InsaneJournal

Wait, I have a sister where you’re from?
Who: Jean and Wanda
What: Training
when: Recent
Where: Jean Grey Outreach Center (lol)
Status: complete
Rating: Pg


Jean was a little nervous. Her head was still spinning from what the dreams had thrown at her the past several weeks. Residual anger, fear, a little depression and fear rollar coaster. But she still had her job to do, and she still had to help people like Wanda.

Wanda brought up interesting feelings. They’d been friends in her dreams, even roommates for a time. Natasha had told her that she remembered different events. That mutants didn’t even seem to exist in that world. It was a strange thing, but Jean could work with it.

She arranged to meet Wanda for a lunch out at the outreach center. The one that was named after her, which wasn’t weird at all. Beneath the outreach center Logan had built a complex that would allow them to test some of their powers without risking anyone else. Not in in the city, nor the kids above ground at the center. But for now, lunch with a view of the wilderness.

Wanda was anxious about this meeting. She trusted Natasha, but it was still a worrying thing meeting someone new for the first time, especially when it involved her emerging powers. And someone who claimed to know her, but a different version of her, very odd. As she entered the outreach centre, she looked around, hoping Jean would be able to spot her and direct her where she needed to go.

The main building was built out of a farmhouse, though there were high tech buildings with state of the art facilities too. Jean met Wanda at the doorway and held out her hand. “Hello. It’s nice to finally meet you. I arranged for a little picnic of sorts for us. I thought it might be fun.”

“Hello, you must be Jean,” Wanda smiled and shook the other woman’s hand. “That sounds lovely. I have not had a proper picnic for some time now,” she told Jean as she let the other woman lead the way. “So, I understand that in your Dreams we have some history, is that right?”

“Been awhile myself.” She grabbed a basket and a cooler, floating the latter beside her as she walked. “We do. We uh… were room mates for awhile, after I left Xavier’s institute. You were mostly with the Avengers though.”

Wanda frowned as she listened to Jean speak of their past. “I don’t understand, what is Xavier’s Institute? I’m sorry but I have no memory of you from my Dreams,” Wanda told her kindly.

Jean smiled, the expression a little sad. “A school for gifted people. Mutants, specifically. I was born with the ability to manipulate objects with my mind. A quirk of genetics.” The cooler lifted up to eye level. No strings attached!

Wanda smiled as she watched Jean manipulate the cooler, fascinated by the control the other woman demonstrated. “So I am a mutant as well? And you have powers like mine, is that right?” she asked. Wanda had already been reading minds and calling objects to herself, the most dangerous of which was aknife which nearly impaled her while cooking dinner.

“As far as I know in my dreams, you are. You and your brother and sister. I don’t know how it plays out if you dream of that same world Natasha does, where mutants don’t appear to exist.” Jean led them to a little clearing overlooking the complex. She wondered what Logan was thinking, naming it after her. She wondered if it meant she did die, forever. Finally.

“Wait, I have a sister where you’re from? Is she a mutant too then?” Wanda asked curiously. “This is amazing, how can we be in each other’s Dreams but not the same Dreams?” she wondered aloud.

“Yes, her name is Lorna.” Jean wondered if Lorna was around and Wanda just didn’t know, or if it was much more complicated than that. “She possessed the power to manipulate magnetic fields. And I think it has something to do with alternate universes. I’ve encountered a few in my dreams. Worlds where a few things are different.”

“Lorna,” Wanda smiled as she tried the name out on her tongue. “I can’t wait to tell Pietro,” she grinned. “Do you know if she is here? In this world?” she asked curiously.

“I’ve never met her. Kitty tries to keep tabs on people. She told me she has a system that alerts her if anyone from our dreams arrives in Orange County.” Whether that system was legal or not, Jean hadn’t asked, and had thought it better not to know. “It’s interesting. Seeing the differences with people. And the similarities.”

Wanda nodded, a little disappointed at the news. “Kitty? Is she a mutant from your world too?” she asked, gazing around the facility as they walked to where Jean was leading them for their picnic.

“Yes. She works at that Agency like Natasha does.” Jean gestured towards a spot, with a good view over the ranch. Pulling out a blanket, she put it on the ground. “Have a seat. Lets eat!”

“Thank you,” Wanda smiled, settling down on the blanket. “So uh, how do we start? Do you want to know anything else about me?” she asked while Jean unpacked the cooler.

“Tell me about your life here,” Jean replied. She thought that was less of a touchy subject than what she’d gleaned from Nat about those other dreams. A subject that would need to be broached but she wanted Wanda to feel comfortable before talking about it.

“Ok, well my brother and I were orphaned when we were children, we studied hard and when we left school we travelled. We stayed in the UK for some time with a lady who went on to sponsor our application to study here. Pieto and I were lucky enough to be accepted at UC:I and I have just finished my first year’s study of neuroscience,” Wanda explained briefly. She didn’t particularly enjoy talking about the past, she preferred talking about the now and the future.

Jean nodded, expressing empathy at being orphaned. She gave Wanda a bottle of water and a sandwich. “Neuroscience, that’s fantastic! What are you planning on doing with your education?”

“Thank you,” Wanda smiled as she took the offered items. “I find the operation of the human mind so interesting. I think I would like to be involved in research for some time, but in the end I just want to help people. However that may be,” she shrugged.

“That’s the best place to start. It’s why I became a teacher. I wanted to help kids reach their full potential. Or at least get them started on the right track.” Jean rubbed her thumb up and down her own water bottle. “Even in my dreams, I became a teacher.”

“And you teach people how to control their powers, both here and there, is that right?” Wanda questioned, opening her water bottle and taking a sip. “Who taught you?”

“There, mostly. Here, there aren’t too many people we need to teach. I mostly teach high schoolers history and social studies.” Jean winked. “I was taught by a man named Charles Xavier. My feelings on him are conflict, honestly.”

“Ok, so how did you start learning? What do I need to start to do?” Wanda asked, eager to gain some measure of control over her powers now she was here.

“We’ll start with some basic exercises. I like to use visualization. Visualizing an object moving. Telepathy is a lot more difficult, because you don’t want to do the equivalent of screaming into someone’s ear.” She picked an apple out of the basket. “Imagine lifting this, and reach out with your powers to do so.”

Wanda nodded as she listened to Jean’s instructions. Clearing her throat and settling herself in her sitting position more comfortably, she focused on the apple with an intense gaze while making sure to keep her hands on her knees and not reach out for it. She could imagine lifting the apple without using her hands, but she couldn’t seem to concentrate her powers in the direction of the apple.

She grumbled to herself and started again, this time visualising her powers as the red tendrils that seemed to appear in her Dreams. Using her right hand, she gestured as if she wanted the apple to rise and the tendrils reached out to take hold of the apple. She could feel the weight of it, the texture and temperature of the skin as her power touched it and she raised it from Jean’s hand. Only by about an inch before she realised how incredible it was that she’d done it and started laughing as she looked at Jean in amazement. “I did it! I can’t believe I did it!”

Jean laughed as well. “That was a very good start.” It was probably too soon to have Wanda try to peel it with her powers, but it was a very good start. Focus first on her getting a handle on her abilities, then fine tune and refine them. Jean grinned. “You’ll get the hang of it in no time.”

“Thank you Jean!” Wanda grinned excitedly. “I feel this is the start of something extraordinary!”