Log: Jean and Sam, Friday evening (backdated)

[x-cannonball.livejournal.com]

Sam bumps into an exhausted Jean while pacing the halls and they talk briefly before she has to crash.


Sam had been pacing the halls a little since he'd received word of Vanessa's return. There hadn't been much he could do while she was gone, other than to offer his help if needed in getting her back, but thankfully the others had been able to track her down and extradite her without his assistance. Thanks to journal updates he knew she was back but not conscious and in rough shape, so there was still cause to worry.

There was precious little he could do while she was unconscious and convalescing, and even if she were awake she probably didn't want anything to do with him, but he still cared greatly for her and worried accordingly. So there he was, pacing up and down the halls of the mansion, not really sure where he was or where he was going, moving for the sake of moving.

The hallway had turned into two as Jean rubbed her eyes, yawning into her fist as she stepped off the lower level elevator. Slipping her hands into her pockets, she headed toward the staircase leading up to the upper levels and her bedroom with laser guided precision. She didn't even notice Sam as she started to pass him.

Two hours, she just needed two hours, then some food, and it was back to the trenches again.

While he was in his own little world himself, Sam was fortunate enough not to be as severely sleep deprived as Jean was, so when she walked past him he did noticed a flash of red walking past his field of vision. Turning around, he recognized who it was and smiled a little as he called out to her. "Hey Jean, how are you?" She had been one of the many people he'd meant to look up on his return to Xavier's but that he hadn't yet seen.

Jean sputtered to a stop, blinking up at Sam with a bit of errant focus before she smiled broadly.

"Sam. Hey. Sorry, I'm in zombie mode. I was about to get in a couple of hours sleep," she said, suppressing a unconscious yawn that seemed to well up to punctuate.

"I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to physically say hi in person to welcome you back. You know how it is around here." Sort of like a perpetual ferris wheel mixed with a race track.

He nodded, it really could get pretty crazy around there. "It's ok, seriously, don't worry about it." Sam frowned as he watched Jean yawn. "When was the last time you slept?" As much as he wanted to catch up with her, he wasn't about to keep her from getting some rest, especially if she hadn't had much in the last little while, which certainly seemed to be the case.

Tilting her head, Jean thought about that for a moment. "Today is Friday?" she said.

Sam let out a low whistle at the question. "Yup, and having to ask that answers my question for me, heh." She really did need her sleep so he wouldn't hold her up from it, though there was one thing he had to ask first. "But, uh. Speaking of questions... how's Vanessa doing?" He hated to ask her if she was as sleep deprived as she seemed but he couldn't resist asking at least once.

Jean was glad he changed the subject because the last time she slept was around Tuesdayish, not counting the occasional one or two hour naps in between there.

She shook her head. "She's...not good. But I'm hopeful."

He nodded, folding his arms and looking down at the floor. "Yeah, I... somewhere someone said she wasn't conscious and in bad shape." He knew they were fortunate to have her back at all, really. It was just that his worry hadn't gone away but instead it had shifted from whether they'd find her to whether she'd pull through ok. "She's a fighter, she'll be just fine."

Jean smiled softly. "She's a fighter," she repeated.

"That's why I have hope." It was why she was still alive when they found her. With the extent of her injuries many people would've already been dead. She was, frankly, too stubborn to die.

Sam looked back up at Jean and managed a small smile. "Me too, and faith that she'll pull through just fine. So she can get back to hatin' me and kickin' my ass once she sees me again, heh." He was mostly joking, but even if it did come to that he'd much rather that she were able to do so than not.

"What did you do that she hates you for again?" Jean said curiously. Was it while she was in California? Or was it when she was here and busy with everything else to remember?

Rubbing the back of his neck, Sam shrugged a little. "Y'know, the whole... break up was kinda messy, and then I was a... a dick, for lack of a better word, heh." He forced a chuckle but it had been true, and he'd hurt Kyle in the process.

"Oh..." Jean said, nodding a little as she slipped her hands into the pockets of her pants. She'd left her doctor's jacket back in the lab. "I didn't mean to drudge up bad memories, I'm sorry,"

He quickly waved his hand dismissively at his red headed friend. "Nah, don't worry about it, seriously. It's in the past, I made my bed and I'm layin' in it. It'll be ok." Sam sure hoped it would anyway but that was not something he wanted to get into with an exhausted Jean at that moment, if ever with anyone.

"You should get your sleep, Jean, I'm sorry to bug you, but I had to ask, heh." He flashed her a sheepish grin, putting his hands in his pockets.

Jean laughed. "You never bug me. We should do this again when I'm not running on fumes. It was good to see you again," she said, nodding.

"Good night, Sam."

"Will do, sleep well, Jean." He smiled and gave her a little wave, then resumed his pacing again, with a little more hope in his heart from their conversation.