AND ON HER DOORSTEP….
Insert satndard disclaimers here. I'm too tired to be witty.
And on her doorstep
I saw that I was blind.
I'd forsaken what was mine.
What had mattered
Mattered little now
We had shattered
apart somehow
I can't help but stay the same
I remain true to my name
Time to get up
And take the long walk home
For the first time
I go alone.
He hadn't gone home when he left the Academy.
He had gone to Hardcases. And Harry's. And to every place that sold alcohol that he knew of. Which, to say the least was a hell of a lot.
By the time that he reached the grounds of Xaviers, he was, to put it mildly, Smashed.
And still he didn't stop.
And all he could think of was her. He had hurt her, something for which he could never forgive himself, but for now, he threw himself wholeheartedly into killing the pain.
*************************
From the large French windows at the back of the mansion, Jean Grey held vigil over a very drunk and obviously disturbed member of the team. Underneath the ancient oak, where he and his once faithful friend had wasted summers and weekends and any spare time they had, he now leant with one half empty bottle of whisky in one paw and another two stashed down by his side.
Every night or morning for the past three weeks had found him in such a position and concern for their friend and teammate had escalated rapidly into fear for his emotional and mental state. Whilst never the most stable member of the team, his abuse of alcohol had reached a level that even his healing factor couldn't deal with, spending most of his time in a half drunken daze.
"Fin' out anyt'in' yet Jeanie." She jumped as the almost untraceable Cajun thief Remy Lebeau whispered in her ear, and she turned slightly to allow him to come into her field of vision.
"No Remy, not yet. Aside from painful amounts of grief and guilt that are mainly directed towards himself, although any low level empath would be able to feel it. He's projecting his feelings so strongly, probably due to amount of alcohol he's been consuming, yet I can't get a fix on any of the reasons for the emotions." She stopped to acknowledge Rogue as the young woman came up and put a tentative arm around Remy's shoulder, casting a glance at the man in the garden. "If it goes on any longer I'm just going to have to break in, as it were, to his mind. I can't let him continue like this. I'm actually scared for him"
"Then Ah've an idea, one that'll let ya'll find out what eatin' at the old' Canuck without havin' ta resort ta breakin' an' enterin'. Call Snow Valley. Logan's bin' like this evah since he got back from Jube's birthday bash. If anyone'll be able to sort this all out, Ah'd bet on it bein' Jubilee." Rogue offered her advice unobtrusively, aware that it was the only sensible course of action. "You're right Rogue, really it should have been the first thing we did. I'll sort it now." Jean Grey left the room to make the call, leaving the two lovers to watch silently, concernedly over their team mate.
*********************
"Jubilee, lass there's a phone call for ye" Sean Cassidy reached his head around the door to the den where most of the members of Gen-X were gathered, enjoying their last few days together before 'graduation', as they'd termed it, by having a movie and sugary snacks marathon. It had been Jubilee's idea.
Whilst the majority of the teens that resided at the school were piled upon the oversized couch that dominated the cosy room Jubilee knelt in front of the television and video set up, obviously in charge of the proceedings. She didn't, however, take her eyes of the wide screen to acknowledge his presence.
She had changed the past few weeks since "The Visit" as it had come to be known, it had been an instant metamorphosis after her birthday. She had come downstairs that afternoon to join the rest of the team in training and had simply been 'changed'. She was a little colder, a little meaner and infinitely less easy to take lightly in battle. She was dangerous.
It was almost impossible to say where this side of Jubilee had been hiding all the time she had been with them but it was such a 'natural' attitude for her that it was obviously quite an old part of her.
And the changes were not commented on by any of the team, No one wanted to anger this Jubilee, a determined, hard streak had been revealed in her that nobody wanted to be the target of. A soul eroded by a life of hard living had been revealed, and it did not care if it made others uncomfortable by its existence.
"If it's Wolverine, I'm not interested." Her voice was precise. Neutral, and not artificially so. "Aye, well, its not Wolverine…" Her head shot around to face Sean her face an indecipherable mask yet her blue eyes speaking curiosity. "Its Jean Grey fer ye lass." "I'll take it in my room Sean, thanks" She stood and walked out of the room without a backwards glance or word to her friends.
She reached her room quickly and with a minimum exertion of effort. Her movements if they were anything these days, were predatory without a use of excess or unnecessary energy.
