~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Descent of the Phoenix" By: Wicked-Wytch

Disclaimer: I don't own the Xmen...etc, etc, etc.

A request of my dearest, sweetest, kindest reviewers: Can ya please tell me where you think the story's going? Thanx!

R/R and Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Somewhere in NYC)

The woman named Emma Frost sat in a large, leather chair. Her arms were crossed over her chest and there was an introspective look in her eye. She had just spoken with Jason Wyngarde and there were many things on her mind. For a few moments, she wondered if he would actually be able to pull off his little scheme. Then her thoughts became focused on the one named Phoenix.

And in a voice that was either full of great anticipation or extreme anger, she said, "The Dark Queen will finally return to the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club."

~~~~~

(Sanctuary)

Merci ran, her boots pounding against the hard wood floor of the bar. Her heart was hammering in her chest and fear mixed with a healthy amount of adrenaline filled her entire body. There was a fire on the ceiling and a mix of flame and wood fragments were pelting the remaining people inside the club.

Wild, frightened thoughts made their way into Merci's brain and she forced them away. She didn't let herself think about what happened if she got caught by the police... didn't let herself wonder about what those intolerant bastards would do to her if they captured her in a cell. Instead, she let her thoughts wander onto the boy. She was pulling the pyromaniac kid along with her and wondering if she was doing the right thing. He had tried to kill her just moments earlier... and now she was going to help him escape. Maybe, she thought, she should simply let him go and let the cops have their way with him.

But something in the back of Merci's mind stopped her from doing so. Maybe it was because of his power, which was so much more powerful than hers. Maybe it was because she thought he was handsome [a/n: WHO DOESN'T?]. Or maybe it was just because she didn't want to be all alone.

Whatever the reason, Merci kept a firm grip on the boy and kept running until her destination was within sight. With a relieved sigh, she sped up slightly and looked back once at the boy, mouthing to him that they were about to make their escape.

~~~~~

"Come on," Logan yelled as he pushed through the crowd of men that blocked their exit. With his free hand, he punched an officer that was close to him and broke through a line of men. *Almost there,* he thought to himself as the group got even closer to the door.

"We can make it!" Bobby shouted. The four were almost to the door when a new group of officers made their way in, blocking the exit once again.

Logan groaned loudly, knowing that he would have to fight. He pushed as many as he could out of the way. He didn't want to harm to men if he didn't have to. But when one of the officers kicked him in a private area, his mind was changed. Adamantium claws fully detracted, he slashed a man in the arm, taking cruel pleasure out of the man's scream of pain.

"Don't kill them!" Rogue shouted, her eyes on Logan's extended claws. The man (Logan) looked as though he was about to harm another officer when something loud and hot stopped everyone in their tracks.

The flash- Rogue looked up and realized that it was a fireball, most probably John's doing. As ash and embers started to rain from the ceiling, Rogue looked around with concern. *Damnit,* she thought, *John's going to kill everyone in here if someone doesn't stop him!*

"Bobby," Rogue cried to her boyfriend, "Stop the fire!"

"On it!" The boy responded quickly. Hold his hands over his head, palms up, Bobby concentrated until a large sheet of ice covered the ceiling and stopped much of the fire. The group let out a sigh of relief for that problem taken care of... but then they realized there was still the issue of escaping...

~~~~~

"The bathroom?" John gave the girl (Merci) a withering look as he realized what her means of escape was. She had abruptly stopped in front of a door labeled: Women's restroom. "That's your master plan?"

Merci did not respond to his sarcasm, instead she gave him a dark, piercing look. With a sigh, she ran a hand through her dark hair and turned away from him.

It wasn't that going into a female restroom that bothered John. Actually, he had sneaked into plenty of those... what really made him uncomfortable was the strange look the girl gave him. She looked as though she was staring right through him. "There better be a good goddamned escape route in here!" He shouted suddenly.

"I know what I'm doing!" Merci responded barely sparing him a glance. Without hesitation, the girl barreled through the door, still leading John. "Come on," she said, "There's a window here that's big enough for both of us."

The girl let John go and started to run to the back of the room. John followed her but slowed his pace just to show that he still had his bad ass attitude and that he was staying with her by choice.

Merci tried to open the window. Using all of her strength, she tried to pull it up... but couldn't. Cursing, she called John and told him to try. But the window wouldn't budge nor would it break when he tried to kick it in.

"Great idea," John said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Shut up and get out of the way," Merci muttered angrily. When the boy wouldn't move from his spot, Merci pushed him. He cursed her, but the girl ignored him. "I can do this," Merci said softly, speaking more to herself than to John. Standing a few inches from the window, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly, she extended her left hand and kept it close to the glass. In one sudden forward thrust, Merci called forth her power. A large stream of water was pounding the glass. It took a few moments, but soon enough, the glass was cracking. Merci forced the water to continue to flow and seconds later there was a gaping hole where the window had been.

"Damn," John muttered low enough so that Merci couldn't hear.

"Come on," the girl called, already halfway out the window. "We have to get out of here."

