A/N: Okay, okay, I'm back! Please don't kill me!! Actually I got back on the 12th but I didn't post cuz a) I was jetlagged b) my birthday was the 14th! Yay! And c) I wanted to see how many death threats I got *taps fingers and laughs, then locks the door and cowers under bed* Altho it is no longer truly safe for me delay since one of my friends has kindly volunteered to give my address to Aceles and whoever else was going to raid my house with pitchforks…anyway. PS the voice was the Phoenix. My comic-book-reading friend tried to explain it to me, but I still don't get it…I did run into part 4 of 5 of the Phoenix Saga on the tv show one day, but that totally didn't help my lack of understanding (plus kurt wasn't there ;-) and what's the point if everyone's favorite blue elf isn't there?)
Update: Sabere's unwanted telepathy has been fixed except for the Kurt-on-the-roof incident, but I'm too lazy to fix that. If there are any other spots feel free to yell at my stupidity. Thankee varee much.
The red-haired woman smiled at the group. She was tall and quite pretty, even though her uniform, which was identical to the rest of the X-Men's, was torn and muddy from months in the lake. Her brilliant green eyes swept happily over her friends, but finally alighted on Scott. He was the first to recover and he took Jean in a bone-crushing hug, which she returned. The others, except Logan, turned away to give them some privacy. Logan looked like he was trying to stare a hole into the back of Scott's head, and e made a disgusted face before finally turning away like the rest. Sabere studied the isolated forest around them, wondering how in the world Jean had survived in a lake for nearly three months – and what in the world had spoken and released her onto the lake edge. It certainly didn't seem like part of her powers, but then, Sabere had very little idea of what was going on around her.
"Charles." Jean's voice signaled the end of her personal reunion, and Sabere returned her attention to the pair. Scott was still holding tightly to her hand, but the worry in Jean's eyes revealed that her mind was now on business.
"There's something I need to tell you. My visions didn't hold up as long as I had hoped, so-"
"That's fine, dear, we have all the time in the world," Xavier assured her.
She smiled briefly, then resumed her solemn demeanor. "Apparently William Stryker had a brother, Geoffrey Stryker. Needless to say, he's not happy about what happened to dear Billy, which didn't help his own anti-mutant feelings. Somehow – don't ask me how, because I don't know – I discovered that Geoffrey is researching and manufacturing a toxic drug that is targeting mutants. First, it will make powers completely uncontrollable – either they will shut down completely, or act on their own accord. And it's poisonous, and after too much exposure, the mutant's powers will overwhelm them completely and kill them."
"Some happy reunion," Logan grumbled.
"I did discover where Stryker is working. He's almost finished with his first batch, and I have no idea how it will be distributed."
"What's his most likely method?" Sabere asked, speaking for the first time.
Jean, who only knew who she was from the vision, gave her a measuring look before answering. "Probably in food. He doesn't know how it will affect normal humans, so airborne would be too risky – at least food can be directed to a know source."
"Like the school," Storm commented bitterly. "He'll know where that is."
"He'd target us anyway, since obviously mutants were the cause of his demise. It's all our fault, you know." Jean rolled her eyes. "Anyway, his last option is an injection, but that would be too slow and risky, since he'd have to lead known mutants to a doctor."
"Or just bop 'em over the head and shoot 'em up right there," Logan suggested.
The others ignored him. "We'll just have to be careful about where our food is coming from," Xavier said, frowning. "We may have to resort to simply grocery-shopping to avoid this. Meanwhile, I'd like Kurt and Kitty Pryde to go to this base and see what they can find out. But before that - " he smiled broadly at them all and began the return trip to the jet – "We have a lot to celebrate."