Backdated: Cecilia & Jean

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2/4/14: Cecilia finally meets the legendary Jean Grey.

Cecilia stared at the door to Jean's office, her eyes fixed on the plaque with the woman's name inscribed upon it. One of the truths of Cecilia's medical career (and something drilled into her childhood, if she wanted to probe further, though who really did?) was that people didn't come back from the dead. Mutations and magic and dragons (and Illyana's interdimensional adolescence) had tested other limits she'd once thought existed, but death had always been final. Certain. It's what she'd spent so long working against.

Now, she was standing in front of the office door of a woman who'd been dead the last time she was here, referenced always as a sanctified "was" rather than a distant "is." Welcome back, the plaque on the door seemed to call out. Everything's still about as fucked up as you expected.

Only this time, Cecilia had to deal with it. Time to meet the legendary Dr. Jean Grey. She steeled herself and knocked.

"Come in," Jean's voice replied after a moment or two as she finished scribbling some notes in green pen on the stack of quizzes. She preferred to use green as it seemed less harsh when grading. The group had done relatively well considering she was fairly certain that 40% of them had studied frantically the morning of the quiz. Then again they were teenagers so it was to be expected, just like the visit from Cecilia she had been anticipating since the other woman's return.

Leaning back in her chair, she slipped off her glasses and plucked the gradually cooling cup of coffee from her desk to take a sip.

So much for the faint hope she wasn't in. Cecilia pushed the door open and stepped inside. She had to stifle a laugh: Everything looked so normal. Which Cecilia probably should have expected even though she was a meeting a telepathic woman who had miraculously not drowned in a lake, disappeared for a year and was now grading papers at a school for misfit mutants. Like nothing had ever happened. Go figure. "Hi, Dr. Grey. Jean." Oh my God, girl, stop being so awkward. "Nice to meet you." She smiled.

Jean extended her hand. "Likewise," she said, smiling warmly. The woman was nervous. Jean was used to it by now, though it was usually from the students, or newly minted X-Men on their first mission...any variety of things but this. It'd been awhile since someone had been nervous because of this.

"Would you like some tea?" she added, motioning to the tiny Keurig in the corner of her office that she'd fashioned into a makeshift kitchen area.

"Sure," Cecilia shook Jean's hand and nodded. She looked around. "You've got quite the set-up here," she observed. "Although I imagine you're busy enough that you don't spend much time at your desk. Down to two doctors helping out the rambunctious mutant crusaders around here? Yikes."

"Thanks. One of my former students recently stepped in to help lessen the work load. Clarice? She's a PA. I try to spend as much time as I can here updating charts and grading. But yeah... It can get pretty hectic," Jean said as she glanced over her selections. "I've got chai latte, chamomile, earl grey, and Irish breakfast. Which would you like?"

"Surprise me." Not like Cecilia knew anything about tea anyway. "And yeah, I know Clarice." She had to grin. "Glad she's helping out. When I was here, she was a bit, uh..." She waved her hands as she searched for a word. "Immature, I guess. And hot-headed."

Jean grinned, popping in one of the k-cups. "Yeah, she was. But she grew out of it," she said, then tilted her head. "Mostly."

It was hard to believe so many of them had come and gone over the years, growing and changing into something more. She felt a certain pride in helping to influence their progression, though it also reminded her how much time had passed.

Jean smiled. "It's okay. It's new to you. I've had years to deal," she said. She had a feeling it would've come up eventually. Not many people had experienced what she had.

"Yes, it was disorienting and frightening. And it took a long time to get over what happened. It's been a hard road." She left out the rest, long and tangled and complicated that happened as a result of her death. Things that still plagued her from time to time. The circumstances weren't the same.

"Which is why it's good to have a support system."

Cecilia simply nodded. "All things considered — living here, going through all that, being a doctor with very little help at a place where someone's on death's door at least monthly — you're pretty even-keeled." She studied Jean for a moment. "Who's your support system? Or is it just Scott? Gotta be a lot to handle."

"Scott, Charles, friends, the students...They help me and remind me to hope, and to carry on," Jean said. She picked up her mug, feeling the warm in her hands.

Many might have been off-putted by the personal questions from a relative stranger but she was used to it. From the prying eyes and competition of Washington DC politicians, to the walls of the medlab behind which hid from the rest of the world the vulnerability of the wounded, to her own telepathy, the emotional, mental and the physical rawness of what it meant to be human was often put on display to her. She had to remain disciplined and endure or it would consume her.

