Author's Note: A bit of colorful language in this chapter as well.
Suddenly filled with a need for answers, he turned the door knob and stepped in to offer a response to Jean's cruel statement.
"I'll know."
Everything inside of Scott had shattered upon hearing his wife's brazen ripostes to Logan's questions. Now, moving further into the room and gazing upon the stunned nude form of his wife reclining shamelessly on the sofa, he was ready to die. The tension in the room was oppressive and there would be no escape from it this night. A gamut of emotions warred within him for dominance. Pain, resentment, despondency and fury were the primary offenders. The wide range of thoughts that flooded his mind at the scene he was witnessing through his ruby quartz glasses was staggering. Was this a nightmare? A colossal sick and twisted joke? Was he hallucinating? Was he being punked?
However, the guilty expression on his wife's face quickly refuted those assertions. There was no way around this and no way to rationalize what was utterly evident. Jean's slip up that he had been waiting for had come to fruition. He now wished that it hadn't happened because how were they ever going to get past this, if ever at all? This, Jean's betrayal, was indefensible and there was no going back from it. There would be no going back to what they shared. In one fell swoop, she had turned her back on him and on everything he had to offer her. It was a tough pill to swallow, but swallow it he had too, if he stood a chance of regaining control of the pieces he now found his life shattered into.
Scott's gaze then swung back and forth between the other occupants of the room, who had since gravitated to hold onto each other. Logan stood stoic and warily, one arm snaked protectively around Ororo's waist. The feral was breathing heavily and his eyes were almost an eerie obsidian, signs Scott recognized as the precursors to him going completely ballistic. He knew Logan was hanging on by a thread and it wouldn't take much for him to snap. The gloomy expression was still present on Ororo's face, but it now had a partner, anger. She was frantically attempting to calm Logan, as she too knew he was staggering on the brink.
Refocusing his red gaze on Jean, he dug deep to garner some semblance of control he knew he would undoubtedly need to get through tonight and beyond.
"What is going on here? What is this all about? Jean…" Scott's words faded to a tortured moan as he turned away and covered his face with his hands. The sight of her was now disturbing to him.
Jean could only stare at her husband in muted horror. For an endless span of time, while the seconds ticked by, she only stared at him, wide-eyed and still. Her wait for the other shoe to drop was now over. It had finally dropped and with the loudest thump of them all. She had played a lethal game of chance and now stood the biggest loser. Jean Grey-Summers, telepath and telekinetic extraordinaire, had been caught red-handed. Somewhere, deep down in a place she refused to acknowledge, she did believe that her game would eventually be found out, but she didn't believe it would be so soon. She was careless in her plans and that laxity was about to cost her. How dearly? She was about to find out.
Jean quickly scrambled up from her compromising position on the sofa and hastily belted the flimsy robe around her body. "Scott…please." Her quiet plea unleashed his anger.
His body literally quaked with the unmitigated rage that washed over him. "Shut up! Shut up!" Scott thundered viciously.
Scalding tears welled up in Jean's eyes as she stared at her husband. She had refused to think about what would happened if her plans should go awry, but there was no fleeing giving credence to those same thoughts right now, as she watched her husband completely fall apart. An insurmountable amount of guilt washed over her.
Jean ill-advisedly took a few tentative steps towards Scott. The fury engulfing him was evident in his rigid posture. "Don't you dare come near me, you tramp!"
Jean's eyes widened, shocked at Scott's words. She hastily took those few steps backwards. Never had he taken that kind of tone with her. Never had he uttered such malicious words to her. But then again, never had she fueled such anger inside of him. "Scott, please. Can we discuss this in private?" She tearfully begged.
"There's nothing to discuss. Your actions have done all the talking." Scott shook his head, still disbelieving.
"Please, Scott. This isn't what it looks like." Her whispered appeal fell on deaf ears.
"I don't want to hear your bullshit, Jean! To think I was giving you the benefit of the doubt all this time and you've been nothing but a tramp!"
"Please don't call me that," Jean miserably retorted.
Scott laughed humorlessly. The unnerving sound filled Jean with such dread. "Oh Really? What would you call a woman who just finished having sex with her husband only to be caught a while later begging another man to screw her? A damn tramp!"
