Multiverse Networking

It had been nearly a week since Jean Grey and her husband Scott

Summers had become lovers with Ororo Munroe. Though there had been

no formal announcement, it was obvious to many people at the Xavier

Institute for Higher Learning that they were all more than friends

now given the way that they acted in public.



Phoenix, Cyclops, and Storm made no effort to be discreet. Holding

hands, kissing, and even (occasionally) fondling each other in

public.



The students at the Institute (who for the most part only knew a

small part of the story) were titillated by this but otherwise

unaffected. The girls gossiped about it, the boys made crude and

dirty jokes and suggestions regarding it, but almost none of the

students would have ever have been reckless or stupid enough to say

any of it to the teachers faces.



The teachers were far more concerned by their colleagues actions.

Rightly fearing that it was a sign that the Phoenix Force was

beginning to use its awesome power more aggressively again.



Of course there was other fallout from the past week.



Almost no one on campus had any idea why Emma Frost had stopped

teaching all her classes, or where her favorite students, the

Stepford Cuckoos were spending most of their time now.



As for the mutant detectives Sage and Bishop, that Headmaster Charles

Xavier had asked to come to the Institute, they were delayed by an

anti-mutant terrorist attack they had to investigate. The

investigation took nearly a week, and the detectives were unable to

help the headmaster with his problem until now.



*****



Of the two mutant detectives, Lucas Bishop seemed like the most

intimidating at a glance.



The brown skinned mutant was tall and muscular, with a brooding

manner and an M prominently tattooed over one eye. Combined with his

fearsome reputation and the weapons he made little attempt to

conceal, and Bishop had little trouble intimidating most people.



His partner, the voluptuous and pale skinned mutant known as Sage,

seemed far less frightening on the surface. But the man who had once

used her as a spy knew she had a talent for discovering and speaking

bitter truths, and he feared her words far more than Bishop's.



The three were alone in headmaster Xavier's office, Sage was sitting

in a chair facing Xavier's desk (which Professor X himself was

sitting at) and Bishop was standing before the desk as he regarded

the founder of the X-Men. Warily considering everything the telepath

had just told them about the current situation at the Institute.



"Are you sure about this Charles?" the black mutant asked in a low

voice.



Professor X sighed and replied "there seems little doubt of it Lucas…

Jean confessed to her attack upon Emma Frost and Sophie Cuckoo…no one

is exactly sure what she did to Ororo Munroe…but it is unquestionable

that she did some major alteration to Storm's mind…most likely

without her consent."



"What about Scott Summers?…is he being compelled or unduly influenced

to participate in this ménage a trios?" Sage asked coolly as she

looked over the file Professor X had given her earlier. Which

consisted of all the data he had on Jean Grey.



"As near as we can determine…no" Charles Xavier replied in a voice

filled with disapproval and disappointment.



The cyberpath Sage repressed the urge to smirk.

Scott Summers had always been Xavier's Golden Boy. The member of the

original group of X-Men who was both most devoted to Charles Xavier's

dream of human/mutant coexistence and to Professor X personally.



A shining example for other idealists to emulate.

While Professor Xavier had deliberately cast the young Sage (a girl

he owed his life to) into the role of villainess, spy, and traitor.



Sage understood the reasons for Xavier's actions, and even agreed

with most of them. Nevertheless she couldn't deny that it was

somewhat satisfying to watch Charles Xavier's Golden Boy stray so far

from the path Professor X had set out for him.



"What are your thoughts Sage?" the headmaster asked.



It didn't even occur to Sage to say how she was feeling regarding

Scott Summers and the headmaster.



That was irrelevant to the discussion at hand.

Besides given all that had past between them, she had no desire to

confide in Professor X of all people.



"We shall have to conduct our own investigation of course…but if the

situation is as you describe it headmaster the question is not

whether or not Jean Grey is a threat but what kind of threat she is…

and how best to neutralize that threat" Sage replied coldly as

Professor X stared at his own unhappy face reflected in her red cyber

glasses.



*****



Emma Frost opened her eyes, and found the identically smiling faces

of Phoebe, Celeste, and Mindee Cuckoo staring down at her.



"Time to get up Mom" the three telepaths chorused happily.



"Your father must have been a morning person" Emma thought

resentfully. As the blonde mutant remained in bed and pulled the

covers more tightly around herself.



The last week had been rather difficult for Emma Grace Frost.



Aside from the usual aches and pains of late term pregnancy, Emma

Frost was exposed to the constant mental voice of Sophie Cuckoo.

