Strangers in a Familiar Place (Pyro)

[jean]

Things were changing too rapidly for her liking. Magneto and his followers had moved into the mansion and while she wouldn't exactly consider the man to be a friend, she'd worked closely with him recently, in a sense. Although Logan's adamantium laced claws had been like a needle popping a bubble that had clouded her mind, she was well aware of what she'd done while in what she was referring to as the “Phoenix state”. The memories of the people she'd killed were still as clear as if she'd only done it that morning. One of the side effects of being a telepath was perfect, photographic memory. She'd never lose those images, those memories.

Her powers were also altering and that wasn't a good thing. The last time she'd felt the surges in her telepathy and telekinesis she had given in to the Phoenix and had attempted to kill people she loved. Whilst Cable's revelation about what the Phoenix was, that it wasn't a separate personality like she'd been led to believe but an actual being who'd chosen her as a host, was comforting in a way, it still meant her own body wasn't hers alone. It was being manipulated whether she wanted it or not.

At the moment they were sort of at a truce of sorts. As much as that made sense, which was very little. She was still investigating, trying to discover just what it wanted and why it had chosen her. There were still too many questions, too many unknowns and she'd not spoken about it to anyone else. Not even to Scott.

Her relationship with him was still up in the air. While she knew she was being unfair and should just release him from the bond that they'd taken together on their wedding day, she was finding it hard to let go of that familiar. If they divorced now, it would be yet one more end that she felt completely responsible for.

Jean's thoughts were uneasy and as she passed the recreation room, expecting it to be filled with students even though the hour was very late, she paused as there was one lone figure inside. She was familiar with John in a way, had been his teacher for a while before he'd abandoned them and had joined Magneto. His defection had hurt but now she couldn't fault him for anything. If anything, she felt a bit of understanding where there hadn't been before.

She couldn't imagine what it was like being back here after everything that had happened. While she felt it best to leave the young man to his thoughts, she found herself moving into the room and simply standing there for a long moment. She wasn't being sneaky but really had no idea how to address him. So she just decided to open her mouth and let whatever come, come. “Do you find it difficult to be back here?” she asked, wondering if she was the only one who felt so uncomfortable in the familiar surroundings.

[pyro2]

It had become a bit of a habit. Late at night, when he could be sure everybody else was probably off to bed or at least up in their rooms, he came here to the rec room. Watching TV, playing pool against himself, flipping through a newspaper, that sort of thing. Sometimes he got disturbed, sometimes he had his peace. Tonight had been good so far, everybody either was busy otherwise or turned around at the door when they saw who was in there. Pyro didn't mind that. He knew he wasn't exactly popular with most of the people here. He was a traitor, an enemy, they accepted him if they had to for official business but spending their free time with him, was not part of the deal. Thank God.

So he was sitting there on the couch, back towards the door, flipping through the local news section of a New York paper. Apparently there was new guy in town, in a costume, flying or jumping or swinging through the air, helping the police to catch bad guys. Crazy stuff. Called himself Spider-Man. Pyro shook his head, turned the page... but before he could focus on the next article, there was suddenly a quiet voice behind him.

He recognized it immediately, froze, then slowly turned his head. There she was, Jean Grey, cool and beautiful. Last time he had seen her, there had both been marching with Magneto's forces over the Golden Gate Bridge to get to Alcatraz, and she had been so powerful that even Magneto feared her. He frowned. "Aren't you dead?" She had died once at Alkali-Lake, then came back as Phoenix when Logan killed her again. At least that's what he had heard.

Then again, she was probably so powerful that nothing could kill her. And maybe it wasn't such a hot idea to be cheeky with her. "I mean...", he added carefully, "...that's what I heard." Then he realized that she had asked him her question because maybe, it was strange for her too to be here again. After all, she had killed both Scott and Xavier (who both had returned as well) and joined the Brotherhood. Compared to that, Pyro's defection had been rather tame. "Actually yeah", he finally replied. "It is strange and bizarre and fequently very annoying." He put the paper away.

