WHO: Jean Grey & Rachel Summers WHEN: Backdated to Jean's arrival / after the werewolf battle. WHERE: Medical. WHAT: An awkward mother-daughter reunion. WARNINGS: Discussions of future character deaths & general warnings for Phoenix-related-life-woes.
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Jean woke confused. She'd been dreaming, about space and the Shi'ar and... It was a long moment before her thoughts, focused as they were on her nightmares, took in the world around her. Panic gripped her as she took in the medical ward. Panic and frustration, unable to glean from the minds nearest hers what this place was or why she was here. All she caught were glimpses -- Mount Weather, pod people... Werewolves? The last was a turn even for her.
"Where the hell am I?" It was a question directed to the room at large. She repeated it more forcefully the second time, hoping she might catch hold of a familiar face -- or mind -- in the din that surrounded her. "Excuse me, but where am I?"
Now, she wanted to add. Where am I now?
Thanks to the recent battle, Rachel's energy was severely depleted. Dealing with that many minds experiencing such heightened emotions was always taxing for any telepath. She badly wanted a hot shower and a long sleep, but there were still people in need of her help before she could do that. Whatever was responsible for the pods arriving either had no sense or a sick sense of timing because there were new arrivals despite all that they were already dealing with. Since she'd started assisting with acclimating the new arrivals, she'd developed a routine of how she approached the initial contact-- talk to the recovery people, talk to the medical people, get a sense of who she'd be meeting. Everything was too chaotic and she was too tired to go through the usual motions.
So naturally, when Rachel heard a very familiar voice, she thought she was imagining it. Exhaustion could do that. But then she picked up on the familiar psychic presence. That was something she couldn't just ignore. She went straight to Jean's bedside and at first just... stared. Rachel was totally worn out physically and emotionally, definitely not in the best state to cope with suddenly getting faced with a teenage version of her mother. Again. It was awkward enough the first time it'd happened.
"Hi, Jean," Rachel said when she could get her speech working. "We've got to stop meeting like this."
Jean stared at the young woman before her. It didn't make sense that anyone she knew might be here, wherever here was. And it made even less sense that the woman before her looked familiar; in fact, she definitely knew the woman standing next to her bed.
"Rachel?" She pushed herself up on the bed, narrowing her eyes at her would-be future daughter. Time travel. It made everything complicated. "What are you doing here? What am I --" All of the minds around her seemed to buzz with unnecessary information, information that didn't just make sense. It was starting to give her a headache. She put a hand to her forehead. "Please tell me this isn't another intergalactic kidnapping. I've had enough of those this week."
"I'd tell you that, but I'd be half lying and you'd know it." Rachel sat down at the foot of Jean's bed. She was tempted to flop onto her back, but she'd definitely fall asleep if she got any more comfortable. "It's still Earth. We're in the future, though, and it's in another universe. It's not even a divergent timeline this time. Completely separate."
"You're right, but that doesn't mean I don't want to hear it." Jean looked at her daughter, who was older than her now. The girl looked tired and, although Jean had a lot going on in her head, she felt for her. "What happened here?"
"All-night battle with an army of werewolves. So that's a new one, even for us." Rachel rubbed her temples and stifled a yawn. "Have you had a chance to experience the astral plane?"
She didn't have to ask to know that Rachel meant literal werewolves. Even with her barriers up, she sensed the images on the periphery of the minds around her. It wasn't a subject she wanted to delve into right now.
"Does that include mental interrogations? Because I had an interesting experience with the Shi'ar only --" She hesitated, puzzled over the passage of time as it occurred in time travel. "Before I got here. I thought they might be behind --" She gestured to the medical ward. "-- all this."
The mention of the Shi'ar made Rachel go rigid. She was never able to stop the memories that came any time something reminded her of them. What they did. She could keep people from seeing the Phoenix brand on her back, but she couldn't remove it. It was burned into her core, just like the memories of her family's slaughter.
"What…" Rachel's voice shook and she had to get it steadied. "What did they do now?"
"It's not... I'm so sorry." She reached a hand towards Rachel, possibly hoping to comfort her daughter, only to hesitate. Thinking about the Shi'ar made her angry and sad all at once, but when she spoke, it was with the quiet determination of one who had seen great suffering and looked to overcome it. "They put me on trial for what I had done as the Phoenix. They want to --"
She didn't need to say what the Shi'ar wanted. "They don't understand. All of this is new, and yet they only see a past that might be."
"On trial? They already put Jean Grey on trial for the Dark Phoenix's crimes, when she still was the Phoenix. How dare they put you..." The absurdity of that helped snap Rachel out of her sadness. Of course, this was the same empire that had condemned an entire family; was it really so surprising that they'd go through a second trial with someone who hadn't actually done anything? "It's like they're never going to stop trying to get some kind of revenge for what happened back then. Neither of us is even Phoenix now and maybe you never will be since your timeline's changed."
"Maybe, or maybe the Phoenix finds someone else…" Could that happen? She didn't know. What she knew was that all of that took place in her future, a future that made very little sense from where she stood. "But it doesn't matter to them. It just matters that I'm Jean Grey, and maybe someday…" She turned away from Rachel, staring out at the medical ward. "Maybe someday history repeats itself."
"Jean. Hey." Rachel scooted a little closer to Jean. "Listen to me. Even if someday in your future you do become the Phoenix again, you aren't going to face that alone. Did anybody tell you I was the Phoenix longer than anyone? Even Jean Grey."
"That only makes me half feel better." Jean offered Rachel a slight smile. She appreciated what Rachel was trying to do, but on some level, the Phoenix still felt like her problem. This would have to be something that she came to terms with later. "So, what is exactly that we do here? I take it there's some sort of welcome committee procedure…"