ASH

Lori McDonald
July 1997

EPILOGUE

The explosion had been incredible. At around 2:05 am, Magneto had ripped the adamantium doors right off his cell and thrown them through the roof. A gas main had gone off, shooting a fireball into the sky, and the alarm began screaming.

He ran out with everyone else, racing to the lab as more alarms went off from the motion detectors they tripped.

Upon escaping from his cell, Magneto had flown through the hole he made and headed upwards. Rogue reached him first and for a few moments it looked like they were dancing as she tried to grab him and he stayed out of arm's reach. Then Meggan and Brian arrived and he'd inundated all three of them with a barrage of magnetic lightning before flying away faster than they could follow.

It'd been a surge in the power supply, it was decided later. An unforseeable accident and no one's fault. Nothing had been tampered with, they were all sure of that.

Ash sat in a chair by his window, lazily watching a bird fly outside. That had been three weeks ago, and for him, they'd been a good three weeks. His nightmares were gone and his bouts of depression were far less frequent and severe. He'd even begun to think of himself as actually being Ash, and not just a nameless entity. It'd been a long time.

Even better, Rogue had been dropping hints that she might not return to the X-Men, but would instead stay with Excalibur, and with him.

"Wanker!" He heard Lockheed call from outside.

"Sod off, yer bloody snake!" Pete yelled back.

Ash stuck his head out the window and laughed as he saw Lockheed blow raspberries at Pete Wisdom.

Pete heard and looked up at him, his face brightening in desperate hope.

"Ash! Yer heard 'im, didn't yer? Tell these wankers Lockheed can talk, mate!"

Ash forced his face into an expression of puzzlement. "Dragons don' talk."

Immediately, Pete looked pissed. "It's a conspiracy," he muttered as he stomped off. "A soddin' plot."

Ash winked at the grinning Lockheed and pulled his head back into his room, taking an envelope out of his pocket as he did so. It'd arrived in the mail that morning with no return address. He opened it.

There was letter and a picture of a tabby cat, lying on a table looking out a large porthole into space and the earth. He could see her reflection in the glass, showing her bored regality.

He smiled and read the letter.

        Ash,
        
        I felt it appropriate to send you a picture of
        Anya, to show how she has grown.  It was
        quite difficult.  For all the beauty of the 
        view, there seem to be very few cameras
        in Avalon.

        I also wished to thank you for your assistance.
        If you ever have need of me, I will come.  You 
        also have a place on Avalon if you desire it,
        as a friend if not an Acolyte.

        For your own protection, I suggest you 
        destroy this letter.

                                       Sincerely yours,
                                       Eric Lensherr

Ash put the letter down by his side and turned to see Rogue floating towards the window. "Oui?"

"Ah got a baseball game goin'. Wanna play?"

He grinned. "Sure, jus' give me a minute." She blew him a kiss and soared away.

Ash looked at the photo and letter again, committing them to memory, and his hands flashed, obliterating them. Standing, he hurried out the door, leaving them to drift out the window as a faint sparkling of ash.