Merry Christmas everybody!!!! I decided that the sequel to By Any Means Necessary is going to be your Christmas gift!! Yep, so here it is… I hope you love it, because I really do. R&R please!!!! Love you all and happy holidays!

Last of By Any Means Necessary:

"I want to make you a deal." Emma spoke in a low tone. "I want to help you escape." Emma explained to Jean. "I went through the same thing with Patricia 15 years ago. I'll have my source contact you as soon as possible."

"We have a deal." Emma shakes Jean's hand.

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"I never thought I'd want it, but being with you made me want it all, with you of course." Logan said. "Marry me." "Yes."

---------

"Scott's dead." Storm gave Jean the news straight up. "Patricia found out about him and Marie and killed them both. Emma said to tell you that it will be better if you stay away from her." Storm said quickly.

"You're her source." Jean was shocked. "How do you even contact her?"

"Through her middle person, Elizabeth Braddock." Storm explained. "I meet her when I can and she gets back to Emma with information."

---------

Logan stopped, sensing someone watching him, when he was hit by what felt like a bee sting to him. He started feeling dizzy immediately, pulling a dart out of his neck, then he was out cold on the ground. A van pulled over and pulled him inside, then drove away...

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"You see Jean; you are too valuable to me." Patricia said. "There is no way I'm going to let you go. I've got him." Patricia said. "And you're out of line. You know I'll hold anything… anyone against you."

Jean picked the phone up again and redialed Logan's number, begging him to answer. But he didn't answer, he never did.

---------New Scene:

Jean leans against the bathroom sink, her hands shaking almost uncontrollably, staring at the thinnest needle of her watch as it moved in an unbreakable beat, but to her it seamed to be moving slower and slower, until it finally reached the 12 at the top.

Breathing heavily, she turned around and with her weak hand pulled a little piece of tissue covering the white stick, and Jean felt her heart was going to burst in her chest when the pregnancy test was positive…

(A/N: That scene is not in BAMN, but that is more or less how she found out, you know what happened next, so here is what you've all been waiting for!)

Stronger than ever

December 27, 2008

The weather was freezing in New York City, the New Year only days away now. Many hoped for new starts, others hoped for small changes or bigger changes, while others wished time would slow down a bit.

Whichever of these Jean wanted she didn't know.

A new start would be nice, but how could she? She was trapped and there wasn't much she could do, so that was out of the wish list. She let out a long sigh, her breath visible in front of her in white puffs like smoke.

As for changes, a big one wouldn't hurt. How about a change of luck? Jean thought bitterly, burying her hands in her pockets, shivering in the cold. Or a change of weather

As for time slowing down, it depended and what it would be delaying. She would want it to speed up if it meant that this phase of her life would end soon, but otherwise, she thought time was fine as it was. There were particular matters that she would like to speed up, but she didn't have anything against time.

She sat on a bench in a dark desolated park covered by white snow, silence filling her senses. It was the middle of the night, over 1am, which made her start wondering if Betsy would ever show.

She crossed her legs, trying to keep herself warm, but it was almost useless. I should have stayed in the dam car She honestly wanted to be home in her warm bed, and she already knew what… most likely who she would be dreaming of.

She sighed deeply as her thoughts drowned in him again, a knot forming in her throat and her heart beating a little faster. She closed her eyes, swallowing hard, wanting to keep the tears away. Now it's not the time… She told herself, making her thoughts settle on something else. The closest thing she could find was the numb feeling of her fingertips, almost frozen in the cold.

"Jean?" Jean gasped and opened her eyes to find Elizabeth Braddock standing over her, giving her a concerned look. "Are you all right?" She asked in that deep British accent that Jean had grown accustomed to.

"Yeah." Jean said quickly, sniffling. "Just cold."

Elizabeth was not convinced at all, she knew exactly who she had been thinking of, but knew better than to push the redhead, so she simply smiled and sat down besides her.

"What do you have for me?" Jean asked almost immediately, not wanting to waste anytime.

Betsy handed her the file she had been holding and Jean took it with numb hands. She watched carefully as Jean opened it and read its contents, seeing her squint against the darkness that surrounded them, but managed with the light post near them.

"I don't understand." She said confused. "I thought he was in Nepal, this is a report from Finland."

