A/N: You might want to go back a re-read the previous chapters for two reasons; (1) To refresh your memories, and (2) I've made subtle (barely noticeable) but significant changes.

June

"Any change?" Logan stood outside the Infirmary.

Auroro shook her head.

"What's Chuck gonna' do about it?" he asked her quietly.

"I don't know," she replied, "She's been like this for 3 days." Auroro leant back against the wall, "The power that she emitted… I've never seen anything like it. She took in a lot as well…" she looked round at the figure stretched across the bed, "I'm not even sure if she's in there anymore."

Logan gazed at Therese's body, connected to various machines. "Are we even gonna' talk about that other thing?" he said, after a moment.

Auroro shook her head, "I think it's too much for the Professor to take in right now. And Scott isn't dealing with it well."

"It was Jean, though, wasn't it?"

"Yes."

They both turned and looked at Therese again. "We need to find her." Auroro murmured, "She'd be able to reach her."

'Where am I?' she blinked as her pupils contracted in the light. She sat up in her bed, and breathed a sigh of relief, realising she was in the infirmary. She pulled the sheets back and looked down at her arms. Gritting her teeth, she pulled out the various wires from her body. Sliding off the bed, she steadied herself as her legs adjusted to carrying her weight. 'How long was I out?' she wondered.

She shuffled to the door and pulled it open. Walking into the hallway, she realised she wasn't in the Academy. The corridor was familiar though. Placing a hand against the wall for balance, she moved forward. Every room was the same.

'Maybe I'm in a hospital,' she thought, 'Where is everyone? Why is it so quiet?'

She reached a nurse's station and leaned over the desk. "Excuse me," she asked, "Where am I?"

The nurse looked up and Therese recognised her face. She backed away from the desk into the wall.

"What are you doing out of your room?" the nurse asked, "How did you get out of your restraints? Guards!"

"No," she said, "No, this can't be happening. I don't belong here."

Two 6ft men ran towards her.

"Take her back to her room and restrain her. Make sure they're tight." The nurse said.

"No, you don't understand," Therese said, "I left here 4 years ago. Let go of me! I don't belong here! LET ME GO!"

Therese struggled in the guards grip as they carried her down the hall and tied her to her bed. Tears poured down her face as she tried to understand why she was back in the asylum the Professor had saved her from years before.

"Auroro!" Rogue yelled out, as she sat beside Therese's bed, "Auroro, something's wrong!"

Auroro rushed to the bed and read the monitor. Therese's heart rate and blood pressure had rocketed. Auroro lifted her eyelids to find her eyes dancing wildly but remaining unfocused. "I need to give her a sedative or she'll have a heart attack." She prepared a needle and injected a liquid into Therese's drip. Therese's body slumped back down almost immediately.

"What was that?" Rogue asked.

"I'm not sure." Auroro replied, "Get the professor."

John paced back and forth across his room, his arms folded. The door slid open. "Get out," he growled.

"You really need to learn some manners Tiger," her voice caused him to jump and he turned to face her.

"What…. I don't… how did you get in here?" he asked.

"Its not important," she flicked her auburn hair back and wrapped her arms around his neck, "All that matters is that I'm here."

"I thought you…"

"I know what you thought. But I'm fine."

John slid his arms around her waist, "Therese, I'm sorry for being a jerk."

"Ssshhh!" she placed a finger on his lips to silence him. She pushed herself up onto her toes and brushed her lips against his.

He pulled her closer and felt their lips locked together, like two pieces of a puzzle perfectly slotting together. After a second he pulled back and looked at her carefully. Suddenly he pushed her away roughly. He growled, "Bitch! Get away from me."

Therese smirked as her form changed shape. Mystique stood before him. "I knew I'd catch you out," she told him, "You're in some serious shit." She turned to walk out, glancing back from the door and winking, "Night, night Tiger."

Her eyes snapped open. 'What the…" she was no longer in the Asylum but lying on the cold ground, face down.

The stench of burnt wood and rubber filled her nostrils and she coughed, trying to clear her airways. The smell was choking her. She tried to push herself up and found something was on top of her.

Mustering all her strength, she sat up and pushed the debris off her body. Slowly she stood and surveyed the destruction around her. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked at the bodies. She swallowed hard. Her friends, her only true family, lay still. All of them… dead.