Jean closed her eyes against each castigating word that seemed to splinter into her ears and went straight to her brain. She held her head between her hands, willing the words not to register.
"If I didn't come down here, there was nothing stopping you from fully becoming his whore like you've always wanted, was there?"
Tears welled up in Ororo's eyes as she watched the man whom she considered a brother disintegrate before her eyes. For the first time in years the staid leader of the group was now completely over the edge. His anguish was so palpable that she felt it as keenly as if it was hers. "Scott…?" She ventured. "Please, calm down."
He jerked around to stare at Ororo. The woman whom he had always wanted the best for. The woman who was the sister he never had. She too didn't deserve this. To think they all trusted and was loyal to his tramp of a wife. Then suddenly, realization dawned. The lack of surprise and gloomy look from Ororo just before they entered the room, the evaporation of the warmth in the women's relationship, Jean's avoidance of Ororo and her uneasiness when Ororo was around and she practically giving the Goddess the evil eye…it all made sense to him now. Jean wasn't simply having problems accepting the relationship between Ororo and Logan, she wanted Logan for herself, married or not. Then, instinctively, he knew this wasn't the first time that Jean had tried to lure Logan into sleeping with her.
Scott dragged his hands down his face. God!
By now, a group of students had congregated outside the recreational room to see what the uproar was all about. They stood wide-eyed, many intuitively knowing they were witnessing the end of the first couple of the X-Men.
"Please, everyone, get back to your rooms." Charles Xavier's voice echoed in the students' minds, as he wheeled himself towards the ruckus. When a few students stubbornly took their time in obeying his orders, his voice broke out in the stillness of the hallway. "Now! Get back to your rooms!"
Charles Xavier prided himself on always maintaining a neutral position in regards to his X-Men and their personal problems, trusting them to work through their issues and arrive at viable resolutions. Quite rarely did he have to step in and veer them on the right path. He saw himself as a father figure to his X-Men. He even saw a few of them as his children, even though genetics said otherwise, namely Scott, Ororo and Jean. Charles already had an idea of what happened, but as he wheeled into the room, the hostility in the air was stifling. He observed the two couples in the room. Ororo and Logan were standing possessively next to each other. Logan, as usual was defensive and Ororo distraught. On the other side, Scott stood belligerently, ready to strike something or someone, while Jean stood, head bowed, defeated. Charles had no idea how to begin to fix this.
All four heads swiveled at the sound of the door clicking shut to face their mentor. Trepidation was clearly written over his face and his eyes were full of sadness. There were no doubts in their minds that he knew exactly what had taken place. "I would like for cooler heads to prevail," Charles started, his eyes dancing back and forth between them. Charles was in pain at seeing the disharmony among his X-men. "I believe that we can all act in a civil manner to bring about a resolution to this conflict."
"Too late fer that, Chuck," Logan replied, his voice rough.
Turning to Logan, Scott snarled. "You got that right, Wolverine. It's too late because you've already did the damage."
Logan's answering growl was disconcerting. "Ya're gonna blame me fer yer wife throwin' herself at me after bein' told I ain't interested many times?!" Logan balled his fists tightly, toying with the idea of releasing his claws.
"You're damned right I blame you!" Scott yelled, clearly pass the point of reason. "You've done nothing but sniffed around her from the very beginning. Are you happy now? You can have her. I sure as hell don't want to be tied to a whore!"
Ororo stepped forward. "You cannot cast blame on Logan, Scott. He is…"
Logan raised a hand and rested it on her shoulder, effectively silencing her defense of him. Squeezing her shoulder lightly, he said, "It's okay, darlin'." Turning to Scott, he continued, "Ya know Cyke, I'm man enough ta admit I was wrong playin' wid ya like that, tryin' ta come between both of ya. Truth is, I ain't ever been in love wid Red and I never really wanted her as much as ev'ry one seem ta think. I just didn't know how ta go after the one I truly wanted. And I got a kick outta toyin' wid ya."
Scott stared at the feral mutant, for the very first time seeing genuine remorse in his eyes.
