Chapter Five: Home for the Holidays

[Logan: Weapon X: Wolverine]

Logan watched the bustle around him as students started getting ready to decorate the tree. Then for a moment longer his eyes lingered on Jean until she stormed off then up to Heather. Now being nervous wasn’t one of Wolverine’s things, but he felt a hint of it now. A hint of something as he motioned towards the room that had been given him as an office. Though he was still unsure about being headmaster, even more now. The door closed and locked behind him as he crossed to the edge of his desk, Heather taking a seat in one of the chairs.

“Your son, James, seems…”
“Logan.” Heather interrupted.
“…to be accepting school well.”
“Logan, we need to talk.”
Logan shifted his weight, crossing his arms over his broad chest. For a while he looked away from her. Deep down this wasn’t a discussion he was ready to have. Sure he already knew what it was about. He knew that Jamie was his son. The blood tests Jean had done proved that. Even some of the boys mannerisms were his own. Features that had hints of his own.
“Fine. Talk.”

“Logan, don’t be that way. I’ve been living with this for years. Don’t make it harder.”
“You shoulda told me.”
“I should have, but you walked out of my life remember.”
“You didn’t want me in it.”
“Logan…for years I prayed and hoped Jamie would be normal. That he was really James son. When James died, he was all I had left, I didn’t want to lose my husband. It seemed he was until there was an accident. It scared me to death that I would lose him too, when his mutant abilities woke I knew. And, I knew that Xavier’s would be the only place for him, even when it meant bringing up my darkest secret. You.”
Heather looked to the floor then back up towards Wolverine who’d remained silent through out her confession. Biting her lip the blonde woman watched him. Hands clasped together. He’d grown since she knew him, he was a different man than before.
“Please, say something…”

“What do you want me to say, Heather? Do you know how I found out? He was dying, I didn’t know his name, who he was or even his powers. As a long shot we used my blood to try and keep him stable. When he accepted in Jean pulled his file, and then ran tests. I found out from a test. But what’s one more secret for me right?”
Heather stood and closed the distance between herself and Logan. His jaw clenched as he looked towards the woman. There wasn’t an easy way around it. There wasn’t an easy way to be so near to her, bringing up burned memories of the past.
“I was afraid, Logan, afraid to tell you. I just wanted to protect my son.”

“Protecting the kids here is my job, but now I’ve got extra worry any time he’s there.”
“I’m not asking you to be his father.”
“That’s the point. I am his father.”
“Logan, I’m sorry.”
“Me too.”
Wolverine stepped away from the woman and headed towards the door. Heater with a sigh followed him, reaching up to take his arm.
“Wait. Part of the reason I accepted Xavier’s offer was so I could see you. To tell you. To tell Jamie.”
“That’ll be good.”
“What more do you want from me! I’m sorry I never told you. This isn’t easy for me either.” Her voice had raised.
“I don’t know, Heather. Hope you find better words that I came up with, trying to tell him I’m his father. That’s he’s a mutant because of me. Because I slept with his mother.”

There was a moment of silence between the pair. Then finally Logan’s hand unlocked the door and pulled it open. His sense of smell was the first thing to notice they had an eavesdropper. Stepping out eyes shot towards Rogue with narrowed brows. She knew better than that. Then he noticed X near by and a pair of eyes on him he wasn’t expecting to have seen yet. Wolverine’s movements stopped as he looked at the boy. The other students tried to busy themselves with something or other, or just left the room completely.

[Rogue]

Perhaps she made herself a little too comfortable in her position near the doorway, or maybe she cocked her head just a little too much in that direction, whatever it was, the new girl, X it seemed she was called had taken a curious notice of the Southerner which of course resulted in Rogue taking a notice back. Green eyes met green eyes, Rogue gave a small smile and wasn’t surprised too much when all the girl did was simply look at her and figured that to the new comer her hair seemed a bit odd for sure.

