Among the Strong
Dec. 11th, 2025 06:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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marysuevirusTitle: Among the Strong
Chapter Fifty Eight: First Steps
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
It had been some time since Warren had stepped foot in the staff lounge. Not much had changed since the last time he’d been here and this latest visit. The walls were still a cream color, photos of the many people who had passed through the school’s doors over the years still hung upon them. The photos were of staff and students alike, taken in classrooms and dorms, in the kitchen and the dining room, in the courtyard as well as the corridors. Each was a moment captured in time, special moments and every day moments, and each brought with it the warmth of treasured memories. Shelves had been scattered here and there, housing books and mementos alike. Soft light streamed in through the windows, leaving the lamps unlit and shadowed. Light blue carpet covered the floor. Couches and chairs, plush and soft and comfortable, in a darker blue offered places to sit and take a respite.
It was warm and welcoming, which was good. More importantly, though, was that it was a neutral place for what was about to happen.
Warren had taken a seat on a bar stool with a short back. It had been put there for him specifically, so that he could sit naturally without having to contort his body to accommodate his wings or, worse, bunch his wings up and risk damaging them. He was staring across the coffee table at the chair where Jean was sitting. She looked composed and at ease. He wasn’t sure if it was a legit look or if she was faking it. Not that it mattered just yet. For the moment, they were caught in the waiting stages.
“I’m sure you’re wondering just how this all will work,” Jean said, her voice soft in the silent room. “I thought I might give you a brief explanation before Jehnna arrives.”
“I’d like that,” Warren responded. He’d been mildly surprised when Jean had asked him to take part in her sessions with Jehnna. And glad. Because he hadn’t yet gotten the image of Scott, Haley, and Jean laid out in the hallway out of his head. Warren had had his suspicions surrounding what had happened then. Those suspicions had pretty much been confirmed when Scott had moved out to the boathouse. Jean had been responsible for the attack in hallway. Warren felt certain that Scott would have separated himself from Jean after what she’d done that day simply because she’d attacked him and Haley unprovoked. The fact that Emilia could have suffered harm, though, had made it a certainty.
Warren let some of the warmth in his expression fold away. Jean saw it and had to fight not to frown. He could see it in the way her eyes widened and in the way her lips twitched at the corners. “And I thought I would let you know that I am not only here to help support Jehnna. I am also here to ensure that you don’t fuck with her head the way you fucked with Scott’s and Haley’s.”
He fell silent to give Jean a moment to speak. To deny his statements. To admit to it. To say something. She remained quiet, her expression suggesting she was uncomfortable with the direction of their conversation. "Whatever may have happened between Jehnna and I, or will happen between us, I still love her. I want the best for her. I want to see her healthy. I want to see her happy. Even if she finds that happiness elsewhere,” he explained quietly. There were no teasing smiles. There was no warmth for his words. None of the emotions that should have been there between friends. He’d known Jean as long as he’d known Scott. She was as much Warren’s friend as Scott was. But so was Haley. And his friends deserved so much better than they’d seen the past few months. They were owed so much better. Warren let his stare harden. Let more of the anger he felt slip into his voice. “We’ve been friends for a long time, Jean. You’ve known me as an angel all that time. You don’t want to upset me. You don't want to see me as a devil."
“I genuinely want to help, Warren,” Jean said softly. He thought he heard a touch of regret in her words. He did hear honesty. She glanced away a moment, her gaze shifting to the far wall. When she brought it back to him, her eyes looked haunted. “When we had our initial meeting with Jehnna, I couldn’t help but see everyone’s memories of what had happened. I didn’t know that it was like that for all of you. I was so focused on what I thought had happened… I let my jealousy and my anger consume me. I can see now how that must have looked to everyone around me and I… I’m so ashamed of my actions. Helping Jehnna is only the first step in trying to make amends. To all of you.”
Warren held her gaze a moment as he turned over her words. She sounded genuinely remorseful. He wasn’t sure he believed it just yet. Hadn’t he discovered recently just how good an actress she could be? He didn’t think she had anything to gain by helping Jehnna. Except maybe some of her tattered self-respect. After several long moments of silence, he gave a nod. “I welcome any help you can give. I know it won’t take the place of seeing a therapist. But its a start to getting my sweet Jehnna back. So thank you in advance for whatever help you can give her. Now. How about you explain for me what you plan on doing to help her.”
Jean offered him a smile, seeming to be happy to be on more stable ground. She nodded and, with a motion he knew to be unconscious, reached up to tug on the length of her hair. It was a nervous gesture he recalled from their early school days, something she’d done any time she was stressed or uncertain. It was a small tell, one most people had missed. But Warren was more than a pretty face. He saw things most people didn’t think he would. And that action told him she was nervous. “My plan is to invite her to talk. About what happened to her. The best way to start clearing up the issues is to get to the heart of them.”
“That makes sense,” Warren nodded. “If she opens up, it might be easier to get her to unpack her trauma.”
“Exactly,” Jean nodded. She cocked her head to the side a moment, then smiled. “They’re coming. So let me hurry along my explanation. While Jehnna talks, I will delve into the memories associated with what she’s telling me. And I will try to find a way to reconcile her memories with actual events.”
“You think her mind has twisted her memories to help protect her,” he responded.
“I do. And, if you will give me your permission, I’ll keep you updated mentally.” It was a good idea. Stopping to tell him what she saw or discovered would disrupt the whole meeting and possibly make it harder to do what they’d come there for. And he liked the fact that she was asking him to allow her access to his mind.
“Please. No matter what she thinks, I will never stop loving her,” Warren told Jean softly. She offered him a smile that was touched by sadness. No doubt she was thinking about her relationship with Scott and how it had all fallen apart. Warren fully believed that Jean loved Scott. In her own way. But Scott had long had a thing for Haley. It had surprised Warren when he’d seemingly set it aside and hooked up with Jean. Now, he had to wonder if…
His thought was broken by the sound of a knock at the door. It was slightly hesitant and not extremely loud. But the room was so quiet, there was no missing it. Jean stood and faced the door. Warren did the same. The knob turned and the door swung inward. Sam and Jehnna stood in the hall, staring into the room with hesitation on his part and confusion on hers. Jean offered a warm smile and motioned toward one of the plush couches. “Please,” she said gently. “Come in and make yourself comfortable.”
Sam’s gaze slid toward Warren as he escorted Jehnna further into the lounge. Together, the two of them settled down on one of those plush blue sofas. Sam had a hold of Jehnna’s hand. Warren couldn’t be sure if it was to help ease Jehnna’s unease or if it was for Sam’s benefit. A moment later, he decided it didn’t matter who it was for. Much as it hurt his heart to see it, he was glad that Sam was so deeply in love with Jehnna. He was glad to see that she wasn’t going to go through this mess alone.
A part of himself wished he’d never fallen for Morgan. That same part wished that he’d been paired with Jehnna in Sinister’s pocket dimension. But that wouldn’t have fit into Sinister’s plans. He’d intentionally set out to destroy lives. Not simply by having the girls give birth to babies that would go on to become mindless killing machines. He’d switched the pairings up on purpose. He’d played on deeply hidden needs and desires to do so. How he’d found them, Warren couldn’t say. And he was fairly certain that he’d played with everyone’s hidden needs and desires.
He was pretty sure he knew what those desires and needs looked like for most everyone. For Scott, it had been his hidden desire for Haley. Where Haley was concerned, Warren was willing to bet she’d harbored a crush on Scott when she was younger. Before Harper’s death. She’d always seemed to be hanging around Harper and his friends back then. It only seemed natural that she’d had a crush on some of them. Remy and Dare were easy. Dare had always been a little in love with the Cajun. And he’d always mourned the fact that Dee wasn’t his. Morgan had been looking for perfection. And Warren… Much as he loved Jehnna, there were things she wasn’t capable of giving him. Things that he knew Morgan could. He suspected Sam had long had a crush on Jehnna. Oddly, his wife was the only one who stumped him because he didn’t know what it was Sam had that he lacked.
