With You - Part 3

Posted on Tue Jul 9th, 2024 @ 7:37pm by Scott Summers & Jean Grey

8,291 words; about a 41 minute read

Mission: Episode 4: The Savage ConneXion
Location: Baxter Building
Timeline: September 25, 1990

[Warning: This Post Contains Adult Content. Reader discretion is strongly advised.]

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Now The Conclusion

After making another contented sigh, Scott finally pulled back. The look on his face was that of a man waiting to wake up any moment. One second after another ticked by. Scott's smile turned wan. “You're still here,” he said just before his voice choked up a little. “You're still here and I'm still here. We're really here right now…”

He trailed off and pulled her into another embrace, though this one was less passionate and more joyous. ~This has been the best night of my life~ Scott nearly wept tears of joy with that thought and the one that followed. ~I dreamed this night so many times after I lost you. Waking up always felt like losing you all over again~

Well, so much for holding back tears. Scott let them fall in his surpassing happiness. He shared everything with Jean. ~Now we're here~ The kiss Scott laid on Jean was deep and full of gratefulness. ~And I'm not going anywhere~

A few happy tears slid down her own face, their love, so profound and precious, made it impossible to not be overwhelmed by it. Jean kissed away the stray tears that rolled down Scott’s cheeks, her presence a balm for him.

“I regret pushing you into the Blackbird, making you leave me.” Remorse for choices made during moments of conflict was a terrible headspace for any of them to be in, the very notion of ‘what if…’ could consume a person. “You didn’t want to leave me, you wouldn’t have. But I couldn’t stand the idea of you dying, of feeling that beautiful radiant light inside of you go out, it would have destroyed me. So I picked you over me, I ignored your wants.”

Jean inhaled deeply as the consequence of her actions passed through her mind. How awful everything had been for her and him and how different it could have been if she had made a different choice at that moment. “I won’t do that again.” It was a promise, to perish together rather than be ripped apart.

Was that … was that guilt she felt? Scott shook his head. “Hear me now. Never, ever regret decisions on a battlefield. You made the best choice you could. Present circumstances don't change that.” While he was talking, blurry memories floated to the surface. They were from that day. Hank pulled away into the jungle by phantom vines. Warren falling from a great height, shot out of the sky by some great beam of energy. Bobby going after him and suffering the same fate…no, worse. Bobby had been struck at close range while Lorna and Alex had — No, it was too much. Scott had gotten them so close to the Blackbird. It was within sight again. Hank had even fired it up before he was taken, waiting at the hatch for the rest of them. But with that level of onslaught, who was to say they would have even gotten airborne?

“You made the sacrifice play,” he whispered. “That was very brave. Don't ever apologize for that. It came from a place of love. Nothing is stronger than that. Wanting something to show for it…there was nothing wrong with that either.” Now it was his turn to kiss her tears away.

He spoke to her like the leader that he was, providing validation in the hard choices she made. But Jean felt the conflict that a relationship created when making those choices. “I don’t want to discredit hindsight, there is value in it even when it’s painful. I just want to learn from it, to do better.”

The intercom buzzer sounded by the front door and Jean quickly got up to answer it, happy to move past the guilt she still carried. “Golden Palace Delivery!” The garbled voice filled the condo.

Jean pressed the button on the intercom allowing the delivery guy to enter the building. Scott watched her fix her robe while she waited, even though she wasn’t going to meet the delivery guy, her need for order and to presentable trumping practicality. She smiled while waiting, the look on her face told Scott she was telepathically listening in on the delivery guy.

“He’s thinking in Cantonese but is definitely happy about the tip you left him. I think you made a friend at Golden Palace,” Jean informed Scott before she went to retrieve their food, now that the coast was clear.

A moment later Jean returned, the front door opening on its own for her.

“How much food did we order?” She carried a cardboard box full of food rather than the humble plastic bag that she was expecting to see. “That’s what happens when you place an order while hungry.” Jean chided him but had to admit it smelled fantastic, her own stomach growling in response.

“What do you want first or do you need some of everything?” She asked while unpacking the box in the kitchen.

“Load me up, please.” Scott fought back a smirk. “You might recall I got robbed of some beef bourguignon earlier.”

“Still starving?” She too fought back a smirk.

“Left room for dessert,” he quipped back.

Jean returned with plates full of Chinese food but paused before setting them down, she stared at the table thinking about what he had just done to her and debated if they should eat here.

He started chuckling at her thoughts before taking his own plate out of her hands and setting it down on the table.

“Fine!” she light-heartedly declared before setting her own plate down.

Jean left for the kitchen one last time, coming back with disposable chopsticks and beers, before she sat down across from him. There was a moment of silence while they ate, both of them so hungry that conversation eluded them until they were at least partially satiated.

