A terse silence filled the jet as the group of assembled mutants watched Rogue warily. Where only moments before she had lain on the cot completely dead to the world, she know stood fully erect on her feet, Storm's cape wrapped around her middle while one small, bandaged hand held it shut modestly in front of her chest. The fact that no one had heard her get up, not even Logan, was truly unsettling to them all. Her skin was luminescent, glowing softly as though the moon itself lay beneath her flesh and despite her many injuries she was still breathtakingly beautiful.
Everyone was still frozen in dumbfounded surprise until Bobby said weakly, "Hey Rogue. Glad you're... up."
Rogue's head cocked to one side like a bird inspecting it's prey, and Bobby had to stifle a scream when her eyes fell on him unseeingly. One was completely black, pupil and all; the eye of the Phoenix. The other was worse in a way. The iris swam with a sickly combination of Rogue's brilliant green and Jean's honey brown, both colours warring with each other as they swirled around and around. Looking into that two-toned eye made Bobby feel as though he had motion sickness, prompting him to drop his gaze to Rogue's feet where her bright blue painted toenails peeped out from beneath the hem of Storm's long cape.
The platinum and sable haired woman still remained stationary, her eerie eyes roving over the X-Men without seeing any of them, and John meekly raised his hand into the air as he murmured, "Any one else here completely freaked out?"
Piotr sheepishly waved his hand above his head, still staring at Rogue in fear as Logan finally found his feet and stepped beside her, one hand cupping her chin gently while she continued to ignore him.
"Rogue," he said, wishing he could use her real name but unwilling to let the others know what it was. That was the one secret he guarded the most above all others. "Rogue darlin', look at me."
Rogue disregarded his words; instead she kept her chilling gaze focused on the hatch of the jet until it suddenly sprang open seemingly on it's own, the ramp lowering to the ground below. Cool air rushed into the cabin, bringing with it the scent of water and trees. Still Rogue didn't move.
Gritting his teeth in frustration, Logan added a bit more pressure to his grip under her jaw, giving her head a light shake. "Rogue," he said forcibly. "Talk to me."
When several seconds passed without any sign that she had heard him, he opened his mouth to say her name again when she spoke at last.
"He's here."
Her voice, like her eye, was a strange mix of Rogue's husky tone and Jean's soft one, and though she barely spoke above a whisper, the two words resonated within everyone's head, giving goosebumps to them all from the sheer power in it.
Rogue stepped forward, Logan's hand falling away from her face as she began to walk gracefully down the ramp, leaving the team with the cryptic words still ringing in their ears as they looked at one another in complete bewilderment.
"'He'?" Kitty asked hesitantly. Her voice broke Storm from her paralysis, her face lighting up with hope as she pushed past John.
"Scott?" she said breathlessly while she rushed to the ramp after Rogue who had disappeared into the darkness. "Did she mean that Scott - " Not finishing her sentence, she ran down the ramp with the others hot on her heels.
As they all exited the jet, they saw that Rogue had somehow made it all the way to the end of an outcropping of rocks, her back to them as she she faced the mass of water spread out before her. She stood completely stock-still, the long cape fluttering away from her body and exposing her shapely legs from foot to mid-thigh as the wind gusted, while her skin continued to glow softly in the darkness.
Logan hastened after her, reaching the edge of the outcropping she stood on before he smashed into an invisible barrier that prevented him from going any further. Releasing his claws, he swiped at it ineffectually, a growl bubbling up his throat when nothing happened.
John watched all this from his spot near the jet, feeling deeply curious despite himself. He knew he should escape while everyone else was occupied, yet he couldn't bring himself to leave or tear his eyes away from Rogue. She looked like a goddess standing there by the water, with her magnificent waist length wavy hair dancing in the cold wind as her skin radiated that celestial light. John thought he had loved her once; now as he turned away from her with a heavy heart and loped away unnoticed into the woods, he knew that he still did.
"What the hell is she doing?" Bobby hissed at Kitty, so focused on the pale figure by the water that John never even entered his thoughts.
