Family Ties
folder
X-Men - Animated Series (all) › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
51
Views:
7,025
Reviews:
30
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
X-Men - Animated Series (all) › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
51
Views:
7,025
Reviews:
30
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own X-Men Evolution, or any of the characters from it. I make no money from from the writing of this story.
21
Family Ties Chapter Twenty One (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply
A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST
WOMAN ALIVE ™, Prophetic Muse and Hamster Witch… Suavo… ;) InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink get marshmallowy
gnomes to do their bidding because they archive. J ProPhile got a wave as I flew over his home
state yesterday so that’s his reward (lol) for being a smutmuse. Ramsey, Tex and Jubilee get sparkled muses
to mess up their carpets with glitter bits because they’re helpful and
nice. Readers/Reviewers: I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaack! (insert scary music here) Just a caveat—I’m jet lagged as all Hell so
if this chapter makes no sense blame the time changes. J
Jean
decided that she could honestly understand why Logan liked watching
hockey. There was something visceral
about watching two people beat the Hell out of each other for no apparent
reason that made her feel a grim satisfaction as she stared at the screen. “I
think,” Scott said from behind her, making her jump, “that was a tooth that
just hit the ice.”
“Hello,”
she murmured, shutting off the television.
The curtains in the rec room were drawn against the bright morning
light, plunging them into shadow once the glow of the t.v. was removed. “I’ll get out of your way.”
“Jean,” he
blurted out as she stood to leave.
A long
moment of silence passed in which she did not turn to face him, in which she
blocked her mind enly fly from whatever Scott was feeling. “Yes?” she finally asked when the silence
grew to be too much.
“We need to
talk.”
“I know,”
she said, her voice thick in spite of her efforts not to sound upset. I know what’s coming…I want it to stop… She turned, appearing more confident than
she felt, to face Scott and tipped her chin in challenge.
“Jean,
things between us are…weird.” He
glanced at her and waited for her response.
She merely gazed at him, silent as stone. With a sigh, he trudged on.
“I don’t know why I’m so pissed at you all the time lately but I know
enough to realize you don’t deserve it.
I just… I don’t know…”
Jean bit
the inside of her lip to keep from burbling apologies for things she never did
and throwing herself at him, declaring she would do whatever he wanted to make
things better between them. With a slow
breath, she said, “I think I do. It
comes down to jealousy. I’m working, I
have school all planned out, I’m not worried…”
A dull
flush crept up Scott’s cheeks. “And I’m
some lazy unemployed idiot?’
“Did I say
that?” she asked, managing to keep her voice even and cool.
He opened
his mouth to say something and then snapped it shut, the click of his teeth
audible in the quiet room. “I’m sorry,”
he said, sounding as if the apology was pulled from him with pliers. “I have a bad temper…”
“I noticed,”
Jean muttered. Bite the bullet,
she said to herself sternly. “Scott, I
think we need a break.”
“Pardon?” He looked, to his credit, absolutely pole
axed. “You want a divorce? Now?”
“No,” Jean
sighed, closing her eyes. “I want a
break. I love you and wouldn’t trade
what we have for anything, but I think we just need to be out of each other’s
pockets for a while. I’ll stay in
Kitty’s room until she comes back and then…then…”
“Then
what?” Scott demanded, stepping closer, somewhat relieved when she did not step
away. “Then you share a room with her
and I stay out in the boathouse by myself?”
“No,” Jean
said raggedly. “I just need a few days,
okay?”
His mouth
tightened into lines of anger and pain.
“You know I talked to the Professor this morning?” Jean did not respond aloud but rather
blinked at him in startlement. “I had
to tell Lilly he was nuts and then I figured maybe he should know, too…”
Jean smiled
weakly. “I’ll bet he loved that…”
“He didn’t
say anything to me, not like I thought he would…” He began pacing, rubbing his lips with the back of his hand in
thought.
“Did you
think he’d yell at you or something?” Jean asked gently, rooted to the spot in
which she stood. She could not bring
herself to be the first to leave, to initiate the parting no matter how minute
or great the distance.
“I don’t
know,” Scott sighed, pacing more fiercely.
“He was mad
because he thinks we acted irresponsibly.
He made us leave the main house and all that so we could prove how
responsible we are.”
“I know, I
know!”
“Tibetan
Buddhists say that the tests are a gift…The Professor was giving us a gift by
doing this to us.” She spread her fingers as if letting water slip between
them, staring at her nails in abstraction.
“I still think we need a little break.”
Scott
stopped pacing. “You’re Buddhist now?”
