A/N: So I wanted to end this story on an XXX (for X-Men, you know?) But I'm going to have to be content with an XXXI. I am so sorry this took so long, but it took forever to come up with an ending I was satisfied with.

Chapter XXXI

I hadn't realized Peter was following us until we got to Professor Logan's room. He took my arm gently, and I looked up at him.

"Whatever you're thinking of doing . . . don't do it," he said in his deep, quiet voice.

"She has to be stopped, Peter," I said quietly, pulling my arm away from his grasp and nodding to Jimmy. He opened the door slowly and we crept inside. Jimmy saw her first and stopped short. I almost ran into him, but stopped myself just in time. Peter bumped against me gently, but I grabbed onto Jimmy's shoulders to steady myself.

There was Emma Frost, lying on the bed. I don't know how she hadn't been discovered yet, but I guessed Professor Logan had been out on assignment or something. It was the only thing that made sense. I wanted to run over and choke her out right then and there. But I knew the minute I touched her that she'd be right back in her body, and I knew she was more experienced at fighting than I was. I nodded to Jimmy and Peter. "Tie her up with the sheets. Jimmy, make sure you stand right next to her," I said softly.

Peter hesitated, but then he sighed and moved forward with Jimmy to make sure she was secure. The moment he tightened the strips of sheet around her wrists, Emma's eyes opened.

"You fools!" she snapped, and she seemed to be trying to do something. But Jimmy was beside her, keeping her from using her powers.

"What did you do to me?" she demanded angrily.

"You're powerless, Emma," I said flatly. "Now you know what it feels like."

The woman tried to sit up, but Peter put a firm hand on her shoulder, forcing her back. "What are you going to do? Call your precious professors and get me locked up? Like a cell could hold me." She laughed.

"Actually, I was thinking of something more permanent. Like death," I said casually, and every glass thing around me began to shake and shiver.

Peter straightened. "Madi," he said in a warning tone, but I barely heard him. I was focused on Emma. I was out of range of Jimmy's power. I could do this. I was going to do this. She deserved it.

The glass windows began to squeak and then to shriek, shattering into a thousand shards. I guided them over to Emma, hovering them over her body. "You made me do things . . ." I said angrily.

"Oh, don't pretend like you didn't want to screw that Pyro boy anyway," Emma said with a laugh. "Besides, that was nothing compared to what I planned on doing." She smirked, obviously confident that I wasn't going to hurt her.

"Shut up!" I cried, hurling the shards at Emma.

But before they could make contact, Peter came barreling towards me. He grabbed me around the waist and picked me up. I was so startled that I lost my concentration, and the shards rained down harmlessly around Emma. Well, a few cut her, but I didn't have time to feel the satisfaction of that.

"Madi, Madi look at me. Look at what you're doing! You're not a murderer," Peter said, shaking me some, as he held me up, looking into my eyes. "I know you've been different lately, but deep down it's always been you. That girl who first came to this school, all quiet and shy and blaming herself for things that weren't her fault. That girl who made friends with kids who were outcasts even in their own species. That girl who found the courage to speak and let people in, even when she was afraid to. That girl who was compassionate and loving and beautiful. That's the girl I fell in love with. And that's the girl I know you want to be again."

I couldn't do anything but stare at him. It wasn't like Peter to speak so much or so emphatically. But each of his words were hitting home, and I could feel myself starting to react to his words. To calm down. He was in love with me. I thought Emma had ruined it with John, but she hadn't. He still loved me. He had always loved me. I remembered that now. The red haze was starting to fade, and I felt my body relax.

I was about to melt into his arms, when I noticed Emma had cut through her restraints with one of my shards. She had her arm around Jimmy, holding his mouth closed with one hand, and her other hand was poised to strike the shard into his neck. She gave me a smirk, and the shard descended.

"NO!" I screamed, as the glass plunged into his neck.

I don't remember much of what happened after that. I remember seeing red. I remember Peter yelling my name, but even though he was right beside me, I couldn't hear him. All I could focus on was the blood spurting from Jimmy's neck, his eyes wide with pain, as he slid to the floor.

Then the world exploded.

