Changes Chapter 37
"Hey! Leave some bread for the others!" Jubilee protested and gave Peter a look.
"Well, I'm hungry," the huge boy shrugged and took another piece making a total of six.
"You really are a glutton, ya know that?" The girl shook her head and smirked at Kitty who was watching them. "You should think about changing codenames with Wolvie. Bobby's always eating the whole ice-cream and Logan the M&M's lately…so what's left for us girls? Nothing!"
"You would gain too much weight anyway, Jubes! Better stick to bread and water." Bobby winked and ducked as she threw her serviette into his direction.
"Ah, you…" Jubilee began but was cut off by Moira who stormed into the kitchen.
"What's wrong?" Scott immediately asked worriedly and got up. Hoping that his bad feeling hadn't had anything to do with Jean.
"She's gone! Jean is gone!" the woman shrieked out of breath.
"She's…she's dead?" Hank asked shocked and looked at her with widened eyes.
"No," the woman shook her head. "I meant…she's not longer in the lab. She's gone. I can't find her anywhere."
Scott came closer, his eyes fixed on her in disbelief. "That's impossible! She was in a deep coma yesterday before I left."
"That's the point!" Moira said scared. "She can't have left alone…"
Ororo entered the kitchen taking notice of her friends. Confused she stopped and stared at the others. "What's wrong?" she asked and stepped closer.
"Jean's gone from the lab." Scott explained briefly and walked past her towards the door. "I'll go get the Professor. Hank, you go and check on Mystique!" He said and left followed by the blue mutant and Moira, while Bobby and Jubilee jumped off their chairs. "We go and get Logan!"
Ororo wanted to grab Hank's hand as he walked past her. "Wait, Jean's…" she began but the others were quicker and already gone. "…fine…" Sighing, she shook her head and sat down next to Kitty and Peter who looked at her in surprise. The woman only shrugged, thinking that they would soon take notice of it and began to eat breakfast.
XXX
"I think he's in here," Jubilee said out of breath and stopped in front of the door next to the elevators.
"You sure?" Bobby asked skeptically and wrinkled his brows.
She nodded. "He always sleeps in here if he's not upstairs. And since he wasn't upstairs…"
He nodded playfully. "Good deduction! Is there anything you don't know about him by the way?" He asked and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"Ah, stop mocking me!" she cried and waved off. "Better prepare yourself for an outburst of him! If he gets to know that Jean's gone…" With one last worried look at her friend she opened the door cautiously. Carefully and already preparing herself for the worst, she stepped into the room. The sun shined through the thick curtains and lightened up the room just enough for her to see where she was going. She stumbled as her feet caught some clothing on the floor. Confused she looked down as she suddenly heard someone turning in the bed; followed by a deep sigh. With a cocked eyebrow she approached the bed.
Bobby still stood at the door and was watching her. He knew what Logan was like when he got really mad. And he was absolutely convinced that he would become more than it… Suddenly, he saw Jubilee turning around with a wide grin on her face. "What?" he asked her in confusion and looked at her as she closed the door again.
XXX
"Mystique's still there," Hank said when he reentered the kitchen together with Moira and Scott.
"The Professor is going to use Cerebro. Maybe he can detect her with it." He lowered his head. Arms crossed in front of his chest he leant back against the fridge. "She can't be just gone," he grunted and ran a hand through his hair. "I mean…why would she leave?"
Hank shrugged. "Maybe it's not her, but Dark Phoenix again we're dealing with. If Jean got weakened she could have taken over…and that means we're in a lots of trouble!"
Ororo snorted and kept on eating her breakfast. She wondered what else they would come up with if the solution were in fact so easily and normal.
"Well, she is neither gone nor Dark Phoenix again," Jubilees voice suddenly echoed through the room and made everyone look up.
"What do you mean?" Scott immediately asked, sounding harsher than he intended. "Where's she?"
"You wanna know, don't ya?" the girl teased him and sat down again.
"Jubes!" Scott said warningly. "This is no time for your jokes. So where's Jean?"
"Okay, okay!" She gave back soothingly, before she grinned at him widely knowing that she'd hit him hard with her news. "She lies in a warm bed and snuggles with Wolvie. But I'm not gonna tell ya what they are wearing!" Scott looked at her, his face completely blank, while Moira rested her hand on her chest and let out a relieving deep breath. "Thank God, she's okay…"
"That's what I wanted to tell ya the whole time through," Ororo suddenly said stretching her sentence like a singer.
"And why didn't you just do it?" Hank asked her with a slight trace of anger in his voice.
She shrugged. "You didn't give me the chance!"
