Logan stared at the fire for a few more minutes after Ororo left, thinking about everything that had happened in the space of about half an hour. It was beginning to give him more of a headache, so he lit a cigar in the dying embers and meandered back to the jet. He could hear Jean inside, tinkering here and there, and he hoped that she'd give him something to do to distract him from his thoughts.

He stood by the ladder and waited as he heard her make her way down. She paused momentarily when she saw him, as though she was debating whether or not she wanted to turn and flee. Maybe she just wanted some time to herself. He had the feeling that he was about to find out.

"Hey," she said after an awkward pause.

"Hey," was his gruff response.

He inhaled his cigar, expecting her to continue on her way or perhaps give him something to do, but instead she frowned down at him. "You okay?"

He exhaled slowly, mulling that over. Could he classify his feelings as okay? The morning had begun with invading Bobby's house, explaining to his parents that he was a mutant and attended a mutant school, having the police called on them, and being shot in the head. The afternoon had consisted of nearly being shot down in an aerial dogfight, having a panic attack while they plummeted to their death, looking for John in the woods and being severely insulted by said teen. To draw the evening to a close, he'd reestablished his hatred of Magneto, ruined his friendship with Ororo, had something of a heart to heart to John, and finally ending with another short talk with Ororo that seemed to have left her more sad then angry.

Despite his best efforts, he really couldn't tell how Ororo felt about him. If she didn't give a damn about him, then he wouldn't be able to get under her skin so easily, right? The kiss they'd almost shared suggested a definite spark. Yes, she'd pulled away from him, but the way that she'd inched closer suggested that she'd wanted it as much as he had. Funny, that I only realize that now.

But he'd only been in her company for three days, altogether, and she'd spent most of that time being angry at him for something or other that he'd said. He wasn't really used to watching his mouth, and he didn't know enough about Ororo to know what to avoid saying around her. He was so confused by everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours and so tired from lack of proper rest that he hardly knew how he'd begin to tell Jean his long list of problems.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said finally.

"You sure?"

He turned his attention fully to Jean, impatient for a subject change. He took his cigar out of his mouth and tapped the ashes away. "How're we doing?"

She sighed, and looked up at the jet. "Not good. I'm running fluid through the hydraulics, and if the test passes than it'll only take four or five hours to get her off the ground. We're certainly stuck for the night, but the good news is that our stealth netting should hide the Blackbird pretty well from any casual reconnaissance. The passive scanning array says that we've got clean skies to the horizon, and according to the info-dump on the main computer, there shouldn't be any surveillance satellites overhead, so there's minimal risk of detection."

During her long diagnosis, Logan had grabbed her arm in an effort to silence her, but she'd seemed intent on finishing her analysis. When she finally finished, he blinked hard, wondering at even the gist of what she'd said. "Wow. That's not at all what I meant."

She sighed again and turned away from him. "I know what you meant. That's how I chose to answer." He lifted a brow at her and she shook her head. "I'm just worried about the professor… and Scott."

The second had seemed like an afterthought, but Logan paid it little attention. "I'm worried about you," he insisted, pulling her back as she tried to walk away. "That was some display of power up there."

She scowled at the damaged jet. "Obviously it wasn't enough."

"Hey, hey. Come on, you could have disabled the second missile no problem if you hadn't pacified me. It's mostly my fault."

He'd placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed in what was meant to be a comforting gesture, but she looked into his eyes with a pained expression. "I love him," she said carefully.

Logan frowned. She hadn't sounded very convincing, and the way she'd said it made him wonder exactly who she wanted to convince. Was she telling Logan that she loved Scott, or was she reminding herself out loud? Why did she feel she had to justify her loyalty to Scott in the first place? As far as he knew, she'd known that he had eyes for Ororo. And he'd certainly never made a move on her.

Jean had been acting a little off ever since he'd come back, and he was determined to find out why. For whatever reason, she needed Logan to know that she loved Scott. "Do you?" he challenged, feeling that he was treading into dangerous territory.

