Connection
Five miles from the X-Mansion
Her motorcycle roared around the corner, leaving some of the rubber from her tires. She was just pushing 140km/h and could hardly see the trees they were just a blur as she rode past. She was heading to her new 'home'.
'Home, ha. Like I've ever had a "home". This is just a temporary change of scenery.' She thought as she neared the gates.
She had met Professor Xavier just a few days ago, shortly after the little 'incident' that had occurred right smack dab in the middle of New York City. Hey it wasn't her fault that some crack head asshole had attacked a mutant outside of Central Park. And she was just not the type to sit around and watch a human attack one of her fellow mutants.
So she had fought back at the stupid human. And Professor-X had just happened to witness her powers. He had asked her to come back to the mansion with him, and to consider the X-Men. He had thought that she would make a 'valued member of the team.'
Ha. Yeah right. The "team". Whatever. She had nothing better to do though, so she had said yes. So here she was opening the gates to the mansion and entering to her new life.
In the hall outside of the Danger Room
"What do you mean, a "new" member of our team? We have enough already!" exclaimed Logan.
The rest of team nodded along in agreement with Logan, no one really ready to take in a new member to the X-Men.
"Logan, you know very well that we could always use another member. Especially like this one. She's different somehow. She's got absolutely incredible powers. I've never quite seen anything quite like her." Explained the Professor. "So please treat her with respect and make her feel welcome."
"Yeah whatever." Replied Logan, gruffly.
"But what about what you said about her attitude? A bad attitude is not a quality that we value in our X-Men." Warned Beast.
The professor smirked slightly and replied, "Beast, I did not say that she had a bad attitude I merely stated that she could use a slight attitude adjustment. Actually she remind me quite a bit of our very own Logan when her first joined us here."
Logan didn't say anything just grunted and stared at the ground.
At that the door at the end of the hallways burst open and she walked in. The X-Men watched her strut down the hallways towards them, each with a look of surprise upon their faces. None of them really had expected her to come so soon, and what they saw before them was, well pretty different.
She had a confident walk and she strode down the hallways, her shocking red hair falling loosely about her shoulders and her fiery red eyes glinted sharply in the fluorescent lights of the hall. A lit cigar hung out of her mouth as she nonchalantly chewed on the end. Her trench-coat style jacket made of black velvet fell down to her knees. She was wearing snakeskin leather pants and a tight black tank top. Her knee high black suede boots with a 6" heel clicked against the linoleum as she approached the group of gaping X-Men.
"X-Men, I would like you to meet Phoenix."
A few hours later
Phoenix was up in her room, unpacking her things. She was a little unnerved by the events of that afternoon. The way that she didn't exactly feel welcome by the X-Men. All except that one. The one with the blue hair. What was his name again? Oh yeah. Logan. She liked that name. And she had felt his eyes burning through her. She had felt a strange connection to him. And she had a feeling that he felt it too.
She chuckled as she remembered the evil looks that Jean and Jubilee had thrown her when she had made eyes with Logan. She figured that they were just a smidgen jealous.
She felt the need for some action. She had talked about the Danger Room with the professor, and she figured that she'd suit up and go try it out.
She looked down on her bed at the skintight leather suit that lay before her. It had a small X at the collar and zipped up at the front. She had no idea how she was going to breathe while wearing it, but she figured she might as well break it in, knowing what a bitch leather was to break in.
She slipped into it, and went to zip it up. She stopped the zipper midway, exposing her cleavage. Her philosophy was if you got it, flaunt it. And she definitely had it. And hey she might even get the chance to duke it out with Logan. Or so she hoped.
The Control Room
"So Cyke, what do ya think of her?" asked Jean.
"Hmmm? Oh she's fine." Replied Cyclops as he looked up from the Danger Room below where Gambit was in a program with Wolverine.
"Just fine, huh? I saw the way you and the other guys looked at her. Think she's hot stuff huh?"
Cyclops stood up, and took his wife in an embrace while replying, "Don't worry hun, she's just different that's all. And I think that she's more Logan and Remy's type anyway."
Jean's eyes darkened at that last remark. How dare this Phoenix character take away her Logan.
Phoenix walked down the hall to the Danger Room. Just as she was entering, Wolverine and Gambit were just leaving, having worked up quite a sweat.
As she walked by, She felt their gazes follow her as she opened the door. She knew that they were checking her out in her leather suit. It didn't matter to her, she enjoyed male attention. She sure got enough of it.
She turned around and spoke to the guys.
"Any of you guys fancy a go in here?" she asked in her heavy southern accent. She indicated the Danger Room with her thumb.
