Fic: Underneath It All (17/24)
Jun. 18th, 2006 02:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fembuckTitle: Underneath It All
Fandom: X-Men
Pairing: Jean Grey/Emma Frost
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Don’t own them, though I do covet them.
The foyer of the mansion was abuzz with noise and activity as Jean and Emma descended the stairs. Students and staff a like were fanned out around the opening, peopling leaning against doorways and the banister as the inner circle of the X-Men stood huddled together. Hand sliding down the smooth, polished surface of the banister Jean knew that in the middle of her teammates huddle was Professor X, and beside him, Scott.
Ororo spotted her first, and seeing Storm distracted the rest of the team and the rest of the room soon followed her gaze, their eyes locking on Jean as she descended the last few steps. A hush fell over the foyer as Jean began to make her way towards the assembled X-Men, more than a few eyes flickering between her, and Emma and a space she couldn’t yet quite see where she assumed Scott was standing.
Jean took a deep breath and continued forward, resisting the urge to smile nervously as people moved out of her way, parting for her like the red sea, clearing a path towards her husband, soon to be past tense – though he wasn’t aware of that.
And finally, after what seemed like the longest walk in the history of her life Jean spotted him. She paused momentarily at the first sight of him, her eyes studying his face for a moment before running up and down his body. He looked very much like the last time she had seen him. His hair was a little longer and slightly disheveled, as usual he probably hadn’t been wearing his helmet on the winding roads that led up to the mansion. His chin and cheeks were slightly dusted with stubble and ruby glasses covered his eyes.
She had spent a lot of time in the past months wondering how she would react to seeing him again. There had been tense phone calls in the first eight weeks that had left her feeling impotent and angry in the beginning, and as time went on their conversations became more and more strained. Finally, in the last month of his absence, they had tapered off all together for which she had been eternally grateful, for it was after the phone calls stopped that things had begun to seriously develop with Emma.
She had imagined herself walking up to him and slapping him across the face harshly whispering, “You bastard!” as a stunned crowd looked on in silence. She had pictured herself staring at him from a distance in stony silence before turning her back to him and walking away without uttering a word. She had even thought about him catching sight of her and running over to her apologizing profusely for being such a huge prick and begging forgiveness as he clung to her like he couldn’t survive without her. Scenario’s like those had haunted her thoughts and dreams for weeks on end.
She continued walking until she was standing an arms length away from him, the rest of the team surrounding them and smiled tightly.
“Scott.”
In all of her imaginings she hadn’t pictured a greeting like that.
“Jean,” he responded staring at her. Not for the first time she wished that she could see his eyes.
Nothing was said after that for a moment as they stared at each other, and everyone watched them stare at each other. And then he took a step towards her, and she leaned forward opening her arms awkwardly accepting his hug stiffly both of them pulling away glad to free of the awkward embrace seconds later.
---
Emma leaned against the banister, her arms folded across her chest, the very picture of detachment, or so she hoped. She could feel people looking over at her occasionally as Jean made her way towards the assembled X-Men, studying her to see if she would show any kind of reaction to the reunion. Though she and Jean had confirmed their relationship to no one but Ororo, there had been speculation about what was going on between them far before that, and it had only intensified over the past few days as Jean had been spotted entering her room late at night and leaving too early in the morning for it to have been a social visit.
She sighed deeply and tilted her head back looking completely and utterly bored by what was happening in front of her as Jean stopped walking a meter or so away from Scott. She watched them stare at each other for a moment and then lifted her hand up in front of her face bending her fingers over so that she could look at her nails as they hugged.
She didn’t see what was so great about Scott Summers. Sure, he was good enough looking, but the glasses he was forced to wear detracted from his looks, and his handsomeness was very boring and plain, like that of a stock catalogue model. Every time she looked at him she was somewhat shocked not to see a golden retriever running around him in circles while he held a barbeque tong in his hand or something equally mid-west, Americana hockey. She knew from personal experience that he was kind of a self-righteous dickwad, and despite the fact that he was the main team’s leader, from what she had seen he was nowhere close to being the brightest or most capable of the X-Men. Ororo, Hank, Warren and Jean would have made equally good if not superior team leaders, so that position hardly impressed her either. There was just nothing particularly special or appealing about the man that she could see which only frustrated her more because everyone seemed to love him so very much.
