Disclaimer: X-Men characters don't belong to me, but this story does, hee hee!
I have a lot of apologies to make, but I'm hoping that my writing will make it up to you all, with a quick fire of updates. Maybe you'll enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Thank you, so much to: Wen, jenskott, amazing redd phoenix, Telepathic Angel, Diaz F
How long has passed since their breakup? Was it really five years? It didn't seem so short a time to Major Scott Summers. He had her face etched in front of his eyes, every woman that he met was compared to her and every woman that was compared lost.
He knew he was in love with her. He knew that he could never love another. Yet still he remained silent, never calling the home that they had shared under the man that brought them together. He never wrote.
A silent, proud, handsome leader. He regained the respect he thought he had lost, finding it in a different place. But it still didn't compare to the atmosphere that the X-Men had had. It didn't compare to fighting along side her and protecting people he actually cared about.
Now he cared about his officers, his soldiers, the ones assigned to him. Yet not too much, not enough to mourn immediately if they died in any assault they faced. He had done that at the beginning, been overly compassionate. He had almost failed and given up, before rebuilding all the walls that she had shaken then torn down. Though the wall that he had built around his heart was already standing, ready from when he had broken up with the most wonderful woman in the world.
Promotions were easy enough, but he remained where she wouldn't see him directly. Her position meant she met troops sometimes, and every time he hid – in the barracks, on any mission that would take him away. But his time was up, he had to meet her, the letter had arrived that morning.
Major Summers to meet Doctor Grey for routine medical. Attend promptly on the date below.
It couldn't be. She reasoned with herself that there could be many Summers men in the army. It wasn't such an uncommon name, not if you looked into the records. That was a lie, she scolded herself, knowing that she had looked into the records and there were only a few.
Every night for five years she had dreamed of seeing him again, hearing him say her name and holding his arms out for her to run into. Every morning she woke up and found the bed next to her empty, still. Doctor Jean Grey knew she was being silly, but she couldn't lose hope. Not now. He was her soul mate, and he owned her heart. He'd have to either give her his or let her go and this meeting would make it a certainty.
Her body ached for his, and her mind itched to brush against his again, to feel the buzz of noise through their once active link. It was painful to look at the pictures of them together, painful to go back to the mansion and see the new couples acting how she and Scott once did. But she looked and she went. It was her duty as he wasn't there.
She had buried herself in her work, become the best there was at what she did. The others had supported her and helped her pull through the bad times, the overwhelming amount of essays, the training work, coping with her powers as they steadily increased. They still didn't make up for his absence.
Doctor Grey scheduled to examine Major Summers for a routine
medical. Be prompt, he hates to wait.
A chance meeting? Or a set up? Neither knew, neither cared, neither wanted to imagine…
She straightened her hair, buttoned her coat, prepared her kit. She walked away from her car, her secure life, her buried fire. She walked toward her past, toward unclosed scars, toward her dreams.
It had been hard to drag herself upright this morning, yet she had bounced from her bed, flown to the shower, used her powers alone for the first time in years. Five to be exact. She had smiled as she picked out her clothes, choosing new ones in her old style. Ones that were not flashy and for the press, or boring and sensible for the work she had to do. Ones that were slightly sexy, but flexible, ones she could move in, but flashed a little flesh. Ones he had adored.
Everything she desired would be in front of her in just a few hours. Everything she had dreamt about, yet none of it what she wanted it to be. It was forceful and hard, unexpected yet unchangeable. Today they would have to see one another – look into each others eyes, talk for an hour, or drown in silence. Today she would truly die, or begin to truly live.
He straightened his shades, ran a hand through his hair, felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. He had landed the night before in New York, stayed in a hotel that was suited for his needs. He now sat in his car, just outside her hospital. He watched the wheel in his hands, his fears rekindling with ferocity.
He got up, got out of the seat. He walked briskly away from the simplicity found in not allowing himself the memories, from the security of being part of a team, from his hidden desire. He grew ever nearer to his past, to scars that had no place in the new life he had etched, toward the beating of his heart that had stopped five years ago.
Last night it had been simple, plane ride to a town – pretend it was a conference, pretend it was anything but a meeting with her. Sleeping had been easy – forget the next day, forget the reason for being here. The pretence, the forgetting was easy when you'd fought in a war; it was easy when you couldn't remember the sights you'd seen, you'd caused. But the sight of her, broken, trembling, crying – that had never left him, not once. It had been twisted by the things he'd seen since, but had remained the most terrifying and heart-wrenching thing he'd ever experienced.
