XXXXXXXXX

Scott and Jean had walked through the garden of the mansion together before sitting down on a bench. It was a nice evening, they had just gotten finished eating dinner. It was a night they needed after Liberty Island.

"Scott, you and I have been together for years," Jean began. "We're both happy in this relationship, right?"

"Of course," Scott smiled. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I want to try something. My telepathy has been stronger since we've gotten back, and I think I can do this."

"What?"

Jean began to explain;

"I want to create a psychic rapport between us. A bond. An ultimate bond, ultimate trust. A piece of me in you, a piece of you in me.

Scott didn't know how to respond. He laughed nervously for a second."

"Jean...wow."

"I know it's a lot. It's okay to say no."

"Why would I say no?"

A smile then appeared on Jean's face.

"Really?"

He nodded.

"Yes."

Jean then put her hands up to his temples. After focusing for a moment, a bit of a rush went through the both of them before she put her hands back down. In that instant, she was finished.

"All done. Feel different?" Jean asked.

"I...I can't believe it," Scott said, his eyebrows raised. "It feels-"

"Wonderful," Jean finished, knowing what he was about to say. Not because of her telepathy, but because of the bond that now shared. Scott smiled at her before leaning forward to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and at the moment nothing else mattered but the two of them...

Scott was sitting on his parked car as he remembered that evening. He then got up and approached Alkali Lake. The lake that took the love of his life away. In his mind's eye, Jean pushes back the water bursting from the dam with her telekinesis, while simultaneously lifting the X-Jet, with the other X-Men aboard, out of harm's way.

"It's the only way..."

"Jean...listen to me. Don't do this..." Scott begged.

"Goodbye."

Then, he saw her drowning again, in his mind.

'Scott!'

"Stop," Scott said, out loud to himself.

'Scott...help me.'

"Stop it."

The voices in his head began to grow louder and louder. Scott covered his ears but it does nothing. Finally, he threw his head back and yells up to the sky;

"STOPPPPPPP!"

Scott then violently pulled his shades off and releases the full potential of his optic blasts directly into the lake. The beams tear into the water and cut a huge swath, throwing up a massive wave in either direction. His beams travel across the lake until they hit the remains of the dam and blow large pieces of it away. Scott continues firing until his energy is completely and utterly drained. He squeezed his eyes closed before dropping down to his knees, taking deep breath after deep breath, trying to calm himself down. The water settled back into the lake and all seemed to return to normal.

Silence.

A few bubbles suddenly gurgled from the center of the lake. Then more and more, until a whirlpool forms in the center.

A pebble floated in the air and brushed past Scott's cheek. Then another. Then a leaf. Then more and more. All around him, small and large objects levitate into the air until Scott's area is surrounded by a cloud of floating leaves, rocks, stones, and twigs.

Putting his glasses back on, Scott then saw what was going on around him and his brows furrowed in confusion.

"What the hell?"

BOOM!

A violent explosion than erupts from the whirlpool as a large, gleaming object shoots out, creating a massive blast of water in every direction. The shockwave hits the shore and violently throws Scott backwards away from the edge, making him land painfully on his back.

A creature of pure energy then rose from the depths. It glowed like a living star, emanating wave after wave of telekinetic energy. The object made of fiery light then formed the shape of a bird with expansive wings. It blinded Scott, who was shielding his eyes. It slowly flies down towards him. Inside the bird's mass of light, there was a dark silhouette of a woman. The object settled down at the edge of the outcropping. Scott slowly stood back up, mouth open, and still in pain due to how he landed and took up a defensive posture against the object. The fires and light finally faded out, revealing the woman.

It was Jean Grey.

She was alive...reborn. She blinked a few times before she looked down at her limbs, stunned and disoriented. Scott muttered to himself;

"A dream...has to be a dream."

Jean then looked back up. She seemed real. She blinked, slowly recognizing him.

"Scott?"

"Jean…how?" Scott managed to say.

Jean looked at her glowing limbs again, feeling her power.

"I...I don't know."

Scott slowly took a step towards Jean, than froze. His hands were trembling, and his legs were unsteady as his entire body shook. Jean then smiled.

"You came for me…"

A smile then came to Scott's face as he shook his head.

"I knew it. I just knew it."

Scott closed the gap between them, reaching out to Jean and put his arms around her. To his amazement, she was real and solid and the two moved in for a tight, loving embrace. Jean melted into him, smiling and wrapping him in his arms. Scott put his chin on her shoulder and tears slowly rolled down his cheeks.

"I thought I lost you, Jean...thought I lost you forever..."

"Its okay," Jean reassured. "I'm here. I'm really here."

