Part V

Wolverine had just finished his second beer, but there still wasn't the buzz he was looking for. Giving up, he pushed his chair out, dropping his feet to the floor. The wooden table was scoffed, but Logan didn't pay attention to it. He walked to the trashcan and threw the empty beer can away.

Shrugging his shoulders, he figured that he mine as well go to bed if he wasn't going to get what he came down to the kitchen for. He climbed the stairs easily, two at a time. He was almost to his room when he suddenly stopped, smelling the air. He looked around and realized that he was stopped right in front of Phoenix's door.

Quietly knocking, he stood outside her door waiting for an answer. Maybe she was asleep. He was going to leave but his instincts told him to try the doorknob, and he always listened to his instincts.

Logan pushed the door open, hearing the slight creak. It was dark but his eyes quickly accommodated. He looked at her bed but didn't see anything under the sheets. He was going to leave when he heard her voice. "I'm out here."

He looked to the terrace. He couldn't see her but now that he knew where she was, his nose picked up on it immediately. Logan hesitantly closed the door behind him as he entered her room and proceeded to her terrace. The curtains moved past him, lightly brushing his skin. He spotted Phoenix out of the corner of his eyes.

She was curled tightly in a ball, sitting on one of the lawn chairs. She was staring at the moon. Logan looked up and realized what he had been missing. "It's beautiful isn't it?" she asked her voice as soft as a whisper.

"Yea," but his voice sounded indifferent. He looked to his right and saw a spare lawn chair. He sat down in it, sighing. His elbows rested on his knees, his back hunched over. He folded his hands together. "Listen, I just wanted to tell you-"

"I never saw the moon like this before," Phoenix interrupted. Logan paused, never have been interrupted like that before. She wasn't looking at him, but her head was still tilted up to stare at the sky. Her ebony hair shone, and her eyes sparkled. Goosebumps were forming on her arms, the little hairs standing up. She was only wearing her tank top with black shorts, her feet snuggled into fluffy white slippers.

Logan sighed again, getting up to get a blanket from the corner of her bed. He was going to wrap it around her shoulders when she shook her head. "You have to stop acting like this," she teased pushing the blanket away from her.

"You're going ta freeze ta death."

Phoenix again shook her head.

"What did you mean before?" he asked, settling back into his lawn chair.

"I just never noticed it. Not that anything has changed environmentally in my world, but I never got the chance to actually sit like this and stare at something so beautiful," Phoenix explained. It was hard for her to forget her world sometimes. Her parents were always on her mind, but it also scared her to she was getting adjusted to this new life of hers and she had only been in it for a couple of hours.

Logan wanted to get back on track so that he could leave this uncomfortable situation and go back to his room. Not that he could go to sleep, his nightmares were keeping him up, but he never had to explain himself to anyone before. With Phoenix he felt that he owed her something for acting like a jerk.

"Listen Phoenix I just came to tell you-"

"You don't have to explain anything," she finished again.

He ran his hand through his hair. "I feel like I have to though, for some reason. Just hear me out. I used ta-well I used ta be in love with Jean. When she was The Phoenix it was hard for me to accept that she wasn't in love with me but with-"

"Logan," Phoenix said finally turning her head to look at him. "It's okay. At least your Jean Grey came back to you in the end, mine didn't." She smiled at him, but diverted her eyes. "Thanks for sharing though."

"Don't tell anyone," he growled.

Phoenix wrapped her arms around herself tighter. "You know Scott wants me to stay here at the mansion. He says that everyone else would like to see me stay too. Is that true?"

Wolverine shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I don't know if I would be an asset to the team. I mean I can't use my powers to defend myself or anyone else," she said her voice trailing off.

"Don't worry about anyone else. You've gotta unique gift Phoenix," Logan said closing his eyes. He didn't know when he became so tired. "Some people have what I call offensive abilities and others defensive. I finally figured out that the X-men have a balance. That's what makes up the team. You can't have one without the other."

"Logan, will you teach me how to fight? I mean, my father taught me a little bit but if I'm going to stay here than I want to be able to protect myself if I get in that kind of situation," Phoenix asked sitting up in her chair. She noticed that he was asleep. What the hell? Was the Wolverine supposed to do that? She smiled and pulled the blanket from his hands and draped it over him.

