In The Heat

An X-men Evolution fanfic by Lavender Gaia

Editing and Assistance by Lavender Gaia

Chapter Seven: Balance

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men Evolution, any of its characters or Rachel Summers. They are all property of Marvel.


When she woke up, Rachel tried to remember what had happened the night before. Had Jean come in and woke her up? Was their trip to an all-night club just a dream? Her ankle didn't have a tattoo on it, so that was ruled out. She still wasn't sure whether Jean did come wake her.

Knowing no one else would be up, she slipped out of bed and down the hall still in her pajamas. "Jean?" she whispered, tapping softly on the door. There was no answer, and she carefully opened it, staring in. Her bed was still made and there was no body lying beneath the comforter.

"Hey, Little Red," Logan greeted her. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Uncle Logan, Jean didn't come home last night," she explained.

"Your Ma's no lightweight. She can take care of herself, and you know it," he ruffled her hair.

"Yeah, yeah," Rachel sighed. "No one's going to be up for a while. Have any plans?"

He shook his head. "Oh, no, you're not getting me to go against you in the Danger Room again. We tried it and you're not going to get super strong arms over night. Maybe in a week or two."

"So the great Wolverine is scared of a little competition. Can't blame you, I know I'm good. I'm a quick learner, I know all your tricks now…" She squealed as he picked her up and laid her across his shoulder.

"I know what you're doing, Little Red, but I'll humor ya," he grumbled, carrying her downstairs.

"I'll try to go easy on you. Yesterday was just a fluke."

"Sure, kid, whatever you say."

Half an hour later, she was lying on the floor, panting and groaning in pain. "Oh, man. Ok, so you won again. Beginner's luck." Rachel watched as he chuckled and warmed down. "Uncle Logan?"

He jogged over to her. "Yeah?"

"I can't get up."

Logan leaned down, placing her softly over his shoulder again. "You're going to want to do this again tomorrow, aren't you?"

"Of course. I am determined to beat you by the end of this week," she explained, closing her eyes tiredly.

"You've definitely inherited the stubbornness trait from both of your 'rents," he continued, listening to her rhythmic breathing. Suddenly, he realized she had fallen asleep. Wolverine carried the girl upstairs and put her in bed.

Her body stilled ached when she woke up again. "I know I'm supposed to be careful what I wish for, but why does this have to hurt so much…" she groaned to no one and made her way in the hallway. Hopefully a shower would make some of her complaining muscles quiet down.

Scott was opening the door to the bathroom down the hall. "Good morning!" She called to him.

"Good morning to you too," he smiled at her, placing a soft kiss on the top of her head. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah, thanks…" Rachel hesitated for a moment before rushing on and saying, "Jean didn't come home last night!"

"There was a heavy storm. She probably just found some place to camp out. I'm sure she's ok," he reassured her.

"Right. I...I bet Jean's just fine," she whispered.

He sighed. "Do you want me to call her cell phone?"

Rachel hugged him quickly. "You're the best! Thanks, Scott!" With a new smile on her face, she walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

Scott blinked. She had stolen his bathroom. "More like her mother every day…" he grumbled, but went to make the call. A knot formed in his throat when some machine told him that the number wasn't in service. His immediate response was that he had the wrong number, but dialed it again from heart and got the same answer.

"She's fine…" he whispered to himself. "I…I'd know, if something happened to Jean…" Kurt came and told him that breakfast was ready, and he teleported down with his friend. The front door opened when they were going towards the kitchen. "Jean!" He sighed in relief, hugging her tightly. "We were so worried. Are you ok?"

"Perfect," she hugged back, burying her head against his chest. "The car's totaled, but I'm ok."

"What happened to your car?" Kurt asked.

"I got into an accident. It was raining, and I hit a tree. I'll call the insurance company later," she squeezed Scott's hand.

"Maybe you should see Mr. McCoy," Scott bit his bottom lip in concern.

"I'd rather just get some breakfast."

"Ja!" Kurt pumped his fist in the air, and teleported all of them to the kitchen were they could smell French toast cooking.

"Jean, you're ok!" Ororo smiled at her. "We were getting worried."