“Well, we
all gotta be something, ya know?” Jean
dismissed the question by repeating the original idea. “A break…”
“Why?” he
asked, sounding pained.
“You’re mad
at me for things you can’t control, I’m getting frustrated…It’d be better for
both of our tempers and attitudes if we were parted for a bit, until we figure
things out.”
“Do you
think,” he began, then shook his head and cleared his throat to try again. “Do you think we did something stupid by
getting married?”
Jean
smiled. “No. Not at all.”
“Then why…”
“Scott,”
she sighed, shaking her head. He made a
muted noise of frustration but did not press the matter. Jean continued, “I think we just need to
reconsider who we are.”
“What’s
that supposed to mean?”
“When you
figure it out, find me.”
Scott
closed her eyes as she strolled from the room, affecting a nonchalance she did
not feel and he could not see through. “Buddhism. Great.
Now she’ll be all philosophical, too…”
“Shhhh,”
Professor Xavier jostled Lucas on his shoulder as the baby made whimpering
noises. “I’m all out of children’s
stories, I’m afraid… Would you like to hear about Robinson Crusoe?” The sharp whine rising from the baby’s
throat indicated a denial, the Professor felt.
“Wanda will be back soon, I promise.
She’s gone to check on your mom…”
Wanda had indeed had a notion as to where Tabby might have gone and took
off like the hounds of Hell were at her heels, leaving Lucas with Professor
Xavier and a promise to return before three.
“We can get along for a few more hours, right?” the older man asked the
baby, who responded by spitting up. “Shirt
ten…I’m almost out of shirts, you know…That’ll teach me to buy dry clean only
garments, won’t it?” Lucas seemed to
find that amusing and gurgled against the Professor’s ear. “That’s wet. To quote Kitty… ‘Ew’.” He
sighed and looked around the room for something to distract Lucas from his
current pursuit of a chewy ear. “As
much as I hate to do this,” he sighed, flipping on the television. “I admit to watching the occasional program
now and again but I deplore the use of t.v. as a babysitter,” he explained to
Lucas, finding that the baby remained quiet so long as someone was
talking. “I don’t suppose this will
hurt you for a few minutes, though,” he added, feeling guilty. “Ah, I do like this show. The captain is quite good…better than the
old one, I think.” He settled Lucas in
his lap and pointed to the screen. “That
is a Klingon. He reminds me a bit of
Logan now and again…”[1]
“Professor?”
Jubilee asked through the door, only slightly disturbing their reverie in the
twenty fourth century.
“Come in,
Jubilation,” the Professor intoned, muttering, “make it so” under his breath
just to make Lucas giggle.
“I was
wondering if…” She paused and blinked
at the screen. “Oooookay… Um, I was wondering if you’d figured
anything out about Lilly and them yet?”
“I won’t
correct your English, but to answer your question… short answer no, long answer
no with a but…”[2]
“Long
answer then,” she sighed, looking frustrated.
“No, but I
have a feeling,” he said, tapping his temple, “that they will tip their hand
soon.”
“Professor,
I trust you and your feelings and all, but…” She sighed and scrubbed
absently at the side of her face as if it burned her. “Well, frankly, I need more.”
“I do
understand, Jubilee,” he began, but Lucas made a disturbing noise and then, “Here
comes number eleven.”
Jubilee
backed out of the room virtually unnoticed as the Professor strove to clean
himself up and keep Lucas from squalling at the same time. “Guess I’ll have to do this myself,” she
sighed. She paused outside Remy’s door
and sighed. Not now…later. I can do this by myself…I think. Resigning herself to a day in the company of
the Lees, she pulled her ubiquitous yellow jacket on over her t-shirt and
jeans, pushed her pink sunglasses up to hold her fringe back, checked to make
sure she looked as irritatingly punk and bratty as possible, just for the
effect, and set off towards the hotel she knew her bane was staying at. At least Lilly is MIA. I’d have to kill her if she showed up right
now. Mercy killing…no one would suspect
me…
“Jubes,
where ya goin’?” Jamie called from the rec room as she trudged past.
“Throwing
myself on an unexploded grenade,” she replied, glum.
“Huh?”
“Nothin’. See ya later,” she sighed, pausing to give
him a weak smile.
Jamie
frowned. “Need company?”
“Nah…”
“Jubes, c’mon…we
haven’t hung out in ages. Let me come
with.”
“You’re
just trying to get out of clean up duty.”
“ too too.”
She sighed
again. “Well, I would like some company
I don’t want to throttle…you can hang out at the arcade while I talk to someone
then. Come on.”
Jamie shut off his game and trotted
after Jubilee happily, unaware as to how the day was about to unfold.
