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Title: Beneath The Floor Boards
Author: L. Burke
E-mail: crowtrobot_2000@hotmail.com
The X-men are property of Marvel and I´m using them
with out permission.
Enjoy. Feedback is always welcome at crowtrobot_2000@hotmail.com
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"Jean listen to
me. We all know what you're going through. " Kitty Pryde
pleaded looking right in to Jean Gray Summers green eyes. "We all
miss him." "Kitty with all do respect" Jean snarled back
at her "YOU have no idea what I am going through right now. I just
lost the man I love, my best friend and my husband of about thirteen
years. Don't even pretend to know what I am going through. I just
people would just leave me alone." "Jean don't block us
out." Kitty pleaded again, "You dealing with it alone would be
the last thing Scott would want you to do." Jean just ignored her
and continued to look out the window of the home that she had shared with her
husband. Jean was tried of hearing how sorry the X-men were. She
was tired of hearing how sorry Charles Xavier was. She was tired of
hearing that Cyclops had given his life to save the spinning planet. She
was tired of hearing Nathan tell her how sorry he was that he never really took
the time to get to know his father. She was tired of it all. She
was tired of the whole spinning fight. She was tired of getting up
everyday to save a world that would rather see her dead. She was tired of
trying to figure out why she was still here. Above all that she was tired
of trying to figure out what she was fighting for anymore. She realized
at that moment she was just tired and something in her snapped. She spun
around and met Kitty Pryde's eyes and said "Get out. I am tired of
everyone telling me how I should handle this. Get out of my home. I
will deal with this in my own way. Now just get out!" Right at
that moment the coffee mug she had been holding flew out of her hands, like it
had a will of it's own, hit the far wall in the other room, broke in two large
pieces and hit the floor with a strange 'thunk'. "Damn." Jean
muttered softly "I haven't done that in a while." She flinched
inwardly thinking what Professor Xavier would have said if had seen that
display of her temper. "Jean look over here." Kitty called from
where she was picking up what was left of the coffee mug. "The mug
didn't sound right when it hit the floor. I think there is something
under the floor boards." Jean just looked at her in surprise. "There
can't be anything under there Kitty. The floor boards are fit to
close." Kitty just looked at her "Yup, there's something here
alright. I am going to need a knife or something to get it out
though."
It ended up being a group project which all of the X-men participated
in. Logan and Kitty ended up using claws and a knife
respectively to loosen the floor boards, Jean and Nathan ended wedging the
small section of floor up with their telekinetics , Bobby and Gambit quickly
stuck something underneath and Rogue with her super strength lifted the floor
boards up so they could see what was inside. Kitty had phased
through the floor earlier and all she could tell them that it was a box. It
was to dark to see what was in it. "If I didn't know better I would swear
that Scotty planned this." Logan grumbled out loud "It
certainly took a team effort to get the damned thing. You want us to open
it Jeannie or do you want for us to leave and you can do it by yourself
later?" "Open it Logan. I have never seen a box like that
before, I have no idea what Scott could have put in it." Logan just smiled
at her "World War II ammo locker. They were designed to take a
pounding like nothing else. You want me to cut or pick the
lock?" "Pick it." Jean replied to his question,
"I don't know what is in it. Let's try to damage it as little as
possible okay?" "Got ya." Logan replied as he
started picking the lock "Lets see what Scotty thought was so important
that he had to hide it."
At the top of the pile was of course Scott's will. Why was she not
surprised, Jean quickly read it all Scott's worldly possessions went to
her. There were times like this she really hated her overly
responsible husband. There was a lift insurance policy in her name,
she would be able to collect it in three years when, they could declare him
legally dead. It was for enough that she knew even without her money she
could live comfortably on it for the rest of her life. Dated three weeks
from the date of his "death".
'You were right to hide this from me damn you Scott if I had found this in a
drawer. I would have kicked your ass. I had no intention of
becoming a widower and you knew it.' Jean thought bitterly. "My
guess he hid it from you Jeannie because he knew you would kick his ass if you
found it." Logan said out loud almost reading her mind. "Oh,
God look at that." Bobby Drake choked out as he reached for
something inside the box. "I didn't think he kept it. I was
going to college at the time, and one of my classes was going to Europe. I
didn't have the money to go and my dad was giving me a real hard time about
giving it to me because we were fighting about what I was going to major in at
school. When I got a letter from Scottie saying have fun, with the check
in the amount I needed to pay for my trip. He just asked me to send him a
miniature of the Eiffel Tower and here it is." Bobby choked "I didn't
think he kept it. I never really did thank him for the trip. I
really had the time of my life." Bobby looked up and Jean could see that
he had tears in his eyes, "Can I? I mean would you mind if I kept
this? Something to remember him by and all." "Go ahead
Bobby. I have a feeling that Scot wanted you to have it." Jean
replied. "Hey look at that." Warren grumbled pulling what
looked like a picture out of the box and addressing Hank and Bobby. "Do
you two remember that ski trip?" Hank just nodded. "It
was the first time the four of us got together after we thought Jean had
died. We got together in Denver and did some skiing." "Yeah,"
Warren added in suddenly "Drake covered up the triple black diamond sign
with snow. So you and I had no idea what we were skiing when we blasted
down that slope." Hank just grinned at his long time friend "I guess
it was a good thing that Scott was a little more cautious than we were." "Yeah,
he was." Warren smirked back at him "It was good thing to. He
was the one who signed us in to the Emergency room when we literally hit the
bottom." Hank just laughed "He protected Bobby from us when we
got out of traction to."
