1. Chapter 1

It was quickly becoming apparent to the rest of the X Team that Scott was really overprotective of Jean in battle.

He didn't do it on purpose, and he probably wasn't even fully aware of it, but it was there. The telepath could more than hold her own, both physically and mentally, but Scott just refused to see it. He always had half of his attention on Jean, and sometimes based his action plans on what would put Jean in the least amount of danger. If it even looked like she was having trouble, Scott would abandon whatever he was doing to be by her side, leaving whoever he was fighting with on their own. He covered her in the danger room, forcing others to scramble out of the way of random eye blasts intended to stop projectiles before they could touch Jean. Every blow a villain gave her was repayed ten times over by her loving boyfriend.

Jean, Jean, Jean.

No matter how much she complained, and scolded, he never changed- he never could change. Eventually, it became a joke among the team, even if it was a bit of a sore spot.

"Scott's so whipped it should be illegal." Jiao Lan muttered grumpily, idly twirling a screwdriver in her fingers and peering at the electrical generator by her bed. "I swear I hear that Rihanna song play every time he walks by- what's the name again?"

"S and M?" Kurt offered helpfully, starting at her from his upside down position on her bed. At nineteen, his appearance had changed- his hair was cut shorter, and there was another small ring punched through his ear. His body had stretched out, gotten leaner and longer, and the lines of his face were sharper.

"Yeah, that's the one. Slavery went out in the seventeenth century, but she's got him by the balls and he freaking loves it- dammit, this panel won't open and I just know that transponder is loose." Her dark green eyes flared as she wrestled with the tool.

"I zhink you mean eighteenth century, Sparky." Kurt laughed. "And hey, if he vants to put his man veapon in a jar on zhe shelf, it's his choice, _ja_?"

"I guess." Jiao huffed, finally popping open the stubborn panel. She plunged sparking fingers into the mess of cords inside. "I just wish he'd stop leaving the rest of us out to dry every time she gets a headache in battle. I mean, SERIOUSLY."

Kurt winced. "Zhat is kind of annoying. It's going to get somebody hurt one day."

"No shit." Jiao said. "I don't know how she deals with it. I'd have strangled him." She paused in her work, and shot him a blushing glance. "I'm just glad you don't treat me like a shrinking violet."

Kurt grinned shyly and flipped himself upright. "Und have you turn me into Turkey jerky vith a thought? _Nein danke._"

Jiao abandoned the generator and leaned forward into her chin was resting on his forearm, bringing their faces close together. "I'd NEVER do that."

"Right," he snorted, curling his tail around her wrist and bringing her palm up to his lips. His hand found its way into her closely cropped curls. She'd cut her chestnut hair after graduating Bayville, but the boyish look suited her. Jiao smiled against his arm and closed her eyes as her heart broke into a gallop.

They were new to this, their relationship, still struggling to move past the awkward friends-to- lovers stage. But moments like these were easy, and sweet.

"You wouldn't be turkey jerky, anyways. You eat way too much junk food."

He blew hard in her face, and she laughed, leaning up to capture his lips with her own. He leaned back and pulled her onto his chest, nipping gently at her nose. She tucked her face into his neck, inhaling his scent as his fingertips traced patterns on her back and edged under the hem of her shirt, making her shiver. Grinning, she wiggled her hips on his and shifted so she was straddling him, meeting his heated gaze with her own.

Foosteps outside the door made them look up, just in time to see Kitty's head poking through the door.

"Heyyouguysthere'sa- WHOOOAH, sorry, didn't mean to interrupt!" Her face disappeared, and they sighed, reluctantly sitting up. "It's okay, Kitty, come back."

The valley girl popped back through, decent enough to blush. "Um, we've got a situation at the dam. Scott's assembling everybody and we're shipping out in like, five."

"Thanks, Kit."

"_Danke_, Katzen."

She left again, and Jiao hung her head. "Damn. I'm kicking Avalanche's ass for this."

Kurt snickered and plopped a teasing kiss on her forehead. "Later, _Zündkerze_."

"I'm holding you to that, Uglie Doll." She climbed off him. "I guess we better get suited up."

