Hey, here's a new chapter, I know it's crazy

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Chapter XVIII

"Explanations"

In seconds, Rogue's fears came to fruition as she saw Jean, or rather Phoenix, levitate in the air and start destroying everything around her. Trees were being pulled from the roots and tossed at the mansion. That quickly alerted everyone inside and the professor joined by all the mentors started to evacuate the place. The debris of destruction was swimming around the telepath ominously, and she enjoyed every second of it.

"Rogue, what is going on?" Charles asked while he created a force field to protect the guests as they left the place.

"She's here,"

And that was all Rogue needed to say for the professor to grasp the severity of the situation.

Meanwhile Logan took a group of students who had come to the party to safety and would destroy incoming objects that could block their path. Beast took the other half of students and guided them towards a basement-type safe for their protection. Storm took to the skies and summoned the elements trying to counteract Phoenix's destruction.

"Professor what do we do?" Kitty came to his side looking at the view before her. Jean was going berserk and was destroying everything in her way, "What's going on with her?"

"Ensure that everyone is safe Kitty and don't get close to her,"

The girl nodded and looked around to see where she could help. In the distance she saw Kurt and Spike aiding Logan and Beast in ushering the students to safety. Kurt would teleport students as fast as he could, while Evan created barriers with his spikes to avoid incoming debris. She saw Wolverine coming back to the scene in full X-Men regalia, he was ready to fight, but it seemed like he was taken aback by the situation.

Meanwhile Rogue, Scott, and Warren stood up and faced Phoenix.

"We have to do something," Warren said as both Rogue and Scott were still coming out of their shock.

Always prepared, Scott took his visor out and exchanged the shades. He had so many questions but right now was not the time to ask. "I'll try to reason with her," he adjusted his laser for minimal damage and shot her way, intentionally missing but, effectively getting her attention.

"Cute," she muttered, "Really Scott?" she opened her palm and froze him in place. "Don't play with me, I'm not in the mood to play with you," she fisted her hand and levitated him a few feet away from her.

"Scott!" Rogue yelled in concern. She didn't know how much she was capable of, but knew that Phoenix was very powerful and could destroy them easily.

"We have to help him," Warren said as he shed his coat and opened his wings.

Rogue needed to do something and she needed to do it fast. "Warren, could you fly me to her?"

Warren did a double take, not liking the idea one bit, "It's too dangerous Rogue. We don't know what she can do,"

Rogue gave him a determined gaze, "We have to try something Warren, my friend is in danger and I have to help him. Yes she's dangerous, but we need to try,"

"No need darling," Phoenix said from above, "I can give you the best view," she froze the power-sucker and raised her in the air, but Warren quickly flew to her aid. He embraced her from the waist and attempted to pull her away to no avail. Phoenix rolled her eyes tiredly, "you know Warren, the knight in shining armor act is so predictable, but if you want to play so badly,"

Her eyes began to turn black and a smile of dark satisfaction came across her features. Her eyes set on Warren but she deemed him insignificant for her purposes. Phoenix controlled Warren's body and extricated him from Rogue, oh this would be fun. She looked at Warren intently while Rogue and Scott served as spectators to Warren's grunt of pain and subsequent loss of consciousness. The Phoenix blinked slowly and Angel was falling.

"War…ren!" Rogue let out a choked cry for her friend, but her heart was at ease when she saw Wolverine catch him and safely place him on the ground.

"You'll join him soon enough," The Phoenix outstretched her hand and slowly began choking her fiancé, "oh, Scotty I will sure miss you,"

Scott felt the pressure on his neck but was unable to move or stop her. The only thing he could do was to try to focus on creating the mental barriers that Jean had taught him so long ago. If anything that might help to help release him from his freeze and try to break Phoenix's attempt at killing him.

Meanwhile, Rogue was slowly shedding tears, feeling that the battle was lost. There was no way they could beat her. She faintly heard Storm's lighting trying to break the Phoenix force field. But nothing was working, Wolverine and Spike were trying to do physical damage, but that was to no avail as well. What could a mutant, who had no special powers of her own, do against a demi-goddess?

"Don't lose hope," the professor's soothing words came to her head, "You were fighting against her in your vision. I trust that you have the power to fight Phoenix and bring Jean back. I believe in you."

It was true, in her visions she was fighting one on one with this woman. There must be something she could do.