This for example was pretty strange. There had never been a relationship of any kinds between him and her. She had been his teacher. Sure, he had always thought she was hot (who hadn't?) but she had been off-limits. And Pyro had never been very interested in the regular school stuff, so there had been nothing there, either. When she joined the Brotherhood later, he had purposely stayed clear of her. She was simply too dangerous and unstable and he had no intention to just accidentally be in her way when she had one of her anger attacks. "Are you... back to normal?" Because, if she wasn't, it was probably best to hit the road soon...

[jean]

She felt him startle and she frowned slightly, not intending to sneak up on him. His reaction to her voice didn't help matters any. Her own return to the mansion had been overshadowed by the fact that Magneto was now living there amongst those he'd once tried to kill. If it had been possibly, Jean would have happily slipped in without anyone noticing and tried to pick up her life again.

Unfortunately, she was finding that more and more difficult to do with each passing day.

His initial question made her lips twitch up in a very uncomfortable smile. “I was,” she replied softly, wondering how many times she was to hear that until someone finally found a way to keep her dead. Cable hadn't said how many times she would die and return and honestly, she didn't want to know. There were some things in life that should remain a mystery and the time of one's death would be one of them.

“Yes, Wolverine did kill me. In a way,” she added when he mentioned that it was something he'd heard. If nothing, being impaled by the claws had snapped her out of what she'd been doing, as if the metal had managed to find a way to break through the haze that had been her mind at that time.

Or perhaps it was the man himself who'd done the clearing. It had been impossible for her not to have known how he felt when he'd done what she'd asked, or demanded, he do. She had been at such a peak in her powers in that moment, having gained just enough clarity to request him to kill her. If he had not done it, Jean hated to think what else she would have done in Phoenix's name.

He answered her question then, and she couldn't help but give him a wry smile. “Homecomings, in a way, really suck,” she replied, meaning it. It hadn't been surprising that this was where she'd wanted to return to after she had woken up. Jean supposed that she could have gone to her parents but they had been through so much as it was, with her dying twice on them. She didn't want to add this burden as well.

When he asked if she was back to normal, she couldn't help the almost bitter laugh that escaped her lips. “I've been dead, John. Twice. Normal is a very relative term. However, to answer what you really would like to ask, I am not out of control as I had been when I was with Magneto. I am probably as close to what you would consider normal as I can possibly ever be again,” she explained to him.

Really, what was normal for her anymore? She was one of the world's most powerful mutants and she was host to a alien being that wanted her for that power. Or that was how she was able to understand what was happening. Jean highly doubted she would feel human, let alone normal, ever again.

[pyro2]

John took in everything, every muscle twitch in her face, every slight movement. Just to be ready to do something in case she started to... well... behave difficult. But she seemed calm and composed, mostly. Her smile was pretty dark, though, fitting with her reply. She had died. But here she was, very much alive. Pyro moved in a more comfortable position so he could face her. "How was it? Dying, I mean..." He sounded genuinely interested. "Did your life flash before your eyes? Was there a long white tunnel? Anything?"

The fire mutant had been in enough tricky situations where he could have died himself. It was nothing he was particularly scared about but he definitely didn't mind if it didn't happen anytime soon. Still, it wasn't every day that one had the chance to talk to someone who actually had the experience and lived to tell the tale...

"Homecoming...", he echoed her slowly and shook his head. "That's not what it is for me. This is not my home anymore, not since a long time. I'm here because of Magneto, that's all." Still, it sucked anyway, with that she was right. Why though was it difficult for her? She hadn't been herself when she'd done all the evil things, it was easy to see how the X-Men could excuse all that. And Pyro was sure they had. Xavier with his bleeding heart... seeing the good in anything and everybody.

"Glad to hear it", he mumbled, when she explained that she had her control back. "So you came back here because... well, where else would you go, right?" He nodded. Made sense. "But it still sucks?" He looked at her curiously. "Scott and Logan must be thrilled. And the professor."

