Chapter 2
Scott began to awake the following morning, looking up at the ceiling through his visor, and in his grogginess, thought the sun was brightly shining through the window. He wondered why Jean hadn't badgered him to wake up, since it had to be well past dawn. School must have started.
Then, as the haze of sleep started to lift, he realized that it wasn't a sunlit window above him, but a fluorescent light that was dangling precariously by two wires.
The room came into focus, and he realized he was in one of the dormitory rooms in the underground complex under what used to be the Xavier Institute, laying on a metal cot. As he looked up at the partially collapsed ceiling, with wiring, ventilation ducts and insulation hanging into the room, the reality of everything that had been lost swept over him like a tidal wave, enveloping him in grief, despair and regret.
Everything was gone. His wife, his home, his school. And getting out of bed, much less trying to pick up the pieces of his life, seemed an unimaginable feat.
His mind started drifting to a time he spent with Jean in the Askani future, in a place much like this. They might have been in different bodies, but it was them and Nathan, as a family. He recalled, as vividly as if it was yesterday, a morning when Nathan was five where he and Jean had sat watching the sun rise outside the dilapidated remnants of a building they were staying. They had nothing, but each other, and the mission to take care of their son. And Scott would have given anything to be back there at that moment.
The dangling light began to flicker then went out. In the darkness, Scott heard voices shouting in the hallway. The door opened, and Warren yelled, "Yeah, the power's out in here too. Hey Rachel, turn that fuse back on!"
Scott pulled the blanket over his head, wanting to escape from the world (or, at least the latest damage estimate), and continue to remember happier times with Jean.
But interrupting his contented reminiscences was another memory from his time with the Askani - Jean standing up to her knees in blood in the Askani Cloisters, holding Rachel's comatose body, crying and pleading for her not to die.
Scott tried to drive it out of his mind, and go back to daydreaming about happy memories with Jean. But flashes of his failures as a husband kept interfering: the broken promises and vows, things he wished he had done and said, but now might never be able to do.
Then his words to Rachel in the Askani future echoed through his head - words he didn't know if she did or didn't remember. "Thank you…. For bringing us together as a family… and I'm sorry - sorry I never treated you like a daughter when I had the chance. I just wanted you to now how very proud I am to have been your father. In case I never made it clear to you before, I love you."
He took a deep breath, as the realization of what he needed to do came to him. He needed to somehow gather the strength to carry on, the kind of strength that Jean had had, and that they had been able to pass on to Rachel.
He had failed enough people in his life - Jean, Madelyne, Nathan. It was time that that ended.
And this was his chance to make things right with Rachel - to repay her for everything she did for him: saving his son's life and giving him a chance to raise Nathan with Jean.
Rachel had sacrificed her life for her brother. Despite how badly Jean and Scott had treated her in the past and how Nathan was really her "alternate reality half brother" none of that had matter in the end. They were family and Rachel was willing to do anything for them.
Scott had to figure out how to return the favor.
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Down the hallway, Kitty and Hank were scrunched into the electrical room around a fuse box, trying to figure out why the north wing was not getting power.
"We need an electrician," Kitty sighed, phasing out into the hallway where Rachel was waiting. "Who has experience with Shi'ar technology."
As Hank went off to dig more equipment out of his lab, Rachel uneasily looked around to make sure no one else was there. "Last night," she said quietly to Kitty, "I saw Scott and Emma…. Together. They looked… intimate."
"What?" Kitty questioned, jerking her head around and absolutely positive that she must have misheard Rachel.
"There's something going on with them," Rachel replied softly.
"Scott and Emma? Emma Frost?" Kitty looked at her absolutely dumbfounded. "There's no way, Ray. Whatever you saw, it must-"
"I know what I saw."
Tentatively, Rachel and Kitty entered Hank's lab, which hadn't been too badly damaged, but shelves, tables and desks had tipped over, and the floor was littered with broken electronics, glass and papers.
Hank was lifting up a heavy metal supply cabinet that had fallen over. Using her telekinesis, Rachel helped right the cabinet and push it up against the wall where it belonged.
"Much obliged," Hank replied, looking over his shoulder at the two girls. Opening the cabinet, he muttered, "Oh look at this mess. All the times the mansion has been attacked, you would think I would have everything better protected."
