Welcome to Cheechi's Place

By: Lisa Anne Hetu

Disclaimer: The X-Men belong to Marvel Comics, and I'm using them without permission. The character called Phoenix (Elizabeth Xavier), who later becomes Silent Rose, belongs to me.

The X-Men were gathered in the war room waiting for something, but they weren't exactly sure what they were waiting for. Professor Xavier was waiting impatiently but the X-Men didn't know why. Only Xavier knew; him and Beast. Beast was absent at the silent gathering, he was gone to meet someone, someone very special to Xavier.

The war room was completely silent, accept for the sighs and breathing of the patient X-Men. Then footsteps cut through the silence as Beast and a young woman carrying a large suitcase entered the room. "Good evening comrades," said the bouncing Beast "This is Elizabeth Xavier, she will be joining us for a while."

Elizabeth was a pretty young woman with brown hair and blue eyes. She was of average height and fairly thin. She was wearing her red and black costume with the emblem of the phoenix on the chest area. She glanced around the room and immediately noticed Professor Xavier. "Daddy!" she called dropping her suitcase and jogging toward her father.

Beast was explaining to the others that "Lizzie" as he called her, was also a mutant with extraordinary powers. She could throw fireballs, which appeared in her cupped hands, and throw at enemies. She could also fly and create a fire shield to protect herself.

"As you can see, she is also the professor's daughter," continued Beast. "She has very weak telepathic powers inherited by her father, but she doesn't use them much."

Wolverine looked at the professor's daughter and asked "So why is she here?"

Beast answered very intelligently "She used to live with her grandmother in Boston. Living alone with her grandmother made her feel lonely and she needed some action. Being a mutant yourself, I suppose you can relate to that. But she also wanted to see her father again... and myself."

Rogue wanted to know why Lizzie would want to see Beast and how she knew him. Beast once again began an explanation. "I am actually her penal, we've sent each other letters and photos."

Now basically everything was clear. "Does she have a code name or do we just call her Lizzie?" asked Cyclops.

Beast had feared that Scott may ask that question and didn't want to have to answer it in front of him and Wolverine. Beast cleared his throat "Well Scott," he answered slowly "her mutant name is... Phoenix."

Wolverine suddenly turned surprisingly to Beast, but said nothing. Scott's expression showed surprise and sadness. "No" he uttered ever so quietly.

Later, after Lizzie was settled in her quarters, Beast and Jubilee showed her around the compound and introduced her to each X-Man individually. Lizzie made an effort to remember all their names and code names properly.

"I love this place Hank! It's so cool!" Lizzie looked around with a happy sparkle in her eyes and an enthusiastic expression on her face. "I want to stay here for a long time" she said.

"We're glad to have you, I hope you stay too." said Jubilee.

Jubilee thought Lizzie was a wonderful guest to have at Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning. "Hank, could you show me your lab? I want to see your experiments." Lizzie asked.

Beast thought for a moment. "Sure, I can show you some things I've been working on."

Lizzie nodded in agreement. "Alright then, I'll meet you at your quarters in an hour." said Beast, pleased that Lizzie was interested in his work. Lizzie smiled, then walked down the hall to the wreck room.

Elizabeth found Gambit and Wolverine in the wreck room. "Hi!" she said "Do you guys want to play a game of basketball?"

Gambit was enthusiastic about the idea but Wolverine, well, lets say he wasn't quite in the mood for basketball. "Well, if you change your mind we'll be outside, okay Logan?" said Lizzie a little disappointed and confused.

Lizzie was a good basketball player but so was Gambit. Lizzie jumped up and caught the ball right before it landed in the hoop. Then she dribbled around Gambit to get a better shot. Lizzie aimed and threw the ball into the hoop with a swish.

"Game over Remy, I win!" said Phoenix smiling.

"You pretty good eh? 'Dat was a good game." said Gambit.

Lizzie told Gambit that he was also a good basketball player, and tough competition. Gambit smiled. "We'll do it again sometime, but right now I've got to go. I'll see you later Remy. " said Lizzie before heading toward her room.