Forgetting her rouse of indifference for a moment Emma glared at him and sighed deeply.
She flinched a moment later as she felt a hand come to rest on her shoulder. Turning her head to the side she prepared to pin whoever it was that had touched her with her most intimidating and threatening look, and did just that. However, it was Ororo that had sidled on up beside her and the black woman showed no particular reaction to the look that had literally made grown men wet their pants in the past. Emma sighed again and shrugged Ororo’s hands off of her shoulder. There was no way she was going to stand around there watching Scott feel Jean up while Ororo fucking Munroe tried to comfort her. It just wasn’t within the realm of possibility.
Stepping away from the weather witch Emma took a moment to survey the room. There were still a few people watching her. It wouldn’t do to make her exit while people gawked at her. Closing her eyes briefly she projected a distraction out into the room, the house plant by the main doors suddenly becoming extremely interesting to those gathered around. Then with a brief look at Ororo, and a long look at Scott and Jean who were standing side by side talking with the professor, Emma fortified her shields and moved towards the back of the foyer and headed towards the kitchen which held a back door and sweet, sweet freedom.
---
Jean eyed Scott apprehensively, almost they way one would a rabid dog that was stumbling around their immediate vicinity. They had entered their bedroom a few minutes before and after he had deposited his bag near the closet he had turned to look around the room before turning his coloured gaze on her, studying her.
“Snoopy’s gone.”
Jean blinked, and then turned her head around to look as if she hadn’t been the one to take the picture down before looking back over at him.
“Yeah,” was all she was able to come with for a response however.
Scott nodded though she knew that he couldn’t possibly have been pleased with such a non-response. She watched as he rubbed at his chin for a moment before beginning to walk towards her. He stopped so close to her that she could smell his cologne and feel the warmth emanating from his body. He placed his hand on her hip and then leaned forward.
Jean turned her head to the side and Scott’s lips caught her cheek.
He tried to kiss her again and she tensed in his arms, keeping her face resolutely turned away from him.
He stepped back and stared at her. Jean knew that he hadn’t expected that reaction and truthfully she hadn’t expected it either. She had actually been somewhat curious as to how she would respond to being near him again, to being touched by him. Different scenarios had played through her mind like they had for their reunion scene, but sheer, blinding panic hadn’t been something she had foreseen.
“Jean,” Scott said softly sounding confused and concerned. “I know that you’re upset with me. And that you have reason to be,” he continued the last sentence coming out rushed and patronizing as she looked over at him disbelievingly. “I know that I’ve been gone a long time, and that communication has been scarce … lately,” he went on she folded her arms across her chest but listened to him patiently. “I know that you don’t really understand, but I really did need this time to sort things out in my head. After … after what happened with Apocalypse I was no good, to you, to the team, to myself. I was lost, I really was, and I felt that I owed it to the team, to myself but especially to you to find myself before it was too late.”
Jean forced herself not to react to the last part of his statement. Her facial muscles twitched in protest, but she was sure if she relaxed them she would have actually sneered at him, so she maintained her control. She needed to stay calm.
“Scott,” Jean began once she felt able to speak reasonably to him. “I’m glad that you feel better, that you’ve … sorted out your feelings,” she continued. “Really I am, but you can’t expect things to be exactly how you left them. Like you said, you were gone for a long time. Things have changed in your absence. I’ve changed. In…”
“What are you saying?” Scott asked interrupting her just as she was beginning to become comfortable speaking. He did that quite often. Being interrupted was pretty much a staple of speaking with Scott.
Jean took a few steps back placing some more distance between them before running an agitated hand through her hair.
