From the desk of Lizzy Rebel

Gaw, okay before I go into how sorry I am for taking FOREVER to update let me say that I spent over a month fighting with my computer, AOL, and to let me sign on and look at my reviews. When I finally got everything ready to be set up and look at the reviews, it was Christmastime and I took a break from writing. Then I went back to school… and it sucked. So now, after almost two months chapter thirty-seven can commence! And I swear to holy God that thirty-seven will be out earlier.

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Chapter Thirty Six- Spark of War

Jean Gray sighed softly and rolled over in her soft bed. Her lips curved as she dreamt. She curled around her pillow and imagined it as a warm body.

In her dream she saw the boy that held her affections and her love. She could see him standing just a few feet in front of her. He had his hands on his hips in his arrogant male posture with one eyebrow raised from beneath his red shades. He was saying something to her, something about the weather, but she wasn't really paying attention. She was watching his lips and wondering what it would be like to kiss them.

And she wondered how Scott Summers would react if she told him she loved him. If she told him all those times she went out with Duncan, purposely talked about them as a couple, was to just get him jealous. To get him to see her.

But of course she did neither of those things. It was weird to explain why she didn't, but she was afraid. What if Scott didn't feel the same why? He was her best friend… would her admittance of her feelings make that awkward?

She didn't now and didn't want to find out. That was why she only told him her true feelings in her dreams. And she always awake before she heard his answer.

But this time the dream was different. Scott was there, but he was different somehow. Not the Scott she knew. In her dream they were standing in a purple mist, not speaking. They just looked at one another. And in this dream, instead of standing still Scott strode towards her.

"Are you ready?" he asked her and smiled but it wasn't Scott's smile. It was twisted and evil.

Jean realized this wasn't her Scott and tried to pull away. But Scott reached out and grabbed her arm, drawing her back to him. Jean opened her mouth to scream out for help from Buffy when Scott, his face twisted like a Tora-Kone, clamped one of his strong hands over her mouth.

Jean's eyes snapped open as a strong hand closed over her mouth. She screamed, but the sound was muffled. She raised her eyes and started in horror into Jake's emerald eyes. Jake smiled down at her and leaned into her ear.

"Not a word, sugah," he said into her ear and Jean struggled. He raised her from the bed so her covers fell off her. She shivered against the air in her room because she was wearing her short mid-thigh light-blue nightdress.

She kicked her long legs, trying to land a blow, but Jake dodged them with ease. Her legs kicked the covers from her bed and her anger made the glass of her vanity dress crack. She flickered her gaze around her room and sent a jewelry-bow flying at his head.

"Now. Now," Jake said and titled his head to one side to dodge the jewelry-box. He was too busy smiling down at her to see the vase that crashed into the side of his head. Jake cursed at her and dragged her fully off the bed.

Jean screamed against Jake's hand. Her hands reached up to claw at him. She was driven by a primitive fear and she forgot about powers. She kicked and tried to land a hit where it would hurt the most, but Jake wisely kept himself protected.

He dragged her to the ajar window and Jean wished she slept on the second floor and not the first. She pulled at the curtains on the windows and watched as they clattered to the floor when Jake ripped her hands away. Tears filled her eyes and she began to weep in terror. She forgot about her powers and the fact that she was a very strong mutant. The only thing that penetrated her foggy mind was the bone-cold fear.

Jake looked back down at her and saw her tears. He patted her fiery top and said, "It won' hurt much, darlin'." He drew his free hand down her cheek and Jean jerked her head away. "To bad you're such a pretty little thang. You make it hard." Then he pulled them both out of the window.

Jean's bare feet hit the cold ground and a numbness shot over her. She slumped against Jake and more pearl tears ran down her pale cheeks. She lost the will to fight, to care as Jake dragged her into the darkness.

Scott…

--&--

What is it about sweaty men that makes me all hot and bothered? Buffy wondered as she watched Colossus and Scott try to pound each other into the ground without using their powers. She grinned, or maybe just that man.

She was to busy appreciating Colossus's well-toned body to keep an eye on her training partner. She heard Logan's growl right before he lunged for what would have been the killer blow had they been enemies.

She wheeled around and flipped to the side, and Logan found himself slashing the air. He, too, turned and found his face throbbing in pain from Buffy's fist. Buffy grinned and lunged, pressing her hands against his shoulders and slamming them to the ground. She flipped herself into the air, using Logan's shoulders as a spring-board, and landed on her feet with perfect accuracy. She turned and grinned at the Wolverine as he got to his feet, shaking his head like a wounded animal.

As Logan raised himself to his feet and glared at her, Buffy was tempted to tell him that he shouldn't growl every time he attacked since it alerted anyone with good hearing to his attack. It also helped that Buffy was a lot lighter then Logan and thus more agile. She walked over to him and grinned.

Logan glared at her heatedly and said just as angrily, "You need to watch your enemy and not your boyfriend." Buffy frowned at him and placed her hands on her hips, equally angry. Like hell she'd tell him his mistake.

