Jean and Xavier: Brick By Brick (Backdated)

[x-jeangrey.livejournal.com]

Professor Xavier works with Jean to try to rebuild her psychic walls. Jean is trying to cope the best she can after the Fury mission.



Jean sat in Professor Xavier's office, once more feeling like a teenager again as she kept her eyes closed and focused on trying to recite meditative mantras to drown out the thoughts of the dozens of people in the mansion mingled in with the neighbors from a few miles away while she waited. It was frustrating to lose years of control and fortified walls in moments, and she tried not to let that affect her, but it was difficult.

~Patience, Jean.~ The touch on her mind was familiar, the tone gentle and warm and encouraging. ~Don't try to block it all at once. Brick by brick, like we did when you were a student.~

Eyes fluttering, Jean's mind drifted, and she was standing in a field. The astral armor she normally wore was traded for the outfit she was wearing in the real world. The field had shown evidence of a battle: scorch marks, deep holes, uprooted trees. Farther up a hill was a castle that looked vaguely like the mansion. It was intact but the walls around it were ripped apart down to their foundations.

The mansion denizens wandered around the fields, mulling about with their everyday business but their thoughts talked over one another, making it hard to pick out any one thing. If any of them came up with a mental image it popped above their head like Artie showing one of his illusions.

Jean approached the remains of the wall, pulling a wheelbarrow full of bricks behind her.

~That took months to do.~ she thought in frustration. ~I can't wait. Something might happen. They'll need me.~

~You are a remarkable woman, Jean, but there are others who can fill the breach. You are allowed to take time to recover yourself.~ Charles appeared, standing beside the wall, his usual suit replaced with a workman's coverall. ~You all took a terrible beating - let us take care of you now.~

Setting the wheelbarrow down, Jean stared at the foundation, shaking her head. ~I should be the one taking care of them. I should've paid better attention.~ She grabbed a brick, clenching it tightly for a moment until she suddenly hurled it at a window, letting out a cry of frustration.

~I woke it up, Charles. I woke it up. And it took me down in seconds!~

Charles reached out, his astral presence as solid and reassuring as his physical presence as he rested his hand on her shoulder. ~Jean, no-one was able to anticipate what you would find, and you certainly weren't expected to tackle such a creature yourself. If anyone is to blame, it is me, for not sending a larger team. You all came close to losing your lives because of that mistake and it pains me to see you all suffering now.~

~We didn't know....none of us knew it would turn out that way. More might have gotten hurt if you did. In the end it was just down to Fred. I just wish they didn't have to get hurt...~ Jean said, staring sadly at the ghostly specters of the mansion residents as they went about their day. She turned back to the Professor, the look in her eyes like that of the tall, gangly red haired girl he'd come to see so many years ago.

~I can hear them...I try not to listen but they yell. It was easier when there was nothing bad for them to think about but sometimes I find myself in their nightmares. I want it to stop. I don't...I don't know if I can wait months for it to stop. But I know I can't stay in the Box either.~

~You can do this, Jean. You did it before.~ Charles reached out and picked up one of the bricks from the barrow. ~And you won't be doing it alone, either.~ He settled the brick onto the broken wall, the edges blurring and melding together to make a seamless whole. ~Never alone.~

Rubbing her face, Jean turned her attention back to the wall again. She stood there in silence for a few moments before letting out a shaky breath, then picked up another brick and put it down beside his, watching it mold itself into shape. Then came another, and another, and she finally turned to him and kissed him on the forehead like a daughter would her father. Even when he was standing she was still taller than him.

~Thank you.~

~You're welcome, Jean.~ He placed his hand against her cheek and smiled at her, before turning and placing another brick beside hers. ~Let's get to work.~