Chapter 13

Legal disclaimer-This is called fanficiton. It's a chance to do what several well paid writers get a chance to do, while I don't get paid for it. Got it? Makes sense? Good. I get NO money from this, just a relived state of mind.

Author's Note-Okay, I know, I know, I have kept you waiting, I have two excuses. One-I went to Dragoncon. Second, I had to plan for Hurricane Frances as well. Not easy. But, I give you this with the knowledge that I am getting to the end of this story. More will come, I promise.

Here's Chapter 13.

Chapter 13

Logan stared at the spirit in question. Kari's ability stunned him. He didn't think that she would go this far, but as she had stated, she was the only one who could defeat Ashlocke. It took his breath away, this was the Jean he remembered.

"Yes, Logan, it is me," Jean took his hands, "Kari's ability is amazing. Thank you for this moment, and what do you need me to do?"

Kari sensed how hard this was for Logan. It was written in the look on his face, his body language and the way he almost didn't believe the spirit in front of him. He was in shock and denial.

"We have to put Ashlocke away," Kari continued, "We need your help."

"He's beyond rationale, isn't he?" Jean asked, looking at the shadows that surrounded their way out, "You know that he is lonely and wants you to stay here with him...right Kari?"

Kari nodded. Jean Grey was always right on the money. Logan was still stunned that Jean was standing in front of him, it took every once of control to not grab her, hug her and let her know that he would gladly stay in the dreamscape for the rest of his natural life if it meant he could stay there with her.

Kari sensed the approach of Ashlocke. Ever since she had let him change their surroundings, he thought he had control. She knew that she had it, but she needed the strength of Jesse and Logan to amplify her abilites, while she also knew that pulling Jean Grey out of Logan would give her the extra boost to handicap him.

"What's your plan?" Jean asked, brown eyes meeting tiger eyes.

"Let his ego be his demise," Kari stated, her stance changing, "He's here."

She turned to face the doorway of the cavern, while Jesse and Logan stood on either side of her. Not even using her own telepathy, Jean knew the best course of how to surprise the villain was to stand behind Kari.

"I see you're not alone, my love," Gabriel started, coming out of the shadows of the doorway, "I will fix that shortly. It seems only fitting that you should say goodbye to the ones in the conscious world, since you will be staying here with me."

"She won't be doing that Ashlocke," Jesse replied, "She's got plans that don't include being your puppet."

"Well, she's not yours, is she, Kilmartin?" Ashlocke grinned, a grin so feral his canines showed, "That's your biggest fear isn't it? Being alone again? Having no one to understand you? That's why I put you in that house all by yourself, no one to talk to, a tremendous storm outside. You are a weakling, Kilmartin. You and your friends can't even save one person from me."

Kari found herself glaring at the spirit. The waves of hatred coming off of him were almost nauseating. He drove deep into Jesse's mind, which, psionics were never supposed to do, and liked using that information against them. She only read a mind when she absolutely had to, it was part of her moral code not to be so invasive. For him to bring up their relationship in front of her was enough to make her see red, and it took everything not blow him off the map.

"Kari, steady," Logan eyed his young protégé, "He's not quite where you want him yet."

Kari turned and looked at Logan. The man was in beserker stance, ready to pounce upon Ashlocke. She felt the spirit of Jean step into her mind, starting to flow with mental games to lock Ashlocke in. She had been slow to remember that Ashlocke had his own demons following him, souls of mutants that he had lead down a dangerous path to their own destruction. They were crying out for justice, she could hear their screams. Jean had a plan, relayed it to her in the fastest speed of thought available and Kari, not being able to do it alone, relayed one word to Jesse.

'When I tell you to, mass.' She screamed in her mind, knowing that the reaction would cause Jesse to shield them at four times the strength of iron.

Gabriel's grin stopped when he first met the mental wall Kari projected, her abilities strengthened by Jean's.

"Very good, I see that your resting has strengthened you," Gabriel spoke to Kari like a parent to a small child, "But your power isn't where it should be against mine."

"Nice bravado, you watch too many science fiction movies when you were alive, bub?" Logan asked, his voice flat yet slightly threatening.

"No," Gabriel replied, "My childhood wasn't even close to being that stable, I wasn't as lucky as these two. I didn't have the life of privilege that Kilmartin had, and well, Spiritwalker here got to know her parents. So, don't go pitying me."

"There's no pity, just caution," Logan said, his voice still low and steady.

"There should always be caution," Ashlocke said, putting his hands together to form a perfect energy ball, "You never know what I can do."

Logan turned and let his adamantium claws extend to full strength.

"Uncle Logan don't," Kari said softly, "He's insane."

Logan looked at the young woman and smiled.

"So am I," he stood in front of her and crossed his arms.

Jesse took the cue from Logan and held his breath, causing his body to mass at four times the strength of iron. Kari breathed in herself, steadied her mind and let go. Every ounce of anger, every emotion of hatred that she had buried in her mind she threw at Ashlocke.

The sensation caused Jesse to loose his breath, the energy flowing through him like lightning, while Wolverine went after the cave walls around Ashlocke. They started to crumble around him, while Ashlocke threw energy at Wolverine. Ashlocke was unable to successfully hit him since Wolverine moved too fast for him as well as blocked most of his shots, reminding Kari of something out of Star Wars.

The rest of plan that Jean had for Ashlocke fell into place in Kari's thoughts. She knew the emotion of what they had to do would hurt Jesse, but it simply had to be done so that they could be rid of Ashlocke once and for all. Kari relayed the information to Jesse, mind to mind, gently entering his thoughts so that they wouldn't hurt.

The mere thought of killing anything, living or in the spirit world still bothered Jesse to his very core. He felt Kari enter his mind and her sorrow at what was suggested. It was his own worst nightmare come to life. He turned, looked at her, then let his breath go. In that one moment, he knew it was the only thing to do. He was back to his human form, breathed in again, and phased, touching the walls that surrounded the cavern. The walls reacted like they did in the conscious world, turning into mere particles.

Logan sensed the plan of Jean's and grabbed the man he fought, throwing him as hard as he could into the wall that Jesse phased. Jesse let go, encasing Ashlocke into his own cavern. They had buried him alive.

Jesse began to breathe normally, trying to hold back the emotion of the moment. He had just killed this spirit by using his own worst nightmare of being encased alive. Part of him knew that he should be extremely happy by this action, but all he really wanted to do was cry. He turned from what he had done, looked at Kari who looked up at him, her eyes reflecting his pain and horror.

"I'm so sorry," she mouthed as she crumpled to the ground.

Brennan jumped up as Kari's vitals sagged. Her heart stopped beating, as Logan's and Jesse's readings followed by dropping. Brennan knew what he had to do, and forming a tesla coil, he placed his hands on Kari's chest. Her heartbeat came back almost instantly, with Logan's and Jesse's vitals returning to normal.

Jean caught her as she fell, handing her to Logan as he rushed to help. Jean placed a hand to the back of her neck and tried to read her.

"Jesse," she said, looking up, "You have got to go and take her with you. NOW."

Jesse took Kari into his arms. He knew that this was now Kari's life they were dealing with. He met Logan's glance and instantly sympathized with the older man. Logan was torn between staying here and going back. Jean looked at Logan, took his hands in hers and smiled at him.

For Logan, this dream was simply becoming the worst nightmare of his life, Jean Grey was being taken away from him again.

"She needs you more than you can ever know, Logan," Jean took a hand and placed a hand on the side of his head, "You need to remember that I am with you always."

Logan closed his tear-filled eyes and sighed. She was right. He took a hold of Kari's limp hand.