Part IX

It had been several weeks since the attack on the mansion. The X-men and Professor Xavier worked hard to rebuild what was broken. The children were sent home for a 'break' so that they didn't have to stay in the lower levels were it was always cold and there weren't enough beds. Xavier saw it as a chance for the children to reunite with their parents for a couple of weeks. They could view this as a good thing.

Now that the mansion was finished, the children would be returning. Jean Grey was doing good, confined to the infirmary the first week. Hank kept an eye on her all the time, watching how she was recovering. After that, she was allowed to help only for a limited amount of time. Scott usually stayed with her, but once in a while she would send him away to 'at least do some good,' were the exact words out of her mouth.

Bishop and Sage grew closer together, Sage showing more of herself around other people. She wasn't so hard or rigid anymore. She even got in a paint fight, which was very surprising to everyone. Cannonball and Colossus worked industriously together, which also surprised the others. It was usually Wolverine and Colossus who had a relationship that revolved around working together on projects like this.

Kurt spent some time with Jean and Ororo in the med lab when Scott wasn't around. They talked about religion and of God. They sometimes got into pretty heated discussions. Ororo also worked in her greenhouse, replanting everything that was destroyed especially her wild orchids. Kitty spent most of her time helping Storm instead of helping rebuild the mansion. Jubilee and Iceman fooled around, making rebuilding less stressful and more fun.

Rogue helped out Gambit, who was in a sort of rehabilitation. He was supposed to take it slow and let his wounds heal, but he kept overexerting himself, which would sometimes end up back in the infirmary because he had opened old wounds. Rogue would scold him but she did it because she loved him. Remy knew this and just grinned at her, trying his best to be charming.

Phoenix seemed to be everywhere at once. She spent time with Jean and Scott in the infirmary and when she wasn't doing that she was in the greenhouse with Ororo and Kitty. Being there made her feel better than anywhere else on the mansion grounds. She spent some time with Bishop and Sage and still went on her morning jog with Piotr. Phoenix teased Rogue and Remy every chance she could and even her and Cannonball had some fun repainting. She tried her very best to be somewhere else when she saw Logan around. That's why she was everywhere he wasn't.

Wolverine on the other hand, worked harder than ever on rebuilding the mansion itself. He was probably responsible for over half of the remodeling. He stayed up most of the night as well while Phoenix slept. When she got up for her morning run, he would go down to the sub-levels and catch up on whatever sleep he could. It's not like he could sleep anyway. His dreams were coming back, but this time he was dreaming about that kiss. Logan could remember the look of hurt on her face and how much hurt he felt.

The last two weeks though he couldn't stop himself. He wanted to see her and touch her, even if he had to stare at her from across the grounds to do it. Hearing her voice was enough to send him over the edge. He knew that she had caught on to the sudden change. He would go to sleep with the group now that the mansion was virtually finished and he always seemed to end up where she was, which only caused her to move to a more 'Wolverine-free' area.

The last day that the X-men had together before the students started to return, they had a cookout near the pool. It was fabulous. Everyone was either eating, dancing or swimming. Some of them were doing more than one at a time, like Bobby Drake. He was dancing with Jubilee while he ate his hotdog in one hand and drank his soda from the other. "Can't you just dance with me Drake?" she asked getting a bit annoyed.

Phoenix was lying on one of the lawn chairs, her dark sunglasses covering her eyes. Her hair was pulled back and she had stripped down to her orange bikini. Ororo was sitting next to her, putting suntan lotion on her skin. She was also in a black bikini, ready to sunbathe.

"I really need a tan Ro," Phoenix said poking at her light-skinned stomach. She was lying on her back, one of her knees slightly bent. Her arm went up to temporarily shield her face from the sun.

"I do not need one, but I will join you. The sun always feels so good against my skin," Strom added lying down on her stomach instead. She looked around for a certain wolfish someone before turning her head to look up at Phoenix. "If you don't mind my asking, what is going on with you and Logan? He seems to be acting a bit strange."

Phoenix didn't reply at first, her hand falling to her side. It was playing with the patch of grass at her right. "To tell you the truth, I don't know myself. Can you keep a secret?" she asked turning on her side. Ororo nodded. "That night that we came back from the base in Canada, we kissed." The expression on Storm's face changed. Her eyebrows went up and she smiled, her mouth in the shape of an 'o'. "Except, he said Jean's name."

There was a momentary pause. "Are you all right?"

"Well, seeing as it was about a month ago, I'm doing fine. We've avoided each other at all costs and now he suddenly wants to get back in my life. I know that I should make amends with him because he'll always be in my life if I'm going to be an X-man, but it's kind of hard. I really did like him. Well, what's really sad is I still like him. Can you believe that? I'm almost willing to let him get away with calling me another woman's name," Phoenix sighed rolling over to lie again on her back.

