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Chapter Five – Transition

The three oldest X-Men remained in the company of their mentor with happy smiles and glasses of wine in their hands. Even Charles Xavier had decided to join them with a few sips of the expensive wine Hank had brought for that night; it was a special occasion after all.

Too many special occasions. Jean's thought made her sigh and smile politely at one of Hank's jokes which she had half listened. Jean could have easily blocked Logan once she knew what all these images were about but if she were honest with herself, she wanted to know what happened so she had allowed her shields down enough to be informed as curiosity and worry led her motives. Charles could never blame her for reading Logan without permission as she was only eavesdropping.

'To our new Madame Secretary for Mutant Affairs!' Hank made a toast and raised his glass towards Jean. Scott did the same with the brightest of smiles and Charles followed with pride in his eyes. Jean smiled kindly and raised her own glass.

'To our new United Nations ambassador for Mutant Rights.' She saluted back and Hank smiled and nodded before they could drink from their glasses. Charles' hope for co existence was becoming real little by little. With Erik behind plastic bars, Raven back with them and years of effort, Hank was becoming the new UN ambassador and nominating Jean for the position of the Secretary. Jean was famous for her telekinesis but not her telepathy. It was one of the secrets the X-Men had achieved to keep from the public. In numerous times, their secret had saved both humans and mutants. She wasn't sure the cabinet would be so happy if they knew of her telepathy, but as long as measures like the Registration Act hadn't become a law, she had every right to keep her powers to herself. It had been enough for her back in the past, when she had almost faced trial over her telekinesis and her secondary mutation.

'So where is Logan and Ororo? I saw him in my last visit here but didn't have time to speak to him. And Ororo promised she'd be here tonight.' Hank observed, his powerful voice still laced with joy and contentment. Jean, Scott and Charles had decided to keep things low with Logan's return. Indeed, Hank had visited the mansion ten days ago to ask Jean to consider becomig the new Secretary. It was the day Logan was back from 1973. Jean still remembered first the excitement of Hank's news and then her worry over Logan's bewilderment. Now Hank was back for her confirmation and a Le Pin Red Bordeaux of 1996, only the excitement and the worry still boiled within Jean's blood.

'They had a very hard day and needed some time off. I am afraid I have put too much pressure on Ororo with all the new headmistress duties but she needs to adjust in the new responsibilities.' Charles was the one to come up with something. 'As for Logan, he will come around…' he added and Hank nodded obliviously and looked at Jean and Scott. Logan had left -probably for the night- on his motorbike after their time in the grounds that day.

'How is the star of the school?' Hank asked as he lay back on the leather couch and drank more of the wine. Scott this time spoke, puffing with pride for the person in question.

'She's excited because tomorrow Jean and I will take her to Disney World.' Scott explained and Hank laughed and raised his glass.

'To Hope Alexandra Grey-Summers… and Disney World,' He said amused and drank again before Scott could offer a refill. Hope was everyone's soft spot at the school but especially Hank who wasn't a permanent resident there anymore; she was his weakness as he didn't have children of his own but always wanted so.

'We have an announcement to make,' Scott added and Hank and Charles looked at him and Jean in interest. It was something the two had decided the night they concluded on Jean taking the job as Madame Secretary.

'You're expecting again!' Hank boomed and Jean laughed and rolled her eyes.

'At fifty four? That would be interesting to go through,' Jean observed with humor and Hank shrugged sheepishly.

'You know very well genetics are an amazing field and fifty four is nothing extreme for our age, Jeannie… ' Hank replied and winked at the couple before he could laugh again. The wine was obviously working its wonders on him. It was crystal clear his mind was radiating a slight intoxication, happiness and satisfaction for how things had turned out for his new position and Jean succeeding him.

'Hank, slow down with the wine and focus to the point,' Scott commanded good-naturally and drank from his own glass before he could continue. Charles waited with a smile on his face at the interaction between his oldest students. 'We decided to renovate and move to the boathouse.' Scott finally said and Jean looked at Charles who lost his smile just a little. He would be lying if he said he didn't expect that but still, it was a small but pivotal change.

'Oh that's great news! How come? You've been thinking about it for years but never did it,' Hank observed, interested in the topic and Jean relaxed herself back on her seat and allowed Scott to talk for the both of them. She watched Charles who remained composed with a polite smile on his face.

'Multiple reasons actually,' Scott explained in a relaxed voice, he could sense Charles' slight tension through his link with Jean. 'Jean will be the Secretary and managing state issues. She needs quiet and her papers intact from various accidents that always happen among students in here. Going to the boathouse will allow more space for new teachers to be hired here as the population of the school has doubled within the past decade. We need more staff, Jean and I so far occupy a big suite that could be divided and create two more bedrooms. Same stands for Hope's bedroom.' Scott continued and smiled.

