The Search for Truth [Wolvie]

[Jean Grey]

It was quarter to eight in the morning, and Jean was already dressed in her professional looking pencil skirt and suit jacket, both of which were black. The button shirt she wore beneath it today was a forest green. She was waiting in her office for Logan whom she'd contacted the night before, late, to inform him that they needed to conduct a search of a student's room. She hoped that they wouldn't find anything, but the search was a formality that needed to be conducted.

She was actually a little bit nervous about working with Logan on this, as it would be the first real time they had to speak since Xavier's death. Six years since the infamous incident, six years since Scott's death and she was surprised he'd not searched her out sooner.

Jean had busied herself with paperwork until Logan decided to show up. If she was up and dressed and in her office, there was no need to be wasting time worrying about how this meeting was going to go both for her and the student involved.

It wasn't incredibly likely that she would have admitted to knowing that the Phoenix persona was after what she really wanted with him, that she was attracted to his more primal personality traits. Then again Logan always had a way of bringing the truth out of her, whether he meant to or not.

And so it was paperwork until she was forced to deal with reality.

[/blockquote]

[The Wolverine]

Logan had been up for hours already. It was just something about him, he didn't need much sleep, and he always liked to go for a run in the morning before all the kids woke up and all hell broke loose. This morning though, his thoughts had all been pre-occupied with one thing, and one thing only - Jean. If she was poking around she could probably hear his thoughts screaming out. Everything from the time they first met, when he lay on her operating table, to the time when he......with his claws....

Needless to say, the run didn't go too well. He was sweating more than he should be, and was breathing a lot deeper too. As he walked back to his room, he grabbed a towel and quickly jumped into the shower, replaying the moment where he had to kill Jean over and over again in his mind. He loved her more than he could ever put into words, and he had to stop her from destroying everything. On some level he understood that somebody had to, somebody had to do what had to be done. Seemingly, he was that guy.

He'd always been that guy.

He climbed out of the shower and began to dry himself with the towel, Logan was trying to psych himself up. He hadn't seen Jean properly since the event. Not since....the incident. Part of it was that he was ashamed of what he had to do, and part of it was he was ashamed of what she had done, and further still, a part of him.....was scared of her. Still, he moved forward with his routine, checking his hair, and dressing in his clothes; a simple pair of jeans and a plain black t-shirt. "I guess it's time..."

Logan took one last look in the mirror, and blinked when the images flashed through his mind once again. It was time to face his demons, time to face his love, time to man up. Jeanie needed his help, for something quite trivial, but it was for the sake of a student - and Logan had grown quite attached to the students. With a sigh Logan left his room and began making his way towards Jean's office. In what felt like a blink of an eye, he was there. He had to sum up some courage before taking a deep breath, and knocking on the door. "....Jeanie?" his voice wasn't as loud as it normally was, naturally he felt quite intimidated.

[Jean Grey]

Since contacting Logan, Jean had been running through something similar in her own head. From across the campus, Logan's thoughts were practically screaming out to Jean, the visions of what had happened flashing through her own mind as frequently as they did his.

It was early this morning it had started. Jean and Logan realistically woke up around the same time, Jean to have her morning coffee and get an early start on her paperwork and Logan to clear his head, to do his run.

The closer Logan got to her office, the more clearly the images were coming through from his mind. While he stood on the other side of the door, she wasn't sure if it was really images coming through from him or if she was projecting.

She had gotten stuck this morning a few times on what had happened in the medical bay after she had killed Scott. Not the physicality or the sexuality of the situation, but the memories of the emotions coursing through her veins.

Jean had pondered and dwelled and theorized and obsessed over why she had done what she'd done, why she had killed Scott and thrown herself so mercilessly at Wolverine. She'd come to the conclusion that she'd needed the loss of absolute control.

She was sick of living in their neatly ruled little world with all the crisp paperwork and file cabinets and unrealistic expectations, all the guidelines and scripted conversations. She'd only ever experienced one thing in her life, only really considered sharing her life with one man and he was the product of too many rules.

Maybe the power of the Phoenix had just opened her eyes to a more chaotic lifestyle. One where you did what needed to get done regardless of what you wanted or whatever personal rules you had. Regardless of the fact that you'd rather not kill the person you love.

Maybe she liked what Logan had to offer in that respect, a more realistic view of the world, of life. Maybe her more carnal instincts in the Phoenix had simply expressed what she'd wanted all along, had just taken the initiative to take care of the one person that was holding her back... but that was a horrible way to think. She would forever regret what had happened to Scott but couldn't help but to think that it could easily have been avoided if she'd just recognized her restlessness for what it was.

And as Logan stood on the other side of that door, his shaky nerves calling out to her, his thoughts swirling with the pain that he'd felt in having to stop her, having to tell her 'no', she remembered vividly the very last words that they had shared together.

Finally, he knocked at the door and it took her out of her reverie, the task of trying to keep tears out of her eyes was made easier by the distraction. For once, she actually crossed the distance between her desk and the door, opening it with her hands instead of her powers.

It took her several moments to meet his gaze, but eventually her eyes fluttered up to meet his, a smile crossing her blushing face as she fought back the urge to hug him.

She could hardly help it, she was embarrassed for what she'd done, destroying so much, killing Scott and then throwing herself at Logan.

She'd be lying if she said the thought hadn't crossed her mind in the past six years.

