Chapter 2

"Everything Is Fine"

Her black skirt laid upon the middle of her slim thighs as her strapped heels clicked on the surface of the wooden steps. Her tight, strapless red shirt circled around her flat stomach and well built breasts. She showed more cleavage than an average person would. Just enough to have grabbed Logan's attention as she walked through the door of the free clinic.

"Good mornin' Miss," Logan stated in his usual gruff voice. He got up from the seat he was plopped upon and placed the magazine he was reading on the small coffee table. "You here for a check-up?"

"Why, yes Logan," she stated with a slightly seductive voice. Logan looked around the mediocre sized waiting room in confusion. The women with long, thick blond hair just smiled with her plump red lips as she bent down, butt in the air, and picked something off of the ground. Logan could not help but stare at the very attractive woman that showed him just enough skin for him to have his eyes fixated on her. She handed him his name tag and brushed the tips of her fingers against his. Logan was amazed at how she saw the tiny name on the name tag so quickly. Her mischievous brown eyes peered over his shoulder to see two teens and two adults turn away at her look and get back to work. She diverted her brown eyes back to Logan and gazed seductively into his own brown eyes. She was obviously interested, so he was going to ask her what his thoughts spoke of. Before she interrupted. "What would a woman who is not an employee be doing in a free clinic?"

Logan felt as if he had just gotten slapped in the face. Her tone was sarcastic, which made Logan falter, for the first time in history. He opened his mouth in hope for words to come out, but to no avail. Logan was actually speechless. He could not believe his ears. He had never been placed in this kind of situation. He knew nothing was wrong with his sexuality, yet he seemed to be turned down by attractive women lately. First Jean and now her.

"So I see that silence is the comeback of the great Wolverine," the blond woman with well shaped features whispered through her womanly voice. Logan knitted his eyebrows at the woman's words that he had obviously heard because of his high sense of hearing. "Is Dr. Grey-Summers available?" Logan just looked her in the eyes suspiciously. Her eyes told him that his ears were playing tricks on him. So he just nodded his head towards the closed door of the office. He hoped the rest of the day would not go like this. It was still seven in the morning.

The blond woman brushed past him and patted Logan seductively under his chin. Her body grazed past him and Logan turned to watch her attractive figure walk into the clinic. He was struck for a minute. "What just happened here?"

"Logan," Rogue spoke from behind as she eyed everybody who had been watching. Ororo, Kurt, and Bobby all had a smile curling at their lips at the scene that had just occurred. "Ah think you just got rejected."

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Jean motioned for her patient to sit on the examining table. "Right over here." She tried not to roll her eyes at the woman who just walked in. Her ensemble was not something someone would see everyday. Very revealing and inappropriate for these surroundings. She imagined the men out there. They probably suffered just watching her. Jean silently thanked God for Scott not being here at that moment. With the way he has been acting and the way they have been drifting lately, she would not risk him seeing a highly attractive woman. For some odd reason, her telepathic senses gave her a feeling of insecurity when this woman walked in.

But Jean remembered to treat her with respect and not invade her mind. She knew she had to treat her like her patient. She got the equipment needed for a check-up as the patient began a coherent conversation. "Your co-workers outside have a way with your patients," the woman said with an expression that was hard to tell.

Jean began checking the woman's ears. Everything was fine. She looked to the woman and gave a polite smile. "Were they giving you a hard time?" Jean asked as she pulled the wooden stick out and told the woman to open her mouth wide. "Or was Logan giving you a hard time?" she asked as she threw the stick in the trash can.

The woman nodded knowingly. "Rogue and Bobby seem to be enjoying their work. With such young enthusiasm," she stated solemnly. "Storm and Kurt are happy to be doing what they are doing but wish there was something more. It's Logan who's eyes seem to be distant and bored."

"I see," Jean said with a little enthusiasm in your voice. "A patient who comes so early in the morning would be introduced to all of my friends. Just wait until it strikes twelve. No more introducing people or sitting around being bored. It's called rush hour in the doctor's office," Jean said with an open and wide smile.

The woman was silent. No smile, no enthusiasm. She just peered towards Jean's hands. "Beautiful wedding ring. I love the engraving," she said as Jean slipped out the eye examiner.

"Thank you," Jean slightly muttered. She pointed the eye examiner towards the woman's brown eyes. Before she could check them, the eye examiner slipped from her fingers and fell to the ground. She picked the eye examiner off of the floor and brought herself off of the ground to find emptiness.

