Chapter 14)

"What is she going to do?" Xavier's voice was filled with dread. The scent of brimstone hadn't even faded from the air before the professor began to move.

"Stop right there Chuck," Logan held up his hand. "Me an' Rogue have talked about this stuff." He shrugged off his discomfort at repeating what Rogue had told him. "You think Jean's mind'll be the first hostile mutation Rogue's taken in?" It wasn't like he enjoyed knowing his girl was going to be on the seriously uncomfortable side of mental pain or anything. He even got why she'd popped out without explaining what she was going to do. No, he wasn't thrilled about it. That didn't mean he was going to bad mouth her to Xavier.

"What is she going to do?" Professor Xavier repeated the question, his voice stiff with anger. "Jean hasn't harmed her but who knows—"

"Bullshit," Wolverine growled the denial. "But that won't matter to Rogue." He stood in front of the professor's chair and leaned down to stare the man in the eyes. "My girl knows what she's doin'. She's gonna absorb whatever's behind that block in Jean's mind." And she'd end up feeling everything Jean felt, everything the personality behind the block felt, until she got it under control.

"She'll go mad," Charles was angry and worried. Even serenely powerful telepath's have their breaking point apparently. "We'll have to restrain her and with Jean's mutation as well as the other's she's absorbed—"

Logan sighed and stood up straight. "C'mon. I know exactly where she is. I'll take you down. Maybe call Hank and tell him to meet us in containment?"

Rogue had told him about containment, about using those rooms to practice her mutations. Apparently Hank had been a lot of help when she'd needed it. Just one more reason he liked the blue feral. And containment was a safe place for her to help Jean.

The trip to the concealed elevator and down to the lowest levels was tense enough that the Wolverine kept wanting to growl and roar his anger. Rogue was protecting every mutant in the damn Institute with what she was doing. He knew that and he could tell that Xavier knew it too. But he could still smell Xavier's worry and anger.

"Rogue's gonna make sure you get Jean back," Logan managed to force the words past his lips. This was the hardest part of the whole thing for him. For all the Rogue had told him of what she'd had to do in the labs, and how difficult it was for her, her warning hadn't prepared him for how hard it would be to wait while she did it.

"How," Xavier gave a fairly credible imitation of a snarl as Hank joined them in the hall outside the containment level of the wing. "How will she deal with the aberrant personality and still leave Jean's mind whole? If I couldn't?"

"Aberrant personality?" Hank blinked at them, his mild voice curious but with a touch of demand. Logan tried not to smirk. Beast really hated being kept out of the loop.

"In a nutshell, Jean's nuts. She's divided her mind into stuff that bugs her and stuff that don't. That's why she's been such a bitch." The feral mutant shrugged. "Chuck tried to help her and she nearly killed him. Rogue's gonna absorb the stuff Jean doesn't want. Telekinesis for the most part I think. She does that, as I figure it, it'll take away what Jean's scared of about herself an' Jean'll start dealin' with her emotions better." He met Hank's eyes and knew that the other feral understood just why Rogue was doing this. It was the same reason Hank was on the team.

"Greater love hath no man…" Beast murmured before he looked towards the door of the containment room. "I had noticed that Jean has a tendency to…compartmentalize," Hank mused. "I take it she blocked off part of her personality when the telekinesis began to manifest? With strong emotions it would become difficult to control even with practice. However, ignoring her emotions, or blocking them off would…"

"Make the TK more controllable and easier to ignore." Xavier concluded. "Yes. Unfortunately Jean didn't take into account that one cannot simply divide one's mind without becoming mentally unstable."

"And Rogue is…" Hank looked at Logan. "Taking care of the problem?"

"She's pretty much buying Jean some time," Wolverine shrugged and leaned against the wall. He could hear through the layers of steel and padding. Jean was crying weakly, Rogue was panting and there was an incredible amount of heat beyond that door. "Jean managed to create a whole other personality in her head. When her mutation comes back online it'll be slow at first. Especially if Rogue's really pullin' hard on the TK."

Beast tilted his head and Logan could tell he too was listening to what was beyond the door and the walls. "Once Rogue is done, Jean will have an incredible amount of work to do." He observed quietly.