"You're just pouty 'cause I kicked your sorry ass," she proclaimed and laughed at Logan's outraged look. "Come on, wolfie, wanna make something of this?"

Logan howled and lunged at her. Buffy gave a very un-Slayer-like scream and raised her hands to her face and blocked his fist. Logan just smirked and reared his other fist back to attack and Buffy blocked that, too. However Buffy had to admit that Logan knew how to fight and use his weight. As he attacked her, she had no choice but to back up. And he didn't allow her to get one offensive move into their fray.

Finally, Buffy cart-wheeled away from him and looked at him with annoyance. "If I didn't know any better," she gasped, drawing in deep breath and trying to energize. "I'd say you were actually trying to kill me. Are… are you?"

Logan's smirk widened and he said, "Maybe I am. Come on, kid, let's see some of that Slayer strength you keep on talking about." He crossed his arms over his chest and managed to look intimidating despite his small stature.

"You're going down!" Buffy proclaimed and rushed forward.

She jumped into the air and armed a kung-fu kick at his head. Logan grabbed her leg and twirled her to the ground. Just as Buffy would've crashed, she spread her hands onto the floor and flipped onto her feet. As she balanced herself, Logan lunged with his own roundhouse kick. Buffy raised her arms and deflected it with her wrists. Her eyes narrowed and her warrior's blood ignited in fire.

Faith, who had been fighting with Spyke, looked over and saw Logan and Buffy go all out. With a grin she told the dark-skinned mutant, "Time out. I wanna see it. Those two have been threatening an all-out fight for days. Yo! Guys getta load of this!"

Buffy jumped into the air as Logan brought his feet around to trip her. As she spun in the air, she tried to kick him but Logan was very good at the defensives. She growled and cart-wheeled away to try to get breathing room, only to have Logan on top of her still. He gave her a good right-hook, but Buffy arched the small of her back and the fist missed her face by a hair. She grabbed Logan's wrist as she came up and twisted it. Logan howled and pulled his arm to the left, causing Buffy to go flying to the floor.

She jumped to her feet and rushed back into the fray. She feint with a left hook and landed a hit in the stomach with a roundhouse. Logan grabbed her by her neck and brought her face to his knee, a major injury. But Buffy grabbed his calf and twisted it hard, causing him to let go. She rolled away and they jumped back to their feet.

Time to bring out the heavy artillery, Buffy thought as Logan lunged at her again. She dodged his fist so it glazed her shoulder and reached behind his head. She grabbed a fistful of hair and pulled, hard. Logan's howl of pain was a sweet song to Buffy and she yanked harder. Logan reached out and grabbed her arms, trying to get her to let go. She smiled at him and shook her head. She pulled back as far as she could and felt Logan press his weight against her.

They toppled to the floor but Buffy had been expecting that. She rolled out from under his and grabbed his neck, rendering him paralyzed. She reared up and swung her legs over him so she straddled his waist. As Logan tried to get free she increased the pressure, letting him know that it was over. If they had been enemies and really out to kill one another, she'd be victorious and he'd be dead.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer had won. But barely…

Gasping, she smiled down at him. "You're really good," she admitted, having no problem giving credit where it was due. She stood and held out her hand for him. Logan looked at her for a moment, as if deciding what to make of her, and then accepted her hand.

Buffy pulled him up, still grinning. Logan was only about a head taller than Buffy herself and she found it slightly amusing that someone so short was very strong. She looked at him and a mutual feeling went through them. Maybe they wouldn't fight so much now.

"Not bad yourself," Logan said and released her hand. "It couldn't hurt to have more finesse in your attacks. They seem a little sluggish, kid. I think you're too light for your moves. Maybe if you gain some pounds…"

Maybe not…

Buffy placed her hands on her hips and glared at him, forgetting about the mutual feeling. "Excuse me? Do you know when you tell a woman to 'gain some pounds' your calling her skinny? That is an insult, you know! And may I remind you who had who pinned to the ground!"

Logan glared right back at her. "You got lucky. If you wanna go another round then—"

But Buffy and Logan's argument was cut short by the cheers around them. Buffy and Logan looked away from each other. They hadn't noticed before but an audience had been watching them. During their fight the trainees in the room had formed around a circle around the fighters.

Colossus was smiling at Buffy, a secret smile, and she felt heat rise in her cheeks. She smiled back at him and was surprised at how good it made her feel to see that she had Colossus's approval of her fighting skills. What did that mean?

But Buffy didn't have time to ponder it because Dana was crying above the crowd, "Did you see that, Charlotte? Buffy totally kicked Mr. Logan's ass and Mr. Logan is so cool!"

Charlotte rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Naw, really? And I thought I was watching Power Rangers."

Kitty, who hadn't seen either Logan or Buffy go all out before, was saying to Lance, "Wow, like they're pretty good aren't they? I mean, it's a good thing they're on our side, right?" She looped her arms through Lance's and watched Buffy and Logan with wide eyes.

