He sat under the deepening foliage, the colour was just beginning to turn, a year had gone by; a year of being alone, of being a pariah in the eyes of his teammates.

He said it didn't matter to him, their words meant nothing but the toll on his liver said otherwise. Especailly when they'd seen what Marie had done to Jean, she'd sliced her skin, patterned her all over, thing was Jean hadn't sought surgery to repair herself. Instead she'd gone to a mutant who'd turned a disability into something that resembled art on her skin. The twin flames over her cheeks raised in her own pale flesh were a testament to the creature she held inside her mind.

The Phoenix.

Jean had been ruined, destroyed by her lapse of control over the power she had inside her and now she was a different person altogether. Some good had come out of the disaster, even Xavier thought it was time that Jean came home for a while and they were expecting them sometime before Thanksgiving.

But of Marie there was no sign, he'd gone out after her after he'd heard what she'd done to Jean. He didn't want her to be like this, it wasn't who she'd been but then it was his fault wasn't it that she was reacting the way he would've if she'd been cheating on him.

He blew out a chuff of air as he pushed up from the seat he'd been on, as if she'd ever have thought about that, all she'd ever given him was honesty. And what had he given her in exchange?
Lies, deceit and corruption of her soul, his hand went to the faded white lines in his skin over his stomach and torso. She'd scarred him, her blades had ripped him through as thoroughly as she could have without killing him. He'd given her them, his final gift to her, his corruption of her complete.

The school looked so calm, the kids were happy, the missions weren't as plentiful anymore, people were getting the message at last that there was no difference between humans and mutants. They tended to deal with the extremes of both sides now, it kept him in shape but his heart really wasn't in it anymore. He'd done it originally for her, for Marie so their children coudl be safe when they decided to have them. But now there was no hope of him ever having children with dark brown eyes and auburn hair.

Moving through the trees he walked deeper into the woodland, his thoughts running wild about what he'd seen out there, what he'd found out about 'The Rogue'. She was a killer, heartless, no compassion, no remorse, nothing but an animal dressed in human skin. The sun was beginning to set, the days and nights were equal today, Modron, the balance, the fall into winter and the coldness that came with it. The air was beginning to taste cold as he walked back up the small incline to the house. His duffle was packed and ready, he was leaving for a while, going to find The Rogue, to get exactly what he deserved.

He was tired of waiting for her to come here, if she did she'd kill anyone who got in her way. He knew that and he knew she'd find him when he was on the road. He wasn't going to hide himself from her, on the contrary he was going to make it easy for her. He'd be going to the winter fights, the ones with the huge purses, she'd be there too. Many deals were done in the back rooms of fight arena's and she'd been getting work from several.

Taking a look at the trees around him and their shimmering leaves going from green to red, mingled in with the autumn browns he'd onced loved to see reflected in her hair. Whether he came back again was upto her, but he'd had enough of waiting with her dangling over his head. It was time for action.

From now on the sun would be less in the sky and the darkness would fill the world so much easier. Just like the darkness he'd held inside his own soul had spilled into her. Causing her to fall from the light into the darkness of his world, the one he'd tried to protect her from.

And as he pulled out into the darkness he didn't hear the prayer of a crippled man following him, easing his way through the darkness in the hope of returning with the light he'd extinguished.