Chapter Text
Chapter 1!
Peter hadn't been fast enough, if only he had been careful. He had no idea that Jean would be able to see him coming, this new power of hers was unique. He had been tossed to one side like a rag doll, but his landing had been broken by a bouncy castle one of Jean's Father's neighbours had ordered for their child's birthday party. He had lost consciousness for a few seconds, when he finally came around he was surrounded by clown balloons and broken chairs. Luckily for Peter he hadn't been badly injured, he had a few scrapes and bruises forming on his face but he had managed to ignore his pain while he got to his feet. But when he returned to his teammates Jean had already gone and Raven had been injured, but something didn't feel right.
At first Peter hadn't realized how badly injured Raven was until he saw the fence sticking through her chest, she was gasping for breath and her voice was filled with panic. Hank was with her, he was comforting her and trying his best to help her while she struggled to breath. He rested his forehead against Raven's head when her head fell to one side, she was gone. Raven had died from her injures and Jean was the one who caused their friend's death, Peter couldn't get his head around it. Hank had been inconsolable, he stayed by Raven's side until she had breathed her last breath. The mood was somber, they had lost one of their own.
Charles had remained silent, he had his chance to stop Jean by letting Hank tranquilizer her but Charles had decided to let Raven speak with Jean. But the Professor's decision had been the wrong one, the cost of his failure was Raven's life. Hank was the one who had to pull Raven's lifeless body from the fence, Peter dared not look while Hank pulled her free. He didn't want to see Raven this way, she had been the heart of the X Men and now that heart wasn't beating anymore.
They boarded the X Jet and Hank laid Raven's body on a stretcher, Storm had taken a white bed sheet from a washing line and covered Raven up with it. They took their normal seats and remained silent on the journey back to the school, they were all fighting back their tears for their fallen friend. After they had landed back in the Hanger they all walked in single file down the X Jet's ramp, Hank carried Raven in his arms and took her somewhere private so none of the students would see her.
Charles had returned to his office, he planned on drowning his sorrows in the bottom of a bottle of scotch. Hank was furious with Charles, he had kept his distance from him on the X Jet and he refused to speak with him. It was up to Peter and the rest of his teammates to tell the students about Raven, they didn't know what to say to them since they had never really experience anything like this before since they had joined the X Men.
Hank had told them to met him in the teacher's kitchen in two hours time, he would run them through the school's grievance procedure. They decided first to get cleaned up and then arrange the school meeting in the main hallway or somewhere else around the school, they needed to gather all the students together first instead of telling them individually.
Peter had lingered in his dorm room for over an hour, he was dreading leaving his room. He didn't want to face the students and break the news to them about Raven, she was a role model to all the students at the school. Sighing to himself Peter found the courage to leave his room, he closed the door behind him and spoke to a group of students at the end of the corridor. At first they asked him if Jean had returned to the school, but after a while they soon began to question him about his bruised and cut face.
" Are you okay Peter?" One of the students asked.
" I'm fine, I'll walk it off." Peter replied, he tried to act like his cheerful self. " But will you guys do me a favour? We've got a school meeting in the main hallway in two hours time, I need to you pass the message on for me to the rest of the students. Do you think you guys can do that for me?"
" What's the meeting about?" Another student asked.
" I can't discuss that with you right now." Peter replied. " But just pass the message on for me, okay?"
" Sure thing, Peter!" Another student said.
" I knew I could count of you guys, thanks." Peter smiled.
Peter watched the students hurrying along the corridor together, he saw one of the students passing the message onto one of their friends for him and then that student hurried into their dorm room to tell their roommate. After that Peter headed to the teacher's kitchen, he planned to meet Hank and the rest of his teammates there since they needed to know how the school's grievance procedure worked. He entered the kitchen and saw Hank sitting at the table with an open folder in front of him, he sat across from him at the table. Hank hadn't even noticed that Peter was in the kitchen, he was staring down at the open folder in front of him.
" Hank..." Peter said.
" Hm?" Hank asked, he looked up at Peter from his folder." Oh, I didn't see you there..."
" It's cool." Peter replied.