“Thank you for coming, Jehnna,” Jean said gently, shattering his thoughts. He pulled himself back to the task at hand, giving his attention to the three people in the room with him. “I’m sure you’re confused as to why I asked you here. I hope you’ll allow me to explain.”
“Of course,” Jehnna nodded, her ponytail bobbing as she did so. She seemed normal, not a sign of the bizarre hatred and rage showing that he’d seen from her the other day. Maybe it was only when they talked about the others, or she was near the others, that this tendency kicked up. Whatever the reason, Warren hoped that the session stayed this quiet and uneventful. Or as quiet and uneventful as it could be when Jean was going to go poking into Jehnna’s trauma.
“We want to try and help you with your trauma, Jehnna. We’re all concerned,” Jean told her, one hand lifting to motion to the room. It was a gesture meant to encompass Jean, Sam, and Warren. Jehnna’s gaze slid around the room, studying all three of their faces. When she turned her look his way, Warren could see that she was skeptical. He offered her a smile that he hoped she saw as being friendly and caring. Concerned. He hoped she knew he loved her and wanted her to come back to herself.
“Okay. But how can you help? I thought only a therapist would be capable of helping,” Jehnna replied. She sounded like her normal self. It was a far cry from the woman he’d seen in the conference room several days ago. That Jehnna had been so wild and out of control. So angry. So unlike the woman he knew.
“You’re right. Only a licensed therapist can really help you deal with your trauma,” Jean replied. She paused and took a breath, as if searching for the right way to continue. Or simply seeking the words she needed. The rest of them waited patiently, in silence, to see what she would say. “But I am capable of helping deal with some of the things a therapist might not know to look for. Or be able to find.”
Jehnna was silent a moment. “You’re talking about digging around in my brain,” she finally said. There might have been a touch of some emotion in her voice. Fear or something similar. But it was gone before Warren could actually be sure.
“I am,” Jean confirmed. “But only to help draw forth the reasons for some of your more extreme reactions. We all feel that there’s something making your trauma worse. And we want to help you find a way to let that go so you have a much easier time with a therapist.”
Jehnna glanced at Sam for a few seconds. She only turned away from him when he nodded at her. Then Jehnna turned to look at Warren and there was so much confusion in her face. It made his heart hurt. “Warren? Is it true? Do you feel like this? Do you think there’s something wrong with me?”
Warren drew a slow breath. The topic was a powder keg just waiting to blow up in his face. But he wasn’t going to lie to her. Or sugar coat the truth. So he let out a soft sigh and gave a brief nod. “Yes. I think there’s something wrong with you, Jehnna. And I want to see that wrong righted. I want you to be healthy and your same old self. Most of all, I want you to be happy, honey. No matter what goes between us, no matter where our paths take us, my wish for you will always be happiness. Even if that doesn’t include me.”
He saw tears gather at the corners of her eyes. He couldn’t be sure if she was tearing up because he’d told her that something was wrong with her and it had hurt her feelings or if she was reacting to the obvious emotion clogging his voice when he’d spoken. And he understood the feeling. Because, right at that moment, he wanted to cry. His heart was breaking in his chest. It was so hard to sit there and see her with Sam. To know she was happier with him than she was with Warren. To know that there was something so lacking in Warren that Sam seemed to have. But he had no room to cry over his losses. He’d made his choice already, hadn’t he? All he could do now was see things through and hope that the pain would dull down eventually.
“I’m sorry, Warren,” Jehnna whispered, reaching up to wipe away the single tear that had escaped. He offered her a smile in the hopes that it would ease the sting.
“Don’t be sorry, Jehnna. I don’t want you to be sorry. I want you to be happy. That’s all.”
“Okay,” Jehnna replied. She straightened her spine and turned back to Jean. “Okay.”
“Okay,” Jean offered a soft smile. “Please relax, Jehnna. Relax and open your mind to me.”
“That’s all?” Jehnna asked, sounding a little skeptical.
“That’s all,” Jean nodded. Relax. And tell me about what happened to you. Start with that day in the desert.”
Jehnna stared a moment, almost as if she was unsure where to start. Or afraid to start. Then she let go a soft sigh and put on the face she always wore when she was thinking intently about something. It was an achingly familiar look and Warren felt his heart give a little twist. Then Jehnna opened her mouth and started speaking. “Dare was complaining about the heat,” she said. A faint lift at the corner of her lips suggested she was on the verge of smiling. “You have to admit. Its kind of funny that someone who can control fire would complain about the heat.” She paused to huff out a laugh. It was a genuine one, filled with a hint of amusement. “We were checking out the other transport when Haley called us back. Something was going on outside.”
Jehnna paused there, prompting Jean to smile at her. “What was happening?”
“The portal was opening and the horsemen were coming,” Jehnna replied. Warren made note of the change in Jehnna’s voice. Disbelief and fear touched her words. And a look at her face suggested she was lost in the memory. “It all happened so fast. War said something about chosen. Dare told her to go fuck herself. And then the fighting started.
“it was like that with us,” Sam said quietly. Then he huffed his own laugh. “Minus telling War to go fuck herself. That seems to be something Dare takes delight in doing.”
“It was the same with us, too,” Warren added. He couldn’t stop the faint hint of a smile that came. “Again, without anyone telling War to go fuck herself. That is definitely a Dare thing.”
Jean nodded at them, her attention never leaving Jehnna’s face. “What happened next?” she asked.
“The fight happened. And it was like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” Jehnna said. The disbelief was gone, replaced by awe. And more of the fear. “Nothing I did drove them back. Nothing anyone did drove them back. Feathers were flying. Fire was everywhere. There was sound like a freight train all around us. It was chaos and confusion. It was hell.”
The last came out as a whisper, laced thickly with horror. Warren understood that feeling. Things had been much the same when he and his team had been facing down the horsemen. Utter chaos and confusion. And a stinging sense of hopelessness because nothing they’d done had seemed to bring the horsemen to a standstill.
“Morgan fell first,” Jehnna said. She frowned a moment and shook her head. “I don’t remember what happened or who hit her. I just know she fell. And it made me mad. I let loose with a full blast of my powers, but it did nothing.” Warren saw, from the corner of his eye, the nod that Sam gave. It had been the same for the New Mutants. Warren suspected it had been the same for all the teams. A glance at Jean told him that she was already sifting through Jehnna’s mind, looking at her memories in order to compare them with her words.
”Jean?” he questioned mentally.
”Her memories match her words,” Jean responded. Warren heard a touch of something in her mental voice, possibly a hint of hesitance or confusion. ”But there’s something there. I can feel something coming. And I don’t think it will be pleasant.”
“There was no one to help me, either,” Jehnna pressed on. Her voice had changed, gotten a little deeper. There seemed to be a little more stress in it. And a little more rage. “Haley and Dare were fucking showing off with War and Death, trying to prove to everyone what big fucking heroes they were. Fat lot of good that did us.”
Warren blinked at that assessment. Surely Jehnna didn’t honestly believe that Haley and Dare were showing off during such a serious fight? He’d been involved in enough training sessions and been on joint missions with Purple Team to know that no one on that team resorted to such tactics. Dare shunned the spotlight and Haley tended to use her team to its fullest potential in order to reach a reasonable outcome without unnecessary violence. She was a brilliant leader, a natural one, and her team worked in ways that no one could have ever anticipated. In ways that honestly defied all expectations and beliefs.
“What do you mean, Jehnna?” Jean asked, her voice soft and gentle. Warren knew it to be an attempt to try and calm Jehnna down, but he suspected that such actions wouldn’t work. And maybe that’s what Jean was going for. Because there was no way she could fully see what was going on if Jehnna didn’t get irrationally upset. Could she? Wasn’t that the whole point of them gathering here? To see what it was that made Jehnna react with such rage to her friends?
