Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men Marvel does.

Copyright: I own Jarek and Andrea so if you wish to use them please ask me.

Loneliness

It had been more than a year since Jarek had left the X-Men and his friends. He had left he had thought in order to keep them safe but he had been wondering if he hadn't left for another reason. A selfish reason. Jarek was wondering if he had left because he had been afraid of the feelings that he was starting to experience. They were things that he hadn't felt in so long that they were foreign to him and they had made him uncomfortable.

Jarek also knew that he missed them all but he knew that he could never go back and tell them that he had been wrong to leave. Jarek had heard in the time that he had been away that the X-Men had had many more battles with Magneto as well as some other powerful mutants and Jarek wished that he had been there to help his friends out. He wondered if Kitty and the others were X-Men now or if they were still taking classes the latter is what he guessed they were still doing.

As these thoughts coursed through his mind a man walked into his room and stood there just looking at Jarek. Jarek shook his head for the man was just a human but one who thought that he was important. He wasn't but that didn't seem to matter to him because he never acted like he was insignificant.

"You are to report to the arena for the fight Jarek. You will be paired with Silver again so you won't have to worry about someone turning on you it seems," the man said formally though with a small smile playing about the corners of his mouth. Everyone knew that a few of Jarek's partners had turned on him in the arena because they had been paid a large amount of money to make sure that he was killed.

"I'll be there," was all Jarek said and the tone of voice he used left no room for the little man to stay and say another word.

The man left the room and Jarek looked at himself in the mirror. He hadn't changed a bit really except that his mutation had changed. He no longer was able to control light like he had that last fight he had had with the group of mutants led by the man named Sinister. He as back to the way that he was when he had first went to the X-Men except that he was still able to manipulate shadows a little bit.

Jarek knew that his mutation mutated at certain times but the powers that it gave once in a while only worked for a short while. Jarek looked at himself again saw someone that he didn't like. He was tired of what he was and yet it was all that he knew. He was a killer and that was just the way it was. He would never be able to change and yet that wasn't true either. Kitty had started to change him but then he had left and he now found himself wishing that she were near.

Jarek heard the door open but before that he smelled Sliver outside the door. He turned as the door opened and she walked into the room wearing her silver outfit with her silver hair spilling down over her shoulders. She had blue eyes and was tall standing six foot even which still made her shorter than Jarek by a few inches. She looked at him and smiled.

Jarek couldn't bring himself to smile back though. "What's wrong Jarek I have never seen you like this," Silver asked worriedly as she stepped in close to him.

Jarek shook his head and said, "Just thinking about the past and wishing how I could change things but knowing that even if I could I probably wouldn't."

"What kind of things. Will you tell me a bit about your past now my friend . Perhaps if you speak about it the hurt will lesson," Silver said as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

He looked at her and she could see the pain in his eyes which was something that she had never seen. She knew that Jarek never shoed pain and yet she could see it in his eyes and she wondered what it was that could make him show his pain for once.

Jarek sighed and he felt that he needed to tell someone. He looked at her and moved away from her to sit on the bed. He said then, "Do you remember the girl Kitty that I told you about and the school that I told you about."

"Yeah I do. It is about all that you have ever talked about from your past," Silver said and that was true. He had talked about that place and especially Kitty a lot and Silver wondered who this Kitty was that had made such an impression on Jarek.

"Well I have been thinking about her and that school a lot lately and the more I think about it the more I wish that I had never left," Jarek said as he hung his head.

Silver had never seen him like this and it made her nervous. She didn't want him like that before a major fight since it could cost her and him their lives. "Well why did you leave Jarek," she asked politely.

"I left because I felt that it was the best way to keep them all safe. It had seemed to me that they were in trouble because of me and the enemies that I had. My sister and Kitty and her friends were always in trouble it seemed due to me and so I left in order to keep them safe," Jarek said sternly as if trying to convince himself.

"It would seem to me Jarek that if that was true then I should have been in trouble for being your friend and I have never had anyone try to hurt me for that reason. Jarek I think that if your enemies had tried to hurt them to get to you then since you haven't been there for a while then maybe they wouldn't if you went back now," Silver said but she knew something else and she was going to tell Jarek just to make him see it since it seemed to her that he was too foolish to see it for himself.

