FIC: That Has Such People In It (XM Movieverse)
Title: That Has Such People in It
Author: Brigid31
Fandom: X-Men Movieverse
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Spoilers for the first two movies, obviously character death.
Recipient: alixtii
Request: A mutated plague is wiping out all the men--mutant and non-mutant alike--and the women have to come together as both species face extinction. Femslash.
Summary: Maybe it was easier to give up, not try, because what kind of future could they have now anyway.
Notes: So I wrote this before there was an X3. Now I along with everyone else has seen X3 and thus this is slightly AU for the current shape of the X-Men Movieverse. I was glad to see that it wasn’t as massively AU as I thought it might be, but keep that in mind when reading.
* * *
In those first few moments, when no one had known anything Rogue had been sure she was going to die. Bobby had just collapsed, right there in the hallway. The moment hadn’t seemed real until the moment she heard a scream from another room and then Kitty appeared with her looking panicked. Seeing Kitty Rogue grabbed her hand on instinct and the two of them ran off to find someone, anyone else. They ran into Storm first, sitting in a room with the bodies that used to be Professor X and Wolverine. Rogue remembered seeing them, but after was a blur. She knows that all the bodies got out of the mansion and into the ground somehow but she could never remember how.
Rogue doesn’t remember much from those first few days. It was all panic, no one knew what was going on and everyone thought that they were going to die next. At first Storm had thought that maybe it had only been mutants, carriers of the X-Gene who died but it quickly became clear that it had affected everyone. Every man that is, only the women seemed to still be standing though some of them gave up quickly. Sometimes Rogue thought that they had the right idea, all this waiting was much worse.
* * *
Society hadn’t exactly destroyed itself but sometimes it seemed like it was headed in that direction. The first few weeks so many people had been terrified that this was only the first wave. People stayed inside and the idea that there could be any future at all seemed ridiculous.
But the world did keep turning. Those who emerged had survived the fear and the crushing grief to rise up. That didn’t mean that they were hopeful. It was nearly universally thought that there could be no future. Without something momentous occurring, they were looking at the last of the human race.
The first time the doom and gloom patrol turned up on the evening news Kitty laughed and said, “All we need is some mutant to show up who can achieve Parthenogenesis.”
“What?” Jubilee had said looking at Kitty as if she had gone crazy.
“That book we read, the one without any men - Herland.”
Jubilee had laughed too, “I think that might be our only hope.”
Afterwards Kitty thought about how that had been the most fun she had since this whole thing had started. The more she thought about it the more plausible it seemed. Hadn’t she written a paper about the role of Mutation in Herland? It was entirely possible that some mutant would have the power to reproduce asexually, maybe even in a response to the conditions they currently faced. Not even Dr. Grey had really known how the X-Gene worked to manifest powers. There might be any number of environmental factors and personal factors to the manifestation of a particular power. All Kitty really knew was that this was outside her area of expertise. That night she went to the library and grabbed all the books on genetics and medicine she could find, she might not be an expert yet but she was going to become one if it meant that she could do anything for the continued survival of the human race.
* * *
Of course it wasn’t long before the rumors started. In the eyes of a scared and powerless public, it seemed only logical to scapegoat someone. As with so many other things mutants took the majority of the blame. Never mind the fact that all the mutant men had died as well.
Storm refuted the story, she appeared on all the news organizations that were still managing to broadcast, “I’m appealing to everyone to come together in this time of crisis instead of listening to those who wish to tear us apart. Now more than ever it is apparent that our similarities unite us more than our differences can ever divide us. Only together can we rebuild.”
* * *
Kitty was reading “Applied Mutant Genetics” a paper that Jean had written shortly before her death when her hunger got to her and she headed toward the kitchen. At night Kitty felt better in the mansion, oddly it didn’t feel as empty then. Kitty padded along silent hallways, these felt the same as they had when the mansion was filled with people, probably because almost everyone slept at night. She missed some of the odd sounds that had broken up the silence then but she was getting used to not hearing them, a fact that scare Kitty more than anything.
Since Kitty was already keyed into the silence she heard the faint crying before she even came to the door. It was muffled but apparent. Kitty cautiously knocked on the door of Jubilee’s room before going in.
“Hey, what’s the matter?” As soon as it came out of her mouth Kitty regretted it. She knew what was the matter.
“Everything.” It was more of a sob than a word. “It hit me today, I guess it was too big before but now I realized just how much this means and I-“ Jubilee began crying again.
Kitty silenced her saying, “It’s alright.” Kitty didn’t really know what to do so she climbed into bed next to Jubilee. She fit her smaller body around Jubilee and was surprised by how right it felt. Jubilee’s sobs stopped shortly and she fell asleep, Kitty followed her into sleep after only a few moments.
* * *
The morning after, Kitty thought, should feel weird. It shouldn’t be so okay to wake up next to Jubilee. But it was. Kitty slept very well last night, perhaps her best night of sleep since the world stopped making sense.
“Morning.” Jubilee was awfully chipper this morning for someone Kitty discovered crying her eyes out last night.