“The two of them think and act like they’re better than the rest of us because of their powers,” Jehnna retorted. The mast of anger she wore was so alien. It saw him letting his gaze slide past her to where Sam sat. He and the other man shared a look that said everything. This was not the Jehnna they knew and loved.
“I’m sure that’s not true, Jehnna,” Jean said in that same soft voice. Jehnna’s face twisted with more anger. A tray sat on the coffee table before them, laden with a pitcher of ice water and empty glasses. The glasses rattled on the tray for a few moments before they stopped moving. “I wish you could see this, Warren. The moment her anger surfaced, twisting and gnarled vines tangled around her memories. They’re black and poisonous. I think they’re the result of everything that’s happened.”
”Can you remove them?” Warren asked, a faint ripple of unease washing through him with Jean’s pronouncement.
“Of course its true,” Jehnna snapped. “Just because Haley is the face of the team and the face of the X-Men. And Dare’s the only true pyrokinetic, right? She shoves that shit in my face all the time.”
“You know Dare doesn’t like to be in the public eye, Jehnna. I’ve never seen her flaunt her powers. To anyone,” Jean answered. “And its natural that Haley became the face of the team. She was pushed into the public eye when she married Johnny. The Fantastic Four has always been in the public eye. Haley is using that position to try and help all of mutant kind.”
“Lies!” Jehnna snarled. The glasses rattled a little more.
“I think so. I’ve already started,” Jean told him. He heard resolve in her voice. But there was also something else. Sadness. ”But there are so many of them. Its going to take time. And her behavior might become worse before things get better. Are you sure you want to continue on this path?”
Warren glanced at Jehnna, took in the lines that anger had etched into her face. Took in the way her eyes were dark and dead, not an ounce of life in them. She’d fallen so far. So fast. And he was as much at fault for that as Sinister. He’d sworn, when they’d gotten married, to love and honor and protect her. And he’d failed at all of them. He’d never be able to forgive himself for that. But he wouldn’t fail her again. He’d help her put things right. He’d help her come back to her sweet and gentle self. Even if he did nothing else with his life. He’d do that. ”Yes.”
~*~
Warren felt wrung out. Which said just how intense the meeting with Jehnna had been because all he’d done was sit and watch. Jean and Jehnna had done all of the work. And he could tell by looking at Jean that it had taken a toll. She was kind of slumped back in her chair, head resting against the seat back. Her eyes were closed and there were signs of exhaustion clustered around them. Her skin was pale and there was a slight tremor in her hands that suggested she’d used a great deal of her abilities over the past few hours.
And what hours they’d been. They’d gone from Jehnna being soft and gentle and sweet, the way she’d been every day of their marriage, to a woman filled with hatred and rage. So many of the things that had come out of her mouth were like some kind of poisonous venom. And it had gotten worse and worse as the session had worn on. When she’d gotten to a point where Jehnna had honestly been out of control, Jean had finally cut Jehnna off from that well of rage. Which was why Jehnna was laid out on the sofa, head resting on the arm, while she slept off whatever Jean had done.
The atmosphere in the room had been tense and harsh. He’d listened as Jehnna had described the fight with the horsemen, and then her first day of confinement with Sam, in terms that had gotten bleaker and darker the longer she’d gone on. He’d watched her rage physically, watched as she’d come closer time and again to smashing the empty glasses on the table with her powers. Watched as she’d made fists, clenched them so hard her knuckles had gone as white as the feathers on his wings. And through it all, he’d listened to the vile things that had come out of her mouth. How she’d spoken so horribly about her friends and her family. It had been worse than that day in the conference room. And he’d found himself filled with despair to see how far Jehnna had fallen.
“This is my fault,” he whispered. The comment was meant for himself. But he heard a sound that brought his gaze up from his hands to find Jean watching him with a touch of concern on her face. And a slight smile that held a world of pain.
“This is hardly your fault, Warren. You couldn’t have known what all of this was going to do to Jehnna anymore than you could have known that you were most certainly walking into a trap that day in the dessert,” she told him gently. And while he knew she was right, it did nothing to rid him of the responsibility he felt for Jehnna’s state of mind. “She’s battling with so many different emotions and she doesn’t really understand why. She’s never really dealt with trauma like this.”
“No. She hasn’t,” he shook his head. “And I didn’t do anything to help her with it.”
“I think we all failed her there,” Sam interjected. Warren lifted his head to stare at the other man in curiosity. There was a thoughtful look on Sam’s face as he stood behind the couch where Jehnna rested. “If she’s never dealt with anything like this before, she probably didn’t know that she was having a problem to begin with.”
Sam’s words made sense. One of the things Warren loved about Jehnna, had always loved about her and always would, was her soft and gentle way. Despite the terrible things she’d seen, she’d always managed to believe in humanity’s inherent good. And she’d always taken great pride in being a part of Purple Team. In being friends with four other amazing women who, like her, wanted to help people in whatever way they could. She’d always taken pride in calling those women her sisters. How had she fallen so far that she was now calling those same women whores?
They were her friends. Her team. They’d been together for more than a decade. They’d always had each other’s backs. They’d always been there for one another. Maybe splitting them up into couples had been the wrong way to handle things. It was understandable that they’d been given rooms of their own where they could connect with each other and their newly born daughters. But that action had deprived them of the one thing that maybe they’d needed. Connection to other people who understood what they were feeling. Why they were feeling it. People who could help them sort out their rampant emotions, who could help them soothe their raging fears. People who understood their trauma because they’d experienced it themselves.
Thinking back on it now, Warren could see how having that connection to the girls would have been so very beneficial to Jehnna. He had no doubts that they would have been able to help Jehnna manage the trauma she’d experienced and the emotions that had come with it. And he was sure that the others would have benefited from their closeness and comradery. Maybe it would have been enough to keep things from happening the way they had.
“I think there’s been a lot of failing,” Warren finally murmured. He glanced at Sam, then at Jean. Because hadn’t she been a victim of this mess, too? No one had stopped to consider what it all might look like to her. That didn’t excuse any of her actions. But they’d all been so focused on themselves that they hadn’t taken the time to think about how the whole fucking thing would affect those around them. Sam’s look of confusion and curiosity saw Warren finishing his thoughts. “The girls. The people who got left behind. Even ourselves. Everyone needed help to deal and process with what had happened. And no one got it.”
“You are not responsible for what happened to everyone, Warren,” Jean said softly.
“Maybe not directly. But that doesn’t erase the fact that I am, in some way, responsible for not helping her. And the rest of her team. They all needed help and never got it,” Warren replied, voice filled with frustration.
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe we all failed each other,” Sam began, his words coming slow and filled with obvious thought. “But we’re starting the process of fixing that mistake. Right here. Right now. We’ll bring Jehnna back. And then we’ll fix things with her team.”
Warren stared at Sam a moment, took in the certainty and the belief that lived in his eyes. The look was bright, filled with the hope that had lined Sam’s words. But Warren could see the faint traces of darkness that lingered at the back of Sam’s gaze. They’d been there all through this thing with Jehnna. Warren had seen the darkness pop up when Jehnna had talked about her fight with the horsemen. Hell, Warren had found himself lost in memories of his fight against the horsemen. And when Jehnna had started talking about her first day in Sinister’s care, Warren had found himself slipping into his own first day there. How Sinister had stalked both Morgan and Warren with his eyes and his words. How he’d made them feel small. Less than human. Humiliated and exposed. He was fairly certain that Sinister had done the same with everyone else. He knew what it had done to him. He didn’t know what it had done to everyone else. He felt it was almost certain that they all had shit they needed to work through.
“What do we need to do to help her, Jean?” Sam asked, turning that hopeful gaze toward the redhead.
Jean sighed and stared at Sam for several long, silent moments. Then she drew a breath and started to speak, her words chosen carefully. “We need to help her separate her emotions from her trauma. That is where the problem seems to be. She’s filled with an overwhelming amount of emotion that she doesn’t know how to process. She’s also filled with so much trauma that she doesn’t know how to process. We need to explore her emotions, find the fact and remove the fantasy.”