"Tell me about this Kitty person Jarek. I know that she is a big part of why you want to return," Silver said trying to hide a smile and knowing that she was doing a decent job of it or at least she hoped that she was.

Jarek looked at her and saw her lips twitch in what would have been a smile had she not caught herself. "Well Kitty was the first girl that I ever truly liked Silver. She is kind and gentle which is something that is completely opposite from me. Kitty is the only thing in my life besides my sister that had brightened my life," Jarek said and meant what he said about Kitty. She was the most amazing girl that he had ever known.

Silver knew then at that moment that she had been right. Jarek loved the girl Kitty and he was regretting leaving her or at least missing her which she figured was something that he wasn't used to. Silver looked at Jarek and had seen the way his eyes lit up when he talked about Kitty. His eyes always lit up whenever he spoke about his sister or Kitty. She figured that it was love that made his eyes light up though he seemed to glow most when he spoke about Kitty. She noticed as well that he seemed to care a great deal about the X-Men since he called them his only friends besides her.

Jarek looked at Silver and dreaded what he was going to tell her but he knew that he had to tell her for he had made up his mind. "Silver I have to tell you something. This fight shall be my last. I am going to quit fighting. You are welcome to leave with me if you wish," Jarek said slowly hoping that she wouldn't get angry with him. That was funny Jarek thought because most of the time he didn't care what anyone thought or the way that they acted.

Silver couldn't believe what she had just heard. Jarek had just old her that he was going to quit. She wouldn't have been more stunned had he told her that he was going to die in a day. She had never thought that he would quit! It was unthinkable. She loved him like a brother but she didn't know what she would do without him there and then the rest of what he had said sank in. He had invited her to go with him and she seriously wanted to but she couldn't.

She looked at Jarek sadly and said, "I would love to go with you Jarek but I am under contract. Remember that I joined this for the sole reason that I needed money and they made me sign a contract. I still have a full year on that contract and the only way that I can be freed from it is if I buy the rest of it out. I don't have that kind of money."

Jarek gave his half-smile that she had come to accept as a part of him and he said, If you want to go with me just say so. I will take care of the rest my friend"

"I would like to go with you but where will we go. Will we go to the school that you talk about where the X-Men are," Silver asked a bit excited. She was only eighteen and she had dropped out of school because of her powers. She wanted to finish school and graduate but she knew that she couldn't go back to a high school anywhere.

"I will take care of it and as for where we will go who knows. I don't intend to go back there unless I need to," Jarek said and her spirits fell. Jarek could tell that she had been hoping that they would go there but he just couldn't bring himself to go there at least not yet.

Jarek felt protective of her ever since that day a few months ago when she had been assigned as his new partner. He had known then that she was young and inexperienced in the way of combat but he knew that she had taken to this instead of prostitution. He was glad that she had chosen gladiator fights instead. She hadn't been able to kill her opponent and so Jarek had killed him for her. He had never let her kill a man yet and he was going to start because he didn't want her to lose her innocence.

"I have to get to the arena so I will see you there Jarek. Don't be late though ok," Silver said as she headed for the door. Jarek couldn't help but watch the sway of her hips but he never made a comment and even though Silver knew he watched she was grateful that he was happy to just be her friend.

Jarek looked at himself in the mirror one last time and said to his reflection, "This shall be the last battle that they see of me. I am tired of other gladiators who are supposed to be my companions turning on me in the middle of a fight. I am tired of the assassins coming after me and so this shall be my last!" Jarek then punched the mirror and the glass cut his hand which healed. The glass shattered and he stood up and picked up a little pewter figurine of a wolf that was hand painted. He had had it put on a chain and then he had worn it every day almost all the time. He now put that on and said quitely, "I told you Kitty that I would cherish this forever and I have." He left the room then without putting on the uniform that they had given him to fight in.

Jarek stood in the arena with Silver at his side. The arena was at one time an indoor track field but when it was bought by the man who now owned it he decided to make it into a underground fighting ring. He also decided that he would allow mutants to fight each other and that way they would seem accepted by him when in actuality they were killing each other which he was only too happy to endorse

There were thousands of people gathered as there always was. The people liked to watch mutants fight each other as long as they knew that they wouldn't get caught in the crossfire of the powers. They found it amazing to see the different array of powers put to use for something besides trying to kill the human race.

