"Well... Shit." Anna says pointedly.
Jamie blows out a breath. "...yeah."
"Ah wish Ah knew what to tell yah, Sweetpea. But.. Ah got nothin'."
"I did dig my own hole, I guess." Jamie concedes.
"Yah did. That don't mean it's fair of the world to suddenly start punishin' yah now when yah've been tryin' to be good, but..."
"Life ain't fair. Lessoned already learned on that one."
Anna's quiet for a moment, clearly thinking as she leans on the rail of the patio, staring out at the snowy grounds of the school. Jamie just stares at the cigarette that's slowly burning itself out between her fingers.
"Yah do got options. Logan could prob'ly help yah, he's got friends in pretty low places. Some in surprisingly high ones, too, come to think of it."
Jamie shakes her head. "I dug the hole myself." She reiterates. "I don't wanna risk dragging anyone else into it with me."
"It's not just anyone else. It's Logan, and it wouldn't be outta line to say he owes yah. He's gotten himself into worse scrapes, and believe me, standing on moral high ground, he is not."
Jamie just shrugs.
"Or yah could just do what they want yah to, see where it goes." Anna goes on. "Sounds like pretty shady stuff but that's the real decision here anyway. Yah're not so much just a kid anymore, Sweetpea. I hate to say it but it sounds like playtimes over. You gotta start really decidin' how ok with toein' the line yah are, cause the questions gonna come up more 'n more if yah keep trainin' with the team here, anyway."
Jamie takes in one last drag of her cigarette before crushing it out, and breathes the smoke out in a slow sigh. "I could..I could be just fine if I tell them no."
"You could. Sounds like that's one big damn risk, though."
It is. And Jamie's not sure she's selfless enough to take it.
...
Jake corners her in the Danger Room one night. It's midnight and she's alone, as she's still allowed to sneak down and run solo sessions when the fancy strikes her. He blocks the doorway with his furry blue bulk just as she goes to leave.
At first she's angered by his sudden intrusion, but then his scent hits her like a tidal wave. He's got a look in his eyes, too... Wild Thing grows excited, moreso than usual. It takes a minute, but she puts the pieces together - she'd just started her montly visit from 'Aunt Dot' that morning. Usually he avoids her altogether during this time - rightly so, as he'd be able to smell it on her and feral instincts tend to make it extra awkward - but apparently somethings changed. He's eyeing her, quite unabashedly, like a lion sizing up a potential mate.
Jamie has to backup several paces and take a few deep breathes before she can actually speak. "Ahem. Can I help you, bud?"
"I..smelled..." He starts to answer, stops himself, shakes his head as though to clear it. "It's just, you..seem to have been avoiding me, so I thought I'd..just come find you."
Jamie avoids looking at him. "Thought the Barbie doll didn't want you seein' me anymore?"
"I'm not sure I care what she wants anymore. I miss you."
She rolls her eyes, huffs. "Jake, I think I literally have like ninety nine problems but this - what ever the hell this is - this is not on that list of problems, ok? You need to drop it." She gives him a bit of a shove, forcing her way past him.
"I'm thinking about dropping her, Jamie. I don't know what this is either but it's got me feeling kinda -" He breaks off abruptly, almost as though he isn't sure how to go on, but something about his voice...he growls at her, low and primal.
Wild Thing spins on her heel and answers in kind. "You sure you could handle that, big guy?"
"Think I'd maybe like to find out."
Shit. No. Jamie fights to keep control. "No. No, last I saw there was a ring on Barbie's finger. You wanna actually get rid of that problem, then maybe we can talk, but you clearly ain't thinkin' right just now, McCoy. Go to bed."
Silence. He doesn't budge.
She looks up. He's struggling hard as she is. Her heart pounds, his hands shake some, and for a long minute they just stand there staring at eachother. If she doesn't move right now, they're both going to be in very big trouble.
Trouble. She's got enough of that to deal with already.
It takes effort, but she forces her legs to move. Wild Thing howls in indignation - he's right there, stupid stupid stupid, go and get him go and get him go and - but she's in the elevator already. He chases after her, but the doors are closing. She just lets them.
...
She technically has to see him, during classes and Danger Room sessions, but whatever strange spell had gotten ahold of him that night seems to have dissapated by the next morning. He barely acknowledges her existence, which is just fine by her. In fact, everything on that front is just peachy as long as...
