Fell

Standard Disclaimer: Theirs, not mine.

Author's Note:

Shortly after I finished my first XME fic, "The Demon Bottle," I realized that I had presented two of the characters rather two-dimensionally. The first, most obvious one, was Storm, who simply held the role of a background character, providing a domestic influence within the school. The second, oddly enough, was Jean Grey. Jean is very much a hub that the other X-men tend to turn around and I found myself somewhat 'stretching' her telepathic abilities.

This story just appeared in front of my eyes.

Radical Nike

P.S. I apologize for how long this part took to come out, but several problems with the plot suddenly manifested themselves and I had to think about them for a few days.

Part Three

Storm had suspected that Jean and Kitty were in dire trouble when Kitty stayed hanging in mid-air. It was confirmed when Jean lurched to the side and gasped. "Jean, what has happened?"

The telepath did not respond.

Rogue backed away from the two girls. "Storm, I don't think she's payin' much attention..." Her eyes suddenly opened wide. "Back off!"

Jean's eyes had snapped open, but her green eyes had faded to white and were glowing. A psychic wind rustled her loose red hair and she was floating barely an inch off the floor. Kitty still hung limply, like a doll. Storm seized one of Kitty's wrists and tried to pull her away from Jean, but a shock jolted through her system and she felt her consciousness fade.

Rogue tried to run. She didn't make it.

"Professor!"

Professor Xavier looked up from his computer to see Evan bearing down on him. "Easy, Evan. What's wrong?" He turned his chair towards the boy.

"I went to check on Kurt-we have a biology assignment due tomorrow-and he was asleep," he babbled. "Anyway, we need to get this project done or Ms. Gunning will kill us, so I tried to wake him up, but he won't move, man! It's like he's in a coma or something!"

Xavier held up his hand to silence the boy and sent his mind out towards Kurt. Evan was correct; there was something wrong. It was as if his mind had been suppressed. Could Rogue have touched him? This was her scheduled time in the Danger Room...

Evan didn't have time to panic when the Professor slumped in his wheelchair, because he collapsed to the floor, senseless, a moment later.

One by one, the residents of the Institute fell. Jubilee and Amara fell, spilling bright blue nail polish across Jubilee's bed. Across the hall, Ray and Roberto fell, also, cutting their argument short. In the back field, Sam, Bobby, and Hank were sprawled out, helpless. Not too far away, a wolf and a set of sextuplets resembled a pile of puppies. Last of all, in the garage, Scott and Logan fell to either side of a bright red sport convertible.

All were caught in the riptide pull of Jean's powerful mind.

Jean was not flying this time; she was falling. Skyscrapers rushed past her as Magneto's powers abruptly wore off. Suddenly, strong arms caught her and she felt herself gliding back towards the sky-

The sky was bare of any cloud. The crops were dry and beginning to wilt. Jean held her hands up and felt the clouds begin to gather-

A mob was starting to gather. She had to escape. Jean could fear terror swelling within her stomach and her tail whipped under her long robe. She didn't want to flee another bonfire-

The plane was on fire. She saw her father stumble across the cabin and seize one of the parachutes. Was she going to have to jump? She never thought that she'd have to jump out of a plane-

Jean squealed as Logan's claws barely missed Kurt's face by inches. The startled boy vanished and reappeared next to her in the cargo bay of the X-Jet. "Do you think that I'm kidding now?" Logan staggered towards the cockpit door and sealed it shut, but the unnatural rage that seemed to be overwhelming him took control and his claws trailed-

The trail was full of thorns, but she had to keep running. Her foster father would catch her if she stopped and try to beat the wolf-devil that had possessed her out of her-

"Charles, could ye help me with this chair? I cannae seem to be able ta open it."

Charles? Jean stood back from the memory and saw it for what it was. An elegant woman with auburn hair and merry eyes laughed as a young Charles Xavier gallantly managed to unfold the small beach chair and set it under the large umbrella. Jean watched as the young couple flirted on the beach and felt her heart go out for the hidden flame her mentor still had for Moira MacTaggert.