[jean]

John asked the one question that no one else had in the few weeks she'd been back. How had it felt to die? Oddly enough, in theory, one wasn't supposed to be able to remember such a thing. It didn't matter if you believed in life after death, reincarnation or even once dead, always dead. The memory shouldn't have been there for anyone.

For Jean, that was partly correct as well. “The first time? I don't really remember anything. There was the roar of the water closing in and after that, it is completely a blank. I remember nothing else until I saw Scott by the lake but even that is difficult to really pinpoint in my memory,” she told him, her eyes focusing on a wall as she tried to remember the details.

“The second time, though, I remember vividly. There was pain, incredible pain and this overwhelming feeling of regret but it wasn't mine. It was Logan's. I focused on his face until everything went black. There were no flashbacks to memories, no white lights, nothing. It was just empty,” she told him, reliving those painful moments within the darkness of her mind. Looking back at the young man, she added, “I don't know who sees angels or bright lights or hears music but death is nothing like that. Neither time.”

They went on to discuss coming home again, or in case, visiting his old haunts. “Being here means absolutely nothing to you at all? No fond memories? No thoughts of what you used to do when cutting class? Nothing?” she asked, raising an auburn eyebrow.

That was a shame, really. Even if he didn't enjoy being back here, a reminder of a time in his life when he was unhappy, surely there had to be something to make it sound less like someone was repeatedly impaling him with a sharp object over and over again then that.

She wanted to see her parents again, her sister, to hug them and let them know that she was okay but in all honesty, Jean didn't think she'd ever be “okay” again. Yes, she had some answers now but they weren't the most comforting. It wasn't a matter of the others not forgiving her, well, in some cases it was but it was more the memories that couldn't be forgotten. So many had witnessed what had happened and whether or not she'd been in her right mind when it occurred, it had still been her. Asking people to forget what they'd seen, what they'd heard was asking the impossible.

“I don't think either Scott nor Logan are as thrilled as you might think,” she informed him with a wry smile. Leaning over the back of the sofa so that her elbows were leaning against the furniture and her arms folded across in front of her, she continued. “Scott is wondering when I'll snap again and try to kill him or worse. He denies that but it's rather hard to lie to a telepath. Logan is afraid that he won't be able to do it a second time if it should be needed. Charles just expects me to pick up where I left off. Everyone else is walking on eggshells, waiting for me to explode.”

It was to be expected but that didn't mean it was easy to deal with. That was the hardest part about being in the place she'd called home for so many years. The knowing that any little loss of her temper or control and the worst will be assumed. She had known that coming back was a risk and now she was almost positive it had been a mistake.

[pyro2]

Pyro listened very attentatively to Jean's death experiences. "Mhh, bummer, no angels." He smirked. "But yeah, who knows, you're someone who can't die. Might be different for someone who can..." Not that he believed in any of that crap. Jean's story actually made a lot of sense to him. "Did you talk with the others who died and came back?" After all Scott and Xavier had gone through the same process somehow.

When she asked him about being here, he shrugged. "I remember that there were times when I had a good time here. But those times are history. Everything has changed, everything is different." He shook his head. "It's not fun to be back, Magneto convinced me to do it anyway, for the greater good of mutantkind... but now nothing is happening." He looked at her. "Do you know anything more? About this Apocalypse guy and what the plan is and when we finally do something?" His voice sounded a little bit hopeful, because she actually might be privy to exclusive information out of the inner circle of the X-Men. It wasn't very likely though that she would share anything.

Briefly she seemed lost in thought, then explained why the others were not so thrilled about her return. Pyro gave her a crooked smile. "Sucks being you, it seems... but hey, welcome to the club. No one is thrilled about me being here either. I'm the traitor." He shrugged. "They're right, though. About me, I mean. I wouldn't trust me either." It was strange, in a way he liked it like that. He enjoyed being the outcast up to a certain point. But sometimes it was annoying and tiresome.

