2013.05.24 - There Is Hope

Mutant Town. At sundown.

In many ways this is /NOT/ a safe place to be. That is if you're human, or look human. And yet well....

A call was placed. To The Xavier Institute. To a /specific/ number at The Institute. To arrange a meeting. A meeting at sunset, in Mutant Town, at a specific outdoor cafe in mutant town. The person that called simply asked to meet with a 'Summers' or a 'Grey'. No specific were given to which Summers or Grey. Or why the meeting is needed. But they did leave a name. That name being 'Hope'.

Thus as the sun sets, there is a girl with red hair sitting at a table at that cafe. Alone. In fact she's the only person at the cafe strangely enough as the time set for the meeting approaches. Said girl is in an odd green and yellow outfit, with an almost rag like cloak on top of it. But otherwise... She just looks like she may be a normal 17 year old girl.

Jean had no idea who 'Hope' was, when the call was first received. Nor did she understand why anyone would insist on speaking with a Summers or a Grey exclusively. It rang all the wrong bells with her -- so much so, in fact, that she considered leaving it to Scott to take the meeting. But, he wasn't around and, though she was afraid it was a trap, she reluctantly agreed to go. She was thus, on her way out of the Mansion to do just that when she bumped into Nate Grey... who said to her, 'Have you met Rachel, or Hope?' And then proceeded to blindside her with his relationship to her. At that point, the idea that someone named 'Hope' was seeking someone named Summers or Grey rang a whole different set of bells... and Jean decided that maybe taking the meeting at the cafe was a good idea after all...

All of which leads us down a convoluted path to this moment, when Jean finds herself walking slowly toward an open air cafe in Mutant Town, looking for someone that might be looking for her. That there's only one person there, and that its a young woman, suggests to Jean she's found the right place. She pauses a few feet away. "Hope?"

And as she hears that voice, Hope nearly jumps out of her chair. Oh sure there is a bit of a startled 'bounce', before she slowly turns to glance at Jean.

That is before she blinks one.

Then twice.

And then well...

"If you're Scott...." the teenaged redhead starts to say. "Then I really had the wrong impression about Nates 'Dad'."

So there are more...

Oh, yeah. It's a really good thing Jean bumped into Nate earlier. She's actually able to take the kid's statement without getting all defensive or 'WTH' all over her.

Instead, the telepath gives a wry smile. "No. I'm Jean Grey," she says by way of introduction, her tone dry and little ironic. "I guess you could say I'm Nate's 'Mom'." And, yes. She actually uses air quotes when she says 'mom'. She can't help it.

"You must be the Hope he mentioned."

"His... 'Mom'...?"

Yeah, that comment just catches Hope off guard. That is before she take a deep breath, and lets it out slowly. That is before in turn, she nods slightly and motions towards a seat across from her at the table.

"Please, sit down." Pause. "This is going to be interesting. And I'm sorry if we're getting off on the wrong foot. Nate never mentioned you. He only mentioned a 'Scott' and a 'Rachel'. he never mentioned his 'mother'."

"Sorry."

"And yes, I'm Hope."

"Thank you." Jean takes the seat, glancing around the cafe and the neighbourhood as she does. Her eyes then settle on the girl, on the green and gold beneath the ragged cloak. It feels unsettlingly familiar.

Still, her lips twist into a wry smile. "Yeah," she says dryly. "I think he takes after his father," who never mentioned anything to her, either, "that way." Oh, she and Scott are going to have a long talk after all this.

"I haven't met Rachel, yet," she notes. "But, I have to say, I'm looking forward to it." Her tone as she says that is, perhaps, a little difficult to read. She may or may not be sincere about that. Likely, it's a mixture. Sure, she wants to meet the girl, but it makes her uncomfortable nonetheless.

"I'm sorry Scott couldn't make it. He's away from the house, this evening. And I doubt than anyone would think to give you Nate over me. I gather he's not there very often, himself."

She leans back a little, green eyes again studying the girl. "So, where are you from, Hope? And how can I help you?"