"Yes," Xavier sounded exhausted and Logan guessed he was monitoring Jean mentally while Rogue worked. "I think…we might go in now…"

"No!" Logan stepped between Xavier and the door, gratified to see that Hank hadn't even tried to move yet. "You can't go in 'til Rogue's done."

"She's withdrawn from Jean's mind," Professor Xavier's patience was strained and it showed in his voice.

"But Rogue hasn't finished yet," Hank intervened. Wolverine nodded gratefully at the other feral. Xavier was in no mood to listen to him anymore. Hank would make more progress. "Rogue must still control what she has absorbed. She's quite powerful, and her strength of will shall most certainly triumph, but she will need some time."

"So we should leave Jean in there with her?" The Professor frowned. "What if—"

"Rogue won't hurt Jean," Wolverine snarled at the man he called friend. "She's never wanted to hurt anybody."

"Wanting does not make it so," Xavier argued. "And who knows how Jean will react. If Rogue is…occupied by dealing with the new mutation who knows what Jean will do."

"Charles we cannot open the doors." It was a statement of fact from Doctor Henry McCoy and thus inarguable even for Xavier. "Touch Jean's mind to reassure yourself of her safety. But do not touch the doors. The amount of heat behind them is…dangerous for you."

"What will it do to Jean? To Rogue?"

Logan had to give him that; it wasn't that Chuck wasn't worried for Rogue. He just didn't think she was helpless whereas without her mutation, Jean was. He guessed it was sort of a compliment to his girl. Not that he was anymore pleased with the whole situation. He'd wondered if Rogue had something like this in mind when she'd talked about Jean. Since her first outburst in the truck after he'd told her about the redheaded telepath's words Rogue had been…strangely contemplative whenever Jean's name came up. But she hadn't ever said what she'd been thinking and he hadn't wanted to think about Jean when he was finally with his girl. Her angry muttering in the truck earlier had been one of the few times she'd displayed hostility regarding the red headed telepath since they'd first hit the road.

'Logan,' Rogue's voice was soft, gentle almost, but he wasn't hearing it with his ears. 'Don't let Professor X in here. No matter what. Jean's all right. Just tired. The Phoenix is still…angry.'

Wolverine looked at the door and put his hand on it. The heat had increased. "Darlin' how're you keepin' her off Jean?"

'Oh she's pissed as hell and battling it out with some of my other shadows. You an' Angelica and Johnny are givin' her a run for her money.' Rogue's mental voice was amused. 'I'm just lettin' her rant a while. Got a telekinetic shield over Jean so she doesn't get toasted.'

Logan chuckled and repeated the conversation for Hank and Charles' benefit. "You want us to get Kurt and have him pop Jean out of there?"

'If you can get him here quickly, that'd be a help,' Rogue's mental voice was still quiet but dry. 'I could get Phoenix under control better if I wasn't dividing my attention.'

"You got it darlin'." He looked at Xavier, "Get Kurt, explain what Rogue's doin' and get him to pop in and get Jean. My girl's got her protected but she needs a little extra oomph to get Phoenix under control."

The sun had gone down. Angelica, Johnny, Ro and Kurt had joined him, Hank and the Professor in the hall outside containment. Kurt had popped Jean out and hadn't even gotten singed for his trouble. Scott was with Jean in medical now since Jean was still unconscious.

Scott had been pretty pissed at him and Rogue. But he hadn't gotten much of a chance to shout or vent before Hank had put him in his place. The doctor didn't resemble Cookie Monster at all as he read Scott a very civilized riot act regarding the X-Man's foolishness and just how much Rogue had risked to help Jean. Logan hadn't gotten to say much, Hank hadn't left a lot of room for it, so he'd just leant against the wall and smirked at the pretty boy. He wasn't sure how much Scott had really absorbed but it sure had been fun to watch.

Xavier might have added his two cents but he'd been busy putting the groundwork in place for Jean to have true mental healing. When he'd emerged from the slight trance the telepath had been tired but he'd also been smiling. "She's afraid and she's ashamed but she knows that we're going to help her. And I've made certain that she won't be able to do such a thing again. There are warning triggers that will alert us both of a return to those patterns."

That had gotten a sigh of relief from everyone waiting and Hank had gone with Scott to set up a bed in medical for Jean. Now the blue feral was pacing absently while he waited for Rogue. Occasionally he'd go and check on his other patient before returning to the hallway.

