I put my plan into motion at the X-men mansion at the start of the fourth week.

Jean needed to understand how much danger she was truly in.

After long sparring sessions with her, which mostly constituted her flinging me around and me breaking her telekinetic hold with sheer force, I took her hand.

"Do you trust me, Jean?"

She smirked. "I barely know you."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't pout just because you can't see inside my mind, Jean. We've been hanging out for weeks, and I've told you more about my past than anyone."

She chewed her lips, regarding me carefully. "I'm flattered, Dante, but I have a—"

"Get your mind out of the gutter," I chuckled. "Scottie boy can have you all for himself. I prefer them a bit older."

She blushed, yanking away her arm. "I'm glad you do. I would've hated losing my favorite sparring partner."

I leaned in closer. "Sparring partners, huh? That all we are?"

"Why did you ask me if I trusted you?" she asked, tucking her fiery red hair behind her ear.

"I want to show you something," I said. "It's a new ability I've been working on. Whatever happens, I want you to remember that you're perfectly safe and can trust me."

I reached out for her hand again.

"O… okay," She said, carefully taking my arm. I pulled her in with an amused smirk and activated Paradise Simulacrum. Suddenly, Jean and I were standing on one of the thousands of floating stone platforms that make up the Simulacrum.

Crimson clouds swirled overhead, and an endless sea lapped below. Jean stumbled away from my grasp, completely confused.

"Dante," she began with some trembling in her voice, "where the hell are we?"

It was the first time I heard Jean curse. It didn't quite sound right coming from her.

I spread my hands across enigmatically. "Welcome to my realm."

"You made this?"

"Well, my father did," I said. "I think. This was where I disappeared on the plane, and it was probably one of the only places on the planet where the old coot couldn't listen to our conversation.

She frowned. "You mean the Professor?"

I nodded. "Have you given any thought to my comment about you having the powers of a god?"

Her eyes still lapped around the Simulacrum, trying to wrap her mind around what she witnessed.

"I told Scott about it," she said with a hint of guilt. "He thinks you're trying to trick me."

My eyes went wide.

She did what! Of all the--

I took a deep breath, bottling my anger.

"I told you that in confidence," I said slowly. "I didn't expect you to share it with Scott, of all people. You must've known how he'd react. You didn't also tell him about my heritage, did you?"

"Of course I didn't!"

She looked hurt at the insinuation, but I wanted her to feel that way.

Maybe next time, she'd think twice before blabbing.

"Don't give me that look," I said. "You betrayed my trust."

"Scott is my boyfriend," she said. "When he asked what we talked about, I had to be honest."

I sighed. Teenage love. She had no idea what sort of pain she was in for.

Oh well, I couldn't blame her. I expected too much.

"Don't tell Scott what I'm about to say next, or tell him, but understand that you'll be forcing the Professor's hand if he reads Scott's mind. And he seems like the type that wants his puppets marching down the path he's set out for them."

Jean frowned. Over the course of our month of training, I’d made my feelings about the Professor known. "Again, with the dig at the Professor. How can you say that after everything he's done for you?"

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Done for me?

I raised a brow. He kidnapped me from a fight that his enemies forced into me and made me teach in a school that hates me because of my past.

I could've been in Alaska by now, set up with a new house, endless woodland, and all of the training equipment money could buy, but Xavier just had to be the fucking hero.

I wanted to Tell Jean all that, but I settled for a more diplomatic answer.

"I'm grateful, but I'm not blind," I said. "The Professor probably didn't tell you, but he didn't exactly accept me into the school. He's letting me train until he can help me broker a deal with the government, only I'm pretty sure he's not made that call yet, nor will he ever."

"The professor doesn't make promises he can't keep, and he doesn't lie either."

"He could've reached out to his government contact at any point with Telepathy," I circled Jean. "Heck, with Cerebro, he can reach the entire globe with his mind.”

"How do you know that?" Jean asked, and I just rolled my eyes.

"As usual, you're focusing on the wrong things. The better question is why hasn't he done what he promised. Could it be that he's really trying to help me, or is the more likely answer that he is buying time to break my mental shield so that he can seal away my powers like he's done to you?"

Jean's face went pale as she connected the dots. "What! No. You can't...you can't really think the Professor is capable of that?"

"Xavier is likely one of the most powerful telepaths alive," I shrugged. "If anyone is powerful and egotistical enough to shackle a god, it's him."

Jean shook her head. "You're being ridiculous. The Professor has known me since I was a child. He'd never! You're out of line."

"I'm asking you to open your eyes, Jean," I said a bit forcefully. "He has the motive, opportunity, and the power to pull it off, and the evidence is staring you in the face."