"Goodnight."

…

Phoenix was wrapped up in the bed covers, the heat trapped between them. The doors to the terrace were still open, Logan still sleeping outside. He woke up, rubbing his eyes. Where was he? That was the first night he could remember not being woken up with images of the Weapon X project filling his mind.

He finally figured out that he was still on Phoenix's terrace. He remembered her asking if he would teach her how to fight, but after that it was all a blur. Logan threw off the blanket and walked into her bedroom, looking around for a clock. It was five in the morning. Well, nothing like getting a rude awakening, he thought as he threw the bed covers off of Phoenix.

"What the hell?"

"Time ta get up sleepy head. If you wanna learn how to fight than you're gonna have to follow my rules. Dress for a mornin' run," he said not waiting for an answer. He walked to the door, opened it and the just as quickly shut it without another word. Phoenix groaned and reached for her bed sheets. What had she got herself into?

…

Phoenix was already running late. Literally. She realized that she didn't have any new clothes and having to wake up Jean to borrow some was borderline embarrassing. She bounded down the stairs with the black and yellow jumpsuit, her hair tied nicely in a makeshift ponytail. Logan was already waiting.

"All right c'mon. We're going to run around the mansion four times. You better keep up," he said already halfway out the door.

Phoenix jogged behind him, catching up once they were out the door. "Wait a second, four times? How many miles is that?"

"About four, better keep up darlin'," he grinned running faster.

"I'm beginning to think this was a bad idea!" she yelled. Phoenix sighed and began to run faster so that she could at least keep him in her line of sight.

About thirty minutes later, the cold air was beginning to burn against her face. She was breathing hard, her side producing a sharp pain. Phoenix finally had to stop. She had her hands on her knees, her eyes looking up to search for Logan. He had noticed that she stopped, so he turned around, still jogging in place. "C'mon Rookie, the sun's almost up. We've only got about a mile and a half left. Don't tell me you're gonna give up now."

Phoenix looked behind her to see the red and orange light barely creeping over the eastern skies. She shook her head. "No I'm not giving up. Just a little out of shape that's all. I needed a little break," she replied taking a deep breath before catching up to Logan.

Scott was already up cooking breakfast by the time Phoenix and her running partner came bursting through the kitchen door. She found the nearest chair and plopped herself down into it. She smiled at Scott when he handed her a bottle of water. "Went running with Wolverine already? And you've only been here a day! You should probably slow down," he teased, returning back to his scrambled eggs.

"Yea well we're going to have to considering she can't run four miles," Logan replied.

Storm came down the stairs from her attic loft. Henry and Jean released her last night, but she was ordered to stay in her room. "Scott you do not have to cook breakfast, I am perfectly capable of doing it."

"Doctor's orders Ro. Sorry," he said pulling out one of the kitchen stools so she could sit down. "Jean told me that you'd try to convince me to let you cook breakfast but I wasn't supposed to let you."

"I am not a child Scott and I am fine, really," Ororo turned her attention to the girl sitting in front of her. "I don't think that we have met yet, my name is Ororo Munroe."

Phoenix gladly took the hand that she offered. She smiled warmly at Storm. Even in this world she was exactly like the one she left behind. "I'm Phoenix Niles. It's nice to meet you. I-" she looked uncomfortably at the man cooking breakfast. He didn't seem to notice the situation. "Just came in last night."

"She knows Phoenix. Ro is second in command so she basically knows everything that I do," Scott yelled over the sizzling of the bacon and eggs.

Ororo considered for a minute. "Niles, the name sounds awfully familiar."

"Think about it Storm, it'll came to ya," Logan mumbled. "I'm going out for breakfast," he said looking over Scott's shoulder. He looked back at Phoenix, already walking towards the back door. "You'd be smart ta join me." With that, he exited the kitchen with something that sounded like a laugh when Scott started yelling.

"Tessa. Tessa Niles. That used to be Sage's name. It is a wonder I didn't think of it before," Ororo said smiling. "So it is true then. There really was a lot of excitement while I was down in the infirmary."

