AN: In this chapter, Jean Grey spends a lot of time in her head. My thanks to Nevacaruso for the fabulous beta!

Chapter 4

Jean marched up to her bedroom, seething from Magneto's rebuke. She tried not to let anyone see that his censure had upset her, because it probably wasn't in keeping with her new leadership role to start shouting and using her TK to bash the arrogant man over the head with things.

I don't think I get to do what I want anymore. There was a depressing thought. Whoever said becoming an adult was fun?

The door to her room flew open by itself, banging against the wall so hard it nearly came back to hit her in the face. Jean looked at it, startled, and then closed it very quietly, feeling guilty. Lately she'd been a bit nervous every time she was in a temper, as if she was going to lose control and suddenly go insane.

The mere thought of that was accompanied by a sharp, hot terror, and Jean found herself leaning against the closed door, gasping. Pressure surged inside of her mind, thick and cruel, and all she could see was darkness edged with red--

No.

Jean pressed her fingers to her temple and took several slow, even breaths. Calm down. You're not going crazy. The Professor said you may have some changes in your telepathy after what happened with Apocalypse. The darkness receded, like waves pulling back in the ocean, and she found she was shaking but composed. She moved over to her dresser, her palms flat on the slick wood, and stared at herself in the mirror.

Get a grip, Jean. Clean up and go downstairs for dinner. You have to call your parents, and they're going to ask about college again, and you're going to need all your wits for that one. That thought annoyed her sufficiently to make the terror recede even further, clearing her mind. With a sigh, she turned away from the mirror and went to change clothes, composed though still a bit discomforted.

She really was getting sick and tired of having that discussion with her parents during their weekly telephone calls. She'd explained very patiently that yes, she still wanted to go to medical school someday, but that right now she was needed here.

They'd seen the news. They'd all seen what had nearly happened with Apocalypse, had seen the resulting hatred and fear that mutants were facing as a result. How could they not understand that to be here—teaching others, just like the Professor had done for her--was the most important thing she could do?

Besides, she had become a vital part of the local mutant community; a spokesperson, of sorts, about the dangers of mutant discrimination. She'd been heavily involved in the discussions to allow the Brotherhood kids back at Bayville, despite Principal Kelly's rather vehement objections. While it was true that hell would freeze over before any of them said thank you for their academic reinstatement, she knew she'd done the right thing.

She was hopeful there would be a new principal sometime soon, if Kelly was serious about a political career. If not, the Professor said that they needed to learn to live with humans of all sorts—those that liked them, and those that didn't. Principal Kelly was definitely one of the latter. She didn't want him to stay as the principal at Bayville High; but then again, she really didn't want him making policies in Washington, either.

Still, if Jean could stay active, help convince the local population that mutants weren't like Apocalypse…Kelly could make all the attempts at policies he wanted in Washington with his anti-mutant agenda, and maybe it would all amount to naught.

Maybe.

Jean finished dressing and went to wash her face. She knew she looked tired, and she deliberately ignored looking at the stack of essays she needed to grade before bed. The kids had thought it was stupid that they had to write essays for "Mutant School", but Scott had thought it important that they be able to write about their lives as mutants without fear of reprisal.

"They need to be able to express themselves as mutants somewhere safe," he'd told her.

Sometimes, Jean honestly had to wonder where he came up with this stuff.

There was a knock at the door at precisely five minutes before six, which would be Scott. She waved the door open and called, "Almost ready, Scott. Come on in." She heard the door close and walked out to find him there, wearing his khakis and nice shirt, smiling at her with obvious affection.

"Hey, gorgeous," he said, and there was a slight flush on his cheeks as he said it. They had been dating for a few months now, and though they'd been trying to keep it a bit quiet to avoid making a fuss, Scott still seemed like he was in a daze about the whole thing.

The dark press of anxiety that had quieted pulsed back to life, and Jean had to make an effort to smile back at him. What is wrong with you? You've liked him for forever! Why can't you just be happy now that you're finally dating? "Hi. Are you ready for dinner?"

"Yeah. Starving. Some workout today!" Scott reached out, rather tentatively, and put an arm around her shoulders. He drew her in to kiss her, gently, his mouth undemanding and light against hers. He tasted minty, like toothpaste.

He drew back before she could even really respond, and opened her door to the hallway. Jean smiled at him, but part of her was left dissatisfied and restless. She almost wished he wouldn't kiss her at all if that was all he was going to give her.

Don't be so hard on him, Jean. You have to go down to dinner and if you're late everyone will laugh and you know how Scott hates that, the rational part of her mind said chidingly.

