Chapter 14

(X-Mansion)

Logan lay on his bed bored out of his skull after the rather long winded speech Scott had launched himself into, talking about the events of last night and Jean's resurrection along with Jubilee being cured of her vampirism. Those who had been present the night before had listened in rapt attention, all he had wanted to do was drink down a couple of beers and smoke a cigar. But he had endured it or else Summers would have become annoying. Right now he was waiting for Jean and Betsy to turn up so they could discuss more personal matters. He was thinking about what to say to both of them, he had lost control of the beast within and marked them both during their lust filled threesome.

That wasn't something easily ignored, might not meant anything for most people, but to those more closely entwined with their instinctive animal side it meant a lot. Grunting he sat up and reached for a cigar, his hand quickly halted as his door opened and Jean walked in with Betsy close behind. Both looked kind of nervous, he could sense their unease and he didn't doubt they could sense his.

He quickly jumped up, his desire for a cigar quickly forgotten. Jean could see how tense he was as he watched them. For once Logan was uncertain, he was worried if what had transpired between them had ruined their friendship as well as the possibility of anything more in the future. In the past he wouldn't have cared about such consequences, but since becoming a member of the X-Men he had changed and begun to seek something more than a casual encounter. While the majority of his emotions were focused on her, she knew he found a few of the other X-women pleasing to the eye. One was Betsy which was why the lust spell had been so effective on him, the other was Ororo.

Part of his attraction to their weather controlling friend was her affinity for nature, but it was only a small interest. His interest in Betsy was far more substantial, Betsy was feisty and trained to be a lethal weapon and that interested Logan's more primal side just as her role as Phoenix did. But there was more to it than that where she and Betsy were concerned. A thread of the link they had created during the threesome was still connecting them so she could sense Logan's true feelings for both of them. She found that she didn't mind that he was attracted to Betsy, because during the meeting downstairs she had admitted to herself she was attracted to their purple haired teammate as well. Maybe the lust spell had changed things for them all, more than they had expected.

"Before either of you say anything I just wanted to say that while I regret we got hit by that lust spell, I can't say I'm sorry it happened because I needed to feel connected with someone after been alone for so long," Betsy admitted. "I like you both as friends, but last night while in the middle of all that, I realized I liked you both a bit more than just that," she continued as calmly as she could and hoped she wasn't making a big mistake. "I've been so careful of not getting involved with anyone of late that I ignored any signs of attraction that did show. Last night, after a while, I just gave in and enjoyed the connection we had," she said. "I know you guys are in love with one another and have been for years, I know you've never been able to admit it and actually do something about it because Jean was married to Scott, but now she is free and I know you are both wanting to see if you could make it as a couple," she stated. "What happened last night has to have screwed things up a little and I'm sorry for that," she finished and both Jean and Logan could hear the honesty in her tone as she spoke.

"Easy Betsy, yes last night has complicated a few things between me and Logan but not in the way you think," Jean responded after glancing at Logan for a few seconds. "I think the lust spell has opened up doorways to things I've never contemplated before. I feel things I've never felt before and I'm confused yet not afraid," she admitted. "You are right, I love Logan and have done for years and you are right I've never admitted it and tried to deny it so I could keep Scott happy and the marriage intact," she explained. "My marriage is now over, Scott has moved on and I'm now free to try and find out if Logan and I can work and I can't wait to start that journey," she said with a warm loving smile in Logan's direction surprising him at her heartfelt words. "Logan likes you a lot more than he realizes Betsy, and I mean not just psychically which is why the lust spell overpowered him so easily and I've begun to realize I like you more than I thought before as well," she told her and further shocked them. "I don't know where we go from here, but I do know I want to explore this new part of me," she finished as confidently as she could before she and Betsy turned to face Logan.

