Among the Strong
Aug. 8th, 2025 02:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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marysuevirusTitle: Among the Strong
Chapter Forty Five: Making Plans
Fandom: the Marvel universe
Rating: 18 and up
Warnings: graphic violence, language, sex, dark themes, anything else i can toss in.
Disclaimer: the recognizable characters and places contained herein are the property of Marvel. i'm merely borrowing for the sake of entertainment. no money is being made from this venture. Haley belongs todazzledfirestar Morgan belongs toginevra Roxxy belongs tonanaeanaven Jehnna belongs to silverfox_chan and Dare belongs to me. the concept and title of The Mary Sue Virus are used with permission from dazzledfirestar .
Author's Notes: this is almost entirely Daz's fault. okay. so it really isn't. its actually almost 100% my fault. Daz just did a whole lot of encouraging. this fic is going to be kind of dark, so please keep that in mind while reading.
Among the Strong - the index
“Just what the hell did you think you were doing?” Scott demanded upon slamming the door behind him. A small, petty part of him felt a deep sense of satisfaction when he saw Jean cringe. No doubt her head was still killing her. It wasn’t nearly enough. She deserved a much more severe punishment than that.
It had been hours since she’d pulled her bullshit downstairs. Hours since he’d woken up in the medlab with his friends, anxious and confused, gathered around his bed. And Haley’s bed. Hours since he’d been forced to watch Haley’s life crumble before her eyes and he’d been unable to do anything to stop it. And, God, had he wanted to. He’d wanted to stay by her side and hold her. He’d wanted to tell her it would work out and everything would be okay. He’d wanted so desperately to keep her and Emilia at his side. Because he needed them. Because he wanted nothing more. Because he was afraid.
It had been hours since he’d watched Haley shut down. He was so certain that she’d believed she would end up alone. That he and Johnny both would leave her. And he’d wanted to sit there and hold her. Assure her that he wasn’t going anywhere. But he’d seen that she wouldn’t accept any comfort from him. It frustrated him to no end. How could she think, after their year together, that he’d ever willingly let her go? He loved her, damn it. And he always had.
He’d realized it sometime during their days with Sinister that the feelings had always been there. He couldn’t figure out why he’d only just realized it then, why he hadn’t always known. Then again, maybe he could and he just wasn’t willing to dig into the reasons. He’d considered asking her out once. A long time ago. But then the Juggernaut had happened. And Harper had given his life protecting the kids at the school. His sister included. And Scott had taken the idea of asking Haley out and shoved it to the darkest corners of his mind. He’d been certain, all those years ago, that Haley would have laid the blame for Harper’s death at his feet.
After all, that’s what he’d done.
Their year in captivity, though… He’d come to believe that maybe he’d been wrong about what Haley would or wouldn’t have done. He’d decided that maybe, just maybe, she might have said yes. And they might have avoided all of this bullshit. Then again, they might not have. There was no certainty to be had in any relationship. Add to that the fact that they were faced with possible death multiple times a month, and anything could have happened. And then there was Sinister. Would he have grabbed them both anyway? Ripped them apart to make his perfect, super powerful mutant warriors? Would a relationship with Haley have been a casualty of the madman’s pursuit of perfection?
Not that it mattered. Those things hadn’t happened. And in the here and now, the truth of it was, Haley pretty much hated his guts. And she had good reason. Because he’d been a coward this whole time. And his cowardice was going to cost him… everything.
“I’m sorry, Scott. I didn’t mean…”
“Shut up, Jean Do you think I’m stupid? Do you think I didn’t notice you digging around in my brain?” he demanded.
He rarely yelled. Rarely raised his voice the way he was now. But his world was in shambles. He’d had everything he’d ever wanted in the palm of his hand. And Jean had destroyed it in the blink of an eye. Because of what? Jealousy? Fear? A raging superiority complex? Simply because she could?
But because he was damn near yelling now, her eyes were wide with confusion and fear. She was staring at him as if she’d never seen him before. And maybe, just maybe, she hadn’t. Her mouth worked, opening and closing without making a sound as she attempted to find something to say. “You have no idea what you’ve done. Do you?”
“I was trying to break the link!” she shot back. There was heat in her voice and anger flashed in her eyes. She’d obviously found her spine and she was going to engage him in this fight head on. Good. Because he had so much he wanted to say to her. So much he wanted to be sure she heard.
“No matter what that might mean to me or Haley, right?” Scott moved further into the room he shared with Jean until he stood over her. Until he stared down into her face so that he could see her eyes. Find the truth in them. And the lies.
“You’re mine, Scott!” she snapped, her anger flaring around her like a wind. Once upon a time, it might have been impressive. But not now. Not after years in her presence. Not after years of seeing other examples of anger haloing other people he knew. No. She wasn’t impressive. She was pathetic.
“Yours?” he asked, voice dropping low. That was a bold statement to make. One laden with just the slightest hints of insanity. “You don’t own me, Jean. No one does.”
“Of course I do, Scott! You married me. Not her! You’re my husband!” she shot back. Like that made any difference at all.
“That’s right, Jean. I’m supposed to be your husband. Not your possession! Which is how you’ve been treating me all these years. Isn’t it? You’ve made it blatantly clear with your actions these past weeks that you feel like you own me. Marriage is supposed to be a partnership. But there’s none of that here. Is there?” Each statement came with anger and pain. Because he had loved Jean. He still did. But it wasn’t enough. Because she felt like she couldn’t trust him.
“I’ve tried, Scott. I’ve tried to be the wife you wanted and needed. I’ve done everything for you!” she retorted, her words shot through with tears. For once, he was indifferent to her tears. Because they were just lies. Weren’t they? “But you fell in love with Haley. She’s not even second rate next to me! She’s just a poor copy!”
“Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare try and compare yourself to Haley. You’re two different people. And, from where I’m standing, she’s an authentic original. One of a kind. Which makes me wonder if maybe you weren’t just the poor copy all along.”
His words hurt. He could see it in the way she actually flinched away from him. Not that he cared. She deserved every last ounce of anguish and pain she got. And so much more. “You’re being cruel, Scott. This isn’t like you.” Jean’s voice was soft, filled with touches of accusation. As if he was the one being unreasonable. As if she hadn’t attacked his family only hours ago. As if she knew what Haley and Emilia really meant to him.
That though saw Scott’s scowl growing. It saw Jean taking a step back. He followed her, his temper high and the desire to hurt her the way she’d hurt him riding him hard. He backed her up against the nearest wall, and she stared up into his face. The expression she wore was filled with fear. And it was genuine. For once, Scott took perverse joy in making someone afraid of him. “And you’re acting like a spoiled, selfish brat! You’re consumed by jealousy because you can’t have your own way! Because you feel threatened,” he countered. Jean stared at him, eyes wide with her fear. With fresh pockets of anger and jealousy, And with hints of disbelief.
“You could have hurt any one of us, Jean! You could have hurt Emilia!” he declared, his voice so tight with anger that it took everything in him to remain still. To not move and lash out at her physically.
“And it always comes down to the baby! That baby is not more important than me! I’m your wife!” The last of her words were shouted. They echoed around the room loudly. And Scott could see a few of the portraits on the dresser vibrating just the slightest. Jean was losing control of her powers at her temper climbed higher.
“Emilia is barely a month old! She’s helpless. And you put her in danger!” he snarled, his hands fisting despite his attempts to avoid such a thing. Because the fear he’d felt when Jean’s attack had happened hit him full force. Haley had been holding Emilia and it would have been disastrous if Haley hadn’t managed to hold on to consciousness and Emilia at the same time. “Emilia is my daughter! She’s innocent in whatever bullshit has come between us. She and Haley are my family, Jean! And you could have killed them!”
The look on her face as she stared up at him told him everything he needed to know. He didn’t need to hear anything else from her. There was no way she could defend herself. Because she didn’t feel she’d done anything wrong. She’d put his life at risk. She’d put Haley’s life at risk. She’d put an innocent child at risk. Because she’d been jealous and she hadn’t wanted to share. Scott shook his head and turned, heading toward the closet. He felt her eyes following his every move as he jerked the door open and retrieved a duffel bag from its depths, then moved toward the dresser. He’d yanked a drawer open and started hauling clothes out of it, shoving them into the bag in his hands, before she spoke again.
“What are you doing, Scott?” The fear was back, as genuine as it had been before. It trembled in every single one of her words and he knew, without looking, that she remained in place.