"Where did she go?"

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Ororo Munroe walked into the office of the clinic and watched a usually swift body move quite erratically. She eyed her friend from behind with her curious and warm brown eyes. She moved forward with tiny steps to see if Jean noticed her. She waited. Apparently not. She cleared her throat with emphasis. But Jean's head did not move an inch. With a crease of her shaped eyebrows she said lightly, "Jean?" Jean continued with her work. She obviously did not hear her. This was definitely not like her. Ororo knew Jean very well as a teammate and best friend. Jean was usually a calm -- when she was not angry -- woman who worked at a steady pace. She had a wonderful technique to hiding her feelings, but the more Ororo thought about it, the more she came to realize that that is what most of the members of the X-men do. What many people in this world resort to. But Ororo knew something was bothering Jean and she also knew she was not resting until she made her talk to her about it. "Jean," Ororo said a little louder this time.

Jean's head darted towards a head of white. She smiled and said a brief greeting. Then she resumed to searching for God knows what. Storm's eyes followed left and right to catch up with her accelerated friend. "Storm," Jean said, referring to her X-men name, "Have you seen my sphygmomanometer?"

"Look to your left," Storm said with a tiny smile at Jean's oblivious behavior. It seemed as if she was busying herself with her work blindly to ignore the words threatening to escape. "You opened the clinic at five in the morning."

"How did…"

"The professor. Just before he left to England," Ororo answered as Jean nodded her head knowingly. "You worked hard yesterday. We all did. You need your share of sleep."

Jean searched the room blindly. Ororo knew she was not looking for anything specific, but wanted to ignore the subject. Jean's eyes glistened with water from tiredness and fear. Jean knew Ororo was waiting for her to let loose and tell her everything. But she did not know where to start. Storm was her best friend, but she would not understand the loss of feeling she felt. That telepathic connection and link between her and Scott was fading slowly. How was she supposed to explain that to Storm? But she decided that she had to say something. "I wasn't in a peaceful state with my telepathic mind to get some shut eye," Jean admitted, and felt that this was a start. Ororo looked at her with curiosity and some empathy. Jean did not like this awkward feeling of silence, which was probably why she somehow allowed the connection to be lost. "It's Scott," she said bluntly. She felt a feeling of fear gurgle in her stomach which made her feel powerless to go around the subject.

"What's wrong?" Ororo asked with concern. She hoped nothing was wrong with her two best friends. Jean and Scott were the one couple that kept everyone else hopeful to find their own soul mate. If something was not going right between the two, then all the hope everyone has for love is lost. "Is Scott okay?"

"He's fine," Jean almost muttered between clenched teeth. She pushed all the patients she treated and the X-men aside and tried to ignore the thoughts floating in her mind. Now she was saying what was bothering her out loud. Where she could hear the painful words with her own ears. "It's not as strong as it was." Ororo just looked at her with a questioning expression.

"What do you mean exactly?"

"Hope I'm not interrupting," a voice came from the office door. Hands behind his back, he walked towards the two women that were very important people in his life. His chestnut hair in the same combed position it was always in. With a line through the middle of his head, two strands fell to the sides of his forehead. He wore a light blue button up shirt that Jean had bought him for his birthday. "How are my two favorite women?" he asked with a somewhat expressionless voice. Jean recognized his physical appearance, his deep, serious voice. She recognized the same stern face and ruby quartz sunglasses. But she did not recognize or understand his mood. Here she was thinking their strong relationship was going down the drain when he was standing there with a light expression on his face, as if nothing had happened last night.

Scott looked to Ororo with a light smile. "Oh…uh…I…I better be on my way now," Ororo stuttered as she understood Scott's expression. The concept was not often used. She held the doorknob and mouthed the words 'tell him' to Jean as Jean curled her lips slightly when Ororo shut the door. Jean looked to Scott and for the first time had doubts about being alone in the same room together.

Scott looked at Jean lovingly. She held an uncomfortable position. Had he said or done anything that could make her feel so uncomfortable that she had to fidget around him? He felt as if flowers were the right ingredient to praise Jean for her outstanding idea to open a free clinic. To allow people to blindly be treated kindly by mutants was a blessing. It gave them the feeling that what the X-men fought for was a true and realistic goal. And so did the flowers that symbolized his love for Jean. He was not a man to think of flowers as a symbol. But women loved them. She was beautiful and she deserved something beautiful from the man that loved her. "These are for you," Scott said as he pulled the heap of red flowers from around his back. Jean accepted gently and gave the slightest smile.

