Archive of Our Own

Jean and Peter stood in front of the doors to Xavier's Mansion, he dressed entirely as Spider-Man, while she was wearing the same clothes she had been wearing when she left two days earlier.

Jean had decided to return to the mansion the next day after processing everything at her own pace. Being honest with herself, she didn't think she was ready to face the others yet, but between staying with Peter for longer and worrying the X-Men or going back... Jean decided not to run away from her problems this time.

"Wow..." Peter murmured as he looked at the building. "It's bigger than I imagined."

Jean gave a slight smile at that.

"It's even bigger on the inside, as unbelievable as that sounds."

Peter simply nodded, the lenses of his mask narrowing before he looked at Jean. Even through the lenses, Jean could feel Peter's eyes on her.

"Hey, you know you don't have to go in if you don't want to. If you're still not ready..."

"I'm not," Jean admitted, looking at the ground for a moment before looking at Peter and smiling slightly. "But I don't want to run away from this problem. It's what I always do when things go wrong... It's what Sara and I did almost our entire lives. I'm tired of running away, Peter. I have to go back and say what I think, no matter if it leads to another fight."

Peter remained silent for a few seconds, watching her in front of the mansion's enormous doors. Although his face was covered by the mask, Jean could feel that he was watching her carefully, as if he wanted to make sure that this decision was truly hers and not something she was doing because of pressure. Finally, Peter slowly nodded and took a small step toward her.

"Then do it," he said, gently taking her hand. "And I'll be right there by your side the whole time."

Jean looked at their joined hands, then looked at Peter again and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

"Promise?"

"I promise," Peter nodded without even thinking about it.

Jean gave him a slight smile before taking a breath and walking toward the door, with Peter beside her still holding her hand. She raised her closed fist before knocking three times, hard enough for someone inside to know that someone was waiting outside.

It wasn't long before the door opened, revealing a completely furry, blue being—a man—with fangs protruding from his mouth and long claws on his hands and bare feet. Curiously, he was also wearing pants and a white lab coat, as well as reading glasses.

Hank McCoy, or Beast as everyone knew him, adjusted his glasses as he looked at Jean, as if he wanted to make sure that Jean was really there.

"Jean?" Hank called out in his raspy voice, his eyes wide.

Jean swallowed nervously upon hearing her name, but a squeeze from Spider-Man's hand and the fact that Hank seemed relieved to see her helped her calm down a little.

"Hi, Hank..." she said with a small, nervous smile, letting go of Peter's hand and taking a step toward him. "I..."

Hank didn't give her time to say anything before wrapping his arms around her and laughing, just as Jean had expected, genuinely relieved to see her. Jean froze in place, as if she hadn't expected the gesture, before relaxing and hugging him back.

"It's good to see you're okay," Hank said with relief before breaking the hug and holding her by the shoulders. "Charles has been frantic since yesterday. He couldn't detect you even with Cerebro. You had us worried, Jean."

Jean lowered her gaze slightly upon hearing that, feeling a small pang of guilt pierce her chest. She knew she had worried everyone, but hearing Hank say that Charles had been searching for her nonstop made everything feel much more real. For a few hours, she had managed to forget about the mansion, Rogue, the words she had heard, and all the looks she had received, but now all of it came rushing back at once.

"I know..." Jean murmured. "I'm sorry."

Hank gently shook his head and smiled at her again, although the concern was still evident in his eyes. He didn't seem upset with her, not even slightly, and that made Jean feel even more like crying. Instead of reprimanding her for disappearing without warning, Hank simply placed a hand on her shoulder again.

"You don't have to apologize for needing some space," he said. "Maybe you could have left us a note, yes, but I can understand that you needed to get away from all of this."

Jean slowly nodded.

"I needed to think."

"And I hope you were able to."

"A little."

Hank's gaze then passed over Jean's shoulder and stopped on Spider-Man, who was still standing beside her, completely covered by his suit. Hank raised an eyebrow behind his glasses, clearly surprised to find the famous Spider-Man accompanying Jean to the mansion's door.

"And apparently, you weren't alone," Hank commented.

Spider-Man managed to make the lenses of his mask appear neutral, even though behind them his eyes were actually watching Hank with a certain warning.

"She came to me in the middle of the night. I agreed to stay with her until she was ready to come back," Peter replied simply, hoping his tone made his skepticism clear enough.

Hank, despite noticing the tone, smiled at Peter and extended a hand. Peter, who was still skeptical, decided not to be rude and shook Beast's hand.

"Thank you for taking care of her, young man," Hank said, and after releasing their hands, Hank became a little more serious. "Although I doubt you came here just to drop Jean off."

"You're right," Spider-Man made little effort to hide some of his anger this time. "I know what happened, and I have things to say about it... But I'll save them until Jean has had her say."

Hank simply nodded and looked at Jean again, smiling before stepping aside to allow the two of them to enter.

"Come in." Hank closed the door once they were both inside. "Believe it or not, Jean, Charles isn't the only one who's been desperate to find you."

Before Jean could say anything, the sound of a wheelchair caught her attention, and she immediately felt herself tense slightly as she saw Charles Xavier approach, looking Jean up and down as if he wanted to make sure she was really there and in one piece.

"Jean..." Charles murmured, then smiled happily as he carefully took Jean's hands in his. "Good heavens, you had me worried."

