So, since my exams at college starts next week and I still have to learn for it, it'll be the last chapter for this week and maybe the next, too. But I have already written up to page 74 now, so I only need to type up the pages. ; ) To the point where I stopped writing two days ago,…well, nope I won't tell. You'll see! ; ) Hope you will like this chapter too. Still, you can tell me what you would like to read, I will add this if it fits up to the point where the story is now. So, please review! ; )
Changes Chapter 11
Weeks have past and winter had finally arrived, covering the whole institute in white snow. Many students were on the outside, having their traditional snowball fights, while some older students were keeping an eye on them.
Logan stood at his window and watched them. He had never cared much about winter and its holidays. In fact, he was pretty much stressed of students running around like bees in a beehive, decorating every naked sport in the mansion in shimmering red or green stuff, or chatting about baking cookies and the usual question "What can I give XY as a present for Christmas?". He sighed and looked at the snow like pictures which Jean had sprayed on to the windows and the Christmas decoration she had put up. Logan snorted and let himself fall backwards in the bed, the arms behind his head. He would never be a friend of holidays, that's for sure, but as long as Jean was feeling better it was fine for him. Even if his room looked like Santa's cavern right now. Logan closed his eyes and remembered the fight they had after she had managed to stop his fall. It had cost him much to convince her that it had been the only way. Of course he could understand her position, but after he had told her straight ahead that she had to experience this strong kind of fear, she had also learned to understand him.
"You had to face your fears in order to beat it. So I had to push you to your limits, Jean! You were so scared to death that by using your powers your fear would take over and that your alter ego would take over", he had explained to her. "So I had to use another fear of you, in hope that this fear was stronger than your fear of your powers…"
"My fear of losing you…", Jean had said and finally she understood the essence of his lessons. Even if she feared Phoenix more than anything else, the fear of losing him was stronger…
She had to admit that even of he had put his like at risk, it had been smart of him to fight fire with fire… "Smart but very stupid…", she had thought.
However, Jean had used the whole night to take revenge on him…
Logan smirked. And she had been very successful in doing so… Never before had his body ached so much… Nevertheless, she still had the hardest step in front of her. When he had woken up the day after, Jean had left him a note that she had to talk to the Professor. Logan had spent hours on waiting for her and as she finally came back, he immediately had seen her red eyes. He had hugged her tightly when she had told him about the conversation…
Jean had slowly entered the office after he had told her to come in. First, she did her best to avoid his eyes, but as soon as the Professor had com into sight, she had fallen down to her knees and had cried until there had been no more tears left.
Charles hadn't said anything. He had only hold her hands and waited until she had finally stopped. Afterwards, they had spent hours on talking about the things he had never told her about and what they planned to do in the future. Charles had admitted to her how much he regretted what he had done to her years ago. He knew now that it had been wrong to cage the Phoenix within her, that the things which had happened had been inevitable as a result of it. She had to freak out one day, since she had never learned to deal with her true power…
Jean on the contrary, wanted to know more about her powers. She needed to know why her powers and emotions were so different, depending on who she was.
The Professor had explained it to her very briefly, but still it had been enough for her to understand it.
"You're a child of light and darkness, Jean. Depending on who you are, your powers differentiate from each other. As Jean, you have the power to create, you use your power for the good side. As Phoenix, you have the power to end and destroy. And that's the nature of your beast."
But still, he couldn't explain to her why both of them had returned…
They'd parted after Charles had told her how proud he was of her. She had smiled and blushed for a short moment. Thankful that her family had been returned to her, but also knowing that she stood right at the beginning of gaining control over her powers again… It was also when Jean had made a decision…
She wanted to be Phoenix. She hadn't had a code name before, on the contrary to her friends. Yes, she would be Phoenix and from now on she wouldn't fear her powers anymore. She finally knew that it was up to her, and only to her, what she would make out of them…
"And what about her?", Logan had asked after she had told him about her decision. "How do you want to refer to her?"
She had thought about it for a brief moment. "Dark Phoenix…For me, she's Dark Phoenix…"
It had been fine for him…
Logan opened his eyes when he heard a knock on his door. Slowly, he got up and opened it, just to find Rogue standing in front of it. "Hey!", he greeted her, sensing that something was wrong.
"Is Jean here?", she asked nervously and did her best to avoid his look.
"No, she's downstairs. Wanted to make tea. She's not so well lately…" He remembered that he heard her throwing up very early this morning. He frowned and looked at the girl again. "What's wrong?"