Scott clutches her and holds on as tight as he can. He then squeezed too hard and Jean gasped loudly with a wide-eyed look of alarm. He quickly let go and looked her over.

"What happened? Are you alright?"

Jean lowered herself to the ground and Scott followed. He then remembered back to their mission at Alkali Lake that seemed like ages ago.

"Your leg was broken."

Jean shook her head.

"It's not my leg. Something's wrong."

Neither Scott nor Jean noticed a large mass of water starting to vaporize into the air around them, going faster and faster as Jean became more anxious and agitated. Her eyes then started to glow orange and Scott became even more alarmed.

"Jean, what is it!?"

"I don't know! I can't-!"

The water vapor then exploded in a blast of telekinetic energy. Scott was catapulted through the air, flying into the trees of the nearby forest. Jean was knocked off the outcropping by the force of the blast and landed on the rocky shoreline, hitting her head on a large rock which knocked her unconscious.

The vapors quickly spread into a thick fog that settles in around Alkali Lake.

XXXXXXXXX

The X-Jet sliced through the clouds as Ororo sat in the pilot's seat, Xavier sitting next to her while Logan paced in the back. They sat in silence when suddenly Xavier heard someone call to him, telepathically.

'Professor!'

Xavier groaned loudly as he clutched his head and tumbled to the floor of the jet.

"Professor!" Ororo yelled in alarm.

Logan had seen what had happened and ran to his side. He carefully grabbed his arms and helped Xavier back into his seat.

"What happened?" Logan asked.

Once he saw sitting again, Xavier's eyes darted to the sides as he tried to communicate with whomever it was that just contacted him.

"Are you okay?"

"I sensed something. Scott is at the lake...something has happened there," Xavier managed to say.

"What?"

"I don't know. I'm trying to concentrate but…my telepathy is being blocked."

Arriving at Alkali Lake, Ororo sat the jet down as gently as possible before lowering the ramp. Logan pushed the Professor's wheelchair down, and immediately entered a thick fog.

"I can't see a damn thing," Logan cursed.

Ororo's eyes rolled in the back of her head and the fog quickly dissipates. Logan then looked incredulously at the multitude of the floating rocks littering the air. Droplets of water fall upwards from leaves.

"What's happening here?"

Ororo looked to the Professor.

"Do you sense anything now?" She asked.

"By the woods," Xavier said.

Logan began making his way towards the woods while the Professor and Ororo went their own ways. He sniffed and he sensed the presence of another person. He suddenly heard a groan and he quickly ran until he saw a man laying on his side on the ground, trying to get back to his feet.

It was Scott.

Running over to his side, Logan gently grabbed him and helped him sit up.

"Scott? What happened? What are you doing here?"

Scott completely ignored him and looked around widely.

"Jean? Where is she?"

"What are you talking about?"

"She's alive!" Scott yelled. "Jean is alive!"

Scott staggered to his feet and tried to run but he nearly collapsed again. Logan caught him and threw his arm over his shoulder, helping him back to the jet but Scott tried getting away from him the whole time.

"Stop fighting me," Logan snapped.

"No! Find Jean!"

Meanwhile, Ororo was making her way down to the lake when she stopped in her tracks at what she saw…or rather what she didn't see.

The lake…Alkali Lake was gone.

The water was completely dried up, what she saw in front of her was a giant mass of land. Her mouth hung open in shock as she continued looking upon what use to be a lake, too stunned to take her eyes off of it. Finally, she heard the yell of the Professor;

"Ororo! Logan!"

She forced herself to turn around and run towards the rocks, where she had heard the Professor's call to her. When she finally reached him she stopped again at what he was looking down at. A woman.

Jean.

Xavier then spoke in a whisper, so soft she barely heard him;

"She's alive. Scott was right."

In disbelief, Ororo went over and dropped down next to her. Jean's eyelids fluttered briefly, but didn't open. That motion but her in action.

"Logan!" She screamed. "Over here!"

After having taken Scott to the jet, Logan ran to the rocks after hearing Ororo yell and his eyes widened in shock when he saw Xavier and Ororo hovering over the body of Jean Grey.

"Jean?" He gasped.

"We have to get her medical attention," Ororo said.

Logan forced himself to move forward and gently picked Jean up in his arms, carrying her back to the jet as Ororo pushed Xavier's wheelchair.

"Jean?" Scott said as he saw them. "Is she alright?"

Scott looked on as Logan ran up the ramp and carefully placed her down on the floor of the jet.

"I don't know. We need to get her back to the mansion."

"I told you, Professor! Damn it, why couldn't you listen to me!?" Scott demanded.