"Summers!" Wild Thing snarls, just managing to drag herself to her feet. Her clothes are singed and her arm is just healing from a nasty burn.
"Oops." The girl in question retorts, hand on her hip. She's not actually smirking, and it's hard to tell what she's thinking with her eyes are hidden behind her visor, as she'd been practicing with her primary power. And boy, does it pack a punch.
Jamie huffs a low growl. The other Junior X-men back away smartly.
Sarah shrugs, flippant. "Oh, relax. You're already healed, and it was just an accident."
"Yeah, so how come your accidents only seem to involve me, huh?" Wild Thing stalks forward a few paces, unable to quell the rage settled like a bomb in her belly. "That's the fourth time in the last two weeks!"
"Uh. Ladies. Is this really necess-" Jake stutters.
"If you're so ready to think it's something personal, I'd have to wonder if it's for a good reason, I know he wasn't in his room last night." Sarah spits, ignoring her fiancé completely, tone openly hostile now.
"Now you're spyin' on him! Boy you're a peice of work, aren't yah?" Jamie fires back. "You got that much time on your hands, why is it he's askin' me to take care of him at night?"
"Jamie!" Jake hisses incredulously, stepping between the two girls. "Stop. Now!"
"Oh no. I'm sorry..." The redhead stalks forward and shoves him aside without ceremony, voice dangerous quiet now as she's within spitting distance of Jamie. "Do you want to run that by me again?"
Wild Thing smirks, and repeats it back nice and slow. "I said, if you've got so much time on your hands, why am I the one he came lookin' for last night."
Several things happen at once. Sarah brings a hand up to her visor and aims the blast right at Jamie, who expects this and dodges with ease only to shoot forward and send a fist flying into the taller girls stomach. The rest of the Junior X-men (except for Jake) beat a hasty retreat. Jake reaches out to restrain the nearest angry female, which just happens to be Jamie, shouting as he does so. "That's enough!"
Sarah calls out. "Computer, simulation Sarah03!"
A simulation forms itself around them, some sort of battlefeild. Sarah lifts a piece of debris with her telekenesis, fueled by her anger, and sends it flying across to slam into Jamie, sending both her and Jake tumbling. He knocks his head on the ground and is too disoriented to keep a grip on the tiny feral, who shoots to her feet and storms towards the redhead. The rest is a blur for the most part. Jamie somehow manages to land a nasty blow to Sarah's eye. Sarah sends the feral slamming back against a wall and holds her there, Jake just watches because he's not sure he could stop the pair if he tried, and just when things are about to get really bad...
A wall of ice forms itself up between the two women. Sarah's feet are covered in a block of it; the surprise registers clear on her face even with the visor on. She releases Jamie, who hits the floor hard.
"Ladies - and I use the term loosely." Mr. Drake barks, sizing up the two girls. "Cool it. That's not a suggestion." His eyes land on the blue ball of fur still sitting dumbfounded against the wall not far from the doors. "What the hell is going on here?"
Jake shakes his head, getting to his feet, ignoring the question as he addresses his girlfriend. "You know, I can respect Jamie. At least she's not playing at being anything other than what she is. You try to act so innocent. I'm not sure I know you as well as I thought." He shakes his head and stalks towards the entrance where Iceman is standing with arms crossed and a hard look on his face. "Let 'em have at it for all I care, it's not my problem anymore. I quit."
Mr. Drake watches him go, shaking his head, muttering. "It's Cyclops and Wolverine all over again. Lord help us all." He heaves a sigh, and calls out louder. "I hope you ladies are proud of yourselves. Storm's office, both of you. Now."
.
They sit for some time, waiting for Ms. Munroe to arrive. Nearly half an hour. Neither girl says a word. Jamie's got nothing to say, and Sarah looks increasingly meloncholy as she fiddles with the diamond still resting on her finger.
Both girls tense when the door finally opens and Ms. Munroe enters. Surely they're about to get one hell of an earful, right?
Except Ms. Munroe is calm as could be. She comes to stand before the girls, arms crossed, and seems to contemplate them for a moment before heaving a long-suffering sigh. "Jamie."
"Yes, ma'am."