Logan continued. "The kick in the ass I was given forced me ta see how my actions were affectin' yer relationship. I made a promise ta stop immediately and even told Jeannie that I ain't continuin' the game anymore. Told her ta concentrate on lovin' ya and bein' wid ya, 'cause ya're a good man. I honored that promise."
Scott's snort rang out in the silence that followed Logan's heartfelt declaration. "You expect me to believe that tripe?"
"Believe what ya want Cyke. But I washed my hands of both of ya a long time ago."
Scott's hand made a move towards his glasses. Logan quickly stepped in front of Ororo, concerned that the unhinged X-Men, in his rage would begin blasting optic beams any minute. Logan's claws slowly extended.
Charles, who up until then had been silent, bellowed, "That is quite enough! Ororo? Would you kindly take Logan and leave me, Scott and Jean alone, please?"
"There is no need, Professor," Scott interjected. "I'm leaving." He turned to Ororo and his anger dissipated, only to be replaced by anguish. "You may want to get rid of this animal before he ruins your life too. Because that's all he's good at."
He turned on his feet and swiftly walked towards the exit.
"Scott!" He stilled at Jean's hysterical call.
His head swiveled to look at her. He didn't recognize the Jean he had fallen in love with, the Jean he had dragged his feet in admitting that he loved. Their history rapidly flashed through his mind, especially their history after Logan took up residence at the mansion. He had fought like a man possessed against the threat Logan had posed to his relationship. A relationship he readily admitted he needed more than life itself. Letting Logan win was never an option. He had never liked Logan to begin with and only saw him as an unbalanced freak who operated solely for himself. So, letting him win in the battle for Jean would have been an irreparable blow to his very existence. However, looking at the defeated posture and guilt-ridden expression of his wife, he now knew that that fight was in vain. Looking at her now, really looking at her, he realized that he never truly and completely had her love or attention. The seeds of doubt that had continued to grow when he witnessed, time after time, Jean's vulnerability to Logan's charisma, were now in full bloom. The blinders were now off and he had no one to blame but himself for turning a blind eye to her culpability in the entire affair.
It was always easier to lay the blame at Logan's feet for the problems that existed in their relationship. It was so much easier to blame the feral and portray Jean as the innocent party than to actually acknowledge Jean's accountability. Admitting Jean's role and giving credibility to her liability would have opened Pandora's Box, consequently, giving free rein to severely detrimental and far-reaching consequences they were both inadequately equipped to deal with. From beginning to end, his perfect wife, was a willing and liable participant. She had everyone fooled and he was the biggest fool of them all.
Now, years of closing his eyes to her actions and sweeping their problems underneath the rug had culminated into this disaster. He now saw his marriage for what it was, a sham. The joke was now on him because he had used her vulnerability to Logan as a reason to propose marriage, despite his lingering doubts and fears. God! What a mess! But he was done with it, done with her.
"You know, Jean, the love I felt for you was true. I loved you with everything I am. I would have walked through the pits of hell for you. But somehow you didn't think or feel what I was offering was enough." He exhaled loudly, attempting to control his breaking voice. "Sure, I was a bit laid-back at times when it came to our relationship, but I finally man-up and did what I've wanted to do for years. I asked you to be my wife. Somehow, that too wasn't enough for you. Now, I can't continue not being enough for you. I can't continue to try my best to make you happy, only to fall short in your eyes. I just can't do it anymore."
"I love you, Scott! Please believe that. You are more than enough!" Jean exclaimed, swiping the back of her hand across her face to wipe away her torrent of tears.
Scott shook his head, his grief and defeat evident in the slump of his shoulders. Refusing to acknowledge her statement, he opened the door and walked out of the room and their life together.
Logan, Ororo and Charles all stood still, eyeing Jean as her body shook with woeful sobs.
Ororo knew that this was the only outcome possible for Jean's deplorable behavior, but she had still hoped that all could have been resolved amicably. As she watched the woman whom, despite everything, she still saw as a friend and still loved, her heart broke for her. She wanted nothing but the best for Jean, but she didn't see how that was even remotely possible now, since Jean apparently didn't want the best for herself.
