Chapter 21: End of the Ride

Disclaimer: See previous chapter.

Kurt felt a gentle humming beneath him. He was lying on something smooth and flat, there were blankets laid over him and he could hear voices murmuring somewhere near him.

Shifting slightly he moaned in pain as his shoulder pulsed with pain.

"Kurt?" he heard Kitty's voice and felt her small hand caress his cheek.

He forced his eyes open and saw her worried face hovering over him. He smiled as much as he could, "Hey beautiful."

She giggled and kissed him softly.

"Vhere are we?"

She sat down, hand holding his, "On the X Jet, we got back to Marie's and-"

"How? I mean, how did ve get all the vay back vithout a problem?"

She smiled, "The Professor tricked the humans into not seeing the real you. We said we had been camping near Alkali Lake when the dam broke. With the way we're looking, it wasn't hard to believe."

"So...ve're okay?"

She smiled and nodded before kissing his cheek, "Yes Fuzzy Elf, we're fine." She brushed back his hair gently.

He took a deep breath and released it, finally relaxing, "Danke Gott."

Kitty sighed and rubbed the back of his knuckles with her thumb, "We're flying back to the mansion. The Professor and Ororo are going to Washington to plead our innocence."

"And vhat does that entail?"

She smiled slightly, "They had me sneak into Stryker's offices, luckily he had a house a few miles from the dam, guess he didn't want to be far away from his projects...anyways, I snuck in and found his files. They give us enough proof to be shown as the victims. He's also going to plead against being mutants."

"So, ve're going to have to be extra careful from now on." He squeezed her hand.

"Yep." They were silent for a few minutes.

"Katzchen is there any food in here? I'm starving."

That sufficiently broke the tense atmosphere and Kitty stood to grab some food.

"I love you Kurt." She told him, bringing back a large amount of food.

Kurt sat up with some effort and grinned back, "I love you too my Katzchen."

oOo

"Marie?"

The Goth turned in her seat to see Pietro hovering behind her, looking nervous for some reason.

"Hey Silver." She gave him a smile.

Almost nervously, he sat beside her, but not touching her, "Are you okay?"

She thought the question over, "Yeah, I think I am."

He smiled softly, "Is it safe to kiss you then?"

She giggled and took off her glove to take his hand, feeling no pull from her mutation, "Yeah, it is."

He grinned, "Thank God!" her giggles were cut off by his mouth covering hers and she felt herself ease into a state of bliss.

Logan watched the young couple with an observant eye.

"Logan, honey, it's okay." Ororo's arms came around his shoulders, her head lying on his shoulder.

He sighed, "I know darlin'...it's just hard to see my little girl all grown up."

She kissed his cheek, "I know...but she's got you and two brothers watching out for her, everything's going to be alright."

Logan nodded, "How is the Elf?"

"Doing fine. He's awake and Kitty gave him something to eat. Everything's going to be okay, Logan." She squeezed his shoulders to accent the point.

He turned his head to smile at her. Even covered in grime and with her hair in disarray, she was as beautiful as the day she walked down the aisle.

"I love you, 'Ro."

She blinked away tears, while she knew Logan loved her, he hardly said it, "I love you too." She kissed him softly on the lips, distracting him from further thoughts.

oOo

Hank checked and double checked the tests he'd run on each of the X Men once they were back in the mansion. He'd taken particular care with those who had been captured and tested, but he'd found no anomalies in any of their blood or DNA. Although he'd found it very interesting to study and compare their blood samples. What could he say: he was a scientist at heart.

"Anything Hank?" Charles rolled into the lab in a new wheelchair, appearing exhausted but much more at ease than before.

"Nothing Charles. Everyone is in the clear."

The Professor smiled at his long time friend, "Thank you Hank. I'm going to call the children together and give them all the good news."

"They aren't exactly kids anymore, Charles." Hank reminded him as the elderly mutant started to leave; already knowing all the news that was going to be bestowed upon the students.

Charles stopped in the doorway, and without turning replied to the mansion's other blue mutant.

"I know."

oOo

The X Men got together in the Professor's study, all looking exhausted and worn out; still without sleep from worry over what the future held.

Charles gave them all a smile, "The President has revoked all charges against us, and we are free of enquiry on being mutants."

He had expected them to cheer but instead he got an entirely different reaction.

Kurt toppled over and fell asleep with his head pillowed on Kitty's lap, Marie stretched out over Pietro and Evan who leaned on the people beside them, Wanda leaning against Pietro in turn and Kitty leaning against Evan. Ororo dropped onto Logan's lap in an arm chair while Jean mirrored her actions on the other side of the room with Scott and in several seconds everyone was fast asleep.

"Well..." the Professor was without words and instead shook his head in amazement and chuckled to himself before rolling out of the study.

It was about time the roller coaster they'd been on stopped.

oOo

IMPORTANT A/N: And we have come to the end of the sequel. I hope you guys enjoyed it. But now, I have some sad news for you so I hope you're reading this.

I am taking a break from writing X Men fanfiction. My interests have changed over the last year or so and what once interested me doesn't really anymore. So, while I am going to try and finish all the stories I have going now, don't expect anything new.

However, I will still enjoy reading every single review I get from you, my lovely readers. As some of you have been with me since I started writing over two years ago, I thank you. You have kept me going through good times and bad and I hold you all in a special place in my heart.

And so, in this aptly named chapter, I bid you adieu.

Love Shadow