He smiled. "We should found our own group. You can be president..." He never had any kind of relationship with Jean but there was a certain kinship now, since they seemed to be at least in comparable circumstances.

[jean]

Someone who can't die. That was just so very unnatural and didn't seem right. Cable had told her the same thing, pretty much. Apparently, the Phoenix didn't like losing a host once they had one and would likely bring her back to life as many times as it needed to. In a way, she felt used. Her body was no longer hers alone and she was having to share it with some never dying avatar who chose powerful telepaths as its host. Why had it not gone after Charles? Surely he was more powerful then she was, or so she'd always believed.

“To be honest, the conversation has yet to come up. Neither man seems intent on discussing their deaths with me,” she replied to him. Who could blame them, really. She'd been the one to do it, to simply tear them apart, molecule by molecule as if they were made of nothing more then paper. It may have been instantaneous but it was gruesome none the less. She still didn't understand why they were alive or how they'd managed to reassemble, in a manner of speaking.

She shook her head when he mentioned Apocalypse. Really, all they had to go on at this point was Cable's information and while she appreciated his candidness with her before, she still found it a bit odd that they were gathering and training for this. There had been nothing to indicate that it was even going to happen at all but Charles was convinced. Of that, she was certain.

“I don't know much at this point. There is a greater emphasis being put on training so that everyone is ready but that has been about it,” she told him.

Jean could sense immediately that he wasn't being completely honest with himself. He said that the things being said and thought about him didn't bother him and maybe on the surface, he sincerely believed it. But she was an empath as well as a psychokinetic. She could sense that there was more that he was feeling but Jean didn't say anything. It wasn't her place. She was no longer his teacher. She was merely someone who understood the feeling of being in a place that had once been home and not liking that feeling too much.

She grinned at him when he mentioned that they should form their own group. Wouldn't that be something. “What would we call it? The 'I've dissed the X-Men Club'?” she asked, still smiling. Because that's what they have both done. No, she wasn't in her right mind when it had happened but she still remembered everything. She knew the thought process, no matter how erratic, that had been put into it.

[pyro2]

John nodded. Clearly it couldn't be pleasant to discuss one's own death, espcially not with the one that had been responsible for it. Made sense. On the other hand, it seemed too much of a singular opportunity to compare experiences, that Pyro couldn't believe Xavier wouldn't be interested to do it. Maybe his telepathic sense told him that he couldn't trust her? "I sure hope there are no angels around when I die...", he added. There were enough annoying do-gooders around him as it was.

Jean's answer on the next topic was a grave disappointment. Either they kept everything from her or there really wasn't happening anything more than training. John frowned. "I'm starting to wonder if this whole Apocalypse thing is even real. Magneto seems to believe it but maybe Xavier just brainwashed him to finally unite the two groups again." This suspicion fit well to the fact that he hadn't seen the leader of the Brotherhood in quite a while. On the other hand, nobody had tried to brainwash him. Yet. His frown deepened. Except... if that had already happened. He was here, wasn't he? He played along. John's old suspicions about the powerful old mutant were suddenly back in full force. And she was one as well, a telepath. "You know, that always bugged me here. I'm never entirely sure that I do what I do because it's me who wants it."

She took up his little joke about their own group. He smirked. "Yeah, or 'I survived the X-Men!' We could print shirts." He chuckled. Still, there wasn't a lot of common ground between him and her, and it felt a bit strange to talk with her like that. As a teenager he had had quite a few wet dreams about her, now that she actually was without a boyfriend (or so it sounded), he couldn't imagine doing anything with her. She was just too... well, honestly... intimidating after all that had happened.

[jean]

When he mentioned that he hoped there weren't any angels around when he died, she shrugged. And honestly, all she could picture was Warren in that very moment. “I'm sure you are going to do all you can to prevent that from happening. Unless it's Warren who does it, then you won't be able to help it,” she told him, not really smiling at the thought.

