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Clint got into the car and immediately called his boss on the video phone that was part of the backseat of the car, a new device that SHIELD was slowly getting out to its field operative, though personally Clint thought it was a needless expense. But Fury believed in looking his men in the eye, and was able to tell a lot about them and their inner thoughts that way. In front the other two agents assigned to help on this mission started the car and they were off.
After a moment the video of his boss popped up. "Well what have you got for me Hawkeye?"
Clint stared for a moment and then shook his head laughing lightly. "Sorry boss, still getting used to your new look."
Fury barked a laugh. "You should see Duggan and the others from the old crew, they still look at me oddly all the time, at least you only had to forget a single year's worth of memories rather than forty plus." Nick Fury had originally been a white man with a weathered face and prematurely graying hair and an eye patch over an eye he had lost to shrapnel during the war. Now he was a slightly taller black man with no hair (that part had actually bothered him more than all the rest surprisingly), but the eye-patch remained the same.
His personality had been transferred into his new body when he had been captured by one of his old enemies (now dead) and had his mind replaced by one of the enemy's minions. It had backfired first because Fury had set up several passwords with his men, most notably his best friend/second in command Duggan, which no one else knew. Duggan had then tried to capture the double. The second thing that went wrong was when Fury had escaped from where he had been placed, breaking the mind control that should have kept him as a zombie, able to watch but not do anything. Unfortunately his old body had killed itself rather than be captured. The upshot of this adventure was instead of having his reputation ruined or SHIELD assets subverted, Nick had come out of it with his reputation enhanced and a new, somewhat younger body. Duggan's performance also gave him the ability to override the higher-ups on who should be his second in command.
Now he sobered quickly, after all it had been over a year now, and the joke had gotten old. "Report."
Clint did so quickly, and Nick leaned back, taking it all in and only asking for clarification a few times. One of the best and most overlooked aspects of any leader was the ability to listen, and Nick had it in spades. After Clint finished he asked, "And he didn't give you any information about Potter?"
"No sir. Honestly I'm not certain why, he could just be thinking with his dick, the rumors he's dating one of the gals from the institute seems spot on. I saw Ms. Pryde and a few of the others from the Institute watching us." He shook his head. Whatever Logan's involvement with them was, the kids didn't have the skills to be spies. Soldiers maybe, but not spies. "Or Potter's done something to earn his loyalty, I don't know what, but we still have no idea what Potter's powers are."
Fury scowled, he just knew Potter was a wizard of some sort, but what kind and how powerful eluded him, as did his agenda. But Potter was a mystery, not a problem, not yet. "Alright, good call on going for the soft sell. There was a report of some kind of altercation at the Brotherhood's dormitory yesterday. I want you to stay there for at least another week, see what you can find out. I'm also sending you one of our new experimental anti-mind control units, see if it'll allow you to spy on the institute, but if not, then forget about that aspect." Fury rubbed at his eye-patch in thought, "I'm going to have to find a consultant or something that we can go to for the occult shit, if that gem really does have mind control properties, then we need to find out if what happened to it, or if there are any more. But that's not your problem, just keep doing what you've been doing Hawkeye, well done."
Hawkeye nodded and cut the connection, and the car continued on it's way, not knowing that it too was being watched.
OOOOOOO
Jean was not a happy camper when she got home later that day. Her dumping Duncan was all over the school, and it seemed to be the only thing anyone was talking about! The school seemed to have split into three parts, the portion that believed Duncan's version of events, the portion who believed her and then the ones who wanted to take advantage of their change in status.
Immediately upon waking up (after having gotten drunk or so he thought) Duncan had begun to spread rumors about her. The lie that he had caught Jean cheating and not the other way around was just the beginning from there it had spiraled into her cheating with one of the teachers at the Institute with the gender changing from one rumor to another. The fact this was so close to some of her most hidden fantasies bothered her more than she liked to admit.
Another rumor had it that Duncan had sex with her and dumped her when he found out she wasn't a virgin like she claimed. This one had gone around the guys of the school and in particular the jocks, but her laughing amusement at the very idea had done what no amount of vitriolic self-defense would have, and punctured that rumor neatly. It didn't stop boys from asking her out, but her scathing contempt had put most of them off quickly enough. Well except for the closet masochists and the egoists and the dense, they still bothered her, and simply added to her irritation.