“I need to go back to the mansion at the end of next week. The Professor has some articles and papers he wants me to outline for him and I need to pick up the bins I asked the students to drop donations in for the Fallen Angels. Do you want to come?” Maybe it wasn’t so much of a want but more of a should. But Jean didn’t want to phrase it that way, the idea of his expulsion felt ludicrous at this point.

“Yeah,” Scott said at length. He swallowed his bite so he could speak more politely. “I do. I should try to speak to Aurora again…” Well, if there was one topic that could sully an appetite, that was it. He’d rather not bring her up in the middle of the unforgettable evening they were having, but they’d started talking business. “I need to check on her, make sure she’s doing okay.” He hung his head low, weighed down by the burden of his choices. If only Jean wasn’t forced to bear it with him. Rather than take another bite, he just pushed his food around a bit.

“Hey…” Jean softly cooed as she got out of her chair. She stood behind him and bent down to wrap her arms around his neck, hugging herself to him. “It’s okay. She’s not a forbidden topic, it is what it is.” Jean kissed the top of his head. “We’ll face all of this together, okay?”

Scott gave her wrist an affirming squeeze. They would get through this together like they did everything else. It was just…

“Is it wrong…” he asked, spacing his words with the brunt of his contemplations, “...to wish it was you instead of her? Because I do.” He started shaking his head as frustrations started to mount. “Now that boy is going to be born into a divided family. He will know his father doesn't love his mother, not really.” He canted his head and gave Jean a mournful sidelong glance.

~Not like I love you~ It was both a point of happiness and self-incrimination within Scott. For what he did and the people hurt. “I don't even know what that's going to do to him.” He sighed and rested his face in his hands. “How will I ever be a father to him? A real father. Not a name or a face but…” Scott realized he didn't know how to describe a father. His parents were a memory but little more. The closest thing he knew was Professor Xavier. Without knowing how to finish the sentence, he just trailed off and sighed.

“…a part of his life?” Jean completed the end of his last sentence. “We’ll make it happen. We’ll look at Aurora’s living situation, we’ll make schedules, we’ll set up a room for him here. There’s solutions for all of that.”

Scott didn't want to argue but he struggled to agree as well. He just shrugged.

“If we’re meant to have a baby together, then we will, our story isn’t over because of this.” Jean crouched down next to him so she could look him in the eyes. She reached out and took one of his hands in hers. “Just because you don’t love Aurora doesn’t mean you can’t love your child. That love for your child should be the common ground you find with her. Plus, that child will have three people who love him.” She caressed his hand with her thumb, conversations like this were painful for both of them but it needed to be discussed, avoiding it only made it worse.

Jean made sure their eyes met before she continued.

“You’ve prevented nuclear war, you’ve thwarted the untouchable and the unstoppable, you’ve calmed riots and terrorists, you risked your life to bring me back from death. You did all of that because of your conviction and your beliefs. You’re a good man, Scott. If you love that child with that same wholehearted devotion, you’ll be a wonderful father.”

Coming from anyone else, Scott might have shrugged it off. The way Jean spoke with such conviction, though, Scott couldn't deny what she said. “You make compelling points,” he said softly. “Remind me not to argue with you.” He cracked a smile at that. If they could plan a nongovernmental organization together for the advocacy of mutant rights and promotion of peaceful coexistence between human and mutant kinds, then surely they could navigate parenthood.

The smell of their food hit his nose again. “Come on. Let's finish eating before it gets cold.”

Jean returned his smile and stood up from her crouched position. “A way to a man’s heart…” she said before kissing him on the cheek and making her way back to her own dinner. She took a few more bites and took a moment to think about everything that had happened today. “Flame on?” A wry smile crossed her face. “Maybe you should try ‘optic blast’ before an attack?”

“How about ‘Invisible Woman’?” Scott asked with a chuckle. “At least ‘Marvel Girl' had an air of mystery to it. Imagine if the Professor had given you a code name like ‘Mind Girl'...” The very thought of it made him start snickering. “If they all weren't dropped on their heads, then I'm from outer space.”

“Marvel Girl.” Jean groaned in response to her code name “When I was fifteen that name sounded like a good idea. But it didn’t age well, I don’t really feel like a ‘girl’ anymore.”

She finished her dinner and leaned back in her chair. Jean brought her beer with her as she made herself comfortable. “Mind Girl. That’s almost a step away from Mind Fuck.” She gave him a sly smile as she referenced his comment from earlier in the evening before she placed the long necked bottle to her lips and took a sip.

