Chapter 3
A day and a half later:
Rachel and Kitty returned to the remnants of the X-Mansion in the wee hours of the morning. Rachel protested going back that soon, wanting to arrive right before Jean's funeral in the afternoon, then leave as soon as possible afterward - all to avoid even seeing Scott or Emma. But there wasn't anywhere to stay in the city, nor was the transportation upstate reliable, so they had to go back the night before or risk missing the funeral.
The underground complex was far more crowded then when they had left. Nearly all of the X-Men, along with members of the other X-teams and former members, had returned to honor Jean.
So, Rachel and Kitty stayed in the hanger, finding a place to bunk down for the night, away from everyone else.
While Kitty would have liked nothing better than to had a huge confrontation with Emma and the opportunity to bring up her own suspicions of what Emma was doing and whether she had potentially corrupted Scott or had him under some sort of mind control, Rachel wanted to avoid the argument for the time being - at least until after the funeral - out of respect for Jean. So, they stayed hidden and got some rest.
Or, at least for Rachel, tried to sleep. But Rachel's dreams were haunted by distorted images of Jean being buried alive, while Emma cackled gleefully next to Rachel's former captor, Elias Bogan, who prevented Rachel from reaching her mom.
That morning, Kitty phased out into the rest of the complex to see what was going on. Not seeing Emma anywhere, Kitty returned and told Rachel it was safe to come out.
Nearly everyone was gathered in the kitchen, mainly catching up with friends they hadn't seen in a while, while Bishop was trying to figure out what they had to make breakfast with.
The room was noisy and crowded, and Rachel stayed in the background. There were a number of X-Men who she hadn't seen since her return yet, some she barely knew and others, like Northstar and Juggernaut, whom she previously had had run-ins with, and in her grumpy and sulking state, she wasn't in the mood for any questions or even shocked expressions that she was somehow alive while Jean was dead.
Rachel only wanted to stay long enough to find out what was going on in regards to Jean's funeral. But Kurt came in to the kitchen with Ororo, and immediately had to embrace her in a big bear hug. And in the foul mood she was in, she couldn't be rude to one of her oldest and dearest friends.
Scott entered the kitchen once Bishop had started cooking eggs, bacon and pancakes. He looked just as bad as Rachel's felt, with dark shadows under his eyes and looking like he hadn't shaved in days. But even worse was his listlessness. It wasn't the type of sullen, mournfulness that someone might expect from a man whose wife had just died. He wasn't moody and brooding like Rachel, but far more apathetic. He truly didn't seem to care about anything, and was totally withdrawn into his own thoughts. The way he was acting, he might as well have been in the kitchen all alone, since he didn't seem to notice anyone else was there as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
Neither Scott or Rachel were interested in the least bit in having a big group breakfast, but everyone else was determined to cheer them up, so they found themselves both guided over to the long dining table. Rachel didn't think it was any coincidence she ended up seated across from Scott, with Kurt and Kitty on either side of her, and with Rogue and Remy next to Scott.
As Rachel picked at her food, Scott said to her, "Emma was looking for you yesterday."
Kitty and Rachel had spent hours coming up with an elaborate story explaining why they left before Rachel could have her special session with Emma to check to see if all of Bogan's telepathic control has been severed from her mind, but Rachel didn't bother with it. "Something came up."
"Maybe today, you two can-"
Interrupting, Rachel snapped back, "I'll ask Professor Xavier, when I see him."
"Okay," Scott replied, not pressing, and returning his attention to his plate.
Following the awkward silence, where the surrounding X-Men exchanged glances, wondering exactly what was going on between Rachel and Scott, Remy tried to change the subject, asking Scott, "You want the syrup?"
"No thanks."
Rogue teased, "Scott's the only person ah know that doesn't like maple syrup."
Scott shrugged it off, but without thinking, Rachel scoffed, "When he was a kid, the other boys at the orphanage used to put syrup in his shoes as a prank."
Quickly jerking his head up, Scott eyed her with a searching look. Rachel was afraid he was going to be angry with her. But he didn't say anything in response, so she quickly looked away again.
Kurt tried to act like Rachel hadn't said anything, and loudly asked Rogue about what she had been up to.
Rachel wished she could shrink underneath the table and disappear. While she wanted to lash out at Scott for everything going on with Emma, embarrassing him with stories of being tormented by bullies during his childhood seemed like a low blow.
Later, as breakfast was beginning to wrap up, and everyone began to make plans for the hours leading up to the memorial service and funeral, Rachel tried to slink out of the dining room without being seen, but ran right into Scott.
Looking down at her feet, Rachel mumbled, "Sorry about that."
"I didn't think anyone knew about that," Scott replied, "Jean, maybe, but I never told her."
Rachel didn't know how to respond or interpret his tone. He didn't sound mad, but he certainly wasn't joking or sounding at all happy. He still seemed very contemplative and withdrawn, and perhaps as confused as she was.
