Disclaimer: I don't own any of the X-men. Stan Lee does. I want to own them. But he won't let me. Bad Stan Lee. Bad.

Sorry! I got out of school and had no internet access! I could barely finish the story, let alone upload any! Please forgive me for that and what I've done with this story. Please rate and review and enjoy!

Nicole made her way away from the chaotic fight and into the abandoned mine shaft.

"Belle?" she called out into the darkness.

"Nicole?" Belle answered. "I'm here!"

Nicole made her way through the darkness until she found Belle on the floor, tied up. She began to work at the knots to free her friend.

"Don't worry, Belle. I'll get you out of here."

Then she felt a blade press against her throat and she froze.

"Hello, dear." Darryl breathed in her ear.

"Let me go."

"Not this time, bitch."

"Then let Belle go. She has nothing to do with this."

Darryl laughed in her ear. "She's a mutant! She has everything to do with this. She'll die with the rest of them."

"You're wrong, Darryl-"

"Shut up. Just think… Right now, Blackhole is murdering your mutie friends and you'll be saved for last."

Nicole felt the fire burning inside her. "I'm warning you... Let me go."

The blade tip dug into her throat. "Shut up! Just listen to your friends scream as they die!."
"Let Belle go! She hasn't done anything to you!"

"Shut up! She's a mutant, like you and your friends! There's no place for you in this world! Homo sapien is the right. We are the norm! Not your kind. You are freaks! Abnormalities. Flaws in a greater plan. She is one of you therefore she dies with you!"

"Honey, you don't know what kind of a freak I am…" Nicole's eyes flashed blue fire in the dark and the room erupted in flames.

"So tell me Rogue, what's my motivation for saving the world again?" Drake asked as he stared at the horror Blackhole was causing. Trees were uprooted and whirling around them as she cackled above them.

"Smiling children and fuzzy bunnies?" Rogue yelled over the roar.

Dom smirked and laughed out loud. "Hell no! Strippers and vodka!"

He got to his feet and turned to Daniel. "Think you can get above her?"

"I think so."

"Carry me."

"Dom no!" Rogue yelled as Daniel took lifted him and began to fly.

Daniel rose high about Blackhole, who was busy fending off the other X-Men and MLF members. He paused in the air.

"What now?" Daniel yelled.

"Drop me!" Dom jerked free from his grasp and free-fell, claws extended, towards Blackhole. He landed on her back, his claws piercing her back. She screamed in rage and clawed at her back, trying to reach him. He plunged his claws into her over and over, and then he was stopped by an unseen force. She threw him to the ground, forcing his body to stand and obey her will. He tried to fight her as she made him move closer to his friends.

"Get away! I can't stop myself!" Dom yelled as she propelled him towards Rogue.

Rogue gasped and a body of steel stopped Dom's onslaught.

"I am sorry, comrade." Piotr stated and grabbed Dom's arms.

"Appreciate it." Dom smirked as the Russian threw him across the meadow and into a tree which snapped in half when his body hit it. Dom got back to his feet and began running across the field towards Blackhole, who levitated him and slammed him into the ground repeatedly.

"Had enough, beast?" she asked.

"No." Dom spit out a mouth full of blood. "Don't you think it's ironic that Darryl is using you to eradicate mutants, when you're one yourself?"

Blackhole laughed. "Darryl using me? My dear it's the other way around. I am far too powerful for him to ever control! I just know I can't have you fools standing in my way when I become a God."

"Not one of us is a God. Altered or not. You are a mutant, Blackhole. Nothing more."

She glared at him. "I am a God among mutants, beast. You had chance to join me, but now you will die!"

Dom snarled and lunged for her again, only to be thrown back into the side of the mine. Screams erupted from within the mine and as Dom looked up, Darryl stumbled from the cave, his flesh burning away from his bones. He was still screaming as he stumbled into the snow. His body was long past dead, but his mind couldn't keep up. Nicole stepped out from the mine entrance, blue flames licking around her body. She ignored Darryl as she walked towards Blackhole, flaming footprints in her wake. Belle followed slowly, unhurt.

"Nicole?" Dom asked, rushing to her. "What's going on?"

She turned to him, her eyes afire, but her voice was not her own. "Stay back. I'll finish this."

"Phoenix… Leave her alone. You'll kill her!" Dom ordered.