Hank sighed and sat up straight on the chair while he ran his hands over his face, he looked awful. Peter didn't know what to say to him, he knew that Hank had been close with Raven. They had known each other for decades, Raven had once told Peter about how they had first met back in the 1960s. She had also told him about the time Hank had nearly strangled Erik when he had given him a compliment about his new blue appearance, a scientific accident had caused Hank's blue beast form they all were familiar with now and that he hadn't taken Erik's compliment that well at first. Raven had told Peter many thing about Erik over the years, she had been close with his Father once. Raven had been encouraging Peter to tell Erik that he was his Son for the last few years, she wanted Erik to find some happiness. But has always Peter had chicken out, he was still nervous about telling Erik the truth.
" Sorry I'm not every talkative..." Hank said.
" It's understandable." Peter said, he licked his lips nervously. " This may sound weird, but I keep expecting Raven to walk through that doorway any minute now. She use to always have a coffee after missions, she was the only woman I knew who could eat four croissants for breakfast and then a bowl of cereal afterwards for a snack."
" I know how you feel, I keep expecting to see her round the school too." Hank said.
Peter poured himself a coffee and waiting for the rest of his teammates to turn up, he made small talk with Hank in the meantime. They spoke about Raven and what would happen next at the school, but Hank did have some harsh words to share with Peter about Charles. Hank blamed himself for not tranquilizing Jean when he had the chance, if it wasn't for the Professor telling him otherwise then Raven may still be alive. Peter understood why Hank was angry, the situation could have been handled differently.
It wasn't long until the rest of Peter's teammates turned up in the kitchen, Scott and Kurt sat at the table with them. Storm leaned against one of the kitchen's counters and crossed her arms, they were already to discussion the school's grievance procedure. The Professor had written a ten page document about how to handle loss at the school, it was a straight forward procedure. School lessons would be halted for two weeks, there would be support and counselling available for all the students if needed. There would be a time of refection before Raven's funeral, the students would be given the choice if they would like to attend her funeral.
" It sounds easy when it's written down on sheets of paper, how will we handle this?" Scott asked.
" One step at a time, that's all we can do." Hank replied.
" It's easier said than done..." Scott said.
Peter rested his hand on Scott's arm and told him that it was okay, he knew this was hard on everyone right now. Scott was also dealing with Jean's disappearance, he was worried about Jean just like the rest of them even though none of them said it. Hank handed out copies of the school's grievance procedure, they all had a few minutes to read it for themselves and form some kind of plan how they would handle this situation. It was going to be hard on the students learning about Raven's death, they had to make sure they handled it the right way.
" We should arrange an assembly in Student Activity Room, they should be told together." Storm said.
" I've already sent the message out." Peter said before he took a sip of his coffee. " The students will be gathering in the main hallway in an hours time, all we've got to do is show up."
" One step ahead of us has always, huh Maximoff? " Scott asked, his gaze lingered on Peter. " I'm glad you're here for this, we need to stick together."
" We've got this, bro." Peter replied.
" I would like to ask a question." Kurt said.
" Sure, what would you like to know?" Hank asked.
" Are we allowed to pray for Raven?" Kurt asked while he looked down at the Rosary in his hands. " I would like to pray for her, do you think the students would join me in prayer? It may bring them comfort."
" I think that's a wonderful idea." Storm said.
" Raven would like Kurt, she really would." Hank smiled.
Hank spoke with his teammates and told them he couldn't face the students right now, he was relying on them to break the news to the students. Hank chose Scott to be the main spokesman, the rest of them were given the task to support the students. Scott didn't want to do it though, he felt like it wasn't his place to break the news to the students about Raven. Storm suggested that they could all do it together, Scott could begin the assembly and someone else could end it. But Scott piped up and told them he would do it after all, he said he owed it to Raven.
Hank left his teammates in the kitchen, they all sat in silence until it was time for them to leave for the assembly in the main hallway. They left the kitchen and walked together down the corridor, the odd student hurried passed them. Storm had stopped for a moment and looked along the corridor that lead to the Professor's office, she asked the rest of them if they should checked on him. But Scott told Storm no, he said it was best for them to deal with the students while the Professor drowned his sorrows with booze. Peter couldn't agree more with him, Charles wasn't in the right mindset to deal with the situation right now.