~~~~~

*Ok,* Logan was looking around in an almost unattached way, *All we need to do is mow down a small army of heavy armed cops and we're home free... should be no problem.* There was a wild grin on the man's face. The goal of his night had been to simply get a drink and he was about to get a whole lot more. But with the promise of action and fighting looming in the immediate future, he couldn't help but smile...

~~~~~

The police were getting angry and the scene was quickly getting worse. Shots were ringing through the room and many of the cops were furiously shouting.

"Come on," Logan shouted to the others. "We have to get out of here. Now!" Punching the officer nearest to him, Logan began to angrily push through the crowd.

The others did the same; Bobby froze a row of men in armor, Rogue pushed back as many men as she could, and Lita kicked around those who tried to pull them back.

Within a few moments, they were outside of the small club (which was by now looking pretty damn shabby). There was a large number of men and women in uniforms milling about. So many, in fact, that almost no one noticed them.

"We can go through here," Lita said, pointing toward an alleyway. "There's some buildings we can go through to get away from the cops." Running she led them there, until the solitary voice stopped them.

"FREEZE!" It was a man that had shouted at them.

Reluctantly, Logan turned to stare straight into the eyes of an angry looking police officer with a gun pointed at the group.

"Go," Logan muttered to the rest, pushing them ahead. "I'll catch up with you guys in a minute." After a few moments of arguing, Bobby, Rogue, and Lita were running into the alleyway.

"Fucking freaks!" The cop shouted, his finger dangerously close to the trigger.

"Bub... you picked the wrong guy to mess with," Logan spoke through gritted teeth. His claws were already extended and there was a wild look in his eye. For a moment he stood still, poised for attack. And then he moved with rapid speed.

~~~~~

(Canada)

She woke up slowly, consciousness only coming gradually to her. Everything seemed blurry but as she looked from side to side things seemed to become clear. There were so many questions in her mind, but her voice was too sore to let her speak. And there was no one in the room to ask questions to.

The woman sighed heavily and with a heavy hand brushed aside the red hair that was hindering her vision. She was tired and weak, but there were too many things on her mind to let her rest. Rolling onto her back and wrapping the blankets around her body, she stared at the ceiling and remained that way for some time.

And then that man walked into the room.

"You're awake," he spoke with a gentle smile and there was a gleam of concern in his eye. The red head wasn't sure if she could really trust this man, but he was probably the only person for miles. And he had wrapped her in blankets and brought her somewhere safe.

Very slowly, the woman opened her mouth, about to say something. Jason held up a hand that told her she didn't need to speak, but that meant little to her. "Please..." her voice was low and scrathcy, "Tell me... who am I?"

"You're Jean Grey... my fiancee." The man smiled and sighed, "Maybe I should wait until morning to tell you everything." Jean shook her head at this and held a pleading look in her eye. "All right then," Jason said in a soft tone, "I'll tell you everything..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ooo... what is Jason going to tell his 'fiancee'?... And where do you think John and Merci will head now that they've got their freedom?... and what about my handsome hero, Logan?... And what about that Emma woman? ....hmmmm... so many things to ponder. ^_^

O-O the author has plenty of things to write about in the next chapter. hehehe

Reviewers!!!: Me luvs you guys.

*@ry*- I think I like Yoda better than grasshopper- always thought he was the cutest thing in the star wars universe w/ the exception of all those hot jedi's. ^_^.)

*drama-nerd016*- *puts finger in front of lips* I cannot respond to your question b/c I don't wanna give the story away either way. So... maybe yes.... maybe no... Jason was in the Xmen toon and comic, though (but i'm not saying how he was involved until later on). (But thanks muchly for the review!)

*Ryne Elvenphoenix*- hehe... pyro ^_^. Thanks for reviewing

*Anne*- *mock shame* How bad of you to read a ff in school! You should be busy being studious!!! (hehe...jk). Please... if your friends Andrew and Nick would like to read... pass them on the link (I can always use more reviews *grin*). And as for your q'- I'm writing the story bit by bit. But no worries- I have the whole thing plotted out in my brain (mostly). Thanx for the review!

*Dark Angel*- Pyro... ^_^) hehe... glad you liked the Jason/Emma thing... we'll see more of the two of 'em later on

*x-girl*- *sigh* x-girl,x-girl, x-girl.... you actually do make a good argument... But I'm stubborn and no matter how good you paint Jean you will not change my opinion (and i gotta say that I don't really think she was the one who changed Logan very much in the movie, Rogue did)... I *grrrr* hate jean. (Taking a moment to breathe)... But... I'm getting carried away again. ^_^ I have to say that I think the movie and comic and cartoon are all good in an equal but different way. Anyway (your reviews always really get me thinking lol) thanks so much for the interesting reviews.

*willow*- I always try to please my reviewers and if it means adding in a bar fight, I try my best (Sry but a real bar fight really wasn't fitting in much). But they'll be more real fighting later on... so i hope that'll keep ya happy. Thanks a bunch for the review!

*Aolani*- *chuckle as I make a mental note to write the next chappy right now* Thanx alot for the review! ^_^)

*Dead-Girls-Watch*- Thanks muchly

Once again thanx to everyone- even you non reviewing readers. You all make my world go 'round.

See you in the next chapter, ~Wicked