Hello everyone, thank you very much for the reviews, pms, alerts and faves. I hope you will like this new chapter. I am glad I am back in the x-verse and I think this story will take us through the summer.

Enjoy...

Chapter 4 – Restriction

Logan's eyes opened in a wince of pain. The part of his brain that controlled pain had nothing to do with his abilities and for the past ten days, Logan's mind was being probed by Charles in a way for everything he saw could also be imprinted in his brain. He remembered everything in his old timeline but he was also trying to categorize everything with Charles' help.

He realized this wouldn't be a day of projection. He couldn't take more and felt like he could actually use a break. Charles would surely understand.

His hand reached in the space next to him. Her body was warm; it was still too early in the morning for her to be up. Just seven thirty, the clock on his nightstand showed, it was a Saturday, everything was quite as they were still in bed or out for the weekend. He turned around and hugged Ororo from behind, spooning her. He took a deep breath. In his own timeline, they had created a relationship until their end. Last time he remembered her in that timeline was when she remained outside to defend them all, they had shared a kiss. He wondered if she actually made it to the end, or if one of the Sentinels got her.

The idea of Ororo dead unsettled him. He knew he hadn't been as she'd expect for the past days. He had talked to her four days ago. At first she had seemed afraid, worried, yet the look of loss she had given him had been the one that hurt the most.

In their old timeline they had been each other's rock for the final ten years. Thanks to Storm- as he always called her- he had dared to dream of a life without Jean, even in the dystopia he had suffered through along the rest. That timeline was not "their", it was his, and in this timeline she was his Ororo and he liked they shared a bed. He loved the warmth he felt next to him but he needed time because the moment he saw Jean, his entire world shifted even more than the change of the timeline itself.

Jean was married and the mother of a child. She had been clear, in this life, they had something easily breakable, and as he held Ororo closer to him, he wondered if it had been as easily breakable in the other life too. Obviously it had been, she had chosen Scott over and over again and even when the Phoenix persona was taking over, it was the mention of Scott that always brought her back even for moments. He had to move on, for his own sake, for Storm, for the years he had sacrificed. He deserved some happiness and he knew he had found it next to Ororo. He only needed to find out how to show her that he wanted to give it a chance.

His mind kept throbbing and he didn't want to wake her up. He kissed her shoulder gingerly and she gave a half smile in her sleep, her white blouse and shorts left a lot of skin to show, to his liking. She had missed him, he knew, he sensed her desire for him. He caressed the side of her body, from her arms down to her waist. He would make it up to her. He stood up carefully and moved away from their bed and into their private bathroom. He got in the shower and let the hot water run down his body. He would need days to proceed everything and Charles was still at the start of the 80's, Scott had just met them in the school, with a brother Logan had no idea about, he had seen Scott's powers against that poor tree in the grounds.

The shower ran cold and he wasn't sure for how long he was in there but he needed to go out. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around himself. He went out of the bathroom and got dressed. A wardrobe of his with all his clothes, next to Storm's, most of her clothes were white or grey, some things indeed never change.

This was his home, it was nice to have a home.

He opened the door and got out of the room soundlessly and moved towards the stairs, he would see Charles and tell him to rest for the day.

It's alright, Logan. Relax. Maybe go out for a walk, or a ride. Your motorbike is next to Scott's. Charles sent telepathically and Logan actually grinned. Since he was cleared for the day, maybe he should indeed get out to the grounds, before he could try his motorbike, he wondered what kind of motorbike he had, was it better than Scott's? He got no reply from Charles and that meant he had withdrawn from his mind. Charles always preferred to be in other peoples' minds with permission so he stayed for the minimum when uninvited.

The moment he moved down the stairs he heard the elevator at the back of the corridor opening and his enhanced smell made him turn and look. Jean was in a red dress that reached her knees, her fire red hair in one side. She was holding a bag, from what Logan could smell there were sandwiches inside. Scott was by her side in a shirt and trousers, between them was Hope, black trousers and a white t-shirt with purple hearts all over it, her own ginger hair up in a ponytail. Their bedrooms were upstairs and they were descending from the lower level with their child. They were either putting the eleven year old in the Danger Room, or that they were in the infirmary. The small band-aid on the girl's arm proved the second theory, he thought with a smirk.