"I got into a little accident. No big deal. I am pretty hungry though," she eyed the toast on the griddle.

"Oh, of course," the African woman flipped a few slices on to a plate. "Enjoy."

"Thank you," she ate hungrily while Kurt looked on with a mixture of sadness and hunger, and Scott rubbed her shoulders.

Breakfast continued to go lightly, with everyone around the table chatting. Scott was relieved to see that Jean was just fine after her accident. She laughed with Kitty and ate all the French toast on her plate ravenously.

"I think I'm going to go take a shower. Wash off the grime from last night," Jean stretched her arms up, then kissed Scott. "Thank you for breakfast, I'll see you later."

As she walked up the stairs, immersed in her own thoughts, she hardly even realized that someone else was in the room until that someone attack glomped her. "Where were you? I…I…"

Her arms instinctively wrapped around Rachel. "I'm sorry. I was in an accident. I'm just fine though. I should have called, sorry for making you worry." Staring down into those identical green eyes, she managed a smile. "Forgive me?"

"Of course. Did you eat breakfast? I was just heading down…" She grinned. "And I think I smell French toast."

"Just finished, actually. I need a shower. I do believe that we had plans to go to the art festival today. It's gorgeous outside, who'd want to waste a day like this?"

"You're right, of course. But you look sort of tired. I'm sure you didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night," Rach bit her bottom lip, as if it would help her see into Jeans psyche. Being a telepath didn't help much if your mother was one too.

"A nap wouldn't hurt, but it shouldn't be more than an hour. How about we go out in about two hours? Most of the crowds will probably have cleared out to eat and we can get a late lunch after some browsing and shopping," Jean suggested.

"That sounds great," Rachel went down the rest of the stairs, grinning her head off. "Enjoy your shower!"

Jean did indeed. The was still plenty of hot water left and it washed over her, leaving a new, bright skin underneath. Dirt swirled down the drains, leaving her crimson locks bright and shiny once again. When she finally left the shower, she noted in the mirror that the old Jean Grey seemed to shine again.

Her hair was almost dry when a light knock came on the bathroom door. "I'll be right out," she called, switching off the hair dryer and fluffing up her hair. Tossing her wet towel into the laundry basket, she slipped into her bathrobe and opened the door.

"I'm sorry to bother you," Amara told her honestly. "I do have a favor to ask, if you don't mind."

"No problem, what is it?" she asked as they walked to her room so she could get dressed.

"Bobby won four tickets to the Spotlight 425 concert tomorrow. He asked me to go with him, but Mr. Logan overheard—we should've known, he was only twenty feet away—and he wants to make sure we have a chaperone," she winced.

"Ouch. Let me guess…he offered?"

"I don't even know why! It's only our first big date, and contrary to what he might believe, future Queens of Nova Roma were taught better than to run around doing whatever it is you can do with boys at concerts," Amara scowled angrily at the door.

"He didn't mean it like that, I'm sure. You know how overprotective he can be," she quickly assured her. Even she knew in her heart that the Institute's little princess was the least likely to do anything with the opposite sex (except for Rogue, but she didn't exactly count).

"I suppose. But that leads me to my question. Would you and Scott come with us? You are teachers here now, so I think you'd qualify as chaperones. Plus, they're really good seats. Third row or something, Bobby said. It'd be a lot better than Mr. Logan and Ms. Monroe, or Jupiter forbid, Mr. Logan and the Professor."

"Not exactly the best for your first concert, huh?" Jean chuckled.

"This isn't my first concert. I loved to sit outside and listen to them play music back home," Amara recalled dreamily. "Except I did it every day and I didn't have to pay. And I always got a good seat."

"Don't I wish it was always like that…" Jean murmured under her breath. "But, sure, I'd love to go. All the songs I've heard from them are pretty good. If Scott doesn't want to go then I'll still come. Maybe Rach would and you and Bobby can still act like it's a date."

"Oh, you're the sweetest!" Amara hugged her tightly. "Thank you for not ruining my first big date. This is a date, right?"