“What does that mean?” Sam’s confusion was plain to see on his face. His gaze shifted from Jean to Jehnna, as if he could see what Jean had been talking about.
Jean shifted her attention to Jehnna a moment, then looked up at both of them. “When she started speaking, her thoughts were clear. As were her memories. There were no emotions to color what she recalled. The further in we got, the more the emotions she associated with those events became twisted. Her mind is caught …” Jean trailed off, obviously trying to find the right way to phrase things. “There is a web of vines wrapped around her brain. A web of lies. Its fueled by her emotions. She’s filled with feelings that she doesn’t quite know how to deal with. Confusion. Guilt. Rage. Fear. Depression. Loss. Betrayal. Jealousy. Couple those with the trauma Sinister inflicted and its a powder keg waiting for the right spark.”
Sam nodded. “How do we do that?”
“I’ve already started. Jehnna has two sets of memories of her time with Sinister. One set is what actually happened. The second set is one her mind created as a method of protection. When we discuss something that has a set of dual memories, I will very gently bring the real memory to the surface. The hope is that the real memory will help drown the old one out. Which will, in turn, help bring Jehnna back to herself. It will be slow going. Its mentally and physically exhausting. And there’s no guarantee that it will work. But I think its the best course of action.”
“And how do we help, Jean? Because that sounds like things you’ll be doing,” Warren asked, watching the woman carefully.
“Talk to her. Don’t try to tell her her feelings are wrong. Gently remind her that she isn’t alone and we’re here to help her. Remind her that she might be misremembering how things happened and that such a thing is expected. It is, in fact, a normal reaction to trauma. Make sure she knows that you want to help her and that you care. No matter what.”
“I can do that,” Sam agreed. Warren knew that Sam would do the most of the reassuring. Until Jehnna didn’t hold Warren responsible for all of her problems, nothing he said or did would be of much help. Because, truth was, he was responsible for some of the issues Jehnna was having. And then there were his own issues.
Warren knew, without a doubt, that there was trauma lingering at the back of his brain. He’d have to be delusional to think there wasn’t. And he thought it was a safe bet that Scott, Remy, and Sam all had their own shit to deal with. Not that anyone was talking about the men having problems after their captivity. Men were supposed to be tough and strong. Trauma didn’t happen to them. Which was complete and utter bullshit. Look at how fucked up things were with him and his friends. With Jehnna and her friends. They were supposed to be a family. All of them. But it was more like the Hatfields and the McCoys.
Something had to be done if they truly wanted to help Jehnna and Morgan and Haley and Dare. Look at the state they were all in. And he didn’t think it was any different with him and the men. They just didn’t show their trauma the way the women did. Maybe if they leaned on one another, it might be easier for them to come to terms with the fact that they were all victims of rape. He didn’t know if Scott, Sam, and Remy looked upon the things had had happened in that light. But it was the truth, no matter how anyone wanted to spin it. Sinister had kidnapped all of them and held them under the premise of forcing them to have sex. Maybe it hadn’t been completely against anyone’s will because Warren wasn’t sure the pheromones would have worked as well as they did if there hadn’t already been existing attraction. But that didn’t negate that Sinister hadn’t given them any choice in the matter. He’d forced them into a sexual relationship. He’d used his power to force the outcome he wanted. If that wasn’t the definition of rape, Warren didn’t know what was.
The problem now was figuring out how to deal with it. How to convince everyone to deal with it. He didn’t think Scott would be hard to convince. The man tended to have a good head on his shoulders. Warren felt like all he needed to do was suggest it and Scott would probably agree. Warren wasn’t so certain about Sam and Remy. He wanted to believe that Sam would. But Remy was the wildcard. Warren wasn’t certain that Remy had gotten help after the thing with Creed. And Warren thought there there might be stuff in the Cajun’s past that probably warranted therapy. And he couldn’t even begin to guess what the women might say if therapy was suggested.
The more he thought about it, the more it made Warren’s head hurt. He wanted to believe that they could undo some of the damage Sinister had wrought if they just talked about it. With a therapist or with each other. Morgan hadn’t been that far off the mark with her idea to try talking things out. It probably should have happened long before it did, though. Which brought Warren back to the thought that things might not have gotten so terrible if only the girls had had one another to lean on. They were a family and family was meant to help one another. There was that old adage about taking a village to raise a child. He kind of thought that should apply to every member of the village, too. Because the adults needed their fellow villagers as much as the children did.
Everything stopped as the answer to it all hit Warren out of the blue. It was kind of insane, but it might be the thing to help solve a lot of their current issues. It would take time. And a lot of work. But he could make it happen. He just needed to speak to some people and get the ball rolling.
The more he thought about it, the more it made sense to him. And the more it helped lift some of the darker thoughts that lingered in the corners of his mind. He wasn’t sure if it was the perfect solution, but it had to be better than sitting on his ass and doing nothing. All he had to do was get started. Take that first step.
“Warren?” Jean’s voice cut across his thoughts. He looked up to find her standing close by, a faint frown twisting her lips down and concern in her gaze. “Is everything okay? You’ve been lost in your own world for a little while now.”
A glance showed him that Jehnna and Sam had left already. Apparently the session was over. “I’m sorry, Jean. I didn’t mean to space out like that. And I’m fine. Just lost in thought.”
She gave him a look that suggested she wasn’t sure she should believe him. He threw one of his million dollar smiles her way, rising to his feet. In a move that startled her, he put his hands on her arms and leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. “Warren? What was that for?”
“A thank you,” he responded simply, already turning for the door. “For giving me hope.”
He was into the hallway before she could answer. He had to head into the city and talk to some people. Get the ball rolling.
He had to take that first step.
Chapter Fifty Eight: First Steps
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
It had been some time since Warren had stepped foot in the staff lounge. Not much had changed since the last time he’d been here and this latest visit. The walls were still a cream color, photos of the many people who had passed through the school’s doors over the years still hung upon them. The photos were of staff and students alike, taken in classrooms and dorms, in the kitchen and the dining room, in the courtyard as well as the corridors. Each was a moment captured in time, special moments and every day moments, and each brought with it the warmth of treasured memories. Shelves had been scattered here and there, housing books and mementos alike. Soft light streamed in through the windows, leaving the lamps unlit and shadowed. Light blue carpet covered the floor. Couches and chairs, plush and soft and comfortable, in a darker blue offered places to sit and take a respite.
It was warm and welcoming, which was good. More importantly, though, was that it was a neutral place for what was about to happen.
Warren had taken a seat on a bar stool with a short back. It had been put there for him specifically, so that he could sit naturally without having to contort his body to accommodate his wings or, worse, bunch his wings up and risk damaging them. He was staring across the coffee table at the chair where Jean was sitting. She looked composed and at ease. He wasn’t sure if it was a legit look or if she was faking it. Not that it mattered just yet. For the moment, they were caught in the waiting stages.
“I’m sure you’re wondering just how this all will work,” Jean said, her voice soft in the silent room. “I thought I might give you a brief explanation before Jehnna arrives.”
“I’d like that,” Warren responded. He’d been mildly surprised when Jean had asked him to take part in her sessions with Jehnna. And glad. Because he hadn’t yet gotten the image of Scott, Haley, and Jean laid out in the hallway out of his head. Warren had had his suspicions surrounding what had happened then. Those suspicions had pretty much been confirmed when Scott had moved out to the boathouse. Jean had been responsible for the attack in hallway. Warren felt certain that Scott would have separated himself from Jean after what she’d done that day simply because she’d attacked him and Haley unprovoked. The fact that Emilia could have suffered harm, though, had made it a certainty.
Warren let some of the warmth in his expression fold away. Jean saw it and had to fight not to frown. He could see it in the way her eyes widened and in the way her lips twitched at the corners. “And I thought I would let you know that I am not only here to help support Jehnna. I am also here to ensure that you don’t fuck with her head the way you fucked with Scott’s and Haley’s.”
