A/N: I guess I would be more inclined to apologize for the wait if it weren't for the fact that I really think this chapter's worth it. I'm not sure if I'll actually finish in the promised 15 chapters, I guess we'll see. The title's from Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, an amazing song and an even better album.

WARNING! Blood and graphic violence, I guess

Chapter 13: Our Ashes Will Fly From The Aeroplane Over The Sea

The weird vision he had involving Rogue – he didn't call her Rogue, but he couldn't remember the name he had given her (or was it her real name?) at all – was bouncing around his mind since he woke up. The puffy sleeves of her emerald dress, the white gloves that adorned her fingers – it was all so periodical and specific. He remembered the feel of the hat he wore – but there was no hat, no cane. It was all made up in his own mind by either Frost or Jean.

During the flight he walked over to Alex and tried to distract him by talking about his vision.

The guy was a bit dopey after being stuffed with painkillers, but he described himself battling against pirates. Piotr confirmed the story, while Kitty rolled her eyes.

"It was, like, totally tailored to Kurt. The dork loves pirates."

Okay, theirs was also periodical, but even stranger than his. And meant that since the four shared their hallucination, Rogue shared his.

He shuffled next to Laura and quietly asked her what she saw.

She looked at his face with a raised eyebrow, her arms crossing over her chest.

"Something I've always wished for, Remy."

Cryptic, but very revealing.

Alex's, Piotr's and Kitty's were all connected to Kurt's wants. Laura's was to her own.

Did that mean he was the one controlling the vision he apparently shared with Rogue?

But that made no sense, with it being a period piece about marriage and stability-

Wait.

She loved period pieces about all that. Behind that thick make up there was a romantic softie, something he always knew about. She pretended she was above all that, but she quietly enjoyed it.

He settled down next to her for the remainder of the flight. Rogue turned to him, her cheek resting on her curled up knees.

"Don't tell 'em, but Ah'm terrified" She whispered, glancing at Scott and Kitty.

He didn't want to tell her that he already knew she was pretending to be okay when he saw her. That beneath that calm demeanor she was trembling, because she was an eighteen year old girl who almost died in a jet crash. She seemed to fool her teammates, probably due to their own trauma.

"Don't worry about it, cherie" He put his hand on her boot, squeezing. "Your secret's safe with moi."

"Thanks" She nodded, closing her eyes.

She fell asleep after a few minutes, her head slowly falling off her knees. He moved a bit closer, pushing her head with the back of his hand until it rested comfortably. He moved his shoulder, so that it kept Rogue in that almost-not-spine-altering position. He must have also fallen asleep, since he was woken up by a rough shove.

"Get Stripes up, Velocity's leaving in ten minutes" Logan gave him a hard to read look before moving to the pilot seat.

Remy blinked a couple of times and squeezed Rogue's leg – wait, did she move? She was slightly draped over him, the top of her hair tickling his chin. She stirred to life and quickly moved away, looking over him.

"Ah'm sorry" She breathed out, brushing her hair back. "Are you okay after the… After I touched you?"

She glanced worriedly behind his shoulder, no doubt catching Wolvie staring at them.

"Just a bit of a headache" He stood up, offering his hand to pull her up. Surprisingly, she accepted it and held on as they got out.

"Remy?" Her voice turned a bit airy and his worry skyrocketed. Was she about to pass out? Was that why she still held onto him. "Can we- Can we talk?"

"Oui, of course" He let her tug him to the elevator, where she finally let go of his hand. His fingers buzzed with energy, something he stopped feeling years earlier. He put them in his pocket, playing around with the loose deck. He'll have to throw one out of the window in a controlled explosion to get rid of this tension.

As they walked through the hallways he quickly charged a simple two and sent it flying, the card exploding in the air before even touching the ground.

Succès.

She walked into her room and immediately sat down on her bed, hugging her legs to her body.

Still closed off.

He shut the door behind himself, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. He's never been inside her room with her – he's been here alone before, just to drop off stupid gifts he thought she'd like – and wasn't sure exactly where she wanted him to sit. He settled for grabbing her desk chair and rotating it, sitting in front of her with the added barrier of the backrest. It seemingly helped, he could see Rogue's shoulders relax and her hands loosen their deadly grip on her own knees.

