Generation Next (X-Men fanfic)

Epilogue

Ziva strolled down the hall and stuck her head into Craig's room. "Hey."

He looked up and smiled at her. "Hey. What's up?"

"Nothing, just looking for you." She entered the room and took a seat beside him on the bed.

He set aside the homework that he'd been working on and sat up beside her. "Why? What's up?"

She twined her fingers together in her lap and stared down at them. It had been a couple of months since they'd returned to the school and things returned pretty much to normal as far as classes and their normal daily routine. Except, Storm had allowed them to begin to train with the X-Men. The only thing bothering her was that Craig seemed to back off as far as any sort of relationship between them went. He hadn't asked for another date, hadn't kissed her, hugged her, nothing. He'd backed away and seemed to want to go back to simply being friends. And she found that it hurt a lot more than she thought it would. In the time she'd been here she realized that maybe she no longer wished to be alone. She'd locked herself away from others for too many years and it was time she stopped. She wanted to know where they stood and what was going on with their relationship if there was one. If he wished to back away, well, she'd have to deal with whatever emotional fallout occurred, but they deserved a chance.

"Ziva?" he questioned.

"Craig, did I do something to upset you?" she asked as she finally looked up at him.

He scrunched up his face at her. "What do you mean?"

"I thought we were ... you know ..." She shrugged and made a little gesture between the two of them.

He heaved a sigh and rubbed a hand over his face. "Yeah, we were."

"Were?" she asked him. Her heart clenched painfully at his words.

"Are. Maybe. I don't know. I've been kind of messed up since the whole thing with Lenny. I don't like how it all ended. That we couldn't turn him around. Get him back. He was my friend, Ziva. He may not have seen it that way, but I did. It wasn't fake to me."

"And so what, you think you can't trust me now either?"

He shook his head at her. "No. It isn't you. It's me that I don't trust."

"I don't understand. Craig, what do you mean?"

He stood and began pacing in agitation. His hands plowing through his hair repeatedly. "If I didn't know what was up with Lenny. If I couldn't tell he was bad and he was up to something, how can I trust myself to judge anyone else's character? How can I trust myself with something as important as love?"

She rose slowly and put a hand on his arm, stopping his frantic pacing. "Craig, stop, just stop."

He did, turning to face her, the look in his eyes pained. "I don't know what to do! How to move forward now!"

"Do you love me?" she asked, her eyes searching his.

He opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again. He made a gesture with his hands as if he really couldn't find words. It was fine because she saw all she needed in his eyes, the look on his face. She pulled him close and held him tightly.

"Craig, Lenny was a jerk and he took your friendship for granted. I'm never going to take you for granted. I love you too." She waited in breathless anticipation until his arms came around her and he held her tightly.

When he pulled back slightly, he smiled at her and then kissed her. She couldn't have been happier. The moment was ruined slightly by the click of Skylar's camera, followed by the soft ballad Death began playing on his guitar.

The two had become inseparable. It looked as if their relationship was solid despite the way they had met. Skylar's worship had toned itself down, though she remained cheery as ever. The two were glaring opposites, but they were a solid couple.

Stone and A'Cadia were as tight. The two spent a lot of time together and did a lot of sparring together. Though A'Cadia discovered she could cut Stone, it was more of creating a nick here and there than an actual injuring. More like a papercut. It was interesting to watch the two together.

Ziva sighed and shook her head. It was a virtual love fest and something she never thought she would surround herself with. It felt good to be part of the school. Of the group of individuals that resided here. It felt good to finally acknowledge that she had feelings and needed others in her life.

She kissed Craig one last time, after chasing Skylar and Death from the room, then left him to finish his homework. She wandered down the hallway and grinned as she passed the living room. Mellissa was reading to the dogs. She had adopted the guard dogs from the White House. It was a wonder no one noticed that the dogs had gone missing or maybe they had and simply didn't know where they'd gone and didn't care. Most of the dogs had ... personality traits that made them wonder how on Earth they'd managed to become part of the Secret Service.

Their training with the X-Men would continue and if trouble came their way again they would join the X-Men team on the front lines of the battle. She had decided she wanted to be known as Gateway. The others hadn't made any decisions about names yet.

She finally found someplace she belonged, a home, and people to care about, and people who cared for her in return. As far as she was concerned, this was where she belonged and this was where she would stay.