"My son tells me you were more or less just defending yourself. Is that true?"
Jamie glances at Sarah. She could, quite easily, just throw the other girl right under the bus there. But that would be just plain petty, which isn't really her MO. "I could've just walked away, ma'am, it was -"
"My fault." Sarah interjects quietly. "The whole thing. I've been... it was my fault."
Ms. Munroe shakes her head. "It's not like you to pick fights, Sarah. Is there something else you girls want to tell me about what's going on?"
"We've both been doing the picking." Jamie replies, plain honest.
"But it won't happen again." Sarah says, firmer.
"Can you promise me that? Because I'm beginning to think I need to start reevaluating things where the team is concerned." Ms. Munroe pauses, as though choosing her words. "And I don't want to do that. You're gonna be a force to be reckonned with, girls, we can all see it. But first I need you to decide to be better than this. Sarah, I know you're better than this."
Jamie snorts. And everyone knows I'm actually not, right?
Sarah says nothing.
Ms. Munroe continues. "You're dismissed. I know you've got a bit of a drive back to the city."
Sarah nods, sends a last glance at Jamie, and beats a hasty retreat.
Ororo relaxes a fraction, leaning back against her desk. "Has anyone ever -"
Jamie scowls. "What? Told me how much like my father I am?"
Ms. Munroe seems unbothered by the attitude she's being shown, though. "No, child. Has anyone so far ever bothered to remind you of the simple fact that you are young and you do not have to be him. He called to inform me that you may be in some kind of trouble. You don't have to deal with it alone if that's true. I know it's what he would do, he's a hard headed one, but you can walk a different path if you choose."
"I'm starting to think the world may have already made that decision for me, ma'am." Jamie answers quietly.
"Nonesense, child. You always have a choice. You need only be wary of the fact that things become more complicated the longer you take to make it. You don't have to talk to me if you do not wish to. Just know that the consequences will rest on your shoulders alone if you don't."
Oh trust me. Jamie thinks. I am painfully aware.
...
She finds him outside. It's freezing cold again now but the temperature had been warmer for a while, so there's no snow on the ground. Everything just looks dead and dreary now. He's sat beneath the skeleton of an old oak tree.
"I'm gonna quit the team." She says quietly.
Jake doesn't answer. He won't even look at her.
"I just...figured you should know." She goes on. "Before you actually decide to quit yourself."
He still says nothing. Just sits there quietly fiddling with the dead grass.
Jamie sighs. "I'm sorry, for what little that's worth. I'll leave yah be now, then." She spins around and begins meandering off back towards the mansion, hands stuffed in her pockets.
"You never needed to say sorry." He says it so quiet that her feral ears just barely pick it up.
Brows furrowed, she faces him again. "What?"
"You're not the one that should be sorry." He says, a little louder. "You told me what was up. You told me to stop pushing my luck. You never tried to pretend like you were any better than you are or that we would work somehow. You've never really lied to me."
Jamie shrugs. "No sense in sugar coatin' shit, that's the way I see it. Bein' plain honest makes it easier to find friends worth havin'."
"You're smart."
"Nah. You're smart and so's Sarah. I just..have already learned some things the hard way, I guess."
"Don't quit the team. I doubt Sarah's gonna cause any more trouble now, we talked already and I think she's finally pulled her head out of her..." He hesitates; clearly there's something on the tip of his tongue that he wouldn't normally let slip. Jamie raises an eyebrow, and he clears his throat. "Well, uhm. I mean, you seem to have knocked her down a peg or two."
Jamie brings two fingers to her brow in a lazy salute, winking. "Happy to be of service. But, uh, this place, the team... I don't wanna cause any more trouble. I'm trying to be good, Jake."
His eyes harden a bit. "Don't do that." His reply is sharp enough to sting. "Don't start lying now. I saw the way you went at her, Jamie. Like a wild animal. You wanted to make her hurt, and you did. Her eyes so swollen she can hardly see out of it. If she'd come at you without any good reason, I'd have understood, but you instegated it, you knew what you were doing no different than she did. You're not trying to be good. It's not in your nature and everyone knows it."
She looks away. Nods slowly as his words sink in. Reaches for her cigarettes, suddenly not caring a lick that he'll disapprove. "Well, anyway. Now yah know why I'm quitting. I'll never be that much a team player."