"But I'm not perfect. I get pissed off, scared, and overwhelmed just like everyone else. It's just taken a hell of a lot of experience."

"Well, I'm impressed," Cecilia told her. "Honestly, when I've got patients, or I'm cutting somebody open, I'm great at pushing things out of my mind and focusing. Like, there's a job to do, and I have to finish it. Somebody else's life is in my hands, and I've got to help them hold onto it. No time to be scared." A picture of Jean and Scott caught her eye. They looked so happy despite all their responsibility. "But my own stuff? Forget it." She shook her head. "Been through too much, had to become too tough to get to where I am. Echa pa'lante. Gotta keep moving forward."

"It's what we're taught in medical school...be objective. But they never teach us about living with your patients, or fighting demons. It can mess you up. And you're not weak by admitting it," Jean said. She shook her head, smiling softly.

"I have to tell myself that constantly," she admitted.

"You'll probably have to start telling me too," Cecilia said playfully (though, actually, she did slightly mean it). "Soon as the first mutant leader of tomorrow comes through the door with a limb retrieved from a demon's stomach, and I start to look queasy, just chime right in." She grinned. "And before you say it, I know that's just a Tuesday around here."

Which actually reminded her of something else that had been perplexing her. "Hey, what's the deal with Wade Wilson's cancer? The guy's basically got more antibodies than an NIH blood bank," she gave a small apologetic wince for simplifying Wade's healing factor and making a messy metaphor, "but nothing will get his white count under control?"

"His cancer, combined with his healing factor, has made him rather unique," Jean said. "The cancer is rather invasive and keeps replicating, but his healing factor tries to keep it in check. It's a bit like Tartarus pushing the wheel up the mountain."

"So his leukemia's basically in stasis?" Cecilia shook her head in disbelief. "I mean, that's... I don't know. Amazing, I guess. Not surprising, really, since genetic variants like ours can play games with biological processes, but even the idea that cancer can be held in check like that is... wow." She closed her eyes and tried to remember some of the details from Wade's files. "Just weird to think about."

She opened her eyes and grimaced. "Guess I ought to read up on genetics again. Too bad I never paid more attention to Dr. McCoy..."

"I've never seen anything quite like it before. But I'm not an oncologist. I do what I can. Being Wade's doctor has had me learning a lot more about cancer that I had known before," Jean said. She finished off her cup, enjoying the warmth and spice of what was left. She smiled.

"You're right, perhaps a fresh set of eyes will help."

"Honestly, I'm just glad to have something medical to do." Cecilia shook her head. "Been sitting around long enough that I'm starting to worry I'll forget how things work." She returned Jean's smile. "And to work with equipment like you've got here... just, wow. The medlab makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop."

"It's just like riding--or, rather, putting together a bike. If the bike were a human and....Perhaps that's not the best analogy," Jean said, laughing.

"And yeah, i must admit, I'm a little spoiled."

"A little?" Cecilia looked at her a little incredulously. "Top of the line equipment? Maybe this is because I just spent a hot minute in a field hospital in one of the poorer regions of the world, but you this is like a windfall from Santa here." It was one of the things she loved about being back in the mansion - even during her fellowships at strong hospitals, nothing was nearly so advanced. "I'm sounding ridiculous," she apologized. "I'm just eager to help out, I guess."

"A little enthusiasm goes a long way," Jean said with a grin. "I'm glad to see other people excited. Between you, Clarice, and the occasional Laurie, it's a nice change from just Amelia and I."

"Well, that's me." Cecilia smiled back. "A dose of enthusiasm in a constant stream of medical attention. Or something." Her watch caught her eye. My, it was late. "I don't suppose... you have any time to show me the place? I peeked around a little the other day, but I wasn't entirely situated. Not really sure where's a free desk - seems like Hank and Madelyn's stuff is still all over the place."

"We'll make room," Jean said with a smile as she stood. The door opened, and she motioned toward it. "I have some time. After you."

Cecilia stood, trying not to be freaked out by the fact Jean had opened the door with her mind. They were going to be partners, it seemed, and she had to embrace everything that came with that. "Thanks," she smiled. "Let's do it."