And here's where Hope bites her lip before responding.

"If you can do what Nate can with your mind, we might want to talk that way." is said as she glances about. Sure odds are she could do it herself, but odds are Jean could do it better. After all, telepathy is something that she still needs to work on. When she copies it that is.

"And where may be an important question. Not the most important. But well... Alaska. Or so Nathan told me when I was growing up."

If Jean was listening though, she may pick up a thought that is almost shouted by the younger woman. What is the thought?

'A better question might be /WHEN/ am I from.'

Jean catches the thought, and she closes her eyes. It's not entirely unexpected. Nate intimated as much. She opens her mind enough to allow the girl to speak with her telepathically. ~ How far in the future? ~ she asks, opening her eyes again. She doesn't ask which future. She outright refuses to believe it's hers. Her future isn't written yet.

The thoughts are focused on Jean, but well, Hope looks somewhere between cross and lost as she tries to think towards a person.

<< A few years. At most. Maybe. When I'm born anyways. But well... Mix in a lot of time travel with Nathan, and you have about a thousand years give or take worth of things going from bad to worse for a childhood. Up to and including the extinction of sentient life on Earth. >>

Awesome. Will someone please tell Jean why every future scenario she seems to come up against always ends in extinction? She sighs. << I see. >> It's quickly becoming her go-to response.

Drawing in her focus, she purposely focuses on the tension she feels, pulls it together in an imaginary little ball, pushes it away. It's not the girl's fault. So, Jean tries not to punish her for it.

She does, however, pick up on the girl's own tension. << If it's easier for you, >> she suggests, << just concentrate on 'speaking' what you want to say to me in your thoughts. I can pick them up without you having to try to project them. >> It's not even hard for her to do that. And, certainly, as she sends that after having disciplined herself, she 'feels' much calmer when she brushes the girl's mind.

<< So, what brings you here, Hope? Why did you call? >>

There's a deep breath as Hope tries to collect herself. She's been around telepaths for a while now. But still...

<< Why don't I start at the beginning. My name is Hope. Hope Summers. I was raised by a man called 'Nathan Summers'. One that Nate thinks may be either a future version of himself, or a time traveller. All though I thought Nate may have been his clone... But well.... That's just complicated. >>

There a pause as the younger redhead glances away for a moment.

<< Nate believes this makes me his 'niece'. Thus well... Hi 'Grandma'. >>

<< As for the rest, well... Nate and his friends have been telling me that I should tell you guys what I know. Despite the fact that one of you has been trying to kill me my entire life. But after the thing with the talking telepathic gorilla, well... >>

<< Do not call me 'grandma'. >> Sorry. It's an automatic reaction. Jean's only 26. She's way too young for that. On the bright side? She didn't say 'Mom'.

<< And... the what? >> She's clearly referring to the gorilla. A glyph of King Kong is laced behind her thoughts. It's rare Jean gets to use telepathic shorthand with people, but it does slip out occasionally. When she 'speaks' with the Professor, it's often in images, impressions, and glyphs because, well, it's faster that way.

<< Who's been trying to kill you, Hope? >> There's genuine concern there.

<< One of the X-Men. >> is said by Hope telepathically. But who and what they look like as that is said... It's almost as if that has been obscured somehow. Back when Rachel encountered that she even commented to Doug that it was sort of like what happened to her, and a possible side effect of time travel somehow. << As far as I know they may even be a member of the team right now. They've been trying to kill me my entire life. >>

<< He... Look, he made every continent except North America unlivable. He buried nukes in Australia that when they went of, it wiped the continent off the map. He hid 'super' Napalm to burn South America to the ground. All the water in Europe was poisoned by hidden weapons there. Bio-weapons wiped out Asia. Toxic chemicals supposedly took out Africa. But I'm getting ahead of myself. >>

"He wants to kill me." is then said out loud before she switches back to 'thinking'.