"Es-tu sûr tu vas bien, Rogue?" He rested his crossed arms on the back of the chair and leaned in, observing her face.

He couldn't see panic or pain, but that didn't mean she wasn't suffering.

"Ah'm fine, really" She nodded, sighing. "Ah wanted to talk about what happened."

"One of the telepaths made us see things that weren't there" He shrugged, ready to take the blow. "It doesn't need to be anything you don't want it to be, cherie."

He will be alright if she agrees. He's gonna finally just get over it and leave her alone.

"Remy… I know how you feel about me" He doubted it for a second, before he saw her fingers twitch. Oh, right, we kissed. "I just have no idea how it would work, with my powers. I'm not able to… Have a relationship that you'd want."

"Right now, cherie" He stood up and walked over to her, putting his gloved knuckle beneath her chin. "I just want you."

She started to blink rapidly and he started to slowly move back, unsure if it was really the right move. Her hand grabbed his arm before he could completely lose contact with her skin.

He wanted to kiss her. Of course he did.

Remy settled for resting his forehead against hers, the material of his suit allowing for that bit of intimacy.

She moved her hand up his arm, past his shoulder and neck to finally rest on his lips. She kissed the back of her gloved palm before hugging him, her warm cheek resting against his shoulder, her breath now tickling his neck through the thin material of his suit.

It was more than enough for him.

The ride back was a nightmare. Logan decided that both Violette and Kurt were to fly back with him in the Blackbird, while Jamie and Kitty got to have a nice flight back with Mr McCoy.

She considered just walking off the wing and sinking to the bottom of the ocean instead, but Kurt's tight grip on her shoulder and panicked stare stopped her. She couldn't just leave him to suffer alone.

The atmosphere was thick enough you could cut it with Wolvie's claw. Both Violette and Kurt stared straight ahead in their front row seats, trying to put as much space between them as they could. Logan seemed to enjoy the fear he could no doubt smell off them.

"Were you at least smart about it?" Logan looked at them over his shoulder, switching on the autopilot.

Violette was suddenly happy they let the evidence get swallowed by the depth of the cold ocean water.

"J-Ja" Kurt's cheeks turned a violent shade of purple. Violette glanced at her boyfriend, thinking they agreed to just stay silent no matter what.

"Cause Casper, I don't want to have to take care of a little elf while you two go off to college."

"We're not… We're taking a year off" Was the only thing that managed to go past her trembling lips. She sometimes forgot how scary Logan could be.

"You are?" His eyes shifted between the two teens. "Both of you?"
"I have no idea what I want to do" She answered truthfully, feeling as if the air around her suddenly went back to not being toxic. "Apocalypse kind of took over all of last year and I missed most of the deadlines before I could figure out where to go."

"And you, Elf?"

"I thought about it and I decided to just wait and go to Cornell with Kitty next year" Kurt's tail whooshed around him, as if all of his panic transferred to it. "I didn't want to go alone."

"What about your sister?"

"I think Rogue had too much on her plate last year to think about it" Kurt shrugged, looking at Violette. "Or she just didn't say anything to me."

"No, I haven't heard anything from Remy" Violette shook her head, looking at Logan. "He'd be the first to know, probably even before her."

"Yeah" Logan huffed, turning back to the console. "At least with them I can be sure they're not gonna be idiots like you two."

Violette and Kurt exchanged looks before relaxing. They weren't going to die yet.

Scott sat next to Jean's bed, his elbows resting on his knees, his mouth pressed to his folded hands.

She looked so fragile, pale and immobile, her hair mimicking red flames licking at the white med-bay sheets.

Mr McCoy checked everything he could before going off to get back the Blackbird and found nothing. Her spine was untouched, her bones unbroken, her vital organs in a tip top shape. Her body was perfectly fine and there was nothing they could do, except maybe hook her to an IV to hydrate her.

The Professor came in just as Beast left and talked to Scott for a minute before putting the tips of his fingers against Jean's temples. Scott could clearly see his eyes widening, his mouth pressing together in a tense line.

He said everything was fine.