[1] Ha. Figure it out yet?
[2] Oy. I have no idea where I got that from. If you know, please tell me so I can credit
it properly.
Disclaimers Apply
A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST
WOMAN ALIVE ™, Prophetic Muse and Hamster Witch… Suavo… ;) InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink get marshmallowy
gnomes to do their bidding because they archive. J ProPhile got a wave as I flew over his home
state yesterday so that’s his reward (lol) for being a smutmuse. Ramsey, Tex and Jubilee get sparkled muses
to mess up their carpets with glitter bits because they’re helpful and
nice. Readers/Reviewers: I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaack! (insert scary music here) Just a caveat—I’m jet lagged as all Hell so
if this chapter makes no sense blame the time changes. J
Jean
decided that she could honestly understand why Logan liked watching
hockey. There was something visceral
about watching two people beat the Hell out of each other for no apparent
reason that made her feel a grim satisfaction as she stared at the screen. “I
think,” Scott said from behind her, making her jump, “that was a tooth that
just hit the ice.”
“Hello,”
she murmured, shutting off the television.
The curtains in the rec room were drawn against the bright morning
light, plunging them into shadow once the glow of the t.v. was removed. “I’ll get out of your way.”
“Jean,” he
blurted out as she stood to leave.
A long
moment of silence passed in which she did not turn to face him, in which she
blocked her mind enly fly from whatever Scott was feeling. “Yes?” she finally asked when the silence
grew to be too much.
“We need to
talk.”
“I know,”
she said, her voice thick in spite of her efforts not to sound upset. I know what’s coming…I want it to stop… She turned, appearing more confident than
she felt, to face Scott and tipped her chin in challenge.
“Jean,
things between us are…weird.” He
glanced at her and waited for her response.
She merely gazed at him, silent as stone. With a sigh, he trudged on.
“I don’t know why I’m so pissed at you all the time lately but I know
enough to realize you don’t deserve it.
I just… I don’t know…”
Jean bit
the inside of her lip to keep from burbling apologies for things she never did
and throwing herself at him, declaring she would do whatever he wanted to make
things better between them. With a slow
breath, she said, “I think I do. It
comes down to jealousy. I’m working, I
have school all planned out, I’m not worried…”
A dull
flush crept up Scott’s cheeks. “And I’m
some lazy unemployed idiot?’
“Did I say
that?” she asked, managing to keep her voice even and cool.
He opened
his mouth to say something and then snapped it shut, the click of his teeth
audible in the quiet room. “I’m sorry,”
he said, sounding as if the apology was pulled from him with pliers. “I have a bad temper…”
“I noticed,”
Jean muttered. Bite the bullet,
she said to herself sternly. “Scott, I
think we need a break.”
“Pardon?” He looked, to his credit, absolutely pole
axed. “You want a divorce? Now?”
“No,” Jean
sighed, closing her eyes. “I want a
break. I love you and wouldn’t trade
what we have for anything, but I think we just need to be out of each other’s
pockets for a while. I’ll stay in
Kitty’s room until she comes back and then…then…”
“Then
what?” Scott demanded, stepping closer, somewhat relieved when she did not step
away. “Then you share a room with her
and I stay out in the boathouse by myself?”
“No,” Jean
said raggedly. “I just need a few days,
okay?”
His mouth
tightened into lines of anger and pain.
“You know I talked to the Professor this morning?” Jean did not respond aloud but rather
blinked at him in startlement. “I had
to tell Lilly he was nuts and then I figured maybe he should know, too…”
Jean smiled
weakly. “I’ll bet he loved that…”
“He didn’t
say anything to me, not like I thought he would…” He began pacing, rubbing his lips with the back of his hand in
thought.
“Did you
think he’d yell at you or something?” Jean asked gently, rooted to the spot in
which she stood. She could not bring
herself to be the first to leave, to initiate the parting no matter how minute
or great the distance.
“I don’t
know,” Scott sighed, pacing more fiercely.
“He was mad
because he thinks we acted irresponsibly.
He made us leave the main house and all that so we could prove how
responsible we are.”
“I know, I
know!”
“Tibetan
Buddhists say that the tests are a gift…The Professor was giving us a gift by
doing this to us.” She spread her fingers as if letting water slip between
them, staring at her nails in abstraction.
“I still think we need a little break.”
Scott
stopped pacing. “You’re Buddhist now?”
“Well, we
all gotta be something, ya know?” Jean
dismissed the question by repeating the original idea. “A break…”
“Why?” he
asked, sounding pained.
