A few hours later, Jean was rousted from her room and led down the long corridor of the building to a makeshift holding cell. The guards they sent were nervous as hell, asking her very politely to accompany them. She was already showered and changed...and wearing something completely inappropriate for an interrogation - a little black dress. She had let her hair dry naturally, giving it some curl. It bounced as she walked down the hallway with them, the pencil shaped dress hugging every curve and muscle it clung to, the neckline a wide u shape with thin straps, highlighting a generous amount of cleavage. And blood red lips.
She sat down gracefully, and then crossed one leg over the other. She let out a long sigh and quirked an eyebrow, knowing they were watching her through the two way glass, as if to say...get on with it.
When the door opened and the Wolverine stepped in, she practically purred," Logan...please do sit down..." And her eyebrows jumped again, as she indicated a seat next to her.
He regarded her warily, not bothering to ask how she knew he was there, but pulled out a chair and sat down across from her instead, a table between them.
"Long time."
"A very long time for me baby.." Jean said with a leer, "did you miss me?" She tugged at her bottom lip with her teeth, and smiled as the action drew his gaze to her mouth.
"I miss Jean...my Jean."
"Jean was never yours, you know...and I was never just Jean..." She said with some heat, and she suddenly rose up, walking around the table. Logan tried not to flinch as she approached him and proceeded to run the fingers of her right hand across the back of his shoulders almost casually as she rounded the table, pausing to rub her thumb up into his neck, before walking towards the wall that held the mirror. The response was immediate.
Moments later, the door opened again and Thor entered the room, with Loki trailing after him, much to Thor's annoyance. He tried to give Loki a dirty look, but Loki was staring at the back of Jean's head, completely focused on the most dangerous person in the room.
"Jean...we would all be more comfortable if you sat back down...", Thor began, and looked as if he wanted to say something more, when Loki interrupted, "and if you would keep your hands to yourself." He looked equally tense, his jaw rigid as he glared at Logan.
She turned around then to look at them, a wide smirk animating her face.
"Okay, I can play nice and mind my manners..." She sat back down at her seat and indicated with her hands that they should do the same. Thor sat down in the only empty seat and Loki walked over and leaned against the wall across from her, arms folded in front of him and eyes grave.
She was smiling like a Cheshire Cat at the sight before her.
"Two princes of Asgard and wolverine to attend me...what a lucky girl am I? So, do you guys plan to get rough with me..." She bit her lip and raised her eyebrows and looked at Thor and then Wolverine in turn. She had yet to raise her eyes to look at Loki, and he was fuming because of it.
Logan smiled at her then, sadly, his tone angry. "We both know one man was never enough for you".
"Ooh, low blow Logan, even for you. Interesting tactic, bringing up Scott...are you going for guilt, or just trying to see if you can get me mad enough to start throwing fireballs again? Might be more useful for you to talk about Charles if you are trying to see if I am capable of regret, don't you think? Honestly, this hamfisted attempt to draw me out is almost insulting. The Professor would shake his head at you, if he still had his head to shake." She paused, a grim thin smile on her face. "I warn you, my tolerance of this crap is only going to last so long. So, am I batshit crazy or what...inquiring minds want to know..." She said, nodding at the two way glass again.
The Wolverine took his time in answering, he inhaled deeply several times, as though testing the air. Thor cleared his throat impatiently and said, "Well?"
Logan sat contemplating her words, her demeanor, and her appearance. She was calm, though obviously annoyed. She looked at him steadily, waiting, a challenge in her eyes.
"She is different this time...she seems to be more in control of it. And another thing, she is definitely more Phoenix than the old Jean right now...personality wise" He said finally, fulfilling his main reason for being there.
He nodded at her then, a gesture of respect and recognition, and sighed deeply. It was a sound of longing and Loki did not not let it pass.
"What makes you an expert on her...condition, may I ask, since no one has seen fit to tell me anything of use..." He sneered at the back of Logan's head.
Logan's hackles rose at the tone of challenge and possessiveness in Loki's voice and he started to rise up out of his chair, his claws slowly extending. But a her warm hand on his stopped him. She spoke then to Loki, but looked into Logan's startled eyes.
"Because he was the only one that got close enough to kill me last time." The look she gave him was tender for a moment, but in a flash it was gone, and her eyes grew cold as she abruptly withdrew her hand.
"But, that was a long time ago. I'm sorry they dragged you all the way out here for a twisted trip down memory lane...but I'm afraid one of my new rules is that any lovers of mine only get to kill me once. And frankly, after that...we are never getting back together"
"I didn't come here to kill you Jean..."
"Your "Jean" never existed you know..." She continued, her voice low, and laced with her rising anger. Loki could feel the tension in the room ratcheting up, the lights above suddenly very hot against his skin and he could almost feel the humidity in the room increase.
"The woman you loved was a shell...a pet wearing a muzzle...that Jean was all the nice, polite, and acceptable parts of me...with all the rest stuffed deep down, caged. You call yourself an expert on me...you have never met the real me." And with that, she pushed her chair back from the table, crossing her arms in front of her chest, mirroring Loki's stance unconsciously. "Now, is that all? Is it pass/fail or what?"
"For now...we will be back", Thor stated tiredly. The three men made for the door at the same time, eager to continue their discussion outside of this room.
"Hey Logan?"
"Yes..." He said, not daring to look at her, stopping in his tracks.
"I think this is goodbye...the woman you came looking for...she's gone. She was weak, and she had to die so that I could be born. And I'm not sorry for your loss..."
His shoulders slumped, almost imperceptibly, and he turned his head to look her in the eye, searching. "No...she's right here in this room. But like you said, she was never mine". Logan an Thor left the room quietly, but Loki hesitated.
Loki stepped closer and stood next to Jean, looking down at her. She refused to meet his eyes, but told him quietly, almost too lightly to hear. "They are going to try to kill me, regardless of what you all decide." He was stunned for a moment, as the realization that there were no private or secret conversations that she would not be privy to, if she wished. He nodded his head and walked out of the room.
Loki finally joined the assemblage, all talking about Jean, some of them in the room, some connected through the video screen. A woman with skin like honey and stark white hair was shaking her head at Logan over the video link. "Can we really take the chance? We are responsible!" Logan was furious, "...you have never forgiven her for the Professor, despite what you say to her face. I am telling you, she is different this time. There is no need for all this panic. She is our friend, or have you forgotten?!"
Tony piped in, "Yeah, but the question is..is she stable? She was pretty cold hearted out there." Steve countered, shaking his head, "...but she was defending all of us..."
"And what happens if one of us makes her mad? Tell me that! You better hope that she can contain herself, because we sure as hell can't contain her!" Natasha demanded, jumping into the fray.
"Everyone calm down. We don't have to make a decision tonight. For now, let her go back to her room, confined to quarters". Nick Fury said suddenly from another screen, his tone long suffering.
As soon as he said it, Jean smiled and stood up in the interrogation room, making her way the door, much to everyone's surprise. She slinked through the room with a smirk on her face, like a fox in a hen house. Everyone had stopped speaking while she passed. Loki smiled then, in spite of his frustration, at her cheek. She was well aware that her fate was being discussed in this room, and she could not have cared less for their judgement.
The room started to clear, but Loki was waiting to talk to Thor about what she had whispered to him in the interrogation room when Logan stopped on his way out the door, and nodded sharply at him. "Do me a favor. Take care of her."
Annoyed at his presumption, Loki tersely started, "what makes you think..."
"Don't bother buddy..." Logan interrupted, and left the room without further argument, but not without casting Loki a look of sympathy, leaving Loki bristling.