author: Lucinda

sixth in 'Feather Links', a series of companion stories to the 'Feathers' series.

similar in content to early X-Men comics. Should be pretty harmless.

main characters: Warren, Jean

disclaimer: I hold no legal rights to any characters from BtVS or X-Men/Marvel comics.

distribution: Twisting the Hellmouth, WLS, Bite Me, Paula - anyone else just ask

note: this is a glimpse into the lives and views of other people about the events of the Feathers series. This takes place after Feathers 6.

Jean frowned as she looked at her purse strap. It was starting to crack along the base, and that was a definite sign that it was time for a new one. Not that a shopping trip was a particularly bad thing, but...

"Hey Jean." Warren's voice, and while he sounded calm, she could feel a thread of nervousness in his emotional state. "There was something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Is this 'something' a favor, or just a female opinion?" She smiled, feeling a bit amused. "Oh, and did you know that Scott's trying to investigate your girlfriend?"

"So that's who. She's not thrilled about that, but I don't think she knows who's doing it yet..." Warren shook his head, not even bothering to deny that Willow was his girlfriend. "I invited her out to the picnic this weekend."

"Really?" Jean was surprised. It was rare enough for anybody on the team to try to get involved with an outsider, and they normally tried to keep them as far from the danger in their lives as possible. "How does this involve me? Most of the things should be close enough to kosher, we do have Kitty around as well."

"Kosher... no, that wasn't it." Warren sighed, and rubbed at his temple. "The other day... Willow seems to have an ability. She got upset - and it was well deserved - and the coffee mug shattered. I was hoping that maybe you could help her work on some control."

"She's telekinetic? Or is it some sort of energy projection?" Jean let the purse fall back to the table, focusing on Warren. This hadn't been in anything Scott had found.

"Willow says that it's magic." Warren shrugged, and gave Jean a smile. "I tried to argue the point, but she had a very good comment - if the point is that when she gets upset, her control is shaky, how much does it matter where the ability comes from?"

Remembering some of her own early accidents with control, Jean winced. "That is a very good point. And considering some of the things that we've seen and the problems we've encountered, it could very well be magic."

"So, could you try?" Warren asked. "You could even tell Scott that this way, someone reliable and not biased is keeping an eye on her."

"Why not?" Jean replied. "I've been wondering what sort of woman could keep your attention anyhow."

"Thanks, Jean." Warren smiled again and left the room, humming something to himself.

Shaking her head, Jean chuckled. Finally, she would meet this mysterious Willow. Someone had to make sure that she would be sufficiently suitable for one of the family, after all, and Scott's methodology simply wasn't working.

end Feather Links 6: The Things We Do.