Jean stood frozen in place at the top of
the steps
that would lead her down to her sister and her
fiancé.
Jamie stood at the trunk of the car, with her
back
towards Jean. Jean couldn't see Scott, but she left
him,
inside her head. She guessed that he was taking
their luggage out
of the car. She was so wrapped up in
her own thoughts that she
didn't notice Xavier and
Logan come up on either side of her.
Scott finished taking out the luggage, and
carried
them in either hand. He and Jamie turned and
started
walking towards the main door, where Jean, Logan,
and
Xavier stood. Jamie's jaw dropped at the same time
Scott
dropped their luggage.
Jean put on her warmest smile and walked down
the
steps towards Jamie and Scott. Jean hugged her sister.
"Hey."
She greeted her sister who finally left her
state of shock and
wrapped her arms around her older
sister. "Jean!"
Jean smiled and pulled away from Jamie and moved
over
towards Scott. She stopped in front of him and gave
him a
small smile before she hugged him. But Scott
didn't leave his
state of shock.
Jean pulled away, turned around and walked up
the
stairs. She paused by Xavier, "I'm moving out of my
and
Scott's room and into my old room." she said
before walking
inside.
Once Jean was out of hearing Xavier glanced up
at
Logan, "Go check on Jean, I'll handle Jamie and
Scott."
Logan muttered something under his breath
that
sounded like "Hell", before he walked inside to
check on
Jean.
Logan found Jean in her and Scott's old room.
She
was going through her closet, and was creating two
piles.
From the look of it, there was the 'keep'
pile and the 'burn'
pile, which sometimes became the
'goodwill'
pile. Logan stayed in the doorway, leaning
against the doorframe,
waiting for Jean to calm down.
Jamie,
Scott and Xavier all sat in Xavier's office.
Jamie sat on the
couch; Scott paced the room and
Xavier sat behind the desk.
"Are you sure that, that's Jean?" Scott
asked, trying
to remain calm, but failed miserably. Even with
years
of keeping his emotions to himself, he couldn't hide
the
shock in his voice.
"I've tried to read her mind to make sure,
but her
mind's a mess. It's worse then Logan's." Xavier said,
watching Scott pace, "And Logan picked up her
scent.
According to him, she is Jean."
"Logan's an idiot!" Scott yelled, "She
can't be Jean.
Jean died! And I've moved on, with Jamie! Whether
or
not she's Jean, Jamie and I are getting married next
month."
"Scott, calm down!" Jamie said and
turned towards
Xavier, "You said you tried to read her mind.
What
was is like?" She asked.
Xavier eyed Scott for a bit longer and then
turned
his full attention towards Jamie, "Jean's mind is
like
Logan's. I've only tried to read what she has in her
memory
after her death, hoping that I could find out
how she managed to
come back. And like Logan's, her
memory has only bits and pieces,
but Jean's memories
are brighter, color wise, then Logan's, and
more
unclear to read." He explained, "I couldn't get
much.
I felt a struggle in her mind, and then she pulled
away."
Scott sighed and sat down next to Jamie on the couch,
"But
people don't just come back from the dead." he
stated.
"I'm not sure what exactly happened, Scott, but I
don't
think Jean died." Xavier replied.
"What do you mean she didn't die? Xavier, we saw her
die!
And we couldn't help her! I spent weeks locked up
in my room
because Jean died!" Scott yelled, in
frustration. Was the
older man crazy? He was there
when
Jean died and now he was saying that she didn't
die?
"I understand that, Scott, but for some reason, Jean
didn't
exactly die." Xavier answered, calmly.
Scott sighed, and leaned back in the couch, crossing
his arms,
"Fine, so Jean didn't really die. But where
has she been in
the past two and a half years?" He
questioned.
"That, I don't know, Scott. But I'm sure that within
time,
we'll know." Xavier answered. And with that,
their
conversation about Jean coming back was over.
Jean had completely ignored Logan while she was going
through
her clothes and knick-knacks. And most of her
stuff ended up in
the burn, sell or goodwill piles.
Jean was stuffing the clothes
she didn't want anymore
into a plastic trash bag. Once she
finished she handed
them to Logan.
"Would you bring these to Goodwill for
me?" She asked.
Logan raised an eyebrow at Jean, "Can't ya on yer
own?"
Logan asked.
"Yes, I could, but I need to go through the stuff in
my
old room, which is now my new room." Jean answered simply.
Logan rolled his eyes, took the bag from Jean, and
growled a
"Yes" before he disappeared down the hall.
Jean
collected the few belongings she had left and
carried them down
the hall into her new room.
Jean got her
second chance at life, a second chance to
start new. Without
Scott. And that was just what she
is going to do; but she needed
time.