Jarek shook his head in sadness. People would always be the way that they were. They would try to kill off anything that was different than they were and that way they could ensure that they were the dominant race. Jarek would have liked to not have fought the last fight but he would for Silver's sake since she would get hurt if he didn't fight. They had warned him of that once and he would never allow her to get hurt because of him.

"Well how does it feel to know that this will be your last fight Jarek. Are you excited," Silver asked as she smiled across at him from where she was standing with her legs spaced for balance in case their opponents came out and attacked without being announced. Jarek was glad to see that she was learning how to fight since he wouldn't always be around to keep her safe.

"I don't feel any different now than at any other time I fight. To do so would be foolish since it would make me anxious to win and that is something that I can't have. If you act that way then you will make a mistake and I can't afford that," Jarek said using his logic. He felt that most things were a weakness when it came to a fight and that they all would cost him a fight when sometimes even he knew a little emotion was a good thing in a fight since it would carry a person farther than any other thing in the world.

"You take all the fun out of everything," Silver said though she was still smiling because she was used to the way Jarek was.

Jarek turned to find the man that he needed to talk to and found him sitting in what was known as the box. It was there that the most important people sat and watched with the owner and the man who was the one who made up contracts and other such things. The owner did nothing but own the arena the other man was the one who had everyone's contract and he was the one that Jarek needed to speak to.

Jarek walked over to the box because it was at ground level and he stood in front of the man. The man looked up and Jarek gave his half-smile to Aaron which was the name of the man who he needed to talk to. "Aaron I need to speak to you right now," Jarek demanded.

"What do you need," Aaron asked innocently.

"I want to buy out the rest of Silver's contract. I don't care how much it is I want to buy her out so that she can leave this place with me after this fight. In case you didn't get the hint I am leaving after this fight. It will be my last one," Jarek said to the man.

"Hmmm well Jarek it will cost you five million dollars and one other thing," Aaron said smiling as his eyes glinted.

"What," Jarek demanded.

"You will need to fight this last fight on your own. Silver will sit here in the box with me. After that then you will have to fight one more person of my choosing," Aaron said happily.

"I will fight anyone but Silver," Jarek said as his eyes clouded in suppressed anger.

"Don't worry I had someone else in mind Jarek now go run along and tell Silver that she needs to come in here and sit with us," Aaron said as he gestured for Jarek to go get her.

Jarek walked back over to his friend Silver and explained to her what she had to do and what he had to do. "Don't do it Jarek because he is setting you up for your own death!" Silver exclaimed after he was done.

"I know but I don't plan on dying anytime soon. Now please go do that because it is the only chance that I am going to get to free you from your contract," Jarek said with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"I will just because you asked me that is the only reason," Silver said as she sauntered across the open ground to where the box was. Jarek saw them open the door and let her in and then shut and lock it again. Jarek wished that she hadn't had to go in there but he knew that there was no other way.

Jarek turned and waited for his opponents then. It was at that time that he heard the announcer. Jarek hated the announcer and wished that the man would just go home or something but he knew that the man wouldn't. The announcer said loudly over the speakers so that everyone could hear, "Ladies and Gentlemen we have our second to final bout of the evening. It is not what was on the schedule however for the stakes of this bout have been changed. Now instead of Silver and Jarek fighting as a team against the Rage Boys it will just Jarek." At that statement the crowd went wild. There was nothing that they liked more than to see one man take on two especially if that one man was Jarek. Many of them had lost a lot of money because of Jarek when they bet against him.

"The fight will be to the death. And if Jarek wins then he must fight one more fight and his opponent will be one of our esteemed leader's choosing," the crowd roared again. Jarek didn't much care for his opponents had walked into the arena. They were small men and Jarek didn't think that they would be too much trouble at least physically.

"Now if Jarek wins both fights then he and Silver are free of their contracts and are allowed to leave the arena, those are the conditions of the fights," the announcer finished to major booing from the crowd. They didn't want to see Jarek and Silver leave because they liked them as a team. The men loved to watch Silver because she was so beautiful and she wore such a tight uniform.

