Chapter 7 – Culminations

Bronx, New York.

"Ya're what?" Logan asked, his face a mix of surprise and disbelief.

"I'm pregnant, Logan… I've been trying to tell you for a while now," Jean repeated herself, her own feelings alternating between anxiety and mild fear.

"That's impossible, Jean, we've used protection," he stated, shaking his head and running a hand through his thick hair. "Unless… ya're bullshitin' me and the kid ain't mine," Wolverine growled.

"What?! Are you suggesting I cheated on you?" Jean cleaned the tears from her face and narrowed her eyes at him.

"I dunno… have ya?" His left brow raised defiantly. "I should warn ya, Red, I don't do well with liars."

"Oh, fuck you, Logan! Get out," Jean ordered, abruptly standing up from the couch and getting as far away as possible from him, "get the hell out of my life!" She shouted, her green eyes welling up again, this time in hatred. Damn those crazy hormones.

Logan's piercing dark eyes followed the telepath's movements, and he felt his claws twitching bellow his knuckles. Wolverine truly didn't tolerate lies. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a moment to regain control over his emotions. He slowly stood up and sniffed out the air… Again, the redhead's scent was slightly different, almost sweetener. Without getting any closer, the feral focused his hearing on the woman across from him and noticed her racing heart; behind it, he was able to detect another heartbeat, steady but much lower. His own heart started beating faster at the delicate sound, and he sighed.

At this point, Jean had lost all patience. She grabbed her cell phone and showed it to him in a menacing way. "Leave now, or I'm calling the police," she warned him, her tone implacable. Logan looked at her flushed face and fierce green eyes and realized how much pain and anger he'd just inflicted on her. His senses told him her emotions were real – the rage, the disappointment, the hurt – she obviously hadn't slept with any other men behind his back. It didn't matter now how it had happened… There was a life growing inside of Jean's womb, and she was willing to give her beloved career up for the sake of it. Still, he didn't want to accept he was bringing a child into this fucked up world. He couldn't afford that, especially now.

"How far along?"

"What do you care? I told you to leave!" She cried, wiping away her tears with the heel of her palms.

"I… I'm sorry, Jeannie… I shouldn't have doubted ya…," he apologized and started approaching the woman, his right arm reaching up for her shoulder. Before Logan could touch her, a powerful telekinetic blast threw him violently against the opposite wall. The mutant slumped to the floor, groaning in pain.

"I told you to get the hell away from me! I don't ever wanna see your face again!" She yelled, turning away and heading to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

Logan slowly got up, his head spinning. The impact of his heavy body against the wall left a considerable hole in it, making him realize that Jean's strike had meant to hurt him, probably just as deep as he'd hurt her. He drew a deep breath… He'd screwed up, just like he'd screwed up every other good thing that had ever happened in his life.

Logan could hear Jean's sobs from inside the bedroom, and it was breaking his heart. He wanted to follow her inside and comfort her, but he knew the redhead needed some alone time right now. The feral grabbed the small vial with the cure, which was laying forgotten over the coffee table, and turned around to leave. "I'm gonna make it up to ya, darlin'," he promised aloud, but no one was listening.

xxxxx

On the next morning, Jean left her apartment early. She hadn't slept at all the previous night, recalling her altercation with Logan over and over again. She headed towards the subway station feeling weary and depressed. While waiting for the train, the telepath thought about her life's recent events… it felt like she'd stepped into a nightmare that kept getting worse.

Jean entered the train and searched for a seat, but they were all taken. She decided to stand near the opposite door, and then glanced sideways towards the colored bench where a woman in her mid-thirties was sitting, her hands absently caressing her protuberant belly. The redhead smiled softly, gazing down at her own stomach and thinking about how it would grow bigger in the next couple of months. Then she sighed. She was a pregnant mutant, Med School unintentional dropout, unemployed and alone in the world. On top of that, today was supposed to be her graduation day.

But she was going to make it, she needed to, for the sake of her unborn child.

In the meanwhile, Logan was back at her apartment. He'd watched her leaving, hidden in the corner of the street, sitting on his bike; he'd waited until the woman had exited the building to sneak back in with a case filled with tools and other construction supplies.

A few hours later, Jean returned home, exhausted and frustrated. She'd failed miserably at the job interview in a medical office downtown and was already considering accepting Warren's offer to pay for her rent. She stood in front of her apartment's door and twisted the handle, but it didn't open – she noticed that it was locked, the bolt fixed. When she managed to find her keys and enter her home, Jean saw that the living room wall had been repaired. Over the coffee table, partially covered by a stone paper weight, there was a piece of paper with Logan's unmistakable handwriting. She picked it up and read it.

'I was a jerk, and I'm sorry. Call me when you have the chance. Love you. L.'

