Logan burst out of the room like it was on fire. He tripped over his own feet in his haste, stumbling as he righted himself in an unmanly tangle of limbs.
The small kid who unfortunately picked that moment to walk past, jumped back at least three foot in the air (partly aided by his mutation). He watched the big scary man as he took a few unsteady steps forward, before sagging against the wall, breathing so hard it looked like he was about to pass out. His eyes were widening in disbelief.
The kid backed slowly away. What ever it was, if it was enough to make the Wolverine act like that, then he didn't want to know.
-x-
Jean sensed the sorrow long before she heard the sound of crying. The sadness permeated the walls of the mansion, and she felt her heart wrench a little as she realised its source. Not again. Not Rogue. Not after all the girl had been though... She had to do something.
Stacking her work to one side, she locked up the lab for the night and hurried up the stairs, along to Rogue's room. Knocking gently, she pushed open the door to find the girl curled up tightly in a ball amid a tangle of sheets, sobbing her heart out.
'My God, what's wrong?' she asked. `Are you hurt? What happened?'
Rogue choked on her tears, she could hardly speak. She reached out blindly for a tissue, which Jean calmly passed her before sitting down on the large bed beside her, reaching over to smooth the wet hair out of her face.
'Tell me. What is it? Is it something to do with Logan?' At the sound of his name, Rogue's sobs just grew louder. Jean felt a horrible sinking feeling gnaw at pit of her stomach. This couldn't be right. Something must really be wrong this time.
Rogue sniffled and buried her face in her hands. 'He's gone away again,' she howled, totally distraught.
'He's WHAT?!' Right, that was it. She was going to kill him. It had taken them months to stop dancing around each other and get on with it, Scott had finally, *finally* got over the Jean-you're-flirting-with-Logan-again thing, and now *this*? She was not impressed. Did the big jerk not even realise that he'd broken the poor girl's heart?
Still, anger wasn't required here, comfort was. She put an arm around Rogue's shoulders, drawing her close. 'It's ok,' she soothed. 'We'll find him. I'll send Scott out to get him for you.'
Rogue looked up through a curtain of dark and light hair; there was a hint of scepticism. She had a point.
'Ok, I'll send Scott, Hank, Pete and Kurt out', she amended. Between the four of them, they might just manage it. Hopefully. 'Just tell me what happened sweetheart.'
'It's just...' Rogue began reluctantly, her voice still heavy from crying. 'I told him I loved him,' she sniffed.
'And he didn't say it back?' The bastard. To hell with Scott fixing him, she'd do it herself.
'No, he did,' Rogue looked away for a moment, a faint smile tracing
through the tears. 'And he told me that I was his, and then he...' she
choked on the words, 'he...'
'It's ok,' Jean soothed. `Just take it slowly.'
'He...we started to...' she blushed, 'you know.' She looked pointedly
down at the bed.
Oh.
Jean instantly removed her hands from the sheets, wishing she hadn't sat down in such a hurry. She made a mental note to send the cleaner in.
'Ok,' she said slowly...but it still didn't explain the sobbing. So far there had been declarations of love, then sex, and she didn't quite see the problem. Usually in most relationships that was considered a good thing. And it wasn't like it had been Rogue's first time either. They'd been going at it for weeks, anyone within 5 mile radius could have told you that.
She passed another tissue and decided to wait for the girl to elaborate.
'So we were...and it was good. I mean *really* good.'
Ok, those were details she could have done without knowing.
'But then when it came to actually...you know...he couldn't...um...'
'He couldn't what sweetheart?'
Rogue just gave her an embarrassed look, almost willing her to read her thoughts. 'You know...get it...get a...' She mumbled something into the covers.
'Get a what?' Were they having problems with contraception? Because she was a doctor, she could always...Oh... Realisation dawned. Admittedly a little late. 'You mean...' She made a non-too subtle hand gesture. Rogue nodded. And so help her, the effort she made to fight back the laughter should have been Oscar nominated.
