Stumbling Along the Path

"Does it ever wake you in the middle of the night?" Erik asked, "The feeling that one day, they'll come for you? And your children?"

Xavier wheeled around, "I feel a great swell of pity for the poor soul who comes to my school looking for trouble."

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or universe. They belong to Marvel and FOX Studio.

The young mutants walked out of the Danger Room feeling a bit defeated. Jean let out a sigh, before starting to unzip her uniform. The boys averted their eyes awkwardly and moved to the other side of the room to change.

"I'm so sorry Jubilee. I thought I could levitate you." She mumbled, throwing back on her dress.

"Hey it's fine, at least you were useful in stealing some of their weapons. I'm just a human sparkler. Not even a good distraction with these simulations." Jubilee griped as she rubbed her fresh bruise on her thighs from being dropped out of the air.

"Maybe out in the real world I would have better chances. There is no weather to manipulate in here. The most I can conjure up on command is rain, which does little good. It was just as much my fault. Hopefully rescuing her will go a bit better…" Ororo said, then cursing in Arabic to herself.

The boys finished undressing and dressing in silence, they too were adorned in new bruises from falls and tumbles. They had defeated looks on their face, wondering if things would have been different if Peter had been there.

"Do not, how you guys say, beat yourself up over this, Scott." Kurt said laying his blue hand on Scott's shoulder and patted him a few times.

"Thanks, Kurt. I just…" He trailed off and grabbed his suit and hung it back up before leaving the room.

Jean's eyes followed him. She was tempted to read his thoughts but knew it wasn't right, and instead followed behind him. Her shoes still in her hands.

"Hey Scott." She communicated telepathically to him.

"Oh hey Jean. Sorry. I just got… stressed." He sighed.

"It's fine, we all made mistakes. It will just take some practice. Do you wanna grab a coffee or some tea, we can hang out before my mom and dad get back and just talk about whatever is on your mind. I'm sure there's a lot." She said with a half smile.

"Couldn't you just read my mind?" He half joked.

"I could, but then we couldn't go get coffee." She winked.

"Fair enough, Fair enough." Scott laughed, a smile finally crossing his face.

They walked together to the kitchen where Jean put a kettle on the oven.

"So what is on your mind, Scott Summers?" She asked while hoping up on the counter.

Scott pulled out a chair and sat down, it felt weird being shorter than her but he shrugged it off and took a deep breath, "It's really just a lot to take in. One minute I was in high school, the next I blow up the school bathroom, then I get taken to a new school, my brother dies, I'm breaking into government facilities with a girl who moves things and reads minds and a blue guy who looks like a demon and can teleport, then I'm fighting self proclaimed gods in Egypt, and now I'm worried I won't be able to ever leave this place without worrying about getting kidnapped or murdered for something I can't control… or worse end up losing Kurt or Ororo or you because I can't lead… or control my powers…" He let his breath out and felt his chest grow tight and his throat clench up, he felt tears well up in his eyes.

Jean pursed her lips and her eyes widened at his mouthful of honesty.

"Scott, you're doing your best. It will get better. If anything happens, it's not your fault. Just like today. If I hadn't have dropped Jubilee, we all would have been in the clear. We all make mistakes. And yeah, it is a lot to take in all at once… I wish I could say the adjustment gets easier with time, but I'm still adjusting. So much changes just in seconds."

Scott nodded but still couldn't speak, his throat still knotted up. Jean hopped off the counter as the kettle whistled and poured the water into cups and handed one to Scott. She motioned to the sugar and he shook his head no. She put a teaspoon of sugar in her cup and stirred the spoon telekinetically.

"Did I ever tell you the story of how my powers manifested?" She asked, as she sat down in the chair next to Scott and touched his hand, he shook his head no.

"Is it okay if I show you, like in your mind? I sometimes choke up talking about it still even though it's been years." She looked down but then back up at Scott for a response, to which he nodded a silent yes.