She was just about to go and introduce herself to the girl when suddenly conversation filtered in and caused the woman to freeze in place by the door way, her full lips parting slightly in surprise at the exchange she was over hearing. Of course Rogue was a lot smarter than many gave her credit for and she picked up things that most passed on by without realizing it, little things which she found odd, but most found indifferent. The only reason she picked anything meticulous up was because of Mystique, after all when you’re raised by a shape-shifter who doesn’t stay in her true form a lot you learn to pick up tiny clues. There for, Rogue wasn’t overly shocked at what she was hearing, in a way it only made sense… but of course she knew two things; One, she had to keep her mouth shut and not let on that she knew as much as she did and two, she was going to get caught.

At that moment, the two voices got a little bit louder and she knew they were coming out of the office and even though the effort was pointless, she did her best to hide the fact she had been listening in... but of course Logan saw right through it as she felt guilt wash over her with the narrowing glance of his eyes. Then she observed as the man’s gaze relocated to X and then swiftly moved else where… onto him. Sensing the tension mounting, Rogue took a quick lesson from the students and did what she could to give them some privacy, turning the belle down casted her eyes from Logan and shut the door to the Common room quietly and faced the students, “ Why don’t y’all put some Christmas music in? It sure ain’t Christmas without Jingle Bells bein’ played sixty times or more.” This was the least she could do to try smooth things over a little bit with Logan, the other thing she had to do was be a friend… not an easy task when you’re dealing with short, hairy and bad tempered.

[Jamie Hudson]

“What’s a holiday with out something going on right?”
Jamie tried to give her a faint smile. Help cheer her up. Eyes looked over towards Kevin, he was glad he’d come back and decided to stay. The dark haired boy helped up the silver skinned girl from the snow as the trio stood.
“…My butt is getting a bit cold.”
“I guess so huh, being made of mercury. I think Dr. Grey had made a bunch of cookies. We could get some hot cocoa and I could introduce you to my ma.”

Snow crunched as he started heading back towards the mansion. Other kids still played around out in the snow, but he was ready to be warmed up for a while. And there was something about the smell of a fresh Christmas tree. The entry seemed busy with students working on decorating. One of them had been Sofia, she was on the New Mutants squad same as him, she hadn’t gone along on the mission either. Eyes looked around, his mom and Professor Logan must have still been talking. But he quickly spotted X watching the woman, Rogue, standing near a closed door. Head nodded the direction as he stepped up by X.
“What’s going on?”

Eyes looked back to the woman that had been rescued. It was if she was trying to listen in. When over the noise of the students he heard a raised female voice, he knew instantly it was his mother’s. He knew that tone too. She took it any time she was upset with him, or stressed about something. Looking from the door then back up to the woman he stepped closer and stopped. He could feel a lump starting to grow in his throat, and muscles in his jaw flexed. Watching the door open and Logan exit stopping just a few feet away from him, followed by his mother.
“Jamie, honey…”

Mix emotions crossed his features. Frustration, anger, betrayal, hurt. It all started to well and bottle within the teenaged boy. For a moment he looked back at Logan, almost staring him down, to really know if what he’d overheard was true. That he was looking into the face of his biological father. And then the realization of it hit him, he wasn’t a mutant because a random X-gene had manifested. Jamie was a mutant because Logan was. Hand raised to his forehead then away, as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. What could he have said. Feeling eyes starting to linger on him he took a few steps back. Maybe even slightly grateful that his powers could make him as invisible as he wanted to be, with a slight shake of his head, looking back to his mother Jamie went ghost. Once in phantom form he took off the room he shared with Kevin would have been to obvious instead he headed down to the depths of the mansion to the locker room.

[X]

X didn't move from her spot in the little corner. She didn't stare off into some far distance either, her eyes were constantly on Rogue. As if she was silently staring her down or sucking in a bunch of statistical info about the woman. All she knew was that she was an old time X-Men, friend to Weapon X and they just saved her ass. But there was something about the woman that X didn't trust, maybe it was the fact that she didn't trust anyone she didn't know, even those she did, or the fact that the woman seemed to be trying to eavesdrop. Suddenly green eyes caught green eyes and moments of silence were shared between them. Moments that spoke almost of the shocking news within the room. Of course X heard it all too, she didn't even have to try, to her it was as if the pair was arguing right in front of her.

