Author's note: tomkitten : I actually wanted to write this in the chapter before. You were right about the scene between Logan and his son in Chapter 1. It was a hint to Lion King. Since I absolutely love this movie, it was my little homage to it. : )

Changes Sequel – I. Darkness Part 9

Surprisingly, the day turned out to be a rainy one. Even if Ororo could control the weather, she decided to let it rain, since the days before had been very warm and sunny. Unaware of what had happened earlier Jean sat next to Logan at the counter during a break from classes and drank coffee with Ororo sitting opposite her, when Peter and Kurt came in; last one kissing his wife briefly before he turned to Logan. "We wanted to do a Dangerroom exercise," he said and made his friend look up briefly. "You coming?"

"Nope," Logan grunted and made everyone look at him.

"Why not? You're always the first one to run when it comes to the Dangerroom," Ororo said frowning. "And you haven't been in it since you're back…"

"And?" he asked her in return.

"Well,…it's just strange. You're the one who has a love affair with it!" Peter replied and gave Kurt a look who had came over to him again. "And it's your turn to show us some moves…"

Snorting, Logan sipped on his coffee again. "Don't feel like it…"

Shrugging, Peter left; taking Kurt with him, while Jean turned her attention more to her husband. "Where have you been this morning? I missed you when I woke up."

"Couldn't sleep."

Touching his arms, she gave him a worried look. "Nightmares?"

"Nope…," Logan grunted and watched how Ororo took her cup and put it into the dishwasher.

"Jean, we have to go. It's time," she reminded her friend and pointed to the clock on the wall.

"Right," the redhead mumbled after she had turned her head towards it. Switching towards Logan again, she touched his cheek gently. "Really everything alright with you?" she asked him clearly worried and he only gave a nod.

"Yeah."

Kissing him tenderly, she gave him a soft smile and walked towards the door. "See you later then."

She walked down the corridor next to Ororo, who suddenly turned around and checked if someone was behind them. "And now the truth," she said and made her friend stop by touching her arm. Seeing how Jean began to frown, Ororo crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Is he always talking to you like that?"

"No…," Jean sighed and looked down. "I think he has…a bad day or something. He was different last night."

"How can you bear this?" her opposite asked her in lack of understanding and looked at her with widened eyes. "Does he treat your kids the same way?" Running a hand through her face, the redhead heaved a deep sigh and took a look around while her mind was racing. She didn't know what to say. "He does, doesn't he?" Ororo asked her, since she had noticed that her friend was obviously uncomfortable with that question. "God, Jean. Talk some sense into him!"

"And how?" Jean asked her a bit louder. "If he doesn't want to talk, no one can make him…"

"You are powerful enough to make him," her opposite shot back.

Giving a derisive laugh, her opposite shook her head and crossed he arms in front of her chest. "I can't use my power on him, Storm! Do you even know what you are talking about?" Angrily, she turned around and walked down the corridor towards the classrooms, while Ororo shook her head and sighed in frustration. Just standing on the same spot for some time, she completely forgot about her surroundings, as all of a sudden a hand grabbed her shoulder and made her shriek.

"Woah, sorry!" Rogue apologized and stepped back a bit; afraid that she would get accidentally hit by lightning.

"Oh, it's you," Ororo gasped and pressed a hand on her chest. "Gosh, you scared me…"

"Well, if you make trips to the moon without noticing it," the younger woman said smiling. "I'm looking for Logan. I haven't seen him since he's back."

"Oh, and you won't see him now, believe me!" her opposite replied and made her frown.

"Why? Did he get hurt? Bobby said he was okay…," Rogue asked worriedly and Ororo could see the fear in her eyes.

"No, he's not hurt just… Well we don't know what's wrong with him." Shrugging, she looked towards the kitchen. "We think he's still in shock, but…well, you have to see it for yourself. He was in the kitchen when I left."

"Okay," the young woman nodded in confusion and began to walk towards it.

"Don't expect too much of him!" Ororo warned her, before she, too, made her way to her classroom.

