In The Heat
An X-men: Evolution fanfic by Lavender Gaia
Editing and Assistance by Cassie.
Chapter Twenty-One: Friction
Disclaimer: I do not own X-men Evolution, any of its characters or Rachel Summers. They are all property of Marvel.
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Though it was comforting to be in her home, surrounded by the people she loved and the daughter who adored her, Jean couldn't help but continuously glance towards the doorway. She knew that Kitty had called Kurt, warning him ahead of time so as not to give Scott a heart attack. It was a good idea; her boyfriend did not always deal well with stress. But waiting for him when she knew he was on the way didn't do anything to relieve her own tension.
When she heard a car door slam outside the house, she quickly got up and went into the foyer, staring at the wooden edifice in front of her. Then it was open and Scott was there. It was as if she had never left, though normally he wouldn't be staring at her with such a shocked look. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, almost afraid her heart would burst with happiness.
"Jean…?" He whispered in her ear, holding her to him as tightly as he possibly could without breaking her.
She nodded, inhaling the scent of his cologne that she remembered so well. "It's me. I'm here."
Scott gently stroked her red hair away from her face. "How…?" He shook his head. "No, it doesn't matter. God, I'm so glad you're home." A loving kiss was placed on her forehead. "I dreamed about this every night…"
Her green eyes were moist with tears when she leaned up, pressing her lips against his. He kissed her back gently, as if he was scared she would disappear from his arms. Luckily, she stayed, deepening the kiss and burying her hands in his hair. Scott's mind faintly registered that she even kissed the same.
When they broke for air, he remained holding her, resurrecting all the memories he had buried upon her death, when they had been too much to handle. She still smelled like peaches; he'd always thought it was a perfume or shampoo, but apparently it was just Jean. She even still tasted like peaches. Her skin and hair was soft to the touch, as always, and he kept stroking her arm to calm himself down. The best thing was to listen to her breathing, just to know she was alive.
She looked up at him, meeting his gaze behind his glasses. "I guess we need to talk…"
"Probably," he nodded. "But not right now." Right now he was intent on kissing her again and never letting go. Jean seemed happy to comply with that.
To the side, Rachel watched her parents, realizing that this was the best day she'd ever had. Kurt, who had very quietly snuck in behind the reunited couple, stood next to her. "Think they're happy to see each other?" he joked lightly.
"Just a little," she agreed with a grin, then sighed. "This is the way it's supposed to be."
"Ja," he nodded. "Unfortunately, liebchen, I don't think it'll stay this way."
Rachel sighed. "I know. Maybe Emma will get hit by lightning or something. Huh, I should talk to Storm about that." Down by her feet, Sarina pawed at her, whining lightly. "Okay, okay, let's go."
Kurt frowned as she tiptoed to the door, "Where are you going?"
"To walk the dog. I figure they'll be like this for a while," she indicated her parents. "They'll probably be finished by the time I get done, and then I can steal my mother back." She clipped the leash on her dog, and left with a wink to Kurt.
To their credit, Jean and Scott ignored the entire exchange, being so absorbed in each other. They almost didn't notice Logan clearing his throat behind them. "Sorry to interrupt," he said, holding back a chuckle at the way Scott held on to Jean protectively, "But 'Ro insisted I ask you whether or not you're hungry."
"I'm fine," Scott answered, resting his chin on the top of Jean's head as she leaned against his chest.
"Alright, just doin' my job," he went to go back to calm down the room of excited mutants, but turned back to smile at the pair. "Not sure whether I said this before, but I'm glad to have you back, Jeannie. Place just isn't the same without ya."
"I missed you too, Logan," she answered with a smile.
Scott held his girlfriend and mother of his child tighter, whispering how much he loved her in her ear. Jean responded by kissing him again, too choked up to respond properly with words.
At that moment, Kitty decided to walk out of the rec room with Lance, his arm wrapped around her. He froze when he saw Scott, expecting a barrage of insults and optic blasts. It took a moment for the X-men leader to notice him. "Alvers?" It was impossible to keep the sound of disdain out of his voice. "What are you doing here?"