“Morning.” Kitty considered before continuing, “Do you think we should talk about-“
“Not really.” Jubilee didn’t let her finish. “I slept great, you slept great. Let’s just leave it at that.”
They didn’t talk about it but Kitty gradually found herself in Jubilee’s room or Jubilee would find herself in Kitty’s room a lot over the next few weeks. It seemed to make sense, at least as much as anything could make sense in this changed world.
Kitty tried not to notice the small things. Tried not to read into them but it was hard. Sometimes their hands brush against each other and it would send a small thrill through her. Their knees would bump under tables and she’d catch herself staring for just a little too long.
One night Jubilee came into her room and as she came close to Kitty, she reached out. Kitty couldn’t help herself and before she had even thought about it she had grabbed Jubilee’s arm and pulled her down for a kiss. As soon as the kiss was finished (though Kitty could have kept on kissing her forever it felt like) they leapt apart.
After what seemed like an eternity Jubilee said, “It is about damn time. I’ve been waiting for you to do that for a month.”
Kitty stayed silent, unable to think of anything to say to that but luckily Jubilee had other plans than talking.
* * *
Rogue noticed the newfound intimacy between them. It was hard to ignore, Kitty and Jubilee practically shined with it. Every look between them was a secret. She pointed it out to Storm.
Storm said, “All we can do is grab what happiness we can now. We make do.”
Rogue thought that it might have been more than merely making do. In some ways she was jealous, they were taking comfort in each other.
* * *
“I just don’t see how we are going to do this,” Rogue said as Storm walked confidently from the Blackbird.
“And with that attitude you never will.”
Washington, DC looked the same as it always had, if slightly less populated. There was a president again, if not one who ever thought she would be in that place. She had asked Storm and the rest of the “X-Women” as she had begun calling them to come so that they could “work together to get through this crisis.”
“But we don’t have a solution, and half the women in the world think we caused this to begin with.”
“I would hardly say half the population, and part of the reason why we are going to work together is to show that we are committed to making this work.”
As Storm walked across the platform to the podium Rogue had to admit that she looked like someone who could unite such a divisive people. She had an undeniable presence.
Storm began speaking. “I would like to thank everyone who came today. I speak today not as a mutant but as a woman. I speak as a woman who wishes to continue the great works of this society. I am not ready to give up and give in. We will find a way to overcome this, merely the latest in a long line of hardships faced by the human race. Tragedy can divide but it can also be a great unifier. I feel that this is a point that can go either way hopefully we can all work together to make sure that we are united in a search for a way to ensure the future.”
Author: Brigid31
Fandom: X-Men Movieverse
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Spoilers for the first two movies, obviously character death.
Recipient: alixtii
Request: A mutated plague is wiping out all the men--mutant and non-mutant alike--and the women have to come together as both species face extinction. Femslash.
Summary: Maybe it was easier to give up, not try, because what kind of future could they have now anyway.
Notes: So I wrote this before there was an X3. Now I along with everyone else has seen X3 and thus this is slightly AU for the current shape of the X-Men Movieverse. I was glad to see that it wasn’t as massively AU as I thought it might be, but keep that in mind when reading.
* * *
In those first few moments, when no one had known anything Rogue had been sure she was going to die. Bobby had just collapsed, right there in the hallway. The moment hadn’t seemed real until the moment she heard a scream from another room and then Kitty appeared with her looking panicked. Seeing Kitty Rogue grabbed her hand on instinct and the two of them ran off to find someone, anyone else. They ran into Storm first, sitting in a room with the bodies that used to be Professor X and Wolverine. Rogue remembered seeing them, but after was a blur. She knows that all the bodies got out of the mansion and into the ground somehow but she could never remember how.
Rogue doesn’t remember much from those first few days. It was all panic, no one knew what was going on and everyone thought that they were going to die next. At first Storm had thought that maybe it had only been mutants, carriers of the X-Gene who died but it quickly became clear that it had affected everyone. Every man that is, only the women seemed to still be standing though some of them gave up quickly. Sometimes Rogue thought that they had the right idea, all this waiting was much worse.
* * *
Society hadn’t exactly destroyed itself but sometimes it seemed like it was headed in that direction. The first few weeks so many people had been terrified that this was only the first wave. People stayed inside and the idea that there could be any future at all seemed ridiculous.
But the world did keep turning. Those who emerged had survived the fear and the crushing grief to rise up. That didn’t mean that they were hopeful. It was nearly universally thought that there could be no future. Without something momentous occurring, they were looking at the last of the human race.
The first time the doom and gloom patrol turned up on the evening news Kitty laughed and said, “All we need is some mutant to show up who can achieve Parthenogenesis.”
“What?” Jubilee had said looking at Kitty as if she had gone crazy.
“That book we read, the one without any men - Herland.”
Jubilee had laughed too, “I think that might be our only hope.”