"I will help as much as I can. Her mental barriers are not impenetrable as I previously thought, but I can't break into them for long."

Rogue took a look at Phoenix and then glanced sideways towards Scott. He was suffering.

"He's fighting too. He has a very powerful mind and is fighting to override the Phoenix's control. But, if we don't act soon, he could…" The professor didn't finish the thought, and Rogue was glad for small favors.

The professor focused intently on penetrating the mind of the red head, and struggled plenty in the process. He faintly saw visions of other worlds and beings destroyed on the Phoenix's wake. He saw how this entity had used various hosts in the past, and was nearly indestructible. However, beyond all those gruesome images he saw, buried in the depths of this mind, a woman that he knew all too well.

"Jean."

Phoenix felt the presence inside her, and the pull of Jean's consciousness trying to take over once more. She released Scott who started to fall rapidly through the sky, but was caught by a gust of wind summoned by Storm. Rogue, on the other hand, felt some control of her body come back to her, even if she was still held in the air. With all the strength that she could muster and making the best of the opportunity the professor had created for her, she took of one of her gloves and outstretched her hand to make contact with her enemy.

"No!" She heard Scott's hoarse voice below her. But it was too late. She only hoped that her plan worked and bought them time if nothing else.

The Phoenix snapped her eyes opened and tried to freeze the power sucker once more, but was a second late as a pale and slender hand had already made her way to her forehead. She instantly felt the pull and let out a cry of pain. Rogue also shouted at the overwhelming power that she was absorbing.

"You…you will pay…" was the last she heard as she closed her eyes and felt the rush of wind caress her body.

{-}

The next morning mentors were sending the younger students home, they didn't know what could happen anymore and they were not going to endanger them more than necessary. This was now X-Men territory.

"Okay Chuck, that was the last one," Logan said gruffly.

"Thank you Logan,"

"Professor, you need to tell us what is going on," urged Storm with concern.

"Gather the X-Men, we need to talk." Professor X said as he headed to the base of operations with Logan next to him.

Once everyone arrived, all worse for wear wearing yesterday's remains of formal clothing, they took their respective seats and waited for the professor to begin.

"Last night," the professor began heavily and paused, wondering how much he should share.

"Professor, what happened to Jean?" Scott asked without preamble, "And who is Phoenix?"

"Scott, you see –"

"I need to truth, I think we all do."

"Scott is right professor," Warren said, "tell us everything you know," maybe that would help shed some light on why there was some sort of personal vendetta between Phoenix and Rogue.

The professor sighed, "It might have been best if Rogue was here,"

"What is her involvement in all of this?" Cyclops asked with his brows knitted together.

Logan growing exasperated by the second let out a beastly growl and punched the table, "Let the man talk so we can get answers!"

The professor nodded, "This all started over seven years ago after our fight with Apocalypse..."

Charles wasted no time in filling in the X-Men on what he knew, the visions, the deaths, the power of Phoenix. He told them as much as he could share with the team, and answered their questions as best as possible. Everyone was visibly upset that this information had been kept from them. Even Wolverine, Storm, and Beast expressed their disagreement on withholding key information. Kurt and Kitty looked at each other with concern as this might be the worst fight they have been involved and worst of all it was against a friend. Storm looked at Evan worried that this fight might be just as dangerous, if not more so, than the one they had with Apocalypse. Warren was thoughtful and making his own deductions as to why Rogue would side with the professor on keeping this a secret, when she was a passionate advocate of 'honesty is the best policy.'

Scott remained silent and contemplative about everything he was being told. Hearing about these visions reminded him of that time when he and Rogue went to the county fair and the old lady showed them things no other person should see. It seems that they weren't just visions but premonitions of the future, and that made his stomach churn, it was no wonder the professor seemed so worried about the women laying unconscious in the med bay. There was something else there, as the professor had not been very forthcoming about Rogue's involvement in the situation. However, if she was as afraid as the professor of these visions becoming a reality then it made sense she reacted as strongly as she did last night.

After the professor's explanation everyone left to take it all in.

Everyone except Scott.

"Thank you for staying behind,"

Scott stayed silent waiting for the professor to finally tell him the rest of the story, the part that involved him and the two women he was most fond of.