Xavier didn't respond once he and Ororo were on the jet, Ororo ran over to the pilot's seat.

"I'll try to get us back as fast as I can."

"Wait Ororo, not to the mansion," Xavier began.

"Then where?"

Xavier closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again and looked over to Ororo.

"Muir Island."

Ororo turned on the jet and took it up into the air. She set the coordinates for the location the Professor told her and began flying in that direction. However, back at the mansion, Warren and Kitty were alone in the student lounge, on the couch. Kitty sat on Warren's lap as they smiled and talked with one another. Kitty then leaned down to kiss him-

"Hey guess," Jubilee interrupted as she walked into the room, seemingly oblivious to what Warren and Kitty were trying to do. "Have you guys seen Logan anywhere?"

Warren sighed heavily as Kitty looked over at her friend.

"We saw the jet take off a little bit ago. He must have left. The Professor and Storm are gone too."

"But Logan was supposed to let me train today," Jubilee almost whined.

"Jub, has anyone ever told you..." Warren stopped for a moment..."that you're annoying?"

Letting out a fake gasp, Jubilee then reached out and flicked Warren in the ear.

"Ow!"

Kitty laughed as Jubilee then playfully glared at her.

"Did Kitty tell you to say that?" She demanded.

"No," Warren assured. "I figured that out all on my own."

"My job is to annoy you."

"You're great at your job."

Jubilee smiled proudly as Pitor then walked in, having heard the conversation.

"I'll do the introductory session with you, Jubilee. It will take my mind off some things."

"Thank you, Pitor. You guys want to come with us?"

Warren looked to Kitty who shrugged.

"Why not? The movie we were going to see doesn't start for another hour."

Kitty and Warren got up and walked with Pitor and Jubilee down to the Danger Room. Once they reached the sub-complex of the mansion, Pitor set the controls for the session as Jubilee stood with Warren and Kitty, looking around the large, domed room with a somewhat stunned look on her face. It was a little overwhelming being in here.

"Now, uh...just how dangerous is this?" Jubilee then asked, nervously.

"Well, there's a safety protocol installed to prevent fatalities, but you can get hurt," Shadowcat explained.

"I've gotten hurt a few times," Archangel then said.

Jubilee now looked scared which Shadowcat noticed.

"You sure you want to do this?"

"What? Yes...of course I'm sure."

Pitor then walked in and the doors closed behind him. The room began to do its usual thing, as it changed into the level one setting. The group of four then found themselves now standing in front of the school. It was nighttime as Jubilee looked around before seeing in the distance a group of soldiers coming at them. Colossus metaled up while Archangel extended his wings.

"What do we do?" Jubilee asked.

"Defend the school," Colossus explained. "Stop the soldiers from getting in. We have to stop them for two minutes. That's how long the session is."

Jubilee nodded as she began sending blasts of her fireworks at the soldiers. Shadowcat dove forward and grabbed one around the knees before dragging him through the ground, leaving him sunken in at chest level. Archangel spun, taking out two with his wings. Colossus picked up one and tossed him far up into the air, he crash landed on a group of three soldiers, taking them all out at once. He then looked over at Jubilee.

"Keep going! You're doing fine!"

Colossus hit one soldier with a punch, then another. A solider then ran right through Shadowcat but she spun around and grabbed his shoulders, slamming him to the ground. Archangel used his wings to lung up and smashed his forehead against the head of a solider.

Some more continued coming at them as Jubilee even more sparks while the others continued fighting. They didn't have much time left and so they were close to successfully completing the level. Shadowcat leveled a solider with a punch, then a kick to the jaw. Jubilee tried to throw a punch herself but her wrist was caught. She sent sparks into his eyes and the solider cried out as he was blinded and stumbled around until he was closelined by Colossus.

Archangel grabbed a soldier by the leg, flu up into the air and dropped simply dropped him, making him crash onto a group of three other soldiers. Jubilee managed to punch another one before Shadowcat dropped him with a punch of her own.

Finally, about a dozen soldiers came at them at the same time. Archangel, Shadowcat, Jubilee, and Colossus all grabbed each others arms, forming a human chain so they could not pass, but just as quick as they appeared they began to vanish into nothing. The grounds of the school started to disappear as the Danger Room shifted back into its normal self.

"Simulation complete."

Jubilee panted in relief.

"Wow. That was fun."

"Yeah, well," Colossus responded. "Wait until you get level eight."

"Let's do level eight."

"No!" Colossus, Shadowcat, and Archangel all said at the same time, causing Jubilee to laugh.

She was afraid at first, but now the bright smile Jubilee's face wouldn't disappear. At that moment she knew that she had found her calling. This was what she was born to do.