couples_therapy74.1 Whisper
ooc: Written with jkhellion. *mwah!*
It had been a day since everything had come shattering to a halt for Sally Blevins. One day since she found out her therapist was a lying bastard who had tried to kill her. One day since Laura Kinney had nearly succeeded in ending her life. One day since Sally had been able trust herself.
It didn't matter how many times the Professor told her that what had happened wasn't her fault. She had been the one to believe the man. She'd been the one that hadn't seen the signs that he had been using her. How was she supposed to be a successful X-Man if she couldn't even tell when she was being played? It didn't matter that Dr. Garrison had used his pheromone power on her; Sally was convinced she should have known. Somehow.
She wasn't allowed out of the infirmary. Hank wanted to make sure that what had triggered Laura's homicidal rage was gone from her system before releasing her. So Sally laid in the small bed and stared at the wall, feeling entirely too sorry for herself.
The door to the infirmary slid open with a resounding hiss and Julian stepped inside. Sally's back was to him but he knew she was awake. She'd been drifting in and out of sleep since they'd brought her in. Julian mustered up a smile before he moved forward and quietly laid the tray on the table.
"Hey." He sat on the edge of her bed and gently placed his hand on her hip just as her shield disappeared. "I brought you lunch." Briefly, he wondered if she'd have rather kept her shield up. It was one of the things about her power that neither of them had been able to figure out just yet. Until they did, Julian figured he might as well use it to his advantage. It certainly helped him to save her life. And now, when she didn't want anyone touching her or getting too close to her, he was here doing just that.
"Thanks." Sally didn't bother turning to see him and tucked her hands under her chin. Maybe if she just kept staring at the wall he'd go away. She didn't feel as though she deserved anything nice right now. Who knew precisely what she had told Garrison? The Professor was still trying to figure that one out.
"I'm not really hungry."
"Well baby, you're gonna have to eat. I didn't put on an apron just so Josh could snicker at me." He stood up and walked around the bed to where she could see him. He crouched next to her bed and rested his forearm on the edge of the mattress, forcing her to look at him. "Sally, come on." Julian found himself staring into her listless eyes and he wished he knew how to make her feel better.
"You're not wearing an apron," she murmured and then sighed as she sat up. "Did you really put on an apron?" She tried hard to make her voice sound at least slightly humorous but it was still flat. Soulless.
Sally settled back against the pillow so she could eat. He obviously wasn't going to leave until she did. There was fish and chips on a plate--her favorite meal they'd shared in London--and Sally felt tears prickle her eyes. "Is everyone okay?"
"Everyone's fine. They're just worried about you." He sat on her bed again, determined not to give her the space she needed and reached out to tuck her hair back behind her ear before he slipped another pillow behind her back. "Comfy?"
She nodded and couldn't stop the sniffle when he touched her hair. "They shouldn't worry. I'll be fine. Hank says so." She wasn't exactly sure how that was supposed to happen. She reached out and touched his hand before drawing hers back quickly. "How's....how's Laura?"
Julian dropped his gaze at the question and shook his head. "They won't tell me." He managed a slight shrug. "They've got her moved to Muir Island. As part of a safety measure or something." Julian was not pleased about that. Laura was like a sister to her and he was extremely protective of the girl. He knew Laura hadn't meant to hurt Sally. It had been that damn trigger scent. He took hold of Sally's hand just then and gave it a gentle squeeze before moving to sit next to her, propping his feet up on one of her pillows. "She'll be okay." Julian nudged her gently on her shoulder. "Eat."
Sally drew her knees close to her body and rested her head on them. She didn't feel much like eating anymore. "They should've had me go there instead. She didn't..." It wasn't the younger girl's fault that she had attacked. It didn't seem fair to punish her. "It wasn't her fault." Sally hugged herself tightly and looked away from Julian, staring at the wall. "It was mine. She shouldn't be the one being punished."
"It wasn't anyone's fault, SB. It was an accident. It'll be fine. You'll be--" Releasing his hold on Sally's hand, he looked down and stared at the metal nut that was in the palm of her hand.