"Can I help?"

"OUT, you perv!"

«»«»«»«»«»«»«»

**Translations**:

**Zündkerze: Spark plug**

**Neon danke: No thank you**

**Ja: Yes, right**


	2. Chapter 2

As it turned out, it wasn't the Brotherhood causing the trouble at the Bayville dam. A freshman at Bayville named of Cory Watkins had discovered that he was a mutant, with the power of hydrokinesis.

Unfortunately, he was also a poser and a wannabe bad boy. And he was also currently monolouging, hard enough to make Magneto call it quits and hand himself into the cops.

"I'll destroy this dam and drown the city!" Cory shrieked, raising and waving his skinny arms in his passionate outburst. "I swear I'll do it, don't think I won't-"

"Cory," Jean said, taking a cautious step towards the raving boy- cautious, because they were all standing on the second highest wall of the dam, with the wind whipping their hair and whistling in their ears. Amara looked ready to barf, almost as green as Kurt was blue.

"Cory, come down from here, let's talk about this-"

"My NAME is Hydroman!"

"Isn't that already taken?" Jiao giggled softly. Next to her, Kurt snorted out a laugh. "Zhe originality of zhese new villains is _so_ lacking."

Jean was still trying to be diplomatic. "Cory, you don't have to do this. We can go back to the institute and figure this all out. We can help you."

"I WANT to do this. When I bury Bayville and all those other jerks under twenty feet of water, the Brotherhood will finally notice me and make me a member, and we can take down you goodie two shoes mansion brats together, for good!"

"Good God, he vants to join zhe _Brotherhood_?" Kurt snickered. "Who vas his guidance counsellor? Zhey need to be canned!" Jiao bit her lip until it bled, trying to hold in her laughter. "I can't believe he looks up to Pietro's Wonder-Band of losers. Doesn't he watch the news? They suck. Duh."

"I can't believe he actually thought he'd get in vith zhat lame power."

Unfortunately, the wind carried their words to the engaged preteen, who fixed them with manic blue eyes as he watched them snicker at his expense. "NO ONE laughs at Hydroman, you douche bags! I hope you can swim!"

"Cory, wait-!"

From the damp ground beneath their feet, humanoid forms began to rise up, transparent , faceless, six foot tall water creatures. More and more took shape, surrounding the costumed heroes until they were trapped in a wall of water.

"Ah, damn..."

"Get them!"

"No shit, Scott. We were gonna take them to the movies."

The creatures sloshed towards them with surprising speed, while "Hydroman" took off for the opposite side of the dam and the stairs that led to the top wall.

"Get the kid!" Cyclops shouted, blasting an eyebeam through a row of water creatures. They shattered like molten glass and splashed into the ground, but were soon reformed and charging again. The backsplash caused Jiao to throw up her hands to avoid it, and when she put them down, the spots where the water had touched her palms were red and sizzling.

"I can get you out of here," Kurt said quickly, grabbing for her shoulder, but she shook him off. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Go get Hydro-wimp."

Kurt nodded and teleported away in a burst of brimestone, putting himself in front of the fleeing teen. "_Aufhören!*" _ he snapped, baring gleaming fangs. The boy shrieked and backpedaled.

"Freak!"

"Takes one to know one." Kurt smirked, despite the knife twisting in his chest at the word. To his shock, Cory tackled him before he could make a move, throwing them both over the edge and onto the second wall once again.

The water monsters were easy to destroy, but impossible to keep down. Eye beams, molten rocks, ice shards, regular kicks and punches- all useless. Telepathy was completely ineffective, since they had no brains. The only thing that could be done was top push them over the wall of the dam, but since physical attacks only went through their clear bodies, Jean ended up doing most of the work, shoving them over with telekinesis so they could splatter against the ground far below.

It didn't take long for the exhaustion to hit her, or for it to show on her face. Every time she used her powers, her expression twisted into a pained grimace, and she started to sag.

True to form, Scott started getting distracted, his eyes finding the redhead more often than his targets. He started weaving his way through the fight, ignoring the others that desperately needed assistance in favour of his girlfriend.

"Scott!"

