Jean and Scott

[x-jeangrey.livejournal.com]

After debriefing from the pickup mission is over, Jean and Scott go to de-stress in a uniquely appropriate manner, given the stress they're under.



Charles was right, Jean did still have a lot of work to do. But being out in the middle of the lake and being able to be distracted, to relax... It was progress. Okay, so she still cast a few wary glances at the water every now and then, but that was all right. Leaning back to look up at the stars she smiled. #This was a good idea,# she sent over the link, not willing to break the quiet.

#My ideas usually are,# Scott sent back a bit smugly as he continued to row the boat lazily out towards the center of the lake. #That's why they pay me the big bucks, don't you know...# Of course, he hadn't been absolutely sure this was a good idea, not knowing just how she'd react once they were out on the lake, but she seemed to be doing just fine.

#So what do they pay me the big bucks for?# There was a slight tensness in her shoulders, but after the illusion the girls had thrown at them that was to be expected. And Jean wasn't willing to let a bunch of little girls put back her therapy.

#Raising the aesthetic standard of the faculty?# Scott volunteered cheerfully - and then ducked, preemptively. #Kidding. Seriously, kidding... not that you aren't the most beautiful member of the faculty, don't get me wrong. Because I firmly believe that.#

Not willing to risk rocking the boat the way an overhand swing would, and well aware that he would probably think to duck anyway, Jean kicked him in the shin. #Clearly, Charles pays me to put up with you...# she sent, affection coloring her mental voice.

#Now we've hit upon the sad and alarming truth,# Scott sent back woefully, making a show of rubbing at his shin. #To put up with me, and occasionally beat me up to keep me in line.# He let the oars drift, deciding that they'd more or less reached the center of the lake.

Jean snickered quietly at him. There wasn't enough light to make out the look on his face, but Jean suspected he was making the 'kicked puppy' face. Which, since she couldn't see it, didn't have the usual effect. #Well, you know, somebody has to do it.#

#I do take a lot of managing.# Scott closed his eyes, letting the air in his lungs out on a long sigh. Sleeping had really not been in the cards tonight, not after everything those... adorable little blonde girls had thrown at them. #Our newest students settling in okay?# he asked, as Jean had been helping Charles with the settling.

#So far, yes. Still a little stunned to find out that there are other telepaths in the world, but I'm sure by the end of the week the shock will have worn off and they'll be complaining about the homework right along with everybody else.# Jean was half way expecting a few problems from their new arrivals, but if they hadn't learned from Charles' lecture that messing with the staff and students' minds was off limits, they would pick it up fast.

#They were very impressed with you, I think. Although that 'apology' they gave their minders didn't seem all that sincere to me.# Scott had been hard-pressed to repress the instinctive 'ah! children of the corn!' reaction he'd had to seeing that the four girls were tiny and blonde and would have been rather angelic-looking if there hadn't, you know, been four of them. Who finished each other's sentences when they deigned to speak aloud.

#They've never had a teacher before. I suspect the shine will wear off soon.# But she smiled, pleased with herself for having been able to get through to them, and pleased that they'd gotten to them and been able to help.

#Very glad I brought you along today, had I mentioned that in the last five minutes?# Scott leaned back in the boat, careful not to tip it too far one way or the other, but wanting to relax a little.

Jean tensed at the slight motion of the boat, but forced herself to relax again. #Not in the last five minutes, no, but I had gotten that impression the first twelve times you said it. It was good to be out in the field again, and I'm... glad it went so well.#

#Gave me some food for thought...# Scott trailed off, gazing across at her thoughtfully. "There's not much stopping you from being on active status right now, going on what happened today."

Jean blinked, then leaned forward to peer at him. She opened her mouth to say... something, then closed it. "I am... fairly equal parts ecstatic at the idea and going 'are you sure?', and I'm not entirely sure why," she finally said, still considering him.

"I've been thinking... wondering, if we've been quite fair judging your progress with your powers," Scott said. "I mean, I know your TK still takes a lot of concentration... but that doesn't mean it's not under control, or that you can't apply it in all kinds of useful ways. It just means..." He smiled a bit, shrugging. "I don't think I was consciously wanting or expecting you to be at Nate's level of multitasking within a couple of months, but I won't say that I might not have been thinking it anyway."

That got him a wry look. "I intend to get there, sometime, but... clearly not yet. And this month I've not made nearly as much progress as I would have wanted. There just hasn't been time."

"It's not as if the two of you would stop training, even if you were back on active status," Scott said, almost thinking aloud more than he was talking to Jean. "The training sessions you've been getting to even amidst everything this month, your TK's been testing out as stronger and more focused than it was the last time you were on the team. Room to grow doesn't mean you're not at a more than acceptable level already."