He fell silent to give Jean a moment to speak. To deny his statements. To admit to it. To say something. She remained quiet, her expression suggesting she was uncomfortable with the direction of their conversation. "Whatever may have happened between Jehnna and I, or will happen between us, I still love her. I want the best for her. I want to see her healthy. I want to see her happy. Even if she finds that happiness elsewhere,” he explained quietly. There were no teasing smiles. There was no warmth for his words. None of the emotions that should have been there between friends. He’d known Jean as long as he’d known Scott. She was as much Warren’s friend as Scott was. But so was Haley. And his friends deserved so much better than they’d seen the past few months. They were owed so much better. Warren let his stare harden. Let more of the anger he felt slip into his voice. “We’ve been friends for a long time, Jean. You’ve known me as an angel all that time. You don’t want to upset me. You don't want to see me as a devil."
“I genuinely want to help, Warren,” Jean said softly. He thought he heard a touch of regret in her words. He did hear honesty. She glanced away a moment, her gaze shifting to the far wall. When she brought it back to him, her eyes looked haunted. “When we had our initial meeting with Jehnna, I couldn’t help but see everyone’s memories of what had happened. I didn’t know that it was like that for all of you. I was so focused on what I thought had happened… I let my jealousy and my anger consume me. I can see now how that must have looked to everyone around me and I… I’m so ashamed of my actions. Helping Jehnna is only the first step in trying to make amends. To all of you.”
Warren held her gaze a moment as he turned over her words. She sounded genuinely remorseful. He wasn’t sure he believed it just yet. Hadn’t he discovered recently just how good an actress she could be? He didn’t think she had anything to gain by helping Jehnna. Except maybe some of her tattered self-respect. After several long moments of silence, he gave a nod. “I welcome any help you can give. I know it won’t take the place of seeing a therapist. But its a start to getting my sweet Jehnna back. So thank you in advance for whatever help you can give her. Now. How about you explain for me what you plan on doing to help her.”
Jean offered him a smile, seeming to be happy to be on more stable ground. She nodded and, with a motion he knew to be unconscious, reached up to tug on the length of her hair. It was a nervous gesture he recalled from their early school days, something she’d done any time she was stressed or uncertain. It was a small tell, one most people had missed. But Warren was more than a pretty face. He saw things most people didn’t think he would. And that action told him she was nervous. “My plan is to invite her to talk. About what happened to her. The best way to start clearing up the issues is to get to the heart of them.”
“That makes sense,” Warren nodded. “If she opens up, it might be easier to get her to unpack her trauma.”
“Exactly,” Jean nodded. She cocked her head to the side a moment, then smiled. “They’re coming. So let me hurry along my explanation. While Jehnna talks, I will delve into the memories associated with what she’s telling me. And I will try to find a way to reconcile her memories with actual events.”
“You think her mind has twisted her memories to help protect her,” he responded.
“I do. And, if you will give me your permission, I’ll keep you updated mentally.” It was a good idea. Stopping to tell him what she saw or discovered would disrupt the whole meeting and possibly make it harder to do what they’d come there for. And he liked the fact that she was asking him to allow her access to his mind.
“Please. No matter what she thinks, I will never stop loving her,” Warren told Jean softly. She offered him a smile that was touched by sadness. No doubt she was thinking about her relationship with Scott and how it had all fallen apart. Warren fully believed that Jean loved Scott. In her own way. But Scott had long had a thing for Haley. It had surprised Warren when he’d seemingly set it aside and hooked up with Jean. Now, he had to wonder if…
His thought was broken by the sound of a knock at the door. It was slightly hesitant and not extremely loud. But the room was so quiet, there was no missing it. Jean stood and faced the door. Warren did the same. The knob turned and the door swung inward. Sam and Jehnna stood in the hall, staring into the room with hesitation on his part and confusion on hers. Jean offered a warm smile and motioned toward one of the plush couches. “Please,” she said gently. “Come in and make yourself comfortable.”
Sam’s gaze slid toward Warren as he escorted Jehnna further into the lounge. Together, the two of them settled down on one of those plush blue sofas. Sam had a hold of Jehnna’s hand. Warren couldn’t be sure if it was to help ease Jehnna’s unease or if it was for Sam’s benefit. A moment later, he decided it didn’t matter who it was for. Much as it hurt his heart to see it, he was glad that Sam was so deeply in love with Jehnna. He was glad to see that she wasn’t going to go through this mess alone.
A part of himself wished he’d never fallen for Morgan. That same part wished that he’d been paired with Jehnna in Sinister’s pocket dimension. But that wouldn’t have fit into Sinister’s plans. He’d intentionally set out to destroy lives. Not simply by having the girls give birth to babies that would go on to become mindless killing machines. He’d switched the pairings up on purpose. He’d played on deeply hidden needs and desires to do so. How he’d found them, Warren couldn’t say. And he was fairly certain that he’d played with everyone’s hidden needs and desires.
He was pretty sure he knew what those desires and needs looked like for most everyone. For Scott, it had been his hidden desire for Haley. Where Haley was concerned, Warren was willing to bet she’d harbored a crush on Scott when she was younger. Before Harper’s death. She’d always seemed to be hanging around Harper and his friends back then. It only seemed natural that she’d had a crush on some of them. Remy and Dare were easy. Dare had always been a little in love with the Cajun. And he’d always mourned the fact that Dee wasn’t his. Morgan had been looking for perfection. And Warren… Much as he loved Jehnna, there were things she wasn’t capable of giving him. Things that he knew Morgan could. He suspected Sam had long had a crush on Jehnna. Oddly, his wife was the only one who stumped him because he didn’t know what it was Sam had that he lacked.
“Thank you for coming, Jehnna,” Jean said gently, shattering his thoughts. He pulled himself back to the task at hand, giving his attention to the three people in the room with him. “I’m sure you’re confused as to why I asked you here. I hope you’ll allow me to explain.”
“Of course,” Jehnna nodded, her ponytail bobbing as she did so. She seemed normal, not a sign of the bizarre hatred and rage showing that he’d seen from her the other day. Maybe it was only when they talked about the others, or she was near the others, that this tendency kicked up. Whatever the reason, Warren hoped that the session stayed this quiet and uneventful. Or as quiet and uneventful as it could be when Jean was going to go poking into Jehnna’s trauma.
“We want to try and help you with your trauma, Jehnna. We’re all concerned,” Jean told her, one hand lifting to motion to the room. It was a gesture meant to encompass Jean, Sam, and Warren. Jehnna’s gaze slid around the room, studying all three of their faces. When she turned her look his way, Warren could see that she was skeptical. He offered her a smile that he hoped she saw as being friendly and caring. Concerned. He hoped she knew he loved her and wanted her to come back to herself.
“Okay. But how can you help? I thought only a therapist would be capable of helping,” Jehnna replied. She sounded like her normal self. It was a far cry from the woman he’d seen in the conference room several days ago. That Jehnna had been so wild and out of control. So angry. So unlike the woman he knew.
“You’re right. Only a licensed therapist can really help you deal with your trauma,” Jean replied. She paused and took a breath, as if searching for the right way to continue. Or simply seeking the words she needed. The rest of them waited patiently, in silence, to see what she would say. “But I am capable of helping deal with some of the things a therapist might not know to look for. Or be able to find.”
Jehnna was silent a moment. “You’re talking about digging around in my brain,” she finally said. There might have been a touch of some emotion in her voice. Fear or something similar. But it was gone before Warren could actually be sure.
“I am,” Jean confirmed. “But only to help draw forth the reasons for some of your more extreme reactions. We all feel that there’s something making your trauma worse. And we want to help you find a way to let that go so you have a much easier time with a therapist.”
Jehnna glanced at Sam for a few seconds. She only turned away from him when he nodded at her. Then Jehnna turned to look at Warren and there was so much confusion in her face. It made his heart hurt. “Warren? Is it true? Do you feel like this? Do you think there’s something wrong with me?”
