Part X

"Aidan!" Phoenix yelled, running at fast as she could to gain momentum. She launched herself at him, her arms wrapping securely around his neck. Aidan gripped her waist and spun around as fast as he could. He didn't want to let her go, and he wasn't ever planning on it. Phoenix squeaked with joy as he twirled off the platform.

"Phoenix? I can't believe it's you!" he said, his Scottish accent filling her ears. God how she missed that sound. Even though they never did anything but fight, she really missed the friends that she had left behind.

"How did you get here? I mean, why did you leave? Did something happen? How are my parents?" Phoenix asked in a rushed voice. She didn't even stop to take a breath.

"Calm down girl," he spoke, smiling down at her. "I'll tell you everything." Aidan's smile faded from his face, but something lingered behind. Phoenix couldn't put her finger on it, but it was nagging at her in the back of her mind.

Someone cleared their throat, the sound bringing Phoenix back to the present. She had almost forgotten about her new friends, and that they were all standing around watching the scene play out in front of them. "Oh God, I'm so sorry. Guys, this is a friend of mine. His name is Aidan Alister."

"It's nice to meet you," he called, waving his hand to everyone.

Logan watched him, trying to take in everything he could. Assuming from the way that Aidan still held Phoenix around her waist they were very close friends. Perhaps too close. He had a Scottish accent, and from what Logan knew, none of the X-men were Scottish except maybe that one fellow Banshee. He automatically presumed that Aidan must have joined the X-men at some other time.

While Logan was busy sizing Aidan up, the other X-men had gathered around and started introducing themselves and shaking hands. Once in a while, Aidan would recognize someone from his dimension, like Sage and Bishop.

"Wow, these are your parents Phoenix. When I went through that machine I didn't think that I'd end up seeing a younger version of the X-men," Aidan said, smiling. His hand tightened on Phoenix's hip, his fingers digging into her flesh.

"And why did you go through the machine?" Logan asked, walking up to meet him.

"You must be Logan. I'd recognize that tone anywhere," Aidan replied, sticking out his hand. Logan growled, his hands remaining in his pockets. There was something about the guy that made him uneasy. It felt like someone was intruding on his territory. The Wolverine was becoming possessive not only of Phoenix but of everyone and everything else that was around them.

Aidan smirked and stared Wolverine down. His was almost the same height, so meeting his glaze wasn't any problem at all. "No need to get all riled up Wolverine," he whispered, his eyes quickly changing from their normal brown color to a feral yellow.

With that, Wolverine popped his claws, the six of them easily coming out of his knuckles. Phoenix stepped in between them, shaking her head. "Stop it Aidan," she commanded. He laughed, his eyes changing back to their normal state.

"That's an unusual power," Beast noted.

Phoenix turned her head, her body still between them. She looked up at Aidan and narrowed her eyes. He gave her a smirk, which softened her gaze. She giggled and looked back at Beast. "His DNA is mixed with animal DNA. So technically, he really is part animal," she laughed, looking at Storm and Jean. The rest of them shook it off as an inside joke between the girls.

"I've got heightened senses and reflexes. I can also lift a pretty heavy load," he teased, picking up Phoenix who squealed in protest. When he put her down, she hit him as hard as she could across the arm. He just laughed, holding the place where she hit him, acting as though it really did hurt. "That's why we're a lot alike, you and I. We're one of a kind," Aidan said looking over at Logan.

"No. We're not," Wolverine said taking a step closer. "You'll never be what I am," he whispered slowly releasing one of his claws. Everyone watched intently, but just a fast as in happened, it ended. Logan returned his claw into his hand and left the room.

"We'll get this mess cleaned up. Why don't you show Aidan to a guest room Phoenix," Professor Xavier said helping Beast clean up his lab. She nodded and took his arm, leading him to the elevators.

While walking up to the second floor, all Aidan and Phoenix did was talk about old times and what was happening back in their dimension. They laughed but Phoenix still had a feeling that something was wrong. Aidan was holding back, he wasn't telling her something. Her intuition told her it was something important.

She opened one of the spare room doors and walked in. It was slightly smaller than her room and it didn't have a balcony. She held out her arms and spun around, still smiling at him. "What do you think? A lot better than what we used to have right?" she teased.

"Hell of a lot better," he responded. He sat down on the bed, staring up at Phoenix.

Phoenix got down on her knees, sitting between Aidan's legs. The act didn't surprise him at all; he just kept watching her. She reached for his hands and held them in her own. "Are you going to tell me what you're keeping from me, or do I have to beat it out of you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Phoenix knew she'd lose hands down.

Aidan closed his eyes and shook his head. "It's bad Pip. Real bad." He didn't have to say anything else; Phoenix already knew what he was talking about. There was a long pause when she suddenly heard him take a breath. She still didn't have the courage to look him in the eye. "After you left, I'd realized that I-"

"Aidan," she said causing him to falter. Phoenix turned her head away from him, preferring to stare at the carpeted floor. "Tell me about the others," she stated in a firmer voice, wanting to change the subject.

"I know that Cyclops and Storm were taken to some base in Canada. Logan went after them, but he hasn't returned. It's been three weeks Phoenix." She closed her eyes tightly, her face still turned away. "Something else happened. You're father, he…" Aidan stopped, his voice cracking. Not able to stand it any longer, he turned Phoenix's face up towards him. "Look at me," he said softly, his accent evident in that soft plea. "He died."

Her eyes went wide and her skin color immediately dropped to a paler tone. Phoenix's breathing became erratic as she held Aidan's gaze. She started to shake her head, her tears spilling over and running down her cheeks. "I'm sorry," Aidan whispered, but she didn't hear him. Phoenix kept thinking that she should have been there to help, to make sure that her father didn't die.

"Oh God," she sobbed, reaching up and wrapping her arms around Aidan's neck. He held her tight and close to his body. Phoenix was shaking so bad and she couldn't catch her breath. It took a few minutes but she regained her composure. "What about my mother?"

"She's doing better. It was only a couple of days before I left," Aidan added. Suddenly remembering something, he gripped Phoenix's shoulders. "The day that I left, something happened. When I was in that machine that Forge built, these men came and tried to shoot at me but instead they hit the console."

"What are you saying?"

"No one else is leaving our world Phoenix. I'm pretty sure it was destroyed right after I left our dimension. That also means that we can't get back there," Aidan said talking slower than usual to make sure that she was able to soak in the information.

"You wanna go back there?" Phoenix asked, her voice husky.

"Don't you?"

"Aidan, why did you go get into the machine if you wanted to stay there?" she asked, cocking her head to the side. She was squinting her eyes and shaking her head at him. Phoenix was still getting a feeling that something didn't fit. As much as she loved her old friend, he was only confusing her more and she was beginning to doubt her trust in him.

"I was afraid, I didn't know what else to do. I knew that you went through that machine and…and so I followed you. And now that I've found you-"

"So you were after me?" Phoenix questioned.

"I never thought I'd see you again Phoenix and now that I have you," he paused, letting go of her. Aidan reached up and brushed a piece of stray hair out of her face, lingering to touch her cheek. "I don't want to let you go. We could go back to our home. This may look a lot like it but it's not our home Pip. We could set things right."

Phoenix shook her head, her eyes falling to look at the floor again. "My mother sent me here for a reason Aidan, I can't." She started to cry again. "But oh how I'd love to see everyone again! And my father…"

"Phoenix let's do it."

She watched Aidan intently. It had been less than a couple of hours, but he'd already managed to flip her world upside down,and made her think about her old one. Phoenix nodded. "All right."