Lance opened his mouth to defend himself, but Jean responded first, "Scott, he brought me home."
The goggled mutant looked back and forth between his girlfriend and his enemy. "Really?"
Avalanche scowled. "Yeah, so?"
It took a moment for Scott to process this information. Then, he held his hand out to Lance. The Brotherhood member looked at it wearily before shaking it. Scott smiled at him. "Thank you."
Fighting down the feeling of shock, Lance shrugged. "It was nothing. I knew this was where she was supposed to be."
"No, you're just a good person," Kitty corrected, kissing her boyfriend's cheek. "We were just about to scrounge up some ice cream in the kitchen. Do you want some?"
Jean smiled; it was just like Kitty to want things back to normal as soon as possible. "I think we're okay. Thanks though."
The two went into the kitchen, and Scott kissed Jean's temple. "Does this mean I have to start liking him?"
She shrugged. "It would be nice. Of course, you'd have to extend that to the rest of the Brotherhood too. They helped. In fact, Pietro's here somewhere."
"Just great," he groaned.
"It's only fair," she protested. "I mean, I'm home. And that had to rock your world."
He forced himself not to roll his eyes. "I'll tolerate him, but I don't want to have to deal with any of those lame rock puns. Especially coming from your beautiful mouth."
Jean looked at him with a twinkle in her eye. "What are you gonna do about it?" With a smile, he kissed her again, effectively shutting her up. She didn't mind in the least.
After returning to the mansion, Rachel sat down hard on the steps outside the front door, trying to catch her breath. The dog lay at her feet, panting. They had run most of the way, Rachel trying to get all the excess emotions out with an adrenaline rush. She was really spending way too much time with Wolverine.
Taking a moment, she reflected on what the hell had happened today. Her mother was back—there was nothing greater in the world than that. Her father was acting as if nothing had changed since she was gone—that would change soon enough, unless she really could convince Storm to find Emma and see if she could play "dodge the lightning bolt."
Rachel was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice someone coming out behind her. Apparently, he didn't notice her either, since he tripped over her and landed on the ground in front of her. Sarina looked up, growling lightly before resting her head back down, not sensing any danger that her master couldn't handle. She blinked at him, "Um…sorry."
Pietro stood up quickly, brushing off the dirt on his pants. "Whatever." His blue eyes kept looking back at the door as he muttered under his breath, "Stupid Lance, how long does it take to say goodbye to Pryde?"
The redhead smirked before hesitantly saying, "Thank you."
The male half of the Maximoff twins frowned at her. "Huh?"
"Thank you. For bringing back my mother," her voice wavered against her control. "You have no idea what it means to me."
The tone of her voice made the speedster wary. He didn't do well with cry or even almost-crying girls. Usually he was the one who made them cry, and then he left as soon as possible afterwards. If his sister was in her right mind—as in the one that hadn't been tampered with—she would attest to that.
Knowing that he wasn't supposed to leave without Lance, and recognizing that his friend would probably take another hour to say goodbye to Kitty, he sat down on the steps too. "I think I know what you mean. My mom died when I was little. Then, for a while, my family was all split up. My sister and I are just recently falling back into the pattern of realizing we're related."
"Really?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "Just a few of the reasons we're the most dysfunctional family on Earth."
"After us, of course," Rachel informed him. Pietro raised a white eyebrow in her direction. "My parents are only a few years older than me."
He shrugged. "So? My dad's Magneto."
"My mom just came back from the dead."
"Did I mention my dad was Magneto?"
She shook her head, knowing she could beat him any day, but didn't want to go into the depths of just how screwed up her family life is. "By the way, I'm Rachel Summers."
He nodded. "I know. Jean talked about you. I'm Pietro Maximoff."
The two exchanged a small smile when the door behind them opened, revealing Lance and Kitty. "Finally!" Pietro jumped up. "How long does 'Maybe I'll call you tomorrow' take to say?"
