Marie, Jean-Paul, and Scott

[x-cynosure.livejournal.com]

In which Jean-Paul returns to Xavier's



Marie stopped to stretch as she completed her final lap of the lake. Without school on her agenda for the semester, she found she had more time for the leisure activities she'd given up before, including the occasional swim. It wasn't often she used the lake aside from tossing someone in to cool off.

As if to echo -- or perhaps thumb a nose at -- her thoughts, a slim figure in slacks and a tie dropped out of the sky to alight on the dock. His back was to her, his attention on the school itself as he brushed his wind-tousled hair back into place with his fingers. After spending several fruitless moments trying to get one errant lick of dark hair to stay put, he seemed to give up on the matter and folded his arms over his chest, maintaining his contemplation of the main building.

As she generally did when strangers dropped out of the sky on mansion grounds, Marie tried to assess for threat. She cleared her throat to get the man's attention, waved, and said as politely as she could "May Ah help you?"

The newcomer glanced over his shoulder, revealing a pair of subtly pointed ears and a profile that was not at all hard on the eyes.

"Désolé. I was lost in thought." He didn't smile, but did at least hunker down on the edge of the dock, as if to offer her a hand out of the lake. "Jean-Paul Beaubier. I have an appointment with Xavier in about an hour. I thought I might attempt one last check of my motivations before going through with it."

"Ah'm Marie," she said as she took his hand in her gloved one for a quick handshake. "Ah didn't recognize you. It's been a few years, huh? In need of some courage?" she asked, vaguely remembering him from her early years at Xavier's.

"Four years." There was a weight to the man's voice that made it seem a reasonable assumption that those hadn't been pleasant years. "Right now, I think I am less in need of courage and more certainty, I think. To come back and again share all my worldly experience with the younger generation seems a worthwhile pursuit, non? But I'm not done asking myself why." He snorted softly and rumpled up his own hair again, this time allowing a hint of a rueful smile to sneak through. "And it must be heavy on my mind if I am using innocent bystanders as sounding boards on thirty seconds of acquaintance."

"That is less unusual here than ya might think," Marie replied with a smile. "Ah can walk you to see the professor or whoever it was you were planning to touch base with you. Security here is a little tight after..." her smile faded as she flashbacked, her bare hand clasped in Cain's massive one. Shaking off the image, she refocused on the man in front of her, forcing her face to resume a neutral expression.

"I heard about the situation in Manhattan." But then, who had not? It had not exactly been back-page news. "An increased strain on mutant-human relations would be the least of the fallout...or mutant-mutant as the case may be." Jean-Paul straightened up and stretched a bit to try and cover his restlessness. He'd told himself a dozen times over that it was preposterous be so apprehensive; if Xavier had no interest in having him back, the man would have said so when the appointment had been made. Some things went as deep as bone, he supposed, and living with them wasted less time than trying to shake them off.

"I assure you, I haven't been brainwashed, cloned, or replaced with an automaton since last I was here, but if an escort is required, I won't make a fuss over the matter."

"You should knock on wood when you say things like that," Marie cautioned. "'Round here, that's asking for all three to suddenly occur." She headed for the door, knowing that if she were in Jean Paul's shoes she would want to get to her destination already and stop being bothered by some strange girl.

"Then we will have an interesting morning, at least." Jean-Paul followed, hanging back more than he usually would have; the young woman was fresh out of the water, and he had no particular inclination to let her drip bits of the lake onto his shoes.


And Scott meets his afternoon appointment.



Once Marie lead him past the threshold, Jean-Paul was mildly urprised, though not displeased, to see that the school really didn't look very different from the inside. The mansion itself was still trying its best to maintain an air of stately dignity that was easily undercut by the young people cutting across the halls. The sense of familiarity wasn't quite enough to take the prickle out of his spine, but it helped.

His escort left him in front of Xavier's office with a wave and a quick "good luck". Jean-Paul knocked quickly, almost before he'd turned back the way they'd come. He didn't have anything against Xavier, not by any means, but still...there was something about the man that always made him feel as if he'd been caught playing truant. Perhaps it was just a quality of telepaths.

"Come in," called a voice that was decidedly not that of Charles Xavier. The man sitting behind the desk was worn-looking and unshaven, but there was a flicker of amusement in his real eye as he noticed Jean-Paul's expression. "Don't worry," Scott said. "Just me. Charles is still recovering, so Ororo and I are picking up a little of the slack."

"I was not worrying." The denial was automatic and toothless. Jean-Paul cracked his first genuine smile in months as he lay eyes on the man, even if the man's amusement was at his own expense. He crossed the space between the door and the desk quickly, reaching out for Scott's hand. "It is good to see you, Scott. When did you lose the visor?"

