Jean found herself walking in a dark alley. She shivered slightly and wrapped her arms around her slender physique as a cold breeze swept past. She continued walking, until someone appeared in front of her. The man was cloaked in darkness, but his glowing red eyes were clearly visible in the night. In his hand was a large, silver, butcher knife. "Oh, Jeannie," he sneered.
Shrieking in alarm, she started running the other way. With a flick of his wrist, the walls came alive. She just ran faster. Suddenly, metal tentacles reached out and grabbed her, pinning her to the wall. Jean stared wide-eyed in shock as the man walked towards her. "Oh, Jean."
"Stay back!" Jean screamed, and tried to throw him back with her TK. It didn't work.
"Jean." the voice sounded louder as the man approached.
"Stay away from me!" she screeched, absolutely terrified. The man was standing in front of her now, and brought the knife above his head for the final strike.
"Jean!"
She screamed as the man brought the blade down in a flash of silver.
"Jean, wake up!" Jean opened her eyes and saw Scott towering over her, hands on her shoulders. Standing behind him was a large crowd, with concerned looks on their faces. "You were having a nightmare again."
Her face was damp with sweat, yet she was shivering as she tried to regain her composure. "Hold me," she asked softly, barely audible to even Scott's ears. He wrapped his arms around her as she buried her face in his chest. Resting his chin on her head, he whispered, "Jean, it was just a dream. Everything's going to be fine. I won't let anything happen to you."
It was the second night in a row. Ever since the rescue, Jean had been having nightmares. She wouldn't talk to anyone about it; in fact, she doesn't remember much of the experience herself, spending so much time drugged and unconscious. Maybe that's what scared her, she thought – the fear of the unknown. Hank said that there was absolutely nothing physically wrong with her, but that didn't stop Jean from being scared.
Sensing that the two wanted to be alone, the adults ushered everyone else back to bed. //Don't get too comfortable, Scott. You have a Danger Room session tomorrow morning\\ Prof. Xavier telepathically sent a message to the boy. Despite the fact that he couldn't see the Professor, Scott could sense his surrogate father chuckling to himself. Finally, the would-be couple found themselves alone, in each other's arms.
Scott knew Jean didn't want to be left alone, obviously, but also knew that he wasn't allowed to stay in her room for the night. It was against Institute rules, and, as leader, he had an image to maintain. He sat holding Jean for several long minutes before he finally thought of a solution.
"Say, let's go on a date," Scott began. Jean pulled back and stared at him with disbelieving eyes.
"I'm having a nervous breakdown and all you could think about is dating me?" Her voice was bordering on anger.
"Jean, hear me out." He got off the bed and held out his hand. "Its not what you think."
Looking at his hand suspiciously before taking it with her own, Jean began in a warning tone, "I don't know what you're up to, Scott Summers, but if you try anything funny...."
"Trust me." Jean just arched her eyebrows, leaving Scott to draw his own conclusions. He led her out of her room, down the halls and into the kitchen, intertwining his fingers with hers. Pulling out a chair, he gestured for her to sit, which she did.
Scott disappeared behind the refrigerator as he rummaged through the various items of food and drinks. After several long seconds of searching, he finally found what he was looking for. Closing the freezer, he picked up two spoons before walking over to the table where Jean was waiting. Her face lit up when she saw him sit down with a box of mint-chocolate-chip ice cream, her favorite. There wasn't a lot left, so they decided to eat straight out of the carton.
"Feeling better?" Scott asked as he stuffed a large spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. Jean just nodded as she licked her spoon.
Unsure of what to do, he decided to take the plunge. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, not looking at her, "your nightmares?" Swallowing another mouthful of ice cream, Jean set her spoon down on the table. "There's not much to talk about. I was drugged mostly, only coherent for short periods of time. Then you guys came...." she trailed off.
Realization dawned on him. ~That must be what's scaring her. She didn't know what happened~ He decided to discontinue with the topic - If she didn't know what happened, then there isn't anything to talk about.
"What was Essex talking about, back then during the fight?" she asked, digging into the ice cream again.
Knowing that she'll want to know what went on during his conversation with Sinister back during the battle, Scott decided that she might as well find out about his past. If their relationship was going to get anywhere, she has got to know. He looked up to see Jean staring at him, spoon in her mouth.
