Summary:Jean and Scott are in for a real surprise. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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For some reason (meaning she's just yet to feel like she's ready to share it), Jean is back at the school this week. It doesn't quite add up, since she already had spring break. And while she's close to graduation, she hasn't graduated yet. Just a few more weeks. But she was in the city over the weekend, and then she was back at school and needing a room for the week. Ostensibly, she's just taking some time to work on some final papers, but those who know her well can probably tell she's got something else going on too.
After a day in the library working on said papers, she's headed out to the dock by the lake for a few minutes to quiet time, leaning against one of the pylons and letting her feet swing out over the water as she watches the sun start to set.
Of course, Scott wasn't going to not notice Jean lurking about the mansion after her break ended. But, she also hasn't come forward to mention anything amiss to him, either, and so while he's been suspicious of it, he's been giving her space. Space and time. It might just be working on papers, but she could have done that in the city. All things considered, he'd think it might even be preferable for her right now, with how strongly she feels about finding her place in a world outside of these walls. It seems so counter-productive to cloister yourself within them when the end goal of theoretical liberation is in sight.
And yet, she's here. Or well, there. Standing out on the dock. It doesn't take long for shadow of the tall, slender mutant to appear himself. The warming weather allows him to get away with a denim jacket and flannel shirt combo, and in between each of his fingers in one hand dangles a dark brown bottle of hard cider.
"So, uh…" His deep voice is quiet as he speaks, giving one quick glance around, before continuing. "…You wanna, I dunno… talk about it?"
Well, Psylocke gave Nate an address and a phone number. He's only gonna use the former. Past the gates and around the building. Likely looking for a way in that wouldn't set off just about every single kind of alarm in the place, but then his eyes see Scott and Jean. He wears a leather jacket, leather pants, and leather boots. Gotta love that post-apocalyptic life. He notices Scot and Jean, and he seems to pause immediately.
Its his parents.
Or more specifically, his genetic code. Oooohh boy. This could cause some serious kinds of time altering mayhem, unless multiverse theory is actually true.
He takes a deep breath, and slowly approaches. He's gonna have to face this eventually. Might as well get it over with now.
While the potential lovebirds meet to discuss the current troubles in their lives, another potential problem is just arriving in the sky far above.
Rachel, the Phoenix, focuses her energy to work through the various ripples in time leading back to this particular moment. There's a taste of ions in the air. Just this side of electric like a oncoming storm beginning to form. Then with a final rending of space-time the Phoenix appears tinting the sky a flaming orange-red that can easily be explained away as a whispy cloud catching the sunlight just so.
Rachel takes a deep breath hovering there in the air. Something was wrong. Something was out of place. Something… The Phoenix Force informs her all at once of the hazards of time travel. She just *knows* in the blink of an eye: There can only be one Phoenix Force in the universe at a time, and one already existed here though far away. If her own were to live in any way it would have to join the other, immediately, before it snuffs out of existance entirely.
The exchange and goodbye is instantaneous. That orange burst in the sky grows brighter till it could be mistaken for a second sun as it explodes out of the atmosphere racing for the source of this timeline.
For the first time since her birth Rachel is left alone in her body. Way, way too far in the air, feeling suddenly weak and empty and dizzy for breath as gravity takes hold of her sending her into a freefall toward the lake Jean and Scott and Nate are by.
Jean tilts her head back to see who's coming as she feels footsteps on the dock. Not that she can't check in others ways, but people prefer it when you don't look like you're just guessing it's them. She smiles faintly when she sees Scott, scooting over enough to make room for him next to her. "I mean. No?" The smile deepens slightly, rueful. "I sort of did the Hod thing without you, because you were busy. And it sort of went sideways, because things were not great when we got there, and then Thoth showed up exactly long enough to apparently magically brand us oathbreakers, which apparently means that anything that sees and lives in magic-world will see me as fair game for turning me into a skinsuit or something, so, uh…"
Hey, look, what's that in the sky? It's a bird! It's a flame! It's a falling Phoenix!
It's also a very handy distraction.
