We were all collected in the Professor's office. All meaning me, Logan, Ororo, Hank, Kitty, and Bobby. "So what now?" Bobby asked. "What do we do?"
"Professor Xavier started this school, perhaps it'd be better it end with him, if he does not recover" Hank suggested. "We'll have to tell the students that they're going home"
"Most of us don't have anywhere to go" Bobby objected. I nodded. "I can't believe this. I can't believe we're not going to fight for this school" I placed my hand on Bobby's shoulder. "Charles is not gone yet" my use of his first name grabbed all of their attention. "And until he is dead and buried in the ground, and maybe not even after that, I will not allow this school to be shut down. I will teach every class and recruit every student myself if I must"
Before anyone could reply, a tall, muscular, blond man walked into the room. "I'm sorry; I know this is a bad time. I was told this was a safe place for mutants"
"It was, son" Hank told him sadly.
"And still is" I objected firmly, walking towards the man. "Charles made me his heir before all of this crap, and so until he's up and about, and he will be up and about, I will keep this place running. I'll find you a room" I told the stranger gently, leading him out of the office.
"My name is Paige…well, I guess my last name is Xavier now. The Professor is indisposed right now, but nothing has fallen apart yet" I smiled weakly at the man, who gave a comforting smile in return. "What's your name?"
"I'm Warren Worthington…the third" he hurriedly assured me. "I was supposed to be the first person to receive the cure, it was found because of me after all. But when I was in that room, the needle about to touch my skin, I couldn't do it" he explained. I stopped at one of the empty rooms.
"Ororo has said that there is no cure, because there is nothing to be cured. The X-gene is not a disease, it's evolution, just like how we developed from the Neanderthals. There is nothing wrong with us. Here's your room" I opened the door and stepped aside to let him in.
"I'm sorry to run and abandon you, but I sense there is something wrong with my fiancé. I need to find him before he runs for it again" I apologized to the confused man before turning away.
"Logan, where are you going" I walked into his room to see him packing a bag. I made sure my voice was cool and neutral. I wasn't blaming him or accusing him of anything, nor begging for him to stay.
"Jean. She was in my head. I need to go find her. I think she's still there" Logan sounded so hopeful it almost made me cry again.
"Oh Logan, it's not her" I sat down on his bed and he sat beside me and grabbed my hands. "I'm not going to stop you, but you need to realize, Jean can't come back. Whether she's still there or not, the Phoenix is not going to release that body. Just be careful. I don't want to be a widow before I can even be a wife"
Logan kissed my head and kissed my lips before grabbing his bag and heading out.
"Storm" she turned to look at me. "Paige, what is it?"
"A war is brewing. We need to get the children organized, and we need the X-Men to be ready to leave at a moment's notice" I told her. Storm nodded. "Alright" without another word, she did as asked.
I heard the front doors slam open and shut. "Logan's back"
I ran down the stairs to him. "You found her" I didn't need to ask, the look on his face said everything. "She's with Magneto" Hank walked over as well, and Strom came down after me. "They're on the move, I know where they're going"
"You're saying you saw Magneto?" Hank asked him.
"Yeah, we gotta go now. They're gonna attack Alcatraz" Logan and I started for the jet. "Storm, the children?"
"All safe. We moved them to the lower levels and Blink has the television running, they'll be fine"
"And the others?"
"All are ready as soon as they're called. We even have a couple volunteers, but don't worry. They're adults" I nodded at the information. We'll need all the help we can get, but not at the price of children.
"There are troops stationed on that island" Hank reminded us.
"No enough to stop him" Logan said bluntly.
"Storm, tell everyone it's time to suit up"
"See you at the jet, Goddess"
I had left the boys at their locker room as I slipped into my uniform. It was tight black leather with a purple X. It was just a plain body suit, as I didn't need any special adjustments for my power, though it was a little tight around the chest. I couldn't make the zipper up all the way to my neck, and so it stopped at the top of my cleavage, much to the pleasure or Logan.
"There's only seven of us" Bobby said as Logan and Hank came up to the rest of us. I smiled slightly at Logan's face when he saw me in uniform, but I kept my focus. I looked at Logan; he would answer this better than I could.
"Yeah, we're out-numbered" he replied, looking Bobby straight in the eye, "I'm not gonna lie to you. Then we lost Scott and we almost lost the Professor. If we don't fight now everything they stood for will die with him. I'm not gonna let that happen. Are you?"
