1963-12-09 - If You Know I Know
Summary: Jean follows Scott down to the gym to ask for training but has a few things to share — about Gabriel and about herself — before they get started.
Related: None
Theme Song: None
scott jean 


It's icy cold but that didn't stop Scott from going out for a run after his classes — he's always going out for a run, as though it's the one way he knows how to fill in the scant free time he manages to accumulate. The snow and the dark, however, make things difficult and he's back before he'd like to be. He's not tired enough yet to be finished.

Down to the gym he goes, trading wet outdoor shoes for dry ones and stripping off his snowy-damp sweatshirt. Jump rope, first, to warm him up. Then, maybe, weights or the heavy bag. It's quiet down here at this hour, which is a nice change from the endless rumble of small feet, chattering voices, and banging doors upstairs.

*

It's been a few hours since the morning happened, Jean vacated Charles' apartment in search of something a wee bit familiar while the other one slept. The gym is where she heads, seeking out the calm mind through the chaos, no gym clothes no, but sneakers and a regular shirt with a pair of slacks that she could easily move in.

Her steps were light, but there was no quick pitter patter of her ambushing him (in which, if she were to jump on his back she was sure he wouldn't budge), but a loud and noticeable stomp so that he'd know that she was coming. She wasn't angry. "Do you ever just sit and read a book?"

*

Scott knows the footsteps without looking, before she speaks. Jean's usually the one who lets you know she's coming on purpose. Logan sounds like a one-man herd of something dangerous, each of the boys has their own pace, their own way of opening doors, jostling — there's often more than one of them at a time — and, almost always, chatter and laughter. Charles walks like he's thinking of twelve things other than where he's going, and Erik walks like he's on a mission.

"When there's a reason to read it," Scott allows, speeding up the pace of the jumprope so that he's skipping doubles. "Why?"

*

Her head tilts as she watches him, her lips pursing ever so faintly as she slips off her shoes with the press of her toes. She was obviously barefoot, but a jump-rope was picked up and soon she was slowly jumping as well. Her ability to mimic Scott came in slow steps. First the lowly timed jump, then the slight speed that keeps up upon the heels of his own.

"You're either teaching.. which great class by the way. Or you're down here. Or you're outside running. Why?"

*

"Something to do." Scott starts crossing the rope over, making it harder and harder for himself to keep up and stay coordinated. "Used to having more to do, work plus dissertation plus…work. Don't like wasting time, this is useful." He's a little out of breath now, glancing over at her curiously. She's picking things up fast, he's a little envious.

"What else should I be doing?"

*

Sure, she was picking up decently, but she was also getting tired. While he was a little out of breath, Jean was clearly struggling. It was almost as if she had smokers lungs! But she really didn't do much exercise, like at all. So this was a start, but she stopped almost immediately, allowing the rope to whap her legs as she bends over to take a breath.

"I don't know. Training me?" The rope was put down, and soon a basketball was taken from the rack, which was soon bounced with two hands. Slowly. "Something." She sniffs a little. "I.. know I won't be on the new team and all that everyone is putting together. Which I guess is okay. But, it can't hurt, right?"

*

Well, that's enough to get Scott to slow down to a last few hops, then he folds up the skipping rope to put it away before he says anything.

"What kind of training?" Maybe he can help, maybe he can't. He comes over to stand in front of Jean, watching her bounce the basketball. "If you want to do something, I have time for you, Jean. Improving your skills never hurts," he says gently. "Disappointed about not going on the team?" He holds out his hands for her to pass him the basketball.

*

"Fighting. Something. Using my powers in combat. I don't know, Cy.." She admits. "I.. recently found out some stuff about Gabriel and I'm goddamned scared. And I want to protect him, if I can't do it with a group, with all of you, then I'll have to do it myself." She bounces the ball again, and looks awkward doing it.

"In a way, yes. But.. I think I had it coming. I.. just don't know how to react to anything anymore. I live my life feeling what everyone else feels and I don't know how -I- really feel. So.." If he'll make time, then she will too. It was a given. The ball was bounced towards him, but.. they were tiny bounces, she even holds her hands out to make sure it doesn't go anywhere.

*

Well, at least Scott is so hard to read that his head is quiet. Maybe that makes it easier — sharing part of his headspace with another dimension has to have one upside, at least. Scott doesn't count the crazy red eyebeams as an upside. Jean looks so miserable, it's impossible not to feel like he ought to do something.

