A/N: I don't own the X-Men. I am, however, assiduously watching e-bay to see if I can get a used one...
There are also Matrix in-jokes, and I don't own the Matrix, either. It is becoming clear I don't own much. ;)
This is it, folks. The real end. I hope you like it, RogueOnFire.
If you liked the story, let me know! Or if you didn't, tell me why. Thanks everyone for taking the time to read! :)
The Professor waited respectfully as Kitty wiped her eyes, struggling to compose herself. Frankly, it amazed him that she even still coherent after all had been through. It humbled and gladdened him to know he had such strong people working towards the dream; and it saddened him to think that their strength might be tested as brutally as that of the young woman before him.
"And Andras?" He inquired after a minute. "What became of him?"
"Remy got him," Kitty said softly, worn thin. "Two in the throat. Andras probably didn't even realize he was hit until he was dead. We got to the helicopter before the building went up… you know the rest." She paused. "Professor… is Scott going to be OK?"
"He is still in surgery," Xavier replied gently. "Jean and Hank are doing everything they can. We just… do not know yet, Katherine. But Scott is a strong man. I think he will pull through. In the meantime, all we can do is pray."
The young woman nodded slowly, her eyes distant. The Professor directed his wheelchair forward and laid a comforting hand on her arm. "You should get some rest. You've been through a lot."
"I'm going to go down to the medlab," Kitty replied quietly. "I need to be with him. If something happened, and I wasn't there… I couldn't bear it."
Xavier nodded, his eyes kind. "I understand."
Down in the medlab, Kitty waited outside the operating room. She was so tired she could barely think, and thoughts of Scott pushed everything else from her mind. All she could think was, that if she died, she didn't know what she'd do. She wondered if her heart would go on beating, if his stopped. She hoped not.
The door opened, and Jean came out, looking haggard and drawn, the strain showing around her eyes, but smiling. Kitty rose to her feet. "Is he…?"
Jean nodded. "Scott's going to be all right."
Kitty uttered a soft cry of relief, and hand flying to her mouth as tears gathered in her eyes. The tall doctor came up to her and drew her in for a hug. "Thank you, Kitty. Thank you for bringing him back to me. If you and your friend hadn't been so quick getting him here, Scott would've been gone, and I would've been lost."
Kitty returned the embrace mechanically. As soon as Jean released her, the younger woman stepped back. "I – I should go. I mean, to get some rest. I'm," she laughed slightly, "a little tired. I need to go."
Jean smiled fondly at her. "Of course, dear. You have a good night. I'll tell Scott you're here if he regains consciousness… but he probably won't be seeing anyone for a while, as he heals."
Kitty nodded and turned to go, feeling like death. What had she been thinking? That Scott was hers, simply because he had said a kind word as they were about to die? He had a beautiful, wonderful woman already in his life; one that could save his life, one that didn't put him in danger constantly. Kitty had almost gotten him killed repeatedly through her own stupidity.
How could she have ever thought he could choose her over Jean? On one hand, you have a tall, stunningly gorgeous woman, a confidant, intelligent partner whose business is saving lives. On the other, a short, mousy girl who is a walking liability, a girl who betrayed her teammates by breaking and giving aid and information to the enemy.
She needed to leave. There was nothing for her here, not anymore. No one could trust her, and honestly, she didn't trust herself. And Scott… it was wrong, but she knew she wouldn't be able to see him with Dr. Gray every day. Not after all they'd gone through together, not after thinking, if only for a minute, that he was hers.
"Goodbye, Scott. Be happy," she whispered to the air, and went to gather her belongings.
The first thing Scott saw, when he opened his eyes, was Jean's face, as she bent over him. He felt a stab of disappointment. He opened his mouth to ask where she was, and then gasped in agony as a bone-deep ache swept through him.
"Shhh… don't try and speak just yet. Hold on." Jean moved out of sight, and in a minute, the pain ebbed off. She returned, smiling. "There. That should feel better. I'm so glad to see you, Scott."
"Where's Kitty?" he managed, his voice weak.
"She's safe." Jean stroked his cheek, a move Scott would've evaded if he were more alert. "You succeeded, darling, even when we didn't believe in you. I am so sorry you had to rescue her alone."
He frowned. "I wasn't alone; she saved me. Where is she?"
"Always so modest. I've missed you so much, Scott. You look so handsome without those glasses. I've been wanting to tell you-"
"Tell me where Kitty is," Scott interrupted. "Was she here? What did you say to her?"
