Careless Moment, Lifetime Regrets: Part Three

by Kerri

Thomas waited on the front steps with Scott and Jean. "I didn't tell her why I asked her to come here," he told them both, "otherwise I'm afraid she'd just grab Jess and go. Please don't mention it."

"Of course," Scott said. "She's going to know when she see's Logan here, though."

"I'll tell her, I just want to do it after I get her belt away from her."

A bright, brief flash of light out on the front walk startled them. When the flash faded, a woman stood in its place. A young woman.

She looked about 22 years old, long cinnamon hair braided over one shoulder. She wore blue jeans and a tank top, a knife strapped to her right thigh. She looked around curiously, then spotted Thomas.

He moved down to greet her, sweeping her into a hug. "Glad you could make it."

"Make it? You sounded mysterious enough on the phone. What's the problem? Jess isn't hurt, is he?"

"No. Let me introduce you to Scott and Jean Summers."

Charlotte shook hands with them. "Charlotte Ashcroft."

Jean's face was a study in shock. She looked from the woman to Thomas, the man easily looked old enough to be her father. "I must know what kind of face cream you use." Now she saw Jess in his mother, the eyes, the finer bone structure that evened out Logan's rough features in the son.

Charlotte laughed. "Sorry, family secret."

"If you will excuse us," Thomas requested, "I need to speak to Charlotte alone."

They nodded and went back into the house, leaving them alone to talk on the front porch. "I can't believe that she is a mother of two," Jean said to her husband.

"Me, neither," Scott commented. A sharp look from his wife had him adding hastily to that statement. "Not that it's a good thing," he offered weakly.

Charlotte listened to Thomas for about 2 minutes, then cut him off. "Where's Jess?"

"He's out back. We need to talk about this before you see him."

She moved off, sending out a psi-pulse to locate her youngest son's thought signature.

"Charlotte," Thomas called after her.

She turned around. "I don't know who this is, but he can't be Jess's father. He was lost in the war. I looked." For months she looked. The man had just disappeared off the face of the Earth, taking her soul with him. The only thing that kept her going was Jess.

"Hank already run the blood tests."

"You did all this without telling me? I think you've forgotten exactly who you are, Raven. You are my son; not my father, not my husband. You don't make choices for me. What else are you hiding from me?"

"This was a coincidence, it just happened. Now it's time to deal with it."

"I am going to deal with it. I'm taking Jess and getting out of here." She stalked off, Jess located.

Thomas sighed and tucked her homing belt into his shirt pocket.

Jazz watched her approach with a mental wince. The look on her face told him Thomas had already spoken to her and she wasn't happy. She was so far from happy she could have burst into flames right about now. He stood up and plastered a smile on his face.

She ignored the two men with him and grabbed his wrist. "Let's go." A hard grip, he'd have bruises later, she reached down to her belt to hit the homing button and found it gone.

"That goddamn..." her voice trailed off. "I deal with him later. Come on."

"No." The word was quiet, respectful even, but implacable. "Mom, I don't want to go back. Tom's right, I need to go to a school where I can get help with my powers."

<You want to go to a school, I'll find you a school.> In her agitation she projected louder than she meant to, Jazz cringing at the voice in his head. Hank and Logan winced themselves. <But we leave now.>

"The boy wants to stay," Logan said, giving her a once over. Not bad. He didn't have to wonder what kind of women he liked in the distant mystery past, not if she was an example. "Why don't ya have a seat an' a beer an' tell me how all this happened."

Charlotte turned her attention to him, and her entire body stiffened. The air around her shimmered with suppressed emotion. "You were there, you son of a bitch. Now why don't you crawl back to whatever grave you escaped from. No, wait, on second thought, why don't you let me put you back in it." One hand reached for her weapon, only to find it gone as well. Thomas had a lot to answer for now.

"Hmm, a woman threatenin' my life. Now I know I'm in love," he drawled sarcastically.

Jazz closed his eyes. This was going well, he thought to himself. If this wasn't an open declaration of war, he didn't know what was. The question is, how can he beat them both and still keep his family?

[next part]

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