“I can’t trust you anymore, Jean. I don’t even think I know who you are anymore,” he told her, voice quieter. Quieter, but no less angry. And filled with bitterness. So many years of his life wasted. So much time he could have spent working toward the family he’d always wanted and only just now gotten. So much wasted time. All because of Jean and her insecurities. “I need time to figure out where we go next. I need to be alone to do that.”
“You’re… leaving me?” she asked, her voice small. Tight with pain.
“Yes. No. Maybe. I don’t know right now. All I do know is I cannot be around you. And I cannot trust you,” Scott replied, stuffing more clothing into the bag. For a moment, he wondered if Jean would try to use her telekinesis to put his things back. To try and make him stay. But she didn’t. She stood behind him, utterly silent. He swore he could feel her pain on the air around him, could feel her carefully crafted facade starting to crack.
He put that notion out of his mind and went into the bathroom in order to collect his toiletries. By the time he was done collecting his things, the anger had mostly faded, leaving him feeling tired and lost and disappointed. And so very sad. Scott chanced a glance in the mirror and stared at his reflection. There was nothing on his face to give away how he felt. Nothing to mark that his world was falling apart around him.
Heaving a sigh, Scott stepped out of the bathroom. Jean was on her knees on the floor, tears running silently down her cheeks. He should have felt bad about making her cry. It was something he’d never wanted to do. But he couldn’t. He just couldn’t. Because one thoughtless action on her part had taken everything from him. Hefting the bag up onto his shoulder, he headed for the door.
The knob turned with ease and the panel swung open to the hall beyond. He expected her to call out to him before he stepped over the threshold. He expected her to beg him to reconsider. He expected something. What he got was a soft sob and oppressive silence.
The door closed with a faint click behind him. And he felt the world shift beneath his feet as he walked away.
~*~*~*~*~
Roxxy’s frown came the moment the door closed quietly behind her. She’d just spent half an hour or more chatting with Jehnna and it had been… enlightening. In all the wrong ways. She caught her lower lip between her teeth and worried at it while she slowly made her way up the hall.
Hell, the entire day had been enlightening in all the worst ways.
It had started with a visit to Dare and Haley and the suite they occupied. She’d found the two of them in the living area, Haley in a chair with Emilia by her feet in carrier. Dare had taken the couch, Petra in a bounce chair on the cushion next to her. Remy had joined them only moments after Roxxy had arrived, a tray loaded down with a variety of fruit and sandwiches in hand. The tray had been settled on the coffee table with an invitation for everyone to enjoy. When he’d taken his seat on the couch next to Dare, she’d allowed him to pull her into his side and had flashed him a smile. It was a smile that had seen the warning bells in Roxxy’s head going off.
Because, for all intents and purposes, Dare had looked happy. But, at the same time, Roxxy swore she wasn’t. It wasn’t anything she could see and it wasn’t in the way Dare acted. It was just a feeling. But it was hard to put a finger on what bothered her, because every time Dare’s attention turned to Petra, the smile became more genuine. Softer. Much more tender. The love she had for her daughter was there, apparent in the way she stared at the baby.
And when Roxxy asked questions, Dare answered. They were full answers. It didn’t feel like she was trying to skirt truths or hide things. As far as Roxxy could tell, she was being open and honest in her answers. But it still did nothing to dispel the feeling that she was holding something back. Or that she was still caught up in whatever thoughts and emotions she’d been plagued with when she’d returned from Sinister’s pocket dimension. That sense of wrongness had left Roxxy feeling uncomfortable.
A feeling that only got worse when she considered Haley’s behavior. From the moment she’d entered the suite, Haley had been aloof. Quiet. Tense. Maybe even a little furtive. She’d had her phone in hand and had stared at it intently when she wasn’t watching Emilia with an eagle-eyed stare that suggested she refused to let her child out of her sight. Roxxy couldn’t say she blamed Haley.
Of course Henry had told Roxxy about the attack that had taken place in the hallway just yesterday. Some kind of psychic attack that had left Haley, Scott, and Jean unconscious. Roxxy felt it had to have been an incredibly strong attack for that to happen. Jean’s talents were all tied into her telekinesis and telepathy. She was almost as good as the Professor. So for someone to have slipped past her guard, they had to be strong. But something about Henry’s story had left Roxxy with more questions than answers. Because the attack shouldn’t have happened. Jean should have been able to reflect it. And that only after whomever was responsible had gotten past the Professor. And even then, why had Scott and Haley gotten caught up in it?
She’d asked Henry her questions, but he hadn’t provided any satisfactory answers. And worse, she’d felt he was holding something back from her. She’d considered asking about that, too. Ultimately, she’d decided he would merely avoid the topic or steer their conversation in another direction entirely. So it had been in her head to see if she could get answers from Haley.
The only problem with that was that Haley had kept mostly to herself. She’d answered basic questions. Like how she’d been feeling. Her answer of ‘I’m fine.’ had fallen flat in Roxxy’s ears. Given Haley was still pale and it looked like the headache still hadn’t let up, Roxxy knew it for the lie it was. And it had only gotten worse. Any attempt to engage Haley in a conversation had been met with flat, short answers that did not invite further questions or comments.
Remy had felt like the only normal one in the group. And Roxxy was tempted to catch him alone to get his take on the whole thing. Because she’d left the room with unease blossoming like a rotted flower somewhere in her chest. And with it came a growing sense of wrongness. The entire room had been steeped in it. And it made Roxxy feel like there was something bad coming.
Too bad she couldn’t, for the life of her, figure out what it might be. What could be worse than Sinister kidnapping her family?
The sound of a door closing behind her drew her away from her thoughts. She turned to see Sam approaching her from the room she’d just left. There was an anxious look on his face. She’d seen it not all the long ago when she’d been visiting with Jehnna. Roxxy stopped walked and allowed Sam to catch up with her. Something was bothering him and she had an idea she knew what it might be. She offered him a smile. “Hi, Sam. Is there something I can help you with?” she asked, her voice open and inviting.
“Can I talk to you?” Sam asked, his gaze sliding back toward the door he’d just closed. There was a touch of nervousness to him that she couldn’t miss. Before she could answer him, he pressed on. “This is normally something I’d go to Haley or Scott about, but it feels like right now is a bad time to talk to either one of them.”
She nodded at that. She completely understood. “Of course, Sam. We can absolutely talk. Let’s go somewhere private,” she offered. He nodded and glanced down the length of one end of the hall, then the other. Eventually, he motioned toward the door that she knew opened into the unused suite. Roxxy turned toward it and led them into the living area of the empty suite. She settled on the couch, motioning toward it with one hand in invitation. Sam shook his head and started pacing.
“I’m sorry to bring this to you, Roxxy. But I honestly didn’t know who else to talk to,” Sam began. She could hear the confusion and concern in his voice.
“Is it Jehnna?” she asked gently.
Sam stopped pacing and glanced up at her. There was a haunted look in his eyes that answered the question for him. And then he was back to pacing. Roxxy felt, if he’d had the room, Sam’s speed would have been increasing with each pass. She was kind of glad that wasn’t the case. After several moments of pacing, he came to a halt and turned to look at her. There was pain in his expression, telling her that whatever this was, it was tearing him a part. “There’s something wrong with her,” he said plainly.
“How do you mean?” she asked in return. Even though she’d felt the same thing after her conversation with other woman.
“We were havin’ a conversation yesterday. About the attack in the hallway,” he began. She noted the hints of his Kentucky roots making themselves known in his speech. Which suggested he was much more upset than he was letting on. Roxxy nodded to let him know she understood. Sam heaved a sigh and continued. “Roxxy, she thinks Jean is the wronged party in the whole thing. She said it was bad enough that Haley had been tryin’ to steal Scott from her. But now she had to deal with this. And she mentioned something about protecting herself from the attack. She didn’t mention anyone else. Just herself.”
Roxxy frowned at that. That certainly didn’t sound anything like Jehnna. “There’s more, isn’t there?”
“There is,” Sam nodded. He drew a breath, as if fortifying himself, then pressed on. His voice came out faintly strained, as if he was forcing the words off his tongue. “She said that Morgan stole Warren from her. And that Dare stole Remy from Morgan. She’s got it in her head that she and Jean have been wronged and everyone else is just a terrible person. This isn’t like her and I’m at a loss as to how to fix it.”