Because Emma found it virtually impossible to shield her thoughts

from a telepath who literally spent all her time inside the elder

mutant. Of course Emma could easily peer into Sophie's mind too, but

that was a far more common (and less disturbing) situation to the

former White Queen.



This meant that Sophie was constantly privy to Emma's innermost

thoughts and feelings. Which prompted the (currently) smallest and

youngest Stepford Cuckoo to continuously share her thoughts and

feelings regarding whatever Frost was thinking about or doing.



Moreover, now that Sophie was inside her, Emma found it all too easy

to be drawn into the mental link all the Stepford Cuckoos shared. So

Emma had to constantly be on guard, lest she end up sharing her

thoughts with all four girls.



Of course since they still shared their psychic bond with Sophie,

Phoebe, Celeste, and Mindee wanted to go with Emma Frost everywhere.



The shapely blonde telepath had literally not spent a moment away

from her daughters since becoming pregnant. And Emma Frost sometimes

felt as though it were driving her mad.



The three adult sized Cuckoos gently pulled their mother to her

feet. Then Mindee and Celeste lightly grasped the robe that was her

only garment and took it off her.



Once such treatment would have angered the former White Queen. But

her life had changed in the last week more radically than she could

have ever imagined.



Phoebe, Celeste, and Mindee all discarded their pajamas, then they

followed their mother into the bathroom. The bathtub was big enough

for multiple people, so all four women were able to stand under the

showerhead, before turning it on.



As the water came down the Cuckoos present (except for Sophie of

course) all grabbed small towels and then surrounded their mother.

Emma let out a soft sigh as she felt the clothes in her daughters

hands run along her body. Cleaning it with gentle soothing touches,

paying close attention to the pregnant mutant's large breasts and

stomach.



The three Cuckoos shared a smile as their mother visibly relaxed. As

far as they were concerned their mother was practically one of them

now.



This feeling of contentment and happiness was shared through the

mental links that all four females shared. Giving the former White

Queen (who had been fiercely independent for a long time) a sense of

belonging that she was finding less and less disturbing the more time

she spent with her daughter inside her.



However, Emma's willingness to tear down boundaries and emotional

walls only went so far, and she kicked Phoebe, Celeste, and Mindee

out of the bathroom after they all finished showering.



"THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT I STILL HAVE TO DO ALONE GIRLS" Emma

Frost yelled irritably as she sat down on the toilet.



*****



Emma Frost didn't appreciate having to wake up early to talk to Sage

and Bishop.



She was no friend of the male mutant from the future, and her

relations with Sage were even worse.



The former White Queen of the Hellfire Club had treated Sage as an

inferior at best when she was serving as the Black King's personal

assistant (though she was known simply as Tessa at that point) and

Emma was still a member of the Club's Inner Circle. Tessa had never

appreciated such treatment, and Emma Frost and Sage's relationship

had only become colder and more hostile since Frost had left the Club

and Tessa had been revealed as a double agent within the Hellfire

Club for Charles Xavier.



Each woman saw the other as a cold, deceitful, ruthless, manipulator,

who would use any means necessary to achieve her goals.



Unfortunately they both had something of a point. Which probably

made them dislike each other all the more.



"Ah Tessa…punctual as always…of course you always were mechanically

efficient weren't you dear" Emma Frost said disdainfully as Sage and

Bishop entered her room.



The pregnant blonde telepath was sitting in a plush brown armchair.

A white silk robe (belted loosely across her waist) her only garment.



Phoebe, Celeste, and Mindee all stood behind their mother's chair.

Wearing identical red dresses as they stared suspiciously at the

mutant detectives.



Bishop and Sage had wanted to meet privately with Emma Frost but the

girls refused to leave. Showing a degree of protectiveness towards

their mother and unborn sister that the mutant detectives found very

surprising.



Sage took in the image of family solidarity as her computer like mind

considered all its implications before replying to Emma's taunt.



"I have always preferred to focus my energies on the task at hand

rather than waste time and effort on the petty manipulations and word

games others do" the cyberpath replied coldly.



Emma laughed before saying mockingly "Oh we both know that isn't true

TESSA…but you wouldn't have asked to speak to me just to talk about

old times."



"You know why were here" Bishop said. Wishing the two former

Hellfire women would just skip over their old grievances.



"Of course…Jean…everyone's favorite undying overpowered redhead…whose

arrogance seems to taking on proportions as godlike as her power"

Emma said venomously as her right hand unconsciously stroked her

belly.



