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.
After the unfortunate extermination of ten mutant friends to the X-Men, the mansion
became less energetic and more quiet and mellow. The devastating defeat left the
remaining X-Men depressed; they didn't feel like doing anything for a while, and during
that time none of them barely raised a finger. Up to now there hadn't been any
disturbances that involved the battle skills of the trained mutants, but they all kept an extra
close watch out for anything that might jump up. They weren't about to let anything
happen to endanger themselves ever again, and they wanted , now more than ever, to
keep Professor Xavier's dream alive.
At the moment nothing important was happening, accept for some strange
reason it was surprisingly warm for a winter's day. Iceman had said that if it got any
warmer the snow would all melt away. Rogue, Cable, Quicksilver, Shatterstar and Rictor
were in the danger room being supervised by Beast and Cyclops. Wolverine and
Cannonball had been suckered into playing cards with Gambit. Iceman was flipping
through the TV. channels and Phoenix was reading a book; all of them in the wreck room.
Psylocke and Archangel were out back having a swim in the pool. Forge was in the war
room monitoring the mansion security and fixing that one monitor that had burned out.
In the wreck room, Phoenix could hear Cannonball and Gambit arguing. "Poker",
"Blackjack", "Poker", "Blackjack" they were saying. Muffled in the arguing, Phoenix could
hear Wolverine grumbling, but the arguing went on - "Poker", "Blackjack", "Poker".
Phoenix rolled her eyes and sighed. "Will you two shut up!!!" screamed Wolverine
suddenly, losing his patience.
Phoenix jumped at Wolverine's suddenly deafening voice. Iceman jumped as well
and unintentionally threw the converter into the air which then landed on his head. "Holy
Geez! Was that necessary Wolverine?" he asked turning to face a heated Wolverine
while rubbing his head from the impact.
Cannonball and Gambit looked at each other and shrugged "Maybe Wolverine
want to play crazy eight's instead, no?" Gambit said cracking up.
Cannonball, Phoenix and Iceman also began to laugh. Wolverine got up abruptly
and leaned over the card table "Do ya want those cards shoved up yer nose, Cajun?"
Wolverine said heatedly.
"Wolverine we don't need any trouble, just relax." said Phoenix trying to calm him
down.
In the danger room Cable, Rogue, Quicksilver, Shatterstar and Rictor were
fighting electronic images. Beast and Cyclops were watching them and controlling the
images. "Crank it up Beast, I'm not even breaking a sweat." Cable said looking up at
Beast through the window.
"Alright, but I'm not turning it up to much more. Cyclops and I have other work to
tend to; we'll have to put it on automatic." Beast answered turning a large red knob
slightly, then the two of them got up and left the room.
The wreck room was quiet now, accept for the voice of the TV and the shuffling of
cards and pages. "Elizabeth, meet me in the lab, its important." said Beast over the
intercom.
"Every time..." Phoenix said under her breath. Phoenix got up and placed her
book on the shelf, then she walked across the room and down the hall to the lab.
Phoenix knocked on the door. "Come in." she heard Beast say.
"You wanted to see me Hank?" said Phoenix entering the room.
"Yes, I wanted you to see this. Observe the similarity between the reaction of the
virus and the reaction of the rodent." said Beast.
Phoenix looked closely as Beast put a tiny drop of vinegar in each tube. "Well
yeah, vinegar is acidic, anything would react that way. You also have to consider the
difference of bio-molecular compounds of both hosts." said Phoenix, "Hank, maybe you
should take a break, you have been working on this awfully hard lately." and she left the
room.
Back in the danger room the program had just ended and Rogue went to the
kitchen to make some coa-cocoa while the others all went their separate ways. Cable
found his way to the war room to see what Forge was up to. As he entered the war room
he heard a beeping noise coming from one of the TV monitors. Cable turned to find
Forge staring at the flashing monitor with a dumb-struck face.
"This just can't be right." Forge said, barely whispering.
"What's wrong Forge?" asked Cable curiously.
"I can't seem to get this to work right. I must be doing something wrong" said
Forge disconnecting the power to the monitor for a forth time.
"Well what's wrong with it?" asked Cable.
"I keep getting a picture of the sun. As far as I know, our monitors can't pick up
any signals from that far away" Forge explained while examining the inner structure with
a flashlight.
"Why would there be any signals coming from the sun anyhow?" Cable
wondered.
"My point exactly" said Forge, trying it once more.
This time there was a different picture which was just as surprising and even
more baffling. The former X-Man Jean Grey showed up in the monitor this time; she was
flying through the sky. "Do you think we should mention this to the others?" asked Cable,
his eyes glued to the monitor.
"Mention what to the others, sugah?" asked Rogue walking into the room with her
cocoa. Rogue looked into the monitor and almost dropped her cup. "It can't be ... the
monitor's broken, right?" Rogue said searching for a logical explanation; it was only then
that the three of them noticed that all the other monitors bore the same picture.
The three X-Men got a hold of their minds and ran to the wreck room. "Where're
the others, ya'll?" asked Rogue.