The family looked in front of them as they were talking among each other and the moment Hope saw Logan she broke to a sprint towards him. Logan noticed the lack of surprise or annoyance from the couple so he simply opened his arms and Hope fell in them.

'Uncle Logan!' Hope exclaimed, always enthusiastic and happy to see her favorite uncle, as Charles had informed him.

'Hey Logan,' Jean greeted and smiled at him warmly. She had shown him a lot of things about their lives, her life with Scott mainly and he was glad she was happy. He had to set priorities and deal with life as it was.

'Hey, Scott,' he greeted this time, needing to focus on his current relationships with people.

'Hey,' Scott added gingerly. The couple had let him in peace for the past days and he knew it was partly because they both knew of his timeline. 'We were going out to the grounds for a morning walk, want to join us?' Scott offered and Logan looked at Jean who nodded her encouragement.

'And archery!' Hope called out and Jean smiled at her daughter, it was a smile of defeat, Logan could tell. 'You promised!' Hope insisted at her mother's smile and she nodded finally.

'Archery?' Logan asked and Jean nodded as they started for the main door of the mansion.

'Yes, instead of going to the pool,' Jean explained naturally and Logan still seemed confused. 'I'm good at it,' Jean explained, 'It's one of my hobbies,' she added and he finally nodded. He didn't expect Jean to like archery but then again, he had no idea about her hobbies in his own timeline either, never stuck around to learn about them. 'And since Hope was a great patient today, and she accepted to remain away from the swimming pool and ice-creams for an entire week, today we go out for archery and play and tomorrow …' Jean explained and Logan nodded as they she opened the doors telekinetically for all of them to go out. It was a lovely, cloudless day.

'Tomorrow we go to Disney World!' Hope squealed and Logan chuckled as he actually winced, that was not necessary for his headache but he couldn't get angry at the little one who broke to another sprint and started for the lake. There was a black-haired woman down there, waiting with arrows and bows and Logan wondered who that would be as he couldn't make out the features. Hope ran to her and Logan saw the woman scooping the girl up in her arms and doing something to the girl's neck that made her squeal and laugh loud enough to be heard in the distance.

'Hyperactive little one,' Logan commended and Scott chuckled.

'You have no idea,' Scott noted and Logan could hear the affection in the man's voice. Jean had shown Logan how much Scott had struggled to overcome all the obstacles that had came his and Jean's way. Scott had fought for her like no other for what he had today and he deserved the happy ending.

The trio reached the lake and the raven haired woman turned around and faced them. Logan looked at her in shock as Jean hugged her old friend. Raven Darkholme turned and looked at them. The blond hair she chose in her young years had been replaced by black as in the day she had been hit with the cure. Logan wasn't sure if there was an accurate color when in human form. He could remember her against them, always against them and he couldn't help the lack of sympathy that he felt.

Jean had told him she had came around but he wasn't sure which of her betrayals was worst, he still remembered fighting her, he had also seen how she had introduced Jean and Scott to Sinister. How he sided with Magneto for the better part of her life. Even if her apologize at the end had seemed sincere he still didn't like the woman.

'Hello Logan,' she greeted him typically, certainly not the best of friends in this timeline as well.

'Hey,' he only replied civilized because the Summers were looking at them. The Summers, wow that felt like finalizing everything inside him.

'Aunt Rave, you'll shoot with mom and me?' Hope asked the shape-shifter who smiled sincerely at the little girl and nodded as she grabbed a bow first for Jean and then for herself.

Jean saw Logan tensing at the sight of Raven grabbing the arrows next but the Raven thrust them in the ground for them to be able to pick them up and shoot them across the lake at the targets.

'How was the mission?' Jean asked and Raven sighed.

'No sight of him, I am not sure where he lives and how Charles expects me to find him, let alone chase after him.' Raven replied and Jean sighed.

