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He had wandered the city a bit on his own, never straying to far from the Apartment's location as it was the area he knew, so really only about 3-4 blocks in radius around the apartment. Gabriel did a rather good job, at least he thought, of meeting people and interacting. Learning a few things here and there. He even found a small park where he watched some old men playing a game called Chess, that seemed to interest him greatly and had taken an hour of his time while he watched and learned. Lunch was skipped, he didn't know better, and then he had returned to the apartment as the day was drawing to a close.
Now, he was sitting on the sofa with his books, the simple readers and a couple of drawing books that he was working with and looking over. But none of them seem to be really holding his attention as his eyes are focused on an empty spot on the wall with a dazed, far off look to his eyes.
*
Gabriel was out, Jean was out. There wasn't any sense in her waking up just to watch the door while he was gone. So she made due to doing random things around the house. Washing sheets, making bed, keeping the space overall clean. Dusting, ecetera. And then she finally left. The walk to the grocery store wasn't a far one, but it was trying. She made it there, gotten the essentials, one too many bags of food, even more cleaning supplies and returned to the apartment.
It was a tiring job, for she moved out in the open. Bags floated behind her and the minds of most in the area manipulated into not seeing if she was actually there. But inside the apartment? Once the keys were had and everything unlocked and opened.. it all crashes carefully to the ground with spilled apples and grapes with her leaning against the wall, out of breath and nose bloodied.
*
The crash of noise has Gabriel being shaken out of his reverie and turning to look at it. Quickly he has sprung from the sofa and is moving towards Jean, stepping around a rolling apple as he does so until he is kneeling beside the woman with supportive hands, one on her shoulder the other on her leg fall and his words come shortly after, "What is wrong?" He doesn't ask if she is alright, that much is very obvious.
*
"Practicing." Jean says, reaching out to grasp at his shoulders to steady herself. One hand reaches up to wipe away at her nose, a large grin put upon her face as she lets out a little laugh. "I'm getting better!" Chipper she was, and content to leave the fallen fruit upon the floor for now, taking that quiet moment to catch her breath as she lets out a huff of a breath. "Your mind, it was blank. I heard you but couldn't. What were you doing?"
*
He frowns slightly and moves to sink on the floor next to her leaning back against the door. "I was trying to remember something, anything." Gabriel explains quietly, looking at a bunch of grapes nearby and picking some off to eat. "I thought maybe if I didn't think about it, I could somehow think about it, or something. I don't know, I was just trying anything."
*
She follows him to the floor, but instead of leaning against him as she usually does, she pulls out the grapes even further to push towards him to eat. She really only grocery shopped for him. But the rest of the fruit was gathered as she crawls upon her hands and knees.. listening.. her lips pursing tightly. "Do.. you want me to try something again?" She asks, glancing back towards him as she continues to gather. "It wouldn't hurt to try."
*
"Well, it actually did hurt that one time." Gabriel reminds with a small smile before he keeps eating some of the grapes. At least Jean has figured out that the vegetarian eats a large amount of food and seems to like fruits. "I mean, we could try but I don't want to put you at risk or risk hurting you." He sounds torn in his tone, part of him hopeful to try the other hesitant at the idea.
*
Well, he was right about that. But with a very slow rise, she bends yet again to begin to drag the bags. "We're doing it." She says, in a finality. "My main concern is your well being. And yours is mine, we'll take care of each other. Alright?" But first. "Let's put the food away."
*
Pushing up from the door, Gabriel starts to help with the groceries, doing the heavy lifting which is not quite so heavy for him and getting things put in their place. He seems to have settled into the acceptance that this location may be where they are staying, at least for a bit and it does not seem to bother him. At least if the presence of his limited clothes finding spots in drawers is any indication. "Alright," Gabriel agrees while doing the work to get things put up. "But only if nothing … concerning happens."
*
"Sure, Daddy.. if that's your ruling." Jean gives him a slightly sarcastic look, even scrunching her nose and making kissy noises in his direction. The fruit was stored appropriately, and paper bags were soon folded and put away for a later use. "What were you reading?"