"La Belle et la Bête are in de lab," said Gambit, "All de others, je ne sais pas"
"We'll find them," said Cable, "I'll call them all here"
Soon everyone was gathered in the wreck room. Forge raised his hand for
silence. "Everyone," he said, "while I was fixing the monitor in the war room I kept getting
strange images that shouldn't be possible with our technology. I thought I had hooked up
something wrong, but after the forth try I saw a new image. By this time Rogue and
Cable were with me. What we saw in that monitor was shown on all the rest, therefore
what I'm about to tell you is true. Jean Grey is back, and we think she's on her way here"
Gasps and cheers were heard throughout the tiny group. There was hugging and
bouncing and, for the first time in a long time, everyone was smiling. Only seconds had
past when Cyclops and Wolverine instinctively went to the window calling out for Jean.
Just then, Jean Grey walked into the wreck room and the noise stopped. Jean
had to giggle at the sight of Wolverine and Cyclops staring our the window. They both
turned around; Cyclops ran to her and kissed her. Wolverine just stood there and looked
at Jean empty-hearted.
Phoenix looked at Jean; she looked just like her picture. Phoenix became
saddened when she realized that she had just lost her chance of getting together with
Cyclops. Now that Jean was back Cyclops would just forget about her; she never even
had the chance to try and be with him. Beast saw her turn away from Cyclops. Beast
slinked over to Phoenix and put an arm around her. Phoenix looked into his wondering
eyes. "Something is bothering you," said Beast, "Methinks it has something to do with
Cyclops and Jean."
"I never could hide anything from you, Hank" said Phoenix quietly, "I never really
considered that Jean would come back."
"I don't think anyone here did, Liz" said Beast.
"I just started thinking about me and Scott, I thought maybe it could work out, but
now I don't have that chance anymore. I never thought about what difference Jean could
make. I mean, look at Logan, even he's upset" said Phoenix.
"Wolverine always loved Jean, it pains him to see her with Cyclops and ignoring
him." said Beast.
Phoenix decided to go talk to Wolverine. She walked over and sat down beside
him. "Why are you so glum?" he asked, looking over at her.
"I guess I never thought about Jean coming back, and I guess I was starting to
care more for Scott than I realized." said Phoenix.
"I know how ya feel darlin', it's kinda like that with me an Jean. Just that I know I
love her and that she don't love me the way she loves him." said Wolverine.
"I guess we're both alone now," said Phoenix, "I'm glad Jean is back with her
friends and all, but I just get this feeling that she's taken my place here, and things aren't
going to be as great as they were before."
"You just hafta give it some time," said Wolverine, "Everyone's exited right now;
things will be the way they were in a few weeks, but until then I gotta get out of here for a
while."
"Why? Where will you go?" asked Phoenix, surprised by his sudden decision.
"I'm just gonna wander around and maybe visit some old friends" he answered.
"Well, would you mind if I tagged along with you?" asked Phoenix, "Maybe it'd be
better if I wasn't here right now."
"Sure kid, I suppose it wouldn't hurt no one if you came along; I say we head off
right now, wha' d'ya say?" said Wolverine smiling from the corner of his mouth.
"Great, just let me pack some stuff" said Phoenix getting up.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell ya I travel light. Don't pack any more than whatever you
can fit in a duffel bag, my scoot doesn't carry luggage." said Wolverine rising to his feet
beside her, "And if anyone asks, don't tell them anything cause I like keeping my trips a
secret"
Phoenix packed a few changes of clothes, her toothbrush, her hairbrush and
something to sleep in. She looked around the room to see if there was anything else she
needed and found her X-Men costume. Phoenix stuffed it into her bag and zippered it up.
She flung it over her shoulder as she closed her bedroom door behind her, then she
quietly headed out the front door to meet Wolverine. When she saw Wolverine sitting on
his bike she knew right away that he had taken "trips" than he had implied. Phoenix said
nothing as she mounted behind him and secured the duffel bag over her shoulder. "Let's
go before someone sees us" she said putting her arms around his waist, and they sped
away.
Everyone had been so happy over Jean's return that they hadn't even noticed that
Wolverine and Phoenix were gone. Jean looked around the room noticing part of X-Force
for the first time. When she had seen Forge and Quicksilver, she hadn't been as
suspicious because they often came to the mansion for a visit, but X-Force? "What
brings you here Cable, and where's the rest of your team?" asked Jean.
Now the truth had to come out. "We've been living here for the past few months
Jean," said Cable, the joy draining from his face, "This is my team now, along with
Rogue, Gambit and Psylocke. Everyone else here, except for Forge, makes up the other
team."
"What do you mean? Where are the others?" said Jean.
"There was an accident with Juggernaut. He killed ten of us when we were trying
to rescue the professor." said Cyclops sadly.
"Oh my god" said Jean putting a hand over her mouth.
"Forge is taking the professor's place, and we had to combine ourselves into two
groups. Now we have the Blue Team and the Red Team." said Shatterstar.
