Standard disclaimer: I don't own them; I'm just borrowing them for our entertainment.

X-Men 3.1 Resurrection

Chapter 8 – Tape and Chewing Gum

"Beep ... beep ... beep"

Cautiously, Scott opened his eyes. He could recognize those rhythmic sounds anywhere. He was in the Med-Lab. Jean came into view instantly.

"Hi."

"Hey," he croaked back. "How'd we do?"

She took his hand. "We all made it back alive. Thanks to Rogue's draining off Charles' power, the hold he had over all those people was broken gently enough where there was no damage to them as far as I can sense."

"How is he?" Scott asked.

Her face shadowed, but she told him the truth. "He'll survive," she said. "But ... when the cliff fell on top of you both it ... his back is broken, Scott. He'll be in a wheelchair again."

Scott closed his eyes. That had never been his intention.

"He regained consciousness yesterday," Jean continued. "He took the news better than I expected."

"Yesterday?" Scott questioned. "How long have I been out?"

"Two days," she said with a wry smile. "Hanks been coming back and forth to help me with the two of you. And I've had dozens of volunteer sitters for you both. Rogue only just left."

"How is she?" he asked. He had not been comfortable throwing the girl on the front lines like that.

"She's fine," Jean replied. "She was okay before we left Muir Island. We got everyone stabilized there before we attempted to move you or Charles. Moira came back with us as well. She blames herself for not being able to stop him."

"She shouldn't," Scott said. "She's not strong enough. It took all of us to defeat him. How's everyone else?"

"A lot of bumps and bruises from the rocks falling off the cliff. You and Charles were buried under the debris; I was just outside it. It look Logan almost an hour to dig you out."

"He dug me out?"

"Yes, he did," Jean responded with a kiss. "Storm went to Moira to get help, Rogue and I were out cold, Eric and Mystique worked on freeing Charles, and Logan dug you out first. You probably owe him your life."

Scott was too tired to think about owing Logan anything. He closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep, under Jean's amused gaze.

X X X

When he next woke up, it was to find Logan sitting in the chair opposite.

"Where's Jean?" Scott asked.

"She's upstairs with her parents," Logan responded. "They're too glad to see her alive to ask too many questions. They came down to see you too, but you were asleep. I think you've earned brownie points with them." He didn't tell Scott what Jean had told her parents, 'Without him I wouldn't be here.' Logan knew now she would never leave Scott. Magneto had been right.

Scott struggled slightly, looking for the water glass by the bed. Logan picked up the glass for him and held it while he drank.

"Thanks," Scott said.

"Don't mention it."

Okay, but there were some things Scott had to mention. "Jean told me you dug me out," he said. "You saved my life."

"Well, we're even," came the terse reply.

Scott found himself smiling at that. Their first meeting in Alberta seemed so long ago.

Just then, Jean breezed back into the room, looking happier than she had been in a long time. "You're awake," she said as she bent down to give him a kiss. "And my parents only just left. I had to promise we'd go and stay with them as soon as you were up and about." She turned to Logan and added, "Thanks for looking after him."

"No problem," he said and moved to the door. "I'll leave you two alone." He found himself looking back at the pair before closing the door.

X X X

Scott soon convinced Jean (she called it nagging) to let him get up and start walking around the Med-Lab. And, since neither he nor the Professor were ever left alone, his baby sitter for the moment was Rogue.

He was walking steadily enough down the corridor, but Rogue kept an arm firmly around his waist. She had lost her timidity with physical contact. Of course, Scott had shown her from the beginning she had no need to worry, at least with him. But she now walked and talked with confidence. She had seen her mutant powers were of use; she had a purpose in life with the X-Men. It was enough to put together a life.

Scott was talking to her about going back to college, and they discussed the possibility of doing some of her coursework online. "If you'd like a job, we could really use a Residence Assistant. Someone to keep an eye on the kids, help them get settled, stuff like that. Your hours could vary, depending on your coursework, full-time or part-time, it doesn't matter. You get a salary and benefits, either way. You'd have to live in the house, though. Jean and I are staying at the boat house. It's better for her there."

He stopped suddenly and took a deep breath. Rogue was immediately concerned.

"Do you want to go back to your room?" she asked. "Can you make it that far?"

"Yeah," Scott replied. "But take me to Charles, instead. I'd like to talk with him for a while."

"Okay," Rogue said dubiously. "But Magneto's there a lot."

He smiled. "That's okay. I'm long past any feelings on that score."

"I'm not," Rogue stated firmly.

But as it turned out, the Professor's sitter wasn't Magneto, but Moira. She smiled broadly to see Scott.

"I see you're finally up and about," she said.

"Up," he agreed. "And only slightly about. I thought I'd come and sit with Charles for a while."

"Of course," she said and immediately vacated the chair. "He's sleeping now, but he'll probably wake up soon."

"Good," Scott said as he eased himself down in the chair.

"I'll come back to get you in a half an hour," Rogue assured him as she left with Moira.

"Fine," he said and settled down to wait, patiently listening to the Professor's light breathing and the sounds of the equipment.

