Madelyn and Jubilee; Madelyn and Kurt - Sunday morning

[x-madelyn.livejournal.com]

Once the dust settled, Jubilee comes to visit to make sure for herself Madelyn's all right. She's not precisely, but they still manage to sort things out, including the awkward task of showering when you've recently been thrown into a wall.



Madelyn would have liked to have slept longer, only the painkillers and sedatives wore off at pretty much the same time, and she was awakened by the gradually increasing pain. Most of it was in the shoulder, but her back and right side were chiming in quite cheerfully, with whole new adventures in whiplash making themselves felt. For a while it was all she could do to lie there and whimper under her breath. Then, with a grunt, she pushed herself upright and swung her legs over the side of the bed, sitting there and catching her breath. She was still wearing the dirty, blood stained combat pants and her sweaty sports bra, and she thought longingly of the shower. Now, just to get there and get undressed. She was pondering this dilemma when there was a knock on the door.

"It's Jubilee!" Jubilee replied as she heard Madelyn query as to the owner of the knock. After a moment, and hearing an affirmative to enter, she opened the door and peered in. She'd been snagged by one of the Medlab helper's last night to escort people upstairs and hadn't really had a chance to do anything but see that Madelyn and Hank were alive last night. So she was taking the chance now before things got crazy again to go check on Madelyn properly.

From her friend's appearance, it appeared that she'd fallen into bed without taking off any of her clothes from the day before. Jubilee wondered if it said something about her that it wasn't so much the blood stains that bothered her, then that they might be Madelyn's blood.

"You got hurt." Jubilee said, blurting out her first thought before shaking her head and walking toward Madelyn. "Let me help." she finished, as she noticed Madelyn's rather wobbly stance.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Madelyn hastened to assure her, although with one arm taped against her body to keep the shoulder still and her pale skin mottled with bruises, it looked bad enough. As Jubilee reached her, she wrapped her good arm tightly around the girl, not for physical support, but for the emotional. "So good to see you again, firecracker," she murmured, resting her chin on the top of Jubilee's head - she forgot sometimes how much shorter Jubilee was. Must be the large personality.

Jubilee took a moment to hug her back, while still being careful not to hug too hard, guessing that the bruising might be other places then she could see. She'd been so worried, and it felt good just to hold Madelyn for a moment, a physical reminder that she was alive and that she had come back safely. "You came back, just like you promised. I knew you would." She replied, ignoring completely the entire night previous that she'd spent imagining grim images of what might happen.

Madelyn was home, and she was safe and everything would be okay now. Jubilee would make sure of it.

Her eyes burned at the thought of so many who hadn't. She'd have to get onto the computer later, check the reports, find out just how many, but for now she just wanted to focus on the fact she was home. "It's rude to not keep your promises," she said with a small, wobbly laugh, loosening her grip just a little before she squeezed Jubilee to death.

Jubilee held her for a moment more before stepping back firmly and surveying the damage. She'd had experience with broken arms and Madelyn had hers strapped across her chest currently. But not a cast, so maybe something more then a break? Her brow furrowed slightly in a worried expression as she ducked behind Madelyn quickly, wanting to get a look at her back. A gasp escaped her at the extent of the bruising she saw there. It looked like she'd gone ten rounds with a heavy weight boxer. Pushing down the tears she reached forward, brushing her hands lightly over a bruise. "What happened?" she asked.

"I got thrown into a wall," Madelyn said, knowing Jubilee wouldn't want her to sugarcoat it for her. "Kurt and I went out after Sam since no-one else could reach him, and while Kurt 'ported him back, I hid in a building nearby. Not well enough, apparently. Think I need to brush up on my hide-and-seek skills with Miles, what do you think?" She hid the wince at Jubilee's touch - everything felt tender this morning. "I dislocated my shoulder as well - Kurt put it back in, but there's some light surgery needed on the tendons, and I can't actually move it that well." She turned so she could look Jubilee in the eye and shield her from the worst of the injury. "I was just contemplating a shower and getting dressed, only I think I'm going to need some help. Are you up for that, kiddo? Being my private nurse?"

Jubilee smiled through the worry currently curling in her gut. She knew Madelyn would be okay, she was home at the mansion, wasn't she? The other doctors would make sure she was okay. But, it didn't stop the worry, or make her wish any less that she'd been there to help. Maybe if she had been, Madelyn wouldn't have been hurt. She ignored the small voice in her head asking her how she'd have helped. She would have if she'd been there and that was all there was to it.