The ring. The 'I wedded Sally Blevins online last week' ring. Julian felt his insides twist. But then before she had a chance to react to him seeing it, he took the fake ring, pressed a kiss on her knuckles and slipped it on. Clearing his throat, he leaned back against the pillows.
"Meg misses you. Cess too. And Santo. Josh..." The list was endless.
Sally stiffened at first, fearful of how he would react to her still having the ring but he was still by her side. He'd kissed her hand and slipped it on and...she wasn't going to think about what any of that meant. "I miss them too."
She turned on her side and curled up against him. Sally wrapped her arms around his chest as she buried her face into his shoulder. Once the tears started she couldn't quite make them stop. "I was such an idiot, Julian. How did I not see what he was doing? How did I not know?"
"There's no way you would've." Apparently, Garrison had the ability to manipulate emotions and apparently the Professor hadn't thought to check on that. So if anything, Julian thought that Charles Xavier should be blamed. "You didn't know what he's capable of." He'd threatened to go look for Garrison himself in order to, "kick the living shit out of him!" but Scott had warned him to stay out of it and that the Professor and the older X-Men were looking into it. Of course, Illyana had been quicker than the lot of them. He now had Garrison's severed head stored in a gym bag in his cupboard.
He swallowed hard and tried not to think about that. "I'm just... I'm glad you're okay. I thought.." He could still picture the blood on his hands, the frightened look on Sally's face; could hear the screams of his closest friends: Meg, Cess, Josh. How scared they were for her and at the thought of losing another member of their family, and how afraid he'd been at the thought of losing her. And then of course there was Garrison's head. That damn head that was in his damn cupboard. "You scared the shit out of me." Ill scared the shit out of me.
Sally clung tighter at his words. "I'm sorry," she murmured and pressed her face into his neck. It was like she was trying to crawl into him. "Can you...put your shield up?" It would make her feel a little safer since she couldn't have hers up when she was around him. "What...what happened? After I blacked out?"
She wiped at her eyes and tucked one hand under her chin. "I remember you yelling and Logan and Hank. Josh couldn't reach me cause of my shield. I could feel myself dying. I couldn't breathe and all I could taste was blood." It had been awful and her dreams over the last few days had been filled with images from it. "Please tell me what happened."
Everything had happened in sort of a blur. A panicked, rage filled, emotional blur. And to top it all off, Ill had presented him with Garrison's fucking head.
Once again, he pushed the disturbing image away and tried not to think about it. "... We got to you in time. Josh healed you." He shifted and moved closer to her before he got his shield up around them as he spoke. "The minute Logan took hold of Laura, I brought you straight to the infirmary... I stayed while Hank tried to clear your airways so you could breathe." He tried not to picture how deathly pale she'd look afterwards but he couldn't get the image out of his head. Head. Garrison's head. He managed to suck in a deep breath. "The Professor, he... he went inside your head..." Head. He bit down on his lip to keep from laughing. Oh, what the fuck, Julian? "He... found out what Garrison had done. He didn't have any choice, SB. You were unconscious."
Conveniently, Julian had skipped the part where he blew a hole in the Professor's study while trying to gain information on Garrison's whereabouts. And of course, he'd left out the part where Illyana had handed him Garrison's head for keeps. He figured Sally would find that out on her own. Some part of him hoped she wouldn't.
She couldn't blame Charles for what he had done. Going into her head was probably the only way anyone would have been able to figure out what had happened. Sally was still blurry on the actual events. She still couldn't quite believe all she had told the doctor. "...did they ever find him?" she finally asked, tugging at his arm so he would wrap it around her. "Dr. Garrison, did they find him, Julian?"
"Or is he still out there?" She looked earnestly at him. "Please tell me they found him. Please." If they didn't then what was to prevent him from doing any of it again? Or from using the information he'd managed to obtain? "Please. We have to find him, Jules. WE HAVE TO."
He's dead.
"Don't worry about it, SB."
Sally clung tightly to him, arms wrapping around his neck and face pressing into his shoulder. "They just have to." She let out a choked sob and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to fight him off. I'd...understand if you didn't want me joining your team anymore." Or any team. Or being at the mansion. Or a million other things that were running through her head.