“Let's save that for when you join Magneto.” Scott sniffed the beer and decided it was good enough to drink. “That would be a huge mind fuck.” He started laughing at the ridiculous suggestion and the even sillier phrase of ‘mind fuck’ itself. “I don't know if we'll have much use for codenames with the type of work we're looking at. The name ‘Jean Grey' could become better known than ‘Mind Girl’ ever did.” Although Scott made a fine attempt at nonchalance, keeping his voice casual and not giving anything anyway, his thoughts were as open to Jean as her legs had been to him not long ago. All the same, he took another swig of beer. He didn't even smirk.

“I’m okay with abandoning codenames.” Her smirk remained but she continued with their conversation. Scott was back to his flirtatious mental teasing, a game he loved playing with Jean that resulted in one of them getting the best of their other. “I don’t feel like I need to hide who I am, what I am, anymore. To devote ourselves to this life and this cause, to hide behind a codename feels counterproductive.” She took another sip of her beer, her tongue lingering on the mouth of the bottle a little longer than required.

Scott nodded in agreement. “Hiding. Can you imagine not doing that anymore?” He drank from his beer while he considered his own question. “I remember when Professor Xavier first gave me the codename Cyclops. It wasn't just to protect my identity, or at least not for purposes of secrecy. The purpose of a nom de guerre, he said, was to embody an ideal worth fighting for. Once that ideal was attained, I could lay down the codename and still be me.” He looked back at Jean. “Do you think the world still needs Cyclops?”

“No.” Jean’s gaze held that bewitching hint of love and admiration, a look that was reserved only for him. “I think the world needs Scott Summers.” He felt that tug on his heartstrings, Jean loved him for who he was and also for that shared desire for change, that fighting and advocating for the mutant population was their calling in life. “I can’t see myself doing anything else. To step back and fill my life with something more mundane, it would feel hollow. I want to be a force for change.”

Scott gave a nod. He had never seen himself as the figurehead for anything. But then did Charles Xavier at his age? People were the sum of their choices. Jean made him believe that Scott Summers could make enough good ones to be a great man. ~God, you're so hot when you get that look on your face~ It was an intrusive thought but he didn't apologize. If anything, the admiration for her only steeled their mutual resolve.

Aloud, he said, “Then it's settled. We form the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning.” Even with a wink, he wasn't totally unserious. “Or maybe something else since we're not doing a school. We're looking for ways to help, finding people lost in the cracks and fighting the systemic giants that guide public policy.” Something touched the edge of his memory but he couldn't quite touch it. “Like… I don't know what to compare it to.”

“Like that agency you hired to find Telford.” Jean skimmed his memories, an intrusive act if she had performed it with anybody other than him. “Her name was Jessica Jones.” She stood up and cleared their plates from the table before returning with fresh beers for both of them. Jean handed him his drink but remained standing by his side as she pondered what he was thinking about. “I mean it aligns with our personal goals, to find the rest of our classmates that are out there. From what we’ve seen and learned there is already an underground network of mutant trafficking and profiteering.” Jean shivered at that idea, the exploitation of an already disliked minority. “The system isn’t looking for them, it’s looking to openly discredit and marginalize mutant issues.” She took a sip from her drink and idly ran her fingers through his hair while continuing to think about what he was proposing. “And once you find them, getting them out… it’s dangerous. Mutants are treated like a precious commodity, not people, imprisoned in fortresses. A lack of experience going into a place like that and it could be deadly. Look at Telford, he was capable but rusty.”

Scott couldn't hold back a grin as Jean not only pulled up the niggling memory but stole the words right from the tip of his tongue like they were her own. She was 10 for 10.

“That…that's it exactly.” He tapped his bottle against hers and popped the top. “Looks like we have our spokeswoman.” Taking a sip, he savored the foamy taste and let it wash down his gullet. “We do investigations and civil work. But since we're getting away from Mind Girl and Cyclops,” he said, going on without missing a beat, “we'll need a better name. Our funding ultimately comes from the Professor's X-Corporation. We're going to propel change and we're going to be the best at it. What do you think about—”

“X-Factor?” Jean proposed. It was a connection to the old while still being new and a not so subtle nod to the X-Gene that the public would pick up on it too.

Scott could only grin at her. Of course she pulled that from his brain too.

“So we’re actually doing this? Forming our own organization, no longer X-Men?” The wheels had already been set in motion, but naming it made it feel tangible. She looked around their new home and then down at Scott. It felt like such a big change but at the same time, it felt like the right thing to do.

“I think we really are.” Scott stood up and brought Jean close. “We can press pause if you want though. Hit the brakes at any time. Just say the word.” Deep down he felt the same momentum she did. Scott just liked seeing her excited. Apprehension was understandable but where Jean really lit up was her conviction. It made her shine like the North Star that she was to him. His offer to hold off was more of a setup for that conviction to punch through her hesitancy.

