Authoress's notes: last chapter, folks! Hope you enjoyed – I sure did :) There might be an epilogue after this -- I'm still not sure if I should. It's already half-written, and once I finish it I'll decide if I should post it or not.
By the way. To anyone who's read the comics. I recently discovered that Kurt had a relationship with another acrobat in the circus called Jimaine, who later called herself Amanda. I think she also took the codename Majik. Anyway, MY OC Amanda has nothing to do with her. I didn't know about that when I picked the name. I just liked the name Amanda. I've been using it in a lot of stories (that I never posted, of course). Just so there's no confusion. -.-
Reviewers' Response:
Pyromaniac: -headdesk- yes, I know I update like once a month; I'm sorry I keep saying I'll update soon and end up keeping you guys in suspense for weeks. But hey, final chapter, ai?
live2luv: 'fraid you won't be getting a lot more updates from Velvet Roses; this is the last chapter! Oh, the epilogue. Yeah. Watch out for it. It might be coming up.
leslienicolespeaks - hey, are you new to VR? Glad you're enjoying it!
xImmortalx - if you haven't realized that by now (that I like writing cliffies) then you're in serious trouble :3
Neassa - if you kill me, no-one will read the epilogue because I won't be able to post it! And trust me, you might want to wait until after reading the epilogue to kill me. Really.
chelseypudge: -sigh- I've just had one of my major history exams. It's a good thing this chapter was already written; my mind was fried by the time I'm uploading this now... I wanna the exams to eeeeeeeeend! -cries-
Chapter 21: Jean vs. Phoenix
Amanda, Kurt and Logan followed Slayer down to the lower levels and into Hank's laboratory. Loud noises could be heard down the corridor, and a few minor bangs and explosions. Amanda's eyebrows rose in amusement as they entered the lab.
Beast was standing in the middle of the medic bay, his large, furry blue arms clasped around a woman with red hair, dark clothes, and a murderous glare on her face. She was struggling to free herself, screaming at the top of her lungs. Objects flew from side to side around the room, no doubt carried by telekinetic force. In a corner stood Scott, hands brought up to shield his head, shouting for her to calm down.
"Calm down?" she screeched back. "Calm down! I suppose you're mad we kidnapped the girl, but you didn't have to come back and kidnap me in retaliation!"
"I brought you home!"
"Home? Ha!"
"Jean --?"
Logan had stopped dead in the doorway, staring at Jean with wide eyes.
"My name," she hissed at him, "is Phoenix!" A mug of coffee was lifted from the table and hurled at him; Logan only just managed to lift his hands and shatter it in time. Splinters of ceramic rained onto the floor, while Logan's white shirt was now stained brown with coffee. Beast growled low in his throat.
"That was my favorite mug." He tightened his grip on her. "Now will you stop hurling objects around my laboratory?"
"Not until you let – me – go!"
"Fine. Logan, catch!" and he thrust her towards the Wolverine. Startled, Logan opened his arms and caught her before she fell, holding on tight. Meanwhile Hank filled a syringe with a sedative. Phoenix didn't get past "Oh no you don't –" before it was injected into her arm. A few minuets later, she lapsed into unconsciousness.
"Finally," moaned Hank. Scott took her slack body from Logan and laid it on one of the beds, gently smoothing her red hair from her face.
"Scott!"
Everybody turned to see Xavier rolling into the room. His expression was a cross of anger and concern.
"Scott, what were you thinking, bringing Jean back here?" he demanded.
"She's not Jean anymore!" said Scott, angry. "She's not herself; Magneto's got to her someway. I want my Jean back!"
Slayer coughed slightly, staring pointedly at Amanda. She scowled at him. "Oh, you shut up. I don't know what you want me to do!"
"What's he got to do with this?" growled Logan.
"Oh, nothing much," said Slayer, slowly inching away from Logan and towards Xavier.
"Amanda," said Scott, frowning suddenly, "maybe what he said was real? What if it's true?"
"Oh, Scott, not you too!" cried Amanda, throwing her hands up. She didn't know whether to sigh in exasperation or cry with desperation.
"Jake?" said Xavier, looking up at the man behind him mildly. "Is there anything you've neglected to mention?"
"I don't think so, no," muttered Slayer. "Oh, except for the fact that I had another vision ... about her." He nodded towards Amanda.
"Liebe, what is going on here?" asked Kurt.
Amanda groaned. "Our friendly neighborhood prophet had this vision ... he claims I'll bring Jean back somehow." She glared at the mutant. "And he's getting on my nerves."
