Chapter 39 - You're alright

3rd POV (Jessica's room)

Jean sat unmoving upon Jessica's bed desperately trying to be swallowed by the shadow's that had started to crawl into the room as the day waned by. She had only meant to keep Jessica company for an hour so that she could try and avoid the professor and avoid receiving any disappointed speeches he loved to give.

Jean respected the professor and everything he did but he had high expectations especially for her and it's frustrating to constantly hear the same speeches from him over and over. She did her best. Was it her fault that her power's didn't respond as she felt they should? Is it her fault if it always feels like there's something stopping her from using her full power? 

Cutting her train of thought before it could get out of hand Jean focused back on Jessica. She had only observed Jessica work at the start to kill time and pretend she was too focused to feel the professor's subtle attempts at contacting her but there is something in the way Jessica work's that has captivated her.

Putting it lightly, Jessica was a hurricane moving through the room. She didn't so much find clues as she bulldozed over any obstructions that hid them. When Jean walked in she had been shocked by the sheer presence of information on Jessica's wall. Reaper had been illusive for the entirety of his existence minus the start and ending both of which only showed his prowess as a fighter and nothing more.

But the wall she saw upon her entrance details everything Reaper did during his campaign. Each event was surrounded by half a dozen questions that Jessica has steadily solved over the course of the day. The wall remained mostly questions but Jean felt that even all the students in the institute combined wouldn't be able to work this efficiently. 

Well…besides the map. Jean isn't sure what the map is supposed to show to her; it looks like a bunch of random criss-crossing lines over a map. But Jessica spent most of the day studying the map and even if Jean hadn't been here to watch her rage and curse over her lack of progress the numerous bottles of alcohol at the floor of the map didn't exactly paint an optimistic picture. 

Jean briefly considered trying to help Jessica with her work by dipping into her surface thoughts so that she could get a basic understanding of what Jessica was actually using the map for but Jessica had shot down the idea brutally. 

"You think by saying my thoughts back to me that it will somehow make me see things differently. Really you've been here for what, 3 hours and your best idea was to become a red-headed copy of me?" 

Needless to say Jean had bristled at the clear insult to her own intelligence but had returned to sitting on Jessica's bed waiting in spite for her to run out of ideas and come asking for her help. Or that had been the plan until Jessica had started to knock back beer after beer - the cans looked suspiciously like Logan's favourite brand - and become a complete wreck laying in the middle of the room with her head turned to look at the map on the wall with a kind of desperate longing.

Gathering her courage Jean gently and silently slid herself off the bed and crawled over till she was laying down with her head next to Jessica's right leg with her own legs stretching slightly past Jessica's head. She laid there quietly for a couple of minutes waiting to see if Jessica would give any kind of reaction to her actions but her eyes remained glued to the wall as if staring at it long enough would force it to reveal all the secrets it's hiding from her. 

"Why are you so concerned with solving this!?" The question slipped from her lips before she could stop herself. Jean couldn't understand for the life of her why Jessica felt the need to uncover all of Reaper's secrets. He had used her as a tool! A slave to kill whoever he wanted. And yet she spent almost all her time in this room trying to learn more about him. It didn't make sense to her.

Her outburst finally drew Jessica's gaze away from the mass of notes sticking to her wall as she turned her head to stare into Jean's eyes and Jean for the first time was struck by just how shattered Jessica's brown eyes were. Some of the kids who had experienced the worst of mutant awakenings sometimes came to the institute with "dead" eyes as if they no longer had any light in the world.

But Jessica's eyes were much worse; if Jean had to try and make a comparison she would say that Jessica's eyes were closer to dark pools that devoured light compared to the blank stares of the children that were simply devoid of it. Where the children were blind to light Jessica actively destroyed any light that tried to reach her. 

"It's none of your business." Jessica's tone was hard as she responded, her eyes sharpening slightly into a glare as she looked at Jean. Her eyes clearly displaying that Jean shouldn't continue the conversation any further if she cared for her own health.

  But Jean wasn't so easily deterred this time. She wants…no needs to know why this is so important to Jessica. "You're right it isn't but why is it yours? Reaper's dead and even if he isn't why does it concern you? Someone stopped him this time and they'll stop him again next time! So why do you spend all day staring at this WALL?!"

Jean didn't notice she was shouting till after she finished speaking but she couldn't help herself. It made her so angry to know Jessica has spent her time in freedom from Reaper not moving on or getting help or drinking her problems away but actively thinking about Reaper the person who had ruined her life. Jean couldn't understand why she would do that to herself.

Jessica didn't respond immediately, instead her head turned back to face the wall beside her and her gaze trailed over the mountain of notes and question marks seeking to uncover the answers she knew were being hidden from her. She hazed at the wall for what felt like an eternity before turning back to look at Jean. 