"I'm sure it is. Bobby really likes you. But no, I won't peek in his head and see." She smirked at the incredulous expression on Amara's face. "Kitty's asked before."

"I should have known. She was the one who gave me the idea." The princess rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I'll let you get to whatever you want to do. Kitty promised she'd help me pick out an outfit. I'll make sure Bobby tells you all the details later. Thanks again!"

Jean quickly changed into her nightgown, then slipped under her comforter. Someone had changed her sheets; the clean, cool material felt amazing against her body. It smelled lightly of lavender—her favorite fabric softener—and Scott. Her lips curled into a smile as she lightly drifted to sleep.

A little over an hour and a half later, she woke up. Even if she had slept a bit longer than she wanted, it didn't make a difference because she felt so refreshed she could probably have lifted the entire mansion with her telekinesis.

She slipped into a lime green tank top and pair of cut-off jean shorts, making sure to wear her most comfortable sneakers. As her eyes fixed on her face in the mirror, devoid of make-up, hair pulled back, she couldn't help but feel that she even looked younger. Deciding quickly not to ruin that, she spread some Chap Stick over her lips instead of gloss or lipstick.

Rachel was downstairs in the living room, alone. "What are you doing?" she asked her daughter.

"Playing Jenga." The wooden blocks moved themselves up telekinetically, and Jean was impressed by the command she had over them. The tower didn't sway in the slightest, and the rectangular prisms rested on top exactly in line.

"Nice. Mind if I have a go?" she asked. Rachel gestured for her to go ahead. Jean surveyed the structure, finally finding one that could be spared. Narrowing her eyes, she pulled it her way, blinking in surprise as the construction shook lightly. "This is harder than I thought," she murmured to herself, pulling it the rest of the way out as slowly as she could.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips as it came free without the erection crumbling. She placed it on top in line with Rachel's, then broke her concentration. "Do you do this a lot? You're really good at it."

"I used to," she answered, a nostalgic smile playing on her lips. "My mom and I used to have competitions. If I won, I got extra money or fewer chores. If she won I had to do something special, like wash the cars or repaint something. Sometimes it went on for hours."

"You must have run out of blocks eventually," Jean pointed out. "What happened then?"

Rachel gestured to the other side of the couch, where six more boxes of Jenga tiles were. "We just added another set to the top. When you do it with your mind, the height isn't exactly a problem."

"That sounds like fun," Jean admitted. "I think it would be possible if we worked out the same system."

"Really?" There was a hint of excitement in Rachel's tone, but Jean's confirmation was cut off as a ball was hurled through the Jenga before smacking into the fire place.

"Oh…man," Ray's eyes opened wide and he struggled not to curse. "I'm really sorry. Are you guys ok?"

Jean snagged the ball with her powers and tossed it back forcefully. "What are you doing? You could have hurt someone!"

Bobby jogged into the room, "Ray, what's taking you so long? Aww, man, what'd you do? You see, this is why Amara's the pitcher and not you."

"You're just sticking up for your girlfriend, Drake!" Ray snapped back.

"She's not my girlfriend!" He protested before whispering quietly, "…yet…"

"What were you doing?" Jean asked again, and the two boys faced the pair of angry telepathic, telekinetic redheads. It was not a comforting sight.

"Well, Mr. Logan said we might be able to have another softball game tomorrow. We were practicing," Ray explained.

"In the house!"

"It's wet outside!" Bobby told them. "We really are sorry about your game. Here, let me make it up to you." He reached over and touched the table. Slowly, ice crystals formed an exact replica of a Jenga game, including left over pieces to fill holes he had already put in it. "Should work just like the real one."

Rachel stared at it in disbelief. "It's beautiful…" Her fingers traced over the word "Jenga" he had even managed to imprint on the sides of each piece. "Bobby, this is amazing!"

Jean could feel herself soften as she too was awestruck by the ice art. "Guys, just go play outside. It shouldn't be too wet anymore. If you really don't want to, maybe you could ask Storm to help you."

"Good idea," Ray said quickly, pulling Bobby and his swelled ego away. "We'll just do that. Let's go."

They jogged away, happy to get off with a warning instead of a punishment. "I guess we could go to the art fair now," Jean sighed. "Where's Scott?"