Approaching the kitchen, Rogue felt how her heart kicked into high gear. Right after she had received the call of Bobby, she had wanted to drive to the mansion and see her best friend again. Still, she had to admit that Remy had been right to give him time with his family. Nevertheless, she had wanted to see Logan so badly… Stopping at the door, Rogue heaved a deep breath and slowly entered the kitchen. "Logan?" she asked, but soon she realized that no one else was in it. Sighing, she turned to the open back door and stepped outside onto the veranda where she began to look for her friend and noticed that it had finally stopped raining. Not being able to see him anywhere, she was just about to turn around again, when her eyes caught something. Near the pond stood Bobby with his arms tightly wrapped around Jubilee, who was leaning against him. Not thinking about it, Rogue walked over to them, seeing how Bobby took notice of her and let go of the young woman in his arms. "Hey," she greeted them in a low voice and stared at Jubilee, while this one began to blush a bit.

"What are you doing here?" Bobby asked her surprised and crossed his arms.

"Why? Did I miss something?" Rogue asked him in return and narrowed her eyes a bit, what clearly told him that she was pissed.

Looking to and fro her two friends, Jubilee had to swallow by the look the former lovers gave each other. Knowing that it was because of her, she stepped forward a bit. "It's not what you think," she intervened calmly. "Bobby just…"
"I've seen it, thanks!" Rogue hissed and gave her a cold look, which made Jubilee freeze on the spot.

"Hey!" Bobby said more harshly than he had intended to and grabbed an arm of his opposite; ignoring the loud protest she gave him. "You have no right to treat her like that, okay?"

"Oh, is she your new girlfriend?" Marie asked him angrily and crossed her arms after she had managed to push his hand away.

Snorting, Bobby had to smile cynically. "What's it to you?" he asked her in a low voice while they kept staring at each other. "As far as I can remember you left me for this red-eyed baguette man!"

Narrowing her eyes, Rogue stepped closer. "Let Remy out of it! He has nothing to do with it!"

Grinning, he nodded ironically. "Oh really?" he asked her, while Jubilee pleaded them once more to stop. "Only that he's able to touch you and you took advantage of it…"

Nodding speculatively, while she was close to slap him, Marie turned towards Jubilee. "Have you seen Logan?"

"No," this one replied and shook her head.

"Tell him I was here and wanted to see him. I call later when I get back from work," her opposite told her and turned around with a last glare at Bobby.

"Don't forget it while he has his hands on you!" he said aloud and watched her leaving. Heaving a deep breath, he ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"I'm sorry… I didn't," Jubilee said and gave him a guilty look. She knew it was her fault, even though nothing had happened. She was just not feeling well and her friend had comforted her, but she knew what it must have looked like to Rogue.

Bobby waved off. "Not your fault!" he said and gave her a smile. "Come on, we walk a bit more." Taking her hand, he pulled her with her.


He couldn't tell what hurt more by now. His eyes or his head. Looking at the screens in front of him for hours, Scott couldn't help but sigh aloud in despair and frustration. He was sure he would become coffee addicted after he had finished looking through everything.

"Wanna do a break?" Mystique asked him, his fatigue visible to her.

"No," he shook his head. "We are nearly through that stuff…" Again he typed in a command and pushed the enter button, just to see how another window opened and a satellite was adjusting itself. "There has to be something… It can't be that no satellite has seen it."

"Well," she said and bent over a bit to have a better look at the screen, while he looked at her closely from aside. "Maybe they have, but someone or something had manipulated them."

"Manipulated?" Scott asked in confusion and switched to the window she had just opened.

"When I was monitoring the mission," she told him and maximized the video. "I first thought I've fallen asleep since 2 minutes were missing." Typing in a command before she pointed to the time, he soon saw what she meant.

"Did you check the Blackbox again?" Scott asked her and she beckoned him to follow her. Rolling over wit her stool to her screen again, Mystique waited for him to stand behind her; shivering a bit under the warmth he radiated. "I wasn't able to extract a lot, but…" Typing in another command, she waited for a sound file to open. "This file has recorded a bit of the crash. It begins at 2:43 and ends at 2:45."