"Scott, I want to preface this by saying that I didn't know how strong a bond existed between the two of you,"

"Professor, I was about to marry Jean, I think that was highly indicative of a strong bond,"

"I wasn't talking about Jean." The professor gave him a knowing look and continued, "You see Scott, when Rogue became aware of these visions she was scared. Scared of what would happen to her family here at the institute, to the world...to you." Charles gave a resigned smile, "We didn't know why such a horrendous thing would happen, but Rogue was determined to do everything in her power to prevent her nightmares from becoming reality. I might have been the one to push her away,"

"How so?"

"We had a talk right before your high school graduation about this, and my theory was that Jean's turn to darkness had to do with her emotions. The truth is that Rogue noticed something in Jean a long time ago," he moved closer to X-Men leader, "she saw Jean change when she was close to you. It sounds irrational, but there were many instances where Jean's powers would spike up, just because Rogue was close to you. And if I remember correctly, before she left, your friendship with her was blossoming..."

Scott remembered his relationship with the southern girl and couldn't argue with the professor that they had become very close her last year at the institute. So close in fact, that he almost broke up with Jean after graduation, but then Rogue was gone.

"However, I was the one that suggested we needed to keep her happy and Rogue made a choice,"

"What did she do?" He asked almost knowing the answer but he wanted to hear it anyway.

"She left."

"Why?"

"Because that was the only way she knew to protect you, us, and everyone else."

"It doesn't make sense," he said shaking his head, "we could've –"

"She decided it was best to sever her relationship to you, hoping that it would help keep Jean's powers in check and Phoenix would never surface,"

"Well, we just saw how that turned out yesterday,"

Professor Xavier let out a heavy sigh, "I think we might have been wrong about her trigger all along,"

"What do you mean?"

The professor laced his hands together thoughtfully, "As I entered Phoenix's mind yesterday, something didn't feel right. I'm still not sure myself about what is going on, but I'll have to review carefully the memories I saw,"

The professor had felt something within Jean as soon as he had seen her when she was a child. He never thought it would be a dark force of this magnitude but now he wished he would have done something about it sooner.

{-}

For the next three days Warren stuck to Rogue like a hawk not leaving her side. She was still in a comatose state after the last fight and Jean was in a similar state in the adjacent room. It didn't take him long to realize that one way or another she left to protect her fellow X-Men. The professor didn't share the details about her departure seven years ago, but it all made sense now. Why she was reserved and kept to herself when she began living with him, why she would cry at night when she thought no one would listen, why she would refuse to come visit her friends after much prodding on his part. Everything came together for him, and as much as he hurt thinking about everything she went through, there was a tiny part of him that was glad she left the Institute. How else would they have met and shared all of those adventures?

It was not a secret that the woman held a special place in his heart. She did now and she did long ago when she and Scott went to the Winter Ball in New York over seven years ago. Although, he thought she might've had a little crush on him as well, it seemed like the girl had no time for such feelings after graduating high school so he kept his distance. Until she started to smile at him and care for him. She looked after him with gratitude and admiration, but he wanted her heart.

"You need to wake up soon, okay?" he said with a small smile as he stroke her hand gently. At least one good thing came from all of this, he had kept his little translucent glove and could touch the girl freely with his right hand.

The moment was short lived as he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Excuse me, we were wondering if we could see her for a little bit," Asked Kurt as he walked in with Kitty.

Warren nodded, "Yes, of course." He excused himself and closed the door behind him.

"You have a lot of explaining to do sis," said her adopted brother trying hard not to choke on his words.

"That's right! How could you take that upon yourself," said Kitty who couldn't contain her tears, "even if it was for our own good…"

"You can't leave us okay, you have to wake up," whispered Kurt.

{-}

Meanwhile Scott was with Jean, wondering where it all started. Where did Phoenix start taking over? After his talk with the professor he kept replaying all these memories in his head trying to find the origin of Phoenix, trying to make sense of everything the professor told him. But nothing would align for him. He certainly felt guilty because even if he hadn't betrayed Jean physically, he had betrayed her in his heart, and she didn't deserve that. He didn't know what would happen now, all he knew was that he needed to save Jean from Phoenix and he needed to define his feelings once and for all for Rogue, whether they were platonic or not.

He had purposefully avoided visiting Rogue because he didn't know how to face her. He was angry and hurt but tried to understand her noble idiocy, although he still couldn't. Besides, Warren wouldn't let the woman out of his sight and was next to her every waking moment. Scott would be a fool not to see that the CEO was in love with her. As much as he disliked that particular aspect of Warren Worthington, he was grateful to him for taking care of Rogue. After all, it was Jean who needed him most right now.

