1. Chapter 1

On the surface, calm, quiet, normal, for miles in any direction.

Except down.

Of course, one had to be 100 feet below the surface. And in actuality the calm and the silence were just the same down here. But this room was anything but normal, for in the center stood a cylindrical tube, almost reaching to the ceiling, and wide enough to accommodate an average human being. However, that wasn't what it was holding.

For one, the subject inside was more petite than average, as the build of a 15-year old girl is expected to be. And she was in a state that appeared to be sleep, but was more close to preservation. Though she appeared to be in a state of peace, the condition of the room surrounding her suggested otherwise. The room had been crumbled around her, but the way that the piles of rubble had completely avoided her chamber hinted that this destruction had been deliberate, and not an accident. It was as though the room had been destroyed _for_ her, to prevent anyone else from bringing harm to her otherwise.

There was one factor that her destroyer/savior had not counted on: time. From the thickness of the layers of dust on the rubble, it would seem this room had accumulated much of it. And as hard as one may try, there comes a point where time stops for no one.

The piece of rock that had crumbled from the ceiling seemed a speck in comparison to the ones that were scattered about, but its own importance dwarfed the others.

The piece of stone fell directly on the control panel that stood before the chamber, cracking though the state of the art interface. A flash of electricity sparked, but that last protest proved to be too much on the system, and the panel shorted out. The bindings that held the girl upright had lost their grip, causing the girl to slump to the ground just as the chamber door slid open. Hydrogen sulfide spilled into the room, and oxygen had made its way into where it had been absent for so long. When just enough of it had replaced itself in the small girl's lungs, her eyes flew open.

Celci was awake.

But her awakening wasn't the groggy, confusing type. She knew exactly where she was, and what had happened to lead up to her being here, thanks to her memories being strengthened with help. There was never a day she regretted befriending a person with strong psychic abilities. But there was still the important matter of _how_. How was she going to get out of here?

She stood up and surveyed the room, and a short moment of panic seized her when it appeared that the room was sealed off. But she closed her eyes and willed herself to calm down, knowing the last words said to her meant that there had to be some way out.

_Live. Far from here and now, live again. Live, and it'll be as if he never took anything from you._

She opened her eyes, and with a newfound clarity she saw an insignia she could trust, chalked on the ground in ash, leading her to a pile of rubble. It appeared to look like all the others, but when she cleared away a light layer of rock, it was shown to actually be densely packed wood. This looked just as much of an obstacle as the rock, but instead she smirked and stretched her fingers. With just one hand, she produced a small spark and tossed it at the wood.

The flames consumed it in an instant, and continued to burn forward revealing a tunnel, designed so that she would be the only one to find and traverse it. She easily created a second spark to light her way down.

At the end of the tunnel when sunlight harshly filled her senses. The tunnel had led to an alley, in what appeared to be a deserted part of town. She let out a sigh of relief at this as she crouched against a building exterior. She needed a moment to breath, and a moment to plan.

_So, step one: figure out what year this is, and_

_step two: figure out what the hell to do after that_


	2. Chapter 2

"Why do you always do that John?" Rogue asked, motioning towards his lighter. There was no annoyance or hostility in her question, but John had already formed it for her. He couldn't help but do so after years of hearing that question from people who were far less patient. Even the Xavier School teachers had snapped at him occasionally to cut it out, and those got him the most peeved. These were people who were supposed to help them accept and be proud of their abilities, and they were fed up with something so important to him. Perhaps if it had been Bobby who wasn't able to create the ice he could shape, and always had to carry a glass of something with him, just so he could hear the ice clinking on the side. Or perhaps, if John had control over something that didn't make others uneasy, and instead made him a hit at parties because he could always keep drinks refreshing. He was sure that if that either of these was the case, the others wouldn't question him for a second.

Or if he stopped like acting like a jerk, that could help to. Nevertheless, John was fed up with people not trying to even understand his mutation, and his attitude towards it. They didn't understand that he needed to constantly see the flame, for assurance that his abilities were able to be useful. He had lost his whole life to these abilities, so these abilities were all he felt he could define himself with. And he couldn't just have a flame running 24/7. As mesmerizing as the flame was to him was the creation of it, that moment when the smallest burst of energy collided with the volatile gas to create something completely new and more powerful than each of its parts. It was a process he always observed in awe and with a bit of jealousy, as he was still trying to figure out how his abilities could replicate something so masterfully.

But again, no one else understood. And, again, no one seemed to bother to. So he didn't bother to answer her. But someone else seemed to take interest in his sparking lighter for different reasons.

"Can I have a light?"

* * *

Celci roamed the streets until she found a newsstand that was sufficiently busy to not draw attention to herself. Her eyes grew wide at the sight of the date printed plainly in black and white. If it had been correct, then this date told Celci that nearly 50 years had passed since the last time she had been awake.

"Scary, ain't it?"

She jumped when the stand owner spoke to her. Apparently her efforts to avoid attention weren't enough. "Wh-whattaya mean?" Her voice shook, still trying to play it off.

"No use pretending kid." An unreadble smile crossed his face, making Celci believe she was surely done for. How had he known? She had been trying so hard and now he knew she was pretending-

"No use pretending those mutant things don't scare ya."

Celci hoped her sigh of relief hadn't been too noticeable. It was evident it wasn't because the stand keeper carried on. "I know ya wanna pretend youse all tough so no one picks on ya, but don't worry kid. Those things even freak me out."

She finally glanced down at the cover story to see what he was referring to. Breaking news, mutant attacking the president, breaking into one of the most secure locations in the country with teleportation abilities. As she took in the story, she couldn't help but take in the opinions of those around her.

_"Freaks if you ask me!"_

_"If even the president isn't safe, what about us?"_

_"We should just find some way to be rid of them!"_

Celci felt her stomach sink with worry. She put the paper down with shaking hands, her mind clouded as she walked away. Even if she tried to escape danger by putting 50 years behind her, she still had every reason to be very afraid.


	3. Chapter 3

When he slept, John actually dreamed. He hated that was such a pansy-sounding word, but there was no other way to describe it.

He was on a rooftop, wind whipping past his face, as he stared out into the expanse of city beneath him. With practiced skill, he lit the zippo in his hands and had both fists engulfed in flames withot even looking. But he wasn't going to do his usual blasting this and that today.

This time around, he was going to fly.

Contrary to popular opinion, he read up on fire endlessly, anything that would would make him stronger. He understood the theory of using his pyrokinesis to fly well enough, but once he tried being in the air, there were 100 billion things he had to be aware of, like where the wind was going, where his body was, how intense a fire was needed, etc. But as he stood, one foot only half on the ledge, his mind felt clear enough to make the attempt, and without giving himself a chance to doubt, backed up several paces, then leapt off the building in a running leap.

He was surprised at how much he enjoyed the free fall, with the air so peaceful and everything out of his control. But, even if this was a dream, he still felt obligated to not crash into a sad mess. But the fall wasn't useless. With it he managed to gain a sense of his environment, and this time around knew exactly how to combat it. Arms at his sides, he angled his palms to be parallel to the ground and commanded an extra spark, straight from his heart.

The thrust was so sudden it surprised him, but the shock was quickly filled with elation when he realized he was falling up and he couldn't help but let out a yell of triumph. When gravity took over, he had a smile plastered on his face as he battled the fall once again, successfully. The smile never left his face as he repeated the actions over and over again.

He shot out flames once again, but this time to steady himself in the air. He had managed to develop enough control so that the stops were smooth, not sudden. He was still grinning when he became aware that the building he was having his flight practice next to was an apartment building. And at the moment, he was stopped right in front of a young woman's window.

But his joy was not mirrored in her face. Instead, she was nearly pale and her muscles frozen. But what struck him as odd was that the X-men had ingrained in them if a human witnessed their powers and was frightened by them, the _X-men_ should be the ones that were scared, and that they should be _sorry_ that they caused this.

But the young woman's fear didn't worry John. It empowered him.

His grin shifted into a smirk as he adjusted his flames to fly towards her window. With every inch closer, he saw the panic in her eyes grow, and her mouth slowly opened, ready to scream.

The scream did come, but it was very real and _extremely_ shrill that he had to cover his ears. But just as suddenly as it had come, it was silenced, leaving a vacuum of sound. The silence was quickly shattered as he heard the students in other rooms rush about in a frenzy. He remained calm and efficient, however, grabbing his zippo and dashing out of the room, noting that Bobby hadn't been in there. He realized he had two choices: find out whatever was causing the trouble or get the hell out of there.

* * *

Celci managed to avoid any attention by stealing away to the tunnel again. Her night had been sleepless from nightmares born from worry, and when she awoke hunger that she had completely forgotten about until now gnawed at her stomach. She had to come in contact with others eventually. She slipped into town easily enough, and realized that she blended in more that she thought. She was simply making a big deal out of nothing. The smell of bread hit her nose, the satisfying smell almost filling her stomach for her, before it was quickly replaced with the emptiness, adding a growl for effect. Without a thought she walked though the open door the smell had been wafting from and pointed to the first bread she saw in the tiny display of the tiny store. "Can I have, like 3 of those please?"

"No problem girlie!" The woman smiled warmly as she carefully packed the bread. Celci had had her eyes trained on it the entire time, so she had barely heard when the shopkeeper informed her, "That'll be $6."

Celci's fell and she mentally smacked herself in the forehead for forgetting the world ran on money. She tried to summon up her most pleading look, and realized she didn't have to do much acting because she was truly desperate. "I'm sorry ma'am. I don't have any money, but I'm so hungry. So if you could just-!"

"No. Get out of here now."

Celci was stunned. The woman had gone from caring to cold in no time at all. "Please, even j-just one little piece!"

"No!" The woman emphasized the rejection by dumping the bread back in the display case. "I make one little exception and you think it's an invitation to a free-for-all. Or, I do this for you and all the other filth on the street like you comes swarming in here like the bunch of rats you are."

When she snarled her words, making her sound so inhuman, something sparked inside of Celci, but she was a split second too late to realize that her emotions had triggered her fists to be engulfed in flames.

Both Celci's and the shop keeper's eyes were wide, but the woman didn't cower in fear as she had expected. Instead, she leapt for the phone, her eyes clouded with more hate than when she had called Celci filth. Celci took the chance to tear out of there.

But there were plenty of people on the streets now, and they all froze when they had one look at the flames that were now spreading up her arms. But, just like the woman in the shop, they didn't cower from her or run away. They closed in on her, seeing her as one of those mutated freaks that was easy enough to overtake. She tried to step back, but all that resulted in was the woman in the store shrieking again and again that she was mutant filth (getting creative with her insults). The shrieks became drowned out by police sirens. At the sound of their wailing and the blue and red flashing lights, the crowd parted to let two cops through. They were nearly twice as tall as her, and much stronger, but they still had their guns ready and aimed at her chest.