Scott was confused. He thought she would love them. There was only one way to find out. He leaned in for a kiss, even a peck. But all he saw was Jean walk away and as she placed the red flowers on the sink table. "Thank you," Jean said, her expression lighter than before. "Scott, about last night…" Jean's voice faded away from Scott's ears. What had she said? What was she saying? "Scott?"

Scott looked at her with a confused expression on his face. "Yes Jean?"

"All I'm saying is that if something is bothering you, you can tell me," Jean said with a soft whisper. She wanted him to open up like he had many times before. There was nothing he needed to tell her at this moment.

"Did I do or say something wrong?" Scott asked with uncertainty. When he saw Jean's furious expression he wished time had a rewind button.

"Uh…Scott! You hurt me last night!" Jean exclaimed with disbelief.

Images of Scott's hands tightly around Jean's arms, waist, and face made him shudder. He saw himself pull her lips forcefully to his. His eyes widened with fear behind his glasses. He knew Jean could read his expression like the back of her mind. "Jean," he whispered lightly with regret. Was that him? What had he done?

Jean tried to read his expression to it's fullest. She also believed that reading his mind would help too. Maybe she could squeeze herself in there. She looked at the reflection of light upon the red of his sunglasses. Her focus was mainly on his tinted glasses. She focused on reading his inner thoughts. But she could not even read his surface thoughts. She telepathically dived into his mind. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Even his voice was on mute. "Tell me Scott. Tell me what's wrong." She wished she could see his eyes. Just once even. The physic bond that they had developed when the Phoenix inhabited her body was so powerful. It had brought them even closer and made their love even stronger. Nothing could destroy their bond or their love. They were a part of each other. They shared their souls. But lately she had felt the physic bond that they shared drift away from her grasp slowly. They never discussed it because they were afraid of what would become of it. Sometimes, she felt him wake up in the middle of the night and start shaking. He usually kept to himself, except with her. But he would not talk to her about his dreams. She had stayed out of his mind, hoping that he would tell her telepathically through their bond. But no signs of hope had appeared.

"I'm sorry," Scott said with repeating images of himself in his head. "I'm so sorry." Scott ran his hands through his hair and covered his face with them. Jean winced when she saw his innocent face show regret and hate towards himself. Maybe he was having a bad day. And maybe that was another lie to herself.

He felt Jean's hands over his, bringing them slowly down to look upon his face. She cupped his cheek and ran her fingers over the rim of his glasses. Scott neared her and dug his face into her shoulders. He hated to feel vulnerable, but he needed the woman he loved to reassure him that she still loved him. Moments later he found his answer, "I love you Scott," Jean whispered lightly with all the love her heart could bare.

Scott played with the ends of Jean's red hair as he whispered, "I love you too, Pyrexia."

Jean's body went stiff as her heart began to pound in her ears and throat. She backed away from Scott's arms. Searching his hidden eyes, she tried to pinpoint where his pupils were looking. She wished she could see his eyes. Maybe that would help in so many ways. Jean did not know if she should be angry or feel sympathy for herself. Who the hell is Pyrexia? Jean asked herself loudly, feeling the words echoing in her mind and ears.

Jean was a master at containing her feelings, but tears began to well up in the pits of her eyes. Scott looked confused by her expression. "What's wrong Jean?" he asked as if his words shot through one ear and came out the other, evaporating with the air.

"Unbelievable!" Jean screamed through a shaky voice. She did not want to believe it, but nothing was more certain. "Are you cheating on me?" Jean asked rhetorically. She had to hear herself say the words to know that this was reality. She just grabbed her clipboard and walked out of the office.

"Jean!!!" Scott yelled back, behind the closed door. What would make her think he was cheating on her?

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Logan was reading a magazine on one of the waiting room chairs, as he waited for any patients to come in. But Jean had not seemed to be ready when she walked out of her office looking for some materials. Even if any patients came in, he was not intending on speaking with them. Not after the quite humiliating incident that had occurred that did not give his reputation or ego a boost. Logan watched Rogue and Ororo who were cleaning the dust off the tables while Bobby was vacuuming and Kurt was fixing the magazines. He had also been hanging doctor's jokes and nutrition facts on the walls.