“No, I don’t want to slow down.” Jean quickly responded as she shook her head and smiled up at him. “I want all of this, with you.” Her lips found his for a celebratory kiss, the excitement and confirmation buzzing between them. Scott indulged her kiss for a prolonged moment. Her excitement was contagious and catalyzed his own. “Then it's official. We're going to launch X-Factor, a subsidiary of Mind Girl Unlimited.”

“Mind Girl Enterprises,” Jean corrected him. She was beaming now, he saw it on her face and felt it in the warmth that radiated from her. They both thrived when they had purpose and the idea of making something of their own, it was beautifully overwhelming.

“I feel like I should make a list...” Jean’s brows knotted as she focused and contemplated everything that needed to be done. The look reminded him of when her brows furrowed as she focused on her impending climax. But Jean seemed to be momentarily lost in the creation of X-Factor. She pulled away from him and began to scan the room for a pad of paper and a pen. He felt her mind rapidly jumping from topic to topic as she wandered off towards the bedroom for the paper and pen Scott kept on his nightstand.

Scott followed after her with their beers still in hand. If Jean was this hot on an idea, she was liable to plop down wherever suited her once she had her stationary in hand. When he made it into the bedroom, he found he wasn't wrong.

“Alright, so what's first?” Scott set her half empty bottle on the nightstand next to her while she hastily wrote down her thoughts. He didn't have the benefit of pulling details from her mind. Their bond was mostly moods and feelings, aside from whatever she actively chose to share with him. He would wait patiently for Jean to find a stopping point before explaining.

“I’m not sure…” Jean looked down at the list of items that needed to be addressed, half of them were practical, drab tasks while the other half were outlandish leads they needed to explore.

“It feels frivolous to waste time filing a business license but also exhausting to see if we can find any tax filings for the Essex Corporation.” She frowned and reached for her beer that he had placed on the nightstand. Jean took another long sip as she continued to stare at her notes, as if they would tell her their secrets if she looked long enough. “And I agreed to take some of the Fallen Angels to the library tomorrow.” She winced at the realization before she scribbled a few more things on the notepad. “I’ll make an appointment with the attorney tomorrow to see about setting up an LLC and getting it registered… and I guess I can dig through the microfiche at the library tomorrow.” Jean looked over at him as he patiently waited for her to finish this flurry of thoughts and writing. Scott felt that sweet pull of her attention returning to him. “I’m sorry, I get excited and I go off on tangents. I certainly don’t feel like an expert on this topic.”

“I don't know, what you've got so far sounds pretty good to me,” Scott said, scratching his chin while giving it a think himself. “Everything starts somewhere. Maybe we could… I don't know, create a scholarship foundation or something that people could donate to. Get a really classy face out in front while we focus on all the little day to day things?”

She wrote down a few more notes on the sheet of paper. Jean liked the idea of developing an independent resource for funds. This whole thing was established thanks to Xavier and his financial means but to continue simply on his good graces didn’t feel right, not that the Professor would ever say anything. Money talked and it opened doors to people, a sad reality of their world, but access to education, a place to live, material possessions after everything had been lost, obtaining those things could be impossible for some and life changing when provided.

“A classy face?” Jean laughed a little at his choice in words. “I guess we need to find Warren. Until then, do you have a face in mind for this donation campaign?”

Scott gave her a grin that popped his chin up an inch. “Oh, I think we both know who and it’s not Warren. He was never that handsome anyway.”

Closing his eyes, Scott did his best to imagine a billboard advertising X-Factor with Jean’s face as the center art. There was a tuft of hair seemingly out of place and yet positioned just so. She wore a navy blue business suit. But then his mind slipped, the billboard vanished yet the suit remained. He imagined her with a matching skirt whose hemline kept receding shorter and shorter while the white blouse underneath vanished and—Nope, the billboard was back. “You’d make an outstanding spokeswoman,” he said, his sincerity apparent despite his guilty smirk.

Jean snorted a laugh through her nose at the mental picture he had provided. The absurdity of being on a billboard was one thing and his fantasy of a sexy power suit was another. “Me on a billboard?” While she no longer wanted to hide behind an alias, the idea of plastering her face across the city was something completely different. “Let’s start with a successful fundraiser first before you imagine me eight feet tall by the turnpike exit.”

She took him by the arm and pulled him in close to her. The warmth of her body was noticeable in this close proximity to one another. “And the minute I buy that blue suit, I promise to model it just for you.” Jean’s own risqué thoughts ran through his mind. The conference room down the hall with Jean on the edge of the table and that navy blue skirt was hiked up around her waist.

