Authors note: This was originally going to be the Prologue of a longer story, but my esteemed beta-readers (aka Jen and Amy) thought it could stand on it's own for a while.

This is my idea of how "The Last Stand" should have ended. (You honestly didn't think I'd leave Scott in the dust, did you?)

Standard disclaimer: I don't own them; I'm just borrowing them for our entertainment.

X-Men 3.1 Resurrection

Chapter 1 -- Prologue

Phoenix surveyed the carnage before her feeling – nothing. The destruction didn't please her; it was just unpleasant. The screams of the dead and dying, the fighting, the energy of combat meant nothing to her. She had expected to find it intoxicating, but it was depressing. She wasn't happy. She wanted to feel happy – she tried to remember the last time she had felt happy.

A face and mind came to her unbidden. Had the soldiers not opened fire with their darts, she would have left with the X-Men and returned to her love, resurrecting him as she had herself. But they did, and she reacted instinctively, furiously. Her anger consumed her to a point she barely saw the figure fighting his way towards her.

"Would you die for them!"

"No, I'd die for you."

/ So would I. /

His voice. She saw immediately how she could be freed from the weight that bound her to this body. When the claws entered her, she returned to him, abandoning the shell that contained her, leaving Logan to sob over an empty husk.

Being without a body wasn't strange to her. She had done it before, after all.

X X X

Alkali Lake – the scene of the crash. Lumps of rock still floated in the air; power was all around and made her skin prickle. For she had taken on solid form again; it would be easier for what she was going to do.

She closed her eyes and concentrated, concentrated on the body, voice, and mind of her beloved. Very soon, a familiar shape took form.

X X X

Being de-molecularized wasn't a picnic, as Scott Summers would later relate. It took a moment to get used to being solid again. Then he realized Jean was standing in front of him.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I think I've done something terrible," she whispered. She pushed all the events of the last few days into his head, taking care to be gentle and slow. But still, it was a lot of information and it hurt.

"Oh, Jean," Scott breathed when he realized the enormity of it all.

"Help me," she begged. "I don't want to be a destroyer. I don't want to be caged, but I need help. You're the only one I can trust."

He took her hand and led her to where his bike still lay, blown over by the explosion that took place a few days before. They road off together. Phoenix knew his intended destination and she was content to go there. One thing she knew – she could trust Scott Summers. Unlike Charles Xavier, he had never pretended she wasn't there.

X X X

It took two days of hard riding to reach the cabin in Alaska. The only check was at the boarder, where Phoenix made the officials "see" two passports, when in reality there was only Scott's one drivers license.

The cabin had belonged to Scott's grandparents and after a minor legal tussle, to him. It was small, with a lean-to kitchen and bathroom. She had been there before. Her favorite thing about the cabin was the view, with the wide expansive lake before them. Not as large as Alkali Lake, but more beautiful.

They sat on the rocks together. Scott knew he had to understand what he was dealing with now. It had never, would never, occur to him to abandon Jean to her fate. Whatever the future held, they would face it together.

"Now tell me again what happened," he said. "Only go slower this time."

She sighed and gave it to him again, at half the speed as before. Still he winced, but he got more of it.

"They think I'm dead – they think you're dead – what did you do with Charles?"

She turned away. "I put him somewhere."

"Where?"

"Where he'll learn what it's like to be caged."

"Jean?" There was a hint of warning in Scott's voice.

"He's safe and well," she replied.

He knew he'd get nothing more out of her for now. He decided the change the topic. "Do you understand what you did?"

"It was all Magneto's fault," she proclaimed petulantly. "He encouraged me to – behave badly."

"Well, he does have that affect on people," Scott agreed drily. "The question is – do you want to be Jean or do you want to be Phoenix?"

"I don't want to be caged," she repeated.

"You don't have to be," he assured her. "There are no cages here; I'm certainly not capable of it. But who do you want to be?"

Her lip quivered now. "Jean," she whispered.

He took her hand. "Then you're Jean. And we'll find a way to work everything out. We'll find a place to start."

"I suppose you'll want me to start by putting everyone else back together," Jean said unexpectedly.

"Can you?" Scott was surprised.

She signed. "If I can sort out the energies – make them distinct – possibly."

"Try," he urged. "Anything you can do to reverse the destruction – it will make you feel better."

Privately she had her doubts, but she concentrated on the task at hand.

In far away Alcatraz Island, dust particles swirled and began to form shapes.

X X X

They continued to talk through the night. Jean agreed nervously that Scott would reveal himself to Storm, but would swear her to secrecy. One of them had to be officially alive to function in the outside world. Jean smiled as she felt Storm's happiness when she realized Scott was alive. She was also mildly surprised that Storm kept Jean's resurrection and second "death" from him. She supposed it was to protect Scott from further anguish.

That done, they sat in front of the fire, Jean laying in the circle of Scott's arm, feeling safe and well for the first time in days. There was no more confusion in her mind, no more multiple voices. She had a chance to become whole.

"You're taking all of this very calmly," she said.

"I'm not in a position to throw stones," he explained. "I didn't have a breakdown, Jean. I ... broke. Not broke down -- broke." He looked at her face in the firelight. "I can't live without you, Jean. I know that's weak, I know I should be able to. But I can't."

"I didn't do well without you either," she reflected.

"Why did you ..?" he made a motion with his hands, signifying being blown up.

"I don't know," Jean responded honestly. "I was jangly after rematerializing – and I saw you there ... and I wanted you ... to be a part of me. And then you were gone. It wasn't until I heard your voice in my head, that I knew I could bring you back."

"How can you still hold my blasts back?" he asked. "Should I get my visor?"

She smiled now, glad to impart some good news. "You were taken apart at the molecular level – and you were put back the same way. Your DNA knows the knee bone's connected to the thigh bone – but it doesn't know you broke your leg once. It doesn't know about the head injury either. You're healed."

"Healed?"

She nodded.

He took a deep breath. That was completely unexpected. "I guess we'll keep healing together," Scott said.

And the healing began.

X X X