Thanks for the reviews! Yeah, the last chapter was a bit confusing, huh? Well, hopefully this'll clear things up a bit. Enjoy the extra, extra, long chapter . . . review please!

TheDreamerLady: Want to see more of Destiny? Well, I guess you'll like this chapter . . . (wink)

CrazyHorses: I know! Everyone in the X-Men: The Movie fandom seems to hate Scott! Well, there are those occasional fics that have Scott's POV on Jean's death. Maybe it's just the ones I read that hate Scott . . . but anyway. Scott's a little uptight, but he's a good guy and does have a dark side in my opinion . . .

Jean lay slumped on the wall, her vibrant red hair sprawled across her face. Scott quickly recovered his eyes with his sunglasses so he wouldn't burn a hole though the wall.

Professor Xavier nodded approvingly. "Good choice, Scott." He knew how hard this choice would be for Scott . . . choosing the right thing to do. Now, they could find out who this was. True, she possessed telekinetic powers, as Jean had, but you can never be too careful. It was like a chess game; put your pieces in a dangerous spot, and you could lose the game just like that. Just one mistake could cost you dearly.

"Lock her up," Professor Xavier motioned to Kurt.

Kurt Wagner nodded and disappeared with the image of Jean Grey in a flash of blue smoke.

After Nightcrawler was gone, Scott slumped heavily onto a chair, putting his face in his arms.

"One-Eye?" Scott looked up.

It was Logan.

Everyone else had cleared the room, even Professor Xavier. He crouched down next to Scott, staring at him with fierce eyes. "What do you think? Is she real?"

Scott looked up and saw a barely contained desperation in Logan's eyes.

"I . . . I don't know." Scott mumbled, fidgeting uncomfortably in Logan's fierce gaze.

Disappointment flashed across Logan's face, but it was gone as quickly as it'd come.

"Guess we'd better find out then, huh Bub?" Logan replied gruffly, sticking his hand out awkwardly to Scott.

Though stunned at Logan's chivalry, Scott accepted Logan's hand. Then, they set off to the room where they would find out if Jean Grey had truly come back from the dead.

They arrived in the under levels of the mansion to see Jean tied up, but still unconscious.

"We've treated some of the wounds she received from the impact," Xavier said, wheeling in. "Though unconscious and vulnerable, I still can't seem to get a read off her."

"Well, she'd have to be, if she survived for this long underwater or wherever the hell she was!" Logan vouched for her.

Xavier watched this curiously. Logan seemed to be the one more hopeful that Jean was indeed alive. But yet Scott . . . he just stared at Jean coldly. Perhaps he didn't want to be disappointed.

I hope, for their sakes, this is not a disappointment. And the Professor didn't think it was. He had felt Jean's presence shortly after Alkali Lake. It was much more powerful and great. Maybe this is why he couldn't get into her mind.

The student has finally surpassed the master, Xavier thought, smiling slightly.

Suddenly, Jean began to stir. She looked up at Scott and Logan. Scott looked away.

But when she finally met with Scott's eyes, though she could not see them, tears began forming in Jean's eyes.

"Scott . . ." she choked, and Logan wasn't sure whether or not it was out of pain that Scott attacked her, or joy of seeing him again. It was then that Logan felt a sense of rejection.

Girls flirt with the bad boy, Logan . . . they don't take him home.

"Scott it's me . . ." Jean said, a glistening tear sliding down her face.

Scott stared at her, the corners of his mouth hard. "Prove it, then."

"Haven't I shown you my powers?" Jean asked, a hurt expression on her face.

He still didn't respond. "You could have faked it somehow. If you really were Jean instead of Mystique, then you would know we need to know for sure."

"But I'm not Mystique," Jean said softly. "I'm me."

She looked up at him, her eyes glistening and beautiful, "Remember, when you took me to that park, where we had our first kiss? We were eating my horrible turkey sandwiches, but you stayed quiet and didn't complain about them."

