September Tenth - Jean Grey
Jean feels the Phoenix Force rise in her at the same time she feels her heart lift at the sound of church bells. She's not sure whether it's her spirit, or the Phoenix that moved first, but she doesn't imagine the Phoenix understands anything about worship, and it can't have been her, because it's been years since she's even thought about going to church.
She and Scott and the Professor are out in the garden after breakfast on Sunday morning, and the air is still and cool and smells like grass. "They're just bells," she tells herself, but the sound of their pealing is heady and portentous.
She is not herself.
She sees in red, sometimes, like looking through fire, and everything seems further away. Even Scott, who's standing right next to her, and catches her when she overbalances and asks, in a tight, concerned voice, "Jean? Are you all right?"
She is all right, but the Phoenix Force isn't. It wants its turn. It does not like working with her. She does not like working with it, or fighting against it, and she knows, sooner or later, that it's going to step forward, with beak and claws of flame, and eat up her entire life.
She thinks of Erik, and for the first time, she can see through the blinding loss of him, and wonders, with a distant curiosity, if this was what he felt like when he left. If there were two forces inside of him, one of them scorching and terrifyingly familiar, waiting.
Charles looks at her, still tipped in Scott's arms, and she feels herself smile in the crooked way Erik used to do. She's not sure if that's her or the Phoenix Force, but either way, it makes Charles' eyes go dark with hurt, and he turns away. Her heart sinks, but she feels the Phoenix force flutter and stretch its wings, getting ready for flight.