That, however, didn't stop him from looking at Rogue from her side window at night. While her vitals were stable, he couldn't help but worry that her absorption powers might've done more damage than what was visible to the eye. Evidently Phoenix wasn't their typical mutant, they still didn't know what she was exactly, and he's seen Rogue struggle in the past with strong foes. Against his better judgement, this night he decided to step inside her room and see her briefly. Tomorrow there was a long day ahead of him full of training, research, and strategy.

"Hey," he whispered while sitting next to her. He took in her peaceful form and let out a breath he wasn't aware he had been holding, "I hate seeing you like this. I really wish you were up right now, there is so much I want to tell you. So much I want to ask you...but for now, all I ask is that you wake up...please." He all but pleaded.

He remained silent for the next few minutes and then left, hoping against hope, that tomorrow she would be awake. As he closed the door, he missed a petite hand twitch ever so slightly.

{-}

Her eyes began adjusting to the light, but her body felt heavy and beaten, "What happened?" she asked herself with a hoarse voice.

Just then Warren entered the room with a cup of coffee that was quickly forgotten as his body gave away to shock at seeing the woman with long auburn hair start sitting up.

"You're awake!" He said with overwhelming happiness and ran to her to envelop her in a hug.

She was just as shocked to see the CEO, "You're okay! Oh I'm so glad. I had no idea what had happened after I touched her,"

"I'm fine, everyone is," then he paused not sure how to say the rest, "well, everyone but Jean,"

"What's wrong?" She asked with worry.

"She's still unconscious. Scott is with her though,"

The emerald-eyed mutant nodded, "That's good, I'm glad he's okay,"

"Maybe I should call him and let him know you're awake," as he was getting up he felt her tug at his sleeve.

"No...I mean, he's busy looking after Jean, we shouldn't bother him right now,"

"It doesn't mean he wasn't worried about you too," he said with a small smile.

She nodded, "Let's just catch up for a little bit, I'm sure people will realize quickly that I'm awake and will come. Let me enjoy my peace while I can," she said with a similar smile.

"Very well," she was right, "if that's the case, there is something you must know," he said as he took a seat next to her. "The professor told us,"

"Told you what?"

"About the visions, about Phoenix, about everything. Well everything he knew, anyway,"

"Ah," she said as she took those words in. It made sense that the professor came clean to the team. It was better for them not to be in the dark now that Phoenix had finally appeared.

"It must've been very hard on you,"

She looked up at him wondering what else he would say.

"Knowing all of this made me understand, a little, about why you left your home to go to New York," he saw her shoulders tense, "and here I thought it was a sneaky plot to go live with a charming and good looking CEO,"

She smiled sideways, thankful for him lightening up the mood, "You caught me," the moment was interrupted as she saw a shadow in her periphery and turned to look at Scott who was by her window looking at her with a shocked expression. He didn't waste time and stepped into the room.

"Warren," Scott acknowledged the blonde man sitting beside Rogue, "may I have a minute with her?" he said as he contained the emotions that threatened to consume him after seeing her awake.

Warren was well aware that there was a history between them he wasn't privy to, he also noticed that Scott was tense and stoic, but nonetheless he overflowed with, what Warren presumed, hot anger, while at the same time he was relieved to see the woman awake. The CEO turned to the woman he knew as Marie seeking her guidance, if she needed time to speak with the X-Men leader then he would abide by her wishes, if not, then…

"It's okay Warren," Rogue said reassuringly.

With that Warren nodded and left the room momentarily. After his exit, Scott slowly made his way to seat beside her but didn't dare to look up, not yet. Rogue also held her head low. A thick silence permeated the room for a moment before Scott's voice was heard, "Why did you leave?"

He'd asked her this many times after she had returned, but she knew that she couldn't avoid the truth this time. Rogue remained voiceless, thinking carefully about her next few words. "It was the only way I knew how to protect you… and everyone here," she sighed heavily.

"That worked out great," he said sarcastically.

Rogue fought the urge to cringe under his words and instead put her defenses up, "Well, what else was I supposed to do? It's not like there is a manual to handle these situations or any precedent to follow,"

Scott raised his head quickly at her heated words, "And you couldn't talk to us about this? I thought we were a team. You and I were friends, at least I thought we were,and all you ever did is up and leave without even a freaking good-bye!" Inside of him he knew he was being unfair, but at the same time he wanted to let her know that he had hurt too because of this mess.

