Jean glanced nervously around, saw someone looking at her, then quickly looked back down again. She stood for a while, quietly pretending to be reading the sign on the exhibit in front of her. Keeping her head down slightly, she looked around again. The influx of voices was near unbearable. The thoughts of every person in the room bore down on her. She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. She tried to block out the voices. In the babble of voices one stood out among the rest. It was a quiet, panicked whisper begging for help, begging to be freed. She looked around the room trying to pin point where the voice was coming from. She quickly established it wasn't coming from any of the museum's visitors. She heard the whisper again and closed her eyes, listening. The whisper echoed around her head. The tiny whisper washer own voice.
She jumped when a hand touched her shoulder. Spinning round she came face to face with Scott.
"You ok?" he asked.
She smiled weakly "Fine. Just a bit of a headache." she lied.
Scott raised his eyebrows "Really? That's the fourth in as many days. Not to mention the last time you had a nightmare the entire school shook. Are you sure you're ok?"
Jean sighed. She wished she could tell him what was really happening. But she knew he wouldn't understand and would only urge her to go and see the professor. "I'm fine honestly."
"Have you seen the others?" Storm said as she approached them. Jean and Scott both did a quick head count of the students within the room. Bobby, Rogue and John were missing.
"There's something happening in the cafeteria." There was a half smile creeping into Jean's expression. It was a smile Storm and Scott recognised as a sign someone was going to be in a lot of trouble.
There was a reason Jean worried about John. Unlike the rest of the students, John sought conflict. She'd noticed it during some of the danger room sessions when he would become aggressive towards some of the other students.
Scott worried about Bobby. Bobby spent too much time with John. And Jon wasn't a good influence, as today was proving. Bobby gave into peer pressure. Jean had already confided in Scott about her worries about John, Scott was inclined to agree with her.
Storm worried about Rogue. Her and Bobby spent too much time with John. Rogue seemed oblivious to how Bobby had changed since he started spending more time with John. Storm feared she'd do the same.
By the time they arrived in the cafeteria they already knew the Professor would be there. None of the other visitors moved. It was a trick Jean and begged the Professor to teach her. But he always refused. Bobby and Rogue smiled sheepishly at them as they approached. Scott frowned at them and their smiles vanished. The silence of the frozen museum was drowned out by a breaking news story on the cafeteria's T.V. Jean, Storm, Scott and the Professor watched in horror as the reporter revealed an assassination attempt at the White House, carried out by a mutant.
"We must go back to the mansion." The Professor said quietly.
They had only been back in the mansion for half an hour when a motorcycle roared up the driveway and into the garage. In the office, Jean and the Professor were the only ones aware of Logan's arrival. But there were more important things to worry about.
"The mutant that attacked the president appears to have been working alone. I'm confident there was no other mutants in the attack. Though we must find him before the authorities do."
Jean, Strom and Scott were assembled in the Professor's office. They had rushed back to the school after hearing about the attack.
"I'll use Cerebro and try and locate the mutant. I'll need two of you to go and bring them back to the safety of the school." the assembled X-Men nodded in agreement.
When Logan entered the school he was instantly pulled into a hug by Rogue, who had watched from her window as he walked up from the garage.
"Hey kid," he said as she let him go.
"I'm not a kid." she smiled.
"You're younger than me so you are," he smiled back then frowned as Bobby appeared behind her "Who's this?"
Rogue took a step back so she was level with Bobby "This is Bobby. He's-" she started.
"Her boyfriend," Bobby finished. He extended an open hand towards Logan, which Logan took. Ice vapours emanated from their joined hands. Logan let his hand go, not entirely sure whether that had meant to be a threat or a warning. "They call me Iceman."
Logan raised his eyebrows "Right."
Scott trudged up the corridor behind them and spotted Rogue and Bobby. As much as he hated to break up a happy reunion, he hated Logan more.
"Bobby, Rogue. I need to talk to you." He walked back down the hall. With one last hug, Rogue pulled Bobby down the hall after Scott. As Logan watched them go, he noticed Jean and Storm stood at the bottom of the stairs. He walked up to them.
"Hey," they couldn't help but crack a smile at Logan's reappearance.
"How long are you around for?" Jean asked hugging Logan.
"Hopefully a while. I heard about the attack at the White House. Is it true that a mutants involved?" he asked.
"Come on we'll fill you in." With Logan in tow they found the kitchen empty and sat around the breakfast bar.
"The attack was by a mutant but the Professor believes they were acting alone. He's going to locate the mutant. Then we'll bring them back." Storm said.
"So what happened to put a stick up the Cyclops' ass?" Logan asked.
"John started a disagreement with a couple of guys at the museum today and Rouge and Bobby got tangled in it. Nothing that can't be handled." Storm said.
As they talked happily about the going ons at the school, Logan looked at Jean, she looked tired and worn.