"You could say that again. Since you're already dressed for the occasion, I was wondering if you wanted to join us for a Danger Room secession," Scott mentioned to Phoenix. He automatically got out two plates, filled them with freshly cooked food and placed them in front of the two girls. He reached in the refrigerator and got out the orange juice, ready to fill up two glasses.

"Already Scott? You don't think that it is too soon?" Ororo asked. She covered her mouth and laughed softly. "Not that I don't think you could do very well in the Danger Room but the secessions that we do are usually very…well, very intense."

"It's all right. I couldn't run four miles, I doubt that I'm ready for a DR secession."

…

Two weeks later Phoenix saw herself in the Danger Room with the other X-men. She was literally shaking in her boots. Sage had lent her one of her uniforms, the black leather fitting nicely. Logan had already taught her a lot in that brief amount of time, but Phoenix still felt that she shouldn't be in the secessions with the actual X-men team.

"I'm so not ready for this."

Logan looked back at her. "Hey you'll do fine. Just stick close to the group and remember what I taught ya."

"Yes, I once had Wolverine as a teacher and I came out of the Danger Room without a scratch on me," Storm encouraged. "Besides, we are a team Phoenix and we won't let anything happen to you out there."

"It's only a simulation and the Professor is watching from above," Jean reminded. Professor Xavier had returned three days after Phoenix joined the group. He said that he would love to have her stay at the mansion for as long as she wanted.

"I want to be sure that you're ready before you actually do field work. It's for your safety of course," the Professor had told her.

"Of course, I completely understand. I just wanted to tell you that I am very grateful for all that you've done for me," Phoenix added.

"How could I possibly turn you away?" he asked smiling up at her.

He gave her the codename Link. Everyone agreed that it was just right for her because she could "link" herself to computers. Phoenix liked the name herself.

Over the past couple of weeks she had really felt like she belonged. No matter what world she was in, they were her family. Jean, Ororo, Sage and Rogue took her shopping to buy new clothes and Jubilee and Kitty took her to see the latest movie with the cutest male star. Even the guys were treating her nicely. Bishop was acting like an overprotective father and Kurt was eager to talk to her about world religions. Logan was being as hard as ever and even Colossus played a friendly game of foosball with her.

"Are you ready X-men?" the voice above them asked. That drew her out of her little world, making her nervous all over again.

"I've got your back," Bishop said with Sage right behind him. "We all do."

She nodded. "Thanks."

The metal doors opened and the team walked in. Phoenix didn't notice that the room was literally an empty room. There was nothing in there but space. When she used to watch the Danger Room secession, the X-men were always in the heat of battle fighting some enemy she didn't know about. But now, actually being in the room, it felt different.

"All right, everyone get ready," the voice above them said. They heard a few clicking noises and all of a sudden they were thrown into a whole different scene. They were standing in the middle of a jungle. Phoenix would have taken the time to look at her surroundings, admiring how real it all looked but something stopped her. All of a sudden a few people screamed- Logan grunted- as they slid down a muddy slope. Phoenix was thankfully on her back so she could see where she was going. Jean created a forcefield around them as the hit the bottom. "Everyone okay?" she asked.

Jubilee stood up, shaking her hands at her side. "Yea, just bummed." She continued to wipe the mud off of her but no matter what she did her efforts were futile. The mud clung to her backside, making her groan in anger.

Phoenix tried to do the same thing. "Is it always like that?"

Sage shook her head. "Sometimes the Professor likes to be…creative."

"All right people, be on your guard. We don't know what Chuck is going to throw at us," Logan said, sniffing the air for any foreign scents. The Professor told them that he wanted to make sure Phoenix was ready physically for fieldwork, and then they would try an actual mission later on. He smiled and told the X-men that they could use the extra practice anyway.

"It's always better to be ready. With any extra practice, you all with get better and better at controlling your powers and helping others."

Scott directed the group into a clearing in the forest. The sun was shining down on them, behind them the darkness that was within the trees. Rogue took a deep breath and put her hands on her hips. "Finally. All those trees were really beginnin' to get on ma nerves."

Logan shot her look, grinning. She shrugged her shoulders. "Just cause Ah'm from tha South don't mean Ah like trees, Mountain Man."