Jean felt her throat tighten upon hearing Charles's voice. For a moment, she didn't know what to say, because she had imagined that scene so many times over the past few hours that now that it was finally happening, it seemed much more difficult than she had thought. Charles continued holding her hands carefully, and although his smile tried to convey reassurance, Jean could clearly see the exhaustion and concern that had accumulated on his face.

"I'm sorry, Charles," she finally murmured, lowering her gaze. "I shouldn't have disappeared like that."

Charles slowly shook his head.

"I don't want the first thing you do when you come back to be apologize," he replied gently. "The only thing that matters to me right now is that you're here and that you're okay."

Jean looked up at him. She had expected an interrogation, questions about where she had been, why she had left, who she had been with, and why she had decided to ignore everyone for so many hours, but none of that came. Instead, Charles simply looked at her like a father worried about a daughter who had disappeared during the night.

"I was in New York," Jean admitted. "With... a friend."

Charles briefly glanced toward Spider-Man. Peter simply looked at Charles without saying anything, his posture that of someone perfectly willing to stay there for as long as necessary. Peter Parker had far too many things he wanted to say to the X-Men about what had happened to Jean, but Spider-Man would be the one to deliver the message... in due time.

Charles looked at Jean again, and a small smile appeared on his face.

"I figured."

Jean blinked.

"You... figured?"

"I didn't know exactly where you were," Charles clarified. "But I knew that if you needed to get away from here and find somewhere you felt you could breathe, you'd probably seek out someone you trust."

Jean felt a small knot form in her chest.

"Spider-Man helped me a lot."

"It certainly seems that way."

Charles slowly released her hands and took a step back, giving her a little space. Jean took a deep breath, trying to gather the courage she had found that morning to return to that place.

"I... need to talk to the others, the ones who were there that day," Jean said, taking another breath. "I'm not ready, to be honest, but... if I don't do it now, I know I'll never do it."

Hank crossed his arms behind her and sighed discreetly. Charles remained silent for a few seconds, as if considering her words, before nodding.

"Then we'll talk," he assured her. "The others are already in the common room. They've been worried about you, Jean... even Rogue."

Peter clenched his fists upon hearing that, but said nothing for the moment. Jean, meanwhile, stared at Charles with her eyes wide open, as if he had just spoken to her in another language.

"I'll walk you to the common room, Jean," Hank told her as he put an arm around her. "I think Charles has something to discuss with your friend."

Jean immediately looked at Charles, then at Peter. He looked at her and motioned with his head for her to go, and Jean thought it over carefully before nodding and following Hank to the common room, leaving Spider-Man and Professor X alone.

Charles stared at Peter, and Peter immediately knew what he was trying to do. He also knew that he hadn't succeeded, since his expression showed an uncommon confusion.

"...Huh... I can't read your mind," Charles said, as if merely saying it aloud was an anomaly. "I see an image. A room, a woman, you much younger... But I have nothing about you. Name, age, feelings... Nothing. You're the first person I've ever been unable to read."

"I've had someone in my mind before, and it was because I let her in," Peter replied, crossing his arms. "My experience with telepaths is mixed, so I'd rather not give them anything concrete they could use against me."

"You protect your mind... I didn't think that was possible," Charles admitted before laughing. "And I thought you couldn't impress me any more, Spider-Man."

"I thought Jean was safe with you, but two days ago that didn't seem to be the case," Spider-Man replied frankly. "I was impressed too... just not in the way you think."

Charles's smile slowly faded, but he didn't look offended or angry. Rather, he seemed to understand perfectly well why Peter felt that way, and for some reason, Peter hated how easily he accepted the blame. He almost wished Charles had gotten angry.

"I didn't know how to react to the situation. None of us did. No one stopped her from leaving because, deep down, we all knew that we were the ones who caused that."

"Then you should have said that," Peter said, no longer hiding his annoyance. "It would have been easier to say it than to stay quiet and do nothing."

Charles didn't respond.

The silence that followed was enough for Peter to feel his patience wearing even thinner. He had expected some explanation, a defense, even an attempt to justify what had happened, but Charles simply remained there, looking at him with a serious and tired expression. Somehow, that irritated Peter more than any argument could have.

"Nothing?" he finally asked.

Charles lowered his gaze slightly.

Peter sighed and shook his head. He knew he was angry, perhaps too angry, and he also knew that he wouldn't get anywhere if he started turning the conversation into a fight before Jean could even say what she needed to say. He hadn't come there to vent his own anger, but to make sure Jean didn't have to face all of this alone.

"All right," he finally said. "We'll talk later."

Charles looked up.

"Later?"

"After Jean finishes talking to them," Peter replied, crossing his arms again. "Then you'll know exactly what I think about all of this."

Charles remained silent for a few more seconds before slowly nodding.

"I understand."

Peter walked past Charles and began heading toward the common room.

Charles watched him walk away, letting out a heavy sigh. As much as he wanted to find some way to explain his actions, the truth was that he had no defense to offer; he had frozen when Jean needed someone to say something the most. Finally, he turned his wheelchair to follow them, determined to listen to Jean before trying to say another word.

Meanwhile, Jean walked alongside Hank through one of the mansion's long hallways.

Every step seemed to make her heart beat a little faster. Jean breathed slowly, inhaling through her nose and exhaling through her mouth, trying to convince herself that she could do this, that she didn't have to run away the moment she saw Rogue.

Just talk, she repeated to herself. Say what you feel. You don't have to yell. You don't have to fight. You just have to tell the truth.