The portion that believed her version, including, funnily enough her friend Taryn despite her belief that Jean was stringing Scott along, was also having problems with her. They couldn't understand why she wasn't more upset, which she wasn't. Her blasé, uncaring attitude to Duncan and their breakup baffled them.
Taryn was of the opinion that this was because she had Scott waiting in the wings, but Jean had made a point of distancing herself further from him since Saturday, mostly because she didn't like the fact he was suddenly looking so hopeful. That ship had sailed long ago, and wasn't going to come back just because Scott wanted it to.
The fact of the matter was that Jean was looking toward the future. She was ready to leave high school and move on with her life, despite not really knowing where she wanted to go or what she wanted to do. The little high school world no longer interested her. In fact she was even considering quitting the soccer team. She had been on it initially because it had been expected of her and she liked the exercise. Now she knew she didn't need the exercise, and didn't care what people thought of her.
Despite this her belsham-trees had to work overtime throughout the day and she had felt trapped, everyone's stares and whispers getting to her slowly. She was twitchy, angry and irritated, and very much wanted to his something.
She came in just as the others were finishing up their team exercises for the day. Today was a short day. The kids had come home later than usual, though hadn't shared why (at Lance's behest) and Ororo was testing the boys on their Chinese that evening before dinner. Rogue had taken her test the day before with Kitty, who had tutored her, and Jean was a language ahead of the others studying Italian at the moment. Ororo had allowed her to slow down, since she was spending so much of her free time studying engineering, physics and mechanics. Ororo had in fact encouraged her studies, and in return Jean had agreed to help her teach the others if Ororo was busy with something else (in other words when she wanted some free time to spend with Harry).
Jean noticed Rogue looking a little irritated at how short the exercise had been and asked "I don't suppose you'd be up to a little one on one Rogue? I have some issues I want to work out."
Rogue looked over at Jean and grinned a little evilly. "You sure you can handle me Grey?"
"I can handle anything you can dish out." Jean replied confidently then looked over at the three boys who all had far away, slightly flushed looks on their faces. "Oh get your damn minds out of the gutter!"
All three looked sheepish and Rogue rolled her eyes. "Boys. Forget 'em." Jean nodded and the two girls went into the Danger Room, changing its programming into a simple plane of grass.
Above them Charles was about to tell them not to go through with this, fearing that the bad blood between them would be exacerbated, but Logan waved him off. "Let 'em go Chuck, maybe poundin' on one another will get whatever is between 'em out in the open where they can deal with it. I'll watch 'em to make certain they don't get too serious."
Charles frowned. He was never a proponent of communicating with your fists, as it were, but he realized it might work in this case. Still it wasn't something he wanted to watch, and he had paperwork he had been avoiding, so reluctantly nodded, and wheeled himself out of the Danger Room's control room.
Back down with Rogue and Jean the two had squared off in the center of the room. "Any rules? Ah'd only ask that it's ah physical only battle." Rogue asked.
"I'll agree to that and no crippling blows, and we probably should stay away from the face at all. It's only Monday after all, and we don't want the assholes at school to see us beaten up."
Rogue frowned a little at that restriction but saw the sense of it and agreed. "That makes sense ah suppose." The two stood silently measuring one another, but then suddenly the fight began, Rogue shooting forward as fast as she could, her fist smashing into the floor and creating a crater where Jean had stood a second ago.
Jean had taken to the air just as swiftly, and raised a hand smashing Rogue with a TK blast. But Rogue weighed a hell of a lot more than she looked with her red armor on, and she batted the blast aside almost contemptuously. In retaliation she ripped a chunk of the floor up and tossed it at the floating redhead.
Jean dodged to one side, but grabbed the chunk and hurled it back at Rogue, following it up with a subtle TK grab that took the girls feet out from under her, then following that up with a major TK blast that slammed her into the ground.
Rogue winced at that one, but got her feet under her and jumped into the air, her fist lashing out.
Jean saved herself by dodging to one side and grabbing the fist, adding enough momentum so that Rogue's jump continued and smashing her in the back with another TK blast.
This didn't seem to faze Rogue who turned in midair faster than Jean had thought she could move and clipped Jean in the side, sending her smashing back to Earth.
Jean winced at the blow to her side, but she had slowed and cushioned the blow as much as she could. So when Rogue followed up by trying to land on her, Jean dodged and then sent a TK blast at one of Rogue's legs, then as she stumbled upon landing smashed her in the side with an even more powerful TK blast. She had thought of just using her power to keep Rogue in the air, but decided that wouldn't be fair, and just continued to fight the way she had been.