Lance rolled his eyes, pink gloss visible on his lips. "God, hold your horses." He kissed his girlfriend. "I'll definitely call you tomorrow. Bye, pretty Kitty."
"Bye, Lance," she sighed, watching as the two boys left arguing all the way to the car. Then she raised an eyebrow at her friend. "What were you and Pietro doing?"
"Just talking." Rachel unclipped Sarina's leash as they went back into the house.
Kitty was scrutinizing her carefully. "You think he's cute, don't you?"
She raised an eyebrow in the intangible girl's direction. "He's not bad looking, if you like the skinny type."
"Do you like him?" she asked excitedly.
Rachel laughed in disbelief. "Kitty, I just met the guy!"
She shrugged, as if that didn't matter. "You know, Scott doesn't like him. I mean, he likes him more than he likes Lance, but only slightly."
"Really not?" she smiled lightly. "All the more reason to get to know him then." They went back to the rec room, and Amara moved from her spot next to Jean to sit on Bobby's lap. Rachel smiled at her in thanks before sitting down and snuggling up to her mother.
"Where'd you go?" Jean asked, kissing the top of her head.
"Had to walk the dog," she yawned.
Scott glanced at her from the other side of Jean. "Tired?"
Rachel shook her head, but closed her eyes anyway, missing the look her parents exchanged. Jean nudged her up. "C'mon, let's go to bed. I'll come with you." After saying goodnight to everyone, the two redheads went upstairs. Rachel changed and got in bed, with Jean stroking her hair.
Jean, suspecting her daughter had fallen asleep, got up to leave when a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. "Don't leave me," Rachel begged. "I don't want to wake up and not know if you're here or not."
She nodded slowly. "Okay." Removing her shoes, Jean slipped into bed with her daughter, rubbing her back in slow circles. "I promise I'll be right here when you wake up in the morning." The two eventually fell asleep, neither realizing that Scott came in sometime later to kiss them and tell them he loved them before going to sleep himself.
The next day, the Grey-Summers clan was sitting around watching television when suddenly Jean was attacked. "Oh my god, it's true!" screamed the blonde, hugging Jean tight. "Why my girl called and said you were alive I thought it was a joke! But you're really here!"
Jean laughed. "Hi, Tabitha."
"This is just so amazing!" the ex-Brotherhood member squealed. "I mean, I really thought that the Popsicle had brought Amara over to the pranking Dark Side, but here you are. You know what this means, right?" They were silent, waiting for her to answer her own question. "We have to have a party!"
Rachel's eyes lit up. "Yes!"
"That's really not necessary," her mother protested, but Tabitha wasn't listening.
The blonde ran into the hallway where Xavier was. "Professor, don't you think we should have a party to commemorate Jean's homecoming?"
Kitty and Amara were coming down the stairs at that moment. "A party?" Kitty grinned widely, blue eyes sparkling. "Awesome!"
The professor fixed her with a look. "I do recall the last time you had a party."
"Well, yeah, but, like, you'll be here this time. And Jean and Scott will be here too," she defended. "Don't you think Jean deserves it?"
"Indeed, I do."
The woman in question walked out to meet them. "I don't need a party, Professor. I'm just happy to be home."
He took her hand with a smile. "Jean, we missed you dearly. If there is anything in this world to celebrate, it is the returning of that which was lost to us. I would be honored to host your welcome home party."
The redhead blushed, and went back to sit with Scott as Tabitha started checking off things on her fingers. "Okay, we'll need food, drinks, music, decorations, balloons…why isn't anyone writing this down."
Rachel telekinetically lifted a pad and pen towards Kitty, who started writing things down. "I suppose we could set some time aside tomorrow," the professor mused.
Kitty, Tabitha, and Amara froze, looked at each other, and shared a hearty laugh. "You know what, Professor, I miss your sense of humor," Tabitha smiled, then checked the time on Jean's watch. "Let's see…three hours. We can get this all done in three hours."