"Phoenix, I do not believe that there are soul mates out there waiting for us to find them. However, I do believe that soul mates are created. You love Logan and that is never going to change. No matter what he did to you, you will always love him," Ororo said resting her head on her hands. "He is a good man, I know. It was hard for him losing something that he loved more than once, and I am not just talking about Jean Grey. Nor am I saying that he has a reason for doing that to you, but maybe you should just consider talking to him about it."

"I hate it when other people are right," Phoenix mumbled. Ororo laughed.

Logan had been helping Scott man the grill when Phoenix suddenly stripped down to her little orange bikini. That almost made him come right there in his pants. Scott seemed to take notice, flipping the burning burger for him. Wolverine growled, flipping the other burgers and hotdogs before they suffered the same fate.

"Just go over there and talk to her. Whatever you did, it can't be that bad," Scott said pulling out more hamburger and hotdog buns from underneath the grill. He reached for the ketchup and mustard, making his own hotdog.

Logan put down his spatula and removed his apron and chef hat that Kitty made him wear. Thank God it wasn't a 'Kiss the Cook' one like Scott's. He walked around with just his swimming trunks on, seeking out Phoenix. She wasn't that hard to find. His eyes had been on her ever since she sat down on the lawn chair with Storm.

If trying to stay away from her was hard these past few weeks, getting up the nerve to actually speak to her was even harder. Logan didn't exactly know how to go about it either, which didn't help his current situation. He stood in front of her, the suns rays being blocked by his broad shoulders. Phoenix lifted herself up on her elbows, not removing her sunglasses. "Did you need something Logan?" she asked nonchalantly.

He could almost hear her heart beat faster. "Can we talk?"

She looked over to Ororo for advice but she didn't like to but in to other people's business. Bishop sudden appeared, blocking the rest of her sunlight. Phoenix had to remove her sunglasses to clearly see the two figures. "Back off Logan."

"What the hell crawled up your ass bub?" Wolverine asked.

"She doesn't want to talk to you. Get. Lost." Bishop emphasized the last two words, pushing Logan back with a weak shove. It was enough to anger the short-tempered Wolverine. He didn't take more than a step back, but he was on Bishop in a second. When shoved, he shoved back.

Ororo raised her head, sitting up properly and wrapping a stray towel around her body. Both her and Phoenix shot each other frightened glances. Sage had joined the little tiff, placing a hand on Bishop's shoulder. "Hey let's get in the pool," she said rather calmingly. "The water's nice."

"He's not good enough for my daughter! Look at the way he treats her!" Bishop shouted, alerting those who hadn't already tuned in on the situation. He pulled his arm back for Sage's grasp. She put her hands on her hips, more angry than anything. She was reverting back to her old ways by shutting people out. Sage stalked off, picking up her robe on the way back to the mansion.

"She's not your daughter!" Logan responded. "Look at her! She's a grown woman!"

"It's like you said before, just because she's from a different dimension doesn't mean that she's not an X-man," Bishop squinted his eyes at Logan's form. "Just because she's from a different dimension doesn't mean she's not my daughter."

Phoenix stood up, with Ororo at her side just in case she had to jump in. "All right that's enough! We're all adults here, and I don't think we need the whole mansion knowing about our business!" she whispered harshly. "Can't we do this somewhere else?"

Bishop and Wolverine exchanged glances. "No."

With that, they charged at each other. Phoenix and Ororo shouted with surprised as the lawn chairs went flying back. Storm caught them easily with her winds so that they wouldn't hit anybody else. Bishop charged up, amplifying his powers. "We're gonna use our powers huh?" Logan asked, popping out each of his claws with ease. "You're definitely going to lose now."

"I don't think so," Bishop replied shooting him with a beam of energy. Logan flew back into the pool with a splash. Phoenix ran to the side to see where he was. It was the deep side of the pool, where Logan wouldn't be tall enough to stand up.

"Logan has a metal skeleton! He can't swim!" Phoenix screamed leaning down to reach for his hand or anything she could get a hold of. He was too deep for her to get. She saw him struggling to reach the top and when he did, he was only getting mouthfuls of water instead of air. "Do something!" Phoenix yelled to her father.

"Stand back, I will!" Storm yelled, her eyes turning white. She flew above them and over the pool. She called upon her winds once more, creating a small whirlwind of air that formed itself around Wolverine. He was gently lowered to the bottom of the pool, in a small circle that was created by Storm's winds. She called upon another to lift him out of the pool but she let him fall to ground with a thud.

"Thanks for the landing Storm," he mumbled.

"It is less than you deserve for starting that fight," she countered.

"And you shouldn't get off Scott-free either!" Phoenix said pointing a finger at her father. The party was ruined, everyone already heading back to the mansion. Phoenix stalked off throwing her hands up in the air.