Logan had been ready to claw his way into containment the minute he felt the heat receding from the walls. It had taken both Beast and Xavier to keep him from doing so. "Give her time," Xavier counseled, taking his turn at being the voice of reason. "Even if the mutation isn't manifesting outwardly, she may still need space to regain complete control over her mind."

Finally there was a creaking noise, a faint whine that grew into a din that hurt his sensitive ears and made Beast wince in sympathy as he too was assaulted. By the time it grew in volume enough for the non-feral mutants to hear it was painfully loud. But he could recognize the sound. It was metal. Metal walls being torn back and reformed as Rogue undid the damage Phoenix had done to containment.

With a massive shriek of grinding metal and dust falling from the shifting plaster the door opened. Rogue hovered inside the room and sighed as she drifted gently to the ground. "Finally," She shook her head. "I did my best to fix the room Professor but until I tried to open the door I didn't realize the electrical wires had been burnt out. Lemme know when you get it repaired and I'll come be the mule." She walked forward until she was in the hall and standing in front of Logan, albeit a bit unsteadily. "Forgive me sugar? For springin' this on you?"

"Aw hell darlin', long's you're all right." The Wolverine growled down at her and picked her up in his arms to kiss hard on the mouth before he glared at her. "I get why you did it. But you do this again without warnin' me? I'm gonna paddle your sweet ass." He could smell how tired she was. Sweaty and almost limp with exertion against his body and not in the way he liked best.

Her giggle did more to soothe his temper than anything else. "Sugar I wouldn't have but if I hadn't taken Jean by surprise she'd've been impossible. Catchin' her off guard was the only way I could do this."

"Have you absorbed Jean's telekinesis permanently Rogue?" Xavier asked in a gentle voice.

"You mean does she still have it?" Marie turned in his arms to look at the Professor. "'Cause you know, once I got it, I'll always have it. 'Specially in that amount." She swayed slightly and Logan tightened his hands on her for support.

"I beg your pardon, yes, does Jean still have her abilities?" The professor clarified his question while Hank regarded Rogue with interest. Beast's sharp eyes took in Rogue's lack of gloves and Logan's lack of falling to the ground but the genius feral said nothing.

"Oh yeah," Rogue grinned. "It'll take her a while to build back up to that level though. So you can take her through whatever exercises she needs to heal and get used to the abilities. She'll be feeling better by tomorrow I'd think. I tried to not take any of her energy, just the TK and the Phoenix personality."

"Won't that leave Jean with only half a personality?" Kurt was a bit confused and his German accented voice sounded like it. Storm was simply listening, her expression intent as she waited beside Hank.

"Nah, can't take only part of someone's mind," Rogue shook her head. "I got some pretty smart folks in my head. I was worried about that too but really all I did was take out that block of hers. And drained enough of her mutation so she can't just set us all on fire when she's mad. Least for a while anyway."

"Rogue is correct," Xavier gave them all a weary smile. "Had she not used such care in exerting her mutation she might very well have crippled Jean. But drawing off Jean's anger, the block and the Phoenix personality...it allowed Jean's mind to heal, like lancing a wound."

"That's kinda how I saw it," Rogue nodded. "When I touched her, pictured her brain with a big ole splinter stuck in it and pulled that out. Then pulled out all the infection under it. Seemed to work. Didn't wanna hurt her, just get rid of what ailed her."

Xavier and Rogue both sounded beyond tired now and Logan frowned at the girl in his arms. "Let's get some food in you an' then you're gonna rest." He told her firmly. "Hank'll back me up that you gotta be damn near exhausted. And I know Chuck is gonna keel over in his chair if he don't get some protein and sleep, in that order."

"Brain food," Rogue giggled at the idea. "Brains..." She drawled like a little southern zombie and giggled again. Charles chuckled wearily and the two most powerful mutants in the school began laughing like tired five year olds as they were guided to the elevator.

"Punch drunk, the both of you." Logan sighed and cradled his woman in his arms. "C'mon you crazy little woman," he kissed the top of her head. "Let's go."

Author's Note: So this one is a little shorter but it seemed like a good stopping point. Hope you guys liked it. I should have another chapter up in a couple of days.

What do you think? I didn't want Jean to be an awful traitorous person like I've seen in other fics. But I didn't want her to be an angel either.

Quote Sources:

Greater love hath no man - (In its entirety - Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.) - John 15:13