"Right behind you," Rachel answered as Jean felt a loving kiss on her cheek.

"Hey, there. Sleep well?" He asked, nuzzling her neck lightly.

"Very well. Are you ready to go?"

"Didn't Rachel tell you? Something suddenly came up. I can't go. You two have fun though, and I promise we'll do something together this week," he kissed her as if to make up for it. "You can take my car, of course."

"Awesome!" Rachel answered for both of them. "Can I drive?"

Scott paled a tad. He loved that car—who wouldn't?—and he'd never seen if Rachel would be as deadly careful with it as he was (besides when the occasional motorcycle dropped from the sky).

"You don't know the way," Jean pointed out. "If I drive we'll get there faster."

"Oh. Ok, then." The two girls kissed Scott, then made their way outside to the beautiful red convertible. It sparkled as if it had been just washed, and Jean figured it probably had.

Any residual clouds from last nights storm had left, leaving the sky a pure blue as the warm sun beat down on Bayville. Wind whipped through the two sets of scarlet hair while they made their way downtown.

They made perfect timing. Most people had stopped to get something for lunch, or had left because of the mid-day heat. The girls wandered from booth to booth, sighing with delight at each new masterpiece. They even found a blanket that had been stitched with a somehow serene picture of a volcano that they planned to give Amara for her birthday.

Jean was amused to see that even though they passed by interesting and beautiful items, Rachel's face lit up the most when they stopped by the Bayville Humane Society section. Dogs were in cages, and volunteers were letting families that could possibly adopt look at them, while handing out pamphlets to show some of the other animals they had.

Rachel knelt next to one cage. Inside was a medium sized dog, with short sandy hair. Jean even admitted that it had the most adorable face and the fact that one ear stood up and the other was floppy was equally charming.

The dog's tail wagged frantically as Rachel reached her fingers in the cage. It licked at them, making her giggle. One of the workers, a nice looking older man, smiled at her. "I can let her out and you can play with this beauty if you want."

She looked at up at Jean pleadingly, and her mom smiled. "Sure, why not."

He undid the cage, and put the dog on the leash. The Humane Society had set up fenced in areas for people to play with the animals, and it jumped eagerly at Rachel. "I'm Louis Feldman," he told Jean as the two played. "Call me Lou."

She shook his hand. "Jean Grey."

"Our dog seems really taken with your little sister," he said.

"Oh, she's not my little sister. She's my daughter," Jean quickly corrected him.

"You look much too young to be her mother. Do you two already have any pets?"

"No, we live in a boarding house. I don't think there's any rule against pets, but with so many people around it's hard to worry about animals as well," Jean explained.

"Well, it may just be me, but sometimes dogs can sense when someone needs a friend," he explained. "And these dogs also need a friend. She really is a good dog. A mutt, but if you look at her long legs, you can see some greyhound in her. She'd be great for anyone who loves to get out and run."

She sighed. "I'd have to talk to her father about it…"

Lou picked up a clipboard and held it out to her. "We can put you on a waiting list. If anyone else shows interest, we'll call you and you can tell us whether or not you want the dog. She's already had all her shots and been fixed, so she's ready to be taken home as soon as you say yes."

"I think that could work," Jean wrote down her name and cell phone number. "I'll ask later and get back to you." She watched Rachel play with the dog for a little longer, then called, "C'mon, Rach, I'm hungry."

"Could we come back later?" She asked eagerly.

"We'll see…" Jean whispered, suddenly remembering something. Rachel was only fifteen. While none of the X-men or New Mutants were relatively young mentally—when you're fighting for your life, you generally have to grow up pretty fast—they really were kids at heart. She had to admit that she kind of liked Rachel's vulnerability.

"Bye, Sarina," Rachel kissed the dog on the head and jogged to catch up to her mom.

"You named it?" Jean asked incredulously.

"Yeah, why not?" she blinked. "You know, the Professor doesn't have to know we got a dog…"

"He's a telepath," the taller redhead reminded her.

"So are we. He can't get anything out of my mind. What about you?"