Rogue shook her head. "Nothing! I'll…I'll come around later again." With that she was gone.
Logan watched her leave and raised an eyebrow. And he would never understand woman, too, he added silently to his "not liking Christmas" list…
Just as he had returned to his bed, the door opened and Jean came back in, holding a cup of tea in her hand and a Coke for Logan. He looked at her curiously. She was still very pale and looked sick. Slowly, Jean sat down, handing the bottle to Logan. "How're ya feelin'?"
She sighed and put the cup on the bedside table after she had drank a bit of it. "Not really better…"
Logan frowned. "You're shaking, Jean…" He put a hand to her forehead. "And you're feverish, too…" He put the blanket aside. "Come on, lay down!"
She slipped under the sheets, pulling her legs close to her body. Logan tucked her in, while looking down at her worriedly. "Do you need anything?"
Jean shook her head. "I only have an upset stomach… Might be a virus…", she said weakly with closed eyes. "I already took something against it and should be fine soon…"
Logan got up and walked over to the bathroom. When he came back he put a wet and cold flannel on her forehead. "Rogue wanted to see you. She's been here shortly before you came back. Have you seen her?"
"No. Did she say what she wanted?"
He shook his head. "No, but I think she wanted to talk to you about something serious." Logan stroked her cheek gently. "You getting warmer?"
Jean opened her eyes a bit. "No…" She could feel the coldness in every inch of her body. Logan laid down behind her and put his arms around her, holding her tight to him. "Better?"
She smiled softly and closed her eyes again, feeling how the fever dazed her head. Soon, she had fallen asleep.
The Professor was on his way back to his office when he met Ororo, who had just dismissed a few students that had detention. "Did you find out anything?", she asked and walked down the corridor next to him.
"Unfortunately, no…"
She shook her head. "That's weird."
"Yes, it is", Charles said and maneuvered his wheelchair around a corner. "How is the training going?"
"Fine!", Storm answered. "They're making progress. I wanted to raise the level the next time."
Charles nodded. "That's good to hear."
"I'm only worried…"
"About what?"
"Magneto", she said. "If Cerebro can't find him… I mean…he can hit us anytime and we aren't prepared…"
He stopped at the front of his office door. "I doubt he would attack us during the holidays. But of course I'll try again if I can find them through Cerebro somehow." He looked at her, when she took a look at her watch. "You're waiting for someone?"
"Yeah. Actually, Logan wanted to wait here for me. We planned another training unit for today." Ororo looked down the corridor. "I'll check on him."
"Okay. See you later!"
Upstairs, Logan still laid on the bed with Jean in his arms as he heard a knock on his door again. "Come in!", he said just as loud as necessary, since he didn't want to wake her.
Storm stepped in. "Hey!", She came closer to the bed and started to frown as she saw Jean. "I thought you wanted to wait for me downstairs."
"Sorry…", he said when he remembered it. "Something came in between."
"What's wrong with her?", Storm asked calmly and bent forward to take a closer look.
"She's sick", he answered. "Look, would you mind if I stay here?"
"No, of course not. Does she have a cold?"
"She said it's probably an upset stomach or a virus. She threw up twice in the morning." He felt Jean shivery again.
"A virus?", Storm asked frowning. "That's strange. No one has one lately and as far as I know she hadn't had contact to any of the students so far…"
Logan shrugged. "She's the Doc…"
"Well, then let's hope she'll get better soon. I'll ask Hank to stand in for you, then."
"Thanks!"
"See ya!" Storm gave him a smile before she left and made her way to the basement.
The days passed and Logan was happy that Christmas was finally over, even if he was the only one who felt like that. Now he was counting the days until New Year's Eve, because after that, it would take some time till the school would be decorated again. Jean had also felt better after two days of lying in bed and he was able to take care of Storm's Dangeroom instructions again. Nevertheless, he hadn't seen Rogue since the day she had stood in front of his door. He still wanted to know what was bothering her. At the same time he wanted her to come to him if she wanted to talk. He wouldn't go to her and ask for it.
Logan stepped out of the shower and reached for the towel. "Damn!", he cursed when he accidentally knocked the garbage can over which spilled all its contents on the floor. Logan sighed and got down to his knees to put everything back. He stopped abruptly as his eyes caught something. Slowly, Logan took the object into his hand and looked at it with a raised eyebrow…
