Jean and Kevin: Exam

[x-jeangrey.livejournal.com]

Kevin comes to the medlab for a medical exam so he can be cleared to use the danger room.



Kevin normally resisted medical tests. One, because he was relatively sure that he was essentially immune to sickness and two, most of the CIA medical staff looked like they'd been airlifted out of Berlin just before the end of the war. However, he'd done a little research and discovered that the mansion's medical staff included two very attractive women, which made the whole process of 'turn your head and cough' a lot more interesting.

He stepped into the medical bay, smoothing his tie against his chest. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything fatal?" Jean peered up after taking a bite of an apple.

"I wish," she said with a smirk. "At least things would be a lot more interesting than where Kimye is going for vacation this summer," she said, closing the outdated magazine she'd found on the desk to keep her occupied. It was a short shift and she usually brought her iPad to distract her but she'd left it at work. She considered using one of the office computers to entertain herself. "What can I do for you?"

"I was told that I'm required to take a physical before I can use the Danger Thing. So I guess that puts me in your hands." Kevin paused and pointed at the apple. "I thought those were supposed to keep doctors away?"

Rising from her chair, Jean finished off her apple. "I'm building up a tolerance so I can get near people with them without hissing and recoiling in pain," she said, tossing the core in the garbage.

"It's a complex process." She smiled, picking up her work tablet from the table.

"Follow me," she said, heading for one of the exam bays.

"I'm Dr. Jean Grey. And you are?"

"Kevin Sydney. I'm with the X-Force people." He said, following her in. "So, it's been awhile since my last exam. What do you need me to do?"

"Nice to meet you, Kevin," Jean said, opening up a nearby cabinet. She pulled out a hospital gown and offered it to him.

"Put these on. There's a bathroom first door on your left. There's also a cup in there that we'll need a urine sample from. It's strictly routine, mostly to establish a baseline for future checkups."

She tilted her head. "Define awhile?"

"A couple of decades." Kevin said as he collected the cup and the gown. It only took a moment to change and provide the sample.

Writing the date and his name, Jean stuck the sample in the fridge so it could be tested later. "Please have a seat on the bed. So, your last check up was when you were in your late teens, early twenties?" she said, surprised as. She made a note on her tablet, adding to the chart she was creating from scratch.

"Why the long wait?"

"Job gets in the way. Slips your mind. That sort of thing..." He sat down without the slightest sense of body modesty.

"If you're X-Force then that kind of work sounds like something you'd want to keep yourself in top shape for," Jean said. She slipped the stethoscope earbuds into her ears. She pressed the stethoscope to his back.

"Alright, I'm going to listen to your lung functions. I need you to take three deep breaths."

He did as she asked. It was vaguely tempting to create a minor issue, but he stuck with his normal physiology.

Jean paused a few moments, listening as he breathed. She nodded with satisfaction. "Breath sounds are good," she smiled.

"So what is your ability, if you don't mind me asking? Or are you human?" She knew now that Adrienne was lying about being a human but there were human allies out there. She'd run into a few with X-Corps.

"Sure." He held out his hand, palm up towards her. "Here, give me your hand."

Eying him curiously for a moment, Jean eventually put her hand in his. "If this is a trick...I am not forgiving," she warned with a smirk.

"My dear doctor, it's always a trick." He said, taking her hand. He ran his fingers lightly down her hand, his touch sure and strong. "See, you've got the hand of a doctor. Long, strong, tapered fingers, good skin, and-" He took a light sniff of her wrist. "a touch of Chanel."

He smiled at her and turned his hand over. Instead of Kevin's hand, she saw her hand now held in an identical twin of hers, down to every freckle and even her nail pattern.

Jean's eyebrows rose, and she leaned in to examine his, well now, her, hand. "Shapeshifting. Huh," she said, tilting her head. She glanced up.

"Yeah, that definitely effects your exam. I...take it you're older than you look?"

If he never needed to look how old he was, if his cells could shift into anyone he wanted, he probably wouldn't have need to see a doctor.

"I think the term is a metamorph." His hand still held hers.

Peering down, Jean slipped her hand away. "Thank you for the demonstration," she said, offering him a smile. Her train wreck of a relationship with Warren was still fresh and she was still trying to figure out her bearings when it came to her love life.

"Actually, shapeshifting is the broad term for your type of mutation. There are subcategories," she explained, slipping her ear buds out of her ears as she crossed over to the cabinet to grab a flashlight.

"Metamorph would be for the ability to only alter yourself into human form, without changing body mass. There's also animorph, the ability to take on an animal's shape. Polymorph, the ability to change into any shape, and so on. So if you only have the ability to change into other human forms then you would be categorized as a shapeshifter with metamorphic capabilities. Or at least that's what the scientific community says." What studies they actually did. The science of the so called 'homo superior' had only begun to scratch the surface.

"Alright....I need to check your pupils."

"Sure. What do you want them to look like?"

Jean smirked. "Can you do one with an extreme mutation and one without?" she said. She leaned against the counter.

"Admittedly, this isn't really a normal procedure for the exam. It's mostly done if you have a concussion or if I were an optometrist. But since you don't probably don't go to one of those either I figure I'd cover my bases."