She took the fake ring off her finger and pressed it into his hand. She definitely didn't think she deserved that. "I'm sorry," she whispered and let go of him before dropping back against the pillows.
He stared at the piece of nut in his hand and then back at Sally before he pressed his lips into a grim line. "I said it a thousand times before and I'll say it a thousand times again if I need to." And it was a well known fact that Julian Keller hated repeating himself. "It wasn't your fault. This changes nothing." He slipped the ring under her pillow. "Just get some rest, SB. Everything's going to be okay."
Sally looked back at him and bit her lip at the intensity in his gaze and voice. It might take another thousand times of hearing that before she believed it. "Do you have to go?" She knew she'd feel much better if Julian and his shield stayed. "I'd...like if you stayed." She forced herself not to add anything else. No excuses or pleas. It had to be his choice to stay or leave. Maybe then she'd believe him.
"Of course I'm staying." He settled back against the pillows. "Come here." Julian hadn't left her side for any longer than thirty minutes at a time and he wasn't about to start. "Hank says you're free to leave the infirmary in two days." It was decided that Laura would stay on in Muir Island and Julian would have insisted they let Laura stay if Laura herself hadn't voiced her decision to leave the mansion. "If you want, you can stay in my room." He just needed to get rid of that damn head first. "You'll be safe there."
Sally scooted back and curled up against him. "He did?" Good. She was getting tired of sleeping in the small bed and the poking and prodding and all of the tests. His room would mean she wouldn't be bombarded by anyone as well. That could definitely be a good thing. "I'd like comfy bed, please. You're gonna have to deal with Tabby coming by though. And kinda whenever she wants cause she's Tabby." She smiled slightly at that, her first smile in days and rested her head on his chest. "Okies?"
Glad to see her smile at last, Julian pressed a kiss against the tip of her nose, being ever so careful and gentle with her. So unlike how he usually was. "Okay, Sally." He nodded once. "Okay."
Sally Blevins
X-men
partner: Julian Keller (jkhellion RP based)
It had been a day since everything had come shattering to a halt for Sally Blevins. One day since she found out her therapist was a lying bastard who had tried to kill her. One day since Laura Kinney had nearly succeeded in ending her life. One day since Sally had been able trust herself.
It didn't matter how many times the Professor told her that what had happened wasn't her fault. She had been the one to believe the man. She'd been the one that hadn't seen the signs that he had been using her. How was she supposed to be a successful X-Man if she couldn't even tell when she was being played? It didn't matter that Dr. Garrison had used his pheromone power on her; Sally was convinced she should have known. Somehow.
She wasn't allowed out of the infirmary. Hank wanted to make sure that what had triggered Laura's homicidal rage was gone from her system before releasing her. So Sally laid in the small bed and stared at the wall, feeling entirely too sorry for herself.
The door to the infirmary slid open with a resounding hiss and Julian stepped inside. Sally's back was to him but he knew she was awake. She'd been drifting in and out of sleep since they'd brought her in. Julian mustered up a smile before he moved forward and quietly laid the tray on the table.
"Hey." He sat on the edge of her bed and gently placed his hand on her hip just as her shield disappeared. "I brought you lunch." Briefly, he wondered if she'd have rather kept her shield up. It was one of the things about her power that neither of them had been able to figure out just yet. Until they did, Julian figured he might as well use it to his advantage. It certainly helped him to save her life. And now, when she didn't want anyone touching her or getting too close to her, he was here doing just that.
"Thanks." Sally didn't bother turning to see him and tucked her hands under her chin. Maybe if she just kept staring at the wall he'd go away. She didn't feel as though she deserved anything nice right now. Who knew precisely what she had told Garrison? The Professor was still trying to figure that one out.
"I'm not really hungry."
"Well baby, you're gonna have to eat. I didn't put on an apron just so Josh could snicker at me." He stood up and walked around the bed to where she could see him. He crouched next to her bed and rested his forearm on the edge of the mattress, forcing her to look at him. "Sally, come on." Julian found himself staring into her listless eyes and he wished he knew how to make her feel better.
