Ghosts in Westchester - REVIEW THIS STORY

Written by Dandelion
Last updated: 07/18/2007 10:21:38 PM

Chapter 4

Nate

Hank had asked me to help him rebuild his files on Stryfe once we got back to Westchester. Since Stryfe instigated the Legacy Virus and Hank's lot in life was to find the cure and I was the one who knew the lunatic better than anyone else it was falling to me to fill in the holes.

Remembering everything about Stryfe was not something I enjoyed but it was good work that Hank was doing so I figured I better put the time in. And if Hank did, in fact, cure Legacy assisted by the work I did here, well, any victory over Stryfe is a good one.

Despite this I was all too eager to set things aside when Jean came into the lab. Her eyes were a little red and I was immediately on guard but she was clamped down tightly and no emotions were leaking out. "Nathan, we need to talk. Privately."

Hank glanced up at that. "I'll leave you two alone then," he cast a longing glance at the program he was working on but started to get up.

"No, no, Hank," Jean spoke up quickly. "We'll leave you to it. But I do want to talk to you later as well so don't wander off."

Jean wanting to talk to me and then Hank in private? There was a small list of things that she could be covering. I really hoped it was that whole mess with Remy so I would have a legitimate reason to finally kill him. Jean's eyes looking a little sad and angry only fueled my desire to get this handled. I scarcely noticed when she gestured me to follow her but I did so automatically. All I could think was: Finally. Finally!

There was a small weight room in the back of the house that was rarely used anymore. Forge had been rebuilding everything since Bastion stripped the place and once he got the Danger Room back online the weight room everyone had put together to stay in shape became a somewhat neglected space. Jean locked the door and sat down on a bench.

"I want to talk to you about this in private because you deserve an explanation more than anyone," Jean began.

"All right," I replied neutrally.

She looked up at me. "You know I've gotten pretty close to Remy in Moscow."

I nodded.

"We worked very closely together for almost the entire time we were there," she looked towards the ceiling. "We got to know each other very well. We all did."

"Sure," I agreed, keeping my tone even. I wished she would get to the point but I got the impression that she was trying to work her way up to the big announcement.

She took a deep breath. "We're involved, Remy and I."

"I know."

She blinked at me. "You know."

I nodded.

"You know?"

I nodded again. I was beginning to enjoy myself.

"How long?"

"Since mid-November."

"NATHAN CHRISTOPHER CHARLES SUMMERS DAYSPRING ASKANI'SON!!!" Jean shot to her feet with a bellow. "You KNEW and you never SAID anything?!!"

"You've sleeping with him for about a month and YOU never said anything?"

"Two and a half!"

"WHAT?!"

"Two and a half months!" Jean perched her hands on her hips. "THAT is how long Remy and I have been sleeping together."

I didn't say anything to that and Jean seemed to lose her indigence after a moment.

She sat down again. "I'm sorry."

"Okay."

"How did you find out?"

"I saw you kissing in the park one day."

"Oh." Her voice was very small. She pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger and grimaced. "This is not how I wanted this conversation to go. I just... I don't know."

"You two haven't been together much since we got back," I hedged. "Is something wrong?"

"Not anymore."

That was like fingernails scraping down a blackboard to me. "You're still with him then?"

"Yes," she looked at me. "I know this isn't easy."

"No. It isn't."

"Remy thinks you're going to kill him."

"Remy's a smart man." I paused. "Well, perhaps getting involved with you wasn't the smartest move but other than that..." I trailed off with a shrug.

"You are not going to kill him and that crack about getting involved with me wasn't nice."

"What am I supposed to feel about this?"

The light in her eyes flickered. "Acceptance?"

"I've had a month to get used to it," I told her grudgingly. "But I'm going to need more time."

"I understand."

"Do you?" I stood up. "There's something wrong with this. You don't belong with Remy you belong with Scott!"

"Scott's gone," she said quietly. "And I do belong with Remy. We fit. He's good to me."

"Oath," I grumbled. There went every argument I could possibly have. "Why do you look like you've been crying then?" I flicked a finger around my eyes to illustrate.

She looked down at her hands. "I had a little argument with Logan."

My blood burned. "About Remy?"

"Can't fool that nose, Nathan. You know that."

I narrowed my eyes. If I couldn't kill Remy I could take out some of my frustration on Logan. I found that the idea cheered me up some. "What did he say?"

"That's between Logan and I," she replied firmly. "And it's off the subject anyway. This is about you and me and how Remy fits into all of this."

"I don't know, Jean. I'm not thrilled about this," I said honestly. "He's not someone I would trust with your heart."

"Why on earth not?"

I thought about that. Remy looked out for all of us in Moscow. He let us do what we wanted but if there was ever anything we stirred up he was there to help deal with it. I realized that I had come to expect him to be watching my back in a fight. "He's not Scott." I said quietly.

Maybe I had come to terms with Remy as a leader and a person but I didn't know how long it would take to come to terms with him as Jean's lover.

I heard her sigh. "No he's not," Jean agreed. "But he's not trying to be. And I don't want him to be." I felt her hand fall on my arm. "I'm not trying to replace your father, Nathan. I could never do that. Scott was... Scott was special. But he's dead now and I had to walk a long way to finally recognize that. He'll always be a part of me and I will always love him. But I've had to learn to live without him. It hasn't been easy."

"Are you in love with Remy?"

A long silence answered my question. I turned my head to stare at her. I couldn't believe what that silence was telling me.

"Nathan, I'm not in love with Remy right now," she told me. "But that is not an impossible thing. I'm with him. I'm committed to him. I want to be with him and I don't want to hide it anymore. We've come to realize that we really have something. We're still not sure what but we want to know."

I couldn't get over the fact that Jean used the term 'we' in reference to her and Remy. It was inconceivable. I had known about them for a month now and I still couldn't quite swallow it. Not to mention that she wasn't going to tell me that falling in love with him was something she wouldn't do.

I had hoped that Remy and Jean weren't serious. I had surreptitiously kept an eye on them in Moscow to see if there were any warning signs that something was amiss between them. I really should have known better. The five of us were forged into a unit, a family within a family during those nine months. Remy had laughingly referred to it as a gestation period on the way back and he wasn't far off. Remy and Jean communicated and respected each other. He never spoke down to her or

tried to dissuade her from something she was able to do. He didn't do that to any of us. None of us did.

But he wasn't Scott. And Scott was supposed to be with Jean. That's the way of it. I didn't care if Scott was dead.

I wanted to shoot something.

Badly.

I had left my gun in the lab.

Oath.

"Nathan..."

I shook my head moving away from her. "All right," I shrugged my shoulders. "All right. Now, it's out." I went to the door, resting my hand on the knob.

Her silence screamed in my ears. She wanted something more from me. She wanted it but wasn't asking for it.

Which meant I had to give it to her. I stared at the doorknob. "I want you to be happy, Redd." I looked up to meet her eyes. "That's all I want for you. If Remy does this for you I can't say anything against it. I just need some more time to come to terms."

She nodded and I left. So I couldn't kill Remy. If I had to be completely honest about it I didn't really want to. Remy was all right. If he really made Jean happy, fine. All I had to do was not think about the details between them, which was easy for me to do unless I was talking to Dom. She gained a wicked pleasure from musing about Remy and Jean and what they got up to alone.

I swept those thoughts out of my head and bypassed the lab. I wasn't in the mood for it anymore. I still had some frustration to work off and the thought of Jean's eyes, the redness and the sadness and who put them there, sent me out of the mansion and looking for Logan.

If I had to accept Remy and Jean he had to as well.

I'd make damn sure of it.