"How should I know?" Kitty snapped back, craning her neck to see past Logan's broad back. Just then the previously serene water in front of Rogue began to bubble, softly at first before roiling violently, shooting streams of liquid into the air while Rogue's softly glowing skin suddenly blazed with a white light that made everyone watching avert their eyes from its brilliance. Within seconds the light had spread out, completely concealing Rogue and leaving the X-Men in the dark yet again.
"Damnit!" Logan howled, beating his fists impotently against the barrier separating them. Despite the pain it caused in his eyes, he continued to to stare into the light as it grew brighter and brighter. He thought his vision must be playing tricks on him, because for a moment he thought he had seen the outline of a man standing there with Rogue.
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The first thing Scott saw when he opened his eyes were his hands splayed against some sort of slippery rock that he was apparently kneeling on. He felt odd, somewhat disjointed; he usually felt like this after a particularly deep sleep, when it would take him several minutes to even remember what planet he was on. He wondered why his clothes were dry when he was obviously near a body of water, disregarding the thought completely once he realized that he wasn't wearing his visor or glasses. Hastily shutting his eyes, he remembered that they had been open seconds earlier and nothing had happened. He Experimentally cracked open one lid and when his customary eye beams didn't shoot out, he opened the other one as well. He sensed movement just out of his line of sight and quickly looked up to see Jean's smiling face beaming down at him.
"Hello Scott," she said, her voice warming his heart as it always did.
Pulling himself to his feet, he stared at her in confusion. It was Jean, of that he had no doubt, but something strange was going on. Why was she naked but for what appeared to be Storm's cape wrapped around her middle like a towel? For that matter, where were they? He saw rocks, trees and water, but not much else. More disquieting yet, Scott couldn't even remember how he had gotten there in the first place.
Brushing the questions away for the moment, he stared deeply into Jean's loving eyes as he raised a hand to stroke her soft cheek. "Jean?" he whispered, revelling in the feeling of the warmth from her skin seeping into his cold fingers. "What's happening? I feel like I haven't seen you in years. I... I can't remember..." Trailing off, Scott searched his memory; they had taken the children on a field trip to the museum and over the news they heard that a mutant had attacked the president. He and the Professor were supposed to go see Magneto in prison, but then-
"Shhhh," Jean said as though he had spoken aloud, gently pressing her fingers against his lips. "Don't think about it now. You're here, and we're together."
Scott kissed her fingertips as she continued to caress his lips, his eyes drinking her in worshipfully until he noticed all the injuries on her body that the cape didn't cover. "Jean!" he cried out in worry, tentatively reaching out to her arm where a gauze dressing was wrapped around one slim bicep.
Jean removed her hand from his lips and placed it behind his neck, drawing him closer until their faces almost touched. Scott met her adoring gaze as she looked deeply into his eyes, a touch of sorrow creeping into her features. "Close your eyes," she told him, nodding reassuringly as he frowned in confusion.
Slowly, trustingly, Scott closed his eyes, feeling Jean's fingertips ghost across his closed lids, feeling her breath mingling with his. "I love you ,Scott. Forever and ever," she whispered. "Please forgive me." With those final words, she kissed him.
And showed him everything.
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Logan didn't notice that the invisible barrier holding them all back had vanished in the instant that the blinding glow faded. He could only stand and gape in disbelief at the sight that greeted his eyes; Rogue was still standing the same same spot that they had seen her last, but now she was no longer alone. Scott was with her and their arms were wrapped around each other in a lovers embrace as they kissed passionately. Logan wasn't sure what jarred him the most: the fact that Scott was alive, the fact that he was touching Rogue's bare skin without passing out, or the sheer fact that he was kissing her at all. Either way, the combination of all three left his head spinning and rendered him paralysed with an unexpected feeling of intense jealousy. As the last of the light faded from Rogue's skin, she collapsed in Scott's arms, who lowered them both to the ground and cradled her in his lap as his head bowed over her body.
Storm soared into the sky, tears of happiness streaming down her face as she flew to them while the other hurried to catch up. Logan however, still remained frozen as he watched Scott's shoulders jerk with his sobs, his hands now carefully avoiding Rogue's exposed flesh.
