Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men.
A.N.: Please review. Thanks.
Jean was laying on her back in her bad. She was wide awake and couldn't get to sleep. She turned over to her side and looked at her alarm clock. It read 3 o'clock. She sighed. She had been trying to get to sleep for hours. It wasn't that she wasn't tired. It was just that every time she closed her eyes she'd start hearing voices. The thoughts from around the mansion hadn't died down even after everyone had went to bed.
Jean had to be up early for an important college final first thing in the morning. She couldn't remember when the last time it was that she had had a proper night's rest. Somehow she had to get herself to sleep. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She began to count sheep, "1, 2, 3..." she said to herself.
"Jean...Jean...Jean..." whispered a voice in her head. She kept her eyes closed, ignoring the voice, "Jean...Jean...Jean..."
"Ugh," Jean mumbled as she picked up her pillow and put it over her head, trying to block out the voice even though she knew it wouldn't help a bit.
The next morning the X-men were sitting around the table eating breakfast. Since the fight against Apocalypse, the X-men had gotten quite full campus. Now at the institute were Alex and Warren. Two of the former acolytes, Piotr and Remy had even joined. Tabitha, Rahne, Jubilee, and Evan had all returned to the institute as well. Also, Logan had managed to get X-23, now going by Laura, to join.
Jean walked into the kitchen slowly. Her eyes were wide open and she was barely blinking. She kept looking around from student to student, staring at each of them for a moment before moving on.
"Are you okay, Jean?" Scott asked.
Jean jumped. She shook her head and replied frantically, "Yep, I'm fine."
"You sure? You don't look okay," Scott said.
"I'm fine!" Jean screeched back at him.
Everyone at the table looked at her. Ignoring them, she sat down at the table and grabbed a box of cereal. She poured it into her bowl. She set the box back down on the table and just stared at her breakfast.
"Jean..." Kitty began, "Are you like okay?"
"What did I say," she snapped, "I'm fine!"
"You don't look fine," Bobby mumbled.
Jean glared at him.
"Jean, maybe you should stay home from school today," Scott said hesitantly, "You don't look like you feel too well."
"I'm fine!" Jean insisted, "Can you people just stop asking me if I'm okay? I am."
"Maybe you just didn't get enough sleep...," Scott began.
"You know what!" Jean screamed causing everyone at the table at look at her again, "You're right, Scott. I didn't get enough sleep. And you want to know why? Because of all you people. Do you never rest your minds. Thinking, thinking, thinking. That's all you ever do. Even in your sleep." Jean growled, "And you want to know what's even worse than your thinking? Exactly what you're thinking. You should all be ashamed."
"Jean. I think ya're losing it," Rogue said.
Jean growled again.
"Jean. What exactly do you want us to do?" Kurt asked, "Not think?"
"What are we thinking that's so bad?" Bobby asked.
"Jean...Jean...Jean..." started up the voice in her head again, "Jean..."
Jean stood up, furious, "You want to know what you're all thinking that's so annoying! I'll tell you what you're thinking!" Jean glared at Bobby, "You're a sick boy, Bobby. All you think about is what Jubilee looks like underneath her clothes."
Jubilee turned towards Bobby next to her and slapped him across the face, "You perv! We are so over."
Bobby rubbed his cheek, "Why'd you have to go and tell her that?"
"Cause you asked!" Jean yelled, "And Jubilee why are you acting so upset? You've thought the same thing about him!"
Jubilee's face turned red.
"Hey, don't be embarrassed!" Jean added, "relationships are a common thought shared among X-men."
Rogue's eyes widened, "Jean...I think we get your point. Ya can stop."
"Why?" Jean asked, "You're scared that everyone's gonna find out about you're secret affair? How are you and Remy doing?"
Rogue and Remy looked at each other. Remy smirked. Everyone else looked at the two of them.
"You should have told me that you two were together," Kitty said to Rogue.
