Control

By: XMENobsession

AN: And suddenly we are at the end. Though it took forever, it feels sudden to me. A good suddenness, I suppose. Difficult to explain. I hope you have enjoyed this story, I feel it's different from my others, but one of my favorites. Please review if you feel so inclined!

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing! Not the people, not the places, and definitely not the paper!

Chapter 7

"Jean, you have to stop this!"

The words were strained out of a helpless mouth, but rang clear in Jean's mind. The sentence was repeated again and again and again, like the dim of a bell. It shook her, startled her, sent her further into insanity, but there, in the recesses of her mind, she found it at last. Jean Grey was still alive.

The dream was more real than ever with Scott's cries for help echoing in the background. Jean was on her knees, tears streaming down her face. She felt vulnerable and powerless. She looked up and a figure stood before her in the smoke. It came forward and Jean found she was staring at herself… in a sense.

Before Jean could ask the second Jean replied, "I am the Phoenix, power incarnate!" At such words the being seemed to grow in size. She shrank a bit, though, as she added almost soothingly, "Do not be afraid."

"Why?" Jean could feel herself trembling and hear it clearly in her voice. The longer she stared at this… Phoenix the more everything around them seemed to disappear.

"I have come to help you."

"I don't need any help. What I need is for you to leave me alone! Stop giving me nightmares and making me lie and lash out at my friends and… hurt them." Her eyes lit as she remembered flinging them all aside. She witnessed it but could not stop it. It was as if Phoenix had completely taken over her body and locked her out of her own mind. Had she not been a telepath she probably wouldn't even be able to have this conversation as almost a mind within a mind. She could almost grasp the total concept, but it slipped away. She decided it was better not to think so hard about it all. First, she needed to regain control. "Why are you here?"

The Phoenix, in Jean's form, looked thoughtful. "It was as if you called out to me. I did not know where I was going but once I found you it all seemed so clear. You are what I have been searching for all along; a rarity indeed. The only being I have ever come across that could contain my infinite power. I feel… at home here, like I belong; like we belong together."

Once again, Jean almost understood, but lost it at the last second. She began to grow frustrated. "I didn't call you! I don't want you here! I don't care that I'm a 'rarity' or that we 'belong together!' Just go!" She screamed and flames flew from her hands and lit up the dreamscape. Though they were still inside Jean's mind, it felt too real and Jean began to worry.

"Don't," Phoenix said, once again reading her mind within a mind. "Don't fear your power, embrace it! Live and breathe the chaos that surrounds you!"

Jean was tempted, more tempted than she ever had been to move back a test or read those mysterious thoughts in Scott's pretty head. Power… she liked it. Chaos… she reveled in it. Why? When all her life she lived by the contrary belief? She didn't care anymore. She didn't want to care. Yet… part of her still clung to sense as the rest of her slowly slipped into insanity, much to the delight of the Phoenix.

The mansion was silent. It felt unnatural. The wide halls seemed to cry for the stamping of feet or the mindless chatter of teenagers, but the cry was left unanswered. The mansion did not know that its beloved inhabitants had gone to save the world, and it did not care. All that the personified building knew was that it was alone. But then… something stirred deep within it. As swiftly as they had closed, Xavier's eyes opened.

His chair stood on the other end of the room and it was a great struggle for him to pull himself there, an even greater one to pull himself up onto it. He had no time to adjust himself more comfortably in his seat and raced to Cerebro.

Scott could barely breathe, but Jean seemed not to notice. She stared through him and remained motionless for some time. Scott struggled to free himself but telekinetic grips are hard to break loose of. Every so often, if he could muster the strength, he would call out to her, but every time she didn't move an inch.

"Jean…" he pleaded, sucking in as much air as he could. "Please…"

"You were powerful without me, that cannot be doubted," Phoenix spoke serenely, as if nothing rode on this conversation. "But you were restrained and limited. I, however, have no limitations. My power is infinite."

