Kitty was startled awake in her bunk from the same dream, in which she phased right through the sun. The image repeated in her mind as she laid in her bunk, staring up at the slowly-brightening ceiling, until the Bunkmaster ordered them to get ready for their showers. Kitty thought it was a little strange that Cleansing was today (it had only been two days before, which typically meant it shouldn't be until the following day), but she didn't think much more on it than that.

As Kitty stood in line waiting for her turn in the cold shower, she rubbed her arms, trying to rid of the feeling she woke up with that morning: a tingling feeling that felt like static across her skin. There was a sudden clattering sound from inside the group stall, followed by a scream. This caused Kitty's hair to stand on edge and her stomach felt as though it sank to the floor.

When an older woman was pulled out of the stall by two guards, her body naked, head lolled forward, and blood running out of a large wound on her head, Kitty had to swallow back vomit: not at the unnerving sight in front of her, but because she had witnessed this same situation, with this same woman, only two weeks before.


That night, as she laid in her bunk, she knew something was happening.

Two days in a row, she had now relived a day from her past. Both times, she had been brought back to a day in which someone had died. Death was not uncommon in the camp (it was a daily occurrence), but the camp was so massive that she wasn't always in close proximity when it happened.

Her mind raced, thinking back on all of the deaths she had witnessed during her time in the camp. If the past two days were a precursor for what she should expect, she had a sinking feeling she'd be reliving each and every day she had seen death in the camp. How this was possible, she didn't know. In the back of her mind, as she remembered all the deaths she has witness, that image of her phasing through the sun played in her mind.

She committed herself to not sleeping that night.

Kitty laid awake in her bunk. She was exhausted; her joints and muscles ached more than she'd probably ever admit. Occasionally, she'd catch herself when her eyelids started to become heavy: she'd jerk out of her nearly-asleep state and pinch her cheek as hard as she could, until tears stung at the corner of her eyes.

She was able to stay awake that night, but the next night was a completely different story.


After completing her duties and eating her substance, Kitty went to her bunk and collapsed on it. She willed herself to stay awake and was successful in doing so for most of the night. She turned on her side and stared at the moon for a long time, studying the face of the man in the moon, which brought back happy memories of her childhood: memories of her parents bringing her outside on warm, summer nights, way past her bedtime, to catch fireflies.

She didn't notice as she closed her eyes and a gentle smile settled on her lips. Fireflies floated in her mind. She imagined kneeling in the cool summer grass in front in front of one of the bugs, which was lighting up and turning off as though it was keeping time with a metronome. Within her mind, as slowly and with as much tact as she could muster, she cupped her hands around it. She imagined bringing her hands closer to her face, the captured critter safely tucked away inside. She pictured slowly opening a small space between her thumbs, so that she could peek inside without letting the bug escape.

Within the darkness of her cupped hands she saw the golden light flick on, which caused her heart to swell with happiness and pride. It turned off before, in time, lighting back up.

But, this time, it didn't turn off: instead, it got brighter, and bigger, and even brighter until all she could see was that massive, glowing sun all around her. She panicked and tried to open her eyes, to end the daydream, but she had this heart-racing moment of realization that they were already open. She brought an unsteady hand up in front of her face and and could see purple swirling beneath her skin.

And then all went black.


Kitty sat up in her bunk with a start. She tried to calm her breathing as she raked her fingers through her hair. She was cold and shivering.

When the Bunkmaster walked in, Kitty was still sitting up in her bed and tugging at her hair. The Bunkmaster gave her a questioning look, but otherwise ignored her and made the wake up call.


It went on like that for days: each time she was unable to keep herself from falling asleep, she would see that massive, looming sun, and then she'd wake up in her bunk and relive a day she had witnessed death.

Reliving those days wore heavily on Kitty's mind: she never realized just how many deaths she had witnessed during her time in the camp. She began to lose sense of time 'How many trips back is this?' and ultimately, she began to question her sanity.


One day, while she was standing in line at Rationing, she was on edge while waiting to see when death would make itself known. It had been a fairly normal day: she had scrubbed floors. She rocked back and forth on her toes a few times, trying to calm her nerves, knowing that the death would most likely occur during Rationing: that's usually when it happened.

Kitty stepped forward in line and focused on her breathing: a calming tactic she had been all but been forced to take up due to her new life schedule, which included so many repetitive, stressful situations.

And then she felt it (and had to hold back a scream).

A tentative touch on her knee, before something slithered around and held onto her leg for just a moment. Her eyes watered: she knew exactly where (or when) she was. Her hands shook as his tail hesitantly pulled away and she had to use all of her willpower to not turn around in that instant and throw her arms around his neck. She waited; time ticked by so slowly that seconds felt like hours.

And then it happened: the sound of Erik's tray clattering to the floor was her cue. Kitty spun around faster than she'd ever moved in her entire life. Her blue eyes locked with his yellow, which were wide in shock, as she swung her hand up and phased it through Kurt's power-nullifying collar: the collar sparked and zapped as Kitty threw herself forward, into his chest, and wrapped her arms around his torso. He instinctively hugged her against himself as they locked eyes, hers still watering, "Kurt, get us out out of here," she breathed heavily, voice cracking, "Now!"

And as the guards shouted and raced towards them, they were gone in a puff of smoke.

They reappeared in an empty church.

