Logan left the Danger Room still breathing heavily, dried blood sticking to his skin where lacerations had healed on his chest, his arms, his legs. He wondered if it had been enough. At the very least, his mind was quieter than it had been an hour prior, although a low growl still emanated from the depths of his consciousness. It hadn't stopped for the past five months, though, so Logan just ignored it as he had grown used to doing.
The hallways were empty as he prowled through them. Perhaps it was one of those masochistic tendencies he'd noticed about himself since returning to the mansion. Perhaps it was a hope that what he thought was happening was just a figment of his imagination. Whatever it was, Logan found his feet bringing him closer to the med bay. He could see light shining around the rim of the door, so he knew someone was in there. What reason could he give for opening that door, though? A headache? Ha! Perhaps he'd just say he was looking for Jean. That was what they all expected of him anyway.
Imagine his surprise when he opened the door and found that Jean was actually the only occupant of the room. Then imagine his further surprise to find her on the floor, knees to her chest, black mascara tracks from tears that were long dried running down her cheeks. In her hand she clutched a piece of paper. Her eyes never left it, not when the doors opened wide, not when Logan approached cautiously. He believed it was the first time he'd ever seen Jean crying. Her lips were moving, but she wasn't really speaking because even his ears could catch no words.
“Jean?” Logan called softly, unsure how close to get to this woman with telekinetic abilities who just might be going through a mental breakdown. “What's wrong, Jean?” He took a step closer.
Logan was almost a foot away from her when Jean looked up at him with haunted eyes. “I'll never be able to fix it. My life...there's no hope anymore. I can't fix it,” she told him helplessly.
“Can I see the paper, Jean?” Logan asked, pretty sure that whatever had caused this was on that paper.
Jean laughed at that, a wild laugh that sent chills down his spine. “You won't want to see it, Wolverine! The big bad animal won't want to see this, oh no,” she muttered.
Logan finally got a look at the paper when she waved it in the air, still laughing. Not a single bit of it made any sense, though, so he turned back to her. “What does it say, Jean?”
“She has him,” the crazed doctor sobbed, falling back into depression. “She has him, and this, and it's all I ever wanted. I threw it away, and I can't get it back, and now she has it.”
Logan had a very bad feeling that he knew who “she” was, but he needed to hear Jean say it. “Who has what, Jean? Who?”
Jean's wild brown eyes met his, and she grimaced. “That little slut took him away from me, and now they'll be a happy little family. I hate them, I hate them, I hate them,” she muttered, and now she was rocking back and forth.
That's all it took. Logan understood it all, was faced with the truth, the final truth that sent his own mental state into an uproar once again. And there was no going to the Danger Room, no running from the torment in his mind. His claws ripped through the skin of his knuckles, adding physical pain to the mental, and then the Wolverine left the med lab, left the woman muttering on the ground. All instinct, the Wolverine was ready for the kill. If he could take out his rival, take out the source of his pain, there was a chance to redeem himself. The animal mind knew that with a deep conviction.
The Wolverine realized that he would have to be stealthy, though. The woman could never know. She wouldn't understand. She wouldn't forgive him. Not for that. So he made his way silently up to the main level, sniffing. Yes, they had come this way. The scents lead toward the dining hall, which is now empty, and then newer scents heading to Professor Xavier's office with the man himself. They are still there, and the Wolverine set himself up in the shadows to wait.
It didn't take long. The door opened, and the Wolverine watched. He would wait until the rival was alone, no matter how long it took. The woman left first, her face serene with a secret smile that made the Wolverine want to howl and shred something because he did not cause it. The rival followed her, and the Wolverine slipped even deeper into the shadows.
The woman looked around, saw only an empty hallway. “Scott, there is one more thing Ah wanted to talk to you about.” Her voice was very serious, with none of that secret smile apparent.
“What's wrong, Marie?” It was all the Wolverine could do to stop himself from growling at her name on his lips. It always was.
“It's just...Ah think if we're going to do this the right way, we should go back to being just friends. Ah don't want to confuse the baby, once he or she is older, when Mommy and Daddy are playing musical bedrooms but saying we're just friends, you know? Ah think we need to set up some ground rules, kind of like we did in the beginning, and stick with 'em from now on. And Ah think that no more sex should be the number one rule.” She was obviously attempting a light voice, and the Wolverine could see that the rival accepted it on face value.
“I guess I see what you mean. It's been fun, though, hasn't it?”
“Yeah, it has. It meant a lot to me, but now Ah...we have something more important to consider.”
The rival took the woman into his arms, and the Wolverine tensed, ready to part them if it went to far. But it was a quick hug, and then the rival left on his own. The woman passed the Wolverine, all unknowing, to go into an empty, dark rec room and stare out the window at a snow-covered lawn, one hand absently rubbing her stomach. The Wolverine did not follow the rival. The woman had banished him, and that was good, and also all that was necessary for the time being.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
A tiny bit of resolution that leaves plenty of questions unanswered.
Chapter End Notes:
I'm sorry if that last part with "Wolverine" was a little incoherent. I'm really not used to writing him as a sort of separate entity. I hope it turned out all right.