The fight continued from there for about an hour. Rogue was tough, extremely durable and monstrously strong, but she was also one dimensional without use of her original mutant power which the rules of the match restrained her from using. Other than throwing chunks of debris at Jean, she didn't have any weapon to offset Jean's ability to fly, and she wasn't strong enough to break entirely through Jean's TK shield.
Jean in turn was constrained by her own 'no death or crippling blows' and Rogue's 'no telepathic attacks' rule. She could have created a flame in the air that engulfed Rogue entirely, she could have conjured TK grips of flame that could burn her arms, or simply overpower her with a regular TK blast and force Rogue to her knees that way. But as this a friendly match, well for a given value of friendly, she only used her power to counter everything Rogue tried rather than trying to actively take her out.
Eventually Rogue was close to collapse, and Jean had gotten rid of her irritation. She allowed her TK shield to fade and gently landed on the floor in front of Rogue. "I think that was just what the doctor ordered, thanks Rogue."
Rogue pushed her brown and white streaked hair out of her face, glaring a little at the other girl. Thankfully Jean was looking pretty sweaty and disheveled too, which made her feel better about the entire thing. "Yeah well, whatever."
The redhead looked across at the armored brunette and frowned, before reaching down and pulling her up to her feet, leading the way out of the Danger Room. Now that the battle was over she was beginning to feel eyes on her again, and was feeling uncomfortable. "What the hell's your problem with me anyway? It can't be my standoffish attitude anymore after all, so what is it?"
Rogue was too tired to protest or prevaricate so she replied honestly. "Ah don't like the fact you're the center of attention, yer like the princess of the Institute! Ah hate the fact you're so damn good lookin' and nice ah can't even dislike yah properly, and ah don't like the fact Scott makes googly-eyes at yah!"
Jean, instead of getting angry like Rogue thought she would, simply nodded. "I guess I can understand where you're coming from, so I'm just going to respond to your points one at a time alright? First." She said holding up one finger. I haven't done a damn thing to make Scott think I return his affections, not once have I done anything that could be seen as anything more than friendly. If he's still making googly-eyes at me, that's all on him not me. I'm not interested in him, period. At this point it's doubtful if I ever will be. A fact that I have made abundantly clear to him more than once"
At times actions you take have far reaching consequences, and at times many different actions can add together to form a avalanche, changing the landscape forever. Sometimes actions taken now can even effect what will be. This declaration was one such, and the ripples of it joined all the changes large and small that Harry's presence had created. It would take time, but eventually those ripples would rock the entire universe, past, present and future.
Jean held up another finger. "In terms of my good looks, why the hell should that matter to you?! You're two years younger than me, and you're already starting to change from a teenage girl to a woman, and let me tell you, you already have a lot of the cheerleaders looking at you jealously now that you're moving away from your Goth style. You don't have anything to fear in the looks department."
Rogue blushed slightly and looked away. Still the idea that the preppy, empty headed cheerleaders, who had nothing really but their looks going for them becoming jealous of her, that made her feel really good.
Jean went on, holding up a third finger. "As to your first point, I wouldn't worry if I were you. I'm not going to be here in a few months."
Rogue looked at her in surprise. "What do you mean?"
Jean paused, wondering where that statement had come from but she had realized the truth of the words as soon as she said them. "I mean I'm going to go to college, or something, I don't know yet. All I do know is I don't want my being an X-woman to be the main thing in my life. I want to make an impact to this world as Jean Grey, not just as Phoenix, and I can't do that here."
That much was true. While Ororo had been quietly certain she could do whatever it was she wanted to, Logan felt she should stay here (and the looks he sometimes sent her way made her skin crawl) because she was safe here, and Charles had been supportive but almost condescendingly so, deciding what courses she should take and when, as well as telling her that of course she would be going to a local college and staying at the institute. It had been his attitude that made her realize she really did have to leave to spread her wings.
"Besides, give yourself time. You're right I seem to be the center of attention here sometimes, but I'm no damn princess. I'm only the so-called queen here because I was here first. That'll pass, and you can step up to fill the void if you want to."