He studies her for a minute, bringing a hand up to worry at the blue fur on the back of his neck. "We've still got a few months before we're finished with school. Keep training with us at least until graduation. No reason for you not to."
She hesitates. God, she wants to say no, tries like hell to resist. But he's looking at her now with big gold eyes and they've softened a fraction with hope now and she just... "Ok." She grumbles around the cigarette she's just stuck between her lips, gruff. "Just until graduation."
He offers her a small smile. "Good. I'll..see you around."
"Sure."
For a minute they just stare at eachother. Everythings changed now, and they both know it, but there's simply nothing more to be said. Jamie rakes a hand through her hair and spins around, wandering off, and that's the end of that.
...
She refuses to believe he's right. Really, outright refuses. She could be better. A decent person like Tash is, like Jake himself is. Like Joan Fletcher is and has always been.
Jamie knows she could be better.
But right now she's still got some things hanging over her head. Heavy things, weights threatening to crush her flat. If the Snake Lady and her Friends withdraw whatever protection they've apparently been extending to her, it won't matter how good she tries to be. She'll get put away for something. Maybe even murder, if there's any evidence floating around out there; it's relatively unlikely since years have passed, but she can't be sure now that there isn't. And she's heard some things about what happens to mutants with charges like that under their belts. No ones sure of the details, but it is known that there's a prison somewhere that's impenetrable. Once put away there, no one leaves.
Which means that to start being good, she's going to have to toughen up again and be very bad for a while longer.
She wanders outside for a while, making sure she's well out of earshot of Jake, and that he isn't going to come after her for any reason. Slips off to a more secluded corner of the mansions grounds, making sure no one else is around either. Lights another cigarette, heaves a sigh, and takes out her cellphone.
"Miss Fletcher." The Snake Lady greets her after one short ring.
"I'll cooperate." Jamie gets straight to the point. "What's my next move?"
"Excellent! You'll have to get away again for a while. I'll send you a location..."
...
Winter lingers a bit longer than usual; the school begins to seem weighted down with the persistence of the wet and the cold. The atmosphere is just a little too dreary and depressed. Danger Room sessions start to seem more a chore than usual for all involved. Though Sarah and Jake seem to be on speaking terms at least, and he had not actually quit, she seems more serious than before, and he simply more focused on his school work and assisting his father with things in the lab. Jamie is in and out a lot, missing sessions at random intervals, but no one bothers to question it as long as she's back by the curfew kept for all the older students - a reasonable ten o' clock. Life drags on, slowly it seems, but it does drag on.
Joan Fletcher returns, a week into the fourth month of the year, Logan at her side. To spite having evidently been staying in the cabin together, the pair keep a respectful distance from eachother, and Jamie smells little of Logan's scent on her mother. It's clear that the pair had not - been close close. Or else, they had, and are thinking to sheild her from it for now. If so, she thinks she can understand and even appreciate it. She says nothing of it.
Joan does come with news, though. "Your grandfather..well now, he won't tell me just why, mind you first of all."
Jamie blinks at her mother, feigning confusion (though she thinks she knows what's coming). "Why what?"
"Well it seems your grandmother finally crossed some line or other, I'm not sure."
"Yes, and?"
Joan blows out a breath. "And he did the one thing I thought he'd never be brave enough to do. He's divorcing her. Can you believe that?"
Jamie just shrugs as a neat little smirk tugs at her lips. "Sure I can. And I say the old man better make it hurt."
...
Logan heads her off down in the Danger Room during one of her late night sessions. They spar with eachother for a while; she seems to keep him more on his toes than she could before, and he praises her for it openly. "You've been practicing what I taught you." He seems almost surprised.
"Yeah."
"You're gonna be able to kick my ass pretty soon. Guess I'd better watch out."
She giggles a bit. "That'll be the day!"
They sit in silence a moment, catching their breathe.
"Listen, kid." Logan starts, bringing a hand up to run it over the stubble coating his cheeks and chin. "About those friends of yours I ran into..."
"That won't happen again." She answers, firm and gruff.
He raises an eyebrow. "You sound awful sure."
"Because I am. It won't happen again."
