The Phoenix's Amend
Jean and Scout finally managed to talk about their argument, but instead of solving it, they had arrived to the conclusion that even though they loved each other, sometimes it takes more than love to get along with someone.
My Soul for You
It was her who had to look away that time and, as she predicted, it was up to her to solve the problem by leaving her pride apart or decide to keep that circus going on and satisfy her ego. Jean Sighed. Sometimes it takes time to heal a wound and only that can cure it.
"Let's not rush things. Nothing is gonna work just because we force it to do so" she admitted, beginning to see his point not needing to see his mind for that. "I won't ask you to trust me again, Scott, don't worry about that." "I can think clearly now… trust is something you have to earn, it can't just be given… how could I have forgotten it?" She said standing up after she sat on the couch at some point of their previous conversation.
"Jean…" He said looking her rise then she leaned to kiss him in the forehead. "I love you" Jean thought "Thanks for the good times, Slim" she said smiling bitterly before she started walking towards the door trying to hold her emotions until she was out of reach for him to notice. He knew her as well as he knew himself though, so the whole thing was really pointless.
He wanted to say something, anything, but he was not good at talking, and just couldn't think about anything to tell her in that moment. She was almost reaching the door when he saw her leaving and felt he was loosing her forever. Scott stood before dashing to her and held her by the waist, moved by a thousand emotions.
"Wait… Jean…" but he couldn't get other words, coherent words, to come out of his mouth, so he did the only thing he could do to retain her, the thing he was dieing to do since he had gotten her back, he kissed her. She closed her eyes as they kissed, causing a single solitaire tear to fall down her cheek, expulsed by her eyelid closing.
It didn't last long, but they both felt as if their entire existences would have been only meant to exist so that they could make that single kiss happen. As they parted, the magic that had been surrounding them seemed to disappear vanishing into thin air.
"Let the time heal the wounds" she whispered into his ear since they still remained holding each other. "I'll be a good girl, I promise" she said with her composure regained and a ten years old's face as she let him go. Then winked and smiled to him before leaving the room. Her wounds would also need some time to be fixed.
A couple of weeks later, the morning sun rays bathed the room as they entered through the window. Scott was awoken by his clock. It was not 6am as usual, but still pretty early for a weekend and yet, he had to get ready to meet Professor at his desk in half an hour. There was no time for breakfast, the old man had advised him the night before as he was programming the meeting, so he rose from bed, brushed his teeth, took a shower and got himself ready. The morning exercises would have to wait.
What he ignored, was the fact that he was not the only one supposed to meet Xavier at his office, but some red-haired woman he knew was too. As the moment came, Scott arrived at Professor's office just to find Jean at the door, knocking it.
"No reply" she told him as she saw Cyclops coming. "Are you looking for the Professor too?" Jean asked conversationally, yet there was still a tense atmosphere between them as there had been since that conversation near the pool table. He nodded, not giving any information about the meeting he and Charles were supposed to have.
In that moment, the telepathic voice of Xavier could be heard by both of them as clear as pure water. "I'm in the Danger Room, sorry to keep you waiting"
They looked at each other, as if they were looking for confirmation about the message being meant to be received by both of them, then she moved her head to a side, inviting him to join her in the walk to the Danger Room. He nodded and followed her, not being able to avoid noticing that lovely figure of hers. They were like that, there was no need of telepathy to know what the other one was thinking or tried to mean by a gesture, having been married for so long as they had been.
When they entered the Danger Room, no simulation was playing, so it looked just like a huge empty room with metal walls, floor and ceiling. The Professor was waiting for them a couple of meters away from the entrance doors instead of the Control Room which usually was his place during simulations.
Before any of them could say a single word, it was Charles who spoke first, leaving them no choice but listening to what seemed to be the beginning of a lecture, at least, that was what his attitude, face and tone of voice indicated to those who knew him.
"I'm glad to see both of you made it in time"
"Professor…" Scott failed to interrupt him.
"Look, Scott. I don't know what happens between the two of you" he lied "but both of you should be aware by now that it is affecting the whole team." The look in both of their faces was the same: shame.
"Professor…" he tried once more.
"I'm disappointed, Scott" which was pretty unnecessary to remark to those who were looking at his face at that moment, for it was so evident. Slim winced at the comment and Jean remained respectfully silent. "Yesterday, for example. We needed two groups, inside and outside the station and you knew your group was going to need a psychic… in fact, the whole point of the mission was having a psychic in the main rescue team if we wanted them not to notice that somebody had been there. But of course you thought that avoiding possible uncomfortable moments with Jean was more important than rescuing Double."