As he began to rummage through the cabinet, he continued, "I suppose you two aren't here to help clean up."
"Scott and Emma," Rachel said, then she paused. Did she really want to ask? And seeing the look on Hank's face, she wasn't sure she wanted the answer.
"Oh, that," Hank replied, stalling for time as he fumbled with a Shi'ar power converter.
"So there is something going on between them?" Kitty asked.
Hank shook his head. "That I'm not sure about. There was." Apprehensively, he looked at them. "I'm probably not the best person to be telling you this."
"We just want the truth."
Hank closed his eyes. "It's a difficult situation…. It's something Scott should explain, not me. But I will say that no marriage is without its problems. Scott and Jean… they were going through… some difficulties."
Kitty questioned, "Difficulties named Emma Frost?"
"Both of you have been away from here for some time. Things have changed. Emma, for instance. And Scott. Being possessed by En Sabah Nur affected him."
But Kitty wasn't about to give up the interrogation. "Was Scott cheating on Jean? Having an affair with Emma?"
Hank wasn't about to answer that. Back tracking he said, "That's between Scott and Emma. And Jean." Kitty started another retort, but Hank cut her off. "Scott loved Jean. Let's leave it at that."
In a soft voice, Rachel replied, "If he loved her so much, what was he doing with Emma hours after Jean died?"
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Scott entered the kitchen, and saw Warren was seated at the table, eating left over pizza. Warren hastily tried to hide that day's New York Times, sliding it under the table onto a chair. But still visible was a large picture of the carnage on the front cover with the word "HORROR" above it.
Scott poured himself a cup of coffee and asked, "Seen Rachel?"
"She and Kitty were still working on the power last I saw them." He paused. "Ororo was looking for you. I think she's in the War Room."
Scott took his coffee into the War Room, concerned that something else might have happened. But he saw Ororo seated at the large oval table looking at brochures from the funeral home.
She smiled at him, and he was glad she didn't try any small talk. He hadn't slept well. He didn't want anything to eat. And he didn't even know himself how he felt.
"The service will be Friday at 3pm," she began. "The minister at St. Stephen's in Annandale-on-Hudson is unwilling to visit the school after what happened, but Kurt spoke to a Methodist minister in Salem Center, and he is willing to come."
"That's fine," Scott replied. Ororo continued on about the plans for Jean's funeral - who was coming, what the schedule was, the flower arrangements and so forth. But Scott found himself paying little attention to what she was saying. He rationalized it - telling himself that Ororo would know far more about what Jean's favorite flowers were than he did. But he felt like it was continuing to let Jean down.
The intercom popped on, and Warren's said, "Ororo, John Grey's on line 1." Ororo excused herself, and stepped out of the room to take the call.
Scott put the brochures on a table behind him, then turned on the monitor and started searching for a tv signal.
A few minutes later, he heard someone walk in behind him. Afraid it was Ororo, he turned off the tv, but then realized it was Emma.
"Lovely," she said, thumbing through a pamphlet showing caskets. Putting it down, she asked him, "Have you given any more thought to what I told you last night?"
"Rachel is my daughter, Emma."
"Technically, she's not," Emma snarked back, but seeing the anger building in his face, she changed her tactic. "Elias Bogan or any of the X-Men's enemies know Rachel would be welcomed back with open arms to the X-Men. All of you are far too trusting. It would be too late before you knew you had a traitor in your midst."
"There's no evidence-" Scott began, but was immediately cut off by a laugh by Emma.
"Oh let me see, darling. Since abandoning Excalibur, Rachel has: created Cable and Stryfe - I can't say which was the bigger offense, returned without any word, and then repeatedly attacked all of us, supposedly under Bogan's influence."
Scott again tried to argue. "You're twisting it. Without Rachel, Nathan would have died."
"No, I merely don't have warm and fuzzy feelings about the woman who turned a poor child into someone like Cable, and carelessly cloned the creator of the Legacy Virus."
"She did what she had to - to stop Apocalypse. To save Nathan. But that's beside the point. This is Rachel's second chance. After everything she's been through-"
"I'd be afraid of what's she's going to do next," Emma interrupted.
Scott began to get up, frustrated and wanting to avoid the argument. Emma stood, took his hands, and guided him to sit down next to her on a bench seat.