"Plus an hour for shopping," Kitty reminded her.
"Right, right. Four hours and it's done." The blonde grinned. "With the proper muscular and monetary assistance, of course."
The powerful telepath raised an eyebrow, and sighed. "If anyone could do it, you three could."
"Totally, Professor! It's like a secondary mutation or something," Tabitha smirked, adding something to Kitty's list.
"I'll ask Logan to drive you where you need to go," Xavier offered. "He'll also have money to pay for everything."
"Of course, he'll complain the whole time," Rachel muttered as the girls thanked the professor. "So, what do you need me to do?"
Kitty put her arm around her friend's shoulders. "You, young Phoenix, have the most important job of all: keeping Jean busy so we can set this up."
The youngest Summers considered her task. "That I think I can do. Just make sure this is the greatest party ever, okay?"
Amara hugged her. "Of course. We love Jean. And there's nothing the Sirens can't do."
"Speaking of the Sirens, we should find Rogue. She'll want to be part of this too," Tabitha mused. "Also let any of the guys know that they'd better stick around because we'll need their help."
Rachel nodded, then headed off to do her job. Scott and Jean were extremely engrossed in each other, kissing deeply as he stroked her sides. Their daughter cleared her throat loudly, causing the two to break away. "Was I interrupting something?"
"Not at all, honey," Jean blushed, fixing her shirt. "I'm just going to get a soda. Do you want some?"
"No thanks, Mommy," she smiled, sitting down in a chair.
"Do you want something, Scott?"
"Oh, I think Dad wants quite a few things, but I doubt you're going to find them in the kitchen," the smaller redhead mumbled.
He glared at her from behind his shades and then grinned at his girlfriend. "No, I'm fine."
Jean gave them each a kiss before she went to the kitchen. When she was out of earshot, Rachel moved back to the couch, "Dad, we need to go out. They want Mom out of the way so they can set up for her party. Plus, it's a great way for you to finally take me out like you promised."
"I promised you it'd be just the two of us," Scott reminded her.
"It'll be better with Mom there."
He smiled lightly, kissing her cheek, "You're absolutely right." When Jean came back with a can of root beer, Scott asked, "Hey, Jean, how about the three of us go out for a late lunch?"
"Sounds good to me," she grinned. "But I just got this soda…"
"It's okay. Bring it with you."
Jean raised an eyebrow at him. "You're letting me bring an open drink into your precious car? You really must love me."
"You know I do," he kissed her, then lead his two daughters outside, while Rachel telepathically told her friends that it was a go.
They all felt like having seafood, and went to the closest restaurant that sold good fish and shrimp. As the trio dug into a basket of cheesy biscuits, Rachel was telling Jean about being on the X-men team—excluding the details about Emma, of course. "It's kind of weird," she admitted. "Of course, you can have your place back though. I'll just switch to the New Mutants, I guess."
Jean squeezed her daughter's hand. "Thanks for that, but you might want to stay on the team a little bit longer. I don't think I can be part of it anymore."
Scott frowned at his girlfriend. "Jean, you belong on that team."
"I know, Scott, it's just…" she sighed. "When the Brotherhood found me, I didn't have my powers. And I still don't."
"Whoa…" Rachel took a sip of her water. "That's so weird. I'm more powerful than you are."
Her parents blinked at her, her father scolding her with a quick, "Rach!"
"No, seriously, I always wondered if this would happen. Just let me bask in it for a moment." Indeed, after a moment's contemplation she went back to, "That is too weird for words. How can it just go away?"
"I don't know, but I don't want to spread it around too much. God knows what an anti-mutant group might do with the information." Jean forced a smile. "I'm going to share the information with everyone ask, and see if the professor can help. But right now I just want to spend my time with the two people that mean the most to me in the world."