There was no answer. Jean had never wanted to keep anything from the Professor, so she didn't know if she could hide her secrets from him. "Well, Logan would find him."

"Her."

"Whatever…We'll ask though." Jean felt Rachel's arm wrap around her waist in sort of a half-hug.

The two wandered around for a few more hours, finally going home when the sun had set. It was hard to see the art, and though the nightlife in Bayville was never quite hot, it was very loud and crowded as the bands and light shows for the art festival started.

They packed the rest of their packages into the trunk of the convertible and Jean drove back to the Institute. "So, do you have any plans for the rest of tonight?" she asked Rachel.

"Kitty and I are supposed to help Amara pick out what she's going to wear to her concert tomorrow. I hear you and Scott are going with them."

"Yeah, they needed a chaperone."

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Really now? Because from what I've seen you and Scott are the ones that need a chaperone."

Jean blushed, but didn't answer, electing to pull in the driveway instead. They went inside, carrying everything that they had bought using their powers. As they unpacked everything in Rachel's room there was a knock on the door.

"Hey, Jean," Rogue said. "Scott wanted me to tell you to meet him in the backyard when you got home."

"The backyard? Um, ok. Rach, give Rogue her present, I'll see you guys later," she went down the stairs to the backyard, wandering around. There was light near the right corner and she went towards it.

There were thick blankets on the grass, surrounded by seemingly hundreds of candles. The moon shone clearly above, illuminating the fancy buffet set out. Scott stood in front of her, watching her shocked expression with a grin. "Surprise."


A/N: I'm so sorry this update has taken so long. Most of you know that I had surgery a few weeks ago, but I had to go back to school and then I got sick. When you're miserable (my beta will attest to this, I complained to her), you don't want to write, because you know your writing will be bad.

I've had some trouble setting this up though. I pretty much know what going to happen in the next chapter, but if anyone wants to give me ideas of what they do over the summer or what you want the X-men to do, let me know!

Oh, and reader poll: Should they get the dog? Yes? No? Why or why not? I do not mean to sound like an essay question, but it would help me out.

Questions, comments, reactions and reviews are greatly appreciated.


Review Responses:

StarStar16: Thank you for reading and reviewing!

DOJ: It's nice to know that someone doesn't know what's going to happen. If you do get a chance, you should really pick up the Phoenix Saga in TPB format. That's how I have it and it's great.

Diaz F.: Well, not too much drama in this one, but if you put too much drama over and over it just turns into one big pile of angst and that's no fun.

Wen1: Sorry for the cliffhanger, even if I love writing them. Hope you like this.

Agent-G: Well, if you don't want to read you don't have to. We all love Jean and she's certainly not gone forever. I wouldn't be able to do that to her. I'm evil, but not that evil.

Slickboy444: Man, it took me forever to describe those uniforms and do them justice. I tried to make the Phoenix scene work in the Evo world, but I'm glad it was at least somewhat like the original version. I hope to have the next chapter of Bright Lights up in the next few days so watch out for that.

Ingrid: Oh, yes, Emma needs to die. I was reading the new Astonishing X-men and the bad guy was about to kill Emma and I yelled at it to do so. Too bad Scott got in the way. Stupid Scott. But, yes, in another one of my fics I'm trying to think of the best way to torture her. Any suggestions always help. Thanks for reading.

Silverjazz: I'm finally well enough to finish something I started. Thank god. I'm glad you're enjoying it and I hope you like this new chapter.

Telepathic Angel: Cliff hanger…heh, I love puns. Yes, I did get everything in bed like Jean, it was quite enjoyable, thank you. I'm glad you liked it.

Rogue14: Yes, it's time for the Phoenix Saga! I guess I really need to reread my comics then. Hope you enjoy it.

Jenskott: It's ok, feel free to intend the puns, I always do. I really love your story, Endsong would have been a lot better if it were like that. The ending wasn't so bad though, even if Emma was completely out of character…Thanks for reading.

Aliasa: I'm honored you like it! Thank you!

Sweetmidnight: I've been trying to make Rachel as much like Jean as I can, while still retaining her individuality. I hope I've done ok so far. Thank you so much for reading!