Warren drew a slow breath. The topic was a powder keg just waiting to blow up in his face. But he wasn’t going to lie to her. Or sugar coat the truth. So he let out a soft sigh and gave a brief nod. “Yes. I think there’s something wrong with you, Jehnna. And I want to see that wrong righted. I want you to be healthy and your same old self. Most of all, I want you to be happy, honey. No matter what goes between us, no matter where our paths take us, my wish for you will always be happiness. Even if that doesn’t include me.”
He saw tears gather at the corners of her eyes. He couldn’t be sure if she was tearing up because he’d told her that something was wrong with her and it had hurt her feelings or if she was reacting to the obvious emotion clogging his voice when he’d spoken. And he understood the feeling. Because, right at that moment, he wanted to cry. His heart was breaking in his chest. It was so hard to sit there and see her with Sam. To know she was happier with him than she was with Warren. To know that there was something so lacking in Warren that Sam seemed to have. But he had no room to cry over his losses. He’d made his choice already, hadn’t he? All he could do now was see things through and hope that the pain would dull down eventually.
“I’m sorry, Warren,” Jehnna whispered, reaching up to wipe away the single tear that had escaped. He offered her a smile in the hopes that it would ease the sting.
“Don’t be sorry, Jehnna. I don’t want you to be sorry. I want you to be happy. That’s all.”
“Okay,” Jehnna replied. She straightened her spine and turned back to Jean. “Okay.”
“Okay,” Jean offered a soft smile. “Please relax, Jehnna. Relax and open your mind to me.”
“That’s all?” Jehnna asked, sounding a little skeptical.
“That’s all,” Jean nodded. Relax. And tell me about what happened to you. Start with that day in the desert.”
Jehnna stared a moment, almost as if she was unsure where to start. Or afraid to start. Then she let go a soft sigh and put on the face she always wore when she was thinking intently about something. It was an achingly familiar look and Warren felt his heart give a little twist. Then Jehnna opened her mouth and started speaking. “Dare was complaining about the heat,” she said. A faint lift at the corner of her lips suggested she was on the verge of smiling. “You have to admit. Its kind of funny that someone who can control fire would complain about the heat.” She paused to huff out a laugh. It was a genuine one, filled with a hint of amusement. “We were checking out the other transport when Haley called us back. Something was going on outside.”
Jehnna paused there, prompting Jean to smile at her. “What was happening?”
“The portal was opening and the horsemen were coming,” Jehnna replied. Warren made note of the change in Jehnna’s voice. Disbelief and fear touched her words. And a look at her face suggested she was lost in the memory. “It all happened so fast. War said something about chosen. Dare told her to go fuck herself. And then the fighting started.
“it was like that with us,” Sam said quietly. Then he huffed his own laugh. “Minus telling War to go fuck herself. That seems to be something Dare takes delight in doing.”
“It was the same with us, too,” Warren added. He couldn’t stop the faint hint of a smile that came. “Again, without anyone telling War to go fuck herself. That is definitely a Dare thing.”
Jean nodded at them, her attention never leaving Jehnna’s face. “What happened next?” she asked.
“The fight happened. And it was like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” Jehnna said. The disbelief was gone, replaced by awe. And more of the fear. “Nothing I did drove them back. Nothing anyone did drove them back. Feathers were flying. Fire was everywhere. There was sound like a freight train all around us. It was chaos and confusion. It was hell.”
The last came out as a whisper, laced thickly with horror. Warren understood that feeling. Things had been much the same when he and his team had been facing down the horsemen. Utter chaos and confusion. And a stinging sense of hopelessness because nothing they’d done had seemed to bring the horsemen to a standstill.
“Morgan fell first,” Jehnna said. She frowned a moment and shook her head. “I don’t remember what happened or who hit her. I just know she fell. And it made me mad. I let loose with a full blast of my powers, but it did nothing.” Warren saw, from the corner of his eye, the nod that Sam gave. It had been the same for the New Mutants. Warren suspected it had been the same for all the teams. A glance at Jean told him that she was already sifting through Jehnna’s mind, looking at her memories in order to compare them with her words.
”Jean?” he questioned mentally.
”Her memories match her words,” Jean responded. Warren heard a touch of something in her mental voice, possibly a hint of hesitance or confusion. ”But there’s something there. I can feel something coming. And I don’t think it will be pleasant.”
“There was no one to help me, either,” Jehnna pressed on. Her voice had changed, gotten a little deeper. There seemed to be a little more stress in it. And a little more rage. “Haley and Dare were fucking showing off with War and Death, trying to prove to everyone what big fucking heroes they were. Fat lot of good that did us.”
Warren blinked at that assessment. Surely Jehnna didn’t honestly believe that Haley and Dare were showing off during such a serious fight? He’d been involved in enough training sessions and been on joint missions with Purple Team to know that no one on that team resorted to such tactics. Dare shunned the spotlight and Haley tended to use her team to its fullest potential in order to reach a reasonable outcome without unnecessary violence. She was a brilliant leader, a natural one, and her team worked in ways that no one could have ever anticipated. In ways that honestly defied all expectations and beliefs.
“What do you mean, Jehnna?” Jean asked, her voice soft and gentle. Warren knew it to be an attempt to try and calm Jehnna down, but he suspected that such actions wouldn’t work. And maybe that’s what Jean was going for. Because there was no way she could fully see what was going on if Jehnna didn’t get irrationally upset. Could she? Wasn’t that the whole point of them gathering here? To see what it was that made Jehnna react with such rage to her friends?
“The two of them think and act like they’re better than the rest of us because of their powers,” Jehnna retorted. The mast of anger she wore was so alien. It saw him letting his gaze slide past her to where Sam sat. He and the other man shared a look that said everything. This was not the Jehnna they knew and loved.
“I’m sure that’s not true, Jehnna,” Jean said in that same soft voice. Jehnna’s face twisted with more anger. A tray sat on the coffee table before them, laden with a pitcher of ice water and empty glasses. The glasses rattled on the tray for a few moments before they stopped moving. “I wish you could see this, Warren. The moment her anger surfaced, twisting and gnarled vines tangled around her memories. They’re black and poisonous. I think they’re the result of everything that’s happened.”
”Can you remove them?” Warren asked, a faint ripple of unease washing through him with Jean’s pronouncement.
“Of course its true,” Jehnna snapped. “Just because Haley is the face of the team and the face of the X-Men. And Dare’s the only true pyrokinetic, right? She shoves that shit in my face all the time.”
“You know Dare doesn’t like to be in the public eye, Jehnna. I’ve never seen her flaunt her powers. To anyone,” Jean answered. “And its natural that Haley became the face of the team. She was pushed into the public eye when she married Johnny. The Fantastic Four has always been in the public eye. Haley is using that position to try and help all of mutant kind.”
“Lies!” Jehnna snarled. The glasses rattled a little more.
“I think so. I’ve already started,” Jean told him. He heard resolve in her voice. But there was also something else. Sadness. ”But there are so many of them. Its going to take time. And her behavior might become worse before things get better. Are you sure you want to continue on this path?”
Warren glanced at Jehnna, took in the lines that anger had etched into her face. Took in the way her eyes were dark and dead, not an ounce of life in them. She’d fallen so far. So fast. And he was as much at fault for that as Sinister. He’d sworn, when they’d gotten married, to love and honor and protect her. And he’d failed at all of them. He’d never be able to forgive himself for that. But he wouldn’t fail her again. He’d help her put things right. He’d help her come back to her sweet and gentle self. Even if he did nothing else with his life. He’d do that. ”Yes.”
~*~
Warren felt wrung out. Which said just how intense the meeting with Jehnna had been because all he’d done was sit and watch. Jean and Jehnna had done all of the work. And he could tell by looking at Jean that it had taken a toll. She was kind of slumped back in her chair, head resting against the seat back. Her eyes were closed and there were signs of exhaustion clustered around them. Her skin was pale and there was a slight tremor in her hands that suggested she’d used a great deal of her abilities over the past few hours.
