He could smell her starting to panic and grabbed her hands.
"Leah. Look at me."
She swallowed, locking her eyes on his face, her pupils widening. He could hear and feel her heart speeding up. "Keep looking at me, baby. I got you. It's okay. Breathe."
She drew in a shuddering breath. "Good. Again."
He was gripping her hands so tightly that he'd worry about bruising anyone else. "Again. Keep breathing. Keep looking at me. Feel my hands. I've got you."
He kept telling her to breathe, to keep looking at him, and heard her heart start to slow down, her breaths becoming less ragged. "Better?"
"Yeah. Better."
He kept a tight grip on her hands. "Tell me."
"It's just…it's like there's a hole, right there. I remember making dinner, I remember you going out to smoke and then…nothing. Nothing till the next morning when we woke up…I don't remember going upstairs, going to bed…"
His mouth was tight. "Get dressed. We're going to Charles. Right now."
Charles' expression grew as grim as Logan's as they explained.
Silence fell in the room as they finally finished. Charles sat for a moment, not saying anything.
"Leah…I know…" The Professor paused. "I know that those memories are very private, and normally I would never ask, but it would help if I could look for myself. Would you allow me?"
They were in Charles' study, and she thought – with terrifying clarity – that the weather should be matching the turmoil inside her. It should be storms and lightning and thunder, not this lazy afternoon sunlight coming in through the windows.
Leah nodded and tried to smile. "It's okay. I figured."
"Logan, I'll need your assistance as well. If Leah is truly missing those memories, it will help to see them as they should be."
"Who you want first?"
"Leah, please."
Logan didn't let go of her hand as she scooted to the edge of her chair, getting closer to Charles. "What do I need to do?"
"Just relax." Charles extended his fingers towards her head.
He watches, a silent observer, as Leah cuts chicken up and sautés it, rice bubbling in a separate pot on the stove. He's standing by her – he has enough control and experience to watch from the outside, as opposed to from inside Leah's head. He can see Logan over her shoulder, adding logs to the fireplace, and a part of his mind appreciates the simple but comfortable surroundings.
Logan stands up and sniffs. "Something burning?"
"Yikes!"
Leah bends over and opens the oven door on the wood stove, carefully extracting a small pan of what looks like chocolate cake, or maybe brownies. "It doesn't look like it's too bad…"
Logan sniffs again. "Nah. Caught it in time. Maybe just a little on the bottom."
"Thanks." She smiles at him. "You're so useful."
He grins – grins, and it still looks a little strange on his face at this point in time, even though Charles has gotten used to seeing it - at Leah. "Just for that, huh?"
"Well…" Her expression grows teasing as he walks towards her. "Maybe for a few other things."
They kiss, and Charles averts his eyes out of courtesy to the both of them. He finds himself doing so several more times as Leah cuts up vegetables and Logan wraps his arms around her from behind, and she laughs at him and complains that he's making dinner take longer and she's already starving.
He doesn't let go of her, and she hums contentedly as his hands stroke over her sides and hips, and it's clear that her complaints are not really complaints.
After they eat, they stand and clean up, working well together in the small kitchen. Charles is, perhaps, just a tiny bit envious of the strong bond that he can already see growing between the two of them.
And then he feels something change.
Logan is shrugging on his jacket and pulling out a cigar as Leah dries her hands. "You coming out?"
"Nah, you go ahead. I'll stay inside."
He drops a kiss on her lips and then heads out the door.
Everything goes black. Charles floats in the dark.
Time passes.
And then it's morning, and he's upstairs, and Leah's waking up, the outlines of the memory blurry from sleep and gradually becoming clearer. Logan is wrapped around her and even from his position outside her, Charles can feel the heaviness of limbs around Leah's waist and legs.
Logan stirs as well and pulls her more tightly against him, and Charles doesn't have to be a genius to figure out how they like to start their day. He's seen enough.
Charles opened his eyes and dropped his hand.
Leah's eyes fluttered open a second later. "Well?"
Charles drew in a breath. "There is definitely something missing. I felt…it's difficult to explain, but I felt the time. If you had just forgotten, it would not be like that. The place, the structure where it should be, is all there. You made memories. But they're gone."
