No Way Out Conclusion // Tommy, Jean
Dec. 4th, 2005 10:15 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsThe former-FOH decides it's time to take the easy road to escape the monsters in his head. Jean, doing a walk-through check of the students, senses his destructive ideas and manages to stop him.
There's no way out of this dark place
No hope, no future
I know I can't be free
But I can't see another way
The water ran cold in the sink as he stood in front of the mirror, splashing some in his face for a proper wake up. Tommy caught a glance of his face in the mirror as the water made the slight cuts on his cheek and neck sting, bringing back all the memories of the day before, though he had never really stopped replaying the thrown words and jumbled thoughts in his head.
Sleep had never come to him for more then five minutes at a time, as nightmares haunted him. Most featured many of the mutants from the week past, all tormenting him. A tall creature with fangs and claws choking him, lifeless red wings at his feet with his hands covered in blood, the mutant called Empath laughing at him and handing him a gun and the worst...Terry turning her back on him. No, he lied. The worst was when he dreamed of himself, surrounded by nothing. He'd tried screaming, running, anything...but he couldn't escape it, like a black hole in his mind.
It wasn't that unusual for the staff to patrol the student halls at random but this, Jean felt was different. Dreams had plagued her all through the night, although even asleep she'd known they weren't hers. It wasn't until she woke at last that she'd been able to identify the source - probably it was just how much time she'd been spending taking care of Tommy which had made her susceptible to them, and it was hardly the first time when she would be touched by the students' dreams. The kids could hardly shield when they were asleep, and Jean felt her sensitivity to their problems was a good thing. At any rate, the uneasiness of her dreams had brought her down here, moving quietly through the halls, sensing the sleepy thoughts of some students, dreams of the late sleepers and the quiet amusement brought about by the knowledge that they had a full day left to do as they would before classes started again.
Maybe it was the dreams or maybe the time to think sleeplessness brought him, but when Tommy finally allowed himself to get out of bed, he'd decided. He was going to take the east road. The life set before him now...was impossible. Tommy would never find peace here and death only waited him if he left. It was better to just end it now. Yes, he could just leave and let the FOH finish what they had started months ago, but for some reason...he didn't want to give them the satisfaction.
The lead twig sat on the side of the sink, almost mocking him as he opened the mirror to look in the cabinet within. It took a moment of rummaging before he found what he wanted. A new, cheap, disposble razor. How ironic...disposble... was his thought as he shut the door and took one last look at himself.
The months of lying the medlab had made him oddly pale, his hair even feeling the strain by laying limp on his forhead. Dark circles stood out under his eyes, as did the red scratchs and purple bruises on his cheek and neck. Oddly enough, the scratchs were minor, would mostlikely heal in a day or two and hadn't even bled more then a few drops in all. Yet at this moment, they couldn't have looked uglier.
As Jean reached the hallway Tommy's room was on, though, her focus sharpened. The nightmare images were still near the forefront of his mind but at the very top...
"Oh hell."
Tommy couldn't take looking at the pathetic shell he'd become as much as he couldn't face the emptiness inside him. With a small intake of breath, he put his wrists under the cold water for a moment, before picking up the razor. Time to rectify the FOH's mistake...
The door to the suite was open, and Jean gave quick thanks for small favors as she rushed inside. "Tommy," she called out, grabbing the handle to the bathroom door, but this one he'd thought to lock. Already she could see in Tommy's mind his gaze shifting down, but the second his wrists came into his view she used the focus to wrap a shield around them, protecting them from the cold metal even as she reached towards the locking mechanism. "Tommy!"
He'd started at the sound of someone calling his name coming over the rush of water still running from the tap and for a moment he forgot what he was doing. Blinking, Tommy looked around and his eyes met the razor in his hand. Taking a deep breath, he ignored the sounds from the other side of the door and focused his resolve.
But when he touched the razor to his wrist, instead of cold metal, he felt nothing. Frowning, he tried to push harder, his unoticed tears increasing the harder he pushed, but no matter how hard he tried, something was not allowing the razor to touch his skin. "FUCK!" Tommy screamed as he threw the razor at the mirror, shattering it slightly at the same moment the door opened and the sink finally overloaded, water falling on the floor.
