Author's Note: Hello lovelies! Apologies for the delay in the regular update…this is an insane busy time of year for me and this chapter also revealed itself very slowly…I kept pushing for more action and it just wasn't ready to be there yet! But we're nicely teed up for the "boss fight" to happen next chapter!

I may miss next week as well as I'm at a conference, but if you don't see a new chapter go up, check out 14 and 15 - they both need some edits and I should be able to at least get those done for you as a mini-update. :) I also will do my best to catch up on title playlisting, as I'm sorely behind.

Love to all of you! -PC

He wound up talking, after Kitty and Piotr walked through the library wall and returned a few moments later with the last member of the team, the man previously stationed at the helicopter.

It also helped that Storm was willing to lower the temperature in the library to extremely uncomfortable levels…just around him.

"Jean Grey is under contract, assigned specifically to target mutants that possess desirable skills and bring them in to government employment. Involuntarily, if necessary. We were assigned to come in and recover her."

Ororo's mouth tightened into a thin line, and she exchanged a look with Leah, whose face had drained of color. "And were you to recover anyone else?"

"No. Just Ms. Grey. We were to leave any of…the rest of you…to her."

Jean's hands tighten into fists as the Phoenix looks at them. Charles feels a touch of worry at the calm expression on the entity's face, seemingly untroubled by Jean's escape.

She even looks amused.

"Did you not enjoy your prison?" she mocks.

Jean glares at the Phoenix. "If you're supposed to be me, I don't understand why you're being so cruel."

"Cruel?" The Phoenix smiles. "That wasn't cruelty. I actually hoped you'd find your way out and realize that your only way forward is to join with me." She raises a bright hand towards Jean's face. "I miss you, you know. We are so much better when we work together. Why fight?"

Jean is silent, and Charles sees her tremble, torn. He intervenes.

"If you truly are part of Jean, you'd realize that this is cruel to her. You would stop."

The Phoenix turns to him and evaluates him. It's been a long time since he's felt so insignificant, and Charles doesn't like it.

"Oh, Charles. I can be much crueler to her than I have been. So many memories to play with. You think you've seen the worst?"

The Phoenix waves a hand and a new memory starts, appearing next to them in the room of black glass.

By this point, Charles has seen enough to recognize the setting as Leah's bedroom, the sound of rain permeating the scene. Out the window he can see snow on the trees; with the weather, it must be early March.

Logan and Leah are awake, cuddled together in bed. The smile on Leah's face and the relaxed expression on Logan's tells Charles that they've been awake for a while and that things are, hopefully, done being embarrassing for the time being.

She strokes her hand through his hair and he smiles, shifting to pull her even closer under the covers. "Feeling good?"

"Mmm." She leans in for a kiss. "You know I am."

He chuckles. "You ready to get up? Bet there's coffee in the kitchen…" She makes a noise of protest as he moves, and he relaxes back. "Okay. Maybe not just yet."

They lie together contentedly for another few moments, her head resting on his chest, although Logan looks slightly pensive. The expression gradually resolves into having made a decision, and he rises again, this time leaning over Leah – who makes another noise of protest at being squashed into the mattress – and reaching for his jeans, which are on the floor next to the bed. He pulls them up and starts fishing in the pockets.

Leah looks at him curiously. "What are you doing?"

He ignores her, pulling out a simple silver chain from one of the pockets and then letting the jeans fall back onto the floor. Leah is still looking at him as he picks up his dog tags from the bedside table.

Charles guesses what's coming, mostly because he's seen the result around Leah's neck. Logan unfastens the chains and separates the tags, placing one on the new chain he's just pulled out.

He holds up the chain, still without a word. Leah eyes the dangling tag and slowly nods. He slips it over her head, gathering her hair up and pulling it free of the chain, and watches the tag fall, landing between her breasts. He runs a fingertip down the chain and finally speaks. "Looks good." His voice hitches a little, and before Leah can say anything in reply, Logan pulls her back to him and covers her mouth with his, rolling over onto his back with her in his arms.

The Phoenix wears a self-satisfied smirk as the scene fades…but the smirk, in turn, fades.

Jean's head is up, and this time her eyes are blazing. Charles stops breathing.

"Stop it."

The Phoenix laughs. "It's a little late for that, don't you think? Here I am. You can't lie to me…part of you does still hate her and want her gone, and that part will do whatever it takes. That part's me."

Jean takes another breath. "You're right." The Phoenix smiles, but it's short-lived, as Jean continues. "But I have a choice about what I do with how I feel. And I choose…not you."

The Phoenix's eyes narrow and she waves a hand again. Another memory starts.

Leah shook her head as Ororo efficiently rendered the last of the men unconscious. "I still can't believe it. I don't think I've ever had anyone hate me this much. To sell out the rest of you…fucking hell."

"What should we do with them?"

Ororo's mouth tightened in response to Leah's question. "Charles may be able to deal with them. Remove their memories of being here. I think we may have bigger problems, but that is at least a start."

Scott had stepped over to the window and was looking out pensively. He was the last person Leah wanted to talk to at the moment, but she felt she had to, and she stepped over to him and lowered her voice as the rest of the group collected back together.

"Scott…Christ, Scott. I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

Scott wouldn't look at her, but his tone was gentle. "No, it's not."

"I kind of think it is…"

He sighed. "If you hadn't come along, things would have just stayed the same. Or it would have been someone else. Either way…it wouldn't have been any better."

She knew he was right, but that didn't make it any easier. "Do you want to go see how they're doing down there?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do." A ghost of a smile flitted over his face. "If you aren't going to make me sick again, that is."

She chuckled. "Deal. Let's go."