"Put your weapons out immediately! I repeat, put your weapons out immediately!" The commands were nearly barked, making Celci jump, but she quickly obliged. Tears had gathered in her eyes, ready to fall as she apologized, hands still in the air. "I-I'm s-sorry! I-It was an accident! I wasn't going to hurt anyone, I promise!" One of the tears finally fell, sliding down her cheek as her voiced dropped barely above a whisper. "Please don't hurt me."

The cop pulled the trigger of his gun, leads of a taser shooting out and sticking into her neck. In a second she was on the ground, out cold.


	4. Chapter 4

This time when she awoke, it was the groggy and confusing kind, with a pounding headache. When she went to rub her head, she found her wrists linked together by cold and heavy handcuffs. With a jolt, she realized she was in the back of a police car, the cops that had both yelled at her and tasered her in the front. What was with people these days? Rather than evolving into tolerance for superhumans, they had developed a dangerous complex against them. She wasn't going to stand by any longer. She focused on her wrists to make a fire _just_ hot enough to melt the cuffs. But the second the tiniest flame came to life, a painful shot of electricity coursed through her. When it subsided, she now noticed that the taser leads were still in her neck, and they led to the front cops. One of them chuckled. "Nice try, but raise the temp even 1 degree and you're gonna get zapped. We gotta make it downtown so we can decide what to do with you."

Static came over the police radio _Attention all units. Domestic disturbance with 4 hostiles. 2 out of 4 confirmed superhumans._ _Requesting backup._

The driving cop looked to his partner. "Whaddaya say Charlie? Let's bag some more muties to send with this one?"

What they arrived to literally looked like hell. Celci could tell even when they were still yards away. There were piles of mangled cop cars, and their cops lying about, conscious but deeply singed. _There's just so much burning..._ Celci widened her eyes at her own thought. There had to be another pyrokinetic here or something, and she didn't know why but that thought gave her a huge sense of hope.

She unfortunately got her answer the hard way. Mere seconds after the car arrived on the scene, a gigantic jet stream of flames was sent straight towards their car. The fire itself was no struggle for Celci, as she quickly gained control of the flames just before they could reach the hood and make the car look like the others littering the driveway. She was able to contain with just her thoughts, and used her hands to blaze bright enough to allow her to shatter the window with one blow. Just as it shattered, the voltage ran though the leads to her body once again, and it took every ounce of her strength to keep her eyes open, let alone control the flames up front. She managed one eye open and edged to peer out the window to see the source of the flame.

She almost dropped her control when she found the boy behind this was only her age. Something ignited in her and she set fire to her arms once again, this time trying to do anything to get the door open, ignoring the electricity as much as she could. But no matter how strong her will, she began to falter, the multitasking proving to be too much.

By some miracle, it was at this exact moment that the fire was dying down instead of flaring up. But Celci was already too spent. With one last shove, she managed to get the rear door open before collapsing, her body halfway out of the door.

As John knelt on the porch, recovering from Rogue's draining, he couldn't help but feel violated, and never really realized the impact Rogue's abilities had on others. She stripped him, and others, of their abilities. To some, these things defined them. But for her, they were just a temporary moment at her convenience. He couldn't help but give a look of disgust has they all rose, recovered.

He didn't get time to dwell on it much more, as the impressive X-Jet landed for their rescue, so out of place on the suburbian lawn. Logan had also regained consciousness at the moment, and wasted no time showing John his disapproval, to which John just shrugged.

He actually very much admired his own work of destruction as they weaved through the wreckage to the jet. Something that caught his eye was that one cop car had no signs of damage at all. At least, no burn damaged. It was the last one to come in, and now that he thought about it, it was taking alot longer for this particular car to explode like the others. But it looked as if his flames hadn't even touched it. Only the rear door forced open, and the window shattered, but he was pretty sure his flames couldn't do _that_.

Something told him to look closer (screw the jet, it could wait), and he literally wanted to jump out of his skin when he found a body half hanging out of the car. He realized that she was young, probably his age, and oddly, guilt struck his heart. Had he...killed her?

Despite having the living daylights scared out of him, he knelt down closer. John saw her eyelids twitch, and held his breath as they opened. Her eyes seemed just as surprised to see him, but they were quickly filled with weakness and pain as she hoarsely whispered.

"Help...me..."

All that came out of John were stalled sounds that didn't even form words and a million questions ran through his mind. But they all vanished when he felt a heat next to his ear, and he turned to see a snake of fire slip over his shoulder to the girl, continuing its journey down her chest, before it finally wound around her wrist and seemed to melt into her skin. His mouth was gaping as his gaze went back to her pleading eyes. "Please...help..."

She was cut off when another incapacitating shock was sent through her. With her weakness it felt so much worse that she couldn't help but yell out in pain. John jumped back and saw the taser leads embedded in her neck and leading to the cop car. Usually, he would feel teeth gritting anger. But this time around, there was only one thing on his mind: get her out of there.

"L-Logan!" John cried out in a voice that was shaky but loud, over and over again. Logan rushed over, surprised that of all the voices that so urgently needed his help, it was John. He seemed just as startled at the sight of Celci as John had been, but had been stunned silent at the sight of John now. He was just throwing incoherent sentence pieces around in a voice that was on the verge of breaking.

"S-she's hurt...I-I didn't know she was in there...I don't know what they did to her...I-I think they shock her if she uses their abilities...she's so weak..."

"It's ok kid." Logan tried to be calm enough for the both of them. The taser wires and cuffs were nothing compared to his claws and he carefully lifted her out of the car. "She'll be safe with us in the jet." Logan jerked his head in the jet's direction. "Now let's beat it kid."

John rose unsteadily, using the car for support, and made it a few steps past Logan before he got one final statement out.

"She can control fire too."

And suddenly, John's behavior made perfect sense to Logan.


	5. Chapter 5

Logan waited for John to sit down before placing Celci in the seat across from him, and made it a point to show John she was securely fastened before moving on to his own seat and inquiring about the blue newcomer. John faintly heard bits about German circuses, but was focused on the girl that was belted across from him. She slowly opened her eyes once again when the plane gently shook at takeoff. She blinked slowly a few times, as if to blink off the grogginess, and John felt the weirdest sensation when regarding the innocence that graced her face at the action. Did he just feel his heart...tug?

Celci had quickly recoved and looked around, but John gave the answers. "We rescued you from the cops. You're on a jet plane right now. But most importantly, don't worry:" He reached over and lightly put a hand on her forearm. "You're safe here with us."

Celci was paralyzed from the heat of his touch, and despite being the one to do it, John felt the same. He was so wrapped up in it that he almost missed Logan's pointed remark of, "I wonder why."

John snapped out of his daze and noticed two planes flanking them, giving their orders _I repeat, lower your altitude to 20,000 feet. This is your last warning._

Oh, that's why.

But Jean and Storm were unrelenting, and surprisingly, the two planes backed off, causing everyone in the plane to sigh in relief. But the relief was premature, when Storm frantically alerted them that they were being targeted for missles. The events flew by Celci in confusion. She had no idea who these people were or where this plane was going, and now they were being shot at?

The two women at the controls piloted the jet expertly, despite how uncomfortable the manuvers they had to pull were. Unfortunately, it was not enough, and though the red-headed pilot had apparently kinda saved them (which again, was lost on Celci), a missile exploded right above the plane, tearing a hole open, and one of the girls on the plane got sucked out into the sky right before the jet tipped dramatically and quickly began to descend.

Celci didn't know what to make of this. She had been reawakened after 50 years of preservation to die the next day.

But she felt a burning touch on her forearm again, and turned to see the pyrokinetic have his gaze locked on her. Even with the wind whipping around them, she was able to hear him over the noise.

"I promise, you'll be safe."

She wondered how naive he was being. Here they were in a death trap headed towards the earth with a giant hole in the top and by the way a girl just flew out into air a few seconds ago. But as naive as he was, she must have been even more. Because she actually believed him. She moved her arm to clutch onto his wrist, sending another burning feeling through both of them.

A puff of blue smoke startled them apart, and Rogue and Kurt slid safely into the aisle. The girl who Celci had just seen thrown into the sky was now back inside the jet, unharmed. The sound of groaning metal caught everyone's attention as they turned back to see the gaping hole melting back together. Even though the hole was sealed, there was still nothing to stop-

The jet jerked to a halt, everyone pitching forward before settling back against the seatbelts. Celci coughed at the blow to her chest, but besides the bruising, she was still 100% alive. He eyes were wide in incredulousness, and she turned to the only person she recognized at the moment. Despite the awkward position, the pyrokinetic was grinning. "See, what did I tell you?"


	6. Chapter 6

When Celci stepped off of the jet, she found they had landed in some kind of forest. Night had fallen, so the cold was setting in, and her aged clothes didn't seem to be doing much to keep her warm. As if answering a prayers, a jacket came into her view. It was being offered by the scruffy man, who was also wearing one. "Here, kid. It's ice out here."

She took the jacket with a quiet thanks, then looked up at him as she put it on. "You're the one who carried me from the cop car right? I recognized your scent a little."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "Pretty observant of you kid."

She just wrung her hands. "I guess I was trained to be observant? It's a long story..."

He held up a hand. "Save it. Might as well get most of it over with at one time. I promise we'll get to you kid after we deal with metal head over there."

Celci nodded. "Well I just wanted to thank you for taking me with you guys Mr...?"

"It's just Logan. I'll find out your name with your story. Oh and you don't need to thank me. Thank burner boy over when you find him. He was the one that found you."

Logan walked off, but Celci hadn't made it two steps before she was met with the "burner boy". John had sworn he was gonna say alot but lost all of his words when he ran into her. She took the moment to show her gratitude. "Um...thank you for saving me from those cops back there...I really appreciate it. And don't think it was your fault that I was weak or anything! It was because of their torture methods."

John realized his speechlessness came from not knowing where to dive in. He wanted to ask so many things about her. He supposed this was a good jumping off point. "It was really no problem. I just felt like I had to save you, you know?"

The silence showed she clearly did not know, and made John want to eat his words back up. But the only thing he could to was move on. "By the way...I'm John."

"John..." Something about hearing her say it made his cheeks burn a little. "My name's Celci."

John raised an eyebrow. "Pronounced almost like celsius? Isn't that a weird coincidence that that's your name and your mutation has to do with heat?"