"Whatever you're scared of, Jean, you shouldn't have to keep it to yourself. Not being on a team going into the field…" Scott catches the ball, then exhales sharply, tossing it from hand to hand without looking at it.

"This place has always been a bit much for me but that's not a bad thing. Not going into the field doesn't mean you're not one of … us, I guess, since I'm here now. That means your problems, they're not things you have to deal with on your own. If you need help, just ask. We can work on some of your skills but you could also tell me what's going on with Gabriel." He bounces the ball back toward her, gently.

*

Jean just shakes her head. "Whenever I try to express it, I feel like.. its not a big deal. Or, other people have something else to worry about." She straightens, grabbing parts of her hair to tie into decorated knots without the band atop of her head.

"I don't really feel like, or felt like I belonged here to begin with." She murmurs quietly, and as the ball was bounced towards her, she bends to try to catch it, it bumping against her knees first before she scrambles to catch. "Maybe that's what I'm feeling right now? That everything is -too- much." She squints her eye suspiciously towards him, then bends to place the ball upon the ground. "It's easier to show you. Would you like to see?" And with that, her hands are offered for him to take.

*

"I know about too much, Jean. Don't sell yourself short if you're feeling something that's weighing on you. I could have stayed, first time I came, but I couldn't do it. Maybe it didn't make sense to everyone else, why I'd give up a stable place here to be on my own, but it made sense to me. That was enough. What you feel matters." Scott steps closer and takes Jean hands in his. Opening up is an effort but, if it helps her, Scott's willing. "Go ahead and show me whatever it is."

*

"You know what the saying goes.. if you know, I know.." Jean seemed a little annoyed at that. Truth be told, Scott was a welcome sort because she couldn't -easily- see into his mind. He was a little corner of quiet. A little corner of bullying quiet. She was going to pull his hair later. But this was a serious discussion, taking his words to heart but.. the truth was? She felt like she -was- short. Not worth it. Even though he'd tell her otherwise.

"Take a breath.." She says quietly, instructing him. "..breathe out slow-.."

Her fingers lightly touch his, and perhaps that was the last thing he could see or feel. Time itself stands still. If anyone were to view the way her power worked it would be within the millisecond. The mind works faster than the body.. sometimes the eyes..

But Scott could see it. A young boy dragged from a room after he remained curled into a ball, frightened.
Down into a hallway, often pushed and grabbed by the hair..

'A plague! A disease that will need to be extinguished! But like all diseases..'
The words fade out.
'This disease will be treated and then let loose on others!'

The boy was strapped to the chair, even as he kicked and screamed. Energy was fed through the mechanism to the boy.. in which the energy begins to feed into his body. A bio-kinetic transfer. It was then the boy screams, the violent energy shooting from his eyes and hands much like Scott's and Alex's.. though combined. And the scream was terrifying..'

*

Letting Jean in isn't a problem. Scott has nothing to hide from her — a childhood without privacy, without autonomy, has left him with a certain defiant shamelessness about himself. He opens up and lets the scene happen. It's not something he could be ready for except…

Startling. Awful. Familiar. The abuse, the fear, the cruelty, the power — it's like seeing a distorted version of Scott's own life. A variation on a theme. The familiarity lets Scott stay with it, though, instead of pulling away.

He survived his own life. Just breathe. Whatever the outcome of the scenes he's seeing, no matter how bad, Scott stays stable in the here and now.

That must be Gabriel.

*

There were thoughts that mingled in with those vision. Her own thoughts, especially if he could hear her. Thoughts of Gabriel possibly being a mutant. Thoughts of him being an alien. Even though the faces in that vision was distorted, the words that were written within his minds eye were.. not of this world. At least nothing that Jean herself has seen..

There was also the first time that she's managed to see Gabriel as he was.. not the little boy in the vision, but the man. His eyes were a deep, bright glow of purple within the darkness that looked almost eerie. Dire. And it was a shock to see, fear. Something that she's shared with Scott alone.

"Scott?" Jean says quietly, her hand reaching out to try to touch his face. "Breathe.."

*

"I'm here." Scott allows the touch, opens his eyes to give her a tight smile. In his head, it's all still playing. "Just…processing. That's a lot to worry about. Is that the thing you said sounded like not a big deal?" He laughs a little because he does that, too, minimizes things until they sound weak and pitiful when he tries to make them come out of his mouth.