She heard movements beyond the door and never turned her eyes from the woman as the door opened up and the scents from that room filled this one. She had already noticed the entrance of Jamie, Kevin and Cessily, they flooded in not long before the door opened. And from the sudden sounds in the room and change in Jamie's composure it said that he heard it all as well. Her eyes met Weapon X's momentarily before they glanced towards Jamie. The expression on his face she knew all to well. Knew it like it was her best friend. He was angry, hurt...everything rolled into one. Not a good combination. She never glanced away from him, never looked towards Kevin or Cessily who seemed stunned by the reaction he had. She never looked towards Weapon X nor the woman X figured was Jamie's mother. No, she just watched him. She watched as he suddenly disappeared from sight.

Slowly her eyes turned back towards the red haired woman that she didn't know. If her eyes could speak for her they would appear to be slightly ashamed of all that had gone on. Suddenly X turned without a word. All the problems in the room and the festive nature of everyone, it was exhausting really. With only a slightly odd look at Kevin, she glanced to the little figure in her hand before a tilt of her head accompanied it. She wanted to ask him about it, why he forgot it in her room, what he was doing there in the first place but instead she didn't. Instead she narrowed her eyes just slightly and stalked off in another direction. She figured he'd stay there and participate in other things, she also figured that Jamie had taken off to his room. X wanted to let something get her mind off things, and the only thing she could think of was her new found favorite place in te mansion, a place she was so free, The Danger Room.

It wasn't a long trip to the sub levels of the mansion. Oddly every once in a while she thought she caught the scent of Jamie but like most things she passed it off as just nothing. Before she would get in there though she felt it best again to change into the uniform she was issued. As well to place the small figure in the safe haven of the locker. Slowly she entered the Locker room and went straight for the one they had placed her uniform in. Taking it out, she quickly changed without a care. She placed the figure in the safe keeping of the Locker before turning around. That was when a familiar scent caught her attentions. With a sudden sniff in the air she looked around before she found out where it came from. Jamie was there as well. Staring at him silently she never said a word, at least not at first. "They Love you." she said suddenly and without much emotion at all before she began to pass back towards the door. Her desired destination on her mind now.

[Wither]

The group comforted their friend. His eyes looked up as he felt Rogue’s shoot their way. He knew what she was thinking… but Cess didn’t mean it like that and he knew it. Taking in a deep breath he just rubbed his friends’ arm with gloved hands and smiled softly. What else could he do? Shaking his head and shaking the thought off, he took a breath and followed everyone inside.

For a moment before entering the house, he could have sworn he felt eyes on him-but no one really looked his way anymore, just slightly afraid of him… was far below the truth. Taking a deep breath as he entered through the kitchen like everyone else, eyes went towards the patch of wall he had deteriorated. His hands moved up and green orbs glance at them, but what could he do?

Swallowing hard he followed his friends and roommate into the room where so much celebration was being had. Something, however, didn’t feel right. Eyes gazed for a moment, and landed on Rogue. She was listening to something… through the door. Maybe that was it? He couldn’t tell anyone what, if they were to have asked him. Shrugging everything off, he went to turn-however the last sentence was caught by many in the room.

Turning he found Jamie gone and out. Eyes searched-he didn’t know where his new-found friend went. All he knew that as he looked around he got a questioning glance from X but she was gone before he could talk to her. He did see she held his gift in her hand. “At least she got it…” he said softly before taking a breath and heading out behind her.

It wasn’t his place to stay here, but would he follow her? She moved quickly, but he figured he knew where she was going. As he finally got down to the Danger Room, he saw her leaving the locker room and entering her haven. Wither figured he would let her have her time and not bother her… but he had caught a small sentence come from her while in the locker room.

