Chapter Eighty-Nine:
Nathan giggled and climbed onto unsteady little feet, gleefully toddling after the bright red ball that his uncle had rolled across the floor.
"He's getting big," Alex observed, grinning as the toddler snatched the ball off the floor and held it up like a trophy.
"Kids grow fast," Lorna agreed with a small, wistful smile.
There was a quiet, but steady swell of longing within the green-haired young woman, one which Jean Grey Summers could have picked up on even without her telepathic powers.
Lorna wanted children, she wanted to have a family and be a mother, but Alex was far from ready for such a step. At times, Jean wondered why her brother-in-law had yet to propose to Lorna, when he clearly loved his girlfriend more than anything, but the only answer she had for it was that Alex was still waiting for something. She had no idea what that something might be, it was just a feeling she had, like he was searching for something that he wasn't even aware he was missing.
He'll find it, Jean told herself. When he least expects it, he'll find it.
"You and Scott need to get to work on creating a few more of these tikes, Jean," Alex informed her, making faces at Nathan, whose little nose scrunched up in return. "Nate needs a brother to play with."
"Why not a sister?" Lorna challenged.
"What would they name her?" Alex snorted, twisting his face into a comically gruesome expression for Nathan's benefit, eliciting shrieking laughter from the two year-old. "I mean, Scott could always name her after Mom, I guess, but don't we have enough Katherines around this place as it is?"
"I've always been partial to Rachel," Jean mused with a smile.
"Rachel Summers, huh?" Alex considered it for a moment, then shrugged. "You could do worse."
"Thanks," Jean said dryly, using her telekinesis to throw a pillow at him from the couch, catching in the side of the head.
"I'd be childish and use my powers to throw a pillow at you, but I think the Professor might be unhappy if I burned a hole in them with plasma blasts," Alex said, lifting his nose dramatically, but his act was ruined by Nathan dropping into his lap and knocking the wind out of him. "Oof. Hey, buddy..."
As her brother-in-law entertained her son, with Lorna dangling a stuffed toy over the boys, Jean let herself relax, grateful to be home after the long day they'd had in Paris. If there was a downside to the life they lived, it was that there was rarely a good time to take a vacation- there was, inevitably, always something going wrong somewhere that needed their attention.
Come Christmas, Jean vowed to herself. We're going to hit the beaches of Hawaii... if someone needs us to save the world again, they can page us.
After all, with Magneto and the U.N. calling a truce, however temporary it might turn out to be in the end, there was bound to be less trouble for the X-men to clean up. There would be others who would take his place, of that she had no doubt, but with Magneto backing off of the mutant superiority crusade, it would mean their jobs were going to be a little bit easier.
As if aware of what direction her thoughts had taken her, Lorna sighed, shaking her head. "I still can't get over the fact that Magneto's going to have his own island to rule."
"Tell me about it," Alex snorted. "The U.N. needs a complete overhaul if you ask me."
"They saw a temporary solution and acted on it," Jean said with a shrug, not adding her own opinion on the matter. If the Professor had good news when he returned to the mansion, Alex's view might change, anyway.
"Don't tell me you think this is a good idea?" Alex demanded incredulously.
"I think it has the potential to be a good idea," Jean responded evenly. "Maybe Magneto will actually be able to pull it off and everything will work out for the best, maybe not. But at the very least, it gives the U.N. a chance to improve mutant rights."
"She has a point," Lorna pointed out. "And think about what Genosha could offer to mutants who are being persecuted in their home countries. A safe haven, somewhere where you can be yourself without fear..."
"Great, so now he's going to have a whole island full of Acolytes instead of a handful?" Alex asked skeptically.
"It won't be like that," Jean assured him, hoping she was right. "You heard Magneto, he agreed to allow us and the Avengers to conduct surprise inspections."
"And he won't risk it," Lorna added confidently, using her powers to make a metal sphere on the mantle float around the room, drawing little Nathan's awed gaze as he watched it twirl for his benefit. "He wants Wanda and Pietro in his life, and he knows that in order to have that, he's got to play by the book now."
