Jean and Gabriel: Saturday Evening (Backdated)

[x-jeangrey.livejournal.com]

Jean goes to check on Gabriel after the events that transpired with Simon Williams and X-Force.


Gabriel had gotten carried away. Sitting on the couch, staring at the sheer amount of food left on his coffee table, he knew that now.

About half of a thin-crust mushroom pizza sat, the grease still visible on its surface. A barely-touched box of breadsticks sat precariously on the far edge, separated from his Diet Coke by a half-finished large order of buffalo wings. When he'd woken up, he'd been ravenous, and he let his stomach be his guide. And he was going to have to make up for that at the gym, once the food coma subsided.

He stood, letting out a grunt before he started closing the boxes in front of him. Harold and Maude was on his TV, and he whistled along with the Cat Stevens soundtrack as he moved the food to his fridge.

Three clear knocks sounded at his door. Jean had a habit of checking on her patients after treating them. And, living at the mansion, this made the checking infinitely easier.

"Gabriel? It's Jean."

"Oh, uh..." Gabriel looked up from the sink and turned his head toward the door. "One sec." As hot water ran out of the faucet, he glanced at the chaos that was his suite. Dirty clothes on the floor, pizza crusts on the table... and Jean at the door. "One second."

The door swung into the room less than a minute later, opening on a neat (but not exactly pristine) living room. Gabriel stood at the sink washing his hands, sweat dotting his forehead. "Hey," he called to her, looking as casual as anyone who used their powers to look like they effortlessly opened a door could look. "Come on in."

Jean stared at the shimmer of sweat a moment but said nothing, a light smile forming on her lips as she walked past him with a slight hobble. She no longer needed the crutches, which she was happy about, but a tiny ache still lingered that was getting better and better everyday. Pretty soon she'd be completely back to normal.

"I just stopped by to see how you were feeling."

"Course you did." Gabriel turned the faucet off and ripped a paper towel off the roll. He began drying his hands and moved back toward the couch. "Can I get you a water or anything?" He stopped. "Pizza maybe?" He added, sounding maybe a little hopeful.

Slightly surprised, Jean nodded, her amused smile turning into a more genuine one. "Sure, both'd be great. I just got off my shift so I haven't eaten yet. Pizza sounds fantastic," she said with a shrug.

Glancing around, she pondered where to sit and found a spot in a nearby chair.

"So...how are you?" All she knew was whatever mission X-Force had went on also left Wanda locked up in her room for a week so it wasn't exactly a joyous occasion.

"Oh, I'm okay." Gabriel pivoted on his heel and doubled back to the fridge. "I mean, sleep and painkillers. Like I said, I know what my body needs sometimes." He stood on his tiptoes to grab a paper plate from a cabinet, then went to retrieve the pizza box. The bottom of the box still felt a bit warm, so he didn't bother with the microwave. "Just a weird few days, I guess."

Jean watched him as he worked in the kitchen. "Yep. Mission days usually are," she said, reaching up to tug her hair out of the ponytail it was in. Now that she was no longer working it felt nice to not have her hair pulled back.

"Was it your first? I don't remember seeing you on the roster prior to this."

"There's a roster?" Gabriel, returning with the box in both hands and the paper plate resting atop it, raised an eyebrow. "That seems kinda..." He set the box on the coffee table and handed the plate to Jean. "I dunno." He shrugged as he sat on the couch. "Not covert."

"Thanks," Jean said, folding the pizza in half to take a bite. She laughed.

"It's not like it's put in a book on the coffee table for everyone to read, but yeah. The details of missions and other information gets kept confidential between teams but general member rosters are known just in case something goes wrong or people need to work with each other. The X-Men worked together with X-Factor a couple of days ago on a mission, for example."

"Oh." Gabriel reached forward to snag his can of Diet Coke off the table. "Well..." He looked up at her, a little sheepish. "Yeah, I mean... I sort of helped them with a thing because Wade asked me, and then it kind of led to... job stuff, I guess?"

Jean smiled, tearing off a bit of pizza to stuff in her mouth. This was Fat Tony's Pizza and she could've probably had three more slices if she didn't want to be wheeled out in a wheelbarrow.

"Permanent job stuff? That's good, right?" He seemed embarrassed and she didn't know why.

"Y'know, except for the whole, oh-my-God-everything-hurts-and-I-want-to-sleep-for-a-week that comes afterward."

"Hoping that's a one-time thing, frankly. But the rest of it's not." Gabriel shifted in his chair, watching her bite into the pizza. He glanced at the box, weighing the pros and cons of another slice. "I mean, you know, for now. We'll see how things go. Dunno if it's gonna turn out to be the right thing for me."

After a couple more nibbles all that was left was the crust, and Jean was the type to eat that as well so she took to polishing it off.

"Yeah, spywork is a heavy thing, from what I hear," Jean said, remembering her conversations with Kevin.

"I don't think anyone would fault you if you decided to back out. But at least you'll know from trying."

"I guess." Gabriel gave in, leaning forward to grab one of the smaller pieces of pizza from the box. "I'm just not - I mean, the whole thing is weird. And different, and like, an office job?" He wrinkled his nose and made a face.

Seeing Gabriel get a slice was the tipping point for Jean and she was compelled to snag another. Maybe if she stopped at two it'd satisfy the craving. Heh. Maybe.

She laughed. "Typing up reports and filing....definitely not what comes to mind when you imagine James Bond, huh?" she said after swallowing a mouthful of pizza.