Entering slowly he caught sight of Jamie. Eyes blinked before jaw clenched. “Hey Jamie…” he said softly as he headed towards his new friend. “I… I know you’re upset. I can’t say I know how you feel-hell I don’t even have parents… but… You still have your mom. You have the memory of a great father… and now, you can get to know Logan as a dad too…” Kevin sat down a little bit away from Jamie, facing the opposite direction. “But, your Father is the one who raised you…but like in a broken home… there is always room for more family. They won’t replace ones you’ve lost… but… they will fill a small bit of the void in your heart.”

Maybe that talk the other day with Rogue helped him realize how much family meant? Maybe… he just wanted to give Jamie a pep-talk. He didn’t know. All he knew was Jamie was hurting… just like he was when everything happened that year. Eyes glanced at Jamie then back down. “Jamie you still have me, Cess and X too…” that was it. He sat quiet for a while.

[Jamie Hudson]

For a while he sat alone, hidden away in the locker room. Eyes looked up as X entered and changed for the Danger Room then stopped. Looking directly at where his ghost form was seated. Jamie materialized as X found him out.
“They love you.”
“Yeah, well sorry if I don’t jump for joy believing you eh.”
Voice sounded before he’d fully fleshed himself out. Eyes looked up towards X then at his own locker he was sitting in front of. This wasn’t at all the Christmas he was expecting to have. Head shook as Laura started to back away towards the door again and he stared back at the ground. She didn’t really understand, Christmas, he knew about Sarah on her part, but it was all so hard to accept.

He’d had a loving father. Even his mother. All going along as if nothing had ever happened. The door opened again as Kevin walked in calling his name. Head lifted as his friend neared talking to him. Telling him that maybe he could get to know Logan as a father. But maybe he wasn’t ready for it.
“Don’t say that.”
Hands ran up against his face as he sighed, shoulders and form rolling forwards.
“Sorry, Kev…I’m just a bit touchy alright. It’s one thing to think my mutation was like everyone else. That it was some random X-Gene…not like I wasn’t weird enough. ‘Oh he’s that kid that sees dead people.’ An all that muck. Now I’m gonna get it more ‘casue Logan’s my da…I mean…he’s not, but…”

Head shook again as he shifted on the bench. Looking up towards X and Kevin again he sighed. Trying to give his roommate and friend a hint of a smile, in thanks but it wasn’t warming him up any.
“I guess that’s what my real da meant when he said he always knew. When I was stuck you know, I saw him…before Professor Xavier came in to help me. It doesn’t matter anyway…I got the feeling, Logan doesn’t want a kid.”
Standing Jamie opened his locker pulling out the uniform that had been tailored for him after the first mission. Changing he looked back up at Kevin. Maybe he’d join X in the Danger Room, it was almost as if he wanted to. He stopped there was something that had come to his mind as he looked towards X. Something he’d never really asked about, even after reading her letter. Something about Weapon X, a lot of them were coming to find out that the name actually referred to Wolverine, Logan.
“You’re part of him too, aren’t you X.”

[X]

Her eyes lowered just slightly as she walked along her path. Something in the way Jamie spoke saddened X a bit. She understood that he was angry, understood that people lied to him, that was nature of humans, even mutants to Lie when it can save someone from getting angry or being hurt, they just never realize that the lie is worse than what they initially would have felt. But she also understood that what he had, how he grew up, everyone he loved, well he was one of the lucky ones. Even if they did hurt him.

When she exited the room there was a sound to her left, foot steps she had heard coming earlier and then a scent she could never mistake. It was Kevins. Slowly her head turned as she stopped and she stare right at him. Eyes a bit wider than usual, but the green orbs soon slowly lowered to the floor before her and she let him pass by without a word. She would have gone on too, would have continued to the Danger Room and forgot all about everything, but something was stopping her. Some force she didn't understand. She liked Jamie, he talked to her when she was feeling low, when he found out about Sarah. He was the first who knew about her, well besides people who read her mind, even Logan didn't know as much as Jamie did. And now that he was in need of some help, how could she turn away? Not that she was much help really.