"You're not wearing an apron," she murmured and then sighed as she sat up. "Did you really put on an apron?" She tried hard to make her voice sound at least slightly humorous but it was still flat. Soulless.
Sally settled back against the pillow so she could eat. He obviously wasn't going to leave until she did. There was fish and chips on a plate--her favorite meal they'd shared in London--and Sally felt tears prickle her eyes. "Is everyone okay?"
"Everyone's fine. They're just worried about you." He sat on her bed again, determined not to give her the space she needed and reached out to tuck her hair back behind her ear before he slipped another pillow behind her back. "Comfy?"
She nodded and couldn't stop the sniffle when he touched her hair. "They shouldn't worry. I'll be fine. Hank says so." She wasn't exactly sure how that was supposed to happen. She reached out and touched his hand before drawing hers back quickly. "How's....how's Laura?"
Julian dropped his gaze at the question and shook his head. "They won't tell me." He managed a slight shrug. "They've got her moved to Muir Island. As part of a safety measure or something." Julian was not pleased about that. Laura was like a sister to her and he was extremely protective of the girl. He knew Laura hadn't meant to hurt Sally. It had been that damn trigger scent. He took hold of Sally's hand just then and gave it a gentle squeeze before moving to sit next to her, propping his feet up on one of her pillows. "She'll be okay." Julian nudged her gently on her shoulder. "Eat."
Sally drew her knees close to her body and rested her head on them. She didn't feel much like eating anymore. "They should've had me go there instead. She didn't..." It wasn't the younger girl's fault that she had attacked. It didn't seem fair to punish her. "It wasn't her fault." Sally hugged herself tightly and looked away from Julian, staring at the wall. "It was mine. She shouldn't be the one being punished."
"It wasn't anyone's fault, SB. It was an accident. It'll be fine. You'll be--" Releasing his hold on Sally's hand, he looked down and stared at the metal nut that was in the palm of her hand.
The ring. The 'I wedded Sally Blevins online last week' ring. Julian felt his insides twist. But then before she had a chance to react to him seeing it, he took the fake ring, pressed a kiss on her knuckles and slipped it on. Clearing his throat, he leaned back against the pillows.
"Meg misses you. Cess too. And Santo. Josh..." The list was endless.
Sally stiffened at first, fearful of how he would react to her still having the ring but he was still by her side. He'd kissed her hand and slipped it on and...she wasn't going to think about what any of that meant. "I miss them too."
She turned on her side and curled up against him. Sally wrapped her arms around his chest as she buried her face into his shoulder. Once the tears started she couldn't quite make them stop. "I was such an idiot, Julian. How did I not see what he was doing? How did I not know?"
"There's no way you would've." Apparently, Garrison had the ability to manipulate emotions and apparently the Professor hadn't thought to check on that. So if anything, Julian thought that Charles Xavier should be blamed. "You didn't know what he's capable of." He'd threatened to go look for Garrison himself in order to, "kick the living shit out of him!" but Scott had warned him to stay out of it and that the Professor and the older X-Men were looking into it. Of course, Illyana had been quicker than the lot of them. He now had Garrison's severed head stored in a gym bag in his cupboard.
He swallowed hard and tried not to think about that. "I'm just... I'm glad you're okay. I thought.." He could still picture the blood on his hands, the frightened look on Sally's face; could hear the screams of his closest friends: Meg, Cess, Josh. How scared they were for her and at the thought of losing another member of their family, and how afraid he'd been at the thought of losing her. And then of course there was Garrison's head. That damn head that was in his damn cupboard. "You scared the shit out of me." Ill scared the shit out of me.
Sally clung tighter at his words. "I'm sorry," she murmured and pressed her face into his neck. It was like she was trying to crawl into him. "Can you...put your shield up?" It would make her feel a little safer since she couldn't have hers up when she was around him. "What...what happened? After I blacked out?"
She wiped at her eyes and tucked one hand under her chin. "I remember you yelling and Logan and Hank. Josh couldn't reach me cause of my shield. I could feel myself dying. I couldn't breathe and all I could taste was blood." It had been awful and her dreams over the last few days had been filled with images from it. "Please tell me what happened."