Roxxy shook her head. “I’m not sure you can fix it, Sam. It sounds as if she’s repressing her trauma and its leading to this… paranoia. Or whatever it is. But I understand why you’re worried. You’re right. This is very unlike Jehnna. And I’m not sure what might help, beyond talking to a therapist. The problem there is that I’m not sure Jehnna thinks she needs a therapist. It seems like she’d resist going if you suggested one. Which doesn’t line up with the last chat we had. Jehnna was writing all of her experiences down. I think, to help herself understand what had actually happened. And she’d been looking into finding a therapist. She knew recognized bad things had happened. To her and to everyone else. She was making an effort to do something about it. Something must have happened between now and then.”
Sam stared at Roxxy. He looked lost and alone. She understood why he’d come to her with it. She was friends with Jehnna. He’d hoped she could offer him insight or help him find a solution. Unfortunately, Roxxy didn’t think she could do that. She was certain she couldn’t help any of her friends. Which left her frustrated and angry. This was definitely a problem that should have gone to Haley, as head of Purple Team. Or to Scott, as head of all the teams. But both of them had their own problems to deal with.
The only other person she could see Sam going to was Warren. And she wondered if perhaps he’d thought of it and hesitated. Because Warren still cared about Jehnna. And it was possible Sam thought Warren might blame him for whatever was wrong with Jehnna now. It was a legitimate concern even though Roxxy didn’t think Warren would do any such thing.
“Is it something Sinister could have done?” Sam asked. There was a kind of hushed quality to the query, as if he worried that invoking the man’s name would see him suddenly appearing in the room with that. Roxxy couldn’t say she blamed Sam for that. She was sure each one of them was suffering from their time in captivity. There was no doubt that all eight of Sinister’s captives had suffered trauma. And she was sure it ranged from what could be considered mild trauma, such as it seemed Sam was showing, to severe trauma. That was where she put Dare. Possibly Remy. She wasn’t sure where everyone else fell on the spectrum, but she knew they were all there.
Roxxy was about to tell him that she wasn’t sure. But then she remembered the revelation she’d had after talking to Duke once. The one about how each of her friends had been exhibiting… traits of the horsemen they’d been carrying. Morgan had been sick with some kind of infection. Jehnna had been eating everything in sight and not gaining weight. Haley had shown instances of aggression that seemed to come from War. And Dare… Well, she’d nearly died. So maybe there was something to Sam’s question. “I suppose it is possible this is Sinister’s doing,” she conceded. “I mean, I guess its possible he could have played with their genetics somehow. Or planted what amounted to a bomb that went off with the right trigger. And it brought about this.”
“So what do we do?” Sam asked, clearly at a loss. To be honest, she was, too. She didn’t know how to counter this. While she might be able to find some variance in her friends’ genetic code, she had no talents where psionics were concerned. That was the Professor’s talent. Or Jean’s. And Roxxy didn’t think either one of them would want to offer help. Xavier didn’t seem to think her team was worth the help. And Jean’s anger with Haley made it unlikely that she’d be willing to help at all. Roxxy didn’t know what to do.
“I don’t know that there’s much we can do right now. I’ll see if its something Sinister tied into their genetic codes. It should be easy for me to get my hands on both old and new samples of their DNA. I will warn you that such an examination will take some time. Because I have to be certain,” she warned him, her tone not unkind. He was so worried. So scared. “It might go faster if I ask Henry to help.”
“Beast has already been taxed by everything that’s happened in the past month. I’d hate to add this to his load,” Sam said quietly.
His obvious concern made Roxxy smile. “I have no doubt Henry would be tickled to hear that you’re worried about his health. But he would be the first one to remind you that this was what he signed up for when he became the X-Men’s chief medical officer.”
Sam regarded her a moment, then offered a knowing smile that spoke to his sweet, happy, country boy attitude. “That’s why you refuse to let him deal with this stuff on his own. Ain’t it?”
She couldn’t help but smile at that. “It is. Because Henry would work himself to death if I wasn’t there to keep an eye on him.”
Sam nodded, as if she’d shared some great secret with him. Then his look sobered and he was once more lost and scared and confused. That made two of them. “And if it isn’t something Sinister did? If its the trauma?”
“Then we hope we can find someone who can break through the trauma to the sweet, loving Jehnna we know lies beneath it. And I will help you find that someone. I promise, Sam,” she told him resolutely. “I want her back just as much as you do.”
“Thanks, Roxxy,” Sam nodded. One hand came up to curl hesitantly around her upper arm. The touch got heavier a moment later. And then his other arm came up so he could tug her into his embrace and hug her to him. Maybe a little tighter than necessary. “Thank you so much.”
His actions left her shocked and he was gone before she could recover enough to tell him that they were all in this together.
~*~
Morgan looked slightly surprised to see Roxxy standing in the hallway. But after a moment of bewildered staring, she held the door to the suite wide and motioned toward the living room behind her. “Please, Roxxy. Come in,” Morgan said. Roxxy thought she heard a touch of something in the woman’s voice. Sorrow, or something close to it.
Roxxy stepped into the suite and waited for Morgan to close the door. Then, together, the two of them moved for the sitting area. Roxxy took one of the chairs while Morgan settled into the couch. Roxxy noted that the other woman’s actions seemed almost listless. As if she was suffering from some ailment. Paired with the tone of Morgan’s voice, Roxxy thought it was a safe bet that her friend was upset about something, Possibly depressed. She offered Morgan a smile. “How are you doing, Morgan?”
“I’m… okay, I guess,” Morgan responded. It wasn’t a very enthusiastic response. Roxxy’s smile slid away, replaced by concern.
“You guess?” she asked, hoping to coax more of an answer from the woman.
“Yeah,” Morgan replied. One shoulder lifted in a negligent shrug while her hands picked at the blanket that lay on the couch beside her.
“Would you like to expand upon that for me? Because you don’t seem okay to me,” Roxxy prompted.
Morgan sighed in response and shook her head. “I’m sure you don’t want to hear my issues,” she responded.
Roxxy gave Morgan a look, then frowned. “I’ve just had a discussion with Sam about Jehnna’s odd behavior. And a visit with Haley and Dare leads me to think that neither one of them are doing as well as they want people to think. I doubt your issues, whatever they might be, can be any worse.”
Apparently Morgan hadn’t expected that, because she kind of boggled at Roxxy. But then she sighed again and Roxxy frowned. “It isn’t worse, is it?” Roxxy asked almost hesitantly.
“I don’t think so,” Morgan laughed and shook her head. But then her look sobered immediately and she stared off into space a moment. When she returned her attention to Roxxy, there was a touch of fear in her eyes. “I mean, technically, my issues don’t involve me specifically. They involve all of us.”
That gave Roxxy pause. She’d thought that Morgan’s problems were her own. Not everyone’s. And the notion intrigued her. Because it felt like there hadn’t been a lot of thought about the team lately. Mostly just the individuals. Which, granted, wasn’t much of a stretch. No one had come back from the pocket dimension unscathed. But it felt weird to be talking about a team issue instead of an individual issue. And that reminded Roxxy that she didn’t think anyone had talked about the team and what the whole kidnapping thing meant for them as a whole. She knew she really hadn’t.
“How do your issues involve all of us?” Roxxy asked, inviting Morgan to settle her problems on Roxxy’s shoulders. Hell, maybe it would help her figure out how to deal with everything she’d been in the middle of today.
“I was talking with Warren about this yesterday. I’d been lost in thought for a good long while. Probably since you told us about Dare and how she’d nearly killed herself,” Morgan began. She paused there and seemed to be thinking about something. Then she shook her head and frowned. “I still don’t know what that was all about. All I know is it seems like I’ve had a really easy time coming back here. Warren has been so attentive and so loving. And Kayla has been nothing but sweet and quiet and good. It feels like my life is perfect.”
The last of her words rang as more of an indictment than any kind of simple statement. Roxxy thought she understood what Morgan was trying to say. But she wanted to be sure. Because there was no more room for misunderstandings. Not when those could mean nothing but trouble. So she took a breath and held it, then let it out in one long exhale. “But?”
“But its wrong. Isn’t it? For me to feel like my life is perfect when so much is falling apart around me. Dare nearly died and I didn’t even know it was happening until it was almost too late. I should have spent time with her. Maybe I could have helped her. But I avoided her. Because her issues were too much and they might have disrupted my good life. Or because I was secretly upset that she’d pulled Remy’s attention away from me. Or maybe because I’m a bad friend. I don’t know. But I should have been there for her.”