The shuffling of footsteps and eyes on her caused her form to shift away and she entered back into the room. She watched silently as Jamie took out a uniform, what he was planning to use it for was not her business so she wouldn't ask. If she needed to know she would know. When everyone went pretty quiet and when something was about to be said again, Jamie questioned her with something she never thought would be mentioned. Well, of course alot of people already knew she knew that. Lowering her eyes, they narrowed slightly as she answered his question with what she could give. Something so many people denied everyone, she offered him the Truth. X didn't like to lie. She didn't see a point in it most of the time, just like here.

" I am his clone, so in a sense I suppose I am. We have every bit the same DNA but they made me...different too. I am him, but not at the same time." she didn't know any other way to explain it, she was given birth to like a normal child but she was not conceived in a conventional way. Rather her DNA was created one thread and peice at a time, as perfect to Weapon X as could be. Somehow she didn't see the relevance on the question though. "If he will not want you as a child.." she started though something she didn't think likely. " You will always have a....sister." even as she spoke she never really had much emotion in them. She was trained to keep that safe and hidden and thats exactly what she did alot of the time.

[Colossus]

Peter stood at the gates of the school watching the students play in the show, thinking of his childhood in Russia for a moment. Russia had changed since his last visit, and considering how this one turned out hopefully they would not get any worse. As he approached the school he kept watching the students, scooping up some snow he quickly made a snowball and threw it at a student while walking.

He recapped his enture trip in his mind, knowing he would have to tell Jean or Logan what happened. Logan would be interested.

Originally he went to Russia in search of Rogue, as he was asked to. Once there he began his search, not finding anything with one exception. Omega Red.
While searching in Moscow word had gotten out that he was there. Although the Communist Russian government had dissolved, there was still power there in hiding.
The dissolved power apperantly remembered their encounters with him in the past, and thus they decided to releas their weapon on him, while in a bar in Moscow. He had barely managed to escape.

Standing at the entrance to the school he slowly opened the door, stepping inside he smiled slightly, glad to be back home.

~Jean?~ he called out mentally. ~I'm back, i need to talk to you about Russia.~

He went into his room and began to unpack. Perhaps after talking to Jean he would train in the Danger Room.

[Dr. Jean Grey]

Jean stood in the kitchen, looking out into the expanse of land. At the moment she wanted to be anywhere except in the company of Wolverine and Heather Hudson, and at the sound of the front door and the voices that followed she took her leave. Draped in a Versace scarf and a London fog overcoat, the vivacious redhead stepped back out into the blustery winter weather. Westchester had received over a foot and a half of snow, and it seemed that most of her fellow mutants were enjoying the change of weather.

Doctor Grey walked quietly toward the frozen lake, her mind itching to reach out and eavesdrop on the pair. The light flakes that were still falling, landed into the curls of copper spilling out from her woolen hat and down the back of her thick overcoat. The already pale, stereotypical redhead skin was even paler (if that could be possible) save her cheeks which glowed faintly pink. Puffs of warm breath contradicted the icy air as her breath puffed out in tiny steamy clouds. The buzz of minds behind her was like a beehive. She could feel it all pressing against her and it took a concerted effort on her part not to reach in and look for the proverbial honey of which she was craving.

It wasn’t until she was addressed directly that the doctor broke down her barrier and let someone in. Much to her surprise, it was a mind she had not been expecting.
. o O (Welcome home Piotr, I trust you received my communiqué without complications?. I admit I tried to reach you directly though the COM link, but I was receiving interference from your end.) O o .
Jean shuffled over the grounds as she mind-linked with Colossus, she welcomed her teammate and friend back home from his mission in the former Soviet Union. His mission had been solo, and that never sat well with her. Rounding the house, Dr. Grey entered via the twin French doors adjacent the pool. Tracking snow over the high polished floors with little concern she crossed though the rec room and into the foyer Jean sported a genuine smile on her face as she walked over and gave him a hug.
“Welcome home, Piotr. Can I help you with your bags?”