"What good is infinite power?" Jean asked; part of her excited at the prospect but the other part disgusted at such useless excess.

"That is why I'm here." The Phoenix leaned in closer to Jean, grinning maddeningly. "Imagine the things I could help you do, the destruction! Without me you're a righteous earthling, struggling to lift a car, but with me you are a goddess." Jean unwillingly smiled. "Without you I am simply power floating about the universe, searching for purpose. I can give you a life force greater than you could ever conceive, but you will provide a focus for my infinite power. So you see? We belong together!"

Jean suddenly felt akin to this otherworldly being. Maybe they did belong together. Power and purpose… The Phoenix held out her hand to help the young mutant up. Jean reached for it but stopped.

Charles Xavier's voice rang through the dream loud and clear. "Jean! You have to…"

The Phoenix silenced him. Not even the most powerful telepath on Earth could penetrate where The Phoenix did not allow. He had been lucky, though, to have caught it off guard, to have woken up from a deep coma, and to have been able to speak to Jean at such a critical point.

She knew what he was going to say all too well, and she finally decided not to let him down. Squashing the last bit of insanity that still coerced her she was able to rise without Phoenix's aid. She closed her eyes tightly, and when they were opened they were soft and tired. "All right, then," she spoke coolly. "I will use your power and cause devastation and mayhem in my wake, but first you must give me back my body."

"I sense truth in your words," the Phoenix mused. "but there are concerns. Something hidden…"

"Fine then!" Jean yelled defiantly, her eyes gaining luster and her form becoming tense. "Leave me here to rot in my own psyche! Use my body for your own wills, but where is your purpose in that? You said it yourself, you need me."

The Phoenix quickly masked her startledness and smiled at the young red head. "We need each other."

In a flash of light the dream and the Phoenix vanished and Jean was seeing through her own eyes once more. She clenched her hands and wriggled her toes and almost laughed at the absolute joy she got from her own limbs heeding her commands.

Then she saw the wreckage surrounding her and gaze quickly landed on Scott Summers' limp body seemingly floating in mid-air. She gasped and let go of her telekinetic hold. He fell to the street with a loud thud and lay there, motionless. Jean was now even more deeply rooted in her decision.

She looked at her hands, soft and pink, and tears began to well in her eyes as they began to dissipate. Pieces them were scattered into the air as if a light wind had simply blown them from the rest of her body. After her hands were cast into nothingness the invisible creature eating away at her moved up her arms. She stopped resisting her own tears. If there was ever a time to cry, it was now.

Scott awoke and quickly took in the situation, though he was still groggy and his head felt as heavy as lead. He saw Jean, her body drifting apart, and screamed for her. "Jean!"

Jean smiled through her tears to try and comfort him, but she knew there would be no comfort, not for many years. She attempted to explain to him telepathically what she must do. The Phoenix would never leave her and she would be used as a weapon to destroy planets, suns, and galaxies. To stop this, she used the Phoenix's power to tear apart her own body, cell by cell, and scatter it across the universe. Scott stopped screaming as he telepathically felt Jean's acceptance of her own death, though he knew he could never do the same.

Jean could feel the professor still attempting to penetrate her mind. She could almost hear him yelling that there was another way and he could help her, but she knew better than that, and left him sitting in his chair, alone in the mansion, helpless as she died.

But the Phoenix would not give up so easily. She forced her way into Jean's mind, took control over her body once more and attempted to undo this travesty. But it was too late. There was not enough of Jean left to salvage and as the last bit of Jean's body floated away a piercing cry could be heard, though no one could be certain if it was The Phoenix's or Jean's.

There is a tombstone sitting outside the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters that reads Jean Grey's name, though no body lies beneath. Scott still visits it every day, fearing that if he ever missed one he would not be able to find the strength to ever return. When the wind blows through the trees he can almost hear her voice.

"Scott…"

He stops, gazing around the carved stone curiously. The wind has died.

"Scott."