Thank you all for all of your greatly appreciated reviews! I changed the title of this story because, for one, I thought "Of Time, Love, and Second Chances" was horrible but I needed a title. I was in Kutztown with my Mom on Wednesday and I brought a bunch of CDs with me to listen toon the way there, one of them was Evanescence. Slickboy444 will love me for this. I played "My Immortal" first and it hit me that that would be a perfect title for this story in terms of what I have planned. Sorry if you folks get confused but this is the permanent title, I promise!
"My Immortal" belongs to Evanescence, I take no credit please do not sue me!
Chapter 3: Truth Exposed
Scott stood at the bay window in the foyer looking out and watching the snow fall covering the vast grounds in a thick blanket of white, weighing down the branches of the evergreen trees, and overall turning down the volume of the world around him. Scott had been looking forward to Christmas break for months now, he had really needed the vacation, and most of all he had been looking forward to spending it with Jean ever since he found out that she wasn't going anywhere. From the moment he met her he had known she was different than any other girl he had ever known or ever would know. He had known there was an attraction he felt towards her, a deep emotional pull that he couldn't explain. And the more Scott thought about it the more convinced he was that it was… Love.
A silver car pulled up into the circular driveway, Scott recognized it as Warren's car. Just getting back now, Scott thought, Gee, I wonder what they were doing last night. Scott saw Logan come up beside him. "You thinking the same thing I am, kid?"
"I really hate that guy."
"Me too." Logan looked out the window focusing more on Jean. Warren had her wrapped up in his arms and Jean was running her hands through his hair. "Is that a ring on her finger?" Logan asked.
Scott watched Jean and focused on her left hand. "Yeah, it is. She told me Warren might propose."
"Looks like she accepted."
"Yeah, looks like she did." Scott turned away from the window and walked down to sit in a chair and sighed.
"What, did she say she didn't like him."
"Not exactly that. She said she didn't want to marry him at least not right now." The door opened and Jean walked in taking off her coat. "Your home late aren't you. Or early?"
"Don't start with me, Scott." Jean hung her coat up in the closet. "I didn't mean to stay at Warren's last night, things just got out of control."
"You mean like the ring?"
"Scott…" Jean and Logan said to him at once with identical glances
Scott leaned forward in the chair. "I'm sorry, Jean. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Scott. I'm going to go take a shower and then I'll join you all for brunch, ok?" Jean looked back over her shoulder as she climbed the staircase.
"Yeah. Hey, I dug out a board game, want to play?" Scott offered as he stood up.
"Sure," Jean smiled back at him. "What game?"
"Oh something I'll undoubtedly win at." Hank called from the couch.
Jean laughed out loud as she climbed the rest of the stairs and made her way to her room. Scott watched her go. She hadn't changed in one night, nothing was different… Was it?
"Who's the only figure in Disneyland's Hall of Presidents wearing a leg brace?" Jean read off the Disney Trivial Pursuit card to Hank McCoy, they had only just started the game and he already had half his pie piece filled.
"Roosevelt." Hank answered.
"Which one?" Jean asked. Hank was silent for a minute as he thought about it. "You have a fifty-fifty chance here, Mr. McCoy."
"Teddy."
"Nope." Jean announced proudly. "My turn." Jean took up the die and rolled it. "Yes, six, and this is for pink pie."
Scott drew the card, but before he asked the question he looked Jean in the eyes. "Do you love him?" Scott asked.
"You've asked me this before, Scott." Jean said. "Just ask the question."
"You didn't exactly answer me when I asked you. I would like an answer now, an honest one." Scott didn't break his gaze.
Jean held up her piece. "Do I get a piece of pie if I do?" Her tone was only slightly sarcastic.
"Just answer the question."
"I… Don't know, Scott. Ok, I honestly don't know."
"Fine." Scott looked back at the card. "What Pinocchio song did Walt Disney say he thought of while planning Disneyland?"
Jean stared Scott down as she searched her mind for an answer. She knew the song, she just couldn't think of the title. Then it hit her. "When You Wish Upon A Star."
"Correct."
Jean smiled playfully across the table at Scott as she drew a piece of pink pie from a bag and placed it into her game piece.