"Yo, Cyk! Can I get some assistance?!"

"Like, Scott!"

No matter how many she wasted, Jean was soon surrounded by the water creatures, as even with their limited intelligence they realized that she was the biggest threat. The largest group converged on her, and one of them slammed a jet of water directly into her face, causing her to fall, choking and sputtering, to the ground. The creature wasted no time in jumping on her and smothering her with its mass, trapping her in a suffocating embrace. The redhead writhed and twisted inside the water monster, face purpling as she fought for breath and release.

"JEAN!"

Two maximum strength eyebeams flew across the battlefield, shattering the creature and freeing Jean. The redhead slumped to the ground, holding her bleeding noise and coughing moisture from her lungs.

"Jean, hold on! I'm coming!"

"No! I'm alright, I'm alright!"

"Scott!" The third voice was Kurt. Hydroman had summoned more minions and broken away from him once he was distracted, headed once again for the main control panel in the top tower while the limber X Man utilized all his agility to keep out of the reach of the murderous creatures. "He's getting avay!"

"I've got him!" Jiao screeched, destroying a line of adversaries with a powerful bolt of electricity. The air was thick with water droplets and spray from vaporized creatures, and where the wetness touched her skin, she burned. She sprinted away and after him, alone.

"Jiao wait, WAIT-" Kurt ducked, barely avoiding the concrete thick arm of another monster.

Corey dashed inside the control booth and started tinkering with the release valves, before the entire panel began to smoke and spark like fireworks. He screamed and jerked away, and out the window, he saw Jiao on the steps, arms flung out towards the tower and face scrunched in concentration, frying everything electrical inside.

"BITCH!" Corey turned towards the creatures rising up at his feet. "Break a hole in the wall! I'll deal with her." The newly formed creatures attacked the concrete with gusto, slamming dense limbs and heads into the rock. Pieces began to fall away just as Jiao reached him.

They faced each other, spears of crackling blue electricity making her hair raise and her eyes turn white. "It's over, Bubbles," she growled, curling her gloved hands into fists. "Quit this now, and I promise I won't tase you too hard- just until you wet yourself." One touch would do it, drop him like a cold stone, but she had to be careful. The energy flowing through the dam had juiced her up, and she could kill him if she didn't watch herself.

The boy sneered and summoned yet more creatures, bigger than before. "I'm not scared of you." Jiao cracked a smile at that. "You should be." The creatures swarmed her, and her skin flared with white and blue energy, disintegrating a good portion of them.

But they just kept coming, and soon and was overwhelmed. One of them caught her in the center of her back, and she went down, howling. They started pummeling her while the other set attacked the dam wall.

Kurt could barely see her through the screen of water creatures trying to drown him. He heard her scream, and he glanced up, panicked. The minor distraction was enough for two of the monsters to pin him, wrapping crushing limbs around his chest and neck. But all he could think about was Jiao.

"Sc-Sc-c-ott! J-_aaaack...Jiao!"_

_"_She'll be fine!" Scott yelled, not even checking to make sure his statement was true, so focused on getting to Jean as he was. The creatures were converging on the telepath again, seeing her weak and disoriented.

"_SHE NEEDS HELP!"_

Scott paused directly in the middle of the battlefield, next to the steps, and the closest one to Jiao.

"Scott!" Jean shrieked, as the monsters reached for her.

"_SCOTT, HELP HER! _Help Jiao! The water-!"

Scott stopped, stared, froze.

Jean, Jiao. He couldn't do both. There was no way. No way.

"We're almost through!" Corey laughed. Debris and gigantic chunks of rock were flying from the dam, and small spurts of liquid had started to seep through the cracks, quickly growing in size. Jiao lay on the ground high above them, motionless.

"Sc-!" Jean's pleading cry was cut off as her mouth was once again engulfed by the huge hand of a water creature.

In that instant, Cyclops made his decision.

He erupted into movement, sprinting, heading to the steps- running towards them, reached them-

-and ran STRAIGHT PAST, headed to the far side of the wall. To Jean.

Of course, to Jean.

