Chapter 3: Moving On

Scott spent the first few days mostly in the in his room. Eventually, Scott found comfort in his old garage. All the tools were exactly were he remembered them to be. He took one look at the last bike he was working on, picked up a wrench and he went on about his business as if he had never left. The others in the mansion were happy that Scott had found something to do and everyone just let him be and not to pressure him into doing anything too quickly. In the mornings, he would stop in for a quick coffee, eat lunch by himself and when forced to sit with others for dinner, he would barely utter a word.

The lower levels of the mansion were still somewhat of a mess. Cerebro remained inoperable indefinitely and many of the adjoining rooms were heavily damaged during the attack. The upper floors remained mostly intact with minor damage to some of the rooms and façade. The worst damage was from broken doors and windows. Logan took to fixing the upstairs.

Then, Scott took to repairing the more complicated systems of the lower levels. He worked diligently and mostly alone, despite the offers of help from Jean and Storm. Scott was eager to get the training room, or as some of the students dubbed, the "danger room" working again.

Jean would pop up every now and then, trying to seem as if she wasn't being "stalk-erish" She couldn't help but laugh at the irony of her situation. She was supposed to be the teacher but instead acted as if she were one of her teenage students. She went to the lower levels and heard the noises coming from the Danger Room and went to investigate. She arrived to see Scott come out, full of dirt, a few scratches, and tears all over his clothes.

He passed her casually and remarked. "You can tell Ororo that it'll be back up in a few days."

Later on that day, Jean watched the sun set from the 2nd floor terrace. She wrapped her arms around herself and was occupied with her thoughts. Scott had come back to her life like a tidal wave. It washed over her and pulled her in by the rip tide. But ever since Scott died, Jean had been drowning in her own emotions over Scott and now the only person who could save her was back. Scott continued to remain closed off. She thought it was a cruel punishment Scott had for her for the way things ended between the two of them. She had to take a grip of herself and realize that he was closed off to everyone, including the professor and Ororo. And with that she felt almost relieved but at the same time couldn't help but think that, in Scott's eyes, she was now demoted to just being… any other person.

Scott told her that he had been in love with her ever since they met (although he actually didn't realize it himself until later on). Looking back before they started going out, she could see how Scott had always treated her like more than a friend. She felt so dumb for not realizing it then. But now she was treated like everyone else. She never had to experience this before and it didn't feel right to her. She thought back to earlier in the day and the image of Scott walking out of the Danger Room, looking very rugged and his clothes torn. Now, she laughed to herself and really felt like one of her teenaged students and tried to shake it off.

"Jean." A voice called out. "Did I startle you?"

"Oh, Logan.. I'm sorry. I was just thinking.."

"Must've been important ..especially if I was able to catch a telepath off guard.…"

"Oh, just a lots been going on and now with midterms and everything coming up.. ." she said forcing a smile.

"Spill"

"Logan.."

"I know you well enough to know that it's more than just midterms.. it's Scott isn't it?

"…"

Logan took the silence as a yes. "So I hear that he almost fixed up the Danger Room." He said trying to make small talk.

"Yes, he told me to tell Ro that it'll be back up in a few days…." Jean said, somewhat annoyed.

"Umm.. would you like it to be done sooner?" Logan said trying to lighten up the mood.

"No.. its just that.. 'tell Ororo it'll be back up in a few days' .. I think that's most he's said to me this whole time he's been back."

"Jeannie, I don't know if you noticed.. but Scott's really not much of a talker these days."

"Yes, I know Logan.. it's just that .. what's he's been through .. and for him to just keep it in like that and not talk to anyone.."

"He'll talk when he's good and ready.. believe me I know a little something about being a tortured prisoner." Logan said, while looking down at his knuckles.

"I guess you would know a thing or two about that … I guess you and Scott have more in common than you realize." Jean said with a smile on her face. "How ironic?"

"There might be similarities.. I'll give you that but .. there is one thing in common." Logan said staring into Jean's eyes.

Jean looked into those brown eyes and they were telling her to finally let Logan in and not shut him out anymore. But she couldn't, for the eyes she wanted to gaze at was not dark brown but a bright blue, despite being locked away behind red glasses. Jean looked down.

"Logan.."

Before she could say anything more, he grabbed her hands and held it with his.

"Jean, look I know with Scott back it must be really hard for you .. but its been over 2 years .. a lot's happened .."

"No Logan, you got it wrong .. nothing has happened.. at least with me.. ever since Scott died it's as if someone pressed the pause button on my life… I love you Logan.. I do but .."

"But Scott.." Logan said softly, taking his hands away from hers. She nodded slowly.

"It would be a lie for me to say that we didn't have something.. some connection between us .."

"Then why fight it, you needed space right after we thought Scott died .. I get it .. I do and I've been patient .. because ..because I love you.."

"I know you do." Jean said with a tear in her eye. "But you're right .. I won't fight what I feel anymore .. I'm not saying this to be mean to you or to hurt you but because you deserve the truth.. and the truth is that.. .. two years ago, you came into my life when Scott and I were going through a rough patch .. and I was weak and selfish.. and I hate what I did ..to me to Scott.. to YOU .. I didn't mean to lead you on honestly .. When I thought Scott died.. it was so hard.. it was so hard to get over it and I honestly thought that I did and these past few months I've been trying so hard to move on ..but when I found Scott…" Jean looked down.

"…He's different now.. you know it… it might be him but its not the same man you knew.."

"Yes.. you might be right, he might be a completely different person but my feelings for him remain the same .. you're a great man Logan.. you've come a long way since you came to the mansion.. and you'll make some lucky girl happy one day."

"I don't want some girl.. I want YOU !" Logan exclaimed.

"I know.. I know." Jean said softly and moving closer to Logan. And she leaned in and gave Logan a quick peck on the lips. "I'm sorry Logan... Good night" Jean said, walking away, leaving Logan to stare out across the night sky.

Jean stepped into the house and looked up and saw Scott looking at her, with an indifferent look and then continued walking. Jean stopped and watched him as he walked away. "I won't fight it anymore." She told herself, and in that moment she made a promise to herself to fight for Scott.. to win him back.. or else she could never really move on.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed. I had the idea for this story right after I wrote "Cry Your Name" and it was supposed to be simple, more or less straight forward but the more I started writing, the more I realize how it was going to get a little complicated and then I saw how I can integrate another story I had in mind into this one and so after some thinking I got the whole picture mapped out but I want to get back to my other story, (which is why I decided to publish this one so soon after my last chapter) "Start of Summer" and wrap that up before I continue with this one. And I hope to get it done soon, because summer is almost over and my semester is about to begin.

And to answer some quick questions:

-As evident in this chapter, Logan and Jean are not together (obviously they don't have a child).

- I don't have an exact number but a little more than two years had passed since Scott was presumed dead until he was found at Alkali Lake. I use comic references, but the overall story follows the paths of the movies. A time order for this story would be X1 as is, 3-4 months later would be "Cry Your Name," just over 2 years after that is the Prologue, which is just a basic rehatch of X2, taking place just over 2 years from "Cry Your Name." It was easy to write X2 into this story, with minor changes (except at the end), because Cyclops had no role in X2 and especially in X3 (ergh!)

- Yes, Scott was teleported out of the building by Kurt. More of what happened to Scott during those 2 years will be told in subsequent chapters.