Standard disclaimer: I don't own them; I'm just borrowing them for our entertainment.
X-Men 3.1 Resurrection
Chapter 5 – Reconstruction
The morning light streamed through the boathouse. Scott opened his eyes to find Jean already awake, watching him.
"Good morning," he murmured.
"Good morning," she replied, snuggling up against him. "It's still awfully early, though."
"Anyone in the house awake yet?"
Jean closed her eyes and let her mind dance over the residents of the mansion. "All the kids are still asleep," she announced. "So's 'Ro and ..." She stopped for a moment before continuing. "Logan's back. He wasn't here yesterday."
"Oh."
She took Scott's face in her hands. "You don't have anything to worry about. You never had anything to worry about."
He reached out and stroked a strand of her hair. "I know," he replied lightly. "I suppose I always did know ... but it's hard to fight your worst instincts."
"Tell me about it," Jean said and then smiled brightly. "Let's get some coffee."
X X X
Getting coffee involved going back to the house and meeting up with the school's cook, who was so overwhelmed at seeing them alive she sat down at the kitchen table and cried. Only Jean's offer (some would say threat) of helping with breakfast made her pull herself together and get back to cooking. Scott and Jean heard her humming while she worked as they took their coffee back to the headmaster's office.
Jean watched as Scott immediately dove into the mountains of paperwork on the desk and around the office. Then she sensed another mind nearby – one she had to talk to.
"I'll see you in the dining room," she said lightly as she left the room.
Logan was standing on the staircase, waiting.
// Meet me in Storm's classroom // she sent him as she walked down the hall to the conservatory. He joined her there and shut the door.
X X X
"How could you make me kill you?" Logan began without preamble. "How could you let me think you were dead all this time?" It took all the self control he had learned from Xavier not to unsheathe his claws and rage.
"I had to," Jean explained gently. "I had made such a mess of everything; the only way was to start over and repair as much of the damage as I could. But the only way to do that was to be free of my body. You were strong enough to kill me – I knew that. It was my only chance to start again. Can you understand?"
Actually, he did understand and his anger melted. "Why couldn't you let us know you were still alive?"
"It was safer," she admitted. "Safer for everyone. You, me, the kids, Scott. I've only just reached the point where I have enough control to avoid accidents. It's taken a long time, Logan, but I'm finally whole."
"And Scott?"
"His death was slightly exaggerated," Jean replied. "Once I realized how my powers worked, putting him back together was, well, it wasn't easy, but it wasn't hard either."
"You still want him?" Logan had to ask.
"I always wanted him, Logan," she stated firmly. There was no hesitation this time; he knew she was sure now, even though it broke his heart.
"Let's get some breakfast," Jean offered lightly.
He shrugged and followed her out of the room. He might as well eat.
X X X
Breakfast at the mansion was normal and noisy. Most of the teachers congregated around a single table – except Eric and Mystique. They sat among the students. Scott could see Eric was keeping up a steady flow of conversation. At first, Mystique was unmoved, then she slowly began to thaw. By the end of breakfast, she was smiling and chatting away as if nothing had happened between them. Scott wasn't surprised; he knew Eric could be completely charming – when he wanted to be.
The rest of the adults discussed the business at hand.
"So, what do you know?" Logan began.
"In a nutshell," Scott replied. "I'm alive, Jean's alive, and Charles is alive. Both Eric and Jean think his mental state isn't what it was and that his planning something, probably something dangerous. Jean's going to try to go back in telepathically and see what's going on."
"Is that a good idea?"
Scott shrugged and looked at Jean. "We've got two of the most powerful telepaths on the planet," he admitted. "And we all know what damage can be done. Our goal is to find out what he's got planned and stop him, all under the radar."
"That's going to be tricky," Storm offered. "Are you going to need Cerebro?" she asked Jean.
"No," came the reply. "But I will go down there. It was built for telepathic communication. I just won't need to use the helmet."
Storm was startled by that comment, easily remembering the days when Jean had trouble maintaining the simplest psychic link. But those days were long gone.
X X X
Charles had repaired Cerebro as much as he could after Stryker brutal attack on the school. The console and helmet were there, waiting. But Jean didn't need them anymore. She sat on the floor near the console and concentrated.
// Hello, Charles. //
// Hello, my dear. I've been expecting you. //
// We're worried about you. //
// You're worried because of me. And with reason. It's time to act. //
// Act how? With force? That's not like you, Charles. //
// I don't approve of force, my dear Phoenix. I still don't. But after Stryker and Alkali Lake and how The Cure was used as a weapon against mutants, I've decided to be more – proactive. //
// Charles, what are you going to do//
// That's for me to know and you to find out. Oh, don't worry, I don't plan on hurting anyone. But trust me -- it will be an onslaught the likes of which no one will have witnessed before. //
With that, Charles brutally broke the connection between them, leaving Jean gasping on the floor.
X X X
It took all of Scott's self control to leave Jean in Cerebro and go back to the office to work. He wanted to sit downstairs and wait, but he knew there was nothing he could do.
Storm entered the office to see if there was any word from Jean and looked around in amazement. All those piles of paper, cascading from one to another were gone. The in/out box on the desk was overburdened, but the desk itself was clear.
"What happened to all those papers?" she asked in wonderment.
"The papers?" Scott responded. "I mailed off the ones that need to be sent, filed the rest -- I don't know. I just took care of it."
She took his hand and kissed it. "You're a god," she proclaimed.
He laughed and then stopped. "Jean's finished," he said by way of explanation. "Let's go downstairs."
X X X
Jean was outside Cerebro by the time they got there. Logan was there too; he had been wandering around the basement area, waiting for her.
"I couldn't find out what he's going to do," she told them. "He kept it blocked from me. He says no one will be hurt, but I don't trust him. I don't trust that "I know best" mood of his. But whatever it is, we won't have to wait long." She leaned against the wall for a moment. She was surprised how much the strain exhausted her. She wondered if Charles had purposely made it harder. Probably.
Scott knew from experience she needed to recover from the psychic connection. He held out his hand. "Let's go for a walk."
Jean took it and they slowly made their way up to the gardens.
X X X
It didn't take them long to find their memorials. Three of them – Scott, Jean and the Professor. Scott stood for a moment, regarding them. Jean slipped her hand into his, saying nothing.
He turned to her. "I have to admit," he said. "It's kind of freaky to see."
She grinned. "Especially since they're all empty. I don't know what they did with my corpse -- probably gave it to my parents. Do you want to take the memorials down?"
"No," he replied. "We'll need them eventually."
They continued to walk around the garden until Jean felt well enough to come back to the house.
X X X