In The Heat

An X-men Evolution fanfic by Lavender Gaia

Editing and Assistance by Lavender Gaia

Chapter Eight: Playing

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


"Scott, what is this?" Jean asked in surprise, unable to keep the grin off her face.

"Well…I just sort of figured we deserve some time to ourselves. I asked a couple people to help and got this set up," Scott reached out a hand to her. "Please, sit down."

She took it, then eased into a cross-legged position on the blanket. "It's absolutely gorgeous." Picking a bottle up from its iced chamber, she examined it with a raised eyebrow. "Champagne? How'd you manage that?"

"I did a favor for Logan, so he picked it up for me," he explained. "Do you want some French bread? Fresh from the bakery."

"Of course." She took the buttered slice from his outstretched hand as he popped the champagne and poured them each a glass. "Oh, man, this is amazing."

"I thought you'd like it. What would you like to toast to?" Scott questioned with a raise of his fluke.

"How about…to our family." she suggested, gently tapping her glass against his and they both drank. "Wow, this is excellent."

"Logan knows how to pick them well," he agreed

"Must have cost a fortune," Jean noted hesitantly.

Scott shrugged. "Not really. Of course, not as much as," he pulled a tray from behind him and held it out to her, "these."

"Escargot! Scott, you didn't have to do all of this," she protested while spearing one with a fork and placing it on a piece of toast.

"Well, you might as well eat it," he grinned as she bit into it. The look on her face made him think she'd just visited heaven. "It'll go to waste otherwise."

"Where did you get this?" She asked, licking every bit of the delicacy off her lips.

"Same place I got our filet mignon," he gestured behind them to a pair of trays covered with silver tops. "But that's the main course."

"Scott…you can't afford this," she whispered.

"Don't worry, it's covered. Just enjoy it and save room for dessert." A small smile played on his lips.

"Dessert?" Jean rolled her eyes. "This is more than enough."

"Oh, I promise you'll really like the dessert. Do you want your steak now?"

"Yeah, one second." She got up on her knees in order to lean over and kiss him deeply, arms wrapped around his neck. He sucked gently on her bottom lip, pushing the locks of red hair out of her eyes. "You're amazing, Scott Summers," she whispered.

"I'm only as good as the woman I'm with." He caressed her cheek lightly.

They sat together and finished their meal. When both of the trays were cleared, he moved them out of the way and presented another box. Carefully, she opened it and gasped at the contents: a dozen strawberries, covered in milk, dark or white chocolate.

Scott chose one carefully, then held it up to her lips. She bit into it, reveling in the sweetness, with a hint of sour from the strawberries. Chewing the treat carefully, she reveled in its taste even after swallowing. After a moment of pondering, she kissed her boyfriend, sharing the sweetness.

Lovingly, they shared the fruit, stopping to kiss after just about every bite. Even when it was finished, Scott picked her up and laid her gently on the blanket, and resumed their lip lock. Light kisses were dotted over her jaw, neck and collarbone courtesy of her boyfriend, and she just laughed before recapturing his lips with a kiss.

After a while, Jean just rested, staring up at the stars in the sky. "What are you thinking about?" He asked her, swallowing the last sip of champagne.

"Just how lucky I am. I've got the greatest boyfriend in the entire world, I have Rachel, tons of friends, a beautiful home. What more could anyone ask for?"

Scott could have thought of several things he would have liked different, but now wasn't the time. "You look exhausted. Let's get you inside." He reached down, scooping her up bridal style.

"I have to help you clean up," she protested, but snuggled closer to his strong chest.

"Don't even think about it. This was a night for you and you're tired so you go to bed," He held her gently and walked to the back door.

"At least let me get that," she requested, pulling it open with her TK. It slammed against the opposite wall with the amount of force she'd used. "Oops. Must be more tired than I thought."

Scott climbed the stairs with her in her arms. "Let's just put you in your bed…"

"No," she shook her head. "I want to be in your bed."

"What?" He choked out, stopping dead.

"We won't do anything. I just want to be in there with you," she explained, voice drifting off with exhaustion.

"If that's what you want…" He pushed his door open and laid her on the bed. She kicked her shoes off and snuggled under the blanket. Scott blinked in surprise at her ability to take off her bra without removing her shirt, but figured he'd ask about it later. "I love you, Jean."

"I love you too, Scott," she whispered. As an afterthought, she added, "You like dogs, right?"