The subject was dropped, though Scott certainly wanted to discuss it. Losing your powers wasn't normal. But, then, neither was coming back from the dead. At the moment, there was no need to ruin the meal when he was going to make her tell the professor later. It would have been hypocritical of him to complain about sharing information anyway; he was still frightened of what she would think when Emma got back, and the guilt was weighing on him as he added half a sugar packet to his iced tea.
Luckily, Rachel dominated the conversation, excluding the fact that she had burst into flames. Spontaneous combustion of you daughter wasn't something you wanted to deal with on your second day back from the dead. For all she knew, it could be a onetime thing anyway. Just like being dead. Her family seemed to be weird like that.
After they had finished eating, the Summers continued to distract Jean, trying to give the party-givers at the Institute more time. After running a few errands, Scott drove them to the mall, knowing that anything with the word SALE would distract at least one of his girls.
A few hours and an almost empty bank account later, Scott brought them back to the Institute, making sure Rachel had given Kitty a quick call to make sure they were ready. Rachel floated the bags inside where Amara, Tabitha, and Kitty were waiting, mischievous looks on their faces. Jean raised an eyebrow at them. "What's going on?"
"Just come with us," Amara insisted, taking her hand and dragging her towards the large dining hall. Rachel left the shopping bags in the hall, grabbing her dad's arm and pulling him with them. Rogue was standing in front of the closed doors, as if a guard to whatever was inside.
The girls exchanged a look before opening the door. Jean gasped as she surveyed what they had done to the dining hall. It was covered in streamers of all different colors, predominantly shades of red. Hundreds of balloons floated up to the ceiling, with large clusters of them in the corner. Banners hung everywhere, reading "Welcome Home!" and "We Love You, Jean!"
Everyone had crowded in there. Not only the X-men, but the Brotherhood had been invited too. When they say her, the hall erupted into applause; even Fred stopped eating long enough to clap and smile at her. Jean couldn't help but tear up a little as Amanda Sefton ran up and hugged her.
"Go with your mom," Scott whispered in Rachel's ear. "I'll take these upstairs." She kissed his cheek in thanks and then ran behind her mother. Scott was about to head upstairs, balancing the bags precariously, when a voice halted him.
"Not in the partying mood?" Xavier asked seriously, watching the man he considered a son carefully.
"Just getting these out of the way so Jean can enjoy it," Scott spoke softly.
He nodded. "And so you can enjoy it?"
Scott sighed. "I don't think I'll be able to either way. Unless…Professor, can I ask a favor of you?"
"Of course."
"This is Jean's day. I want her to enjoy it. But I can't enjoy it with her while I feel guilty. I feel bad about…well, you know." Xavier nodded again as Scott continued," So I was hoping you'd be willing to block my memories of her. Just for tonight, for Jean. Please, sir."
Charles Xavier considered the request. "You know I'd rather not use my telepathy on you students unless I have to."
"I know. But it's for Jean. It's not fair for me to ruin this for her. And it's just for tonight, I promise."
"Alright," he finally agreed. "Just close your eyes and relax."
Back in the dining hall, Jean was greeting everyone with a hug. "Thank you for coming to my party, she told the Brotherhood members—minus Lance, who had already grouped up with Kitty—with a smile. "Thank you for everything."
Wanda smiled back. "You're welcome." She noticed the smaller redhead behind Jean. "You've got to be Rachel. Your mom doesn't stop talking about you. I'm Wanda Maximoff, and this is my brother—"
"Pietro," Rachel finished for her. Both Jean and Wanda blinked in surprise as Rachel smiled at the speedster. "We've met."
Jean raised an eyebrow at her daughter, then giving Pietro a suspicious look when Scott came up from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist, smiling happily. "Do you want to dance?"
"Dance?"
At that moment a relatively slow song filled the room; Kurt gave Scott a thumbs up from over in the DJ booth. He took Jean's hand, leading her into the middle of the floor, and wrapped his arms around her waist. Jean laid her head against his shoulder, smiling. "This is what it should have been like at the Sadie Hawkins dance," Jean whispered in his ear.