Scott's mouth twitched.

Logan felt horribly uncomfortable right now. He found his mind straying to when he had kissed Jean, and when she had rejected him for Scott.

"Just because you know that doesn't mean you're Jean!" Scott shouted as a barrage of emotions hit him, "You could have gotten that information anywhere! Jean Grey is dead, do you hear me?! You-you are nothing but an imposter . . ." his voice choked up as a lump appeared in his throat. He couldn't do this any more. So he did the only thing he could.

He ran.

Jean looked down sadly. "I understand why he's acting like this."

"How did you escape from the ocean?" Xavier pressed.

Logan felt much more uncomfortable. He couldn't help but feel sorry for One-Eye. This is awkward. He thought.

"I-I don't know. Something . . . I was unconscious and then all of a sudden I'm washed up on the shore. I kind of wandered and finally made my way back here."

Xavier nodded, his eyes kind but wary. "Then you wouldn't mind if we kept you locked up? Comfortable, of course, but we have to take precautions, especially after being attacked once."

Jean nodded. "Okay,"

With that, Xavier and Logan left. Logan hesitated, wanting to say something, but bit his tongue. He was nervous around this Jean, who miraculously managed come back to life.

After they were gone, Jean's face erupted in a smile. Dark Phoenix was pleased, and she knew her new master would be too.

The fools bought it. Though Dark Phoenix blocked her mind from Xavier, and though she saw the wariness in the old man's eyes, she knew she had successfully tricked them. It was just a matter of the confirmation.

Scott, the love of Jean Grey's life, ran. He ran because he couldn't face the truth at the moment, because he knew it was Jean. Dark Phoenix pretty much was Jean. She had her face, her powers, and her memories.

Dark Phoenix knew it's time to crumble the X-Men from within.

Rogue and Bobby were instructed by the Professor to go meet John and Blaze at a designated meeting point. He never explained how he had got into contact with him, but they trusted him.

But Bobby knew the real reason he wanted them out was that Professor Xavier predicted there would be major fireworks. This was going to be emotional . . . and although Bobby really wished he could be there to find out if Jean's . . . really alive . . . he knew it was not his place. This concerned the Professor, Scott, and Logan.

He realized right then that he didn't want to be either one of the three.

Bobby felt Rogue's gloved hand slip through his. He smiled at her lovingly, and a comfortable silence elapsed between the two of them.

To tell the truth, Bobby wanted desperately to tell them the truth. He wanted to tell them that Jean was alive, that she had really come back. But still . . . there were so many gaping holes in the future; they can never really be sure. But Bobby was convinced that it was really Jean.

What he didn't know was that part of their future will become known to them very soon.

Destiny was outside walking Sam, her guide dog, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her skin.

Sam walked at a regular pace; he never strayed to greet other dogs or ever leave his mistress's side. He knew how important he was. He knew he would be his mistress's eyes, protector, and best friend.

If only Sam had known he could never save his mistress from her destiny. For now, he walked alongside her, completely oblivious to the pain his mistress would have to go through to do the right deed.

Sam was oblivious, but Destiny wasn't. She knew what she had to do. She felt for the dark alley, and turned into it.

Reaching her hand out cautiously, she felt the cool, slick wall and remembered it as the same rough texture she'd felt in her vision. There, she waited.

Destiny could feel the slight tug on the leash in her right hand. She knew Sam wanted to keep on walking and enjoy the sunshine.

You will be enjoying the sunshine for a long time, my friend, she thought, whereas I will not be able to for much longer . . .

"What a nice doggy you got there!" A voice complimented, trying for honey sweetness. But Destiny had been listening and learning to analyze voices all her life. She knew underneath the feigned mask was a hard, fake growl.

"Thank you," she added anyway for good measure. It has begun.

There was a slight pause. "Those sunglasses look expensive. What brand?"

"I wouldn't know," Destiny answered truthfully.