"Um…yes…"

"Mmm…good. She'll be happy about that…" She fell asleep, hugging his pillow.

When Jean woke up the next morning, it took her a minute to realize where she was. "Oh…right. I'm in Scott's room. He has a nice bed." It would have been perfectly right in her mind to just roll over and go back to sleep if the door hadn't open.

"Are you up?" Scott asked quietly.

"I am now," she stretched, then flopped back down on to the pillow. "You have a nice bed."

"You're welcome to it any time you want." Scott gave her a light kiss. "Good morning."

"And to you too, love. But is it still morning?"

"Actually, no," he smirked. "It's a little past noon. We just finished lunch, but there should be some left. All we ate were sandwiches. We were hoping to start the softball game in an hour."

"Why'd you let me sleep so late?" she protested, hopping out of bed and looking for her bra. It was folded up on Scott's dresser and he handed it to her.

"You were tired. I figured you'd wake up when you weren't tired anymore. Usually how the human body works. Or, I guess mutant body in this case," he explained. "I already put your shoes in your room."

She kissed him. "You're great. Last night was great."

"I'm very glad you enjoyed it," He wrapped his arms around her waist. "You should get something to eat. Kurt was still down there when I left and you never know with that boy's appetite."

"You're right," she gave him one last peck on the cheek before leaving his room. "See you on the field!"

About an hour later everyone, including Amanda and Tabitha, met downstairs in the backyard. "Alright," the professor began. "Today I'll be the announcer and scorekeeper, Hank will once again be umpire, and the captains will be Scott and…Logan Scott, you may choose first."

There was a slight chuckle and everyone chorused together, "Jean."

She grinned and joined Scott on one side of Xavier, while Logan said, "Amara," from his other side. This made sense, since Jean, Amara and Kitty were easily the best pitchers out of the group.

It took Scott less than a second to decide his next teammate. "Rachel."

"Alright, Iceman, get over here," Wolverine grumbled.

"Kurt," Scott nodded towards his friend, who teleported over and slapped his friend high five.

"I feel sort of out of place," Rachel whispered to her mother. "Everyone's wearing X-men shirts and shorts and I'm wearing this," she gestured towards her incredibly short jeans and lime green shirt with the bottom tied into a small knot right under her chest.

Apparently, Logan heard and took off his X cap, and jammed it on her head. "There you go, Little Red. Now you match."

"Hey, thanks, Logan!"

Soon the teams were divvied up. Scott's team consisted of Jean, Rachel, Kurt, Kitty, Amanda, Jamie and Roberto. Logan's team was Storm (who insisted on being co-captain), Amara, Bobby, Ray, Rogue, Tabby and Sam. They flipped a quarter and Logan decided that his team would bat first.

"Just remember," Hank told all of them before they split up to decide position. "We all know what the rules are. And the number one rule?"

Everyone but Rachel muttered, "No powers."

"Very good," Xavier smiled. "Now, let's play ball!"

The teams ran to their respective dug outs and Mr. McCoy sighed to the Professor. "Twenty bucks they break that rule before the fifth inning."

"You're on."

"Alright," Scott conferred with his team. "Jean'll pitch, Kitty, you want to be reliever? Ok, I'll catch and everything else is up for grabs."

"I'll take second," Kurt offered.

Scott jotted it down. "Got it. Rachel, what do you want?"

"Um…I usually played first base or pitched back home."

"First base it is. Alright...Kitty, you take right field, Amanda center, Roberto third base, Jamie left field. That good with everyone?" There was a series of nods. "Great. Now let's go warm up."

"Wanna warm up together?" Kitty asked Rachel with a grin, walking towards first base.

"Sure, let me just get a one of Jean's extra gloves," she rummaged through her mom's softball bag, found a nice brown one and slipped it on. "Wow, it fits perfectly."

"Yeah, well, you two have pretty much the same genes. Is it that surprising?" Shadowcat set herself up about a dozen feet away and readied her glove for the ball.

Rachel stretched for a second, then tossed the ball to her friend. "I guess not."

She threw it back, pitching underhand. "If anyone who saw you two would probably say you were twins, or at least sisters. But I guess that's not too hard to think when you're only, like, four years apart."

"Tell me about it. It's a little weird." The ball flew into her glove. "Man! You've got a wicked arm. How come you're not the pitcher?"

"Because your dad's the captain."

Rachel almost dropped the ball in surprise before throwing it back. "What do you mean?"

