Changes Chapter 15
"Jean…", he said cautiously and wanted to get up, when Logan entered breathlessly the kitchen and watched the whole scenery with widened eyes.
"Damn it!", he cursed and brought Jean to her knees by taking her into his arms. "Look at me, Jean!", Logan demanded. "Focus on me!"
Scott came slowly closer, his eyes fixed on her.
"Stay away from her!", Logan hissed and narrowed his eyes, hearing the cupboards shaking violently. He couldn't use her to freak out even more.
In the meanwhile, Storm and the Professor had arrived. As soon as they saw Jean, they stopped, their eyes anxiously fixed on Logan, who tried to get her attention again.
"Come on, Jean! Focus on me!", he said and took her head into his hands, completely aware of the shaking boards and the water which began to flow upwards. "Look at me!"
Storm was looking at the professor whose eyes were still fixed on Phoenix. He had to trust Logan with this. If he only tried to talk to Jean mentally, she would very likely freak out completely and destroy everything in her radius.
Scott was breathing heavily,. He didn't understand what was happening, since he had never seen or met Phoenix before. He felt helpless; still his urge to support her was stronger.
"I said stay away!", Logan yelled at him, as Scott stepped forward and popped his claws on the left hand to make him understand that he meant it. "Damn it, get him away from here!"
The professor came a bit closer. "Scott. Come with me."
"But…", Scott said and switched his eyes to Jean again who was still shaking violently, her eyes closed in pain.
"Please! It's doing no good to her. I'll explain everything to you, but you have to come with me."
Finally, he nodded and left the room slowly.
As soon as he was gone, things dropped to the ground again and Jean blinked.
"That's good! Look at me!", Logan said and began to stroke her cheeks gently. He saw her green eyes coming to the surface again. "Come on, you're doing fine. Focus on me!"
Confused, Jean looked around. Her breath and heart rate were still completely out of control.
As soon as she realized what had happened, she began to cry heavily. Logan embraced her, rocking her back and forth. "It's fine, Jean. Nothing has happened. It's okay…"
"Is she okay?", Storm asked and came slowly closer.
"She'll be", he assured her and looked down on her.
"I'm sorry…", she sobbed heavily and clung to him, burying her face into his neck.
"How is she?", the professor asked and came back with Scott, whose face was the perfect mirror of his inner turmoil. Jean's hands were covering her ears immediately, while she grimaced as if she was in pain.
"She'll be fine", Logan said as he suddenly felt her body tense.
"Please, stop…", she said.
All eyes were fixed on her as she backed away from Logan, grimacing while her hands were holding her head. "Please stop it…"
"Stop what, Jeannie?", Logan asked worriedly.
"Thinking… I can hear you all together…", she breathed heavily. "It hurts…please stop it!" She began to shake again.
"Try to remember what we practiced!", Logan said and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Focus on an object. Concentrate on it…" He helped her on a chair and watched her as she concentrated on the dripping faucet. After a few minutes, she finally relaxed, even if she was still holding her head.
"I'm sorry…", Scott said. "I didn't know…"
"Save it!", Logan grunted and shoot an angry look at him.
"Well, you could have said anything!"
"You could have just leaved her alone, bub!"
"She's not your property!", Scott hissed angrily and stepped forward,
Jean grimaced and strengthened her grip on her head and abdomen. Her head hurt so much that she hoped it would explode any minute. She couldn't bear it anymore…
"Guys, stop it!", Storm said loudly and stepped between Logan and Scott, who were about to unleash a testosterone fight again. She'd seen that Jean was in pain. "Think about Jean!"
The two men stopped talking but were still shooting deadly looks at each other.
"You okay?", Storm asked calmly and laid Jean a hand on her shoulder. She knew her friend was far away from being well.
Jean looked at her with wet cheeks and nodded slowly, ignoring the turmoil in her head and the voices as good as she could. She needed a break. "Can I stay at your room for a few days?", she asked after a moment.
Storm gave Logan a look who had turned his head in surprise. "Yeah…sure", she said puzzled. "Come on."
Jean got up slowly, a hand on her abdomen. She laid the other on Logan's shoulder, telling him mentally that she needed to be alone right now, when he came closer with a confused look on his face. He nodded silently and watched her leave. The Professor waited until both women were gone, before he turned to Logan. "How could this happen again? She was doing so well in the past months. How could it be that Dark Phoenix was able to take over?"
Logan glanced fleetingly at Scott. "Because of heightened stress, I think."
"Oh, now it is my fault…", Scott nodded feeling pissed right now.
"Listen, bub!", the other man said narrowing his eyes. "If Jean has her back to the wall or if a situation is too much for her to handle, or if she gets scared…then her alter ego takes over!", he explained angrily. "So, yes, it's your fault since you were the only one with her, weren't ya?"
Scott snorted. "She had never been afraid of me… You've done a great job, Logan…"
Logan frowned. "What do you mean?"
Scott came closer until he was only centimeters away and looked at him. "Don't tell me that it comes just in time for you. You always wanted to get between us. From the first moment you came into this school, you were after her. So congrats, Logan. You finally reached your aim!"
Logan looked at him, smirking arrogantly into his face. He suppressed his upcoming anger the best he could.
"Scott…", the Professor said coming closer. "You don't really believe that Logan was happy after you were gone…" He looked at his former student in disbelief.
"Let's say, I believe he took advantage of the situation… Didn't you?", he said towards Logan, looking at him knowingly. "Was it a joke back then, when you told me that she chose me?"
His opposite stood with arms akimbo. "Look, you're gone for over a year. You can't expect that Jean does the same as you did after her death. Sitting in her room and stop caring about the things which are going on in her surroundings. You left us alone back then, you didn't care that things were going to hell. She tried at least to fight her inner demons and be of help. And now you came back and destroyed the whole work of over half a year, just by pushing her too hard. So, who did the great job, bub?"