Storm stepped beside him, her hand hovering over his heaving shoulder before grasping it tightly. "Scott?" she said softly, afraid it was a dream.
"Hey Storm," he choked out, not raising his head. "Got any of my spare glasses on you by any chance?"
"On the jet," she replied eagerly. "We have... we have... Scott how can this be?" The last words came in a rush; clearly she was having a hard time comprehending what had happened or more importantly, how it happened.
Scott finally rose to his feet, his face set in it's usual Fearless Leader expression though his eyes remained tightly squinched shut as he held Rogue bridal style in his arms. "Jean," he replied simply. "Jean did it."
Logan finally broke out of his shock and moved forward to take Rogue from Scott's arms, barely restraining the urge to growl warningly at the other man before he noticed with dismay that she was unconscious yet again. Shooting a glance a Scott who was leaning on Storm as they walked back to the jet, he said grudgingly, "I'm glad you're ok Cyke."
Scott nodded in acknowledgment, and Logan realized that he really was glad he was back. Most people thought the two men couldn't stand each other, but the truth was that they we're closer than anyone imagined. If Wolverine was capable of having a 'buddy', Scott was it.
"Hey where's John?" Bobby asked, peering around the woods as though expecting his old friend to leap out from behind a tree.
"He's escaped!" Piotr said indignantly while Bobby just shrugged carelessly.
"Ah, let him go. I'd like to see what he's gonna do in these colds woods without his light," he said, a wicked grin on his normally sweet features as he produced John's trademark lighter from the pocket of his sweats, turning it over in his hands.
Storm kept her hand fastened around Scott's arm, as though frightened that if she let go he would vanish. Suddenly she remembered something, but hesitated, unsure how to proceed. "Scott," she began slowly, worried what his reaction to her words might be. "Jean...and Charles... they're both - "
"I know Storm," he replied before she could finish. "Jean told me. Showed me," he amended. "I know everything."
"How?" Kitty asked with a frown as they all began their ascent up the Blackbird's ramp.
Scott hesitated before replying delicately, "After the Phoenix was destroyed, Rogue let Jean... take over. Temporarily. So she could give her the chance to... to..."
"To say goodbye?" Piotr supplied when he trailed off. Scott nodded, smiling weakly in gratitude before his face fell again.
"She's gone now. Forever. It's over."
"And Rogue?" Logan demanded harshly. "Where's she left in all of this?"
Kitty silently handed Scott his spare visor which he slid on slowly before answering. "She'll be fine. Apparently she's had a very long day, so she's... well,I guess you could say resting. But when she wakes up in a few hours she'll be back to her old self. No one's in there with her anymore."
Storm began asking Scott about his miraculous return when they all thought he had been rendered to dust like the Professor, but Logan barely heard his reply about some ball of energy that Jean had put him into to protect him; he had already heard everything he needed to. Marie was going to be fine, and everything could go back to normal. He stared down at her face still nestled against his chest as he held her, a face that suddenly look impossibly young, and felt his heart wrench in his chest as he realized that things couldn't go back to normal, not for the two of them. Because now, everything had changed.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Disclaimer: i own nothing
so if this chapter sucks, please excuse it. it's 5AM but i just couldn't stop till i finshed. ask and ye shall receive. keep those reviews coming! ok, chapter title comes from the Neverending White Lights song of the same name (a heart wrenching song, i gotta say.) so, more to come soon. hope you all enjoy!
so if this chapter sucks, please excuse it. it's 5AM but i just couldn't stop till i finshed. ask and ye shall receive. keep those reviews coming! ok, chapter title comes from the Neverending White Lights song of the same name (a heart wrenching song, i gotta say.) so, more to come soon. hope you all enjoy!
Chapter End Notes:
Dunno how you all feel about this. i'm a fan of Scott, and was very displeased that they bumped him off in the movie. the poor guy had like, 3 lines in 2 movies! what was up with that? anyway, reviews are hoped for