"How the fuck does that happen?"
"There…may be a number of possibilities, Logan. But let me look at you now…"
Charles and Logan both closed their eyes, Charles once again extending his fingers, this time towards Logan's temple. Leah sat quietly, watching them, her hand still tightly enfolded in Logan's.
And a very nasty suspicion began to grow in her mind.
They seemed to come out more quickly and abruptly, and she had a sneaking feeling that Charles had cut things off before the memories got too intimate.
Charles shook his head. "Logan's memories are very much real. Leah, there's no doubt; yours are missing."
"'Kay. So, again, how the fuck does that happen?"
Leah herself was silent and Charles looked at her with an expression of concern. "Leah?"
Logan bulled forward. "We're all thinking the same thing, so I'm just fucking saying it. There's only one person in this goddamn mansion that would want to hurt Leah and would be able to steal her memories."
Leah nodded, finally speaking. "Jean."
"There may be other explanations…"
"For fuck's sake, Charles."
The professor paused, and when he finally replied to Logan, his tone was measured. "I agree that that is a likely possibility given what we know."
Leah was shaking her head. "That bitch had the guts to apologize to me yesterday for being unfair to me…"
Snikt.
She looked down and saw that Logan's claws were out – just on his left hand, he'd at least had enough control to not stab her. She squeezed his right hand. "It's okay."
"No it's fucking not." Logan glared at Charles, his claws still out. "Jean was acting weird yesterday, Charles. There was something…after the ceremony…thought I was imagining things, but it was…" He shook his head. "I dunno. It was like…she was overheating…"
Leah's head whipped around so fast that he felt the end of her ponytail brush his arm before it settled back over her shoulder. "What'd you just say? Strange heat?"
"Yeah. In the receiving line. You'd walked away."
Leah turned back to Charles. "That happened a few weeks ago to me. She came to the greenhouse and I felt the same thing. Heat. I thought I was imagining it too…"
Charles' mouth tightened. Logan sniffed.
"You know something."
Charles' voice seemed to come from very far away. "I had almost forgotten…"
He is lying on the floor. Bleeding. Dying.
Apocalypse is crushing the life from him. All his strength, all his confidence…means nothing.
And then he feels it. Her.
"You are alone. And I….am…not."
And then it is fire. Song. Fury. The explosion of pure power, enough to defeat even this enemy.
Logan's eyes had gone wide. "Phoenix."
Charles and Leah looked at him. "What?"
"It's…something from before. Before everything changed. Charles – I told you that before, you'd blocked Jean's powers. You didn't this time. But it sounds like…from what you're saying…the Phoenix is still there."
Leah shook her head. "I'm lost."
Logan was still looking at Charles. "You…the you, before…called it a creature of desire, joy, and rage."
"Raw telepathic and telekinetic power." Charles tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair. "A creation of pure emotion, the best and the worst of Jean's personality. I've seen it…only that once. In a way, it is her, but it's also very separate. It's how her mind copes with that sheer amount of power."
Leah threw her hands in the air. "Will someone please get me a drink? Because I think that's the only way I'm going to get through this conversation."
"Leah, if we're right, what you and Logan have experienced is this separate personality of Jean's. Your relationship brought it to the fore; her jealousy and envy allowed this Phoenix to manifest. It saved our lives against Apocalypse, but that personality never entirely went away."
"Great."
"So what, she's just gonna keep on with this?" Logan gripped Leah's hand tighter.
"Yeah, I'm not exactly thrilled about the idea of my memories getting stolen…which, by the way, someone needs to go ahead and say is really fucking sick…"
Charles pursed his lips. "Bluntly, the Phoenix is more powerful than I am. We will have to restrain Jean before it manifests."
"And we're planning on doing this how?"
"I think if we speak to her, she may be able to exert control over the Phoenix's manifestation. Leah, if she apologized to you, it sounds as if there may be conflict between the personalities; that Jean herself realizes that what the Phoenix is doing is wrong."