Everything had happened in sort of a blur. A panicked, rage filled, emotional blur. And to top it all off, Ill had presented him with Garrison's fucking head.
Once again, he pushed the disturbing image away and tried not to think about it. "... We got to you in time. Josh healed you." He shifted and moved closer to her before he got his shield up around them as he spoke. "The minute Logan took hold of Laura, I brought you straight to the infirmary... I stayed while Hank tried to clear your airways so you could breathe." He tried not to picture how deathly pale she'd look afterwards but he couldn't get the image out of his head. Head. Garrison's head. He managed to suck in a deep breath. "The Professor, he... he went inside your head..." Head. He bit down on his lip to keep from laughing. Oh, what the fuck, Julian? "He... found out what Garrison had done. He didn't have any choice, SB. You were unconscious."
Conveniently, Julian had skipped the part where he blew a hole in the Professor's study while trying to gain information on Garrison's whereabouts. And of course, he'd left out the part where Illyana had handed him Garrison's head for keeps. He figured Sally would find that out on her own. Some part of him hoped she wouldn't.
She couldn't blame Charles for what he had done. Going into her head was probably the only way anyone would have been able to figure out what had happened. Sally was still blurry on the actual events. She still couldn't quite believe all she had told the doctor. "...did they ever find him?" she finally asked, tugging at his arm so he would wrap it around her. "Dr. Garrison, did they find him, Julian?"
"Or is he still out there?" She looked earnestly at him. "Please tell me they found him. Please." If they didn't then what was to prevent him from doing any of it again? Or from using the information he'd managed to obtain? "Please. We have to find him, Jules. WE HAVE TO."
He's dead.
"Don't worry about it, SB."
Sally clung tightly to him, arms wrapping around his neck and face pressing into his shoulder. "They just have to." She let out a choked sob and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to fight him off. I'd...understand if you didn't want me joining your team anymore." Or any team. Or being at the mansion. Or a million other things that were running through her head.
She took the fake ring off her finger and pressed it into his hand. She definitely didn't think she deserved that. "I'm sorry," she whispered and let go of him before dropping back against the pillows.
He stared at the piece of nut in his hand and then back at Sally before he pressed his lips into a grim line. "I said it a thousand times before and I'll say it a thousand times again if I need to." And it was a well known fact that Julian Keller hated repeating himself. "It wasn't your fault. This changes nothing." He slipped the ring under her pillow. "Just get some rest, SB. Everything's going to be okay."
Sally looked back at him and bit her lip at the intensity in his gaze and voice. It might take another thousand times of hearing that before she believed it. "Do you have to go?" She knew she'd feel much better if Julian and his shield stayed. "I'd...like if you stayed." She forced herself not to add anything else. No excuses or pleas. It had to be his choice to stay or leave. Maybe then she'd believe him.
"Of course I'm staying." He settled back against the pillows. "Come here." Julian hadn't left her side for any longer than thirty minutes at a time and he wasn't about to start. "Hank says you're free to leave the infirmary in two days." It was decided that Laura would stay on in Muir Island and Julian would have insisted they let Laura stay if Laura herself hadn't voiced her decision to leave the mansion. "If you want, you can stay in my room." He just needed to get rid of that damn head first. "You'll be safe there."
Sally scooted back and curled up against him. "He did?" Good. She was getting tired of sleeping in the small bed and the poking and prodding and all of the tests. His room would mean she wouldn't be bombarded by anyone as well. That could definitely be a good thing. "I'd like comfy bed, please. You're gonna have to deal with Tabby coming by though. And kinda whenever she wants cause she's Tabby." She smiled slightly at that, her first smile in days and rested her head on his chest. "Okies?"
Glad to see her smile at last, Julian pressed a kiss against the tip of her nose, being ever so careful and gentle with her. So unlike how he usually was. "Okay, Sally." He nodded once. "Okay."
Sally Blevins
X-men
partner: Julian Keller (jkhellion RP based)