Burning fury erupted in Kurt's chest, hot and strong enough for him to wrestle his way free of the monsters holding him down. A ferocious, animalistic roar tore itself from his throat, and he clawed, kicked, twisted, and battled himself away, just as Jiao was rising to her feet and lunging at a triumphant Corey.

Everything went silent in Kurt's head as an ominous, horrible cracking sound reverberated through the air, deafening. In slow motion, the lines on the cement started to widen and buckle.

There was no time to teleport, to even focus hismind on the task. Kurt could only watch as Jiao jumped for the boy, and the dam collapsed in that exact moment behind her.

"_JIAO!"_

_«»«»«»«»«»«»_

_Time slowed to a crawl. From below, frozen in disbelief, Kurt saw her turn._

_Saw her eyes widen. Saw the terror break over her face._

_Saw her eyes close, and saw her no more._

_«»«»«»«»«»«»_

The water gushed forth like a battering ram, striking her dead on and covering her completely. Her form was lost in the deluge from the breach that quickly grew and surged towards them like Noah's flood, spilling over the wall with speed and force that promised certain death. The X-Men were swept away like leaves in a monsoon, headed straight for the city, caught helplessly.

"JIAO!"

"BOBBY!"

Iceman rushed forward and threw everything he had at the wall of water with a shout, pouring streams of ice from every surface of his body. The huge rush of water began to freeze like something out of a Disney movie, arching towards the sky in great spires and spears of glistening blue ice.

It finally stopped feet from the first street at the edge of town. Bobby promptly collapsed to his knees, and the heroes started to regroup, breaking themselves out of the ice, battered and exhausted.

"Good...good job, Bobby..." Scott gasped, trudging over to the half alive boy and clapping him on the shoulder, a trembling Jean cradled in his arms.

"H-hey..." Rouge chattered past blue lips, scanning their order. "W-hare's-"

"JIAO! JIAO LAN!"

Kurt was teleporting madly, up and down the dam and back and forth across the battlefield, digging in the ice like a wild man, searching for any sign of Jiao.

"JIAO! Sparky! Zündkerze! Lanny! Answer me!"

There was no response, and the faces of his teammates slowly fell into horrified grimaces as they all, slowly, one by one, realized that there would never be one.

«»«»«»«»«»«»«»

_"I hate dish duty," Jiao grumbled, scrubbing the plate in her hands with a vengeance. Kurt leaned against the counter and rolled his eyes. "Diva. It's not so bad."_

_"Oh yeah? How about you make yourself useful and help out?"_

_"Nah, I zhink you got it." He cracked a smile at her irritated glance and flicked her with water. He was expecting her to laugh, not flinch away and yelp. "Vat, vat?"_

_He grabbed her shoulder and turned her to face him. Sprinkled across her cheek where the water had touched were three perfectly round burn marks, almost like acid damage._

_"Mein Gott- Jiao, es tut mir leid*-"_

_"I-it's fine." she stammered, trying to pull away as his hands closed around her face. "It doesn't hurt anymore, not really-"_

_"Vat happened? I never saw zhat before."_

_"The water." she huffed, lifting her hand to show off her heavy duty, elbow length gloves. "I don't wear these things to be stylish. If water touches my skin..." she shook her head and sighed._

_"But you drink-"_

_"INSIDE my body is fine." she muttered. "Why do you think my lips are always chapped? I have to wash my hair in an electrolyte solution or I burn my scalp off, and that goes for the rest of me too. Dr McCoy had to outfit my shower."_

_"Wow..."_

_"Yeah...the perks of being God's mistake."_

_«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»_

Nothing. Not a sound, not a glimpse. Nothing.

She was gone.

"Jiao..." Kurt keened, finally dropping to his knees amongst the rapidly melting ice. Tears spilled over his lids and down his face. Heavy, crushing weight settled on his heart and soul, making him feel like he was drowning.

He could feel the loss like a physical wound- raw and bloody. He wanted to believe that she was still alive, but the sight of her disappearing under the hungry water wouldn't fade from the front of his mind. Jiao was gone.

Gone.

