I'll Take My Chances

Magneto seemed to savor the horrified expressions of the guards as he used his powers to fling their precious guns far out of reach. Before they could recover from their panic, Pyro blasted one of them with a deadly fireball and Quicksilver blurred forward to knock the other off his feet with a roundhouse punch.

"Guns," Magneto scoffed. "How primitive." With a casual wave of his hand, he wrenched the armored fence between them and the power plant aside.

On the other side, a slightly larger group of heavily armed guards awaited the three mutants. This time Magneto merely used his magnetic powers to keep their bullets at bay while Pyro and Quicksilver again dispatched the guards with ease.

Nothing stood between them and the Arc Reactor facility, which Magneto observed with satisfaction.

xxxx

It had taken some convincing for General Fury to allow the three youngest X-Men to accompany Professor X and Beast on the S.H.I.E.L.D. air transport, which was currently traveling with all due haste towards Washington, DC.

Despite her earlier confidence in the face of danger, Rogue still had not spoken since the battle with Juggernaut. Bobby glanced anxiously at her from time to time, his expression holding the promise of a lengthy discussion in the near future. Peter was also uncommunicative, but uncertainty did not cloud his features.

On the command deck, General Fury was speaking into his headset rapidly. "I want every available combat and special forces division at the Washington Arc Reactor. Begin a tactical withdrawal of all – and I mean all – civilian resources in the area." He turned back towards the X-Men. "You're sure about this? Because I just left one of the most dangerous mutants in the world at large, and now I'm sticking my neck way out that you have actionable intelligence."

"We're all too certain," Professor X answered gravely. "The plans discovered at Magneto's base were very explicit."

"Arc Reactor technology is designed to produce massive amounts of energy," McCoy added. "When that energy is intentionally directed into an explosion…"

"I thought an Arc Reactor exploded at Stark Labs fairly recently," Bobby pointed out. "It didn't even destroy the entire facility. What's the big deal about this one in Washington?"

"That reactor was a very small model powering a single factory," McCoy explained. "Stark Industries marketed the Washington model as capable of providing power for most of the eastern seaboard… the effects of this reactor's explosion would be unimaginably catastrophic."

Silence descended once more as the aircraft continued its desperate flight south.

xxxx

"Your dad's really sure we're going to be able to make it out in time?" Pyro asked, not for the first time, after blasting the last few guards and technicians standing in the control room.

Quicksilver gave him an oh please look. "Perhaps you're forgetting just how fast I am."

"I said we," Pyro muttered.

Alarms started blaring before they could exchange more verbal jabs.

"He didn't start the overload already, did he?" Pyro demanded as Quicksilver streaked over to the control panel.

"Of course not," Quicksilver answered disdainfully. His fingers were lightning fast as they worked over the keyboard. "That's a proximity alarm."

The main monitor switched to a security feed that showed a S.H.I.E.L.D. transport approaching.

Quicksilver rolled his eyes and activated his headset. "Dad: the control room is clear and we're on our way out, but we've got company."

"We're done here. Fury's men won't be able to stop the overload."

"No," Pyro spoke up as the monitor showed several X-Men accompanying the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents out of the transport, "but they might."

xxxx

For the four X-Men – accompanied by Emma Frost – the second reunion with Kurt was as hurried as the first, though Storm and Jean both took a moment to hug the disheveled young man.

During the walk back to the X-Jet, Jean surprised everyone by walking next to her heated rival. "So, Emma," she tried to sound conversational, not entirely overcoming the obvious edge in her voice. "Since you seemed to know so much about this 'Phoenix' – what with the kidnapping and all – would you mind making yourself useful and enlightening the rest of us?"

Emma glanced at Scott, who was staring stoically ahead at the forest apparently looking for the landing site.

"I would presume you know at least as much about it as I do," Emma answered, sounding genuinely confused.

Jean smiled thinly. "Come now, Emma. You can't really expect me to believe you're willing to believe anyone knows more than you about anything."

Emma forced a smile in return. "About supernatural beings inhabiting their own bodies? I'm usually willing to defer on that one."

"Let's try to keep on task here, people," Scott suggested anxiously.

"The X-Jet is one hundred meters southwest of our current position," Jean announced casually, deflecting his attempt to redirect their attention. "I'm just very curious," she continued, "because you seemed to know an awful lot about it. What were those modifications you made to Cerebro?"

"When I found you at Alkali Lake, the Phoenix Force was very malleable. It sensed an equally powerful psychic nearby—" Jean snorted audibly, but Emma chose to ignore that, "and part of it entered me to explore."

"And you didn't let go," Jean added.

"Would you willingly let go of a force that powerful?" Emma asked flippantly.

"Yes," Jean answered, a haunted look in her eyes.

Emma gave her a skeptical look, but continued, "The modifications I made to Cerebro were to contain the force. It would then be an easy force to channel the power into me. Without the consciousness."

"You were going were going to kill it!" Jean gasped. "You were going to kill the most powerful being in the universe!"

Emma gave her another condescending look. "If I left the consciousness intact, it would have easily dominated mine." Now she looked somewhat confused. "In fact… how is it that you're still walking among us?"

"I was hoping you would have some insight into that," Jean admitted. "Before I use the power again."

Scott, who had been staying out of the conversation, suddenly whirled around to face them. "What?" he demanded.

"Scott, the Professor and the others aren't going to be able to stop the explosion," Jean answered reasonably. "If they're lucky, they might be able to fight off Magneto – that's a very big if – but that won't leave them with nearly enough time to stop the reaction. They're just not going to make it."

"All the more reason to get to the X-Jet and—"

"And what?" Jean demanded. "Fly halfway around the world in five minutes? I sure hope Logan's driving."

Logan grunted appreciatively at that comment, but looked just as skeptical as Scott.

"Jean…" Scott implored, stepping closer to her.

"I'm sorry, Scott," Jean answered firmly, already beginning to glow with flame-like energy. "I'm just going to have to take the risk."

"Jean, wait!" Scott pled.

But there was a flash of light she was gone, visible as a streak of energy in the sky for only a few seconds because of the blinding speed at which she was traveling.