Author's note: Most of you seemed quite happy Scott dumped Emma. I hope you all enjoy the next couple of chapters.

Standard disclaimer: I don't own them; I'm just borrowing them for our entertainment.

Scylla and Charybdis

Part 8 - Junior Year: With Stars to Guide By

Scott moved back to the dorms with the other upperclassmen. He heard through the school grapevine that Emma Frost had transferred out to a school in Boston over the summer. He wasn't sure what to make of that. But he had to admit, he was more relieved knowing he wouldn't have to deal with the fallout of their ended relationship.

Whereas, he was delighted to find that Maggie and Nancy were again on the same floor as him in the dorm. The two young women were his closest friends at the college. And since they knew the entire history of his relationship with Jean, he spelled out his plan for them. It was simple, but he wanted to know what they thought of it.

Maggie broke into a rare smile when he finished. "Go for it," she said.

x x x x x

Jean had returned to the hospital with some apprehension, but she soon found she had no reason for nervousness. No one in the lab had witnessed her breakdown, and if they had heard about it, they gave no sign. It was a big hospital after all. And Hank was also working at the hospital on the Genome project, which meant he could meet her for lunch most days. So Jean did her best to put the past behind her and settle into working at the lab. She missed the patients, but she found that she enjoyed the work a lot. Genetics might not be a bad fit after all.

Late one night, she leaned back from the slides she was reviewing and stretched. Her attention was caught by a figure standing by the samples window. It was Scott.

Jean was startled and she ran over to the window. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "Is everything all right ...?"

"Everything's fine," Scott reassured her. "I came to talk to you. About us."

"Oh." Swell, Jean thought to herself disgustedly. A medical degree and the best she could manage was monosyllables. How charming.

But Scott only smiled. "What time do you get off work?"

"Ten." She smiled slightly. "New girl in the lab gets to stay until closing."

"Fine," he smiled broadly. "I'll be in the waiting room. We'll go to dinner when you get off."

Jean found herself smiling. Scott was obviously in his take-charge mode. "Okay."

x x x x x

Just after ten, Jean found Scott in a nearby waiting room. He shoved his textbook into his backpack at the sight of her.

"What's open this time of night?" he asked as he rose from the couch.

"There's a pretty good diner a few blocks from my apartment," she told him. "We could go there."

She was rewarded with a brilliant smile. "Good. Let's go."

x x x x x

New York was truly a city that didn't sleep. While the diner wasn't full, it was by no means empty. The waitress took their orders and left them in silence.

Jean absently played with her fork.

"Jean?"

She looked up sharply. Scott continued. "Two years ago you said you thought we'd be better off with a break from each other. I didn't agree, but I went along because you said that's what you wanted. I know what I want. I don't want anyone else, Jean. I want you."

Part of Jean couldn't believe it. "You do? After everything?"

"I do. After everything." He hesitated for a moment. "Do you want me?"

Her eyes filled with tears. "I never didn't want you," she assured him. "It's just ... I didn't want to hurt you. I thought you needed time on your own. But then this summer, you didn't say anything -- I thought maybe you weren't interested anymore."

Scott looked at her. "I thought after what you had gone through, you needed a break." He didn't add he didn't want the Professor interfering again.

"Thanks," she said. "I did need that."

Their dinners arrived. Jean smiled as Scott tucked into his hot roast turkey sandwich. He still had the appetite of a teenage boy. But that was all that was left of the teenager. Looking at Scott now, his face was still young (he was barely twenty and he still looked about fifteen), but the body and the mind weren't. Especially the mind. He had grown up. He was her equal. If she allowed him to be.

"So," Scott asked between mouthfuls. "What really happened two years ago? Who convinced you that I was better off without you? Was it the Professor -- or someone else?"

Jean looked up sharply. "That doesn't matter. He didn't say anything that I hadn't said to myself."

"Which was?"

She tried to explain. "You were so young when we met."

"And?"

"And ... and what did that make me?," Jean asked. "You were sixteen years old; I was twenty-three and I wanted you in my bed! What on earth does that say about me?"

Behind his glasses, Scott blinked. He never once thought she had been attracted to him then. "But you never acted on it," he told her. "And you had opportunity. I was in your bedroom often enough. One word from you and I would have stayed."