He nods. "Ok. You sure there's nothin' you wanna maybe tell me -"
"I've got it handled." She snaps.
"Right." He holds up his hands in surrender. "Well. Offer stands, kid."
"I can take care of myself." She forces herself to soften a fraction. "But. Uhm. Thanks. For looking out for my Ma."
"She doesn't make it easy, either." He grumbles. "You Fletcher girls are a stubborn bunch."
"I'm not - I'm not a Fletcher."
He tilts his head at her in that usual, curious way.
"I'm... just kinda me, I guess. Or..."
"Logan." He says.
It's her turn to give him the eybrow. "What?"
"It's my surname, kid. You should've been born Carol James Logan."
"Logan." She murmurs. "Yeah. Ok. I..did tell my grandmother I would change my last name to my father's. Not sure why I said it, I just..."
That should bring up a lot of questions. But he doesn't ask any. Just nods. "Well. Now you know. So..change it."
...
...She does...
...
It's May before Spring seems to finally, officially take hold, though snow had long since turned to rain and the trees have already begun to show at least the barest signs of life. Orouboros agrees to give Jamie a break from her training, as they're ahead of schedule with her anyway, and oddly willing to understand the importance of her finishing school. She's left with plenty of free time, which she mostly spends with Tash and Anna. The nightmares finally ease up, occuring only a few times a week, less if she finds a way to exhaust herself properly. For a little while all is right with the world.
And then something strange occurs - Sarah misses a Danger Room session. And then another.
The third time it happens, Mr. Drake finally takes the time to inform them that their fearless leader has taken a trip with the school she attends in NYC, and likely won't be back for some time. This isn't so odd a thing on it's own, there could be any number of college programs she's involved in. What is odd is that no one had been given prior warning of this, the woman herself doesn't seem to have mentioned it before simply disappearing, and Jake is totally silent on the matter.
Jamie wonders if anyone else notices, though; he stops using that awful syrum almost immediately. He had been using it still for a while but now he's just - Jake. All broad and fluffy and blue, and what's more, he seems to be walking with a little more pep in his step. Wild Thing urges Jamie to talk to him NOW but she's not sure. He's happy, and she's afraid she'd just complicate that. Unable to decide on what she should really do if anything, she just keeps avoiding him as much as possible.
Naturally, even this backfires on her.
She has a bad night, wakes to find her bed clothes soaked through with sweat. Her claws are extended and the sheets are all torn up, too, which hasn't happened in weeks. Not feeling much up to the task of trying to sleep some more, she gets up and quietly changes clothes, thinking to sneak down to the Danger Room.
He's there when she arrives. Almost as though he'd known she'd be coming.
She raises a questioning eyebrow at him.
A smile tugs at his lips. "You are nothing if not a creature of habit. It's Friday night. You come down here on Friday pretty often."
She brings a hand up to rub at the back of her neck, sheepish. "Huh. Hadn't noticed."
"I..I was thinking just earlier, I miss you as a sparring partner." He's got a sparkle in his eye, a very particular look. "You mind...?"
Dance with Future-Mate, dance with Future-Mate... Wild Thing starts to chanting in the back of Jamie's mind.
She can't resist. "Sure. I guess. Why not?"
He grins. It seems almost wolfish, but that's not at all like him. "Let's go then, Wild Thing."
He's quick for being so bulky. She's quicker, naturally, but he's good at compensating for that, and so it really is a dance they do. A Tango that had slowly grown more graceful, until now... his scent is... Wild Thing rushes to the surface, taking control by force. Dipping down quick in a move usually reserved for finishing off an opponent in a cage match, she swings a leg out to sweep his out from under him, then reaches out to grab him by his t-shirt, pulling him close and...
But this isn't a cage match, and it's Future-Mate she's fighting. She's suddenly lost as to how to proceed; stands a moment with a fist hauled back but just suspended in mid-air. For a moment they just stare at eachother, nose to nose.
"You win." He rumbles.
"Not a fight. No one wins." She answers, gruff.
"Of course it's a fight. That was kinda the point." He leans in even closer to her.
Jamie retreats even further, giving Wild Thing near total control. Might as well see what happens at this point, right? She smirks, dipping down to bury her face in the fur at his neck, taking in his scent. "Fight means yah hurt." She grumbles, her voice near a growl. "Match like this, s'not a fight."