"I know you love her," she told him. "Elias Bogan - I know him. He exploits his enemy's weaknesses. He has an endgame, and we played right into it. And he had access to one of the world's most powerful telepaths who already has proven to be incredibly dangerous. We have no idea what else he did to her."
Scott replied, "When the Professor is back, he'll be able to examine her, and tell if there's any trace of mind control."
"Let me," Emma said, a grin dawning on her face. "I will be able to recognize Bogan's markers, and be able to remove any telepathic control he still has over her."
"Thank you."
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Kitty had left Hank's lab on a mission to find someone - anyone - who could either confirm or deny their suspicions that Scott had been having an extra-marital affair with her former arch-nemesis. But Rachel slowly followed behind her, engrossed in her own thoughts.
The complex was nearly empty, since almost everyone was down in New York City helping the relief efforts, or else off some place more pleasant than the smoldering remains of the Xavier Institute.
Kitty and Rachel found themselves sitting under a tree in the grounds, their backs to the pile of wreckage of their former home.
"Do we talk to Scott? Confront him?" Kitty asked, some apprehension in her voice.
"No," Rachel sighed. She paused, then continued, "Maybe merging with Apocalypse did mess with Scott's head. It's not like I can't relate - all the times I've had someone in my head, messing with my thoughts, forcing me to…" Her voice drifted off.
"That's no excuse for cheating on his wife," Kitty replied.
"Maybe he made a mistake, and it's over. It was Emma that was all over him last night."
Thinking out loud, Kitty told her, "Scott's head's messed up by Poccy, and Emma exploits it? That sounds about right."
They were about to go back into the underground complex to see if Hank needed more help fixing the power - if he would still talk to them, when Sam and Dani called over and asked if Rachel would help lift some of the larger pieces of debris of the mansion.
A handful of the X-Men, mostly the former New Mutants, were scavenging through the remains, trying to find any personal artifacts that were left. A wall had collapsed down on a section of student dormitories, leaving nothing more than a pile of bricks, concrete, drywall and crushed furniture. Rachel telekinetically lifted the debris, and took it over to a large construction dumpster nearby.
"So, when are the construction crews going to start rebuilding?" Kitty asked, "I figured they'd already be pouring the new foundation by now."
Sam shrugged. "Scott's not sure about reopening the school."
"What?!?"
"I dunno. Ororo figures once all the shock has worn off, he'll be back to his old self. Then everything'll get back to normal. And with the Professor gone, it's hard to do a lot. It's up to Scott, I guess."
Dani replied, "Scott seems really off. After everything that's happened, you'd expect him to be grieving, but he's so distant…. Ororo or someone needs to step up. If we wait for Scott, the Institute will stay like this." She kicked a broken chair which was laying on its side in what used to be a student's dorm room.
Rachel and Kitty went off into the rubble, heading toward some wooden closet doors poking out from under debris from the floor above it.
"Why do I suspect what's going on with Scott has to do with a certain white queen?" Kitty muttered to Rachel.
Rachel, concentrating on telekinetically moving all of the debris, just nodded. She was still getting used to using her powers, on her own. She had spent so long imprisoned, then in college, then imprisoned again. And before that, everything came so easily due to the Phoenix Force boosting her natural telekinesis and telepathy.
Finally, she quietly told Kitty, "When my mom died, Scott - my dad - was a wreck. He was kind of lost without her. And things were worse then then they are now, with the Registration Act and the Brotherhood terrorizing the world, setting off nuclear devices."
The two finally were able to reach underneath the debris and into what used to be a student's closet. They began piling into a cardboard box some dust covered clothes and shoes belonging to a teenage girl.
"And right after Mom died," Rachel continued, "my telepathy kicked in, and I had no control over any of it. So I knew exactly what he was thinking. And for an eleven year old, that was overwhelming - that much sadness and despair."
"Ray," Kitty said, reaching over to her.
Rachel swallowed, trying to get control of her emotions and hold back the tears. With a little bit of bluster, she stood up, and said, "Well, Jean better come back soon, so we get Scott back to normal."
Frustrated that this had to come up again at this moment, Kitty gently told her. "She might not, Rachel, she's gone. You've got to accept it."
"I have faith. That's all I need," Rachel replied.