"Hey I'll take you on Cheri." Replied Remy.
She winked at him and said, "That's nice Gambit but I was thikin maybe your friend would like to try and take me out."
She flashed her winning smile and fired a molten gaze in Wolverine's direction.
Wolverine paused for a moment before replying.
"Why not?" he followed her into the room and yelled up to Cyke, "Why don't we fire up one of the beginner program for our first timer here?" he looked at her with a look of mock sympathy.
"I hope you can take me darlin'."
She was beyond annoyed at his attempt to belittle her.
"I don't think so. Cyke! Fire up your toughest program. I wanna kick some wolf ass!" She smirked at him and walked out to the middle of the room.
He followed, unsure what he was up against. After all he didn't really know what she could do. But judging from her hair and those eyes and the name, that it might have had something to do with fire.
All of a sudden, they were in the middle of a large cavern, with several tunnels leading out. It was dark, and slippery and looked like there were lots of unknown enemies lurking in the shadows.
He looked around for Phoenix, but she was nowhere to be found.
"Looking for me?" she asked with a sweet tone in her voice.
Wolverine unsheathed his claws and looked up in her direction. She was standing on a wide ledge near the top of one of the walls of the cavern. He silently cursed himself for not paying attention to how she had gotten up there.
Meanwhile up in the control room
"Everyone get in here! Phoenix and Wolverine are about to go at it in the Cavern program!" yelled Cyke over the intercom system.
Within minutes every one of the X-Men was gathered in the control room eager to see what Phoenix was capable of. Especially against wolverine, in the Cavern Program and since it was her first go at the Danger Room.
"What's a matter darlin'? Scared?" Wolverine taunted her wanting her to come down.
"Are you sure you're ready for me to come down there?" She asked, a hint of mock sympathy in her voice.
The look he flashed her told her that he had been born ready.
She did an impressive back handspring, side tuck off of the platform and landed in front of him, her eyes burning red, and giant plumes of fire spreading from her feet where she landed up the ceiling and tapering out by the control room window.
'Oh crap.' Thought Wolverine, suddenly wondering if this was gonna be such a walk in the park after all.
He didn't even see her limbs, let alone when she was going to deal her next blow, she was so fast. She was a blur of speed. He couldn't believe it, he'd never seen anything like her. She was strong, fast had incredible agility, and threw massive fireballs. He loved it.
The other X-Men watching from above were in the same state of awe. They couldn't believe how fast she was. They could see now why the Professor had been so interested in her. Jean however had a dark look spread across her pretty features. She didn't like how this woman was stealing away her Wolverine. She glared down on the scene before her. Sure Logan was getting his ass kicked, but Jean knew that he was enjoying every minute of it.
Cyclops looked over and saw that look of disdain on his wife's face. He didn't know why, but he was slightly concerned anyway. He wondered what her problem was, and silently wished that he had psychic powers.
As the program finished, The X-Men congratulated Phoenix on being the first girl to ever kick Wolverine's butt. Phoenix lit a cigar and followed Logan out of the Danger Room. Logan's hair was slightly smoking, and he had cinder smudges on his face.
"Hey Phoenix, wanna go get a drink? That was some nice fightin' back there. I offer a drink to anyone who can kick my ass. And it doesn't happen very often." Asked Wolverine, trying to flatter her, and although he didn't like to admit it, she deserved the praise.
"Sure, but promise we'll throw in some poker?" she replied sweetly, chewing on the end of her cigar. She sauntered off towards her room to change, as Wolverine stared after her grinning inwardly.
Phoenix threw on her favorite outfit. It was comfy, but sexy all the same. Her snug dark denim jeans matched perfectly with the tan cashmere sweater that clung to her curves in all the right places. She quickly ran a brush through her hair, and applied her fiery red lipstick, and ran out the door to meet Logan in the Games Room.
Jean watched silently from the shadows, watched Phoenix happily bound down the hallway, obviously a little late for her and Logan's "date". She grunted angrily to herself.
'Logan never asked me for a drink.' She thought angrily. She wasn't that different from Phoenix, or so she'd like to believe. She didn't know what Logan liked so much about this little bitch. He obviously just wanted a good lay or something.
Jean's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by an idea that had popped into her head. She smiled to herself and thought, 'If no one else will do it, then it'll just have to be my job to get rid of her.'
Logan looked up from the bar and watched in awe as Phoenix entered the room. She radiated some kind of energy, and the blood hammered in his head as he watched her walk over to him. She shook her hips when she walked and her brilliant hair glowed in the light. And her eyes. He loved her eyes. They were such a brilliant fire red color. They glowed fiercely but had a soft look to them all the same.