[Colossus]

Piotr saw Jean and smiled widely, finally after the occurrence in the former USSR he saw a friendly and trusted face.
"Thank you Jean. I think i can manage them though." He easily picked them up and looked around.
"About the Com link. It was somewhat....crushed while I was investigating something at home."
He looked at Jean and blushed slightly.
"I am glad that Rogue is alright, however i bring bad news from my home country. While there I attempted to search for Rogue when i heard about mutants going missing, even being taken as test subjects. I thought, perhaps Rogue would be with them, so i took a look...."

Piotr trailed off slightly, looking into Jeans eyes.
"I went out to where i was told this facility was....it was colossal jean. Bigger than this mansion and all the grounds. As i approached the main entrance, there was a voice over some sort of loud speaker. telling me that they knew who i was and the proper security was on its way. Of course at the time i had no idea what they meant."
He began to walk to his room, still talking to Jean.

Stopping at his door he reached into his pocket and took out a smashed com link.
"This was why you could not contact me over the link. It was destroyed in a fight......" He reached into another pocket and took out a red bandanna with an Omega symbol on it. He held it out in his open hand Omega facing Jean.
"Whoever wanted security at this place felt it necessary to hire Omega Red. We fought for a long time. Eventually our battle led to a frozen river where it ended. Omega Red fell through the ice, i do not know if he survived or where he is now.....it bothers me. There was something else about this place.....I did however manage to get a look inside of this building after the fight, although not for long. I drew some of what i saw on the way back here. Once i find them i will gladly share them with you.... I think you should really see them. It could be very bad for us all."

Piotr realized that he had been talking nonstop since Jean greeted him.
"I apologize, the whole trip was weary on me, i needed to tell someone. Tell me, what has been going on here? How is Rogue?" as he spoke he placed the bandanna on his dresser and began to put clothing away as he listened to her.

[Mercury]

Somehow Cessily felt better. Kevin and Jamie helped her with that, somehow they knew what to say and did to make the silver girl feel better. When a few laughs were given near the end they all rised and the trio moved back to the Mansion, entering in without the hassle of having to fight their way through the doors with other students. Everyone was pretty well inside.

Upon reaching the rec room where everyone seemed to be, she caught sight of X in the corner and Rogue by the door before glancing towards the kids who decorated the room. And like many other times in the X Student's fragile peace, something was not right, something was going wrong. The words that were raised coming from the door Rogue leaned on signified there was something amiss inside, and what was said caused Cess' eyes to widen a bit and for her to stare right towards the wooden door. Quite the shocked look had taken over her face.

After ony a moment the door burst open and out walked Professor Logan and a very pretty woman Cess could only assume was Jamie's mother. She was silent as what happen next transpired. An angry and hurt reaction from Jamie, she didn't blame him and a seemingly shocked reaction from everyone else, apparently Jamie had no idea of what they were talking about. How aweful. She felt a pain of hurt run through her before she glanced towards Jamie. But he was gone. He had ghosted and she assumed took off.

X had followed not shortly after and Kevin went after her as well. That Cess didn't really find shocking at all, but her concern was where Jamie was. The only problem was she didn't know where he went and she wasn't a good tracker, and somehow she wanted to give him a bit of space. Narrowing her eyes slightly to looked back towards Heather and Logan, but mostly Heather. A rather ashamed look on her features came about before she said rather coldly and lowly given her present mood. " I've learned a few things in life, one of them is you should never trust your Parents, because when you do somehow they will always let you down and screw your life up" And that was all that was said, she didn't care who heard it, students or them.

Slowly Cess turned and moved to where the other students were decorating the tree, some had stopped and nodded as she said what she did others just bowed their heads and others well didn't react at all. She came up beside Sofia and smiled to the girl slightly. She didn't know Sofia very well if you could say at all, and she wasn't a bit ffan of the New Mutants now team leader, after all the teams were rivals. But she did know that Julian like her and thus she would be nice to her for his sake and her own sanities. " Can't wait for tomorrow Sofia?"