"But what if –"
"But, nothing, Scott!" Amanda cut him off. "I don't know what he's talking about, and I don't know what you expect me to do! All because he had some stupid vision, now there's this pressure on me –"
Suddenly rather hysterical, Amanda slid down to the floor, leaning on the wall with her head in her hands. "It's not that simple," she whispered. "You can't just expect me to reach into a person's mind and 'bring them back'," she mimed the quotation marks with her fingers. "It doesn't work that way."
"Shhh. Hush, Liebchen." Kurt crouched down and took her hands in his own. "Do you remember your first day here? Remember how you moved the glass? All you have to do is think about it. Perhaps it's not that simple, no, but you just try your best." He looked into her red-rimmed eyes, establishing a connection. Amanda picked up on his thoughts instantly:
Try, meine Liebling. Do it for Herr Cyclops. You know how much Doktor Grey means to him. He should have his love back.
"But how should I have mine?" she whispered, so quietly that only Kurt heard. He kissed her hands.
"You already have him," he whispered back. "Be he the Wolverine or myself."
Three feet away, Logan turned his eyes aside. He'd heard that all right.
That settled it. Sniffing once, Amanda stood up, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. "All right. Fine. I'll give it a shot. Move over, Scott."
The inhabitants of the room exchanged somewhat worried glances, but moved back to let Amanda step up to the bed. She looked down at the woman lying on it, eyes closed, frowning slightly in her drug-induced sleep. Amanda sniffed again. All right. Now what do it do?
-X-
Amanda sighed and closed her eyes. She had to think hard about this. How do I bring one side of a person back? I need to get Phoenix to give in ... get Jean to realize that she can take control again.
Her mind set, Amanda reached out with it. It almost felt like holding a hand out and plunging it into ice-cold water -- only that the hand was in fact her consciousness and the water was Jean's. Something told her that the fact that the water was cold meant something was wrong. Shaking her head mentally at the metaphor, she cleared her mind of such nonsense. Concentrate! she told herself. All right, all right. Breathe deeply. In, out, in, and out. Okay.
WHOOOOSH.
Amanda vaguely wondered where she was. Some darkened room, it seemed. No, actually it was a room divided into two -- one half was dark, while the other was full of a harsh, artificial white light. In the lighted part of the room stood Jean, wearing simple blue jeans and a black jumper.
Is that Jean...
No, she realized, it wasn't. That was Phoenix. That crazed glint in her eyes, that smug smile... any idiot could see that this was not Jean, but the darker side of her: Phoenix, who reveled in taking control of this body and using it for dark purposes.
Amanda took a second to laugh at her own dramatics. That sounded like the back cover of some sci-fi book...
She turned her glance to the darkened half of the room. She could hear small sounds coming from what seemed to be the corner of the room, quiet sniffings and tiny sobs. She walked forward, peering through the fog-like darkness that shrouded the form. When she was close enough, she could just about make out the figure of a woman, hunched over and jumping slightly as her sobs shook her body.
Amanda frowned, and silently pulled the light in her direction. She was sure to be careful, though – any wrong move, and Jean's brain could be fried – with her still in it. Carefully, ever so slowly, the light inched closer. Finally, Amanda was able to see the real Jean, her hair a dull rusty red colour and her torn, tattered black leather X-Men suit just barely recognizable. Amanda gulped and calmed herself down before gently reaching out and laying her hand on Jean's shoulder.
Jean jumped and her head snapped up, her eyes wide and bloodshot. "Who – who are you?" she whispered, her voice raspy, broken. Wet trails of tears were still gleaming on her cheeks and she shivered with cold and fear.
"I'm a friend," Amanda replied. "My name's Amanda, I've been at the Institute for a while. I have the same powers as you do, telekinesis and telepathy. Only not as powerful."
"Powers...?"
"Yes, Jean. Don't you remem–"
"Jean?" she whispered, her eyes widening even more. "Jean ... that – that's my name. I haven't heard that in ... years..."
Amanda bit her lip. This wasn't going to be easy. But there wasn't much time left. She could already see the edges of the room blurring together. If she didn't get Jean up and back to the outer world fast, before Phoenix woke up, then the whole thing would collapse.
"Jean, listen to me. Scott sent me, and Professor Xavier, and Logan, and Dr McCoy. Do you remember them?"
"Scott..."
Amanda reached out and took Jean's hand, bringing it to her neck, where the necklace Scott had given her still hung, now a dulled silver colour. Jean felt the necklace around her throat and fresh tears welled up in her eyes. "Scott... I – I loved him," she said uncertainly.
"You still do. Come on. He's waiting for you. Come on, now. Stand up. That's it..." Amanda looped her arms around the fragile woman's torso and shoulders, supporting her as much as she could. Already she herself was beginning to weaken, the energy needed to keep the connection between her mind and Jean's taking its toll on her physical body as well as her mind. "Come on, come with me..."