She braced herself for it, and it came. A hard, stinging backhand to her face. Her left cheek throbbed, and she could taste blood on her lips. She felt a rough tugging her purse, as well as the protective barking and growling from Sam.

"Damn you dog!" The mugger cried out in pain as a muffled growl came straight in front of her. Destiny assumed Sam must have bitten her attacker, as she had seen in her vision. The mutant kids should be coming any time now . . .

Suddenly, everything stopped. There was a slight gasp of surprise, and a hard thump on the floor.

"Hey, is this yours?" A syrupy female voice with a slight accent asked.

"Yes. Thank you. How did you knock him out?" Destiny asked, pretending to be ignorant.

There was a slight pause before the girl said quickly, "Oh, I just hit him on the head with my purse." The girl, Destiny remembered, had held up her purse at this moment, oblivious to the fact that Destiny is not able to see her gesture.

"Here . . ." a new voice, male this time, said. Destiny recalled that he was holding out her purse.

She groped the air for a second, then asked, "Could you hand it to me? I can't see where it is."

The boy hesitated, confused, for a second before placing it into Destiny's waiting hand.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it." Destiny laughed as she felt Sam's warm tongue licking the side of her face.

"No problem," they both chorused.

Destiny picked herself up, using her cane to keep her balance. "I'm Destiny, by the way."

"I'm Rogue, and this is Bobby," the girl said.

"Well, I'm deeply indebted," Destiny said, smiling. She felt her cane for them before managing to pull Rogue into a hug.

"Glad to help," Rogue said, slightly surprised. "It's not like we could just leave you there."

Destiny frowned. "Oh, believe me, some would have." She smiled, knowing the exact time was now, just as she had foreseen.

"I want to show you something," Destiny said suddenly.

"Uh . . ."

Without warning, Destiny pulled both of her hands onto Rogue's face.

"No . . ." Rogue moaned as she felt her absorb Destiny's life force, felt again the addicting high.

But she didn't just absorb her life force.

Suddenly, Rogue found herself somewhere altogether, no longer in an alley on a sunny day, but in front of a huge crowd, the sky grey, cloudy, and depressed.

She was confused. What the heck happened here? She tried to get a woman next to her to answer her questions, but the woman didn't acknowledge her, instead yelling with an ecstatic expression on her face.

Rogue tried poking her, but her finger merely went through her clothes. It was only then that she turned to see what the woman was looking at. Horror and disbelief filled her as she took in the sight.

It was the gallows where Rogue herself had stood, her head in a noose, waiting to be hanged. But that was in the future, a little more than a decade from now. How? Just visiting this place caused chills in her spine.

"It's strange," a voice spoke up from Rogue's other side. She managed to pull her eyes off of the horrific site and address the familiar voice.

Destiny continued commenting, "My visions have never come like this. Always painful bits and pieces. It usually takes me a few minutes to sort things out." She looked at Rogue thoughtfully, "Maybe because you're sharing it is why it's different."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Rogue snarled, clearly annoyed. What right did this woman think she had to bring Rogue here of all places?

Destiny frowned. "I do not control the visions. I'm sorry if this vision causes you pain, but it is essential that you witness this."

"Why?" Rogue demanded, her voice cracking almost hysterically.

"For the sake of our future," Destiny said simply, letting the words sink in.

Rogue narrowed her eyes, "What-?"

"Watch." Destiny interrupted her, turning to the gallows.

"Kill the mutie!" Angry, hateful voices cried out from the crowd.

There, a woman was being noosed. She spat into the eye of her executioner, smirking despite the grim fate that faces her. The executioner also injected some fluid from a needle into her.

Rogue's heart skipped a beat. She had not recognized the woman because of the various scars and for the hard, vicious look that seemed to be permanently etched onto her face.

It was Blaze.

But she was much older, and a far cry from the one Rogue knew in her time.