Leah is walking in from the back of the mansion, through the staff kitchen side door. Her arms are covered in dirt up to the elbows – she must be coming from the greenhouses, or the garden - and she's clearly heading for the kitchen cleaning closet and its deep sink to get washed off.

Jean is standing at the refrigerator and her lip curls at the sight of the other woman. Leah obviously stifles a sigh and keeps walking, but stops at the sound of Jean's voice.

"I guess Logan is starting to rub off on you, Leah. Maybe next time you could wash your hands before you come inside?"

Leah slowly turns and lets Jean see her eyes roll. "Yeah. I'm so not doing this right now." She turns away again. What she's not seeing, and what Charles does see, is the orange burn in Jean's eyes.

The Phoenix is in control in this memory.

He looks at the Jean beside him and her expression is confused. "I don't remember this…"

The women in the memory have exchanged another barb, judging by their expressions, but Charles has missed it. Whatever Jean has said has made an impact: Leah's hands are clenched into fists and she's looking angry.

"…and really, you're getting close to about how long he lasts with any woman. So you might want to think about a backup. Unless you want to come to the wedding solo?" With a smile, Jean turns and walks away.

Charles fills in the missing pieces: Jean had been needling Leah about Logan's past, and his prior tendency to fall in and out of relationships quickly. Judging by Leah's expression, it's not the first time she's heard this kind of petty cruelty, but that doesn't mean it isn't affecting her.

Leah takes a deep breath and braces her hands on the low island, ignoring the dirt still covering her arms. One hand reaches up, and her fingers find the dog tag that's around her neck. Her head drops and she stays like that for several heartbeats; when her head lifts, the expression on her face is fierce, and she looks at her watch, then strides off.

The memory follows her up the stairs to her rooms, and the door's barely closed behind her before she's stripping and diving into the shower. She's kept her hair dry, and when she comes out of the shower, she quickly ties it into a partial braid, leaving a long loose tail down her back. Her movements scream determination and focus – and barely-checked anger – as she quickly applies a touch of makeup, and then returns to the bedroom, rooting through her closet and tossing a black and green dress on the bed.

She's obviously picked it with a purpose: the dress is a sheath cut and accentuates her hourglass shape. She wriggles in, zips up, and pulls on stockings and black heels.

She's done this in less than ten minutes, and checks her watch again. She strides for the door.

The halls of the mansion are empty enough that Charles assumes classes are still in session; Leah doesn't run into anyone as she walks, and that's probably a good thing. She heads down to the first floor and walks down the hall, a few doors down from her own classroom, and leans against the open door of Logan's.

He stops mid-sentence in his discussion, from where he's leaning against the desk at the front of the room, and stares at her for a second. "Leah?"

"Professor Logan." She inclines her head. "I apologize for interrupting. Could I see you in your office please?"

"I…uh…" He swallows, still staring at her. "Yeah. Uh…" He looks at his watch. "That'll be it for today. Finish reading the chapter for tomorrow. Class dismissed."

He pushes through the students and comes to Leah's side. "Everything okay?"

She smiles and meets his eyes, and then turns. He follows.

Logan's office is on the second floor and is sparse; desk, chairs, bookshelves, an armchair shoved into a corner almost as an afterthought. He shuts the door and Leah pounces on him: she pushes him up against it and is kissing him, and he makes a sound of surprise before he gathers her in his arms and returns the kiss.

She's letting her anger out in the form of passion, and Logan clearly is not minding: he spins her away from the door and up against one of the bookshelves, the furniture rocking dangerously and knocking a stack of papers to the floor before she pushes back and they fall onto the armchair, grappling until he's more or less sitting and Leah's kneeling astride his lap. At some point she's kicked off her shoes, as one's somehow on his desk.

Logan tears his mouth away but his hands are still moving over her. "What happened?"

"Nothing." Leah's voice rasps as she catches her breath for a moment. "I was just…thinking about you."

"Goddamn." He looks down, then up, hands smoothing along her waist and down her hips, splaying out over her curves. Charles makes what must be his hundredth mental note to figure out how he can forget what he's seen out of respect for the two of them. "Why the fuck haven't you worn this before?"

She doesn't really get the chance to answer as he kisses her again, one hand working on her braid and untying it to free her hair. Charles expects the Phoenix to stop the memory, but she's still watching, a faint smile on her face. There's more she wants Jean to see.

Or hear, as it turns out.

Thankfully, things haven't gone too far before it becomes apparent. Logan's face is buried in Leah's neck, and her head's tipped back as he growls, "Fucking hell, Leah…" His hands rake down her back, fumbling for her dress zipper, as he kisses her neck between words. "You are…brilliant, and gorgeous, I love you so much it fucking hurts, I can't fucking believe you're mine…"

She smiles, and this was clearly the point of what she's done: affirming that she and Logan belong together and that's not changing anytime soon, and they're the ones whose opinions count. "I am. Absolutely."

The memory fades and the Phoenix steps up to Jean with a mocking smile. "Did you want more? I could have let it keep going. You'd get to see him bend her over that desk."

Jean glares at the Phoenix, who merely lifts an eyebrow. She takes a deep breath. "I don't want this. I don't want you."

She grabs Charles' hand. As they link, he feels her power simmering, and takes hold, merging his strength with hers.

The Phoenix frowns, raising a hand, but Jean pushes and freezes her other self before more memories can start.

"That's not going to work anymore," she informs herself.

And she shoves.

The Phoenix skids back over the glass floor and crashes into the wall. Jean holds her there like a bright butterfly, pinned to a collector's tray.

"I won't join with you. But I'll make you join with me."