"What exactly do you mean by that?" Sage asked.



"Exactly what I said…Jean has viciously attacked me on two separate

occasions recently using the power of the Phoenix…impregnating me

with Sophie the second time…both times merely because of something I

said that she decided to take offense at" Emma said angrily.



"But Mother…that's not true…you broke her nose remember" Sophie

telepathically 'said' to Emma.



"Not now" Frost replied in the same way. Doing her best to ignore

the voice coming from her womb.



"What about Storm?…we heard that Jean probably did something to her"

Bishop asked as he looked intently at the four blondes.



"I didn't witness Jean do anything to Storm…however I have

telepathically examined Ororo Munroe's conscious and unconscious mind

on multiple occasions…I never detected any significant homoerotic

feelings within her…yet she has developed an apparently romantic

relationship with Jean Grey in a very short period of time…and her

psychic presence shows clear signs of the Phoenix Force's

interference…I think you two are more than clever enough to draw the

obvious conclusions" Emma said in a lecturing tone, as she closely

observed the detectives.



"But why…if Jean wanted a female lover so badly there are plenty of

women who would jump at the chance…why resort to such means?" Bishop

said as much to himself as Emma Frost.



"Why…because Jean's ego has grown to the point where the only

feelings she truly values are her own…she wanted Storm…I suspect that

she has wanted Storm for a long time…why would it matter to her how

her friend feels if she can just make her friend feel whatever she

wants" Emma replied mildly.



As she spoke she thought she saw a grimace of distaste cross Sage's

features in reaction to her words. It was hard to tell, but Frost

speculated that the former Hellfire woman had strong feelings herself

regarding what Jean had done to Ororo Munroe.



But Sage's voice sounded emotionless as she replied "it could be

argued that you have exhibited similar attitudes in the past."



Emma shrugged her shoulders as if to say it didn't matter, and

Bishop's eyes were draw to how it made the abundant flesh of her

breasts and stomach shake.



Emma smiled inwardly at the male's reaction. Glad to see that even

in the late stages of pregnancy she still had sex appeal.



"That is precisely why I can recognize it so easily in others" Emma

finally replied. Looking directly at Bishop as she put a bit of a

purr into her words.



Sophie felt a bit uncomfortable that her mother was trying to use her

sexuality like this. She could clearly `see' what Emma Frost was

doing and thinking from her position inside the telepath, and she

didn't like it. Moreover, thanks to the link she shared with Phoebe,

Celeste, and Mindee, they all had a pretty good idea of what their

mother was doing too.



Sage observed that while Emma Frost appeared at ease and composed,

her daughters standing behind her did not. The blushes of

embarrassment clearly visible on their fair features.



"Something wrong girls?" Bishop asked. Who had also noticed that

something was amiss with the Stepford Cuckoos.



The girls blushed even more deeply.



Their mother had had some rather naughty thoughts about the tough

black man, and they had caught a glimpse of them thanks to their link

to Sophie.



"N…no…everything's fine" the girls said hesitantly.



"This isn't about them…its about that bitch Jean" Emma said angrily.

Unaware of how quickly her moods were swinging now that she was

pregnant.



"On the contrary…the girls played an important role in Jean Grey

Summers' recent activities…they were the ones who told Jean about

your affair with her husband were they not?…which I believe prompted

her first attack on you" Sage answered coldly. As she stared

directly at the three sisters in question.



"That is none of your business…it's a Frost family matter" Emma said

as she felt her rage increasing.



"Speaking of family…where is your other daughter Emma?…from what I

hear you lost her already" Sage said cruelly as she closely watched

for Frost's reaction.



This was still a very sore topic for Emma Frost, and Sage's taunt

made her truly furious. And for a second she imagined smashing the

cyberpath's face in the way she had Jean's.



"This interview is over…get out" Emma said icily as she glared at the

woman named Tessa.



"But we still have question about…" Bishop began to say.



"GET OUT" Emma roared, and all the Cuckoos present (especially

Sophie) were shocked by the genuine fury backing her words.



Sage looked at the upset faces of Phoebe, Celeste, and Mindee, and

the furious features of their mother. Then she gazed at Emma Frost's

large breasts and belly, giving the former White Queen a rare smile

as she did so.



"Come on Bishop…we have all we need here" Sage said to her partner.