"What'll it be darlin'?" he asked her, reaching under the bar to grab two glasses.
"Surprise me," She answered with a light drawl as she grabbed the pack of cards off of the counter and headed over to the card table.
Logan watched her enjoying the rear view, as he poured them some drinks. He walked over to the table and dumped some chips on the table. He sat down and he and Phoenix got down to their game.
A few hours later, Logan was considerably in debt and was losing the current hand. He couldn't believe that she had beaten him at this too. He thought that maybe this was why he liked her so much. She was so different from the girls that he had met before. She wasn't scared to beat him. She wasn't scared of him period. She had her own way to do things and if no one else liked it they could fuck it. It seemed like they had known each other for years, and there was some kind of mental connection between them.
"So Phoenix what's your real name?" Logan asked but for some reason he had an idea already what it was.
Phoenix looked up from her cards. He wanted to know her real name. She had never told anyone her real name. But he was different. She had only known him for a day, but it seemed like they had known each other for a lifetime. She had never believed in love at first sight, but she was beginning to become a believer.
"Lucia." They both said in unison.
She gasped, wondering how he could have known her name. She knew now. There was something about him, and she knew that he felt it too. He looked deeply into her eyes, and said in a husky tone, "What do you think of comin' up to my room for awhile?"
She thought about it for a second, and thought that she was definitely not a slut and that the first night she didn't usually get between the sheets, but there was something about him that made her melt.
He stood up and she followed him up to his room. She sat down on his bed and gazed up at him. It seemed like they could read each other's thoughts, and they stared into each other's eyes and fell lost into the other's gaze.
Lucia woke up and was a little disoriented for a moment. And then the previous events of the night flooded back into her head. She smiled to herself and felt his arm over her shoulder. She looked up at his clock and it read 4:32 am. She was hungry, so she thought that she'd get up and head to the kitchen and fix herself something to eat.
She silently got up from the bed, scantily clad in her panties and his plaid shirt, but she figured that she'd be the only one walking around at this time, so she didn't put anything more on. She tiptoed out of the room, trying not to disturb him. But she didn't know about his sensitive hearing, and the second that she had stirred, he had been awake.
He followed her to kitchen, and when she opened the fridge, he slid his arms around her waist, and she leaned back into his embrace. She turned around to ask if he wanted anything, and he petted her stomach with his knuckles. He was still sleepy and disoriented and when Jean's voice entered his head, it startled him. His claws extended as a reflex.
She felt the cool steel slice through the smooth skin of her stomach. She looked up at him a small trickle of blood falling from her open mouth. He looked down at her, his eyes wide with astonishment and fear. Her warm blood oozed from where his claws had impaled her.
He yelled out and felt tears welling in his eyes when he looked down into her face and saw the pain in her eyes. He yelled out into the house for help, as he pulled the adamantium from her stomach. He gently lied her down onto the cold linoleum, silently whispering in her ear.
"Shhhhh. Baby pleasehold on someone will be here soon. Oh my godI'm so sorry, it was my reflexNo hold still. Shhhh.
He was torn apart with anguish as he watched her writhe with pain and start to convulse as she was going into seizures from loss of blood.
"Dammit! Jesus Christ someone get here now! She's going to die if we don't help her! Please! Anybody!" he cried helplessly his voice echoing through the house.
He was helpless, and it was killing her. Her blood had soaked his tank top and pajama pants, and was flowing in a stream on the white floor. He had his hands pressed to her stomach trying to stop the bleeding, but it wasn't helping. He looked into her eyes, as they rolled to the back of her head. Her eyes slowly closed and she stopped moving.
He stared down in disbelief at her still body lying before him. She couldn't be dead. He sat back on his knees, looking around him at the pool of blood surrounding them. Then he heard it.
He quickly sat back up, and stared at her, questioningly. He slowly put his head on her chest, just above her heart. It was faint but he could hear the steady thump of her heart.
He almost jumped up and yelled, he was so happy. Then he remembered the state she was currently in and replaced his hand on the wound on the stomach. Her blood was beginning to clot, and the bleeding had slowed down considerably.
He yelled into the house again. Jean heard him from the kitchen this time. She wondered what all the goddam commotion was about, and she was ticked off that he hadn't answered her before, he always had, when she had sent him telepathic messages. She scowled to herself. He must have been busy with Phoenix, she thought bitterly.
She padded down the stairs, and wondered where everyone else in the house was. She figured that Beast was in the med-lab, and maybe Scott was in the Danger room. But there seemed to be no one else here.