Afterwards Kitty thought about how that had been the most fun she had since this whole thing had started. The more she thought about it the more plausible it seemed. Hadn’t she written a paper about the role of Mutation in Herland? It was entirely possible that some mutant would have the power to reproduce asexually, maybe even in a response to the conditions they currently faced. Not even Dr. Grey had really known how the X-Gene worked to manifest powers. There might be any number of environmental factors and personal factors to the manifestation of a particular power. All Kitty really knew was that this was outside her area of expertise. That night she went to the library and grabbed all the books on genetics and medicine she could find, she might not be an expert yet but she was going to become one if it meant that she could do anything for the continued survival of the human race.
* * *
Of course it wasn’t long before the rumors started. In the eyes of a scared and powerless public, it seemed only logical to scapegoat someone. As with so many other things mutants took the majority of the blame. Never mind the fact that all the mutant men had died as well.
Storm refuted the story, she appeared on all the news organizations that were still managing to broadcast, “I’m appealing to everyone to come together in this time of crisis instead of listening to those who wish to tear us apart. Now more than ever it is apparent that our similarities unite us more than our differences can ever divide us. Only together can we rebuild.”
* * *
Kitty was reading “Applied Mutant Genetics” a paper that Jean had written shortly before her death when her hunger got to her and she headed toward the kitchen. At night Kitty felt better in the mansion, oddly it didn’t feel as empty then. Kitty padded along silent hallways, these felt the same as they had when the mansion was filled with people, probably because almost everyone slept at night. She missed some of the odd sounds that had broken up the silence then but she was getting used to not hearing them, a fact that scare Kitty more than anything.
Since Kitty was already keyed into the silence she heard the faint crying before she even came to the door. It was muffled but apparent. Kitty cautiously knocked on the door of Jubilee’s room before going in.
“Hey, what’s the matter?” As soon as it came out of her mouth Kitty regretted it. She knew what was the matter.
“Everything.” It was more of a sob than a word. “It hit me today, I guess it was too big before but now I realized just how much this means and I-“ Jubilee began crying again.
Kitty silenced her saying, “It’s alright.” Kitty didn’t really know what to do so she climbed into bed next to Jubilee. She fit her smaller body around Jubilee and was surprised by how right it felt. Jubilee’s sobs stopped shortly and she fell asleep, Kitty followed her into sleep after only a few moments.
* * *
The morning after, Kitty thought, should feel weird. It shouldn’t be so okay to wake up next to Jubilee. But it was. Kitty slept very well last night, perhaps her best night of sleep since the world stopped making sense.
“Morning.” Jubilee was awfully chipper this morning for someone Kitty discovered crying her eyes out last night.
“Morning.” Kitty considered before continuing, “Do you think we should talk about-“
“Not really.” Jubilee didn’t let her finish. “I slept great, you slept great. Let’s just leave it at that.”
They didn’t talk about it but Kitty gradually found herself in Jubilee’s room or Jubilee would find herself in Kitty’s room a lot over the next few weeks. It seemed to make sense, at least as much as anything could make sense in this changed world.
Kitty tried not to notice the small things. Tried not to read into them but it was hard. Sometimes their hands brush against each other and it would send a small thrill through her. Their knees would bump under tables and she’d catch herself staring for just a little too long.
One night Jubilee came into her room and as she came close to Kitty, she reached out. Kitty couldn’t help herself and before she had even thought about it she had grabbed Jubilee’s arm and pulled her down for a kiss. As soon as the kiss was finished (though Kitty could have kept on kissing her forever it felt like) they leapt apart.
After what seemed like an eternity Jubilee said, “It is about damn time. I’ve been waiting for you to do that for a month.”
Kitty stayed silent, unable to think of anything to say to that but luckily Jubilee had other plans than talking.
* * *
Rogue noticed the newfound intimacy between them. It was hard to ignore, Kitty and Jubilee practically shined with it. Every look between them was a secret. She pointed it out to Storm.
Storm said, “All we can do is grab what happiness we can now. We make do.”
Rogue thought that it might have been more than merely making do. In some ways she was jealous, they were taking comfort in each other.
* * *
“I just don’t see how we are going to do this,” Rogue said as Storm walked confidently from the Blackbird.
“And with that attitude you never will.”
Washington, DC looked the same as it always had, if slightly less populated. There was a president again, if not one who ever thought she would be in that place. She had asked Storm and the rest of the “X-Women” as she had begun calling them to come so that they could “work together to get through this crisis.”
“But we don’t have a solution, and half the women in the world think we caused this to begin with.”
“I would hardly say half the population, and part of the reason why we are going to work together is to show that we are committed to making this work.”
As Storm walked across the platform to the podium Rogue had to admit that she looked like someone who could unite such a divisive people. She had an undeniable presence.
Storm began speaking. “I would like to thank everyone who came today. I speak today not as a mutant but as a woman. I speak as a woman who wishes to continue the great works of this society. I am not ready to give up and give in. We will find a way to overcome this, merely the latest in a long line of hardships faced by the human race. Tragedy can divide but it can also be a great unifier. I feel that this is a point that can go either way hopefully we can all work together to make sure that we are united in a search for a way to ensure the future.”