"My father was flying us home when we ran into a storm. Lightning struck one of the wings before my father could fly above it. My parents gave Alex and I the only two parachutes and pushed us out of the plane. As we were falling, the plane exploded, and a piece of burning metal landed on my chute, lighting it on fire. The next thing I know, I woke up in a hospital and found out that I was the only one from my family who survived." He paused, collecting his thoughts. Jean remained silent. "The next time I opened my eyes, I blasted off the roof of the hospital. It was then I met Sinister, who put me in a coma for a year. I spent another in the orphanage under his control. He kept me there by dissuading all the people from adopting me. Finally, I ran away after another year and lived on the streets, blind. There, a guy named Jack picked me up."
There was a long silence. "He beat me regularly and made me use my powers to steal and stuff. I ran away again. It was then that Xavier found me huddled in an alley, blind-fold covering my eyes and all. By then, I had spent two years of my life on the streets. He enlisted me as the first student at the Institute when I was twelve years old, four years after the crash. I spent another year with my eyes closed until some doctor designed these ruby-quartz glasses."
"Scott, I had no idea...." She couldn't even imagine what he had been through. Jean had enrolled into the Institute when they were both fourteen, so she had no idea prior to tonight of what his life was like before that. ~No wonder he always keeps to himself~
"Can you keep it a secret? You are the only one besides the Professor and my brother who knows much about my past," he chuckled. Jean just nodded, and after an awkward pause, decided to change the subject.
"Did you meet anyone in California? Get a girlfriend....?" she trailed off, half-afraid of the answer. Why was she even asking? Of course he did.
"No," he put bluntly. He wanted to leave the subject as it was, but she had other ideas.
"Why not? Handsome guy such as yourself," she asked, surprised, as they finished the last of the ice cream.
"I couldn't.... get over some crazy fantasy I've had ever since my fourteenth birthday," Scott said uneasily as he walked over to the sink. He suddenly felt two arms wrap around his waist as Jean hugged him tightly from behind.
****
"So, you want to go back to sleep?" Scott asked, yawning. "Its almost three."
"No, not really. You don't have to stay up with me if you don't want to."
"What kind of jerk would I be if I walk out in the middle of a date with a beautiful girl?" he replied, grinning.
Jean smiled back as she sat on a couch in front of one of the mansion's many 60" screen TVs. Turning it on, she found an early morning re-run of the movie "Legally Blond." She rested her head on his shoulder as Scott wrapped an arm around hers. They sat like that through the entire movie, watching Reese Witherspoon adjust to life at Harvard law school and trying to get her boyfriend back. By the time the court-scene began, it was past five in the morning.
As the blond gave her Valedictorian speech during the dying sequences of the film, Scott looked down to see Jean staring up at him.
The red-head found herself admiring his perfectly chiselled face. She idly wondered why she never attempted to pursue something other than friendship with him, choosing instead to court the more prominent figures in society, like football players. Despite this, after more than six years, his love and friendship was still here, hers to take.
"Thank you," she spoke softly. Scott nodded his head faintly, although he didn't exactly know what she was talking about.
Somehow, Jean managed to find his eyes behind the wall of ruby-quartz. Her heart started to race as the butterflies in her stomach started to come alive. She leaned towards him, lips slightly parted. Scott, taking the hint, closed the distance between them, stopping only when his lips melted with hers. A wave of electricity shot through his entire body at the pleasant feel of her mouth.
Jean felt weak and exhilarated as the two tasted each other, lips closing and parting at the same time. They kissed with the familiarity of old lovers, yet with the fervour and intensity of a new relationship. Jean's hands found their way to the back of Scott's head, playing with his brunette strands with her fingers. Scott trembled a bit with anxiousness as he deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue into her mouth. Jean kissed him back with passion, and it continued for a long time, neither wanting it to end. Thoughts, memories and emotions started to blaze through their minds as their psychic link came alive, to the point that neither could tell which thought or feeling belonged to whom. Finally, they reluctantly pulled apart, foreheads still pressed together and noses nuzzling against the other to maintain body contact.
"So," Scott began, breathing deeply.
"So," Jean repeated, smiling. She fondly caressed his cheek with her hand. He grasped it and lightly brushed the tips of her knuckles with his lips. "Not bad for a first date, huh?"
"Mmmm-hmmm," Jean responded contentedly. Suddenly overcome with fatigue, she leaned in and rested her head on a comfortable spot on his shoulder. Scott sat back and tenderly stroked her fiery hair as Jean slowly drifted off to sleep, the smell and proximity of him keeping her nightmares away for the first time in days.
A few hours later, as the rest of the mansion started to awaken, the Professor found them curled comfortably together on the couch with the television still on. He considered waking them up for their Danger Room session before dropping the idea and leaving them to their peaceful slumber.