Listening to it, all Scott could hear was the roaring of the Blackbird's engines which suddenly stopped, just to be replaced by something which sounded like a great whirlwind. "So the hatch was open…," he murmured and concentrated harder on it. He heard how Sunfire let out a loud and shocked no when the engines stopped working, followed by Logan asking him what happened. Hearing the younger mutant answering, while the older cursed, Scott closed his eyes to concentrate on the background noises a bit more. In his head he tried to imagine what had happened within the jet. He saw how the Blackbird began to spin. It was obvious that this must have happened due to the whirlwind-like sounds he could hear. He recalled Hank's worst scenario video he had created to show how the bird would react in such a situation. So Scott was convinced the jet had headed nose downwards to the ground, otherwise the scratches Logan's claws had left wouldn't make any sense. All that followed was the loud roaring of the wind within the jet, before he could hear Thunderbird and Sunfire scream, followed by a loud explosion and nothing afterwards. "Jeez…," he hissed and leant back a bit.

"The whole file stopped precisely at 2:45 a.m.," Mystique said and pointed to the other screen where the satellite pictures where. "Noticing something?" she asked him, making clear that she already knew.

"Exactly the two minutes that are missing from the pictures," he gasped and shook his head in confusion. "But how can that be? It shows how the bird begins to spin and the next image is the wreckage…"

"Someone's behind it. That's what it means," she hissed in anger and made him look at her.

"Magneto?"

Thinking about it, she shook her head. "He hates Logan. But Erik would never…" Recalling the attack on the mansion, she broke off.

"That's what we thought 4 years ago, too," Scott said more to himself and leant against the table next to her; arms crossed and head lowered while she watched him curiously. "But why would he do it? It's not making any sense…"

"That's the point," Mystique replied. "This attack is completely senseless…"

Suddenly turning around, he gave her an intense look through his glasses. "Could you replay the last five seconds again?" he wanted to know and she shrugged.

"Sure." Seeing how he got closer to the speaker, she worked on the audio file. "Did you notice something before?"

"I'm not sure…," Scott answered and closed his eyes again to concentrate as hard as possible. Listening to the last seconds once more, his head suddenly shot up. "There! Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" she asked him confused and raised and eyebrow.

"Do it again!" Waiting for her to press play once more, he carefully grabbed her head and pulled her closer. "Before the explosion… Pay attention to the sound you hear!"

Mystique, who had no idea what he thought he had heard, fixed her eyes on the table and listened as hard as she could. She heard wind roaring, the screams of the two younger mutants, a weird sound and then the explosion… Looking at Scott, she shook her head.

"Again! Concentrate harder!" he demanded and she did so.

Again, the wind roaring, two mutants screaming, a weird sound… "You mean this…weird sound?" she asked and he nodded.

"Recognizing it?" Scott asked her and she began to think. She had heard the sound before, but couldn't remember when. Noticing it, he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "It's the same sound Kurt does when he disappears."

"A teleporter?" Mystique asked surprised and had to admit that he could be right. "But why?"

"That's the question and maybe explains the third body we found…," he said grimly and was about to head for the door. But before he did it, he laid a hand on her shoulder. "Good job, Raven!" Watching him leave, she couldn't help but smile slightly.


After classes, Ororo and Jean stood in the hall at the front door talking. Beginning with students they soon arrived at the fight they had before and it didn't take long for Jean to apologize for her behavior. She knew it had been wrong of her to react that way, but still she felt too stressed lately. Ororo realized that her idea of forcing Logan to talk was ridiculous, too, and both women now talked about the latest news of school life, when Emma suddenly showed up. While the woman smiled arrogantly at Jean, Ororo couldn't help but roll her eyes in annoyance. Looking at her redheaded friend, she noticed that she was sensing something. Her look told her that Jean was suspicious. Still smiling, Emma stopped right next to them and crossed her arms. "I must congratulate you," she purred and tilted her head a bit.

Putting her hands to her hips, Jean gave her the same arrogant look. "For what?" she asked chilly and wanted to wipe the artificial smile out of her opposite's face.

Lowering her head a bit, while she still looked at Jean, Emma shrugged playfully. "For your husband…"

Hearing it, the redhead looked at her in confusion and exchanged a short glance with Ororo. But she, too, didn't understand what the woman was up to. "What do you mean?" Jean asked her and frowned, while Emma giggled slightly.

"He's really an amazing lover… You made a good catch!"

