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Disclaimer: I only own Spirit and other OC characters

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I was really beginning to hate limbo.

It was horrid, having to go back into that little space after being able to scent the air and feel the wind against my skin again. It was torturous. Thankfully, I didn't have to wait in the limbo place for long before my senses came back to me. Except for my sight. I could hear and feel the things around me, but my body still felt like it was as solid as the rocks beneath my body and I couldn't open my eyes. Phoenix had stopped whispering; it had vanished when the sharp noise had come and knocked me out again. What worried me most, though, was that Scott's scent was gone. It was like he'd never been there. I could still smell Jean, but it was faint, like she was somewhere away from me.

I felt like I was stuck under the serum all over again.

()()()()()()

I could hear something funny in the air, like something grinding. It was strange, but then again, a whole lot of strange things had been going on as of late. I could hear something else, too. Footsteps.

I wanted so badly to just get up and be able to see people. I didn't know how long I'd been in that limbo place, and I wanted to see someone familiar. Like the dimwitted mouse who apparently had either left me and Jean here or had just been a figment of our imaginations. Either way, I could hear footsteps. I struggled against the invisible force that held me to the ground, at least wishing for my eyes to open.

"Logan!"

I wanted so badly to get up when the wind changed directions and I could smell Storm and Logan. I would have cried for joy if I'd been able. It sounded like they'd found Jean first, and I hoped that I would be second on that list. Sure enough, I heard the crunching of rock under feet coming towards me.

"Storm! I found Spirit!" Logan shouted, kneeling down next to my still form. I felt him touch my neck, probably feeling for a pulse. "She's alive. They both are." Hands slid under my back and under my knees, lifting me into the air. My head lolled over to the side, resting against Logan's chest. His strong heartbeat against my head made me want to cry as he carried me to what I guess was the X-Jet.

I was finally going home.

()()()()()()

I was laying on a bed now, resting on my back. I could still feel everything around me, especially the things someone had placed over my head. The beeping noise was annoying, too. But, hey, I was home!

The scents were familiar, and I had a feeling that I was in the infirmary. I didn't even care that the area reeked of alcohol; I was just so so so happy to finally be home. Now, if only I could move.

I spent a long while just trying to get myself to move, to do anything. The most I managed was getting my eyes to move underneath my eyelids. I had just managed this when I heard a familiar whirling sound, and I couldn't even jump up to see the Professor that I had so missed. The heavier footsteps behind him signaled Logan's presence as well. They stopped a few feet away, and I deduced that they were standing next to Jean. The Professor suddenly began to talk when Logan asked how this was possible.

"The sheer amount mass of water that collapsed on top of Jean and Spirit should have obliterated them completely. The only explanation for their survival is that Jean's powers wrapped both of them in a cocoon of telekinetic energy," he said. "Spirit probably would have been able to regenerate herself, but since she was touching Jean when the water collapsed on them, it's more than likely that Jean's powers instinctively wrapped around her as well."

"She'll be okay though, right?" Logan asked.

"Jean Grey is one of the only Class 5 mutants that I've ever encountered, her potential practically limitless. Her mutation is seated in the unconscious part of her mind and there is where the danger lays," the Professor said. "When Jean was a little girl, I created a series of psychic barriers to isolate her powers from her conscious mind and, as a result, developed a dual personality."

"What do you mean?" Logan questioned. I could almost hear him crossing his arms; I bet that he was itching for a cigar, too.

"There was the conscious Jean, whose powers were always in her control, and the dormant side, the personality that in our sessions came to call itself the Phoenix," the Professor replied. I could have sworn that my heart stopped. "It's a purely instinctual creature, all desire and joy . . . and rage."

If I'd been able to move, I probably would have been trembling. Phoenix. It had been Jean that had talked to me, not some third person. And, from what the Professor was saying, Phoenix was very powerful. And very dangerous. I could almost hear Phoenix's dark chuckle rumbling through my head.

"Did you know about all of this?" Logan continued to quiz.