"Hello, Logan,

[/b]" she said quietly as her eyes finally wandered up to meet his, a goofy feeling smile on her face. She felt like she was oggling him like a fool, but in reality her face was one of someone looking upon a dear friend for the first time in far too long, finally fully understanding what had happened between them. After a few moments she realized she hadn't said anything and was acting rather awkward.

"Shall we?[/b]" she said after clearing her throat. She started down the hall in the direction of Dolores' room, still in shock at having Logan here with her. "So this student is suspected of having marijuana in her possession, we just need to be sure it is not there...[/b]" and it really should not have been. The young lady had plenty of time to be sure that she was rid of it. Though Logan would surely find some trace smells of where it had been in her purse and maybe pockets of jackets, etc. "I wouldn't mind terribly catching up with you afterward, Logan. It has been such an incredibly long time...[/b]"

She strode down the halls, Logan in tow, waiting for some sort of reaction. She'd missed him dearly but understood his avoidance. She was surprised, actually, that he'd bothered coming back to Xavier's at all. She wondered why but would never dare venture to ask.

Eventually, they would reach Dolores' door and Jean would rap gently upon it, finding only Dolores inside and her roommate off getting ready for her day. A quick, light sweep of the young girl's mind ensured her that she had indeed disposed of her drugs, but the search still needed to be conducted.

Jean stood aside for Logan to enter the room and followed him shortly after. She spared nothing more than a 'good morning' to Dolores, who did not respond in the least. They would leave once Logan was satisfied there was nothing hidden here.[/justify][/blockquote]

[Kurt Wagner]

That moment, it happened and his heart almost exploded. She opened the door and there she stood, exactly as she had before, and Logan's mind almost followed his heart in that flutter. He felt like he could die there and then, and he'd be content. Then the images flash through his mind and Logan is brought back to reality, and before him is the woman he told that he loved, as he plunged his claws into her. I saved her....

He grimaced a little when she greeted him, he didn't mean to but hearing her voice was like a stabbing wound every syllable. Eventually he would get over it, but he had grieved her, much as he had grieved over Chuck and even Scott. He managed to crack a slight smile at Jean as she spoke, and held back a wave of emotion. The poor woman was probably being bombarded with Logan's own emotions and racing mind, but he tried his hardest to keep things under control. He followed behind her down the corridor, realising how beautiful she was, how attracted he still was to her. It had been six years, but it still felt like yesterday.

In the med lab....

Logan's mind flashed back, and for a moment he felt that Jean's did too and that they were on the same wavelength, but he let it slide. Grunting to show Jean that he was paying attention about why she needed him here in the first place. It seemed like a flimsy excuse, but at least then she could show the students that she wasn't invading their minds. He wasn't even aware when they got to the students room, he was lost in her voice, in her appearance, just engulfed in everything about her, but he snapped too and realised that following her like a lost puppy wasn't the right thing to do.

"Right. Like a sniffer dog it is then." he cracked a smirk as he motioned for Dolores to move out of the room whilst he did his thing. It wasn't exactly hard, or long either. He had caught the scent of marijuana from down the hall. Remember a time where the drug itself wasn't even registered on the scale of law enforcement, a very very long time ago. He made a scene out of it though, dropping to his knees and sniffing loudly, Jean probably thought the routine was childish, or maybe even funny. He sniffed at a pocket that had obviously contained it, and a coat pocket too before climbing back to his feet, looking dead at Dolores as he spoke to Jean. "Well, there's nothing here......now."

He threw his arms up in a shrugging motion. "I guess with nothing being here, we can't really say anything, huh?" he was just setting Jean up to do her thing and set Wicked on the right path. He smirked as he watched her before turning to her with a remarkable amount of charisma. "So, 'bout that catchin' up?"

[Jean Grey]

As they walked down the halls, it would have taken far too much concentration for Jean to keep Logan's thoughts out of her own mind. It was difficult enough keeping her own thoughts to herself right now, there was so much going unsaid, unexpressed, unshared. Being that as it was, there was absolutely no way that they could not have been on the same page.

Jean was right there with him, every emotional step of the way. Their past was practically screaming at her from his mind, his memories.

Her asking him here today was, on the surface, about keeping up appearances, making an example out of a problem student, making sure that there were no narcotics in their school, but she knew Logan understood. There were other mutants she could have asked to help her here today. Vidar would have, surely, been more than happy to oblige. And he would have torn that room apart, not a single scrap of contraband would have been left in there.

Jean was hiding her mild amusement at the routine Logan was pulling, but it was actually a little bit cute. After only a few minutes, Logan emerged from the room and proclaimed that there was nothing left behind, suggesting that there had been.

Jean knew that there was and where it had been. She was exceedingly grateful that Dolores had taken her advice.

Telepathically, Jean thanked Dolly for her compliance on this. She nodded to the young, troubled teen as she re-entered her room and all but slammed the door in their faces. That was alright by Jean, she knew that the girl had an awful lot of work ahead of her. For at least three weeks.

Smiling widely at Logan's sudden apparent happiness and charisma, Jean began to take steps away from the students' rooms. She crossed her arms as they walked, reflecting quietly for a few moments before she bothered to speak. Eventually, she looked up at him from the floor in front of her, her gaze crossing his face as he walked beside her back toward her office.

"Six years is a very long time...

[/b]" she said quietly, her eyes flitting back and forth between his. "But let's start with the basics. Logan; how have you been?[/b]"[/justify][/blockquote]