Behind him, the others grouped together in silence. Kitty was sobbing quietly into Rouge's shoulder. Jean slowly turned to Scott, green eyes wet and full. "S-Scott..." They all turned to him then, wordlessly urging him to comfort Kurt.

"I...maybe I should...leave him alone. For a while. Let him process..."

Her eyes narrowed in confusion at his hesitation. "Scott, GO." she hissed.

He had no choice. Slowly, resignedly, Scott stepped forward, hunched and cautious. Like a man approaching a live grenade. His boots crunched on the ice as he placed a hand on Kurt's trembling shoulder.

"K-Kurt...I'm so-"

"Vare is she, Scott?" The whisper was low, and ragged, barely audible. Kurt didn't turn around to utter it, and Scott's pulse broke into a nervous gallop.

"W-what?"

There was a beat of silence. Suddenly, Kurt rose to his feet and grabbed the front of Scott's suit in a vice tight grip. "VARE IS SHE?! VARE?! VARE IS JIAO, SCOTT?!"

"KURT! Kurt, stop, I don't-!"

"SHE'S_ DEAD! SHE'S DEAD! YOU KILLED HER!"_

_"_No!" Panic. Guilt. Horror. Pain. Kurt saw it through the rose colored visor, and he _knew_ that Scott knew what he had done.

"SIE IST WEG, DU EGOISTISCH ARSCHLOCH!* DU HAST SIE GETÖTET!*" Kurt was flailing now, screaming at the top of his lungs. He shoved Scott away from him and dug his hands in his hair, pulling until the roots burned.

"Kurt," Scott gasped, crying too. Begging. "Kurt, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't know. Jean needed-"

"ICH HABE ES DIR GESAGT!* I TOLD YOU! I t-told...I...no, no...Gott*, n-nien, b-bitte*..." His screams broke off, replaced by broken, hiccuping sobs.

His Zündkerze was gone, torn from him. Just like everything else he'd ever loved. Jimaine, his parents, Stephen. Amanda.

Jiao.

He could have nothing, nothing at all. Destined to be alone, like every monster deserved. Why did he kept fooling himself into thinking, maybe, he could be happy? The universe was determined to show him misery.

"S-Scott...what did...you do?"

The leader couldn't begin to answer. Kurt was right. Jiao had needed his help, and he'd left her to die. He'd made an impossible decision, and now...

What leader WAS he? What had he DONE?

Kurt's cries provided a morose soundtrack to the chilly funeral.

«»«»«»«»«»«»

_"Mäd-chen." _

_"Mäd-chen. Girl." Jiao echoed, nearly perfectly. Kurt smiled and nodded, flashing white fangs. Jiao had promised to teach him Chinese and Spanish if he taught her German._

_"Jun-ge."_

_"Jun-ge. Boy."_

"_Lieben."_

_"Lie-ben. Love."_

_"Ausgezeichnet."_

_"Ausgezeichnet...um...Excellent!"_

_"Zhat vasn't a vord," Kurt laughed, "but good job." Jiao blushed and giggled, rolling her eyes. "Alright, your turn. Spanish today. Quiero."_

_"Quiero. I love."_

_"Mi."_

_"Mi...my."_

_"Pequeño."_

_"Pequeño...little?"_

_"Demonio."_

_"Dem-heyyy," Kurt drawled, drawing a laugh from her. "Alright then, Sparky. Yo tambien te quiero."_

_"Ich liebe dich auch, Uglie.*" she mumbled, leaning forward to brush their lips together and make his hair stand up with static._

_«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»_

**TRANSLATIONS**

**Es tut mir leid: I'm so sorry**

**Aufören: Stop.**

**Sie ist weg, du egoistisch Arschloch: She's gone, you selfish asshole.**

**Du hast sie getötet: You killed her.**

**Ich habe es dir gesagt: I told you.**

**Gott: God**

**Bitte: Please**


	3. Alternate Ending

Good...good job, Bobby..." Scott gasped, trudging over to the half alive boy and clapping him on the shoulder, a trembling Jean cradled in his arms.

"H-hey..." Rouge chattered past blue lips, scanning their order. "W-hare's-"

"JIAO! JIAO LAN!"