"Hmmm, maybe that's it." Propping her chin on her hands, Jean added, "The perfectionist in me tends to get twitchy at the idea of just being 'acceptable', but realistically, I'll admit that I've been doing... passably. Maybe even well."

"And telepathically speaking, I think you proved yourself this afternoon in the field more effectively than anything I could have devised for you in the Danger Room..."

The moonlight was, thankfully, not strong enough to show the faint blush of pleasure, although Jean's grin was quite evident. "I didn't have as far to go with the telepathy," she temporized, "and not working on it basically all of the time was never really an option." Because while still needing to work on her tk was, at times, frustrating, still needing to fight just to keep her shields intact would have made her crazy. Literally.

"Once Haroun's out of the woods," Scott said, thinking, "we should get to it and run you through the other tests. Hand-to-hand, that sort of thing..."

Jean's nose wrinkled at that. "Proper hand-to-hand or Nate hand-to-hand?" Not that she was terribly good at either of them, but proper hand-to-hand was at least more straightforward, and with less chance that she'd get overzealous and break someone.

"Kylun hand-to-hand, if he's amenable," Scott said with a chuckle. "You can keep working on the Nate hand-to-hand once he's fit to start tormenting you again."

"Alright then. Kylun hand-to-hand I can deal with. He's at least very nice about it when he wipes the floor with me."

Scott's smile grew a little. "If you'd told me in July that we'd be talking about you being back on the team this... comfortably, I'd have thought you were insane." He looked up at the night sky. "But it felt really... right, this afternoon. I mean, apart from the induced hallucinations and all."

"If I'd said that back in July I think you'd have been quite justified in questioning my sanity. Which just goes to prove that neither of us is a precog, thank God." She smiled. "But, I know what you mean. It's... it's not felt right, not being on the team. I've just not got the temperament to wait at home when there's work to be done."

"Chalk that up as one of the many reasons I fell in love with you." Scott picked up the oars again, noticing that they were drifting back towards the bank. "Please tell me you don't have to be back on shift until tomorrow? Not fair to throw you right back to work after something like this..."

"I don't," Jean said, nodding. "There may have been begging involved, and possibly some hard bargaining, but I've got until the morning. After all, we didn't know how long the pickup would take."

"Then we can stay out here for as long as we want." It was a really attractive thought. "We so need to run away from home for a while soon..."

"God, yes." There was a touch more desperation to that than was really a good sign. "Can we petition fate for a month like this one to never happen again, ever?"

"We can try." It wasn't so much that he needed a vacation - actually, he was keeping an even enough keel that in comparison to last September, he was feeling very slightly smug - but she certainly did. And he hadn't gotten her back just to watch her get crushed by a mountain of stress.

"Although, on the plus side, it's kept me from thinking about the fact that I'm turning thirty-two in less than a month." Jean wrinkled her nose. Hank was right, having skipped the big three-oh was good, except that that just meant she was even older than she thought she ought to be.

"I need to find an appropriate birthday present still. To make up for the two I missed," Scott said. "I was thinking a cane?"

Jean's eyes narrowed. "Because you really want to give me something I can hit you with from farther away?"

Scott grinned. "Well, you take such satisfaction in it at times..."

Jean stuck out her tongue at him. "It's just that you're such a tempting target. How can I resist?"

"True. And wouldn't the kids be disturbed by this conversation..." Scott grinned suddenly. "Although why, I don't know, given that the pair of us were dressing up in black leather before it got trendy. You'd think that would have given something away."

Jean's laughter set the boat rocking slightly, but she was a little too amused to notice it. "It's just as well none of them ever heard our old joke about you and your leather harem when Hank was gone and it was just the three of us. There would have been shrieking and making of appointments with Leonard."

"Why'd we have to grow up into respectable role models," Scott said woefully. "It was so much more fun before."

"Oh, you're just upset that now you have to share the harem." Jean grinned. "Besides, we're only respectable when there are other people around. And not even always then."

Scott let the oars rest again, and reached out and took her hand, tugging her towards him. "We really aren't going to tip over the boat if we sit on the same end, you realize."

"Intellectually, yes..." Jean said, but she did move carefully to join him, trying not to tense up as the boat moved.

Scott slid his arms around her. "You know that no matter what kind of water you're in, or around, there's always going to be one difference from then," he said. "I'll be there."

Leaning into his embrace, Jean smiled a little shakily. "I know," she said, steadying her breathing. She turned to kiss him softly. #I know.#