Lizzie found her dear friend Hank waiting outside her bedroom door. He was wearing a white, scientific coat, and was holding an extra one for Lizzie. "Your the best Hank." Lizzie said.

Beast shrugged his shoulders and handed the coat to Lizzie "If you say so" he said.

Lizzie laughed and put on the coat. "This way to the lab," said Beast "after you" he said politely.

Lizzie was amazed with everything in the lab. Beast showed her two mind control objects that he had found in space; he showed her some solutions he had come up with; he showed her some of his lab reports. All the lab reports were filed in alphabetical order and placed in a filing cabinet. Beast was just about to show Lizzie an experiment when Cyclops opened the lab door. "Beast could I talk to..." Cyclops cut off his sentence when he saw Phoenix "It can wait, I see you're busy."

Cyclops turned and headed towards the door. "Wait, I can see you..." The door shut and Cyclops was gone. "Now" finished Beast disappointed.

"Scott too?" Lizzie said out loud to herself.

Beast looked at Lizzie confused. "What do you mean Scott too?" he asked.

Lizzie looked worried. She leaned up against the counter and said "Logan and Scott seems to be ignoring me for some reason; I don't know why, it seems they've been ignoring me since shortly after I arrived."

Beast thought for a moment, trying to figure out why Logan and Scott would do this. "I don't think it's because they don't like me, it's something else, something that bothers them. I can see pain in their eyes when they look at me." Lizzie said.

For a short while the lab was silent. "I know why they're doing this!" said Beast suddenly.

"Well don't just stand there Hank! Tell me! I want to know!" exclaimed Phoenix.

Beast remembered when Cyclops was in love with the X-Man called Jean Grey. Wolverine also loved Jean. Beast once again showed Lizzie the mind control objects. He told Elizabeth that he had found them in space, on the same mission as Jean's "accident". Jean was most-likely still alive but she wasn't quite herself. Beast told Elizabeth the story of how Jean's body was taken by a primal force known as the Phoenix. Lizzie gasped.

The Phoenix had to protect a crystal and take it into the sun where no living being could find it. Cyclops and Wolverine were not able to ever see Jean again, she was gone forever. "That's so sad." replied Elizabeth.

"So they're ignoring me because my name is Phoenix and I remind them of Jean? Do I look like Jean?" asked Phoenix.

Beast shook his head "Not at all" he replied.

"I think I'll see your experiment later Hank, I have a couple people I need to talk to." Lizzie said removing her white coat and handing it to Beast.

"I understand" said Beast a little disappointed.

"I knew you would Hank." answered Elizabeth with a smile.

"You're a real good friend, I promise I'll see them soon" Lizzie said as she left the room.

Beast sighed "Sometimes I really enjoy her sense of loyalty." he said.

Elizabeth wasn't sure where Logan was but she had a strange feeling that Scott would be in his quarters. Lizzie was right, Scott was in his quarters. Lizzie knocked on the door. "Scott, may I come in?" she called.

She heard Cyclops walk across the room and open the door. "Oh, I thought you were someone else." he said when he saw Lizzie.

"You look disappointed, were you expecting someone else?" Lizzie asked trying to cheer Scott up.

"Uh, no" said Cyclops quickly," Please come in."

Elizabeth stepped into the room and Scott closed the door. "This room looks a lot like mine" Lizzie said.

Scott said nothing but stared blankly out his window. "Scott, I need to talk to talk with you, its important." said Elizabeth.

"Oh sorry," said Scott " what did you want to talk about?" he asked lowering himself to his bed. Lizzie found a chair and sat near Cyclops.

"Hank told me about Jean." Phoenix began.

Scott lowered his gaze to the floor, trying to hide his expression from Lizzie. "Hank told me that she was your wife, he also told me about the Phoenix." Lizzie continued.

Lizzie could tell that Scott was thinking of Jean and was getting more and more upset by every word she said but she couldn't back off now. "You seem to have been ignoring me, and Logan has too. Hank and I think it's because of Jean and the Phoenix." Lizzie finished.