"Oh man, are you two still holding a grudge about that?" Bobby
grumbled with some laugher starting to come in to his eyes. " I told you I
was sorry. It was supposed to be a joke. And if I remember
correctly Warren, Scott covered for you when Candy caught you flirting with
that cute little sky bunny." Warren looked over at Jean, "Could I
have this?" Jean just nodded at him chuckling to herself, "I think I
would have loved to be there to see your expressions." "Oh you missed
a hell of a time alright." Warren said looking thoughtful. This time
it was Cable who pulled something out of the box on the floor. It was a
book he picked up very gently. The cover said "Arabian Nights"
"I remember," Cable started softly "The night he brought this
book home. I was about five at the time. I think he must have paid
at least two months pay for it or more. To this day I have no idea where he
could have found a copy of it. He taught me to read with a copy of this
book. I fought him every step of the way. I didn't think that
learning to read was very important, and it was a skill I would never have any
use for. When I finally got in to the stories I couldn't put the book
down." Cable smirked up at Jean "Remember I got grounded for a
week for neglecting my chores because I was to busy reading to do them?" Jean
just nodded and said, "I remember. Keep the book Nathan I think your
father put it here for you." Cable just nodded to her. "I
remember this," Kitty whispered "I wanted to go to a move premiere in
the city and all the other X-men were to busy to take me. So Scott
ended up taking me. We ended up standing in line for five hours in
freezing cold weather but I did get my autograph. Poor Scott, I think by
the time we got home he thought he would never get warm again." Kitty
just laugh "He didn't even rub it in when I got the worst cold of my
lifetime." Kitty held the ticket stub in her hand "Jean can I
have this?" Jean just smiled and nodded at her.
There was something
that everyone wanted in that trunk. Hank took the magic eight ball, but
would not explain the story behind it. Gambit took a hurricane glass,
muttering something about buying Scott one down in New Orleans when blue team
took and the Brood. There was a recipe for Rogue. By the time that
everyone was done the box was empty. Except for a picture and a piece of
paper. "I was wondering where he hid this. I had it on my desk, up
to the moment I left for space. I was wondering what he did with
it." Charles Xavier said more out loud to himself than anyone else
in the room. It was a picture of Scott in an elf costume. "It
was at the Children's Hospital Annual Christmas Party. Scott never had
any family to go home to visit. So he always volunteered for the
party. That year Santa's elf was sick, and Scott was the only one there skinny
enough to fit in to the costume. To say the least he was not very happy
about that series of events. That year to make things worse the director
of the Annual Christmas Party wanted to recognize Scott for all his hard
work. Scott being Scott bolted for the door when they asked him to come
up in front of the crowd so that everyone could thank him for his hard
work. If I hadn't been a telepath and knew he was going to bolt we never
would have caught him. I caught him at the door just in time.
I managed to get the picture sent to me later. Scott always tried to
'lose' the picture but I would never let him." Xavier chuckled
softly, "I guess he saved it for me." Jean reached for the last piece
of paper at the bottom of the trunk. She knew this was a message for her
when she read it. It was a poem.
From Prometheus Unbound
To suffer woes which Hope thinks infinite;
To forgive wrongs darker than death or night;
To defy Power, which seems omnipotent;
To love and bear; to hope until Hope creates
From its own wreck the thing that it contemplates;
Neither to change, nor falter, nor repent;
This. like thy glory, Titan, is to be Good, great
and joyous, beautiful and free;
This is alone Life, Joy, Empire, and Victory.
by Percy Bysshe Shelley
It was a poem describing
the virtues that would make the Titans victorious again Zeus and the other
Gods. When Jean read it she just started laughing until she couldn't
stop, Prometheus like the Cyclops had been a Titan and maybe Scott was
right. Maybe, just maybe, those virtues would be enough to be
Apocalypse's down fall. Maybe a Titan would rise again.