"I'm sorry, Jean." Elizabeth said soon as she saw Jean's gaze fall in disappointment. "Unfortunately, Ororo was right." She placed a hand on Jean's shoulder. "They are changing his location regularly."

"What?" Jean asked in disbelieve, feeling her heart sink to her stomach. "But how can they be doing that?" Her voice was breaking and she was on the verge of tears, and Elizabeth felt her heart break at the sight of her. "Why in the hell would they be doing that?!" Jean cried out, not able to suppress the pain as well as she wished she could.

"Jean, don't worry. We'll find him." Elizabeth tried to console her, wanting to pull her into a hug but was surprised when the redhead pulled away abruptly, standing in a rush and walking a couple of feet away from her.

Elizabeth could clearly see she was crying heartedly by the way her shoulders shook, and could feel her distress. She wasn't reading her mind, but Jean wasn't doing a good job on blocking her thoughts and emotions. Betsy bit her lip, closing her eyes at the intensity of Jean's pain, and she was only feeling a few ripples of it streaming into her mind. She could only imagine how it must be eating her up, and hesitated only a minute before getting up and moving over to her.

"Jean…" Betsy whispered her name, stopping right behind her and placed both her hands on the redhead's shoulders, feeling the younger woman lean against her, burying her face in her hands.

Jean was trying to keep herself from crying any longer, and allowed Betsy to slowly lead her back to the bench and they both sat.

"Jean, I know you're in a lot of pain right now, with everything that's been going on." Betsy said, looking into Jean's teary eyes, brushing her thumb against the redhead's pale face and cleaning away her tears. "But we're making progress."

A hopeful glint brightened in Jean's eyes, and Betsy couldn't help but smile a bit. "Advancement on his search?" Jean asked eagerly, seating up straighter, watching Elizabeth intently.

"We've found only four sites where they've kept him," Betsy started. "We estimate that they move him every month. Now it's not enough, but soon we will have more sites, two more are enough and we'll have a pattern for their movements, and then-"

"We'll know where they'll be next." Jean concluded, realizing how much this actually meant. A small smile curled up her lips as she laid back against the bench, crossing her arms in front of her chest, her thoughts somewhere else.

"You see?" Betsy said and placed a hand on Jean's knee. "We're closer to him than ever."

"Thank you." Jean said and looked back at her, the sparkle of hope still in her eyes.

"Don't thank me," Betsy said with a shrug. "Emma's the one that's been helping, I'm just a messenger."

Jean chuckled. "And how would I know about any of this without the messenger?" Jean teased her, a playful look on her face.

Betsy smirked. "There's something called telepathy, or a telephone." She gave back, crossing her legs.

Jean acted as if she was thoughtful, before saying "You're right, both options obviously avoid freezing in the snow."

Betsy gave a short laugh, and Jean was smiling a little more brightly now. They both fell into a comfortable silence, contemplating their thoughts and environment.

"How's Emma?" Jean suddenly asked, burying her hands n her pockets again.

"She's fine. She's been very busy and had to hire a new assistant." Betsy told her, "Lorna Dane. She used to work with Marie."

Jean sighed, remembering the young woman's funeral, buried next to Scott. It was Ororo's idea; she thought it would be nice.

"How's Storm?" Betsy asked, wanting her own piece of information.

Jean smiled that Mona Lisa smile that Betsy still thought was unique of her. "She's good. She's been very supportive and caring. I've been with my last nerves on edge, but she helps me a lot." Jean turned to see Betsy smile and go deep in thought with a blissful look on her face.

Jean knew how close the two had grown, in many ways. They met when they could, and Ororo almost always spoke about her and how much she wished things were different. It was only about three months ago that Jean finally realized what was really going on between Betsy and Ororo, and sometimes still wondered how she had never even suspected that her sister-like friend liked women.

"Tell her I miss her." Betsy blurted out, a slight blush taking over her face and Jean nodded.

"I will."

Before Betsy could ask about the next person in her mind, Jean was already standing up. "Anyways, it's very late, and I feel like my hands are about to fall off, so…" Jean commented, and Betsy smiled, standing up as well.

"Yeah, I can't even feel my nose."

