THE ILLUSIONIST WOMAN

two. The Return

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XIMENA'S CAR HELD SCOTT'S motorcycle in the back. Well, seeing as Logan highjacked it last time they were at Professor Xavier's School of Gifted Youngsters. Now, they were returning it... or bringing it back so Scott could put gas in the tank. Whatever seemed less imposing.

As her jeep pulled up, Jean and Ororo stood outside to greet them. Ximena practically jumped out of the passengers seat and ran into their embrace. Her heart beating erratically as she hugged them as tight as she could, borrowing her nose in their necks. She sighed in comfort at the familiar scents drifting up to her nose.

"Hey, I've missed you guys," She emotionally expressed. Jean hugged her by the neck tighter as if nonverbally signifying her agreement.

"There's so much to catch up on," Ororo enthused, grey eyes glancing over Ximena's face and body to make sure she was in one piece. "Are you okay? You look well, but I don't know for sure." Ororo placed the back of her hand on Mena's forehead, frowning subtly when the Doctor lightly swatted it away.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just the sniffles from being in the cold. It'll go away within thirty minutes."

"Good," Jean smiled, running her hand down Ximena's curled hair. "The last thing we need is an irritable and ill Mena causing havoc around the school." The Doctor rolled her eyes, nudging her playfully. 

Ximena walked back to the car and got out her bags, towing them back into the school as her friends flanked her sides. Logan was all but forgotten at the moment, seeing as he was having a unpleasant conversation with Scott for taking his bike. She didn't want to stick around for that ugly confrontation.

Truth be told, it felt good to be back. The familiarity of her home for the last ten years hit her like a tons of bricks; yet, comforted her like a warm blanket. She couldn't practically put a name to it, but it settled in the pit of her stomach, soothing her like a prodigal daughter coming home. "We actually just came from a field trip at the museum."

"Yes, have you seen the news lately?" Ororo followed Jean's words seamlessly, leading Ximena by the hand inside.

Ximena furrowed her brow, shaking her head. "No, we've kind of unplugged from the media the last couple of months. Plus, it was hard to keep up when you moved from house to house."

"There's been an attack on the president," Jean muttered ominously, sharing a knowing glance with her Hispanic friend. Their voices were low as students walked passed them, laughing and joking without a care in the world. They never truly understood the gravity, which was caving in around them, of certain situations. The adults of the house intended to keep it that way for as long as possible.

The Brunette's lips parted in a the shape of a surprised 'O'. "Ah, it was one of us wasn't it?"

The Ginger nodded solemnly, "Afraid so."

Sighing, she looked around the institution with conflicting emotions. One side was ready to leave and join the mission, just like times before. But the other half wanted to stick around a little longer, enjoy normalcy of the peace and quiet. Adjusting her grip on the duffle bag in her hand, she turned to her friends. "When do we head out," She confidently proposed, choosing her vow to save over her preferences for comfort.

"Unfortunately, for you, Dr. Dominguez," Professor Xavier's voice drifted to her ears, causing her to spin around to face the wise man. He glided closer in his wheelchair, smiling fatherly. "I need you here to watch the children. It's good to have a Doctor around in case something goes awry."

Ximena blushed, happy to see the Professor after so long. She nodded, "You're probably right... Uh, keep me updated? Stay safe."

Ororo laid a gentle hand on her forearm, voice low and melodic. "We always are. Try to get some rest, you've had a long trip away."

"Of course, Mamá. I live to please you," Ximena sarcastically quipped, winking charmingly before throwing her bag over her shoulder. "I'll put my things away. I guess... catch up with los niños." She shrugged, not knowing her purpose other than babysitter. Ximena's had the job before for a couple mutant kids back in the day, it wouldn't be that difficult now.

"It's good to have you back, Mena." Jean murmured, biting her lip anxiously. She focused on Ximena, sending a link through her mind that she'll come by her room in a minute to talk. To the Doctor, it seemed more serious than the easy-going front Jean was trying to convey before. A façade of peace and happiness Ximena suddenly felt was very off.