"Tommy, you don't have to do this," Jean said, standing in the doorway. She reached out slightly, but aborted the motion, unsure how he'd take it. A spare thought unstopped the drain in the sink, slowing the water that was overflowing onto the floor. "I know that it hurts, but this isn't the answer."
He moved back away from her, sliding into the corner formed by the wall and the tub. He slide down to the ground, knees to his chest as if curling in on himself. "Yes it is! It's the only answer! You can't make anything from nothing!" His voice was slightly hysterical but muffled due to his face being buried in his knees.
Jean frowned in confusion, but it only took a moment to find the thought behind it. "You're wrong," she said gently, kneeling in front of him. "There is more to you then hate, and in the mind and heart is the only place you can make something of nothing. That's what learning is, Tommy."
With a small gasping breath, Tommy looked over his knees at her, the look in his eyes showing how completely lost he really was. He instinctively shielded away from her physically, almost trying to push back into the wall. "I can't do it here, not in this place." Too many nightmares... "But I can't leave...where does that leave me to go?"
"You can do it here, Tommy. We can do it together. I know it's hard, but I want to help you." Jean didn't approach any closer, but she did begin to project a low level of reassurance to the boy.
Tommy snorted softly. "You must be the only one..." He bit out, though while a wave of reassurance hit him, his encounters with Empath and the clawed mutant came to the forefront of him mind and he couldn't stop a shutter. "I don't think I'm strong enough anyway..." and he saw that as the truth that got through the reassurance.
"I am not the only one," she said softly, "Though I know it doesn't feel it. And you're stronger than you think."
Tommy closed his eyes and pulled back into himself, not quite believing her...but her faith in him was like a bright light in the emptiness. Terry at least knew him before...Dr. Grey had no reason to show any faith in him...the fact she did almost hurt. "Please..." He whispered, "Help me...I...I have no idea what to do..."
"I will," Jean promised, reaching out to him slowly. "We will find a way to make this work."
Tommy let himself lean into her, his tears starting again. He didn't quite believe her...but what other choice did he have? "Okay..." He mumbled softly…finally giving into hope.
--'No Way Out', Soundtrack from Brother Bear by Phil Collins
There's no way out of this dark place
No hope, no future
I know I can't be free
But I can't see another way
The water ran cold in the sink as he stood in front of the mirror, splashing some in his face for a proper wake up. Tommy caught a glance of his face in the mirror as the water made the slight cuts on his cheek and neck sting, bringing back all the memories of the day before, though he had never really stopped replaying the thrown words and jumbled thoughts in his head.
Sleep had never come to him for more then five minutes at a time, as nightmares haunted him. Most featured many of the mutants from the week past, all tormenting him. A tall creature with fangs and claws choking him, lifeless red wings at his feet with his hands covered in blood, the mutant called Empath laughing at him and handing him a gun and the worst...Terry turning her back on him. No, he lied. The worst was when he dreamed of himself, surrounded by nothing. He'd tried screaming, running, anything...but he couldn't escape it, like a black hole in his mind.
It wasn't that unusual for the staff to patrol the student halls at random but this, Jean felt was different. Dreams had plagued her all through the night, although even asleep she'd known they weren't hers. It wasn't until she woke at last that she'd been able to identify the source - probably it was just how much time she'd been spending taking care of Tommy which had made her susceptible to them, and it was hardly the first time when she would be touched by the students' dreams. The kids could hardly shield when they were asleep, and Jean felt her sensitivity to their problems was a good thing. At any rate, the uneasiness of her dreams had brought her down here, moving quietly through the halls, sensing the sleepy thoughts of some students, dreams of the late sleepers and the quiet amusement brought about by the knowledge that they had a full day left to do as they would before classes started again.
Maybe it was the dreams or maybe the time to think sleeplessness brought him, but when Tommy finally allowed himself to get out of bed, he'd decided. He was going to take the east road. The life set before him now...was impossible. Tommy would never find peace here and death only waited him if he left. It was better to just end it now. Yes, he could just leave and let the FOH finish what they had started months ago, but for some reason...he didn't want to give them the satisfaction.
