Jean and Cecilia: Wednesday Afternoon

[x-jeangrey.livejournal.com]

Jean stops by the medlab to offer Cecilia her services.


Jean had stood in front of the Medlab for a good couple of minutes before she realized just how much time had gone by. She was nervous. It was just like interviewing for a job, and she felt a bit like she was encroaching on someone's territory. But she decided that if she was going to be living at the mansion for the time being then it would be good to get experience in the medlab. Charles thought so too, but she'd rather get to know her fellow medics and get them comfortable with her.

Taking in a breath, Jean finally walked inside.

"Dr. Reyes? Are you here?"

Rhetorical. She could sense someone's presence. Though it was possible it could have been someone else.

"Sure," Cecilia called out, "just give me a second." It took her a second to place the voice, but when she did, she was glad that her back was turned so Jean couldn't sense her tense up. She relaxed after a half-second. "Sorry, just washing up." She continued rinsing soap off her hands then nudged the faucet off with her elbow.

It was only then that she looked over her shoulder, any nerves she felt taken off her face. "Ah, hello!" Truth be told, she wasn't as uncomfortable as she thought she ought to be. It was only a year ago that she'd met Jean Grey returned from the dead. It was starting to feel a little routine. "I thought you might be stopping by." She turned back around and grabbed a paper towel.

Lingering in the doorway like it was a sacred space, even if she'd already been there briefly before, Jean waited until Cecilia finally finished before stepping inside all the way.

"Guess I'm transparent," Jean said. Despite her pains to mask it she could still tell something was off. Body language. Subtle cues. The way she paused for a brief moment cleaning her hands, the sound of regular water flow from the sink before the gentle whir and rush returned.

Truth be told, she was almost getting used to it. It seemed to be the general current for some of the regular people who had known each other for awhile. She, and the newcomers were a change in the proverbial flow. New parts to a well oiled machine. It would likely be that way for awhile. Until everyone got used to one another. It was understandable.

"The Professor arranged for me to interview for a fellowship at Claremont Medical Center...general medicine, in their mutant-related care department. I received word that I was accepted yesterday, but I wanted to offer my services here as well, if you ever need it. I would greatly welcome the experience, and the chance to get to know everyone. Since I'm going to be here for awhile."

Her eyes flickered away. "Or at least, until I figure out what to do next."

From the sound of it X-Corps was on life support. Without a team, or anything to do, it was possible she could just live her life at the mansion while she worked in the city.

"Sounds familiar," Cecilia said. She was more amused than anything else. That was the same pretense under which she'd returned to the mansion, and she'd said as much to Charles. Something had kept her at Xavier's since then, and that was before the ground completely vanished underneath them, linking a group of them forever to the mansion whether they liked it or not.

"Please, sit." She smiled, gesturing to a nearby chair. "We can always use help here, as I'm sure you've heard. And will continue to hear." The test she'd been looking at earlier - an EMG she'd basically ordered on herself - sat on top of a pile of charts she'd been trying to update. "Not exactly a subtle bunch, the folks that live here." She stepped toward Jean, then stopped mid-path. "Can I get you anything? Coffee or tea or water or wherever?"

"Tea would be great if you don't mind," Jean said. She usually had a cup in the morning. Either that or coffee. Sometimes both if sleep were particularly elusive.

Taking a seat in the chair, Jean glanced around a moment before her attention turned back to Cecilia, who was busying herself at the Keurig. She often caught herself taking note of things. It was a habit she learned from her mother.

"And yes, I noticed people are...lively," she said with an amused curl of her lips.

"But if I can handle chasing a naked man high on acid through the ER bays as he sang Bohemian Rhapsody, I think I can handle this."

Hopefully. Fate always had a way of laughing.

"Ah, residency." Cecilia grinned, returning with a mug of tea that she set in front of Jean. She glanced around and, upon spotting a nearby chair, rolled it toward the other woman. "That's not bad practice, actually." She closed the folder open on a nearby chair. "I mean," she tried to say as nonchalantly as possible, "what's your experience with magic?"

Jean paused. "I...know it exists?" she said, about as helpfully as she could.

"Adrienne told me there was a woman named Amanda here that works with it, and....she also does helps with demonic possession? Not sure if she's kidding but, judging by the lack of expression on your face I'm guessing that's true."

"Amanda's kind of a whole... thing." Cecilia shrugged. The two of them had a weird history there, made weirder by what had transpired when they were fighting omnipotent not-Jean, and Billy had gone up in smoke. "But, yeah, no, magic's real." It weirded her out how matter-of-factly she was delivering this news. "I'd tell you that you get used to it, but, like..." She looked a bit sheepish. "Well, maybe you will. Everyone's different."

Jean took a long sip of her tea as she mulled over what Cecilia said. She seemed apologetic. "I think I have a lot to get used to. And I'm going to try to keep an open mind. The world's a whole lot bigger than I thought it was. So....magic being real is...definitely something I'm incredibly curious about. I'd rather be curious than going out of my freaking mind. That doesn't really help."

"If it makes you feel any better," Cecilia offered, "the magic doesn't tend to cause most of the weird we deal with here." She'd meant to be comforting, but she spoke with a kind of gravity she hadn't intended. "Some of our residents' powers interact with things in... weird ways. Or clash in unexpected ways. And you'll end up with things on a table that you've never seen before, and you're improvising on the fly." She could almost smell the way the medlab had been after the X-Men returned from fighting the Fury. As much as she'd seen, that whole business with Marius and Fred had been bizarre.

"But," she perked up, "you've worked more with mutant medicine than I ever did, so you'll be a good asset."

"I'd appreciate any help you can give. I'm used to working in a controlled setting. I have some experience with trauma surgery, since that's required for being in general surgery, but not a lot in the field, obviously. I know it will happen eventually," Jean said. She sighed.