“I,” she began before pausing rubbing her neck. Tense, she was very tense. “You have to know that this is not something that I was looking for or seeking out. It’s not something that I ever wanted to happen, but it did and …” Jean paused and took a deep breath. She had to just say it. “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to say it. Scott, I … I’ve developed feelings for someone else, strong feelings. Love,” she said drawing herself up to her full height. “I’ve fallen in love. With someone else,” she finished. She realized the last part was probably somewhat unnecessary, but she was nervous.
Scott stood perfectly still for a moment and then lowered his head, his right hand curving into a fist as he did.
“Logan,” he growled still looking down. He seemed to be shaking slightly.
“Not Logan,” Jean said quickly not wanting Scott to go barreling out of the room in search of Logan who had only returned to the mansion himself a few days before.
Scott’s hand unclenched and he lifted his head to look at her. Jean was somewhat glad that she couldn’t see his eyes.
“Who?” The question came out tight and controlled.
Jean looked at him trying to decide whether it was the right time to finish the conversation or not. Scott was controlling his emotions, an ability he had spent many, many years perfecting, but she could tell that he was very close to losing that control. She knew that what she had said had come as a great blow to him, and she didn’t want to make things any more difficult at the moment. It wasn’t that she was afraid that he would hurt her if he got any more upset, she just wasn’t sure that she would be heard if he got any angrier.
She decided against putting it off however. If she didn’t tell him that night it meant that she risked him hearing something from someone else, accidentally or intentionally and that would make the situation worse. She didn’t want to hear about it from someone else.
“Emma.”
Scott stood still staring at her for a long moment.
“Emma Frost?” He asked almost as if he were asking for a clarification of price at a drive-through window.
“Emma Frost,” Jean confirmed.
“You’re in love with Emma Frost?” Scott asked. He sounded completely and utterly bewildered.
“I am,” Jean responded simply not wanting to risk confusing the matter with a lot of words.
“Emma Grace Frost?”
Jean sighed. “We can talk about this more in the morning when you’ve had some time to absorb it.”
“…in the morning?” Scott asked seeming to come out of his stupor a bit. “Where are you going?” Some of the anger he was feeling was finally beginning to appear in his voice as he remembered seeing Jean and Emma descend the stairs together earlier. “Are you going to spend the night with her?” His voice was flinty, accusatory and as cold as she had ever heard it. She couldn’t be mad at him. Despite the fact that he had left, she was now the bad guy in the equation. He had come back and she was leaving. She was leaving him and he had a right to be upset.
“No,” Jean sighed. “I’m not going to see Emma,” even though she really wanted to. She wouldn’t do that to him until they had a chance to talk more. The last thing either of them needed was the dining room abuzz in the morning because she had been seen going into Emma’s room the night her husband had returned. “The parents of a few new students are staying over tonight so the guest rooms are filled up. I’m going to stay with Ororo tonight.”
Scott’s fist clenched again and he stared at her for a long moment.
“Are you sleeping with her too?” he finally asked resentfully.
Jean couldn’t blame him for his anger or the response but it did confirm to her that they would not be able to talk about the situation they found themselves in reasonably any more. It was tell for her to leave.
“I’m not going to respond to that,” Jean said softly watching as Scott turned away from her. “I’ll come by tomorrow morning. We’ll talk. If you need me, I’ll be with Ororo.”
He kept his face turned from her.
She breathed in deeply and moved towards him stepping around his stiff form. He didn’t move a muscle as she moved past him. She continued to the door. When she pulled it shut she could see that Scott was still standing frozen in the same position.
To be continued ...
Fandom: X-Men
Pairing: Jean Grey/Emma Frost
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Don’t own them, though I do covet them.
The foyer of the mansion was abuzz with noise and activity as Jean and Emma descended the stairs. Students and staff a like were fanned out around the opening, peopling leaning against doorways and the banister as the inner circle of the X-Men stood huddled together. Hand sliding down the smooth, polished surface of the banister Jean knew that in the middle of her teammates huddle was Professor X, and beside him, Scott.