He held her tighter. "This is better."
Rachel smiled at her parents, then approached Kitty, Lance, Tabitha and Amara. "Guys, this is amazing."
"Did you really do this all today?" Wanda raised an eyebrow at Kitty.
"Totally!" the brunette assured.
Tabitha rubbed her knuckles against her shirt. "And the professor says that I don't have any leadership skills."
"You threatened to blow up their rooms," Amara pointed out.
The blonde shrugged. "Anyway possible, is what I say."
The song changed and Bobby pulled his girlfriend away for a dance. Lance kissed Kitty's temple. "I'm gonna grab a soda. You want one?"
She grinned at him. "Love one. Thank you."
"Grab one for me too," Tabitha insisted.
"I'll take one," Wanda added.
"Sure," Rachel smiled at him.
He looked at the group. "Uuuh…" Then he remembered that these were the powerful ones, who could blow him up. "Yeah, be right back."
Rogue came up to them and Rachel gave her a careful hug. "Thank you for helping too. It means a lot to me."
"Nothin' to thank me for," Rogue smiled. "By the way, Kitty, Ah like your shirt."
She was wearing a black, spaghetti-strap tank top, with a silver cat stretched across it. "Oh, yeah, thanks. I love it, it's so comfortable and cute."
"Ah didn't mean that. Ah mean it actually looks like you have boobs. Ya shouldn't lead Lance on like that, it ain't nice."
Kitty glared at her roommate, stuck out her tongue, then looked for her boyfriend. He was standing next to the cooler, looking bored as he listened to Pietro ramble on about something. Finally, the leader of the Brotherhood shoved a few cans into the speedster's hands and pulled him over to where the girls were waiting.
The girls thanked them, as Pietro fidgeted. Wanda raised an eyebrow at her brother. "So, how do you two know each other?"
"We met yesterday when he brought Mom home," Rachel explained.
"Because someone," Pietro shot a glare at Lance, "was taking forever to leave."
Lance rolled his eyes. "Grow up. It's not like you looked like you were having a horrible time."
Pietro was about to retort, when Kitty interrupted. "Lance, let's dance." She shot Rachel a meaningful look, very slightly indicating Pietro. The redhead didn't have to read her mind to know what she meant, and rolled her eyes.
"Sure, pretty Kitty." He gave their cans to Pietro, who looked like he was going to throw them back for a second, then lead his girlfriend out onto the dance floor as Tabitha had a coughing fit, which sounded awfully like 'whipped.'
"He's gonna be over here every day now, isn't he?" Rachel murmured.
Rogue nodded. "Oh, yeah. I think I'm gonna have to find a new room if I want to do something other than watch them make out."
Wanda rolled her eyes. "She's practically the only thing he talked about the entire time we were gone. If it wasn't enough I had to be stuck with Toad for weeks, hearing all about the funny thing Kitty said in their last email was torture."
"What are we all standing around for?" Tabitha wondered aloud. "This is a party! C'mon, let's go scare the boys into dancing with us." She grabbed the first two hands she could find—Rogue and Wanda—and dragged them out into the hall. The older girls exchanged a weird look with each other, then figured they could hurt the little blonde girl if she tried something.
Pietro glanced around restlessly, but didn't manage to hide his surprise when Rachel asked him, "Do you want to dance?"
"Sure," he replied, heading away from the wall. "You know your dad hate me, right?"
She smiled at him and then glanced at her parents across the room. "I think he's a little too busy to care. Besides, it wouldn't matter to me if he did."
He raised a white eyebrow at her. "You sure you can keep up with me?"
"The question is," she lifted him slightly with her telekinesis, carrying him further into the throng of mutants. "Can you keep up with me?"
Across the room, Jean laughed as Scott spun her around. He kissed her lightly when she stopped and she couldn't help beaming at him. Everything was perfect. Over his shoulder, she noticed her daughter dancing with Pietro. That was rather odd. Deciding it was better not to let Scott see, she kissed him again softly, keeping him faced in the opposite direction.