What he though was a quirky observation was clearly more than that to Celci, and he wanted to put his foot in his mouth yet again. "Well...it's not much of a coincidence at all...you see-"

She was cut off by a someone clearing their throat and they both saw Jean nearby. "Celci was it? If you don't mind, everyone is ready to hear your story now."

* * *

Everyone was around the campfire except Kurt, who felt he would be intruding too much on her business. Celci sat as the main focus, no eyes boring into her any deeper than John's.

"I guess it has to start from the beginning? I grew up with my father, having lost my mother when I was a baby. My father was a successful doctor and therefore ridiculously rich, so I lived a very nurturing life. But out of nowhere, a woman showed up in our lives and next thing I know she's my stepmother. My life was miserable as she wrung my father dry, but hell on earth came one night when I was 10, and the house was on fire. I escaped, but I lost my father." She realized the things that her pyrokinesis could imply in this story. "I should mention that I had no abilities at this point, but not because they hadn't manifested.

"But because I was born an average human being with no X-gene." She felt the air tense with confusion, but she just continued. "My stepmother intentionally started the fire so that she could gather all of my father's assets. They had hoped I would be gone in the fire too, but I had gotten out. However, it was when I barely bolted out of the house that one of the men working with my stepmother caught me and threw me into an orphanage. My stepmother had announced me dead, and took everything for herself, completely wiping away my existence forever.

"In the orphanage I was thrown into, I was just as anonymous. Not because I was mistreated, but there were just way too many kids that they had to keep track of. I was lucky to get the bare necessitities of food, shelter, and clothing, but I felt so lonely and scared that everything I had known had been ripped from me. I only had to live that way for a month or two before a runaway saved me, and my life changed forever."

Jean noticed that her eyes were calculating how much of her "savior" she should disclose. "He...was about 13 years old at the time, but seemed so much older than that to me. He was a runaway from a young age and there was something that was between us that made us feel like we could trust each other immediately. I ran away from the orphanage to live life on the streets with him and those next 4 years were the greatest years of my life since my father had met my stepmother.

"We got our necessities from orphanages or scrounging around, but the rest of the time was spent wandering the streets. These times were so great because no one was expecting anything from us, so we had the time to wander and live how _we_ wanted. I learned so much in that free time, gravitating towards learning about medicine, just like my father. But then one day..."

Regret crossed her eyes. "I was the stupid one. We were in the abandoned part of town, which seemed deserted, when I noticed some men slip into a faceless building with medical supplies. My curiosity got to me, so I wandered close to inspect when another one of the me grabbed me from behind. He was strangling me, or something, and I felt my vision blurring and slipping away when the man yelled out in pain and let me go. When I hit the ground and my vision cleared, I saw my friend there, realizing he was the one who saved me. You see, my friend was a mutant, as you seem to call them these days."

An image flashed into Jean's vision of a boy, barely 17, with an outstretched hand and the other at his temple. Celci's friend had been, "...a telepath."

Curious glances went to Jean, including Celci's. "I'm sorry, I'm a telepath too. But I swear I didn't read your mind right now! The image just ...came to me."

But Celci didn't seem upset in the slightest. "It's ok. I must have been projecting the thought more than I realized." In her calm, Jean realized that indeed, she seemed to be someone with much experience around telepaths. Celci continued. "But it only got worse from there. Right after he had saved me, I saw someone grab him, and then everything went black.

"I woke up to the sound of him calling my name, but it sounded odd. Muffled. When I opened my eyes I saw that he was restrained behind a glass wall, but he wasn't really the one who was trapped. I was. I was strapped to some sort of medical bed in a glass room barely big enough for it. There were tons of scientists looking in, but they were all just subjects. There was someone who was leading this and he was standing behind the glass right in front of me.

"His name was Stryker."


	7. Chapter 7

A murmur of concern tore through her audience and Jean brought a hand to Celci's shoulder. "Stryker is the man responsible for everything we're going after today: the attack on the president and the ambush on our mansion. If you don't mind doing it, any information you give could help us in stopping whatever it is he has planned."

Celci surveyed the crowd and noticed Logan had an unreadable gaze set on her. "I'm not really sure how much my experiences could help though. The project he attempted was officially deemed failed with me so it ended with me. He doesn't even operate out of the base he used to test on me anymore. He's a man of progress, so he's probably moved on."

"It could still be valuable. We were able to get the location of his base from Kurt, and a little idea of what he plans to do from Magneto and Mystique, so anything we here could only be more of a benefit. But only if you're comfortable sharing what happened to you."

The battle could be seen in Celci's eyes, but she finally closed them and let out a small breath. "Go ahead. And you're allowed to project my thoughts to save time if you want as well."

Nervousness flitted across Jean's eyes. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea. I don't want you to get hurt or anything..."

Celci actually looked surprised at Jean's insecurity. "How can you be so unwilling without even trying? If you're too afraid of your power, you'll never learn to trust yourself."

Jean didn't know what stunned her more: the words, or the impact that they had on her. In her moment of recovery, some of the others took the chance to excuse themselves. Mystique slipped away, not out of courtesy, but because she didn't really care. Bobby and Rogue rose next. "I feel like this is something I should let you keep to yourself." Bobby explained politely, and Rogue nodded in agreement. She already had enough unwanted memories swarming in her head. Of all her remaining audience members, John seemed most out of place, but it was clear that he was cemented in his place, and not planning to leave anytime soon.

Celci looked at Jean expectantly, and Jean let out a breath to relax herself as she brought her hands to Celci's temples with eyes closed. She felt the connection forge, and reached out to feel the the minds of the others as well. Then, slowly, she opened her eyes.

The first sight was needles, so many needles, with whatever serum was inside them dripping from their tips. The needles pierced skin, and the moment the fluid flowed through her veins, flames sprouted from from her body. They were doing no harm, but the cries suggested that though the damage wasn't there, the pain was very real. There were so many more injections. Then there was more pain, along with exhaustion, from repeated melee blows to her body, and barking orders to get back up and fight. And then, the worst.

The vision had Celci sitting across from her savior, the telepath, but both of them bound to the chairs they were sitting in, with wires and wires patched to their heads. A flip of the switch had them both in pain, and though everyone could see what was going on, only Jean could pick up the emotions. They were heartbreaking because they weren't from suffering, but from seeing someone that Celci viewed as so powerful and strong reduced to the tortured figure before her. And then there was more fire, from her, around her. Then a frenzy, walls crumbling, Celci being lead down a tunnel by the telepath once again, placed in the chamber, those final words, then darkness.

Jean removed her shaky hands, and took a deep breath, not realizing she had been holding it. Magneto broke the silence, ever subjected. "It seemed the girl was right. We have learned nothing that will aid our mission. We've only just confirmed that Stryker has both a violent hate and twisted admiration for all superhumans."

Celci began to apologize, but Storm put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's ok. We'll find a way to make it valuable. Go rest now. The rest of us will be here, working on the jet if we ever hope to carry out whatever our mission is supposed to be." She nodded, feeling the exhaustion washing over her, and she and the others rose to leave. Expect John, until she walked past him. He shot up, but didn't know what to say. He felt so blindsided and helpless after what he just saw. Should he go after her?

But he finally decided against it. What could he do to help all that torture she had been through? The last words that telepath had said rang through his mind. He could help her live.


	8. Chapter 8

Logan climbed out of his tent after his nightmare, exhausted but unable to find peace. He hadn't been surprised to find Celci still awake as well, staring into the burnt out campfire. She didn't seemed surprised either when he sat down next to her and asked. "Don't you need sleep kid?"

"Didn't you hear my story Logan?" She turned to him with a small smirk. "I've been sleeping for 50 years."

Logan matched her smirk. He could get used to this kid. "Still you look like hell kid. And today you've been through your share of it."

She turned back to the pile of ash. "I get nightmares. And when I get them my abilities trigger. The only time I hate fire is when I'm not expecting it." Celci turned back to Logan with a deep gaze. "You had nightmares too, huh? What did Stryker do to you?"

Logan figured his sympathy was obvious during Celci's story. He slowly let his claws slide past his knuckles, and looked at them as though the were the biggest enigma. "That's what I'm trying to find out too, kid. The only word I seem to know is adamantium."

Celci searched her memories. "I heard about that in the reports. Metal. Virtually indestructible. But it must have been in its early phases, because it never came to me."

"What exactly did he do to you? How did he make you what you are?" Though Magneto had called her memories useless, Logan had hope that they would allow him even a glimpse into what happened to him. He could already relate to so many of her visions. The needles, the serums, the pain.

Celci let out a sigh. "He must have done some preliminary studies on mutants, learned how the gene affected their DNA, and then tried to replicate it in humans. Maybe he hoped if he could make is own army, he could erradicate the X-gene forever. But most of his subjects before me had failed. I was the most stable one.

"He already knew he wanted to create a pyrokinetic. His scientists developed serums to make my body flame resistant and immune from the pain of burning. But the chemicals could only take me so far."

He saw her eyes cloud. "They used my friend's telepathic abilities to trigger extra brain activity similar to what's seen in mutants, giving me the superhuman psychic ability to isolate the molecules that are flammable when they come in contact with oxygen, and control the subsequent fire that is created." She flicked up a finger and it burst into flames, allowing her to trace the sky with light.

"What happened to your friend?"

Celci paused, the flame from her finger making the tears building in her eyes shine. "They furthered his mutation, giving him telekinetic abilities as well. But they underestimated him, and at the open opportunity he began to crumble their entire operation. He took me all the way to a suspended animation chamber, begging me to go in, saying the safest place I could be to avoid any more of his danger was in the future. He told me that when I got here, I could start over." The fire on her finger died out. " And that was the last I saw of him."

Logan's brows were deeply furrowed. "How does hearing that we're going after him make you feel then? You waited all this time to escape him only to be sucked right back in."

"I don't plan on going near him anytime soon. You all sound like you have your plans pretty figured out, so you don't need me, right? And the others look pretty young, so I figured they would be on the sidelines too. I could get revenge by confronting him, but that would break the promise to my friend. To honor his memory, I just have to do exactly what he wished for: to live as if nothing had happened." She gave him another smirk. "But that doesn't mean I'm not open to the option of you giving him hell on my behalf as well."

Her smirks were contagious, but Logan then became serious. "Listen kid, from here on out, you don't have to worry. Stryker may have tried to rip your life from you, but you can actually thank him. The stuff he put you through, instead of giving you nothing, gave you bonds. And these bonds are the kind that won't break no matter what happens.

"I promise you this, kid: You ain't alone anymore."


