Everyday, the X-men strive to be a symbolism of peace in a world filled with hatred for mutantkind. While there are many out there who appreciate their sentiments for peace, there are also those who do not believe mutants to be peaceful at all.

Recently, the X-men have exposed Alyssa Risman and William Stryker to be guilty of murdering mutant children as leaders of the Purifiers. However, such victory does not come without a price, especially in the regards of their resident telepath, Jean Grey.

Jean has experienced more than a few nightmares regarding her past. However, being forced into reliving every, horrific experience from her past due to Stryker's psychological torture, it's affected her in more ways than one. But how? Those answers remain to be seen.

Issue 73: Things That Go Bump in The Night

X-Corporation Tower – Professor Xavier's Office

"Professor Xavier, Mr. Stark, Ms. Neramani I can assure you that this time around, my advisor won't be starting any fundamentalist hate groups behind my back," said President Edward Kelly.

"Thank you, Mr. President," Lilandra said with a sigh as she stood there next to Charles. Hearing that Charles, Jean, Scott and Ororo had gotten kidnapped by William Stryker and the Purifiers had left Lilandra with a sick feeling in her stomach.

Upon seeing the news, by the next day, Lilandra had taken time from both her companies to check on the X-men. From what she could see, Jean and the professor were both still mentally scarred from the kidnapping and the torture. Lilandra being a telepath could understand how hard it would be to have to feel such horrendous emotions for four days. Telepaths had a power that was both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it made them empathetic. On the other hand, it made them extra sensitive to everything.

"Yeah, we all appreciate that you fired him," Tony said.

"I was not about to allow him in my staff anymore. I can promise that General Grimshaw is a fine choice," President Kelly said in a reassuring tone.

"Alright, well, I am quite pleased about that," Charles said, forcing a smile onto his face. While Scott's pep-talk the other evening had given him a little bit of his hope back, he couldn't help but feel doubtful. His fears were still there. Given the torture he'd been put under, Professor Xavier was surprised that he still had his sanity.

"Well, Professor, when I said that I had changed my mind about mutants, I was not lying. And I appreciate all that you and your X-men have been doing these past few months," President Kelly stated.

"Thank you. That means a lot," Tony said with an agreeing nod.

"Anyways, I'd like to further sort this all out. I would like to further extend an opportunity to the X-men. I think I'd like for them to be given more responsibility and intervene when it's necessary. If any crisis shall arise, I won't hesitate to call any of you," the president said to them. "But on the other hand, the problems that we are still facing are the ones surrounding extremists, such as Magneto."

"Mr. President, I can assure you my X-men had managed to stop Magneto from succeeding in his plans the other day," Charles said.

"He took advantage of you being in the most compromised, vulnerable position possible, Professor Xavier. Anyone, whether they are human or mutant, is capable of that. But what has happened yesterday put a lot of things into perspective. I watched as your X-men stood up to Stryker on the national news. They were willing to die to prove that Stryker's way of thinking was wrong. But not all mutants are like you."

"Well, Mr. President, we will be willing to work with you, as far as problems go with mutant criminals. But most of the mutants who believe in anarchy are on Genosha now," Tony pointed out.

"But did that stop Magneto from taking advantage? He saw an opportunity to use you, Professor Xavier, and he took it. Who is to say that something such as this would not happen again?"

"Mr. President, I can assure you that even though there is always a chance something like this could happen again, my X-men and the Avengers will be there to intervene when we feel is necessary. We cannot promise that we will be able to prevent it before it happens. But we do promise to make the situation better," Xavier replied.

"Alright, well, I shall get back to work now. We'll speak again soon," said the president.

"Goodbye, Mr. President," Tony said with a polite smile. He proceeded to walk out of the professor's office, leaving Charles alone with Lilandra.

"So, Charles, how are you doing? And I am serious about this," Lilandra said.

"Why are you asking?" Charles asked her.

"Because I think it's time, we talk about you," Lilandra said firmly. "We've been in a conference with President Kelly all afternoon. Now that business is done with, I just want to know if you're okay. That's it."

Charles hesitated before answering Lilandra's question. He knew that she was just worried, and that she cared. But the mental scars of the torture he'd been put through over the course of four days were still fresh. "Lilandra, truth be told, I have my doubts whether or not we are doing the right thing," he admitted. "Being in that room, with Jason Stryker telepathically tormenting me and manipulating me, he made me see things that were unspeakable. The things that I saw . . . they were the worst of the worst."