"Whah did Jean have to open the clinic so early?" Rogue asked with slight irritation in her voice as she rubbed her eyes wearily, speaking over the sound of Bobby's vacuum. "It's not our fault she's havin' problems with Scott." Logan turned to Rogue to give her a gruff, sort of fatherly look to warn her not to include herself into people's personal lives.

"I am quite glad zat she voke me up from my dreams," Kurt said with a deep breath as the sound of the vacuum defaulted. With those words, everyone's eyes darted towards him with interest and an intrigued spark. "Vhat?" he questioned with his deep German accent.

It had started a few nights back, not the same dreams he had before. Not the dreams of him being experimented on. A dream that he thought did not exist. A dream far worse than his others. But he decided to ignore it as he continued looking through the motorcycle magazine as he held a beer in his hand and swallowed it in many gulps.

Everyone looked away and ignored Kurt's words that brought their memories of the dreams back. "Ya'll can't ignore it," Rogue whispered intently as she shivered when she remembered the blurred visions. Everyone continued their work, secretly listening to their content teammate and friend. She had shrugged it off before but now she felt as if she needed to talk about it. To reassure herself everything was just an image. A part of her self conscious. "Did ya'll see it too?"

"See what Rogue?" Bobby asked with knitted eyebrows, pretending to not know what she was talking about.

"An image of mahself. Ah was lookin' in the mirror," Rogue said with a low tone of voice that seemed drifted in the distance, "and seein' mah features. Seein' mah face…without mah eyes." Everyone seemed to swallow their saliva silently. As if they had seen the same thing. "Weird, ain't it?"

Everyone looked to her as if they were keeping something locked in. The members of the X-men liked to do that often. They kept their feelings within. But Kurt spoke for all their expressions when he said, "Not veird Rogue. Not veird at all."

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Scott looked at the door blankly. What the hell was the matter with Jean? He felt a rush of anger wash over him. Was he not good enough for her? Was she seeing another man? Was her work more important than him? He did not care about the clinic. Why should they treat people who believed they were dangerous and inhumane? Why should they help them get treated by a great doctor? Did Jean actually think, in her naïve mind, that people were going to accept her treatment if they ever found out that they were all mutants? Scott's anger began to rise increasingly. He looked around the office through red tinted glasses and felt the need to crush everything in the office. If the items were crushed, maybe the ignorant patients would not be treated anymore. They did not deserve to be.

Scott felt his temper rise in an uncontrolled manner. He lifted his clenched fists towards his beet red face and lifted his glasses. The red beams shot out uncontrollably from his eyes. They crashed the equipment hanging from the walls. They broke the glass light bulbs inside the glass covering on the ceiling of the office. He felt greatness as he watched things crash and fall to the ground with a loud thud. Hazardous materials fell to the floor and began a spreading fire.

Oblivious to the door slamming open with Jean and a patient standing there in amazement, he continued his destruction. Scott's face was equally joyous with his raging behavior. "SCOTT!" Jean exclaimed as she ran to grab the fire extinguisher off the wall. She never thought that she would have to be obligated to use it. The fire went down as she continuously sprayed from afar. But Scott's beams reached her and went straight towards her stomach, causing the bottom of her back to hit the edge of the sink table. Jean fell to the ground as she cried with pain. If she knew Scott was going to attempt something like that she would have used her telekinesis, but it was all so sudden. She reached her hand out to bring his glasses over his eyes.

Red beams were no longer in sight. But Scott's body was as stiff and straight as a statue. If Jean could compare the two, she would say the statue had life. She looked to the door to find everyone rushing in, but the patient was no where to be seen.

"Jean, are you alright?" Logan asked, his care for the woman he once admired still in tact. He bent down next to her and helped her to sit up straight. He looked to Scott who was standing there with a blank expression on his face.

"What happened here?" Ororo asked, looking around at the broken office. Jean shook her head, projecting no coherent explanation as Logan helped her up. But mid way in the air she collapsed to the ground, holding her stomach in pain.

"I had no time to stop it," Jean said through clenched teeth as she looked to Scott with worry. Everyone looked to him with a confused face. What was wrong with their friend? They were completely oblivious. "Scott?" Jean asked with concern and fear as worry bit into her mind and soul. "Scott?" Jean's shaky voice asked as the lifeless figure stood there with not even the sound of his breathing in the smoke filled air.

The connection between the two was no longer fading, it was had disappeared completely.

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