No matter how many times they come together, no matter how naked they would be with one another, Scott would always blush when Jean caught him in a fantasy of her. “It’s a deal.” The mental picture of that skirt where it ought not to be made his breath catch though. He thought he had been done in the shower. How quickly Jean could make him rally. Not that he was complaining. “Should we seal it with a kiss?” Not waiting for a reply, he took Jean in his arms and did just that. Their lips joined together long enough to spark the familiar passion between. Scott opened his mouth, inviting Jean to do the same, and let the breath he’d been holding slowly release while he slowly searched for her tongue with his own.

A small girlish giggle pressed into his lips as Jean’s arms encircled his neck and she joyfully returned his heated kiss. How easily things fell into place between them, a few longing glances or whispers of dirty thoughts and they roused for one another. Jean loved that about them, the bedroom was the place where they truly connected and it confirmed everything they loved about one another. As long as they could do this, they could conquer anything.

She pulled him back into the mattress with her. Their kiss warmed her throughout and the weight of his body next to her and against her made her want more. “Just a kiss?” Jean’s question was laced with the same mirthful giggles.

“Patience,” Scott said while nibbling down her neck. “We have all night if we want.”

It sounded good but Scott knew he wasn’t going to hold back for long himself. The closer he was to Jean, the less control he had. Everything about her, the sight, the smell, the taste, always whipped him into a frenzy. “Although I’m taking requests…” His voice trailed off in a husky whisper as his mouth found her ear lobe.

Jean happily tilted her head back to expose more of her neck to him. Despite the small shiver his whisper created, the smile remained on her face. She was happy and excited, the enthusiasm from their conversation continued and the idea of starting this endeavor with him, it made her want to commemorate the moment in the best way possible. He felt that joy radiating off of her, it was like sunshine that soaked into him and warmed him.

“I don’t know, sometimes I like to be surprised.” She matched his whisper, delight in her tone. “Or at least just see where the moment takes us.” Jean pressed herself into him, a gentle wave that rolled her curves against him. The movement was a request for him to touch more of her.

Scott’s hands met her request with great enthusiasm. His roving touch traced the curves of her body, lightly pressing where soft and groping where firm. The rush never got old. Jean’s body electrified his senses and flushed him full of neurological feedback. Soon his lips began descending as well, seeking greater thrills down below. As much earlier attention had he had given her breasts, Scott tried to hold back from being too aggressive. The way Jean’s nipple hardened between his lips and pressed itself against the tip of his tongue made him abandon restraint. His deep breath came out in excitement while savoring the satisfying feel of her rosy flesh and the surge of ecstasy he could feel shooting through her.

~Thought I couldn’t surprise you~ Scott teased her in his mind while he teased her breast with his mouth and hands. The playful banter between them was his favorite part of foreplay. As sensual as their petting and kissing could be, what Scott had always adored about Jean most was her mind. Nobody gave him the repartee that Jean could. The fact it led to making love was just icing on the cake. It was what had spurred this very encore.

She laughed again, the sound turning sultry as he began to entice her. In response to his attention to her breasts, Jean reached out for him, the breadth of her delicate hands running down his neck and shoulders as she savored the feel of him.

~* ‘You can surprise me with spontaneity.’ *~ Jean clarified despite the heat building inside of her. ~* ‘If you act on a thought as soon as it crosses your mind, I really don’t have time to prepare myself.’ *~

She audibly gasped as his teeth dragged across one of her pert and sensitive nipples.

~* ‘Like that.’ *~ Amusement came with her thoughts and the still present smile on her face widened from his wiley behavior. ~* ‘But when you think about something or you plan to do something, I always know.’ *~

Jean writhed under him as Scott’s touch became a bit more ardent, greedy handfuls of her soft breasts that made own breath quicken.

~* ‘But there’s also the advantage that I just know you, I don’t need to read your mind to correctly guess what you’re going to do.’ *~ A testament to the years they had spent together, a different type of connection that came from a more mundane place but was special nonetheless.

~That’s fair~ Scott’s free hand went further south. ~Just like I know what you're going to do if I go like this~

His hand slid between her thighs, allowing his forefinger direct access inside her feminine flower. Jean's breath hitched in response while her entire body briefly seized up.

“Called it,” Scott boasted in a playful tone before drinking in Jean's lips once more.

Her thighs shifted and parted so he could touch her more, the soft skin of her inner thigh brushing against him as she moved. Jean invited him to touch her more, the silken wetness of her sex a welcoming sensation. Scott’s lips returned to hers and Jean kissed him with the building urgency that his touch was creating in her. Her tongue sweeping against his own before retreating, a playful request for him to follow.

~* ‘So it’s all planned out then? You know exactly what will happen next?’ *~ Her hand traveled down the length of his body until she found his arousal, her fingertips caressing him until Jean felt him shudder.