Snorting, her opposite smiled provocatively in return and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Yeah sure! As if he would touch you," she spat and Ororo noticed the change in her.

Bending forward, while her short top barely held everything together, Emma stopped right in front of her face. "Oh, he did far more than touching, my dear," she purred and giggled again, which made Jean only more furious. She practically felt how her blood began to boil.

"What is this shit about, Emma?" Ororo asked the woman clearly pissed and put her hands to her hips, while her eyes were narrowed.

"This morning in the shower…" Smiling arrogantly at her, the woman laughed slightly and turned around, and satisfied heard how Jean gasped all of a sudden, when the red heard had finally spotted the mark on her neck. "He's the best I had so far. I must admit it… Too bad he wastes his talent on an ordinary girl like you." Giving the redhead a look over her shoulder, she went down the corridor smirking.

"Bitch!" Ororo cursed and shook her head, while she watched the woman leaving. "Gosh, how I hate her!" When she turned around again, she noticed Jean's widened eyes. "Come on! You don't really believe this shit, do you?" she asked her still outraged and watched how her friend began to stare onto the ground, getting paler with every second.

"I don't believe this…," Jean gasped shocked and supported herself against the wall next to them. Feeling her heart hammering in her chest, while the world began to spin around her, she closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Jean! She's lying! She's trying to get between the two of you the whole time through…," her opposite tried to convince her since she didn't believe it. "She's such a pain in the ass!" Cursing, she ran a hand through her face and froze on the spot when Jean began to cry. Cupping her face, she made the redhead look at her. "It's not true, Jean! He would never do it!"

Sobbing, Jean shook her head. "He did! I've seen it in her head. And she had his mark on her neck…" Not able to stop her voice from breaking, she began to cry even harder. Not able to believe what Emma had projected.

Confused and thinking she hasn't heard correctly, Ororo shook her head briefly and gave her an odd look. "What?" she asked and tried to get a look on her friend. "This can't be true! He would never cheat on you…" Watching how Jean shook her head in disbelief and heaved a deep sigh, Ororo wanted to embrace her, when the red head began to move.

"I'll…," she began and sobbed hard again. "Excuse me!" With that she just turned around and ran up the stairs; leaving her friend looking at her in shock when the truth finally hit her…


Upstairs, Jean found Logan in their bedroom. Only looking at her briefly and noticing how messed up she was, he turned his attention to the book in his hands again. Heaving deep breaths, she closed the door behind her telepathically and closed her eyes briefly. "Tell me that this isn't true!" she managed to say through clenched teeth and kept herself from sobbing again.

"What?" Logan asked her without looking up.

Feeling how a fit of fury overwhelmed her, Jean stepped forward and the book crashed against the opposite wall, while she glared at him. "You know what I mean!" she nearly yelled at him, while he finally looked up; seeing the fiery gleam in her eyes.

"No…I don't!" he replied as low and slowly as he could, while he heard her sighing and watched how she fought to keep control.

Clenching her fists, Jean stared at the ground for a while, before she fixed her gaze on him again; feeling how the struggle became harder. "You slept with her didn't you?" she asked him barely audible. Still she sounded menacingly.

Getting up, Logan only gave her an odd look. "And?" Getting the book from the ground he threw it onto the bed before he faced her once more.

Giving a laugh in disbelief and shock, Jean couldn't help but stare at him. "You admit it?" she hissed and the fire in her eyes was slowly covered by blackness. "You have the nerve to stand in front of me and just admit it?"

Obviously not giving a damn about the change within her, Logan heaved a deep breath and cracked his neck. "What's the matter, huh?" he asked her annoyed and saw how she narrowed her eyes threateningly.

"You cheated on me, Logan, that's the matter!" she yelled at him outraged and the book was atomized within the glimpse of a second.

"Gosh, it was only sex. So where's the problem?" he gave back crossed his arms, still looking at her with the same odd look.

Gritting her teeth, while her breath changed into heavy pants, Jean came slowly closer; her eyes never leaving his, while his watched every move of her. Her heart beat was far more than simply out of control. She was so furious by now that her blood practically felt like pure fire that rushed through her veins. "You've sworn loyalty to me, Logan! You've sworn it and I trusted you, so how could you?"

