A/N: New chapter. Don't forget to leave a review (reviews are way better than tips for us amateurs authors).
Chapter 4.
"I don't get it, honey. First you criticize Charles for acting out of anger and ripping out Magneto's mind. Now you do it when he acts out of compassion by trying to help Sabretooth?"
"We're about to make a major change in our lives, Scott… We're getting married. Having Sabretooth in the mansion, it just… it unnerves me. I'm frightened, Scott."
"Jean, this has nothing to do with our wedding… This is about Logan, isn't it? I know how you feel… how the dangerous side of life appeals to you. The two of you have always shared that… passion for life."
"Scott, please… You know that Logan and I have always only been friends."
"I know, but we're about to get married, Jean. It's important that we talk about this."
"I… When I first met Wolverine… heard him in the garden… we argued. He made me see a side of myself that I didn't think existed… a side that I liked, Scott. What does that say about the kind of person I am?"
"It only means you're human, honey… like the rest of us."
It was around one in the morning when the Blackbird landed in the hangar. Xavier's School was quiet and apparently intact, which was always a good thing when returning from a mission.
As usual, Cyclops was the last X-Man to exit, leaving only after he had certified that everything was in order with the jet and that it was fully refueled. He found Iceman half-asleep on the den's couch, the television on broadcasting the news.
He shook his teammate awake.
"Oh, hey Cyke," Bobby mumbled, wiping the drool off his chin with the back of his hand. "How did it go?"
"Tense, like always," Scott replied as he slouched into the side armchair and let his head drop against the headrest. "Something didn't feel right about this mission, though."
"When does fighting the Marauders ever feels right?" Drake questioned in amusement.
Cyclops snorted. "Never, I guess… But what I mean is, there was nothing exceptional about the lab… no secret formulas, no top-notch technology that Essex wouldn't already possess – at least not according to Beast," he adjusted his position on the chair to look at his friend. "It felt like, I don't know… like a lure."
Iceman's eyes widened. "Now wait a minute… No one tried to breach the mansion's security systems while you're away, and Jean reached out to me about an hour ago and said that everything was calm in the boathouse."
"I know. I had Emma telepathically check on her and Nathan before we landed."
"That mustn't have been odd at all," Bobby muttered to himself, then asked louder. "Did Emma sense anything weird during the fight?"
"No, but Malice was able to take over her mind for a moment, and I find that quite worrisome," Cyclops admitted.
"Jeannie would've seen that bitch coming miles away," Iceman commented.
"Probably, but I couldn't risk leaving Nathan unguarded."
"Of course not. Was Sinister there?"
"No, only his goons."
"So? Maybe he's not involved."
Scott sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "We couldn't tell, Bobby. But I just can't shake out this feeling that it's all been a trap."
"Hey, if you need me to stay 'til you figure that out, just say the word, man," Iceman offered.
Cyclops stared at his old friend, gratitude clear in his look despite the red visor that covered half of his face. "I'd appreciate if you stayed."
"No problem. And since I'm an honorary X-Man again, I'm gonna crash in my old room… that is, if you guys haven't already given it to some random kid."
"It's all yours," Scott responded with a tired grin. "Thank you, Bobby."
Cyclops decided he could use a shower before heading to the boathouse for the night. He went to his old suite on the second floor, where most of his belongings were nowadays, and started to undress. He was about to enter the bathroom when he heard the soft click of a door being locked.
"Who…?"
He turned around to see the White Queen walking in his direction, wearing a see-through white nightgown and nothing else.
"Time to chill out, darling," she said in a seductive tone, showing him the bottle of champagne and the two flutes that she was holding.
Scott quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist. "W-What do you think you're doing, Emma?"
She stopped right in front of him and smiled at the fast-growing lump under the towel. "You know exactly what I'm doing, Scott… It's about time we ended that senseless self-imposed celibacy. It's not doing you any good."
"E-Emma, this is highly inappropriate," Cyclops stuttered, looking anywhere but at her luxurious body. He needed to get away from her before he did something stupid; so he yanked the bottle and flutes from her hands and walked over to Jean's old desk to put them on it.
The blonde followed his movements with her gaze. "Darling, I'm a telepath. I can tell you want this as much as I do."
He spun around to look into her eyes. "I'm married, Emma."
