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She slowly made her way up to the front door; summoning what strength she had to knock on the door, feeling weaker because of it. She swayed on the spot, unsure of how long she was going to stay conscious for, when the door swung open, revealing Rogue there, who frowned, confusion also thrown in her look
"Jean?"
Rogue then stumbled when she had to catch the falling former X-Man. Bobby soon joined her, as Peter picked Jean up with ease and headed off to the medical ward, where they were joined by Storm
"What's going on here? Is that Jean?"
"Seems to be," Bobby replied, "Which is really confusing. Isn't she dead?"
Peter laid her out onto a table, as Storm shooed them out the door and off to class. Just as she was about to close the door, Logan burst into the room, looking breathless
"I heard them…talking…and I smelt her…is it really her?"
"Looks like," Storm replied, "But…she's dead?"
Storm and Logan stared down at the comatose Jean Grey, having no idea of what was going on at all. After about five minutes, Logan headed out into the backyard, seeing that Jean's grave was undisturbed, before heading back into the medical ward, questions running through his mind at a thousand miles per second
"How is she alive?"
-XXXX-
Logan sighed as he put his body down to rest. It had been a tough day, especially with the sudden appearance of Jean. He was completely confused as to how she was alive again. He was pretty sure he killed her at Alcatraz. When Jean was awake, he would find out the truth. For all he knew, it could be Mystique, but then he realized that it wasn't Mystique, but really Jean, simply because of her scent. He knew Jean's scent so vividly, it was like it was all around him and he was drowning in her
Logan soon drifted off to sleep, letting his mind rest. About twenty minutes after he had fallen into a deep sleep, his bedroom window opened slowly so it didn't make much noise, as a figure slipped into the room, creeping towards Logan's bed and standing over his prone form, as claws began to emerge from the intruder's fists, two from between his knuckles and one from his wrist. Just as he raised his fist, Laura burst into the room, her claws unsheathed as she lunged at the attacker. Logan shot upright in his bed when he heard the crashing, Laura getting kicked across the room. The intruder got to his feet, before diving out of the window, as several other students arrived at the door to see what the commotion was all about. Laura got to her feet, sheathing her claws as Logan joined her
"What just happened?"
"I heard movement in your room and I knew you were asleep"
"What were you doing lurking outside my bedroom?"
"Protecting your life"
She strode out of the room, as Logan told the students to go back to bed. He headed over to the window, breathing in the new scent, before closing his bedroom door, getting dressed and heading out into the night
-XXXX-
Pyro, Sabretooth and Juggernaut made their way through the shopping centre. The young mutant had managed to gather a small force of mutants with resentment towards humanity. And now they were about to show humanity that the Brotherhood was back and meant business, that they were here to stay. Amongst the trio was another mutant by the name of Lady Deathstrike. She was somehow alive following her battle with Wolverine at Alkali Lake and wanted to take revenge on him for it
"Alright, let's show 'em," Pyro said
He created a small fireball and launched it at the nearest shop. People ran screaming from the burning shop, as Pyro grinned and set another shop on fire. Security guards showed up, but he set them ablaze as well, while Sabretooth and Deathstrike took out several other guards
"Wanna go for a run, Marko?" Pyro asked
"Need to give my legs a stretch"
Juggernaut put his helmet on, before running off, bowling over security guards, as he smashed through the shop walls and causing a great deal of destruction, while Pyro laughed, enjoying the chaos as he let loose several fireballs at once
-XXXX-
"What's going on here?" Storm asked, coming into the living room where a group of students were surrounding the TV, watching the news
"One of the big shopping malls was burned down," Peter replied, "We're about to see the CCTV shots"
The reporter replayed the video taken from the security cameras in the mall, revealing Pyro, Sabretooth, Deathstrike and Juggernaut destroying the mall. Storm froze upon seeing her former student amongst the attackers. There was also a shot of a wall with the words 'The Brotherhood is back to stay' carved upon it
"Mutants attacked the mall?" Storm said
"This doesn't look good for any of us," Bobby said, "What do we do?"
"Hey, where's Logan?" Rogue asked suddenly
"I haven't seen him all day," Storm replied, "Anyone else see him?"
Most of the students shook their head. Storm had a quick look around, before realizing that someone else wasn't in the mansion as well
"Where's Laura?" she asked
-XXXX-
Logan followed the scent trail to a busy crowded area, but quickly lost it. He let out a growl of frustration, before whirling around to see Laura standing before him
"Kid, stop following me around," he growled
"The attacker had claws like us," she replied, "I wanted to find out more as well"
"No you don't. You're going back to the mansion"
Logan headed towards Laura, but stopped when the fire engines and ambulance roared past. Frowning, he headed after them with Laura in tow, reaching the mall where news reporters and police officers had set up camp, as the fire officers went to work on the building, putting the flames out while ambulance crew were tending to the injured. Logan and Laura headed closer to the mall, trying to find out more
"What happened here?" Laura asked
Logan stopped and sniffed the air. A familiar scent came to him and he growled
"Sabretooth"
-XXXX-
Jean slowly opened her eyes. Letting out a small sigh when she recognised the familiar room she was in, she slowly sat up, taking a better look around. Almost instantly, memories came flooding back to her, especially the moment under Alkali Lake, when she had allowed the water to swallow her. How the Phoenix had manifested, wrapping Jean in a cocoon of telekinetic energy, before taking her place. After all this time, Jean had been recovering beneath Alkali Lake, while the Phoenix masqueraded as her. However, she knew she still had the Phoenix inside her. Not only that, but she had memories of the Phoenix's time before she died at Alcatraz
Jean didn't quite understand why she was here, as she slid off the table and made her way out of the medical ward, coming across Kitty and Peter almost instantly
"Uh, hi, Jean, how you feeling?" Kitty asked
"Fine, I think, thanks," Jean said, "Where's Ororo?"
"Headmistress Office," Peter replied, "Come on, we'll take you there"
Jean followed after the pair to Storm's office. Along the way, she kept having flashbacks to the battle on Alcatraz, as well as the conversation between her and the Phoenix under Alkali Lake
"Jean, you're up," Storm cried, "How are you feeling?"
Peter and Kitty left, as Storm led Jean into her office and sat her down
"I, uh, feel…somewhat better?"
"How can you be alive again? Sorry, but I just gotta ask. Logan killed you"
"That wasn't me," Jean said slowly, "That wasn't me"
"Okay, you gotta explain that one to me"
"Can I get some clothes first?"
"Yeah, sure. Come on. And then we're gonna have a big talk"
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