"Do I love her? No!" he shot back. "So I'm loyal…"

Stopping right in front of him, while the windows began to vibrate violently and the doors of the wardrobe were shaking, Jean bit her lip hard in rage; still crying heavily and stopping herself from slapping him. "What's gotten into you lately? Can you tell me that? What happened that you returned as such an arrogant bastard?!" she began to yell, but felt how her voice broke soon under new sobs. Looking at him with a tearstained face, the despair and hurt was visible in her eyes. "I give you everything, Logan! Everything you wish for and you have the nerve to bed this bitch and tell me straight ahead that it was just sex?" Jean said through clenched teeth and shook her head. "We are married, Logan! Married! Does this ring a bell in you?" she added aloud crying.

"You're the one who makes a different between sex and love making, ain't ya? So where is your problem now?" he hissed without moving an inch.

"I meant us with it!" Jean hissed back and desperately tried to keep the last bits of her control up. By now even her counterpart wanted to hurt him a lot. "Not that you can walk around and sleep with anyone you like!"

Shrugging arrogantly, Logan narrowed his eyes a bit. "Should have said it… She wasn't good anyway."

All of a sudden, both lamps crashed against the ceiling and Jean's face was completely hatred. Turning around before she could do worse, she walked towards the door, which slammed open without her touching it. Stopping at it briefly, she glared at him once more. "When did you take the asshole pill in our relationship anyway, huh?" Jean yelled and caused the lamp at the ceiling to shatter into pieces. Knowing that she had to get away from him to prevent any worse things from happening, she quickly left the apartment…


Outside, after the sun had finally come out, Lily and Rachel were sitting together on the swings in one part of the garden and were slowing swinging back and forth on them, while they were closely watched by a blonde boy. Keith Johnson was new at the school, but already had four other boys gathered around him who practically saw in him their leader. Only few days at the school, he had already managed to annoy Ororo and Hank a lot, while Scott had thrown him out of his class. He was a troublemaker and he liked to have a reputation that young. Smirking, while his hands were buried in the pockets of his blue jeans, Keith gave his boys a sign and they slowly walked towards the two girls. "Yo, baby," he called and made both look up at him with confusion in their eyes. Up to now they hadn't met the boy and therefore, didn't know that he liked to bully others around. "You with the red hair." Slowly he walked over and leant against the pillars of the swing.

"Her name is Ray," Lily said and narrowed her eyes a bit since she sensed that something was wrong with the boy.

"Whatever," that one waved off. "Aren't you the Grey kids?" Looking two and fro between them, Keith grinned viciously.

"And?" the girl asked and jumped off the swing to join her younger sister.

"I'm not talking to you, snub-nose!" Keith spat and watched how Lily's cheeks became red in anger. "So, you're her sister, huh?" Nodding, Rachel gave him an insecure look. "You sure mommy and daddy didn't adopt you? You look nothing like your brother or sister." Grinning, the boy saw how the girl got of her swing and hid behind her older sister. Turning to his boys, Keith winked at them grinning, which made them smirk, too. "Or maybe they've found her somewhere…"

"Take this back," a voice behind him suddenly said darkly and the blonde boy turned around; his icy blue eyes meeting angry hazel ones.

"Oh, there comes big brother," Keith joked and the other laughed. "What do you want tiny thin, eh?"

Walking over to him, Jack glared at him angrily and stepped between his sisters and the boy. "Take it back!" he hissed again and tensed his muscles.

"What? That she's looking weird?" his opposite grinned and crossed his arms. "Bet mommy and daddy have found her in a trash bin or something…" Again the boys laughed, but stopped when Jack grabbed Keith's collar growling. "Let go of me!" this one hissed and pushed the smaller boy roughly aside, still didn't managed to get rid off him.

"Apologize!" Jack hissed and in his eyes sparkled a fury the taller boy had never seen before in life. "Now!"

Coming closer with his head, Keith narrowed his eyes, too. "Or what? What can a baby like you do against…" Huffing, he landed on the ground in the next second, holding his aching stomach.

"Jack, no!" Lily shrieked and pulled Rachel closer, who was clearly afraid. "Please, stop!"

