I'm Sorry (X-Men; Charles/Jean, Scott/Jean; PG-13/T; #108: Disappointment)
Title: I'm Sorry
Author: Kat Lee
Fandom: X-Men
Character/Pairing: Charles/Jean, Scott/Jean
Rating: PG-13/T
Challenge: #108: Disappointment
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 500
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to Marvel Comics and Disney, not the author, and are used without permission.
"But, Professor, it's not fair!" Jean cries, and he smiles through his heartache at the wail in her voice for it reminds him of when they were both much younger.
"I know it's not fair," he says softly, then uses the words he's always hated to use to explain away such a horrid turn of events, "but life is not fair, my dear." Throughout their conversation, he has resisted looking up at her, even when he felt her mind calling to his. Now, at last, he finally raises his eyes to hers and wishes immediately that he hadn't. "I must do this, Jean."
He'd already sensed her emotions in his mind, but it is the look in her beautiful, green eyes that finishes breaking his heart. She's terrified of losing him. She's also fearful of what he's become. She's angry at the world for taking him from her. She's disappointed -- in the heroes of the world who couldn't stop him without a lesser sacrifice than the many valiant lives Onslaught claimed, in Magneto for his part in helping to corrupt him, for the law for coming to arrest him, for herself and the rest of his children for not seeing what was happening before and stopping his darkness before it consumed him, and perhaps most of all, certainly worst of all for Charles, in him.
"I'm sorry," he says, and his voice breaks, belieing his strength at last and hinting at his true sorrow. It was horrible losing himself. It was agonizing watching all his family and friends trying to save him. It was the greatest tragedy of his life that his darkness took so many other lives. But the worst of it all is that she's lost the faith he so carefully built in her over their years together. "I'm sorry," he says, and it's all he can do not to break down and cry.
But then she's in his arms. She's crying, weeping for him, and holding him so tenderly. Then her husband approaches, and they break free. Tendrils of her long, fiery red hair brush over his fingertips as he instinctively reaches for her. His fingers curl back into his hand, and he hides the attempted embrace. Putting on a strong face once more, he turns to Scott, his other oldest and dearest student, the man who claimed Jean's heart before he made his love known.
Life isn't fair. His own words echo in his mind. It never has been, and it never will be. Jean will never look at him again in the same light she once did. Once, she had been horrified to disappoint him; now, he knows he will never be anything more than a disappointing father figure to her. I'm sorry, he thinks again, but he knows there's nothing -- no words, no actions, nor even the rest of his life spent behind bars -- that can ever again make all he's done right. I'm sorry. The sentiment echoes throughout the rest of his life.
The End
Author: Kat Lee
Fandom: X-Men
Character/Pairing: Charles/Jean, Scott/Jean
Rating: PG-13/T
Challenge: #108: Disappointment
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 500
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to Marvel Comics and Disney, not the author, and are used without permission.
"But, Professor, it's not fair!" Jean cries, and he smiles through his heartache at the wail in her voice for it reminds him of when they were both much younger.
"I know it's not fair," he says softly, then uses the words he's always hated to use to explain away such a horrid turn of events, "but life is not fair, my dear." Throughout their conversation, he has resisted looking up at her, even when he felt her mind calling to his. Now, at last, he finally raises his eyes to hers and wishes immediately that he hadn't. "I must do this, Jean."
He'd already sensed her emotions in his mind, but it is the look in her beautiful, green eyes that finishes breaking his heart. She's terrified of losing him. She's also fearful of what he's become. She's angry at the world for taking him from her. She's disappointed -- in the heroes of the world who couldn't stop him without a lesser sacrifice than the many valiant lives Onslaught claimed, in Magneto for his part in helping to corrupt him, for the law for coming to arrest him, for herself and the rest of his children for not seeing what was happening before and stopping his darkness before it consumed him, and perhaps most of all, certainly worst of all for Charles, in him.
"I'm sorry," he says, and his voice breaks, belieing his strength at last and hinting at his true sorrow. It was horrible losing himself. It was agonizing watching all his family and friends trying to save him. It was the greatest tragedy of his life that his darkness took so many other lives. But the worst of it all is that she's lost the faith he so carefully built in her over their years together. "I'm sorry," he says, and it's all he can do not to break down and cry.
But then she's in his arms. She's crying, weeping for him, and holding him so tenderly. Then her husband approaches, and they break free. Tendrils of her long, fiery red hair brush over his fingertips as he instinctively reaches for her. His fingers curl back into his hand, and he hides the attempted embrace. Putting on a strong face once more, he turns to Scott, his other oldest and dearest student, the man who claimed Jean's heart before he made his love known.
Life isn't fair. His own words echo in his mind. It never has been, and it never will be. Jean will never look at him again in the same light she once did. Once, she had been horrified to disappoint him; now, he knows he will never be anything more than a disappointing father figure to her. I'm sorry, he thinks again, but he knows there's nothing -- no words, no actions, nor even the rest of his life spent behind bars -- that can ever again make all he's done right. I'm sorry. The sentiment echoes throughout the rest of his life.
The End