Scott took a shaky breath, letting one of his hands rest on the coarse sheet.

Why was he lying? What did he see?

His hand inched towards her pale fingers, her skin almost blending into the material under the harsh fluorescent lights.

Was Jean ever going to wake up?

Her hand was slightly warmer than his. He grasped it delicately, afraid she might break under the slightest touch. He knew the thought was ridiculous, that Jean was strong and capable and powerful. However, the girl laying still on the hospital bed seemed far from the Jean he knew.

He could feel the nails of his other hand biting into his palm. He bit down on is knuckles, trying to keep his tears at bay.

She was going to be fine. She had to be.

Lance started calling HQ as soon as they got on the chopper back home. The abandoned Hellfire base was wiped clean by both the Brotherhood and regular SHIELD agents. Todd rested the back of his head against the cool metal, glancing at Wanda every once in a while. The sight of the room full of burned bodies made her retreat into herself. They all agreed to just let her be for now.

By now his feelings for the girl mellowed out. He still found her beautiful and wished for her to pay him any positive attention, but he no longer forced his presence onto her. Taking care of Luna and all of their SHIELD training kinda hijacked his life, which left him with almost no free time to harass her.

Which, to be honest, as the years went by got kinda… Embarrassing.

He'll have to apologize to her one of these days.

Lance's face paled as he listened to Fury. Todd exchanged a look with Pietro.

"We're flying to the Institute" Lance hung up, his knuckles whitening as he squeezed the life out of his own knee. "To talk over the occult shit."

That didn't sound like enough of a reason to join the X-geeks for a chat. They usually just let Fury send back whatever he thought appropriate directly to the Prof. Pietro raised one of his eyebrows, clearly thinking the exact same thing.

"The main team crashed in the middle of the ocean" Todd was incredibly happy they were far away from the ground, which would no doubt be shaking by now. "I want… I need to… And Fury's sure we need to work together to figure out Hellfire's next move. And he's stuck in Europe."

"I'll call Freddy then" Pietro was already dialing their teammate when Todd turned to him. "And father."

Todd once again glanced at Wanda, who slightly twitched at the mention of her father. He pressed the side of his boot against hers. She didn't look up, but pressed back.

As soon as they touched down, Jamie was ready to take a bath in bleach. Too much information didn't even cover it.

Laura stood right outside the hangar in her typical military stance, the tips of her shoes pointing in different directions.

"At ease, soldier" He mock saluted, giggling.

"I already am" He hands unclasped from behind her back, one of them brushing back her hair. He followed the movement of her fingers with his eyes, observing the way they parted the brown strands. "Where's Logan?"

It felt kind of weird to hear her call him that. On the other hand, he didn't speak of his own father at all, let alone mentioned him in casual conversation.

"He's probably killing my sister and Kurt" Jamie shook his head, trying to get rid of the thoughts Logan's growl put into his mind. "They deserve it as far as I'm concerned."

Laura delicately raised her right brow, the corners of her lips twitching.

"Did they blow up the jet?"

"I wish" Kitty passed through them, making Jamie shiver. Laura stayed motionless. "I hope they didn't, like, do it on my seat. Damn, now I'm thinking about it."

"Did what?" Laura turned to the girl, her face adorably scrunched up in confusion.

"You know, it" Kitty shrugged, before freezing with her eyes wide open. "Oh, you don't know."

"Jamie?" Laura turned to him and he felt the tips of his ears burning. "What did they do?"

"Oh just, you know, the typical teenager stuff" He rubbed the back of his neck, asking whatever higher power was at work to open up the earth and swallow him whole. Or maybe Kitty could just phase him straight to the center of the Earth. He hoped Logan was too busy with Violette and Kurt to suddenly come in and rip his head cleanly off his body. And that Mr McCoy decided to choose the stairs instead of the lift. "That people do… Together."

"Would you show me?"

Jamie started to choke on air. Kitty giggled and stepped into the lift.

"Oh, this is precious."

The doors closed behind her before he managed to catch his breath.

"I-I don't think you'd be alright with it" Jamie decided that this was the response he was going with. "You should ask Boom Boom about it. Or Storm."