The waitress came and refilled their drinks. They were silent while she was there.

"Besides," Scott continued. "By the time we did anything, I was legally an adult. You didn't do anything wrong. I was eighteen and the age of consent in New York is seventeen. I checked."

"But still -- I wanted to. Even before then." Jean didn't like admitting that truth, even now.

"Please don't hand me any of that "lusting in your heart" nonsense," Scott replied firmly. "You never touched me, Jean; you never tried anything and you never led me on. It was completely innocent. You were completely innocent. I wasn't always, but you were."

She looked at Scott in gratitude. Robert's cruel words two years ago had hurt.

"You checked?" she asked, returning to what he had said earlier regarding the age of consent in New York.

"Yeah," he admitted, blushing slightly. "I checked. So sue me. I wanted it too, Jean. Probably more than you did."

Silence resumed while they ate. "So, do you want to try again?" Scott asked.

Jean's eyes filled with tears. "I've missed you so much," she admitted. "These last two years have been hell for me."

Scott reached out his hand to her. "Then why didn't you say something?"

"I wanted you to be sure," she explained. "I wanted to give you a chance to meet other people; we're a bit of a hot-house environment at the Institute. And whether we like it or not, I am a lot older than you..."

"Seven years," Scott interrupted. "Big deal. It's not the end of the world."

"No. But you're not the one people are looking at." Jean sighed. "When I'm forty, you'll only be thirty three."

"Yeah," Scott agreed. "And when I'm ninety, you'll be ninety-seven. Ooooh, that's a shocker."

She couldn't help but laugh.

He held her hand tightly. "I don't care what people think. I don't think we should waste any more time on it. I don't think we should waste any more time. What do you say, Red?"

Jean took his other hand and smiled.

x x x x x

After dinner, they walked back to her apartment. Scott had his arm around her. Jean had to admit, it felt nice.

"You know what part of the problem is?" Scott said conversationally. "We went straight from being just friends to lovers. There's a whole bunch of stuff that's normally in between, but we never got around to any of that."

She laughed. "Like what? Dating? You want to go on a date?"

He grinned back. "Yes, I want to go out on a date. Several dates. All with you. I want to fill in the gaps."

"It's going to be hard," Jean admitted. "My hours aren't nearly as bad as the Internal Medicine rotations, but still, my hours at the lab..."

Scott put a finger to her lips. "Just send me your schedule. Let me work out the logistics."

She smiled as they walked. Logistics -- well, Scott was a master planner. Maybe they could make a relationship work this time. They reached her building.

"There's a midnight train back to White Plains," Scott told her. "Do you want me on it?"

"No," Jean said simply as she took him into the apartment building and up the stairs.

x x x x x

Scott returned to Manhattanville early the next morning with the sense of mission accomplished. He and Jean were back together again. This time, things would be a lot different. He'd make sure of that.

He rounded a corner came face to face with Emma.

"Emma," he stammered. "I heard you'd left."

"I did," she replied coolly.

"I hope, I mean, it wasn't because of me ..."

"It might interest you to know, Summers," she said scornfully, "that the entire world does NOT revolve around you." Her expression softened. "My grandmother's ill. Actually, she's dying. I transferred to a school in Boston to be closer to her."

"I'm sorry," said Scott, abashed. He hesitated for a moment. "Would you like to go get some coffee?"

Emma's lips twitched slightly with amusement. "I'd like that," she said as they walked back to the cafeteria.

x x x x x

Scott had declared his major to be mathematics at the end of his sophomore year, and in desperation, made English his minor. His advisor had pushed hard for Education as a minor and possible career, but Scott wasn't sure. While he liked the idea of teaching (he happily tutored any of the kids at the Institute that needed extra help), he didn't think a mutant math teacher had much of a future. Eventually, he knew, they would be found out. Scott had seen a great deal of the dark side of humanity; he had little doubt when mutants were discovered to exist, it was going to get ugly. He had no desire to be hounded out of his profession simply for being a mutant. So he picked his next favorite subject and considered other career options. He had no idea he was going to be changing his plans again very shortly.

x x x x x

Scott went to the Institute that Friday afternoon. He was going to tell the Professor that he and Jean were seeing each other again, and if need be, to tell the Professor to butt out. But he walked into the aftermath of chaos. There had been an "incident" at the high school. Professor Xavier had had to do massive damage control and was now reading the riot act.