~I know what will happen if you keep doing that~ Scott felt himself thicken at the brush of her fingers.

His smile broke as his tongue slipped into Jean's mouth and batted against hers, testing for resistance. The flare of contact mingled with her caressing down below and created a blaze from the embers of their night of passion.

~Jean…~ Her name resonated through his mind into hers. ~I don't know if I can wait… I want you so bad~

Words were impossible, enmeshed as their tongues were with one another. Scott let go of himself and gave in to the rush that inevitably swept him away in the heights of intimacy.

She couldn’t resist his mental pleadings and the heady rush of desire that flooded his thoughts. When Scott came undone, all she wanted to do was give him exactly what he asked for. ~* ‘You can always have me.’ *~ She answered his mental cries with words of hungry affirmation.

Jean slid her hips under him, the lithe movement brushing their bodies against one another until they aligned. Her hand returned to his manhood, where she stroked him a few more times, her grip firmer now that things were escalating between them, until her touch evoked an anticipatory groan from his lips. The sound Scott made caused her to writhe in delight against him before her hand guided him into her.

Sheer happiness spread across Scott's face. His smile stretched what would have been a harsh grunt into a gratified moan. It was like dying and going to Heaven without having to leave his body. Scott laid Jean back and cradled her head in his palm. His other hand braced her hip for the thrusting. Their faces were close enough that Jean could almost see the outline of his eyes through his lenses. Scott peered deeply into her wintergreen eyes with intermittent pauses between the slow, hard thrusts. Their unblinking stare was nearly hypnotic.

Jean reached out for him, holding his head in hands, she wanted to ensure that he remained this close to her. The faint outline of his eyes through those thick red lenses, while not a complete picture, was enough to create a thrill for her. ~* ‘I can see you.’ *~ She almost sobbed the words as the sight of him took her breath away.

A rarely experienced window into him, seeing Scott’s eyes made their joining much more intimate for Jean. It made her want more of him, to know him in his entirety. Her knees drifted up his sides, giving him the freedom to drive deeper into her. Scott’s next thrust filled her, causing her to gasp before her breath caught in her throat. She held her breath in that moment, stilling herself enough to savor him and to watch the shadows of his eyes.

~* ‘You’re beautiful.’ *~ Jean whispered to him.

The way Jean so thoroughly x-rayed him in body and soul made Scott choke up a little. His eyes were his greatest power yet his greatest liability. For Jean to compliment their silhouette, it wracked Scott from the inside out. A lone tear formed at the corner of one eye. Words could never express how she had touched him.

~I love you more than life itself~ His jaw stiffened, as did the rest of him. The cadence of Scott's pumping hastened to keep pace with his breathing. His hands found her raised knees and used them for leverage while his hips rocked up and down in broad motions that forced every inch of him to stimulate every inch within her. All the while, his phantom red eyes stayed fixed on hers, basking in their passionate glow.

~Touch me~ They were already connected at a psychic level that was beyond description, to say nothing of already being as physically intimate as could be, but Scott still desired. ~Enter my mind. Know me more~ He offered himself to her freely without reservation or restraint, inviting her to touch him just that much closer in the way only she could.

Jean’s whole body heated, her skin warmed and her cheeks flushed pink as his pace quickened and the tension continued to build between them. He felt her climbing towards her climax in the way her knees squeezed his side and her fingertips dug into him, Jean clung to him like she would drown if she let go. Then he asked for more of her, to have her with him as he surrendered to their love making. Jean’s presence was typically a whisper in his mind, like a companion leaning over his shoulder, it took little effort to speak with her. When she took him into her psyche, emotions no longer passed between as if they were being shared, instead everything became unified and singular. There was a oneness between them in this mental state that made everything so much deeper. To enter into someone else’s mind so deeply that your thoughts and breath moved as one, it was a state that blurred the lines of free will.

Despite the intensity of his request, Jean yielded to it, and he felt himself inundated with her. She was imprinted on his bones and her psychic presence mixed with his own to the point where duality ceased. Scott felt his free will fade away in what would have been telepathic manipulation in any other context. But he had asked for this, for Jean to place her figurative hand over his on the steering wheel of his mind. She wasn't controlling him, only deepening her influence to the point where he would be her voluntary puppet if she wished. But there was no manipulation or forced direction from Jean, only the overwhelming sensation of her mind and body signing his praises. It felt so right to be like this, a degree of intimacy that had never been achieved between them. Scott wanted all of her. As Scott pressed his body deeply into hers, Jean reciprocated in mind.