Lizzie looked at Scott to see his reaction. Scott buried his face in his hands. "I'm sorry," he said sadly "Jean meant a lot to me, you just remind me of her so much, I've been hiding from my thoughts."

Scott's words stumbled out in one big rush. Lizzie slid onto the bed next to him and put an arm around his trembling shoulders. "It's okay, I understand." Lizzie said quietly, comfortingly.

"We can still be friends, right?" asked Cyclops.

Lizzie hugged Cyclops. "Of course we can, that's what I wanted in the first place." she answered.

Lizzie was walking to the door to leave then she suddenly turned around "Could you talk to Logan for me?" Scott nodded. "Thanks" said Phoenix smiling.

Cyclops found Wolverine and talked to him about Lizzie. "Yeah, well what if I don't want to be her friend Cyke, she reminds me of Jean too much, I don't think I could handle it." Wolverine complained.

Cyclops didn't want Lizzie to be disappointed. "You have to give her a chance, she is nothing like Jean, she doesn't even look like Jean. Her name doesn't mean anything. If you give her a chance you'll thank me for it." Cyclops protested. He wasn't going to let Logan win this time, it was for Lizzie.

Elizabeth was in her room reading a book that she had borrowed from Beast, when all of a sudden the glass of Lizzie's window came crashing in, and three evil mutants came in ready to snatch Lizzie and leave. Lizzie cried out softly and backed away ready to burn them all to ashes, but poor Phoenix was surrounded and the mutants dragged her away easily. Phoenix was helpless. Cyclops was still trying to convince Wolverine that Lizzie wasn't what he thought she was, when they heard Lizzie scream. "Elizabeth!" cried Cyclops.

Wolverine and Cyclops wasted no time in rushing to Lizzie's room. "The doors locked, I can get it open!" said the surprisingly worried Wolverine.

"I'll blast it open, stand back." said Cyclops raising his glasses, lensed with ruby quartz, and blasting a strong optic blast at the door.

The smoke cleared and Lizzie's room was a mess. Wolverine let out his metal claws and walked cautiously into Lizzie's room. At that exact moment Gambit, Rogue, Storm, and Beast came rushing down the hall. "Where's Elizabeth?" asked Beast out of breath.

Wolverine sniffed the room, then he let out an angry growl and slashed at the wall. "Sinister's got her." he said.

At Sinister's lair, Lizzie was being chained to the wall. "What do you think your doing jerk?" Lizzie snapped bravely.

She had never met Sinister before. "You make me sick, do you know who your dealing with?" Lizzie said.

Sinister walked up to Lizzie and said "I don't think little Phoenix knows who she's dealing with, do you smartie?"

Lizzie was getting scared. "What do you want with me?" she asked timidly.

Sinister chuckled "I want your genetic imprint. My new followers will be just as strong as you." he said.

Lizzie gasped. "You dirty monster! I won't give you anything, especially anything you need to play God!" said Phoenix igniting her fire shield to try and escape.

"I wouldn't bother trying my pretty, your power is absorbed by those chains." said Sinister laughing.

"You rotten pig! When I get out your toast!" screamed Phoenix.

The X-Men didn't know what to do. The Blackbirds weren't working and they had to get to Phoenix fast. "Ah'll give some of you guys a ride" suggested Rogue.

"I could help you Rogue." offered Storm.

Both Storm and Rogue could fly and at that moment that's all that sounded logical. The X-Men decided to have Storm carry Wolverine, while Rogue carried Gambit, Cyclops and Beast under her arms. The X-Men found out that what they were doing was a bad idea when Rogue nearly dropped both Gambit and Cyclops. "Watch what you do'in chere! Gambit don' feel like sky diving wit'out a parachute!" Gambit protested.

The next idea was to hitch a ride on Beast's old blanket. So Storm and Rogue flew the guys to Lizzie on a blanket. "Beast get your foot out of my face." grumbled Wolverine.

"Oh stop your grumblin' hon, we're almost there." scolded Rogue.

"Don't you even think of messing with me" Lizzie said really steamed.