After four very long and competitive rounds Jean and Hank tied for first place, Scott coming in second and Ororo in third, she was never much of a board game fanatic. Professor Xavier had merely watched enjoying the scene of his two most prized students laughing with each other and watching something grow more and more into a friendship, and maybe a little beyond that. Dinner was quiet among the six at the institute for the holidays; only small conversations were made mostly about Jean and Scott and how their senior year was progressing. They talked about college and what they wanted to do with their futures. That was when Jean dropped the bomb about Warren proposing and her accepting.
"But we're not marrying right now." Jean threw in.
"I would hope not." Hank commented. "You're far too young to be even accepting a proposal."
"I know, and that's a big discussion between us right now. There's a lot of controversy between me and him and who we really are together, what we're really doing together. We ask ourselves this question a lot. Are we together because we love each other, or this just a stage play to make our parents happy?"
"I think it's the latter." Scott said.
"Me too." Jean whispered. Only Scott could hear her. I do like him; Scott, and I even said to his face, finally, that I love him. But I don't think I really meant it.
I sure as hell hope not. Jean, he doesn't even love you, I truly believe he's in this merely to make his parents happy and for the sex.
I hate to admit it, but I think you're right.
Their mental conversation was quick and no one was the wiser about what they had just shared, even Xavier, who had caught a whisper but dismissed it.
"Jean, after dinner can I speak with you downstairs in the lab, please." Hank said as he rose from his seat.
"Sure. Is this about…?"
"Yes."
"About what?" Scott asked confused. Jean reached over and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Nothing for you to worry about." She said calmly enough so that Scott trusted her. Jean rose from her seat after that, took her plate into the kitchen, and then followed Hank downstairs.
"What's going on with Jean?" Scott asked looking over at Xavier.
"Her powers, Scott, they're growing, and after how they manifested I want to make sure she isn't thrown into a coma once more. She was initfor two years last time. If it happens again she could becomecomatose even longer,then there is the chance that she may not wake upand I don't want to risk that."
"Don't worry about her, kid." Logan gave Scott a confident look. "Jean can take care of herself just fine."
"I know, but she means more to me than just a friend. She's more like a sister, and with that comes a love like I would have for a sister."
Ororo looked across the table at the young man giving him a look that said, 'are you sure it's just a "sisterly love"?' Scott stared back he couldn't respond to something like even it had been verbal. The feelings he had for Jean ran deep and even now he couldn't make sense of them. But he knew that at the core of them there was a love there for her like he had never felt for anyone before. No one could make him feel differently about her. His emotions had been instant upon seeing her for the first time. And somehow, Scott Summers knew that Jean Grey felt the same exact way about him… But wishing only wounds the heart.
Down in the lab Jean sat on one of the examination tables waiting as Hank prepared a little tray of instruments and other necessary things that he used when he looked her over. Jean had the right strap of her tank top down on her arm and her hair bushed over her right shoulder so that the burn at the base of her neck was more visible. The burn was in the shape of a bird with its wings spread out, and at first Jean had thought she'd gotten it during a Danger Room session when an orb exploded upon coming into contact with her back. When Hank asked her if she had been in any kind of pain recently she had admitted to a severe migraine that had started at the back of her head and traveled down to her shoulder blades. She hadn't been able to rise from bed that day and had skipped school. When she awoke in the afternoon there had been two vases on her nightstand, one with a dozen red roses from Warren, and a smaller slimmer one with one red rose and one yellow rose from Scott. Warren's gift had gone on her desk while Scott's remained on her nightstand.
"All right lean forward a little." Hank said as he walked over with his little tray. Jean did so and felt Hank stretching out the skin at the base of her neck and poking it gently. "Does that hurt?"
"A little."
"Well, the burn is darker, looks more like Henna now than an actually burn." Hank put a kind of cool liquid on it that felt very soothing. Then he checked Jean's eyes and asked if once more if there was any kind of pain. Jean admitted about more headaches and Hank gave her stronger pills than the ones she had been on. "Take it easy with these, all right, don't overdo it. I want to do another scan." Jean sat still as Hank used a tool he had invented himself to monitor her brain activity in accordance with her mutation. Jean sat still for several minutes doing what he asked. 'Use you telepathy to do this, raise that with your telekinesis.' "My God, Jean, you're powers are not only stronger they're evolving very rapidly. Last month your scan was only 1.5, now it's almost to 3. Hank's tool only went up to 5, and when Jean reached 5, Hank could only imagine what would happen. "I think its time we asked Charles to replace those mental dampers he had on you when you were younger."