Storm followed her, shaking her head. "Maybe you two children should stay out here and work things out for yourselves. I am sure that would please Phoenix very much."

…

Back in the sub-levels of the newly built mansion, Beast and the Professor worked nonstop in the lab. Last night, Beast, who usually stayed up late to work on projects anyway, got a reading from one of his new machines. It was something he developed out of the heat of the moment. He figured it wouldn't work, but at least it was an idea that wasn't swimming around in his head anymore.

"Are you sure Henry?" Xavier asked.

"Not completely, but I have never seen readings like this before. Except, when there's going to be a time rip," Beast said a pencil sticking out over his ear and his glasses running down the bridge of his nose.

"Well, we should alert the others. Do you really think that you can contain it here?"

"Again, it is only a theory but I am more than willing to give it a try," Hank replied beginning to set up his machine. Xavier nodded and contacted the others telepathically, telling them to come down to the lower levels.

Phoenix had been walking to her room, mumbling things to herself when she got the call for Xavier. "Men!" She was walking stiffly, taking giant steps. Her back was slightly bent but her eyes were extremely focused. When she got to her room, she opened the door and slammed it shut, throwing her things onto her bed. She stripped out of her bathing suit and put on jeans and a black shirt that had the Phoenix bird drawn colorfully on the front in bright orange and yellow. "You can't live with them…" she said, putting on her black boots and lacing them on the side. "And you can't kill them."

"X-men, gather in the lab please. This is urgent," Xavier's voice rang through her head. He might have said that it was a pressing matter, but he sounded rather calm. She got up and left her room heading to the place he specified.

Once she got there, Scott and Jean were sitting in the leather chairs at Hank's desk and Storm was standing behind them. "Does anyone know what this is about?" Phoenix asked as other people began to enter the lab.

"I think you'll be very interested to hear this," Xavier said, wheeling out from behind Hank's machine. It wasn't large, but there was a platform with two metals poles at either side. Beast was standing at one side, punching in numbers. "It has to do with your traveling from dimension to dimension."

"What do you mean?" she asked in a hurried voice.

"I'll let Henry explain that to you."

"Hank?" she asked, looking at him as Logan and Bishop entered the room. They were still missing Sage. Bishop whispered something to Storm and quietly left the room. He knew that he had messed up by starting that fight with Logan, but he didn't want to mess up the relationship that he had built with Sage over the past couple of months. She was really beginning to open up to him.

"Well Phoenix," Hank said, beginning his explanation, but keeping his eyes fixed on the machine in front of them. He still needed to fix a few bugs in it, but for now it would have to do. "I got a reading last night of unusual energy build-up, which most often happens before a time rip."

"Like the one I came out of," Phoenix stated.

"Precisely. I designed this machine to control that energy build-up and contain it to this platform. That way when the time-rip occurs-"

"People don't come falling out of the sky," Scott finished for him.

"Correct. It's just a prototype so I'm not too sure how things will turn out," Beast said making some final adjustments to whatever his was doing to his little machine. Phoenix's mind raced with possibilities. What if it was someone from her world? What if something bad came out of that time rip? There were so many things that could go wrong…but there were so many things that could go right.

"Do we know when it is going to happen Henry?" Ororo asked, leaning against his desk.

"We can estimate it. I'm sure that you will still feel a bit woozy from any weather changes, but that should give us a definite heads up. I'm sorry if I'm sounding a bit frank," he added, touching her arm. He scooted some papers back and sat down on his desk next to Ororo. They all stood there, watching the machine with an intent glare.

"It is all right. I know what you mean."

"So we could be staring at this thing for minutes or hours?" Sam asked.

"Quite right. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens." With that, the X-men all made themselves comfortable, unsure of how long this was going to take. But Phoenix's pulse was still racing, along with all the ideas in her head. This could be it, and she wasn't planning on missing this for the world.

An hour into waiting, they started playing card games and talking amongst themselves like they usually would. They were acting like the machine wasn't even there, but in the back of their minds they were still excited about finding out what would come out of the time rip. Suddenly, as if on cue, the machine started to make noise. The X-men barely had time to look up at it before there was a blinding, blue flash oflight. Winds howled around the luminating blue light. Ororo was reacting better this time than the one before.

There was a shrieking noise and then it all abruptly stopped. Some of the X-men were lying on the ground, the playing cards and some chairs scattered around the lab. Scott was holding onto Jean, who was leaning against a desk. Phoenix was rubbing her head, trying to get up from the floor. Beast offered her a hand, which she gladly took.

"Where the hell am I?" a voice asked from behind them. It was coming from the platform of the machine. Phoenix's ear perked up at the sound of the familiar Scottish-accented voice.

She gently pushed Beast out of the way to see the person standing there. "Aidan?" Phoenix asked, hope in the sound of her voice.

"Pip?" the deep voice asked.