"I'm sorry" Cyclops said barely hearable as he lowered his head, but it was still not clear whether he was apologizing to Jean or the Professor.
"You're my brightest students, and you know I have always loved you as my son and daughter" his voice softened a little for a couple of seconds before becoming icy again. "But you must understand you have responsibilities and that while another mutant's life is at stake, you must forget about your personal differences to work together." They though
"It won't happen again, Professor" he assured firmly, with his hand made a fist.
"I'm sure it won't, that's why you're here. You're going to England in ten days; you've got a lot of training to do."
"WHAT!?" he asked with Jean seconding him but without yelling. She had always been calmer than he was. "But Professor…" the man in the wheeling chair raised a hand to make him silent.
"Since Double has been transferred to England due to your attempt to kidnap her, or so thinks the government, I thought that it would be best if you were the ones to rescue her before it's too late. You know they're not going to study her much longer before they get tired and get rid of her" he nodded.
"Professor…" Jean talked for the first time, using her musical voice that could soften even the coldest heart. "What are we exactly training for? I mean we have been to thousand rescue missions before. What's different about that girl? You never told us what her mutation was." She exposed eloquently and that made Xavier smile weakly.
"Yesterday, you were supposed to take her out of the lab where they had her locked and bring her here in the sedated state the scientists had put her two weeks ago, but as her health has already been checked, after she's transferred to England for further study of her mutant powers, how long do you think they're going to be able to study her mutation with her asleep?" Scott gave him a significant look. "The main problem with this girl is that she's been mistreated her whole life, so she doesn't trust anyone and as she will wake up to find herself being an experiment subject, she will be scared and probably mad at the world too. You know a scared mutant probably won't understand reasons such as you trying to help her, specially this one."
"What's so special about her?" Cyke asked.
"Her parents had her locked down at the basement since they realized she was a mutant and down there she was treated like an animal. Of course her mutation is going to be a problem too if she becomes aggressive."
"But what's her power, Professor?" It was her who spoke that time.
"She can make a clone of herself appear near her as long as she sees the place or even somewhere she's not seeing if she's been there before long enough as to know the room."
"We've dealt with cloners before, Professor. Even multiple cloners…" the bald man raised his hand again and his student became silent.
"The special thing about this girl is that even if she can only make a single clone of herself, they both move exactly the same at the same time, as if it was just a projection of her body, but if you hold one of them, the other one can still move freely as long as she's conscious, for she manipulates it with her mind. It's like having twins who make the exact same movements all the time but once caught they become independent."
"I see…" Redd commented.
"So you think the government is going to use her for some inconvenient purpose?" Scott asked.
"That too, but as I can understand her potential as well as you do, it would be preferable for national security that she joins us before somebody else recruits her" no further explanations were needed on that matter. "Do you understand now, Scott? It's not my will to send you get her as a punishment, but I've seen you work together for ages and you have a special connection, you don't need to speak or look at each other to coordinate, you just do. It's been like that since you started training here and no other pair is as synchronized as you are. That's why nobody else can do it. If things go wrong only you would be able to neutralize her."
"I understand" said Scott as Jean nodded.
"Good. Then let's talk about your training."
"But you said…"
"I said that you have been avoiding each other and I need you as tuned as a Swiss clock, so from now on and until your travel, I want you to sleep together, eat together, brush your teeth together, run together, and train together. You have to act and think as one. Understood"
"Yes Professor" they both replied, not doing so on purpose. The Professor smiled.
"That's the idea; I think you got the point." He sped his chair and passed between the two of them with Mystique sleeping in his lap, but he stopped before leaving. "Oh and, Jean…" She turned to see his back. "You can't avoid using your telepathy with Scott forever and you know it. You are gonna need it." She winced at those simple words as if she had treated her as hardly as he did to Cyclops before, but they have hurt her as deep as the lecture did to him, and Xavier knew it.
After that last piece of advice, he left the Danger Room, leaving them alone in there to meditate about what they had just been told, with the huge empty dull room around them amplifying the sensation of being insignificant they felt in that moment.
As the heavy doors closed, they looked at each other uncomfortably, more because of the fact that the other one had heard what the Professor had criticize from them than because of being there alone or the infamous conversation they had that afternoon. They were like two little kids being caught in the middle of a mischief and then left in the corner to think.
"So, your room or mine?" Jean asked to ease the heavy atmosphere.
"What!?"
"Just kidding" she said forcing herself to smile in spite of the embarrassment she felt because of the Professor's comment.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Author's Notes: I know this chapter is shorter than the previous one, and that it took me forever to get inspired, but I like the way this chapter turned out. I want to thank to the people who follows my fic for it. I'll try to update more often.