"I can only begin to imagine," said Lilandra. "But I have to say that you should take what Scott said the other day to heart. You should not allow this one experience to dictate every choice that you make. If you do that, that is how you become like Stryker. He wants to make the entire world the way he is. You win by not giving into fear."

"Lilandra, it is not that unpretentious. I gave into trepidation that very day Stryker set me up in that Cerebro-type room to kill every single mutant on the face of the earth," Charles whispered.

"But no one died," Lilandra reminded him gently. "You did not kill anyone Charles. You know why? Because you are solely a pure, good person who would only use his powers in defense, not violence."

Charles closed his eyes. Despite what Lilandra was saying, he still could not help but feel doubtful. "I know, Lilandra," he said softly. "But I can admit that I did briefly consider taking Erik's approach."

"That's not the approach to take," Lilandra said with a shake of her head. "You cannot allow yourself to do that, Charles. From the moment I met you, I knew you were a person who was there to help. You sent your X-men to save the life of me and Evangeline. If you were not a good person, you wouldn't have done that. Do not allow anyone to taint that."

Charles breathed out another sigh as he listened to Lilandra speaking. She had so much wisdom and empathy; he knew that part of the reason why was because she was a telepath.

"Lilandra, I understand that you have a lot of faith in me, but right now, as frightened as I am about this ordeal, I am much more worried for Jean. The things that she had been put through – a lot of it was worse than what I saw. According to her sister, Jean had been forced to relive the car accident that killed her mother and father. She has nightmares about that two-to-three times a week. The fact that she had to see that and relive that, I feel terrible for her," he said.

"Me too," Lilandra said. "I sensed her emotions when I came here. She's trying to shut down, but she is not doing a very good job of it."

"I just hope that she, Scott and Ororo will be able to recover," Charles said softly.

Scott's Room

'I hope she'll be okay,' Scott thought as he sat on his bed in his room, Jean resting her head against his stomach as his fingers ran through her hair.

The whole night, Jean kept awakening from graphic nightmares of the events she had been forced to relive. Stryker had tortured her. He did not physically hurt her, but she was hurting mentally and emotionally.

Looking down at his now-sleeping girlfriend, Scott's thoughts drifted to the previous night when Jean came to his bedroom. She'd been crying hard, having kept waking up screaming and crying every hour. She'd hoped that maybe, falling asleep in Scott's arms would help. Luckily, it did. The rest of the night she'd slept peacefully.

Now it was almost five o'clock at night, and Jean was still sound asleep in his arms. Her face had exhaustion written all over it. Her eyes had dark circles underneath them. Scott leaned down and kissed her in her hair lovingly, rubbing a hand up and down her back as he read his copy of the book Ready Player One. The first quote that stuck out to him was, "Being human totally sucks most of the time. Video games are the only thing that make life bearable." At that moment, Scott could not help but feel the author Ernest Cline had a point when he'd put that in there.

As Scott continued to read his book in peace, he heard a soft knock at the door to see Ororo, Remy and Anna-Marie there. Breathing out a sigh, he knew that the three of them were not going to give up.

"Just try and keep it down. She hardly slept last night," he said softly.

"Yeah, we all heard it loud and clear," Ororo whispered as she sat down.

"She slept the whole day?" Remy asked in surprise.

"She hadn't slept at all last night, let alone for four days. She's exhausted," Scott said. "I had the luxury of being able to rest in that cell. She hadn't. As ill as I was in there, at least I could sleep." He turned his focus to his book. "To quote Ernest Cline, 'She used to have to force me to log out every night, because I never wanted to return to the real world. Because the real world sucked.'"

"The real world does suck," Anna-Marie quipped quietly as she looked down at Jean's sleeping form.

Everyone became silent at that as they watched the quiet rise and fall of Jean's chest as she slept peacefully for the first time in days. They couldn't help but feel badly for her, because she and the professor had been tormented the worst.

"How're you doing?" asked Ororo.

"Luckily, I'm not as mentally scarred as Jean and the professor are. The only thing that the Purifiers did was beat the crap out of me and keep me in a dark room. It was no different than my time in the orphanage, or time with my former foster father," Scott said bitterly.