Hank glanced at her when he noticed how tense she was, but decided not to say anything. He simply kept a calm pace beside her, giving Jean enough space to organize her thoughts without pressuring her. She silently appreciated the gesture, although her stomach still felt as though it had a huge knot in it.

They turned a corner.

And then Jean saw the common room.

The others were already there.

Scott was the first to look up when he heard the footsteps. His eyebrows immediately rose when he recognized Jean, and for a fraction of a second he simply stared at her, as if he still needed to confirm that she was really standing in front of him. Ororo also let out a small smile of relief, while Jubilee and Kitty practically looked as though they were holding themselves back from running toward her.

Logan, sitting at one end of the room, pretended that he didn't care. He turned his gaze toward one of the windows and crossed his arms, but Jean clearly caught the corners of his lips lifting ever so slightly for a moment. Kurt, Bobby, and Remy, on the other hand, made no attempt to hide their smiles.

Rogue was different.

The moment she saw Jean, her expression changed. Anne Marie lowered her gaze almost immediately, unable to meet Jean's eyes for even a second. Jean didn't need to use her powers to know what was happening; what she saw on Rogue's face was something she recognized perfectly: guilt, and regret.

Jean stared at her for a few seconds. She hadn't expected that. She had imagined Rogue being defensive. She had imagined that she would try to justify what she had said, that perhaps she would get angry at seeing her return accompanied by Spider-Man, or that she might even say something else that would end up causing another argument... But she couldn't look Jean in the eyes.

And somehow, that told Jean much more than she had expected.

"Jean..."

Scott's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

The mutant quickly approached her, stopping a few steps away.

"Are you okay?"

Jean took a deep breath before nodding.

"Yes."

Scott seemed to relax a little.

"I'm really glad to see you back."

Jean gave him a small smile.

"Thank you. I was... thinking, at a friend's house."

Scott was about to say something else, but then a figure completely dressed in red and blue appeared behind Hank.

Everyone froze. Spider-Man entered the room.

The silence was immediate.

Bobby's eyes widened. Jubilee blinked several times, as if her brain were trying to process why the hell Spider-Man was casually walking through Xavier's Mansion. Kurt even tilted his head slightly to one side, clearly surprised.

Remy raised both eyebrows.

"Well..." he murmured. "That certainly wasn't on the list of possibilities."

Ororo looked at Spider-Man with a mixture of curiosity and surprise. Kitty simply looked at Jean, then Peter, and then Jean again, as if trying to figure out what had happened during the past few hours that nobody had told her about.

Logan was the only one who didn't seem particularly surprised, simply raising an eyebrow.

Spider-Man said nothing. He walked over until he stopped beside Jean and looked at each of the people present one by one. There was no threat in his posture, but there wasn't a hint of shyness either; he seemed to be there for a specific reason and had no intention of leaving until he accomplished it.

Jean felt something inside her relax. Not because Peter was going to speak for her, but precisely because he wasn't. He was there to support her, not to take her voice away.

Jean took a deep breath and then took a small step forward.

"Before I say anything else... I want to apologize."

Everyone remained attentive.

"I know disappearing without telling anyone was immature," Jean continued. "And it was cowardly, too. What happened hurt me terribly, but that doesn't change the fact that I should have told you I needed to get away."

Scott opened his mouth to respond, but Jean gently shook her head.

"Let me finish, please."

Scott closed his mouth and nodded.

Jean took another breath.

"I left because I didn't know what to do," she admitted. "I didn't know how to stay here after hearing all of that. I didn't know how to look anyone in the face after what happened."

Her voice began to tremble slightly.

"Rogue... what you said hurt me. A lot."

Rogue pressed her lips together, keeping her gaze lowered.

"I know what happened on Roosevelt Island was horrible. I know that better than any of you. I know exactly what I did, I know how many people were affected, and I know that some of the things I did don't have a simple explanation." Jean swallowed. "But when you told me I was a danger... when you said you couldn't trust me... I didn't feel like you were only talking about what I did that day. I felt like you were telling me that everything I am is just that."

No one responded. Jean felt the pressure beginning to build in her chest again.

"And then I looked around... and no one said anything." Jean's voice cracked slightly. "That was what hurt the most."

Peter could feel it before Jean even showed it physically. Her body had tensed, her fingers were beginning to curl, and her breathing had become shorter. Without saying a word, he extended a hand and gently placed it on her shoulder.

Jean immediately felt the contact. She didn't need to look at him to know he was there.

"I'm not saying you had to defend me," Jean continued. "I'm not even saying you had to agree with me. You have every right to distrust me. Hell, sometimes I don't even trust my own powers."

That confession caused several of those present to lower their gazes.

"But I expected something." Jean looked around again. "A word. A reaction. Something."

Her eyes filled with tears, but this time she didn't look away.

"I didn't need someone to fight Rogue for me. I didn't need everyone to tell me I was right. I just... needed to know that someone was there."

Silence filled the room again, but this time it was different. It was no longer the silence Jean remembered from that day; it was the silence of people who were finally listening.

Jean pressed her lips together and took a breath, feeling Peter's hand still resting on her shoulder.

"And when no one said anything... I thought maybe you were all thinking the same thing."

She looked at Rogue.

"That maybe I didn't belong here."

Rogue closed her eyes.

Jean felt her chest ache as she said it, but she continued as a tear slowly rolled down her cheek.

