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"Descent of the Phoenix" By: Wicked-Wytch

Disclaimer: *Wicked glares at disclaimer* You know, I'm getting freaking tired of trying to come up with something new every freaking chapter. *Kicks disclaimer and then sighs* I don't own X-men... etc. etc. etc.

R/R and Enjoy! (Please review and make me happy!)

Note- This chapter takes place a lil bit (30mins- a few hours (I enjoy being vague)) after the last. BTW- Say hello to my OC's. They're baaaack! And... *sniffle* get ready to say bye bye to John *sniffle* The Kleenex are available for anyone who needs. ALSO- I believe this chappy is a bit longer than the most recent ones have been. Yay!

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(Back in the states)

"Guess this is it, then," Merci said softly, her eyes sweeping over the entire content of the room. She was leaving and this was her goodbye. It was funny, really, she didn't know this boy and yet she felt bad leaving him alone.

The apartment he lived in was a bit small for a loft, but spacious enough to suit the boy. Merci had the feeling that he didn't need nor want too much space. The place was rather dark, long curtains covering up all the windows except for one. Through that one, the largest, the midafternoon sun was shining brightly.

Merci sighed and ran a hand up her arm. The place seemed so cold, so empty. For a boy who wielded fire, it lacked the intense heat she had expected. There were no burn marks, as she had imagined there would have been. The walls were bare and white, the furniture simple and black. There were two niches in the walls, one used as a bathroom, the other a kitchen; rooms so tiny they couldn't really be called rooms. The bed was rather small and simple white cotton sheets covered it. It gave off the feeling of being uninhabited. Merci wondered how long he had lived in the place and how he could have survived without disturbing anything.

"Yeah," John mumbled softly. The look in his eye made Merci feel as though he was thinking something along the lines of: It's been long overdue.

Merci gave him a sharp look, her teal eyes hard. "Look," she started, one hand fumbling absentmindedly with a wrapper in her pocket. "You helped me out back there, I won't forget it. If you ever need someth-"

"It wasn't anything. All I did was return a favor. I don't like being in debt. Forget it."

The whole room fell into a chasm of silence, except, of course, for that familiar swish-flick of the lighter that Merci had grown accustomed to. He was looking at her, a look on his face that Merci couldn't quite understand. Was that unhappiness in his eye? "Your friend's waiting outside. You should get going." John said suddenly.

"I'm going to be staying at the Xavier Institute. You could come along; I'm told there's plenty of space there. Staying with... what was his name? Magneto? Obviously, it's no good."

"No thanks," he flashed her a disturbing, cold smile, "Tried that before and it didn't work out too well. I'll do fine with Magneto. If I don't, I always have another option." Without missing a beat, he said, "See you." He turned and headed toward an armchair which was positioned in front of a small television.

"Come with us," Merci said suddenly, her request almost a plea.

"Hey," he said with what sounded like a bitter laugh, "Say hi to Bobby and Rogue for me."

Merci stood there for a moment, watching his back. The issue was closed and it was over. She hadn't expected a warm, emotional goodbye. So why had her heart given a sad little leap when he turned from her? The girl sighed softly and stuffed her hands in her pockets. With a final, quiet mumble, Merci left the apartment and John Allerdyce for what she thought was for good. Her final words, which made the young man stiffen in his seat: "Bye, John, I won't forget you." She had added in a barely audible voice, "You asshole."

--

Merci shook her head and pushed away the memory. Forget the stupid flame thrower, a small voice in the back of her head said quietly, he's not worth it. Much to Merci's displeasure, that didn't stop her from feeling bad. She was walking beside Lita in silence. They were apparently headed for a brand new home, a place where they'd be safe with other mutants.

Merci sighed softly and gave Lita a side-ways glance. And then, before she could think, it tumbled out of her mouth, "I liked him." It had been soft and gentle and from Lita's non-reaction, she almost thought she hadn't heard.

"That hijo de la gran puta* [A/N: loosely translated: "son of a bitch", strictly translated: "son of the great whore". Your choice. And, yes, Lita is Spanish. :)]?"

"Lita!"

"He tried to kill you, Merci. Or have you forgotten?"

Merci fell silent and then, in an attempt to redeem him said, "He saved my life, too."

"Doesn't really balance things out, does it?" Lita cast a dark glance on Merci. "Don't be foolish. He came back to the club just to light you on fire and kill you. If not for your power..."

"You're right," Merci said with a tired sigh, "But I still liked him. He was a prick, an asshole," Lita perked for a moment, thinking that Merci had gotten her point, "but he wasn't evil."