She almost screamed as she finally entered the kitchen. All she saw, was Logan, his hand pressed firmly against Phoenix's stomach, and pools of blood. There was just so much blood. She quickly ran over to Logan's side and hastily asked what had happened, as she checked Phoenix's pulse and began to try and lift her to get her to the med-lab.
Logan pushed Jean away, and picked her up himself. He cradled her in his arms and glared at Jean as he hurried, almost running to the med-lab. Jean ran after him, and when they reached the lab, Beast jumped to his feet, and took Phoenix carefully from Logan's arms, and placed her on the table.
Beast told them that they had to leave, so he could work on Phoenix, as she was in pretty bad shape, and might not even survive. Logan and Jean sat in the chairs just outside and Logan began to speak.
"Why, Jean? Why'd you have to call me? You knew I was with her, and you knew what I do when I'm startled." He broke off, looking almost to the point of tears remembering that it was him that had caused this. That he had almost killed her.
Jean looked at him in disbelief. It had been her? Her voice had caused him to react and he must have accidentally impaled Phoenix on his claws. She started to cry. The tears ran down her face, she had never meant to kill her, she only wanted her to leave. Now her efforts seemed so childish. She was happily married and she didn't know what had made her so keen on getting rid of Phoenix. Even though deep down Jean had known that she would have made an excellent asset to the team.
She stood up and joined Logan at the window, both staring at Phoenix through the window. Beast was working hard, trying to stop her bleeding. Logan sighed and sat back sown in the chair. He rested his head back against the wall, waiting for Beast to finish. Waiting for when he could see his Phoenix.
Jean felt as though she wasn't welcome anymore, and left to go to her room, knowing that they would call her when it was appropriate. She lay down on her bed, and stared up at the ceiling. She knew she wasn't going to get any sleep that night.
The sun shone through the blinds across the room from Logan, and he jolted awake. He stood up quickly rubbing his eyes and trying to wake up. He quietly opened the med-lab door, and entered gazing at Phoenix. The steady beep of her heart monitor filled the room, and he saw Beast asleep in his chair, obviously he had wanted to keep an eye on Phoenix's vitals throughout the rest of the night.
He walked over to her, and grasped her hand as he pulled up a chair. She looked so different. So small and helpless. He shocking red hair fell across the pillow, and was a drastic contrast to her pale face. All the color had gone from her face, and her hand felt so cold.
"Logan," he felt a hand on his shoulder and heard Beast's voice. "I don't know if she's going to be ok. I did all I could. I don't know when she'll wake up, but the longer that she's in this coma, the less likely it is" he broke off seeing the look of pain clear across Logan's features.
Beast left the med-lab, leaving Logan alone with Phoenix, hoping desperately that she would come around in the next few hours, otherwise who knew how long it would be. He set off to tell the others of last night's events.
However, Jean had already told everyone. The rest of the X-Men had returned this morning, from an urgent mission the night before. They all sat around the breakfast table in the kitchen, and all went completely silent when Beast walked in the room.
"Is she alright? Can we visit her? How is she? What happened?" a chorus of voices asked him all at once.
"I don't know" he started and told everyone what he had explained to Logan. "You can visit her now if you'd like, but Logan is in there, and I don't know if he wants to be disturbed."
Everyone looked at one another, and pondered whether or not they should go now or wait for Logan to give them the ok. They decided to wait, knowing how hard this must be for him, and that he probably wanted to be alone right now.
Meanwhile in the med-lab, Logan had been sitting next to Phoenix silently, waiting to see if she wold move, or wakeup or do anything that showed signs of life.
He stood up and brushed the hair away from her face. He stood back a moment, and looked at her wondering if he was just imagining, or if she had regained some of the color into her cheeks. And she felt warmer.
He smiled inwardly, knowing that she would come around. He shook her hand lightly, and softly whispered her name, coaxing her to wake up. He purred softly in her ear, and stroked her cheek.
He felt her hand twitch, and looked at her face, hoping that she would wake up. It had been about three hours, and he hoped with all of him that she would come back. Come back to him. Her eyes opened slightly, and she tightened her hand around his.
All she could feel was the sun shining across her face, and the warmth of Logan so close to her. She felt his hand and his breath on her cheek.
She fluttered her eyes open, trying to adjust to the light. She looked up at Logan and tried to speak. He put a finger to her lips, and shook his head. He was so happy to have her back. He had almost lost her, and didn't want to lose her again.
She smiled up at him knowing. She closed her eyes again, knowing that he wouldn't leave. They would be together in time, and she would heal. And he would be there with her. And that was all that mattered.