"But I get the feeling that's not what you mean by weird and different."

"No," Gabriel eyed her, bristling slightly from over the food. "I mean, it's weird for me to go to an office every day. Or the 3 days a week that I really go, and then to do..." He waved a hand idly in the air. "I don't even know what we do. That's weird too."

"Yeah," Jean said, pausing to examine the pepperoni on her pizza as if it had insight.

"Have you talked to Wade about what your role would be if you did decide to join full time? I mean....I don't mean to pry but....are you okay with potentially having to kill someone if it came down to it?"

She knew what X-Force did, or at least what Kevin and Wade did. And while she herself could never do that, she could try to respect it. But Gabriel seemed to be a fish out of water when it came to that sort of thing. She didn't want him to become more than just potentially physically scarred.

"That's not going to come up," Gabriel said pretty matter-of-factly, his face more serious than usual, even for the last few months. "I'm not — they know I don't do that."

Studying him carefully, Jean nodded. "Okay," she said non-judgmentally, then turned back to her pizza and took another bite. After a moment she glanced up to the TV.

"I didn't know you were a classic movie fan."

"I'm not shooting anyone, Jean," Gabriel said again, a note of irritation creeping into his voice. He hated how judged he often felt by her, even though he knew he was mostly projecting most of that judgment onto himself. It was just so weird to be confronted by the second-chance version of the queen of second-chances. It wasn't fair to this Jean, but seeing her just made him feel like he wasn't living a life worthy of the sacrifice the other Jean had made.

Maybe he wasn't as okay as he thought.

"I don't..." His voice softened, and he stared at the TV, watching Harold shoot himself in the forehead. "I mean, I have a line. Life has to mean something."

Jean watched the screen for a few moments as well, "Maybe it does," she said, then glanced over. "And maybe you just haven't figured out what it means for you yet."

She shook her head "That's not a bad thing. You've still got time. Like you said, you're seeing how things go, right? I know the feeling."

"Yeah," Gabriel responded, looking over at her. It wasn't totally what he was talking about, but she had a point. "I mean, my whole life is seeing how things go. Not really a planner. But that got me this far without too many hitches, so..."

Jean laughed. "I dunno, I like planning things. Gives me a sense of control. But I've seen how some people prefer the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants style. I don't quite know how you guys manage it...or rather...don't manage it," she mused with a smirk.

"Anyway, whatever you decide I'm sure they'll support you."

She smiled. "And there's always the X-Men if you're interested. Not that I'm tooting my own horn....okay maybe a little."

"Yeah, maybe." Gabriel grinned. He shook his head and took another sip of his soda. "And how's that working out for you, Crutches McGee?"

Jean shot him a look at the nickname before taking a couple of moments to chew her pizza thoughtfully. "I've technically only had the one mission which was a total cluster....but I like the idea of the X-Men. Feels like....somewhere I should be."

"I can see that," Gabriel said between bites. "Like," he added after he swallowed, "they're all do-good types, and you're a do-good type. It works."

Letting out a laugh, Jean grabbed a napkin to dab at her mouth. "Thanks. I...get that a lot," she mused with a tiny note of ambivalence that was mostly favorable.

"Luckily we haven't been needed that much lately for the stopping terrorism part. Makes it easier to work and do the occasional student pick up...and boy there have been a lot lately."

She paused.

"God I hope I didn't just jinx myself."

"You probably did," Gabriel said matter-of-factly. "Been here long enough to know how that kind of statement works against you. Better find an underground bunker and lock yourself in before it's too late." He caught sight of a mushroom that had fallen on the couch, and he popped it into his mouth. "Don't worry. We'll send wine."

"If I'm jinxed then the underground bunker is probably already occupied by a vampire or mole person so I think nowhere is safe. Best to just give me the wine now so at least I can meet my fate while completely blitzed and not giving a shit," Jean said with a grin.

"That's the spirit," Gabriel grinned back. "Go out with a bang, not a whimper, or whatever that saying is. Is there a saying? I feel like there's a saying."

Jean squinted thoughtfully. "I think that pretty much covered it," she said, laughing. She rested her chin in her hand.

"God, I want wine now. Thanks."

"For that," Gabriel clasped his hands together and stretched them above his head, "you'll have to go somewhere else, I'm afraid." He glanced behind him at the kitchen. "My stores are a bit bare this week." He looked over at her, an eyebrow raised. "Don't look so surprised."

Jean let out a sigh, leaning back against the chair. "Eh, I can't have any anyway. I'm still on painkillers. A very small amount, but I want to make sure my liver stays intact."

She glanced over. "I'm guessing you haven't made it to work either?"

She was met with a snort. "I disappeared for three days without calling," Gabriel pointed out. "Boss isn't happy. Took my shifts away this week."

"But you're not fired, which is a good thing. Did you tell him you got in a car accident? I would've tried that for my job after the Attica mission but burns aren't generally part of that. It's gets hard to come up with excuses, especially after getting injured in so many months. I've managed to convince my boss that I'm part of a form of doctors without borders but even then it borders on hard to believe."

"Nice," Gabriel nodded in approval. "You're probably getting all kinds of doctor experience. Bet you can make that convincing. Ask Reyes for tips."

Jean laughed at just how right he was. "Good idea. The head administrator knows Charles but the rest of the staff are starting to get weird," she said.

"Anyway, if you need a doctor's note I'd be glad to come up with something."

"I think I'll just wing it." The movie went to commercial, and he looked back at Jean with a smile. "But thanks."