Untouchable Flame

So Phoenix has struck again; Scott and Jean discuss the hectic situation but are interrupted before the two can divulge into their personal feelings. Now that Phoenix has freedom in her grasp…will she escape? Or maybe she'll stick around to mix up mischief..

Bah. Huge hiatus there for a while. I started a RP with a friend and it took a bunch of my time away for a long while. I plan on finishing this series and After the Fact before school starts in mid-August. And I believe that this series will only have...5..chapters? Probably? Enjoy!

Rating: M – language, heavy violence, some mild adult themes.

Pairings: Rogue/Gambit, Scott/Jean, and Logan/Ororo. And of course, there might be some other minor pairs along the way ;)

Official (complete) Summary: Phoenix is done with Jean, and done with the X-men. Due to Jean's final, desperate attack to save not only the man she loved, but the entirety of humans and mutants alike, the last thing anyone saw of Phoenix was her dying form fading away on the ground between the humans and mutants during the "war for the cure." Scott has recovered, Jean's body is free of Phoenix, and the "war for the cure" has ended. Rogue's been hit by the cure, however after one fateful night, questions begin to arise about the cure itself…and what exactly happened to Phoenix.

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men franchise in any way. I wish I could be a part of it though! (: That would be spiffy. Oh – this series, along with "Seeing Yet Blind," is meant to take place in the movie-verse, seeing I've read little about the comics. However, what I have added into this series that pertains to the comics (Gambit, for example) I have researched to get at least a basic grip about. Also, Untouchable Flame is set after my other x-men series, "Seeing Yet Blind." It is advised that that-16 chapter series is read before reading this sequel-series.

4 – Forlorn Freedom

"You okay?"

She nodded.

"-You sure?"

Another nod.

Scott ran a hand over his face and sighed as it trailed to his neck. "Too close for comfort, huh?" he mused.

"Scott…it's okay, really," Jean murmured. Her own neck was terribly sore, but that was due to the crushing force Phoenix-Rogue had just displayed in an attempt to see her death through. "I…I just feel pathetic…I couldn't push her off," she finally admitted dejectedly.

The two were standing alone in the kitchen; Scott's arms crossed over his chest loosely and Jean leaning against the island-counter. After being called to telepathically, Scott, Storm and Logan all rushed off towards the infirmary, hoping desperately nothing had happened. However when they reached the room, they found Jean lying still on the ground not too far away, her consciousness failing her. Gambit was slowly getting his footing back in the solitary room, of which the door was wide open to, but Phoenix was no where to be found.

"She could have killed me…I don't understand why she didn't go ahead and get on with it…" Jean mused, running the scenario over in her head for the twelfth time.

"She's trying to make us suffer," Scott replied bluntly. "Why else?"

This made Jean smile, or at least show a somewhat lighter face, and she chuckled, "Yeah. She just likes you and you consider that alone torture."

"Jean…"

She chuckled and then looked away from him. She knew what Phoenix had done, or at least the main points of what happened. However, she often poked fun at Scott without knowing that it would offhandedly sting him. Finally a sigh slipped through her lips and she mused, "I can't say I know what you're going through, but I'll tell you having her inside me was no joy trip either."

The two glanced up to each other, but Scott broke their connection. "She's dangerous, Jean," he whispered. "If you can't contain her, and I can't either… Heck, I doubt if anyone in this mansion truly can. That's a treat," he concluded. "I can't have that here."

She smirked lightly and then replied, "That's you… Scott Summers, being the leader of the X-men."

"We already went through this episode once," he grimaced, "Jean, I couldn't take it." He extended an arm out to her and opened his mouth again, but words simply wouldn't come, and he ran the hand through his hair before it fell back to his side.

"And that's over and done with," Jean whispered, pushing gently off the counter and taking one step towards him. Her fingertips grazed his arm and she wanted to do something, to tell him something that would get him to move forward, but it seemed they were in a standstill. "I know she's a threat. I know this is a painfully strict situation. I know that, Scott," she breathed, "but there's got to be a way to get Phoenix out of our lives."

He shook his head.

"What?" she whispered, her brow arching slightly, her inquiry gentle. At the same time she'd drawn even closer.

His hand rose silently and edged beneath her shirt, and he muttered, "The scar." Clarification came a moment later, "When she tore out of you. She left that scar… You know what I'm talking about, Jean."

Her eyes fell, almost as if she was holding some sort of guilt. Their hearts had been heavy the day the two had discovered a rather odd "shadow" over Jean's chest plate. Said shadow consequently turned out to be a blurry-edged phoenix-shaped scar. A scar that the telepath would hold forever; Phoenix's mark on Jean, to be used for potential re-entry, as Xavier had explained. Pain hit Jean from all sides all at once, and she isolated herself for nearly an entire day after discovering that she truly wasn't free from Phoenix after all.

Suddenly the two were drawn from their comforting stature to one of alertness due to a sudden startling crash around the corner. Jean's eyes flung to Scott and she asked silently, You did lock Phoenix back up, right?

"The door was shut…I thought she was in there already…" his voice hardly audible.

The two of them didn't need to say anything else. Both bolted from the kitchen, Scott leading Jean by hardly anything, when they came across a rather sinister-looking woman, Rogue. A Rogue still sporting Phoenix's glowing aura.

"Rogue…" Scott muttered, shaking his head.

"Scotty, Jeannie," she replied, smirking halfheartedly.

"Don't do this, Phoenix. If you run, you'll only be hurting yourself," Jean lamely lied.

She chuckled and then purred, "Hurting myself…how so? If I run, I've got freedom, and a body that is untouchable."

"You'll burn her out," Scott breathed. "She's not like Jean."