There was a lot of emotion in Morgan’s voice. Roxxy had no doubt she blamed herself heavily for what had happened with Dare. Which wasn’t her fault. Dare had made her own choices and Roxxy felt it was likely she would have done so, even with the team checking in with her regularly. She kept those thoughts to herself, though. She suspected Morgan wouldn’t believe her if she said anything along those lines.
“And it isn’t just Dare. I ignored you. You could have used a shoulder to deal with the fallout from Pestilence’s attack.” Morgan’s face paled slightly at that. Roxxy was pretty sure Morgan was blaming herself for that, since Pestilence was her daughter. “And Haley. Sure, she’s the leader and she takes responsibility for how things go during our missions. But this wasn’t her fault and I don’t think there’s anything she could have done to change the outcome. She needs to stop blaming herself. And she needs to realize that its okay to fail.”
“Haley does tend to be hard on herself where the team is concerned,” Roxxy admitted. She’d often felt that Haley took too much onto her own shoulders. Not that Roxxy thought she’d ever do anything different. But Haley had to know that the team respected her and her leadership. And that they didn’t blame her when things went wrong.
“Then there’s Jehnna. Who, as you said, is intent on putting all of us down. I don’t know what happened to her, but she’s acting like we’ve all personally done something to wreck her life. I’m sorry that Warren fell in love with me. I’m sorry I fell in love with him. It was almost like there was no choice. The close quarters. The pheromones. The intimacy. Warren was my entire world for a year. It was impossible not to develop feelings. I wish to God that it hadn’t happened that way. But it did. And I’ll never be able to forgive myself for it. Because this…” Here, Morgan’s hand lifted and gestured around her. As if to take in everything that had happened and was happening. “This is not what I wanted. Not by any stretch of the imagination. And I just wish, so much, that I could fix it. I wish things could go back to the way they were.”
By the end of her speech, Morgan was in tears. And she seemed to be huddling into herself. Roxxy sighed. Things were royally fucked up with her friends. With her family. She’d love nothing more than to shred Sinister for doing this to all of them. But that option wasn’t really on the table. Not at the moment. At present, the only thing she could do was try to find a way to put them all back on the right path. Everyone seemed so isolated, though.
That thought struck her. Isolated. Hadn’t Morgan just said that she and Warren had been kept separate from the rest of their friends? That was, more or less, what had started all of this. Because instead of banding together when they’d returned, everyone had just gone their own separate ways. And that had been further enforced by assigning each couple a suite. What should have happened is the whole floor should have been turned into one single room. One nursery and four bedrooms with a main living area. Maybe the girls could have come back from their problems. Maybe they could have fought their way back to being a team and a family.
“There might be a way, Morgan,” Roxxy said slowly, the thought still taking life in her head. Morgan looked at her with curiosity. Her eyes were filled with hope. “Maybe, what the team needs most right now, is to be together again.”
Some of the hope died and Morgan offered her a faint frown. “You mean, like, in the same room?”
“Yes. To talk. Because its obvious none of these problems will go away on their own. We need to start communicating with one another again.”
“I thought that,” Morgan said, her gaze drifting into a memory. “I told Warren that yesterday. That we need to sit down and talk to one another. But part of me wondered just how much good it would actually do. If any at all.”
“Well, sitting around and doing nothing won’t help. And wondering if talking will help obviously won’t help. So maybe we should give it a shot and see if it does. It can’t be worse than not talking at all,” Roxxy told her.
Morgan was silent a moment, then slowly nodded her head. “You’re right. It can’t hurt to talk things out. Maybe it’ll be just the thing we need.” Morgan sat up straighter, her expression far less troubled and very much lighter than it had been when Roxxy’d walked through the door earlier. “So how do we want to do this?”
“Well,” Roxxy began, still trying to figure it out on her head. “I think we’ll set it up in the unused suite. We’re going to have to settle on a date and talk everyone into being there.”
“Where are we talking everyone into being?” Warren’s voice interrupted as he let himself into the suite. The question was there in his eyes when his gaze slide from Morgan to Roxxy, then back again. Morgan offered him a smile and rose from her seat. Warren hugged her to him when she reached where he stood, then walked back toward the couch with her, settling on a cushion next to her. “What were you ladies talking about?”
“Roxxy thinks getting the team together to talk is a good idea,” Morgan told him. “I was telling her about our conversation yesterday and she thinks talking might help put things on the path to being repaired.”
“That is very possible,” Warren said, though his voice was more guarded than Morgan’s. “And you two are trying to figure out the logistics, right?”
“Yes,” Roxxy agreed. “We were trying to figure out how to get everyone together to talk. We thought the unused suite would be the best place. Its more or less neutral ground. And it’ll offer the privacy we’ll need to hash things out.”
“Well, I don’t know if I can help you get the team together. But I can make sure the guys don’t interrupt.”
“How?” Morgan asked.
Warren offered her a blinding smile. “We’ll have a Dad’s day. Each of us will bring our sweet little angel with us. You can’t tell me there isn’t a one of us who doesn’t want the opportunity to prove to the others that his little girls is the prettiest of the bunch.” The pride in his voice made Roxxy smile. It was obvious Warren loved his daughter. “That way, there will be no babies for you ladies to worry about. And no men to interrupt your hen party.”
“A hen party? That’s what you’re going to call it, Warren?” Morgan asked, laughter in her words. “You’re terrible! I can’t believe you said that!”
Roxxy sat there and watched the two of them interact with one another and felt a faint spark of hope flare to life in her chest. Maybe, just maybe, this get together would be just the thing the team needed to put them all back on the right path.
Maybe…
Chapter Forty Five: Making Plans
Fandom: the Marvel universe
Rating: 18 and up
Warnings: graphic violence, language, sex, dark themes, anything else i can toss in.
Disclaimer: the recognizable characters and places contained herein are the property of Marvel. i'm merely borrowing for the sake of entertainment. no money is being made from this venture. Haley belongs to
dazzledfirestar Morgan belongs toginevra Roxxy belongs tonanaeanaven Jehnna belongs to silverfox_chan and Dare belongs to me. the concept and title of The Mary Sue Virus are used with permission from dazzledfirestar . Author's Notes: this is almost entirely Daz's fault. okay. so it really isn't. its actually almost 100% my fault. Daz just did a whole lot of encouraging. this fic is going to be kind of dark, so please keep that in mind while reading.
Among the Strong - the index
“Just what the hell did you think you were doing?” Scott demanded upon slamming the door behind him. A small, petty part of him felt a deep sense of satisfaction when he saw Jean cringe. No doubt her head was still killing her. It wasn’t nearly enough. She deserved a much more severe punishment than that.
It had been hours since she’d pulled her bullshit downstairs. Hours since he’d woken up in the medlab with his friends, anxious and confused, gathered around his bed. And Haley’s bed. Hours since he’d been forced to watch Haley’s life crumble before her eyes and he’d been unable to do anything to stop it. And, God, had he wanted to. He’d wanted to stay by her side and hold her. He’d wanted to tell her it would work out and everything would be okay. He’d wanted so desperately to keep her and Emilia at his side. Because he needed them. Because he wanted nothing more. Because he was afraid.
It had been hours since he’d watched Haley shut down. He was so certain that she’d believed she would end up alone. That he and Johnny both would leave her. And he’d wanted to sit there and hold her. Assure her that he wasn’t going anywhere. But he’d seen that she wouldn’t accept any comfort from him. It frustrated him to no end. How could she think, after their year together, that he’d ever willingly let her go? He loved her, damn it. And he always had.
He’d realized it sometime during their days with Sinister that the feelings had always been there. He couldn’t figure out why he’d only just realized it then, why he hadn’t always known. Then again, maybe he could and he just wasn’t willing to dig into the reasons. He’d considered asking her out once. A long time ago. But then the Juggernaut had happened. And Harper had given his life protecting the kids at the school. His sister included. And Scott had taken the idea of asking Haley out and shoved it to the darkest corners of his mind. He’d been certain, all those years ago, that Haley would have laid the blame for Harper’s death at his feet.
After all, that’s what he’d done.