He shook his head. "Hey I didn't say nothin', you were the one sticking words in my mouth," he smiled but there was suddenly something that shot out of the trees right into Wolverine causing him to grunt in pain at being thrown to the ground unexpectedly.

Jubilee screamed, jumping back while putting her hand to her chest. That really scared her! Not to mention the fact that it was Sabertooth. Cyclops touched his visor, sending a beam of red energy at him. Sabertooth looked to the side, from his position on top of Wolverine, his facial expression changing briefly before he went flying back into the forest with a loud 'thumping' sound.

"Easy enough," Scott said before hearing something all around him. "I spoke too soon," he muttered before everyone came out. Sabertooth was still missing, but the X-men knew he would be back soon enough. He always did come back for more. Omega Red was standing there, tentacles waving behind him. Juggernaut was laughing, pounding on his chest. There was Mystique, standing there with her hands on her hips. There was Pyro, the Blob, and Avalanche waiting behind her with grins on all of their faces.

Sabertooth burst out of the woods, roaring with anger. Wolverine popped his claws and ran after him. "He's mine!" he growled, both of them jumping into each other.

Cyclops looked around, assessing the situation. "All right people, listen up!" he called, trying to keep his eyes on all of the villains that showed up to fight them. "Bishop, Jean, Colossus, and I will take out the big ones. Storm and Rogue, you guys lead the others. Attack Mystique and her group first and then if we need help you know what to do."

The group nodded and went after their corresponding targets. Scott and Jean went after Juggernaut, who was already laughing in their faces. "The puny one and his girlfriend, yea right! You'll never get me, I'm unstoppable!" he yelled charging at them.

Jean lifted both Cyclops and herself out of the way. A beam of energy hit the buckle on Juggernauts helmet, which was shielding his mind from Jean's probing. Once she could get in it would be over. He grinned wickedly, "Don't think I'm going to fall for that again!" Cyclops realized that it was going to take more than him and Jean to beat the Juggernaut this time.

Bishop and Colossus were busy with Omega Red as well. It seemed like everyone's hands were full. Bishop was sending beams of energy at him while Colossus held him in place. The last one sent them both flying back into a tree. "Looks like you're hurting your teammate more than you are me," Omega Red snickered in his Russian accent.

Storm was flying overhead looking down at Mystique's team. Rogue looked at Blob, making a sour face. Kurt was on the ground, not sure which mutant to attack. He had to be able to use their powers against them. Jubilee looked at Avalanche wanting to kick his ass this time. Last time when they were in the Danger Room, he had wiped the floor with her. Kitty was willing to help. Iceman stared down Pyro. It was the perfect match, fire against ice. Link was last, deciding to take on Mystique. This is when she would be putting her fighting skills to the test.

The blue woman stepped forward, hands still resting on her hips. "Oh please. Little girl, you're no match for me. Just give up now, and I won't hurt you as badly."

Link took the fighting stance that Logan had taught her. "Put your money where you mouth is bitch. I'm taking you down."

Mystique shrugged her shoulders, looking at her nails like she was uninterested. "Fine, have it your way." With that she charged Link, her foot already in the air to connect with the side of Link's face. She ducked with no problem, dropping to the floor to kick her feet out from under her. Mystique went down, but she decided she was taking Link with her. She spun around quickly kicking out Link's feet as well.

The X-men went on with this for a long time, no one able to defeat their opponents. Storm had knocked out Avalanche and Pyro, and Sage had joined in on trying to overtake the Blob. Storm was helping Cyclops and Jean, but they were still having a hard time trying to unbuckle Juggernauts helmet. Link and Mystique were breathing hard, cuts and bruises forming on their arms and legs. Link gave her enemy a bad scratch on the face but she received a blow to the stomach that was already forming a dark patch of black and blue skin. "This is pointless!" she shouted.

Sage heard her. She turned her head, looking at everyone fighting. Link was right. There was definitely something wrong with the situation. Sage began to evaluate the circumstances when she figured out a new mode of action. "Everyone listen to me! We need to switch partners!"

Link nodded to Storm, who came up behind her and blasted Mystique with the raw power of the elements. She went flying back into the forest. Nightcrawler saw Link and teleported over to her. He grabbed her, teleported again, and ended up on Juggernauts back. She hastily pulled at one of the buckles, but he was too fast. His hands shot out to grab Nightcrawler, twisting him over his shoulder and throwing him into the ground. He spun around sending Link into a tree as well.