Kitty closed her eyes, not sure if she really wanted to hit Rachel with reality, or let her continue to live in her daydream that Jean wasn't truly gone.
They were interrupted by Sam yelling that Ororo had called a meeting in the War Room.
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There were only a handful of X-Men still at the mansion - Ororo, Scott, Emma, and Hank, along with Rachel, Kitty, Sam, Dani, Rahne and Amara. None seemed all that thrilled at the prospect of a meeting.
A number of things were on the agenda - the schedule for Jean's memorial service and funeral, discussions about what was going on in New York and how they needed to handle mutant/human relations after several scuffles, and contacting the students to make sure everyone had gotten home safely.
Kitty and Rachel sat in one corner of the room, and on the other side was Scott, who remained quiet the entire time. Emma was pacing around the room, continuing to seethe after an argument with Ororo about the growing mutant backlash affecting those mutants trying to help in Manhattan.
Despite wanting to flay Scott alive at the beginning of the day for possibly cheating on Jean, Rachel couldn't help feeling sorry for him. She didn't dare invade his mind, but she thought she knew what he must be thinking since she knew what her and her father went through when her mom died. She remembered her dad sitting in his office, crying, for days as the X-Men tried to regroup after the devastating nuclear attack by the Brotherhood that had killed her mother.
As the meeting broke up and a heated discussion began between Hank and several of the younger X-Men about whether they should call out for pizza or Chinese food, Rachel approached Scott.
"Hey," she said, getting his attention, but then having no idea what to say. She wanted to be there for him. To have that kind of connection she had with her dad. "How are-"
He interrupted, "I've been meaning to ask you about something. There was some concern about Bogan, and we haven't investigated thoroughly whether he's truly gone or what he did to you. We're just worried that there might still be some residual telepathic influence he left behind. With Charles gone, Emma is our only telepath. She has experience with Bogan, and she's been helping me-"
Seeing the expression of apprehension on Rachel's face, and assuming that it was due to some lingering fear or hatred of the Hellfire Club, Scott tried to explain, "You can trust Emma. Just let her make sure Bogan hasn't left any surprises behind in your mind."
"Let Emma have complete access to my head?" Rachel asked, still in disbelief.
Scott nodded. "She'll just examine you for any traces of Bogan's influence. It'll be fine."
"The Professor will be back eventually," she replied, stalling for time. "Then he can-"
Emma interrupted, asking Scott if he wanted to go to dinner somewhere that served actual food.
"Yeah, sure," Scott replied, glad to have any reason to leave the Institute. As he got up to leave, he said to Emma, "I asked Rachel about you checking for any residual mind control from Elias Bogan."
Before Rachel could even answer or voice any sort of protest, Emma said, with a grin, "Wonderful. Tomorrow afternoon. Meet me in Cerebra. Say around 2?"
As Emma started to leave, Scott leaned over to Rachel, "Nate said he might be able to make it next week. Maybe we can have some family time then. The three of us."
"That'd be great," Rachel replied, softly, trying to fake a smile.
Oblivious to how upset Rachel was, Scott faintly smiled back, patted her on the shoulder,and then turned to leave with Emma. Without saying a word to Kitty, Rachel stormed out of the other door. After glaring at Scott and Emma, Kitty raced out after her.
Stopping at the opposite door, Emma looked back in and asked, "Henry, Ororo, care to join us for dinner?"
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Kitty found Rachel back in her dorm room, gathering up her few belonging. Seeing Kitty, she said, "Let's get out of here. Go to Manhattan or Chicago. Anywhere."
"But the funeral is the day after tomorrow."
"I guess we have to come back for that, but I don't want to be here right now."
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Scott came out of the locker room wearing normal civilian clothing - a polo shirt and khakis he thought must belong to Warren, which looked more acceptable to wear out to dinner than his black leather pants and t-shirt he had been wearing for days. He joined Ororo and Emma near the hatch entrance and exit to the compound.
Scott asked, "What about Kitty and Rachel? Did they want to come?"
Emma dismissed his question. "They'll probably want whatever the other children are ordering. Thai or whatever it is."
But Kitty and Rachel had already left out of the hanger, heading out to Salem Center and then to try to find some way into New York City to help the relief efforts.
Next Chapter: The Funeral of Jean Grey-Summers