Lance too had a shell-shocked look on his handsome young face and was saying, "Thank you God they're on our side." He couldn't imagine going against them.

Buffy grinned and bowed to the crowd. She decided when everyone got back to training she'd go take a shower. She could feel the sweat cooling on her neck. She looked back over at Colossus and grinned even more. Maybe she'd convince him to take one with her.

Faith walked over to Buffy with her sex-goddess grin on her face and said, "Ah, Buffy?" She pointed to Buffy chest.

Buffy looked down and saw what had sparked Faith's interest. It was now sparking the interest of all the boys in the room, including Logan though he tried not to look it. Sweat rolled down the column of her neck in between her breasts, dampening her shirt.

It was white…

She screeched because she may have been the Slayer, but she was also a woman and tried to cover herself. She hunched over and glared at the wide eyed boys.

Scott, looking awkward and slightly guilty about being affected by Buffy's body when he was holding a torch for Jean, told the other in his leader voice, "Alright everyone. Back to training! You heard me! NOW, Spyke! Don't stand there like an idiot or it'll be double training for you!"

Buffy blushed hotly and Logan, the coward that he was, backed away from her muttering something about training with Kitty and Lance. Buffy glared at him and moved towards the door.

Colossus was there to meet her, with a black towel thrown over his shoulder. Buffy looked up at him thankfully and took it. She wrapped it around her shoulders and hid her sweaty white shirt.

"Maybe you should take a shower," Colossus suggested and Buffy threw back her head haughtily.

"Who asked you?" she snapped. "Maybe I like being sweaty. After all, Logan's kinda hot in a weird Faith-sorta way. Maybe I wanted to show him my goodies."

Colossus chuckled and looped his arms around Buffy, shaking his head. He felt he knew Buffy well enough to know she had just been trying to goat him. "Okay then. How about you go get your Logan and I'll go after Faith?"

Buffy looked up at him, titled her head to accommodate his size, and said angrily, "No way in hell. You're mine 'till further notice, big boy."

Colossus and Buffy looked up at one another and smiled a truly man/woman smile. They continued out of the Danger Room, arm-in-arm.

Willow, her face pale and her eyes glazed, rushed into the room, crashing into Colossus's arms. The big man sent a confused look to the Slayer and then cradled Willow in his arms. The Wicca began to tremble before pulling away from him.

Everyone had stopped training and walked over to the commotion. Buffy gave them a glare before turning back to Willow.

"Will?" she said, looking at her best friend softly. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, Buffy," Willow whispered and handed Buffy a slip of paper she clutched in her palm. Then she looked away and began to cry softly. Faith came up and gave Willow a hug to try to soothe her, though the Dark Slayer was new to the hug thing.

Buffy's eyes widened as she scanned the paper. It seemed to be a full report on Lord Deltoramina's rising.

Deltoramina was banished to the Gate of Hell by the Slayer of the B.C. era. However, Deltoramina's powers were too strong for him to be completely banished. To solve this problem, the Slayer used magick to seal the Gate. Then she placed it in suspended animation in hopes that it would not be opened ever again. Now, in order to open the Gate one of a powerful mind most be sent into the suspended animation and force the gates to open. After that Deltoramina will require the energy of the Slayers collected in the Sealie Knife given to his most trusted advisor.

Buffy blinked and looked at a sobbing Willow. Then she turned her head to Scott, her own eyes widening. She couldn't see Scott's expression but she knew he had been reading over her shoulder and thus knew what the note had said.

One of a powerful mind…

Scott seemed to understand what she was thinking even before Buffy said it because he opened his mouth and shouted, "Jean!" before turning on his heel and running from the room. Buffy and the others followed.

They reached Jean's room in recorded time. Scott pushed open the door and Buffy gasped in horror.

The room looked like a war zone. The vanity mirror was broken, sheets were thrown about, pieces of a vase and jewelry were scattered on the floor, the curtains were piled on the ground and the window was ajar.

Scott sunk to his knees looking at the room in horror. "Jean… no…" he whispered, lowering his head.

Buffy pressed a hand to her mouth to keep from screaming and she felt Colossus press a hand onto her shoulder. Jake… he was a demon, not a vampire… he could come into the house. She hadn't thought of that and now Jean was suffering because of it. Deltoramina had everything he needed now. The energy from the Sealie Knife, the elimination of the sun, and now Jean's powerful mind. Buffy knew that soon Deltoramina would be awakened and the war would begin.

"Jean…" Buffy whispered softly.

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Oh, poor Jean! What will happen to her? I wonder… well, not really. I know! But you don't so you'll have to wait. This time I swear to God it will be out earlier than this one. So sorry!

Hellmouth2: hehe, I loved that little scene. I just thought that Death wouldn't be so… Grim Reaper-ish. A little conspicuous, non?

Flying alien: well, you were close… but quite. I thought about doing that but than decided it would be too predicable! Plus, I hardly used Jean during the other chapters. I thought she deserved it.