Logan decided to take this as his cue to show up. He stopped right next to them, looked from Laura to Jamie and growled.

"I hope you're not gonna take after Casper, Monkey King."

"No, of course not, I would never, please don't kill me Logan!" Jamie pleaded for his life, looking probably all of twelve years old despite managing to outgrow Logan this year. Violette guessed he'll be around 5'10 in a year or two.

"What did Violette and Kurt do?" Laura took the opportunity and Jamie's never been as mortified.

"They had sex" Logan huffed, rubbing his face. "I'd feel bad about telling you this, but Half-pint knows, so it's not gonna be a secret for long. Also, I sent her back to your room so there's no hiding that from you."

"Oh" Laura's face and body completely relaxed, while she nodded her head. "No wonder Jamie told me you were killing them."

"Yeah" Logan eyed him suspiciously for a second, before pushing the button to call down a lift. "You wanted to talk, Laura?"

"Later" She sent Logan a look Jamie couldn't read. It seemed to suffice for Logan, since he just stepped in. As soon as the doors behind him closed, Laura turned to Jamie with a glare. "Why wouldn't you just tell me?"

"I wasn't sure you knew what it was!" He exclaimed, a bit defensive. After all, there was a lot of mundane things Laura had no idea about. How was he supposed to know she got sex-ed while imprisoned in a secret Nazi base.

"I still don't know why you insisted on using a weird code" She pushed an accusatory finger against his chest. "I had basic biology since I was five years old."

It was weird to think about Laura getting a general education while being trained to become a super-weapon, but it made some kind of a twisted sense inside Jamie's mind.

"People are just generally uncomfortable around the subject" Which was true, especially while talking to a girl he liked.

Laura apparently decided she could understand that, since she removed her finger from his chest.

"Okay" She nodded, taking a deep breath through her nose. "I believe you."

Jamie's shoulders relaxed and he could suddenly breathe properly again.

"Could we hang out?" Laura moved back to the elevator, pushing the button. It was nearing four am. "I want to wait for Violette to take a shower before going back to my room."

"Jesus, both you and Logan are screwed" Jamie shuddered as the thought of smelling anything passed his mind. "I'm so sorry for you. And yeah, sure. Mario Kart?"

"Dibs on Peach" He could see the corners of her lips slowly lifting in a smile. "And don't go easy on me this time. I'll never learn that way."

His heartbeat no doubt sped up as he tried to pretend he had no idea what she was talking about. It sped up even more once they reached ground floor and Laura pulled him towards the lounge by the hand.

When they touched down Freddy was already waiting for them in front of the main entrance. Todd hopped over to him as quickly as he could, to no doubt share everything they found at the base. Lance also raced over, to ask if he knew anything about how Kitty was feeling. Pietro stayed back, waiting for Wanda to unbuckle and stand up.

"Are you okay?" He put his hand on her bicep, the red leather of her coat cool to the touch.

"I think so" She nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. "There was just… A lot of weird energy in that room."

He didn't pretend to get Wanda's powers. They were layered and complicated while his just worked without him needing to even think about them. So he just nodded and forced himself to walk over to Freddy at a regular, human pace. He wanted to be close to Wanda, just in case.

"How's Luna?" He asked as soon as they were within earshot.

"Fine, a bit sleepy" Freddy shrugged, smiling. "She asked about you when I woke her up."

Pietro's heart both broke and grew at the same time. His daughter missed him.

When they stepped inside the mansion most of the mutants were waiting on them, despite it being only six in the morning. Rogue, a limping Summers Junior and Icicle shook their hands in what was supposed to be an official greeting, before leading them to the lower levels. Pietro's eyes shifted around the room to look for Violette, but she was nowhere to be found. Maybe the Elf got hurt and she stayed with him. They passed by the youngest team while heading to the elevators. Jamie, the cowboy, Tabby hiding behind Amara, the sunshine one, Wanda with green hair, the wolf-girl-

Pietro took a step back and turned to the baby mutants, his eyes wide. Wanda crashed into him, cursing him for stopping so suddenly.

"What's wrong with you, Pietro?" She followed his line of sight and gasped.

The girl stared right at them, curious but not surprised.