"Would you excuse me for a minute" said Jean walking out of the room.
Cyclops followed.
Jean walked into Professor Xavier's office and looked around with tears in her
eyes. Cyclops walked in after her and wrapped her in a hug. "We'll be okay," he said,
"We're gonna work really hard to make the Professor's dream come true"
Jean looked up at Cyclops and said sadly, "Did he get Logan too?"
"No," Cyclops said wondering, "He was hurt bad, but he's fine now"
"Where is he, I didn't see him" said Jean.
"I don't know, I thought he was with us in the wreck room. Let's go back and
check"
When they returned to the wreck room Archangel said "I can't find Wolverine or
Elizabeth"
"Psylocke's right there" said Jean pointing.
"Not me, the professor's daughter" said Psylocke getting up.
"The professor's daughter?!" said Jean confused.
"She came to live here from Boston over a year ago; she's even part of the team,
code named Phoenix" explained Archangel.
"Oh," said Jean, "So where would they have gone?"
"I have no idea" said Cyclops, scanning a room of dumb-struck faces.
A few hours later, Wolverine and Phoenix pulled up at an old motel somewhere in
lower Manhattan. "I think I can get us a room here for a while" said Wolverine locking up
his bike.
"Kinda run down, don't you think?" said Phoenix looking over the exterior of the
building.
"Ya, but at least it's a roof over our heads; besides, I know people around here"
said Wolverine, shouldering his duffel bag and heading inside.
Phoenix followed Wolverine up the stairs to the second floor. Wolverine lead her
down the hall and knocked on one of the doors. A woman with short green hair, about
Elizabeth's age, opened the door. "Hey Kristin, remember me?" said Wolverine.
"Logan! It's been a while," said Kristin, surprised to see him.
"This is my friend Elizabeth" said Wolverine, holding out his hand, "Look, we've
been travelin' around and we was wondering if that room next door is still empty"
"Well, it is now" said Kristin, "Clive used to live there for a while, but he took off on
me. I don't know how clean the place is; we haven't gone in there since he left."
Kristin unlocked the door next to her apartment and stepped aside as she opened
it. "Here's the key" she said.
"Mush obliged Kristin" said Wolverine heading in.
"It was nice to meet you" said Phoenix following him.
Wolverine carelessly threw his bag into the open closet and sat down on the
wooden chair. Phoenix put her bag down near the dresser table and turned on the lamp.
Then she glanced around the room. "Logan, there's only one bed here, and it's not even
a double" she noticed.
"I know," he answered, "You can have it; I don't sleep much anyway"
"You mean your not gonna sleep all night?" Phoenix said as she stepped into the
bathroom to change.
"I don't know, maybe" said Wolverine taking off his shoes and socks.
Phoenix came out in a short night shirt, her hair tied carelessly behind her. "I'm
not gonna let you stay up all night"
"So yer gonna make me use the bed and you'll stay awake, right?" said Wolverine
tossing his shirt over his bag.
"No, not exactly," said Phoenix, "but I am gonna make you take the pillow and the
blanket and find a soft place on the floor"
"If there are any 'soft spots' on this floor, I'll go out and take a bite out of my Harley"
said Wolverine
"That's not funny Logan" said Phoenix
"Wasn't meant to be" said Logan.
"Maybe we could both fit, either way we both need to sleep" said Phoenix dragging
him with her to the bed.
Soon they were both lying down, back to back, fighting with the blanket. When the
tug of war was over they became uncomfortable and began tossing and turning. This
landed them both on the floor, Wolverine on his back and Phoenix on top. "The bed's not
big enough darlin" said Wolverine
"Really?" said Phoenix sarcastically.
"I'll stay here, you get back in bed" suggested Wolverine
"No way, you get up there too, we'll just have to squish" said Phoenix.
Both of them got up off the floor and Phoenix got in bed again. Wolverine just sat
on the edge and starred at her. "You know this is kinda silly" he said
"Just get over here, I don't like this any more than you do" said Phoenix pulling him
down to her level.
"You could've fooled me" said Logan.
"Oh get out of here, sleep on the floor if you want. I just wanted you to be comfy
too" said Phoenix shoving Wolverine so hard that he fell off the bed and landed on his
back once more.
"Geez, what'd I do?" said Wolverine, sitting up and taking the pillow and blanket.
"What are you doing?" Phoenix asked.
"You said I get the pillow and blanket" said Wolverine, turning his back to her.
"You're such a jerk" said Phoenix, and she too went to sleep.
A few weeks later, Wolverine and Phoenix returned home. Everyone asked them
where they had been, but after a while everything was fine. Jean and Phoenix finally got
introduced to each other; Phoenix didn't find Jean all that bad after all, in fact they
became good friends. As for Phoenix and Wolverine, they barely ever got along ever
again and although they were still friends, everyone around could have sworn otherwise.
The days were now becoming more and more like the way they were when Professor
Xavier was around; the X-Men felt more at home and more comfortable now, but no
matter what happened they would never forget Professor Xavier and their other lost
friends.
THE END