Jean felt too tired to deal with the note at that moment. She went into her bedroom, took off her high heels and fancy clothes, and unceremoniously dropped herself into the inviting mattress. She felt asleep after two short breaths, one hand grasping Logan's note, the other placed protectively over her belly.

Anchorage, Alaska.

"Maddie, I think you should wait another couple of months. Nathan's only five months-old, he needs his momma around," Scott opined while giving his son a bottle.

"That's nonsense, honey. I'm no longer breastfeeding, and Nate has developed more than well for his age… he's already crawling everywhere and playing by himself. He doesn't need me beside him all day, not when his daddy takes as good care of him as his mommy does."

"I know he's doing fine, sweetheart, but I'd feel better if you'd stick around the house for some more time. We've saved enough money during the pregnancy; you know we can afford to have only one of us working for a whole year. Besides, it's my grandpa's company, I'm sure he wouldn't mind letting you stay home with his grand grandchild for a few more weeks," her husband tried to reason.

"Scott, this is not about the money, nor about making your grandfather happy. This is about me wanting to go back to work. I'm going mad inside of this house all day!" Madelyne threw her arms into the air as to make a point. "You don't know what it feels like to be stranded to the ground for so long. I need to fly again, to fell free," she explained.

Scott glanced down at the baby in his arms, eagerly sucking milk from the bottle, and sighed in defeat. He knew that if Madelyne had set her mind on returning to work, he wouldn't be able to convince her otherwise – she was just that stubborn. He remembered how they had almost fought a couple of weeks before, when she had decided to stop breastfeeding. At the time, Maddie argued that her nipples were swollen and that her body wasn't producing enough milk anyway, thus it was more convenient to just switch to formula permanently. Not even the family doctor had been able to change her mind.

"When do you want to start?" The man asked her.

"Monday."

"That's three days from now!"

"Yes, honey, it is."

Scott wasn't happy. "Fine then, Maddie. But I suggest we sit down and discuss our schedules. Someone has to stay in the house with Nathan while the other one is away flying."

"Agreed. Good thing we work for your grandpa, huh?"

Somewhere around the Earth's orbit.

Concealed from the world powers' satellites, a unique asteroid orbited the Earth, sustained by the sheer power of one man – Erik Magnus Lensher, also known as Magneto. Since his attack to the Leningrad almost a year ago, the mutant terrorist was hiding in an impressive complex of metal buildings erected on the orbital base. It represented, as he liked to profess to his fellow mutants, a sanctuary for all mutantkind. Erik named his creation 'Asteroid M'.

Since its secret foundation, Magneto had invited some powerful mutants to live among him in space. He was trying to establish a safe place for his people, away from discrimination and persecution. His aim was to create a mutant nation – or, at least, that was what he convinced himself of. From time to time, him and his most loyal followers – the so-called acolytes – went back to Earth to rescue mutants in danger and offer them a home in the strange metal sanctuary.

Magneto was currently gazing at the blue planet through his chamber's windows, lost in thoughts.

"Excuse me, my lord. Frenzy and Unuscione have just returned from Earth in one of the metal shuttles. They've rescued two siblings from a farm in Siberia," Fabian Cortez let himself into the room to inform his boss.

"I know. I brought the shuttle back to Asteroid M, remember Cortez?"

"Of course, master Magneto. I beg your pardon."

"What about the British mission?"

"Well… It appears that the Kleinstock brothers have failed to convince the female psychic to join us. I believe Braddock is her name," the leader of the acolytes told him.

"That is quite unfortunate, Cortez… We could always use a telepath," Erik lamented.

"I know, my lord, and I shall see to it personally. In the meantime, the Russian newcomer, Piotr Rasputin, would like to have a word with you," Fabian told him.

"I'm afraid he will have to wait until tomorrow. The effort I had to make today to bring the shuttles back from Earth has been too great. I need to rest now," Magnus said, leaving no room for argument.

"I understand… I'll inform the young Russian man," Cortez notified and bowed. However, before leaving, he added. "My lord… Perhaps I could be of more use to you... Allow me to help. I would gladly use my powers to restore your strength for the night," the acolyte offered.

Magneto furrowed his brows at his subordinate. "What do you mean?"

"As you know, I have the ability to augment other mutants' powers. If you would grant me the honor of using my skills to renovate yours, I could make you feel stronger and well rested much faster."

The older man looked at his opposite skeptically, and then said. "I appreciate your offer, Fabian, but I'd rather just call it a night and go to bed."

Cortez nodded once. "As you wish, my lord. Just remember, I am at your service. I bid you a good night," he said, excusing himself and exiting the room.

Erik considered the acolyte's words for some minutes. The prospect of rapidly feeling stronger and becoming more capable of defeating the human enemies did entice the Master of Magnetism. After all, what could possibly go wrong?