And what hours they’d been. They’d gone from Jehnna being soft and gentle and sweet, the way she’d been every day of their marriage, to a woman filled with hatred and rage. So many of the things that had come out of her mouth were like some kind of poisonous venom. And it had gotten worse and worse as the session had worn on. When she’d gotten to a point where Jehnna had honestly been out of control, Jean had finally cut Jehnna off from that well of rage. Which was why Jehnna was laid out on the sofa, head resting on the arm, while she slept off whatever Jean had done.
The atmosphere in the room had been tense and harsh. He’d listened as Jehnna had described the fight with the horsemen, and then her first day of confinement with Sam, in terms that had gotten bleaker and darker the longer she’d gone on. He’d watched her rage physically, watched as she’d come closer time and again to smashing the empty glasses on the table with her powers. Watched as she’d made fists, clenched them so hard her knuckles had gone as white as the feathers on his wings. And through it all, he’d listened to the vile things that had come out of her mouth. How she’d spoken so horribly about her friends and her family. It had been worse than that day in the conference room. And he’d found himself filled with despair to see how far Jehnna had fallen.
“This is my fault,” he whispered. The comment was meant for himself. But he heard a sound that brought his gaze up from his hands to find Jean watching him with a touch of concern on her face. And a slight smile that held a world of pain.
“This is hardly your fault, Warren. You couldn’t have known what all of this was going to do to Jehnna anymore than you could have known that you were most certainly walking into a trap that day in the dessert,” she told him gently. And while he knew she was right, it did nothing to rid him of the responsibility he felt for Jehnna’s state of mind. “She’s battling with so many different emotions and she doesn’t really understand why. She’s never really dealt with trauma like this.”
“No. She hasn’t,” he shook his head. “And I didn’t do anything to help her with it.”
“I think we all failed her there,” Sam interjected. Warren lifted his head to stare at the other man in curiosity. There was a thoughtful look on Sam’s face as he stood behind the couch where Jehnna rested. “If she’s never dealt with anything like this before, she probably didn’t know that she was having a problem to begin with.”
Sam’s words made sense. One of the things Warren loved about Jehnna, had always loved about her and always would, was her soft and gentle way. Despite the terrible things she’d seen, she’d always managed to believe in humanity’s inherent good. And she’d always taken great pride in being a part of Purple Team. In being friends with four other amazing women who, like her, wanted to help people in whatever way they could. She’d always taken pride in calling those women her sisters. How had she fallen so far that she was now calling those same women whores?
They were her friends. Her team. They’d been together for more than a decade. They’d always had each other’s backs. They’d always been there for one another. Maybe splitting them up into couples had been the wrong way to handle things. It was understandable that they’d been given rooms of their own where they could connect with each other and their newly born daughters. But that action had deprived them of the one thing that maybe they’d needed. Connection to other people who understood what they were feeling. Why they were feeling it. People who could help them sort out their rampant emotions, who could help them soothe their raging fears. People who understood their trauma because they’d experienced it themselves.
Thinking back on it now, Warren could see how having that connection to the girls would have been so very beneficial to Jehnna. He had no doubts that they would have been able to help Jehnna manage the trauma she’d experienced and the emotions that had come with it. And he was sure that the others would have benefited from their closeness and comradery. Maybe it would have been enough to keep things from happening the way they had.
“I think there’s been a lot of failing,” Warren finally murmured. He glanced at Sam, then at Jean. Because hadn’t she been a victim of this mess, too? No one had stopped to consider what it all might look like to her. That didn’t excuse any of her actions. But they’d all been so focused on themselves that they hadn’t taken the time to think about how the whole fucking thing would affect those around them. Sam’s look of confusion and curiosity saw Warren finishing his thoughts. “The girls. The people who got left behind. Even ourselves. Everyone needed help to deal and process with what had happened. And no one got it.”
“You are not responsible for what happened to everyone, Warren,” Jean said softly.
“Maybe not directly. But that doesn’t erase the fact that I am, in some way, responsible for not helping her. And the rest of her team. They all needed help and never got it,” Warren replied, voice filled with frustration.
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe we all failed each other,” Sam began, his words coming slow and filled with obvious thought. “But we’re starting the process of fixing that mistake. Right here. Right now. We’ll bring Jehnna back. And then we’ll fix things with her team.”
Warren stared at Sam a moment, took in the certainty and the belief that lived in his eyes. The look was bright, filled with the hope that had lined Sam’s words. But Warren could see the faint traces of darkness that lingered at the back of Sam’s gaze. They’d been there all through this thing with Jehnna. Warren had seen the darkness pop up when Jehnna had talked about her fight with the horsemen. Hell, Warren had found himself lost in memories of his fight against the horsemen. And when Jehnna had started talking about her first day in Sinister’s care, Warren had found himself slipping into his own first day there. How Sinister had stalked both Morgan and Warren with his eyes and his words. How he’d made them feel small. Less than human. Humiliated and exposed. He was fairly certain that Sinister had done the same with everyone else. He knew what it had done to him. He didn’t know what it had done to everyone else. He felt it was almost certain that they all had shit they needed to work through.
“What do we need to do to help her, Jean?” Sam asked, turning that hopeful gaze toward the redhead.
Jean sighed and stared at Sam for several long, silent moments. Then she drew a breath and started to speak, her words chosen carefully. “We need to help her separate her emotions from her trauma. That is where the problem seems to be. She’s filled with an overwhelming amount of emotion that she doesn’t know how to process. She’s also filled with so much trauma that she doesn’t know how to process. We need to explore her emotions, find the fact and remove the fantasy.”
“What does that mean?” Sam’s confusion was plain to see on his face. His gaze shifted from Jean to Jehnna, as if he could see what Jean had been talking about.
Jean shifted her attention to Jehnna a moment, then looked up at both of them. “When she started speaking, her thoughts were clear. As were her memories. There were no emotions to color what she recalled. The further in we got, the more the emotions she associated with those events became twisted. Her mind is caught …” Jean trailed off, obviously trying to find the right way to phrase things. “There is a web of vines wrapped around her brain. A web of lies. Its fueled by her emotions. She’s filled with feelings that she doesn’t quite know how to deal with. Confusion. Guilt. Rage. Fear. Depression. Loss. Betrayal. Jealousy. Couple those with the trauma Sinister inflicted and its a powder keg waiting for the right spark.”
Sam nodded. “How do we do that?”
“I’ve already started. Jehnna has two sets of memories of her time with Sinister. One set is what actually happened. The second set is one her mind created as a method of protection. When we discuss something that has a set of dual memories, I will very gently bring the real memory to the surface. The hope is that the real memory will help drown the old one out. Which will, in turn, help bring Jehnna back to herself. It will be slow going. Its mentally and physically exhausting. And there’s no guarantee that it will work. But I think its the best course of action.”
“And how do we help, Jean? Because that sounds like things you’ll be doing,” Warren asked, watching the woman carefully.
“Talk to her. Don’t try to tell her her feelings are wrong. Gently remind her that she isn’t alone and we’re here to help her. Remind her that she might be misremembering how things happened and that such a thing is expected. It is, in fact, a normal reaction to trauma. Make sure she knows that you want to help her and that you care. No matter what.”
“I can do that,” Sam agreed. Warren knew that Sam would do the most of the reassuring. Until Jehnna didn’t hold Warren responsible for all of her problems, nothing he said or did would be of much help. Because, truth was, he was responsible for some of the issues Jehnna was having. And then there were his own issues.
Warren knew, without a doubt, that there was trauma lingering at the back of his brain. He’d have to be delusional to think there wasn’t. And he thought it was a safe bet that Scott, Remy, and Sam all had their own shit to deal with. Not that anyone was talking about the men having problems after their captivity. Men were supposed to be tough and strong. Trauma didn’t happen to them. Which was complete and utter bullshit. Look at how fucked up things were with him and his friends. With Jehnna and her friends. They were supposed to be a family. All of them. But it was more like the Hatfields and the McCoys.