The spike of the mental fusion enhanced their mutual pleasure. Scott felt the pressure building up inside both of their bodies. Beautiful, painful tensions reached a peak until they both exploded in a joint orgasm that held no barrier between them. His pleasure was hers to share in. Her pleasure was overwhelming, like the stars in the sky, Jean's euphoria felt endless and infinite, it was humbling and beautiful. Muscles quivered. Mouths screamed. Hips rolled. Hands squeezed together. It was a superluminal, almost transcendent moment where physical senses were nearly blown out with the ecstatic shock.

As their shared pleasure eventually cooled, Scott felt himself return into his own mind before he collapsed atop Jean, holding only the presence of mind to lean into his elbows to keep from crushing her. Rapture filled his body such that he was nearly numb from it.

Jean carefully let go of his psyche, making their separation a gentle tug that returned them to their individuality. She knew if she moved too quickly it would hurt, making it feel more like ripping or tearing. So she moved slowly, using the last of her strength to maintain a controlled, easy disconnection.

~Let’s do that again…~ Even Scott's thoughts were labored, much like his breathing. A joyful, unburdened rumble shifted through his consciousness that Jean would recognize as an unexpressed chuckle, the kind that came more freely when Scott was younger and less world-weary. ~...tomorrow. I might need to lay right here awhile~

~* ‘Yeah’ *~ Jean agreed as her own fatigue crept in. He felt her tremble beneath him, the physical and mental exertion combined with the sublime pleasure left her stripped bare. It reminded her of the first time they had given themselves to each other, how an overwhelming sense of completion and satisfaction followed, it felt victorious.

“We’ve never done anything like that before.” She spoke aloud, the action helping to ground her. “I’ve never felt another person like that…” Jean gently caressed his cheek, she had lost the outline of his eyes but her gaze still found his. She ran her thumb across his lips, an affectionate gesture Jean frequently did. “Sometimes it scares me, how much I love you.”

“Not me,” Scott said, putting aside for the moment a most unwanted recollection. “Our love kept you alive. It made me find you. Against all odds, we survived round two on that hellish island. Together. Our love did that. Nothing could scare me ever again, not with you by my side.”

Jean lifted her head and kissed him, it was tender but filled with passion. Scott felt her affirmation in her touch, that absolute devotion and adoration she had for him. Together they were unstoppable.

A haunting memory persisted but Scott pushed it away again. Only one person was on his mind and she was right underneath him. No one else in all the universe mattered, not at that time.

~* ‘Do you want to talk about it?’ *~ A gentle, probing question in response to his inner turmoil. There were no secrets between them, they shared the beautiful highs together but also the painful lows. Jean wouldn’t push him to talk before he was ready. But when a telepath could pry and pull thoughts free on a whim, the act of waiting for him spoke volumes about who Jean was and the respect and patience she had for him. ~* ‘I’m here for you’ *~

Scott pursed his lips in frustration at first but soon gave way with a chuckling sigh of surrender.

“I… I remember my first time with Aurora. It was not a happy memory under the circumstances.” Now he bit his lip with the confession. “It frustrated me because you and I practically climaxed together into a new plane of existence and then… that bubbles to the surface.” Despite his anxious chuckling, the frustration remained. “There isn't room for three here. So…why…”

There was no point suppressing it anymore. Scott opened the memory to Jean for full exposure without her having to go hunting or examining. She was already aware of the general synopsis of events, and so he had spared her the dirty details out of respect. But something was the matter now. There was no use hiding it since the damage was already done. Scott opened himself to Jean and let the full memory play out in cinematic recollection.

It began with his recurring dream, the one which began with his first day at the X-Mansion as a terrified boy and ended with a seamless transition to the day Jean arrived and they had stumbled into one another. Except in that version, Aurora was within his mind, watching his inner child fumble about in his unconscious state. That she was genuinely concerned for his well-being was plain as the nose on her face. Even so, something behind her eyes suggested an intent to defy the Professor's earlier admonition. Scott initially confused her for Jean. To Aurora's credit, she corrected that after sharing an astral kiss.

But then Aurora came to Scott's door and offered herself at his threshold. Scott had awakened then and let her in. From there he took from her the pleasure she had promised, ultimately weeping into her breast before the end of it. Aurora had reached into him with her full abilities and temporarily deactivated his power. Scott had looked upon her with unfiltered eyes, if only for a moment. In that moment, he was hooked. Nothing would feel right again away from her. Not until Jean had reached him in that dingy motel room.

Upon that realization, Scott jumped up from the bed and ran for the bathroom. He slid the final few feet on his knees, barely making it to the commode in time for it to catch his dinner. His head almost disappeared into the bowl. His fingers clutched it in a death grip. The knots in his stomach were twisting into braids. But it was gone, the indescribable hold Aurora had once had on him. That niggling thought which prodded him with guilt, fear, and other intrusive sentiments in the back of his mind was no more. It had broken free and shattered when he had united with Jean at every level, whatever spell he had been placed under, it was gone. Now his purged nervous system was…acclimating.