[Wind Dancer]

The brown haired teen was doing her best not to be overly curious about what was going on outside the Common room. She noted Rogue standing very close to the door way, her attention more on the hallway then the students and their antics of tree trimming. Just what was going on out there anyways? Fidgeting with the tinsel in her hands, Sofia toyed with the idea of listening in herself… but of course that would be wrong and somehow she figure Mr. Logan would be able to sense the change in the air if she did. Letting out a sigh of frustration, She slowly levitated to the top of the tree and began putting the silver colored tinsel around the top and slowly working her way down as the sound of laughter and talking peers blocked out any sort of sound from the hallway for the moment.

Slowly Sofia found herself opening up to the others, her mind forgetting about the tryst in the hallway… that was until everyone sort of stopped upon hearing the raised voices that seemed to come straight through the walls, but quickly Rogue acted and shut the doors telling them to put on Christmas music, “ I’ll do it!” Sofia quickly offered, always willing to help as she lowered herself to the carpet and walked over to the stereo system and began to fill the six CD changer with an assortment of Christmas music, “ Hm. I never knew there was so much…” She comment quietly to herself as she finished and pushed play which allowed the sounds of Bing Crosby into the room with his rendition of “White Christmas”

Smiling and humming along to the music, Sofia returned to helping with the tree trimming as Cessily joined them. Honestly she felt sorry for the girl, true neither of them had it very easy in life, but somehow Cess’s story seemed worse than her own in some way, “ Yup. Are you…” The leader of the New Mutants lowered her tone to a whisper, “ okay Cess?” They both had lost a friend, Sofia preferred to cry at night, needing to be strong for her team, Cess however was lucky she could tell the world how she felt, “ This will be a good Christmas. I think somehow joy makes hardships easier.” She smiled and gave the girl’s shoulder a touch before returning to the tinsel.

[Dr. Jean Grey]

Jean was content to just let Colossus talk. In her experience as the resident psychologist, she found that sometimes just leaving the space between was the simplest method for getting them to spill out the burdens that they carried. She passed the small crowd of people standing in the main hallway, resisting the urge to catch Wolverine’s glance. She knew how hard this situation was already for him and the last thing she wanted to do was to pour more melodrama on top of al already heaping pile. Her eyes did however catch Jamie’s face just before he departed and she felt a tightening in her chest. This certainly wasn’t the best Christmas present for the boy.

Turning away from the troubles of Logan’s son, Jean ascended the stairs with the bulky Russian, her telekinetic gift opening Piotr’s door as they came to it. It seemed that Professor X had a larger plan for Colossus when he’d sent him overseas and that the whole truth of it was just coming to Jean now.
“I’m glad to know that it wasn’t just a bout of recklessness,” she said, lifting the broken COM link with her mind, spinning it about slowly as she assessed the damage.”
As barely an afterthought, Jean floated the device onto the small end table in the hall and entered the room with him.

“Rogue is recovering as fast as she can, but it’s not the physical damage that worries me. What that monster did to her…” Jean trailed off, not really needing or wanting to go into details or relive any of the things she’d inadvertently gleaned from her scans of Rogue’s mind. Her orbs of green cast downward as she forced the sharper edges of memory aside, regaining her warm and controlled composure. It was her job to appear and act as a headmaster now. She’d taken the job on once before on a temporary basis and done well in Xavier’s absence, but that had been different. Then she was a loyal member of the X-men, not the girl that turned her back on them. It was different now that she had to take on The Professor’s role for her former teammates. She often wondered how things would have gone if she hadn’t left Scott.

Once Colossus was settled into his room Jean placed her hand gently on his shoulder, guiding him toward the door and back downstairs.
“I’d be more than happy if you could write up a report on your findings and submit it to myself and Wolverine for perusal, but not right now,” her voice was calm and even, without a hint of hurriedness or condescension. “Right now I want you to relax. Take the day off, enjoy the holiday and get to know some of the new students here on campus. As an X-Man, they look up to you, and I want them to understand that they don’t have to save the world 24-7.”