"C'mon, Slim, no one ever gets used to somethin' like that," Anna-Marie said quietly.

"I know that, Rogue, but I refuse to wallow and have a pity party right now," Scott said. "I can't. Not when the professor is having doubts about whether his dream for peace is achievable. I'm telling you I have never seen that man so broken and doubtful about anything in my life before."

"When one goes through torture, it changes them," Ororo said quietly. "Let's hope and pray that the professor recovers, eventually."

"He will," Anna-Marie said.

"How do you know that, amour?" Remy asked Rogue.

"Because Ah know that the professor is not just one to roll over and give up. He might be a little insecure right now, but that doesn't mean he's going to wallow forever."

"I hope that you are right," Scott said softly, continuing with softly stroking Jean's hair to keep her asleep.

Bobby's Room – Hours Later

Hours passed throughout the night until finally, everyone had given up on staying awake and had fallen asleep. All members of the X-men were restless, especially since they'd just gotten through having rescued Scott, Jean, Ororo and the professor from William Stryker's clutches. But for Bobby Drake, he found that it was difficult for him to fall asleep.

Lying in bed with his eyes wide open, Bobby groaned in frustration that sleep just did not seem to want to come. He had a Spanish test the next morning, and the last thing that he wanted was to fail it. He additionally had an away basketball game, too, with Johnny. He could not afford to screw up because he was tired.

However, Bobby knew the reason why he could not seem to fall asleep. The pure sight of Jean after having rescued her from Stryker still haunted his memory. He remembered how her face had been ravaged with tears, how her body had been shaking as Cecilia held her. It was a sight that Bobby never wanted to lay eyes on again. He was so used to seeing Jean as that source of stability; his rock when the going got tough for him. Closing his eyes, Bobby decided that maybe a midnight snack of Chunky Monkey ice cream wouldn't kill him.

Making his way into the kitchen, he walked towards the freezer only to find Nightcrawler sitting on top of the counter, devouring a rather large cold cut sandwich.

"Hey Kurt, couldn't sleep, too?" he asked the blue, demon of a mutant.

"You guessed correct, Bobby," Kurt said quietly. "I guess I'm too tired to go to sleep."

"Yeah, I've heard of that expression," Bobby said with a small smile, reaching into the freezer and grabbing the pint of Chunky Monkey which he always made sure they had double of. Between he and Kurt, they were the kings of snacking at midnight.

"Have a lot on your mind, mein friend?" Kurt asked.

"How'd you figure?"

"You've been restless, almost as restless as zhe professor."

Bobby sighed. Kurt was very intuitive and insightful. For Bobby, when having conversations with individuals like Kurt, Hank and Jean, it was almost as though he were talking to God. All three seemed to know more about life than he did.

"You're right. It's just – seeing Jean like that the other day, it unsettles me," he admitted.

"I know vhat you mean. Jean's always zhe most stable of us all," Kurt said in agreement.

"Yeah, man, she is," Bobby said. "She's always the one I go to if I need to bitch and bullshit for hours about my family issues. She's just there. So, to hear her last night, it was hard for me. She's like the older sister I've never had."

Kurt nodded quietly. "I know vhat you're talking about zhere, Bobby. You know vhen I met her zhat I vas cowering avay in a church because Sinister manipulated me into attacking Norman Osborn. Upon meeting her for zhe first time, it vas like mein fears just vanished avay."

"She's got a talent for having that effect on people," Bobby noted.

As the two continued to sit there having their conversation, that was the moment they could hear the loud sounds of screaming sounding throughout the tower. Additionally, they could feel the entire building shaking around them.

"Jean," Kurt breathed out. He grabbed Bobby by the shoulder and teleported them to Jean's bedroom, where they could hear Scott yelling for the professor.

St. Peter's Hospital – Ten Years Ago

"Jean . . . oh, Jean. It's time to wake up, little one . . ." said a mysterious voice.

"What does this make it? Three years?"

"Do you think she'll remember what happened to her?"

"I really do not know. I cannot say for sure. The traumatism of what had occurred could affect her memory."

Suddenly, she could hear something else. She was beginning to hear . . . other voices? Where were they coming from? Where was she? What had happened to her brothers and sisters? What about her parents?