"So I'm guessing next meeting will be in a more suitable place?" Jean asked mockingly, making Betsy roll her eyes.

"You guessed right."

They said good bye and they both parted ways towards their cars.

About an hour later, Jean parked her car in the garage and shut it off, pulling the key out and stepping out of the car, eager to be in bed.

She moved slowly down the hall, sending a mental message to her friend Ororo telling her that she was home. Quietly, she went up the stairs after seeing the wall clock mark 2:45am.

She took off her high heel bots at the top of the stairs, not wanting to make anymore noise. When she got to the door leading to the much bigger room she had moved to about seven months ago, Storm was just stepping out of it, wearing her nightclothes and had the most tired look on her face. Jean had obviously awakened her from her sleep.

"Sorry to wake you." Jean said with an apologetic look on her face.

Ororo yawned. "You've got to stop meeting so late." Ororo told her, leaning against the wall for support, drowsy with sleep. "Or at last let me sleep for the rest of the night the next time and you just go to my room when you get back."

Jean chuckled. "Thanks for watching her."

Ororo only nodded. "Did you get any good news?"

Jean hesitated for a second, before she smiled slightly and nodded. "Yeah."

"That's good." Storm said with a smile of her own. "Liz said anything?"

Jean grinned when Storm referred to Elizabeth by her nickname, the nickname only Storm called her. "Says she missed you."

Storm brightened up at that, but her face was still a mask of sleep. "Well, good night then."

"Night." Jean said and quietly entered her room, listening to Ororo go into her own room across the hall.

Jean put her shoes by the door and walked inside the shadowy room barely lighted by the moonlight penetrating through the window. She walked carefully to the bathroom, moving like a cat in the dark, reaching the door and getting inside, closing the door behind her as silently as possible before turning the lights on. The heat was on, so the room was fairly warm.

She yawns as she takes her jacket and clothes off, then throws on her night clothes hanging behind the door. After that she stops for a second and looks herself in the mirror, taking a very deep breath.

She looked pretty much the same she thought. Her features were mostly the same, soft and young, and the beauty that she was blessed with was even more breathtaking than before, her childish and innocent looks now gone. She was still in great shape, regaining her slim and tight body after countless hours of exercise and a diet that she no longer slaved herself with.

Her eyes were probably the only thing that had visibly changed. They had hardened a lot, the fear and lack of understanding of the world had faded in her, and it seamed as if the soft jade green of her eyes had darkened, now matching the color of the green-emerald on the ring hanging from a leash around her neck, the one that she never took off.

Her hand instinctively moved to the necklace holding the ring around her neck, and she felt tears gather in her eyes. She bit her lip and took deep breaths, before bending over and washing her face and teeth, then cleaning herself with a towel.

After brushing her hair a bit, she turned the lights off and walked out of the bathroom, her bare feet making no sound whatsoever as she walked on the warm carpet. A big bright smile took over her lips as she cautiously moved to the white wooden crib a few feet away from her bed.

She was fully aware of the fact that the only time she ever smiled like that was when she looked at the reason for her survival, the reason she changed and learned to face the world with her own strength; the only reason why she pulled herself out of bed every morning and slept quite soundly at night; the only reason she wouldn't give up and was alive, because it was the only source of life she had left…

Jean watched the sleeping baby, watched as she breathed in and out slowly, peaceful like an angel; her head covered by a red fuzz, while her skin was white as snow and she looked just like her mother.

Jean bit her lip as a wave of soft, peaceful feelings washed over her when her daughter opened her rosebud mouth, yawning as her delicate eyelashes quivered slightly and squirmed, bringing her small finger into her mouth in her sleep.

Jean inhaled slowly, letting out a warm, calm breath as she leaned down and brushed a kiss against her daughter's head, taking in her baby scent.

She stood for a few more minutes and simply watched as her little baby slept, loving the tranquil feeling that took over her whenever she was with her daughter, as if nothing else mattered, as if as long as she had her by her side, everything was going to be ok. With her, she felt the world in her hands, at her control, stronger than ever.

Soon the exhaust of work and emotions of the day eventually took a hold of her and she got it bed, falling asleep almost as soon as her head was on the pillow.

All right, so that is the first chapter of the sequel! Tell me what you think! Review lots and lots! And Merry Christmas to all!