"Look, I'm trying to apologize here!" Jean exclaimed in an exasperated tone. "Just forget about her for a minute! What I've been trying to say is, that I was wrong. I didn't realize how much I depend on you until you were gone, Scott. I know you'll always be there for me, and I'm sorry I didn't see that before. But now you're back, and Kitty is safe and off finding herself or whatever it is she's doing, things can get back to normal."
She leaned into kiss him, but he turned his head. "Don't. You don't just get to take back everything you said, Jean. Our time apart made me realize something, too. It helped me understand that you never were there for me, in all the time we've been together. It was all about what you wanted, what you needed. It was never about me."
Jean stepped back. "I don't think you should be the one pointing fingers, Scott," she said harshly. "I wasn't the one who lied, the one who left in the middle of the night, abandoned all your responsibilities to the team, to me, to go haring off into the wilderness after a brainless twit who got herself in over her head. But I guess that honesty, and our trust in you, meant nothing."
Scott looked her straight in the eye. "When you first agreed to be with me, Jean, I thought I was the luckiest man alive. I didn't know what you saw in me. Now I can't figure out what I saw in you, and I can't believe I wasted years of my life on you, when I could have been with someone who loved me for something other than what I could give them." Taking a deep, careful breath, he pushed himself upright, and swung his legs over the side of the bed.
"You're going to kill yourself, you know," Jean said clinically, as he got dressed stiffly. "Not that I mind, but some vestige of conscience compels me to inform you."
Scott thought of several sarcastic replies he could make to that, but in the end dismissed them all. She just wasn't important enough to waste anymore breath on. He left the lab without a word, heading to the higher levels. At the elevator, he ran into Hank.
"Scott!" The large, blue-furred mutant stared in surprise, adjusting his glasses as if he expected the man before him to be a passing optical illusion that could be dispelled with a minor adjustment of the lenses. "Ah, has Dr. Gray cleared you for ambulatory movement? In my medical opinion, you should have at least two days of complete bed rest before attempting such an endeavor."
Scott put out a hand and leaned against the wall. "I need to go, Hank. I need to find Kitty. Where is she? Jean said something about her leaving?"
Hank eyed him cautiously. "Yes, that is correct. A few hours after it was announced to her that you were out of danger, she departed for parts unknown with some of her effects. She left a note expressing her desire not to be followed. Is she still in danger?"
Scott closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. "No. But I must find her. I'll go talk to the Professor, get him to use Cerebro-"
"I am afraid that would be to no avail, my friend," Hank broke in regretfully. "Xavier already cast that net, and it came back empty. She seems to have perfected some technique of evading his telepathy with her gift. It's really quite fascinating." A note of enthusiasm entered his voice. "The way I understand it, she has somehow trained her ability to be auto-reactive to threats, and to her that must include the touch of a telepath's mind, however light. When Katherine 'phases' her molecular structure alters; this might either be a side-effect of her basic physical presence 'thinning' as it were, to allow her to slide between the component building blocks of nature, or alternatively, it might be a matter of an alteration of her vibrational signature-"
"I need to speak with the Professor," Scott sighed, and entered the elevator.
Hank frowned as the doors slid closed behind the X-Man. " But I wasn't finished with my explanation yet," he said plaintively.
"Scott," the Professor greeted his longtime student warmly as the team leader entered his office. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I got shot multiple times," Scott replied tersely. "You can't find Kitty?"
The Professor shook his head. "I am sorry, Scott. I suppose she does not want us to find her. I have done all I can."
Scott nodded. "Then I will have to do all that I can. Goodbye, Professor."
"Scott!" Xavier called after him, and he paused in the doorway, looking back. The old man spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "Can you forgive a pig-headed old fool with no eyes to see with, and no ears to hear with?"
The younger man was silent for a moment. "We all make mistakes, Charles. After all, we're only human." And with a faint smile, he was gone.
…Eight Months Later
"Yes, how can I help you?" Sandra smiled brightly at the handsome man with the cane who had just come up to her desk.
"I'm looking for a Kathy Anderson," he replied pleasantly. "She's the IT Security Manager here at Altworld, correct?"
Sandra nodded. "Yes sir." She privately thanked her lucky stars again that she'd been assigned to be Ms. Anderson's secretary rather than one of the corporate VIPs. Whenever she talked to the other girls in the break room, she heard horror stories about how their bosses treated them like slaves. Anderson was very hands off, and always polite. "Do you have an appointment?"