"It's unclear how much she knew," the Professor answered. "For more critical is whether the woman in front of us is the Jean Grey we know or the Phoenix, furiously struggling to be free."

It's the Phoenix! I wanted to shout, feeling claustrophobic. I needed to warn them, to protect them from the creature that, even though had protected me, was out for blood. I'd been stuck with that creature in my head for who knew how long, and I knew what it wanted. It wanted revenge.

"She looks pretty peaceful to me," the burlier mutant voiced. "And so does Sprite for that matter."

"That's because I'm keeping both of them that way. I'm trying to restore the psychic blocks and cage the beast again. If Spirit has been exposed to the Phoenix as long as I suspect, she could be in just as much danger as Jean; I don't know the effects the Phoenix will have had on Spirit's mind."

I could feel the rage coming off of Logan as he stiffened. "Now you see, when you cage the beast, the beast gets angry," he growled. "You can't do this."

Let him! I thought desperately. Let him cage it! It'll kill us all!

In my mental rantings, I lost what the Professor's reply at been, but I did hear Logan turn and stomp out of the infirmary. I could only sit and listen as the Professor worked on Jean's head. After about an hour or so, he leaned back into his chair with a tired sigh. His wheelchair whirled again as he came over to my bedside, touching a hand to my wrist.

"I wish that I could help you, Spirit," he said softly. "I hope that I can help you. Let us just hope that it isn't too late." And then, he left. I could have sworn that I smelled tears when his left, but that couldn't be right. The Professor never cried.

()()()()()()

My mind was a very boring place. I found this out in limbo, and I found it out when I was sitting in the infirmary. My thoughts and different forms had already been organized, and I was horrible at attempting to create mind puzzles for myself. Partially because I didn't know any mind puzzles. I was at least fortunate that Phoenix wasn't talking to me anymore. It had gone silent, and I hoped that that meant the Professor had been successful in blocking and caging it back up again.

I wasn't really pulled from my thoughts as I was distracted when I heard the infirmary doors swing open with as quiet sigh. The scent told me that it was Logan. I felt tension build up in the air, and the hairs on the back of my neck rose. Something big was about to happen.

There was a soft click and I heard Logan's breathing get heavier.

"Jean?" he asked hesitantly.

"Logan?"

Shit.

I struggled against the psychic hold on my mind, desperate to save Logan. Their words were too soft for me to really hear anyway, and I fought and struggled for all I was worth. And then the room started to shake.

I mentally froze, unable to do anything as my own body began to shake and convulse. My limbs spasmed and twisted. The psychic barrier holding me down shattered, and my eyes flew open as my throat began to tighten shut. I brought my hands up, clawing at it.

"Kill me," Jean whispered. "Kill me before I kill someone else."

The Phoenix suddenly took hold in my mind, and Jean's voice changed. "Too late," it hissed before there was a loud crash.

Double shit!

The whispering was frantic in my head, turning to shouts. I forgot about my tightening throat, and clutched at my ears when I felt blood pouring out of them. I couldn't do anything about the blood coming from my eyes and nose, only trying to keep hold of what sanity I had left. There was more crashing and loud noises, Phoenix giving one last triumphant scream, before it left my mind, only whispering, "I will return for you, my sweet," and then my mind shut down completely.

()()()()()()

My senses started coming back to me when calloused hands lifted themselves from my shoulders. My head pounded like someone had been beating on it with a mallet; the rest of my body didn't feel much better.

"I think that was the last of the convulsions," came a deep voice. "Her brain has stopped swelling, but I don't know how much damage the Phoenix did to it before leaving. The girl's lucky to be alive."

"It's because she's a self-healer," came another, more familiar voice. "Though it's slower than what it used to be."

I tried to move, and found myself under a psychic spell again. I'll admit, I panicked. I fought and screamed and shouted for all that I was worth in my head, beating against the barrier that held me under.

Not again, I thought as I listened to the machines around me blaring. Not again!