They turned into another corridor and it wasn't long until they saw the students gathering by the staircase, they were all talking amongst themselves. Peter glanced at Scott, his gaze was directly focused on the task in hand. None of them were mentally prepared for this, it was going to be hard to tell the students about Raven. All the students attention was soon focused on their Team Leaders, the odd student whispered to each other and Peter even swore he heard one of them talking about Jean going rogue on them. He had no idea how any of the students knew about that, but the news had been reporting about the incident at Red Hook.
" Settle down everyone!" Storm said.
The students all began to settle down and the hallway went silent, Peter stood with Scott on the staircase. Storm and Kurt stood at the bottom on the staircase in case they were needed. The odd student kept whispering but Storm hushed them, it seemed like the students were full of gossip and questions. Scott cleared his throat and cupped his hands together in front of him, he was now ready to break the news to the students about Raven.
" I don't really know how to say this, but something happened to Raven on our mission to Red Hook." Scott said.
" Is Raven okay?" One of the student asked.
" There was an accident, I'm afraid to say Raven got injured..." Scott replied, he glanced at Peter before he continued speaking. " Raven didn't make it, she's... gone."
" Gone where?" Another student asked.
" She passed away, I'm sorry to break the news to you all..." Scott said.
Peter watched has the hallway went deadly silent, the students were taking in what Scott had just told them. Some of the students began to cry while other students comforted their fellow classmates, a few of the students hurried passed Peter on the staircase and headed to their dorm rooms in tears. It was heartbreaking seeing all the students so upset, all that could be heard were sobs. Peter hurried down the staircase to a female student who had collapsed on the floor in tears, he helped her to her feet and gave her a hug.
" It's okay, let it all out." Peter said.
Storm was hugging two student together, she was talking quietly to them and reassuring them that they would be okay. Kurt kept his gaze on the ground and held hands with a young student, his rosary was hanging from his free hand while a single tear rolled down his cheek. The students were unconscionable and broken, the mood was dark in the school. Raven had meant a lot to all of the students, she was their hero.
" Mutant and proud..." One student said.
Scott soon spoke again before he left, he told the students to retire to their dorm rooms or go to the Student Activity Room where prayers with Kurt would be held. Most of the students went to their rooms to grieve for Raven, but some followed Kurt to the Student Activity Room. Peter walked some of the students to their dorm rooms, when they were safe in their rooms Peter returned to the hallway and sat down on the staircase with Storm. They spoke quietly to each other and discussed what would happen next with Jean, they needed Charles to pull himself together for the sake of the X Men.
" This is such a mess. " Storm said with a sigh. " How are we ever going to face Jean after she killed Raven?"
" I don't know..." Peter replied while he looked at Storm. " I didn't exactly see what happened, but from what Scott told me Jean didn't mean to do it."
" Jean lost control and lashed out at Raven, it happened so fast." Storm said, she looked at Peter. " She's not mentally stable, we need to find her before she hurts anyone else."
" Then it's settled, we need to find Jean and bring her home." Peter said.
" It's not going to be that simple, we both know that." Storm said.
Storm touched Peter's arm before she left him on the staircase, she was going to check on some of the students. Peter decided to go and see how the prayers were going on in the Student Activity Room. He wasn't a religious man, but he was curious to see and hear what Kurt was saying to comfort the students. He walked along the corridor until he reached the the open doorway to the Student Activity Room, he stood in the doorway and saw the students holding hands in a circle. Their eyes were crossed and Kurt was speaking the Lord's prayer, his voice was rather smoothing.
Our Father
Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Peter leaned his shoulder against the door frame and listened to Kurt talking to the group of students after he had finished the prayer, he was telling them all that death is the beginning of a new life. Kurt believed that after you died you were reborn on the earth once again, he told them that Raven's death was not in vain. He believed that the Holy Spirit would guide them all and share comfort with them in their times of need, Peter just hoped that the students would find some comfort in Kurt's words right now.