The man chuckled ruefully. "A very long overdue appointment, I would say."
Sandra frowned. Had she somehow forgotten to write it down? She checked the book quickly, and found nothing for Tuesday, 3:00. She looked back up with a slightly nervous smile. This man looked important, and she didn't want him complaining about her and getting her reassigned just when things were looking good. "I'm so sorry, sir. I guess there was some mistake, we weren't expecting you. But I can go in and see if Ms. Anderson is free."
The man smiled again. "No, no. I wouldn't be on the books. I'm… an old friend. Just go tell her Scott Summers is here to see her, please."
Sandra nodded. Rising, she walked back to the office and rapped on the door. "Ms. Anderson?"
"Come in!"
Sandra opened the door and peeked in. Ms. Anderson was typing furiously at her computer, her hair put up but slowly escaping the confines of the loose knot to hang in little tendrils in front of her face. "Hang on a sec." After another moment she stopped, sighed, and pushed her chair back. "Sheesh," she exclaimed, rubbing at her shoulders. "This code really doesn't want to co-operate. What did you want to see me about?"
"There a man here to see you, Ms. Anderson. He doesn't have an appointment, but he says he's an old friend. Scott Summers?"
Ms. Anderson froze, then slowly looked up at her secretary. "S-Scott Summers?" When Sandra nodded, her shoulders slumped, and she muttered something very unladylike under her breath. "He's… out there?"
"Yes," Sandra said patiently. Inwardly, she was itching with curiosity. Who was this mystery man? She was going to have some killer gossip for the break room, that was for sure.
"I'm a mess!" Ms. Anderson wailed, ineffectually pushing her hair back from her face. "And the office!" Cups of cold coffee were everywhere, conducting a gradual hostile takeover of the room, and papers were piled in untidy stacks on all available surfaces. She eyed the window speculatively. "How high up are we? D'you think I could climb to the roof from here?"
"Now, if he's an old friend, I don't think he'll care so much, Miss," Sandra reassured her, picking up as many of the coffee mugs as she could safely manage. "But if you want, I can tell him to come back another time."
Ms. Anderson collapsed back in her chair. "No. No point in dragging this out. Send him in." She sounded like she was going to face the firing squad.
Sandra nodded quietly and went back to her desk, where Mr. Summers was waiting patiently. "You just go right in, sir. She's expecting you."
Summers inclined his head politely. "Thank you."
Sandra waited until he went down the hall into the office, closing the door behind him, then quickly followed and cautious applied her ear to the door. She wasn't going to miss this for the world.
Kitty got to her feet, feeling butterflies in her stomach, as the door to her office swung open and Scott came in. He was even more handsome than she'd remembered, now carrying a silver-headed cane which he used to support his gait from time to time. He closed the door after himself, then twitched his head back at it. "I like the name on the door, Ms. 'Anderson'."
She swallowed. "It, ah, seemed appropriate."
Scott took a step closer and studied her, and she flushed slightly under his intense gaze. "You are a very hard woman to find, Katherine Pryde," he said evenly. "Eight months. You just disappeared. The only clue I finally got was from the phone calls to your parents, and those were nearly impossible to trace… you've certainly made it interesting."
"But you found me," Kitty said quietly. "Why? Why couldn't you follow my wishes and leave me in peace?"
His mouth quirked. "Because I do not believe you are in peace, any more than I am," he replied calmly. "Rather I am in pieces. At least two. One is with me, and the other… the other is with you. I think the missing piece was from somewhere in here." He gestured at his chest. "It has been difficult living without it."
She felt like her soul was holding its breath. "You don't mean that."
Scott took a step closer. "But I do. You never let me tell you, Kitty. Jean and I were separated before I came to get you. At first that was her decision. But in the end, it was mine as well. Those few days with you, I found something I never knew I wanted, never even knew existed. I found you. And once I found you, I couldn't live without you. Please, don't make me."
Kitty's eyes fluttered as he touched her cheek. "Scott," she whispered.
He stroked her skin with his thumb as he looked deep into her eyes. "I'll tell you again what I told you once. There is nowhere in the world I would rather be than here with you. And that is because I love you, Katherine Pryde, as a man loves a woman." He leaned forward and kissed her.
Kitty saw colored stars explode behind her eyes as she abandoned caution, throwing her arms around him and pulling him close. For a moment, everything stopped existing save for two perfectly happy people whose souls were joined in a kiss…
…and one deliriously happy secretary, who had the break room story of a lifetime.