The two mutant detectives exchanged a few more words before leaving,

but neither Emma nor her daughters heard them. The three Cuckoos

moved before their mother, gazing at each other soulfully as they

telepathically communed.



Once Sage and Bishop left Emma Frost stood up and engulfed her

daughters in a hug. At first the Cuckoos didn't respond, but then

Phoebe, Celeste, and Mindee wrapped their arms around their mother.



"It will be all right…I know it will" Sophie telepathically said, as

she saw her sisters worried faces through her mother's eyes, and felt

their soft (trembling) flesh brush against the body that was her home

now.



Emma laughed at the absurdity of her unborn baby reassuring her, and

then she said in a deadly serious voice "girls…I promise that however

long it takes…whatever I have to do…I will get your sister Esme

back."



*****



After speaking to Emma Frost and headmaster Xavier, Sage and Bishop

decided to go to the source of the problem.



Jean Grey Summers herself.



They found her in the room on campus she and her husband shared. As

soon as they got to the room the door opened on its own, and Bishop

and Sage stared inside.



The room was a mess, clothes, furniture, and other belongings were

scattered everywhere. The detectives carefully took note of this as

they entered the room. Hoping it would provide some clue to the

larger picture.



But such things seemed insignificant once they were inside and saw

what was on the bed Jean Grey and her husband shared.



Scott Summers and Ororo Munroe, naked and asleep in each other's

arms.



They made an attractive couple.

The skin of Storm's voluptuous dark brown body seemed to glisten in

the artificial light of the room, and Cyclops much paler muscular

form provided a pleasing visual contrast to Ororo's ebony beauty.



Storm was laying on top of Cyclops facedown with her head nestled

against the side of Scott's neck. Leaving her shapely derriere

pointed up in the air.



The couple had clearly had sex recently, for Bishop and Sage could

see semen on Ororo's thick vaginal lips. Moreover both of the

sleeping couple's bodies glistened with sweat.



Sage stepped over to the bed and reached out.



She had a strange expression on her face, and for a moment Bishop

thought his partner was going to touch Storm's up thrust ass. Then a

powerful voice spoke that seemed to reach down to Bishop and Sage's

very souls.



"No touching…their mine."



The woman known as Phoenix seemed to simply appear in front of Sage.



Like her two lovers she was naked, but her nudity was different.



Jean Grey's proud bosom was large and firm, her limbs were athletic

yet shapely, and her face was beautiful despite its currently hostile

expression. Yet none of these details seemed to matter, for Jean's

flesh glowed with an inner light and her eyes burned with Phoenix

fire. While Jean's hair gleamed with a radiance that seemed wholly

unnatural.



The truth of it was immediately obvious to both of them.



The rumors and speculation were true, Jean Grey had truly embraced

the power of the Phoenix Force once more.



The cyberpath and the man from the future tensed, all too aware of

how dangerous the being before them could be. But they wouldn't back

down.



They had a job to do, and to Sage and Bishop, duty came first.



"Yours…you claim ownership then?" Sage said in an analytical tone.

Glad that she was experienced in keeping her feelings off her face.



Jean ignored the question though, and simply stared deep into the

dark haired woman's red cyber glasses. Sage held the burning gaze

for a moment, looking back without apparent nervousness or fear.



Then the power of the Phoenix reached out.



The psychic assault was too fast for even Sage to react to. She

could only cry out in pain as the Phoenix effortlessly knocked aside

all of her mental shields and protections and simply took all the

knowledge she wanted from Sage's mind. Tearing through the

supposedly impregnable defenses as though they were nothing.



In reaction to his partner's distress Bishop drew his gun and

prepared to fire, however Sage saw the movement and cried out in

denial.



"NO!"



"It wouldn't do any good anyway" Sage said hoarsely. Horribly aware

of how overmatched they were.



Jean looked puzzled for a moment, as though what she had found in

Sage's mind had surprised her. Then she smirked.



"Your infatuated with her…you have loved Ororo ever since she saved

you from Bogan…but you never did anything because you felt she would

never share your feelings" Jean said in a low voice as she stared at

intently at Sage.



Thanks to the Phoenix's psychic assault, the cyberpath's head felt as

though she had just lost several boxing matches. But she refused to

look away from Jean's disturbing (and all too knowing) gaze.



Bishop had had his own romantic entanglements with the wind rider in

the past, but he pushed those feelings aside as he said in a

demanding tone "enough games Jean…we want to know what YOU did to

her."



Jean Grey smiled as she looked at the man from the future. Gazing at

him with the eyes of the Phoenix.