"Listen, that didn't come out the way I meant it to. Jean's an awesome pitcher. But, like, seriously, I could be starter for the Yankees and she'd be first up. Even in our little softball games, there isn't a complete absence of nepotism."

"I guess you're right…" She intercepted the ball again, and tossed it back, pulling up one of her legs to stretch the muscles.

"I'm not bitter about it or anything. I think it's really cute that he loves her so much," Kitty underhanded the ball to her. "You're really lucky to have such great parents. I mean, they even let you wear that."

Rachel practiced getting a grounder, then stood up and stared at what she was wearing. "What's wrong with my outfit?"

"Oh, nothing! Seriously, Rach, you look awesome. It's just that if my daddy saw me wear that, he'd freak." Kitty stretched her arms over her head, sighing. "Of course, that's not the only thing he'd freak about…"

"What, are you some kind of closet rebel or something?" she grinned, wondering if Kitty had hidden piercing or tattoos. Frankly, she just didn't see it happening.

"Not exactly. Let's just say that if my dad knew who my boyfriend was, he might have a heart attack. He probably hates Lance even more than your dad does, and that's saying something." Seeing the confused look on Rachel's face, she continued. "Cliff's Notes version: When I first met Lance I had just gotten my powers and I was really confused. So he kind of talked me into breaking into the office."

"Oh, that's nice."

"Yeah, tell me about it. Anyway, my parents and Jean came to talk me out of it, and then Lance got really angry and scared and he kind of lost control of his powers. His name is Avalanche because of his ability to like, manipulate the earth, so he started a few earthquakes and accidentally brought the building down on us. Your mom managed to hold up the roof long enough that I could phase all of us out. And then Lance went with our enemies and we're still on different teams and stuff…But, I guess you can't choose who you love, because I really love him and he loves me too."

Rachel smiled. "That's nice, Kitty. It really is."

"Alright, everyone! Let's start this game!" Beast called from the pitchers mound. The teams took their places and Rogue took the plate first.

"C'mon, Jean! You got it!" Her teammates called from across the field.

She took the ball and pitched to the southern girl, who missed it. "Strike one!"

Cheers erupted from Scott's team over the field. Jean threw it again, and Rogue managed to snag a piece of it, sending a grounder to Kitty. Her roommate scooped up the ball and threw it to Rachel, managing to tag Rogue out.

The game continued with no one scoring too much. By the end of the fifth inning, Jean told the group. "I'm sick of pitching. Kitty, you want in?"

"Sure," she slipped on her glove and headed to the mound. Kitty struck out the first two batters, but Sam got a hit on his turn. A nice hit…that was going straight for her. It was too fast for her to attempt to catch it with her glove, so she did the most instinctual thing: phasing. The ball passed right through her. Jean scooped it up and tossed it to Kurt at second base a few seconds after Sam was safe.

"Hey, Kitty used her powers!" Bobby protested.

"Would you rather Sam knocked my head off?" She insisted, taking the ball back from Kurt.

There were no more issues until Scott's next time up to bat. He had a nice hit to right field, where Rogue scooped it up and threw it to Ray at second. Roberto kept running towards the base, deciding to slide until a bolt of lightning was thrown at him. The Brazilian boy scrambled out of the way. "What was that, Ray!"

"Well, I wasn't sure if you were going to just keep going and run into me," Berzerker replied innocently in an attempt to mimic Kitty. The ball from his glove jumped up and hit him on the cheek, courtesy of Rachel from third base.

"Ok, ok!" Bobby announced from his catching position before a big fight could break out. "I think we all know how to handle this!"

Standing side by side on first base, Scott grinned over at Logan. "Mutantball?"

"You got it, Bub."

Jean was next up at bat. Amara pitched a curve, which began to catch fire as it moved towards her friend. The telepath stopped it in front of her and blew off the flames, before smacking it straight to center field.

Mr. McCoy knew there was no reasoning with them now, and went to go sit with the Professor. "These kids…"

"At least they waited until the sixth inning," Charles pointed out. "Which means you owe me twenty dollars."

The game continued until Scott's team was up one point in the top of the ninth. Tabby and Sam had already struck out and it was Bobby's turn at bat. "C'mon, Kitty!" Scott called from his position as catcher. "Strike him out and we've won!" She nodded and pitched the ball towards him. He missed the first one, but the second time he managed to get a piece of it.