*
Gabe's nose scrunches in return at the term and he tilts his head but puts it aside without comment. Looking over at his books he shrugs, "Just the books you got me and a few more picture books I found today at a little shop. They gave them to me when I helped them with moving a couple of book cases around." He has that knack, of trading goods and services and damnit, those people seem to like him.
*
There was an idle thought; if she could enter into someones mind, change it.. would she be able to give him the ability to read as well? But he was making great strides on his own, so she wouldn't tamper with that progress at all. She washes the blood from her hands, even splashing a bit of water upon her face to clean, grabbing a towel to dab herself free and.. getting another glass of water for herself as well.
Wordlessly, she moves to the couch, waiting for him to finish his own task, taking a few sips of water as she quietly begins to gain her composure but rubbing her fingers against her temples. And breathing. Breathing is important.
*
Making his way over to where Jean is on the couch, Gabriel lays down with his head upon her lap so that he can look up at the ceiling. His blue eyes take her in, upside down to his features and he manages a small smile. "I feel like I could lay here and sleep for a day." He comments as he settles into the lap, using thighs for a pillow.
*
"We can make that happen.." She murmurs, allowing herself the time to relax, her fingers idly drawing through his hair as she studies his features. "No matter what happens, I'm not going anywhere.." She didn't forget. Forget when he mentioned the dead bodies, and how he didn't feel remorse. There -had- to be some reason as to why that happened..
And with that thought in mind, her hand rests atop of his forehead, and with a deep inhale.. time itself seemingly freezes..
..Within that little breath, Jean transports herself into his mind. She already exerted herself, but this was a slightly easier feat. In a way, she had a little help..
*
«The path had been navigated by Charles at first, a sort of walking thought winding road through the outer layers of resistance that Gabriel's mind presents naturally, the high energy traffic and static that resists influence. But with the path known, Jean is able to make her way through and to settle upon the grassy park that sits in the midst of the dark wasteland Apocalypse that is the rest of his mind. A self projection of Gabriel is waiting, sitting on the grass as well, the park having grown bigger and starting to take up a bigger part of the memories (no where close to the majority) but at least it is a safe place of his recent life.»
"I can come here ok. This is what I remember since you found me.." A sequence of memories flash, majority being of Jean and the most recent ones enough to make someone blush, which Gabriel actually does.
*
Thankfully Charles had done this before. Jean had only a glimpse and immediately ran out of there like a bat out of hell. The problem with hers, is her high level empathy. Something that Charles has yet to teach her to figure out, but will in time. Her own visage seemed.. nearly doubled. If one were to actually look sideways, they would see something else entirely. The same woman, the same figure.. but it looks almost as if she were being burned away by the stars within the sky.
She settles into the grassy point, those memories smiled at.. (and again a half a second later, depending on where you look), and a slow aside to Gabriel with an arm around his waist. "I love those.." She says quietly, her voice mingling with anothers. "Don't be afraid. She's here with me. She's going to help us."
With that said, her hand lifts, gesturing towards a particular waste land. "Can we try to see what happened before I found you?"
*
Gabriel hesitates, that wasteland always having presented a frontier that traversing never ended well for him. Part of him wants to stay there, in that happy place where they are, in each others arms but slowly he nods. "I don't know where to go, but if you want to try one…" He glances at the buildings, all boarded up and etched over with warnings against entry.
*
"It's alright.." Jean murmurs, as her 'other' self slowly rises. The embers of her body burns as she takes those few steps forward, scorching a bit of the grass as she moves into the desolate area. "I'll stay here with you.."
The building that he pointed out, is where she made her way to. Hesitant, for sure. Yet quiet, which causes Jean to frown slightly. With a lift of the burning, black hand.. she wipes away the word of warning with but a wave of her hand..
*
The words, written in that strange language melt away at the motion and the doors to the boarded up building fall open allowing entrance should it be taken. It does not have the green grass or other such promising details but rather with the door gone it begins to seep outwards like a rolling black ichor across the landscape, not quite reaching the sanctuary of the park but threatening with enough opened doors to flood over everything.
Gabriel looks over at what is happening, an expression of concern at first then he looks to Jean for reassurance. "Is it poison? Is that why it was locked up?"
*
Jean gasps slightly, her hand drawn up to provide a safe bubble that protects the sanctuary.