"Girls flirt with the dangerous guy, Logan," she said, giving him a sad smile. "They don't take him home. They marry the good guy."

Okay, so Scott must be the good guy, since Jean was going to marry him. Hadn't Ororo said they they were going to get married? That meant that Logan must be the dangerous guy that she was flirting with. So far, he didn't see that anything was wrong with that, though Scott probably wouldn't see their banter as purely friendly. But shouldn't he trust her to be faithful to him?

And when had be even gotten the title of 'dangerous guy?' He certainly flirted with danger, but how could he not when he knew that he'd always heal? Having such an ability made it easier to be reckless; he was willing to admit to that. But that recklessness sure as hell came in handy when you wanted to stack the deck in your favor. And being dangerous didn't automatically translate to being the bad guy.

He wondered if Ororo followed this 'dangerous guy, good guy' logic too. Did Ororo see him as only the dangerous guy that she could flirt with occasionally? He gave Jean a casual shrug. "Is that it? I could be the good guy."

Her smile became sadder still. "Logan, the good guy sticks around." The tone in her voice bothered him. It sounded almost… longing, like perhaps she wanted him to be the good guy. Her good guy. He frowned at her, studying her intently. Could it be that, in his light hearted flirting with Jean, that she had come to like him as something more than a friend?

No. He knew her about as well as he knew Ororo, but he refused to believe that she had genuine feelings for him. Didn't brides have serious doubts before they got married? Logan was almost a polar opposite of Scott, so maybe whatever affection she had for him was centered on 'what if?'

That seemed like a normal enough conclusion. Perhaps she just needed to be reassured that Scott really was the man for her. His hand flew from her shoulder to her neck faster than she could follow, and he paused for half a second. He knew that this wasn't just about showing Jean that she didn't really love him. True, he felt no spark with her. While he'd wanted to pull Ororo closer, he wanted to put a little distance between himself and Jean. But he was so frustrated with Ororo…

Fuck it.

He pulled her into a heated kiss, his mind and body screaming in protest the instant his mouth was on hers. But she returned his kiss with surprising enthusiasm. Her hand roughly gripped the back of his hair and pulled him closer. He opened his eyes in shock and caught a rush of images and memories that didn't belong to him.

He was looking at the world through Jean's eyes. She and Ororo were sitting in the jet, staring out the window blankly. Ororo called Jean's name, but she didn't seem to notice. She called again and still nothing. Ororo reached out and lightly touched her friend, and Logan almost felt the light shock that she'd given Jean.

"I'm sorry," Jean said hurriedly, shaking her head.

"Are you okay?"

"All of the sudden, yeah," she said lightly, trying to brush it off. But even through Jean's eyes, Logan could see that Ororo wasn't buying it.

"Something wrong?"

Jean shifted in her seat, staring straight ahead. "I was just thinking that it'd be nice if this flight would go a little faster. I guess I got a little carried away. I didn't mean to push the jet faster."

"I see."

Ororo said nothing else, and Logan felt Jean's slight irritation. "What?"

"Nothing. I asked, you answered, end of story."

"What, Storm? Spit it out!"

Ororo shrugged, but Logan could see that she was picking her words carefully. "It doesn't have anything to do with Logan being back in town, does it?"

To his absolute amazement, Jean slumped down in her seat and buried her hands in her face as the blood rushed to her cheeks. "Oh, God. It shows."

"The sun 'shows' every morning when it rises, Jean," he heard Ororo say, an odd tone in her voice. "And right about now it has nothing on you." She sounded… bitter.

"This isn't fair!"

"Are you annoyed or tempted?"

"Both," she said, looking up and scowling at the controls.

"Ouch." Logan could sense Jean's ignorance, but he caught the hard look in Ororo's eyes. "He does have the look," she commented softly.

"You've got to take him off my hands."

"Sure, I'd be glad to," she muttered sarcastically, giving her friend a fake scowl.

"You're going to bust my ass forever, aren't you?"