'Who are you trying to find?' Logan asked and Jean looked at him.

'Peter Maximov,' Scott simply answered and Logan nodded. Jean had told him and Logan had seen through Charles, Peter went with his father's side. It was an absence that hurt, a good friend and a mutant with such charisma, his father had been proud when he learnt the truth, and invited Peter with open arms into his army.

Jean moved to one knee and Hope reached her mother and knelt before her. Jean moved Hope with her hands so they could both face the lake properly. The girl was tall enough for Jean to use her own bow. First she showed her without an arrow.

'The line your arms make must reach your shoulders. You stretch the string as far back as you can without bringing your arm towards your body.' Jean explained to her daughter as she helped her with the posture.

'With an arrow!' Hope begged in excitement but remained still in the position her mother had put her. Jean chuckled and accepted the arrow from Scott.

'With me,' Jean's tone was firm. She remained on one knee, held the bow above her daughter's small hand; it was large enough to touch the grass from their kneeling posture, better for Hope to keep it steady. Jean put the arrow in place between their fingers and stretched the string back even with her daughter in between. Only because Jean had brought the bow very close to their bodies, Hope was able to stretch her arm like her mother. It was clear Jean was guiding the effort and Hope was mostly in the way of her mother and the bow but this was the little one's first time and she needed to be encouraged.

After a moment of silence and concentration, Jean used her power and pushed Hope lightly against her own body and released the arrow, making sure her child wouldn't be hit by the string. This wouldn't be a perfect hit, it was clear. Hope obviously didn't expect the moment and gasped as she and the adults watched the arrow fly with speed, its course carved slightly before it could penetrate the center of the target. Hope's blue eyes widened and she stood to her feet only to start jumping up and down in joy as she squealed and hugged her mother who left the bow on the side and held her overly happy daughter.

'I did it!' Hope was still cheering. Jean winked at the smiling Scott who simply shook his head and clapped for his little girl.

'Of course you did it! Well done, sweetheart.' Scott cheered with his daughter and Logan couldn't help but chuckle and join in clapping.

'Well done, kiddo,' he added and Raven couldn't help but do the same. Hope looked at them with happy, proud eyes.

'Want to practice with me now?' Scott asked and Hope nodded her head and moved close to her dad. It was time to learn it's not that easy. Jean thought with a smile as her daughter left her arms and she stood up to her own feet, retrieving the bow with her powers. Jean had taught Scott and it was nice to see him teaching their girl now. Archery helped a lot with focus, what they had both needed with their powers, Hope would be benefitted too.

She turned to look at Raven ready for a shot and admired her friend's talent, matching her own. They had spent a lot of time like through the years. Jean retrieving back the arrows and doing it all over again until they were all bent.

Jean could feel the hostility towards Raven, coming from Logan. She wasn't sure how their relationship was in his timeline but it couldn't be more complicated than in their own. Raven had switched between ally and enemy many times. Every time she left, Charles broke down and every time he betrayed her, she was there to return. Jean remembered herself how Raven was an idol for mutants, then a hated figure who betrayed the X-Men. She had been the red flag for a society that pretended to understand more than the surface and how they had rejoiced when the cure hit her, how she turned against Erik, how she wandered lost until she came back to them. Back to the mansion of which she was the second mutant to ever live in, after Charles himself.

'I don't understand why he expects me to find Peter on my own.' Raven said as she released another arrow to her own target, missing the center for a few centimeters.

'He thinks Peter will come around because it's you… the only link to Erik. Charles is a man of control, he has a plan, I guess.' Jean mused and she knew Logan was listening.

'I have been trying to control you ever since the day we met.' Raven's memory of a young Charles standing between her and Bolivar Trask reached her. Jean was surprised to feel Raven projecting. Along with Charles who was powerful, Scott, who had been among powerful telepaths in his life, Raven was the third person Jean had encountered with such strong and high shields, up all the time. Jean never read peoples' minds without permission but she almost never felt Raven slipping like now. It had been difficult to trust Raven again and that mental silence from her was constant and well trained, Jean knew. But Charles had forgiven her and everyone had accepted Raven back. Jean knew that she couldn't simply accuse her of not letting the privacy of her own mind. It would be like accusing someone of not speaking loud enough in their own house for you to hear from outside.