Pietro circled her in a second and stopped right in front of her, their faces inches apart.

He could clearly see that she wasn't exactly a carbon copy of his sister, but the similarities were uncanny. The shape of their faces, their ears, their eyes – they were basically the same. What was more, he could see some of his own daughter in the girl – their hair had the same slight wave to them and there was a subtle hump on the ridge of their noses. There were differences to her face – her lips were completely unfamiliar to him, her eyes were an intense, but not unnatural green, the folds that showed up next to her nose. All things he couldn't pin down to anyone he could be related to. He glanced around at the rest of the X-geeks. None of them seemed surprised.

"Who are you?" His voice was more icy than he intended, but something inside his stomach turned because she wasn't young enough.

"Step away from her" Summers junior put his hand on Pietro's shoulder but he pushed it away, his eyes never leaving hers.

"I-I… I'm Lorna" It sounded more like a question than a statement, her voice going up at the last syllable. Her name didn't ring any bells.

"You know what he means" Wanda stepped forward to his side, her brows narrowed. "You know who we are. Who are you?"

"Guys-"

"You all know what this is about" Pietro interrupted Tabby as his hands started to shake. "You know. So just tell us."

Lorna licked her lips and looked around the room before her eyes returned to Pietro's. He already knew what she was about to say before the words left her mouth.

"My name is Lorna Dane, and my father's Magneto."

Pietro blinked and realized he just punched the wall right next to the girl. She looked about Jamie's age. Way too old. Way too old.

Wanda slightly shook.

"You- Father would never" Wanda turned to him, her lip trembling.
"Pietro" Lance put his hands on both of their backs, leading them delicately away. "We need to take care of the club. Whatever happened, it's not her fault. We can all talk about Magneto later."

He knew Lance was right, that Luna needed him home asap, that he should fight with his father later. That his hand hurt already, pulsating to the same rhythm his brain did.

Lorna looked positively terrified. Pietro felt bad for scaring her, she was just a kid after all. She called father Magneto. She probably didn't know him at all.

Luna. He had to finish this shit-show and go back to Luna. Then scream at his father after putting her back to her own bed.

Pietro put his hand on Wanda's forearm. She continued to tremble, her hand covering his.

Scott blinked his eyes open, feeling something warm – way too warm – in his vicinity. His hand instinctively grabbed for Jean's and he yelled in surprise, his and scorched. He looked at Jean's face, her hair slowly floating up from the pillow. He pushed on the alarm button to call for Mr McCoy, the machinery around him starting to shake. The EKG started to go crazy, Jean's entire body stiffening and raising off the cot.

"Jean" Scott tried to talk her down, the same way he did hen she had her power surge. "Jean, you're home. You're safe, you saved us all-"

Her eyes opened, a glowing orange in place of her usual green orbs.

"We need to plan for any future strikes" Logan sighed, pushing his hair out of his eyes. What a mess these past two days have been. Kids lost, almost dying, a fucking cult. He was exhausted and he spent most of his time behind the scenes now, they were out there, fighting.

Alex was shaking in his seat, hand squeezing his thigh. The kid was pale, but insisted that he was alright. Logan was ready to bench him immediately, but he was just like his brother. Always thinking about others.

The crash visibly left a mark on Rogue. With Jean incapacitated and Scott not leaving her side, she stepped in for this debrief. Another on the list of kids he'd bench.

Only kid that looked actually okay to have this conversation was Bobby, but he seemed to eye the twins, no doubt out of protectiveness over Lorna.

The Brotherhood refused to separate for the meeting, not that Logan blamed them. After watching the footage they captured in the base he was amazed that only Wanda looked worse for wear.

The lights around them flickered before shutting down. He could hear Wanda's heartbeat quicken.

"Don't worry, the back-up generator will kick in any minute now" He said to calm her down, but her breathing and heart never slowed.

"Something's wrong" Her voice cracked. Logan's eyes adjusted to the dark by now and he could see her hands gripping the edge of the table.

The lights flickered back on, significantly dimmed. Logan told the kids to stay and moved to open the door, but something pulled it back and activated the magnetic lock.

"Hell" He turned to he Brotherhood. "Dukes, go through the wall right next to it."