"Back in '05, doing riot control when Seattle blew up," Scott said easily enough, shaking Jean-Paul's hand. "Lost an eye, gained an off-switch. Funny to think it's been that long." He gestured to the chair. "So how have you been? It's been a while."

"It has." Jean-Paul took a seat, grateful for the moment to consider how honest he felt like being. He wasn't sure he would have had that luxury if he were having this discussion with Xavier. "I have been better," he decided finally. "Things did not go well with Jeanne-Marie. She took off on her own a year ago and I haven't any idea where she is at present."

Scott's expression sobered. "I'm sorry to hear that," he said simply. "Is that what brings you back?" He gestured somewhat helplessly. "I have some of Charles's notes, but they're not really detailed..."

"More or less," Jean-Paul confessed. "She does not wish to be found..." Or was beyond finding, but he was not going to linger on that now. "...and I cannot simply wait forever until she turns up on my doorstep." He offered a weary smile. "Not that I haven't considered it, but that would be a terrible waste, non? I thought I might still have something to offer here, if there is still room."

"Well, we're a little bit smaller than we used to be," Scott said, "but I think we could definitely use you. Obviously we're in mid-term, despite the interruptions-" He smiled, very slightly and wryly, at his own euphemism. "-and there's not really anything for you to hop onto, academically speaking, until the New Year. But that doesn't mean there aren't other opportunities."

Jean-Paul leaned forward a bit, obviously curious. "I had not expected there to be a position open until the new term. What are these opportunities you speak of?"

"Well, powers training doesn't follow the academic schedule, first of all. Secondly, we are doing something new with the kids these days - sort of an extended team-building exercise, I suppose you'd call it. It shares some similarities with what the Beta Flight program does up in Canada."

An unconscious wariness crept into Jean-Paul's mien at the mention of the Department H program, but it was there and gone. "Let me guess -- it involves camping."

"Oh, yes," Scott said, then went on more briskly. "It's a good idea, although I'll confess I'm not involved in it myself - I think having the leader of the X-Men on board would lead to some concerns as to whether or not we're trying to train the children early. So I prefer to sidestep those concerns before they can develop."

"Sensible." Jean-Paul considered for a moment. He hadn't been any good at the team-building thing his time around in Beta Flight and had spent the last four years letting every human relationship he had -- save one -- atrophy into practically nothing. Given that, his current state was probably the best endorsement available for trying a different path. "Aside from the students, who else is involved in this? Or is it the sort of thing where all the staff take on rounds for a week?"

"Garrison Kane," Scott said, mildly. "I suspect you may have met."

The Canadian managed to hide his surprise. "Yes, back before I left Alpha Flight. I'm surprised he's not still with them." Another moment of consideration, then a grin. "If you are willing, I'll gladly offer the children the benefit of my age and experience." Whatever other opinion Jean-Paul might have had about Kane, the man wasn't an idiot. "If nothing else, Kane has probably seen enough footage of my early training to use me as a warning of what not to do during team exercises."

"I'll maybe let you reintroduce yourself, and let the two of you take it from there," Scott said. "I'm not actually the headmaster anymore, by the way - when we downsized the school, Charles took that particularly delightful responsibility back into his own hands." Even despite the events of the past week or so, the memory of that brought a slight smile to Scott's face.

The Canadian smirked. "Paperwork or fieldwork? I assume it was no contest. But good. This place is overlarge for one set of shoulders, I think. Is there anything else I should now?" He grimaced slightly. "Do I need to learn that blasted journal system again?"

"Oh, yes," Scott said. "And while I hate to be the bearer of bad news, most of the kids you knew from your time here have grown up into young adults... who now feel free to be bitchy on the journals without any worries about what we old folks might say to them."

Jean-Paul snorted. "Perhaps my ancient and wizened brain has already started calcifying, but I do not recall the students being particularly restrained in their opinions the last time I was here." Still, he couldn't help but ask. "Clarice and Shiro...are they doing well?"

"They've had their challenges, this last year or so. I would say, when it comes to the big picture, yes, they are. Both of them are X-Men now," Scott added.

"I'll have to catch up on the stories behind that. In the meantime, when do you want me to start?"

Scott rose. "Let's find you some place to call your own first?" he suggested. "Much easier to settle into work when you're actually settled in." As they headed out of the office, he hesitated briefly, then went on. "Oh. Um... also, Jeanisaliveandwe'remarriednow."

The marriage announcement garnered more surprise than the fact the woman involved was back from the dead. Jean-Paul decided that it was likely a sign that he'd spent too long with the spandex and body armor crowds. Ah, well.

"Congratulations. I look forward to meeting her and also to taking you out for a glorious drunk in belated celebration."