'We can build more extensions of the mansion in its east ward. There is plenty of space.' Charles interrupted with his voice holding reason and patience. Hank glanced between the professor and the couple, knowing the three of them so well he didn't have to guess the tension between them. He had experienced the same from Charles when he had chosen to leave the mansion as to become a politician.

'Hope is getting older, soon her powers will manifest and if she's to be as powerful as Jean, the rest of the school will be in danger. Hope will need some peace and quiet while her telepathy will be acting up. Every mutant kid is extraordinary but we think Hope will need some extra space and care as she's basically the only child of an Omega Five that we know of.' Scott explained and the fatherly love which laced his tone left no room for objection. Jean could sense Charles didn't want them away from him, even if it was for a few yards into the property.

'This is your daughter's home…' Charles tried weakly, knowing he was losing the battle, sooner or later this would happen.

'We are her home,' Jean finally added to her husband's words, trying to make Charles understand. 'All of us are her family; it doesn't matter if she'll be sleeping here or there. But we don't want her hurting someone.' Jean added with her voice using the same finalizing tone with Scott.

'What about the two of you? What if she hurts you?' Charles made a final effort.

'We can help her, Charles. My powers and our bond with Scott will help our child.' Jean explained, she avoided using words like "handle" or "control" for Hope. All she would do with her daughter was help with her powers, they were a gift, Jean knew now after so many years of struggle. After so many sacrifices, Charles clang to his family. Hope was very dear to him and as he got older, it was clear he wanted everyone close.

Now with Logan's return making everything complicated, it would be a lie if his newly found self and Ororo's change wasn't another factor for the oldest X-Men to create distance, for everyone's sake.

Jean could feel Ororo's internal conflict for the past days, the pain, the confusion, the misled anger towards Jean herself. But also, the affection she always showed for everyone, the hurt for what was happening between her and Logan. Jean and Scott definitely needed some space.

At the thought of her friend, Jean decided to check on her. Ororo had said she would try to meet them for a glass of wine later but it was past midnight and she was nowhere to be seen. Jean glanced outside the window and saw the wind blowing harder than it should be in a May night. The forecast had given a pretty windless night. Jean looked at Charles who nodded and glanced at Scott.

I better go check on her. She sent through their rapport and Scott nodded and stood up the moment she did. Hank did the same as she hugged him tightly.

'If you'll excuse me, Hank, I have to go check on Hope and retire for the night, it was a long day,' Jean explained with her sweet voice as Hank engulfed her in his massive hug. 'I will be waiting for your call,' she added and Hank nodded his head and brought both her hands to kiss her knuckles. He would stay at the mansion for the weekend but still he would see her again on Monday as tomorrow she and Scott would be gone to Florida.

'We'll do an amazing job, tomorrow it will be announced officially. Have fun in Disney World and on Monday we have your first public appearance at the office.' Hank explained and Jean nodded after taking a deep breath, it was true, technically she was the new Secretary. 'Give a kiss to Hope from me, please.' He added and Jean reassured him. She turned to Charles and placed a hand on his shoulder which Charles took in his and squeezed.

For cases like tonight, it's better we move to the boathouse, Charles. Jean sent to her mentor and he sighed as he looked up at her. She knew him since she was a teenager, they had grown up together. He had made mistakes and she had her own shares of downfalls, some of them lethal. Yet, here they were, in her fifties and he was in his late eighties, they made it. They lived their lives and both survived to see the world become a better place. He hadn't let her down, he hadn't tried to control her, she hadn't gone mad, she hadn't murdered him, nor Scott or anyone else. Her secondary mutation had only allowed her to reach planes of existence higher than the one they lived in, and she had come back from it as a better person and a woman reborn from her own ashes. Thanks to Charles, they had all opted for a better path.

Go check on Ororo, please. He sent back and Jean nodded, she knew he would want to talk about it at some other moment again, maybe with Scott first in his attempt to keep them within the mansion. His aging heart craved for everyone close, thus his attempt to find Peter. Jean moved closer to the door but not before she could share a light kiss with Scott, their encounters always mild before people. She smiled at him as he opened the door for her, always the gentleman.