It should have been easy; she was a perfectly serious adult; it was a perfectly serious situation. So why exactly did she feel as though she was about to...to... She choked back a very un-Jean like snigger. No this was not good.
Stay calm, stay calm, she repeated to herself, trying to stem the rising tide of hysteria threatening to engulf her. Think wavy blue sea. Think of un-funny things. Scott in a mood. Storm telling a joke. Hank in a bikini. Death. Think about death. 'So you, uh, had a few, uh...problems,' she managed, hoping Rogue hadn't noticed the sudden highness of her voice. 'And then he left?'
Rogue was bright red with shame. She nodded. 'He ran out the room
faster than anything I've ever seen. Jean, what if he never comes back?'
Death. Dying. Viagra. Nope! Mustn't go there. Death death death death. This wasn't working. She had to get out of here, and fast.
'Don't you worry.' She was already rising to her feet and edging out of the room. 'We'll find him. And it's best to start, uh, right away, as they say. So I'll go now and, *choke* ...get on with the finding...' She gave her what she hoped was a reassuring smile, before snatching the box of tissues off the night stand and thrusting them into Rogue's hand as a parting gift, then bolting from the room.
She made it down to the end of the corridor, and under the circumstances, she felt it a pretty good achievement. She knew she was respected, she knew she was supposed to be seen as adult, responsible, a behavioural role model. But as she sank down against the wall, head held in her hands, her body began to convulse with wild hiccupping giggles. The sort that should never come from someone that looked like her.
The students that passed gave her a wide berth.
'It's not funny,' she told the wall, only partly aware that trying to reason with inanimate objects was never a good sign of mental stability. 'It's a very serious...snigger...but *Logan*? Ah ha ha ha haa haa! AHH HAA HAA HA HA! HAHAHAAA!'
Unfortunately, she was no better off when Scott found her a good ten minutes later. He had that edgy tense expression he got when he couldn't quite manage to hide his panic. 'Jean? Baby what's wrong?' His face was a mask of concern. 'One of the students just rushed in saying you were having some kind of breakdown? Honey? Are you ok?'
'I...' *choke* '...I'm fine,' she gasped. 'It's just that...' She tried to be serious, so help her she did. But suppressing the laughter only made her snort loudly in the most undignified fashion, and the shocked look that Scott gave her set her off again.
The alarm etched on his face intensified. 'What it is? Jean, you're worrying me. What's wrong?'
'Nothing,' she squeaked, then coughed. 'It's...' Her face stretched into a silly grin and she dissolved into another fit of giggles.
'Right, that's it,' he said. 'I'm going to get the Professor.'
That sobered her up. 'No don't,' she said quickly, coming to her senses with a jolt.
'Well unless you tell me what's going on in ten seconds, then that's where I'll be.'
'Scott,' she pleaded.
'Nine, eight, seven...'
'Please, I shouldn't tell.'
'Six, five...'
'Don't make me, he'll never forgive me.'
That shut him up. His jaw clenched, a muscle twitched. 'Who? Logan? What's he done? Has he been flirting with you again Jean because I swear that-'
She shook her head. 'No. Nothing like that. Just...' she sighed, battling her inner conscience. There was really no way out of this. She hesitated, then leaned close to whisper something in his ear.
His expression froze.
'Only you mustn't tell anyone, alright? It wouldn't be fair.' She studied him as he thought about it for a moment.
'I promise,' he said, hand on heart. 'Not a soul.' He looked genuine enough.
Why was it that she didn't believe him?
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Not sure if I pulled this one off... *thinks about subject matter of story then laughs hysterically for several minutes at unintended pun* ...but it was fun to write anyway. 10 points to whoever can spot all the really bad jokes. This is my first (and probably only) attempt at Jean's POV. I never really see her as a foofy character, so it was a total mission to keep her in line. She kept doing really Logany things that I had to edit out. And you have Wolveriness to thank/blame (depending on your view of the fic!) for inspiring me to finish this – I'd had it lurking around for ages - it was her Viagra quip in Political War that did it :o)