	9. Chapter 9

Celci was surprised to find that when she opened her eyes again, it was morning, and she was inside a tent that was completely intact. But Logan's words had calmed her, made her feel safe, and gave her the rest she so desperately needed. When she exited her tent, her morning was just full of surprises, as John suddenly appeared in her view. She missed that part, however, where Logan had given an "encouraging" push to be in her path. John had every intention to meet her, but nervousness had stopped him, and it was still there even as he stood in front of her.

"Uh, good morning! Are you hungry? There's still some food leftover from this morning!" He produced a plate. "I even kept it warm for you!"

He was surprised when the reaction he got was a laugh, but then caught on. It was an amazing feeling to have someone with a sense of pyrokinetic humor. He led her to firepit to sit. "Haha ok I get it! Now less laughing more eating! I figured it's been a while since you got a chance to eat."

Celci was once again reminded by her growling stomach. All that was on her plate was toast and sausage, but it looked like a feast to her and she quickly tore into the food. She came out of her feeding frenzy when a rhythmic presence and absence of fire tugged at her senses.

"You're pretty handy with that thing." As usual, John had been doing his meditative habits with his lighter. It was so natural to him that he didn't even falter for as second when Celci made her comment, or when he replied. "I bet you could do a thing or two also."

The flame momentarily doubled in size before splitting off so that Celci could have her own spark without putting out his. "With what's inside maybe, but not with the lighter itself." She let it waver a bit before closing her fist to put it out. "Never needed it."

John paused just as he was about to snap the lighter shut, and his look of bewilderment surprised Celci. "You mean, you can create fire?" He said the last words as if the world wasn't filled with mutants who could do extraordinary things, and as if the ability to create fire was just some myth. Then it dawned on her: maybe to John, it was.

She nodded her head and with a smile, asked in a whisper not any louder that John's, "Do you wanna see me do it?"

Celci held out her palms between them, and to most who looked on, it looked as if the flame just appeared in her hands. But by the strong gaze he held at the flame, Celci knew John could see so much more than that. Though invisible to the naked eye, she knew he could sense the moment when she pulled just the right amount of elements with just the right amount of force in just the right spot to bring that burst of energy that resulted in the brillant orange glow. Celci found herself mesmerized by John's fascination.

Even though it happened right in front of him, John still couldn't believe when the flame sprang to life. To anyone else it was just fire, but he could see it was so much more different than the ones he controlled from his lighter. From its color to the heat it gave off, he could only describe this fire as pure. He raised a hand up to it then paused, looking to her as if asking for permission. She gave him a nod and offered her hands closer.

Though he had the permission, John was still extra careful as he lightly dragged a few fingertips through the edges of the flame. The way he tested its power was almost as if he was tasting it, and the taste told him that he would probably have a hard time classifying the butane filled flames from his lighter as true fire from here on out. Only after he had a feel of it, and giving a second glance of assurance to Celci, did he bring his hand closer, and willed the fire to slowly crawl up along his palm.

He didn't take it though, Celci noted. Rather than take the flame into his own grasp, he let his hand remain hovering over hers. Even as he began altering the flame's shape and intensity, he never fully took the control of it away from her. It remained between their hands as if they were sharing it. As if it connected them.

The thought seemed to hit them both simultaneously, and in an instant their gaze was locked. Out of every person he had ever encounter since manifesting his mutation, he was sure there was no one whose eyes were illuminated by the flame like her eyes were...

A throat clearing brought them back to their senses, and they hadn't realized they were leaning in so close to each other until they had to jump apart to be a reasonable bubble away. It was Storm who had interrupted them, hands on her hips. "Everybody done eating today?" The two looked to the ground while nodding nervously, John adding a "Yes ma'am" before taking Celci's plate for her and escaping to the jet to wash it. Storm gave one stern but satisfied glanced and walked away.

She let out a yelp when a smack was sent to her shoulder and Logan was at her side. "What the hell was that, 'Ro?" When an eyebrow raised in confusion, he clarified. "That girl is confused and scared, and the last thing we have a right to do is wrench her away from the only person she feels comfortable with here! And as for that snarky demon kid, I don't know how but something that Celci is doing is actually changing it for the better. He washed a goddamn plate for her!"

"What does this have to do with anything Logan?"

"It has to do with the fact that if you keep sticking your uptight nose into things, two people who really need to find compassion won't have it. She needs it to feel safe in this crazy time for her, and he needs it so he doesn't spiral down the path of destruction that we all know he could be headed."

"You're sounding ridiculous Logan! They're just a couple of kids!"

But Logan's stare silenced her. "You know as well as I do, 'Ro, that people can stop being kids long before others expect them to be. We're all about to go into something together right now and we don't know what's gonna be on the other side. But I do know that if you don't let those to be themselves, one way or another you're gonna come out on the other side without them."


	10. Chapter 10

John was sitting in his tent, thinking. That was all that there was left for him to do in this forest. He had overheard that the jet was damaged to the point that they weren't sure how long it was going to take to fix it, so all that was left for him to do was to sit around and wait. He'd even gotten a little bored of his lighter flicking, but that may have also been because the flame seemed so lackluster now.

Suddenly, a head popped into view of his open tent door, and he got a bit of happiness at who it was. "Hello!"

John smiled at the cheerful greeting, but then quickly stuck his head out of the tent to check if Storm was close. All he heard was Celci chuckle. "It's ok John! She won't get mad at us anymore!" When John asked how she was sure, she just shrugged. It was really because Logan had run into her and gruffly said. "Don't worry about Storm. She's not gonna get mad at you guys again." And as easily as Celci trusted Logan, John trusted Celci. He sprang to his feet excitedly.

"Well then, let's get out of this boring hole and have some fun!" He lead the way out of the campgrounds into the forest that surrounded them. He could tell Celci was confused by her look, so he smirked. "We didn't get a chance to have fun with my abilities yet. But I wanted to make sure we were a safe distance away from the camp. People tend to think my definition of fun is a bit out of hand."

He was taking them quite a distance away from the campground, so Celci took the walk as an opportunity to ask, "What about your life John?"

John just looked forward and shrugged. "Just your typical mutant kid story gone bad. My abilities manifested when I was 8. My house burned down too, but I knew it was my fault. No one in my family died, but I might've well have. My parents disowned me, blaming them for ruining their lives, and threatened me if I ever came back. But I hadn't had any plans to anyways. Dr. Grey found me just a few days later. Well, technically the professor found me I guess. But she was the one who came to me and brought me to the mansion."

"Professor? Mansion?"

"We're all students at a school for mutants, and the Professor is the one who founded it. But Stryker compromised the mansion, and we think he kidnapped the Professor, so that's just two more gold stars on his already sterling reputation. But yeah, if we're all successful when this fiasco is over, it's most likely the mansion we'll be going back to. But don't worry about it being just for mutants." He smirked back at her. "I'm sure they could make an exception."

Celci could only grin, and was about to say something else when they had reached a wide clearing. By the way John rubbed his hands together, this was exactly what they had been looking for. The ground was completely covered in white snow, but thankfully the sky was overcast enough so that the sun didn't shine too brightly on it. "I actually had one more question about your abilities before I show you mine." Celci turned to see that he had the same look of awe as he did earlier when he asked. "Can you fly, too?"

She could tell he asked this because he was unable to do so himself, so she gladly rose well above his height with ease. "You, John, are some kind of pyrokinetic nerd. You really know your stuff." But the insult rolled right off of him as he looked up at her, the incredulousness as strong as it had been earlier. He hovered a hand near the leg closest to him and could feel a bit of heat coming off of it. She was indeed using her flames as thrusters, but she was able to generate flames that were less than half an inch taller than her skin, but still had the right amount of power. With this, she was able to make it look like she was floating in the air. He couldn't even think when he asked. "How are you so good at all of this?"

The way her face fell made him wish he could take the question right back, but she still answered heavily. "That experimentation process lasted for a whole year, and in that time they spent every possible hour training me." She sank back down to the ground. "Within record time even someone like me became a powerful weapon."

John felt guilty for drawing this out of her, but was also confused that she seemed to be _ashamed_ of it. He adopted a brighter mood, hoping it would catch on, and playfully slapped her shoulder. "Hey, would you be willing to take me up there with you?"

The heaviness on Celci's face was quickly replaced with a smile. "Better yet, how about I let you drive?"

Before he could ask, she turned around and stepped against him until the back of her body was fully in contact with the front of his. He felt like his body had been swallowed in fire, and tensed at the feeling. But she seemed to not notice and carried on. She took each of his hands and had them securely grab her wrists. He could feel the heat coming off of her arms, but he still feel like whatever what burning inside him was much stronger. It got even worse when he could feel her speak.

"It's really simple! I swear I'll have the flame on the whole time, so just trust your intuition." He gave a nod, and she felt his chin lightly touch her shoulder. She took a deep breath before bringing them high above the ground. "From now on, it's all you."

The drop came right after, but like his dream, John didn't feel the drop in his stomach. He just concentrated on finding the right moment to lightly tug at Celci's arms, and just as he had hoped, the two sailed effortlessly into the air. The only thing he could do was laugh and continue to propel them through the air. This was better than his dream had been, and even easier than he had anticipated. Celci wasn't getting in the way at all, and they flew fluidly through the air. Though he could tell that she would occasionally intervene on some close calls, she worked with him. It was just like when they shared the flame she created earlier. They weren't just flying together: they were connected.

"This is amazing..." John said into her ear, only loud enough so she could hear it. Celci had admittedly felt that nervously burning fire inside of her, but at that statement she could feel her cheeks engulfed in flames. She was just about to say something back when a large crashing sound below caught both of their attention.

Instantly, Celci overpowered John's control and brought them quickly but safely to the ground. They crouched amongst the thick of the trees, holding their breath in an attempt to hear any suspicious sounds again.

The roar came from behind them as they snapped their heads back to see a bear more than twice their size towering above them. It raised its paw to swipe, and the only thing that could be done was for Celci to shove John out of the way right before the swipe threw her aside like a rag doll. John quickly scrambled to his feet and saw Celci lying broken, about 20 feet away from him. A giant gash was torn through the back of her shirt, and whatever was exposed underneath was shining with blood. Her name erupted out of his throat, thinking the worst.

But she stirred and slowly but surely lifted her head and the direction she heard his voice. "I'm okay! I'm-!"

The bear's roar was not nearly as frightening as the sight of the bear, barreling towards Celci's weak body, its giant paw poised for attack. But in that moment all John saw was red as he threw open his lighter and shot a hand in the bear's direction. It was as if his sight traveled with the flame, as if it was him that shot across the forest and rammed into the side of the bear, sending it through several trees before it finally came to a stop, knocked out on the ground.