"That's why I left. Not because I don't love you. Not because I want to leave this place. I left because for a few hours I needed to be somewhere I didn't feel like I had to defend my existence every time someone looked at me."

For several seconds, no one knew what to say after hearing Jean's last words. The room remained completely still, but there was no longer any discomfort in the silence, only a sort of weight that each person seemed to be processing in their own way. Some looked at the floor, others at Jean, and several deliberately avoided meeting one another's eyes because, deep down, they had all just realized that they had had an opportunity to do something that day and hadn't.

Ororo was the first to break the silence. The woman slowly rose from her seat and looked at Jean with an expression that mixed sadness and regret before speaking with a calmness that contrasted with the tension in the room.

"I thought you needed space," Ororo admitted. "When I saw the argument getting that far, I thought intervening would only make you feel more cornered. I thought that if no one said anything, eventually everyone would calm down."

Jean watched her in silence.

"But I was wrong," Ororo continued. "Because you didn't need everyone to stay quiet. You needed to know that you still had a place here."

Jubilee stood up almost immediately afterward.

"I thought Rogue was just angry," she said, nervously fidgeting with her fingers. "And I thought that if I said something, I'd make both of you even angrier. So... I stayed quiet."

The young woman grimaced at herself.

"Now that I think about it, that was stupid."

"It wasn't stupid," Jean replied softly.

"Yes, it was," Jubilee retorted. "Because you were standing there crying, and I was only thinking about not getting involved in trouble. I should have said something."

Kitty nodded from her place.

"I thought pretty much the same thing," she admitted. "I thought it was an argument between the two of you and that it wasn't our place to intervene. But after you left... I kept thinking about it for hours."

Kitty looked directly at Jean.

"And I realized I wasn't trying to avoid a fight. I was avoiding doing the right thing because it was easier."

Jean felt another small knot form in her throat.

Scott was next to speak.

The X-Men leader stood up, removed his glasses for a moment, and held them between his fingers as he searched for the right words. He seemed much more uncomfortable than before, not because he was upset with Jean, but because he knew perfectly well that his position as leader made his silence weigh more heavily than everyone else's.

"I thought I should let the argument end on its own," he finally said. "I thought that if I intervened, it would look like I was taking sides. And after everything that happened on Roosevelt Island, I didn't want to make you feel like I was ignoring the things you did."

Jean remained silent.

Scott sighed.

"But there's a difference between not taking sides and leaving someone alone when they're clearly suffering. I should have said something. Even if it was simply that we needed to calm down before continuing the conversation."

Jean slowly nodded.

"Thank you for telling me."

Kurt then raised a hand.

"Well... I didn't have the slightest idea what to say."

Several heads turned toward him.

Kurt shrugged slightly.

"I'm not trying to justify myself. It's simply the truth. I saw Rogue angry, I saw Jean angry, and I thought anything that came out of my mouth could end with someone going through a wall."

Bobby let out a small nervous laugh.

"I didn't know what to say either."

Jean looked at him.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing," Bobby admitted. "And believe me, I can usually talk even when I have nothing useful to say. But that day... I didn't know whether I should defend you, defend Rogue, try to separate you, or just disappear."

"Disappearing probably would've been worse," Kurt muttered.

"I know."

That managed to bring a small smile to Jean's face.

Logan, who had remained seated with his arms crossed until then, finally grunted, drawing everyone's attention.

"I knew what to say."

Jean looked at him in surprise.

Logan shrugged.

"But it wouldn't have changed a damn thing."

The room fell silent again.

"You were both too worked up," Logan continued. "Rogue was saying things she shouldn't have, and you were too hurt to hear anything anyone could say. If I'd opened my mouth, I'd probably have ended up making someone go through a wall."

Jean raised an eyebrow.

"You or Rogue?"

"Probably me."

Bobby let out a small laugh, and even Jean smiled.

Logan crossed his arms again.

"I'm not saying staying quiet was right. I'm just saying I didn't think my words were going to fix it. But I should've tried."

Remy was next. The Cajun had remained quiet the entire time, leaning against one of the pieces of furniture with his arms crossed. Finally, he sighed and looked at Jean with an expression much more serious than usual.

"I did want to stop it."

Jean raised her eyebrows slightly.

"You did?"

"Yeah," Remy replied. "But I didn't know how to do it without making things worse. Rogue was too worked up, you were too, and Remy thought getting in the middle could make both of you feel attacked."

He lowered his gaze.

"So I did nothing."

"And now you know you should have," Jean said.

"Yeah." Remy smiled faintly. "Looks like we all learned something these past two days."

Jean took a deep breath.

For the first time since she had entered that room, she felt like she could breathe without feeling as though everyone was waiting for her to say something else. They hadn't tried to justify what had happened, nor had they pretended that nothing had happened; they had simply acknowledged that they had been wrong.

Hank then took a few steps closer.

"Jean..."

She looked up at him.

"Charles and I have something to say, too."

Hank briefly looked toward the professor before continuing.

"We're the ones who should have intervened first. Not because you were right about everything you did, but because you were our responsibility. We watched you break down in front of us and decided that the best thing was to leave you alone so you could calm down."

Charles rolled his wheelchair forward until he was beside them.

"And it was reckless."

Jean stared at him.

Charles took a breath.