"Let the fight commence!!" the announcer shouted into the speakers and the crowd roared their approval. The two men separated so that Jarek couldn't kill them both too easy. The one on Jarek's left moved in slowly and Jarek spun towards him and charged taking the man by surprise. Jarek came in with a punch right to the face at a full run. The man staggered back and fell down and Jarek kept on running past the man. He stopped and turned then so that he could see where the other one was. The other man had been chasing Jarek and stopped to help his friend up. Jarek shook his head at the rookie mistake and knew that it wouldn't take much to kill the two of them.

"Just give up," Jarek said as he moved towards them.

"I don't think so boy," one of the men said, a man with red hair and a beard. The man smiled as Jarek was hit full force by a blast of air that sent him hurtling through the air and hit the glass that surrounded the arena. The glass didn't break since it was a special form of plexiglass.

Jarek felt the air leave his lings in a rush and he slowly rose trying to draw a breath. The man who had hit him just smiled. Jarek wasn't happy about that he had been taken by surprise. He glared at the men who just smiled at him as the other man who had black hair grew about four feet so that he as standing more than ten feet tall. Jarek shook his head and knew that this wasn't going to be as easy as he had hoped. Jarek created his swords of light and the crowd roared since they knew that there would be a lot of blood when he used those.

Jarek started forward and probed in front of him with his own power. It allowed him to feel things in the air that shouldn't be there and to manipulate air slightly but not overly much. Jarek felt the air shift off to his left and so he dove right just as another blast of air whistled over him. Jarek came up running and went straight for the red haired man.

Jarek slid on his knees as he came in close to the red-haired man and slashed with his swords. The swords cut through the man's legs and he collapsed to the ground screaming but his screams were drowned by the roar of the crowd. Jarek felt something hit him in the back then and he flew forward and rolled a few times until he came up against the glass.

As Jarek stood up blood flowed down his face and stung his eye. He blinked his eye to clear the blood from it and saw the other man starting towards him. The man was tough Jarek had to give him that but Jarek was fast and he charged forward again. As the man swung his tree like arm Jarek brought one of his blades up and the man's arm was sliced off at the elbow.

He brought his ruined arm to his chest and held it as the blood flowed down his chest and he screamed as well. "This was easier than I thought," Jarek said as he started forward and stabbed the man in the leg and as the man fell Jarek finished him with a quick slash across his throat.

Jarek walked over to the other man and stabbed him through the chest to end his pain. Jarek looked around then and saw that the crowd had fallen silent and that Aaron was coming out of the box and out into the arena. He had on a uniform of pure blood red except for his top which had no sleeves and was more of a light red than the rest of his uniform.

* * * * *

Silver watched and was again amazed by how effortless Jarek made the fight seem. He was a true master she knew and she wished that she could fight as well as him. One day maybe she thought that she would be that good but it was a long way off. As Jarek was killing the men Silver asked Aaron, "Who are you going to have him fight next?"

Aaron was watching the fight and it took a moment for him to realize that Silver had spoken to him. He turned to look at her and wondered why she was still single. She was extremely beautiful and he wondered if her and Jarek were an item. If they were he was going to feel bad about what he was going to do to Jarek. He smiled sweetly at her as he answered, "Why he is going to fight someone who is undefeated in this arena."

Silver frowned at that because the only person that she knew besides Jarek who had been undefeated in the arena was a man named Haze and then he had retired and never been seen or heard from again. She wondered where he had found the man and what he looked like. "Well who is it and where is he," she prompted.

"You are looking at him Silver," Aaron said coolly as he gazed at her with an intense longing in his eyes that made Silver very uncomfortable.

"You mean that you are Haze," she asked and her voice shook because it was said that Haze was the best period. No one had ever come close to beating him and he had went more than two hundred fights without a loss.

"That is correct Silver. It seems that my fame precedes me," he said smiling again.

"Why do you want to fight Jarek," she asked fearing the answer.

"Because he is the only fighter who has ever come close to my record. In his time here he has fought in more than 150 fights and has won them all. I tried to have teammates turn on him and kill him and I tried an assassin as well as picking some of the better fighters for him to fight but he beat them all. I need him to die to cement my place in history," Aaron said to her.