Now Celci couldn't help but be in awe, ever since the stream of fire passed her. There was an extra edge to John's control, something that her intensive training could never come close to. She may have mastered her ability to control, but John was the one who was truly one with his mutation.

John was frightened by her silence, but she quickly assured him that she was conscious when he ran up to her side. "I'm still here! But I'm just..." She gritted her teeth together as she tried to look at the gash on her back, and John quickly pulled her up into his safe grasp. Just when he was about to worry about the long journey back to camp, Kurt appeared before them and without any extra words, grabbed each of their hands and teleported them back to the jet.

Storm and Jean quickly rushed up to them to make sure they were ok and directed John to lay Celci down on the bed. "H-How did you find us?"

"Jean sensed the attack and found your location immediately." Logan explained as he came onto the jet. "She connected one of your minds directly to Kurt to he could teleport to you safely."

A reflexive cry of pain from Celci as Jean moved away the piece of torn shirt stuck to her wound drew all of their attention. "I swear I didn't mean for this to happen! I just took her far away from the camp because I didn't want to wreck anything here! I didn't realize how dangerous it was out there!"

It was Storm, to his surprised that assured him with a stern voice. "It's fine, John." When he tried to protest that, she put a hand on his shoulder, a gesture that was almost motherly, and said again in a soft but stern voice, "It's fine, John. It wasn't your fault."

"And she'll be fine." Jean said in his silence as she cleaned the wound. "It's just some superficial scratches. They'll be sore until they heal, but no internal organs were damaged. It's a pretty big area though, so I'm going to put you to sleep while I clean it so it doesn't hurt too much, if that's ok with you?"

Celci nodded and Jean gently placed a hand on her forehead until Celci's eyes quietly closed. Jean and Storm had managed to clear away any of the fabric that was blocking the wound, but when Storm brushed her hair to one side, they all gasped in surprise.

Scars and bruises littered Celci's neck and continued down, covering her shoulders and part of her upper back. Though there were many wounds, one that stood out the most was a raised scar in the center of her neck. It looked similar to the one found on Kurt's, but much more crude. Kurt's appeared to have been made by an instrument specfically for the branding purpose, but Celci's must have been when no such instrument existed, so who knows what tools were used to expose whatever nerves he had been hoping to get at.

"She mentioned that they did stuff to her brain..." Logan said with a tight throat. "That in order for her to have the psychic capacity for pyrokinetics, they used her telepath friend to power up parts of her brain. But maybe he wasn't the only way they did it..."

No one stopped John as he walked up to the table and ran a hand over the painful looking scar. Jean and Storm looked at him with concern, trying to make sense of his expression, and jumped back when he slammed a fist on an empty part of the table, the tools clattering from the force. Before they could comfort him, he already angrily bolted out of the room.

What was the humans deal with mutants? How could they not treat them like people? They either ostracized them, or gained some sick obsession with them. They either saw them as something to spit on, or something that they were entitled to study and weaponize. And in the process? The hurt the defenseless ones of their own kind in their twisted crusades of extermination or understanding.

The image of that crude scar was still burned into his vision and all he could feel was guilt. Here he had been so...grateful for the fact that they were alike, that it allowed some connection to be forged between them. But what had it taken for her to be like him? What torture did she have to go through to get the brain that he had been born with? Here he was, praising her skils, when all she could probably think about were the hours of them prodding her brain, either with chemicals, from the inside with other psychic energy, or maybe with physical instruments too.

He knelt in front of the campfire, the motion of the dancing flames soothing the nausea that had been in his stomach. He attempted to make some steadying breaths when he felt people next to him, and looked up to see Magneto standing above him, Mystique close behind. Without warning, his lighter flew out of his pocket and into Magneto's hand.

"What's your name?" Magneto inquired as he sat down next to him.

"John."

But Magneto looked from the flame to him, unsatisfied. "What's you _real_ name, John?"

John held out a hand and took the flame in his grasp. "Pyro…"

"Quite a talent you have there, Pyro." Magneto said with what John could tell was genuine interest.

He looked at the flame in his palm. "I can only manipulate the flame." He said, sounding a little defeated as he closed his hand to snuff it out. "I can't create it."

But Magneto gently closed the lighter and looked him straight on. "You are a god among insects. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Magento offered the lighter back to him and John gripped the it tightly as Magneto walked away. "Insects..." He murmured to himself. He looked back to the campfire and with a swipe of his hand it was out. But the the tiniest sliver, no bigger than his fingernail, was drawn to his palm. When the last of the smoke of the old fire has evaporated, he tossed the sliver back onto the logs, and amped up the intensity so strong that every bit of the firewood was gone in a flash. The pile of ash satisfied him and he gave himself his own personal smirk. Pyro would be a god indeed.


	11. Chapter 11

Celci's eyelids fluttered open to see Jean standing over her, putting the final touches on the bandages on her back. She put a light hand on Celci's shoulder when she saw she was awake. "Do you remember what happened to you?"

She nodded and pushed herself up with ease to a sitting position, and Jean saw no signs of disorientation this time around. "Your telepath friend, did he teach you a thing or two on how to keep your thoughts intact?"

"He taught more than that." Celci said, her eyes looking distant. "He told me about his mutation early on. As he was figuring things out about his own abilities, he did everything he could to teach me on how to build my own psychic defenses. At the time, I mostly just thought he was making me smarter because I couldn't go to school or anything, but now I see he wanted me to be prepared for anything. For now, I've only found it useful for remembering bear attacks."

The two shared a grin, but Celci could see there was curiousity in Jean's eyes. "If you want to ask more, you can. I don't know why you have insecurities about your abilities, but if hearing about my friend helps you in any way, I'd be glad to do it."

The questions began flooding Jean's mind. "How was he so strong? And so young...?"

Celci pondered for a bit. "That was something I never asked. Being the only superhuman I knew, I had nothing to compare him to, but I did remember finding him impressive. I think it may have been because he ...accepted his power? Like being so open about it with me, always trying to find ways to nurture it, trying to teach others how to improve their minds. I think maybe he was able to reign it in because he didn't see it as a curse. He saw it as a gift that he could pass on to help others."

Jean swallowed, unsure if she should ask the next tough question. "Logan mentioned to us when you were out that they used him to give you your abilities, and we saw that scar on your neck. What did they make him do to you...?"

The tears dropped instantly from Celci's eyes, but she still tried to keep her voice even. She wiped one away with a small chuckle. "First you give me a question I can't answer, then you just hit me with the big one." But she willingly continued, though somber about it. "I had wondered why they kept him alive, because Stryker was so admant about creating his own army out of 'things he could trust'. But it wasn't until it was too late, when we were strapped to chairs face to face, that he was actually the most valuable resource in Stryker's plan.

"You guys think he tortured me, but I can't even describe what they did to him. He was strong enough to resist their methods of force, but that only made them try harder. When he stopped trying to alter my brain using psychic energy alone, they found a way to...bottle it or something, and put it on the exposed central nerves on the back of my neck. The would threaten him, telling him that if he didn't manipulate the brain cells they passed onto me, that it would kill me. I always wondered if it was really true, but I'm sure he knew his brain just as much as they did, and he'd obey them every time."

Jean could now see the guilt lacing Celci's eyes, and wondered if she should continue. But she had to ask the last question. It seemed to gnaw at her the most. "What happened to him?"

At this question, Celci looked at Jean straight on, and her eyes were filled with as much curiousity as Jean's. "I don't know."

She shook her head, trying to rack her already strong mind to find some sort of indication in her memories. "All I remember is him crumbling the lab, and leading me to the suspended animation chamber. I assume he was the one who sealed the room off from the outside, but the last memory that I have of him that I can be sure of were those last words he said to me. I wish I knew if he made it out okay, or if..."

The tears flowed quickly now and with no hesitation Jean pulled Celci into a hug, letting her sob into her chest. "You can be grateful that he left you with a strong memory of himself." The words that Celci shared with them all rang in Jean's mine again, two words standing out.

_Live again._

Jean hadn't realized she said them out loud until Celci responded. "Those words meant the most. I think because he knew so much about the power of the mind, he was convinced the concept of living again existed. He believed in it so much that it even inspired the insignia he used when he wanted secret communication between the two of us.

"The phoenix."

There was a flash in Jean's eyes, and she felt as if she had been transported, a cry of anguish surrounding her. There was a small glass chamber, Celci strapped in a chair on one side, and a figure, limply sitting in the other. He vaguely resembled the boy from Celci's earlier memories, but his cheeks had grown hollow, his skin so much duller, and dark circles bloomed out from underneath the eyes that were now shut and still.

There was chaos, people in white coats scrambling, their hands flying over dials and switches, frantically checking chemical levels, and flipping through pages and pages of findings. And there was a terrible cacophany of noise. The scientists frantically chattering, and the cries from Celci to try and bring back the friend across from her. But it was harder to decide what sound dominated the chaos more: the vicious orders from Stryker as he presided over them all, or the tell-tale sound of the heart monitor flatlining. But he of all people refused to believe it to be true. He gripped the railing of his observation deck and boomed, the veins in his neck clearly visible.

"BRING. HIM. BACK!"

Though his booming order initially silenced them, they went to move and realized that the silence stayed. For everyone. No matter how many switches they flipped, or how loud they yelled to each other, there was nothing. The sounds were there, but their minds weren't letting them register them.

The first sound that came back to them sounded like a ray gun charging. The sound of an immense amount of energy concentrating at a single point. And then, the blast.

The force pushed outward, shattering all of the chamber glass walls and throwing everyone backwards in a radial pattern. It affected even Celci, as the blast knocked her chair back and on its side, forcing her line of sight to the ground and making it blurry. This explained why this memory wasn't as prominent in her recollection. But Jean could see everything.

The figure that had been lifeless in the chair opened its eyes, and every inch of them was black as coal, emphazing the dark circles beneath them and the unhealthy palor of his skin. He stood up slowly but with such ease that showed being dead not a minute ago had no effect on him. The sensors that were patched to his head were still connected to him and their machines, but they blew out, overloaded, sending a shower of sparks out at the scientists nearby. He turned at the sound of their cries, and they were vaporized in an instant. Literally every shred of them disappearing into the air. And from there, it was a rampage.

