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Chapter 4

At the mansion, the alarm went off. Professor X went to Cerebro and accessed the mainframe. Once there, he saw something he had never expected to see again, but did in a different way than he'd ever imagined.

The Phoenix had returned, and the Phoenix was Jess.

Just then, Rogue made mental contact with him. Yo, Prof, you'll never guess. Jess is-

The Phoenix, I know.

Yeah, and, she's attacking us right now. Rogue said, er, thought wildly.

Now that I didn't know. I'll send the elite. Xavier replied, using his term for the senior X-Men.

You migh' wanna leave Scott outta this. Rogue told him. It ain't pretty. He migh' get protective.

He needs to know. Wether or not Scott chooses to go, the fact still stands that he is her father. Xavier argued. We're coming.

The professor pulled out of her thoughts and considered the predicament. He made his decision. Scott, I need you in here.

Sure thing, Professor.

Eight miles away, Logan was getting his tail burned. Literally, getting burned. Better me than them. Poor Donovan had been knocked out a minute ago. For some reason, the Phoenix wasn't shooting fire at him. But she sure was shooting it everywhere else.

Rogue crawled over to him, keeping her head down. "Help is on the way. I contacted the prof. and told him the situation." she looked at her nephew's still form behind Logan. All of them were hiding, just out of sight behind a tree and some bushes. "I'm gonna try and get close enough to her to pull her out of that state."

As she made to move, Logan reached out and took her arm. "I don' think that's a good idea, Roguey. She ain't right in her head, it could transfer."

Rogue sighed, but nodded in agreement. Donovan roused and sat up beside them.

Rubbing his head gingerly where he'd hit the tree that knocked him out, Donovan whispered, "What's happening?"

Logan looked at him like he was the craziest person in the world. "Your girlfriend is giving us a beatin'." He smirked. "You are th' only one who actually fell unconscious, and she wasn't even usin' her firebrands."

The back of Donovan's neck turned pink. "She ain't my girlfriend." he murmured, falling back to his cajun backstreet style of talking that his mom had tried to rid him of.

Rogue grinned."Talkin' streetwise, eh?"

Donovan's retort was lost in the roar of the XM Velocity's propellers and motor.

Storm jumped out before the blades had even stopped. Rushing over, she vainly looked her husband over for wounds. Logan took her hands off his shoulder and rib cage.

"'Roro, you gotta be more careful, you can't heal yourself like I can." Logan said in one of the rare moments when you could tell that the couple were married. "You could get killed."

Ororo was about to reply when Scott rushed up. "Where is she? What happened to my daughter, Logan?" Scott's eyes blazed freely, no longer did he need the ruby-quartz specs to control them. His eyes were a brilliant dark blue in the midst of his flame engulfed eyes.

Just then, a soft, child-like voice reached their ears. If the Velocity's engines had been on,
they'd have missed it.

"Over here, Daddy. Come and find me, I'm lost." It was Jess.

Donovan stood, tripped because his head spun from the blow to it, and stood again to run toward the sound, Scott on his heels.

They followed the sound into the thicket, and glanced up when they heard a cry. Jess was about thirty-five feet in the air, sitting on a tree branch. All signs of the earlier hostility were gone, leaving a scared shell of a usually strong girl. Her jeans and tee were back, gone was the flirtatious style of earlier. The only thing different was that her face and arms were scratched, and the pony-tail was missing from her hair, leaving it tangled and matted down to her waist.

Jess gave a soft whimper. "I- I can't get down. I'm scared, Daddy. Please don't let me fall."

Scott called out in a calming voice. "Don't worry baby, I won't. Just sit tight for a little longer." To himself he added, "How on earth did she get up there?"

Even though Donovan knew the question wasn't meant for anyone, he answered it. "I think that when the Phoenix retreated, she just fell. That would scare even Storm."

Logan started to climb the tree, but as soon as he came near Jess, she screamed and clutched at the tree.

"It's alrigh' Jessie. I ain't gonna hurt you." Logan started to reach out for her, but Jess screamed again.

"No, no! Don't - just leave me - I. . . ." Jess stopped talking and started crying. Her soft sobs wrenched at her father's heart.

"Can't you just climb down, Jessie?" Scott tried to reason. Jess just shook her head stubbornly and continued to cry. "Ok, I'll try to come and get you, don't worry."

Logan, who had returned to the ground, shook his head at Scott, who was desperately trying to find a way to climb up. "There aren't any handholds. Only way is if you can fly, or"
Logan didn't finish. He didn't need to, he just flexed his claws and shrugged.

Kurt materialized, startling everyone. "She's acting mental. Maybe she's suffered brain damage."

Professor Xavier rolled forward. "It is possible Kurt. We have no idea what Phoenix had to do to get past her mental barriers, no pun intended. And her mental blocks are just as strong as her mother's were, maybe stronger."

Suddenly, a light bulb went on in Donovan's head. "Kurt, you teleport, righ'? Well maybe you can pop up and fetch her."

Kurt nodded. "Maybe, but I might frighten her. I'll try though." With a bamf, Kurt ported onto the tree branch beside Jess.

Jess let out a blood chilling scream as Kurt appeared in front of her. He scared her so badly that she fell backwards toward the ground.

Donovan, who was the nearest, leapt forward and caught her in his arms. When he stood,
she was silent; Jess had fainted.

Scott ran over and gently removed her from Donovan's arms. Jess snuggled closer and opened her eyes. "Daddy?" with a sigh, she fell silent.

Later, in the infirmary, Jess was hooked up to several machines that monitored her heart rate, blood pressure, and her breathing.

Donovan stood behind Scott, who was sitting in a chair beside the bed and holding his daughter's hand. Jess was still unconscious.

"I, uh, hope she get's better, Mr. Summers." Donovan said softly, breaking the long silence that had kept him quiet for so long.

"Thanks. And it's Scott to you."

"Yes, sir." Again all was silent. Then the monitors went haywire.

Over the din, Donovan heard Scott say, "No, not again. Not her too."