AN: Okay...don't own X-Men...would have so much fun if I did...next chapter finally up...on with the story!

Chapter 13

Marie watched intently as Kitty and Piotr ran their Danger Room session. They seemed to be getting the hang of it, but their teamwork skills still left something to be desired. The red discs flying through the air all came from a tower in the center of the metal room. Their goal was to find some way to deactivate the tower. Meanwhile, they also had to avoid the discs the tower shot. If they got hit, the mission would be a failure. They had to work together to disable the tower. Therein lay the rut in the plan. Marie calmly covered her eyes as a disc flew straight for Kitty's back.

"Make sure to note, class, that when seahorses reproduce the male is the one that becomes pregnant and gives birth to the baby." Jean explained to her Biology class. The class looked at her in shock.

"Are you serious?!"

"No way!"

"You're really not kidding Dr. Grey?" Jean smirked at the students' disbelief.

"I'm being serious. It's the male who gets to experience the "joys" of pregnancy and childbirth."

"Wow. The male gets knocked up. That almost seems unnatural." Jubilee said from the back of the class. Jean smiled warmly.

"Don't always assume that something that seems unusual is unnatural. Nature works in many different ways. What may seem strange to one species is completely normal to another species, just like male pregnancy."

"Hey, Dr. Grey?" A boy spoke up.

"Yes, Doug?" She answered.

"Is it possible for a human male to get pregnant?" He queried. Jean laughed a bit.

"No, it's biologically impossible. You see, there must be both sperm and and egg for conception. If you only have sperm, you can't make a baby. The same rule applies if you only have eggs. Each depend on the other, that's why we women put up with you men!" The girls roared with laughter over Jean's joke. Ever ready to break the mood, Bobby spoke up.

"So gay people can't have babies?" Jean sighed inwardly, but calmed herself as she answered the question.

"Not without help."

"What do you mean by "help"?" Jean knew that Bobby was gonna find some way to turn this conversation into an attack on her and Marie, but she was still obligated to answer his questions.

"Well, adoption is very common among homosexuals. Also, some females decide to concieve through artificial incimination."

"Artificial? So the conception isn't natural?" Jean was beginning to dread where this was going.

"Technically, no it's not."

"So what makes homosexuality natural?" His plan soon revealed itself.

"Well, love is natural. Why should it matter if the person you love is the same gender?"

"You just finished talking about natural and unnatural. I'm just wondering how that is natural if you can't make babies on your own." He pronounced "that" with obvious disgust.

"Bobby, try to understand that the word "homosexual" is just a classification. Society labels things in order to better understand them. Love is completely natural, and love is what sometimes brings two men or two women together. Try to look past the label and you'll see that love is just love." Bobby scoffed at Jean's reasoning, though the other students were listening intently to what she had to say.

"So is there someone that you love Dr. Grey?" It soon became painfully obvious to Jean that Bobby was going to try to turn her words against her. But she had come too far to turn back now.

"Yes Bobby, there is someone that I love very much." A slimey smirk began to appear on Bobby's face.

"Really? Who is it?" Jean licked her dry lips.

Jubilee, who knew about Jean and Marie, took this opportunity to jump in. "Bobby, I don't think that Jean's love life is any of our business."

"Well, she just got done saying that love is natural. If she believes that, then she wouldn't mind telling us who she loves so much." Jean fought hard against the urge to turn Bobby's brain into roadkill. But soon, other students began to defend Jean. They were also curious, but they were willing to respect Jean's privacy.

"C'mon Bobby, lay off."

"Yeah, Dr. Grey has a right to privacy."

"Seriously, it's none of our business who she loves."

"Besides, she doesn't try to find out who any of us are with."

"Yeah, what gives us the right to treat her any less than she treats us?" The students spoke up one after another, defending Jean's private life. Jean couldn't help but smile at the support she had from her class. Bobby certainly wasn't expecting this kind of reaction to his request.

Jean thought hard as the students defended her. She knew that she didn't have to tell the class about her and Marie, but she also knew Bobby. The rat would just keep bringing it up and eventually he would gain the students' support, mostly because they would just be curious. Jean blew out a deep breath, imagining that she was releasing all of her tension, and spoke up.

"It's alright class, I don't mind." She calmly said. Jubilee gave her a worried look. Jean mentally assured her that she knew what she was doing. Bobby smirked.

"So, who is it?" He asked. Jean held her head high as she spoke.

"Class, I'm sure that most of you know Rogue. Am I correct?" The students nodded. "Well, I am in a consensual relationship with her." The class looked at her in shock. Bobby smirked and Jean prepared for the students to reject her. Finally, Doug spoke up. Doug had the ability to read an entire group's emotions, so he was often a popular spokesperson when a group needed a voice.