"I've got it!" Jamie called, hitting himself so half a dozen clones ran around the field. The ball flew into his glove, but because Bobby had iced it over due to his powers, it slipped out of his hand. Luckily, the real Jamie caught it just before it hit the ground, then they all merged into the into him. "Scott, look! I got it!"

"And the game is over!" Xavier announced to the players. "Scott's team wins!"

The eight gathered together, exchanging high fives. "Awesome, Kitty!" Rachel hugged her tightly.

"Rachel, I think we have to teach you another tradition when it comes to softball at the Institute," the brunette told her. "Winning team gets first showers! And I'm going first."

"I could so get used to that. I'm going second," she ran behind her friend, towards the Institute.

"Hey, Amara, why don't you take my spot third, since you've got the concert tonight," Jean suggested. "Scott and I have something to do anyway."

"Huh? We do?" He blinked. Jean shot him a look and suddenly he remembered. "Oh, right! We'll see you guys later then."

A little while later, Kitty and Rachel were in Rachel's room curling Amara's hair. "You're totally sure Jean won't mind us using her curling iron?"

"Course not, Kit. Plus, I'm her daughter. What's she gonna do, ground me?" Rachel looked over the princess as Kitty wrapped up the iron. "Your hair looks awesome, but…Hey, how'd you like to wear my leather mini? It should be about your size."

"But you haven't even worn it yet!"

"It doesn't matter. You wear it, you'll look awesome." She rummaged through her newly stocked closet and pulled out the skirt. "Here, try it on."

There was a soft knock on the door. "Who is it?" Kitty asked, searching through her make up bag for Amara's best color.

"It's Scott. Rach, your mom wants to see you in her room," he told her through the door.

"Ok, I'll be right there." She looked at her friends. "Can you guys handle this without me?"

"Go, don't make Jean mad. Oh, and bring her back her curling iron," Amara held it out. "Tell her thank you."

"Gotcha. See ya guys in a bit," she shuffled out of her room and opened the door next to hers. "Something you needed?"

"Just wanted you to see the new member of the family," Jean said. "Say hi."

"Hi? To…Oof!" Rachel blinked repeatedly to see what exactly had hit her. And then that thing licked her face. "Sarina? Oh, my god!"

"Scott and I talked to the Professor about it. We decided it would be a nice way to teach you and the rest of the New Mutants responsibility. While she'll be your dog, the rest of the Institute has to help out. Anyone who doesn't well…Logan'll find a way to make them help out," she explained.

The other redhead attacked her with a hug. "You're the greatest mom in this whole dimension!"

"Well…thanks…Why don't you go introduce Sarina to the other girls? I have to take a shower and get ready for the concert," Jean kissed the top of her daughter's head.

"Oh, right. You get ready. Oh, and here's your curling iron. We borrowed it."

"I don't know what it's like in your world, but here 'borrowing' entails asking," she reminded her with a tiniest bit of a smirk.

"We have the same genes. Plus, I'd inherit it anyway. Though I'm sure it'll break before you die. You know what I mean," Rachel continued until Jean shot her a look. "I'll stop talking now. See ya!"

She went back to her room and opened the door. "Hey, you're back," Kitty said, finishing Amara's eyeshadow. "What took you—EEK! What's licking my leg?"

"Our new dog, Sarina! Isn't she adorable?"

"Do you not notice the name Kitty?" she squeaked, climbing up on the bed. Rachel's face fell and she surveyed the mutt again. "Well, it is kind of cute. Her name's Sarina? That's pretty, Rach."

"Thanks, Kit. What do you think, Amara?" she surveyed the princess.

"Well…I never spent too much time around dogs. She looks cute though. I'll be sure to great her better when I get home tonight, I just don't want dog hair all over me before my first big date with Bobby," she explained.

"Oh, right. Well, can I put her in your room?" Rachel asked. Amara's eyes widened in fear and she realized she'd never seen her room; it was probably full of expensive things and wasn't exactly dog friendly. "Kitty?"

"Rogue should be in there, she'll dog-sit I guess," Shadowcat phased her arm through the bed where the mascara had rolled.

"Alright, I'll be right back." Sarina ad her owner jogged down the hall and knocked on Kitty and Rogue's door.

"Yeah?" The southern girl opened it.

"Hi, Rogue. I'm really sorry to bother you, I'm sure your busy, but I need a really big favor," Rachel said quickly, knowing that if she gave her friend too much time to think she'd realize just what she was asking. "See, I'm helping Kitty with Amara, but we really can't have the dog in there are the same time."