"You'll regret that, buddy!" Keith spat outraged and threw himself at the growling younger boy…


Sitting opposite her friend for at least for an hour now, Ororo couldn't help but sigh again. She still couldn't believe what she was told minutes ago and kept on stroking over Jean's back. She hadn't seen her that unhappy for years; the last time she thought was when she had returned from the dead a long time ago. And now she sat on Ororo's bed like a picture of misery and was crying bitter tears. Narrowing her eyes, the weather witch hoped Logan would go outside today. She would make sure that he got struck by lightning. Suddenly it knocked on her door and she looked up. "Be right back, okay?" Ororo said calmly and let go of Jean, who had wrapped her arms around her waist tightly and sobbed. Walking over to the door, she opened it and froze on the spot. "What do you want?" she hissed when she saw Logan standing in front of it.

"I want to talk to her," he replied calmly and wanted to walk past, but the weather witch blocked his way by stretching out her arm quickly.

"I don't want to have you in my rooms, Logan," she said through gritted teeth and met his gaze. Shaking her head, she felt how the disappointment in him became stronger. "How could you?" she asked and shook her head while tears came up. "How could you do this to her?"

"That's why I'm here, damn it," he shot back and glared back at her.

"And what? Explain it to her? There's nothing to explain, Logan!" Ororo hissed and felt her heart beating strongly in her chest. "Since your back you're behaving like a complete asshole. You say you love her, so how in God's name could you hurt her so badly?"

Moving his head closer, he narrowed his eyes in anger. "If you stepped aside and would let me talk to my wife, I could explain it, couldn't I?"

Nodding ironically, Storm crossed her arms. "I see… So you think there is a way to explain why you screwed that bitch? Let me tell you something, Logan," she spat. "There is no way you can excuse it! No way, do you get that?!"

Growling, her grabbed her roughly and pulled her out of the room; slamming the door shut after he entered. Cursing, Ororo grabbed the doorknob and tried to get back inside, just to realize that he had locked the door from within. "Damn it, Logan! Open up!" she yelled outraged and slammed her fist against the wood.

Looking up, Jean met his gaze briefly, but turned her head immediately. "Go away!" she said barely audible and got up when she heard him coming closer.

"Let me explain," he said and stopped when she moved even further away.

"There's nothing to explain, Logan!" Jean nearly yelled and glared at him. "You cheated on me…"

Sighing, he crossed his arms and fixed his eyes on a wall. "Would you just listen to me?" he tried once more; a bit calmer than before, but she still shook her head.

"No. No, I won't!" the redhead replied through gritted teeth. "Because there is no way you can talk yourself out of it…"

Nodding, he bit his lip quickly. "I only want you to listen. I don't care what you think about me afterwards, Jean," he said and looked at her, meeting her eyes briefly. "If you want to throw me out afterwards, fine, do it. Just give me this chance to explain it…"

Thinking about it, Jean ran a hand through her face and wiped away her tears sniffing. Finally, she sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed; making an ironical inviting gesture. "You have five minutes. And don't even dare to lie…" Fixing her eyes on her folded hands, she heard how he sat down on the other side of the bed. "And don't even think about touching me, Logan!" she added hissing and bit her lip.

"I won't touch you," he replied and ran a hand through his hair. "Look," he began after a moment of silence and looked down on the floor, too. "Since that crash…he's fighting for dominancy. I can't control him, can't lock him up or keep him from showing up…"

Giving a derisive laugh, Jean shook her head. "Don't even try to blame Wolverine for it! That's the stupidest excuse I have ever heard!"

"You said it yourself, didn't you?" Logan asked her a bit louder. "That I am behaving strangely. That I'm treating you and others like shit." Meeting her eyes he didn't look away. "I'm not doing this voluntarily, Jean. I am trying to keep him down, but he won't let me. And you know perfectly well that I would never hurt you."

"Doesn't change the fact that you did," she hissed and turned away.

"And I am sorry. I can't tell you how sorry I am for letting it happen," he said calmly. "Jean, I do whatever you want me to do, but please…you know that I can't control his actions if he takes over, as much as you can't control your negative."