"If you're expecting me to suddenly forgive him, forget it." Lita said sharply, "It's because of him that the club's up in ashes and we're out of jobs *and* a home." When the older woman saw the look on Merci's face, she exhaled loudly and added, in a softer tone, "Forget about him. We won't see him again. There's a new life ahead of us."

"Yeah," Merci spoke sullenly, "I guess so."

~~~~~

(Canada)

Scott was standing over the thin blond woman, his eyes never leaving her figure. He had not found Jean and was feeling a new kind of emptiness fill him. With a heavy sigh, he turned to the side and looked for a seat. He felt weary, as if he needed hours and hours of sleep to rest his tired soul.

"Are you family?" A voice interrupted his thoughts. Shaken, Scott looked up and realized the voice had come from a small older woman, a nurse. For a moment, he wondered if he should tell the truth. But then he realized that he would probably be thrown out of the place and unable to speak to her when she woke.

So, he responded, with a quick smile, "Yes. We're distant cousins. I came to visit for the weekend. I haven't seen her in ages." With the nurse looking satisfied, Scott continued, "Is she all right?"

"Ah, this dear pretty girl," the woman was hobbling toward the unmoving figure of Emma, "She will be fine. But," she added sharply, "she will need plenty of rest and may have some lasting scars on her arms and legs."

"Oh," Scott muttered softly. He cast a quick glance on the bandages covering Emma's body.

"We collected her belongings," the nurse said gently, pointing to a table on Emma's right. Scott noted the small pile, but did not go to it right away. He watched as the nurse checked the chart that hung by Emma's bed and then moved in to take blood. "Well... I'll be back in a little while," the woman said with a smile before exiting.

Scott waited until the door closed and then moved over to Emma's belongings. He bypassed the vial of perfume, lipstick, set of keys, and other various items, going straight for her wallet. He crossed his fingers that her name would be inside (he had been surprised and pleased that so far no one had asked him for her name).

"Emma Frost," Scott read quietly off a driver's license. He inspected the card, seeing that she was a resident of New York (he tried to remember her address) as well as her height (5'4), her birth date (5/29/76) [A/N; see below], and license number. He looked over the woman and sighed softly. He wondered: Did she have some connection to Jean?

~~~~~

(Exact Location Unknown- A city in Canada)

The sounds of a city filled her ears. It was the Phoenix's first time in a city and the experience was turning out to be quite educational. At first glance she had been awestruck. Simply put, Phoenix was surprised by the size, sounds, and sights. She was most fascinated, though, by the people. So many littered the streets, all races and ages. It was then, as she was admiring the sights, that she bumped into a stranger.

"Watch it, bitch!"

Jean stopped walking. Her eyes slanted dangerously and she turned to face the person whom had spoken the curse. The Phoenix found herself staring at a young businesswoman, probably in her twenties, wearing a pantsuit.

"Excuse me?" Phoenix asked. Her voice was very low.

"I told you to watch it!" The woman responded angrily, not realizing she was making a rather large mistake, "You bumped into me because you weren't looking where you were going."

"Oh?" The Phoenix smiled its disturbing smile and took a step closer to the woman, who suddenly seemed to notice the malice behind her green eyes. "I suppose," Phoenix spoke calmly, "next time I should take care to look out for people in my way." She then added, "And you should learn to watch how you speak to others." At this, the Phoenix closed the gap between herself and the woman. There was barely any space between the two and the Phoenix, still smiling, let her fingers curl around the woman's shoulders in an almost violent manner. (As this was happening, the businesswoman was quickly repeating, "I'm sorry!"). For a brief moment, she simply stared into the businesswoman's fearful eyes. And then, she unleashed her power.

The Phoenix wanted to destroy, to decimate the annoying woman's mind. She wanted to feel terror and fear and all the wonderful human emotions that made living interesting. As the woman struggled against her grasp, the Phoenix couldn't help but laugh madly. She couldn't stop... wouldn't stop. She wanted to feel it all, every emotion and every tiny flare of pain.

But as she twisted the young woman's mind, a crowd gathered around her. And something else, far more distracting happened. Phoenix could hear a voice: Jean Grey's voice. And suddenly, there were stars in front of her eyes and cotton in her mouth. It was impossible, she realized quickly, for her to do anymore damage to the girl. The small, surviving part of Jean Grey wouldn't allow it. Somehow, she could fight.

*Damn you,* the Phoenix thought angrily. And then she heard the other voices.

"Oh my God! What is that woman doing?"

"It's a mutant!"

"Someone get help!"

The Phoenix immediately released the businesswoman and looked at the group that had assembled around them. Extremely annoyed, she started to walk off. She was not ready to receive so much attention. After all, the Phoenix had a purpose. She was planning on reaching New York City. Before Jason had disappeared, she had scanned his thoughts. That was where he was heading. So, the Phoenix only felt it right to follow. After all, he had a lesson to be learned. Informing others of her movements (by attracting unwanted attention) would only alert Jason. And that would be rather annoying.