The kid nodded and took a running start, the metal giving under the force. Logan moved to the front, sniffing around. Nothing unusual.

The rest poured out of the room, following him to the staircase. Every few steps they heard either the pipes bursting through the walls, the lights exploding or the metal walls around them moaning under stress. Wanda's hands started to glow with her powers, lighting the way. Alex followed suit, closing their group with Bobby. Pietro ran ahead, coming back as they finally reached the stairs up.

"Summer's down at the med bay, patched him up, need someone to keep him company."

"What about Jean?"

"What about her?"

The stairs started to moan and shake, twisting and breaking.

"Iceman, boost us then move to the med bay with Toad. Huddle, try not to get hit."

The kids didn't question him. Alex and Wanda blasted away any hunks of metal floating too close for their comfort, while Bobby seemed to curl into himself, nine people (two considerably heavier than others) and three stories up testing his limits. They stopped eight feet below the ledge, Bobby panting.

"I-I can't" He shook his head, his arms buckling beneath the weight of his own torso.

Lance jumped grabbing the ledge and pulled himself up, offering his hand to help others. Rogue was the first to accept it and once she was safely over, she also offered her hand. Fred hoisted up Bobby, who just limply rolled to safety once he was over. Fred helped Alex next, the boy protesting the he was perfectly fine. Toad launched himself into the air and landed safely without any issues. Pietro let Lance pull him up while Wanda levitated to safety. They both joined Rogue and Lance while Logan crouched down, hoisting Fred up as the four of them pulled him up. Once Fred's hands safely latched onto the edge the others moved to give him space to pull himself up. Logan took a running start, his claws sinking into the concrete ledge. Toad hoisted Bobby up and nodded to them, turning to the med bay.

"I'll join them, Bobby's in no shape to fight" Alex moved to the boys, draping Bobby's other arm over his shoulders.

The rest of the kids followed Logan to the emergency ladder leading to the ground floor. He climbed up the six foot passageway and pushed against the hatch, not really surprised that against the backup power source protocol they were closed. He sliced through the door, catching it with his hand and slowly pushing it up.

The soundproofing of the lower levels played to their detriment. The mansion was in chaos. Logan threw the hatch door to the side and dove towards Kitty, the girl shielding an unconscious Ray.

"What's happening?" He asked, furniture flying past the fallen bookcase they were behind.

"Jean's on fire" She watched the rest crawl out, lifting her hand and catching the couch, letting its momentum pull her towards them. She phased it through them, letting it go once she was pulled past the hole. "And not really herself."

"Kitty!" Lance barely got his torso out as he threw himself towards her, his hand lifting along with a wall of floorboards and rocks. The couch turned back and hit it, embedding into the rock. However, the shaking made Fred lose his footing on the ladder, only Pietro's quick senses helping them avoid disaster as he pulled Rogue and Wanda down and away from the falling giant.

Logan took a few deep breaths before jumping over the bookcase, running towards the main hall. He jumped onto the wall, his claws sinking in the wooden panelling, as a dresser flew past him. Once he got to the kitchen he saw Lorna struggling to keep the silverware and pots away from Sam as he tried to break through the wall, the window closed off with the lock-down protocol. Roberto was pushing against the metal, the warmth of his powers only slightly bending the exterior of the covers.

"Where are the others?" He hid behind the door frame, the pulses of Jean's powers rhythmically hitting the hallway.

"Jamie, Jubilee and Rahne got out before she locked us in" Lorna nodded her thanks as he dove onto one of the cabinets as it flew off the wall, breaking it before it had the chance to hit her. "The rest was upstairs. I have no idea about other teams, though."

Roberto yelled out, his hands bending the non-magnetic blend of silver and aluminum. Sam switched from the wall and waited for Roberto to give him the go ahead, before pushing through the remaining thin layer of metal. Logan ushered them all out, before telling Lorna to seal him in with the stainless steel.

"And get as far away as you can" He finished, slicing through the oncoming cabinets.