Destiny had heard the gasp of surprise and recognition from Rogue. She knew the mutant being executed. Perhaps this was the reason why she has to see this vision. Or maybe there's more. Destiny just saw that she gave Rogue the vision, not the vision itself.

"Oh, god . . ." Rogue couldn't breathe for a moment. This couldn't be the future, could it? Blaze was there with them . . .

"How the hell can this be? We changed the future . . ."

Destiny was surprised, "You've gone to the future?"

Rogue nodded, but remembered that Destiny couldn't see that, she said, "Yeah,"

"Maybe this is how the other time line would have gone if you hadn't changed it," Destiny suggested.

Suddenly, someone on the side spoke, his hatred laced deeply into his harsh words, "This is, as you all know, a notorious rebel, a killer of many of our own people . . . a mutant."

The crowd booed and hissed at the word "mutant". Blaze's face remained stony and emotionless, her cold blank eyes staring out at a sea of hatred.

This has gotten worse. It was bad, but not this bad when we were in the future! Rogue thought, wanting to help her friend but knowing she could do nothing but watch.

"We, thanks to the combined efforts of our military, have finally apprehended a mass murderer, a killer of children . . ."

Blaze whipped her head around at that last accusation. Outrage filled her eyes with fire, the first sign of emotion she has shown since the man first started speaking.

She screamed out, "If anyone is a murderer of children, it's you people!"

More shouts and accusations erupted from the crowd.

The announcer smiled evilly, "Us? If you count mini muties, I really don't think that counts. We're just eradicating filth. Just think, if we were to let them live, they'd grow up to be just like you. Hanging on a noose."

Blaze scowled, and said, "Well, if that's your excuse, then I'm pretty damn proud of eradicating a few of the true murderers."

"Oh!" The announcer retorted. "The true murderers, huh? Well, I'm not the one on death row. I think that's enough," he nodded to the executioner. "Do it."

Rogue wanted to close her eyes, but she couldn't. She couldn't help but notice that Blaze never flinched when the trapdoor beneath her opened.

"What's so damn important about seeing this?! How is this 'essential' to see?" Rogue demanded of Destiny, seriously tempted to suck the life energy out of her again.

But before Destiny could respond, something happened in the vision that took Rogue's attention off her rage.

Time stopped.

Literally. The woman next to Rogue had her fist frozen in the air, her face contorted in sadistic glee.

What is going on now? Rogue thought, getting more irritated and fearful by the minute. Did she really want to see what this is going to bring?

A huge black circle of swirling spirals appeared on the gallows stage, where Blaze hung by her neck, her eyes still showing signs of life in them, pain eternally contorted on her face.

From it, came something Rogue never expected. A huge, almost mechanical man stepped from it. Rogue would have thought he was some sort of a robot except that he had a human head, though most of his face was covered by a mask.

He knelt next to the trapdoor and pressed something on his armor. From inside the armor's bulk, he took out a huge, box shaped needle. He inserted it into Blaze's arm, and stayed like that for a moment, the gigantic needle slowly filling up with her blood.

Rogue watched with horror as her friend's face slowly began to become paler and paler as her blood was drained out of her.

When the strange man was done, he inserted the needle back into his armor, stepped back into the portal, and was gone.

In the instant that the portal closed, and time restarted, Rogue saw that Blaze would not have to suffer too much; she was already nearly dead.

"Who . . . what was that?" Rogue demanded. Then, realizing her mistake, she snarled, "But then you couldn't see anything, could you?"

Destiny turned her head at her. "I could. I see the visions inside my head. But I only saw the part that was vital; when he arrived."

"And who is he?" Rogue asked, very much wanting to punch her at her calm, nonchalant tone.

"The great evil. He is the one that you must stop." Destiny answered.

Rogue scoffed at the melodramatic answer, "Well, then how the hell are we supposed to stop a great evil when we don't even know what he is, or what he can do, or even why the hell he even did that?!"

