bakerstreet | the picture prompt meme.

[ Gen pref. Crossovers & OCs great! ]

ONE

TWO

THREE

[ Most of the time he thinks he's dreaming. Even if he's been with Jeannie for over a week now hiding out at one of his cabins in Canada, it's hard to believe that she's really, truly here. That he's here, and that she's here with him, and that it feels a lot like God's decided to spit in the face of how fucking long it took him to get over her.

The other X-Men (three different teams now, he's learned: Red, Blue, and Gold, and he doesn't understand the reasons for them) have come and gone since he and Jean settled, no-one staying for more than a few hours. Logan gets it, though -- if they all stayed here, the world would undoubtedly find out that Wolverine was alive again. He knows more than anyone does, though, that it's impossible to stay away when someone from your family's just come back from the dead.

That being said, he doesn't fault them for it. For wanting to come even when they shouldn't. If anything, he hates himself for having to put them through this at all.

-- and for putting Jean through this. Jean who he seeks out once he's seen Kurt off after a visit, and who he finds asleep on the sofa in the cabin with the novels he'd taken to reading hovering over the coffee table he'd placed them on.

Every time he looks at her, he aches. Logan thinks there's always going to be a little part of him that'll be in love with her no matter what he does. But even if his chest hurts, it's good to see her -- her, his Jean, and not one of the million versions he's met before. His Jean is here. His Jean is alive, and breathing, and beautiful.

Logan walks quietly, legs crossing beneath him so he can sit on the floor by the sofa. He doesn't spend his time staring at her, though he'll admit a part of him wants to. Instead, he plucks one of those books out from the air to read it, and decides to wait for her to wake up.

If he cheats a little by opening his mind a sliver for her, he's not going to admit it. But the quietest you're gonna be up all night at this rate, Jeannie makes its way through, anyway. ]

( Professor Xavier, Bobby, Hank, Warren, Scott, and an eighteen-year-old Jean "Marvel Girl" Grey seat themselves in her dreams. This uncanny group of mutants dining inside what was otherwise a very empty school for gifted youngsters at the time, their faces blurred, but their smiles crisp and clear. On the table in front of each member lies plates of food, yet the air is thick with the scent of books. Reading was something Jean did a lot back then — especially then. Her abilities may have been dim and, for the most part, undiscovered, but she always understood the attention she got for being the only woman within a group of young males. It was almost too much to bear at times, and she couldn't pinpoint why exactly that was.

These were simpler times.

Times when the true potential behind what would eventually prove to be lethal powers was the only thing hiding.

Xavier turns to Jean, who is now reading at the table in full costume. "You're gonna be up all night at this rate, Jeannie," he whispers as the dream slowly disintegrates. Jean opens an eye. )

What time is it? ( She says through a yawn. )

[ When Jean wakes, there is the subtlest shift in her heartbeat before it returns to a relaxed thrumming. Logan smiles, but doesn't turn to look at her, though he's already lost his concentration in reading and couldn't hope to really comprehend what he sees. ]

Little past 6. [ The sun's already gone down, but it isn't late enough in the evening that it's pitch black yet. Add in the wilderness and the sky looks more blue than black -- more colour than the absence of it. ] Y'missed Kurt.

[ Finally the books shuts, and Logan turns however much is necessary to give Jean a half-smirk. ] Sleep well?

( Jean sighs out a soft, "ugh" once she learns the time. A quiet disappointment washes over her; you've really got to organize yourself, Jean. She picks herself up and stretches in her seat. )

Not the worst sleep in the world, ( She plops her arms back down and faces Logan. )

What was Kurt doing here? ( An answer she could easily find on her own, but refraining from intruding her friends' minds was one of the first things she had to learn, and she's mastered it. )

[Choose one or more. I can drop Kitty as-is in Logan's canon (I could easily explain her ending up in another world/reality) or AU her in, tell me if you have a preference. Pick one or more, whatever works:]

This is where we're goin'.

[ Or so Logan says right before he shovels a mouthful of noodles between his lips. He and Kitty are at a considerably horrible motel, but given the fact that he'd found the kid in the Alberta version of "middle of fucking nowhere", it's not like he has much of a choice as far as on the road stops go. ]

See that? [ With his ring finger he points out a point in Westchester -- the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, run by Headmaster Wolverine. The kid might not be mutant (at least he doesn't think she is), but she's something close to that, and if she's going to be here in his dimension for a while, then the School is the safest place he knows. ] That's where I'm takin' ya.

If we don't stop nowhere after this we'll be there by the day after next. [ Sluuuuurp. ] I got people there who might be able to help you get home.

[She leans over her own box of Chinese take-out, only by luck not getting half of it on her front, and squints at the map. Being functionally illiterate to illiterate is a serious problem when you're trying to decipher maps of an unknown environment, but at least the map is big enough to show all of America and a good deal of Canada, which makes it possible to at least gain a rough idea of the location.]

What is it?

[She doesn't ask and if they can't get me home?, not yet. Perhaps not until it becomes necessary. Because she'd have to tell him much more about what she is, and at this point she feels that it is sufficient for him to know that she can talk to cats and use a cat's senses, and that there's more that she can do as well. She didn't even mean for him to find out that much - or for anyone to find out that much - but it just happened and then turned out very favourable for her. So no regrets there.]

's a school. [ Logan's sitting back once more, spine straight and chopsticks picking up another huge glob of noodles to slam into his mouth. He eats quite a bit; there's no shame in it. Fortunately he has enough good sense not to speak with his mouth full, lest the bits and pieces of his dinner start flying everywhere.

He swallows. ] For kids with abilities. Like you got abilities.

You'll fit right in.

[Fellow Changelings? No, that can't be, not only because a free Changeling her age is actually quite rare, but also because this is not a world that normally gets Changelings, if she's not mistaken. There seems to be exactly one pathway into it form the Hedge, and that's not accessible any more.

Cue her being stuck here.

So probably more along the lines of what Logan has.]

What kinds of abilities do they have?

[Almost more importantly though, and asked with a distrustful face of displeasure:] Does that mean that I have to go to school and sit in class and such if I stay there?

[ It's the vaguest fucking answer anyone could give, but Logan says: ] A lot.

[ Because -- what else can he say, really? There're too many kinds of mutants out there, too many types of powers. He remembers when they used to be rare, and though he's glad he doesn't have to be alone any more, another part of him hates that the mutants growing in number only means that the humans want to get rid of them.

But he doesn't think about that. ]

And sure, you can sit in class if you want, but you ain't enrolled. [ He bites back the 'yet' on his tongue. ] So it's not like you're getting any marks.

Nah, I just need you to stay outta trouble. And the school's the safest place there is.

[ ...except for the simulated combat training that happens in the showers. But Kitty looks like a scrappy one! She'll be fine. ]

Edited 2018-05-20 13:40 (UTC)

[She takes it as an evasion, but sees no point of batting further at it. There's more important things, and she'll learn soon enough. And she relaxes at not having to attend. Because then she sure as hell won't. What little she knows about school sounds mighty boring.

Though his single order makes her scrunch up her nose.]

Are there a lot of trouble to get into?

[She's always managed to get out of trouble more or less in once piece so far. Being fast on her feet, capable in a fight but loathe to get into one, and very good at sneaking around without being caught does help with that. And is probably the only reason she's still here, considering the life she leads.

Used to lead. She's not sure what is going to happen now. But for the moment, she seems to be headed towards a safe place to stay - there's always strength and safety in numbers - and she has a box of Chinese take-out. Life is good.]