A moment passed and the woman shifted. Rogue-Phoenix mused, "Well I do suppose that is a potential problem…" Her voice dropped, "But as long as I stay in touch with you, I've got nothing to worry about, huh?"

Scott's hand curled into a fist, but he knew he was drawn into this plot of hers as not only a source of entertainment, but a food source as well. Jean interjected, "Phoenix, if you stay, we'll try to find a way to remove you from Rogue's body, and see of getting you a more permanent stature."

Phoenix smirked skeptically and then choked through laughter, "What? You think I'm stupid?" Mentally, I know what you're planning Jeannie.

Jean slipped backwards again, her head pounding and magnifying the words to a horrifying level. The voice she'd been commanded by for the past several weeks would never fade from her memories. These memories shook her to the core and she had flung hands to the roots of her hair while Scott turned almost instantaneously and asked her what was wrong. Through the gritting pain and the numbing echo in her skull, it took her a fair amount of concentration just to shake her head. However, her eyes flickered for a moment, and she grew quiet again. Scott smiled gently and backed away from her, only to meet a kick thrown from Rogue-Phoenix. He retaliated sharply; a nasty gash ripped shallowly into his arm from the heel of the boot the young woman wore. Jean responded initially out of sheer anger by throwing her hands outward at Phoenix, but the entity turned the attack; Rogue had not to lift but a finger to hurtle Jean's body into Scott's, and thus throwing both heavily to the tiled flooring.

"Don't mess with me," the young woman snarled, her heels snapping loudly on the tile in the hallway as she made her way to the front hall.

Jean lie numb over Scott; mostly out of shock and pain intertwined. His fingers clung to her arms as they lie on the floor, and finally he managed to get one of his knees bent and then he pulled himself to a sitting position with Jean's legs between his arms around her rest of her figure. The man's breath was shallow and quick; apparently neither had seen Rogue's reversal trick coming.

"We have to stop her, Scott…" Jean muttered quickly, pulling away after she realized he was alright. Blood trickled through the arm of his jacket, but it was nothing major for the moment. After jumping to her feet with adrenaline surging through her veins, she threw out a hand for Scott and he took it while helping himself up.

The two had turned to follow the rebellious woman, but the front door had been left gaping open…no Rogue in sight. Jean tossed a mental calling into the air, warning any and all mutants within the building that Phoenix was on the loose, yet again.

---

The night had fallen again; a time that the mansion had recently learned to fear. It had only been a handful of hours since Phoenix had escaped, taking Rogue's body as the hostage. Jean, Scott, Logan and Ororo had been conversing with the Professor, quickly trying to come up with some sort of battle plan, if needed. But ultimately, it seemed there was no other way of going about the situation at this point. Rogue's 'sacrifice' was certainly not on the list of favored plans, but at this point, the chance of retrieving Phoenix without harming Rogue was becoming slimmer by the minute.

Their options: Murder a friend, a fellow teammate who was honestly innocently dragged into the situation to force Phoenix out and hope to capture the entity. Or, attempt to reason with Phoenix, or use what little telepathic strengths they had to draw Rogue to the surface. The first was heartbreaking, the second was extremely unlikely, and the third presented a potential danger for the telepath(s) involved; if Jean was to connect with Rogue's mind there was an upped chance that Phoenix could slide out into Jean's mind again.

No one could come to terms with one plan or the other, and a slight argument ensued.

Outside, a curious Phoenix perched on the window above Xavier's office, holding the stature of that belonging to an outdoor cat. With a devious smirk she murmured, "Argue amongst yourselves all you want…it only buys me more time."

The moon glistened mysteriously above, and with the passing of a cloud through its milky beam, the woman gazed upward to the white sphere amongst the stars. She honestly had no true plan yet; however something about the way the moon shone and the stars twinkled sparked a devilish idea within her mind. And of course, with Rogue doing little to fight back the entity's overbearing power, she was practically limitless.

"First thing's first…" Phoenix breathed, jumping silently from the shingles into the moon-washed night air. She stopped herself and managed to hover above the ground. "Well…I've got the flying down…" she chuckled, "but that's given." A pause, and then she cocked an eyebrow, "Let's check the flammability…"

Jean's body had been so strong that Phoenix had to worry little of actually harming the hull while inside. Rogue? Much more fragile. However, having the invincible skin made her wonder if it had the added bonus of flammability.

"Didn't she date the ice-demon at one point?" she remarked aloud to no one in particular.

If the plan failed, it would be an easy way to rid the world of one more X-men. She'd just have to make some sudden and not to mention extreme changes in plans. Nevertheless, the conniving woman extended her arms to the sides, and flames ignited in her upwards palms. Her eyes flashed a frightening shade of crimson, and her arms extended higher above her head as she lifted her chin, eyes falling closed all the same. Fire engulfed her slim figure.

A moment passed. And then another.

No pain.

The plan would be in full swing.

"Now…let's get this thing started," she snarled joyfully. At this point, Rogue's figure began to melt to slightly match that of Phoenix's, who looked like Jean initially. Her hair floated in an absent wind; curling around her shoulders and neck while sweeping over her arched back. The white streaks dyed even brighter, and the dark strands fell even darker. Eyes remained aglow, and her skin tone deepened as well. The most drastic change was probably that of her attire; which some how magically turned to that containing only red accentuated by gold.

With transformation full underway, she let her arms fall heavily down. Wings suddenly exploded from her sides, or rather fire dancing in the loose form of wings. With a partial upturn in the corners of her mouth, she hissed, "Come out, come out where ever you aremy friends…" Rogue shot into the still air, and dove at the roof, veering to the side only at the last available moment. While ripping down the side of the mansion, her fire leapt out hungrily and tore through the "inflammable" bricks that composed the mansion. She was setting the place on fire in an attempt to draw attention to herself.