Yet on the outside, her fingers remain pressed against his head, as little beads of sweat begins to build upon her forehead.
Within, the effigy of Her slowly begins to walk into the building, through the black smoke.. through the ichor without a burn to its surface. What if it was apart of his mind?
"I'll protect you." She states, a warm and reassuring smile upon her face. "She's inside. And she'll show us what she finds.."
*
«The world twists as the memory is pulled to the forefront. It is a dark room with dim lighting at the level of the feet and in it the small boy is huddled in the corner. It is Gabriel, age of about 8. He is curled up in a ball, the fetal position as the world suddenly flashes so bright that eyes burn in brilliance. Going from the darkness to bright light being such a shock that it causes him to cower even further. Quickly he is grabbed and drug out of the room by the scruff of his shoulder and hair, drug down a white corridor, pristine and clean.»
Older Gabriel chases a bit down the corridor from behind, stopping as he looks at various things, the imagery blurry and distorted as the memory is imperfect but he tries to keep up with himself as he is hauled from the corridor towards a larger room.
*
Jean sees this, but she does nothing. The only thing that she could do is just follow along, and being a hand that guides.
*
«The young boy is drug through the corridors of the white metallic walls until he is tossed into the next companion room. It is not overly large but a good enough size to fit a crowd of which there is one. Perhaps 20 or so elegantly dressed beings, poorly illuminated due to a combination of lightning and the young man's own memories. By time he finishes sprawling, the child is at the feet of someone who is looking down at him only momentarily before addressing the group gathered.
"A plague. A disease that will need to be extinguished. But like all diseases, once you know the cure for them, they become no concern to you, only a concern to your enemies. This disease will be treated and then let loose on others." There is a polite clapping for the man after the speech and then the young Gabriel is picked up again by two larger people and taken, kicking and thrashing, towards a nearby device where he is thrown into and strapped down with tight restraints.»
*
The burnt ember being takes the opposite route. She flies ahead, while Jean attempt to keep up with the older Gabriel as he runs.
And once the scene changes, the burning ember is gone, dashing through the crowds of those who cheer on, attempting to capture faces but the memory doesn't allow such a feat.
Jean herself takes to the stage, slowly approaching the boy and the device, a horrified look upon her face as she tries to reach out and grasp him to tug him free of such a torture..
*
«Energy is fed through the device into young Gabriel, what would equate best to electro shock treatment as large amounts of bio-kinetic transfer takes place. Almost immediately his eyes turn purple then his veins as the energy traces over him and with a horrifying scream the energy is released in a violent display shooting out of his eyes and directed hands towards a destination that is beyond the memory's grasp, somewhere outside of everything. The boy slumps over after the discharge, the crowd claps again…»
The memory ends, now they are standing there in the building that was destroyed. Older Gabriel looks pained, as he should be, the memory is not a pleasant one and has left him with a resounding hurt, such that he is on a knee trying to breathe. "Why?"
*
It was horrific. It was what Gabriel could do but it was frightening. The Phoenix herself even vacated the depths of his mind, retreating back into Jean to quietly slumber. But she still remains, tired herself, her image near faint. But his question, the hurt.. it drew out a new strength that pushes her past the boundary into a new height..
Her arms wrap around him, holding him close, a kiss pressed to the back of his head. "I don't know why.." She confesses quietly. "But they won't ever hurt you again. I promise."
*
With a snap they pull out of the memory as Gabriel closes it off and they're on the sofa, him laying there with his head on her laps and sweating across his brow. The memory, now added to the others still reverberates there and no attempt at shaking it off is successful. Rather he just lays looking at Jean with a combination of pleading and accepting look, a mix of emotions on his face while he remains silent and shaking in her arms.
*
It was slow, the drawing away from his memory has her eyes opening. Her head hurt so much but she didn't bother expressing it. The pain was squelched and hidden, though the look that she gives him was mournful. "Oh Gabriel.." She says quietly, curling herself in such a way that made every joint ache, pressing soft little kisses upon his forehead. "It's okay, you're going to be okay.." One good turn deserves another, for the glass was lifted with her TK and drawn towards them, her knees lightly lifting so that he could drink.
*