"I thought respecting your space was the right thing to do. I thought that after everything you'd been through, perhaps you needed to be alone to process your emotions. But I didn't realize that there's a difference between giving you space and emotionally abandoning you when you most needed someone to remind you that you weren't alone."

Charles's voice grew quieter.

"I should have gone after you. I should have told you that you were allowed to be angry, that you were allowed to cry, that you could even not want to talk to anyone... but that you didn't have to go through it alone."

Jean felt her eyes fill with tears again.

"Charles..."

"I'm sorry, Jean." Charles looked directly at her. "I'm so sorry."

Jean nodded as she wiped away a tear with the back of her hand.

"Thank you."

Charles smiled sadly.

"You don't have to thank me for apologizing."

Jean took a deep breath and looked around the room. Everyone had spoken.

Everyone except one person.

Rogue was still sitting, her shoulders tense and her hands clasped together in her lap. She had listened to every word without interrupting, but she seemed to be fighting her own internal battle.

Finally, Anne Marie stood up. The movement immediately made Jean look at her. Rogue slowly walked toward her, and upon seeing this, Peter immediately tensed.

The lenses of Spider-Man's mask narrowed into two small white lines as he followed Rogue's every movement. He said nothing, didn't step back, and didn't place himself between them either, but his entire body seemed ready to do so if Jean gave the slightest sign of discomfort.

Rogue stopped in front of Jean, but she still wasn't looking at her.

"Jean... I..." Her voice was trembling. She closed her eyes and swallowed. "I don't even know why we started talking about all of that."

Jean remained still.

"I don't remember exactly how we got onto the subject," Rogue continued. "I just remember being angry and saying things I had no right to say."

Finally, she raised her gaze. Her eyes were wet.

"I had no right to tell you that you were a danger. I had no right to tell you that I couldn't trust you. And I certainly had no right to make you feel like you didn't belong here."

Jean didn't look away.

Rogue breathed shakily.

"And the worst part is... I know exactly what it feels like when someone looks at you and thinks you're dangerous." Her voice cracked slightly. "I can't touch anyone without my gloves. I can't hug someone without wondering if I'm going to drain them. I've spent years being afraid of getting too close to people because I know what I can do to them."

Jean's expression changed.

"So I have no excuse for treating you like you were nothing but the worst thing you've ever done." Rogue quickly wiped away a tear. "Everything I said was because I was caught up in the moment, but that doesn't make it okay. I realized everything I'd said as soon as you left and... God, Jean, I felt like an idiot."

Another tear rolled down her cheek.

"I haven't stopped thinking about it since then. I haven't stopped feeling guilty for doing that to you."

Jean looked at Rogue for several seconds.

She saw how Rogue was trying to remain composed, how she pressed her lips together to keep her voice from breaking again, and how she seemed to be preparing to say something even crueler about herself. Jean recognized that expression all too well; it was the same look she had seen in the mirror many times.

"And I know you have no reason to forgive me," Rogue murmured. "I probably should—"

Jean didn't let her finish. She simply stepped forward and hugged her. Rogue froze completely.

Jean felt Rogue's body tense in surprise, but a few seconds later her arms carefully wrapped around her. The sleeves and gloves covering Rogue's arms completely prevented her power from accidentally absorbing Jean's energy, allowing her to hug her without fear.

"It's okay," Jean whispered.

Rogue began to cry silently.

"It's over."

Jean closed her eyes.

"I forgive you."

Rogue tightened the hug.

"You shouldn't..."

"Yes, I should."

"Jean..."

"It's okay, Rogue."

Rogue buried her face against Jean's shoulder.

"You should hate me."

Jean smiled through her tears.

"You've always thought that about yourself."

Rogue slightly raised her head.

Jean looked directly into her eyes.

"And yet... here I am."

Rogue let out a small, broken laugh through her tears before hugging her tightly again. Jean returned the hug while the rest of the room watched in silence, and for the first time since she had returned, the tension in her shoulders completely disappeared.

Ororo smiled. Jubilee placed a hand over her chest. Kurt let out the breath he apparently had been holding for several minutes, while Bobby muttered something about needing a box of tissues. Even Logan let out a small grunt that, coming from him, was probably the closest thing to an expression of approval. Charles watched the scene with a tired but genuine smile.

It seemed that, finally, everyone could breathe.

Peter breathed too. The tension in his shoulders slowly eased as he watched Jean hugging Rogue. He was no longer prepared to intervene, because he could clearly see that Jean was okay, that Rogue was genuinely sorry, and that, for the first time since she had arrived at that mansion, Jean seemed to feel heard. That should have been enough.

And in a way, it was.

Peter wasn't as angry anymore. He had heard everyone acknowledge what they had done wrong. Rogue had apologized without trying to justify her words. Jean had managed to say everything she had been keeping inside and, more importantly, she was calm now.

But Peter Parker had one little quirk.

When he saw something he considered unfair, he found it incredibly difficult to stay quiet. And he had just spent almost the entire time listening without saying anything... Well, that was about to change.

Jean broke the hug with Rogue with a genuine smile as she wiped away her tears, letting out a quiet laugh.

"I... Um... I'm going to change into some clean clothes. I've been wearing this for two days, and I really need to wear something different."

"I'd come with you, but I think after all this you need five minutes without anyone following you," Jubilee said with a small smile.

Jean giggled softly.

"Probably."

She looked at Peter for a moment. He slightly tilted his head toward the door in a gesture that said, "Go ahead."

"Go. I'll catch up with you later."