Let's hope not, Jean thought, trying to remain optimistic. For Wanda's sake.
They all knew what a huge step it had been for the Scarlet Witch to agree to try and work things out with her estranged father, given the years she'd spent in a mental institution simply because he couldn't waste time bothering with her out of control powers.
Magneto had a lot to make up for.
"Hey, as long as the man's not trying to take over the world anymore," Alex defended lightly, shrugging his shoulders as he watched Nathan try to grab the floating metal sphere. "I'm cool."
Lorna rolled her eyes at the trivializing of what Magneto's cause was, or had been, about, but she didn't say anything aloud, so Jean decided to let it slide.
Sometimes, though, she wondered if Lorna would always remain an X-man at heart.
Or if the bristling of things she supposed sensed with her friend, the frustration and impatience as the world continued to oppress mutants and their work hardly ever seemed to make much of a difference, would one day be Lorna's undoing.
It was a troubling thought, but not one that Jean liked to dwell on.
A familiar presence filled her psychic awareness, approaching down the hall, and a smile touched her lips.
Hello, sweetheart, she sent across the rapport she shared with her husband.
Scott gave her a mental smile, accompanied by a wordless caress of greeting that sent a warm tingle through her mind.
A few moments later, he appeared in the doorway, and paused, watching his brother make faces at their son, an amused expression on his face.
"I think you're going to traumatize him that way, Alex," Scott commented wryly.
Alex merely stuck out his tongue in reply.
"Welcome back, Scott," Lorna said with a smile. "Any word from the Professor?"
"Not yet," Scott replied, and Jean sensed a flicker of anxiety within him. "He said he would call as soon as he and Hank were done in Washington, though. Hopefully he'll have some good news to report."
"I hope so," Lorna murmured.
Jean was silent as her husband made his way into the room and lowered himself down onto the couch next to her, his eyes still trained on Nathan, and she, too, watched with a small smile as Nathan tried to make a face back at Alex.
You're worried, she accused him in the privacy of their thoughts.
Yes, Scott admitted. I am.
About the Professor?
About a lot of things.
I'm sure things went well in the capitol, Jean told him gently. After the U.N. offer to Magneto, now is the perfect time for negotiations on mutant rights. That's why the Professor and Hank went to meet with the President and to speak before the Senate in a private hearing.
I know, Scott responded. But I won't relax until we hear from them.
"Ow," Alex cried, rubbing his nose where Nathan had just whacked him with a little fist. "Kid's strong."
"He gets that from his father," Scott said smugly.
"More like from his mother," Alex shot back. "We all know Jean's the one who wears the spandex in the family."
"The spandex?" Jean echoed, wrinkling her nose.
"We're a little too abnormal for pants, don't you think?" Alex retorted with a wink.
"The only thing abnormal about this family is you, little brother," Scott informed him.
They should have called by now, he added silently, to Jean alone, and she could sense the heavy frown working its way onto his face, the grim countenance that Bobby liked to refer to as 'the Fearless Leader mask'.
Why are you so on edge? Jean asked him lightly. I'm sure Hank's just trying to pry the Professor and Magneto away from another one of their endless chess games. You know they can't have a meeting together without playing at least once.
The frown beginning to grace Scott's lips begrudgingly turned into a faint smile.
You say that like Hank won't be itching to get in on the game himself, he said dryly.
They exchanged an amused look, both knowing all too well that chess games between the Professor and Dr. McCoy could go on for hours, much the way games between the Professor and his old friend Erik Lensherr did.
While some of the students at the Westchester Academy, and even some of the X-men, wondered how it was possible for Professor Xavier to continue to call Magneto his friend, Jean has a fairly good idea why the two men held each other in such high regard.
Though she was reluctant to admit it, there were some very admirable things about Erik Lensherr.
"Hey," Lorna said suddenly, looking their way with a thoughtful frown. "Has Rogue checked in yet?"
