We're in the lab with Jean and Beast, assessing Colbur....
Jean: "Petrified completely through..."
Beast: "It is at once tragic and fascinating."
Jean is also a mix of scientific intrigue and emotional disturbance; seemingly more on the later side than Beast. "There was nothing left for Leech's powers to act upon."
We next join Xavier in his office, in the middle of a conversation with someone: "...It is my belief the young man chose to cling to the possible hope that it would be alright on the other side, than face a sure pain. His choice over someone else's, or lack thereof." He sighs for the loss of Colbur.
Across his desk sitting opposite him, his female guest speaks: "We hope trauma and tragedy will never touch our children. But it's a pointless hope. It always does."
"Coming at a time when I'm sure most thought the trauma behind them, I thought they could benefit from an expert listening ear. You come with a recommendation from one of my most trusted."
We don't see to whom he is speaking, only their ivory lips turning up in a smile.
Their arrangement made, the blonde stranger in white exits his office, crossing paths with Scott not far outside.
"It's agreeable to see you again, Scott."
Scott responds with a nod, "Emma."
Emma Frost was to be in 'X3: Unwritten' as an emotion-manipulating empath.
My own idea extending from that has her as a therapist who secretly uses her powers
in session, and one Scott went to following Jean's death. Emma found she couldn't manipulate (access) any of Scott's emotions, however. It left an impression! ~Tra
"Though the circumstances are anything else. Your professor was just bringing me up to date; I heard about your brother."
Scott bows his head.
"I'll be making myself available to everyone who wants to talk through this." She touches his chest, adding a quiet "don't be a stranger," before walking by.
Scott lingers momentarily before heading into Xavier's office.
Xavier has wheeled out from behind his desk, and when Scott stops, he takes him by the arm. "To see you well, my friend," Xavier's other hand meets his first in an affectionate hold.
Scott appreciates this. "Well enough."
"It will forever be my regret," he lowers one of his hands, "not to have brought Leech in time for Alex. If I had the power, I would reverse that lose."
Scott's head bows again.
"You have energy yet to recoup," Xavier moves on, bringing his other hand down, "but I wonder if you might be up to a small task. There is another who would benefit from seeing you. While things aren't yet over, it is my opinion it would be best to have her join us now, than when all of this is through and others are trying to move past it."
We're in Holo's room now, where she's been moved just before her psychic sleep was lifted....She wakes, looking like one does when they have a dream so real, their mind needs a minute to remind itself what actually is.
She gets out of bed.
Down the hallway from her room, Scott is occupying himself while he waits by looking at a painting on the wall; he's not really taking it in. His attention lowers from it just ahead of hearing Holo's door opening.
Coming out, she's a little surprised when she spots him: "Professor Summers?"
Scott's turned to her, he manages a small smile. "Hello, Holo."
Uncertainly, she steps towards him, with a glance back towards her room. Aware of the time of day it is, and vaguely that it's not the same day she last remembers, Holo questions: "Was I just sick?"
"Not you."
"So that wasn't a dream..."
"Unfortunately no, but we're almost all through it."
"I feel kind of, strange too, though?"
"Your body hasn't been doing things like normal for a little while. That feeling won't stay for long."
Holo nods at this. "So everyone's alright?"
Scott hesitates. "Nearly -Thanks to a new kid called Leech, and Jean and Beast's work."
While Holo seems a little interested by that latter stuff, she more stares at Scott with a look of comprehending concern at his hesitation. She doesn't question. It's hard to say for whose benefit she made that choice. Instead she states, shifting kind of shyly: "Well it's good you are."
A little smile again; he's alright as much as she needs to know, anyway. "Your sister knew they were waking you up, she should be here now."
Holo nods, and goes with Scott towards the foyer. "Can Dr. Grey and Professor Xavier put people to sleep like that anytime they want? I mean they want, without the people knowing anything about it?"
Scott considers his answer. "Yes. But they would never do that unless they had to."
"I'm glad they don't do stuff with their powers just because they can."
It comes to pass that Mystique A.K.A. Raven, and Rogue, are the only two left who must remain in Leech's presence. Many of the previously affected have by now met with Emma at least once, , including Bobby. Rogue has not, but we find her about to engage in conversation with Raven....