“You’re mad
at me for things you can’t control, I’m getting frustrated…It’d be better for
both of our tempers and attitudes if we were parted for a bit, until we figure
things out.”
“Do you
think,” he began, then shook his head and cleared his throat to try again. “Do you think we did something stupid by
getting married?”
Jean
smiled. “No. Not at all.”
“Then why…”
“Scott,”
she sighed, shaking her head. He made a
muted noise of frustration but did not press the matter. Jean continued, “I think we just need to
reconsider who we are.”
“What’s
that supposed to mean?”
“When you
figure it out, find me.”
Scott
closed her eyes as she strolled from the room, affecting a nonchalance she did
not feel and he could not see through. “Buddhism. Great.
Now she’ll be all philosophical, too…”
“Shhhh,”
Professor Xavier jostled Lucas on his shoulder as the baby made whimpering
noises. “I’m all out of children’s
stories, I’m afraid… Would you like to hear about Robinson Crusoe?” The sharp whine rising from the baby’s
throat indicated a denial, the Professor felt.
“Wanda will be back soon, I promise.
She’s gone to check on your mom…”
Wanda had indeed had a notion as to where Tabby might have gone and took
off like the hounds of Hell were at her heels, leaving Lucas with Professor
Xavier and a promise to return before three.
“We can get along for a few more hours, right?” the older man asked the
baby, who responded by spitting up. “Shirt
ten…I’m almost out of shirts, you know…That’ll teach me to buy dry clean only
garments, won’t it?” Lucas seemed to
find that amusing and gurgled against the Professor’s ear. “That’s wet. To quote Kitty… ‘Ew’.” He
sighed and looked around the room for something to distract Lucas from his
current pursuit of a chewy ear. “As
much as I hate to do this,” he sighed, flipping on the television. “I admit to watching the occasional program
now and again but I deplore the use of t.v. as a babysitter,” he explained to
Lucas, finding that the baby remained quiet so long as someone was
talking. “I don’t suppose this will
hurt you for a few minutes, though,” he added, feeling guilty. “Ah, I do like this show. The captain is quite good…better than the
old one, I think.” He settled Lucas in
his lap and pointed to the screen. “That
is a Klingon. He reminds me a bit of
Logan now and again…”[1]
“Professor?”
Jubilee asked through the door, only slightly disturbing their reverie in the
twenty fourth century.
“Come in,
Jubilation,” the Professor intoned, muttering, “make it so” under his breath
just to make Lucas giggle.
“I was
wondering if…” She paused and blinked
at the screen. “Oooookay… Um, I was wondering if you’d figured
anything out about Lilly and them yet?”
“I won’t
correct your English, but to answer your question… short answer no, long answer
no with a but…”[2]
“Long
answer then,” she sighed, looking frustrated.
“No, but I
have a feeling,” he said, tapping his temple, “that they will tip their hand
soon.”
“Professor,
I trust you and your feelings and all, but…” She sighed and scrubbed
absently at the side of her face as if it burned her. “Well, frankly, I need more.”
“I do
understand, Jubilee,” he began, but Lucas made a disturbing noise and then, “Here
comes number eleven.”
Jubilee
backed out of the room virtually unnoticed as the Professor strove to clean
himself up and keep Lucas from squalling at the same time. “Guess I’ll have to do this myself,” she
sighed. She paused outside Remy’s door
and sighed. Not now…later. I can do this by myself…I think. Resigning herself to a day in the company of
the Lees, she pulled her ubiquitous yellow jacket on over her t-shirt and
jeans, pushed her pink sunglasses up to hold her fringe back, checked to make
sure she looked as irritatingly punk and bratty as possible, just for the
effect, and set off towards the hotel she knew her bane was staying at. At least Lilly is MIA. I’d have to kill her if she showed up right
now. Mercy killing…no one would suspect
me…
“Jubes,
where ya goin’?” Jamie called from the rec room as she trudged past.
“Throwing
myself on an unexploded grenade,” she replied, glum.
“Huh?”
“Nothin’. See ya later,” she sighed, pausing to give
him a weak smile.
Jamie
frowned. “Need company?”
“Nah…”
“Jubes, c’mon…we
haven’t hung out in ages. Let me come
with.”
“You’re
just trying to get out of clean up duty.”
“ too too.”
She sighed
again. “Well, I would like some company
I don’t want to throttle…you can hang out at the arcade while I talk to someone
then. Come on.”
Jamie shut off his game and trotted
after Jubilee happily, unaware as to how the day was about to unfold.
[1] Ha. Figure it out yet?
[2] Oy. I have no idea where I got that from. If you know, please tell me so I can credit
it properly.