Disclaimer: All X-Men and related characters are property of Stan Lee and Marvel. I claim nothing over them except avid fascination.
As a slave to the Wolverine, I found myself forced to write this story. It's short and abrasive, but it helped a bit. He's still there though, so don't be surprised at the story's content. It's rated Mature for Language and Innuendo.
Displacement- Jean didn't die at Alkali Lake because another was there to take the burden from her shoulders. But, what happens when the two women find themselves victim to the same entity? LoganOC
Chapter Ten- A Chance
(Logan)
"Logan!" Rogue shouted the moment the door shut behind me. I only stepped inside of the entry hall when she rushed toward me and wrapped her arms around me. Tears brimmed in her eyes and I could smell the difference in the mansion. "Thank gawd you're here."
I hugged her tightly before holding her at arm's length, noticing the trail of mascara down her cheek that showed she'd been crying recently. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here, Marie. I'm so damned sorry," I shook my head and swallowed the lump in my throat. "Where's 'Ro?"
"Right here, Logan," she strolled down the stairs in a hurried manner, her eyes sad and her step quick. Her hair looked unbrushed and her eyes, too, were watery and forlorn. "Charles and Scott are both in the MedBay. I put Robert and Peter in charge of taking care of the construction problems that were caused," she shook her head as she rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Nothing major, but it needed attention. Jubilation and Katherine are working on calming down the students and going through the emergency action plans. I'm afraid that if worst comes to worst, we're going to have to be on the front line," she glanced over my shoulder and her eyes widened in both surprise and confusion. "What is she doing here?"
Taking it as her cue, Eryana stepped forward and stood beside me with a sad frown on her face. "I came to help, Ororo," she murmured softly, her eyes pleading for forgiveness while the rest of her stood at attention. "Logan and I ran into each other and I was there this morning when you contacted him. Please, I just want to help," she held out a hand toward Ororo, who thought about it for only a moment before taking it. "What can I do?" she asked as she crossed her arms in front of her and glanced over at Rogue.
Ororo glanced at me and then back at Eryana. "I need to take Logan down to see Scott and Charles, but would you mind giving Peter and Bobby a hand? The Brotherhood managed to destroy almost an entire wing, but thanks to Peter it's almost structurally repaired," she watched as Eryana nodded her head and followed Rogue up the stairs. I watched her disappearing back until she was out of sight. "Logan, are you sure it was wise to bring her here?" 'Ro dragged me out of my thoughts and I glanced down at her.
I don't know, I thought to myself. "She wants to help, 'Ro. Remember how when she asked Jeannie about her codename?" I asked her as she walked swiftly toward the elevator that led to the lower levels. She nodded her head as her eyes widened and the doors slid shut. "She says that there's a part of the damned thing inside of her mind, 'Ro. She knows what we're dealing with, or at least she thinks she does. We need Chuck."
"That much I know," she shook her head as the doors slid open and we walked down the long corridor. "Hank has been monitoring them, but he doesn't hold much hope for Scott. There's been a lot of internal bleeding, as well as brain damage. The Professor, on the other hand, will more than likely pull through," tears fell from her eyes as we entered the MedBay.
"Hey Furball," I nodded my head in Hank's direction. He was standing between the beds that the two men were lying in. He had a clipboard in his hands and a worried look in his eyes. "How are they?" I could hear Scott's heart weakening by the second.
He shook his head as he checked their stats and let out a sigh. "Charles has shown no immediate improvement, but he is managing to hold his own. Scott, however, is faring a bit worse. His body is slowly shutting down and there's nothing that we can do but wait it out. I'm not sure how Charles will pull through this. From what all of the scans show, he's in perfect health. I am of the professional opinion that he overstrained himself when he took Jean- Phoenix on head to head."
"Phoenix, huh?" I glanced down at the old man and couldn't help but feel a swell of emotions wash over me. He's too damned stubborn to let anything keep him down, I thought to myself as I shook my head. "So we're not even referrin' to 'er as Jean no more?"
Ororo and Hank both shook their heads in unison. "I'm afraid that whatever was left of Jean is gone, Logan," Hank sighed softly. "Charles and I have been working with her for quite some time, as you know. We've made no progress and she's regressed so much that I think we both knew it was only a matter of time before hell broke loose. But, I never expected something like this. I was afraid she was developing schizophrenia, but Charles assured me that it was a psychiatric break, almost like a split personality."
"What do we do, Logan?" Ororo asked me softly, confusion in her eyes as she stared up at me and then glanced at the two still forms in front of us. "Magneto and his brood have Jean- Phoenix, whatever alias she's going by. She tried to kill us all, Logan. But somehow we made it out. Jubilation really stepped it up last night though. I think she may have temporarily blinded a great deal of Magneto's manpower temporarily."
I couldn't help but smile at the thought of the Asian girl finally showing people what she was made of. "What do we do now, 'Ro?" the question sounded stupid.
"I don't know," she glanced up at Hank as she shook her head. "I need to go check on the students, but I'm not sure what to say to them."
