The Scent of Fire

Notes: A revision of my 2007 drabble "Burning Chaos.". First fic I've written in a really long time, so hopefully everyone finds it enjoyable.

The red hot burning on his arm brought him out of the black daze the filled his mind. A split second passed as he tried to remember something, anything, to keep him from falling into the dark embrace of unconsciousness. He couldn't afford to give in now.

Wracking his brain- he had to get up- he remembered radiant red hair and alluring green eyes. A familiar face changing, not in shape, but in essence. Horrifying crimson hair and eyes transforming from green to red to white. Fire burning away at the sky and ground and burning away everything- burning away what doesn't work- and howls of rage mixing with screams of fear.

A sickening pop brought his attention back to his burned arm. The pain was searing, his charred flesh making a soft crackling noise as the blackened dead skin gave way to the raw pink of new skin. The smell of cooking flesh wafted to his sensitive nose, and he felt his stomach lurch at the disgusting odor. He took a short breath as his healing factor began to work, thousands of microscopic cells rushing to the wound and breathing life into his injury. The intense heat began to quickly die down as the man known as 'Wolverine' opened his eyes and forced himself up onto his knees.

The expansive front lawn of the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning was blanketed by fire. Students ran towards the front gates in panic, their screams deafened by the roaring of the flames that surrounded them. The mansion itself was set ablaze, the entire building nothing but an inferno. The school- his home- was being razed to the ground, lulled by the baleful fire and the song of breaking wood. That was when he saw her.

She was standing in the center of the madness, her hair billowing around her like a crown of fire. Her back was to him as the fire- her fire- laid waste to the school gates. He could hear the students who were still trapped in the school yard scream in sheer terror as they scattered to try and find another means of escape. One young man ran straight into him in his blind flight. He staggered back and their eyes met. The student started sobbing, tears pouring from his wide brown eyes, and he regarded Wolverine with confusion.

"W-what is going on!" He choked, pushing his hands against his forehead in a mixture of frustration and fear. "Why is she…why is Mrs. Grey-Summers…Mr. Logan…I…I…"

Logan put a hand on the kid's shoulder and as softly as he could muster, despite his gnawing unease, said, "I know, kid. Now's not the time for that though. You gotta get outta here. Now. Go out the backyard." He removed his hand, and the student stifled another frightened sob as Logan stalked past him.

"Get out of here, kid. I'll take care of this."He didn't have to look back. He heard the heavy footsteps of the student as he dashed away.

Good, he thought. Jean wouldn't be able to live with herself if she was responsible for the death of anyone, especially one of her students.

No matter what her current state of mind, Logan knew he had to try and reason with her for the safety of the students, herself, and the entire world.

"Jean!" He called out, his voice unheard over the rumbling of the fire surrounding them. He was close enough to smell her now. He caught a whiff of her perfume, but it was masked by another scent. Fire, power, and fear radiated off of her skin and overpowered the light floral perfume that he would usually associate with the Headmistress of the school.

"Jeannie!"

Slowly she turned back to look at him, her eyes red with power. Her mouth broke into a playful smirk. At that moment he felt unnerved in a way he had only felt once before. He took a deep breath, the smell of charred grass tickling at his nose, when she spoke.

"Hello, Logan."

She cocked her head slightly to the side in a curious sort of way, and then Logan felt it. A light probing at the corner of his mind, slowly sorting through his thoughts and burrowing in his subconscious. He was becoming an open book to Jean as she slowly rooted through his mental being without conscience.

"Jeannie…." he started, but suddenly he felt disoriented and unfocused. He closed his eyes with a soft growl, then opened them again trying to fortify his mind against her invasive caress. He had learned a few tricks from Jean to better defend himself from telepaths years ago, but he knew he wouldn't be able to effectively use her own defensive techniques against her.

"You're hiding from me." She said with amusement. Logan stiffened, licked his lips for a moment, and took a step closer to her.

"Jeannie, you gotta tell me what's wrong."