Her eyes turned back to their impossible blue as she smiled at Dom, sadly. "I'm sorry. I have to do this. It was fate."

"Fate my ass!

"Don't interfere, Dom."

"Nicole! Stop her! You don't have to do this!"

She smiled sadly. "Yes, I do. I have to protect you… My family. I know what I have to do." She began to step out across the meadow. Stopping, she turned back to him and brushed a hand across his cheek. Her eyes blazed in flames and she turned to go on.

"No!" Dom went to lunge for her and was grabbed back by Belle.

"Stop! She knows what she's doing."

"She'll die!" Dom pulled away only to be tackled by Piotr. "Phoenix is making her do this!"

"I can't let you go, comrade! She will kill you both."

"No! Nicole!" Dom screamed, struggling. "Let me go, you giant hunk of junk!"

"Please comrade!"

"No! She doesn't have to do this! I won't let her die for me! Stop her!"

Rogue slipped off a glove and touched Dom's arm. "I'm sorry, sugar."

His eyes rolled into the back of his head as she drained him. "No…"

Stumbling back, Rogue held her head in her hands, screaming. She stared at her hands as bone claws jutted forth. "I-I want to stop her! I love her! She can't die on me! No!"

Logan wrapped his arms around her. "Breathe, darlin', breathe!"

"Don't let her die! Don't! Stop her!" Rogue fought him desperately.

Poitr held a barely conscious Dom in his arms. "What is wrong with her?"

"She absorbed him!"

Dom weakly fought against Piotr's grip. "Nicole… Please… Don't die for me…"

Nicole glared at Blackhole as she crossed the meadow towards her. "Stop this."

Blackhole laughed. "Who are you to order me? I am my own master now!"

Fire erupted from her fingertips and Nicole shielded her faced with her arms. The flames burned away all the snow and vegetation underneath where Nicole was standing. Blackhole stopped and gasped when Nicole dropped her arms, the only thing burned was her uniform, which hung in shreds around her body.

"You are an abomination," Phoenix stated. "You hurt others as you are hurt. You are no God."

"Silence!"

She stepped closer to Blackhole, who looked towards the river.

"Fine! Be the first to die!" She made a motion and the river water began to move and freeze around Nicole, entrapping her in a tomb of ice. She cackled, "Fool!"

The ice began to crackle and it shattered, pieces flying in every direction and Nicole began to rise in the air, until she was level with Blackhole.

"What are you?" Blackhole hissed.

"Phoenix."

Nicole held out her hand and Blackhole began to twitch in agony. Her body began to burn from the inside out and she began to scream. She began trying her hardest to use every mutant power in her DNA against Nicole. Ice began to form on Nicole's lips only to be melted away by intense heat. The metal zipper on her uniform was ripped away and debris was thrown against her, only to be obliterated into dust inches from her skin. Nicole's hand wrapped around Blackhole's throat, choking her.

"You think I am the abomination?" Blackhole spat. "Look at yourself."

"I am power."

Nicole used her mind to slam Blackhole to the ground, with enough force to create a small crater. Leaning her head back, Nicole's body turned to pure flame in the shape of the mythical bird and she smashed down onto Blackhole's body. A telekinetic field slammed into the X-men and threw everyone back. It hit the trees, breaking them in half and knocking the Blackbird over.

Hundreds of miles away, in Westchester, Charles Xavier gasped and swallowed hard. He looked to his left and out a window into the night. The air was uncommonly still outside. He put a shaking hand over his mouth and for the first time in years, he began to pray.

It took everyone awhile to get back to their feet and even longer to realize the silence. Everywhere around them, rocks and debris were suspended in mid-air by the left over psychic energy. Daniel reached out to take one of the smaller rocks from the air and stared around in awe.

"My God," he whispered.

Dom staggered to his feet and stumbled towards the smoking crater in the ground. "Nicole? Nicole!"

Everyone stared as the smoke billowed and they lost sight of their friend.

"Is she dead?" Jessie asked.

They saw a figure through the smoke and everyone tensed, suspecting the worst. Dom's stepped through the smoke, cradling Nicole's smoking body in his arms. Her uniform was burnt away, but her skin unharmed. He had covered her with his coat. He got to them and lowered her to the ground.

She smiled up at him, weakly. "I did it… didn't I?"

"Yeah, doll, you did it. You did real good."