Sinister didn't pay any attention to her and continued his plan. "You better think again before you start anything sinister" said Cyclops as he and the other X-Men arrived on the scene.

"Get them" ordered Sinister, and his followers attacked.

Cyclops blasted most of them at once. Storm called on the northern wind and she blew away a few guys too. Wolverine let out his claws and pounced on anyone that didn't smell right. Rogue flew around throwing any huge object she could find at anyone who got in her way. Beast jumped up to grab onto the pipes near the ceiling to get a drop on Sinister. Beast jumped down just as Sinister moved out of the way, and the bad guys got the drop on him instead. Beast struggled to escape but was unsuccessful. Cyclops ran across the room to untie Phoenix. "I knew you'd come" said Lizzie smiling at Scott.

One of Sinister's men, Hairbag, saw Cyclops running to Phoenix and attacked him. Lizzie's eyes widened as Hairbag tackled Cyclops to the ground.

Meanwhile, Gambit was having problems of his own. "You starting to annoy Gambit" he said throwing an ace into the middle of the room were it blew up.

Lizzie struggled to break loose of her chains. She used all her power at once but it was no use. Just then Wolverine flew across the room, up-side-down, and crashed into Storm knocking them both to the ground. Rogue had two of Sinister's men hanging on to her arms. "Get offa me!" she shrieked flying back and forth across the room trying to shake them off.

Lizzie continued struggling then realized that the little box with the red button was preventing her from using her powers to break free of the chains that kept her from helping her friends. Now if only she could reach it. Phoenix stretched her leg out as far as she could; just a bit further.

"Now now, you have to wait a bit longer, we can't be freeing ourselves yet Phoenix," Sinister scolded sliding the tiny box into the corner with his foot, "You have to watch your friends die, then I have bigger plans for you."

As Sinister taunted her, Lizzie watched the outcome of the fight. Rogue was still flying around aimlessly, Beast was fighting to get up, Storm and Wolverine were still struggling to get out of the corner, and Cyclops was battling Hairbag -- and having no access to his power due to the tiny distance between them. Sinister's words ran through Lizzie's head like a broken record, constantly taunting her. <>

"NOOO!" Phoenix screamed snapping out of it. Her anger built up inside her and turned into a rage. Her rage became so powerful that she broke free of her chains and attacked Sinister who didn't know what hit him. Everyone spun around in shock; her rage was so strong that she killed Sinister with her bare hands and tossed Hairbag across the room. Then she attacked everyone else who was trying to hurt her friends. She probably would have hurt her friends too, if they hadn't ducked out of the way as quickly as possible. Phoenix's eyes glowed red and the bad guys fled out the hole in the wall; Phoenix fell to her knees.

Back at Xavier's school, Lizzie thanked everyone for coming to her rescue. "I'm sorry I can't stay, but I've got to go back to my grandmother" she said.

The X-Men were disappointed. "I'm going to miss you Phoenix" said Cyclops walking up to Lizzie.

Lizzie and Cyclops hugged each other good-bye. "I'll miss you too Scott" said Lizzie sadly.

"We never played 'dat other game of basketball you promised." said Gambit.

"Don't worry, I'll be back soon, I'm not leaving forever!" said Lizzie putting a hand on his cheek.

"You keep 'dis till you return chere" said Gambit handing Lizzie his basketball.

"I'm going to miss you the most Hank" said Lizzie with tears in her eyes. Beast hugged Lizzie and said "As my mother always said, 'Tomorrow is another day'... we'll see each other soon."

Lizzie smiled "Your the best Hank" she said.

Lizzie said good-bye to her father and walked outside to the cab that was waiting. "I'll miss you guys, but I'll be home soon!" called Lizzie as the cab sped away.

The X-Men were happy that Lizzie would be back to stay when she returned. As the X-Men walked back inside Scott said "I was wrong Logan, she is a lot like Jean"

Wolverine looked at Cyclops "Yeah, but she's also really different." he said, "This one has a temper!" he laughed -- Cyclops laughed too.

THE END