"She's . . . fighting me," the Professor said, sounding strained. "She's fighting the barrier. I won't . . . be able to hold it for much longer."

"Do you want me to sedate her?" the deep voice asked, and the clanking of tools came off to the side. My heart rate spiked again, and the machines blared even louder and faster.

"No," the Professor said. "I'm . . . I'm going to release her. Be ready to grab her, Hank, just in case this isn't the Spirit we know."

The barrier I was fighting slowly dissolved, and my mental attacks became physical, my screams became real. I clawed my way off of the bed I'd been placed on, screaming and shouting. My eyesight was blurry, and I launched myself towards the nearest blurry object, ready to attack.

I ignored the shouts of "Spirit, stop!" that were both real and in my head. I just wanted out! The figure I attacked felt hairy and muscular, but I didn't care. My blood ran hot at the thought of being able to gain revenge. I lavished in that feeling, the feeling of power and freedom. I didn't shift, keeping to my human form; it gave me satisfaction to tackle this creature without the help of an animal. However, the creature was also able to pin my arms to my sides, trapping me. Again.

I screamed and thrashed, my skin becoming heated. "Let go!" I shouted when I felt something cool and wet touch my arm before there was a pricking sensation. I felt the sedative slowing down my attacks, numbing my body. I hated that feeling. It felt like I was being trapped again. I screamed, the sound coming from my very soul. I heard glass shatter from the noise and the sedative vanished as my blood heated enough to destroy it. The creature holding me released his grip, and I backed up into a corner, crying and shouting words in my native language, a mixture of Russian and Latin and growling.

"Back up! Let her be!"

"Logan, she's dangerous!"

"Remember what I said?" Logan had to shout to be heard over my own screams. "The beast gets angry when it's caged. She's freaking out because you tried to cage her."

There was a faint snick sound and then footsteps. "Sprite?"

I snarled, uncaring that I was still in my human form. The unnatural heat was still flowing over my body as I watched another blurry figure come towards me. It was deathly quiet without me screaming, but there was a new white noise that made my ears buzz.

"Easy, Sprite," Logan said calmly, like he was trying to calm a cornered animal. I was a cornered animal. "Just take it easy. No one here wants to hurt you."

"No cage!" I shouted. "No more! No more! No more limbo!"

"It's alright Sprite," Logan said, coming a bit closer. The red haze around my eyes was slowly fading at his familiar voice, the figures around the room becoming more focused and clear. I was visibly trembling, pressed against the wall. My head was still pounding and I hurt all over. The heat was fading, and I rocked myself, shaking and crying. "The Professor won't hold you again. I promise."

I looked towards Logan, eyes wide and dilated as the last of the heat faded away, and my vision came back. I could see the damage that I'd done. Blood sprayed across the floor from where I'd cut myself on some glass, yet had never noticed. There was nothing in the room that was glass and still in one piece, and equipment was scattered everywhere, some of it knocked over onto its side and some of it completely destroyed. The creature that had taken hold of me was some kind of blue, hairy mutant with a few chunks of hair torn from his arms. The Professor was stationed close to where I'd been laying down, looking incredibly tired and worn. My gaze finally turned to Logan, who had his claws out as he walked closer to me. When he saw what I was looking at, he brought his claws back into his knuckles, kneeling down in front of me.

I gave a cry and lunged for him. He started to backpedal, and the other two people in the room almost started shouting again, but it was obvious that I wasn't attacking anyone as I latched onto Logan, bawling into his shirt. He came down to his knees, holding me close as I cried and shook violently.

"Shh. It's alright, Sprite," he whispered into my ear. "It's alright."

I just clung to him with all the strength that I had left, afraid and wondering what in the world Phoenix had done to me.

()()()()()()

Thanks again for those who reviewed, and for all of you who favorited and followed and all that jazz! :) I hope that you enjoyed the latest chapter in Spirit's Life, and I hope that you guys will keep on reading! Please R&R, and the next chapter will be up depending on how many reviews I get and how much time I have. Until then,

ML out.