X X X

Professor Xavier opened his eyes and found Scott sitting in the chair next to him.

"I'm glad to see you," he said softly. "They told me we were both buried under the rocks."

"Jean only just let me out of bed," Scott responded. "But I'm feeling better now.

The professor's brow furrowed. "It isn't really Jean -- she's at the bottom of Alkali Lake. This is the Phoenix. Surely you realize that?"

Scott sighed. "The Phoenix was always a part of Jean; you just never wanted to admit it. But what made Jean Jean is still there. She's whole. The way she always should have been."

Professor Xavier closed his eyes. "I only did what I thought was best at the time."

"I know," Scott said. "It's just that wasn't what was best for her in the long run. You were wrong."

His eyes reopened. "I've been wrong about many things lately. I'm sorry for everything I said last year when you left. I didn't understand -- perhaps I didn't want to."

"You disowned me," Scott reminded him. He had to say it; the wound had been too deep.

"I was wrong," the Professor admitted. "Can you forgive me?"

Scott smiled. "I forgave you a long time ago."

They sat companionably silent for a while.

"I understand you and ... Jean ... have taken up residence in the boat house. It must need a lot of repairs; no one's lived there in years."

"Oh, it does," Scott agreed cheerfully. "But you can do a lot with tape and chewing gum."

"I only wish other repairs were as easy," he said. "I suppose all the countries are busy dismantling the anti-mutant legislation I imposed on them?"

"You'd think that, but you'd be wrong. So far, no one has even suggested it. Besides, a lot of the countries were toying with the idea before you put everything on a fast-track. They're still discussing it in Scandinavia and other countries have gotten on board. All without you making them. Maybe people really are good at heart, especially when you give them an ideal."

Just then, Rogue poked her head around the door. "Dr. Grey says times up," she announced. "I have to get you back to your room, pronto."

Scott sniffed, but didn't argue. He was feeling tired. "See you tomorrow," he said as he slowly walked out the door.

X X X

Jean entered the room right after Scott left.

"Well," she said with clinical brightness. "Let's see about getting some of those needles out now."

She carefully removed the remaining IV tubes. Professor Xavier watched approvingly. "You've always had a good touch ... Jean." He didn't quite believe it yet. He still couldn't quite believe this was his Jean Grey. And she knew it.

But she smiled anyway. "Starting to feel better?" she asked.

"More like myself," he admitted and decided to confess more. "My feelings before ... I've always had very strong powers, but I'd never felt them as intently before. I knew could do anything I wanted – and for the first time, I didn't care about the consequences."

"That's my fault, I'm afraid," Jean said as she took a seat on the chair beside the bed. "When I took you apart and sent your consciousness to Muir Island, I wanted you to know what it was like – to be me. I didn't understand at the time my powers work very literally. Your personality shifted to how I was a year ago." She smiled somewhat grimly. "I did a similar thing to Scott – poor baby."

"You're very dangerous."

"No," Jean corrected softly. "I have very dangerous powers – if misused. As you do. I've learned to control them – as you never thought I could."

"Are you Jean?" Professor Xavier asked suddenly. "Did any of your personality survive? Or are you just a shadow?"

Jean looked him square in the eye. "You would never believe this, but it's true -- I was never two personalities. I had problems after Annie died and after my powers emerged, but they were surmountable -- if you had tried. I was mis-diagnosed by more than the doctors -- there was you too. What you thought was another personality was just me -- trying to understand everything. You ripped me apart mentally. You took away the parts of my personality that you didn't like, that you didn't trust, or didn't feel would be good for me. Deep down, I knew what had happened and knew I needed to be whole again. At Alkali Lake I reached in and found myself again. The powers you locked up saved my life. The Jean you wanted me to be couldn't have survived Alkali Lake; she could barely survive the conflict of loving two men. But I'm whole now and I will not be taken apart again. And that's my last word on the subject."

"Very well." He closed his eyes. "I'm sorry I hurt you. That was never my intention."

"What do they say about the road to hell and good intentions," Jean quipped. "Oh, I know you thought you were helping. And in many ways you did. You just went too far. And that's something I definitely understand."

Professor Xavier smiled slightly at that.

"So," Jean continued. "Here we are – two repentant mass murders who will probably never be punished for our crimes -- in the legal system, anyway."

"I'm not a mass murderer," he stated firmly.

"Charles," she said softly. "People died. They died because of what you did. Just like when I got angry at Alcatraz. People died. And that doesn't even count the hundreds that died when Stryker had you under his control. We're mass murderers, Charles. There's no two ways about it."

He closed his eyes as if in pain. "So what do we do?"

Jean smiled. "We keep an eye on each other. And we make sure it never happens again."

He looked up with a sad smile at that. "A pact, then?"

"A pact," she agreed. "We promise to keep the other from getting too far off beam."

"So noted," he agreed.

X X X

The days slowly went by. Scott was the first to be released from the Med-Lab, first to an upstairs room and then back to the boat-house. Finally, the Professor was able to return to his own old quarters. They were exactly the way he had left them; Storm had not been able to bring herself to touch them.

