Roxie held tightly to Phoenix's hand as they approached the Army base. There were soldiers walking around, some with guns and some without, most of them took a moment to admire the beautiful woman with the beautiful little girl. She was nervous without her mother but she just held Pierre tighter to her chest and looked to her father. He was walking silently next to them but he caught her looking at him then offered a brief half smile.

"Excuse me," A man with a commanding tone stopped them. "Can I see some identification?"

"Of course." Phoenix smiled brightly at the soldier and offered Roxie's hand to him. "Could you hold her hand for me? She likes to wander off."

The soldier glanced between Victor and Phoenix but took Roxie's hand. Phoenix pretended to dig through her purse, looking for her wallet, and used her telekensis to make a gun go off several yards away. It didn't hit anyone, but it was enough to make Roxie jump and accidently scratch the soldier. A scratch was all it took. Phoenix 'found' her wallet and presented her ID. "Jean Grey. I was asked to come here."

The soldier's vision went fuzzy and he tried to blink it away. Shaking his head to clear the accumulating mental fog, he turned to lead Jean Grey to his commanding officer. He didn't notice that Victor and Roxie and snuck away while he was distracted. Phoenix had explained to Roxie what she needed the feral toddler to do. She would make friends for her Nixie and by 'making friends', Phoenix meant using the viral mutation to infect as many soldiers on the base as she could. The redhead had used prettier words but that was the gist. Roxie was confused on how hurting people could help them and it conflicted with what her mother had told her. She had always been told not to hurt people and to treat them with respect and, eventually, they would treat her with respect. But it would be nice to have friends...

-0-

After her 'meeting', Phoenix was giggling to herself about the ignorance of men. She had talked her way into a date with the commanding officer of the base and out of any semblance of trouble that she could have been in. She met up with Victor and Roxie back at the apartment she had rented, confirming with Victor that Roxie did what she was instructed to. Roxie was napping when she arrived and Phoenix went to check on her, shaking her gently to wake her. "Hey, sleepy head."

"Hi." Roxie murmured sleepily, rubbing her eyes. "Where'd you go?"

"I had something to take care of." Phoenix smiled down at her and brushed a stray curl away from Roxie's face. "Do you hear them?"

Roxie nodded. "Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Yes." Phoenix pulled the blanket over Roxie's already sleeping form and tucked her in. This girl is the perfect accomplice. Eager to please and willing to do what she's told. Phoenix moved to the living room and observed Victor for a few silent minutes. He was using his claws to carve the wood of the coffee table, clearly at war with himself. "Roxie is a very special girl. Much like her mother."

"What's your point?" Victor raised an eyebrow but didn't look at her.

"Just want to make sure that you can kill Charlotte when it comes to it." Phoenix took note of the slight stiffening of his spine. "I would hate for this plan to go awry and you not get your payment."

"Don't worry about me." Victor snarled. "Just make sure nothin' happens to my cub."

"If all goes according to plan, she'll be in your dirty but relatively capable hands." Phoenix smiled at him.

-0-

James had changed since I had last seen him. He seemed to have made friends, particularly one girl by the name of Rogue. Name was a bit odd but whatever works. It was probably her mutant name. She was pretty, with brunette hair and a white bangs. I also noticed her skin was almost completely covered at any given point of the day. James and Rogue were close, similar to my relationship with Grandfather, but they were good for each other. I also spent more time with James, rekindling our friendship and training in what they called "the Danger Room". Xavier and McCoy were doing what they could to find Roxie, apparently Victor was better at hiding than I remembered, and I had a lot of anxiety and rage to work out. Hence the training room. Xavier offered the Danger Room to me in exchange for teaching the students some defensive techniques. Rogue was a good fighter and a quick learner when she wasn't focused on her boyfriend.

"Rogue, can I talk to you?" I asked, trying to catch my breath after a run on the property. She was walking up to the mansion by herself and turned when I spoke to her.

"Sure. What's up?" Her Southern drawl was heavy but it was also adorable.

"Are you scared of your power?"

That took her aback but she nodded. Pulling my hair out of my ponytail, I said, "Take off your gloves."

"I-I don't want to hurt you." I could smell her fear.

"You won't." I replied then shrugged. "Even if you do, I'll heal. Close your eyes."

Rogue slipped off her gloves and closed her eyes. I gave her a few minutes before I placed one finger against her skin. She sucked in a deep breath and I could smell the change in her scent seconds before I felt something spark on my skin, like the life was being sucked out of me. I pulled my finger away and took a moment to catch my breath. Rogue was apologizing. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!"

"It's all right." I smiled at her. "You're not afraid of your mutation."

Rogue started to stammer an answer but I cut her off. "I could smell the difference in your scent. It wasn't fear. You like your mutation but I have a feeling that you hate the fact that you like it."

She was quiet for a few minutes, looking at the ground, clearly embarrassed. "I don't want to hurt people."

"Then that's a choice that you have to make every single time." I told her. "My feral instincts, Logan's too, they need to be kept in check at every moment. Just like you, we could kill someone if we aren't careful."

"How do you keep from hurting people?"

"Practice. I'll help you."

"How?" Rogue asked again.

"We'll figure it out." I promised. James stood in the door of the mansion and called to us.

"You're gonna want to see this." He said grimly.

A/N: I am so, so sorry that I haven't posted in a while. I've been really sick and haven't been up to writing but I'm better now so I'll be updating frequently again. Leave a review on your way out, dearies! I love all of you!