Their year in captivity, though… He’d come to believe that maybe he’d been wrong about what Haley would or wouldn’t have done. He’d decided that maybe, just maybe, she might have said yes. And they might have avoided all of this bullshit. Then again, they might not have. There was no certainty to be had in any relationship. Add to that the fact that they were faced with possible death multiple times a month, and anything could have happened. And then there was Sinister. Would he have grabbed them both anyway? Ripped them apart to make his perfect, super powerful mutant warriors? Would a relationship with Haley have been a casualty of the madman’s pursuit of perfection?
Not that it mattered. Those things hadn’t happened. And in the here and now, the truth of it was, Haley pretty much hated his guts. And she had good reason. Because he’d been a coward this whole time. And his cowardice was going to cost him… everything.
“I’m sorry, Scott. I didn’t mean…”
“Shut up, Jean Do you think I’m stupid? Do you think I didn’t notice you digging around in my brain?” he demanded.
He rarely yelled. Rarely raised his voice the way he was now. But his world was in shambles. He’d had everything he’d ever wanted in the palm of his hand. And Jean had destroyed it in the blink of an eye. Because of what? Jealousy? Fear? A raging superiority complex? Simply because she could?
But because he was damn near yelling now, her eyes were wide with confusion and fear. She was staring at him as if she’d never seen him before. And maybe, just maybe, she hadn’t. Her mouth worked, opening and closing without making a sound as she attempted to find something to say. “You have no idea what you’ve done. Do you?”
“I was trying to break the link!” she shot back. There was heat in her voice and anger flashed in her eyes. She’d obviously found her spine and she was going to engage him in this fight head on. Good. Because he had so much he wanted to say to her. So much he wanted to be sure she heard.
“No matter what that might mean to me or Haley, right?” Scott moved further into the room he shared with Jean until he stood over her. Until he stared down into her face so that he could see her eyes. Find the truth in them. And the lies.
“You’re mine, Scott!” she snapped, her anger flaring around her like a wind. Once upon a time, it might have been impressive. But not now. Not after years in her presence. Not after years of seeing other examples of anger haloing other people he knew. No. She wasn’t impressive. She was pathetic.
“Yours?” he asked, voice dropping low. That was a bold statement to make. One laden with just the slightest hints of insanity. “You don’t own me, Jean. No one does.”
“Of course I do, Scott! You married me. Not her! You’re my husband!” she shot back. Like that made any difference at all.
“That’s right, Jean. I’m supposed to be your husband. Not your possession! Which is how you’ve been treating me all these years. Isn’t it? You’ve made it blatantly clear with your actions these past weeks that you feel like you own me. Marriage is supposed to be a partnership. But there’s none of that here. Is there?” Each statement came with anger and pain. Because he had loved Jean. He still did. But it wasn’t enough. Because she felt like she couldn’t trust him.
“I’ve tried, Scott. I’ve tried to be the wife you wanted and needed. I’ve done everything for you!” she retorted, her words shot through with tears. For once, he was indifferent to her tears. Because they were just lies. Weren’t they? “But you fell in love with Haley. She’s not even second rate next to me! She’s just a poor copy!”
“Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare try and compare yourself to Haley. You’re two different people. And, from where I’m standing, she’s an authentic original. One of a kind. Which makes me wonder if maybe you weren’t just the poor copy all along.”
His words hurt. He could see it in the way she actually flinched away from him. Not that he cared. She deserved every last ounce of anguish and pain she got. And so much more. “You’re being cruel, Scott. This isn’t like you.” Jean’s voice was soft, filled with touches of accusation. As if he was the one being unreasonable. As if she hadn’t attacked his family only hours ago. As if she knew what Haley and Emilia really meant to him.
That though saw Scott’s scowl growing. It saw Jean taking a step back. He followed her, his temper high and the desire to hurt her the way she’d hurt him riding him hard. He backed her up against the nearest wall, and she stared up into his face. The expression she wore was filled with fear. And it was genuine. For once, Scott took perverse joy in making someone afraid of him. “And you’re acting like a spoiled, selfish brat! You’re consumed by jealousy because you can’t have your own way! Because you feel threatened,” he countered. Jean stared at him, eyes wide with her fear. With fresh pockets of anger and jealousy, And with hints of disbelief.
“You could have hurt any one of us, Jean! You could have hurt Emilia!” he declared, his voice so tight with anger that it took everything in him to remain still. To not move and lash out at her physically.
“And it always comes down to the baby! That baby is not more important than me! I’m your wife!” The last of her words were shouted. They echoed around the room loudly. And Scott could see a few of the portraits on the dresser vibrating just the slightest. Jean was losing control of her powers at her temper climbed higher.
“Emilia is barely a month old! She’s helpless. And you put her in danger!” he snarled, his hands fisting despite his attempts to avoid such a thing. Because the fear he’d felt when Jean’s attack had happened hit him full force. Haley had been holding Emilia and it would have been disastrous if Haley hadn’t managed to hold on to consciousness and Emilia at the same time. “Emilia is my daughter! She’s innocent in whatever bullshit has come between us. She and Haley are my family, Jean! And you could have killed them!”
The look on her face as she stared up at him told him everything he needed to know. He didn’t need to hear anything else from her. There was no way she could defend herself. Because she didn’t feel she’d done anything wrong. She’d put his life at risk. She’d put Haley’s life at risk. She’d put an innocent child at risk. Because she’d been jealous and she hadn’t wanted to share. Scott shook his head and turned, heading toward the closet. He felt her eyes following his every move as he jerked the door open and retrieved a duffel bag from its depths, then moved toward the dresser. He’d yanked a drawer open and started hauling clothes out of it, shoving them into the bag in his hands, before she spoke again.
“What are you doing, Scott?” The fear was back, as genuine as it had been before. It trembled in every single one of her words and he knew, without looking, that she remained in place.
“I can’t trust you anymore, Jean. I don’t even think I know who you are anymore,” he told her, voice quieter. Quieter, but no less angry. And filled with bitterness. So many years of his life wasted. So much time he could have spent working toward the family he’d always wanted and only just now gotten. So much wasted time. All because of Jean and her insecurities. “I need time to figure out where we go next. I need to be alone to do that.”
“You’re… leaving me?” she asked, her voice small. Tight with pain.
“Yes. No. Maybe. I don’t know right now. All I do know is I cannot be around you. And I cannot trust you,” Scott replied, stuffing more clothing into the bag. For a moment, he wondered if Jean would try to use her telekinesis to put his things back. To try and make him stay. But she didn’t. She stood behind him, utterly silent. He swore he could feel her pain on the air around him, could feel her carefully crafted facade starting to crack.
He put that notion out of his mind and went into the bathroom in order to collect his toiletries. By the time he was done collecting his things, the anger had mostly faded, leaving him feeling tired and lost and disappointed. And so very sad. Scott chanced a glance in the mirror and stared at his reflection. There was nothing on his face to give away how he felt. Nothing to mark that his world was falling apart around him.
Heaving a sigh, Scott stepped out of the bathroom. Jean was on her knees on the floor, tears running silently down her cheeks. He should have felt bad about making her cry. It was something he’d never wanted to do. But he couldn’t. He just couldn’t. Because one thoughtless action on her part had taken everything from him. Hefting the bag up onto his shoulder, he headed for the door.
The knob turned with ease and the panel swung open to the hall beyond. He expected her to call out to him before he stepped over the threshold. He expected her to beg him to reconsider. He expected something. What he got was a soft sob and oppressive silence.
The door closed with a faint click behind him. And he felt the world shift beneath his feet as he walked away.
~*~*~*~*~
Roxxy’s frown came the moment the door closed quietly behind her. She’d just spent half an hour or more chatting with Jehnna and it had been… enlightening. In all the wrong ways. She caught her lower lip between her teeth and worried at it while she slowly made her way up the hall.
Hell, the entire day had been enlightening in all the worst ways.
It had started with a visit to Dare and Haley and the suite they occupied. She’d found the two of them in the living area, Haley in a chair with Emilia by her feet in carrier. Dare had taken the couch, Petra in a bounce chair on the cushion next to her. Remy had joined them only moments after Roxxy had arrived, a tray loaded down with a variety of fruit and sandwiches in hand. The tray had been settled on the coffee table with an invitation for everyone to enjoy. When he’d taken his seat on the couch next to Dare, she’d allowed him to pull her into his side and had flashed him a smile. It was a smile that had seen the warning bells in Roxxy’s head going off.