The lead twig sat on the side of the sink, almost mocking him as he opened the mirror to look in the cabinet within. It took a moment of rummaging before he found what he wanted. A new, cheap, disposble razor. How ironic...disposble... was his thought as he shut the door and took one last look at himself.
The months of lying the medlab had made him oddly pale, his hair even feeling the strain by laying limp on his forhead. Dark circles stood out under his eyes, as did the red scratchs and purple bruises on his cheek and neck. Oddly enough, the scratchs were minor, would mostlikely heal in a day or two and hadn't even bled more then a few drops in all. Yet at this moment, they couldn't have looked uglier.
As Jean reached the hallway Tommy's room was on, though, her focus sharpened. The nightmare images were still near the forefront of his mind but at the very top...
"Oh hell."
Tommy couldn't take looking at the pathetic shell he'd become as much as he couldn't face the emptiness inside him. With a small intake of breath, he put his wrists under the cold water for a moment, before picking up the razor. Time to rectify the FOH's mistake...
The door to the suite was open, and Jean gave quick thanks for small favors as she rushed inside. "Tommy," she called out, grabbing the handle to the bathroom door, but this one he'd thought to lock. Already she could see in Tommy's mind his gaze shifting down, but the second his wrists came into his view she used the focus to wrap a shield around them, protecting them from the cold metal even as she reached towards the locking mechanism. "Tommy!"
He'd started at the sound of someone calling his name coming over the rush of water still running from the tap and for a moment he forgot what he was doing. Blinking, Tommy looked around and his eyes met the razor in his hand. Taking a deep breath, he ignored the sounds from the other side of the door and focused his resolve.
But when he touched the razor to his wrist, instead of cold metal, he felt nothing. Frowning, he tried to push harder, his unoticed tears increasing the harder he pushed, but no matter how hard he tried, something was not allowing the razor to touch his skin. "FUCK!" Tommy screamed as he threw the razor at the mirror, shattering it slightly at the same moment the door opened and the sink finally overloaded, water falling on the floor.
"Tommy, you don't have to do this," Jean said, standing in the doorway. She reached out slightly, but aborted the motion, unsure how he'd take it. A spare thought unstopped the drain in the sink, slowing the water that was overflowing onto the floor. "I know that it hurts, but this isn't the answer."
He moved back away from her, sliding into the corner formed by the wall and the tub. He slide down to the ground, knees to his chest as if curling in on himself. "Yes it is! It's the only answer! You can't make anything from nothing!" His voice was slightly hysterical but muffled due to his face being buried in his knees.
Jean frowned in confusion, but it only took a moment to find the thought behind it. "You're wrong," she said gently, kneeling in front of him. "There is more to you then hate, and in the mind and heart is the only place you can make something of nothing. That's what learning is, Tommy."
With a small gasping breath, Tommy looked over his knees at her, the look in his eyes showing how completely lost he really was. He instinctively shielded away from her physically, almost trying to push back into the wall. "I can't do it here, not in this place." Too many nightmares... "But I can't leave...where does that leave me to go?"
"You can do it here, Tommy. We can do it together. I know it's hard, but I want to help you." Jean didn't approach any closer, but she did begin to project a low level of reassurance to the boy.
Tommy snorted softly. "You must be the only one..." He bit out, though while a wave of reassurance hit him, his encounters with Empath and the clawed mutant came to the forefront of him mind and he couldn't stop a shutter. "I don't think I'm strong enough anyway..." and he saw that as the truth that got through the reassurance.
"I am not the only one," she said softly, "Though I know it doesn't feel it. And you're stronger than you think."
Tommy closed his eyes and pulled back into himself, not quite believing her...but her faith in him was like a bright light in the emptiness. Terry at least knew him before...Dr. Grey had no reason to show any faith in him...the fact she did almost hurt. "Please..." He whispered, "Help me...I...I have no idea what to do..."
"I will," Jean promised, reaching out to him slowly. "We will find a way to make this work."
Tommy let himself lean into her, his tears starting again. He didn't quite believe her...but what other choice did he have? "Okay..." He mumbled softly…finally giving into hope.
--'No Way Out', Soundtrack from Brother Bear by Phil Collins
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