Raven is sitting at a table looking with disinterest at a magazine, when she catches Rogue staring at her from the end of her cot. Raven lowers the magazine to pointedly stare back.
Rogue looks away, but soon after ventures: "So ah guess you have no relatives found, either?"
Raven replaces the magazine with some others, not looking at Rogue as she responds: "Where are yours?"
"Well, see..." Rogue pauses, considering sharing personal details with her usual adversary. But something about these circumstances they're sharing... "ah was adopted. They never told me anything about mah birth family. Ah thought they knew something and just didn't want me to. But...turns out they don't," she looks down then away.
Raven considers her, "how are you sure of that?"
Rogue: "Jean went to talk to them and ah asked her to tell me after. She wouldn't have said anything they didn't want me to know, but she would've told me if a cure was in the works. So..."
Raven regards her a moment longer, then scratches at the cuff of her pants as she asks: "Have you ever wondered why?"
"Wah I was put up?" Rogue shrugs. "The regular reasons, ah guess. No one wouldda' known ah'd be a mutant, so at least not that."
"..all that must be hard for you," even as she says it Raven is getting up, moving away from the conversation to another area of the room.
Leaving Rogue alone... Bobby comes by --he hasn't kept to the room since his cure took full affect, but regularly stops back in. Sometimes he and Rogue discuss Colbur, sometimes other things, or nothing much at all.
At a point during this visit, Rogue unexpectedly takes off her gloves, and takes him by the hands. She almost manages a smile before one hand rises to touch his face, and she closes the distance between it and hers.
Bobby speaks after their kiss: "I thought you didn't want t- I mean, I thought you decided not to?"
"Ah did, but...lahf is short." They kiss again before Bobby can process the significant way Rogue said this...they stop when Rogue feels Raven's gaze on them. The youths go back to just holding hands, and what they'd been doing before; out of privacy more than propriety.
In the middle of that night, Raven moves like she had been waiting until Rogue was deep enough asleep; nobody is performing a late check of things from the Control Room.
She now stands a distance from Rogue's cot, but peers at her.
Just in case anything happens again like Leech getting overwhelmed when he'd tried to save Colbur, Rogue still sleeps in a careful covering of clothing so there's no way skin of one part of her body directly touches another.
Raven moves on from Rogue to Leech, who she wakes, and whispers to: "I need you to accompany me out of this room for a little while."
Sleepily, Leech looks across the room at Rogue, and asks quietly: "What about her?"
"She'll be fine. Trust me."
Leech seems unsure, but something in Raven's disposition -whether an encouraging or intimidating something- promotes him to move.
Exiting the Danger Room, they go down the dark hall and turn at the Lab.
Leech waits in the doorway while Raven looks around.
On Jean's desk is a compilation of notes -formula breakdown, data summary. Raven locates on a computer any files they might've taken this opportunity to compile on her, and deletes them. Moving from that she then acts on a suspicion, feeling around the walls, sure enough coming across a secret panel that shifts aside to reveal a blood storage unit. The samples having been acquired outside of this incident, there is one for every member of the X-Men among them.
Raven thoughtfully selects a particular one. . . .
In the morning, early-to-lab Beast will find a note on his desk directing his attention to two samples-for-cure labeled "For Mystique" and "For Rogue". They will be processed accordingly and administered. It will come to be only afterward that he remarks to Jean on her success of finding a synthetic workaround, which Jean will be puzzled to hear.
Mystique has left as soon as her follow-up bloodwork showed no remnants of "viral mist"; a watchful Cyclops confirming with Xavier she did in fact go off property.
Over the coming days, school life gradually begins its return to normal, with one difference being the presence of Emma Frost; staying on until her therapy sessions are acceptably concluded. We join her now as Scott is just leaving her temporary office. "It's pleasing to have my words land this time," she states with a smile, joining him at the door.
"They did the last time," Scott corrects good-naturedly, "it just took until after-"
"Jean," Emma says with significance. "Enjoy your evening."
We follow Scott as he continues down a hallway - some students pass him "nice to have you back today, Professor Summers."
He arrives at a doorway that leads out to a balcony, but a voice pauses him: "Hey. Scott."
Scott turns in Logan's direction.