Kurt was teleporting madly, up and down the dam and back and forth across the battlefield, digging in the ice like a wild man, searching for any sign of Jiao.

"JIAO! Sparky! Zündkerze! Lanny! Answer me!"

There was no response, and the faces of his teammates slowly fell into horrified grimaces as they all, slowly, one by one, realized that there would never be one.

"K-Kurt..."

He ignored the soft utter of his name, becoming even more frantic.

"Kurt, please...just stop-"

"No!" he yelled. "Shut up! She's here!"

His tone was desperate, pleading, gaining hysteria by the minute. He didn't know who he was trying to convince that Jiao was still alive- himself, the team, the universe, God?

She was here, she had to be. She had to. Life was not that cruel (he repeated it to himself like a mantra, even though the certainty was growing, growing, festering-)

"Kurt-!"

There, THERE! Yes, there... His sharp yellow eyes caught the slightest curl of grey smoke curling over the horizon, like a beacon, or a spotlight. His soul latched onto the tiny sign that she hadn't vanished into thin air, and hope bloomed in his heart.

"Jiao!"

"Kurt, wait! I can't sense her! Kurt!"

He ignored the warning and ran to it, too distracted and frenetic to even teleport. His three toed feet slid on the smooth surface. The smoke was coming from a crack in the ice, and there was a dark shape beneath, warped and obscured by the shine and glare.

His noise detected a sour odor- a whiff of burnt flesh that he was all too familiar with, but he pushed it aside. Jiao was under there, trapped, burnt and hurt. But alive. She was alive. He needed to get her out, take her home, heal her, help her.

Kurt beat at the thick ice and clawed at it with his fingers, simultaneously teleporting chunks of it away. The crack widened under his hands, and the stench of burned skin grew worse, but he kept going. He could not stop.

Fear. Anxiety. Horror, mounting horror, please god please, please-

She was under there. Jiao was under there. He had to... He had to find her, and hold her, and-

With a final, splintering shudder, the ice fell away, and the figure underneath was revealed.

The water had acted like Hydrochloric acid on every inch of her exposed skin, but the ice had preserved her in death. Large portions of her once tan, beautiful flesh were blackened and torn away, leaving the muscle underneath the damp strips of tendon to be crisped and flayed. Her hair-

_-soft curls, chocolate curls, pulled slowly through his fangs to make her shiver-_

-was charred, layers of tender scalp peeling back from the bone to show gleaming patches of her skull. Her face was nonexistent- a patchwork of black and gray and weeping, oozing, acrid yellow and red burns.

Her blood had baked into her bones like wood stain, turning them dark red and brown. Gaping holes had been eaten away in her torso, and the wet, pulpy mess that had been her organs still sizzled and popped underneath, slipping out from between her skeleton in a gelatin like substance.

Under her clothes, ironically untouched, mocking impressions of her curves clung to dry, brittle bones.

Fingers-

_-warm fingers, smooth fingers, soothing through his hair-_

-withered. Lips_-_

-_plump lips, swollen with electric kisses, pressed against his throat, making him moan-_

-dry, thinned and mangled, curled away from the cartilage underneath like the petals of a strange flower. Eyes-

_-dark eyes, forest green eyes, like the firs around the institute after a good, hard rain, flashing with life-_

Her eyes were the most intact. She had closed them. The water had burned away her eyelids like a cigarette held under paper, but hadn't had time to destroy the soft tissue underneath.

They were still as big and bright and beautiful as ever, gazing up at him, unblinkingly. Endlessly.

_Kurt_...

Her death was everywhere. In him, around him. The smell of it lingered in his nose, choking him. The sight of it was forever burned into his brain.

"J...j...j..."

It wouldn't come. Slowly, shakily, he reached out, to touch her face. Brushed the pads of his fingers over her cheek- and the front of her skull disintegrated silently into his hand, coating his digits with pale grey and brown dust. He inhaled, and felt it tickle the back of his throat. He could TASTE IT.

Kurt faintly registered the sound of someone's voice screaming in the back of his mind. It wasn't until he felt a slight burn in his throat that he realized it was his own.


End file.