'She's been like this for three years . . . poor little one . . .'

'Vitals are steady . . .'

'Poor baby. No child should ever have to go through something like this.'

'I still cannot believe that she survived the crash. It's truly a miracle that she is alive.'

"Wait, brainwaves are steady! Dr. Claremont, I think she's waking up!"

Nine-year-old Jean Grey moaned, her head aching with a terrible headache as voices seemingly boomed inside her mind. Moaning again, her green eyes flashed open as the sounds of hundreds upon hundreds of voices filled her young mind.

'We need an IV over here!' a voice said urgently in her mind.

'I guess . . . I guess this is it. I – I'm going . . .' another said, this one bringing forth a strange sensation of . . . death? What was happening? Why was she feeling sensations of someone else dying? Jean could feel her head starting to hurt worse as the doctor came into her view. However, she was barely paying mind to it at all. All she could hear in her mind was voices.

"Jean? Jean Grey?" asked Dr. Joan Claremont, going over to the traumatized nine-year-old and resting a hand on the small of her back. "Jean . . . my name is Dr. Joan Claremont; you're in St. Peter's right now, sweetie. Do you remember who you are, what happened, and why you are here?"

Jean Grey didn't respond to the doctor as her headache got worse and worse. Tears filled the little girl's eyes as she heard more voices, and objects in the room started to shake violently.

'What's happening?'

'Why are objects moving?'

'What else is wrong with her?'

'Oh dear . . .'

Jean proceeded to rock herself back and forth as she started to cry, objects around her in her hospital room starting to spin around and around. She moaned in pain, clutching her head and squeezing her eyes shut as her sobs started.

"Jean, what's the matter?" asked Dr. Claremont in a worried tone.

Jean didn't acknowledge the doctor at all, just continuing to rock her small body backward and forward as the pain in her head became too much for the little girl to stomach. Tears saturated her face as the sobs escaped her throat. More objects proceeded to move around, and the voices grew louder in Jean's mind.

"Do you think that she might be autistic?" asked a nurse who was in the room.

"That's a very strong possibility," said Dr. Claremont. She gently rested her hands onto Jean's shoulders in an effort to give the girl something to focus on. "Jean? Sweetie, try to focus on me. I know you're scared, but I just want to ask you if you remember what had happened to you so that I can help you."

Once again, Jean didn't acknowledge the doctor as she continued to hear voice after voice, but, one voice stood out to her.

"Jean, my dear child, do not be afraid, little one, I can help you. Everything that has ever caused you pain and suffering, I can make it all go away. Who I am, it is not important. I can guide you . . . I am here for you," this voice said in a way that was almost comforting, but the voice didn't bring the little girl any sense of comfort. In fact, it only scared her more.

Jean could not help but scream in fear as an invisible force shoved the doctor and nurse back, and she proceeded to float above her hospital bed, shoving aside the medical equipment and machines surrounding her. The tubes and wires that had been monitoring her breathing, cerebral patterns, heartbeat, and blood pressure went flying off her body. The only thoughts going through her mind was why she was here, and where her mommy and daddy were.

'Where's Daddy? Where's my mother? What am I doing here?' she thought as she continued to rock her small body backward and forward, the sobs continuing to pour from her lips. 'What's happening to me?' Her hospital bed seemed to break apart with that same invisible force, and the metal bars on the bed went flying off. The door to her hospital room came off its hinges. Nurses that were in her room were being shoved back as she began to clutch the sides of her head, covering her ears with the palms of her hands.

"Oh, good God! What should we do?!" the nurse cried out.

"Sedate her at once! If she does not get better by tomorrow, we will call Mangold Mental Hospital immediately!" Dr. Claremont cried out as she watched the terrifying scene before her eyes. Never once had she ever had a case like this.

Scott's Room – Present Day

"PROFESSOR!" Scott yelled at the top of his lungs as objects throughout his bedroom shook violently.

For Scott, it was confusing. One minute, Jean was sleeping peacefully in his arms. After what seemed to be another minute later, she was screaming violently and thrashing about in her sleep. This time, however, Scott could not wake her on his own. This was especially since Jean was making objects throughout his bedroom ascend against her will.