"Wrong…? There's nothing wrong." She smiled blissfully then, and Logan felt a strong mental tug in his mind. It was intrusive and he hated it.

"I feel so wonderful, Logan. All this power-it's flowing through me. It's hot and strong and…." Her eyes closed and she threw her head back."It's invigorating. I feel so alive."

"Jean, you can't control all of this power." He said evenly. He stood as straight as he could, holding his ground against a woman he deeply cared for- a woman who could tear him apart with a thought- and as he did he felt the hairs along his arm stand-up, and the skin underneath heat up as if in warning.

"I am this power." Jean replied, looking him straight in the eyes. Though it was Jean Grey-Summer's face that peered at him, Logan could sense that it wasn't Jean who was speaking to him. Jean wouldn't set the school aflame and terrorize the students.

Jean wasn't a monster

."I can hear your every thought." Jean chuckled lightly. "I can see every moment in your life-I can live your live- in just an instant. There is nothing outside of the realm of my ability."

"C'mon darlin'…." Logan said easily, slowly raising his hands out towards her. "This isn't you."

"Oh, but, it is!" Jean replied hotly, her smile growing. "I am the most powerful mutant alive, but I'm forced to hide it. To keep it locked up inside of me. It burns, Logan, do you understand? I yearn for rapture. I yearn to experience the pleasure that comes with using these powers." Jean closed her eyes and clenched her teeth."I…I want to keep it hidden…." She gasped, "But I want to feel it…all of it…I want it to wash over me at the same time. I want to revel in it. I need it… I don't want to hurt anyone." When she opened her eyes Logan could see the battle going on in Jean's mind. Her eyes were wide with fear, and he found himself weak in the knees. The wind pushed against them and through the blaze of the courtyard. The flames danced and twirled with the wind, forming spiraling shapes, yet refusing to smolder out.

"It's okay Jeannie." Logan soothed, his voice gentle. He reached his right hand out to her in a attempt to take hers and calm her. "Come here. It's gonna be ok. We're gonna get through this."

"Logan, I….." and she brought her arms up to her chest and embraced herself, rocking with the wind.

"C'mon darlin'….just let it go."

"I…I don't want to." She murmured weakly. Jean was losing the battle to her darkest desires, the same desires that had once led to her sailing the cosmos and devouring a star, killing the billions of life of that solar system. Logan could see that the internal fight was not going in his favor. Jean had spent so long trying to repress the darkest urges of the Phoenix, making sure her power remained in check, and keeping the bubbling rage that threatened to consume her within her control. Now that she had been able to finally let go and use the power she had worked so exhaustedly to hold back she was, however subconsciously, unwilling to let it go.

"Jean. You've got to fight it!" Logan encouraged, his eyes full of concern. Then he saw the change in Jean's expression and he felt his heart sink and the cloud of hopelessness fall upon him.

Jean had lost.

"I don't want to." She growled, before she effortlessly picked him up with her mind. He struggled uselessly in the air, completely at the mercy of the Phoenix. He opened his mouth to speak, to try and reach Jean one more time, but she seemed to anticipate his move and threw him through the roughly crashed into a tree, and a sick cracking sound filled the air. The sound was the bark, and his spine, splitting in half. A few branches fell from the trunk and joined the fire below. The flames licked at Logan's skin, singeing the hairs on his arm, as excruciating pain filled all his senses. He could taste the blood that was gathering in his mouth, and tried to spit it out. The efforts sent sharp pains through his sides causing him to howl in agony. His vision began to ebb away. Red melted into orange until everything faded to black. The last sight he saw before losing consciousness was the form of the flaming goddess slowly taking to the levitated high into the air, far above the flames that had engulfed the place she had once called home.

Her crimson hair blew about her majestically as her clothes gave way to the red and gold costume of the Dark Phoenix. She threw her head back in a piercing scream and then held out her arms. She watched as the fire consumed the entire area, and with it her ties to the weak person she once was. As everything around her was reduced to ash she smiled broadly and chuckled huskily.

"Burn."

the end