"For how long?"
"I don't know. But it will only be your telepathy, because that is what seems to be the most dangerous right now."
"How are things going?" Xavier asked as he wheeled into the lab.
"Perfect timing, Charles, may I speak with you privately for a moment." Jean sat there on the table clamping the sides and breathing hard. She didn't know what was happening to her, she didn't know what was going to happen to her. The future she thought about so often and couldn't wait to explore suddenly scared her. It terrified her.
"Jean, relax." Hank said grabbing the young redhead's shoulders when the table began to shake.
"I see your point, Hank." Xavier wheeled over to Jean and stopped in front of her. "Jean, I need you to relax when I do this or the dampers will not work correctly. Jean nodded. Yeah right, relax at a time like this, she thought to herself. Xavier placed his hands on either side of her head and instructed Jean to shut her eyes and continue to relax. On the outside Jean appeared as calm as can be, but on the inside her heart was racing her pulse was rushing… Jean suddenly felt a tingle in her mind and all the voices swimming around began to soften until they stopped. Her brain felt lighter yet compacted; it felt full from the dampers but empty from lack of noise. Jean opened her eyes. "Done," Xavier announced. "How do you feel, Jean?" Jean felt dizzy but didn't say anything, she didn't have the chance to before her world turned black and she fell backwards against the table.
Much later in the evening Scott was returning from the bathroom on his way to bed and noticed a light on down the hall. It was coming from Jean's room. She's awake, Scott thought to himself. He had been standing in the doorway of the lab when the professor was placing the dampers on Jean's telepathy, and had been the one to revive her after she had fainted. Scott was surprised he wasn't scolded for being down there. It had been none of his business but Jean was his friend and he cared deeply for her. He be damned if he wasn't there to help her in any way he could. As Scott walked to his door the light went out. He didn't see Jean slip from her room. He thought about getting into bed but something drew him over to the window. Scott stood there looking at the calm night before him watching the clouds move aimlessly over the moon. Then he saw Jean standing on the back deck with her arms wrapped around herself. She looked to be trembling, or maybe she was shaking from the cold. Either way. Scott didn't want her to be alone.
He dressed himself in warmer clothing then proceeded outside. Jean was wearing nothing but her nightgown and a thin robe. She was barefoot and her hair was loose and blowing across her left shoulder with the wind. Scott came up behind her quietly so he wouldn't startle her and laid his hands on her shoulders.
"Jean?" he asked gently.
Jean turned slowly, saw that it was Scott, and wrapped her arms around his neck burying her face in his chest. "Oh, Scott." She whispered. Scott allowed her shelter for a few minutes until her trembling subsided.
"What's wrong?" he asked her when Jean picked her head up. The question was meant more for what was really wrong with her and not just what was wrong at that moment.
Jean took deep breath before answering. "My powers, Scott, they're growing. I know you saw what professor Xavier did, he did that to try and prevent my telepathy from evolving too rapidly. My telekinesis is fine, its my telepathy that's dangerous right now. There's no telling what could happen." Jean buried her face in Scott's chest once more her trembling beginning again. Scott stroked her hair and ran his fingers through it slowly. When Jean looked up at him again she had tears running down her cheeks. Scott brushed them away allowing his hand to linger on her face for a moment. Jean reached up and placed her hand on his and held it there for a minute then pulled it away.
"Do you want me to call Warren?"
"No," Jean answered quietly. "I… I want to stay with you tonight, please."
Scott was shocked to hear that. Here she was betrothed to another man but asking to stay with him and share his bed. "Sure." Scott answered.
"Thank you." Jean leaned up and kissed his cheek. "I really don't want to be alone right now." Scott held Jean against him for a few more minutes before they returned inside. He continued to stroke her hair trying to help abate her shaking.
"It's ok, Jean," he whispered tenderly to her, "It's all right, you're safe with me."
Jean could only nod in total agreement.
A/N: FINITE! PLEASE REVIEW! P.S. the questions used during the board game are actually Trivial Pursuit questions. Both are from the Adult deck for the Disney version.