Logan really didn't know what to say to either of them, hearing Jean say that he had actually feelings for Betsy beyond friendship was rather startling. He had always thought it was just a physical attraction like the one he had for Ororo for a time. Maybe he was wrong, he admitted to himself he was rather focused on Jean and had been for years. He loved her, of that he had no doubt. 'What to do about this?' he wondered.

"I'm not good with voicing my feelings and you both know that. I love Jean and have for years and I guess you could say it's been my focus," Logan told them as he ran an agitated hand through his hair "I've dreamed of the day when we'd finally be together, and against all the odds it looks like that time is finally here," he added. "To be honest I began to doubt we'd ever get that chance and if it did come I wanted whatever happened to be by Jean's choice," he went on with a frustrated sigh. "What happened last night wasn't by choice for any of us, and I hate it that I couldn't resist," he went on. "The animal within not so much, I acted on instinct near the end and I ended up marking you both," he admitted and was unsurprised as both Jean and Betsy reached up and rubbed their shoulders where his bite marks would have been had they been in their own bodies, but even while it hadn't been their bodies at the time being the mark was more than a bite in a body and went far deeper. "I'm sorry about that," he said glancing at both of them warily. "I'm not asking for anything, but I will take what you are willing to give," he finished.

Jean smiled to herself as she felt Logan's unease grow a little, he was worried that they would take offence that he had marked them. She knew exactly what it meant as far as his more primal side went, they were his mates now. She didn't mind one bit, it was far too long in coming if she was honest with herself. She had caught more than one stray fantasy from Logan over the years, and in each one of them Logan claimed her at the end by marking her and each time in the deepest recesses of her mind she had wished they could do it for real. Betsy rubbed her shoulder again, she'd seen Logan's more primal side when he fell into his berserker rages and she had to admit she found it interesting.

Glancing at Jean she stepped forward and decided to force the issue as it were, she reached up and pulled Logan into a deep and passionate kiss. Logan was taken by surprise, but quickly wrapped his arms around the woman and pulled her closer.

Jean reached out with her mind and felt the passion rising from both of her friends and allowed it to wash over her. It was a strange sensation to allow herself to be overwhelmed by the passion coming from her two kissing friends. Before she would have blocked it out. Moving forward she reached out and ran her hands over Betsy's back, this gained Betsy's attention and she broke of the kiss with Logan, she turned and pulled her forwards and kissed her. Jean's eyes widened at first, this was the first time she had kissed another woman while in control of her body. After a few seconds her eyes closed and she reacted to the kiss, deepening it as much as she could. She found that kissing another woman to be very different than kissing a man. Logan watched in growing arousal as the two women heatedly kissed. He was about to reach for Jean when someone banged on the door interrupting them, Jean pulled away from Betsy with some reluctance as she sensed who was at the door.

"Logan, have you seen Betsy and Jean?" Scott's voice rang out, causing Logan to growl a little. "We are heading for Sunnydale in ten minutes," he added.

"I'll find them boyscout," Logan shouted back, somewhat annoyed they had been interrupted as something monumental seemed to be on the verge of happening and probably the most amazing thing to happen to him in his life. "See you on the bird," he added.

Scott frowned as it was unusual for Logan not to come to the door when he called, something strange was going on but he just couldn't put a finger on what it was. Shrugging he turned and headed for the hangar to prepare the Blackbird. He guessed somewhere along the way he should have a talk with Jean now that she was back. Back inside Jean glanced at Logan and quickly kissed him with as much passion as she could before she turned and exited the room. Betsy smirked at the look on Logan's face before she followed Jean, but not before giving a mental promise to pick this up again later on. Logan watched them go before running a hand through his hair and wondering how the hell he got so damn lucky after what happened the night before.

+HX+

(Blackbird)

Logan was wondering why they were heading for Sunnydale now when it should be obvious that the kids would be in school, chewing on his unlit cigar he wondered if he should mention it. He glanced over to see Jubilee talking a mile a minute with Kitty and Rachel. He smirked and was pleased to see things back to normal where they were concerned. In fact the atmosphere in the Blackbird was oddly serene, frowning he wondered about that for a minute before he just shrugged and accepted it.