Moira took a mug into her hand and filled it with hot coffee. Despite her usual favored way of drinking it, she needed it black now. "Well, we should be glad that she's well and let her sleep. I am sure she still needs it." With the coffee in her hand she walked towards the door. "I'm going down and tell Charles that everything's fine."
"Yeah, since they were occupied the whole night through, as I assume," Jubilee mumbled and swallowed a spoon of her muesli.
"Jubes!" Scott said again; finally awaken out of his immovability. Bobby only shook his head smirking and took a tray into his hands. "I'm upstairs if someone needs me. Rogue needs breakfast." He put some food on it and walked towards the door.
"Wait! We're coming with ya!" Peter called taking Kitty's hand and followed him out of the room.
Hank, who had already taken his seat next to Storm again, sighed and continued to eat his marmalade bread. "So much excitement so early this morning. Too much for my nerves, if you ask me." Just as he was about to bite into his bread, everyone stared at the door in shock. "Okay, what is it now?" he asked and turned around.
"Morning," Jean said shyly and looked rather half-asleep. She looked to and fro between her friends who gave her rather odd looks. Slowly, she came closer, shivering a bit since she had just left the warm and comfy bed.
"Jean!" Moira suddenly cried behind her and hugged her. "Gosh, don't scare me again like this!" She looked at the woman in front of her; examining her outer experience closely, before she cocked an eyebrow at her. "You really took over some of your boyfriends bad habits, you know that? Taking off without leaving a note… You scared me to death today."
"Sorry," her opposite excused and blushed a bit. Still she had to smirk about the part with Logan. She hadn't looked at it from this perspective.
Hank was the next one to hug her tightly. "Good to see that you're back. And quiet different as I see…" Surprised he looked down at her.
"Yeah," she smiled. "Got me confused a lot when I'd woken up." She still hadn't come over the shock and fear she'd felt by then. Smiling once more at Hank, she turned around to face Scott, who took her in a tight embrace.
"Good to have you back," he whispered barely audible and closed his eyes for a brief moment. "You really gave us four weeks in hell…"
"Sorry about that," she said calmly.
"You okay?" Scott asked and looked at her worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Good." He placed a light kiss in her left cheek before he smiled at her briefly. Letting go off her he led her to her seat, before he returned to his own. "So, where's mister morning grumpiness? Still sleeping?"
Jean, who sat opposite Ororo and Jubilee, took a piece of bread from the basket. "No, he's getting the twins."
"You've already seen them?" Ororo asked surprised.
"Yeah. You were asleep when we were upstairs," the red head explained calmly still not feeling comfortable with everyone staring at her.
"Oh it happened again," the white haired woman cried and shook her head. "Sorry, I tried to stay awake after you left."
Jean smiled at her aware of Jubilee staring at her. "Thanks for taking care of them and helping him!"
Storm blushed while her heart kicked into high gear as she remembered what she'd done the day before. "No problem!" she said avoiding her gaze all of a sudden, while she felt a sick lump in her throat.
"Oh my gosh!" the girl suddenly shrieked and made nearly everyone jump. "Is that what I think that I think it is!"
"What?" Hank asked and furrowed his eyebrows while looking at Scott who had cocked an eyebrow.
"Repeat that for normal mutants, will ya Jubes?" he said since he hadn't got the slightest clue what the girl was talking about, but was aware of her and Moira smiling. Jubilee on the contrary kept on staring a Jean in disbelief, who also looked at her with questioning eyes.
"He asked you? He really asked you!" the girl continued with widened eyes. "I don't believe it…"
"Who asked her what?" Hank wanted to know and bent forward to have a better look on Jean, trying to figure out if there was anything on her, which could help him out. On the contrary to him, Ororo had taken notice of it after Jubilee had nearly jumped off her chair in excitement. Sadly, she looked down on her hands feeling happy at the same time.
While Hank still gave everyone questioning looks, it had hit Scott, too. He had totally forgotten about it for a brief moment. Smirking he looked down; not believing that his rival had really gotten the essence of what Scott actually meant by giving him the black box. "Ah, Logan…" he shook his head and sipped on his coffee.
Jubilee had grabbed Hank's arm in the meanwhile and was getting more and more excited with every minute. "Our grumpy Logan, the almighty Wolverine is getting soft on his old days and really asked her!"
"What," the blue mutant asked despaired, sensing that he was the only one who was at loss. He looked to and fro between his friends, hoping that at least one of them would be so nice to help him out as suddenly someone else entered the kitchen.