"Since when do we have a dog?" Rogue asked warily, staring at the animal that licked her gloves.

"Since today. So please watch Sarina, I promise it'll only be until Amara leaves with Bobby." She sighed, "Please do this for us. If she needs to go out, just come get me and I'll take her."

"Fine, fine, Ah got 'er. Now go make Amara look gorgeous!"

"Oh, thanks! Sarina, you stay with Rogue, ok?" she patted the dog's head and hurried back down the hallway.

Rogue glanced down at the animal. "C'mon in…and Ah guess welcome to the Institute."


A/N: I'm so sorry it took me so long to update! I've been really busy lately, and if you see any of my other story updates you'll know why. But I'm moving next weekend and my schedule should go back to normal then.

I have one hundred reviews! I'm really really happy! Thanks to everyone who contributed, they mean the world to me and I hope you understand how much by my responses. I love everything you guys tell me, good or bad (though, like most people, I prefer the good!).

Questions, comments, reactions and reviews are greatly appreciated.

Review Responses:

Whylime: It's nice to know that some people actually don't know what's going on. And I am feeling better, thank you so much for your concern. I really love both Amara and Bobby; I've never realized how anyone can think of her as a snob. At times, she could be in the comic, but in XME I always thought she was just a big sweetheart. I just rewatched Cruise Control and she and Bobby are adorable together. Thanks for reading!

Slickboy444: Yeah, I think that it's probably going to be pretty big, but if I said anything I'd ruin it. I hope you liked the JOTT moment in this chapter. There'll be plenty of it as well as Bobby/Amara in the next one!

StarStar16: Well, here's the dog! She's actually modeled after my own, so I hope I can use my experiences for humorous bits here and there. I hope you like this chapter.

Wen1: They'll think something's weird when they find the car…or what's left of it. Thank you for reading.

Diaz F.: I loved writing the picnic at the beginning of this chapter. And Rachel's future isn't necessarily the same future in the XME dimension. If that makes any sense at all. You will find out more about Rachel's life later on though!

DOJ: Yes, yes, I will let you know all of my secrets eventually. It just might take a while, I'm planning on making this epic no matter how many hours of my life it takes. I think we should clone all the boys from XME…except maybe Todd, I'm not sure the world would be quite the same if there were two of him.

Jott luver: Oh, well, I hope you liked the beginning here. I made sure to make it a great JOTT moment since this is supposed to be a JOTT fic afterall. There'll be more in the next chapter during their date, so stick around if you'd like.

Gimmeabreak: Thank you, I'm so glad you like it.

Jenskott: I don't exactly understand not liking the Phoenix Force but liking Jean. Yes, destroying a planet isn't exactly good karma, but everything she did was exactly what Jean would do. They were exactly the same down to the brainwaves. I hope you like my story though, I'm trying not to match it up exactly. How boring would that be?

Rogue14: I'm glad I can keep the reader guessing! I'm happy you like it.

Ingrid: I love writing the moments between Jean and Rachel. They really go together and (to me at least) it doesn't seem forced like some attempts at friendships between characters I've seen. I hope you liked the picnic; I'm pretty sure Scott threatened everyone, or at least paid them off so they wouldn't go outside and bother them. I'll try to update sooner next time.

Sweetmidnight: I'm sorry I can't answer your questions, but they're incredibly important to the plot. If you keep reading I'm sure you'll get it eventually. I plan to explain all in time. If you'd really like me to ruin it for you, just give me your email address and I'd be glad to explain what I've come up with so far.

Helen: I think there a little too young to be thinking about marriage yet. Plus, with everything that's going on, a wedding might get a tad crazy. Thank you for reading.

Goblyn-Queen: Oh, thank you so much! I'm trying to keep her close to the original and fit her into the whole X-men: Evolution scene (aka not overly depressing…at least not yet).

Reddfire: You're so nice, thank you for all the compliments. I don't think I've read any other fics with Rachel in it (though I'm sure they exist). I'm glad you're enjoying the addition to the cast.

Ryuko-chan: I've already told you that I really can't tell anything different, but that's probably because I like, actually know what's going to happen next. You do too, but not as much as I do. Thank you for my 100!

Strayphoenix: I don't think it's a real band, I kinda just made the title up off the top of my head. I hope you liked the JOTT moment in this chapter, there'll be more next time too!