"What are you talking about."

"Ever since I talked to you about the seal, your power has been growing, haven't they?"

Jean had a look of dread creeping in, but she remained unconvinced. "I've been getting more training since you started teaching, and Logan introduced the new training system."

"You've trained a lot of time before. Why is your current situation any different?" I asked. "You might want to deny it, but I know you've felt its presence."

"Stop it," Jean whispered, but I pushed.

"A bird of cosmic fire and endless psychic energy. You might've not yet heard its voice, but you've felt the weight of its presence.”

Jean's face seemed to twist and turn the longer I spoke, realization slowly seeping in.

"Stop it!" she lashed out with her arm, her telekinetic wail, crushing a distant floating wall behind us. "No…This is all you. You're putting ideas in my head."

Holy shit.

My breath hitched. The demonic energy in the air was slowly filtering away. Jean's hair was beginning to whip, though there was no wind.

"That's a lie, and you know it!" I didn't back down. I needed to push through; otherwise, she'd turtle up, and I wouldn't be able to break through to her before I had to leave.

"This power didn't come from nowhere. You've always been this powerful. The Phoenix has always been there. Somebody just made you forget."

"No." Her voice came out weaker this time. I took slow, cautious steps and held her in my arms.

"Calm down, Jean," I urged. "You're safe, and he cannot get to you. Not here."

For a long moment, Jean stayed in my arms. She did not let go until her breathing normalized, and she looked up at me.

I could still see the doubt in those eyes. I was asking too much of her. No sane person would condemn a man she's known all of her life based on the words of a killer, even if he was a friend.

She had to see his betrayal by herself.

"I know this is hard to swallow, and I won't ask you to believe me without one final bit of evidence. Xavier is going to try to break my mental barrier."

Her eyes went wide. If that didn't convince her. Nothing would. Jean was slow to respond.

"You're going to provoke him," she said. "Your mental resistance is admirable, but even I can push past it if I try enough. It's suicide."

Jean was, of course, right. What she said might’ve not been true a few weeks ago, but now that she was aware of the Phoenix, her limiters were slowly coming off. Jean’s power was soaring to new heights.

"It's not," I said. "Because you'll be a couple of rooms over and will come to my rescue before Baldie cracks my head open like an egg."

Jean pursed her lips. "That sounds risky."

"Oh, it is. But you'll have nothing to worry about if the Professor is not guilty. However, if there’s any part of you that is unsure, you should probably help me with my mental resistance skill."

Jean made a face. "I'll help, but not because I think the Professor would ever do that….I…just don't want to see you get hurt."

I nodded. "Completely reasonable."

Jean twisted her fingers, looking down before she met my gaze. "Phoenix is what you called what's inside my head. What can you tell me about it?"

I blinked. "My Devil's eye tells me it's the prime manifestation of the universal force of life, creation, and destruction. It is immortal, indestructible, and predates even the darkness at the beginning of the Universe."

"Wow…you weren't kidding when you said God, but whatever this Phoenix is, it's beyond that, isn't it?"

"I would imagine so," I said, trying not to give too much away. "If I know my classical literature about gods and deities, she'll likely be pissed at you and Charles for sealing her off for all of these years."

Jean bit her lip. "Of course she is. How do I fix this?"

I shrugged. "I'd start with getting rid of the seal."

Jean looked at me like I was crazy. "You want to unshackle a creature powerful enough to wipe out galaxies?"

"She was going to get out anyways," I said. "We might as well be the ones to do it. Maybe she'll be grateful."

"In the classics, the gods are not exactly known for their benevolence," Jean said with more than a little fear in her voice.

"True, but we're not exactly helpless," I said. "I know a sorceress who might be able to help us."

She blinked. "You mean like…she uses magic…in real life?"

I quirked a brow. "That is what sorceresses tend to do. Why is this surprising? You've seen magic before."

"What? When!"

I gestured to myself. "How do you think my Devil Eye or any of my other abilities work? Magic."

"I just assumed…" Jean trailed off and regarded me with a new sense of wonder and worry.

"Jean Elaine Grey is speechless," I laughed. "Never thought I'd see the day."

Jean's face circled through half a dozen emotions before it finally settled on outrage. She folded her arms and huffed, shoving me with a light telekinetic force.

I chuckled again. "Glad to see that the news hasn't made you any less of a hardass."

She looked like she was about to shove me again before I raised my hands in surrender. "You know you'll be trapped here forever if I go over the edge."

"Don't think I will take it easy on you during training," she huffed and floated to the next platform.

I didn't have the heart to tell her right away that she was headed in the wrong direction.