Jean nodded and left the room.

Peter watched her as she crossed the doorway and began climbing the stairs. He didn't need to see her to know exactly where she was; his heightened senses picked up the sound of her footsteps fading down the hallway, the rustle of her clothes, and even the small sigh she let out when she finally began to relax.

He waited until he could no longer hear her nearby. Then Peter stood completely still... And felt everyone's eyes on him.

He didn't need anyone to say anything to know what they were thinking. Charles and Hank already knew Spider-Man had things to say, but to everyone else, the situation had to seem rather strange: a guy dressed in red and blue had accompanied Jean to the mansion, remained silent throughout the entire conversation, and had now stayed behind after she left.

Scott was the first to break the silence.

"Can I ask you something?"

Peter turned his head slightly toward him.

"Depends."

Scott made a small grimace.

"Have you known Jean since before she came here?"

"...Yes," Peter replied, crossing his arms. "We met a while ago."

The answer was so serious that Scott slightly furrowed his brow.

"Before?"

"Long before she came here."

Kitty spoke up then.

"Did you find her by chance? Were you looking for her because someone was after her?"

Peter slowly shook his head.

"No. I went to get her out of Roosevelt Island after I was the one who put her there."

Several expressions immediately changed. Kitty lowered her gaze slightly. Scott let out a small sigh. Bobby and Kurt looked at each other, while Ororo watched Spider-Man with even greater attention.

Peter continued.

"And after calming her down when she finally learned that her sister had died... I took a bullet that was meant for her."

The X-Men already knew that story. Jean had told them. They knew that Peter had ended up injured by Frank Castle's bullet, they knew that Jean had entered his mind to keep him alive, and they knew that moment had been one of the events that ultimately changed their relationship completely.

But hearing that story directly from someone who had been there was different. Much more different.

Logan was the first to realize something. It wasn't just the story, it was the tone. Spider-Man wasn't speaking like someone simply recounting a memory. Every word seemed to have something behind it, an annoyance that had been building since he entered the room.

Logan narrowed his eyes.

"You're pissed."

Peter turned his head toward him.

"Pissed?"

"You hadn't said a word from the moment you walked in until Scott asked you something. Either you've got a cold and you're conserving energy, or you're in a bad mood."

Spider-Man snorted.

"The word 'pissed' already seems pretty strong even for me." He slowly lowered his arms. "'Disappointed' fits better."

That caused several of those present to tense.

Peter began slowly walking around the room without straying too far from where he had been standing. His hands moved as he spoke, making his words seem even more emphatic, especially because no one could see his face behind the mask.

"Jean has told me about you. A lot." He shrugged. "And it was nothing but wonderful things. Good things. That she'd finally found a place where she could be herself. That there were people who understood her. That she didn't have to be alone. That you knew what it meant to be different and that, finally, she'd found a family. So much so that I genuinely thought I didn't have to worry about her."

Scott lowered his gaze.

Peter spread both hands.

"I thought she was in good hands." His tone became more bitter. "So imagine my surprise when she shows up at my apartment at three in the morning, crying, after being told that she shouldn't have to be there."

No one responded.

Peter slowly lowered his arms.

"That certainty went right out the window."

Rogue pressed her lips together.

Peter looked at her for a moment before continuing.

"And I still don't understand how the hell you went from point A to point B."

He began pointing at the floor as he spoke, as if he were trying to put together the pieces of a puzzle that made no sense.

"How do you go from thinking that you've finally found a place where a girl who's been feared by half the world can feel loved... to making her feel like a monster?"

No one moved.

"How? You guys are supposed to be the ones who should understand her best."

He didn't use that word. He didn't say "mutants." He had never used it to refer to them. To him, that word had always carried too many unpleasant connotations to use it that way.

"All of you know what it's like for people to look at you differently. To be afraid of you because of something you never chose. For some people to decide who you are before they even get to know you."

He pointed at his chest.

"I don't have the gene that gave you your powers at birth. Hell, I just had the bad luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when a damn radioactive spider decided to bite me."

Bobby raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Radioactive?"

Peter made a small gesture with his hand.

"That's not the point."

Bobby closed his mouth.

Peter crossed his arms again.

"The point is that I also ended up becoming something I never asked for. And yet..." He pointed toward the stairs Jean had disappeared up. "Jean felt safer with me in two days than she has with you during the six months she's lived here."

The sentence fell over the room like a stone. Rogue closed her eyes. Scott took a deep breath. Ororo lowered her gaze.

Peter watched everyone for several seconds.

"And I have no idea how the hell all the pieces fit together for us to even be having this conversation."

His voice was no longer as loud. In fact, he sounded more tired than angry.

"I didn't come here to insult you. I didn't even come here to tell you that Jean was right about everything because she wasn't."

That made several of them look up.

"She did bad things. She knows it. I know it. You know it. I'm not trying to pretend Roosevelt Island never happened. I'm not going to tell you that you don't have the right to feel uncomfortable about what happened, or that you have to trust her immediately because she's good now."

Peter looked at Rogue.

"You have the right to distrust her."

Then he looked at Scott.

"You have the right to be angry."

He looked at the others.

"It's inevitable. That's what happens in any group of people. Especially when someone did something that serious." Peter took a deep breath. "But if an argument like that happens again... and I sincerely hope it doesn't... Talk. You don't have to defend anyone, you don't have to take anyone's side. Just say something."

