Good-bye, for now. . . (RP with iron_tony)
*OOC -- After this, written with iron_tony
Captain America is dead.
He isn't, of course. He's in Wanda Maximoff's house, apparently making an effort to get Wanda out of the fetal position she's in on the floor. Jean doesn't know. She doesn't care -- about Wanda, anyway. She feels bad for Steve, and almost as bad for Tony, who is going to have to figure out how to handle this latest bit of unreality. Captain America isn't dead, but try to tell that to the rest of the world
She and Tony stand in front of the house. Jean is waiting for what passes for a car service in Wundagore, to take her to the air field, where Sam will show up with the X-jet, so they can go back to Paris and she can have her nervous breakdown.
Right now, she gives a sort of distracted smile to Tony, and glances at the girl, Layla, who is on the grass, sort of dancing in a circle and singing to herself. After all the strangeness with Phoenix, Layla had abruptly transformed into a perfectly normal-seeming -- if rather cryptic -- little girl. She immediately announced that she would like to go to Paris with Jean, to be delivered into the custody of Miss Monet St. Croix and Miss Theresa Rourke Cassidy.
"You all right with all this?" Tony asks, looking hard at Jean.
"By 'all this,' you mean having my mind and body violated in more ways than I can even think about right now."
"Well, yeah. . .ahh. Listen. You deserve a break. I feel bad for getting you into this. When you're back in New York, though, I think you should come by Avengers' headquarters --" She looks up at him. "Or the SHIELD helicarrier, if you prefer. Just so we can take down some information --"
Jean's head snaps up and she stares at him for a moment, as she slowly understands what he is asking. "Tony --" she says. "Director Stark. . .are you suggesting that. . the Phoenix. . .you think that the Phoenix should be registered with SHIELD?"
"I think that kind of power needs to be accounted for. You're so used to believing that you can't control it. But do you know that? Look --" He points to himself. "Tony Stark sees a problem, he's going to try to solve it. It's the only thing I know how to do."
"Solve --" Jean repeats, staring at him. "You think you're going to solve the Phoenix? Like, what, like you and Phoenix and that freaky little kid solved Wanda's problem?"
"Hey, Wanda's fine! She's safe, she's alive, she's not a threat, she's --"
"Fine?" Jean echoes. "Are you blind? She's --" Jean stops. Tony has always been one of the best friends that the mutant community has among baseline humans, but he isn't a mutant. He doesn't really grasp what depowering means. "It doesn't matter. Just promise you won't run off and ignore her again and convince yourself everything is fine."
"I --" He looks back at the house. "I won't. I won't abandon anyone."
"Right," Jean says. "And it's not at all tempting, I'm certain, to show up with Captain America in tow and say, 'False alarm, I saw this coming, here's the real guy,' and throw him back in jail. Publicity crisis averted."
"Do you think I would do that?" Tony's voice is even. It isn't defensive, it isn't rhetorical. He really wants to know.
Jean steps toward him and looks intently in his eyes. "I know you wouldn't. Whatever anyone says, I know you're a good man."
"You know that, do you?" He looks down at her, and Jean wonders if he's going to kiss her, which he hasn't done since their last meeting in New York. Then their gaze is broken by the noise of a car in the driveway.
"That's my ride." Jean stands on tip-toe and brushes him lightly on the lips. "I know you'll do the right thing."
"Do you?" He squeezes her shoulder, then lifts her bag, helping her toward the car. "Call me when you get back to Paris. The next few days are sure to be insane but --"
"Sure, boss," she says, and as she goes to herd Layla into the car, she kisses Tony one last time. What difference does it make? She's never planning to see him again.
He can figure that out in his own time.
Captain America is dead.
He isn't, of course. He's in Wanda Maximoff's house, apparently making an effort to get Wanda out of the fetal position she's in on the floor. Jean doesn't know. She doesn't care -- about Wanda, anyway. She feels bad for Steve, and almost as bad for Tony, who is going to have to figure out how to handle this latest bit of unreality. Captain America isn't dead, but try to tell that to the rest of the world
She and Tony stand in front of the house. Jean is waiting for what passes for a car service in Wundagore, to take her to the air field, where Sam will show up with the X-jet, so they can go back to Paris and she can have her nervous breakdown.
Right now, she gives a sort of distracted smile to Tony, and glances at the girl, Layla, who is on the grass, sort of dancing in a circle and singing to herself. After all the strangeness with Phoenix, Layla had abruptly transformed into a perfectly normal-seeming -- if rather cryptic -- little girl. She immediately announced that she would like to go to Paris with Jean, to be delivered into the custody of Miss Monet St. Croix and Miss Theresa Rourke Cassidy.
"You all right with all this?" Tony asks, looking hard at Jean.
"By 'all this,' you mean having my mind and body violated in more ways than I can even think about right now."
"Well, yeah. . .ahh. Listen. You deserve a break. I feel bad for getting you into this. When you're back in New York, though, I think you should come by Avengers' headquarters --" She looks up at him. "Or the SHIELD helicarrier, if you prefer. Just so we can take down some information --"
Jean's head snaps up and she stares at him for a moment, as she slowly understands what he is asking. "Tony --" she says. "Director Stark. . .are you suggesting that. . the Phoenix. . .you think that the Phoenix should be registered with SHIELD?"
"I think that kind of power needs to be accounted for. You're so used to believing that you can't control it. But do you know that? Look --" He points to himself. "Tony Stark sees a problem, he's going to try to solve it. It's the only thing I know how to do."
"Solve --" Jean repeats, staring at him. "You think you're going to solve the Phoenix? Like, what, like you and Phoenix and that freaky little kid solved Wanda's problem?"
"Hey, Wanda's fine! She's safe, she's alive, she's not a threat, she's --"
"Fine?" Jean echoes. "Are you blind? She's --" Jean stops. Tony has always been one of the best friends that the mutant community has among baseline humans, but he isn't a mutant. He doesn't really grasp what depowering means. "It doesn't matter. Just promise you won't run off and ignore her again and convince yourself everything is fine."
"I --" He looks back at the house. "I won't. I won't abandon anyone."
"Right," Jean says. "And it's not at all tempting, I'm certain, to show up with Captain America in tow and say, 'False alarm, I saw this coming, here's the real guy,' and throw him back in jail. Publicity crisis averted."
"Do you think I would do that?" Tony's voice is even. It isn't defensive, it isn't rhetorical. He really wants to know.
Jean steps toward him and looks intently in his eyes. "I know you wouldn't. Whatever anyone says, I know you're a good man."
"You know that, do you?" He looks down at her, and Jean wonders if he's going to kiss her, which he hasn't done since their last meeting in New York. Then their gaze is broken by the noise of a car in the driveway.
"That's my ride." Jean stands on tip-toe and brushes him lightly on the lips. "I know you'll do the right thing."
"Do you?" He squeezes her shoulder, then lifts her bag, helping her toward the car. "Call me when you get back to Paris. The next few days are sure to be insane but --"
"Sure, boss," she says, and as she goes to herd Layla into the car, she kisses Tony one last time. What difference does it make? She's never planning to see him again.
He can figure that out in his own time.