"Ummm, Dr. Grey? None of us are quite sure how to put this, so I guess I'd better just come out and say it." Jean kept her head up, knowing that they would all disapprove. Doug nervously continued.

"You see, we're all concerned about this." Jean held her tears back. Finally, Doug spoke again.

"We all know what Rogue's power is and we just want to be sure that you're not hurting yourself." Jean and Bobby could've been knocked over with a feather. Doug continued.

"I mean, Rogue is very powerful. She can kill very easily and we would rather not lose our teacher. We just want to know if-" He was cut off by Jean's laugh of relief.

"Oh, no you guys. Rogue's power is under control. Really, she can't hurt me." The students sighed in relief. Doug spoke for the class again.

"Oh! Well then it's okay with us!" Jean smiled broadly, not trying to hide her satisfaction at Bobby's shocked face. As she continued her lesson, she felt a wave of disgust eminate from the back corner of the room. She looked to see Betsy Braddock, also called Psylock, giving her a look of pure disgust.

As the class filed out of the room, Jean gracefully perched herself on her desk. Words couldn't describe the amount of relief she felt from going public about her and Marie's relationship. Suddenly a thought hit her.

'Oh my God! What if Marie didn't want me to tell? What if she gets angry? I really should've asked her first!' Jean was so wrapped up in her worries, she didn't notice Marie until she was standing right infront of her. When Jean looked up at Marie, her worry was too deeply etched on her face to hide from her young lover.

"Jean, what's wrong? Did Bobby threaten you? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Jean gulped and tremblingly spoke.

"Marie, I told the class about us." Marie stood silent, her emotions impossible to read.

"Marie, please don't be angry! Bobby was going on and...I don't know what came over me...it just slipped out."

"Why didn't you ask me first?" Marie asked quietly. Her voice was so calm that Jean couldn't help but be afraid.

"It was an accident." She whimpered.

"SO YOU COULDN'T HAVE JUST MENTALLY CHECKED WITH ME FIRST?!" Marie screamed angrily. Jean felt a sudden rush of boldness as she stood from her desk.

"YOU KEEP ACTING LIKE WE'RE DOING SOMETHING WRONG! ARE YOU ASHAMED OF ME AND YOU?!"

"JEAN! NOT EVERYONE IS GOING TO ACCEPT OUR LOVE! IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME, JUST LOOK AT BOBBY!"

"WHY DO YOU CARE SO MUCH ABOUT WHAT BOBBY THINKS?! IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED, HE'S A NATURAL ASSHOLE!"

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE JEAN! WHAT IS IT GOING TO TAKE TO MAKE YOU BE REALISTIC?! DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS TO GAY PEOPLE SOMETIMES?!"

"NO, BUT WHY DO WE HAVE TO ACT LIKE IT'S SOME BIG SECRET?! I ONLY TOLD THE CLASS!"

"YOU DON'T THINK THEY WON'T TELL EVERYONE ELSE?! WHAT IN GOD'S NAME WERE YOU THINKING?!"

"YOU WEREN'T HERE OKAY?! BOBBY WAS EGGING ME ON AND-"

"AND YOU COULDN'T JUST IGNORE HIM?! ISN'T THAT WHAT YOU KEPT TELLING ME EVER SINCE HE STARTED THIS SHIT?!" With that, Marie stormed out.

Jean was fuming. Why did Marie treat their relationship as if it was wrong?

'She just doesn't want you to get hurt.' Her reasonable side said.

'SHUT UP! NO ONE ASKED YOU!" Her temper shouted back.

'Marie loves you more than life itself. Don't you think it would only fit that she be a little overprotective. She's probably seen what happens when homosexuality isn't accepted.' Jean couldn't help but agree with this thought. Now that she thought about it, Marie was never really in a rush to tell her parents about their relationship. She probably came from a place where homosexuality was met with violence and discrimination. Jean realized that she owed Marie an apology. She ran to the kitchen, where Logan was talking to Scott and Ororo.

"Guys, have you seen Marie?" She asked worridly.

"Yeah. She stormed out the door about five minutes ago. She looked pretty pissed." Logan said, immediately worried at Jean's disheveled appearance. Jean couldn't help it, she burst into tears.

"We got into an arguement. I need to find her and apologise for what I said." Scott took her in his arms as she cried. He tried to comfort her.

"Shhhh, it's okay Jean. We'll find her and bring her back. Ororo, take Jean to her room. Logan, you help me find Marie."

"No problem Cykes. In fact, I think I might know where she is." Logan replied. His news helped Jean regain her composure.

"Thanks you guys."

AN: There we go! (Sees angry mob in the distance.) OH SHIT!!!!!! REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!!