Now Scott was the one who smirked. "And what did you do? Comfort her in her lonely nights?" Before he could react, Logan had grabbed him by the collar and pushed him hard against the counter.
"Logan!", Charles said warningly, preparing himself to intervene if necessary.
"You can say such things to me, pal, but I warn you to talk about her like that!", Logan hissed furiously and pushed him away from him with all his might.
Scott crashed into the fridge. He laughed. "And I believed that she's tamed you…"
Logan breathed heavily and felt Wolverine coming to the surface. "Logan!", Charles tried again. "Don't! Think about Jean. She's already miserable enough and doesn't need the two of you to fight here…"His opposite snorted and left without looking at Scott once more.
"Why did you do that?", the Professor asked and came closer to the man who still sat on the ground and held his ribs on one side.
"Why?", Scott asked in return and got up slowly, biting his lips as he felt the pain rushing through his body. He didn't hide his tears anymore. He had done it in front of Logan, but now he couldn't hold them back. "What would you do?", he asked bitterly and began to limp towards the door. "You come back just to be told that you lost the woman you love again…"
In the meanwhile, Jean sat on Storm's bed and was starring on an invisible object in front of her. Unaware of the things which had taken place in the kitchen, she had still felt Logan's fury within her.
"Here", Storm said handing over a glass of water.
"Thanks…"
"You feeling better?", the woman asked and sat down next to her.
"Yeah. I don't know how this could happen…" Jean shook her head. "I've worked with Logan on shielding thoughts again… But…the barriers have just fallen down…"
"What did Scott do? Did he do something you didn't want him to do?"
Jean looked down on her glass. "He kissed me…"
"And you didn't want him to do that?"
She shook her head. "It felt so wrong… It wasn't right and then Logan…"
Storm frowned. "What about Logan?"
"He saw it… I felt his anger…"
"Well, Scott didn't know about Logan and you…", Ororo said looking around her room. "So both are the ones who have to be blamed for it."
"No!" Jean shook her head again. "It was Scott. Logan didn't do anything. Scott got angry and pushed me against the counter…"
"And you didn't know what to do…" Storm nodded in understanding. "Well, we can't change things anymore, can we?"
"I won't even imagine what could have happened…"
"Nothing serious did happen, Jean!" She got up. "I'll get you some stuff from your room, okay?"
"Thanks!", Jean said tiredly and laid back still with her hand on her abdomen.
"Oh and, Jean!", Storm said and pulled a small, longish box out of her drawer. "I want you to do this!" She laid it down on the bedside table.
Jean looked at her frowning. As she recognized the box, she looked at Storm with widened eyes.
"Why are you so afraid of it?", Ororo asked and folded her arms in front of her chest.
"He said it… He won't…", Jean began but broke of.
"You think he's gonna leave you?"
The redhead nodded slowly, turning the box in her hands.
Storm sighed and walked towards the door. "Do it! And if he really leaves you because of it, than he's the asshole I thought he was when he first stepped into this school", she said and opened the door. "And besides, I already told you that he's a softie around you!" With that she was gone and left back a frightened Jean.
Logan just came out of the bathroom as Storm stepped into his room.
"Oh…", she said surprised and noticed that she starred at his naked torso. I…I thought you were still downstairs…"
"Nope", he grunted and pulled a grey tank top over his head. "How is she doing?"
"Not so well. I wanted to get some stuff from her."
Logan made an inviting gesture and sat down on his bed. Storm noticed that he was in a more than pretty bad mood. "Hey, she'll be back soon. She only needs some time to settle things…"
"I hope so…", he said barely audible. She smirked. "What?", he asked and narrowed his eyes.
"Lovesick, eh?" Storm noticed the warning look he gave her immediately. "Ah, come on, Logan. You can't scare me anymore. You already lost your bad boy image, so you can't repair it by looking at me like that!"
"What ever!"
"Besides…", she asked after she was finished with packing. "Do I have to take anything into consideration?"
He shrugged. "No stress. If her emotions get out of control, it might become dangerous. If she hears too many thoughts and voices, she's to concentrate on an object. And if she has nightmares or the room starts to shake, get out of there and get me immediately!"
She nodded. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind." She walked towards the door and stopped abruptly. "Can I ask you something?", she asked with her hand on the doorknob.
"You can ask me anything, but there's no guarantee that I'll answer."
Storm smirked. That was just like him… "Would you leave her?"
"What!", Logan asked puzzled and sat up.
"Honestly, Logan. What would be a reason for you to leave her?"
He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What is this, Storm?"
"Answer it, Logan!"
He sighed. He didn't know what the woman in front of him aimed to achieve with it, but he didn't want to think about it either. He was too tired. "I wouldn't. Why are you asking it anyway?", he asked, despite his earlier thoughts.
"Never?"
"Not as long ass he doesn't want me to leave…", he gave back stressed.
Storm nodded and opened the door. "I hope so. Do you want me to tell her anything?"
"Good night!"
"'Kay. Night, Logan!"
He watched her leave and shook his head. "Women…"
Storm closed the door to her room and put down Jean's stuff on the bed. "I'm back!", she said and waited for an answer out of the bathroom. "Jean?", she asked frowning and came closer. She watched as the door opened slowly and Jean came out. Storm immediately saw her red eyes and wet cheeks, the despair of the woman in front of her… "Come here…", she said and took Jean into her arms, who immediately began to cry heartrendingly. "He won't leave you…", Storm whispered into her ear and stroke her back reassuringly. "I promise…He'll never leave you…"
Thanks to everyone for the nice reviews: ) I'm glad that you like it so far. Hope you liked this one too!