Jean moved up the grand staircase and through the dim lit corridors and reached the room next to hers. Soundlessly she opened the door to her daughter's bedroom and smiled as she saw her, sleeping peacefully. Telekinetically she moved the pink blanket over Hope's leg that poked out of the covers and gave her a light kiss on the forehead, she was happy her child wasn't haunted by nightmares, her tests had been clear, she was healthy. Hope had a couple of years more until her powers could seriously tingle and start. Until then, they'd have move to the boathouse.

Jean could hear the wind blowing outside the mansion; she knew where to find her best friend. She moved up the final stairs to the loft of the mansion and out to the grand balcony. Her fire-red hair whipped around her as she moved through the threshold and looked up.

Ororo was levitating herself in a standing position, arms outstretched, her short hair not bothering her. Her dark clothes flared around her, her neck slightly bended backwards with her face looking up. The trees from the property around the mansion protested loudly against the wind.

Jean sighed and levitated herself. This was their spot, if someone could call it that. After her many downturns with her powers, Jean would be up there, lost in her thoughts and powers, and Ororo would join her so they could vent together. And when Ororo, like now, felt stressed or lost, always a creature of nature and the elements trapped in a life within an urban environment, she would rise high above the mansion, where she couldn't endanger anyone and she would simply surrender in her powers. Sometimes, when life was too tough on both of them, like after Alcatraz, the two friends would simply join each other up in the air and join their abilities, creating a cocoon of energy to engulf them both and stop everything else, like in the eye of a tornado.

Jean closed her eyes and willed herself up in the air, unhappy she had chosen a red dress for the day. She kept her clothes and mane in check as she rose in the air and moved through the wind walls Ororo had created.

Her friend looked amazing, white hair, calm expression. In severe contrast with Jean's fire red hair and worried features. It seemed their powers also changed their appearance. Storm's hair used to be completely white but now the roots of her hair were darker. Jean on the other hand had started as a ginger with blue eyes and now her hair was fire-red and her eyes had turned darker. Both women hadn't experienced severe external changes due to their mutation like Hank but still, their powers changed them. Jean lowered her shields and reached for her friend, glad that Ororo allowed her in.

'Ro, I'm really worried about you. Jean sent through the link she established. Ororo remained in her position. Jean knew this was an invitation so she simply closed her own eyes, outstretched her own arms and allowed her telekinesis to flex and join the wind power of her friend.

I know. It was all Ororo sent at first and Jean internally sighed.

Tell me how I can make things better for you. Jean suggested and felt her friend's sadness. Ororo had tried really hard with Logan, and for more than ten years, they had succeeded a beautiful relationship. Up until ten days ago. Jean fell deeper in concentration, matching her best friend's mood, she allowed her powers to come out, not at full force of course with the mansion beneath her, but she felt like a feline stretching out. Her body started glowing that warm flame-like effect at the same time a summer storm started with a lighting striking far away from them in the windy night. They must have been quite the spectacle, a firebird and a weather Goddess, fire and ice. They were both glad it was the middle of the night and not many people where around.

It's not your fault, Jean. You have done nothing wrong. Ororo reassured her and Jean could only sigh and nod to herself. Relief washing over her.

It's not Logan's fault either… Jean added and felt Ororo's agreement, and her broken heart.

I know, but it's awkward and sad and you know how much I tried to be with him. She sent back and Jean sent her own understanding. And he is with me, but it's not the same… He feels like a stranger, he is a stranger. Charles hasn't even reached the past decade with him yet, the years we're together. Ororo elaborated and Jean was glad her friend was opening up after ten days of silent depression.

Give him time. You remember how I was after the flares; it felt pretty much as if I had come from another world... Jean tried and felt Ororo's sadness. I have seen into his mind, 'Ro, in his 2023, in the dystopia he escaped, he had only one beacon of light and support… that was you. Jean added and finally looked physically at her friend who also looked back at her through the storm and telekinetic strokes, her eyes white as she kept up with the winds. Jean didn't mind not seeing her friend's eyes, she was used to it with Scott. She knew she had her best friend's full attention.

She wasn't lying to Ororo. She never would, she had seen it in his dreams as Logan's mind was trying to adjust Charles' attempts. It was also projecting things from his own timeline. Things back in the past like his own version of Alkali Lake and Alcatraz Island but also things from the place he survived until he could be transferred back in 1973. And through the pain and the destruction, she had seen him and Storm clinging to their love and support for their final battles. They had survived literally through hell.

In his own timeline, he loved me very much, but after he killed me, he spent years lost in his guilt and only you pulled him through and you made it for an entire decade before they sent him back in the past. He loves you like he loved you then, 'Ro, he's just confused. And there are so many things he's still to learn, he doesn't know about my powers, only the distorted version of his own reality. Give him time for this is a hard path he needs to follow. Jean wanted to be honest with her best friend. After Raven abandoned them for Erik and the Brotherhood, the two women had agreed on being honest and close to each other so they could stay friends forever and they had achieved it for years.

