Jean-Paul and Johnny

[x-ricochet.livejournal.com]

Jean-Paul comes to deliver news of Lil's departure to Johnny, but ends up having to explain more than just her absence.



His latest encounter with Xavier had left Jean-Paul feeling remarkably clear-headed...or maybe that was just the night of uninterrupted sleep. He did not expect it to last -- either his own mental state would disrupt things, or another disaster would hit. As it was, he already had bed news to deliver to another resident.

It didn't take long to track down Johnny; the boy was one of many in the school who had an affinity for heights, and Jean-Paul found him crashed on the roofcouch with yet another book and a bowl of snacks. The older mutant landed on the flying platform and made his way across the thin span of roof to the couch.

"There you are. I have been looking."

It had not taken long for the absurd and comfortable perch to become one of Johnny's favorites. It was a good place to take in the open air or curl up with a book or just to think, and it made a great anecdote for Eddie besides. The white-haired teen was draped unceremoniously across the wearing sofa as Jean-Paul made his ascension to the roof, lying on his back and staring contently up into his copy of Black Sun Rising. The familiar voice pulled him from the sprawl of dark words along the page and he lifted his bright eyes with an immediate smile, "Mr. Beaubier!"

The man wasn't smiling and it took the younger mutant a moment to register the fact and the sudden seriousness it weighted his words with. He started to sit up, "...For me? What for?"

"I have a message for you from Lillian." Jean-Paul took a seat on the couch. He had considered how much to tell the boy, considering that he knew little enough himself. "She was called home suddenly and does not know when she will be back. She wanted me to apologize for the sudden departure and for missing your training sessions."

Johnny froze. The summer had been a flurry of disasters, large and small, and the news of Lil's sudden absence made his muscles tighten and his stomach knot almost as a matter of reflex. The teenager clutched his book hard, features sinking under transparent worry that made it clear the loss of their frequent training sessions was the last thing on his mind. "What happened? Is she okay?"

"Physically, yes. But her husband and a friend she knew from Alpha Flight are both injured. She went back up north to see what she could do for them." He did not want to mention the body-count if he could help it. "She said that she would be in touch."

Johnny's concern was genuine and deep-rooted, but very short-lived, soon overwhelmed by a rush of shock and hurt and jealousy inspired by that one small word he had never heard from Lil. "Her...husband?" the boy croaked quietly.

Merde.

"They have been separated recently," Jean-Paul said calmly, "but yes, Lillian is married. Her husband stayed behind to train with the team. I am sorry. With the time you two have spent together, I assumed she must have mentioned him at some point."

"Never," came the teen's unnecessary response at length. He could find nothing else to say and his mind was swimming in these simplistic and hated feelings that made it difficult to think. Johnny exhaled slowly. There had been no delusion in his head strong enough to convince him he had any sort of chance with her, but knowing that she was married, that there was somebody out there lucky enough to be with her and stupid enough to let it fall apart... That was different. And now she was running back to him, in pain because of him. "It's not...I mean...it doesn't matter," the teen concluded weakly and with unimpressive conviction as this unpleasant notion allowed his mind to refocus on Lil. "Do you think she'll be okay? Can we do anything? Even just...call?"

"She said that she would call when she could," Jean-Paul said, hoping that was at least reassuring. "I do not know much about what is going on up there, but I imagine that things are going to be chaotic for a while and Lillian will be wrapped up in her family concerns. Let us give it a day or so, and if we hear nothing, try to get in touch."

It wasn't reassuring. Not enough to make a difference. "...Okay," Johnny conceded reluctantly, moving fractionally closer to Jean-Paul as he slumped back into his seat. He hoped the man didn't plan on going immediately, or even soon, and his head settled thoughtlessly against the older mutant's arm. "Is he going to be all right? ...That guy." There was nothing wrong with avoiding the dreaded word for now, was there?

"Madison," Jean-Paul supplied. "And I honestly do not know what his prognosis is. He is injured and another person is in a coma. I hope they will both be all right, if only for her sake. It does seem like most of what we do around here is a lot of waiting and hoping."

"Me too...it's all we seem to do sometimes, isn't it?" Johnny responded softly. But as bad as the waiting and the worrying could be, the loss was worse and he never wanted that for Lil. Not ever. He thought of his mother and how close they had come to losing the man sitting at his side and he and shrunk into himself to hold in a shudder. "She's not alone up there is she?"

"Non." Jean-Paul put an arm around the boy's shoulders. "Her father is up there as well, and I do not see Logan and Kane leaving this lie." To be honest, Jean-Paul had more faith in the former being of personal help to Lil than the latter. Not that he had any doubt that the two X-Men would be there for their teammate, it was more a matter of who Lil would let in.

"Good." Johnny had no particular faith in the compassion of fathers, but the inhabitants of the mansion were another matter, even if he only knew Logan through Lil's frequent words about him and Garrison through the hazy memories of his rescue in Washington. Besides, if Jean-Paul trusted them, they deserved to be trusted. As the man's arm settled around him, he leaned close.

Jean-Paul glanced over at the spine of Johnny's book. "How is that one so far?" The opening was obvious, but it seemed kinder to offer a distraction than to leave the boy to dwell on the unsettling news.

The teen's gaze followed his down to the closed book and he noted, with far more woe than such a small dilemma deserved, that he hadn't marked his page. Idiot. Johnny's grip tensed around the paperback and he lowered his bright eyes. "...Not sure. Not very far in yet."