"Why should she?" Jean asked, "You never shared the fact that you're sleeping with Piotr with her."
Kitty's widened. Her and Piotr exchanged embarresed glances as their faces turned red. Everyone turned away from Rogue and Remy and looked at Kitty and Piotr.
"Kitty...aren't you dating Lance?" Amara asked.
"Umm..." Kitty mumbled nervously.
"She is and that's why both her and Piotr are worried that Lance will find out and slaughter Piotr while he's sleeping," Jean said.
"Jean...you really need to stop telling everyone's business. Their thoughts are private," Scott said.
"Yeah, I bet cause you'd never want me finding out about how you're constantly thinking about some blonde chick from your class. Even when you're with me on a date. You're always thinking about this slut, Emma something or another!" Jean yelled, "That's a great thing for a girlfriend to read from her boyfriends mind."
Scott wasn't sure what he was supposed to say, "She's just a girl. I have no feelings for..."
"Shut up!" Jean hollered.
Scott went silent.
"And Laura," Jean said turning towards her, "If you don't stop thinking those kind of thoughts about Alex I'm gonna...He doesn't like you okay. You can just stop stocking him while he's in the shower, okay."
Alex's eyes widened as he looked at Laura who was staring at him.
"And Sam, Tabitha, everyone knows you're secretly dating so stop trying to hide it. You're doing an awful job at it," Jean commented.
Sam and Tabitha looked at each other and shrugged. They started to make out in the open.
"Could you two get a room?" Kurt asked the kissing couple.
"Come on Kurt, stop being such a rock. Just because Amanda dumped you doesn't mean you have to be so much against love," Jean said, "And it doesn't mean that you have to go join the priest hood either."
"But she was the love of my life. I'll never love again," Kurt argued.
"You're being dramatic," Jean snapped, "And I'm tired of hearing about it. And you want to know what else I'm tired of hearing," Jean looked at Warren, "Let me make this clear, Mr. Worthington. No matter how used to you are at getting your way, I will never date you. You are not my type!" She yelled the last sentence louder than the rest for emphasis.
"Never?" Warren asked.
Jean glared at him, "Never!"
Amara stood up.
"Where do you think you're going?" Jean asked.
Amara pointed towards the door, "To the bathroom. I want the hot water first. And your rant seems to be going on forever, so it seemed like a good time to get in line first."
"Stop being such a princess," Jean spat, "I know you actually are one and that's all you think about, but stop acting like it. You are going to sit down, now! You guys asked me to explain what's wrong, so I am. And you're gonna listen. Or else!"
Amara sat back in her seat.
"Jean, I think you've gone crazy," Evan said, "You've lost your mind."
"No, I haven't," Jean insisted. She slammed her fist on the table, "You want to know what's nuts? You. Since Ororo made you come back to the X-men, you've wanted to go straight back to Morlocks. They live in sewers. That's crazy."
"It's better than here," Ray mumbled.
"Yeah, you'd think, Ray, since you and him are planning an escape sometime later this month," Jean replied, "Do you honestly think that the Professor and the other teachers aren't going to notice when two of their students aren't anywhere to be found. Are you boys that dumb?" Jean rolled her eyes, "You must be since you want to live in a sewer with other sewer dwellers. It's a stupid thing to do, just like Jamie."
"Huh?" Jamie asked, "What did I do? Or think? That was a rude comment."
"You're stupid because you never go to school," Jean said.
"That's not true," Rogue said, "I drive him every day."
"Well, maybe you're to occupied trying to sneak from closet to closet making out with Remy since the day you got control of your power to notice that he's a dupe," Jean said, "He's been a dupe for the last year. Anything that has to do with school even homework, he makes a dupe. He's lazy."
"I am not," Jamie insisted, "school's just stupid."
"Like you!" Jean yelled causing Jamie to shiver.