Scott leaned on the banister with Ororo and listened with some sympathy. They had all done it themselves, of course, but this case was slightly more serious since three of them were involved, including Lorna.

All of the students left the interview downcast and Lorna was in tears. The Professor looked so exhausted he decided to give him a break before talking to him. Scott and Ororo spent the rest of the day with the students -- drying tears, listening to semi-coherent versions of what had occurred (he never did piece it together) and restoring everyone's sense of equilibrium.

x x x x x

After dinner, Scott and Professor Xavier played a game of chess. The Professor still looked worn out. He sighed.

"Tired?" Scott asked.

"I'm not sure how much longer we can continue sending the children to the local high school," he admitted. "Granted, it worked well with all of you, but after today ..." He shook his head with fatigue.

"Well, it was different with us," Scott acknowledged. "There were only, what, two of us at the high school at any one time? But now there are seven. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened. Accidents do happen. Eventually the rest of the world is going to realize we exist -- we'll be outed for sure."

"It would, of course, be better if they could be taught here," Professor Xavier mused. "But I like to give them the interactions of a regular school. Plus, I couldn't teach all of them. Even I have my limits."

Scott looked up suddenly. "Why don't we teach them here?"

Professor Xavier smiled. "I just said why -- I can't do it."

"I said WE -- you, me, and 'Ro. My advisor's always pushed me to consider teaching, and I think I'd like it, but I was always afraid of what would happen when we're discovered. I know Ororo's been thinking about teaching as a career, too." Scott continued, his voice becoming more confident. "The three of us could do it. I can teach math and English, Ororo can teach history, and you can teach science and -- everything you've taught us from the beginning. How not to hurt people. To be proud. To know you're not a freak. They need that -- we need that. Ororo graduates this year and I'll be finished next year. She can get a masters in Education and I can get some class work under my belt. We can do this."

"It would be the best solution," Professor Xavier admitted. He looked at Scott carefully. "Are you sure this is what you want to do with your life? You don't have to do this."

Scott smiled. "I'm sure. I've considered being a math teacher -- I'd love to do it here." He watched Professor Xavier's next move on the board with interest. "By the way," he added, "Jean and I are back together again -- and we're going to make it work this time." He scanned the board and saw his move. "Check-mate."

x x x x x

Scott and Jean did make their relationship work this time around. At twenty, he was far more assured and, with a little advance planning, he was able to get up to the city to see Jean at least once a week. And while she still worked long hours, they were far more structured than when she was a first year resident. It also helped that this time there was no open opposition -- the naysayers (the Professor included) kept their mouths shut and Hank, Ororo, and Warren were pleased they had gotten back together. The atmosphere around them was very different.

Jean also made an effort to be a part of Scott's life at Manhattanville. She visited periodically, met Maggie and Nancy (and was relieved when Scott told her the nature of their relationship), attended games and events and had a lot of fun doing some of the things she had missed during her college years. It amused them both to see the reactions of the other guys in the dorm when "Scott's girlfriend" turned up. More than once, Jean picked up the projected thought, "how does he do it?" She could have told them, but was more diverted by letting them all wonder.

Of course, she also picked up stray thoughts from those in the dorm regarding Emma Frost. Jean decided to firmly ignore those. She knew Scott had dated her and guessed the relationship had been pretty intense while it lasted. But she decided their relationship was going to stand or fail based on the present; she would not allow the past to intrude.

x x x x x

Scott decided to stick with English as his minor and to pick up as many education classes as he could. He figured he could work in 3-4 education classes before he graduated. If he wanted an official minor, he'd have to stay another year and he didn't want to do that. Ororo, with only one semester left, decided to leave her schedule alone and looked for a masters degree program in Education that would suit her. Fortunately, in the New York City area, there were several to choose from. She made her decision, sent in her application and was accepted easily. Scott was thrilled to hear the news. The school was going to be a reality.

x x x x x