<< The first time he tried to kill me, Nathan escaped with me into the time stream. We kept jumping farther into the future to get away from him, and couldn't go backwards until our time machine was fixed. My pursuer did all of that supposedly to limit where Nathan and I could go. >>

<< But not, >> Jean notes carefully, << necessarily an X-Man from this timeline. >> That particular idea is quickly becoming a bit of a touchstone for her. Today has been a very, very unsettling day. Mind you, she's also conscious of the fact that where one (or two or more) people can jump timelines, so can others. So, you just never know.

(And she hasn't even begun to meet the Legion, yet.)

Jean considers everything she's been told thus far. << How does the telepathic gorilla fit into all this? >> If the girl has actually caught up to where she needs to be to tell that part of the tale, of course...

<< Because among the things I saw was the remnants of Humanity fleeing into space to get away from a dying Earth, only to end up being killed by aliens known as 'Brood'. It was one of the last things I saw before I came 'back'. >>

With that said, Hope shakes her head.

<< Only as we were trying to get back to when we came from... My pursuer was still attacking us. We kept over shooting our target. Ending up farther in the past, or future. During one of his attacks, I was shoved away from Nathan mid jump. I ended up here. That gorilla... I think his name is 'Grodd' or something like that, detected my entering this time. He said he'd been trying to find me for a while. When he did, he went all out going through my mind... /MY MEMORIES/ and found out what happened. He knew everything I knew. /ALMOST/ everything I knew... I think. I couldn't stop him. I tried to hide something. Something I can't tell anyone. /EVER/. But he now knows what I went through, and he's determined to stop it. Or at least control it, since he called the planet /HIS/. >>

<< Unfortunately he's not the only one who knows what's going on. Or might be. There's some religious nuts out there with high tech weapons. They've already tried to kill me, claiming I was the anti-christ or something like that. I didn't really catch a lot of that since I was trying to stay alive at the time. >>

<< And of course /HE/ is still out there, he'd probably kill me if he found me. And if I get a chance to find where he buried all the weapons he used to destroy the world, if they're buried yet, I'd have to try and eliminate them before they can go off. >>

Jean can feel a headache building behind her eyes. But, she takes what the girl says absolutely seriously -- and absolutely on faith. The fact is, touching mind to mind like this, she has absolutely no reason to disbelieve her. Very few people on this planet can deceive her when she touches their minds like this. So, despite the headache, which she doesn't reveal to the girl, in any case, there is acceptance there.

<< I don't know what to suggest, Hope, >> she tells the girl seriously, now. << I want to help you. In fact, I believe the X-Men must help you. We're more suited to combat this sort of thing than most of the other superpowered people on the planet. >> Or animals. Grodd? She files that name away for later research. << That, and we like to keep this sort of thing in the family. >> Because non-mutants rarely understand -- despite the fact Jean continues to work to rectify that. The fact that the girl's already been subjected to anti-mutant hate crimes is, unfortuately, no surprise to the telepath. The idea that she will be in the future, as well, is, equally tragically, really a foregone conclusion. << I'll understand if you don't want to come back to the mansion with me. This may not be something we need to expose everyone to... >> Particularly not the students. << But I believe there are those that can help. The Professor may be able to unlock your memories in ways others can't. I may be able to. I don't know. Maybe if we worked together... >> Certainly, she credits herself with a greater chance than she does a gorilla. A telepathic gorilla?!? But that may be human arrogance at work there. << But, even if we can't... You shouldn't have to deal with all this alone. >> Looking at the girl, she's... what? Mid to late teens? And she's separated from her 'father'. That's not right.

At the end of the day, Jean knows that. And she can't let that stand.

<< I don't know what to say either. >> Hope admits before she slumps back in her chair. << Nate has indicated that his 'team' is willing to help if it comes down to it. And the Headmistress at the school who recruited me is claiming she can protect me, but... I don't know. >>

<< But as much as I want to... As much as I wanted to... Going with you right now might not be a good thing. If he is there, even a version of him, it could set him off. >>

<< For now I promised that I'd tell you guys what I could, and I pretty much did... Except maybe about the cockroach soldiers and something else. >>

"But at least I'm keeping my word. Maybe someday, hopefully soon, i'll be able to complete the trip back like Nathan and I intended, so I can join you."