Peter pointed toward the center of the room.

"'Stop.' 'We need a moment.' 'Let's not keep talking while we're angry.' Anything." Peter sighed. "If Jean wants to leave with me, I don't care. If she ever comes to my apartment again at three in the morning because she needs to be away from here, I'm going to open the door for her."

He pointed at everyone with both hands.

"But at least I hope you say something first." His tone hardened slightly. "Don't just stand there like idiots."

Kurt lowered his gaze to hide a small nervous smile.

Peter turned toward Rogue. She immediately knew that this part was for her.

"And you."

Rogue looked up.

"What you said to Jean wasn't just wrong." Peter slowly shook his head. "It was also a lie."

Rogue frowned slightly.

"A lie?"

"Yes." Peter took a step toward her. "Jean didn't possesed half the city because she wanted to. She was grieving. She was in denial. She was furious with the person responsible for killing her sister. She was a girl who had just lost her family, and whose powers reacted to her emotions in a way she couldn't control."

Rogue swallowed.

"That doesn't excuse her," Peter continued. "And I'm not trying to excuse her, either. Jean did bad things. She knows that better than anyone. But she's also spent all this time trying to make up for them, trying to be better than the person she was that day."

Rogue didn't look away.

"Even now, she still feels guilty about that bullet. But I don't blame her for it. I deliberately stepped in front of her. And if you asked me whether I'd do it again... I'd always say yes."

Jean wasn't there to hear him. And maybe that's why Peter was able to say it without his voice trembling.

"Because saving her was worth it."

No one had an answer to that.

Peter glanced toward the stairs for a second, as if he could see through the walls.

"Jean needed people like you in her life." He looked back at the group. "And the last thing I expected was for you to be the ones who made her feel bad for existing."

Charles closed his eyes. Hank lowered his head. Rogue seemed to be struggling against her tears again.

Peter let out a long sigh. The tension in his shoulders finally began to fade.

"I'm not the one to judge anyone for their mistakes. I've made enough of them to know that. But I really hope you never turn your backs on Jean again... And not just her."

Everyone present looked at him attentively.

"Don't turn your backs on each other. Because that's what families do, right? You're supposed to be a family."

He looked toward the stairs again.

"Then act like one."

No one answered immediately.

Peter stood still in the middle of the room, waiting. For the first time since he had entered, he didn't seem like Spider-Man. He didn't look like the hero everyone knew from the news, or the guy who cracked jokes while fighting criminals, or even the strange friend who had shown up accompanying Jean. He simply looked like a guy who was genuinely worried about someone he cared about.

Scott was the first to lower his gaze. Then Ororo. Then Kitty. Bobby and Kurt exchanged a silent glance. Logan remained motionless, but his expression had changed. And Rogue...

Rogue simply nodded.

Peter watched her for a second before nodding as well. He didn't need to say anything else. At least for now.

He turned toward the stairs again and, this time, decided to go after Jean, leaving the X-Men alone to process his words.

Peter had never been inside the mansion before that day. And yet, he immediately knew which room was Jean's. He wasn't sure why, but he stopped in front of a door and simply... knew.

He knocked before speaking, because the last thing he wanted was to walk in at the worst possible moment.

"Jean? It's me," Peter said. "Can I come in?"

"It's open, come in!" Jean replied immediately.

Peter pushed the door open and first peeked his head inside.

The first thing he noticed was that the room was much larger than he had expected. There was a fairly large single bed, a desk beside one of the windows, several shelves, and, to Peter's surprise, a considerable number of books scattered across practically every available space.

Peter stepped a little farther inside, looking around curiously.

"Wow..."

Jean was on the other side of the room, with her back to him.

"What?"

"You have a lot of books."

"Is that the first thing you noticed?"

"I'm Spider-Man. I observe my surroundings."

"Of course."

Peter smiled beneath his mask.

"No, seriously. You've got an entire library in here."

Jean let out a small laugh.

"I like reading."

"I'd already figured that out."

Peter took a couple more steps into the room while examining some of the titles he could make out from where he stood. There were novels, books on psychology, philosophy, history, science, and several texts related to telepathy and mind control, along with several books that seemed to be there simply because Jean had enjoyed reading them.

Then he looked up.

And froze completely.

Jean had her back to him, just finishing putting on a white top. Her red hair was completely soaked and fell down her back, making it clear that she had just gotten out of the shower, while for a moment Peter caught sight of considerably more skin than he had expected to see when he walked in.

His eyes widened.

Oh.

His brain went blank for approximately half a second.

Then it decided to compensate with an absurd number of thoughts Peter definitely did not need to be having at that moment.

Don't look.

His eyes involuntarily dropped for a moment.

Don't look.

And then he saw her backside and the white panties Jean was wearing.

DON'T LOOK!

Peter spun around so quickly that he almost looked like he'd been hit. He clasped his hands behind his back and stared intently at a bookshelf as if he had just discovered the secret of the universe. He could feel his face burning beneath the mask and, for the first time in a long while, genuinely wished his suit had some kind of facial cooling system.

Please don't let her be able to feel the heat.

The next thought was even worse.

And please don't let her be able to read my mind, either.

Peter pressed his lips together.

Because if she can read my mind right now, I'm going to throw myself out the window.

Behind him, he heard Jean finishing getting dressed.

"Peter."

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

"Perfectly fine."

"You seem really tense."

"I'm not tense."