Lorna nodded, closing off the window. He could see a faint glow coming from Roberto melting the silverware into one. Once he was sure the barrier was secure, he took a running start, jumped on it and bounced off forward, bursting through the oncoming counter top. He was back in the corridor, crawling flat against the carpet, his claws holding him through the pulses. He could see flames, but didn't hear the usual cackling Pyro let out while fighting. He was surprised however when he found the man and Boom Boom launching a long rage offensive from behind archways leading to the dining hall and the sitting room.

He was a few steps from the main hall, the pulses becoming harder to fight against. In the middle of where once stood the main staircase levitated Jean, Her head and arms thrown back, a smile on her face. She was surrounded by flames, her hospital gown scorched at the ends. He could see Violette, Amara and Gambit trying to take her down with long range attacks from the first floor, ducked behind the railings. Piotr and Laura covered the three, pushing away or breaking any oncoming furniture. Kurt ported from one thing to another, taking them with him, destroying them by collision. Ororo flew right in front of Jean, battling one on one with a wall of flames trying to destroy her, Charles and Hank. Charles sat bellow her, clearly trying to get to Jean. Hank covered his back, breaking through table and potted plant after table and potted plant. Logan cried out, slowly climbing up the archway and letting the pulses flatten him against the wall as he climbed up, his fingers finally brushing against the railing on the first floor. He pulled himself up and cut a hole big enough to get through. When he finally got to Piotr he was almost out of breath.

"Throw me at her" The man blinked a few times, clearly not understanding what Logan expected from him. "Just fucking throw me!"

Piotr grabbed the back of his shirt, turned a few times and let go and Logan was suddenly in the air above Jean's position, the pulses no longer getting to him. He was about to take her down from above as her eyes flew open, the same flames as the ones around her lighting her eyes.

Logan felt as if his entire body was engulfed in flames, the heat not only encircling him, but also pushing him back, back through the walls of the next three adjacent rooms. Once the heat lets go he's gasping for air – something went through his back and one of his lungs, Jesus that hurt. He coughed up blood but slowly turned over, glaring at the fucking chair leg that stabbed him, thankfully shallow enough for him to just get off it.

As he waited for his healing factor to kick in he heard more commotion, however running around with a hole the size of a chocolate coin in his lung was impossible. He tried it before. Apparently a working respiratory system was crucial for running.

Once he was back in working order he ran back. Violette, Amara and Piotr were already down, Kurt was barely keeping up, Laura now a floor below and helping Hank, while Gambit waited for any window to join them down.

Logan was about to take a running start to get down when Jean laughed, her voice cutting through the cracking of the flames.

"Pathetic" With a flick of her finger Kurt was sent flying and Gambit barely caught him by the material of his suit. Another move of Jean's finger, Laura and Hank were sent through the windows. Storm tried to get through the fire, but Jean just wrapped it around her and sent her through the roof. Logan helped Gambit pull the unconscious Kurt up before bouncing off the railing. He aimed to just scratch her leg – not very deep, enough to distract her, maybe weaken her mental barriers to help Charles – but she was faster, her powers pushing him down, through the hardwood floor and into the ground. Charles was still fighting her, he could see it as Gambit ran around her back, throwing card after card. Before he could reach for his second deck, Jean twisted his hand back, a horrific crack filling the main hall. She pushed him away into the darkness of one of the corridors. Logan could see her lowering herself to the floor, taking steps towards Charles. His friend's forehead glistened from sweat, one he broke out into both from the heat and the strain. Logan yelled at her to get away from him.

Jean stopped in front of Charles and with a delicate brush of her fingers wiped the sweat away. She chuckled, her voice seeming deeper than usual.

"Is that the best you can do, old man?" She bent over to be at his eye level. Charles opened his eyes, staring straight into hers. "There's nothing you can do to stop the Phoenix."

And with a light tap to his temple, Charles slumped in his chair.

Jean – or apparently the Phoenix – looked around the mess she created before her eyes lit up with the flames once again. The ceiling right above her cracked and caved in, leaving behind a small opening. She flew through it, closing it behind her retreating form.

Logan wasn't sure how far away she was when her powers stopped affecting him. He got up and ran to Charles, checking him over.

He was still breathing.

Logan let his forehead rest against the armrest of Charles' wheelchair.

What were they supposed to do now?