Something had to be done if they truly wanted to help Jehnna and Morgan and Haley and Dare. Look at the state they were all in. And he didn’t think it was any different with him and the men. They just didn’t show their trauma the way the women did. Maybe if they leaned on one another, it might be easier for them to come to terms with the fact that they were all victims of rape. He didn’t know if Scott, Sam, and Remy looked upon the things had had happened in that light. But it was the truth, no matter how anyone wanted to spin it. Sinister had kidnapped all of them and held them under the premise of forcing them to have sex. Maybe it hadn’t been completely against anyone’s will because Warren wasn’t sure the pheromones would have worked as well as they did if there hadn’t already been existing attraction. But that didn’t negate that Sinister hadn’t given them any choice in the matter. He’d forced them into a sexual relationship. He’d used his power to force the outcome he wanted. If that wasn’t the definition of rape, Warren didn’t know what was.
The problem now was figuring out how to deal with it. How to convince everyone to deal with it. He didn’t think Scott would be hard to convince. The man tended to have a good head on his shoulders. Warren felt like all he needed to do was suggest it and Scott would probably agree. Warren wasn’t so certain about Sam and Remy. He wanted to believe that Sam would. But Remy was the wildcard. Warren wasn’t certain that Remy had gotten help after the thing with Creed. And Warren thought there there might be stuff in the Cajun’s past that probably warranted therapy. And he couldn’t even begin to guess what the women might say if therapy was suggested.
The more he thought about it, the more it made Warren’s head hurt. He wanted to believe that they could undo some of the damage Sinister had wrought if they just talked about it. With a therapist or with each other. Morgan hadn’t been that far off the mark with her idea to try talking things out. It probably should have happened long before it did, though. Which brought Warren back to the thought that things might not have gotten so terrible if only the girls had had one another to lean on. They were a family and family was meant to help one another. There was that old adage about taking a village to raise a child. He kind of thought that should apply to every member of the village, too. Because the adults needed their fellow villagers as much as the children did.
Everything stopped as the answer to it all hit Warren out of the blue. It was kind of insane, but it might be the thing to help solve a lot of their current issues. It would take time. And a lot of work. But he could make it happen. He just needed to speak to some people and get the ball rolling.
The more he thought about it, the more it made sense to him. And the more it helped lift some of the darker thoughts that lingered in the corners of his mind. He wasn’t sure if it was the perfect solution, but it had to be better than sitting on his ass and doing nothing. All he had to do was get started. Take that first step.
“Warren?” Jean’s voice cut across his thoughts. He looked up to find her standing close by, a faint frown twisting her lips down and concern in her gaze. “Is everything okay? You’ve been lost in your own world for a little while now.”
A glance showed him that Jehnna and Sam had left already. Apparently the session was over. “I’m sorry, Jean. I didn’t mean to space out like that. And I’m fine. Just lost in thought.”
She gave him a look that suggested she wasn’t sure she should believe him. He threw one of his million dollar smiles her way, rising to his feet. In a move that startled her, he put his hands on her arms and leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. “Warren? What was that for?”
“A thank you,” he responded simply, already turning for the door. “For giving me hope.”
He was into the hallway before she could answer. He had to head into the city and talk to some people. Get the ball rolling.
He had to take that first step.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-12-13 09:03 pm (UTC)Warren's skeptism about Jean's motivations are great. He doesn't know but he knows what happened and he's right to worry, I think. Hopefully Jean means what she says and does what she says she's going to do.
I kind of love how the rage changes how Jehnna remembers things because emotions are so powerful and can change how we all see things. The image of the black vines is a great way to show that. Hopefully they don't grow back faster than Jean can deal with them.
Warren going from "We failed Jehnna" to "we failed the girls" to "we failed all of ys" is beautiful. It makes sense he'd look for that connection and the healing that could have come from it. He's definitely right. If they'd all had some shared space to deal with all the trauma, none of them would be as far gone. Hopefully whatever he's cooking up now will work out!
Great job, hun!
(no subject)
Date: 2025-12-13 09:46 pm (UTC)i love that Warren is willing to accept her help, but he's also intelligent enough to know that he may not actually be able to trust her at the moment.i hope she really does want to help because it would help so much if she can actually bring Jehnna back to something close to normal.
yeah. i figured the rage would mess with her memories and twist them up a little bit. because you're right. emotions are powerful enough to change our perceptions about so much. i really like that image. it is especially good here because most vines grow fairly fast, and they cling tightly to whatever they grow on. Jean definitely has her work cut out for her.
i like the progression of failing Jehnna to failing the girls to failing themselves. i like that he was capable of making that progression. i'm sure if they'd all been together, shit wouldn't have gone down as it did. hopefully Warren's thoughts will become plans that will help bring things back to some kind of normal. fingers crossed.
glad you liked it, hon. thanks for reading! <3
(no subject)
Date: 2026-01-06 11:09 pm (UTC)This. 1,000 times this. The girls (and guys) were too isolated. Too lost in their own trauma. When they should've been together. Leaning on each other and working through things as the team they are. And, yeah, they've all got shit to work through.
*nods* And leave my Henry (McCoy) out of this. lol Actually, don't. I'm sure he's feeling something about all this happening to his friends. maybe not trauma, but still.... Yeah, Remy probably needed therapy after the Creed incident. Just like Dare. Unfortunately I don't think either one ever got it. And who knows what else is in his past that might have contributed to that need.
I wonder what Warren's come up with. Whatever it is, I hope it helps!
Well done, bb. I enjoyed it muchly. *smooches*
(no subject)
Date: 2026-01-08 01:01 pm (UTC)sometimes people can look at a situation and go 'here's what should happen' and it happens. sometimes, no one gives a shit. its been established that Xavier didn't give the same kind of respect and consideration to Purple team that he's given to the other teams. it is more than obvious that they're a PR stunt for him. a tool he can use to further his agenda. so it really isn't surprising that no one said "maybe we need to handle this in a different way." also, i feel like getting people to sit together would have taken a lot in those first days back because both Dare and Haley were already running. maybe Roxxy or Henry should have made the suggestion simply because Henry knows what Sinister is capable of and Roxxy knows her girls better than anyone. but it still might not have worked because Haley and Dare had already determined that no one cared. which was wrong, of course. but there really is so much stuff that needs worked through. for everyone. and isn't that a giant tangle to try and get through?
i do feel like everyone glossed over that what happened while everyone was missing happened to all of them. not just the girls. the guys were forced into the same shit, the same situations, as the girls were. but no one wants to talk about that because it would reduce everything to, essentially, weakness. which we know is bullshit. because it isn't weak to need help or admit that something is more than you can bear on your own. so, yes. the men absolutely need the same kind of therapy that the girls do. and not just the four that were grabbed. everyone who has a hand in this. Roxxy. because she almost fucking dies and, as Dare said, that shit sticks with a person and does weird things to them. Henry. because those are his friends and family. and he's gotten slapped in the face time and again by the problems wrought by all that trauma. even Jean. because no matter what kind of shit she pulled to get what she wanted, there is no denying that this helped destroy her life, too.
Remy and Dare did not get any help after Creed.i know Dare wasn't ready to admit that she needed it. she probably saw it as a weakness to admit she needed that help. i feel like the same could be said for Remy. no matter the shit that happened was enough to damn near kill both of them. but no worries. i am actually working on trying to fix that, too. it just might take a bit. but it will happen.
Warren has come up with something really kind of cool. and i'm pretty sure you'll find out about it by the time this whole ride is done.
i'm glad you enjoyed, bb. and i'm glad you got to read finally. i'm just sorry that you're not feeling the best. that wasn't the way i wanted you to get time to read. i hope you feel better soon, bb! <3