"That is your job to figure out. I'm just the messenger." Destiny hesitated, "I know this is frustrating. You think I wouldn't want to be fighting alongside you instead of just delivering the bad news? I'm blind enough and lack the power to help in a fight, but yet I can see just enough to see the horror of the future. Isn't it wonderful that the only time I can see is to witness images of pain and death?!" Sarcasm dripped from Destiny's voice.

Rogue was shocked to hear such a bitter tone from Destiny. She had broken the calm wall she had so carefully built. Rogue imagined she would have to create that wall if she saw such depressing things every time she had a premonition.

"I will tell you one thing," Destiny said, her voice rising uncontrollably, "this abomination is the same as your unidentifiable killer. The one who seems to target only mutants . . . and take all their blood."

Rogue gasped. "The guy the Professor told us about!"

Destiny suddenly looked up at the sky, distracted. "It's time for us to go," she looked at Rogue, now pleading with her, "Please, change this. Change everything I have foreseen. I've done my part, it's over . . . but your part in this fight is just beginning."

"You can help us, Destiny! Meet the Professor . . . he could help you, help us all!"

Destiny smiled sadly, "No, Rogue, I'm afraid that my fate, now that I've made this choice . . . my fate is not be in this fight any longer."

Rogue stared, confused. She was about to protest when she felt herself being yanked away. The next thing she knew was being shaken and hearing Bobby's hysterical voice screaming at her to wake up.

"Rogue! Rogue!" Bobby screeched.

"My ear! My ear!" Rogue screeched back.

Bobby stared at her with his bright blue eyes examining her carefully. Once convinced Rogue was okay, he pulled her into a suffocating embrace.

"Rogue, what happened there . . ." Bobby began.

"Where's Destiny?" Rogue asked sharply.

Bobby paused for a second, slightly hurt at being snapped like that, "Uh . . . she took off."

"And you didn't stop her?" Rogue yelled.

Bobby's eyes suddenly turned fierce and cold, "Well I was more concerned about whether or not you were okay!"

Rogue met Bobby's eyes, feeling slightly shocked. She must have really worried him.

Upon seeing Rogue's scared eyes meet his, Bobby softened his gaze. "Sorry."

"No, I'm sorry . . ." Rogue trailed off, now lost in Bobby's eyes, almost completely forgetting what she had just seen.

But then Bobby reminded her. "What happened?"

Rogue sighed. "Destiny's a mutant. She has visions of the future, and I guess she was supposed to show me that vision so we can stop some creepy gigantic guy in armor, who happens to be a great evil."

Bobby blinked. "What?"

"Let's go meet John. Then I won't have to tell it twice," Rogue suggested.

They met at the park bench with an extremely irritated John, who was angrily flipping his Zippo lighter on and off repeatedly at increasing intervals.

"You're late," he said, not bothering to hide the annoyance from his voice.

Bobby looked around. "Where's Blaze?"

Rogue flinched at Blaze's name, all too vividly remembering what she had witnessed in the vision.

"Library. She said she had to do research."

"On what?" Bobby asked, incredulous, "It's not like she goes to school anymore."

John shrugged. "So anything interesting happen while I've been gone?"

"There have been less inconvenient fires," Bobby suggested cheerfully.

John shot him a very scary look.

"But seriously . . ." Rogue cut in, "Jean came back."

This snapped John out of his irritation. "What?" he asked.

Bobby shrugged. "We knew she'd come back eventually."

"What?" John repeated again.

There was a snort of laughter ahead of them. Rogue practically jumped out of her skin when she saw who it was.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Blaze commented, sounding slightly worried, "You okay?"

Rogue wasn't sure who Blaze was referring to, John or her.

"Jean's back," Bobby filled in.

Blaze frowned. "I thought she came back later than this. But I don't know. She didn't really talk about specifics."

"So, Rogue, you said you were going to tell us what happened with that girl we saved?"