Rogue stood up straight, looking at the other girl thoughtfully. "Well I ain't gonna say Ah'm gonna shake yer hand and call ya a friend Grey, but that stuff makes me feel better about it. Ah'll try not tah argue or make things tough on yah the next time you're team leader, okay?"
Jean nodded. "Okay."
With that the two girls nodded to one another and left to head to the showers. Rogue went to the girls shower on the second floor. Jean went to the female teacher's shower, which Ororo had insisted she use, thinking of where she wanted her life to go from here and what she would have to do to get there.
OOOOOOO
Harry returned to the mansion just in time to join the teens and the other professors for dinner. As he was sitting down Xavier looked up and said blandly, "Harry there you are. I wanted to mention something to you. Apparently there was a breakout at the vault. The guards found both Wanda Maximoff and Melody missing from their cells this morning. I don't suppose you would know anything about their disappearance would you?"
"Why in the world would I know anything about that kind of thing professor?" Asked Harry with a butter would not melt in his mouth expression. Still, they are only just now figuring out that they're gone? He thought, scowling inside.
That told him more about the kind of treatment the girls had gotten at the Vault. I had thought better of captain Stone. even with the lack of furniture in their rooms I thought he would have his men check up on their guests/prisoner. Unless Steven did something that just wore off now, something to ask him at some point.
Charles nodded placidly at this lack of a straight answer and Storm giggled a little. Jean and the other teens looked at the adults wondering what was going on. Logan merely grunted, hoping almost wistfully that this would not in fact come back to bite them.
Later that night Jean knocked on the door to Harry's workroom. After he had replied in the affirmative she opened it and looked in. Harry turned to her smiling a little when he saw who it was. "Well Red, you've learned how to knock, I'll alert the press."
Jean flushed a little remembering the time she had walked in on him and Storm in the morning and found out about Ororo's morning habits. "Shut it Potter." She looked around and thankfully did not see Kitty in here. "Can I talk to for a bit?"
Harry turned from where he had been working on his computer to face her fully, noting her serious expression. After studying her face he nodded and waved a hand, conjuring up a soft leather chair about two feet away from his own. "Have a seat Red, this is gonna be one of those deep discussions isn't it?"
Jean's lips twitched a little as she said down. "Probably, as well as important, at least to me. She leaned back in the chair wondering where to begin. "I guess I came to ask you for your advice on…."
She paused suddenly looking over his shoulder at the schematic he had been tinkering with. "What are you working on?"
Harry looked over his shoulder seeing what she was looking at. "Oh, I'm trying to design a power source for my crisis suit that doesn't revolve around magic." He waved a hand airily. I know that a lot of people have issues with magic, either through religious reasons or just not believing in it. So I figured if I could figure out a way to do the same thing with scientific means as I do through magic that would work." Not to mention it would be a back up for me in case of extreme emergency. Harry thought.
Jean stood up, coming over to look over his shoulder at the screen. "You mean like some kind of energy absorption device, something that would drain a person's bio-energy to power the suit? I don't think that's a good idea honestly. After all, your suits may be worn by people who aren't able to take in enough food to power them through what they need them to do. And even if you just build a minimal suit, the number of toys you put on it would be limited to say the least."
"But why are you looking into something like this anyway? None of us have any problems with our suits being powered by magic, well, once Kitty finishes work on an array for them."
Harry looked at her thoughtfully as she moved back a little, wondering how much he should share with her. It wasn't that he felt she was untrustworthy or couldn't keep a secret, but whether or not she would understand what he was about, and would agree with it. After a moment he made a decision, after all Ororo had actually brought up several good points when he shared his long term plans with her, and given her interest in engineering and politics it wasn't a stretch that Jean would have some insight too. "Can I ask you to keep this to yourself for now? I've only really shared a lot of my long term plans with Ororo before this, and I'd like to keep them to myself for now. I think Charles would object on general principles."
Jean sat down again, looking back at him, her jade eyes locked on his emerald ones. This wasn't about trust, Jean knew she trusted Harry, hell it was only because of him her mind was her own. But if he really felt that Charles would object, promising to keep it to herself would be a fundamental shift in her allegiance, from Charles to Harry. After a moment however she realized that this was not real choice at all. She already had made it, or at least it was one she had been willing to make ever since he had helped her merge with the portion of the Phoenix that had been in her mind. "I promise Harry. I've been concerned recently with Charles and his leadership anyway. I still believe in his dream, but…" She shrugged.