He didn't even have to move from where he stood, as the destruction followed his line of sight. As he turned his head, more scientists vaporized, more machines exploded, and every instrument that wasn't attached to something rose in the air. He was almost halfway across the room when he saw Celci's chair lying on the ground. At the touch of her life force, fully intact, he grasped his temples and gasped as if he had been underwater and had broken the surface. The black in his eyes gave way to there normal color, and flames began to surround him. But these were in no way the same as the flames Celci could tame. As normal flames were the energy from the chemical collisions, these flames were the energy from his psyche. As they ran along his body, his broken form returned to its healthy state. But most importantly, his mind and his senses were repaired, and his concern for Celci returned stronger than ever.

It was this person that Celci met eyes with when her chair was turned, and feelings of relief and joy filled her when she saw the strong savior that she knew. She could have sworn he had been dead, but convinced herself now that he had probably just been unconcious. She didn't realize that he managed to do what he always believe was possible: to live again.

Jean let out the same kind of gasp as she broke the surface back to reality. Everything in the medical room of the jet had been blown backwards, just as it had been in the lab, and Celci was slumped against one of the cabinets, confusion written all over her face. The confusion only grew when Jean rushed to kneel next to her, her eyes lively as she put a hand against the side of her face and asked in a breath, "What was his name?"

Celci became just as engrossed as Jean when the feeling of deja vu came over her. That blast was the same she had felt the last day in her life 50 years ago. She was still unsure about answering, now afraid that giving that piece of information would cause a massive shift in...something. But one look at Jean's eyes and she finally obiliged. "His name was Kevin, but he always had me call him by his last name. Mieli..."

Jean widened her eyes. She remembered seeing that name for a brief moment in her father's mother's mind. It was linked to the grandfather that Jean never knew, who passed away just days before she had been born. But she didn't think much of it, as it was when her powers were just beginning to manifest, and there was so much information that she could unlock. Besides, her grandfather had to have been a Grey, the name he passed onto her father and down onto her.

But now it all made sense. The fact that she knew so little of her grandfather, but her grandmother always had a softer heart for Jean. And when Jean's power manifested, she had acted as shocked as the others, but it didn't change the way she treated her in the slightest.

She had been lost in the fog of her mind that she didn't realize she left Celci looking to her expectantly, with both tears in her eyes and fear on her face, trying to prepare herself for anything Jean would reveal to her. "Celci...I think the boy you knew...was my grandfather..."

Her face had just gone blank. None of her preparations had told her how she should react to that. But Jean, even though tears were beginning to form in her eyes too, smiled. "He's gone now, but don't you see, Celci? He _lived_. He was able to escape and start all over again."

Jean almost fell backwards when Celci leap into a hug, but she knew it was her way of expressing gratitude. Grateful that Jean not only helped her learn of the fate of the person to which she owed her life, but also for being the living breathing proof that his life had been fulfilling and good. Even though she could feel it, Celci still offered her a small but profound "Thank you..."

When they pulled apart, Celci laughed as she wiped her eyes. "I guess I can take killing my best friend off the list of things to hate Stryker for. But that doesn't mean I want you guys to go easy on him."

Jean laughed too. "Well if we hope to even get to him, I should get back to fixing the jet and you should take a rest from all this excitement!" After they stood up, they shared one more satistfied smile of affirmation before Jean turned back to the jet and Celci made her way back to the campground.

* * *

When John walked back towards the jet, Celci was already making her way out of it, and the apologies tumbled out of his mouth. "I'm sorry that you got hurt! We shouldn't have been that far out, or flying for that long."

But Celci shook her head. "We're all ok, so that's all that matters! My only regret is that I didn't get to see more of your abilities."

John shyly scratched the back of his head. "I don't get why you'd want to see them anyways. You can do so much more than me so what's the point?"

But John could see a fire dancing in her eyes. "But what you do isn't the only important thing. It's how you do it." She offered up some flame in her palm, allowing him to take it completely. "When you control the flames, it's like it becomes an extension of you. Even the smallest movements you make, it moves to match you."

She let her fingers graze over the edges of the flame. "And in the flame, it's almost like I can feel your essence in it. There's just something about it that can be traced back to you. But it's not you giving something up. It's more like an exchange. I could feel it when we flew. You put a bit of your heart into the fire, and the fire, somehow, ends up..." She put a small hand on his chest, feeling more warmth than usual. "...right in here."

Celci could feel the burning in his chest go straight to her cheeks, and when she looked up the intensity of his gaze made it even worse. But she had given him the same look that flared with the same intensity. The air became hot and still between them, and before they knew it they replaced the space with a kiss.

If they felt burning before, the kiss was scalding. Something that hit them so hard they almost separated in shock. But the were glad to refrain from stopping, and knew how to embrace the heat. The slick heat from their lips, the warm air from the moments where they pulled apart to breathe, the scorching touch of his hands on her jaw and her arms around his neck.

After a blissful eternity, it was John who pulled back first. Even though their mouths separated, he had their foreheads touch, so he only had to speak above a whisper. "It's getting late. C'mon." He took her hand and led her back towards the tents, but to his tent. When he let go of her hand to open the tent, he saw that she froze.

He put his hands on her shoulders. "I'm not going to do anything that you're not up for, but just stay here for at least one night."

But she was looking away. "It's not that. I sometimes have nightmares, and when they happen it triggers my abilities. I don't want to hurt you."

John took in her words and sat down on his tent. The tug he gave to her arm was so gentle that she allowed herself to follow. "You act as if I've never known how fire hurts. But if you tend to burst into flames when you sleep, who better to share a tent with than a pyromaniac? But it won't happen." He pulled her close so that his chin rested on the top of her head, and she closed her eyes in his warmth. "What is it I always tell you? I promise you'll be safe with us."

He laid back down, and Celci lay beside him, face to face. "You'll be safe with me." He reached out and stroked her hair back behind her ear. At the motion, Celci's lids instantly fell and John followed soon after, but not before he saw the look of pure relaxation on her face.


	12. Chapter 12

When the sunlight found its way through the tent, John woke up, his arm draped over Celci, and the sight made him feel more energized. He could swear that he could hear the jet was running and fully repaired and felt a little torn now. Yesterday he had been bored out of his mind, but now he felt like he would miss the forest. Or more specifically, its lack of people who were trying to get into his business.

He had thought a little too soon though, because right as he emerged from the tent, he was met with Mystique's gaze as she was perched near the fire pit. For once, her eyes had an ounce of emotion, and they were telling him that she had her own theories about what his business might be. He was saved by Logan, barking orders at him to help him clean up the campsite. Before he left though, Mystique actually spoke to him. "A word of advice boy: know what it is you want, and be ready for the things you have to do to get there."

When the jet was in the air, Mystique's words still swirled around his head, but John was still half listening as Storm briefed the team on the mission, and noticed something missing. "What about us?" he asked, standing up at the end of her brief. There had been no mention of the 4 youngest in their plans. Logan answered his question for him by shoving him back into his seat.

"You 4 are staying here." John began to protest, believing they qualified for this, and looked to Celci for support. Surely she would mention something, about how she had plenty of expertise and, hello?, had been tortured by the guy and deserved to settle her beef. But she just looked down to avoid his gaze, which shocked him as much as the jet landing on the ground below.

John was too upset to try and understand her silence, so he moved to a seat furthest from the remaining 3 and got lost in clinking his lighter. It felt like forever had passed before Celci finally stormed up to him.

"If you have something to say to me, then say it John! Don't just sulk in the corner, occasionally shooting lasers at me!"

But John didn't react with anger. He calmly snapped his lighter shut and looked up at her. "Why didn't you argue with them when they wouldn't let us go? If anything, Stryker made your life more torturous than all of ours combined."

Celci furrowed her brows. "So the amount of pain I've been through is what makes me worth something?"

"I didn't mean it as something insulting!" This was one of the many times John felt he had to swallow his words, but then he realized: why should he? "Why do you have to be so sensitive about everything I say, anyways?"

She was taken aback. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Is it the reason you don't want to confront Stryker?" He stood up to stare her down. "You're too sensitive to even face the man that gave you hell?"

"What would I even do when I face him? Violence isn't the only way to get revenge, John, and it's ridiculous that you think it's the only way."

"Well I think of pretending 'like he never took anything from you' just as ridiculous."

Fire consumed her gaze, and she emphasized each word to make sure they were singed with anger. "How dare you say that. He was my friend and-"

"And that makes him right about everything?" She hadn't known when John's gaze became covered in steel. "Why can't you think for yourself? Are you sure that instead of being your friend, that telepath didn't just warp your mind into following him?"

A flash of fire pushed him back against the wall. "Are you really that miserable, John?" He heard when the fire cleared. "Are you really so miserable that you only let in the few people who are more miserable than you?"

Those weren't words of anger. John could hear it clearly in her voice and see it clearly in his eyes. They were of pity.

And that was the last thing he wanted from anyone.

He grabbed a jacket and put it on roughly as he pushed past Celci to lower the jet ramp. "I don't need to put up with this." were the last cold words he gave before stomping off into the chilly snow.

When Celci gave a scoff and turned, she was met with a stunned Bobby and Rogue, who witnessed the whole thing. Rogue was the one who spoke up. "You should really go after him. He needs you." And with that, Celci gave one last huff before grabbing a jacket herself and slipping out into the snow.


	13. Chapter 13

With nothing in any direction, Celci couldn't even be sure that she was going in the right direction as she trudged through the snow. She was considering taking flight to try and find John when she felt him, not too far away.

Or more accurately, she felt his flames. But there was something about them that prompted her to tear off in the direction it was coming from. These flames had much more of him in them than the ones he had used on the bear, and they didn't have any ounce of the butane feeling that his lighter flames gave off, which had to mean he made them himself.

She found him lying in a patch of natural dirt and ash, his flames having melted the snow and burned the grass that lay beneath. And the size of the patch was growing, but the flames that caused this were undetectable to the eye. But it wasn't this sudden increase in power that worried Celci. It was that John lay crumpled in the center, with his hands gripping his head so hard that his knuckles were white.

Celci leapt into the center of the circle to his side. "John!" She lay a hand on his burning forehead and his frantic eyes found hers. But that didn't distract him enough from the dull pain in his head that left every other inch of him feeling numb. There was another twinge of pain as the white noise that swarmed his head amplified by 1000 times, worse than millions of nails on a chalkboard. He hadn't been aware that his powers had flared up, or of anything really except the screeching in his head and now, Celci by his side.

But when he, with much difficulty, reached up and took hold of her hand, everything was silent. He sat up slowly in disbelief, but when Celci saw that he had recovered, she let out a breath of relief. "I thought I was going to lose you. John, I'm sorry about everything I said on the jet, and you were right." When John looked into her eyes, they were pleading. "I wanted to just forget everything bad that happened with Stryker, and maybe it is because I'm weak. But maybe it's time for me to stop being so scared. And I'll stop with not being scared with you."