"Sure, Mads. How bout you just lean on me then?" Jubilee replied, ducking under Madelyn's good arm.

She didn't need quite that much help, but she wasn't going to argue, especially since she was kind of needing the contact just then. With Jubilee's help she shuffled into the bathroom, Jubilee turning on the shower whilst Madelyn steeled herself for Operation: Get Clean. At some point in time her boots had vanished, but at least that meant she didn't have to take those off too. "Leave the arm for now," she told Jubilee. "It's easier if I don't unstrap it yet, and we're going to have to cut the bra off later anyway. Just help me with the pants?"

"Sure." Jubilee replied, she knew she was probably being a bit of a mother hen but the chance to be doing something to help for someone she cared about, rather then just standing around wringing her hands was irresistible at this point. Purpose was infinitely better then doing nothing. She reached down and quickly undid the button to Madelyn's pants, trying to make her movements as professional as possible. She quickly controlled the wince when she saw the further bruising on Madelyn's legs.

Madelyn braced her good hand on the wall as Jubilee pulled the pants off, first one foot clear, then the other. "Leave the rest for now," she said - she could shower in underwear just as easily. Stepping into the shower, she hissed at the first touch of water on her back, but after the initial shock, it felt wonderful. "Can you help wash my hair?" she asked, before Jubilee could disappear. "I can get it wet and rinse it out all right, but I can't shampoo it. And it's full of God knows what." Certainly the water running down her legs onto the bottom of the shower stall was grey-looking.

Jubilee nodded, reaching out for the shampoo and gesturing for Madelyn to turn around. She could always change into dry clothes later - she had in fact kept some clothing here from the last time she'd stayed with Mads. She hadn't been able to help the slightly uncomfortable feeling as she'd helped Madelyn out of her pants. It wasn't that she'd never helped anyone take a shower before, she'd done that for Amanda, after all. And it wasn't that she was uncomfortable with helping Madelyn out. If Mads needed her help, she'd give it without question.

It was just that this was different; Madelyn wasn't drunk. It was easier when someone was completely out of it, there wasn't the need to be 'understanding of people's modesty and feelings'. You just yanked everything off, pushed them into the shower and got them clean. "So, you want the mint smelling one, or the stuff that makes your hair all foomphy?" Jubilee asked, trying to inject a little humor into the situation.

"Mint please. The foomph will devour us all," was Madelyn's dry reply. She could sense Jubilee's discomfort, and didn't dally in the shower, as much as she wanted to. Letting the water rinse the shampoo from hair, she turned off the faucet and waved an arm vaguely towel-wards. "There. No more stinky me - I think the school at large will be glad for that. Can you go into my closet and grab my sweats and that flannel shirt? The one that used to be blue at one time?" she asked as Jubilee dried off her hair. She could manage the rest of the drying easily enough, and it would save her any more awkwardness.

Jubilee nodded, giving Madelyn's hair one last rub before relinquishing the towel and moving out of the room. She headed towards the closet, feeling somewhat guilty that she wasn't dealing with this as well as she should be. She felt like the biggest wuss in the world. Despite the fact that she knew Madelyn was fine, the sight of her all bruised and battered made Jubilee want to cry and she just couldn't right now. It'd make Madelyn feel even worse if she saw Jubilee blubbering like some huge baby, and wasn't she supposed to be the tough one? Where the hell was the girl who'd survived on her own for so long?

Closing the door behind Jubilee, Madelyn set about the slightly awkward task of drying herself off, before addressing the wet underwear situation. There was a pair of scissors in the bathroom cabinet - with a feeling of vague annoyance she hacked through the straps of the bra. It had been one of her favourites, too. Underwear was easier, there being the clean emergency pair in the drawer. By the time Jubilee tapped hesitantly on the door, she was dry and had the towel wrapped loosely around her shoulder.

"Ah, the comfort clothes," she said with a smile as she opened the door. "About as far from body armour as you can get, and believe me, I'm glad of that. Kevlar, as much as I'm grateful to it right now, is heavy." She was keeping it deliberately light, she knew, but Jubilee was holding on by a thread and in a way it made Madelyn feel better if she had someone else's feelings to focus on. "There's a packet of painkillers on my bedside table - be an angel and get them for me?"