"Hard to have poor vision when you can change your eyes. But here." Kevin closed his eyes for a second and then opened them. His left was normal, but his right eye was now distorted; a huge pupil ringed with a tawny shifting iris. "Twenty times the rods and cones in the right eye now."

Clicking on her flashlight, Jean waved it across each eye with two quick motion, using her other hand to cover the other eye.

"The body will eventually die. Cells stop replicating. It's possible your vision might start to go when those cells do," she said, tilting her head at the pupillary response, a note of fascination flickering across her face.

"Or your could live forever. I've never really had a chance to fully study your type of mutation at length. Not that I would without your permission."

"Tell you what. Clear me for the DR thing and I'll happily talk about my mutation."

Turning off the flashlight, Jean made some notes on the tablet and smiled. "It doesn't work that way. It's been 20 years since you've had an exam so we're finishing it, just for peace of mind. That includes blood work. But so far? I'd say you're probably going to pass. We just have to get all this out of the way."

Kevin sighed. "It's not often a pretty red-headed doctor makes me wish I had an apple. Alright, Doc, let's get this over with. Do you want it by the pint or the gallon?"

Jean gave him a wry grin. "Do I detect a bit of whining? I thought spies were patient." She crossed over to the cabinet and grabbed some other supplies.

"Arm please."

"We are. But there's not a lot to be gained via a medical exam for our purposes." He held out his arm.

Wrapping a strap of yellow plastic around his arm, Jean prepared her needle. "There's always a first time," she said with a smile.

"Don't worry, it'll be over before you know it and then you can fight holograms like the rest of us."

"Ugh. Combat. That happens when you've screwed something up."

Jean grabbed an alcohol swab and dabbed at the section of his arm that she would be working with.

"Better to be prepared though, right? No one's perfect." She nodded to his arm.

"Alright, this is going to sting a little."

"That's what my drill sergeant used to say. Fortunately for both of us, you smell much nicer."

Jean gently stuck the needle in his arm, then popped on a tube for the blood to collect into. She glanced up to him.

"It's amazing what soap and water can do," she said. After a couple of moments she twisted the tube off and then popped another one on. Once that one was filled up she pulled out the needle, swabbed away the blood and put on a piece of cotton and a bit of cohesive wrap. The move was deft and effortless from a lot of practice.

"There, all done."

"So, we're good here?"

Jean shook her head. "Unfortunately no. The most invasive come last. The ones most people dread. But I promise I'll be quick."

She smiled. "Now you know why I eat a lot of apples."

"Wait, is this the 'turn your head and cough' part? I'm not against that, but I'd rather share a couple of martinis with you during."

Studying him for a moment, Jean took off her stethoscope and set it on the counter. "Sorry, I'm not interested. You seem...charming. But I've had my share of bad boys to last a lifetime. And I get the sense that you don't exactly walk on the side of...." She furrowed a brow as the euphemism sparked a memory she didn't want.

"Anyway, yes. It's the turn your head and cough part."

"Doc, I think you're reading a little too much into this. Also, bad boy is a new one for me. I think I need to own more leather to make that work." Kevin held up his hands. "I'm teasing you because it's what I do. I'm a little too old to think that I can charm my doctor into a tumble on the medical bed during an exam."

"I'm sure you wouldn't have been too bothered if I had said yes to the martinis, though. Leather is too cliche anyway. Expensive tailored suits are the current uniform," Jean said.

She smiled.

"Now, shall we continue?"

"True, but that's because I know the where and the how for damn fine martinis." Kevin grinned. "Alright, Doc. I'm literally in your hands right now."

"I'm sure you do," Jean said. She adjusted her gloves."Alright, let's begin."

"After you." Kevin said, waiting.

About 15 minutes later, Jean slipped off her gloves, tossing them in the trash. "Now we're finished," she said. She smiled.

"You should have the results in a day or two. Until then you're free to go."

"Well, Doctor, I feel we've had a moment." Kevin said, pulling on his clothes. "If you wanted to talk about my mutation, I spend a lot of time in the city. Would you like to meet for dinner? No strings or expectations. Just dinner."

Jean stared at him a moment. He's not Warren. She took off her glasses. "How about just lunch?" she said.

"There's a place I've been wanting to try that only has breakfast and lunch service."

"As long as it's in the city. Trying to get back into Westchester in the middle of the day is on my list of 'nos'."

"It's close to the Public Library. If it's as good as they claim I plan on making it one of my stops before I usually go read in Bryant Park," Jean said with a smile.

"I used to know the best chess shark in Bryant Park. Died a couple of years ago, I heard. Never saw him lose a game."

Taking a seat, Jean laughed. "Was he a mutant? Seems pretty lucky." She finished up some of her notes, then turned off the ipad.

"I enjoy a game of chess myself. Haven't done it as often lately. Perhaps I should start again." Charles was the one who taught her. Her last game was with a young girl who she had managed to smuggle out of Madripoor along with her family. She was surprisingly good. And she knew it.

"He was just very good. And willing to cheat the clock when needed. I'm told I play a good game myself."

Jean smirked. "Do you? Do you take after the chess shark school of time management? Figure I'd like to know so we'd be on equal playing ground."

"Ah, you know better than that. Half the fun of chess is figuring out the player from the plays. No sneak peeks, Doctor Grey."