Celci sparked a flame between their hands. "I was afraid before by how I felt so connected with you so soon. I felt so tentative because it was ridiculous to think that way. But seeing you like that, just now...I don't think I could take that happening again. So maybe I shouldn't ignore this connection. Maybe you're supposed to be the important person in my life. Maybe everything that happened to us to bring us together was fate, don't you think?"

John was speechless. He wanted to agree with her because he cared for her so much, and the look in her eyes was practically begging. But _the_ most important person? Fate? He wasn't used to talk like this at all. He remembered Mystique's advice, and deep down knew he wasn't sure at all of what he really wanted, so was in no way prepared to do anything to get to whatever he wanted was.

But he wished he could believe her words, and hoped there was a part of him that could want what she spoke of, so he merely answered, "We have to find our way out first."

Celci gave a nod, the answer being enough for her, and floated into the air, pulling John up with her by his wrist. Their view from the air was much clearer, and it wasn't long before they spotted a grounded helicopter in the distance, which was a good start for them. Celci took off enthusiastically and flew them both along effortlessly, but when they were almost at the helicopter, she let out a strangled cry.

John looked up in concern, recognizing the cry as one he made not too much earlier, and sure enough, her free hand was gripping her temple. They began spiraling back towards the ground, and John made desperate attempts to support the two with his own flames. But is was nowhere near as simple as when he had flown with her the day before, and his efforts were useless, bringing them crashing on the ground.

Luckily for them, the layers of snow on the ground were thick enough to make the worst consequence of the fall having the wind knocked out of him. He pushed himself up and instantly scrambled to Celci's side. She was in the same daze as he had been, unaware of anything but the chaos in her mind. He grabbed her hand, expecting it to have the same effect as it did on him, but her eyelids continued to flutter as she tried to make sense of what was real.

"Celci?" He asked and as gently as possible laid a hand on her cheek. But when his hand touched her skin the amplified twinge of pain came and she yelled out, causing him to jump back reflexively. Even though the pain had gotten worse, she managed to open her eyes a little more and softly called his name.

He gripped her hand even tighter with no effect. Why did it seem she was in so much more pain than he had been? And it shouldn't have been lasting this long, even though he didn't know what "it" was. He heard the sound of the helicopter they had spotted starting up nearby, so he quickly gathered her in his arms. "Don't worry Celci. We'll make this go away."

John dashed towards the sound, taking a shortcut through the trees, and was in the clearing in no time. He squinted through the wind whipping wildly at his face to see it was Magneto and Mystique in the helicopter. Mystique spotted them first, but Magneto was the one who gave him a look that told him he was welcome aboard.

When Magneto met John at the helicopter door, he wasn't surprised by the state of Celci in his arms. But John couldn't see that, and at the moment to him Magneto wasn't the villain that everyone called him out to be. At the moment, he was just someone wiser, and someone who could help, someone John depserately needed.

"I don't know what's wrong with her. She just collapsed in the sky and she's just getting worse. You have to be able to do something!"

But Magneto looked on unmoved. If his plan worked out in the best case scenario, she wouldn't survive. And he knew in any future scenario, she wouldn't survive, just because of the way she was unfortunate to fall into his plans.

As only human.

Magento put a hand on John's shoulder. "I'm sorry my boy, but she won't survive. You must let her go now."

"Wh-what do you mean?"

But Magneto spoke with such certainty. "She won't survive this, and even if she does she won't be able to last long. The abilities given to her will ostracize her just as we are excluded. And though I do not doubt her abilities are strong, maybe even more so than yours, she can never be a true mutant. We are what we are not for what has been done to our minds, but because of what's in our genes. No matter how we see her, she can never be a god, not because she's not strong enough, but purely because that's not what evolution has in store for someone like her." Magneto gave John's shoulder a strong squeeze, and though his words may not have sounded like it, he was speaking to John with his true brand of compassion.

"You can still follow your destiny for greatness, Pyro, but her path will end soon."

"...John..." Celci feebly called out, barely audible over the sound of the helicopter. The sound of it didn't just tug at his heart; it almost tore it out completely. He knelt down with her still in his arms and grabbed her hand tightly.

"It'll hurt to lose you no matter when it happens, so I should just do it now before it hurts any more."

Celci widened her eyes as much as possible, but another twinge of pain hit her. She fought through it as hard as she could. "You won't lose me John...I'm supposed to be by your side...it's our fate..." A tear slid off her face and melted the snow it fell on. "Don't you believe me...?"

She felt him rustle in his jacket pockets for something and placed what he had found in her palm, the rectangular shape of the lighter identifying itself against her skin. He clenched her hand tightly shut and seemed to be staring straight into her soul as he said, so simply,

"I can't. I'm sorry."

She felt him lower her to the ground, but couldn't see when he walked away. The only thing she could do was let the tears fall, making puddles beneath her, as she felt the wind shift when the helicopter took off, and the sound of its blades getting more and more distant until it disappeared completely.


	14. Chapter 14

There was panic on the jet. They had scrambled to all make it on safely, only to find that the jet had lost all power, not fully recovered from its first injury. But Jean sensed this long before anyone else had, and took advantage of their distraction with their late discovery to slip out unnoticed. She had made it outside and almost halfway to the front of the jet before they noticed she was gone, but she raised a hand to close the ramp to prevent them from going after her.

"I"m alright." Jean assured them through the Professor. "Please trust me. This is the only way." She shut Scott's protests with tears forming in her eyes.

Above them, Mystique had flipped the final switched in the helicopter to set them on their course, when she felt Magneto's hand on her shoulder. She followed his gaze down to where the jet stood, Jean's bright red hair being unmistakable against the white snow. Magneto's eyes had a light in them, knowing of Jean's hidden potential. "If you don't mind, my dear, I'd like to see how our Jean fairs." Mystique obviously had no objections, and the helicopter's only other occupant was too distracted to even know what was going on.

John hadn't know about the threat of the lake flooding, and he couldn't help but feel guilt flooding his heart. Whatever had taken over Celci's mind may have already claimed her by now, or perhaps the X-men had found her and taken her with them. That was what they stood for, right? Saving everyone, mutant and human alike. He prayed either case was true, because the prospect of her being washed out by the waves swallowed him up with such a cold fear that he didn't even want to think about it.

Everyone's thoughts on the jet were about Jean, and Jean couldn't help feeling some guilt that they hadn't noticed one of their own was still lost. She took a moment to seek her out, but she didn't have to look far.

"Jean?" A small voice came from the back of the plane, and Jean was so surprised by Celci's presence that it slipped through the connection she had with the Professor, alerting everyone she was there.

Not fully recovered from the psychic trauma, Celci's walk was unsteady as she made her way towards Jean. A telekinetic force pushed her back. "You have to get inside!" Jean warned. "It's not safe out here!"

But Celci still edged closer. "Then why are you out here?"

Before she could answer, the rumbling sound of the water came. Jean quickly threw a hand towards the jet, giving it power. She threw her other hand in the direction of the wave with just seconds to spare before the water crashed onto them.

But a wall of fire had already beaten her to it. She turned back to see Celci with both hands facing towards the wave, and two streams of fire connecting her hands to the wall that held it back. All of the X-men, including Jean looked on in awe.

John couldn't help but gasp out loud when he felt sudden surge of heat, his eyes wide at the sensation. He heard Magento murmur about something being impossible, and looked out the window himself to see a sight that sparked a giant fire within.

Even from all the way up here, the power of the wall Celci was casting made John speechless. It was both wide enough and tall enough to protect the entire length of the jet, and though the lake raged against it, it stood solidly with no signs of letting up. Magneto had made it seem that since she was only human, she had limits. Even Celci herself admitted that there were barriers with pyrokinetics which John had surpassed that she could never break. But the shield of fire raged on so strongly, only existing because of the small girl before it, and every inch of it was filled with Celci's heart and soul. He had taken everyone else's word for it when it came to her, but his own heart was telling him that perhaps they had been mistaken.

"You have a chance to make it back on the jet, Jean!" Celci communicated telepathically. "If you're afraid you won't have enough power, then you don't have to worry about that anymore!"

"It wasn't having enough power that I was afraid of. It was having too much."

Jean could register the confusion across Celci's thoughts and face. "I can feel the power inside of me manifesting itself, but it's so much more than I was ever aware I had. But when I tap into it too much, I can feel that it's almost...rampant. It's like it's been caged, and if I open the door a little too much, it'll break free, out of my control, and I don't know what it will do to me."

"But if you had powered the jet and held back the lake, you would've been forced to let the power take over you. How would that have been better."

"Because...that plan would have killed me before I had the chance to hurt anybody I care about."

"No."

Though her plan had been telling, Jean was the one who was left stunned. Celci's "no" had not been a feeble whisper of disbelief. It was a protest out of anger. She could feel Celci's gaze burn into her as she spoke. "Your power will only claim you if you continue being afraid of it. Your grandfather didn't build his legacy to have you bring it down out of fear. I know you of all people were aware of how impressive his control over his abilties were. He could have lived on for ages. But he finally chose to give up his power so it could be manifested into you. Even before you were born he trusted you to be able to take control of the phoenix of his abilities. If you die before fully embracing them, then you won't control how they're passed on, and they might be lost forever. Please Jean, don't dishonor his memory. Help him live again."

Whatever had been caged inside Jean's mind had broken free, but not violently. A brilliant energy consumed her from the inside, and she found herself wrapped in the flames she had seen earlier. Her grandfather initally turned into a monster, his eyes soulless and his power destructive. But why had Jean surpassed that?

Then she remembered that Celci's lifeforce, a mind that he had cared for and one that had cared for him back, shook him back to his senses. This entire time, she had been connected to a jet full of lives that depended on her, needed her to remain on this earth. It was these lifeforces that held the monster back, and the presence of the forces that helped her finally accept that she couldn't give up her life just yet.

"I'll power the jet from the inside as quickly as I can, so you won't have to hold the waves much longer." Jean revised, and saw Celci smile in relief that she intended to stay alive. Before letting down the defenses that kept out Kurt, she had to ask Celci one more question. "Why is it that you didn't shy away when I told you to go back on the plane? You could've been taking a big risk being out here, and you still are."

Celci's face remained unmoved. "Because, as of not too long ago, I was left with nothing to lose." Jean could see it all now: Magneto's words, John's belief in them instead of hers, and his abandoment. Jean's gaze moved to Celci's hands and she could see that the source of the wall hadn't been Celci's own flames, but the shark-painted zippo lighter that she tightly clutched.