"Yeah," Alex agreed, glancing at the clock. "She's been gone a while, and it's getting pretty late."
"She called a few hours ago," Scott replied.
Thanks for telling me, Jean drawled, fixing him with a mock glare.
"It seems when she and Carol reached the Danvers household, Carol's parents kidnapped Rogue into staying for lunch," Scott continued, ignoring her teasing. "I'm expecting her to get back any time now."
Which explained why she sensed there was more to his concerns than just the Professor's trip to Washington and the situation there. Scott wouldn't relax until Rogue was back, safe and sound, and Jean knew better than to try and get him to think about something else when he was in leader mode.
"Are you sure it was a good idea to let her take the Blackbird alone?" Lorna inquired worriedly. "I mean, I know she's got flight experience from when you guys lived at the Institute in Bayville, but it's been a few years."
"Don't worry," Jean said with a grin. "Logan and Scott gave her a thorough test before they agreed to let her fly Carol out to San Diego by herself."
"I bet," Alex chuckled wryly. "The way Logan was carrying on about how unsafe it was for a pregnant woman to fly a jet, even though she can fly just fine without one, I'm surprised he didn't try to sabotage her test."
"Who says he didn't?" Scott retorted.
Lorna bit her lip. "Did he really?" she asked with anxiety.
"No," Jean answered truthfully, before Scott or Alex could give her a hard time. "But he certainly grumbled about it enough. It was sort of sweet."
"Sweet isn't exactly a word I would use when talking about Wolverine," Scott muttered.
"But Remy was okay with her going off on her own?" Lorna pressed.
"He would have preferred if Tessa went with them," Jean admitted with a shrug. "But he knows Carol won't let anything happen to Rogue, and as he himself pointed out, his 'chere' can take care of herself."
"That's for sure," Alex snorted. "Did you see that woman during the fight with the Acolytes?"
Despite herself, Jean smiled, remembering the shock and disbelief that had rocked through the X-men upon the realization that Rogue had plowed into a missile in order to save the life of a fighter pilot who had, moments before, been trying to kill her and Magneto both.
It had been a reckless, dangerous, crazy stunt to say the least.
And so classic Rogue.
If there was one thing she had always admired about her former teammate even more than the endless pool of strength the younger woman seemed to possess, it was Rogue's nerves of steel. Not to say that the striped-haired X-man didn't ever feel fear in the face of some of the horrifying situations they inevitably found themselves in, but Rogue was very much like her father in that she seemed to laugh in the face of danger.
And give everyone else around her a heart attack in the process.
"She was unnecessarily reckless," Scott said with a disapproving scowl.
Rolling her eyes, Jean prepared to rebuke that comment, but she didn't have to.
"She saved that pilot's life," Lorna argued in exasperation. "And that's what being an X-man is all about, right? Risking our lives to save others?"
"She's got you there, bro," Alex chuckled.
"Ignore Scott," Jean told them, pointedly ignoring the glare he sent her way. "He's just being his usual overbearing, overprotective self. Rogue made the right decision, and he knows it, he just doesn't want to admit that sometimes the right choice is one as... dangerous as the one Rogue made."
"Dangerous is an understatement," Scott muttered.
And this after the talk we had with the Professor yesterday? Jean inquired, arching an eyebrow. You're not rethinking your decision, are you?
No, Scott conceded gruffly. I'm just planning on giving her the longest lecture of her life.
Despite herself, Jean smiled. We're not kids anymore, Scott, she reminded him gently. Rogue is a grown woman, a wife and soon to be a mother. She's been on her own for the past four years. It's not your job to keep us all safe anymore, you don't need to worry so much.
Her husband was silent, both aloud and mentally, for a long moment.
I'm always going to worry, he finally sighed. About you, about Rogue, about Alex and Kurt and Kitty and the others... the X-men are a family, and that's what families do.
Yes, that's what families do, Jean agreed with a small, teasing smile. But try to lighten up some, huh?
No promises, Scott replied with a mental grunt.
