Rogue blew a tuft of hair out of her face. "Dang, they've been in there forever. What the hell can they still be talking about?!"
"Like, no kidding…but Scott and Jean looked…really out of it, you know?"
Kurt rolled his eyes. "If that's Scott and Jean, I'm a monkey's uncle. DON'T say it," he warned Bobby, who had opened his mouth. Grinning sheepishly, he shut it. The four of them were to only students still awake.
Just then the door opened, and a wear looking professor wheeled out.
"Well? What'd they say?" Kitty demanded.
"We're right here, Kate," Phoenix said wearily, coming out with her head on Cyclops' shoulder.
"KATE?!"
Scott groaned. "It's a long story. When you got married you decided Kitty was too juvenile."
Rogue snickered as Kitty paled. "M-m-married?"
Phoenix elbowed her husband. "Hush," she warned, before turning back to Xavier. "We have to go now," she said sadly. "Should we stay in these bodies any longer, our past selves would be lost. And that would upset the time stream even further…"
Ignoring his students' confused looks, Xavier took her hand. "Thank you, Jean, Scott, for what you're doing."
Cyclops cracked a humorless grin. "Hey, what're two lives when the world's on the line?"
Kurt's eyes widened. "Vhat on earth are you two doing?!"
"Saving your lives," Jean replied shortly. "Our other selves will explain it to you someday. Oh, and Charles…thank you for all you did for us when we were younger. Please…will you watch our Rachel?" There was a raw need in her eyes that scared her friends.
Xavier simply nodded.
Cyclops sighed heavily. "That's it, then…" He cupped his wife's cheek in one hand. "Think your counterpart will be okay?"
Jean leaned into his touch. "The Phoenix is a part of her. She'll learn quickly…and she'll have her Scott, too…"
Could he have cried, tears would have been running down Scott's cheeks. "I love you, mother of my child," he murmured, capturing her lips with his.
A half-laugh, half-sob escaped Jean. "And I you, my husband," she replied, returning his kiss with one of her own.
Bobby rubbed the back of his neck. "Did I miss something?"
"SHHHHH!" both Rogue and Kitty hissed, staring wide-eyed at the scene in front of them.
Kurt shrugged.
Holding her husband tight to her, Phoenix released their holds on the bodies in a flash of light. Out of the fire surrounding them a bird formed, screaming like a hawk.
Then, the fire retracted into the body of Jean Grey, which collapsed on the floor next to that of Scott Summers. Breathing heavily, she looked at her boyfriend, horror striking her as her counterpart's memories flooded her mind.
Scott returned her look, then pulled her tightly to him. He wasn't the Cyclops that had been in his body, but the fear of never seeing his lover, partner, girlfriend, wife, whatever Jean was to him, felt just as real as if it were his own.
"Okay, WHAT happened?" Bobby demanded.
Jean turned to him, still in Scott's arms, eyes red and raw. "I-" Her eyes widened then as she felt the rush of power of the Phoenix for the first time. She curled into a ball in Scott's arms, trying to keep it in.
But the link the married couple had had remained between the two, and through it Scott reassured her, comforting her, even as Bobby formed a wall of ice around the others, protecting them from the raging flames.
Soon they died down, revealing Scott with Jean in his arms. He tiredly stood, looking at his friends. His throat worked for a moment before he spoke. "Excuse me…but I have to take my wife to the med lab…and check on my daughter…"
He left four stunned mutants in his wake.
Rogue turned to Xavier. "Professor, WHAT…" She trailed off, noticing tears streaking down Charles Xavier's face.
"In the morning, Rogue," he choked. "I'll tell it all to you in the morning."