It made a knot form in her stomach with slight worry. Someone having to talk to you in private was never good. At least, it was never good where and when Ximena was involved.

Trotting up the stairs, she released a sigh of relief when walking into her assigned room. Nothing had changed. Her comforter was as bright and fluffy as ever. Knick knacks from her shared home upstate littered around the place, somewhat collecting dust.

Ximena suddenly felt sluggish. Her steps uncoordinated as she threw her duffle bag on a nearby chair. Her short frame flopped on the bed with a comforting bounce. The sheet cool to the touch and reminding her just how exhausted she was.

The embrace of her room was needed. She loved traveling with Logan, experiencing the world through his eyes. But that was the catch, it was through his eyes. Ximena enjoyed normalcy, a routine. There were years when she traveled around to remain under the governments radar, before coming to the school.

However, when she was a nomad, she had a few things in her everyday life that remained tradition. Like where she was staying or her mealtimes. Without them, she would've gone crazy.

Spending time with Logan was all she wanted and more. It was what she signed up for when she sealed her lips against his in a deal. But perhaps, she was looking for a little more compromise on his end. Logan had never travelled with a companion before, and he often forgot it wasn't him doing things solo. She didn't need his constant attention, but some form of commitment would have been nice.

Maybe an idea on what they actually were to each other.

Nonetheless, if it wasn't pillow talk after sex, the conversation wasn't going to get any air time. The vagueness left much to be confused on. Mainly, her feelings for Logan.

Before she knew when it had happened, a knock on her bedroom door disturbed her slumber. Ximena peeled her eyes open and sat up, realizing she knocked out as soon as she jumped on her bed.

Her head slightly throbbed and she rubbed her temple. Standing to open her door with a small smile on her lips. "Hey, come in. Take a seat."

Jean padded in unsure. Her movements hesitant as she found a seat on the plush mattress. "Sorry to wake you from your nap."

Waving her hand dismissively, Ximena already knew Jean had to of telepathically sensed her mind was on its way to REM sleep when she walked up. But she also knew whatever Jean had to tell her was serious. Otherwise, she wouldn't have interrupted Ximena's chance to get some quick Z's.

"What is it, Jeanie?" She rubbed at her eyes to wake herself up, leaning back on her forearm with a reassuring expression.

Jean glanced down to her fidgeting hands, uncharacteristically meek even in a moment between friends. "I've been having these... dreams. A feeling, that something terrible is going to happen. Like a shadow has been... haunting me. It's affecting my powers."

Ximena frowned, sitting up as she scrutinized her friend a little more closely. As if trying to see this invisible shadow plaguing the ginger's mind. "How long has this been going on?"

"It started after the Magneto crisis but it's definitely more imposing now. Prominent like an imprint on the back of my brain. I can't focus, even the simplest levitation could be difficult sometimes."

The Illusionist tilted her head in condemnation, her voice coming out in a low whisper. "Jean... Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

Jean shook her head, eyebrows pinching. "You were gone and --"

"No lousy excuses. The truth." Ximena glared at her friend intently, crossing her arms over her chest. She may have sounded mad but she was more so concerned and worried for her friend. Had she known sooner, maybe she could have done something to help or even prevent this from overpowering her. Her mutant ability was in the realm of the subconscious, after all. 

Sighing, Jean's deflated. She laid back against the bed, glancing up at the ceiling with trepidations clear as day on her usually serene features. The ginger didn't often express her emotions blatantly like her friends, but she felt them all the same. She was mostly in her head all the time, which made it hard to translate for someone on the outside looking in.

Fortunately, Ximena has been one of the few who could dissect her convoluted thoughts and bring them into reality. "I usually have things together... I -- I want to be the girl Professor comes to in need. Dependable, stable." She flicked her gaze from the ceiling to her the side at her friend. "I guess I've just been in denial that I'm not as indefectible as I once thought."

"The star studded student, facing a perfectionist essential crisis," Ximena muttered the words endearingly although it was confronting a very real anxiety within Jean.