Yeah, and I hate being treated like I'm some fragile princess that's going to break if he holds me too tight. Jean shook her head, wondering why she was so annoyed with Scott's protectiveness when it had always been something she'd found comforting before.

"---and I said, I really don't see how-" Scott broke off, looking down at her. "Is everything okay, Jean? You seem distracted."

Oh, fine. I'm only arguing with myself in my head. "I'm fine, Scott. Just a little tired."

He nodded. "It's so weird, being staff, isn't it? I keep thinking we have to go with the kids to school in the morning."

Jean felt an actual smile tug the corners of her mouth at his words. That Scott called everyone else 'kids'—even Rogue, who was only a year younger than him—made her stifle a giggle. Suddenly, she felt a rush of warmth for him and felt a little guilty about her earlier thoughts.

"It is," she agreed, following him into the dining room. They still sat at their usual places at the table, across from each other, next to the Professor at the head of the table. The privilege of being the eldest.

Dinner at the mansion was always well-ordered chaos. Somehow food managed to appear on the table without mishap, and everyone served themselves amid a flurry of talk and laughter. It was so different than it had been after the Professor was taken, when they all ate in the Danger Room trying to figure out how to save him…

Jean shuddered at the memory, a chill sluicing through her veins as she remembered the helpless terror of those few days. She looked up and felt the Professor's eyes on her. Are you all right, Jean?

His presence in her head was like a warm cup of chocolate on a cold day—it soothed her immediately. Yes, Professor. I'm just so glad everyone is here and everything is back to normal.

Yes. As am I. His tone of voice became a bit wry. As normal as it can be, anyway.

She looked over at him at that, and saw his gaze directed towards Rogue, who was giving Magneto a death glare across the table. Their former archenemy appeared not to notice, but Jean felt a vague sense of amusement from him, directed at the young girl, that said quite clearly he had noticed.

As if Magneto could sense Jean's hesitant mental intrusion, he looked across the table to where she sat. Their eyes held for a moment and Magneto winked at her. Jean looked away, a little abashed that he'd caught her, but she was smiling. Magneto could be charming when he wasn't being evil.

I don't think Rogue would agree. The Professor's voice again; Jean hid a giggle in her napkin.

Jean, would you please talk to her for me? This tension between them is distracting Rogue from her training, Charles continued, his voice serious. I think she might listen to you.

Jean doubted that, but she gave her assent and then turned her attention to the others at the table. Scott was talking to Hank about Danger Room scenarios he wanted to implement. Wolverine was attempting to demonstrate to Storm why his claws were perfectly clean enough to use at the table, though Storm didn't look convinced.

Kitty and Kurt were laughing about one of their teachers. Jean was pleased that Kurt didn't appear to be holding any lasting grudges against Rogue for what had happened with Mystique. After all, the shapeshifter was still alive, though no longer a part of their lives.

Jean thought that was for the best, really. They had enough changes to deal with right now; throwing Mystique back into the mix was probably just asking for trouble.

Kitty's laughter, bright and clear, rang out in the dining room. Jean felt the girl's happiness, and the reason for it hovered so clearly on her mind that Jean didn't even have to poke around to find out what it was. She saw a perfect image of the phone in Kitty and Rogue's room, heard Lance's voice on the other end. Jean sighed, wondering if it was a good idea that those two were dating again.

"Hey, Jean, listen to this wacky scenario Hank's come up with for the Danger Room." Scott grinned, pulling her attention back to him. "It's even better than that one I told you about. We can make everyone sore and miserable for a week."

"I thought that was Logan's department?" Jean asked as she forked up another bite of dinner. She felt happy, suddenly; warm and loved and safe. It was a nice feeling, and she hung on to it desperately, because she had the terrible feeling that it couldn't possibly last.

------------------------------------------

Archmagus: Wow, thank you! I'm so glad that you are enjoying both Progression and my other fanfic offerings :) Thank you so much for leaving me such a nice comment!

WC Reaf: Oh dear, I'm afraid I just may try and reach that threshold! Don't worry, my aim is to make people like pairings even if they really, really think they shouldn't. What do you expect from a girl with M/R as her OTP? (And in movieverse, even, where Magneto tried to kill her!) I am glad you liked the M/R tension--last night I watched an episode of Buffy, in Season Six, where she and Spike get it on in this abandoned house (I'm new to Buffy, so this is my first watch-through) and I thought if I could make my M/R interactions like THAT...hee! And glad you liked the 'normal lives' thing, because that's pretty much my over-arching plot, until we get to a few things that are a bit less normal (not even counting the Pietro/Wanda inappropriate-ness. Hee!) Thanks again for the review and for reading!