Rahne put her hand on Jamie's shoulder, "It's okay. She's just evil. You're not lazy. I think it's smart." Rahne smiled causing Jamie to smile.
"Yeah let the depressed worrier cheer you up," Jean said sarcastically.
"I'm not a depressed worrier," Rahne said.
"A huh," Jean nodded, "Then why are you always worrying about that father of yours. You know that one that hates you, disowned you, and if he has his way wants to kill you."
Rahne broke into tears, "You're being evil, Jean. That's not like you."
"Well, maybe it really is. I just can never get a chance to express my opinion thanks to all of you losers. Being a telepath is such a hard job when you people are always whining. And worrying. And..." Jean stopped yelling and looked at Roberto, "And Roberto, you're one of the worst."
"What did I do?" Roberto asked.
"Like you don't know," Jean rolled her eyes, "there's only one person on the team who's thinks thoughts unlike the others. Yours. You're always scheming and such." Jean stood up, "He's a traitor! Yep, a traitor!"
"Jean, please shut up. Now!" Roberto insisted.
"Why should I? I'm just getting to the good part. You see, my fellow X-men, Roberto, here, he's really also on the side of the evil..." Jean began.
"No, I'm not," Roberto cut in.
"He's a member of the very evil group that goes by the name of the Hellfire Club," Jean said, "Yep, Hellfire Club. He's some kind of officer or something. He got tired of the X-men and wanted to try something a bit more challenging. Nothing's more challenging than juggling spying on the X-men while being a fancy evil member of Hellfire Club."
"Jean...please stop," Roberto begged.
"Why? All you X-men are hopeless. Hopeless!" Jean yelled, "You keep me up night after night. I keep trying to keep out your thoughts, but I'm tired. It's tiring of trying to avoid the dramas of your stinking lives. It really sucks. And I'm sick of it. From now on, you people will not keep thinking your deranged thoughts, you're gonna...!" Jean yelled.
"Jean!" Professor X burst his wheelchair into the kitchen.
"What do you want, Professor?" Jean asked, spitefully.
"Why are you doing this?" he asked.
"Because I'm tired of hearing everyone's thoughts! I'm tired of the voices!" Jean screamed.
"Voices?" he asked.
"Yeah, the voices. Especially, the woman's voice. She keeps saying my name, Jean...Jean...Jean...Jean...," Jean yelled, "Stop calling my name you stupid voice!"
Everyone looked at Jean like she was crazy.
"I am not crazy!" Jean yelled reading their thoughts, "This voice, it's not any of yours but it's one-hundred times worse. It's awful. And I don't even know who's voice it is."
Professor X sighed. He took a deep breath, frowning, "I may know. Jean, I do believe it is the Phoenix. I saw it happen in Apocalypse's mind when I saw the future. I just did not realize that it was already here. I can help you ignore it."
"I don't want to ignore it!" Jean yelled.
"I can help you control it," Professor X explained.
"I don't want to control it!" Jean yelled. Her eyes started to glow red.
"I can help you fight it," Professor X said.
Jean shook her head, "I don't want to fight it!" She started to rise into the air and hovered there, "I want to embrace it!" she yelled at the top of her lungs and a fiery bird appeared around her. The fire grew as she rose and it blew out the house. Glass, windows, debris, everything flew through the air.
The house was blown into nothing. Jean slowly dropped to the ground and stood in the middle of what had been the Xavier Institute only seconds before.
"I am not crazy!" she yelled.
DING
Jean opened her eyes to the morning sun. She looked up at her alarm clock. It was six o' clock. She took a deep breath. It was all just a dream. Thank goodness she had been able to get some sleep even if it wasn't a dream, but a nightmare. Now, she could go take her test and pass it.
She stood up going to go get dressed, but stopped.
"Jean...Jean...Jean...," said a voice in her head, "Jean...Jean...Jean..."
Jean's eyes widened and she yelled at the top of her lungs, "Stop talking! I am not crazy! Stop talking!"