Ororo spotted her first, and seeing Storm distracted the rest of the team and the rest of the room soon followed her gaze, their eyes locking on Jean as she descended the last few steps. A hush fell over the foyer as Jean began to make her way towards the assembled X-Men, more than a few eyes flickering between her, and Emma and a space she couldn’t yet quite see where she assumed Scott was standing.
Jean took a deep breath and continued forward, resisting the urge to smile nervously as people moved out of her way, parting for her like the red sea, clearing a path towards her husband, soon to be past tense – though he wasn’t aware of that.
And finally, after what seemed like the longest walk in the history of her life Jean spotted him. She paused momentarily at the first sight of him, her eyes studying his face for a moment before running up and down his body. He looked very much like the last time she had seen him. His hair was a little longer and slightly disheveled, as usual he probably hadn’t been wearing his helmet on the winding roads that led up to the mansion. His chin and cheeks were slightly dusted with stubble and ruby glasses covered his eyes.
She had spent a lot of time in the past months wondering how she would react to seeing him again. There had been tense phone calls in the first eight weeks that had left her feeling impotent and angry in the beginning, and as time went on their conversations became more and more strained. Finally, in the last month of his absence, they had tapered off all together for which she had been eternally grateful, for it was after the phone calls stopped that things had begun to seriously develop with Emma.
She had imagined herself walking up to him and slapping him across the face harshly whispering, “You bastard!” as a stunned crowd looked on in silence. She had pictured herself staring at him from a distance in stony silence before turning her back to him and walking away without uttering a word. She had even thought about him catching sight of her and running over to her apologizing profusely for being such a huge prick and begging forgiveness as he clung to her like he couldn’t survive without her. Scenario’s like those had haunted her thoughts and dreams for weeks on end.
She continued walking until she was standing an arms length away from him, the rest of the team surrounding them and smiled tightly.
“Scott.”
In all of her imaginings she hadn’t pictured a greeting like that.
“Jean,” he responded staring at her. Not for the first time she wished that she could see his eyes.
Nothing was said after that for a moment as they stared at each other, and everyone watched them stare at each other. And then he took a step towards her, and she leaned forward opening her arms awkwardly accepting his hug stiffly both of them pulling away glad to free of the awkward embrace seconds later.
Emma leaned against the banister, her arms folded across her chest, the very picture of detachment, or so she hoped. She could feel people looking over at her occasionally as Jean made her way towards the assembled X-Men, studying her to see if she would show any kind of reaction to the reunion. Though she and Jean had confirmed their relationship to no one but Ororo, there had been speculation about what was going on between them far before that, and it had only intensified over the past few days as Jean had been spotted entering her room late at night and leaving too early in the morning for it to have been a social visit.
She sighed deeply and tilted her head back looking completely and utterly bored by what was happening in front of her as Jean stopped walking a meter or so away from Scott. She watched them stare at each other for a moment and then lifted her hand up in front of her face bending her fingers over so that she could look at her nails as they hugged.
She didn’t see what was so great about Scott Summers. Sure, he was good enough looking, but the glasses he was forced to wear detracted from his looks, and his handsomeness was very boring and plain, like that of a stock catalogue model. Every time she looked at him she was somewhat shocked not to see a golden retriever running around him in circles while he held a barbeque tong in his hand or something equally mid-west, Americana hockey. She knew from personal experience that he was kind of a self-righteous dickwad, and despite the fact that he was the main team’s leader, from what she had seen he was nowhere close to being the brightest or most capable of the X-Men. Ororo, Hank, Warren and Jean would have made equally good if not superior team leaders, so that position hardly impressed her either. There was just nothing particularly special or appealing about the man that she could see which only frustrated her more because everyone seemed to love him so very much.
Forgetting her rouse of indifference for a moment Emma glared at him and sighed deeply.
