Rising to the Sunset, Part II
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Marvel does.
Chapter 5
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Jean soared into the open sky. Vivid pink erupted from the flaming orange sun, setting in the western sky. She was soaring over great snowy mountain tops, then flat grassy hills. Her body turned and twisted in the air, taking in all of the energy radiating towards her. She opened up her arms to welcome it. The higher she got, the more powerful she felt. Up and up, toward the distant sun, the closer moon. The world got smaller as she soared. What was now a small speck on the horizon, used to be a towering mountain…
Scott snapped awake, a sudden rush of heat breaking his content sleep. He sat up, and looked over at Jean. She was writhing on the sheet, soaked with sweat. Scott reached his hand out and lay it on her forehead. She was burning up. She must have been radiating the heat through their link. Scott ran his hand across her arm, trying to decide whether or not to wake her up.
Something moving on the other side of the room caught his attention. It was the iron. The iron was moving on its own, doing its job on his blue dress shirt that he'd laid out for the following day. Scott climbed quickly out of bed, and went over to it. It was just going about it job, his trousers were already done. Scott looked puzzled over at Jean. She was still sound asleep. The whoosh of running water in the bathroom caught him off guard. He was almost afraid of what he would find.
Scott peered through the doorway. The sink was running. Scott walked over to it to get a closer look. Inside the sink, a sponge was at work scrubbing away. He looked around the bathroom. It was spotless. The entire room had been cleaned overnight. Scott left it alone, and went back into the bedroom, crossing to stand over Jean on her side of the bed. His face was creased with worry.
Jean's body was flushed with heat, and wet with sweat. The blanket was rumpled around her, and she was tossing and turning. Gently he rubbed her stomach.
"Jean. Jean. Jean." He poked at her softly. She stirred a little. "Jean, honey, wake up. Please wake up. Jean. Jean. Jeannie!"
Jean opened her eyes, blinking.
"You had me worried."
"Why?"
"You're very warm."
"I was having one hell of a dream. I was that bird again. It was exhilarating."
A deep smile formed on her face. Scott furrowed his brow.
"You're sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine. Just a little warm."
"You were sending that heat through our link."
"Really?"
"It's what woke me up."
Scott sat on the bed beside her.
"Wow."
Jean sat up and looked at him. In the dim room, it seemed like her eyes were almost glowing. Maybe it was just a trick of his glasses. He squinted to get a better look.
"You worry too much. Scott, I'm fine."
She reached up and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Jean…the heat's not the only thing," Scott hesitated. "While you were sleeping…"
"What?"
"You were tekekinetically ironing."
"Wow. I had been thinking about it before bed. I don't remember it playing into my dreams though."
"Were you thinking about cleaning the bathroom too?"
"Did I do that as well?"
Scott nodded.
"Honey, my powers have just increases a bit…"
"A bit?"
"Yes."
"God, Jean. They've increased more than a bit. You used to have to concentrate to levitate a book across the room, now you're cleaning the bathroom without even realizing it."
"You use that
example a lot."
"Huh?"
"The book one."
"Well, Jean…" Scott rested his head down on his hands. "I'm just concerned. I love you."
"I'm fine," Jean reached out and grazed the side of his face with her pointer finger. "Really, Scott."
"I wish I could be as comfortable as you are with this."
"Please look at me." Scott lifted his head. "I swear, I would tell you if I felt something wasn't right. I love you too, Scott."
"I just…I…I lost you one. I thought I had. I couldn't bear to again."
His lip was quivering. Jean pressed a finger to it to steady it. She knelt up and threw a leg over his lap, straddling him.
"You won't lose me."
"You can't guarantee that."
"Of course, I can't guarantee it, Scott! Stuff like that is never certain. Especially in our position."
Scott nodded.
"But, honey, I'm fine. The Professor is tracking the growth of my powers. If anything were wrong, he'd let me know."
"He's concerned."
"He finds it peculiar, yes, but he hasn't found anything wrong with me."
"You were flying yesterday."
"I know! It was so cool!"
"Jean!"
"And I held back your beams. I finally got to see your eyes."
Scott looked at her incredulously.
"Let me see you eyes again!" Jean squealed, grabbing for his glasses. Scott lunged backwards out of her grasp.
"Not right now."
"Why?"
"It's one thing in the Danger Room…"
"Scott, I did it effortlessly."
"Not right now, Jean."
Jean inched up his chest, and he bit his lip. "Please…" she whined.
Scott looked up at her in the faint light. She was gorgeous. And straddling him. She sure knew how to push his buttons. Scott lay silent. Jean leaned in and pulled off his glasses. No blast. He could see her in full color.
"See, nothing happened."
"I know you can do it. I just…"
"Shhh…" Jean leaned in and kissed him firmly, pressing her body into his chest.
"Jean…" he protested, but his arguments were silence by her mouth devouring his.
When the finally broke apart, Jean replaced his glasses, and slithered down next to him. "Please relax."
Scott rolled over to face her. "I'll try, really I will."
"Thank you." Jean kissed his forehead.
"This doesn't worry you at all?"
"Not really. I'm glad to finally be able to have full use of my powers. To have control over them."
"Is subconsciously using them while you're asleep really control?"
Jean shrugged. "I don't know." She pressed herself to him. "Hold me."
He obliged. "I'm not trying to bring you down, baby, but I just want to make sure that nothing's wrong."
"I know. And I love you for it. I just don't know what to make of it, but I like it."
Scott nodded, and tightened his grip on her, running his hands through her hair. "What's this?" he asked, pulling out a small, round disc.
"Oh! The sensors! I forgot about them."
"Why are you monitoring us?"
"I wanted to for the Danger Room."
"Good idea. Who's monitoring? Kitty?"
Jean nodded. "She must have gotten some interesting data."
"So she will have what was going on with your stats while you were sleeping just now?"
"Yeah. And, um…"
"Oh shit!"
"You think she knew what she was seeing?"
"I don't know about Kitty, she seems very innocent. But she's really damn smart. And lots of the other kids are less innocent, so if she asked…"
Jean giggled. "Well, that will be interesting tomorrow."
"God Jean, she got us doing it more than once!"
Jean continued to laugh.
"It's not funny. It's not good for our reputations."
"Oh, Scott, screw our reputations. We need to have fun sometimes."
His furrowed his brow again.
"Honey, you were so much fun today while you were relaxed. The students really liked you."
"I know."
"And smile."
"Okay."
"Now."
"What?"
"Smile now."
Scott grinned and tugged her closer. "Now its time for more sleep. Even I don't get up at 3am."
"You used to when you had your nightmares."
"Not anymore though. Now, sleep."
They lay back on the pillow and curled tightly around one another, finally falling asleep.
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