Harry smiled warmly at her. "That just shows that you're starting to think for yourself Red." She flushed a little at his look and Harry leaned back, thinking how to begin.
After a moment of silence he began the same way he had with Ororo several weeks back. "While I agree with the idea of coexistence between mutantkind and homo-sapiens, I know that without some serious work it just won't happen. Charles is banking on the goodness of his fellow man and to use you X-Men as a shining example of what mutants can do to help and protect others. I think that's nice as far as it goes, but other than making a few speeches here and there he's too passive aggressive about it. I think that you need to force the bigots among the non-mutants to see what they really are, force people to realize that while some mutants might have frightening powers, most simply look different from other people, that hating them for that would be a throwback to the days of racism and bigotry!"
Jean unconsciously licked her lips, enthralled by Harry's forceful words and sheer presence, which filled the room now.
Harry didn't notice her look and he went on. "For the other end of the spectrum, mutants need to realize that they cannot allow their powers to define them or their place in the world! They cannot fall into the same trap that Magneto has, believing that the fact they have access to powers given to them by a quirk of genetics gives them more rights and privileges than other people! To battle that, I want to show the world that mutants are just people like them. But to be heard I need to be a public figure, someone of importance and wealth, someone who people need to listen to. To start with I will begin to sell goods that no one else has. Potions, like the kind I used on Kitty after Cain attacked us will be only the start. Suits like my crysis suit may be next. Think how many lives could be saved if policemen or infantrymen had access to something like that?"
Jean frowned at that. "Aren't you worried about them being used against you at some point? Or that someone else could figure out how to make them themselves?"
"The first is a concern," Harry admitted. "The second however, not at all. It takes a very high amount of magic and scientific knowledge to recreate the Harrytanium that's going to be part of my new design." In point of fact he had talked to Steven, and he had told him that he had never heard of a fire spell that came close to Fiendfyre, which was necessary to work with the metal in question. That didn't mean someone else couldn't come up with something, but it would also have to be a magical solution, because the magic was a part of what allowed the spell to melt the metal in question. "I'll sell them, not how to make them, and I will control the means of production."
Jean groaned. "Okay you really need to come up with a new name for that metal. How about something from fantasy books, like Orihalcum? I'd say use the name mithril but it isn't silver."
Harry looked at her blankly then nodded. "I suppose that could work."
Jean smirked. "Just remember, you don't have to be afraid to ask for help when naming things Harry." Harry scowled, but Jean went on pensively. "I understand the need for money, but the idea of selling something like that, well you might be asking for trouble down the line. I'd wait until you can build in some kind of security feature or something."
Harry leaned back, raising one eyebrow and becoming slightly more serious. "Ororo said much the same thing about waiting, though she looked at it from another perspective. She brought up the fact that I'm the only one at present who can create the metal, and I don't want to concentrate on it 24/7 to make enough to meet demand. Well, never let it be said I won't admit I was wrong about something, we'll table the whole selling the suit thing for now. But that leads me with a need for another moneymaking idea. Any ideas?"
"Several," Jean responded promptly. "A better idea would be to come up with an entirely different energy source. The world runs on coal and oil, both are finite resources and there is an almost rabid fear of nuclear power in most countries. Something like Stark Enterprises arc reactor, which he's never been able to actually recreate would be a major draw. I've read the reports on it and I think there are a few ways it could be miniaturized down to the size of a man if you have access to tougher metals and materials, which you do with your Orihalcum."
She went on quickly, going into a long engineering spiel that Harry, despite how intelligent he was and how good at engineering he was becoming, could barely follow. He shook his head, amused at how quickly she had gone from being a brilliant high school student to a brilliant engineer/high end scientist.
He didn't let his amusement get the better of him however, and he turned around and began to type in the notes as she talked. Within minutes the two of them began to actually work on a design for what she was thinking of. The final version wasn't exactly small, it was roughly about the size of two men pressed together, but there was a lot of room for improvement there, and the miniaturization of the reactor was only possible because of the unique properties of Harrytanium. Not even Adamantium was as heat/energy resistant yet at the same time conductive.
After they were done Harry looked over at her as she hovered about his shoulder staring at the design her upper teeth worrying her lower lips in what he suddenly realized was an extremely sexy manner, heightened even further by her general attitude and intelligence. He shook that thought off however, using the familiar refrain of I've got a girlfriend and I can't go around looking at other girls. That wouldn't be fair to Ororo or them. No matter how much Emma wanted me to look. He chuckled a little inside at the memory of Emma's flirtatious nature that final morning before she left, and he wondered idly what she would be like if she never had to wear her mask again.