"I only did what was necessary to make us both happy…I simply tweaked

her mind so that she could feel the same way about me and Scott that

I feel about her" Jean answered in the same sort of bland voice you

would use to order food at a low class restaurant.



When Jean psychically detected the revulsion Bishop and Sage felt at

her words, she made a disgusted noise in her throat and said "don't

look at me like that…you two have made enough morally dubious

decisions that you have no right to judge me."



"Yes Jean…but in our cases it was always for the greater good…you are

doing this merely to satisfy your base and selfish impulses" Sage

said in an icy tone.



Jean scowled, and her body flared even more brightly with the power

of the Force. Making Bishop fear that his partner might have

incurred the wrath of the Phoenix.



But then the dangerous moment passed and Jean merely said "I don't

have time for this" as she began to telekinetically get dressed.

Bringing clothing scattered across the room to herself and onto her

body all with the power of her mind.



Bishop and Sage coolly observed the casual display of Jean Grey's

amazing power and skill. Then Sage asked the question that was on

both their minds.



"And why don't you `have time for this.'"



"I have been putting it off while I thought how best to do it…but

your arrival makes it clear I have waited too long" Jean said as much

to herself as to anyone else.



"What are you talking about?" Bishop demanded to know impatiently.



"Rescuing Wolverine of course."



*****



Doctor Henry McCoy was beginning to feel as though he were the only

one who still cared about rescuing the mutant known as Logan.



For the past week Scott Summers, his wife Jean Grey, and their new

lover Ororo Munroe had been too preoccupied with their new

relationship to pay attention to much of anything else. While the

rest of the X-Men on staff had been preoccupied by the romantic

triangle the Phoenix had created.



But Beast had used most of his free time over the past week to make

the portal Logan had gone through safe for human use again. As well

as reviewing all of the genetic data he had recently gathered on the

Stepford Cuckoos, for Emma Frost had asked Doctor McCoy to try to

determine who had `fathered' her daughters.



The blue furred doctor was having little luck with either project,

and growing increasingly frustrated. He simply didn't have enough

information.



Then the day before yesterday, when Jean Grey had heard him

discussing his difficulties with headmaster Xavier, the embodiment of

the Phoenix Force had confidently stated that she would fix the

portal and rescue Wolverine.



She had not bothered to say how she would do these things, and she

had not said anything about it to Beast since then. He had begun to

think that she was too preoccupied with her personal issues, and had

simply forgotten.



Up until the moment when Beast was conducting more tests in the

forest on campus (where the inter-dimensional portal was located)

only to find Jean Grey calmly walking towards him.



The host of the Phoenix was wearing black jeans and a plain white T-

shirt. However, she looked anything but ordinary, for her skin and

hair seemed to glow with power, and Jean's eyes were filled with

Phoenix fire.



She ignored Beast and simply walked up to the portal.

A glowing blue circle between two trees, roughly ten feet across and

ten feet wide. When she reached out and touched the portal it seemed

to pulse with energy and emitted a sound like an animal screaming.



Then Jean withdrew her hand, and the sound stopped and the portal

changed to a placid green in color.



"I was afraid I couldn't remove the spell without damaging the

portal…

but it was easier than I thought" Jean said as she turned around to

regard Beast.



The cat like mutant stared at his teammate, his feline features

twisted into an expression of surprise.



"Spell…so I was right…it was magic" Beast said cautiously.



"Yes…it had Selene's psychic fingerprints all over it…she was

obviously trying to keep us out…but the portal is safe now" Jean

explained.



"So the psychic vampire is behind this?" Doctor McCoy stated, wanting

to make sure he had all the details right.



"It appears so…but don't worry…after I get Logan back I will make

sure she never troubles us again" Jean Grey replied, and Beast was

disturbed by the power and fierceness he heard in Jean's voice.



"That's great Jean…now we should tell the others so that…" Doctor

McCoy began to say, but Jean interrupted him, saying

commandingly "No…

it will be better if I do this myself."



Beast wasn't sure if it was the power of the Phoenix or just Jean's

supreme confidence, but he had to fight the urge to automatically

agree with her.



"Tell Scott and Ororo I am sorry for not saying good by…but I knew

they would want to come…and its much better if I do this alone" Jean

said tenderly, and for just a moment her eyes were once more her

normal (human) green.



Then her eyes gleamed with the power of the Phoenix once again, and

Jean walked into the portal. Just as Bishop and Sage were catching

up with her.