Because, for all intents and purposes, Dare had looked happy. But, at the same time, Roxxy swore she wasn’t. It wasn’t anything she could see and it wasn’t in the way Dare acted. It was just a feeling. But it was hard to put a finger on what bothered her, because every time Dare’s attention turned to Petra, the smile became more genuine. Softer. Much more tender. The love she had for her daughter was there, apparent in the way she stared at the baby.
And when Roxxy asked questions, Dare answered. They were full answers. It didn’t feel like she was trying to skirt truths or hide things. As far as Roxxy could tell, she was being open and honest in her answers. But it still did nothing to dispel the feeling that she was holding something back. Or that she was still caught up in whatever thoughts and emotions she’d been plagued with when she’d returned from Sinister’s pocket dimension. That sense of wrongness had left Roxxy feeling uncomfortable.
A feeling that only got worse when she considered Haley’s behavior. From the moment she’d entered the suite, Haley had been aloof. Quiet. Tense. Maybe even a little furtive. She’d had her phone in hand and had stared at it intently when she wasn’t watching Emilia with an eagle-eyed stare that suggested she refused to let her child out of her sight. Roxxy couldn’t say she blamed Haley.
Of course Henry had told Roxxy about the attack that had taken place in the hallway just yesterday. Some kind of psychic attack that had left Haley, Scott, and Jean unconscious. Roxxy felt it had to have been an incredibly strong attack for that to happen. Jean’s talents were all tied into her telekinesis and telepathy. She was almost as good as the Professor. So for someone to have slipped past her guard, they had to be strong. But something about Henry’s story had left Roxxy with more questions than answers. Because the attack shouldn’t have happened. Jean should have been able to reflect it. And that only after whomever was responsible had gotten past the Professor. And even then, why had Scott and Haley gotten caught up in it?
She’d asked Henry her questions, but he hadn’t provided any satisfactory answers. And worse, she’d felt he was holding something back from her. She’d considered asking about that, too. Ultimately, she’d decided he would merely avoid the topic or steer their conversation in another direction entirely. So it had been in her head to see if she could get answers from Haley.
The only problem with that was that Haley had kept mostly to herself. She’d answered basic questions. Like how she’d been feeling. Her answer of ‘I’m fine.’ had fallen flat in Roxxy’s ears. Given Haley was still pale and it looked like the headache still hadn’t let up, Roxxy knew it for the lie it was. And it had only gotten worse. Any attempt to engage Haley in a conversation had been met with flat, short answers that did not invite further questions or comments.
Remy had felt like the only normal one in the group. And Roxxy was tempted to catch him alone to get his take on the whole thing. Because she’d left the room with unease blossoming like a rotted flower somewhere in her chest. And with it came a growing sense of wrongness. The entire room had been steeped in it. And it made Roxxy feel like there was something bad coming.
Too bad she couldn’t, for the life of her, figure out what it might be. What could be worse than Sinister kidnapping her family?
The sound of a door closing behind her drew her away from her thoughts. She turned to see Sam approaching her from the room she’d just left. There was an anxious look on his face. She’d seen it not all the long ago when she’d been visiting with Jehnna. Roxxy stopped walked and allowed Sam to catch up with her. Something was bothering him and she had an idea she knew what it might be. She offered him a smile. “Hi, Sam. Is there something I can help you with?” she asked, her voice open and inviting.
“Can I talk to you?” Sam asked, his gaze sliding back toward the door he’d just closed. There was a touch of nervousness to him that she couldn’t miss. Before she could answer him, he pressed on. “This is normally something I’d go to Haley or Scott about, but it feels like right now is a bad time to talk to either one of them.”
She nodded at that. She completely understood. “Of course, Sam. We can absolutely talk. Let’s go somewhere private,” she offered. He nodded and glanced down the length of one end of the hall, then the other. Eventually, he motioned toward the door that she knew opened into the unused suite. Roxxy turned toward it and led them into the living area of the empty suite. She settled on the couch, motioning toward it with one hand in invitation. Sam shook his head and started pacing.
“I’m sorry to bring this to you, Roxxy. But I honestly didn’t know who else to talk to,” Sam began. She could hear the confusion and concern in his voice.
“Is it Jehnna?” she asked gently.
Sam stopped pacing and glanced up at her. There was a haunted look in his eyes that answered the question for him. And then he was back to pacing. Roxxy felt, if he’d had the room, Sam’s speed would have been increasing with each pass. She was kind of glad that wasn’t the case. After several moments of pacing, he came to a halt and turned to look at her. There was pain in his expression, telling her that whatever this was, it was tearing him a part. “There’s something wrong with her,” he said plainly.
“How do you mean?” she asked in return. Even though she’d felt the same thing after her conversation with other woman.
“We were havin’ a conversation yesterday. About the attack in the hallway,” he began. She noted the hints of his Kentucky roots making themselves known in his speech. Which suggested he was much more upset than he was letting on. Roxxy nodded to let him know she understood. Sam heaved a sigh and continued. “Roxxy, she thinks Jean is the wronged party in the whole thing. She said it was bad enough that Haley had been tryin’ to steal Scott from her. But now she had to deal with this. And she mentioned something about protecting herself from the attack. She didn’t mention anyone else. Just herself.”
Roxxy frowned at that. That certainly didn’t sound anything like Jehnna. “There’s more, isn’t there?”
“There is,” Sam nodded. He drew a breath, as if fortifying himself, then pressed on. His voice came out faintly strained, as if he was forcing the words off his tongue. “She said that Morgan stole Warren from her. And that Dare stole Remy from Morgan. She’s got it in her head that she and Jean have been wronged and everyone else is just a terrible person. This isn’t like her and I’m at a loss as to how to fix it.”
Roxxy shook her head. “I’m not sure you can fix it, Sam. It sounds as if she’s repressing her trauma and its leading to this… paranoia. Or whatever it is. But I understand why you’re worried. You’re right. This is very unlike Jehnna. And I’m not sure what might help, beyond talking to a therapist. The problem there is that I’m not sure Jehnna thinks she needs a therapist. It seems like she’d resist going if you suggested one. Which doesn’t line up with the last chat we had. Jehnna was writing all of her experiences down. I think, to help herself understand what had actually happened. And she’d been looking into finding a therapist. She knew recognized bad things had happened. To her and to everyone else. She was making an effort to do something about it. Something must have happened between now and then.”
Sam stared at Roxxy. He looked lost and alone. She understood why he’d come to her with it. She was friends with Jehnna. He’d hoped she could offer him insight or help him find a solution. Unfortunately, Roxxy didn’t think she could do that. She was certain she couldn’t help any of her friends. Which left her frustrated and angry. This was definitely a problem that should have gone to Haley, as head of Purple Team. Or to Scott, as head of all the teams. But both of them had their own problems to deal with.
The only other person she could see Sam going to was Warren. And she wondered if perhaps he’d thought of it and hesitated. Because Warren still cared about Jehnna. And it was possible Sam thought Warren might blame him for whatever was wrong with Jehnna now. It was a legitimate concern even though Roxxy didn’t think Warren would do any such thing.
“Is it something Sinister could have done?” Sam asked. There was a kind of hushed quality to the query, as if he worried that invoking the man’s name would see him suddenly appearing in the room with that. Roxxy couldn’t say she blamed Sam for that. She was sure each one of them was suffering from their time in captivity. There was no doubt that all eight of Sinister’s captives had suffered trauma. And she was sure it ranged from what could be considered mild trauma, such as it seemed Sam was showing, to severe trauma. That was where she put Dare. Possibly Remy. She wasn’t sure where everyone else fell on the spectrum, but she knew they were all there.
Roxxy was about to tell him that she wasn’t sure. But then she remembered the revelation she’d had after talking to Duke once. The one about how each of her friends had been exhibiting… traits of the horsemen they’d been carrying. Morgan had been sick with some kind of infection. Jehnna had been eating everything in sight and not gaining weight. Haley had shown instances of aggression that seemed to come from War. And Dare… Well, she’d nearly died. So maybe there was something to Sam’s question. “I suppose it is possible this is Sinister’s doing,” she conceded. “I mean, I guess its possible he could have played with their genetics somehow. Or planted what amounted to a bomb that went off with the right trigger. And it brought about this.”