In just a few moments he would be with her again. In a moment he would face the only person that could hurt him, the person who he had left behind to try and forget. In only a second, he would see those eyes, that body, the smile. Just a second, and his heart would break again.
How was it possible that they could feel so similar, yet remain so distant… How could it be that soul mates were separate… How would it be if they had to watch the other break for a second time…
"Doctor Grey will see you now."
He stood, the hand back through his hair, just like it used to when he was nervous. The nurse smiled coyly at him and he knew that it wasn't just his position in the army that caused her to do so. He smiled, in a simple friendly way, back at her and knocked on the door.
"Doctor Grey will see you now."
Jean snorted with indignation at the tone her nurse had used. How dare she, yet she didn't know about their past. She slumped for a moment, then sat up, pretending to type a report – really just venting her anger by typing the rudest words she could think of. He knocked and she jumped.
"Come in"
Their eyes met. Their breath caught. They looked away.
"Major Summers, you've been avoiding m- this check up for a while, I notice."
"No. Other doctors as qualified as you were on hand Doctor."
He didn't use her name. Just 'Doctor'… She winced internally, but pressed on. "I need to ask a few questions, please take a seat Major."
He sat, she typed. She brought up his records and skimmed it for the hundredth time. He let his eyes wander and waited like he had practised. The questions were simple. She asked, he answered, nothing more was said.
"Eye test is needed." She read out, and typed. "I'll put it's fine."
"Don't you think you should actually do the test?" He said, his expression vacant, and tone empty.
Jean looked up, eyes flashing with curiosity. "What?"
Scott half smiled and looked up, meeting her eyes. "You should do the test Jean."
Her heart skipped a beat. His smile caught her off guard and the use of her name stunned her. She felt her knees turn to jelly, and she had to fight to stay upright in her seat.
"I can't, I don't have the right equipment.." She murmured. "I tried, but-"
"But you don't need it." Scott finished for her, putting a hand up to his glasses. "You don't read enough."
Jean's breathlessness turned to anger. "I read plenty thank you very much Summers, I'll have you know that- Stop laughing at me!"
His laughter annoyed her further, but the corners of her mouth twitched upward, although she tried to force them down. He stood to match her stance, and put a hand out to brush her arm.
"Jean, look at the picture in my file…"
She glanced down after a second of glaring heatedly at him. He caught her off guard and she gasped. She didn't see, hear or feel him move.
"Your eyes…" She whispered.
"My eyes…" He breathed, his arms sliding around her waist. "Jean…"
Turning in his embrace, she looked into the face of the man she adored. The man she dreamt of. Trembling she took his glasses from his face and finally looked into the eyes of the man. Their depth consumed her, drowned her and brought her back to life. She could see his soul, laid open before her, she could see everything. She could feel his thoughts brushing against hers as his mind was open, shields all gone.
"Scott.."
Holding her close, he gazed into her eyes, finally seeing her in full colour. The woman of his dreams. The woman he loved. He couldn't find words, but he could feel her mind opening, tasting his thoughts after five years of never seeing, contacting one another. He saw her passion rekindle with new intensity, saw life flow into the body that had been void of love. All the barriers were gone in that second.
Hesitantly, their lips met and their eyes closed, sealing the fire into their souls once more.
Miles away, one man smiled. His children finally were happy again. Charles Xavier looked at the two people sat before him. They smiled and knew it had been a success. Working in unison, they had made a bigger change than anyone could have guessed. Working together, they had obtained a dream and created something more fantastical than there had been in millennia throughout the universe. Working together, they had saved a love that would span the ages, dimensions and people that lived. Working together, they had achieved.
Five years have passed, he thought, five years.
Ten, she argued, ten if you include what happened.
I don't, he smiled, I wasn't alive in those years.
Me neither, she agreed, me neither.
In front of them sat their two children, a three year old little girl with red hair and green eyes, and a year old little boy with brown hair and blue eyes. Their legacy, their lives, their love.
Our hopes, our dreams, our deepest prayers. Answered by knowing.
Knowing that Time CAN Heal Everything.
I hope this apology is enough and also you still care :'( I haven't forgotten and I'll try to do the next chapter within the next few weeks – but I have a lot of work to do if I wanna go to University next year (too many essays )
If you liked Kindergarten or Vacation, I've updated those too, so check it out if you have time.
Much luv t' y'all
Summers Groupie
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