Logan approached, holding his two kids in his arms while a small blanket rested in his shoulder. Jean smiled at him softly still not used to his paternal love. Her heart immediately kicked into high gear. On the one hand because she got nervous and on the other hand because of him. She was afraid to do anything wrong, since it was her first time with the kids. "Here you go," he said calmly and laid one of them gently into her arms. "That's the little troublemaker who likes to kick his mommy's ribs." He looked into her green eyes lovingly, before he turned towards Storm, who did her best to avoid his gaze. "Hold her for a second, will ya?"
Surprised, she looked up and took the girl out of his hands. She had been convinced that he would just ignore her. Moira noticed that Jean was insecure and put her mug down. "Come on, I'll help ya." With trained hands she showed her how to hold the baby correctly, before she gently stroked over its head. "The two of you really did a good job, you know that?" Blushing, Jean looked up and gave her a shocked look, before she turned towards Logan who prepared two bottles and only chuckled.
"So, you gonna tell me what he asked her?" Hank asked Jubilee and bent down to the girl.
"Men," she sighed and shook her head playfully. "Look at her left hand!"
Hank did as he was told and surprised he raised an eyebrow. "That's what I call news," he stated before he turned around to look at Logan, just to be sure that he got the point right. "So you finally tamed him, eh?" he said jokingly to Jean who smiled back at him. "But I doubt he kneeled down in front of you and did the whole stuff…" Curious he bent forward and continued whispering. "…or did he?"
"I doubt he even said a lots of stuff, right, Logan?" Scott asked smirking. Surprised Jean looked up. She hadn't said anything to all those presumptions, since she wanted to tell Scott personally about it. Confused she looked to and fro between the two men. They knew something she didn't. Instead of attacking Logan or leaving the room outraged, Scott was too calm in her opinion. Before she could ask, Logan handed her a bottle and put the blanket around her shoulders.
"Thanks," she said surprised that he'd noticed that she was still shivering a bit. He only winked at her before he took Lily out of Storm's arms and sat down next to her. "Hold it like this," Logan said calmly and she imitated his way of feeding his daughter.
"So, you really said yes to this grumpy, feral boy here?" Hank asked while watching the couple smiling; noticing the look Logan gave him.
"So it seems," Jean said smirking before she smiled down on the child in her arms again. Moira laid a hand on her shoulder. "Congrats to the two of you then," she said, which was returned by a short thanks of them, before she left the room again.
"So, Wolvie," Jubilee suddenly said teasingly. "You wanna explain what this nice purple spot on your neck is?"
"I bit myself shaving," Logan only grunted as an answer without looking at her, before he gave Jean a look; seeing that his healing factor had already erased the mark he'd left on her at night. He knew that she'd done something with him before he'd woken up. Narrowing his eyes, he mentally warned her that he'd get his revenge on her soon.
"Uhu," you really get soft on your old days, old man!" Jubilee laughed before she, too left the kitchen. Stopping once more in the doorway, she smirked at them. "Congrats by the way! Can't wait to see ya wearing a suit!" Growling, Logan told her to finally piss off.
Hank shook his head smiling. "Well, at least we have something to celebrate, right? We still need a party for the twins, here."
"Before we should discuss what to do in an emergency," Scott said and got off his chair, laying a hand on Jean's shoulder, which Logan commented by giving him a piercing glance. "Well at least he shows that he has a heart, huh?" he smirked and stared back at his opposite. "Congrats!" Squeezing Jean's shoulder briefly and noticing the confused look she gave him he went out of the room.
Hank looked at Ororo who still stared at her mug. Realizing that she was being watched she looked up meeting Hank's eyes for a very brief moment. Sighing she got up. "Congrats from me too!" she said calmly and turned around.
"'Ro, wait!" Hank called after her and jumped off his chair, following her out of the room. Jean waited until she was sure that the two of them were alone. "What are you not telling me?"
"Hmm?" Logan only made and gave her a short glance.
"Scott," she continued. "He was too calm. So what happened between the two of you?" Jean asked him calmly watching him resting Lily against his shoulder and stroking her back. "I thought he would freak out…"
"We talked. That's all," he explained briefly and placed a kiss on his daughter's cheek. Still, he was aware of the odd look Jean gave him. "Ask him if you don't believe me…"
She sighed and put the empty bottle away. "Sorry, it's just…" She imitated what he did before with her daughter and began to caress Jack's back.
"Logan," Moira's voice suddenly sounded from the door. "Charles wants to speak with you."
"Okay," he said while he rocked Lily in his arms. "You coming?"
"You haven't eaten anything," Jean stated and looked up as he placed a kiss on her cheek.