Enough even that it distracts Jean from the arrival of an unfamiliar mind in the form of Nate. "Scott, you see that, right?" she asks, starting to stand up and reaching out a hand to try to slow Rachel's fall.
Scott is just lifting his hand and holding out a beer when he notices movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning his ruby red, reflective lenses directly on the leather clad biker bro, he quirks one brow. He opens his mouth to speak when Jean turns to greet him. While his shoulders instinctively hunch upwards as tension builds, he snaps his mouth shut when Jean turns and addresses him. Maybe Jean had brought this guy, as she had that other guy. Logan, or whatever. With that streak of grey hair, it does seem like Jean might be getting a taste for creepy old dudes who rock out like they're stuck in the ideas of cool that existed in the hair metal days.
"You… why did you do that, Jean?" Scott asks, almost immediately even forgetting the potential for Jean's daddy issues for the moment as his mind rushes to think of… what? Some magic God thing branded Jean in some way. Magic. Maybe Zee might know a way to lift that curse?
"You should have just told me. I'd hav—"
His attention is drawn upwards, though, at the flash of fiery light, and the subsequent falling shadow. Even behind the shades, he squints his eyes against the dying light of the sun, to make out the smoldering figure hurtling to the earth.
"What the…"
Nate pauses as he senses a temporal disturbance. "what the he-" he looks up at the point of entry to see Rachel falling from the sky! "Oh damn." he looks at Scott and Jean, and he knows he could do it faster. In a spur of the moment action, Nate takes flight into the sky, zooming past Scott and Jean towards the falling woman.
He hopes to catch her in his arms, unless Jean catches her first. After all, it wouldn't do to have random time travelers falling into lakes.
Cough.
But, Nate also realizes he's revealing his secret to Scott and Jean and well, at the moment, it can't be helped. Nate just inherited their heroism, certainly.
Rachel Summers is dimly aware she's falling and instinctively reaches for that empty hole where power once was shared with her. It causes her green eyes to scrunch shut with a soft wail of it's absence that she would properly mourn later. It felt as if part of herself had been cut off entirely and she was left numb.
Thank god her instincts were still intact. The feel of that telekenetic damper on her fall causes her to twist in the air seeking to regain her composure, balance, and ability to not be a pancake in three seconds. Before she can properly do anything though Nate has grabbed her safely.
Like an injured animal her mind lashes out, only just drawn short of causing damage, as she seeks to find out WHO had grabbed her. It all felt raw and numb so she gentles her mental probe to figure out what the heck was happening now just reaching out mentally to brush Nate's mind.
Rachel's eyes snap open again to stare at him wordlessly. At least she's not flailing or fighting.
"Like I said, you were busy," Jean absently responds to Scott, lowering her hand and blinking as someone else bursts into the air. Setting her hands to her hips, she tilts her head and waits for the pair to make it to ground.
"I'm going to go out on a limb and guess this isn't some sort of exercise with you students?" she quirks a brow at Scott. Whoever they are, she doesn't recognize either of them. But then, she's not here all the time. No telling what the students might be getting up to.
Scott is uncertain of what to do, but he's not about to see someone get killed on his watch. Maybe if he can just ease the force of his eyebeams, hit with them weak and increase the pressure until he can slow their descent… It's a ridiculous plan, but with Jean's help it just might…
Well.
Mad Max over there comes flying to the rescue, and Scott is left just sort of standing there on the dock with his hands held awkwardly in front of his body because he was about to jump into action but was abruptly cut short by heroics.
"…I thought he was with you," Scott mutters in response to Jean. But, if Jean doesn't know either of them, that means that neither of them are supposed to even be here. Which means that they may just be a threat. Instantly, Scott's spine straightens and his shoulders square up. He steps forward, in front of Jean, and just drops the bottles that were still clutched in his hand.
"Not ours. And if they're not yours, then they're really not supposed to be here."
Lifting one hand, Scott shouts out to the flying pair, "HEY! I don't know who you are, but…."
But what, Scott?
"GET OFF MY LAWN!!!"