“So what do we do?” Sam asked, clearly at a loss. To be honest, she was, too. She didn’t know how to counter this. While she might be able to find some variance in her friends’ genetic code, she had no talents where psionics were concerned. That was the Professor’s talent. Or Jean’s. And Roxxy didn’t think either one of them would want to offer help. Xavier didn’t seem to think her team was worth the help. And Jean’s anger with Haley made it unlikely that she’d be willing to help at all. Roxxy didn’t know what to do.
“I don’t know that there’s much we can do right now. I’ll see if its something Sinister tied into their genetic codes. It should be easy for me to get my hands on both old and new samples of their DNA. I will warn you that such an examination will take some time. Because I have to be certain,” she warned him, her tone not unkind. He was so worried. So scared. “It might go faster if I ask Henry to help.”
“Beast has already been taxed by everything that’s happened in the past month. I’d hate to add this to his load,” Sam said quietly.
His obvious concern made Roxxy smile. “I have no doubt Henry would be tickled to hear that you’re worried about his health. But he would be the first one to remind you that this was what he signed up for when he became the X-Men’s chief medical officer.”
Sam regarded her a moment, then offered a knowing smile that spoke to his sweet, happy, country boy attitude. “That’s why you refuse to let him deal with this stuff on his own. Ain’t it?”
She couldn’t help but smile at that. “It is. Because Henry would work himself to death if I wasn’t there to keep an eye on him.”
Sam nodded, as if she’d shared some great secret with him. Then his look sobered and he was once more lost and scared and confused. That made two of them. “And if it isn’t something Sinister did? If its the trauma?”
“Then we hope we can find someone who can break through the trauma to the sweet, loving Jehnna we know lies beneath it. And I will help you find that someone. I promise, Sam,” she told him resolutely. “I want her back just as much as you do.”
“Thanks, Roxxy,” Sam nodded. One hand came up to curl hesitantly around her upper arm. The touch got heavier a moment later. And then his other arm came up so he could tug her into his embrace and hug her to him. Maybe a little tighter than necessary. “Thank you so much.”
His actions left her shocked and he was gone before she could recover enough to tell him that they were all in this together.
~*~
Morgan looked slightly surprised to see Roxxy standing in the hallway. But after a moment of bewildered staring, she held the door to the suite wide and motioned toward the living room behind her. “Please, Roxxy. Come in,” Morgan said. Roxxy thought she heard a touch of something in the woman’s voice. Sorrow, or something close to it.
Roxxy stepped into the suite and waited for Morgan to close the door. Then, together, the two of them moved for the sitting area. Roxxy took one of the chairs while Morgan settled into the couch. Roxxy noted that the other woman’s actions seemed almost listless. As if she was suffering from some ailment. Paired with the tone of Morgan’s voice, Roxxy thought it was a safe bet that her friend was upset about something, Possibly depressed. She offered Morgan a smile. “How are you doing, Morgan?”
“I’m… okay, I guess,” Morgan responded. It wasn’t a very enthusiastic response. Roxxy’s smile slid away, replaced by concern.
“You guess?” she asked, hoping to coax more of an answer from the woman.
“Yeah,” Morgan replied. One shoulder lifted in a negligent shrug while her hands picked at the blanket that lay on the couch beside her.
“Would you like to expand upon that for me? Because you don’t seem okay to me,” Roxxy prompted.
Morgan sighed in response and shook her head. “I’m sure you don’t want to hear my issues,” she responded.
Roxxy gave Morgan a look, then frowned. “I’ve just had a discussion with Sam about Jehnna’s odd behavior. And a visit with Haley and Dare leads me to think that neither one of them are doing as well as they want people to think. I doubt your issues, whatever they might be, can be any worse.”
Apparently Morgan hadn’t expected that, because she kind of boggled at Roxxy. But then she sighed again and Roxxy frowned. “It isn’t worse, is it?” Roxxy asked almost hesitantly.
“I don’t think so,” Morgan laughed and shook her head. But then her look sobered immediately and she stared off into space a moment. When she returned her attention to Roxxy, there was a touch of fear in her eyes. “I mean, technically, my issues don’t involve me specifically. They involve all of us.”
That gave Roxxy pause. She’d thought that Morgan’s problems were her own. Not everyone’s. And the notion intrigued her. Because it felt like there hadn’t been a lot of thought about the team lately. Mostly just the individuals. Which, granted, wasn’t much of a stretch. No one had come back from the pocket dimension unscathed. But it felt weird to be talking about a team issue instead of an individual issue. And that reminded Roxxy that she didn’t think anyone had talked about the team and what the whole kidnapping thing meant for them as a whole. She knew she really hadn’t.
“How do your issues involve all of us?” Roxxy asked, inviting Morgan to settle her problems on Roxxy’s shoulders. Hell, maybe it would help her figure out how to deal with everything she’d been in the middle of today.
“I was talking with Warren about this yesterday. I’d been lost in thought for a good long while. Probably since you told us about Dare and how she’d nearly killed herself,” Morgan began. She paused there and seemed to be thinking about something. Then she shook her head and frowned. “I still don’t know what that was all about. All I know is it seems like I’ve had a really easy time coming back here. Warren has been so attentive and so loving. And Kayla has been nothing but sweet and quiet and good. It feels like my life is perfect.”
The last of her words rang as more of an indictment than any kind of simple statement. Roxxy thought she understood what Morgan was trying to say. But she wanted to be sure. Because there was no more room for misunderstandings. Not when those could mean nothing but trouble. So she took a breath and held it, then let it out in one long exhale. “But?”
“But its wrong. Isn’t it? For me to feel like my life is perfect when so much is falling apart around me. Dare nearly died and I didn’t even know it was happening until it was almost too late. I should have spent time with her. Maybe I could have helped her. But I avoided her. Because her issues were too much and they might have disrupted my good life. Or because I was secretly upset that she’d pulled Remy’s attention away from me. Or maybe because I’m a bad friend. I don’t know. But I should have been there for her.”
There was a lot of emotion in Morgan’s voice. Roxxy had no doubt she blamed herself heavily for what had happened with Dare. Which wasn’t her fault. Dare had made her own choices and Roxxy felt it was likely she would have done so, even with the team checking in with her regularly. She kept those thoughts to herself, though. She suspected Morgan wouldn’t believe her if she said anything along those lines.
“And it isn’t just Dare. I ignored you. You could have used a shoulder to deal with the fallout from Pestilence’s attack.” Morgan’s face paled slightly at that. Roxxy was pretty sure Morgan was blaming herself for that, since Pestilence was her daughter. “And Haley. Sure, she’s the leader and she takes responsibility for how things go during our missions. But this wasn’t her fault and I don’t think there’s anything she could have done to change the outcome. She needs to stop blaming herself. And she needs to realize that its okay to fail.”
“Haley does tend to be hard on herself where the team is concerned,” Roxxy admitted. She’d often felt that Haley took too much onto her own shoulders. Not that Roxxy thought she’d ever do anything different. But Haley had to know that the team respected her and her leadership. And that they didn’t blame her when things went wrong.
“Then there’s Jehnna. Who, as you said, is intent on putting all of us down. I don’t know what happened to her, but she’s acting like we’ve all personally done something to wreck her life. I’m sorry that Warren fell in love with me. I’m sorry I fell in love with him. It was almost like there was no choice. The close quarters. The pheromones. The intimacy. Warren was my entire world for a year. It was impossible not to develop feelings. I wish to God that it hadn’t happened that way. But it did. And I’ll never be able to forgive myself for it. Because this…” Here, Morgan’s hand lifted and gestured around her. As if to take in everything that had happened and was happening. “This is not what I wanted. Not by any stretch of the imagination. And I just wish, so much, that I could fix it. I wish things could go back to the way they were.”
By the end of her speech, Morgan was in tears. And she seemed to be huddling into herself. Roxxy sighed. Things were royally fucked up with her friends. With her family. She’d love nothing more than to shred Sinister for doing this to all of them. But that option wasn’t really on the table. Not at the moment. At present, the only thing she could do was try to find a way to put them all back on the right path. Everyone seemed so isolated, though.
That thought struck her. Isolated. Hadn’t Morgan just said that she and Warren had been kept separate from the rest of their friends? That was, more or less, what had started all of this. Because instead of banding together when they’d returned, everyone had just gone their own separate ways. And that had been further enforced by assigning each couple a suite. What should have happened is the whole floor should have been turned into one single room. One nursery and four bedrooms with a main living area. Maybe the girls could have come back from their problems. Maybe they could have fought their way back to being a team and a family.