"You're not going anywhere," said a cold voice from behind them. Phoenix stepped forward as they all stood in the middle of the lighted room. The expression on her face was simply ugly, Amanda thought.
"Oh, yes we are," she replied through gritted teeth. She pulled Jean with her, not even sure where she was going. Everything's so fuzzy...
"I said, you are not going anywhere."
"Shut ... up!" Amanda shouted, hauling Jean up as she threatened to collapse. "Jean! Jean, listen to me! You have to fight her! Now. Don't give in to her! She's had control over you for too long. It's your turn. Take back what's yours! You have to do this, Jean," she whispered, beginning to pant. Phoenix's consciousness was gaining strength as she started to fight the anesthetic in her bloodstream. "Jean..." Using all the power she had left, Amanda conjured up an image of Scott, sending it directly in front of Jean's face.
Jean gave an audible gasp and stood up straight unaided. "Scott..." she whispered, holding a hand out. But then the image dissolved as Amanda collapsed beside her. Jean looked down upon the woman who had come for her, and the fire returned to her eyes. She stared at Phoenix, who was still smirking. Jean glared at her, furry crackling like electricity through her body.
"Get out of my head, bitch!" she yelled, holding both hands up and pushing the intruder out of her mind. The image of Phoenix shattered into a thousand pieces, which disappeared before they hit the floor. Jean fell to her knees next to Amanda and felt her pulse. It was there, fluttering weakly against her fingers. She was on her own.
But at least she was. She was conscious of herself and of the time she had lost being held in the darkened room against her will, while her dark alter-ego held control over her body. Now she could have control over her own body again. And she owed it all to this woman.
Taking a deep breath, Jean Grey closed her hand around Amanda's wrist, closed her eyes, and returned to the conscious world.
-X-
The laboratory was completely quiet, save for the steady beeps of the EKGs. Scott sat on a chair by Jean's bed, holding her hand in his. Next to him sat Kurt, tail curled around Amanda's wrist, the beads of his rosary clinking slightly as he prayed silently for the two women who lay on the beds. Xavier sat still and silent, his eyes half-closed as he struggled to establish a connection with either one of the unconscious women.
Slayer and Logan both stood uneasily by the door, Slayer tossing a small knife and catching it repeatedly while Logan scratched cut after cut on his left palm with his first right claw, watching with unfocused eyes as each time the wound healed over. Hank sat in his chair with his head in his hands, glasses sitting on the table next to the shards of his coffee mug, which he had been trying to glue back together. He hadn't succeeded.
It had been more than twenty minuets since Amanda had stood by Jean's bed and closed her eyes, diving into the woman's mind to bring her back. A few minuets ago she had collapsed, and a brief panic had ensued. Once she had been placed on a bed and looked over by Hank, all they could do was wait.
Scott looked up as the EKGs started beeping differently. Jean's heart-rate was beginning to speed up, while Amanda's went down. Hank rushed over and checked Amanda's vital signs first. Once sure that she would be fine, he turned to check Jean's. He was just about to ask Xavier if he had managed to find a connection when Jean's eyes snapped open and she gasped, gulping in air as though just rescued from drowning.
Everybody jumped. Jean dragged enough air into her lungs to whisper, "Scott."
"I'm here," he replied, squeezing her hand. He was rewarded with a strong squeeze in return. "I'm here, Jean ... shhhh, you're okay. I'm here..."
"Professor..."
"Welcome back, Jean." Xavier smiled slightly while he dipped into her mind for a brief check. It was her all right. That only left Amanda...
"What about her?" as though sensing his thoughts, Jean tried to sit up and look over at Amanda, who lay still on the bed. "Amanda – will she be all right?"
"She'll be okay," Hank reassured them all. "Physically, at least. I have no idea what's going on inside that mind of hers." He smiled slightly. "But her pulse is stronger now, and she's getting a bit of colour back into her."
Kurt stayed silent, observing as truly, a bit of the paleness ebbed away, and Amanda's normal colour returned to her face. She did not, however, show any signs of waking up. He buried his face in her hair, the brown locks tickling his nose. He sneezed.
"I thought I was the sneezer around here," said a weak voice. Kurt looked down to find Amanda's brown eyes twinkling tiredly up at him. "God bless you."
Kurt let a single tear spill down his cheek as he replied in a choked voice, "He already has. He already has."
THE END
... or is it?
Authoress's notes: YAAAAAAH! I cannot believe that this is done! (can you?) Well, anyway, it's been a great twenty-one chapters with all you guys, I've loved every second of it. Thanks to you all!
Love,
Nini.