She flinched a moment later as she felt a hand come to rest on her shoulder. Turning her head to the side she prepared to pin whoever it was that had touched her with her most intimidating and threatening look, and did just that. However, it was Ororo that had sidled on up beside her and the black woman showed no particular reaction to the look that had literally made grown men wet their pants in the past. Emma sighed again and shrugged Ororo’s hands off of her shoulder. There was no way she was going to stand around there watching Scott feel Jean up while Ororo fucking Munroe tried to comfort her. It just wasn’t within the realm of possibility.
Stepping away from the weather witch Emma took a moment to survey the room. There were still a few people watching her. It wouldn’t do to make her exit while people gawked at her. Closing her eyes briefly she projected a distraction out into the room, the house plant by the main doors suddenly becoming extremely interesting to those gathered around. Then with a brief look at Ororo, and a long look at Scott and Jean who were standing side by side talking with the professor, Emma fortified her shields and moved towards the back of the foyer and headed towards the kitchen which held a back door and sweet, sweet freedom.
Jean eyed Scott apprehensively, almost they way one would a rabid dog that was stumbling around their immediate vicinity. They had entered their bedroom a few minutes before and after he had deposited his bag near the closet he had turned to look around the room before turning his coloured gaze on her, studying her.
“Snoopy’s gone.”
Jean blinked, and then turned her head around to look as if she hadn’t been the one to take the picture down before looking back over at him.
“Yeah,” was all she was able to come with for a response however.
Scott nodded though she knew that he couldn’t possibly have been pleased with such a non-response. She watched as he rubbed at his chin for a moment before beginning to walk towards her. He stopped so close to her that she could smell his cologne and feel the warmth emanating from his body. He placed his hand on her hip and then leaned forward.
Jean turned her head to the side and Scott’s lips caught her cheek.
He tried to kiss her again and she tensed in his arms, keeping her face resolutely turned away from him.
He stepped back and stared at her. Jean knew that he hadn’t expected that reaction and truthfully she hadn’t expected it either. She had actually been somewhat curious as to how she would respond to being near him again, to being touched by him. Different scenarios had played through her mind like they had for their reunion scene, but sheer, blinding panic hadn’t been something she had foreseen.
“Jean,” Scott said softly sounding confused and concerned. “I know that you’re upset with me. And that you have reason to be,” he continued the last sentence coming out rushed and patronizing as she looked over at him disbelievingly. “I know that I’ve been gone a long time, and that communication has been scarce … lately,” he went on she folded her arms across her chest but listened to him patiently. “I know that you don’t really understand, but I really did need this time to sort things out in my head. After … after what happened with Apocalypse I was no good, to you, to the team, to myself. I was lost, I really was, and I felt that I owed it to the team, to myself but especially to you to find myself before it was too late.”
Jean forced herself not to react to the last part of his statement. Her facial muscles twitched in protest, but she was sure if she relaxed them she would have actually sneered at him, so she maintained her control. She needed to stay calm.
“Scott,” Jean began once she felt able to speak reasonably to him. “I’m glad that you feel better, that you’ve … sorted out your feelings,” she continued. “Really I am, but you can’t expect things to be exactly how you left them. Like you said, you were gone for a long time. Things have changed in your absence. I’ve changed. In…”
“What are you saying?” Scott asked interrupting her just as she was beginning to become comfortable speaking. He did that quite often. Being interrupted was pretty much a staple of speaking with Scott.
Jean took a few steps back placing some more distance between them before running an agitated hand through her hair.
“I,” she began before pausing rubbing her neck. Tense, she was very tense. “You have to know that this is not something that I was looking for or seeking out. It’s not something that I ever wanted to happen, but it did and …” Jean paused and took a deep breath. She had to just say it. “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to say it. Scott, I … I’ve developed feelings for someone else, strong feelings. Love,” she said drawing herself up to her full height. “I’ve fallen in love. With someone else,” she finished. She realized the last part was probably somewhat unnecessary, but she was nervous.
Scott stood perfectly still for a moment and then lowered his head, his right hand curving into a fist as he did.
“Logan,” he growled still looking down. He seemed to be shaking slightly.