"I'll eat later," he gave back, but he noticed her warning look.
"Hold him for a second." Jean laid Jack into his arms while he watched her with a cocked eyebrow. She took the last piece of bread out of the basket and a knife. Working on it while he kept on staring at her, she finally put the knife away. "Open up!" she demanded and he obeyed. She put him the bread with marmalade into his mouth and nodded. "Good boy!" Logan only growled playfully while she took Lily into her arms and kissed his cheek. "Now off you go! The Professor doesn't like to wait."
"Chuck can wait until the kids are back upstairs," he said and kept on eating his bread. "Besides," Logan grunted and made a face. "I hate marmalade!"
Jean laughed. "Well, there was nothing else left. And it was worth seeing your face!"
With his free hand he pulled her close and placed two love bites on her neck. Satisfied of his work, he let go of her. "Have fun running around with them!"
"Jerk!" she cursed playfully and walked towards the elevator with him.
XXX
"You've gotta be kidding!" Logan nearly yelled and turned away from the window to face the Professor.
"No, Logan, I'm afraid I am not kidding," Charles said and looked at the man in front of him sharply. "I mean what I said."
Arms crossed in front of his chest, his opposite gave a derisive laugh and shook his head. "This is crazy," he assured him and stopped in front of his desk, while he put his hands on it and bent forward.
"Logan, I know you would react like that…"
"Yeah, and I am right." He narrowed his eyes. "Chuck, this is crazy!"
The Professor rested his elbows on the armrest and folded his hands in front of his mouth. "It's not crazy. It's necessary."
"Necessary?" Logan bellowed. "Jean and I could do much more harm than Kitty or Jubilee. And you want us to stay out of it? Why?"
Clearing his throat, Charles met his gaze. "I don't want you to stay out of it…I…"
Logan crossed his arms again. "Telling me to hide in the basement and let the others do the rest is staying out of it for me!" he cut him off. "They are not strong enough. Kitty in example could never handle Sabertooth or Juggernaut. They are gonna kill her!" Taking deep breaths he broke eye contact. He was getting too furious…
"Logan, I understand your worries," Charles began again and bent forward this time. "But it's about the safety of the students. They are the most important to take care of! The school can be rebuilt, but not them." He tried to meet the eyes of the man in front of him again.
"Do you want us to do it because of our kids?" Logan asked coldly.
"No, not only because of Lily and Jack." Charles looked out of the window briefly. "This school's main priority is the safety of the students. Every X-Men, you included, knows that they come first in case of an attack. They are not trained to fight, some of them still can't control their powers…so it is you who have to protect them."
Outraged, Logan turned towards him again. "Then let Cyke do it or 'Ro!"
"I want YOU and Jean to protect it and there's no point for discussion, Logan!" The Professor said loudly meeting the angry gaze of the man again. "Jean is the most powerful mutant on this planet with devastating powers and you are the most dangerous one next to her…so you are the best defense we have!"
He snorted. "In my eyes we would rather be a better offence! Jean could wipe them out all at once!"
Charles sighed. "Logan, you of all of us knows the best that she is not ready to take part in a battle," he said more calmly. "She's afraid of what might happen if she has to use her full powers…" Watching his opposite lowering his head Charles knew that Logan was aware of the fact that he was right. "Do you want to throw her into the frontline against her will?"
"No," Logan said calmly. "But still," he shook his head again and leant against the table, "the kids are not ready for a battle like this. They hardly managed on Alcatraz. Bobby did fine, Kitty had her problems, Angel can't do much besides flying…and Jubilee isn't even experienced. So how do you want them to fight?" he asked his opposite more harshly than he intended to. "I know we got Cyke back…but if one of them gets cured it won't help us much, right?"
"I know," the Professor said. "I trust you to train them as well as you can. I know you already did. And you also have me. In case of an attack I can't hold back," he assured him. "I will use Cerebro, if necessary with its full power against them. We can't take the risk that only one of the students dies. It's something that I am not willing to accept! Besides I will be connected to all of you during it."
Logan nodded. "Just tell me how I as the leader should lead them if I am not with them?"
Charles smiled. "I am pretty sure that you won't obey my order anymore as soon as you get to know that your friends need help."
He smirked. "And you're damn right about it, Chuck!"
"I would be glad if you could take over your class again. As Bobby told me Scott did rather theory then practical instructions. And he made it perfectly clear that the class wants you back." He had to smile as he recalled the conversation with the young man again. "I'll come down later and watch it, if you don't mind."
Logan shrugged and headed towards the door. "Fine with me."