"Some prime example," Jean laughed humorlessly, casting her eyes down. If Ximena studied her more intensely, she'd notice the slight tremor in Jean's lip. The subtle cry for help in a chasm of loneliness -- too large and infamous to get a sound past the barrier.

She brushed the ginger's hair back from her face like a older sister to the younger. Her hair was cut short now. Different, yet it still fell in perfect formation no matter what the telepath was doing. Sometimes Ximena envied such faultlessness, but then, she realized it was another façade. Something to keep her mind busy; to hold on to while the world crumbled around her.

Jean strived on perfection to remain sane and it seemed such built up facets of her psyche was ironically crumbling under such pressures as well. Ximena felt for her deeply. The pain, the fear -- it moved Xiema more than Jean could understand.

Moving her hand down, Mena intertwined their fingers, smiling at her friend gently. "You're going to be okay. I won't let you go through this alone... We -- you and me, we have each other now. And this essential crisis, can be ours. When you get back from Boston, we'll do a deep dive into your dream realm."

"You won't leave?" For a moment, Jean looked like a little girl. Her eyes widened in vulnerability. The stark fear in them was confrontational, overwhelmingly raw. Ximena felt Jean's grasp on her hand tighten, a innocent victim grasping at the last shred of solace.

Moved with compassion, Ximena grasped Jean's shoulders and brought her into a fierce embrace. Her eyes were wide over the ginger's shoulder, disbelieving just how terrified Jean was by this... this darkness. It sent a chill down her spine.

"You've got me till the end, my love." Pressing a chaste kiss to the crown of her head, Ximena allowed Jean to rest in her embrace. Like her mama did for her long ago, in their cramped apartment. The radiator had gone out and it was in the dead of winter. They kept each other warm and as a kid, Ximena chalked it up to her mother's love alone that was keeping them afloat.

Now, she knew better... but the feeling behind the selfless act of shielding her child from the cool air with her own body was enough to keep a tiny sliver of childlike optimism within her heart.

Love could do insurmountable things, if given the room to grow.

She'd be that for Jean.

...

IT WAS SOMETIME LATER when majority of the team had left the school for their own missions, leaving Logan and Ximena alone to watch the students. She was mulling over how best to approach Jean's dream state. It was a touchy subject for her already, Ximena didn't want to corrupt her further like she had done Daniel all those years ago.

God knows Ximena wouldn't be able to live with herself if the same events happened with Jean.

Sinking in the bathtub, she allowed the hot steam to surround her face. She leant her head back against the tiled wall. Damp strands from her half-assed hair bun stuck to the sides of neck and forehead.

Images of her growing friendship with Jean passed behind her closed eyelids. When she was first recruited. The late night chats over coffee. The inside jokes in the lab and in-depth research over medical personnel. They had a long, intertwined history and Ximena valued her like a sibling. Seeing as she had very few close relationships like she had with ginger, she treasure it with high regard.

Sighing, Ximena reached for the grey washcloth and bar of soap. The foamy bubbles around her coated the top of her thighs and covered her toes as she pressed them against the other end lazily. Her expresso eyes ghosting over her movements as she went through the predictable motions of cleaning herself.

Her head throbbed, like she was subconsciously trying to block something. It niggled against her temple, blaring like a siren for upcoming danger. It set her on edge, tensing her muscles uncontrollably.

Groaning to herself, she sunk further in the bath, dunking her chin below the heated current with narrowed eyes.

A knock sounded at her bathroom door, causing an intrigued eyebrow to arch in curiosity. "Mena?" Logan's rough tone sifted through the wooden divider, instantly making her heart speed up. She wondered how such a man could cause an irrevocable reaction from her.

Scrunching her nose, she rolled her eyes at her thoughts. "Come in."

Logan stepped in and immediately, his presence consumed that of the insignificant bathroom. His shoulders wide and imposing. He closed the door behind him to keep the steam in, unphased by her frame relaxing in the bath. "Hey," He breathed tiredly.