Jean voice brought him back to the here and now. "That looks good for a start, there's still some room for improvement, but this would give off enough energy to power a city the size of New York if our calculations are correct." That part Harry had done himself while she was trying to shrink the original arc reactor design, happy that Stark had never patented it. She had an almost whimsical thought that maybe he had never thought of it because he didn't know how to duplicate it and felt that no one else would ever be able to, but shook it off.
Harry nodded. "It looks good to me. You know you're a pretty helpful person to have around Red."
Jean snorted, "thanks."
Harry grinned as she turned to go back to her chair. In an effort not to look at her rear he looked over at the clock and whistled a little. When Jean had come in it was around eight it night, now it was pushing 11:30. "We got a little sidetracked there. So what was your original issue?"
Jean blinked and looked up at the time too shaking her head before speaking. "I guess I wanted to ask your opinion about whether or not I should go to college, get a job, or continue being an X-woman." She frowned heavily. "My parents aren't going to pay for college unless they have a say in what classes I take and what major I go for as well as quit the X-men, and I'm not willing to go along with that idea. Xavier too," and here her frown turned into an angry scowl, angrier at Xavier than her parents, who were simply continuing a lifetime of trying to direct her life. "He seems to think that just because I am a telepathic automatically means I should go into some of the mind sciences like psychology or sociology or even politics, he doesn't seem to understand I don't want my powers to define me like that."
Both Charles and her parents seemed to have the same issue, they were willing to help her, but only if she became the person they wanted her to be. They both seemed to say 'you can get as far in life as you want as long as you follow our rules'. It's like being asked to run with only one leg. I want to run on both legs.
Harry shook his head. "Red if you want to take classes, or get an education in any way I'll help pay for it if you want, no strings attached except for keeping your grades up but I doubt you need to be told about that. You can do whatever you want, but bloody hell, don't think so small!"
He waved a hand at his computer. "Look what you just did! Why do you think you need to take classes? You could teach some of the engineering courses. I bet you could get hired as an intern someplace easy even without any real college courses, and if you need to have those credits that's easily solved. You could probably test out of them, or hack into a few systems and put your name in. Illegal as hell, but it would save you some time. Get some real life experience, get out and get to know people in the field and beyond the little world here. Hell, if my company was up and running now I'd hire you. Go as far as you can, shine as brightly as you want on your own terms! Don't let anyone else tell you differently or try to put limits on you!"
"You think I can do that?" said Jean looking down, embarrassed.
"I know you can," said Harry. "Your growth in the past few months has been amazing, your control of your powers is growing every day, and that mind of yours is a magnificent gift."
Jean looked up at him smiling a little shyly. "Thanks. You're amazing you know. Everyone else seems to see me as one thing or the other, as a little girl growing into a woman, or as a mere extension of my powers. Everyone who looks at me has their own demands, their own things they see and they ignore the rest. You just see me as me you don't care about my power or even my looks or anything, you just see me as a complete person."
"Of course," said Harry looking a little blank. "Why would I see anything different?"
Jean shook her head, her eyes a little wet. Harry would never understand, as he had never really cared about his whole boy-who-lived image except for how he could manipulate it to his advantage. But to Jean, who had lived her life with the expectations of others surrounding her almost since birth, being seen as her own person with no strings attached or bits cut off was phenomenal.
She shook her head and stood up. "Thanks Harry, I guess I needed to be told that."
Harry simply waved her off, as if it was no big deal and she chuckled wetly again before walking out the door. She paused at the doorway and then sighed a little sadly as she looked back into Harry's workroom. My crush isn't just a crush is it? I'm really falling in love with him aren't I?
The face of Ororo appeared in her mind for a moment, her smiling happily, the way they had danced together but she shook it off quickly. The two of them were together, and going for either one would wreck a relationship she could easily see as being one that would last the rest of their lives.
She never noticed Ororo standing in front of the doorway to her own room staring at Jean thoughtfully. Ororo had actually gone up to talk to Harry before heading to bed for the evening, and had been outside his door and overheard the entire conversation. Now she stared at Jean's retreating back before nodding. It would seem as if I need to have a talk with my young friend, as well as with Harry.