"What is it then?" He asks, quieter now.
Wild Thing smirks. "You know."
He pulls her close. His lips brush against hers, warm and teasing.
She lets his shirt go to press a hand against his chest, stilling him. "Don't start 'less yah're ready to finish it."
A growl rumbles up his throat. "Shut up!" He snarls, moving without warning. He picks her much tinier frame up with ease, spinning her around to throw her against the wall just behind him. He lunges forward, devouring her lips with his own. She tears his shirt off with a burst of strength and aggression that only serves to egg him on, and before either knows it they're dancing again.
.
She's not sure how much time has past. It could be hours, it could be thirty minutes. She forgets to care or why she even should. Hell. There's a point in between where she forgets her own name. All she can think is...
Sweet Jesus.
.
"We..should.." He says, breathless, staring at the ceiling.
"...yeah..." She agrees.
But neither makes any real move to get on their feet.
"We didn't use - I didn't even think of -"
"Not needed. Ma took me to take care of that when she accidentally found out about me and that kid Dillon a few months back. She didn't like the idea but she hated the idea of an accidental grandkid more. As if I'd be that stupid about it." Jamie snorts, and pats his arm. "Anyway. No worries, darlin'."
"...what the hell just happened, Jamie?" He blurts suddenly.
She pulls herself to a sitting position, raking a hand through her sweat dampened hair as she smirks down at him. "Don't blame me. You sure seemed to know what you were doin' when we started in, there."
"I don't...ah..."
She knows that look on his face. He's blushing beneath all the fur. His eyes glance over her naked frame and then dart away as though... "Wait. Yah did know what yah were doin', didn't yah?" She asks, eyebrow raised now.
Silence. It speaks volumes. He meets her eyes, almost apologetic.
"You've never even seen a pair of tits before, have you?" Her amusement fades.
He shakes his head.
"Aww Jesus." She shoots to her feet. "Well hell, yah coulda told me, McCoy."
"It wasn't - I mean - I knew you knew what you were doing and you took charge so readily..."
"Well great. Now I'll never be able to look that red head of a gorgon in the eye again."
"It's not that big a deal. She's not my girlfriend, Jamie."
"Oh please," Jamie snarls, feeling cynical and growing angry, "I know she ain't now but we both know she's gonna come back from where ever the hell she is and you'll take one look at 'er with her shoes and her laces and her hair and before any of us knows it she'll have that ring back on her finger." She snatches up her clothes and begins getting dressed.
"I'm not that naive, Jamie. I knew what I wanted when I came down here. I wanted..."
She blows out a breath. She faces him again with a hand on her hip, still topless but without shame. "Oh, I can guess. You wanted a distraction and you felt like being reckless and you knew I wouldn't say no." She forces a smirk. "Which is fair 'nough, because you were right. I never say no. There aren't many things I'm good at so far, but the few things I am good at, I'm great at."
"Don't." He barks suddenly, looking almost sick now. "Don't talk about yourself like that. You've got this all wrong." But he's not looking at her.
She shakes her head. "You said it yourself. It's not in my nature to be good. Yah were countin' on it when yah came down here to meet me. It's why I sounded like fun. I know how this works."
"I was angry when I said that."
"But you were right."
He gets to his feet finally, reaching out to brush a hand against her cheek just gently, sadness behind his eyes now. "I'm sorry."
Bringing an arm up to snake it around his neck, she pulls him down and kisses him, nipping at his lip. "Tell you what, handsome. I got no more shits to give. Promise me you won't get the brilliant idea to tell Barbie it was me when yah go runnin' back to her, and you can keep me on the line long's yah want." She runs a hand through his hair. "Not like I got anythin' better to do, anyway." She adds, deliberately flippant as she steps back to put her shirt on.
"That's not what I meant this to be." He's quiet now and looks defeated.
"Well...you're welcome to prove me wrong, then." With that, she leaves him.
.
They talk some throughout the next week. He's a little awkward about it at first but warms back up to her quick enough, and suddenly they're friends again, and that'll be nice while it lasts.
Friday comes. She takes her usual trip down to the Danger Room, and isn't surprised when he's there.
"You sure about this?"
"No." But he doesn't make a move to leave her either.