Nate looks over at Scott as he yells. "Can it old man! I'm busy!" yep, classical father and son thing, clearly. But then he feels the touch of Rachel's mind and his, and his eyes are equally wide. He slowly descends, taking his time as he looks at Rachel in absolute shock. He speaks to her on a telepathic level.
<Holy shit..you…your..like me? You came back in time like I did? Not to mention your…my..»
«Sister?»
Nate was in disbelief, but eventually, his feet would touch the ground..and perhaps wordlessly, he'd set Rachel down. Thats uh…quite the shock.
"What are you, seventy?" Get off your lawn. FTT. Rachel is equally distracted as the same revealtions come to her about Nate. This was unexpected to say the least. Perhaps the Phoenix had tried to deposit her somewhere that it felt was safe; near family. Whatever form it might take.
Yeah. Had to come back… You're… hah. Who are they? Maybe we should talk later about…
Rachel's gaze tears away from Nate as she's set on her feet, hand reaching up to rub the side of her head. She looks just a bit wobbly as her gaze lifts to stare at Jean. And Scott.
We are so fucked. Do they know?
Even as she reaches out to mentally speak with Nate she tries to slam up her mental shields against other probing. With a light clearing of her throat she speaks, "I wasn't really aiming for here just kind of happened. … Where am I?"
"Oh my god, you didn't just say that." Jean scrubs a hand over her face as Scott calls out to the pair, thumping a fist at his shoulder. "Let's just…maybe try something a little less…" She coughs back a laugh as Rachel and Nate both snark back. "I mean. You can't blame them for that."
Stepping out from behind Scott, she raises a hand toward the pair. "Hey, sorry. It's just that this is sort of private property, and the parents who send their kids here can get a little touchy about security." She starts to reach out with her mind, but her brows rise as she finds shields in place.
"They've got shields," she asides to Scott in a lower voice.
"What? It's a metaphorical… you know what, nevermind that. We've got bigger problems here…" Scott asides to Jean, before his attention snaps back to Nate with a glare that could literally kill, were he to take off those glasses. Did he just call him "old man"? He. Called. Scott. Old. Man???
"Easy there, Motley Crue, I'm not the one who's flying around looking like the before picture on a Just For Men ad!" Scott calls back out, vehemently. He's still on edge. Unsure of what is happening and why someone might be practically invading their backyard. Are they Brotherhood? Hellfire remnants? Humanoid sentinels? Okay. Too much personality for Sentinels.
As they touch down, Scott steps forward authoritively, with one hand raised to the side frame of his specs, ready and willing to pull them off given a moment's notice. His other hand reaches out, palm open and facing the pair of strangers, as if warding them to remain calm and stand down. Jean's warning about shields only adds to his alarm.
"Like she said. This is private property. A school. So… we'll be asking the questions here. Who are you?"
Then, he looks… really looks at Rachel, at the very least. And he's taken aback. He actually physically recoils for a moment. She looks just like Jean, doesn't she? Almost a spitting image. Could be a clone…
Naaaaaaaaah.
Nate looks at Rachel. «No, I was going to tell them…like, soon. Think they should know the truth?» He rubs the back of his neck. Though he does look at Scott as he seems to look vehement at…strangers. Though Nate blinks. "The Hell is 'Just for Men'?" Nate's from a future where that is long gone. You can only imagine the wonders it has never done for him in terms of personal hygiene.
Then he looks at Jean. "Its fine, we understand. I'm here because Betsy Braddock sent me. Heard this place was a haven for uh…gifted people. Did I get false information?" of course, he doesn't speak for Rachel. because uh..he doesn't have an excuse that would let her slide.
He looks at Scott. Ugh. does Nate REALLY want to tell him.
Rachel Summers glances between her parents. Her young parents. It only takes a moment for her to realize she looks very much like this younger Jean Grey which meant… She might not have the luxury of not telling them. Really she hadn't even considered what she would do if she ran into them when coming from the future. There would be time to figure that out, she'd imagined. Sucks to be her.
A deeper breath is drawn, and released as she steps away from Nate to give him some space as he explains about Betsy Braddock and the school.
Wasn't planning on telling them but… I may not have a choice. I didn't realize how much I looked like mom. If you want to keep secret I'll cover, but I think I'm going to have to.
