176 Issue #17

Over the next few days, Jack noticed that there had been some changes in Rogue. The woman showed up around him more and seemed to have taken a deeper interest in him.

"Heya, Jack. I could use some help with deciding what to do with this student."

"Is your squad interested in a group training exercise? We could use a practice match before field day."

"I just made some of my mama's mud pie. Would you like a slice?"

Jack just got done talking with a student about some issues they were going through before he heard a knock on the door. Before he could respond, the door was opened and a head leaned in. Jack was surprised that it was Rachel.

"Oh, it's you," Jack let out a breath of relief which Rachel thought was a sad sigh

"My bad. Looks like you were expecting someone else," Rachel said before pulling her head out as she began to close the door.

"No, no, no," Jack rushed to stop her. "I didn't mean to be rude. Someone else has been visiting me a lot lately so I just thought it was them. But I am more than glad to see you."

Rachel smiled as she heard Jack wanting to see her. It was always good to have her father-in-law on her side. Rachel closed the door behind her and walked into the room before taking a seat.

"So what's up?" Jack asked while pouring Rachel some tea

Rachel sipped her tea and smiled brightly. Jack had always remembered her favorite things and prepared them for her whenever she came to talk with him.

"I have recently been plagued with nightmares. Flames. Power. A bird cry."

"The Phoenix," Jack said

"Correct. It seems that it will be back soon. I'm not sure when but soon. And my mother does not feel the calls nor do any of the other telepaths. Which most likely means one thing."

"You're the next host," Jack added again

"Correct again. I'm not sure if I can handle it though. My mother had to Phoenix Force with her and it completely took over. She killed entire planets and ended up dying. I don't want that same fate," Rachel started to tear up as she thought of her possible fate. She didn't want to lose the family she had gotten back after so long without them.

Jack knew her pain and went around the desk to embrace the young woman.

"You won't. I can promise you that you won't die. Whether it is the Phoenix Force, Celestials, or even God himself. I won't let anyone take a member of my family away from me. I won't let that happen!" Jack swore to both Rachel and himself. He had been working too hard for that.

Rachel began composing herself in Jack's arms. She also realized that she had too many important things in her life to let the Phoenix kill her.

"Good," Rachel took a tissue from Jack's desk and blew her nose. "Do you mind if I come by some other time to talk about any other issues or just listen to me complain?" Rachel asked tentatively.

She felt weird talking to Jean and Scott about most things. It was like they were supposed to be her parents but were the same age as her. Jack was also the same age as them but he just felt much older and wiser.

Jack accepted without issue. He didn't mind allowing his daughter-in-law to vent to him. He was already the guidance counselor so it didn't matter if he had to talk to one other person.

Rachel and Jack spent some more time together for another hour or so when they heard a knock on the door.

"It's open!" Jack yelled to the door

The door opened and Jack was not surprised to see that it was Rogue. But after his talk with Rachel, he was also able to sort out his feelings for Rogue on his own. He had been contemplating for days whether he truly saw himself with Rogue for the rest of his life.

Rachel also senses that the atmosphere got a little... different. Like there was some sort of tension between the two.

"I'm gonna just... yeah," Rachel said before she stood up and walked by Rogue, winking at the latter

Rogue blushed a little before she sat in the seat that Rachel was just in.

"How's your day been? Any students cause you some trouble?"

Jack poured Rogue a cup of rose tea before he answered

"It's been fine. Nothing out of the usual. How about you? Didn't you have a training session with your squad this morning?"

Rogue began to smile brightly when she noticed that Jack seemed to be more willing to talk to her. Ever since she had come to terms with her feelings for him and gotten permission from Emma, she had been going after Jack more and more. But after a few days, she noticed that he had been avoiding her.

She was beginning to think that Jack didn't see her that way and was trying to politely reject her but since he had asked about her, it meant that he was no longer trying to avoid her.

"Pretty good. I don't think we have much chance of winning Field Day if it comes down to a direct contest of strength but I still wanna try my best to prepare them."

"I understand that. I think some of the teams have students in them that can't truly be X-Men because it is supposed to be a lesson to the students about 'just because you have powers, doesn't make you a hero', or something like that," Jack explained his thoughts behind some of the schools. He had seen that Rogue's and a couple of other squads were really weak compared to most of the other squads

"Hmm. Sounds just like something Ro would do," Rogue admitted that she had thought of this possibility too. But still, she wanted to train her team as best she could, even if they weren't potential X-Men.

The pair continued to chat for the rest of the day, not noticing the time going by.

-

-

-

-

Author's Note/Question: So there has been some talk and questions about the harem. Like how Storm would be a great member to add to it or that Laura should replace Magik. I'm willing to have there be 5 'Main' women that get plenty of screentime What are ya'lls opinions on it?