There were some things that she was sure she would never get to find out like normal people did and that was how to die and stay dead. Maybe one day, when she was no longer of any use to the Phoenix, it wouldn't bring her back but even then, her death would likely be something much different then it would be for anyone else.

“Yes, the whole Apocalypse thing has me wondering if the old men around here have lost their minds, Cable included,” she agreed with him. Although she knew they believed it to be true, like John, she'd yet to actually see anything come of it all. And while technically Cable was only a handful of years older then her (and that wasn't taking into account he might not even have been born yet), he still behaved like an old man who'd seen too much in his life.

“As for not knowing if your thoughts are your own or not, there is no way that I nor anyone else can prove to you they are. And there are enough telepaths around lately to make your doubts very much a reality if one was so inclined. However, I can tell you that as of this very moment, no one is messing with your head. It's up to you whether you believe it or not,” she replied to him, not really answering him in any real form. There was nothing that she could do to prove it to him.

Her smile grew as he added his own idea as to what the shirts should say. How many of them would they be able to hand out to those who'd left their ranks in the past. Not everyone had jumped sides as Pyro had but they had lost many due to tiredness at this sort of lifestyle. It really wasn't for the weak, by any means.

“If you ever find yourself out of a job with Magneto, I think you've just figured out what to do,” she replied to him, still smiling.

The conversation, while odd, was actually a nice change of pace for Jean. John had grown up in recent months and while he was still just as mouthy as he'd been as a student there, he was growing in both his ideas and his abilities. She'd seen that much during their time together working for Magneto. The very fact that he was willing to put up with being back in this place after all that had happened here proved to her that he was definitely coming into his own and maturing. Although she didn't agree with Magneto and his methods, she couldn't help but feel a small sense of pride in the young man who was sitting before her.

[pyro2]

Unlike Jean, he actually smirked about her contemplations concerning angels and Angel. "Haven't really met the guy yet, just saw him fly by at Alcatraz, I think... he's the son of the bastard who invented that stupid 'cure', right?" This still remained the best news apart from the fact that Magneto had been unharmed: that the 'cure' had been a failure. Okay, they had wasted a few lives at the Alcatraz battle, for nothing. But how could they have known?

To John's surprise she seemed to share his scepticism about the whole Apocalypse affair. That was pretty scary, actually. He still saw her as part of the inner circle and if she had no signs that this guy or his threat were real... what the fuck were they doing here then? "Another guy I haven't met yet...", he said when she mentioned Cable. "So, what you're saying is that you know as much as me about the whole thing." He sighed and shook his head. He definitely needed to have a word with Magneto. And soon.

He nodded to her explanations about messing with his head. "Yeah, nothing new there. It still gives me the creeps." Pyro looked at her, curiously. "Did you guys ever mess with our heads back in the days when I still was a student here? You can tell me... water under the bridge..." Looking back, it seemed to him that he had stayed longer at the school than seemed plausible, considering everything that had happened. And he always wondered if Xavier had made him stay, til he couldn't focus on him anymore because there was too much else to take care of around the Stryker attack and Alkali lake.

He gave her a crooked smile. "Nah. If I ever leave Magneto, I'll probably do something completely different, on my own. No more groups..." Already now he sometimes was fed up with it. He shrugged. "Probably won't happen anytime soon, though." He still stood behind the old men and appreciated what he had done for him after his 'defection' from the X-Men.

[jean]

Jean nodded when he asked about Warren and if he was the son of the man who'd created the so called cure. She actually felt for Warren, having a father who hated mutants so much and then he'd turned out to have a mutant son. She had no idea what that felt like. Her own family had always embraced her the way she was and had never had any animosity toward her simply because she was different. Yes, she'd been one of the lucky ones. It just made her miss her parents and sister more.

He mentioned that Cable was someone else he hadn't met yet and she tried to envision that meeting. For some reason, she just didn't see it going well but stranger things had happened. “To be honest,” she told him, recalling everything that had been said on the subject. “I'm not really sure anyone knows exactly when or where this menace is supposed to appear. Even Cable seems a bit uncertain as to the time line. He's just insistent that everyone be training and ready for when it does happen.”