"Scott you do realize Xander and his friends will be in class for most of the day?" Jean asked, having picked up Logan's thoughts, which was far easier than ever before. It made her rethink about the possibility that the three-way link they had shared during the lust spell might have had some lasting effects, she decided to discuss it with Betsy later on before bringing it to Logan's attention as she knew how he felt about his mind being invaded. He gave her some leeway as well as Xavier, but on the whole he usually kept people out of his head as best as he could.

Scott almost jerked as he realized his error, but quickly stopped himself. He glanced at Emma who smiled at this oversight. "Yes Jean I did, I thought we could spend the day in Sunnydale and take the measure of the town," he lied as best AS he could although the look on Jean's face told him she hadn't bought it. "See if we can spot any trouble the kids might need to know about and so on," he added and doing his best when he heard Logan grunt, clearly having not bought his lie either.

"You know dad if you want people to believe you when you lie, then please learn to lie much better," Rachel finally said much to his chagrin. He glanced behind him to see her smirking at him, while Kitty and Jubilee were laughing their heads off. Shaking his head he turned back around, he decided not to say anything as he was just glad to see them in good spirits, Jubilee especially.

"Still Scott raised a good point. If there are any dangers in the town we might be able to find them and let the kids know about them," Ororo spoke up, concealing her own smile from Scott. "It will give them an ever better chance of doing their jobs," she added.

"So we split up and look around?" Betsy inquired.

"Yes we do, one telepath to each group so four groups" Scott shot back. "Me, Emma, Rahne and Hank," he told them. "Kitty, Kurt, Betsy and Ororo," he continued. "Rachel, Logan, Gambit and Rogue," he went on. "Jean, Jubilee, Warren and Bobby," he finished.

Logan growled a little at being split up from Jean and Betsy, but he at least could keep an eye on Rachel. He knew the dangers that lurked in Sunnydale and he intended to cut some of them down before they could become a real danger.

+HX+

(Sunnydale High)

Jenny tried to stay as quiet as possible as she felt Xander's hand roam over her left breast, this coupled with Cordelia nibbling on her neck while fondling her ass was quickly sending her emotions haywire and she was beginning to grow tempted to push this into much more than a groping session. But she knew Buffy and the others were waiting for them, so however reluctantly she pushed Xander away with a small telepathic push while gently removing Cordelia from her throat.

"As much as I would love to continue this, we have a meeting to get to and if we delay anymore then it is possible they will come looking for us and we will end up being caught in a very compromising position," Jenny told them as she tried to calm herself down as well as straighten out her blouse.

"Yeah good idea," Xander said, taking deep breaths to help center himself, he could feel his hormones raging within. Right now the only thing on his mind was ripping Jenny's blouse off and making wild love to her. Jenny could see it in his eyes and gave him a coy smile before heading for the door. "Wait a couple of minutes before leaving, we'll pick this up again later I promise," she added then exited.

Xander leaned against the wall and tried to calm himself down, it wouldn't do to walk into the library with a damn hard on. Cordelia quickly straightened her own clothes out before she left, her thoughts were beyond wild. The lust spell must have really left some traces on them all, for them to be going at one another so quickly. Never before had she thought of being lovers with two other people and with one of them being another woman, yet now she hoped this thing between them all worked out. She pushed any thoughts of being pregnant away, they would deal with that later and she prayed that it wasn't the case.

Xander finally left after another few minutes, he finally felt back in control. He entered the library to find everyone waiting for him; he paused as he noted the new guy. Oz looked Xander over having already been brought up to date about the group and the Hellmouth. He found it amazing that such a small group of people had saved so many lives as well as kept the portal to hell closed. Now they were far more able to do their chosen job. Combined, their gifts would hopefully ensure that the Hellmouth remained shut.

"Finally, jeez Xander where have you been?" Buffy asked with some impatience in her voice.