Rogue narrowed her eyes at him, "Would you rather me telling you: hey Scott, guess what? Your beloved Jean has an evil force within her, and I've seen it make an appearance whenever we are close to each other," she began raising her voice, "Oh and did I mention that I had a vision of the future, where everyone was dead and I was fighting her? Sorry I neglected the gruesome details!"

"You still could have said something!"

"And what would've changed! If I had told you, what would've changed?"

"Everything!" he said in exasperation, "it would've changed everything," he ended evenly. They could have faced the problem together. Their lives would be so much different now. Maybe they could have helped Jean early on. Maybe their friendship could continue, and who knows it might've blossomed into something more. Certainly all the pain and resentment he harbored the last seven years would be gone. That much he knew.

Rogue was taken aback by his answer, not sure on how to interpret it. Rogue only managed to look down not really knowing what to say to him. She was aware that Scott knew the truth now, the professor had filled everyone in on what they knew about the Phoenix.

"I don't know whether to feel angry, disappointed, or thankful," Scott said thick with emotion. This was their first encounter after he learned the truth from the Professor with her awake.

Scott observed her momentarily, taking in her demeanor and silence. He did not want to accuse her anymore, but he couldn't help feeling hurt either. "I wish," he began softly, "you could have trusted me back then," he sat carefully and with his dark leather gloves took her chin and raised her head to face him, "at least trust me this time."

Her emerald eyes shined with unshed tears, "It wasn't a matter of trust," she began. How could he possibly believe that? "You were my best friend back then, I just… I just…" her voice began to break. She only wanted to protect him, to protect everyone she held dear.

"Shhh, it's okay," he said, coming closer to wrap her in a gentle hug.

She still fought to contain the tears, but allowed herself to be held, "I...just...wanted to protect...the people...that I… love," she said almost at the verge of sobbing. It had been hard, so very hard, to be apart from the people she loved most. Their happiness, whether she expressed it or not, meant the world to her. Any sacrifices she could do to ensure their happiness were worth it.

It was funny how things worked, Scott thought as he embraced his friend and stroked her hair gently. He came to see her full of anger, hurt, and a shed of disappointment. He was ready to barge in the room demand an explanation and chew her out for being distrustful of her team, of him! He had even memorized exactly what he would say to her, never willing to give in to any excuse she would provide. But he need only see her defeated and apologetic to have all that anger and hurt vanish. He was so consumed in his own loneliness that he neglected to see hers. It had been her who gave up everything for her fellow X-Men. She was the one that left behind the only family she knew in order to give them a chance at happiness, at the expense of her own. It might've not been the best way to handle things, but just like she said, it was the only way she knew.

All he could do now was to be there for her this time and hoped to be her strength.

{x}

And there you have it folks. My apologies for the long hiatus, by the time I posted the previous chapter I was just about to start my MBA program…didn't really think it would be as time consuming as it was (plus I work full time). Fortunately, I am just about to finish it this summer so…we may finally get closure to this whacky story (and me going back to edit this piece to perfection).

I want to express how infinitely grateful I am to those of you that have supported this story thus far. It means the world to me that you take the time to read and share with me your thoughts.

xSeireiHime: Hi Rachel! Glad you are liking the story so far. Well there is a lot more to expect with our dear friend Phoenix and just the right amount of twists and turns that that I have planned for this story. Do you have any theories as to what might happen?

Mere11: And here it is! Let me know what you think.

Guest: Thank you for your patience! Here's chapter 19 in all its glory. There was some action in there, but for the most part I needed to get the explanations out of the way. I fear that there is some set up that needs to be done before the final fight…

Annierayaz: And the wait is finally over. Let me know what you think ;)

abuseicekrim91: Aww thank you so much! I haven't seen the show in ages, and as I was reading some summaries on the characters and episodes I worried that I took too many liberties. Oh there is a lot more in store just wait and see. There are many more characters that I'd like to introduce but it's hard to write for so many.

Stay tuned.

Jem Juliette Jewels Jade: OMG! I can't believe you mentioned it! Glad to see that someone is following that particular part of the story. All I can say is that Scott will read it at the right time…

Abuseraye: The long wait is now over…don't hate me too much!

DrkSpphrGT: There is a lot more coming! Thank you for the continuous support! Let me know what you think ;)