She stood up, dazed. Her hand went to her head, trying to stop everything from spinning. There was a figure in front of her. When she was finally able to make it out, Link realized it was Sabertooth. He reached for her neck, digging his claws into her skin. She tried to scream but no sound came out. Soon enough, she was off the ground her feet inches from the soil. Sabertooth laughed, bringing his face to her ear.

"So you're Wolverine's new bitch. I can smell him all over you," he whispered his hot breath on her neck. She started shivering. "Don't be scared of me little one, I won't hurt you…much." Link's eyes became black with power. Her ebony hair rose above her head, her body glowing with power. Sabertooth didn't know what had hit him, but he let go of Link before his ass hit the ground.

In distress, she was usually able to amplify her power to create a shield around herself. Sabertooth had been in the way of her shield and as a result, he was electrocuted, his hand burnt from touching her skin but the rest of him was all right. Until Wolverine shot out of the woods. "Beat it Link!" he yelled taking a slice out of Sabertooth.

She scrambled to get up. When she looked around she could see the others busy with Juggernaut and some of Mystique's group. Omega Red had already finished with Colossus and Bishop. They were lying on the floor, groaning. It was too much for everyone to handle. To much was going on and the leadership was shot.

Link looked up to see Mystique, Omega Red and Sabertooth coming toward her. She looked past them at Bishop who was trying to get up. He was trying to send them a blast of energy from his hand but he couldn't. Storm saw them and she rushed to help, but Juggernaut caught her in his gigantic hand. Finally, Kurt was able to unlatch the last buckle, allowing Jean to take him down. Wolverine was on his back, one leg bent at the knee, trying to get back up. His healing power was slowing down.

Link looked up, her personal space being closed in on. She became nervous, her body glowing again. If she could get up her electromagnetic shield, than at least she would be safe until the others got to her. But something else happened. Her amplified her powers so much that her hair blew behind her. "Ah!" she screamed sending out a powerful electromagnetic pulse.

The images around her flickered and then went out. The Danger Room returned to the normal empty room that it was. In the control room above, the Professor watched as the electronic equipment smoked and sizzled right in front of him. The lights went out, not even the emergency ones came on.

Phoenix lay on her side, her hair in front of her face and spread out of the floor. Logan crawled over to her, his wounds healing slowly. He was holding his stomach but he made it to her. The others were feeling around for each other, Jean searching telepathically.

"Hey," he grunted. "Phoenix? Hank!" he called to the darkness. He could hear a banging sound coming from the door to the Danger Room. Beast had decided to sit this secession out to work on some things in the lab.

"Oh," she groaned. In the darkness, Phoenix's hand twitched on the floor no one noticing but her. She looked at her arm, willing it to move when finally it did. She brought it to her head just as the emergency lights came on. The Professor was able to get the door open and Hank came running in.

"What the hell happened?"

Logan shook his head. "She disrupted the program."

Phoenix tried to move to sit up but she couldn't. She panicked. "I can't feel my legs! Logan my legs, what's wrong with them!"

"Calm down, Hank's here to help you."

"I'm going to pick you up all right?" Hank asked. She nodded. He placed his hand under her knees and around her shoulders and picked her up as if she weighed nothing. "Don't worry, we'll fix you up as good as new."

Cyclops looked at the ground. He knew he had made some bad decisions for that fight. Jean touched his shoulder. "It's not your fault. You did everything you could to make sure that everyone came out of the fight okay."

"But they didn't. We told Phoenix that we would protect her since it was her first time in the Danger Room and look what happened. I should have known, I should have made better choices back there"

"Scott, don't blame yourself," Storm said as well. She gripped his arm and gave him an encouraging squeeze. "Everyone knows the risks of coming in here. We were overpowered this time, but if things had gone differently," she paused referring to what had happened with Phoenix. "Then we would have been there to protect her anyway. She is still learning about her powers so they are erratic. It is not your fault that she did something that she did not know she could do."

Jean smiled at him. "See? I'm sure that Phoenix will be perfectly fine. Come on, let's go check on her."