Subject: [OTL]: (Y2X Conclusion) To All Things ... (PG-13) Date: Sun, 06 Feb 2000 10:42:52 -0800 From: Phil Hartman Reply-To: outsidethelines@topica.com To: Outside The Lines will1@earthling.net Y2X: To All Things ... by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: Everyone here is Marvel's, except for the kids, who are mine. Please don't sue. NOTE: Yes, Y2X is heading off into the sunset. I've got some other things I want to work on, but you never know when the X-Crew might show up again ;) I want to give a big thank you to everyone who gave me feedback. It IS appreciated, and I hope you enjoyed the ride. (I'm not leaving fanfic. I just think I need to explore some other characters ... for a while.) -------------------------------------------------------- X-Mansion: 8/22/2012: War Room: 07:00 hrs EDT: -------------------------------------------------------- "He's ..." #Yahweh give me strength,# Kitty Wisdom sighed, watching her husband pace the floor. Pete shot her a wounded look, glancing at Aaron before slumping into a nearby seat. "Dad -" Aaron began. The boy's mouth snapped shut when he saw the flicker in Pete's eyes. "You are my dad," Aaron pleaded. "Like I told Mom, you raised me. You cared for me. That overgrown nail couldn't take care of his own bills, much less a kid." Pete's mouth twitched before he glanced at Kitty. "I swear I didn't know he was Piotr's biological son," Kitty said softly. "Pete ..." "We were sep'rated at th' time," Pete said, lighting a cigarette. He took a long drag, blowing smoke rings for a moment, and finally grinned. "Screw biology," Pete said. "Ya turned out pretty damn all right t'me, Aaron." Aaron beamed when Pete took Kitty's hand, and she gave a tentative smile. "13 years're a pretty good run, luv," Pete said. "Care t'give it a full lifetime ?" -------------------------------------------------------- "Thank ... heaven ... Piotr ... never was ... right for ... Katherine ... Ororo notwithstanding ..." Jean looked up, tears flowing from her face as she sat vigil with Scott beside the medbed. "Charles ..." "Don't ... waste tears ... Jean," Xavier croaked, his drawn and pale face crinkling in a smile. "Two ... lifetimes are ... enough for me. We ... have peace ... don't we ... ?" "True, sir," Scott breathed, pain wracking his features behind his glasses. "We've had peace for 16 years." Xavier chuckled, coughing. "Then ... let me ... have mine ... Scott," Xavier croaked. "Clone body ... no one's fault ... DNA error ... produced lung cancer ..." "Charles - CHARLES !" Jean cried as the Shi'ar scanners started to wail. -------------------------------------------------------- "Ah !" Aidan sat up from his breakfast, seeing horror writ large across his parents' faces. "S-someone - died ... ?" Aidan gulped. "OH God. Aid, get Ororo, Sam, Paige, and Kurt," Rachel told her son. "Hurry !" The boy ran, Lari Cassidy at his heels, and found the leaders of the various remaining X-teams in the study. "We know, sugah," Paige said softly, tearfully. "We know." -------------------------------------------------------- "Quicky funeral - cheapens what he did," Logan grunted, watching Zeke Guthrie use his geokinetic power to dig Xavier's grave. "He wanted it this way, Logan," Scott said without a trace of anger. He pointed to the throngs of media surrounding the perimeter fence and glared, nevertheless keeping his power in check. "He was a legend to them too," Jean sighed. "He had the courage to come forward in '96, after we saved Graydon Creed from assassination, and say who had done it. Charles saw the need to be open about who we are, to fight the lies our enemies were putting forward." "Mebbe. But I still think he deserves a proper mournin'," Logan rumbled, turning to walk away. Jean leaned on Scott, sending, ~He's in such pain ...~ ~We all are,~ Scott thought, holding his wife close. -------------------------------------------------------- He leaned against the frame of the medlab door, dressed in a conservative suit, looking at the coffin. "Funny. You always scared me when I was little," Aidan rasped, wiping his eyes and looking at Xavier's body. "The telepath. Even Mom didn't talk back to you, and she went off on Mr. Logan when he ragged on Dad for havin' me too young ..." He sighed, looking at the still form, and said, "I 'member one time, though, when you looked at me real funny and said, 'The heir.' I never got that until now." "He told me he saw himself as Merlin, once," Jean called. Aidan blushed as she put an arm around his shoulder and hugged him. "I'm not Arthur," Aidan smiled weakly. "No, I'd have to give that title to your dad," Jean smiled back. "Charles got us into the public eye. Franklin and Rachel got us the public's trust. It hasn't been easy ... and you're right. We all thought your parents should have waited." She looked at Aidan and said, "But we never once - never will - thought you were a mistake, Aidan. You're a wonderful young man. And Charles was proud of you - all of you kids. Don't forget that, OK ?" "I won't, Grandma," Aidan agreed, hugging her back. -------------------------------------------------------- He held her close, their children arrayed around them, as Lorna maglevved the coffin into the ground. "Nice of Ororo to get rid of that storm front," Nate mumbled to Domino. "She's not too shabby sometimes," Domino agreed bemusedly. Her expression went serious as the priest finished giving the prayers, and she said, "He gave me a chance, you know." "What, you didn't have enough of your own ?" Nate tried to joke. Domino leaned her head on his shoulder and gave a half-smirk. "He didn't have to take in an amnesiac ex-pit-fighter," she replied, shepherding their kids down to the mansion. "But he did." "And I'm grateful," Nate agreed. "We all are." -------------------------------------------------------- She was the last one at the gravesite. #First to arrive, last to leave,# Jean pondered, examining the headstone Zeke had carved from the living bedrock. #You always had a way of leaving an impression, Charles.# She laid a white rose upon the settling dirt and turned to go, looking once back over her shoulder. A firebird seemed to dance across the stone, flickering out as Jean smiled. #And so do I. Sleep well, teacher.# She headed back to her husband and children and grandchildren, a tiny gold phoenix carved into the headstone. Charles Francis Xavier 1926-2012 Mutatis Mutandis -------------------------------------------------------- FINIS Y2X -------------------------------------------------------- __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! 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