Her breathing became shallower. "Good… Is everyone… okay?"

"Yeah."

"I'm glad. Are you?" Her hand, shakily, brushed some dirt from his cheek.

Tears came to his eyes. The smell of death was upon her. "Yeah… I'm fine."

"Good… Smile for me… I love it… when you smile."

He grinned. "You always did know how to make a guy's day, doll."

"I'm glad every one… is safe."

"Thanks to you. You just hold on… We'll get you to a doctor-"

"I won't make it… I can tell… by your face… You always… did have a knack… for that…"

"You'll be fine. Just stay with me, doll."

Her deep blue eyes blinked and her lashes lowered. "I'm tired, Dom… Real tired."

"Please stay awake."

"You… don't… order me." She laughed, weakly.

"I'm asking this time, baby."

"Well… I'll have to… owe you one…" She looked up at the sky and snow landed on her hair. "It's snowing… Snow… always reminded me… of you."

Dom looked up at the snow falling and then back down to the woman lying limp in his arms. "Nicole… wake up… Please."

"Is she-" Jessie asked.

"Shut up," Dom growled. He cradled her body to him chest, holding her forehead to his cheek. "Wake up."

Jean put a hand on his shoulder. "Dom… She's gone."

"No."

"Please Dom… Just let her go."

"No!" Dom jerked away from her touch. "No… She's not dead. She can't be dead."

Nicole's arm fell, limply, to the ground and Dom's head dropped.

Belle bowed her head. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for-"

"Thou art with me." Dom finished, his grip on Nicole loosening.

Logan kneeled down and took Nicole from his grasp, hugging her to his chest. "Oh, darlin'… why?"

He then rose with Nicole's body in his arms and stared down at his son who was taking shallow breaths.

"She was a hero, Dom. She did it for us," Rogue said.

With a guttural roar, Dom plunged his claws into his chest and fell forward into the bloody snow. His breathing stammered and he released his claws. He slowly got to his feet and looked at the setting sun as his wounds healed.

"I can't even be with her in death."

"Come my son... Let's take her home." Yuriko put her hand on his shoulder.

A few days later Rogue slowly folded Nicole's clothes as she, Ororo, and Jean packed away their dear friend's clothes. Rogue picked up a pair of worn gloves and began to sob.

"Oh, Rogue. Please, stay strong." Jean wrapped her arms around her friend. "Please."

Ororo looked away, tears threatening to fall from her own eyes. The sky outside was dark and mirrored her own mood as rain came tumbling down.

"Why her?"

"She did it for us. So we could all live."

Someone knocked on the door, and all three turned to see Dom standing there.

"Chuck told me, he uh, had a dress picked out for her and wanted your approval… It's white. He figured she would have wanted white."

"Thanks." Rogue went to him and wrapped her arms around his middle. "I'm sorry."

Dom looked out the window. "Can there be snow tomorrow? She always liked the snow."

Ororo nodded. "Of course."

"Thanks." Dom stepped away from Rogue's grasp and turned in the doorway. "The kids are all taking this hard… Chuck called off classes for awhile… Try and keep strong for them, Rogue."

"I am."

He left the women and headed down the hallway. Jean watched him walk away and turned to her friends. "C'mon… Let's go see the dress."

The snow fell all night, until a blanket of white covered the ground. Snow in May was unheard of in Westchester. Rows and rows of black clad mourners, waited in the small section next to the woods that Xavier had chosen as a burial plot for all fallen X-Men. Logan and Marie were at the front, both clutching roses. Dom was nowhere to be found. His bed was empty that morning, and his belongings were gone.

The Professor began to speak, "Nicole, was a sister, friend, daughter, and loved by us all and her act of self sacrifice, spoke levels for the love she felt for us. She was first a student and then a teacher. She always went above and beyond… even giving her own life for ours. Today we lay our friend to rest and thank her for her steps in helping us to change this world that we live in. She will be missed, but most of all she will be remembered."

Kurt removed the cloth that was draped over her tombstone and revealed an angel with cupped hands. Inscribed at the angel's feet was;

Nicole Tru Logan.

She gave up everything so we could have hope.

In the angel's hands was a small ring. A ring made of adamantium.

Where do bad folks go when they die/They don't go to heaven where the angels fly/ They go down to the lake of fire and fry/Won't see them again 'till the fourth of July

Nirvana "Lake of Fire"