“There might be a way, Morgan,” Roxxy said slowly, the thought still taking life in her head. Morgan looked at her with curiosity. Her eyes were filled with hope. “Maybe, what the team needs most right now, is to be together again.”
Some of the hope died and Morgan offered her a faint frown. “You mean, like, in the same room?”
“Yes. To talk. Because its obvious none of these problems will go away on their own. We need to start communicating with one another again.”
“I thought that,” Morgan said, her gaze drifting into a memory. “I told Warren that yesterday. That we need to sit down and talk to one another. But part of me wondered just how much good it would actually do. If any at all.”
“Well, sitting around and doing nothing won’t help. And wondering if talking will help obviously won’t help. So maybe we should give it a shot and see if it does. It can’t be worse than not talking at all,” Roxxy told her.
Morgan was silent a moment, then slowly nodded her head. “You’re right. It can’t hurt to talk things out. Maybe it’ll be just the thing we need.” Morgan sat up straighter, her expression far less troubled and very much lighter than it had been when Roxxy’d walked through the door earlier. “So how do we want to do this?”
“Well,” Roxxy began, still trying to figure it out on her head. “I think we’ll set it up in the unused suite. We’re going to have to settle on a date and talk everyone into being there.”
“Where are we talking everyone into being?” Warren’s voice interrupted as he let himself into the suite. The question was there in his eyes when his gaze slide from Morgan to Roxxy, then back again. Morgan offered him a smile and rose from her seat. Warren hugged her to him when she reached where he stood, then walked back toward the couch with her, settling on a cushion next to her. “What were you ladies talking about?”
“Roxxy thinks getting the team together to talk is a good idea,” Morgan told him. “I was telling her about our conversation yesterday and she thinks talking might help put things on the path to being repaired.”
“That is very possible,” Warren said, though his voice was more guarded than Morgan’s. “And you two are trying to figure out the logistics, right?”
“Yes,” Roxxy agreed. “We were trying to figure out how to get everyone together to talk. We thought the unused suite would be the best place. Its more or less neutral ground. And it’ll offer the privacy we’ll need to hash things out.”
“Well, I don’t know if I can help you get the team together. But I can make sure the guys don’t interrupt.”
“How?” Morgan asked.
Warren offered her a blinding smile. “We’ll have a Dad’s day. Each of us will bring our sweet little angel with us. You can’t tell me there isn’t a one of us who doesn’t want the opportunity to prove to the others that his little girls is the prettiest of the bunch.” The pride in his voice made Roxxy smile. It was obvious Warren loved his daughter. “That way, there will be no babies for you ladies to worry about. And no men to interrupt your hen party.”
“A hen party? That’s what you’re going to call it, Warren?” Morgan asked, laughter in her words. “You’re terrible! I can’t believe you said that!”
Roxxy sat there and watched the two of them interact with one another and felt a faint spark of hope flare to life in her chest. Maybe, just maybe, this get together would be just the thing the team needed to put them all back on the right path.
Maybe…
(no subject)
Date: 2025-08-12 07:43 pm (UTC)That rage has been building for awhile, clearly. I think Scott's putting some very uncomfortable pieces together and he's not liking the way the picture it turning out. He's got every right to take some time and figure out what to do next and Jean's... posessive? I'd border on obsessive behavior clearly isn't giving him the room to figure anything out. Hopefully he can get his thoughts and feelings together and figured out a road forward, whatever that means. Also, jeeeeez I hope Jean wakes up to the monster she's turning into. Yikes.
Poor Roxxy stuck in the middle of everyone just not communicating. Though since Dare seems to be actively working on controling her temper maybe she's focusing on the wrong cues... Haley could be quiet due to the headache, but I'm curious what she's looking up on her phone... that's probably not good. And I love that Sam is still so considerate of everybody else even when he knows he needs help. I love their conversation and I love that his accent gets a little thicker when he's upset. Hopefully everyone can find a way to help Jehnna work through whatever is making her lash out before it gets too ugly and irrepairable.
Getting everyone together seems like a good idea at this point but I'm worried it's too little too late given how far gone Jehnna is and how closed off Haley is... hopefully Roxxy and Morgan can work through all of the layers and get everyone talking again.
Great work, hun. Things are really coming to a head!
(no subject)
Date: 2025-08-13 12:37 am (UTC)it does kind of suck that Roxxy is caught in the middle of her team's implosion. i'm sure she's right in the middle of wanting to hug them all while telling them everything will work out and wanting to smack the ever loving shit out of them. because she can see that everything's all wrong. and smacking them has to fix something. right? and there could be any number of reasons why she got weird vibes off both Dare and Haley. and i really have to admit that it like that little bit of Sam's accent peeking out here and there. fingers crossed that, somehow, the girls figure out a way to fix their shit.
glad you liked it, hon. thanks for reading!
(no subject)
Date: 2025-08-17 11:44 pm (UTC)This. Yes. Exactly this. lol
Almost there....
Date: 2025-08-17 11:37 pm (UTC)I hate to say it (no I don't), but Jean brought this on herself. She's been selfish and manipulative. And while I understand her reasons, I can't fathom how she doesn't seem to understand that her actions have consequences. How can she NOT realize that potentially causing harm to Scott's infant daughter would do the opposite of what she wants? Thinking her ends justify whatever means she uses to get what she wants is just first class villain material honestly. Hope she wakes before she slides the rest of the way down that slippery slope. Can't say I'd ever forgive her if I was in Scott's place though.
Roxxy concerned about Dare looking Happy? Yeah, checks out. Seriously though, there's definitely something weird going on. Something spreading this wrongness that Roxxy is so desperately trying to sniff out the source of. I'm glad she was there to listen to Sam's concerns. And I share her frustration at not being able to help her friends. Also, yay! Research mode activated. I'm sure IF their DNA has been tampered with Roxxy WILL find it. Even if it takes a while. It really kinda pisses me off that Charles is such a dick when it comes to Team Purple. And that Jean is being a bitch. Because this really shouldn't all fall on Roxxy's shoulders. Not saying she can't handle it. Just that she shouldn't have to do it all alone (or, you know, with just Henry's help). :/
Ah, there's Morgan. And she's feeling guilty about things being "easier" for her? Sorry, Morgan, but no. They aren't better for you. Not really. You're just in denial. But I do think she has a point about this being a TEAM thing. And YES! Ye gods, yes! They really do ALL need to get together and TALK. Will it help? I'm with Roxxy on this one - maybe? But I do know that NOT talking isn't helping, so.... Yeah. And bless Warren for his plan to get the men and the babies out of the way for this very necessary and long overdue talk to happen. Here's hoping that it goes well. *fingers crossed*
Kudos, bb! I enjoyed it muchly. Hopefully I can get to the next chapter tomorrow night. *smooches*
Re: Almost there....
Date: 2025-08-18 11:38 pm (UTC)Jean has totally brought this on herself. Ororo warned her what would happen if she persisted. Jean didn't listen. and i feel like she thought breaking the link would be easy peasy because she's ~so special and powerful and everyone loves her and~ well. delusional fits there, too. having Scott walk away from her will hopefully be a wake up call. we shall have to wait and see on that end.
Roxxy's concern is more that she feels Dare is faking the happiness to some extent. i mean, shit with Dare has been weird pretty much since she got back so i think that's a fair reaction for Roxxy to have. and i feel like it was natural for Sam to go to Roxxy. as Daz has pointed out more than once, the New Mutants and Purple Team would be in the same age bracket and, as such, would be friends. so i've been trying to work more of those connections into the fic. not sure how well i'm doing, but i'm trying.
i have no doubt Roxxy would find any genetic tampering Sinister did. i'm sure Henry has more than enough blood samples to use for testing purposes. and records of previous genetic sequencing to compare the results to. i am certain, if Roxxy and Henry need help, they can ask Reed. no doubt he'd be willing. and three brains are always better than one.
Charles and Jean need to watch their backs. just sayin'
i mean, i think in some ways, this whole thing has been easier for Morgan. because she's seen to it that things are easier. she didn't step out of her new comfort zone to check on anyone, which has come back to bite her in the ass in a spectacular way. but she is right and the girls all need to talk. there is so much to talk about. i will admit that i am growing fond of writing Warren. because i like the little bit of trickster that rides on his shoulder.
glad you enjoyed, sweetie. thanks for reading!