Jubilee wandered back into Madelyn's room, picking up the packet of pills and then walking back to the kitchen to pick up a glass and fill it with water. One action at a time and something to do seemed to be pushing things back into perspective. She offered the pills to Madelyn before holding the glass of water for her to drink from. Things were going to be difficult for her using only one arm. It was up to Jubilee to make sure they didn't become impossible. She was already planning what clothes to bring down from her room, there was no way she was going to stay anywhere but here till Madelyn was better, that was for sure. Well, if Mads was okay with that, anyhow. She grinned suddenly - guess she was getting a hang of that 'other people's feelings' stuff after all.

Madelyn had gotten the shirt on (well, draped over the bad arm, but it was on) and at least the crucial buttons done up before Jubilee came back. Taking the pills, she swallowed them before taking the water to finish the job. "You have planning face," she said with a grin, taking in Jubilee's sudden brightening with a smile. "Care to share?"

"Wondering how I can get you to let me stay here till I know you're better without seemin' like a mother hen or makin' you think I think you can't take care of yourself." Jubilee replied with a smile, Madelyn was someone she'd always be honest with, even if others might consider it simply blunt or rude.

She was one of the few people Jubilee thought might recognise the difference, or at least that Jubilee herself meant there to be a difference.

"Well," Madelyn began, putting down the water glass on the sink and handing Jubilee her hairbrush as she made careful shoo-ing gestures with her good hand. "Considering you've had to help me shower and get dressed, and you're about to brush my hair for me..." This last was said with an imploring look and a very slight hint of a pout. "I'd say I'm in need of someone to be my hands, don't you think?"

"Well, then I guess I'm your Girl Friday then." Jubilee replied, as she allowed herself to be shooed into the next room. Waiting for Madelyn to take a seat, she started running the brush lightly through her hair, trying to get the tangles out as gently as she could. . "So, what's the plan for today?"

Madelyn thought - or tried to think through the fuzziness the painkiller was beginning to create. "I'm guessing no-one's really going to be letting me do anything even vaguely resembling work," she said wryly. "And there's no food for me until this afternoon, so I'll have to find something to distract myself, I suppose." She would have given Jubilee an imploring look, except she was facing the wrong way. "How does watching martial arts movies sound?"

"Ooo. Sounds great! Bruce Lee? And I'm totally not biased just cause he happens to have the same last name as me...seriously." Jubilee replied, her tongue sticking slightly out the side of her mouth as she worked on a particularly stubborn tangle.

She didn't want to jostle Madelyn any more then was necessary considering what she'd seen of the bruising on her back.

"Well, I was thinking of something a little more contemporary... have you heard of 'The House Of Flying Daggers'?" Madelyn winced a little as her neck was jarred, but didn't let Jubilee see. "At least until the afternoon - I'll have to go down to medlab for Hank to have his wicked way with me." At Jubilee's snort, she clarified: "I'll need some light surgery on the shoulder to reattach the tendons. Nothing serious."

It was lucky that she'd finally managed to unsnarl the particularly stubborn tangle, else her sudden tight grip on the brush might have alerted Madelyn to the fact that Jubilee didn't handle words like 'surgery' very well, serious or not.

She'd promised herself however that she wouldn't overreact this time, even if it meant going out and running herself ragged a little later in order to work off all the desire to yell at someone. It wasn't Madelyn that she was angry with, more Mistra for simply having existed and needing to be put down. She was angry over the fact that she knew people had died yesterday to do it, people that didn't need to die except they seemed to live in a world where groups like that thought they could play God.

It wasn't fair.

The sudden silence was a giveaway, and Madelyn reached up awkwardly, taking hold of Jubilee's hand and drawing her down beside her before putting her arm around her. "I'm sorry to worry you, kiddo," she said softly. "But I'll be all right. Promise. And it's rude to break promises, remember?"

Jubilee leant into her, sighing softly. "Feel like such a wuss. I mean, you're here, right? Talkin' to me an all. So, don't know why it just keeps gettin' to me seein' ya hurt. But it does, an I keep thinkin' I'm bein' all selfish for letting it get to me. Not me who’s hurtin', ya know?"