'So you want to control me?' she mostly saw herself through Logan's memory from his timeline, in her old house, not pregnant, in red clothes, her expression guarded. He was projecting and she needed to focus, her next arrow missed the center as well. She sighed and took another one, trying to focus as she shielded her mind and focused her eyes. 'Don't let it control you,' Charles' had told her before she could turn him into dust. That, she had seen a few days ago in one of his projected nightmares.

She still couldn't understand what had gone so wrong between her and Charles there. He had made all the wrong moves and she had followed without objecting. Something that wasn't happening in this life, she loved Charles and would –and actually had- shielded him with her own body to keep him safe. But she hadn't been a puppet without a will. When he pushed too hard, she objected, when he became self absorbed, she snapped and when he- like every other human being- had gotten lost she was there to guide him back and pick up the pieces, even if they were her own in some occasions.

He had let her use Cerebro reluctantly at first, although he had helped her with it. She had been like Hope with the bow and arrow, but soon she had proved that she could do it. Little by little she had gained full control of her powers and life and Charles, even though afraid for her and sometimes too harsh with her choices, had been there to guide her every step of the way. They knew, Scott had taken over the team years ago, now Storm was taking over the duties in a very clear path for her to succeed Charles as the new head of the school and when he would be gone, Jean would take over Cerebro and the tracking down of new mutants.

Some people thought, especially in the most recent years that the two most powerful telepaths on earth had been antagonizing each other. Maybe because both Jean and Charles had moved out of the spotlight and people tend to fabricate stories for the people they can't see or hear a lot from. It would meet their need for gossip, the pupil trying to replace the teacher, the once afraid and uncontrolled Jean Grey finally overcoming the most powerful telepath in the world now that he's aging and she's still reaching new heights with her powers.

But the truth was far from that. Charles and Jean shared the same strong bond Charles shared with Raven. While Raven was his foster sister, Jean had been his sister in telepathy, a bond people couldn't understand. Every time she pushed against his choices, she was showing him the faults in his plans and every time Charles criticized her for her own, he was simply displaying the truth she was not able -or willing- to see. Charles had such bonds only with two other people, Erik and Raven, and both had hurt him deeply with only Raven trying to make it up to him.

Jean, my dear? Speak of the Devil…

Yes, Charles, I'm with you. She invited him in her mind and she knew he felt her statement in more ways, unlike Erik and even Raven, she had been loyal to him.

Hank called, dear. He sent and Jean sighed with a smile. Always impatient, he had given her two weeks. His political diplomacy and method was evident without her reading his mind. He asked how we are… maybe call him and give him your answer? He was trying to fish out your decision from me. Charles' amused tone madeJean chuckled and Raven noticed, she looked at her, like Logan had heard her with his powerful hearing although he was watching Scott and Hope.

I promised Hope we'll play outside today, can you please call and invite him here for tonight? I think I have what he wants. No need for him to wait four more days, I'm sure he has bought the wine already. Jean said internally and in that way, informed Charles as well.

Of course, Madame Secretary. He sent through their link and she could feel his pride for her.

Thank you, Professor. She replied mentally and felt him withdrawing from her mind.

Ok I am keeping up with some bridge-chapters as I want to set a pace and show as much as possible from the characters. I think it's an interesting concept that every time Charles used a lot of control, things went bad for the people he tried to control (Raven and Jean) I also wanted to show how Jean is as a mother. The archery was inspired by Apocalypse and young Jean while some of the flashbacks/nightmares/memories will continue as Jean has seen through it all. I also wanted t point out Scott's sacrifices for his wife and family. For the Phoenix and how the movies had tried to present it, I will show it little by little and explain it through the movie-verse logic.

Next chapter, Storm and Hank will appear. I hope you are enjoying this as much as I do.

Review is love and motive for the rest of it.

CP09