Titling her head in confusion, she was cautious to reply. "Hey? What's wrong, did Professor not give anymore leads?"

He sat on the closed toilet seat, resting his forearms on the tops of his knees. "No, said the mind needs to discover things for itself. Then he lectured me about smoking in Cerebro."

"Sounds like a wise man," She sat up and leant against the side of the tub to get a closer look at him. Laying her head on her soapsud covered palm.  "But then again, he isn't that rehearsed in working with impatient, childlike minds.

Logan smirked at her sarcastically, "Funny."

"I try my best, you're usually a tough crowd." Turning back to her previous work before he walked in, she starting rubbing the small towel over her arms in a hypnotizing, circular motion. Logan found himself trying a little hard to keep his dark eyes on her heart shaped face.

"That's because they suck."

"They target a specific demographic," She excused with an upward tilt of her nose.

"Yeah, the hearing impaired." Rolling her eyes, she flipped him off with pursed lips. Logan chuckled at her attitude, catching her wrist before she snatched it away. He tugged on it to bring himself closer, smoothing his large hand over her cheek to brush the stuck, curly brown strands.

He kneeled by the side of the porcelain bathtub, captivating her attention with a simple, hungry look. His calloused thumb scratched the side of her subtle cheekbone, dragging toward the corner of her pouty lips. When he glanced at her like that. Like she was the earth, heaven and hell all wrapped into one, it did unspeakable things to her. Forced the air from her lungs and rushed it back on her in a breathless shudder of over-emotion.

Logan brought them together in a softer kiss than usual. He took care with her. Delicate and cherishing, like she was made of priceless glass. Ximena felt this kiss more than the others, deep in her soul.

Her lengthy lashes fluttered as she held on to the collar of his t-shirt. Eyes blinking open only when he parted from her, in a dazed, adoring stupor. He caressed her damp neck, eyebrows furrowing in the middle of his forehead like he was thinking. A conflict in his mind she couldn't quite grasp. What she would kill to hear what thoughts were going through his mind right now.

"What was that for?" Ximena muttered softly, her previous attitude dissipating in the humidity of the room.

"A thank you... for coming with me." He shrugged and Ximena would've believed him if it wasn't for his tell. The tightening of his left fist at his side. Logan was nervous, she could tell, but why was the real conundrum.

"You're welcome, but you don't have to thank me, James."

He nodded offhandedly, "Right, right." Suddenly, the imitate moment was gone. Ximena didn't know how or why, but it settled in the pit of her stomach like a bitter pill. She leant back with only confusion marring her gorgeous features. "Bet you're glad to have your own room back tonight, huh?"

Ximena felt like she was just slapped across the face. The air was sucked out of her lungs but all she displayed was a pensive, small smile. Maybe she was overthinking or spiraling. Whatever word felt right. But she didn't like that suddenly Logan saw his opportunity to be away from her as a positive takeaway. Frankly, it stung, but it wasn't like she was going to show that.

There he went. One step forward, two steps back.

Ximena exhaled a poor excuse of a laugh, nodding her head warily. "Yeah... I've missed spreading starfish." She didn't know what the hell she was saying but she was speaking anything to get over the shock of his sudden flip.

Logan hummed, unconvinced but he wasn't going to push it. He nudged her cheek in comradery, standing to his feet. Ximena never realized it before, but she felt so incredibly small from this perspective of him. It was funny how, when he walked in, she thought he was the earth and sky, and now she felt like she was the underground -- separated and beneath him.

"I'll see you in the morning, Mena."

Ximena blankly nodded, the splash of the water filling her ears like white noise as she faced the faucet. Her lips parted on auto-pilot. "Sleep well."

Because she knew she wouldn't without him.

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Unedited. 7/7/21

Logan is afraid of commitment! Which is really annoying for someone like Ximena who's been compromising for the last year or so for him. Nonetheless, I love this chapter because we get a Jemena (Jean x Ximena) reunion. I wanted to emphasize their relationship because it'll play a big role in Ximena's story overall. 

Let me know what you think! Comment, Vote! Xx