Kitty's legs were shaking so badly that they collapsed beneath her; the only thing that kept her from falling to the floor was Kurt's strong grip under her arms. He slowly lowered her to the floor and knelt down beside her, "Kitty—" he said quietly, holding one of her hands between both of his Kitty cried, "I don't know how you've done this, but I am amazed," he said softly, lightly running his fingers through her hair.

Kitty continued to cry as she leaned forward, resting her head under Kurt's chin. Kurt wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, "W-we need to get out of here, Kurt," she cried softly. He hushed her, smoothing her bangs away from her face and hesitantly wrapping his tail around her waist.

"No, ve're safe here, Kitty. Ve'll be—" he was cut off as Kitty jerked up to meet his eyes, her forehead colliding with his chin in the process. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"I don't mean here. I mean here," she gestured around them with her arms, "Here! This time! This hopeless future!" she choked slightly on her words. Kurt pursed his lips and hesitantly reached up to wipe away the tears from Kitty's cheek, which was red and bruised from all the days of pinching her self in an attemptto keep herself awake at night.

"How?" was all he asked, which seemed to calm Kitty down just slightly. Her shoulders slumped and she stared down at the ground, bangs blocking her eyes. When she didn't respond, Kurt reached up to push the hair out of her eyes, "Kitty, how?" he repeated.

Hesitantly, she looked up at him, "I—I have this theory," she said quietly, sounding unsure as her blue eyes met his, "I don't know exactly how it works, but—" she bit her lip softly, "It's possible. I know it is. It's been working..."

((Exit Rogue's Timeline))


"Ya told me that it had somethin' to do with the sun or space," Rogue swung her arms as she motioned at the air above her head, "Ya likened it to phasing into the same place Kurt goes to when he teleports. Ya know: whereva it is he goes after he leaves one place and before he reappears in anotha."

Kitty's eyes were fixated on Rogue, as they had been during her entire explanation. From where he was sitting on the floor, Piotr raised his hand before speaking, "Rogue—if you don't mind me asking—vhere do you come into all this?"

Rogue smiled a little at him, "Well, honestly, ah think it was just mah lucky day," she began, "Mah Kitty said she came to the realization that they needed someone else. I think I was jus' the first person they found who they knew they could trust."

Kitty swallowed hard, "But—this," she said softly, holding up the orb, which still glowed purple in her hands, "How did this come to be?"

Rogue sighed, "The best explanation you could give me was that that," she said, nodding towards the orb, "Is what what you get when you phase half-way through the sun and then teleport yourself out," Rogue rolled her eyes, a smile briefly flashing upon her lips, "Kitty, ya gotta take all this with a grain of salt. Your science-y explanation was too confusin', so you made it easier to understand...kinda, I guess," she met the other woman's eyes, "You jus' gotta know that what's in that orb is your and Kurt's pride and joy."

"Yeah, okay," Kitty mumbled.

"Why'd they need you?" Logan growled from where he was leaning against one of the stone walls of the temple, arms crossed against his chest.

Rogue took in a breath before turning to face him, "Well, ah'll be honest with ya. Ah don't think they cared much about who they had helpin' 'em, so long as whomeva they had was trustworthy. Afta they created that thing," she nodded toward the orb, "They were both pretty worn out. They said that neitha of them had energy enough to deal with whatever they would need to face if they were to go back in time. Honestly, I think that's a load of horse shit," she said, grinning slightly, "Ah think they just didn't want ta leave each other after everything they went through togetha. That's why sent me instead: so they could stay with each otha."

Kitty squeezed the orb a little tighter in her hands, willing away the tears that stung at the corners of her eyes.

And that's when they heard it.

A mechanical muttering and what sounded like a thousand heliocopters headed their way. They all froze on the spot, for just a moment, before falling into defensive positions: all except Kitty who remained glued to the spot, panic in her eyes as she stared down at the orb that was still held securely between her palms.

"Those fuckers found us," Logan growled, metal claws growing out of his hands. The sound of clanking metal echoed against the walls, before the metal Colossus turned his head to glance at Kitty.

"I don't vant to rush you, but I think it's time for you to use that thing," he said calmly, locking eyes with her for just a moment, "God speed, Katherine."

Tears streamed down Kitty's face and her hands shook as she looked between everyone, "But-! I don't-! I have no idea what I'm supposed to do!" She sputtered, panicking.

"Heads up, guys!" Bobby shouted.

The ground rumbled as the first Sentinels touched down, their orange robotic eyes landing on their mutant opponents, while their voices echoed against the temple walls. "You have to do something, Kitty," Rouge said quietly as she reached out and placed a gloved hand on the other woman's shoulder.

As soon as Rogue's fingers touched Kitty's shoulder, it was like she had touched a house of cards: Kitty's legs nearly collapsed under herself and, as she scrambled to keep from falling, her grip on the orb faltered. Her eyes widened and, in what felt like slow motion, she watched as the orb fell to the floor. The orb's thin glass shattered on impact with the stone floor and the purple smoke rose up around Kitty's feet.

With wide eyes, Kitty looked up from her broken treasure. Her eyes met Logan's, who had turned to face her upon hearing the sound of shattering glass. And then she saw the closest Sentinel raise a glowing arm in their direction...

And then she disappeared.


End Note: Please review!