As he asked for her to be candid with him regarding the use of telepathy while he'd been a student, Jean actually laughed, amused that he'd think they'd mind voodoo'd him into staying. “Sorry, John, every decision you made when you lived here was your own. I can't really speak for Charles but I've known him over half my life. He wouldn't have done that. To you or anyone else,” she replied, still smiling.

Oh, it wasn't like it hadn't been tempting at times to make him listen to her and do what he was supposed to but she'd never done it. Part of being a kid and growing up was making decisions, whether good or bad. They all had to go through it and the students there, while mutants, weren't any exception. They had to make their own choices regarding everything in life.

She nodded as he said he'd leave completely if he ever left Magneto. She couldn't blame him in the least. How many times, especially since she'd come back this time, had she thought about just leaving everything behind and starting new. Somewhere no one knew who she was and where she might finally be able to find the peace she was looking for. However, that wasn't going to happen with her. This place was like a magnet for her and she would always be drawn back here, no matter how hard she fought it.

“Who knows what the future will hold. You could have a falling out with Erik two days from now,” she replied with a shrug. He could or he could stay with the man until one of them was dead, most likely Magneto given his age although John's hotheadedness was bound to get him into something he couldn't wiggle out of one day.

[pyro2]

"Mhh, so what's up with this Cable guy? He's responsible for all the fuss and the panic and the big reunion?" John had heard him mentioned in some conversations here and there but he didn't know any details. And it seemed he was more influential than the fire mutant would have thought, considering that Magneto and Xavier both seemed to follow his advice without much proof to go with, at least that's how he understood Jean. "Why do they trust him?"

Jean then was obviously amused about his telepathy suspicions. And her amusement and assurances seemed genuine. John still wasn't ready to fully trust her or any telepath on this, and of course she sensed that. "So, all the stupid things I did were my own doings...", he grumbled, skeptically. Then shrugged. "Sorry but telepaths continue to freak me out, I don't think I could ever fully trust someone who is able to see my mind to keep out of there. Maybe because I know I probably could not do it, had I the power." Just imagining what he could have done with Bobby and Rogue at the time, if he had had that kind of influence... everything might have gone completely different...

He nodded. "Yeah, but it's not very likely. Even though I'm still skeptical about this whole reunion idea, specially since this super powerful enemy is nowhere to be seen." Then Pyro smirked. "On the other hand, maybe he is coming and maybe we can't beat him. Then all this is over anyway, right? Except.... I can't imagine, there is anything you couldn't beat in your other... state. Why don't we just send you?"

[jean]

This Cable guy? Jean thought to herself. She had to keep from laughing as the way he said it brought up visions of Larry the Cable Guy and that whole skit. She wondered vaguely if Nathan would find any amusement in that. He was the one who went around calling himself “Cable” and would one day have to deal with that. Especially in a mansion full of teenagers who were bound to make fun of him. She just hoped that he remembered he was no longer in the future and handle things properly.

“I think trust might be too strong a word to use there, John,” she did reply when he asked why they all trusted him. “He knows some things that just anyone wouldn't and while he did the whole fake kidnapping of the Professor, he hasn't done anything else to make us not believe him. Xavier has been working with him closely and seems to believe him. However, I don't think any of us completely trusts him.”

Jean wasn't exactly fazed when John informed her that the couldn't trust her or any other telepath. It was something she'd grown used to over the years and given her recent history, she didn't blame the young man one bit. Hell, she sometimes wondered if she could even trust herself and that was a scary thought.

“Being able to read someone's inner most thoughts is a privilege, in a way but it is definitely not a right. There have been many times in my past where I wished I hadn't accidentally overheard something. But it also comes in handy when I want to have a private conversation with someone. So like any other mutant ability, it has its ups and downs. It is also up to the possessor of the ability to do right by it and not everyone who is a telepath can or should be trusted,” she told him.

