Crawling in my skin.

These wounds they will not heal.

Fear is how I fall.

Confusing what is real.

There's something inside me

that pulls beneath the surface

Consuming/confusing.

This lack of self-control

I fear is never ending.

Controlling/

I can't seem to find myself again

My walls are closing in

- Linkin' Park "Crawling"

Jean picked apart the tissue in her hand, looking out at the bright sunshine. Scott made a slight course correction and glanced at his wife. He hadn't asked her any questions yet, just bundled her into the Blackbird and set off for the school.

Jean wasn't sure if it was because of his trust in her as a teammate or a wife that let him wait for her explanation, whilst following her orders perfectly. There had been times in the past when an assignment might have failed or succeeded on that.

"Logan is dead," she said softly.

She could feel Scott tense through their bond and clutched her hands against the tissue, shredding it further. Nothing showed on the surface, his face immaculate in its concentration. Yet underneath, she could feel his confusion. Scott and Logan had never been friends, yet he was a teammate. Grief, guilt? elation? She felt them all, oozing across the gulf between them, suffocating her in their intensity.

"Enough! Scott, enough."

Jean felt the slackening of the connection between them as Scott brought his emotions under control; he sighed and turned on the autopilot.

"Are you sure?"

Jean nodded, and she could feel his regret like strong coffee in the back of her throat. As much as Scott had felt Logan to be a rival for her affections, he had never hated the man.

"I felt... an emptiness where before there had been a void. It's hard to explain, Scott. Logan had always been a blank to me, hard to read because of the many different memories he had. Yet, it was always like a black ocean. Unreadable because of its vastness, but there. It's not there any more. He's not coming back this time, Scott; and Jubilee knows, I felt it, I felt her for just a second and then nothing. That's why we're going to the school, something is wrong."

She threw herself into her role, that of the capable telepath, surveying the situation and doing what she thought was best. It was avoidance, really. She would have to face the dark well of her own grief at some stage, but at the moment she could hide from it by helping others. Time enough to break into a million pieces once she knew Jubilee was safe.

***

Emma flipped the switch on the com-unit, smiling as Sean's face appeared on screen.

"Sean, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Cut with the false pleasantries, Emma. How's the Lass?"

"Always the flatterer, Cassidy. Jubilation is fine. I was able to direct her out of the room and locked away the memory before it could do any harm to the blocks already in place."

"I still don't agree with ye in this, Emma. I don't think locking away the lass's memories is going to help in the long run. I doubt ye'll get Jean to agree with ye either."

"As I told you, Sean. She doesn't have to agree; she merely has to stay out of my way. I will do as I see fit to protect one of my students."

"Watch what you say to her. She'll not be such a pushover as I think ye expect. She could well decide Jubilee is better with her and the Professor, and I can't say I'd disagree with her."

"Let me worry about the esteemed Mrs Summers, Sean. Go back to your "holiday". You didn't have the stomach for this when you first found out, stay out of it now."

"Emma, if you harm her..."

Emma reached over and shut off the com-unit, cutting Sean off mid-threat. He'd found out some time ago that she had been slicing and dicing Jubilee's memories, as he called it. He'd confronted her and she'd refused to remove her influence from the girl. He'd left then, telling her he wouldn't stick around while she broke every ethical rule in the book. She'd assumed he'd try to take Jubilee with him but for whatever reasons of his own, he hadn't. Whatever the reason, it didn't really matter. Her technique was working.

***

Emma was waiting for them when they reached the school. Arms folded in front of her, she regarded them with a half-amused smile. Jean took an instant dislike to her attitude and spent a moment formulating why. It wasn't so much that she was doing anything, she was in fact standing there, it was just the way she stood.

A "this is my school, what the hell do you want?" stance, she knew however that Emma wasn't the type to say such things, or even really to think them. Possibly because she'd never had to state her ownership of anything, it simply was. Jean was immediately suspicious of this Emma, she was hiding something where Emma had never had the urge to hide anything before.

"Jean, Scott, what an unexpected pleasure."

"Emma," Jean answered, jumping from the last few steps onto the ground.

Scott passed her their bags; a frenzied rush from the Mansion had meant they only had the emergency bags that they kept in the Blackbird at all times. Still, it would last them for the time they were here.

"I trust your flight was pleasant?" Emma replied.

Jean raised an eyebrow slightly. "I hadn't pictured you to be one for useless small-talk, Emma."

"It serves its purpose."

Scott stepped down from the Blackbird, placing his hand on Jean's shoulder. "Perhaps this conversation is better had inside? We have some bad news that affects Jubilee."

Emma smiled coldly and turned on her heel. "Follow me then, my office should suffice."

***

The pencil moved, stroking across the paper, leaving a thick stroke of black behind. Smudged and feathered it turned into an eyebrow; the pencil moved again and now an eye appeared under it. Jonothon paused in the doorway, watching Jubilee draw. She'd always been good at it but lately her work had taken on a darker feel, an almost manic intensity, as she covered the walls of her room with drawing after drawing. It seemed the only thing that really calmed her any more when the black moods got too bad.

(What're you drawing?)

Jubilee looked up, startled, her pencil point breaking as her hand slipped across the paper. Jonothon blinked and came further into the room, only to stop a second after when she stood up, the chair falling over behind her.

(Hey, it's only me. Jean and Scott are here. Emma's got them in her office at the moment but, how much would you like to bet they're here to see you?)

She nodded and Jonothon stepped back outside the door, watching her shrink past him. He sighed, only a day ago he'd been able to sit beside her without her shrinking away, now she was back to this. He wished he knew how to fix things because it looked like she might never get better this way.