I'm trying to give him space for now, so he can take his time. Ororo's internal voice sounded more confident. Jean nodded and observed the property before them. She could see the waves they were creating at the lake.

Talking about space, Scott and I are moving to the boathouse after it's renovated. Jean sent in a calm voice and felt Ororo's fear and sadness, matched only by Charles a while before.

'Don't do this because of me, please,' She spoke physically and if it wasn't for Jean's connection she wouldn't have been heard, the winds seemed to calm just a tiny bit around them.

It's not because of you, 'Ro, at least not entirely. Jean sent back and transferred the reasons Scott had explained before within a thought for Ororo to understand.

I see. The weather bender only sent and Jean looked at her. We're not falling apart, are we? She asked and Jean smiled and took a good look at her friend. One of the Horsemen of Apocalypse. The girl who lived in the streets, became a goddess in the eyes of many. The first woman who held Hope in her arms after Hank performed the cesarean on Jean. A great friend who was there for the team and the school and her family through it all. An amazing teacher and the next Headmistress of the Xavier School for Higher Learning.

We are in transition, 'Ro. I have stopped from the team for more than ten years now. You haven't joined the team in more than eleven months… Charles is appointing to you more and more of his duties as Headmaster… Tonight I accepted to become Madame Secretary…. Hope is reaching puberty and I need to be there for her. The moment Scott deals with the fact that next year he turns fifty and can't be clad in leather blasting bad guys away, the Pentagon will offer him to become tactician or strategist for future Security Operations in the National Defense Office… Charles… Charles needs increasingly more pills for his mind to stop racing so he can sleep at night… We're not falling apart, we're just getting old. Which is success, counting all the times we reached death. Jean sent to her friend and this time the wind ebbed even more until Jean also stopped flexing her powers, the storm stopped. The two powerful mutants allowed themselves gracefully on the stone balcony and looked at each other for a moment more before they could share a tight hug between friends.

'I'm really sorry I have been distant from you, Scott and the little one,' Ororo said emotionally and Jean only nodded.

'It's OK, really, we understand.' Jean reassured her and Ororo nodded and looked at her friend, separating from the hug so they could observe the property from the balcony, the two women remained close to the stone barrier, leaning on it as they enjoyed each other's company.

'Scott knows all about it?' Ororo asked and Jean nodded.

'Right after Charles told me.' Jean replied and Ororo nodded this time.

'What did he say?' The white haired woman wondered and Jean shrugged.

'He said that he's glad the dystopia didn't happen and that Logan needs time before he can return as second in command in the team…' Jean answered and Ororo actually chuckled.

'Always the tactical Cyclops.' She observed and Jean nodded.

'He's made it very simple, as it should be. Charles entrusted a mission to Logan and he achieved it. They need to damage control but the good news is we're all here, sound and happy, ready to keep up with our lives.' Jean added and Ororo agreed this time and the two moved together back towards the building.

'I missed talking to you,' Jean admitted with a smile that was wholeheartedly returned from her best friend.

'I missed you too, Jey,' Ororo used affectionately the old nickname she had for her friend and Jean chuckled. The last time Storm had probably used the tag was while she was reassuring her that everything would be alright when Hope had a high fever a couple of years ago. 'Ready to represent us all in the Cabinet?' Ororo challenged and Jean sighed.

'As ready as I'll ever be, I guess. I want to actually do something useful while at it.' Jean sighed and Storm nodded

'The Registration Act never passed and back then things were worse. You'll be amazing I am sure.' Storm reassured her best friend as she'd have done with many students of hers. Jean grinned and nodded.

'Thank you.' Jean added gratefully at her friend as they reached outside hers and Scott's bedroom, they moved a step apart as Jean reached for the door. She turned and looked at her friend once more. If you need anything… Jean only sent and Ororo nodded her head.

'Go to bed, Jey, tomorrow it's Disney World time.' Ororo commanded quietly and Jean only nodded and opened the door, as she closed it, she sent a final smile at her friend who was moving down the corridor already, it was time for a late night snack in the kitchens.

ok first i wanted the small "this is your daughter's home" "we are her home" from erik in apocalypse here as well. as for the rest of the chapter, this was another bridge chap to establish things we never saw like the boathouse idea or jean-ororo as friends since now with apocalypse we know they count decades of friendship, i hope you liked the chapter

reviews are love and motivation

CP09