"Plus a few days," she said lightly. Ororo then seemed to turn serious, and the strange look in her eyes vanished completely. "Look Jean, I like him. You know that. Personally, I think that you're just getting cold feet because you and Scott have a huge wedding right around the corner. But that's just my opinion. Only you can know what you truly feel. If Scott is taking a back seat to Logan - truly coming in second - then maybe you have your answer."

Logan felt a tired smile tug at the corner of Jean's lips, and she seemed to relax, if only a fraction. "Yeah, I'll bet you're right. What I feel is minor league. You two are the show, if the images I get from your head are any indication."

"We go together like matches and dynamite," Ororo agreed. "John hasn't even met him but, based on rumors and what I've told him, he thinks that Logan and I are a match made in hell."

"You told John about him?"

"He's a smart kid. When I was mad at Logan, John saw me and said, 'alright, whoever can get you all hot and bothered like this is someone worth mentioning to your kid.' He pulled it out of me."

"So John likes him, you like him... What's stopping you."

Ororo looked sad suddenly. "I told you that T'Challa visited again, right…"

Jean broke the contact between them and Logan blinked rapidly, his vision returning to normal. What just happened? Half a million questions raced through his mind as he looked at Jean. Did she really feel that there was something between them that was more than friendship? If so, how long had she been feeling that way?

He suddenly remembered the first night he'd talked to both Jean and Ororo. Ororo had shoved him against a door for admiring her backside, while Jean had been tolerant of his advances even after he'd nearly choked her. He'd wondered to himself if pursuing Jean might be a better idea than pursuing Ororo, but he hadn't truly meant it. He wondered if Jean had heard him thinking that, and had taken it to heart. Yes, he'd thought that Jean might be a fun challenge, but he didn't want Jean. He liked Jean just fine, but there was no contest.

He felt his entire body freeze. Did that mean that he wanted Ororo? Truly wanted her? He definitely liked her, but did he lo - ?

Several hundred more questions came to mind that pertained to Ororo and whatever he was feeling about her, but Logan knew better than to think too hard about her at the moment. Whatever he'd just seen, however he intended to interpret it, Jean was in front of him right now, and the issue between them needed to find some sort of resolve. Now.

"Please." It was a whisper between her ragged breaths. Her eyes were pleading, but Logan wasn't sure what she meant by that desperate plea. Please stop? Please don't stop? "Don't make me do this."

He blinked. "Do what?" Being that she was telepathic, she had to have sensed that a good portion of his mind had been screaming that kissing her was wrong. In fact, the only way she couldn't have heard him was if her own thoughts were so loud that they'd overpowered his. That wasn't at all his fault, and he was insulted at the implication that he'd ever make her do anything against her will. He certainly hadn't asked her to nearly rip his hair out.

"This!" She lightly touched her lips and turned away from him. "Don't make me choose."

He wasn't sure if she'd meant for him to hear that, but that seemed to clearly be the end of the conversation. Logan inhaled her ginger-cinnamon scent and frowned. She would only have to choose if she thought that Logan was offering himself to her. While that hadn't been his intention at all in kissing her, it seemed that he'd somehow done exactly that.

Can I do anything right?

He tried not to grumble out loud at his misfortune as he took a slow step away from her, giving her a little breathing room. She nodded appreciatively and Logan popped his cigar back into his mouth. During their 'discussion' it had burned halfway down, and he bit back another growl. He tossed it into the darkness, too annoyed to care that it was his last one.

He noticed for the very first time that Jean's pulse was off. It took a minute for his brain to function properly enough for him to realize that it wasn't one odd pulse. It was two different pulses.

"You're pregnant," he said flatly. That would explain her hormones and why she'd damn near jumped him. It would also explain why her scent was split into ginger and cinnamon now rather than just gingerbread. He wasn't sure of what else to say, but apparently nothing more needed to be said.

Her left hand absently rubbed at her still flat stomach as she stared off into the distance blankly. "So I am," she said slowly.