Every single glass thing around me shattered. I could feel the entire mansion shaking beneath me, above me, surrounding me. I could feel every single piece of glass in the whole building disassemble. And I called them to me.

I called every single one of those shards and watched through the red as they obeyed my command. There was only one command.

Kill Emma Frost.

I could see her face, drawing closer and closer. The fear on it, as I cut her to pieces. Every single part of me tearing into her until the body was unrecognizable as it dropped to the ground. But I didn't care. I stood there, staring impassively. I didn't feel a thing. Not a single thing. I had failed. Jimmy was dead, and it was my fault. Someone I loved was dead, again because of me. I felt Peter's arms go around me. I remember wondering if my glass shards had hurt anyone else. But how could I have? I only wanted to hurt one person. Emma. So I had. My legs gave out beneath me, and the world grew dark.

000000

When I opened my eyes again, there were several faces above me, looking down in concern. I saw Artie, and Jones. Peter. Kitty was there, and even Bobby, though Rogue held his hand possessively. I didn't even care. To be honest, in that moment I didn't care about any of them.

"Jimmy," I said softly, knowing he was dead. How could he not be dead?

Peter shushed me gently and stroked my hair back from my scarred face. Did he really think I was beautiful? Or had I dreamed that part? Everything was a blur.

"How are you feeling?" Kitty asked me, stroking my fingers.

"Where's Jimmy?" I asked, moving to sit up. Or I tried to anyway. A splitting pain shot through my head, and I fell back against the pillows with a soft cry. I was in the hospital wing, I noticed then. "What's going on?"

"You were out for a week," Jones said solemnly, staring at me with eyes wide behind his glasses.

"A week?" That didn't seem possible. A week was too long. I had been trained under Magneto. I knew how to control my powers. At least I knew enough not to let it incapacitate me. But then I remember. I hadn't just shattered every piece of glass at Xavier's and used it to kill Emma. I had been the glass. That was something I'd never experienced before, and I shivered at the thought of it.

Artie's small hand took mine, only I realized that it wasn't so small anymore. He was almost eleven now. He was growing up. Did he even need me anymore? Maybe it was better if he didn't.

"We were afraid you weren't coming back," Artie said, his voice breaking on his words.

"Where's Jimmy?" I asked again, not liking how they weren't answering my questions. I swallowed hard. "Is he . . ." I couldn't bring myself to say the word out loud.

"He's not dead," Kitty said quickly. "But . . . he's in pretty bad shape. His spinal cord was badly damaged when Emma stabbed him. Thankfully she missed the jugular, by a few centimeters. But . . . right now he's paralyzed from the neck down. We're not sure if he will ever regain full use of his body. Everyone is doing everything they can though. There might be a mutant that can save him. We're looking . . ."

"I want to see him," I said, struggling to sit up again, slower this time. There was pain, but not as much. Kitty looked about to protest, but Peter held up his hand.

"I'll take her," he said softly, and he lifted me up into his arms.

Jimmy was lying in a bed in his own room, staring up at the ceiling. As we drew nearer, I could feel my connection to the glass in the room weaken. They had replaced some things, though most of the windows were still covered with cardboard.

He turned his head ever so slightly toward us and smiled slightly.

"You're okay," he said, his voice raspy. I tried to hold back the tears as Peter gently set me on the bed facing Jimmy.

"You're alive," I said softly in return, reaching out and grasping his hand. Even though I knew he couldn't hold it back. I gave it a gentle squeeze anyway. Peter laid his giant hand on top of both of ours. We both looked at him.

"We're all alive. And we're going to be okay," he said firmly, but he was looking at me when he said it. And for the first time in a long time, I believed it. I didn't have to be broken anymore. I could be whole. And for once in my life, I felt hope.

A/N: Well, that's all folks! I'm sorry it took me so long to finish up, but I hope you liked the ending. I know you're probably wondering what's going to happen with Jimmy and John and Madi and Peter, and well . . . I kind of have an idea for a short story sequel. It will probably be between 5 and 10 chapters long, because I have several other projects going on right now. But I know that there are still questions that need to be answered, so I'll do my best. :) Let me know what you thought of this finale! (And if you think I should write the short story or not . . .)

"See you in another life, eh brotha?"