"What girl?" John asked, completely confused and oblivious. He didn't like the scared look on Rogue's face. Or the way she kept on glancing nervously at Blaze. Something was up.

Rogue told the story of what happened to intent listeners. She kept glancing at Blaze. Even through the part about her being hanged, Blaze kept on a stony expression not unlike the one she had held in the vision.

"So everything is all connected with the murders Xavier was telling us about?" John asked.

"I guess," Rogue answered.

John looked at all of them in turn, "Then I guess we'll have to figure out who this guy is. You guys are going to tell Xavier about this, right?"

They'd better. John thought. This is the freaking future we're talking about! We need Xavier's help.

"What about the Brotherhood?" Blaze asked, her voice quiet.

John shook his head. "We can't trust them yet; maybe later, if they get affected by this. But for now, it should just be X-Men only."

"Does that include you two?" Bobby asked, "Since you're undercover, you can't really work with us . . ."

Blaze and John glanced at each other, silently agreeing, "We'll do our own work. You think I'd trust you, Bobby, with this?"

Bobby chuckled, "Looks like you have to."

John got up from the bench, smirking arrogantly, "Guess we'd better get to work, huh?"

Destiny walked around in the park, alone with her cane and her own thoughts. She had gone to the agency that had given Sam to her, and returned him, saying he'd been too much trouble to take care of. Luckily, or maybe it was fate, the receptionist didn't know Destiny, so she couldn't have known how much Sam meant for her, how much she loved that dog.

It had hurt so much to give Sam away; it was like there was a huge hole in her chest. And that hole got bigger the closer she got to the destination where she would meet her own destiny, her own fate.

She dreaded this. There was so much Destiny wanted to do with her life; she was still so young. But she knew that she had to be a martyr for the sake of peace, for reversing all the horrible imagines in her mind she's seen of the future.

The man she saw in her vision is after her, especially now that she's shown Rogue the vision. She didn't know what means he had to discover that information, but he knew. And no matter where she was, he'll come for her, for her powers. Destiny knew that if she stayed with the X-Men, there would be casualties. Therefore, she has to die alone.

Finally, she was there. Sitting down on a soft patch of grass, Destiny waited, lightly brushing her fingers through the blades of grass, relishing their damp softness that reminded her of Sam's wet little nose.

Suddenly, something cold and strong picked her up off the grass.

"You have something I want," it hissed, the voice only sounding distinctly human.

She stared straight ahead, where she knew the aggressor was, for she could feel the stink of his breath, and whispered, "Take it,"

Destiny could sense the sadistic smile creeping onto the machine man's face.

She gasped in agony as something cold was thrust through her chest. Gritting her teeth and trying not to cry out, Destiny hoped her death would be quick. She could actually feel something being drained out of every vessel in her body.

The pain from her visions couldn't even come close with this.

Finally, after a few more agonizing moments that felt like an eternity, she was released, and crumpled to the ground.

With a satisfied laugh, the man was gone.

Destiny knew it would take some time for her to die. But through the pain, she smiled, knowing this would be fruitless for the man. When she and Rogue had a vision together, her ability to have visions was drained away. Rogue wouldn't posses her powers, but neither does Destiny. The man didn't get anything.

In a few books Destiny had read in Braille, they say that when a person dies, their vision becomes darker and darker until complete blackness takes over.

But Destiny's world has always been black.

Now, as Destiny felt the last bits of her life drain away, she noticed something. She could see . . . shapes! Things were coming in clearer, not darker. An emotion that defeated the fear of death swept over her.

She could see!

Happiness filled her like nothing else. She forgot the coldness of the previously warm grass; she forgot the pain from the hole in her chest. Right in front of her was what she assumed was a little flower. She didn't know it, but the color that came to her mind was red. She was looking at a red flower, and the green grass.

Tears flowed down her face, and her last breath was taken with a smile, for her life's desire has been fulfilled.