"It's not selfish, Jubilee. It gets to you because you care, because it's hard seeing people we care about hurt or in danger." Or killed, she thought with a sudden hitching of breath, thinking of those dead faces again. People she knew and people she didn't. "That's the thing about empathy. You feel bad because someone else does, and that's not selfish at all."

"It's not selfish, Jubilee. It gets to you because you care, because it's hard seeing people we care about hurt or in danger." Or killed, she thought with a sudden hitching of breath, thinking of those dead faces again. People she knew and people she didn't. "That's the thing about empathy. You feel bad because someone else does, and that's not selfish at all."

Jubilee noticed the way Madelyn's voice catching and looked at her in concern. People hadn't come back, she knew that. It wasn't such a leap to think that Madelyn as one of the doctors would have seen her fair share of horrific injuries during the fight. Jubilee turned and hooked both arms around her. "I'm proud of you, ya know." she said, grinning suddenly at the words. Usually it was Madelyn telling her that but Jubilee was indeed proud of her friend. She'd helped to save a whole bunch of people, both the ones in the present and the ones who Mistra would have destroyed in the future.

"Thanks, hon," Madelyn said with a tired smile that didn't quite dispel the sadness. "That means a lot. And you kids did an amazing job while we were gone, from what I saw last night. You should all be proud of yourselves." She pressed a brief kiss to the side of Jubilee's forehead. "Now, how about you go grab your stuff that you'll need for later while I putter around and sort out movies, okay? And you might want to let your roomie know where you'll be."

Jubilee nodded, bouncing up onto her feet from the bed, already listing the things she'd need and what she was going to tell Paige. She'd e-mail her first, and then find her later on to make sure she didn't think Jubilee was skiving off just because she'd been quiet lately. Paige had been somewhat...well, she'd never answered that first e-mail of hers and she hadn't seemed to want to talk much when Jubilee was in the room. Then everything else had happened and she hadn't had a chance to corner her roommate. Perhaps now was the time to simply track her down and have a talk.

Jubilee turned back as she reached the door of the bedroom, waggling a finger at Madelyn. "And no going out, or tryin' to do more work then you should, or I'll tell Lorna to make your waffles from brussel sprouts tomorrow morning."

Madelyn laughed, pulling a face. "Ew, yuck. Anything but that!"

Jubilee winked, before disappearing from the doorway, suddenly breaking into a whistle as she went. People had been injured, and killed but she'd seen the blue sky outside this morning and Mistra was hopefully now gone for good. Surely there was room for happiness in all that, or else what was the sacrifice for?



Once Jubilee leaves, Kurt drops by, wanting to check Madelyn's mostly all right. It becomes apparent that he isn't doing so well, but being Kurt, it's all about everyone else.




Jubilee had left a little while ago with strict instructions not to go anywhere by herself, and for now Madelyn was willing to acquiesce - the experience of having a student help her get cleaned up and dressed was a humbling one, and she was too stiff and sore to argue. Sinking gratefully onto the couch, with so many cushions she felt like Jubilee was trying to pack her in cotton wool, Madelyn sipped her coffee and basked in the sensation of not actually having anything to do immediately. For all of five minutes, and then she began wondering if she wanted to get up and grab her lap top and how frustrating if would be typing one-handed.

Fortunate for her, then, that Kurt chose that moment to knock quietly on the door and offer a distraction from her boredom.

"Come in!" she called, half-expecting it to be Hank, or maybe Jean, come to check on her. She'd go down to the medlab for that later, once the pain killers she'd taken kicked in and she was managing more than an old-lady shuffle. Her tone and face softened as she saw it was Kurt, and she made as if to stand up, stopping at the warning twinge in her shoulder. "Hey, you."

Kurt was also moving more slowly and clumsily than usual, with his rapidly stiffening bruises. "Hello. How are you today?"

"Come and sit - you look about as sore as I feel," she instructed, patting the spot beside her on the couch with her good hand. She observed him intently as he came in and joined her, noting the exhaustion in his face, the visible bruises a darker indigo against his skin, the awkward movements a departure from his usual grace. "I feel like I got thrown into a wall by a very large man," she continued, leaving aside for the moment the whole emotional side of things - she wasn't sure she wanted to go there again. "You? Did you get any sleep at all? You look terrible."

"A little", he answered ruefully. "I had some trouble finding a comfortable way to lie." This, of course, was far from being the whole truth, but two could avoid the emotional side.