"When has that ever stopped you in the psychic plane?"
"That was a mistake. I trusted you to help me with my marriage as a therapist, and instead you mislead me into engaging in an affair with you."
"Oww, poor leader-man, so easily seduced by an attractive woman," Frost teased, advancing like a cat towards him again. "You came to me because you suddenly realized that you were trapped in a dull marriage with a dull wife. And you know what, Scott, darling? I didn't hear you complaining as I fulfilled all your darkest fantasies."
He grasped her wrists before her manicured hands could touch his chest. "I never intended to cheat on Jean."
"But your goody two-shoes wife surely intended to cheat on you with Wolverine in the woods, didn't she? Do I need to show you that memory again, Scott?"
"No," the man replied with clenched teeth. The image of his wife kissing Logan under the night sky was still burned in his mind.
Emma's hands were released, and she could finally press them against Cyclops' taut pectorals. "You're a different man since Apocalypse, darling… Your needs have changed, and you know that someone as prude as Jean could never accept them. But I do," her fingers trailed downwards until they stopped to tease the flesh below his navel.
Scott felt every one of his muscles tensing. It would be so goddam easy to send all his restraints to hell and just fuck Emma Frost hard on his bed… No, not just his bed, but his marriage bed… his and Jean's bed. "Please stop, Emma. This isn't right. My son is back, and I need to think about how this… us… would affect him too."
But the blonde didn't stop. "No child could ever save a failing relationship, darling. Face it – your marriage is over, everyone can see that. It's only a matter of who will realize it sooner… which one of you will submit to their true desires first."
The moment those words left her mouth, the White Queen realized they had backfired, because instead of surrendering to her charms, Summers pushed her away and started to franticly dress up again. Emma telepathically brushed his thoughts and couldn't help but scoff in disdain when she saw what was troubling him at the moment – the utter fear of finding out that Jean Grey had given in to her attraction to Wolverine. Cyclops was mad with jealousy.
He didn't bother to say goodbye as he exited the bedroom and sprinted down the stairs towards the mansion's back door. It took him less than ten minutes to cross the estate and arrive in the boathouse. He heard a male voice coming from the living room, and for a moment the blood froze in his veins. Then he spotted Jean curled on the couch all by herself, watching an old footage of Nathan as a baby. He realized that the voice was his own, and that she'd been crying.
"Hey," he approached her carefully. "Are you okay?"
"Yes," she nodded, wiping away her eyes and swiftly changing the subject. "How was the mission?"
Madelyne's face appeared on the tv, and Scott immediately looked away. "We handled the Marauders fine. Why are you torturing yourself with these videos?"
The redhead sighed. "I… I-I don't know… I guess I'm feeling nostalgic."
Cyclops sat beside her. "There's no use in suffering for things that we can't change, Jean. You know those memories aren't really yours."
"But I have them nonetheless, Scott. Every one of Maddie's memories of you and Nate is imprinted in my mind. It is as if I've lived her life."
Despite their recent troubles, Summers realized he couldn't stand to see his wife so miserable; suddenly, all his doubts about her feelings for Logan seemed unimportant. "You never talk about those memories."
She snorted softly and repeated his words. "That's because there's no use in suffering for things that we can't change. Doesn't mean I don't think about them… about how things could've been different for us."
Maddie was now holding Nathan and pointing at the camera. Scott reached for Jean's hand and motioned to the tv with his head. "For all it's worth, that was supposed to be you."
The redhead regarded him with a sad smile and gazed down at their entwined hands. "I shouldn't complain. I had my chance when we were taken to the future."
"We still have a chance, Jean… It's sleeping in our bedroom as we speak," Cyclops said and met her eyes as she looked up.
"What?" she asked in surprise.
"I'm sorry for my comment about the Phoenix earlier. I was worried about Nathan. I didn't mean to upset you."
Jean was momentarily taken aback by Scott's apology – after all the harsh words they had exchanged in the previous days, she hadn't expected him to be so gentle now. "It's okay. I know how you feel about her… How much you suffered when I… when she died on the moon," she responded at last.
"Still…" Cyclops' words trailed off. Baby Nathan giggled on the tv, making both of them smile. After a few seconds, the man spoke again. "I know the Phoenix's gone, at least for now… As long as she keeps resurrecting you instead of eating planets, I don't mind her being around."