Swallowing a single time her gaze sweeps back to Jean with a light shake of her head. "I wasn't trying to come here. I was sent here by a friend. Just 'somewhere safe.'" Sadness fills her when her eyes sweep up to the sky again where she'd come. Where the firebird had appeared at first. "A one way trip."
Luckily for Rachel, Jean doesn't spend too much time in front of a mirror. And besides, physical similarities aren't her first concern at the moment. "Betsy," she echoes Nate, looking to Scott with a slight nod before she turns back to the others. "So, did she forget to mention where the front gate was?"
There's a faint, wry cast to her smile, but she does set a hand to Scott's arm. "Okay. Let's all…take a second here. First of all, you fell out of the sky," she notes to Rachel, in case she wasn't aware of that. "Are you okay?" How and why can come after that.
"The hell do you mean what is Just For Men? You live under a rock or something?" Scott asks, half turning his entire upper body to look back at Jean, while cocking his thumb in Nate's direction. "This guy…"
Turning back to face the strangely familiar looking pair… because Nate isn't exactly unfamiliar himself, now that Scott's taking a good look at him…
"Alright. Friend of Betsy. And… safet friend… Uh…" With Jean's assurance in the form of a hand on his arm, Scott does his best to relax, rolling out one shoulder, and sort of cricking his neck to one side, before licking his lips and releasing a sighing breath. "Yeah. So… Are you? Okay, that is. And.. do you kids got names? Because you're about ten seconds away from permanently being known as Skunk Boy and…"
He points at Rachel, staring intently for a moment, with his finger slightly bobbing in the air. "… Fireball."
Nate is literally blinking at Scott. Geez, why is he so much like his dad? "You say that like I should know what it is. Is it a brand or something?" Nate literally has no idea what Scott is talking about, and as much as he'd love to quite literally find out what it is, other matters to currently attend to.
«We should. its the only way really. Otherwise…they'll find out sooner than later.» he takes a breath.
"Alright, but you two should probably…sit down, or whatever people do in preparation for dramatic revelations." a breath. "My name is Nate Grey. I'm from the Future." he looks between the two. "and this is Rachel Summers. Also from the Future. We don't know how or why we got here, but the sum of it is…we're your kids."
He pauses now, seeing how all this rests with them. Of course, he let Rachel say she was at least okay before he dropped the bombshell.
"Phoenix. I'm the Phoenix. Or… I was." Rachel's face scrunches in consternation at the revelation she was still going through. It would take time to accept. Half-distracted with her own new state of being she absently responds to Nate via telepathy.
Okay. You're right. We'll have to break it gently…
Rachel smacks her hand over her face when he just kind of blurts it out. "Subtle, little bro. Reeeal subtle."
Sighing she shakes her head, and shifts to sit down right there with legs crossed. It was the least threatening position she could possibly take. "Rachel Anne Summers," she fills in for her full name as her gaze shifts to Jean. There's a little mental nudge given to her telepathic mother. Not a threat or attempt to enter her mind, just a little knock as she opens her own mind to be read so things can be confirmed. "Hi, mom. Hi, dad."
For a moment, when Nate answers, Jean looks like she's going to laugh. She even rolls her eyes a bit, smile spreading. "All right, well, that was fair enough after the get off our lawn…bit…"
But then Rachel gives her full name and the smile fades, her hand slipping from Scott's arm. "For Annie," she says quietly, and then her stomach drops to her feet as the other connections drop into place. "You don't mean our as in mine," she points at Nate, "And Scott's," she points at Rachel. "You mean our as in…our."
And then she looks to Scott, because he's probably going to need some help here.
When Nate introduces himelf so eloquently, Scott's entire body just sort of relaxes. His shoulders drop. He breathes out a sigh. His arms fall loose and limber, his head sort of lilts slightly to one side, as he peers at the man with the two-tone hair, and then to his proclaimed sister, who has Scott's last name, apparently.
"Oh. Our kids. From the future. That makes sense," Scott says with an absolute air of complete casual goodhearted joviality. He nods and smiles. He looks over at Jean, just giving her a long, tender look with a soft, warm smile on his soft lips.