Logan couldn't say that he felt sorry for Jean. She was warned that she ran the risk of losing everything if she continued on with the game. After Ororo had ripped him a new one for his wreaking havoc on the golden couple's relationship and had wheedled the promise out of him, he had quickly disengaged and cease and desisted. Jean on the other hand, refused to let go, only upping the ante in her twisted game. For whatever reason, his hyper senses had led him to deduce that Jean was out to destroy Ororo. He hadn't gotten down to the why as of yet, but he knew that he would.
Charles stared at his adopted daughter. She was such a beautiful, smart, talented woman, but somewhere along the line she had forgotten that she was in possession of those gifts and instead chose to focus on one upping Ororo. He knew Jean believed that he had no clue as to what her plans were, but he did. He knew everything that went on around him. He simply chose to let them resolve their problems on their own and only stepped in when the circumstances called for it. He now wished he had stepped into this situation and deflated it once he had learned of Jean's jealousy of the relationship Logan and Ororo now shared.
Charles sighed thinking about the last couple of months and the complete deterioration of Jean's and Ororo's relationship. It was heartbreaking for him to watch the corrosion of that relationship, but he wasn't surprised at this result. In fact, he knew it was coming, as Jean had always demonstrated the propensity to be in competition with Ororo. At first, it was amusing to watch. If Ororo wore a stylish outfit today that earned much attention from the mansion's populace, a few days later, Jean would be seen in the same or a similar outfit. At one time, Jean had even started wearing blue contact lenses. Things seemed to go downhill once he extended the offer to Logan to become a member of the team. Logan's immediate pursuit of Jean and her reciprocity threatened to tear his family apart. But he knew the truth about why Logan attached himself to Jean the way he did and why his children all reacted the way they did to the situation. But again, he chose to give them a wide berth to work out their problems. Oh how he wish he had given more thought to the situation before arriving at the decision he did. He had quite a mess to clean up.
Jean's eyes darted between the remaining three occupants. With each passing second, her eyes hardened and her submissive attitude dissolved. She had to transfer the pain and the guilt, so she did the only thing she could do at that moment, she lashed out at them. "I suppose you all think I'm getting what I deserve," she sneered.
Logan grunted. Jean's head snapped towards him, her eyes narrowing. Exercising her powers, she merely lifted his weighty body and flung him across the room.
"Logan!" Ororo cried, running towards where Jean had deposited his body. Her eyes glossed over white and electricity crackled around her, as she stood over Logan's inert form like an avenging angel. No one hurt the man she loved without repercussions. Lightning danced on her fingertips, ready to do its mistress bidding at any moment.
Charles, sensing the potential for an even bigger disaster, stated emphatically, "Stop this at once!"
Jean laughed a harsh sound. "Of course you would take their side."
A low growl rumbled from Logan's chest, letting them know that his healing factor had done its job. Slowly, Ororo helped him to his feet. "I should knock the hell outta ya fer that," Logan mumbled.
"I said stop it!"
Ororo, who up until this point had been relatively calm, gave vent to her emotions. Her frustration boiled over, her calm demeanor cracked and she lashed out at Jean. "What did you hope to gain by provoking Logan? Did you gain the satisfaction you wanted? Was it worth it to destroy this family?" Each question was punctuated by a rumble of thunder. "You have transformed into a selfish, hurtful woman, who has brought much damage on this family this night."
Ororo's words were like a slap to the face that actually brought tears back to her eyes, but Jean refused to let them fall, thus giving them satisfaction.
Jean's chin went up defensively. "Oh, do be quiet Ororo. No one cares what you think or believe."
Charles turned his head to Jean, his sharp blue eyes spearing her. It let her know in no uncertain terms that he knew everything she had done and was going to do. Everything single thing. "Do you still not comprehend that there are always consequences to our actions? What did you gain or hope to gain in this crusade?"
Jean unable to hold his gaze lowered her head in shame. Charles' words finally penetrated whatever haze of irrationality that had clouded her mind. Her actions were unpardonable and would not go unpunished. The message was received loud and clear and Jean broke down hysterically. The realization of all she had lost in her campaign finally hitting her full force.