"You have been the one trying to kill him all this time just because he was nearing your record," she asked dismayed.

"That is right and now if you will excuse me I have a fight to do," he said as he stood up and walked from the box and she noticed that his cloths shimmered and he was wearing blood red from head to toe except for his top which was a lighter shade of red. She hoped that Jarek could beat him because she knew that Aaron would never back out of the deal now. She had been tempted to ask but she knew when he had said who he was and why he wanted to fight that there was no way that he would back out of the deal and let her keep her contract and let Jarek go.

"Please win Jarek. I couldn't stand to lose you," she whispered though no one could have heard her. It was meant for her and her alone. She didn't want anyone to know just how much Jarek meant to her.

* * * * *

"Jarek your final fight shall be against me. I will kill you just so you know and you may call me haze," Aaron said smiling at Jarek.

Jarek could tell that Aaron was waiting for Jarek to be either impressed or scared and Jarek was neither. Jarek had fought Sabretooth and this Haze wasn't going to scare him at all. "Why do you want to fight me," Jarek asked quietly while the crowd was silent.

"It is simple. I want you do die because you are nearing my record. I can't let you take away my glory and so I feel that I had to deal with you personally. I tried other ways but you avoided all my obstacles that I had set for you," Haze said as his eyes hardened and his voice held a hint of anger.

"Well let's get this over with shall we," Jarek said pleasantly and he smiled at Haze who just growled and launched himself forward at Jarek.

The crowd erupted when Haze threw himself forward. "The final fight is between our champion Jarek and the greatest warrior we have ever known Haze," The announcer cried into the mirophone as the fight commenced.

Jarek sidestepped the punch that Haze threw and Jarek backed off smiling the whole while. Haze turned around and smiled at him and said, "This will be fun. I never had anyone who was my match."

As Jarek watched Haze created himself a sword out of pure heat which shimmered like a mirage. Jarek guessed that was where he got his name from. The way it looked was like a haze and Jarek didn't much relish the idea of getting hit with that blade.

Haze stalked forward and swung his blade in a wide arc that Jarek just ducked. Haze was faster than he had let on and had nearly taken Jarek by surprise. Jarek created a sword of white light just to be different from Haze's sword of red heat. Haze brought his sword up in a blinding arc from his kneeling position. Jarek flung his sword down and as the swords hit sparks flew from them. The two men backed off and circled each other.

The crowd roared their approval at seeing the great Haze come out of retirement to destroy the upstart Jarek. Not many of the spectators liked Jarek for how quick his bouts were. They liked to see lots of blood and liked to have the gladiator pose for them and other such things.

The two men rushed each other and fought back and forth across the ground and each of them couldn't break the defense of the other. Jarek was truly impressed with Haze. Jarek had never met anyone who could match him with a sword and it was quite fun to fight someone who was good.

Haze rushed forward and Jarek braced himself for a charge but Haze pulled up and kicked sand from the ground up into Jarek's face. Jarek fell back and let his sword down so that he could rub his eyes. It was at that time he felt a blinding slash across his chest and his shirt fell away in tatters as it caught fire.

The sand fell out of his eyes then and he looked down at his chest and saw the cut which had been cauterized. He had bleed only a little but it hurt a bit. That and the skin around the wound was red and sore as well as covered in angry blisters from the heat of the blade.

"You are too stupid to beat me," Haze boasted.

Jarek didn't reply he never did. Jarek recreated his sword and stalked forward. Haze swung low hoping to get a leg but Jarek picked up the leg that was forward and slashed with his own blade at Haze's face. Haze fell back just before the blade would have cut into his face.

Haze swung his blade down in a cross cut and Jarek blocked that swing with his own blade and shoved Haze back because Haze was the smaller of the two. Jarek pressed the attack and swung first low and when Haze leapt back Jarek continued his swing changing it's course to bring it straight up as he stepped forward. Haze fell back as his feet came out from under him but as he did his arm changed shape. His arm changed into living steel and formed a blade where his arm had been a moment before.

As Jarek had pressed forward with his attack and Haze fell back Jarek felt the blade that was an arm cut into his side. Jarek reached down and tore the blade from his side and his blood splattered Haze and the ground while the crowd roared its approval. They had rarely seen Jarek's blood and it always seemed to make them happy when they did.