"It's strange," he continued. "You had 14 years with someone just like me, and I had 10 years with you that you don't remember."
She began to argue that she did remember a bit – but that wasn't the point.
She expected for him to say something like how things had changed, or that he wasn't her father. But Scott simply gave her a slight smile, and as he passed her leaving the room, touched her shoulder in a reassuring way.
A few hours later, everyone began gathering outside for Jean's memorial service and funeral.
A large white canopy had been erected on the lawn, facing away from the remnants of the mansion, with white fold-up chairs lined up in rows, and dozens of flower arrangements lining the perimeter of long rectangular platform.
The night before it had been raining heavily, so the ground was a wet, waterlogged mess, and the sky still overcast with a dreary haze. With a slight wave of her hand, Ororo had cleared the skies of the dark clouds, but there was still a gloom in the chilly air, with near constant gusting winds that pushed against the canopy, making it creek and sway ominously.
The hearse with Jean's body pulled up into the driveway, and the pallbearers- Warren, Hank, Bobby, Kurt and Alex - brought Jean's brilliantly white casket out. It was draped in a carpet of white roses and tulips, with a large X in the center made with red roses. They carried it over to the canopy, trudging through the mud and wet grass, and placed it on the platform.
The casket was opened, so everyone could say their final goodbyes to Jean. And one-by-one, the X-Men filed passed Jean's body, with tears in their eyes.
All except Rachel, who stood in the back with Kitty, unwilling to even approach Jean's casket. Kitty hoped the viewing might help Rachel come to terms with Jean's death and to realize that Jean had died and there was no hope that she would be returning from the dead. But Rachel seemed to know that herself and stood steadfast on the other side of the canopy, barely willing to look up to the front where the casket sat.
As everyone finished paying their respects to Jean, they began taking their seats under the canopy. Scott sat in the front row, and next to him was Jean's father, John, who had come without his wife. Warren, Bobby, Ororo, Alex and his girlfriend, Annie, joined them in the first row, and behind them were Kurt, Lucas, Lorna, Rogue, Remy, Rahne, Sam, and Dani. Kitty and Rachel took seats in the third row, along with Amara and Sage, and several of the students that they didn't know.
As the minister began the service, Rachel looked around, noticing some glaring absences. Charles Xavier was not there, nor was Logan or Nathan. At first she didn't see Emma Frost, but then spotted her standing in the back, wearing a white fur coat and hat, looking completely out of place amongst all the somber black and gray.
The service continued with the minister reading a passage from the bible, as the sky darkened and began to slightly drizzle – something Ororo did nothing to correct.
Rachel remembered her own mother's funeral as being such a momentous event. Hundreds attended the funeral, including members of the Avengers and Fantastic Four, and several politicians who made pro-mutant speeches while thousands of anti-mutant demonstrators protested outside the gates.
It had all been a bit overwhelming for her, as a child still completely devastated at losing her mom, while so many were making speeches placing such importance on the event of her death and what it meant for the future of mutantkind.
In stark contrast, the two dozen or so X-Men sat in the rain near the muddy grave, with the crumbling remnants of the Xavier Institute behind them. Most were still too exhausted both mentally and physically from the past week to say or do much of anything besides silently mourning.
Ororo, Kurt and Hank did speak at the service, elegantly eulogizing Jean, saying how much she meant to them, how wonderful of a person she had been and how much she would be missed.
But Rachel couldn't help but thinking that Jean deserved more than this. It was so mundane and bleak – like any other funeral. The fact that Jean was gone should have been more significant than an ordinary funeral. Perhaps if it had been another X-Man who died, and Jean was there, the funeral would have been completely different.
Maybe because it was that Jean was gone, that her light had been extinguished, which was responsible for the ominous mood that hung over them. It was as if the X-Men's hearts had been violently ripped from their chests, and thus the inspiration and hope that was necessary to celebrate life had been erased from all them, leaving a void that could be filled by nothing but the misery and despair of the last few days.
Following the memorial service, as the pallbearers carried Jean's casket over to the gravesite in an old graveyard on the outer edge of the Xavier grounds away, Rachel noticed Logan watching from a distance underneath a tree near the edge of the wooden area. But he never approached the group gathered around the grave as Jean's casket was lowered into the ground.
Rachel stared at the gravestone – Jean Grey-Summers: She will rise again – trying to avoid watching the casket being interred in the earth.
But as the casket hit the bottom of the grave, the finality of Jean's death finally began to cave in upon Rachel. Jean was now under feet upon feet of dirt, decaying underground – away from everyone she loved and cared about. Rachel couldn't help thinking that if Jean really did love them and truly could rise again, then why would she leave them in this state?
The tears began flowing from Rachel's eyes. She couldn't stop them, and a wave of grieve began to envelop her. She felt someone place their arm around her shoulders, and pull her close to them. Looking up, she saw Scott holding her, his eyes filled with tears as well.