Turning her head, while tears were running down her cheeks, Jean gave him an insecure look. Thinking about what he said and knowing that if he really told her the truth that he couldn't be blamed. She knew how Wolverine worked. Knew that he couldn't control his actions, as well as she couldn't control Dark Phoenix's actions. Swallowing, while her heart was nearly bursting in her chest, she looked down. "I want you to stay away from her. And I want you to talk to the Professor and accept his offer to help you," Jean said in a whisper and he nodded. "And I want you to stop behaving like a complete bastard and be the husband and father that you were before you left, because I am sick of it, Logan! I am sick of you treating me and the kids like shit."

"Okay…," Logan agreed. "But I first have to gain control over him completely. Otherwise Chuck can't be of any help. He wouldn't let him read my mind."

Getting up, she shrugged and wiped away her tears again. "Do whatever you want," Jean replied and was about to walk towards the door, when he quickly got up and pulled her close.

"I'm sorry, really," he whispered and pulled a strand out of her face, while she bit her lip.

Opening the door mentally, she heard how Ororo burst in furiously. About to yell at him, she stopped instantly when she saw the couple. "Okay, what did he say to butter you up?" she demanded to know and crossed her arms, while she glared at Logan, who let go of Jean.

"'Ro, it's okay," the redhead said and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks for listening."

"Don't take him back that easily, Jean," her friend said calmly and gave her a pleading look.

"He knows what I want him to do," Jean replied with a look on Logan. "You coming?" she asked and he nodded; still Ororo gave him a piercing look.

Closing the door behind her, Jean heaved a deep sigh. "Charles just sent a note. Something about Jack."

"What?" Logan asked her and buried his hands in his pockets.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I'll go to him and I want you to go upstairs and wait for me."

"I actually wanted to train for an hour…"

"Go upstairs, Logan!" Jean demanded and glared at him.

"Jean, I'll go the gym alone, train alone, shower alone and be back in an hour," Logan said calmly and met her eyes.

Heaving a deep sigh, she ran a hand through her hair. "Promised?"

Waiting for a nod, she turned around and left, while he made his way to the gym.


After her visit to Charles office, Jean had taken Jack back to his room. She didn't know what to think. Part of her was angry with him to have lost his temper so much, the other part wanted to smash Keith's head for being so cruel to her youngest. She had a hell of a time to calm the crying girl and assure her over and over again that she shouldn't believe the lies the boy had said. Again, she had to notice how different her children were. The twins were amazingly self-assured for her young age, while Rachel was insecure and shy. She really hoped that it would change over the years. Looking at her watch, Jean noticed that the hour Logan wanted to have was still not over; still she felt a strong need within her to talk to him about it before she was too tired later.

Walking down the corridor to the gym, she looked into it; seeing that it was empty. Frowning, she turned around again and made her way to the changing stall where she heard water running. Surprised that he was already under the shower, her hand reached out to open the door; feeling the heat of the hot water he liked to use touching her face immediately. Just as she had stepped inside with one foot, Jean immediately stopped and froze. Within less than a second her heart was hammering so fast that she thought her chest would be torn about. But her ears hadn't betrayed her. He was definitely moaning. Slowly, Jean let go of the door and walked over to the corner that led to the showers. Breathing hard, she took her time before she finally looked around the corner, just to widen her eyes in shock. She saw him leaning against the wall, eyes closed, while Emma was kneeling in front of him; his hand entwined in the woman's wet hair, while her head jerked back and forth quickly. Pulling a face, Jean slowly stepped back with her hand pressed on her mouth to hold back a loud sob. Shaking her head in shock, she quickly ran out of the room; not carrying that the door slammed shut behind her.

Sorry that you guys had to wait that long, but I was really stuck with this one here. I actually wanted to add 5 scenes and end it with a different cliffhanger, but well, I just wrote down the scenes for Chapter 10, so the next Chapter will end with a pretty…well, let's say shocking cliffie, guys. ; ) And again: It's aaaallll planned. Tehehe Thanks again to all those who have reviewed: ) Hope you liked that one here, too and I will tell you in Chapter 11 (yes, 11, not 10!), how you guys could have figured out (if some of you not already have) what was going on. ; ) So, see ya next chapter, I hope!