Jean put a comforting hand on Celci's shoulder. "You may feel as if you has lost everything, but from the moment Logan carried you onto the jet, we all gained something that we would all fight to hold onto."

Celci's stone-like stare melted as Jean put down the barried between her and Kurt. He had her back in the jet in the blink of an eye, but when he went to go back for Celci, he found himself blocked out again.

"You can't bring her back yet." Jean explained has she moved to restore the jet's power. "The wall is so massive that she's connected both mentally and physically to it. If you break the physical part of it, it'll come crashing back down."

When the controls in front of them came back to life, Storm and Cyclops jumped in to help raise the jet out of danger. But Storm wasn't too preoccupied to ask, "Can she hold it for much longer?"

Jean checked back in and as far as she could tell, the connection was still strong. "Of course she can, but it looks like she won't have to." When Jean's telekinesis rebuilt the last burnt out connection, the entire jet swayed as the engine came back to life. Instead of alarming everyone, all of the jet's passengers let out a sigh of relief as it rose and cleared the lake a safe distance. Jean's heart was still racing but she had a smile of relief and prepared to tell Celci it was safe to come back.

But she looked out the window to see the wall had already disappeared, and in only a half second Celci would be at the wave's mercy.


	15. Chapter 15

It had caught even Jean by surprise. She could have sworn that Celci's hold had been strong a moment ago, but looking now she was drained completely in both connections. Jean was so used to gauging mutant power levels, but it was clear now that whatever Stryker had made her to be was unpredictable.

Just as Celci had felt the jet's shadow come over, the fire suddenly died. When the fire had disappeared, her arms flew back as if she had been holding solid ropes that had just been cut free. The momentum and the exhaustion caused her to fall backwards. Celci felt as if everything was moving in slow motion, and before her heavy lids closed, she saw two things. One was the flame on John's lighter still burning brightly, proving that the fuel of her soul burned up before the fuel of the lighter. And the second was the wave as it towered over her, exacting its revenge for holding it back for so long.

Whatever had been burning inside of John died as quickly as the wall of fire had. It had been extinguished by the same wave that had claimed Celci. The sight of the lake's flawless surface left him feeling as if he no longer had substance, as if he was the smoke that rose from the ashes within him, nothing left to anchor him to the world.

He felt completely the opposite of how he had a moment ago. Even though she appeared so insignificant in front of the wave, hope still burned inside of him. If she didn't manage something, the X-men would save her. The elf had gotten Dr. Grey out, so it was only a matter of time before they saved her. To him, even the milliseconds were crawling by, but they passed and nothing had changed but the gap between Celci and the wave getting smaller and smaller. He felt himself getting closer and closer to the helicopter window, his hope still growing and growing until the very last nanosecond when he slammed his fist against the plastic, the blaze inside of him at its full height.

And then nothing. Nothing from Celci. Nothing from the X-men. And nothing left inside of him. He hated this feeling, and tried to gasp onto anything to keep him from losing his mind.

_Mind..._

Dr. Grey _had_ to have known she was in trouble. No matter how fast everything had happened, she should've been able to sense it. Or Kurt should have been able to have rescue her. Or someone, _anyone_, on that jet full of superpowered mutants, should have been able to do something to save her.

But they didn't. They all could have all been capable of something to buy them even a precious second, but they all just stood by and let her die. The anger had blinded him so much that he hadn't realized he had thrown a fist until it made contact with the window.

And at the contact, something sparked inside of him. He threw another fist, this time with a yell, and the fire grew brighter. He continued, and the fire began restoring feeling to his body. If this is what it took, he would be willing to throw punch after punch and yell after yell for as long as it took to feel alive again.

But when he went to throw punch number whatever, a hand caught his wrist, and his gaze snapped to Magneto. But the gaze Magneto matched him with wasn't stern, angry, or apathetic. It was a gaze that told him the older man understood what it felt to have the life of someone so important ripped away right in front of him helplessly.

John felt himself anchored back to the ground, recognizing Magneto as one of the only people that he could rely on now. He had been pulled back so suddenly that he found he could do nothing but break down. But Magneto didn't regard it as weakness. He saw too much of his younger self in John. In a very paternal manner, he put an arm over John's shoulders and guided him back towards the seats. Though it was a broken John that he was helping sit down, Magneto was confident that when John was ready to pick back up the pieces, he would allow Magneto to help build him into the god he was meant to be:

Pyro.

* * *

The fire that burned with a determination more similar to Magneto's had always been inside John. But if he had seen what had really occured in the lake, perhaps it wouldn't have sparked so quickly.

In honesty, no one had seen what really happened, not even Celci. When Celci's eyes had closed, she waited for the large volume of liquid to fall on her and do what she didn't even want to imagine. But it never came. All she had felt was a sudden heat, arms around her waist, and a sharp tug before there was silence. The unexpected events had replaced her fatigue with adrenaline and her eyes shot open. Instead of distorted sunlight from beneath a water surface, she was facing the inside of the jet. "Wh-what happened?" She asked with a shaky voice as she sat up.

Kurt, the one whose arms she had felt, sat up as well, and she realized that instead of being soaking wet, they were both completely dry, and the edge of Kurt's trenchcoat was actually singed. "I was sure that I would be too late, but when I reached you, you were surrounded by fire. Perhaps you were able to shield yourself when the water fell?"

But Celci was sure that her strength had completely run out. She looked to the next logical explanation: Jean. While Jean's look told Celci it hadn't been her, it also told her that she had known exactly who it was. But it was the Professor that answered.

"Magento, Mystique and John have been watching from their helicopter this entire time. Deep down, Magneto and Mystique know that everything that is seen cannot always be believed. So, the greatest irony is the only person who believes you to truly be dead is the very person that saved you.

"John."


	16. Chapter 16 - End

Celci sat at the top of the jet's ramp as it sat powered down in its hangar at the mansion.

"You know, the sofas inside are much more comfortable!" Jean teased and she came up and sat down next to her. Celci smiled at the comment, but Jean knew that it wouldn't change her mind. All of the X-men welcomed her to stay at the mansion with open arms, prepared to give her a room, a chance to learn from them, and many other things that they knew would never pay her back for saving their lives. But Celci felt as if she had been paid back in full and more, by what Logan had mentioned to her: unbreakable bonds. She had her moments with each of them. Trying to dissuade Scott that she was the one who had saved Jean's life. Recieving the utmost respect from Storm (and no longer being seen as a kid). Assuring Rogue, over and over, that Rogue telling her to go after John made her in no way responsible for Celci almost dying. Sympathizing with Bobby, because though the two had been fire and ice, the years between he and John were in no way insignificant. Saying goodbye to Kurt by thanking him profusely, only resulting in him being stubbornly humble. These things already made the mansion uncessary, but in truth, Celci found it hard to be comfortable at the mansion. After all she had been through, she found the jet much more familiar. Jean didn't think it would hurt to ask, one last time, "Are you sure you don't want to stay?"

"I'm sure." Celci said with no hesitation on her face. "I just need time to sort things out. It helps knowing that Kevin lived safely, and that Stryker can't hurt anybody anymore, but I won't have complete closure until I research what was done to me. It'll help me reach the full potential of these abilities."

"But we can train you here." Jean reminded her. "We have every way to challenge you."

Celci shook her head. "You mentioned yourself that the reason I almost didn't make it was because my power limits were unpredictable. Also, you all have you own missions that require your own kind of training, so I won't distract you from them with trying to understand me. If I can do this research, then I'll learn my limits for sure, and then I'll be ready to help you help me."

Jean let out a sigh of resignation. "We figured that you would say that, but it was worth a shot. The Professor was prepared for it though." Jean produced a small backpack and handed it to Celci. "In there is everything you need to do whatever you need. He says it's the least he can do."

Celci broke out in a broad smile. It was as if she had forgotten everything she had done, and was just grateful that she wouldn't have to hear her stomach growl for a while. "Tell him thank you." She slipped on the backpack, but wasn't ready to leave until she was sure of one last thing. "Jean, can you promise me something?"

When she assured her she would, Celci's gaze went down to her hands. "If, by any chance, you come across John again, don't tell him I'm alive."

Jean raised her eyebrows. "But...he _saved_ your life Celci. That has to mean, at least subconsciously, that he couldn't bear the thought of you being dead."

"But, consciously, he abandoned me." The hurt was too evident in her voice. "I thought he was something I could be sure about, but there was so much hesitation inside of him. Looking back, it was really naive of me to make such a rash decision. I prized finding that connection in him, but I could always feel there was a vengeful fire inside. It scared me, so I realize that I'm just as confused as him. But this way, a choice has been made for us. We get the chance to lead our lives without crossing paths, and maybe we'll come to find that this was how it's meant to be."

Jean knew a thing or two about tough decisions, having been conflicted so long between Logan and Scott. But when she thought she was going to die, and the first person she'd regret hurting was Scott, she knew she had made her choice. It was confirmed when the moment they were out of danger, Scott rushed to hold onto Jean as if she was the most treasured thing in the world. He had always been that way, not holding anything back when it came to her, so when Jean had caught on that there was something inside of herself she was holding back, she pushed him away. That was probably why she was attracted to Logan, because he knew best out of anyone what it was like to have a beast in his mind. But with her head cleared, she could see that she and Logan were always meant to care for each other that wasn't more or less than what she and Scott had. Just, different.

She put a warm hand on Celci's to assure her she'd keep her promise, but she was confident that if Celci and John's paths were meant to change, the choices would present themselves again. When Celci looked up, Jean could see the brightness had returned. Celci gave Jean one final look. "I'll come back here. I promise."

Jean pulled her into a hug, which Celci glady returned. "And we'll always be here. We promise."

They separated when Logan appeared at the bottom of the ramp. "Sorry," he grumbled, "Just needed to pick up some stuff from the jet."

Jean gave Celci a final nod before heading back to the mansion, the small amount of tension between her and Logan not going unnoticed. Celci could see by the way his disposition changed that Logan would take a little bit more time to cope, so she tried to lighten his mood. "Any chance you could drop off a kid in Boston, Logan?"

He turned around as he zipped his backpack closed. "It's on the way."

"Hey I could tag along with you the whole way! Where is it you're heading?"

"Canada, probably."

Celci wrinkled her nose. "Nevermind then. Please abandon me in Boston."

He couldn't help but chuckle, and she gave a smile back as they headed to the garage. Even though it wasn't gonna happen, if he had to choose anyone to go on a transcontinental motorcycle trip with, this kid would probably be near the top of his list.

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I know I haven't said much this entire time, but thank you for sticking around and making it to the end :)


End file.