“Not Logan,” Jean said quickly not wanting Scott to go barreling out of the room in search of Logan who had only returned to the mansion himself a few days before.
Scott’s hand unclenched and he lifted his head to look at her. Jean was somewhat glad that she couldn’t see his eyes.
“Who?” The question came out tight and controlled.
Jean looked at him trying to decide whether it was the right time to finish the conversation or not. Scott was controlling his emotions, an ability he had spent many, many years perfecting, but she could tell that he was very close to losing that control. She knew that what she had said had come as a great blow to him, and she didn’t want to make things any more difficult at the moment. It wasn’t that she was afraid that he would hurt her if he got any more upset, she just wasn’t sure that she would be heard if he got any angrier.
She decided against putting it off however. If she didn’t tell him that night it meant that she risked him hearing something from someone else, accidentally or intentionally and that would make the situation worse. She didn’t want to hear about it from someone else.
“Emma.”
Scott stood still staring at her for a long moment.
“Emma Frost?” He asked almost as if he were asking for a clarification of price at a drive-through window.
“Emma Frost,” Jean confirmed.
“You’re in love with Emma Frost?” Scott asked. He sounded completely and utterly bewildered.
“I am,” Jean responded simply not wanting to risk confusing the matter with a lot of words.
“Emma Grace Frost?”
Jean sighed. “We can talk about this more in the morning when you’ve had some time to absorb it.”
“…in the morning?” Scott asked seeming to come out of his stupor a bit. “Where are you going?” Some of the anger he was feeling was finally beginning to appear in his voice as he remembered seeing Jean and Emma descend the stairs together earlier. “Are you going to spend the night with her?” His voice was flinty, accusatory and as cold as she had ever heard it. She couldn’t be mad at him. Despite the fact that he had left, she was now the bad guy in the equation. He had come back and she was leaving. She was leaving him and he had a right to be upset.
“No,” Jean sighed. “I’m not going to see Emma,” even though she really wanted to. She wouldn’t do that to him until they had a chance to talk more. The last thing either of them needed was the dining room abuzz in the morning because she had been seen going into Emma’s room the night her husband had returned. “The parents of a few new students are staying over tonight so the guest rooms are filled up. I’m going to stay with Ororo tonight.”
Scott’s fist clenched again and he stared at her for a long moment.
“Are you sleeping with her too?” he finally asked resentfully.
Jean couldn’t blame him for his anger or the response but it did confirm to her that they would not be able to talk about the situation they found themselves in reasonably any more. It was tell for her to leave.
“I’m not going to respond to that,” Jean said softly watching as Scott turned away from her. “I’ll come by tomorrow morning. We’ll talk. If you need me, I’ll be with Ororo.”
He kept his face turned from her.
She breathed in deeply and moved towards him stepping around his stiff form. He didn’t move a muscle as she moved past him. She continued to the door. When she pulled it shut she could see that Scott was still standing frozen in the same position.
To be continued ...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-06-21 03:06 pm (UTC)Loved Jean being honest with Scott from the get-go. Of course he thought it was Logan. Nasty crack about Ororo, hopefully Scott is not going to get too nasty about this. Definitely looking forward to Emma letting him know who's the alpha. That should be goooood. :D
no subject
Date: 2006-06-23 10:52 pm (UTC)Yeah, I mean even if Jean hadn't totally dumped his ass I'm sure their reunion would've been awkward anyway with Scott being a total tool and having left her for like two months. Either way it really sucked to be them. The trials of tribulations of being the schools golden boy, golden girl and
golden couple.Of course he thought it was Logan.
Had to throw that in there because EVERYBODY thinks if Jean ever stepped out it would be with Logan. Which I just can't fathom. I do not get the appeal of Logan (even the Hugh Jackman shaped one).
Nasty crack about Ororo, hopefully Scott is not going to get too nasty about this.
Yeah, Scott's gonna be working through some issues coming up. He's gonna get a couple more nasty comments in there, but he'll work through it ...(or will he??????? hee)