Jean arches a brow, now. << What school is that? Cockroach soldiers? What else haven't you told me? >> This story doesn't feel done to her, by any stretch. But, she can understand the kid's reluctance, based on what she's been told thus far.

She gives a rueful smile. "I didn't really think you'd come home with me... But, seriously, Hope. I think we need to continue this conversation. Maybe not at this given moment, but soon. Let me help. You've said it's a 'him' that's after you. That's a place to start." It also means, as near as she can tell, that she, as a woman, is likely a safe place to start. She can't really imagine any of the other X-Men she knows killing a child -- particularly a mutant child. But, then... Well, it's been a very strange day. So, who knows?

That's what it always comes back to: Who the hell knows?

I'm beginning to think I was better off at the bottom of the bay.

"The Academy of Tomorrow." is said out loud as Hope starts to smile, ever so faintly.

<< The Headmistress is Emma Frost. A telepath, and a mutant. >> is added telepathically. Even if she /knows/ she shouldn't say that. But if she is, then the younger redhead probably has a reason...

<< As for the cockroach soldiers, while the world burned and was nuked, North America was untouched, but the President made everyone he could be genetically altered to have cockroach DNA. And well... They tried to eat everyone who wasn't converted, and the humans that remained ended up nuking North America to kill them off. >>

Then there's another nod.

"If you need to find me, just try the school. Or as Nate. Or Rachel, since I got the impression from her that I couldn't hide from her no matter what I did."

<< As for the other thing... I can't tell you. It's too tied into when I was born, possibly even how. But if you look for what I haven't mentioned, what's missing, you might be able to figure out part of it. >>

Wow. Okay. Cockroach soldiers.

<< *snirk* That president sounds like an idiot. >>

Jean's a geneticist, after all. She knows the dangers of such things. She's also got enough memories of the Phoenix to know what it feels like to touch DNA on a subatomic level. That's given her unique understanding she's yet to be able to put into words. It's so much more than any scientific process could ever describe.

<< Remind me not to vote for him, if you happen to see his name on a ballot. >>

As for the Academy of Tomorrow? Oh, joy. Talk about the competition. She lets it slide, however. Better the girl gets some training than none. And maybe Jean can befriend her enough to let Xavier's philosophy rub off on her.

"The same to you," she says aloud, now, picking up that conversation thread. "Call me at the school. Leave a message, if I'm not there, and I'll get back to you." Quite probably telepathically.

A beat. "If it's a real emergency, shout. Loud. You'd be surprised what I might hear."

Considering the number of telepaths Hope's run into... And how many have either offered to 'help' or she's on the good side of...?

"If I am? Will do. But I'm not exactly a pushover. Not considering how I grew up."

Then though the younger Redhead smiles cryptically and literally projects her thoughts right at Jean. Like somehow she up and became a telepath as well.

<< After all, you're not the only member of the 'family' with powers. Mine just sort of require that there's other mutants nearby. It's kind of why I like Mutant Town. Usually I can find any power I might need if something happens when I'm around here. >>

"But if I need you, I will call." is said out loud as she switches back to speaking, and that telepathic ability appears to fade away to nothingness for some reason. "And again... I'm sorry about the whole thing thinking you were Nate's dad. I just wasn't expecting you to show up."

Jean actually chuckles, now. "Don't worry about it. You weren't quite what I was expecting either." But since the kid hasn't come out and said, 'Hi, Mom!', she's okay with that.

Sensing the meeting is at a close, the X-Man (X-Woman?) rises. "Take care of yourself, Hope. It's good to meet you. Don't be a stranger."

With that said, she turns away and heads out of the cafe, down the street to where she parked her car. Yes. She and Scott are definitely having a conversation about the events of today.

And soon.