"I love you," he whispered in her ear.
"I love you too," she told him. She brushed hair out of his eyes. "Do you think they would mind if I left my party early?"
He frowned. "Why would you want to leave?"
"Because I want to be with you," she nuzzled his neck.
Scott kissed her forehead. "Then let's go." Taking her hand gently in his, he guided her out of the dining hall and upstairs. Jean opened the door to her bedroom and finally stopped to look around.
"It's just like I left it," she whispered. Frowning, she noticed a dent in the wall, and wondered if it was something else she did and forgot about.
"Rachel and I were supposed to clean it out, but we couldn't. I know she just did a bit but…it was just too hard." They sat on the bed and she kissed him.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
He shook his head. "No more apologies. Tonight, let's just be together." Their lips met again, full of love for one another.
As he kissed down her neck, Jean requested, "Stay here tonight. Stay with me, Scott."
"I'll always be with you," he promised as they laid down together. "Always."
The next morning, they were the last two down for breakfast, just behind their daughter. Rachel stood at the range, flipping pancakes. "Morning," she greeted them. "Want some pancakes?"
Jean kissed the top of her head. "Good morning, sweetie. That sounds great."
Slipping a large plate full of the breakfast food on the table, she asked, "So, where did you escape to last night?" Jean and Scott looked at each other; being a redhead, her mother couldn't hide the light blush on her face. Rachel grinned, "Yeah, that's what I thought."
They were in the middle of eating breakfast when the door to the kitchen swung open, "Scott, I'm ba…" Emma Frost froze as she looked at the table.
All the memories that the Professor had blocked came rushing back. The leader of the X-men fought off a heart attack, and tried not to hyperventilate. This was going to be bad. His natural fight or flight instinct told him to get as far away as possible, but that wasn't going to happen
Rachel initially looked depressed, before a grin slowly grew on her face. "Emma, dear! So glad you're back! How was your trip?"
The women raised an eyebrow. "Fine."
"This is so amazing," Rachel continued. "Because, you know, you're not the only one that's back." She got up to stand behind her parents, a hand on each of their shoulders. "Have you met Jean? My mom? Scott's future wife and the basic reason I'm alive?"
Emma turned even paler than usual. "No…I don't believe I have."
Jean stood up, offering her a friendly smile and a hand to shake. "Jean Grey. Nice to meet you."
"Emma Frost," she drawled, shaking the hand for a second.
"I think this is just fantastic," Rachel grinned. "I really wanted you to meet my mom. It's just hard to get how beautiful, and loving, and fantastic she is from stories and pictures. But I'm sure you see that now, right? How great she is and how perfect she is for Dad?" There was a challenge in her tone.
Her silver lips were pursed. "I'm sure I'll find out from you."
Jean raised an eyebrow at her daughter. "I love you too, Rachel."
"And we all love you, Mom. You're the most important person in the world to us. Right, Dad?"
Scott stopped pretending to be a turtle long enough to glare at his daughter. It was a look that said, 'You're enjoying this WAY too much.'
Jean shook her head, but was smiling. "Do you want some breakfast, Emma?"
"I don't have much of an appetite," she replied coldly.
"Well, I'm full," the older redhead put her dishes in the sink. "I'm going to go take a shower." Jean gave Scott a slow kiss. "I'll see you later. Nice to meet you again, Emma."
Little did she know, that kiss was going to be the start of a very dirty war.
A/N: Yes, I know, it took me three weeks to get it out. But in those three weeks was my birthday, fifteen tons of homework, family problems, and this little thing I've discovered called a social life. Those can actually be pretty fun. Then there was that whole fanfiction being evil and not working correctly… Plus, it's a transitional chapter, and I HATE writing transitional chapters. It's also officially the longest thing I have EVER written. Over 5500 words and sixteen pages. Whew.
Questions, comments, reactions and reviews are greatly appreciated.