"Hi Jean, s'up?" Her voice contained a saccharine sweetness that left Jean Grey not quite sure about Jubilee's state. It was Jubilee but more than Jubilee. A perfect parody of the Californian mall rat's accent and voice. It was a disconcerting effect. "Actually Jubilee, that's exactly why I rang you. It's Logan. And I was wondering if you could help"
Downstairs the cheery teenage dialogue had come to a gradual end as Jubilee left the room and Sean Cassidy entered. An uncomfortable silence ensued.
Eventually, drawing upon the fact that she felt uncomfortable in awkward scenes and a natural ability to assume command of any situation Monet spoke out.
"Mr Cassidy. Sean. We are worried about Jubilation… "
***********************************
At the mansion, her conversation with Jubilee over, Jean hung the phone receiver up with an audible click. She leant against the walls to keep the wave of anger mixed with slight nausea from bowling her over. "But Jean. He never came to see me." The words kept repeating in the inside of her head. She shook off her moment of weakness, replaced with anger.
He had been content to sit underneath that tree, to allow everyone to treat him with concern and kindness, all the while having done nothing to deserve such treatment.
Had Wolverine been anything other than drunk he would have heard the hard purposeful steps nearing him, would have smelt the anger, permeating the air, or at the very least he would have been able to dodge the sharp stinging blow that materialised out of nowhere across his cheek. Baring his claws to the not yet recognised assailant, he found himself pinned to the tree he leant against by an invisible force. "You *BASTARD*! You *utter* bastard." He recognised the voice now.
Unable even to talk with the strength of the telekinetic force field surrounding him all he could do was to listen to the words spoken in a low, angry hiss.
"You didn't even spend her birthday with her Logan. Just *one* day out of your life and you couldn't even bring yourself to give her that. That girl has defended you more ties than I've had hot dinners and all you do is ignore her. All she wanted was a little time, a little attention, and you refuse to even give her that!" He attempted to struggle against the field and for his efforts was slammed farther against the tree, the field tightening as though to strangle him. "You were content to sit around here and get drunk, taking pity that you have done *nothing* to deserve. You disgust me Logan. You tell her that she means something to you and then treat her like a leper. You disgust me." A further slam against the tree and the shield disappeared as Jean turned on her heel and stalked towards the house leaving the wildman alone in the dark.
Wolverine turned towards the figure disappearing into the house. "Don't ya think I disgust myself too sometimes Jeannie." And turning in the opposite way he walked silently towards the woodland at the edge of the mansion.
Insert satndard disclaimers here. I'm too tired to be witty.
And on her doorstep
I saw that I was blind.
I'd forsaken what was mine.
What had mattered
Mattered little now
We had shattered
apart somehow
I can't help but stay the same
I remain true to my name
Time to get up
And take the long walk home
For the first time
I go alone.
He hadn't gone home when he left the Academy.
He had gone to Hardcases. And Harry's. And to every place that sold alcohol that he knew of. Which, to say the least was a hell of a lot.
By the time that he reached the grounds of Xaviers, he was, to put it mildly, Smashed.
And still he didn't stop.
And all he could think of was her. He had hurt her, something for which he could never forgive himself, but for now, he threw himself wholeheartedly into killing the pain.
*************************
From the large French windows at the back of the mansion, Jean Grey held vigil over a very drunk and obviously disturbed member of the team. Underneath the ancient oak, where he and his once faithful friend had wasted summers and weekends and any spare time they had, he now leant with one half empty bottle of whisky in one paw and another two stashed down by his side.
Every night or morning for the past three weeks had found him in such a position and concern for their friend and teammate had escalated rapidly into fear for his emotional and mental state. Whilst never the most stable member of the team, his abuse of alcohol had reached a level that even his healing factor couldn't deal with, spending most of his time in a half drunken daze.
"Fin' out anyt'in' yet Jeanie." She jumped as the almost untraceable Cajun thief Remy Lebeau whispered in her ear, and she turned slightly to allow him to come into her field of vision.
"No Remy, not yet. Aside from painful amounts of grief and guilt that are mainly directed towards himself, although any low level empath would be able to feel it. He's projecting his feelings so strongly, probably due to amount of alcohol he's been consuming, yet I can't get a fix on any of the reasons for the emotions." She stopped to acknowledge Rogue as the young woman came up and put a tentative arm around Remy's shoulder, casting a glance at the man in the garden. "If it goes on any longer I'm just going to have to break in, as it were, to his mind. I can't let him continue like this. I'm actually scared for him"
"Then Ah've an idea, one that'll let ya'll find out what eatin' at the old' Canuck without havin' ta resort ta breakin' an' enterin'. Call Snow Valley. Logan's bin' like this evah since he got back from Jube's birthday bash. If anyone'll be able to sort this all out, Ah'd bet on it bein' Jubilee." Rogue offered her advice unobtrusively, aware that it was the only sensible course of action. "You're right Rogue, really it should have been the first thing we did. I'll sort it now." Jean Grey left the room to make the call, leaving the two lovers to watch silently, concernedly over their team mate.