No one even pretended things had gone back to the way they had been a year ago. Too much had happened, too many lives lost and shattered, too many illusions gone. But the school had survived, the children had survived, and the X-Men had survived. It was enough.

X X X

Scott slowly walked to the front of the mansion. Standing outside, with a small suitcase beside her was Mystique.

"Leaving?" he asked.

"I left my resignation on your desk," she said. "It was fun, but I've got bigger fish to fry again."

Eric drove up in a silver jaguar. "I said goodbye to Charles already," he said. "I don't want us to overstay our welcome. Are you ready, my dear?"

Mystique grinned as Scott loaded her suitcase into the trunk of the car. "I just have one question," she asked. "Just how long had you been sleeping with Jean before Xavier caught you?"

"None of your damn business," Scott replied without heat.

"You were that young, huh?" She mockingly saluted him as she climbed into the car. "See ya, Summers!"

Scott shook his head as he walked back into the house.

X X X

Back in the basement, Logan made his way to the Med-Lab.

"I see you've kicked everyone out," he said.

Jean smiled brightly. "Yes, I'm finally back to peace and quiet – and bumps, bruises, and broken bones. But very little that can't be fixed."

He took a deep breath. There was something he had to say. "Magneto told me," he began. "You came back for him. For Summers."

"I did," she confirmed. "Why do I get the feeling you're not used to being told no."

Logan found himself smiling at that. "It's just -- you never seemed that sure before."

"My personality was fractured before," Jean reminded him. "But I always knew who I wanted; that never changed. I just sometimes wanted more than one."

"More than one, huh?"

"Don't get any ideas," she chided him. "But it is possible to love different people – in different ways. I love Scott; I love you. That will never change."

"So what's he got that I haven't got?" Logan teased.

"He brings out the best in me," Jean said, suddenly serious. "You saw some of the worst. Scott has so much power at his command, but he can walk away from it. The power can't tempt him; he has no interest in the darkness. He does good things because he's a good man; he chooses to make a difference. And he makes me think I can do the same. But even more than that, he loves me – and he's not afraid."

"I'm not afraid."

Jean chuckled. "You were a year ago when I was trying to seduce you on the exam table."

"Well, I think I can be forgiven for being surprised..."

She smiled. "You weren't surprised – you were frightened. Of me. Scott's never been frightened of me. Frightened for me, perhaps, but never of me. He's always accepted me -- body, soul, and every facet of my personality. You don't walk away from something like that. Ever."

"I guess not." Logan moved to the door.

"Are you going to stay?" Jean asked.

"Here?" he replied. "I don't know – do you want me to?"

Jean smiled brightly again. "I want you to. We need you; the kids need you; I need you. Besides," she added. "I want you to be there for my children."

Logan realized in an instant she wasn't speaking metaphorically. "You're ..?"

She nodded. "Scott and I haven't been as careful as normal recently. It's been ten weeks."

"Does he know?"

"I'm going to tell him today."

Logan smiled as he kissed Jean. "You're going to be a great mom, Jeanie."

"So you'll stay?" she asked.

"Wouldn't miss it," he assured her as he left the room.

X X X

Scott entered just as Logan left.

"I passed Logan in the hall," he said. "He had an uncharacteristic smile on his face. He's probably planning some mayhem with something that belongs to me."

"Probably," Jean agreed. She started laying out instruments on a tray and counting them. Scott moved to the tray she had just finished and started playing with them.

"Magneto left this morning," he told her.

Jean smiled slightly at the return of the other name. She nodded. "Mystique actually came to say goodbye. She told me she was leaving with him."

Scott shook his head. "After the way he abandoned her – I'm surprised she could forgive him."

"She loves him," Jean said. "People will do a lot for those they love."

He returned the smile. "That's true." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Did Logan want anything specific?"

"Yes and no," she said. "I told him I loved you both. You do know there's never going to be a resolution to that."

"Not without a three-way," Scott deadpanned.

Jean went into peals of laughter. "Would you really consider it?"

Scott's grin broadened and he began to laugh. "No," he admitted. "I just don't see it."

"Could be fun," she teased.

He shook his head. "You'll just have to be satisfied with me."

"Well that's never been a problem," Jean agreed. "My wonderful young studly husband."

"Husband?" There was an amused question in his voice.

"Well," she said "I thought we ... I had made you wait long enough. Besides, I thought you'd want to do the right thing by me. Given my condition, and all."

It took Scott a few seconds to grasp her meaning. He knocked over the tray of instruments as he pulled Jean into a tight embrace.

X X X

Out in the hallway, Logan heard the clatter of the metal tray as it hit the floor and he smiled. This would definitely be worth sticking around for.

The End.

Authors note: There were two reasons I wrote this story. One, I couldn't leave Scott and Jean in the bind X3 left them in. Second, it always annoyed me that, in spite of all the terrible things he's done, Charles Xavier has normally been allowed to keep his powers in the X-Men Universe, whereas Jean usually has to die or lose her powers. I wanted her to be the equal of Charles, both in powers and the ability to control them. The Phoenix lives, but my Phoenix is neither insane nor unstable. I hope you liked the story.