Logan walks nearer, playing things offhand, "since I ran into you, just thought I'd say before I head back out," his voice takes on more sincerity, "I'm sorry about your brother."
Scott takes this in silently.
Logan has nothing else to say on that or nothing that he wants to at this time. Besides, Jean's coming from the opposite way, "so see you around." He starts to walk past Scott.
"Careful on your mission, Logan," Scott says before continuing outside.
Logan wasn't expecting that. He cocks his head with a bounce of his brows like "huh", then meets up with Jean. "So that was a-" he puffs out a breath like the word he's got is inadequate -or not the one that first entered his head, "-rough couple a' weeks."
"It really mattered to Rogue to have you there."
"Yeah, so she told me."
Jean smiles at his way about emotional things. "It mattered to me, too. That night when I..." she glances off, "needed some perspective."
Logan stares at her a minute. "Well anytime you need more."
"You'll probably be off on a mission with Kurt," she tries to keep the conversation light by teasing.
Logan looks skywards before returning his gaze to hers with a smile. "I'll see you after, Jean."
"Be safe, Logan."
She continues past him to the balcony to be with Scott.
Scott seems to be in a state of mixed (mental/emotional) processing.
Jean takes on a comforting presence at his side, not pushing him to talk.
He does after a time: "This doesn't feel right to say after all that's happened..." Before he gets to it, he shifts track back, "I wouldn't be here if I could've controlled my optic blasts when my X-gene activated, I'm sure I wouldn't have had a purpose like this...But when Leech had my blasts nullified, I felt..." He can't quite say it.
Regarding him without judgement, Jean takes on a considering air before sharing; looking off: "quieter."
He looks to her.
"Inside Leech's perimetre, my head felt.." she smiles a little, "relatively speaking, empty." Her smile fades. "Though I also couldn't feel your mind anymore," she turns back and meets his "eyes", laying a hand aside his face, "it was unsettling before I could see you, again." Scott places his hand over hers.
After a moment they return to looking out over the grounds; hands lowered but still held, minds settling from everything.
A little while, then Jean speaks again: "You and Logan shared a similar thought."
Scott sports a look like he finds that hard to believe.
"Thinking this might've been 'the reason'." She takes on a more deeply thoughtful tone, her eyes unfocusing from the world before her, "I don't think that was completely wrong."
Scott looks to her at once, taken off guard and confused; his hand reflexively squeezing hers.
Jean's focus returns, she answers his look: "I think it was a part of why I'm here. But it's bigger." She assures with a shake of her head, "I'm still not going anywhere, yet."
Scott looks down, self-conscious of the reaction he'd just had; his grip loosens but doesn't fall. ". .I haven't forgotten this isn't permanent. Since you've been back every morning I've woken up to see you, I've reminded myself it could be the last time. . .After losing..Alex, for what feels like again, I just.."
She squeezes his hand. "I wouldn't have been ready either, if it were now."
Scott relaxes with their being on the same page. He has a sudden thought: "Do you think that has bearing? The first time you'd accepted it."
Jean considers this before answering: "I don't know. Maybe it will come to a choice."
Gradually their gazes set again on the distance, and we transition to a close-later time,
Scott is in the garage, using his optic blast at lowest intensity to engrave a brass plate:
ALEX SUMMERS
Outreach Center
for Mutant Youth
We move out from the garage to come to an area of the mansion grounds where the "statue" of Colbur has been erected as its own memorial. Iceman is there, and we see him ice up his hands and forearms -up until this point all we've ever seen him do. But now, regarding the statue studiously, we see him attempt to go full body, evidenced by a just noticeable icing of his head and what part of his chest we can see.
We pan out as Bobby steps away; something to work on. . . .
==============
X-Fans --that was an intense one for our mutant heroes and their fellows, wasn't it?!
Thanks for seeing this inaugural journey through to its end -- it may've only been a grounder to first, but the momentum only builds from here -- X-Men Envisionings has only just started!
You won't want to miss the eXciting, eXtreme, eXperiment next to come! I can perceive your curiosity towards it, so here it is in teaser form: A breakout of mutant prisoners in the charge of the X-Men! A step into the world of forgotten missing mutants! And speaking of, where is Cyclops?!
X-Men Envisionings: Vol. #2 - Part 1 --Releasing June 2nd!