"You should have said. One of the doctors - not me, obviously - but one of the others could have given you something. After yesterday, we all needed sleep." Without thinking, she reached over and lay her hand on his forearm, feeling the tension thrumming there. "And how else are you doing?" she asked, knowing what had happened had to be eating him up - he'd always been a much more Godly person than she.

He didn't flinch away, but the tension didn't lessen either. "I am... surviving", he answered quietly, as he had to Scott.

The answer she'd been expecting. Madelyn sighed with sudden frustration. "Kurt," she began, trying not to be too blunt about this. "How many times have I ended up crying on your shoulder now? And how many times have you seen me hurting and given me comfort? It's all right if you don't want to talk to me, but for God's sake, tell someone how you're feeling for once. You're human, you're allowed to not deal with things. So don't give me that 'surviving' crap, okay?"

He looked up at her sharply, then back down with a sigh. "...Very well. I am sure you understand what... I will be going to tea with the Professor very soon."

She nodded. That was good, even if there was a small degree of disappointment that he couldn't confide in her. But that was Kurt, always holding a part of himself aloof. The only time she'd seen a glimpse of anything deeper had been when he'd found out Amanda was his sister. "I'm guessing if anyone catches me working today they'll tie me to the bed," she said, "But there will be reports, lists... I can find out what happened to him, if you like. I know the second gens suffered a lot of psychic trauma from the trigger being activated, but it's possible some of them can be helped."

He looked back at her, and now the facade did slip without immediately falling back into place. "I... Scott offered the same, but anything you can do... thank you."

"Well, between the Captain and I, paperwork trembles in fear. We'll find him," she joked lightly, but didn't let go of his arm. She wanted to tell Kurt there hadn't been a choice, that he'd done the best he could, but she knew he wouldn't hear that now. "One thing I do know for certain... the kids are all safe. Nathan wiped all traces of the conditioning that had already been done." They had done some good, she was trying to tell him.

He nodded, knowing it and finding some comfort in it. "It was what had to be done - the mission, I mean. To end it once and for all."

That was something. She shifted uncomfortably as her back twinged, protesting at the position she was in. With a fretful sigh, she tried to get comfortable, willing the painkillers to kick in any time now, please. She wouldn't be able to take any more until after the surgery. "And that's what we did. Finished it." Thinking of Tim and Mick, her face clouded. Yes, they'd finished it, but the people who should be here to see it weren't. Not wanting Kurt to feel obliged to comfort her when he was so obviously not coping himself, she blinked away the sudden dampness in her eyes. "Have you eaten? I don't think it's possible for any of us to set foot outside our rooms without one of the kids pouncing on us with a plate of something."

He grinned faintly, wryly, and reached over to cover the hand on his arm with his own. "Yes. As you say, the children seem to have made looking after us for a change their personal project."

"Jubilee was here earlier, fussing, and I'm glad she was. Getting dressed this morning was so not happening on my own." She chuckled a little, glad the change in topic had been allowed. She'd deal with the grief, she knew that, but right now it was too raw, too close, and she still had that feeling of being an interloper in a greater drama. Alison and Nathan would need support more than she would, and she wouldn't detract from that. "And she wagged her finger at me and told me I wasn't to go anywhere without letting her know."

"It helps them to feel there is something they can do, I think", Kurt said softly. "The waiting cannot have been easy on them, while we were gone."

"It never is," Madelyn replied. When he gave her a questioning look, she reminded him. "I spend quite a bit of time myself waiting for the people I care about to get back from a dangerous mission, remember? And after this, will probably be doing that a lot more. Especially with Jean back. Once she's got control of her powers again, she'll be the secondary field medic, not me." Before Kurt could say it, she went on, hurriedly. "And it's as it should be. She has powers, I don't. If I had, well maybe I would have been able to do more than get myself hurt." There was a faint tinge of bitterness, aimed solely at herself. If she'd had powers, she might have been able to be there at the end to help. Maybe things would have turned out differently if it had been Jean in her place.

"You did good work, yesterday", Kurt tried to reassure her. "As good as any of us, with or without powers. I do not think you will be so easily supplanted."

Madelyn went to stretch, winced, and grinned wryly. "Right now, there are bits of me that would be quite happy with the supplanting."