Jean let out a small giggle.

"Of course not."

Peter closed his eyes.

This is not happening.

A few more seconds passed before he finally heard Jean moving around the room.

"You can turn around now."

Peter waited an extra second, as if he needed to make sure it was safe.

Finally, he turned around.

Jean was now fully dressed in clean, simple, comfortable clothes, using a towel to dry her hair. Peter let out such an exaggerated sigh of relief that Jean had to hold back a laugh.

"What?" Peter asked.

"Nothing."

"Jean."

She smiled innocently.

"What?"

Peter pointed at her.

"You know exactly what."

Jean placed a hand over her chest.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Peter snorted.

"You did that on purpose."

"Did what?"

"That!"

Jean stared at him for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.

"If that helps you sleep at night."

Peter stared at her for a second.

Then he burst out laughing.

"You're terrible."

With a movement of his hands, Peter grabbed the edges of his mask and took it off completely, letting his hair fall slightly over his forehead. He looked at Jean with an expression of mock offense.

"For the record, I came in here with the best intentions."

Jean raised both hands.

"I didn't do anything."

Peter laughed again and shook his head.

"You're impossible."

They both ended up laughing as Peter placed his mask on a small nearby table. After a few seconds, Jean sat down on the bed and Peter did the same, leaving a prudent amount of space between them.

That's when Peter noticed something beside one of the pillows. A small Spider-Man plushie.

Peter looked at it, then at Jean, then back at the plushie. One eyebrow slowly rose.

Jean followed his gaze, and her eyes widened.

"Oh, no."

Peter picked up the plushie with one hand.

"Is this...?"

Jean held out a hand.

"No."

"A Spider-Man plushie?"

"You saw nothing."

"Jean."

"You saw absolutely nothing."

Peter began to smile.

"Do you have a Spider-Man plushie?"

Jean turned completely red.

"It's not mine!"

"It's on your bed."

"That doesn't mean anything."

Peter held the plushie up in front of her.

"It even has the white eyes."

"Peter!"

Jean extended a hand and, before he could continue teasing her, the plushie shot away with telekinesis and landed off the bed.

"You saw nothing."

Peter burst out laughing while Jean tried to hide a smile behind an expression of absolute seriousness. However, no matter how hard she tried to hide it, the small glimmer of amusement in her eyes gave her away.

Eventually, they both fell silent.

For a few seconds, the only sounds were the distant noises of the mansion and the soft sound of drops still falling from Jean's damp hair. Peter rested his hands on his knees and stared ahead, while Jean absentmindedly played with one of the strands of her hair.

"I heard everything."

Peter turned his head. Jean was still looking straight ahead.

"What?"

"What you said downstairs."

Peter remained silent, and Jean smiled faintly.

"I tried not to. I didn't go into anyone's mind. I just... heard some things from here."

Peter looked at her without saying anything for a moment.

"How much did you hear?" he finally asked.

Jean made a small face.

"Pretty much everything."

Peter covered his face with both hands.

"Great."

"Peter..."

"No, it's okay. I guess it was about time someone told you."

Jean watched him for a few seconds.

"You didn't have to."

"Yes, I did."

"Peter..."

"Jean, they're important to you." Peter gestured vaguely toward the door. "And I know you want this to work. I didn't want to come here and become the guy who shows up saying that they're all idiots and that you should leave with me."

Jean smiled slightly.

"Even though you thought it."

Peter made a small face.

"Maybe."

Jean let out a laugh.

Peter lowered his gaze to his hands.

"But I don't want to take you away from here."

Jean watched him attentively.

"You don't?"

"No." Peter slowly shook his head. "I want you to have this. Your own room. Your books. People you can call family. A place you can come back to."

Jean felt her eyes begin to well up again.

"Then why did you say all that?"

Peter looked directly at her.

"Because wanting you to have a family is one thing, and letting that family make you feel like you don't have one is another."

Jean remained silent.

Peter continued speaking much more calmly than before.

"I don't want you to leave because of me. And I don't want you to stay here because you're afraid of disappointing them. I want you to be wherever you want to be."

Jean lowered her gaze.

"I want to be here."

Peter smiled slightly.

"Then stay."

Jean looked up.

"But I also want to be able to go with you whenever I need to."

"Always."

The answer came so quickly that Jean smiled.

"Always."

Peter nodded.

"Always."

Jean slowly rested her head against Peter's shoulder.

He remained still for a moment, surprised by the gesture, before relaxing and gently resting his head against hers. Neither of them said anything for a few seconds, and for the first time in a long while, Jean didn't feel the need to fill the silence with explanations.

"Thank you," she murmured.

Peter smiled.

"For what?"

"For speaking for me without speaking for me."

Peter let out a small laugh.

"I think that's the strangest description of my job as Spider-Man I've ever heard."

Jean smiled against his shoulder.

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah."

Peter looked toward the door.

"And now I should probably go back downstairs before Logan thinks you kidnapped me."

Jean lifted her head.

"Do you think Logan thinks that?"

Peter shrugged.

"I don't know."

A pause.

"But he'd probably kill me if he found out you have a plushie of me."

Jean's eyes widened.

"You're not allowed to tell him that!"

Peter burst out laughing.

"I knew it! I knew it from the beginning!"

"Peter!"

Their laughter once again filled the room.

And, for the first time since she had left the mansion that early morning, Jean felt that this place was beginning to feel a little more like home again.