"They called me 'Scully' at one of the places I worked. Since I was willing to take the 'weird' cases. I was all I could do to convince them I wasn't a mutant. The bigoted ones, anyway. Mutant medicine's mostly about finding new approaches. But admittedly there weren't as much as I'd hoped. A lot of mutants don't want to go to the hospital for fear of being ignored, or attacked, or accused. I've....wound up doing some work in the back of a restaurant or an alley because the patient refused to go in. It's how I wound up working with the mutant underground in some cases. Still, it was nothing major. A broken arm. A gash on a woman's webbed foot."

"Well, that'll help you here," Cecilia pointed out. "Not all of our injuries involve, say, a mutant with healing capacity helping restore someone's eyes. A lot of its pretty common injuries mixed up with freezing abilities or healing factors." Cecilia Reyes, matter-of-fact mutant first aid instructor. If the Ilyanas or Sarah Morlocks of the world could see her now. "And bedside manner is everything when you live alongside your patients." She resisted the urge to ask Jean about Scott or her personal life, or a number of other things that were inappropriate for two people who were basically strangers. That relationship would (frustratingly) need to be built up again.

"Anyway," she said after a second, "that stuff can't be taught, but field medicine and advanced surgical techniques can." Cecilia glanced around the medlab. "I'm not an experienced teacher or anything, but I know my way around a scalpel and a retractor." She was being modest in the way that many surgeons she knew were, a way that suggested she knew exactly how talented she was and didn't need to brag about it. Jean would see soon enough. "Plus, a lot of its smart triage, and there's Scott or Charles or someone can probably help us work something out."

"I haven't worked with many people with healing factors," Jean admitted. "No need to. They just didn't come in. Logan, the man I met on the journals, was the first I'd heard of it. He is quite fascinating." A curious smile tugged at her lips with the thought.

"I've only met Scott once, but he seems nice. Very busy though. I rarely see him. But that makes sense. It'll be good to work with him too. I've heard good things."

She took another sip of her tea. "I'd like to think I have good bedside manner. I've been told I do. But it's a little different when you work on the person once and never see them again. These are people I'll be living with." She laughed.

"No pressure, right?"

"Logan's certainly a special case," Cecilia said wryly. She still hadn't forgiven him for up and leaving the medlab after waking up from a coma, but that was hardly worth getting into. "And Scott's great." She racked her brain for something else to say, but nothing felt appropriate. Far be it from her to come up with a convincing explanation for Scott's aloofness from the younger, spunkier version of his ex-wife. "Honestly, I'm sure you'll be fine," she smiled warmly. "Just don't..." She paused, considering how to say what she wanted to say without saying it. "Not everyone here loves the doctor, and people are a little prickly at first. Don't take it personally."

"I'm getting that sense," Jean said, leaning back in her chair. "I met Adrienne awhile ago...When I expressed my love for the medlab she thought I was crazy. I know it's hard for people to understand why we like medicine. And I can imagine how hard it will be for the person they barely know to sew them back up, and then meet them later the next day down in the kitchen for breakfast. I've been thinking about that. I just...I want to belong. It's been awhile since I've felt that. I feel like I've been drifting for awhile. Sleepwalking through my residency. The only time I really, truly felt like I was making a difference was when I was with X-Corps and now...."

Cecilia did her best not to let the sudden pity she felt for Jean show, masking everything with a smile she hoped to be comforting. Maybe, eventually, this Jean would belong here, and Cecilia planned to do her best to make that happen. But with all the baggage, that was going to be fairly hard. "I remember that feeling," she said none too wistfully. "You're in the right place for that, trust me. Clarice and Laurie and I - we get all that."

Letting what remained in her mug warm her hands, Jean took a thoughtful sip. "I haven't met Laurie yet. And Clarice seems...a bit territorial," she said, recalling their discussion on the journals.

"But, I suppose I'm used to that from residency. Everyone sizes up the new girl. A lot of people seem to be weary. It'll just take time, I guess. And if it doesn't work out...I'll have a job in the city. I can stay there. Or go back to Europe. That's why I don't buy things that much. Harder to pack."

Cecilia frowned at how dismissive that sounded, defense mechanism or not. "Well," she said, trying to choose her words carefully, "can't pretend I didn't do that once. But I came back. There are good people here." Most of them, anyway, and even the ones that weren't had basically become like a family to her. "And if everyone's weary, it's because it was hard enough being a mutant before everything went to shit. I think we've earned it."

"I know. It's not that. It's normal. I just...I've always been on the outside. My father never wanted me to come here. He was afraid I'd get hurt. So I became the hidden girl, the mutant, working secretly with Charles while I had to pretend I was normal while people talked about mutants like they were freaks to my face, not knowing. And then...I went to Muir...and I was the girl with the doctors to play with. I always had to hide who I was. And now, to find a place with people like me...I want...I want to fit in so badly. I want to be home. And I don't know if I'm trying too hard sometimes," Jean said. She glanced away, brushing her hair behind her ears.

"Anyway...I'm oversharing. Sorry." She smiled, rising from her chair.

"Thanks for giving me the opportunity. And for the tea. I should let you get back to it."

"Of course," Cecilia smiled, standing from her chair as well. "I'm excited to have you here, Jean." She meant it. Even with the weirdness of the whole situation, there were certain people who Cecilia just found... comforting. Jean was one of them. "I think we all are."

The comment made Jean smile back. She was genuinely touched. "Thank you. I...hope I live up to the excitement. Let me know when you want me on shift? I start at Claremont next week so I won't be able to work in the medlab as often as I'd like but I am absolutely up for doing whatever you need me to. I definitely want to learn the ins and outs of field medicine."

"Sure," Cecilia waved off her concerns. "We'll figure something out."