Slowly, the crowd began to dissipate after the minister had said his final words, until it was only Rachel and Scott standing there, watching the workers sent by the funeral home to help with digging the grave began filling in the dirt.
"Go ahead," he told her, motioning to the others gathered in the driveway, besides several large passenger vans waiting to carried the funeral attendees to Harry's Hideaway for the wake.
She walked a few steps, and then looked back. "I'll be there in a little bit," he replied to her unasked question, then turned his attention back to the grave.
In the driveway, Emma told everyone to leave them, since she had a limo there that she and Scott could take to join them later.
As the van pulled out of the gate, Rachel watched as Emma walked over to Scott.
"All wakes should be held at bars," Rachel told Kitty, picking up her second pint of beer from the bartender at Harry's Hideaway.
Looking around at the small groups of X-Men clustered around the bar, Kitty replied, "If the goal is for everyone to get completely plastered. Otherwise, it's kind of pathetic. Where's Professor Xavier? Where's Logan? Where the hell is Scott?"
"With Emma," Rachel replied, and then drained half of her pint.
"Seriously, you Christians with your wakes need to take some lessons from us Jews with our Shiva," Kitty grumbled, but with a smile.
"Is there alcohol at shivas?" Rachel smirked.
Kitty sighed, got up from her barstool, shouted to get everyone's attention and then asked if anyone would like to share their favorite memory of Jean.
An hour later, Jubilee was in the middle of tearfully recalling what Jean had told her after Illyana had died, when Emma opened the door and entered with Scott following a few feet behind her.
There were a few moments of silence where everyone seemed to look from Emma to Scott. Scott hastily apologized for being late, then took a seat near the center of the room where nearly everyone was gathered, reminiscing about Jean.
As Jubilee started to continue her story, Emma rolled her eyes, and headed to the back of the bar.
The group pressed Warren to speak next, and he started to tell about how he and Jean had met on his first day of school at Xavier's.
A half an hour later, Hank provided a worthy conclusion, telling everyone how they needed to carry on like Jean would have wanted them to, and that she would live on in their hearts.
Rachel went up to the bar for a refill, stumbling past several tables of X-Men, but Rogue stopped her. "Nope, kiddo, that's it for you." And before Rachel could protest, she added, "You'll thank me tomorrow."
She motioned for Rachel to sit down with her, Remy, Bobby, Sam, Paige, Warren and Dani who were all in the middle of a discussion about what was next. Was this it? Was the school going to reopen? Were the X-Men over for good?
Rachel looked back in the corner of the bar and spotted Scott sitting alone at a table, nursing his fifth glass of Scotch. She wondered if she should go over to talk to him, but thought he might want time alone. Despite what all that had happened, she had felt such a strong connection to him when they had stood by the grave together. Maybe it was time to have the talk she knew they needed to have.
But before Rachel could find a way to excuse herself and work up the courage to talk to Scott, out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Emma approached Scott's table. He seemed to look around, and not noticing anyone watching, he stood and wrapped his arm around Emma's waist, and they walked towards the door in the back of Harry's Hideway.
Even in her intoxicated state, Rachel knew what the way they were acting meant - they were headed to Emma's hotel room… together.
But Scott and Emma's exit hadn't gone as unnoticed as they would have hoped. In fact, half of the bar had seen them.
"Could they have been less obvious?" Kitty quipped, taking a seat next to Rachel.
"Maybe Scott was just really drunk and Emma was helping him home," Bobby said, trying to come up with some logical explanation.
"Yeah," Dani sarcastically replied, "Of all the designated driver, drunk-buddies in the world, Emma Frost would be last on my list."
"And Scott was getting all touchy-feely cause he was drunk," Bobby tried to continue.
"'Cause getting touchy-feely with the devil incarnate at your wife's wake is completely appropriate?" Kitty questioned.
As Bobby struggled to come up with another excuse, Rachel interrupted, "Was Scott having an affair with Emma while he was married?"
Everyone at the table just looked uncomfortably back at her, unsure what to say, as Rachel continued, "Was he cheating on Jean?"
"I'll get everybody another round," Remy said, jumping up.
Warren tried to brush off Rachel's questions, "It's late, and it's not the time to-"
But Rogue interrupted, "She has a right to know."
Warren sighed, and went on to relay what was commonly known by everyone else - nothing Scott had told him over a few beers, but at least so Rachel knew the all the gossip and about Jean and Emma's very public fight.
"So," Rachel said, trying to gather her thoughts. "Were they going to get a divorce?"
Warren looked over to Bobby, "I don't know. Maybe. Or maybe they could have worked it out."
"Seems like Scott made his choice," Kitty replied.
Before dawn the next morning, the bulldozers and construction equipment rolled onto the Xavier campus, and began tearing down the remains of the mansion, with complete disregard for any of the surviving content nor with any reverence for the building itself. The debris was dumped into trucks and hauled off, while the construction crew began hauling in lumber and cement to begin the rebuilding process.