Her body began to shake and tears stung her cheeks. She backed away, trying to erase the image from her mind. She hit something soft and fell backwards over it. John lay on her back, his eyes open, unseeing. She lent forward and stroked his cheek, "Tiger…" His body was cold.

Clasped tight in his hand was another… hers. Her body grasped him tightly; her cold, dead body.

"Is she going to be okay?" Tara stood beside her bed and looked up at Logan.

Logan glanced at Auroro, who shrugged. "We're not really sure yet."

"She is going to wake up, right?"

"Why don't we go and do some training Tara?" Rogue subtly intervened.

"I don't need to."

"But I do," Rogue leant towards the 15-year-old, "I need something to take my mind off all of this."

Tara looked at her for a moment, "Okay."

The team watched them leave just as Xavier entered with Scott. They joined the other three senior members of the team around Therese's bed. "How bad is it?" Auroro was the first to ask the question they had all wanted to ask.

"It's not good," Xavier told them, "Her brain patterns are unlike anything I've ever seen. A mutant of her age and ability should not be able to control so much power. Her brain activity isn't natural."

"Is she going to wake up?" Logan asked.

"I can not be sure." Charles replied, "Whatever is going on inside that head of hers is taking its toll on her. It could kill her."

"Wake up, Therese," a distant voice pulled her from the deep darkness that had overwhelmed her. She opened her eyes and blinked in the light. "Good girl," the same, familiar voice spoke to her, "Now get up."

She felt someone help her to her feet and looked around. "Jean."

"Hey there," Jean smiled at her.

Therese looked around to see where she had ended up this time. It looked like the academy's infirmary but she couldn't be sure, "Where am I?"

"Home," Jean replied, nodding her head towards the bed.

Therese saw herself, lying motionless connected to monitors. She walked forward and took hold of her own hand. She could see her eyeballs flicking around underneath her eyelids and realised that they moved when she moved her own.

"You're giving everyone quite a scare," Jean said from behind her, "Are you planning to wake up anytime soon?"

"I don't know how." Therese replied.

"Yes, you do," she replied. She leant forward and squeezed Therese's shoulders, "When you need me, just call."

"JEAN!" Therese's voice called out in the silence of the infirmary and Auroro rushed to her side, finding her as peaceful as she had been just seconds before.

The ground beneath her began to shake and the roof began to crumble.

"I'm coming," Jean whispered, "I'm coming to save you."

Panic began to set in as Auroro felt a claustrophobic attack coming on. It took just one look at her face for Kurt to realise she would have a panic attack. He rushed to her side and grabbed hold of her, whispering into her ear, trying to calm her as they slid to the ground.

The other members of the team raced in just at the ceiling came down on top of them. Silence descended upon them. Someone floated through hole let there.

The team stood, transfixed as Jean landed gently on the floor and walked to Therese's side.

She leant forward over Therese's body, gently took her hand and whispered, "Wake up, Therese."

Seconds passed and Therese's eyes fluttered open. She took a deep breath and Jean sat her up.

A hundred days have made me older
Since the last time that I saw your pretty face
A thousand lies have made me colder
And I don't think I can look at this the same¹

John sat up and rubbed his eyes. He couldn't sleep, but he couldn't stay away either. She plagued his every waking moment and when he slept, he dreamt of her.

Every dream was the same; she was so close, reaching for him. He could almost touch her, but then she pulled away. She told him he was her enemy, that she couldn't forgive him for betraying her.

All the miles that separate
Disappear now when I'm dreamin' of your face¹

He stood up and walked to the window, his hands resting on top if his head. He stared out at the open sea, the moon's glittering reflection on the water. It only reminded him of her; everything did.

I'm here without you baby
But you're still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby and I dream about you all the time¹

He thought about words that they'd shared. Some sweet, some angry. It was then it hit him. He realised that she would sacrifice it all if she had to; if the Brotherhood and the X-men faced each other in battle, she would do everything in her power to stop him. If they were left, facing each other, bodies lying around… she would kill him. And when she did, he would still love her.

Everything I know, and anywhere I go
It gets hard but it won't take away my love.
And when the last one falls, when it's all said and done
It gets hard but it won't take away my love.¹

¹ Lyrics from 3 Doors Down's "Here Without You"

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed to date; you've all pushed me to continue with this fic. I might actually finish one!