Jean was positive that if Scott were in her shoes he would have taken the exact opposite approach; that he would have put the entire team on high alert with the Blackbird warming in the sub-basement. But that wasn’t her way. Instead of trying to follow in his footsteps she thought of Charles and how he would have deal with this news. Sure there would be a meeting with the active teammates, but not before he’d gleaned what details he could. Jean hoped to do the same.
“For now let me worry about this. After all, that’s why they pay me the big bucks now.”
As she spoke she realized that Pitor was giving her a funny look. It dawned on her just then that he didn’t know about the recent staff changes.
“You’re looking at me like I’ve just grown a second head and I think I know why. When you left Xavier was still in the middle of reassigning us, and I wasn’t even officially back yet.”

Jean’s green eyes widened, revealing in the small expression that a lot had happened.
“Yes I’m back for good. Bruce and I have different lives, and as hard as it was to leave Gotham, my life is here.” She paused for a second, a light chuckle working up out of her as she related more of the past events.
“To sum it all up, Xavier has gone off to Muir Island, Scott and Emma are running the Salem Center while myself and Wolverine have been appointed co-headmasters here in Westchester.”

[Mercury]

She grabbed for a christmas ball. A nice bright red one that was metallic and shiney. It had small imprints of snowflakes of white as well. Silently she stared at the ball, thoughts manifesting in her mind, her smile fadding slowly as she thought about them. She wanted to be home so badly right now, the thing was her parents didn't want her there anymore so she had no choice but to stay here. She wondered if maybe a visit was in order...a nice friendly chat with them, outside in the yard where EVERYONE can see them.

Suddenly the voice of Sofia snapped her out of her daze and she forgot about her present mind, she forgot about the little scenerio she had playing in her head. Her head snapped up towards the girl and she finally put the ball in its secure spot on the branch of the tree. Looking to the girl with a smile and pupiless solid silver eyes she shrugged a bit. "Are any of us Ok? We might look ok, act ok, but somehow we are all not ok. But if you mean am I going to break and yell at anyone again...the answer is no.." she noticed that some of the students around winced a bit or gave her a look when she asked about the yelling bit. But soon they sighed and went back to their decorating. The room was looking pretty good if she could say so herself.

She didn't say anything at the moment as the room filled with music. Humming gently her mind went over what Sofia said and she nodded to the girl who touched her shoulder gently. " I hope your right. We'll have to wait for Tomorrow to see I think..." she watched as Sofia played with the tinsel, placing it on the tree in very strategic places. She couldn't help but give a soft giggle to herself before turning her eyes straight to the tree. "You know I never did like tinsel. Not because its tacky or anything but when your in liquid form, if you get that stuff on you, you have no idea how hard it is to get off the next time you solidify." she had the image in her mind now, and trust her shes went through it before, its never fun.

[Colossus]

Piotr looked at jean.
"Its good to have you back though. It wasn't the same here without you around." he said with a confirming nod.
he reached into his bag and pulle dout a sketch book. Flipping through several pages he showed Jean many sketches of giant robots, with the name Sentinel written underneath. a look of seriousness came in his eyes.
"Before I relax i thought you should see this. These are what was in the compound i saw. From what i gathered they only have one reason for existing." he took a long pause.
"To destroy mutants..........unfournantly i do not know how long until they are active....." he looked in her eyes, worry filling them.
He gave her the sketch and glanced at Omega Red's headband on his dresser.
"I get the feeling I may be going home again sooner than i had expected......."
He scratched the back of his head for a long moment before excitment filled his eyes.
"but you are right Jean, it is christmas. and i have somethign for several people, including you."
He put one of his bags on his bed and took out several wrapped packages. Handing one to Jean he smiled.
"I hope you like it. its nothing special really. Just something from home i thought you may like. I got something for everyone, I even managed to find a book about russian military tatics for Scott, and a box of the cigars my father smoked when he was alive for Logan."
He hoped Jean would like the necklace he got for her in Moscow, it wasn't easy to find, and the gem inside was the same color as her hair.
"I will go put these under the tree." he said as he teasingly took the gify our of Jeans hands and began to head for the Rec room.