The fragment faded and Jean found herself to be the nucleus of a raging storm of thoughts and feelings. Some were filled with fury, others with curiosity, and yet others with fear. As they swirled around her, she could feel more minds being drawn into hers.

How had this happened? She had tried to free Kitty-she had freed Kitty-when the girl's control over her phasing ability had fled. Why had it done that?

Had it caused her own gifts to surge? Jean tried to push the gathering minds away from hers, but all she did was fall back into the mass.

"I appreciate what you're trying to do for me, Professor Xavier," the brawny teen said firmly, "but I'm positive that this...mutation...can be stopped."

The professor was older than when he had been wooing his Scottish sweetheart, but he had not yet been confined to his chair. "Hank, I think you are being overly optimistic. If you repress your mutation now, you risk it emerging after your body has finished maturing. The limited research I have been able to conduct makes me concerned that the transition period will be much more intense, even painful."

"My mind is made up, sir..."

My mind? This is my mind, Jean thought. **Go away!**

The whirlwind fled a short distance and a few minds dropped out of the merge. More confident, Jean pushed again, but then she felt someone reaching out for her.

*Jean?*

The momentary distraction was enough-the collected personalities swamped her and she fell back in.

Charles Xavier felt himself spinning in a mental tornado, his memories trailing behind him like the tail of a comet. He could feel many of the other residents of his school orbiting with him, thoughts and fears and hopes spilling from them as if they were full glasses suddenly tossed through the air. He focused his attention to the eye of the raging storm even as he felt more minds being swept into the uncontrolled meld.

Jean.

She was drowning in personalities. He called out to her, but she couldn't seem to hear him over the psychic din surrounding her. She was tangled in another mind-Kitty-and she was too distracted to realize that all she had to do was to undo the meld that was holding them together. Xavier knew that Jean's shields were capable of preventing an mental invasion of this scope; after her last power surge, neither Jean nor himself had wanted a repeat experience.

He tried to force himself out of her orbit, moving towards the center and found himself being drawn deeper into the sinkhole of her mind. It was as if her shields had been inverted-or transparent-

Xavier wondered how Jean and Kitty had become tangled, but put it aside for the moment. That could be explained later.

A fierce blast came from the center. Xavier felt himself being shoved away from Jean and saw/felt the minds furthest away drop out of the massive merge.

She had gained some control, then. He hovered, watching. If he interfered, Jean could be distracted.

Just then, Kitty's consciousness stirred. *Jean?*

Xavier watched with a growing sense of futility as Jean fell deeper below the crowding minds.

Scott Summers could feel concrete beneath his cheek. Awaking suddenly, he groped at his face to make sure that his red shades were still firmly settled over his eyes before he opened them. He stood, scanning his surroundings for any clue as to what had just occurred.

The sight of Logan passed out on the floor was not encouraging. The young X-man checked his instructor's vitals, which were as vigorous as ever. He could not, however, rouse him. What had happened? He looked at the sky. The sun had just set. It had only been late afternoon when he had collapsed.

Scott left Logan where he had fallen, calling to the Professor on his radio, hoping to hear his reassuring mental voice in response. Silence. He ran into the mansion, dread tracing cold fingers across his nerves when he came across his fallen teammates. He found the Professor unconscious in his study, Evan lying in an ungraceful heap near him.

I guess I can assume that I'm the only one awake, he thought, clenching his fists.

Bamf.

"Then again..."

In the Danger Room, Storm pushed herself up. Jean floated only inches from her, eyes white and staring, her red hair blowing in unnatural winds. Kitty was like a small shadow, her dark brown ponytail caught like a pennant in the breeze.

Storm shook herself and rose to her feet. Rogue lay next to the exit. Her hand was resting against the wall. Apparently, she had tried to escape. Storm gently arranged the girl into a more comfortable position and then reached up to the PA system, connecting to the entire school.

"This is Storm. Anyone who can hear me, please respond."

Not two minutes had passed when the small speaker crackled to life. "This is Nightcrawler. Cyclops is with me. Where are you? Everyone else in unconscious, including the Professor..."

Storm's heart contracted. "Come to the Danger Room. There is something wrong with Jean. Her powers are out of control."