We walked side by side back to the elevator, riding it to the second floor. Peter, Bobby, Marie, and Eryana were all frantically putting up sheets of drywall. Eryana had long since discarded the jacket and Peter was holding up a sheet of drywall while she screwed it into place. "How are you kids comin' along?" I glanced at the mostly destroyed wing with narrowed eyes. Magneto had managed to do a lot of damage. Peter, who was bare-chested, glanced over at me and nodded his head. He was quiet, but extremely strong. "Looks like you're already about finished for the day, huh?" there was only so much the kids could do without a professional crew.
"Looks like it," Eryana sat the drill down and dusted her hands off on the back of her pants and walked toward me and Ororo. "How are they, Logan?" she asked with her eyes wide in concern. I knew that she had wanted to be there, but I just didn't feel like it would have worked out.
"Not too good, darlin," the others replaced the tools and walked over toward us as well. "So Jubes and Kitty are going over things with the other kids?" Bobby nodded his head quickly as Rogue slipped her hand into his. "I'm not sure what we're supposed t'do. We don't even know what the hell they're up to."
"They're going to stop the cure and find the source," Peter spoke up, his voice firm with a slight Russian accent. "When Magneto was trying to convince Jean, I heard him telling her about it. He's going after Worthington Industries."
Ororo glanced over at me and I nodded my head. "Well at least we know where to start. I want you two to find everything you can about Worthington Industries," I motioned to the couple and Rogue nodded her head in acknowledgment. "We need to figure out where to go before we waste any of our resources. Pete, you helped Scott with the jet a lot, so I want ya to refuel it and prep it for takeoff."
"What about me?" Eryana asked, her hands clasped in front of her and her lips thinned in annoyance. "I need something to do or I'll go stir-crazy."
"You're comin' with me, darlin'," I grabbed her by the arm and led her back to the elevator, Ororo right on my tail. It took only a few moments before we were back in the MedBay. Why did I come back here? I thought to myself as the look of utter horror pasted itself on Eryana's paling face. "You said you think a part of this Phoenix is in ya, kid. Well, I wanted ya t'see what it did to two men. The two men that had the most impact in Jeannie's life. Chuck was like a damned father to 'er, and now he's fuckin' comatose. As for Scott over here," her eyes darted over to his rasping form and a frown appeared on her face. "She loved 'em, God damn it. Now the poor son of a bitch is hangin' on by a thread."
Her eyes flashed a bright orange before a few tears bristled in her eyes. "Can't we do anything?" her voice was low and sounded so sad to my ears. She was obvious in turmoil over the situation. "There has to be something!"
"There is nothing that we can do, I'm afraid," Hank stepped toward her as he pulled his glasses off of his face and cleaned them slowly. "All we can do is wait, my dear. But, I fear that it will be only a matter of time-" he stopped mid-sentence as the monitors near Scott's bed began to chirp loudly, signaling that something was terribly wrong. His face contorted in pain as he rushed forward even though he could do nothing to help. "It seems the time has come," he let out a sigh as Ororo let out a sob and her body shook in sadness.
Eryana's nails dug into my forearm as she gripped me tightly. Her gray eyes looked up into mine as a frown formed on her face. "Logan, when I was Alkali Lake, Stryker ran a lot of tests on me," she let go of my arm and took off her gloves, a very determined look on her face. "He wanted to see if I could transfer whatever I absorbed into a third party," she narrowed her eyes in concentration.
"Did it work?" Hank turned around suddenly, his scientific brain running a mile a minute as his heart rate increased.
She nodded her head slowly. "For the most part," she pressed her hand against my chest and let out a nearly inaudible sigh.
"If you absorb my powers, can ya transfer them to him?" I choked out the words as my eyes widened in wonder. If it was possible, she really was the ultimate weapon.
She nodded her head slowly as she took a deep breath. "I can't guarantee anything, but since he's a mutant he has a recessive gene that makes him more receptive to the transference," she pulled away from me and clenched her hands at her sides.
Fucking uptight motherfucking Scott fucking Summers, I growled mentally as I glanced over at his body. It was convulsing and I felt the guilt build inside of me. It would probably prove to be the one and only kind act I'd ever extend toward him. "This is gonna hurt like a bitch," I muttered under my breath.
I jerked her body toward me and slammed my lips against hers. I let myself sink into the bliss of simply feeling her against me as I parted her lips with my tongue and plundered the taste of her. Heaven is on the way, I thought to myself as her mutation began to pull at me. A soft moan escaped her lips as she clung to me, her lips hungry against mine before the experience was too much. My body shuddered as I pulled away from her and collapsed on the floor, my eyes wide and my body twitching.
Only two thoughts occupied my mind as I slid into unconsciousness: It better fucking work after all of this shit, and Hot damn, at least I'm dyin' in style.
A/N: Just so I won't piss anybody off, I will tell you that Logan is not dead. He'll be back next chapter. He's tired. As for the whole transferring of powers, I just think it's neat. Probably couldn't really happen, but this is my story. So I don't care. Thanks to Ray for reviewing. Be conformists and review, too!