Title: You know; you know where you are with.
Author: asitiswhenitwas
Fandom: Astonishing X-Men.
Rating: PG-ish.
Pairing: Scott/Emma.
Disclaimer: Own Nothing.
Note: Takes place between the end of AXM18 and the recently released splash page of AXM19. Quick and dirty because I need to get it up before AXM19 negates it.
Summary: Emma draws Scott onto the astral plane for answers and gets more than she expected.

---

"…astral…" Scott looked around a moment before he was spun around and violently slapped.

"You Bloody Bastard." Emma raised her hand to slap him again.

"Love you too Ems." The second slap was caught, and her hand brought down to his side where he interlaced his fingers with hers. His other hand reached up to brush a few stray hairs from her eyes. "It's still there then?"

"You…" She snapped her head away, and tried to pull her hand from his.

"It won't get the better of you." He squeezed her hand reassuringly, while he ran the backs of his index and middle finger gently along her jaw line. She scoffed, turning her head back to look at him, focusing on his chin.

"Now is the PERFECT time to throw my words back at me… you should have let her kill me!"

"You are aware of it now. You can isolate it…" he forced a half smile trying to catch her eye as she turned her head away from him again.

"Scott…"

"It's just a thought… we'll find a way to remove it."

"Why?" she narrowed her eyes, still unable to meet his gaze.

"Why?" he repeated, unsure what she was asking.

"Why couldn't you have just stayed down… this could have all been…"

"Over?" He finished for her. "Is that what you really want?" He gently placed his hand below her chin and softly raised her face to his.

"I…" her eyes focused on his left ear, not wanting to meet his eyes. "You… you should…"

"It's ok…"

"God… How did… why couldn't you have just let her kill me?" He squeezed her hand gently while wiping a single tear from her cheek.

"Why… there are plenty of reasons. Tactical ethics, utility, understanding you were an innocent. I guess… the main reason why, is also the reason how. Let me show you." His eyes finally locked onto hers as the scene went black.

---

The next moment, Emma found herself gasping for air as she pulled herself to the surface of Jamaica Bay. Kurt reached to stop her as she took a deep breath intending to return to the shuttle wreckage. The sheer venom in her voice surprises even her.

"You stopped me once before, Nightcrawler! Get in my way THIS TIME and I'll KILL YOU!!!" She means every word of it as she struggles to get away from him before seeing the light rise from the water. Zero and one.

---

Another moment and she is deep in the heart of a volcano, she orders Sean and Ororo to help her blast a channel through the molten lava to rescue her other teammates, the horror of the ceiling caving in… the numbness of the aftermath. She forces herself to feel nothing. Hank… Je-- She has five teammates left in her charge, and a long road home. Zero and two.

---

"Maybe I could do it but if I slipped… even for an instant. If I… Failed. If even one more person dies at my hands… it's better this way… Quick. Clean. Final. I love you Scott… A part of me will always be with you."

"Jean no. NO!!!" Frozen in place her scream is raw. Her eyes filled with tears. Her soul shattered by the blinding light. Understanding now, too late, that Jean had planned this from the moment they set foot on the moon. Zero and three.

---

A sharp jolt of pain in her left arm; her single thought BREATHE as she performs mouth to mouth resuscitation. Madelyne's cough is the sweetest sound she has ever heard. Relief washes over her as Maddie weakly says her name. One and three… even the Islanders win a few games.

---

Her eyes open again to flat oppressive lighting; her skin cold… a drawer opens. Uncertainty, indecision, and regret fighting for dominance in her brain… she had come to Alaska find her wife and son, rebuild her life, set things right. Every single trace of their life together, of Madelyne's very existence is gone. Save for the baby's rattle, hidden behind the radiator. Her wife was real, and now she stood in the morgue… looking over a dead body. They killed her wife… and her baby… and it's all her fault. One and four.

---

Christmas Eve; she's walking down Fifth Avenue with her young charges. Years of hatred and fear from normal humans are for the moment gone. She's a hero, a regular media darling; her team the saviors of New York and she is again, reunited with the love of her life. Then in one moment it all falls apart. The news is broadcast on a wall of televisions in a store display.

"A final poignant plea from Madelyne Pryor… the civilian that fought beside the X-men in Dallas today…"

A grainy image… her wife… alive…

"Scotty, wherever you are, I wish you all the best. Find our son. Keep him safe. Raise him well. I love you. Good bye."

Shock. A jolt right to her core. Her wife was alive… her son. Where is her son? Why weren't they together? One and five.

---

"My son. Jean. Madelyne." Little Christopher Charles is finally back in her arms. Jean's gloves wipe the tears from her eyes. Her wife… dead. Jean's words bring her no comfort. She could have been saved. The demon believed that creation wasn't big enough for both Jean and Madelyne. Why wasn't there another way… why did she kill herself…

"Madelyne… I should have saved you…" One and Six.

---

She cradled her second wife in her arms, rocking gently, her voice laced with regret. Her tears unrestrained…

"Jean, I'm so sorry about everything. I… I didn't ever mean to hurt you."

Her eyes closed tightly as Jean made her dying request… this one hit too close to home. One and seven.

---

This time it was different… The sadness was there. It always was… Jean saved them all. They smiled at each other as Jean faded away into her optic blast. She felt an overwhelming feeling of pride. Was there another way this time? She was unsure… One and eight.

---

Emma's eyes snapped open as she and Scott left the astral plane. She was lost in his eyes as all hell broke loose around them. Agents of S.W.O.R.D. were storming the room, weapons drawn, while the rest of their teammates were fighting it out with Danger and Ord.

"Never Again." She all but tackled him, kissing him with a fire and passion that was contrary to her reputation as an ice queen. A fire she'd never known before. A passion she will never give up.

"Never again…" he whispered into her ear as they separated, helping her to her feet. "Come on… we've got work to do." Two and eight.

Let Down.
(Asitiswhenitwas)
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