Before Scott knew it, almost every resident of X-Corporation came into his room. Kurt and Bobby, who clearly had been snacking at midnight, teleported in. Cecilia, Ororo, Anna-Marie and Kitty came running in. Logan rushed in; claws unsheathed as he looked around the room for any signs of danger.

"Scott, what happened?" Hank yelled.

"I do not know!" Scott shouted back as one of his bookshelves darted halfway across the room. He was leaned over Jean, trying to shake her awake as she frantically squirmed in the bed, her sheets sticking to her body like a second skin as sweat poured off her body. Her hair stuck to her face as the tears poured down her cheeks. He could see the tile from his bathroom starting to levitate and move uncontrollably.

"Jesus Christ!" yelled Warren as he came further into the room. However, Jean's screams suddenly turned to her speaking loudly in her distressed sleep as Cecilia and Hank ran over. Cecilia pressed her fingers against Jean's neck, noticing the girl's pulse was erratic.

"Get . . . get out! No . . . no! Get out of my head! Get out of my head! Quiet . . . quiet! Please! Please!" Jean gasped out. Leaning over, Hank could see the veins in Jean's neck were almost glowing a shade of orange.

"Jean . . . Jean, c'mon wake up!" Scott whispered, grabbing her face in his hand, his fingers clenching slightly at her cheeks as his other hand passed through her hair. "Come on, baby wake up."

"Her pulse is rising," Cecilia said. "BPM is one-hundred-thirty over eighty. Jean, Jean, if you can hear me, wake up! It's okay. You're going to be okay!"

Jean violently screamed again as Cecilia and Hank attempted to pin her down. However, their attempts were fruitless.

"Stay away from me . . . stay away . . . STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

Jean's telekinesis flung Cecilia and Hank off her, knocking them into the nearby wall before Cecilia could put a forcefield up to protect herself. Cecilia could feel a bruise forming on the back of her head; touching it, she could feel blood.

"Dr. Reyes!" shouted Warren as he ran forward as the glass partition from Scott's shower broke into pieces and went flying. A shard of glass cut into Ororo's cheek. Glass from the mirror in the bathroom broke, as well, cutting into Scott's arm, blood gushing from the cut.

"I'm fine, Warren," Cecilia insisted, slowly getting up as Jean violently screamed, "HELP ME! HEEEEEELP!"

"Merde," Remy cursed as they watched Jean's powers grow even more out of control. More objects continued to fly through the room. Floor tiling from Scott's bathroom flew towards the door, nearly hitting Bobby. Luckily, Kitty phased him out of the way. Finally, with one last scream, Jean awoke, breathing heavily as the objects continued to aviate throughout the room. However, she was clutching the sides of her head tightly.

"Jean! Jean what's wrong?" Kitty cried out.

That was when they could all see the strange, orange glow that had surrounded Jean's body when she had destroyed Ultron all those months ago. When Jean looked up to face them, they could see that even her eyes were glowing, and the veins on her face seemed highlighted with fire. Her face was carved with an expression of pure terror as she trembled. Her nose was bleeding due to an intense migraine.

"I-I don't know!" Jean choked out, tears streaming down her cheeks as her lower lip shook violently. "I – I don't know what's happening to me! I can't stop it!" she managed to gasp, before the glow suddenly lessened as Cecilia and Hank made their way over to her.

Cecilia sat on the edge of the bed, joining Scott in leaning her hands against Jean's shoulders. As this happened, Jean noticed what she'd done.

"Did I do that?" she whimpered, her head spinning with dizziness as she noticed everyone else's injuries.

"It's okay. It's okay. It was an accident," Cecilia whispered.

"No . . . no," Jean sobbed, burrowing her face into her hands as she felt Cecilia taking her into her arms. "I – I don't feel so good . . ." However, before Hank could pry her out of Cecilia's arms to bring her to the medical labs to examine her, Jean's eyes rolled into the back of her head as she fainted against Cecilia's chest.

The others carefully entered the room as Hank judiciously began to disentangle Jean from the sweat-soaked sheets so that he could give her a check-up. Her face was drawn and pale and she looked sickly.

"Hank . . . is – is she –?" Bobby started to ask, gulping as Hank took Jean into his arms to carry her to the infirmary.

"I cannot be certain, Bobby," Hank whispered as they all stared at Jean's unconscious form, her face still looking tense even though she was passed out.

Up next: The Phoenix Saga