"Well, I don't intend to keep on dying…"
Scott sneered. "I guess it's a good thing you've become the School's headmistress then."
In one swift move, the redhead removed her hand from under his. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you can't be headmistress and remain on the team, Jean. I thought that was obvious," Cyclops said in his most deadpan voice.
"I'm sorry, what?" she asked again, green eyes narrow.
Scott straightened his pose and stared directly at her face. "How do you suppose you'll manage to give classes, counsel the students, and fight our enemies at the same time?"
"The same way I've been doing it for the whole semester – by multitasking!"
"But you weren't the School's headmistress until a week ago, Jean! Charles has left that position specifically to you because he trusted you would dedicate a hundred percent of your time to those kids," Cyclops reasoned. "Besides, I don't need an over-stressed telepath on my team."
The redhead stood up hastily and put her hands on her hips. "Excuse me, but are you kicking me out of the X-Men?"
"I'm not-"
"So the White Queen will replace me on the team as well?"
Summers sighed in frustration. "Jean, can we please not have this conversation now?"
She kept glaring at him, her face livid, but didn't respond. Scott knew he was walking on thin ice right now and decided to change strategy.
"Look, I'm beyond tired, and I don't want to talk about the team right now, okay? We can discuss this matter tomorrow when we're both more rested. Now please, just tell me how Nate behaved this evening so we can go to bed," he said in an even tone.
Jean was glad for the change of subject because she didn't think she could hold back her tears if Cyclops actually kicked her out of the X-Men, and she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of making her cry again. "Fine," she replied coldly and sat back on the couch. "Bobby took him ice-sliding in the front yard. He loved it, of course."
Scott chuckled. "Of course."
On the tv, Maddie took the camera from her husband's hands and now it was Scott who was holding the baby in his arms.
"Hey, do you remember that time Bobby took Nate for a walk in the ship's stroller in Manhattan?" Cyclops asked out of the blue.
Jean knew he was only saying that to try to lighten up the mood, and like him, she was feeling too exhausted to keep arguing. Plus, there was something important they still needed to discuss. Thus, she opted to indulge him for the moment. "Yes. Bobby said that 'babies were babes' magnets," she recalled.
"I can't believe he actually said that," Scott chortled. "I think that was the day he met Opal Tanaka."
"I think you're right."
The man glanced at his watch. "It's late, Jean. You should probably go to bed, so I can finally collapse in mine," he patted twice on the cushion he was sitting on.
"About that… I need to show you something."
The telepath's fingers touched her husband's left temple, and immediately he witnessed the conversation she had with Nate just before the boy slept. Cyclops was shocked by what he saw.
"I thought Nathan wouldn't notice our… situation. I can't believe he would rather sleep in that filthy cot than seeing us in separate rooms."
"I know. So, uh… I thought about it… and for Nate's sake, I think you should sleep with us… I mean, the bed is big enough for three."
Scott's brows raised above his visor. Weren't they fighting just two minutes ago? "Are you sure, Jean?"
"As long as you don't touch me," she warned, then looked him over and made an exaggerated disgusted face at his filthy appearance, "and shower first."
Cyclops hid a smile. "I can do that."
"Good," Jean turned off the tv and stood up. "Don't wake me up."
Scott watched his wife heading to the bedroom, eyes glued on her well-shaped backside. God, he missed touching her.
For a moment during their conversation, he had thought they would finally mend their relationship. He had imagined him forgetting Jean had ever kissed Wolverine, and her forgiving him for his stupid affair with Emma. They would make love on the living room couch, and everything would be right again…
He cursed himself. Why the hell did he have to bring up her role in the team tonight, of all nights? Damn him and his strict moral duty to the X-Men!
Cyclops looked down at his crotch and exhaled. His long-awaited shower would have to be a very cold one.
Later, at some point of the night, Nathan woke up. He opened his good eye and saw a mane of ginger hair inches from his face.
Redd was there, sleeping beside him. He smiled.
He heard a low snore and turned around to meet a square male face half-hidden in funny-looking goggles.
Slym was there, sleeping beside him. He beamed.
He snuggled to his father but made sure that one of his hands was touching his mother.
Soon, Nathan Dayspring fell asleep again.