They then talked about what happens later, after all is said and done. Jean knew deep down that she'd be there, at the mansion, helping where she could. It was as if the life she'd been introduced to at such a young age was now in her blood and there was no where else she'd ever feel whole at. Whatever happened between her and Scott and their troubled marriage probably wouldn't even be enough to keep her away, no matter how much she wished it were otherwise.

“That's a good question,” she replied when he asked why they didn't just send her. No matter what Cable had told her, Jean didn't exactly feel immortal even if the Phoenix entity could make her so. It was still a very odd sensation to know that she wasn't alone in her body, that she had to share with something else.

“I'm just now learning about my other 'state' and maybe that's why? There are answers out there and I'm learning how to live with things but I'm not ready yet. Maybe by the time this menace appears, I will be. For once, maybe I can do something good with these crazy powers instead of destroying everything in front of me,” she added. So many maybes in there but that was all she had at the moment.

Really, that was where she was, in the 'what if' stage of things. Yes, she was going to have to learn just how much control to give up when the time came again but would she be ready or would it consume her once again? Those were thoughts that made her blood run cold.

[pyro2]

"Mhhh", John didn't sound too convinced about this mysterious mutant whose stories seemed to cause all the fuss. Maybe he had his own secret agenda, powerful mutants tended to have those... At least it sounded as if the leadership didn't completely trust him either. "He knows some things, huh? What things?" Pyro was still hoping to get some more scraps of information about their whole operation here.

Then Jean got all X-teachery and started a little speech about powers and responsibility that really reminded him of some hours in the classrooms here. "Yeah, well, I enjoy using my powers and I don't really see a lot of downs there. If I had yours, I sure couldn't resist using it. Specially if I had a pesky little rat like myself in my class...", he smirked. Oh yeah, such a little rat surely would have gotten some telepathic attention from him. But that was the difference between him and the X-Men...

He nodded when she acknowledged the validity of his question. "If it ever appears...", Pyro emphasized the 'if', highlighting his scepticism. Then looked at her curiously. "So... what exactly are you learning about your other... state?" Bobby had claimed that what she had done since her reappearance after Alkali Lake, hadn't been Jean's doing. That someone or something else had been somehow in control. John wasn't so sure about that. There was an evil twin lurking in everyone, and dying a violent death might trigger strange things if one was a super powerful mutant who couldn't die.

[jean]

Jean wasn't an idiot. Even without fully reading his mind she could tell that John was fishing for information. And she could tell him some but none of it had to do with the approach of this dark day for all of them. She had been honest with him in that regard, telling him what little she did know. However, she wasn't about to tell him that the man was also claiming to be Scott's son, mothered by her very own clone. There were some things she would rather forget, even if that was impossible, and that was one of them.

“If you want more information, go see the Professor or Scott. They might be able to answer your questions for you. Or go to Cable himself,” she told him, half hoping he'd ignore the last one. However, if he wanted answers, he should certainly go right to the source.

She couldn't help the small smirk that appeared on her lips as he mentioned what he would have done if he'd had her powers. Jean had no doubt what he would have done and the only reason she hadn't done it was it had never been in her nature to do that. Combined with Xavier's teachings long before she was a teacher herself and she was definitely the goody-goody that he'd always mentally accused her of being. At least, she used to be. Now she wasn't entirely sure what her nature was.

“Oh, I was tempted. There were a couple of times that I was sure you'd managed to wiggle past my resolve but somehow, I never did give in to those temptations. Maybe you should be grateful for that,” she told him. Honestly, what if he'd been the one to trigger it all and she'd taken it out on John? Anything was possible, really. Nothing was written in stone that it had to be her original death that had done it.

Then he asked about the “other state”. She knew it had a name. Phoenix. However, she was trying to not use the actual name because that just made everything happening seem so much more real. “It's a bit complicated and completely difficult to believe,” she told him, the smirk having long since left her face.