"All she said was that she hadn't been fair to me, she didn't mention anything about stealing my memories…"
"It's a place to start." Charles looked at her sternly. "I want to speak to her before we do anything else. We owe her that much. And there is still a possibility – however remote – that she has nothing to do with this and that whatever is happening has another explanation."
Logan slowly retracted his claws. "You want to do this now?"
Leah looked at both men. "Assuming we're right, we know now. If we wait, we increase the chance that she'll find out that we know. From what the two of you are saying, there might be an advantage in her not having time to prepare."
"Agreed. I'll call her now." Charles looked back at both of them. "Are you ready in case this gets…difficult?"
"Oh yeah."
Jean approached the study door and stopped dead.
Oh no.
Charles. Logan. Leah.
They know.
She started to tremble. And the voice spoke.
I am here. We are ready.
"Jean. Sit down, please."
Logan and Leah had shifted to the couch. Jean took one of the empty chairs in front of Charles' desk.
"Professor?"
"Jean, Leah came to see me this afternoon and it seems she is missing some memories that are very important to her. Would you know anything about that?"
"Why would I?" She glanced at Leah. "I'm sorry, but I don't."
Logan sniffed. "You're lying."
Charles shot a look over at the other man. "Jean, it would be best…if you know…please tell us. We simply want to know the truth."
"But I don't." She crossed her legs at the ankles, prim and proper. "Logan, I don't know why you think I'm lying, but I know nothing about this."
He sniffed again. "You smell like lies. Your heart's beating faster. You're tense. You're breathing harder. That's why."
Charles added. "And besides me, there is no one else who could have done this. Please, Jean. Tell the truth."
"I am!" She shot to her feet, agitated now. "Professor…believe me."
Leah, who had been silent up till then, also stood.
She was shorter than Jean, and even more so due to the other woman's three-inch heels. Jean was wearing an elegant red linen dress; Leah had thrown on clothes in a hurry after Logan had told her to get dressed. She was wearing old jeans, practical brown lace-up boots that reached to her knees, and a black T-shirt proclaiming that she was young, scrappy, and hungry.
But Jean shrank into herself as Leah approached.
"Give it back you bitch."
Leah's hands were clenched into fists at her sides, and Logan felt a fierce swell of pride as he looked at his partner. Terror – Leah was outclassed by Jean, and he knew it – but also pride.
Goddamn I picked the right woman.
Jean was shaking her head. "Stay away. You don't understand…stay back."
"Fuck that. Give it back."
"I…"
Jean's vision was wavering, the headache pounding. The voice was shrieking in her head.
Let me take over. I will deal with this.
"No..."
Leah snarled. "I want it back."
I will destroy her.
The headache roared and black engulfed Jean's vision.
"No."
Jean's eyes burst into flame. The air shimmered with heat around her.
Leah took a step back. Oh, shit.
"It belongs to me now. It's mine. And anything else I choose to take."
Leah gulped. "So you did take it." She cast a look at Charles. Well, that whole plan just went to crap, what do we do now?
"Of course. She is so envious of you. She wanted to hurt you. And I wanted to make her happy."
Leah looked at the men, who were both staring at Jean.
And she got pissed. Pissed for herself; pissed for Logan, her partner, who deserved some goddamn happiness after everything he'd been through, not even including what this psycho had done to his heart…even, slightly, pissed for Scott, who was now legally stuck with this crazy woman...
"You. Fucking. Bitch."
Leah turned and in one smooth movement grabbed the little potted vine plant off Charles' desk, and shoved her hand into the dirt.
GROW.
The vines exploded and wrapped around Jean's wrists. Logan was on his feet and Charles was raising a hand for calm and she didn't care.
Jean's eyes flared bright orange. Leah shut hers and dived deeper into her power than she ever had, and asked the plant for help. She told it what she wanted.
And there was the sound of shattering.
Her eyes opened and she saw, with a great deal of satisfaction and a slight twinge of regret – sorry Charles – that the vines had contracted and flung Jean through the study window.
She leapt through the opening in the glass and rolled, her minor scratches healing as she regained her feet. Jean was already standing.
"You're on my ground now, bitch," Leah breathed, and rammed her hands into the earth.