*

"No.. not exactly.." She admits, still keeping her hand upon his face. "..don't move your head. But look out of the corner of your eye.."

And if he does? He'll see her. She almost looked as if she were burned alive. The 'other' Jean. The 'skin' upon her was nearly black and crystalized with embers a-glow of red, nearly the same height and the same replica of Jean herself. But this one was angry. Angry in the sense that this world isn't worthy, angry in the sense that Jean herself didn't need to remain.

"Can you see her?"

*

"I see her," Scott says evenly. That might be a bigger deal.

*

Slowly, Jean pulls her hand away. If he were still looking, that effigy of Jean would meld into herself with a blow of her own red hair. Her shoulders slowly work and roll, her teeth clenched together as if something within her was too large to contain. "But.. Gabriel.." She finally breathes out, taking that step back, which means that she let go of him completely. "I think he's a mutant.. or he could be an alien.. I don't know. But if he can do -that-.."

*

"If he can do that, this isn't something you should have to deal with on your own." Scott tends to be stand-offish but he reaches out to offer Jean some comfort anyway. She's dealing with too much at once. "You haven't made any moves to bring him here — or to have the Professor do it — so I figure you have a reason for that. Do you want me to meet him some time?" Gabriel first, strange Jean-entity next. One thing at a time.

*

"Why do you think I'm here talking to you?" Jean muses. But as he gives her a little bit of comfort, she takes the extra mile by stepping in to pinch at his side. But it was a half-hug. One that she knew that in a way? He may not like. "He was here.. but.." She winces slightly. "He particularly doesn't like Crystal or Erik. Which, I would have to agree. They weren't really welcoming to him at all. Or nice, for that matter. Well, Erik was nice.. sorta.." She draws in a breath, then steps away.

"Charles paved the way for me to get that memory though, I.. I think he needs to do the rest. But .. yes. Please? See him and f..figure something out. You two have a lot in common, I felt it." She's speaking of the familiarity. "Do you need Charles' other address?"

*

"Address? Yes, please." Scott gives her a little hug. He'll tolerate just about anything from Jean — she's like the little sister he never had. Maybe never wanted but that's how little sisters are — he's not sorry he's got her. She can get away with things no one else can. "I'll talk to Gabriel…whatever I can do to help, Jean. This isn't a small thing, I'm glad you told me. I'm sorry it didn't work out for Gabriel when you brought him here but I can relate. I'll try to do better by him. I know it's hard to adjust to this place."

*

Jean looks around for a moment, then shrugs her shoulders and reaches out to grasp his hand again. She still, when matters were personal, did not comprehend at sending thoughts without a physical touch. Let alone directions. But it was easily transmitted, from one mind to another, and with a withdraw of her hand, she lets out a smile.

"It was a tough morning. He's asleep now.." She tilts her head faintly, her eyes squinting. "You know what I find odd? He sort of looks like you.. and a little bit of Alex.." She shrugs her shoulders idly. "I think what's most hard about this place is all of the people. All of the thoughts that they willingly express.. all of the questions.." She shivers slightly. "But training.." She asks quietly. "Do you promise you'll help?" Big brother to little sister, she was going to milk it without knowing it.

*

"Yes, I will help." Scott isn't going to let her down. The alternative is she potentially hurts herself trying alone or feels abandoned and doesn't try at all. Neither is good for her or for anyone else. "I can only imagine how much this place presses in on you. You ask why I run a lot — I always have but, here, it feels more necessary than voluntary. But, if I have a distraction." He points at her with both hands. "There's more reason to stick around."

*

There was relief, if there's one person she could count on, it was Scott. But if Scott was going to run, especially outdoors, she was going to too. In fact, she was going to aspire to be his mini-me in a psychic sense. She does smile, then unleashes another hug upon the man, then pulls away. "Maybe we can distract each other?" She shrugs faintly. "Anyways, you keep working out, I'll go make you something to eat." She's gotten good at that..

*

"Yes, ma'am." Scott grabs the basketball and — neatly — tosses it right back into its rack with hardly a glance. "I'll see you in a bit, after my fists have a word with our friend the heavy bag here." Might as well get rid of whatever tension he can — the next few days are fixing to give him a fresh dose.

*

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