"You don't want to know Buffy," Xander responded as he sat down. "Because if I did tell you then you'd be calling me gross," he added with a smirk as Buffy quickly caught on and avoided looking at him. "So who is the newbie? And hi Amy, glad you could make it," he said.

"Hey Xander," Amy responded with a smile, having always liked him as he was usually a blast, he always had a good joke ready and waiting and he looked out for people being bullied, even though it usually brought the heat down on him instead.

"This is Oz, he is like us," Willow answered his question. "He went as Kain from that game series and he still has the powers and the sword," she added in her usual perky tone, causing her hair to turn blue much to her amusement as well as the others.

"You need to get control of that Willow before you do it in front of people who don't know the truth about Sunnydale," Jenny told her with a smile.

"I know, I'm trying, I was up half the night in front of my mirror trying, but it isn't easy," Willow responded. "Thankfully like Giles said I do have Tonk's training in my head as well as her powers, so I'm going through it bit by bit," she added.

"You have the Soulreaver?" Xander asked before anyone could respond to Willow's statement. He leant forward in interest and some worry.

"I do, but don't worry I'll make sure it is kept safe," Oz answered, understanding the worry he saw in the other male.

"So why do you remember?" Cordelia inquired, fighting the urge to use her new telepathic powers to take a quick peek into the newcomers mind, especially as she didn't yet have full control of them and didn't want to accidently hurt their new ally.

"I don't know exactly why they chose me, just that they did," Oz replied with a shrug before they were all surprise to see Metatron return in his usually method.

"He's here because he would have become a member of your group in time anyway," Metatron informed them. "Hence it made sense for him to be included in this, like you he was offered a choice and he chose to accept it," he explained. "As for your concerns regarding the Soulreaver, don't worry, should he fall then Loki will come to collect the blade and ensure no one else can claim it," he added. "Now from this point forth Whistler will be your contact should you need any more questions to be answered. I know you and the X-Men still hold him responsible for Ethan escaping, but it wasn't his fault," he stated. "So don't give him any more of a hard time, good luck," he finished before he vanished once more.

"Who is that?" Oz inquired.

"We haven't got a damn clue," Giles answered with a sigh. "But whoever he is, he is well informed and powerful," he told him.

"And I know I have seen him before somewhere," Willow added thoughtfully, trying to remember why he seemed so familiar to her.

"And this Whistler he mentioned?" Oz asked wanting to get as much information as he could.

"A supposed former balance demon for the now exterminated Powers that Be," Jenny informed him. "However due to him being the one to tell us that Ethan, the warlock responsible for last night's events, would be allowed to escape without any punishment…," she paused before continuing as she felt anger at the warlocks escape. "Well we took it out on him, none of us liked the idea of him getting away when people died due to his actions, especially when he did this all for fun," she spat before Cordelia reached over and rubbed her shoulder to try and ease her anger.

"I guess we should just be glad the Powers won't be able to manipulate us anymore," Buffy said with a sigh of relief. "From what we were told, had this happened as it did, then things would have gotten nasty for us all," she went on. "Maybe those people didn't die for nothing," she mused.

"Perhaps," Giles responded although he had his doubts. But it might help Buffy and the others deal with the situation a bit better if they felt there was some purpose to the deaths of those who died the night before.

"So what happens now?" Amy asked.

"For now you have class, but once it is over please return here and I will begin your instruction in magic," Giles answered as he glanced at some notes he had made.

Amy nodded before getting up and leaving, the others slowly followed her.

Giles watched them go before removing his glasses and sitting down. He just hoped Amy and the others would all prove capable of not only controlling their new powers, but also being able to use them only when needed.