She closed her eyes and put her hands around his head and took a deep breath and suddenly they were standing in a suburban yard in summer time, two girls playing in the yard. Both young, no older than 12 or 13. They were both wearing summer dresses. The little red head's dress was green with little water melon along the trim. Scott recognized that to be tiny Jean.

The other little girl had curly blonde hair and a yellow sunflower dress on. They were passing a Frisbee back and forth.

"This is my friend Anne. We were 12." Jean thought to Scott.

"Can they see us?" He whispered.

"No these are just memories I have from my mother watching us on the porch when it all happened. I have a lot of people's thoughts and memories. This one I will never forget though." She looked away as little Jean threw the Frisbee and it curved.

The Frisbee went into the road, Anne chasing after it. Everything seemed to happen so fast then, one second the street was clear and the next there was a car and screams, Scott grabbed Jean's hand, as the scene changed and he was holding Anne.

Or at least he thought he was holding Anne. Except he wasn't, he was just seeing through young Jean's eyes. He saw Anne in her arms, her arm and leg broken and the bone sticking out of her leg, she had blood dripping from her nose and all of a sudden he heard her voice even though she wasn't speaking.

"It hurts! It hurts! Make it stop! I don't want to die! Please don't let me die! Please don't let me die! Make it stop!" The voices screamed louder and louder in his head until finally they grew weak, then faint, and then nothing.

Jean was sitting on her porch, her arms wrapped around herself as she felt a familiar chill. She kept her eyes on the crumpled Frisbee that rolled in the street before collapsing.

Scott then heard other voices, an older man and an older woman, he turned around as Jean's parents were on the phone calling 911, their thoughts racing about the poor girl he still held in his arms. Then things started to move. First the Frisbee flung across the street, cars starting rising, the water from the sprinklers began to defy gravity, neighbors rushed out of their house as Jean's mother raced over and pulled a sobbing young Jean away from Anne.

And then it stopped, he was back in the kitchen. He saw that Jean was in tears and shaking.

"You didn't have to show me that, Jean. I'm so sorry." He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close and she started sobbing even harder. Soon things in the kitchen began to shake, Jean's teacup shattered.

"Jean, it's okay. We're here. In the kitchen. It's all over. You're right here. It's all over." But things continued to shake and soon drawers were opening and knives were flying around.

"Jean," He tilted her head upwards, "Look at me. Can you do that?" He asked, and she opened her eyes filled with tears, he thought he could see a flicker in them but let it go and quickly went to what he had learned in a class once.

"Hey Jean, can you name 5 animals that live under the sea? You don't even have to say them out loud, even just say them to me telepathically. Can you do that?" He begged her, while trying to also keep an eye on where the knives were going in the Kitchen.

"C'mon, just 5 sea animals. I'll start you out. Manatees! How cool are manatees? Majestic sea cows!" He shouted, as he shooed students who were coming to look at the scene.

Jean looked at Scott and touched his forehead, "Manatees…" she communicated faintly.

"Yeah, now just four more! Ever been to an aquarium? Just think of that." He whispered back.

"Seahorses… jelly fish…" She communicated telepathically again, this time a little calmer.

"Yeah, and you know those little puffer fish, the ones that when they get nervous they puff up like this!" He made a ridiculous fish face and puffed out his cheeks. The knives dropped.

"Pufferfish… lion fish… sturgeons… star fish..." She began to whisper aloud as the Professor wheeled himself in.

The Professor looked as things began to drop in the kitchen. First knives, then forks and spoons, cups, etc. all fell to the ground. Scott looked up at the Professor and gave him a thumbs up. Hank popped up around the corner too but backed up when he saw that everything had came down.

"It's okay." Scott hugged Jean and applied lots of pressure.

Jean got up, and smiled faintly at Scott before communicating telepathically, "Thank you… I'm sorry." And then everything began to levitate again, and move to its proper place and clean up. And she left the room. Scott sat there, his tea had gotten cold already. The Professor still sat in the door way.

"You did well, Scott. Nobody has ever been able to calm her down during her meltdowns except for me. You doubt yourself too much. You will be a great leader." He said, before wheeling away.