Rising to the Sunset, Part II
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Marvel does.
Chapter 6
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Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Scott flung his hand at the alarm to silence it. Groggily he check his sleep goggles, and looked to the other side of the bed to find Jean already up. Scott swung his feet over the side of the bed, and trudged to the bathroom. On the bureau lay the outfit Jean had ironed for him the night before, khaki pants and a blue shirt. There was a note on top of them. 'I'm in the lab. Come visit me before you go to class.' Scott replaced the note, grabbed a towel, and headed for the shower. He hoped the hot water would calm his nerves. The incidents of the previous night had left him uneasy.
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Kitty nervously glanced at the floor as Jean copied the sensor data from her laptop to the lab's main computer. She didn't know how to go about discussing the data with Jean.
"You got some pretty incredible stuff."
The younger girl nodded. Jean stared at the screen. To Kitty's surprise, she wasn't looking at the evening's earlier events, but something that had happened much later, that Kitty hadn't even looked at.
"Woah! What's all that?! And its not synched like the…other stuff."
Jean smiled. "I'm trying to figure out exactly what was going on. I'll tell you about it in a minute. First, I need to be honest with you in order for you to correctly interpret all the data. Do you know what you were seeing earlier on last night?"
"I think so. I didn't at first, but the data was so cool, so I was showing Rogue and Logan, and well, he kind of, um, hinted at what could be causing the, uh, physiological changes I was observing." Kitty's gaze remained firmly fixed on the ground.
"Ah. Well, Kitty, scientists sometimes need to talk clinically about personal things. I said I'd be honest with you. Logan's assessment was correct, Scott and I were having sex."
Kitty nodded.
"There and there. Over here there are some interesting physiological synchronizations that you wouldn't find in most people. Our mind link, as you may have already noticed, becomes strengthened the closer we are to each other."
"Is it nice?"
"Very much so. The mind link is very intimate. No lying."
"Wow."
Jean continued to point out various important physiological indications of what was going on. Scott was paused at the doorway of the lab to observe the interaction. Jean was such a good teacher. He loved to watch her in that mode.
**I know you're back there. Come in**
**I will. I like watching you**
**We're about to get to the part of the data that you want to see**
Scott walked over to the bench and sat beside jean.
"Morning."
"Good morning, Scott," Kitty called.
He nodded in acknowledgement. "Is this the data from last night?"
"The beginning."**Did you eat breakfast yet?**
**No.**
**I'll get some**"Kitty, did you eat breakfast, yet?"
"Uh, no. I came down here as soon as you asked me to."
"Okay, I'll get some. Do you want fruit, or Cocoa Krispies?"
Kitty looked at her sheepishly. "Cocoa Krispies."
Jean grinned. "Plain or chocolate milk?"
Kitty gave her an incredulous look. "White milk. I'd think chocolate milk would make it too sweet."
Jean laughed. Scott glared at her.
"What?" Kitty demanded.
"You'll see when they come down."
"Okay…"
Kitty scrolled through the data until she got the late night incident.
"Woah. Your temperature was up to 104!"
Scott looked at Jean concerned.
"What was all this? There's very little synchronization compared to before."
"I was having a moment of extreme telekinesis."
"I can see that. You're off the chart!" Kitty looked quizzically at the pair.
Scott finally spoke up. "I woke up last night to heat being radiated through the link." He gestured to the screen. "Jean was asleep and really warm. Across the room, I saw the iron going. It was working on these outfits. I heard the water running in the bathroom, and found it in the process of being cleaned."
He sighed. "I was concerned. Jean wasn't."
"It's just another example of my powers increasing."
"It's more than that!"
"I don't think so."
"Jean, your powers are increasing expontentially."
They looked intently at each other.
**I'm fine!**
**I'm concerned**
**Scott, why can't you be happy with my new abilities?**
**Jean, I would be, if we had any idea what was causing it**
The 'silence' was making Kitty uncomfortable. The tense air was broken by the arrival of breakfast. Fruit for Jean, Cocoa Krispies with plain milk for Kitty, and with chocolate milk for Scott. Kitty giggled.
"Thank you, Jean." She began to dig in. Scott played with his cereal with his spoon.
**Eat.**
**I'm not hungry**
**Please**
**Promise me you'll talk to the Professor about this. Please, Jean**
**Okay. If I have time today. If not, tomorrow**
He kissed her forehead. **Thank you**
**Now eat**
"Jean, your stats are insane!" Kitty called, looking up at Scott and Jean.
Scott sighed.
"Can you keep the sensors on?" Kitty asked. "I mean, if you don't mind."
"I think that's a good idea," Scott chimed in.
Jean nodded. "Definitely. It's important to document these changes."
Scott stood up. "I have to go to class now."**Take it easy, please**
**I'll be fine**"Have a nice day, honey."
"Scott, can I stay here?" Kitty asked. "I think analyzing this data would, uh, aid me more as a student than sitting and hearing about identities I already know how to do."
Scott smiled. "That'll be fine, Kitty."
He leaned down and kissed Jean on the top of his head.
**I love you**
**Love you too**
Kitty typed a command into the computer. Up popped a box with the time stats for the interval she picked.
"This, uh, incident, appears to have lasted for almost an hour."
"Yeah, I was having a pretty intense dream."
"Could you log what you remember? In like a journal format, maybe. Then we might be able to attach them to the various events of the log."
"That's a good idea. I'll work on that now."
Kitty sat and plunked away at the keyboard, calling up Jean's test results for the outer limits of her powers in past years, as Jean settled down at another desk to recall what she could. Each of the tests from the previous few years showed a slight improvement each new time. The sensor tests from the day before were completely unlike anything they'd seen before. While each previous test had showed a similar style of pattern, this one had completely created its own lines on the chart. It was almost like Jean wasn't in control anymore. But what was it?
"Jean,?" Kitty called. "Did you experience the flying again? Like you said the first time?"
"Yes. I did. How did you know that?"
"It was just a guess. I remembered what you'd said about the fiery bird, and then what we saw in the sky too, so I've looked up the Phoenix. I just wanted to know if you experienced that again."
"I have. Do you think its related?"
"It could be. The Professor mentioned something about a Phoenix force once. Its an energy force, and it relates to the mythical phoenix somehow."
"A rising from the ashes thing?"
Kitty nodded.
"Keep looking into that."
"I will. Jean?"
"Yeah?"
"You should go see the Professor…"
"You sound like my fiancé."
"Well, he knows more about this force than I do. I haven't yet talked to him about it, but from what I remember, it wasn't exactly a benevolent force."
"Kitty…"
"Really! Look it up!
"I'll be fine, Kitty."
Kitty nodded reluctantly, and put her laptop away.
"I think I'm going to go to class. Let me know when you finish that, please."
"Oh, I'm working on it."
Indeed, the keyboard was typing away as Jean stood talking to Kitty. Kitty's eyes widened. "Okay."
Kitty stepped outside the door and ran to the Professor's office as quickly as she could. She didn't even stop to use the door, going right through the wall. Logan was sitting in a chair talking to the Professor.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Kitty managed.
"What is it Kitty?"
"Professor, I need you to tell me everything you know about the Phoenix force. There are some weird things going on."
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