The day passed slowly for Cordelia, the closer she got to the end of the day the more nervous and agitated she became about the possibility that she was pregnant. The trouble she had in keeping her new powers under control didn't help matters. It seemed Xander and Giles had been correct when they said that imprinted memories didn't give you complete control of them right off the bat. But the few stray glimpses she did get were an eye opener; it made her revaluate her entire time in school. It took even more control to not use her psi-blade to put Harmony down when they passed in the corridor. The level of hatred and raw darkness she found in her so called friend was so disturbing she felt sick. She'd never thought Harmony could have that much hatred inside of her. She would have to keep an eye on her, she thought. When the bell finally rang she all but rushed out to find Jenny and Xander waiting by her car. She was about to jump in when Harmony and the others in their group turned up.

"Cordelia what the hell are you doing with him?" Harmony spat, pointing directly at Xander who began to growl quietly, but he stayed where he was. Jenny noted Harmony was doing her best to ignore her presence.

"Well you see Harmony I'm going out with my boyfriend. So back off before I really decide to teach you a lesson," Cordelia shot back, unable to stop herself and no longer caring where she stood with them or the other popular kids.

Harmony looked shell shocked as did most of the others in the group, all bar Aura Wilson who stood watching with a curious look on her face. "Boyfriend him? No way…," she finally rallied unable to believe what she had just heard. "He is the biggest loser on the planet, dating him will destroy you and make you nothing but his whore," she spat with real venom in her tone.

Cordelia marched forward and glared at the blond and felt the real urge to show the blond bimbo some of her new skills, but a gentle mental nudge from Jenny stopped her. "One more word Harmony about Xander and you will have to be carried home. Got me?" she threatened her.

"What the hell have you done to her loser?" Harmony demanded, turning from Cordelia to glare at Xander who clenched his fist tightly and wished he could unleash his claws to shut Harmony up.

Cordelia slapped Harmony around the face sending the sneering blond backwards, before Harmony could recover Cordelia followed it up with a punch to her jaw which sent her to the ground hard. "I warned you. From now on Harmony you are going to learn to respect other people," she told the fallen blond who was currently holding her jaw and was crying. The other members of her former group were staring at her in shock. Aura however was watching events with a small smile which surprised Cordelia. "Try and come after us and I will repeat this lesson, now get out of my sight or suffer worse and the same goes for the rest of you," she spat before turning to Aura. "Except you," she stated more evenly wondering at Aura's odd behavior.

Aura watched as her former friends all but ran for it and had to fight to contain her laughter. She had long waited for someone to put Harmony in her place. She had become one of them because she wanted to keep people from paying too much attention to her. Without any real ego she knew she was a good looking person and that usually drew unwanted attention. By being one of Cordelia's hanger ons her attitude kept most away, but as time went on she began to tire of the act and especially of Harmony Kendall. Of late she had seen a change in Cordelia. She had noted her growing closeness with Xander, her one time sparring partner. For her it had been a sign that maybe things would change for the better and that she would no longer have to put up with Harmony and the others.

"Why the smile?" Cordelia inquired, wanting to reach out and pick the answers for Aura's brain, but Jenny's metal warning stopped her.

"Because like you I have grown to hate them, Harmony especially," Aura answered. "I've noticed your growing distance from them, as well the fact you and Xander seemed to have become closer, so I took it as a sign things were changing and that I could get rid of them as well," she explained. "They've served their purpose which was to keep away unwanted attention, people know now to leave me alone unless I seek them out," she added with a wicked smile.

"Wow, I had no idea you felt the same," Cordelia told her and she was really surprised. "I think we'll have to hang together sometime and really get to know one another," she added before she headed back to the car.

"I look forward to it Cordy," Aura replied before she headed for home thinking that she'd probably have a good night's sleep now that she would no longer have to pretend to like Harmony and the others.

Cordelia got in the driver's seat still going over what had just happened, after the other two had gotten into the car she set out for the local pharmacy. Xander leaned into the seat and wondered about the change in Cordelia. Yesterday he doubted she would have confronted Harmony and the others or claimed him as her boyfriend. 'Why were they so different?' he wondered not that he was really complaining.