*********************
"Jubilee, lass there's a phone call for ye" Sean Cassidy reached his head around the door to the den where most of the members of Gen-X were gathered, enjoying their last few days together before 'graduation', as they'd termed it, by having a movie and sugary snacks marathon. It had been Jubilee's idea.
Whilst the majority of the teens that resided at the school were piled upon the oversized couch that dominated the cosy room Jubilee knelt in front of the television and video set up, obviously in charge of the proceedings. She didn't, however, take her eyes of the wide screen to acknowledge his presence.
She had changed the past few weeks since "The Visit" as it had come to be known, it had been an instant metamorphosis after her birthday. She had come downstairs that afternoon to join the rest of the team in training and had simply been 'changed'. She was a little colder, a little meaner and infinitely less easy to take lightly in battle. She was dangerous.
It was almost impossible to say where this side of Jubilee had been hiding all the time she had been with them but it was such a 'natural' attitude for her that it was obviously quite an old part of her.
And the changes were not commented on by any of the team, No one wanted to anger this Jubilee, a determined, hard streak had been revealed in her that nobody wanted to be the target of. A soul eroded by a life of hard living had been revealed, and it did not care if it made others uncomfortable by its existence.
"If it's Wolverine, I'm not interested." Her voice was precise. Neutral, and not artificially so. "Aye, well, its not Wolverine…" Her head shot around to face Sean her face an indecipherable mask yet her blue eyes speaking curiosity. "Its Jean Grey fer ye lass." "I'll take it in my room Sean, thanks" She stood and walked out of the room without a backwards glance or word to her friends.
She reached her room quickly and with a minimum exertion of effort. Her movements if they were anything these days, were predatory without a use of excess or unnecessary energy.
"Hi Jean, s'up?" Her voice contained a saccharine sweetness that left Jean Grey not quite sure about Jubilee's state. It was Jubilee but more than Jubilee. A perfect parody of the Californian mall rat's accent and voice. It was a disconcerting effect. "Actually Jubilee, that's exactly why I rang you. It's Logan. And I was wondering if you could help"
Downstairs the cheery teenage dialogue had come to a gradual end as Jubilee left the room and Sean Cassidy entered. An uncomfortable silence ensued.
Eventually, drawing upon the fact that she felt uncomfortable in awkward scenes and a natural ability to assume command of any situation Monet spoke out.
"Mr Cassidy. Sean. We are worried about Jubilation… "
***********************************
At the mansion, her conversation with Jubilee over, Jean hung the phone receiver up with an audible click. She leant against the walls to keep the wave of anger mixed with slight nausea from bowling her over. "But Jean. He never came to see me." The words kept repeating in the inside of her head. She shook off her moment of weakness, replaced with anger.
He had been content to sit underneath that tree, to allow everyone to treat him with concern and kindness, all the while having done nothing to deserve such treatment.
Had Wolverine been anything other than drunk he would have heard the hard purposeful steps nearing him, would have smelt the anger, permeating the air, or at the very least he would have been able to dodge the sharp stinging blow that materialised out of nowhere across his cheek. Baring his claws to the not yet recognised assailant, he found himself pinned to the tree he leant against by an invisible force. "You *BASTARD*! You *utter* bastard." He recognised the voice now.
Unable even to talk with the strength of the telekinetic force field surrounding him all he could do was to listen to the words spoken in a low, angry hiss.
"You didn't even spend her birthday with her Logan. Just *one* day out of your life and you couldn't even bring yourself to give her that. That girl has defended you more ties than I've had hot dinners and all you do is ignore her. All she wanted was a little time, a little attention, and you refuse to even give her that!" He attempted to struggle against the field and for his efforts was slammed farther against the tree, the field tightening as though to strangle him. "You were content to sit around here and get drunk, taking pity that you have done *nothing* to deserve. You disgust me Logan. You tell her that she means something to you and then treat her like a leper. You disgust me." A further slam against the tree and the shield disappeared as Jean turned on her heel and stalked towards the house leaving the wildman alone in the dark.
Wolverine turned towards the figure disappearing into the house. "Don't ya think I disgust myself too sometimes Jeannie." And turning in the opposite way he walked silently towards the woodland at the edge of the mansion.