"Are you kidding me? Because I've gotta tell ya, this is some sick joke," he says as he turns his gaze back on to them, instantly transforming into a bastion of cold, hard steel. Every muscle in his body is held tense to the point of trembling, his fists clutched so tight that the knuckles look as if they might split, and are devoid of any blood, leaving them the same hue as sun polished bone. The muscles in his jaw are neatly etched in vivid detail at the corners, and his full, pouty lips are a thin and bloodless line. "You two better give me a good God damned reason why I shouldn't blast you both across that lake and through the mountain on the other side, and you better start talking now."
Nate smiles to Jean. "Hi mom." Nate was a bit of a momma's boy, sure, but then Scott starts to go off on a tangent. and Nate literally rolls his eyes. "God, I forgot how much of an asshole mom said dad can be sometimes." Nate then looks at Scott. "I'm your son, FROM THE FUTURE. which means it hasn't happ- oh, fine, fine." without another moment, he jets his hand forward. Thumb to Scott's forehead, fingers wrapping around the temple to keep him in place.
Nate's left eye glows with an orange-ish Psionic flame..reminiscent of…well..that's for another time.
What's happening to Scott? Well, Nate is attempting to breach Scott's mind with his telepathic power. If he won't accept the truth, then he'll force Scott to see the truth. Nate was born not naturally, but from the DNA of Scott and Jean thanks to Mr. Sinister in a world where there is nothing but death and destruction. But even still, he IS their son. They even had a semi-good relationship. But, Nate is now here, and he even showed Scott how traumatic THAT was.
Once that's done, Nate removes his hands from Scott, the psionic flame dissipating. "Do you believe me now? I don't joke about stuff like this, Dad."
Rachel Summers remains seated on the ground cross legged. One elbow rests on her knee to better prop her chin up in her hand as she just kind of slumps with a weary sigh. "Let's tell them, they'll find out anyway, he says. Great idea." The sarcasm is heavy in this one as she lifts her hand to point thumb down while sticking her tongue out at him from behind. He's already facing off with Scott causing her to shake her head further.
"Boys."
Her free hand scrubs over her face several times. "If it makes you feel better? Sure, fire away. Not like it'll hurt me." Not with her ability to shield. Sure she'd get thrown reeeally far but she'd survive with minimal bruising. "I'm kind of exhausted right now. I want a hot shower, and a burger, and a nap. I don't really care what order they're in at this point. But the fact is… We're from a *potential* future. Time traveling doesn't really work very well. So take it with a grain of salt, yeah, but…"
"Oh you're just going to get him more riled up, Nate."
"Whoa, hey, hold on-" Jean reaches for Nate's arm when he goes for Scott, protective. But the truth is, Jean still has some significant blocks in place on her telepathy. And at this point, she's relatively unpracticed in it. She's only been using the bulk of it for the last three years or so. So when Nate starts to share everything, she's caught in the backwash of it, eyes widening.
Her hand snaps back to herself as she takes a step back, looking from Nate, to Rachel, and back again. "And here I thought getting magically branded by an ancient Egyptian god was going to be the weirdest part of my week…"
Instinctively, Scott raises his fists as Nate approaches, though as Nate reaches out, all that actually comes out is more of Scott just leaning back, away from Nate, and giving a few doggy paddle style slaps to fend him off before his forehead is thumbed and his mind probed.
Sinister.
Scott knows that pallid, grim countenance all too well. His "caretaker" for so many years. Oh, he may have worn a disguise in those days, but those eyes, and that grin. They'll never, ever leave Scott's memory. They're seared into his mind's eye like a brand on his gray matter itself.
When the flashes end, Scott shoves Nate away forcefully, and takes a few steps back. There are tears seeping out from under the frames of his glasses. He takes a moment, just to kind of let his eyes wander between the two "children", taking them both in as he tries to catch his breath. He starts to speak, but only a choked up murmuring sound escapes him as he raises a finger to point at the air.
And finally, he just throws his hands up, and looks away from all of them, before he simply turns on his heels and starts to head back, off of the dock, and towards the Mansion.