The phone chose to ring just then, and all heads turned towards the desk in the corner.
Scott rose to his feet, crossing the room in three quick strides, and Alex steadied Nathan as the little boy climbed to his feet when his father passed.
"It's the Professor," Scott announced, looking at Caller ID.
Instantly, they all clustered around the desk as Scott answered, eager to hear how things had gone in Washington, and Alex passed Nathan to Jean, who smiled down at her son as he eagerly began to play with her hair.
"Hello, Professor," Scott said into the receiver, then pressed the button for the speaker. "Jean, Alex and Lorna are her, too."
"Hello, Scott," Charles Xavier's voice filled the room, and he greeted the others, as well.
"How did it go, Professor?" Jean asked.
They waited on baited-breath for his answer.
"Better than I could have hoped, my dear," Xavier replied, and there was no mistaking the pleased relief in his voice. "I suspect that quite a few of our number will be pleased to learn that Boliver Trask has been arrested and Operation: Wideawake has been disbanded."
Eyes wide, Jean looked to Scott, only to find that her husband looked just as stunned by this news as she was.
"Are you serious?" Alex cried incredulously, summing up the disbelief in the room.
"Yes, Alex," Xavier chuckled softly. "I am most serious. The President should be addressing the nation within the hour, I believe, along with a representative of the United Nations."
For a moment, there was silence in the room as they all took that in, and then the true weight of the situation began to sink in. Jean closed her eyes, breathing in the scent of her son's hair, her heart flooding with a relief that was both profound and impossibly deep.
"So this is for real, then?" Lorna asked, the first to find her voice again. "I mean, it's over?"
"I regret that it's very unlikely that the prejudice against mutants will disappear entirely," Xavier replied, with a hint of sadness, but only a hint. "But the governments making up the U.N. have all signed a charter abolishing their policies against mutants. There's little they can do about the way people regard us, but from now on, mutants won't have to fear being hunted by Sentinels or arrested simply for being what they are."
"And that is worth celebrating," Jean said, smiling even as her eyes welled with tears. "We'll have to have a special dinner tonight, let everyone watch the Presidential Address together."
"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Jean," Xavier responded. "Hank and I should be returning within the hour, but perhaps you might ask Ororo and some of the girls to assist you?"
"Don't worry," Jean assured him with a smirk. "I'll find volunteers somewhere."
She fixed Scott and Alex with a pointed look as they tried to remove themselves from the room unnoticed, and her husband and brother-in-law gave her sheepish smiles.
"See you soon, Professor," Jean said, ending the call.
"And just where do you think you're going, boys?" Lorna demanded, tapping her foot as she gave Scott and Alex an expectant look, raising an eyebrow.
"To the kitchen to start dinner?" Alex suggested.
Lorna said something to that, but Jean didn't really hear what- her senses had picked up a familiar presence approaching the Academy grounds, and she reached out to give the younger woman a faint brush, just a sort of wordless 'welcome back', smiling when she received the grumbling equivalent of a startled 'don't do that' in return.
"Looks like you just lucked out, Scott, darling," she told her husband. "Rogue's about to land, so you get to skip out on helping us with dinner."
"Aww, man," Alex groaned.
"Do you want me to go ahead and let the others know she's back?" Jean asked Scott. "Or should I wait until after you talk to her?"
"Wait," Scott requested, running a hand through his short hair. "I'd kind of like some privacy for this."
"Understandable," Jean replied with a nod. "Just try to keep the lecturing to a minimum, okay? Or else you may never get around to having the real talk."
"Now who's worrying too much?" Scott asked.
Leaning over to kiss him lightly, Jean smiled. "Good luck, sweetheart."
"Thanks," Scott sighed, heading for the door. "I have a feeling I'm going to need it."
Translations:
chere- dear
A/N: This chapter is a bit on the short side, sorry about that, but law school has been keeping me on my toes, and it's making it hard to find the time or energy to write. I'll try to make the next one longer, if I can.