X-Men: The Gifted Ones

71. OUTSIDE OF MY LAI, VIETNAM

Jane came to and found herself on the jungle floor. She examined herself and found that, other than superficial scratches and cuts, she was unharmed. She knew Charles had been flung from the helicopter. She felt sick. She scrambled to her feet and frantically searched for him among the smoldering wreckage. She couldn't give into despair, she couldn't give into panic. She tried to see and breathe through the thick smoke.

She crouched down, hoping to get below the smoke and find him. She saw his shoe lying on the ground and saw him lying not too far away from it. She ran toward the spot.

"No!" she screamed. "CHARLES! No! No!"

She crouched on the ground and looked over him. She felt her heart breaking into a million pieces. He was severely wounded. Blood was coming from his mouth and ears. His head was lying in a pool of blood. She realized with a sick dread that he had sustained a great deal of internal injuries. She choked back sobs as she knew the injuries were fatal and he would be dead within minutes. She knew it was too much for her body to block and absorb, even with her advanced training. He was too close to death for her to spare them both.

She took his hand and held it to her lips. She knew that in order for him to survive, she would have to sacrifice her own life. She knew Charles would wake up in time to see her die. She couldn't spare him that agony, she could only spare his life and she prayed that he would find a way to go on living without her.

She knew she had no other choice. There was nothing more she could do in this life. It would end here. Charles was the one who would need to live, he was the one who would need to leave here, who would help mutantkind, train the others, and raise the next generations of mutants.

She pressed him to her and started to absorb his injuries. There would be nothing that Charles, or anyone, could do to stop her now.

"Charles, you can't die! Please, Charles, come back!" she begged. Her voice choked and cracked from the pain seeping into her body. She blocked what she could, but the pain she couldn't block flooded over and filled her body. She stroked his brow and noticed that his bleeding has stopped. She felt a sliver of hope. Then she noticed that blood began to drip onto his face. With a sinking heart, she realized that it was her own blood. She tried to stay strong, stay focused, as his injuries begin to take over her body.

She shook with relief when Charles' eyes began to open. He started to blink and he looked up at Jane. His mouth tried to form words as he watched her bleeding from her eyes, nose, and mouth.

With a sinking heart, he realized what she was doing.

"Jane, no! You can't do this!" he begged, his voice weak.

"I have to, Charles!"

"There has to be another way!"

She shook her head. "There is no other way. I am not letting you die!"

"You can't die for me!" he choked. "You promised you would never sacrifice yourself for me if I did not want you to! Can't you stop now? Please, Jane, stop!"

She started to cry. She realized that she only had a few minutes left to live, if that. She felt her life ebbing away. She started to feel faint. She swayed back and forth, trying to stay strong. "It's too late to stop," she wept. "I'm not sacrificing myself for you. I'm doing it for them, Charles. For the children. They need you! You need to live for them, they are all that matters! They need you."

He was able to pull himself up to a sitting position and lay her down. She was in his arms and he tried to stay strong for her. "I'll take care of them, Jane," he sobbed, his voice betraying his devastation. "I promise. I love you!"

"You were enough," she whispered, touching his lips before her strength left her body. Her arm dropped onto her chest.

Charles sobbed as he realized that Jane was beyond speech. She looked up at him and smiled. I love you, she thought as she felt her life slip away. It was a good life with you. She looked at him one last time, her eyes telling him what her voice no longer could. She closed her eyes.

Charles felt her last thoughts as she died in his arms. He sobbed hysterically. Jane was gone! His Jane was gone! This couldn't be real, this couldn't be happening! This wasn't supposed to happen! He was the one who was supposed to be lying here dead on the ground, not Jane. Jane must have been unharmed! She had survived! She had survived yet, she gave up her life for him, for the school! Her last words echoed through his mind, breaking his heart with each echo. He could hear nothing but those last three words.

Charles didn't even hear the footsteps of someone running toward him until Erik's knees buckled, causing him fall to the ground next to Charles. Charles looked up to see Mystique staring down at them, shocked.

Erik stared at Jane. She wasn't moving, wasn't breathing. "Charles, is she?"

"She's gone, Erik!" Charles stammered.

"The crash?"

He shook his head. "She... she gave up her life for me, for us."

Erik felt his head spin. He had assumed the crash had killed her. "She said before she would only die to save you."

Erik and Mystique could only kneel near Charles. He refused to let Jane go and he was inconsolable.

Erik mulled over Jane's sacrifice. He realized that it meant that Charles would have died, should have died. Erik's body quaked with an anger he had not felt since Sebastian Shaw had killed his mother in front of him.

He got up and stormed off in a murderous rage. Mystique placed her hand on Charles' shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze before she followed Erik. Riptide was going to die. She would make sure of it. He almost killed her brother! He had tried to kill her brother and he had almost succeeded!

Charles didn't even care what Erik and Mystique had in mind. All he could do was focus on Jane in his arms. Jane, who would never wake up again, never kiss him again, never touch his soul again.

He felt the wind whip around him and looked up, hoping it would be another tornado and he could join Jane. Instead, he saw two helicopters and detected Forge's presence.

Charles placed his hand to his temple andconcentrated on Forge. He needed to get out of this jungle.