I smiled fondly as Bobby shook his head, holding back tears. "Then we stand together. X-Men. All of us"
Bobby looked back at Kitty and Peter, who both nodded. "We're in"
"Let's go" I said softly as the doors to the blackbird opened. Logan grabbed my hand and kissed the finger with my engagement ring on it. "Don't lose that" he whispered to me. I shook my head. "Never" I promised against his lips, kissing him with everything I had at that moment.
As we took off on that jet, I couldn't help the solitary tear that escaped my eye. But I knew I wasn't the only one.
"They moved the Golden Gate Bridge" I breathed as I saw the destruction Magneto had caused. "Oh my stars and garters" Hank breathe. I could feel Logan give him a look, but ignored him.
"Going to stealth mode" Strom announced.
We landed the jet and made our attack. I stayed back, letting Storm and Hank do their thing. I didn't want to get completely involved unless I had to. Not yet.
"You men close the doors" Logan ordered. "Everybody get together and hold this line" We all looked at each other and knew we could very well die today. It was silent as the humans watched us defend them and the mutants halted their attack.
"Finish them!" We heard Erik give the command, and they came running at us.
Logan cut down one of the light poles, which caught a few of them, but they kept coming. I tried to just incapacitate them, but there were too many. I did what I had to: I turned them to dust. All of the ones around me, one at a time, turned to dust.
We saw the juggernaut run through the battle and into the building. "He's going for the boy!" Hank screamed.
"Not if I get there first" Kitty cried. "No!" I stopped her. "You stay out here, I'll get him" Kitty nodded and continued fighting while I ran into the facility. I turned a corner and found the juggernaut making his way to the boy. I grabbed him and melted his feet to the floor, an idea one of Kitty's tricks gave me.
"Don't you have any idea who I am?" he asked. I just grinned and gave him a little wave before creating a door in the wall and disappearing, making the door disappear behind me.
I ran, but the juggernaut crashed through the wall behind me. When I was sure I had led him far enough away to have some time, I stopped and took a few steps to the right as the juggernaut continued to crash through walls.
I started sprinting down the hallway trying to find the boy. I ran through another wall to find a room with white walls and floors, but other than that it looked like a boy's room. I found him trying to hide behind one of his dressers.
"Hey" he looked up at me, startled. "Shh, don't worry; I'm one of the good guys. We're trying to save you. Here, I need you to grab my hand, okay?" He nodded slowly and stood, grabbing my hand. "Now, you cancel out powers, right?" he nodded. "Alright, then hold on tight sweetie"
I wrapped my arms around him and crouched, ready to jump out of the way as the juggernaut came crashing in. "Hey tinhead!" I cried. The juggernaut cried and ran for us, headfirst. At the last second I pulled the boy and I out of the way, and the juggernaut knocked himself out.
"Come on, we have to hurry!" I pulled him along, trying to get him to the jet as fast as possible.
I looked up as I heard screaming and crashes. There was fire everyone. "Okay, I need you to get in here" I pushed him into the jet, "And stay here, okay? You'll be safe. I need to get back out there, they need me" the boy nodded, but as I turned away he grabbed my hand. I turned back to him.
"Thank you" he said softly.
When I was back on the battle field, the Phoenix was the only one left. And she was destroying everything. Everyone was running. "Phoenix" I cried, joining her in the air. She hit me with shrapnel, but I scattered the molecules. "You will not destroy. You were given this power to give life, but you have misused it." Another hit, more scattered molecules. "You had love, but you killed it!"
Everyone was running, no one else saw the tears that ran down Jean's face. "Save me" she begged, her voice echoing in my head, even as she threw more at me.
I nodded and outstretched my hand. The shrapnel disappeared. The wind dies, and Jean fell to Earth. And, ever so slowly, she became dust. I fell to the ground, too weak to move. "Paige!" I felt Logan wrap his arms around me. My body shook with the force of my sobs. "I killed her! Me! I did this!" I screamed into the silence. The people still living stood away and watched as Logan rocked me on the dirty, broken ground.
"You saved us, and her" I looked up and saw Kitty walking the boy over to us. He knelt beside Logan and I and wrapped his small arms around me. "You're my hero" he whispered into my ear. I could help but throw my arms around the boy and clutch him too me.
"I don't even know your name!" I sobbed.
"Jimmy. My name is Jimmy" he told me with a smile.
"Paige"