He felt her hand on his back, a soft and comforting touch to remind Scott he wasn’t alone as his mind and body reeled. It broke her heart to see him like this, how ensnared and lost he had been.

Telepathy was a powerful force, Xavier’s use of the gift and his ethics behind them made him a saint among men and he had done his best to instill that same moral compass in Jean. Scott had been exposed to that uglier side of telepathy, the one that served the wielder’s personal gain rather than the greater good. He had been exposed to that misuse of power in the one place where he had never expected to experience abuse, under Xavier’s roof. Jean still held some resentment over that, that any of this had even been allowed to happen. Desperate to feel grounded while he was drowning, Scott was easily hooked and reeled in, caught in a net that provided false hope. It made poor choices feel like the right decision.

Jean summoned a glass of water and a hand towel, offering them both to Scott once his wave of sickness had passed.

~* ‘Do you want that from me?’ *~ Jean asked him internally, too uncomfortable with the topic to voice it out loud. ~* ‘Do you want to see me without your glasses?’ *~ A feat that was in Jean’s ability but she had never done before. There was a part of her that felt like the act was a discredit to who he was, that if she did it, it meant Jean would need to change him in order to love him. She loved him for who he was as he was, she never wanted him to doubt that. But there was a part of her that hated that he had something special and different with Aurora, a moment that brought him joy that might forever linger as a happy memory with someone else. ~* ‘If you want that, I can do that for you?’ *~

Scott grunted a noise that translated as thanks as he took the water and towel. He wiped his lips, rinsed his mouth, spit, repeated, and then splashed the rest of the water over his face. He let it drip for a moment before toweling dry. Putting his glasses back on, he stood to his full height and looked down at Jean.

“Maybe,” he answered at length. “One day. But it will not be out of the need to prove anything.” His inability to control his power was, in fact, likely due to a childhood head injury. “If it is to be, then it will be. And it will be because I achieved full control and would not be a danger to the world around me…not to make up for some careless seduction.”

Lifting her chin with his fingers, Scott said, “Listen. I don't need eyes to see you. Never have. And I never will.”

She smiled at him, a few heartfelt tears welled in her eyes but Jean managed to remain composed. Whatever twang of jealousy she had felt soon disappeared. They had so many beautiful memories together and his words were a promise that there would be more, because they would have a lifetime together. Jean didn’t know if his dream to fully control his power would ever come true, but at the same time, she didn’t care. She loved him exactly as he was.

“You were the first person to see me as I was and you loved me because of it.” She couldn’t hold back her grateful tears anymore. “You seeing me, it saved me from such impossible sorrow, I don’t know if I ever would have escaped it without you.”

Scott's mind went back to that day. They were so young, so scared and unconfident of the future and the world it would bring. Both alienated in their own ways, drowning in their personal challenges. “I showed you my full power,” Scott said. “You gasped in surprise but you weren't scared. Not even Professor Xavier had seen that before, only… the aftermath.” He grinned at the happy memory. “I started loving you then, even before I knew it, before I even knew what it meant. Whether or not you would ever be mine, I was ruined for anyone else.”

Jean crashed into him with an embrace, the surprise of it caused him to take a step back but he didn’t stumble. She squeezed him as tightly as she could, molding and pressing herself against him as if to affirm that he was real. Jean didn’t really believe in a divine power, not with what she gleaned from the hearts of men, but she couldn’t help but believe in some level of fate bringing them together, it was as if they were designed for one another. She rested her head under his chin and placed her ear against his chest.

"We've been through so much together, both of us have been tested over and over again, and the one thing that remains constant is our love for one another and the ability it has to save us." She took a moment to listen to his heart and to drink him in. Scott felt her swell of love and gratitude for him and how deeply Jean appreciated him. They had both been tested and pushed to the brink of demise, finding one another was what saved both of them. "I found myself because of you."

Scott tightened his arms around Jean, his heart pounding in time with hers. The echo of their shared past resonated in the silence between them, an unspoken declaration of their unbreakable bond. "Jean," he murmured, his voice thick with emotion, "we’ve faced more than most people could ever imagine, and yet, here we stand. Stronger. Together."

~* 'Forever' *~

~ And again ~

Their foreheads touched, a simple gesture that spoke volumes of their unity and unwavering love. As they held each other, the world outside seemed to fade away, leaving just the two of them and the promise of a future filled with hope and resilience. They had weathered the storm, and now, bathed in the quiet afterglow of their confession, they were ready to face whatever lay ahead, hand in hand, heart to heart.

Fin

 

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