"Oh, and Logan," he heard the Professor call after him as he had just opened the door. "Congratulations!" Logan looked down on his left hand and smirked. "Thanks!" Was all he said before he closed the door and went towards the elevators again.
Upstairs he cautiously opened the door to his room. His eyes immediately softened as he saw Jean lying on their bed with their babies next to her. "Hey," he said calmly and lay down next to them. He stretched out a finger and watched his son grabbing it with his small hand. She smiled at him while she stroked her daughter's cheeks. "What happened?" she asked calmly and gave him a worried look. "I felt that you got pretty angry."
Logan still wondered about the effects of their psychic link. She really knew how he felt even if he wasn't close and vice versa. Taking a deep breath while playing with his son he kept his eyes low. "He wants us to stay out of it."
"What?" Jean asked confused and sat up a bit. "Why?"
"Dunno. He says he wants us to protect the students in the hiding place, while the others battle them if they attack."
She shook her head. "But you could be…"
"We could be, Jean," he corrected her and met her gaze, knowing what she wanted to say. "You're still afraid, aren't ya?"
Ashamed she looked down. "I'm…I'm not sure if I can handle my full power if necessary…" Jean admitted truthfully. Suddenly, she looked up as he took her free hand in his. "Jean, you already did and nothing happened. You brought yourself, Cyke, Chuck and me back from the dead…" He shook his head in disbelief of her insecurity. "You're powerful and stable enough to wipe them out all at once if you wanted."
"That's the point," she said while lowering her eyes. "It's not what I want. It's what she would do. Not what I'd do."
"I know." Logan stroked her hand gently. "Look, I just want to be sure that you defend yourself if necessary…"
"Don't worry about that." She smirked slightly. "I still want to see you in a suit remember?"
He cocked an eyebrow playfully. "Well, I could still go naked. It's you who can never wait until I get my shirt off, remember?"
She laughed derisively. "Look who's talking!" Carefully taking Lily into her arms she got off the bed. "I wanted to bath her. I already bathed him while she was sleeping. Could you check Jack's diaper? I think he needs to be cleaned up." Before Logan could say anything she has already disappeared into the bathroom. Looking at the boy with a raised eyebrow, he sighed. "Great…" He got off the bed with his son in his arms and made his way to the other room; thinking about if he should tell her that it has been Ororo who had already changed diapers. He never did it before. "Okay, pal. Just be quiet and don't get me into trouble," Logan said and began to undress Jack who kicked his legs. "Jesus!" he cursed as his sensible nose caught the smell. Holding his breath and making a disgusted face, Logan threw the diaper into the trashcan. "You sure you don't need a second bath, mate?" he asked while his eyes kept on searching. He didn't have a clue what to do next. Finally he took some of the wet cloths out of the small package on the shelves and began to clean the mess his son made up. Suddenly his shirt felt rather wet. "You've got to be kiddin' me!" Logan cried as he looked down on him. Giving Jack a rather pissed look he took some more cloths and worked on his shirt.
"What's wrong?" he heard Jean asking and snorted. "You're son peed on my shirt!" he gave back. Hearing a noise out of the bathroom he narrowed his eyes and concentrated. "Did you just laugh?" he asked aloud and cocked an eyebrow. Snorting he took care of his son again. Logan would have bet that he was smiling. "You think that's funny, eh?" he asked him. "Don't forget I am the one who feeds you!" Cleaning him up once more he took a diaper in his hand. Looking at it from all sides, Logan sighed. He had no idea how those darn things worked… Placing it under Jack he tried to stick down the endings. Turning the diaper around and trying it again it still didn't work. "Those things are crap!" he cursed, while trying it for the third time. "Yeah!" he smirked satisfied as he finally made it. Pulling Jack up and wanting to look at his work, Logan slowly had to watch as the diaper fell down. He narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath, while Jack began to make a face. Soon his cry echoed in Logan's sensitive ears. "Okay, that's it!" He laid him down again and took the diaper in his hand once more. "Jean!" Logan said aloud and hoped she would rescue him out oft his misery, before his ears would explode. "You know," he heard her voice suddenly behind him and turned around. "Somehow I knew you never did it before!" She only smirked and handed him his daughter, before she explained in his best lecturer tone how to put on the diaper; ignoring his snorts and cocked eyebrow.
That was chapter 37. I actually wanted to do it differently. The part, which I wanted to include, will be the beginning of the next chapter and the ending I planned for this one will be the end of the next one. Okay, it's confusing, I know. I hope this diaper scene was okay for you. ; ) See ya in the next chapter I hope!