The Phoenix moved quickly, leaving the group of shocked humans to tend to the fallen businesswoman. *To New York,* she thought to herself, *Then I won't have to worry about being seen by stupid humans.*

~~~~~

Emma woke with a start. Expelling a large amount of air from her lungs and looking around wildly, she tried to remember where she was and what had happened. The first thing that hit her was the fact that she was in a hospital. The smell had given it away- that clean, sterile smell that filled the air around her. Inspecting the room, Emma noticed the bare white ceiling and walls that were a soft shade of coral. A painting of flowers and fields hung on a wall. Eyes sweeping the rest of the room, Emma noticed the man who was staring at her through red sunglasses. His face, Emma realized still somewhat groggy, was very familiar.

"Who are you?" Emma asked softly because her voice seemed very far away.

"Hi," Scott said gently, "My name's Scott. I found you."

"Scott?" Emma closed her cold blue eyes and wracked her brain. From where had she heard his name and seen his face? And then his last sentence hit her full force, "Found me?"

"Yes. There was a fire in your cabin. You were burned but I got you out in time."

Emma gave him a look of disbelief. "A fire?" She muttered softly, mostly to herself. "Fire." Suddenly she was back in the cabin on the floor. She could feel the flames on her body, smell the smoke, hear the crackling of fire eating away at wood. But there had been something else she had heard. Though she felt tired and even a little dizzy, Emma forced herself to concentrate. She had heard it... a soft, gentle sound... like... "A laugh," Emma muttered.

"Excuse me?"

Emma looked up at him, eyes wide. Her memory was quickly returning. After blinking, she suddenly knew who the man standing by her was. He was connected to the Phoenix, or more correctly, Jean Grey. "She did this to me," Emma spoke softly, but there was steel behind it. Her eyes focused suddenly and she turned to Scott. She wanted him gone, there were things she needed to do and people she needed to speak with. The blond considered using her powers against the man, but waited. Something told her that his mind would not be easily bended, especially when he was so focused on Jean Grey.

"I need your help, Ms. Frost," Scott said, breaking Emma's concentration. "You might have some information."

"Well," Emma responded without a moment's hesitation. She figured the simplest way to get rid of him was to comply, "Ask away."

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*A/N: For the purpose of this fic, I put Emma as 27 years old. I couldn't find her exact bday, but did find a site that said she was currently 27 yrs old, so I stuck with it.

Reviewers: Hello ^^. Seems that some of you were a bit... (how to say it?) P.O.'d that I kept Jean and Scott from meeting (*coughcough*Eadha Ohn*coughcough*). Well, bloody heck, I'm sorry for all you S/J fans. They will meet! And it should happen rather quickly this time. No waiting 15 ch.'s just to get them in the same area. Maybe it'll only take 10 ch's this time! *Wicked dodges the missles that the S/J fans throw at her* JUST KIDDING! I'm trying to get them together within the next 3 chapters or so (sooner if possible). I'm sorry for my longwindedness (but hey, you've stuck with me for 16 chapters already so you should know by now that I am extremely longwinded.) Also, I give you all the right to call me a roaring bitch b/c of my slowness of my updates. Right then, that said:

RogueCajun- *GASP OF HORROR* You'd sic your Gambit doll on me? ME? I give you your Pyro and you threaten me.... *highly offended*.... jk ^_^. That quote from Jean was pretty good, considering it came from Jean. She must have had to think hard to come up with it. (hehehe). Anyway, you got some Pyro. Hope you're happy. Thanx for the review!

Eadha Ohn- Your reaction... *GRIN*. Anyway, I appologize for making you wait some more (see above for a longwided explanation). Thanks for the review, no matter how appauled you were!

funkygirl4723 - Thanks for the review! :) Glad you enjoy a nice Emma bashing (who doesn't really?) and Jean/Scott's reunion will happen soon!

drama-nerd016- The end of Emma? No way! *grin* Actually, her part will dimish rather quickly. But I like her so, I'm trying to keep her for a while. Writing bitchy is FUN! *grin* Thanks for the review

Nicholette- Thanks for the review! About the eyes. I'd like to say D'oh! But actually, I took her eye color from a bio I found online- the problem was that it was of comic Jean, not Movie-verse Jean. Pay it no mind (though, I'ma stick with green just cuz it'd be weird to change it like that suddenly). I probably have done the same kind of thing with the other characters. *sigh* oh, well! *grin*

Blackheart Syaoran- Thanks for the review! And for your patience ^^

See you all in the next chapter! ~Wicked