Jarek hated losing and he felt that he was losing this fight. Of course that last cut that he took was not from how good Haze was it was because he was lucky. Haze picked himself up off the ground and licked Jarek's blood from his lips. "It tastes good you know, your blood," Haze yelled out to the crowd who howled their own bloodlust.

Jarek launched himself forward as he created his second sword this one of blue light. Jarek swung his first low and it was blocked and he swung his second sword in an overhand cut for Haze's head which was blocked on his arm which surprised Jarek a little. His blades usually cut through most anything.

Haze kicked out a straight kick that caught Jarek in the chest and sent him tumbling back. Jarek picked himself up and rolled to the side as the sword of heat slammed into the ground where he had been a moment before. Jarek charged while Haze was recovering and swung his sword which caught Haze on the shoulder and nearly made it useless. As Jarek was ready to press his attack he heard a voice in his head that he recognized, "Jarek you need to return to the school. We need to speak to you."

The voice distracted Jarek and he took both of the blades in the chest. Jarek just knew that he was getting beat badly now as Haze withdrew his blades and smiled at him as he turned his back on Jarek who fell to his knees with his blood flowing from his wounds. "Jarek what is wrong," the professor asked in his head concerned.

"I am in the middle of a fight professor and you might have just cost me my life. That last pair of wounds took a lot out of me," Jarek replied in his head.

"I'm so sorry Jarek I didn't realize. I just wanted to tell you that we need you to come back to the school please," the professor repeated hoping Jarek would return.

"If I live then I will come back professor but I am bringing a friend with me," Jarek said as he winced inwardly at the pain in his chest. He never showed how much his wounds hurt but he couldn't help it not to the professor who was in his head.

"Thank you Jarek I shall tell everyone that you are coming back. We shall see you in a while," Xavier said with a voice that held warmth and Jarek couldn't hardly believe it.

Jarek was back to the fight now and he saw Haze standing in front of him smiling at him. "You put up quite the fight Jarek but I think that I need to finish you now. Oh by the way Silver will make an excellent mistress I think," Haze said as he chuckled in Jarek's face.

Instead of trying to cut off Jarek's head like Jarek had expected Haze kicked out for Jarek's face with a straight forward kick. He wanted to punish and humiliate Jarek some more but when he had told Jarek what he had planned with Silver that was a mistake. It had made Jarek want to kill him at any cost and that was exactly what he was going to do now.

Jarek caught his leg on his shoulder and stood up quickly and then brought his hands down on the knee shattering the leg. As Haze screamed in pain Jarek kicked out with his left leg and caught Haze in the other knee and Haze dropped to the ground with two broken legs. Jarek was still holding his leg as he leaned forward so that their faces were inches apart. Jarek smiled into his face then and said, "You lose." Jarek then punched Haze in the throat and crushed it killing him in an instant.

The crowd was silent as Silver ran out of the box over to Jarek and caught him before he fell. She looked concerned but Jarek didn't comment on it to her. He just let her hold him on his feet and he looked at her glad that she was free. "Are you alright Jarek," she asked concern dripping from her words. Jarek couldn't help but smile at her for caring so much.

"I'm just fine. The worst of the wounds will be healed before too long it is just that the loss of blood was taking it's toll on me and I wanted to lure him into a false sense of confidence which seemed to work," Jarek said smiling at her. That statement wasn't entirely false because Jarek had guessed that his confidence was the only way that he could win and then the professor gave him the perfect reason to leave the fight for a short while and make Haze think that he was beaten.

"Well let's get you out of here because we are free. I think that we should go to L.A. or somewhere don't you," Silver said though she really wanted to go to that school that he was always talking about.

"Well Silver get your stuff ready because we are going to Westchester New York. I have to return to the school as I have been asked. You will get to see the place that you want to Silver and I hope that it lives up to your expectations," Jarek said quietly as she helped him from the arena.

She didn't let it show but she was extremely happy. She wouldn't let it show though even though she was sure that Jarek could tell that she was excited. Jarek smiled at her and she knew that she was going to be happy at this school if the people were as nice as he said that they were. She would have a home again and it would be great.