She could make that move herself. She should. But she's never been that selfless, and that's the hard truth of it. "Well c'mon then, darlin'." She says, smooth. "Let's dance."
.
She passes Logan on her way back up to the girls dorm. He's either patroling the halls with purpose, or just feeling restless. Either way, she seems to startle him. He pauses as he his eyes land on her, tensing.
She smirks. "What? I manage to scare the big bad Wolverine?"
He relaxes slowly. A smile tugs at his lips. "Jesus, kid. When did you get so good at tip-toein'?"
She beams. "I've been practicin'!"
He chuckles. "Well don't you look proud? Good job. Now go to bed. It's almost two."
"Yes, sir." She slips past him.
"Hey kid." His gruff voice carries out down the hallway again.
She pauses just before the door to the girls dorm. Oh. She just screwed up. She can hear it in his voice and she knows exactly why.
"Where've you been?" His voice has gone gruffer even than it's usual. "You smell like..."
Sex. She smells like sweat and sex and Jake McCoy and she'd just allowed herself to pass within about two feet of the only other person around who could detect it that easy. Closing her eyes as her heart starts pounding, she tries to keep her voice steady. "Oh. Just..down in the Danger Room. Where else would I have been?" It's not a lie. "Jake and I were sparring." Stretching the truth, still not a lie. She turns to face Logan again. "He's not sleeping so well these days either, small wonder why."
He brings a hand up to run it over the stubble coating his cheeks and chin. "Yeah, I heard about the trouble."
"Guess it's kinda wearin' on him."
"I'll bet."
For a minute they just kind of stare eachother down. Jamie clears her throat. "I should get to bed. I've got a test tomorrow."
"Yeah." Logan nods. "Yeah, go on."
She reaches for the door to the dorm now, cracks it open.
"You're playin' with fire, kid. Take it from someone who really knows." Logan adds, quieter this time. Worried.
She goes to bed.
...
"Is that - are you hummin'?" Anna's voice rings out, incredulous.
Jamie blinks up at the older girl, eyebrow raising. They're outside; Jamie had been working in the gardens, or at least attempting to as best she could, helping Ms. Munroe out in exchange for some cash to boost her stash with. "Uh." She answers. "Yeah, I guess so. You got a problem?"
Anna crosses her arms. "Yah're plantin' flowers in 'Ro's garden. There's not a cigarette in sight and yah're hummin'. Pinch me."
Lips twitching upwards in amusement, Jamie reaches forward and pinches the Southerners arm.
"Ow! Ok, so Ah ain't dreamin'. Well what the hell's got into yah, then, girly? You feelin' alright?" She presses a hand against Jamie's forehead for as long as she dares, checking for a non-existent fever.
Jamie laughs. "I'm fine! Just...in a good mood. Suns shinin', birds 'r chirpin', smells nice out here cause they just cut the lawn. I love that smell." She shrugs. "What, you got somethin' against me bein' happy?"
Anna studies her. "Yah ain't drunk, are yah?"
The feral just rolls her eyes. "S'ppose the questions kinda fair but no. Just as content not to be, actually."
"Well not that it ain't nice to hear yah laughin' for once, Sug, Ah'm just curious as to what could possibly have managed this miracle."
"Miracle?"
"Yeah! Can't even r'member the last time Ah saw yah smile like that."
Graduations coming up soon. She's got things to be stressed about - mainly the fact that she'll be working for Orouboros as soon as school ends - but all that seems so far away right now. She and Jake are friends again and have been going at it like rabbits and for right now it is bliss, so much so that's she can almost let herself hope for something more to eventually come of it. "Aww, whatever, quit distractin' me! I'm plantin'..." She waves at the mess of mulch and flower bulbs waiting to be planted, picking up the tag for one. "... hy-, ah, hy-dran-geas? Apparently. Whatever those are. Did I say that right? Those are flowers, too, ain't they?"
Giggling openly now, Anna plants herself down in the dirt cross legged. "Yah look about as lost and ridiculous out here as Logan would. Didn't yahr Grandma ever want yah to learn about things like gardenin'?"
"Nah. She's got people for that."
"Oh. Well, yeah, that sounds about right actually. Well c'mon then, Ah can help."
"Thank god. I was thinkin' you'd never offer!"