"There are two Reapers." Jessica's tone took a complete 180 as she softly spoke her voice caring in the quiet room.

"Wha?" Jean had been expecting many things: denial, rage, a mix of both but the last thing she expected was for Jessica to drop such a huge bomb out of nowhere.

"There are two Reapers. One of them killed himself fighting against that old guy but the other is still out there. That map - gesturing with her chin to point it out as if Jean hadn't watched her pace before it for hours earlier - shows our movements during his rampage. I used to think they were random but that old guy was following us and the agencies who questioned me made that much obvious. He never caught up until the day when Reaper died."

Still reeling in shock Jean took a deep breath to centre herself before going over what Jessica had told her once more in her mind. To think that there were two Reapers sent chills down her spine but it would explain Jessica's paranoia and obsession. She's still afraid he's going to come after her.

"The Reaper who survived is called Gabriel Reyes. And he is the scariest person I've ever met. Every conversation I had with him feels unnatural, like he knows things he shouldn't." 

"He might be a telepath." Jean gave out a suggestion off the top of her head. Sometimes the others would complain about the professor in a similar manner. How he always seemed to know what they were going to say and how he would often finish their sentences for them. She's pretty sure he does it for kicks and giggles with all the younger students. 

Jessica closed her eyes and leaned her head back until it was pressed on the hard floor as she thought over the idea. She had never considered that Reaper, the physical powerhouse he is, might have other powers besides what she had seen. It was a huge oversight on her part. Her gut is telling her that telepathy isn't the answer she's looking for but she will need to remember that other abilities aren't off the table for explanations to Reaper's actions. 

"No, I don't think so. Or at least it's very minor if he has it. This was different - her brows scrunched up in focus as she tried to describe the sensation - it was like he'd met me before. Not just knowing my thoughts but like he had a deeper understanding of me as a person." 

"Okay." Pushing passed that Jean focused on the next thing Jessica had mentioned. "You said that the other Reaper killed himself in his fight. What do you mean?"

"At the end of the fight when the Incendiary grenade was thrown Reaper concentrated the majority of his body together to make sure the attack did the most damage possible." Jessica spoke while staggering to her feet and over to a laptop standing on the desk beside her bed.

Raising herself up slowly Jean followed behind Jessica and watched from over her shoulder as she pulled up a folder from her desktop and then began to play the fight between Reaper and Soldier 76 beginning with their startling exit of a restaurant before pausing right as the grenade came into frame.

"There see that." Jessica pointed towards the corner of the screen where a small black object could be seen flying through the air towards Reaper. "Reaper's a super soldier through and through his senses are all dozens of times better then normal but instead of avoiding this grenade look what he does."

Continuing the video this time at a fourth of the speed Jean watched in interest as the black fog that seemed to make up Reaper's body converged onto the grenade as it approached. The detonation of the grenade affected the camera quality and nothing could be seen for several seconds. When it refocused onto the fight it showed a very damaged Reaper standing in front of Soldier 76 before they started their final bout.

"Why would he do that though? What's it accomplishing?" Jean questioned curiously as she sat down on Jessica's bed.

"He wanted to erase his presence." Jessica answered before walking back over towards the board on the wall and using a marker she had in the back pocket of her pants to circle the one corner of the wall completely blank of any questions or information.

"The question is what does he want to do that requires him to disappear from the public eye completely."

"Public? Have you told others about there being two Reapers?" Jean asked surprised at Jessica's willingness to share information.

"No but they'll notice the same inconsistencies I have and start to question his actions too."

Stretching her arm above her head Jean yawned as she turned to look out the window and noticed that the sun had finally set while they'd been talking. Getting an idea in her head that would be both fun and get the professor off her back Jean turned towards Jessica.

"Hey, remember when you threatened to shave Logan's beard in the kitchen? I think taking a break to kick back and get some old-fashioned revenge will help us clear our minds so we can look at this with new eyes tomorrow."

"Us?" Jessica questioned but an amused glint appeared in her eye as she began to stumble her way towards the door.

"That's right. You can't tell me all these interesting things and then expect me to go pretend like I know nothing. Now that I know I want to do what I can to help." Jean did her best to sound confident as she spoke but her nerves still managed to leak through as she watched Jessica's back open the door to her room.

Glancing back and making eye contact with her briefly Jessica grabbed a bottle of wine from the shoe rack and walked out the door with Jean scrambling to keep up behind her.

"Sure why not? I could use a psychic assistant. But I'm not joining Xavier's stupid team." Jean smiled to herself and didn't bother responding; she just focused on guiding Jessica to Logan's room while making sure she didn't break anything in the hallways.

The following Morning the students would be awoken by a primal roar from Logan who would storm through the mansion to Jessica's room only to find it strangely empty. Students on the third floor would also spread rumours of the bad smell coming from Jean's room the same night but for plot convince no one would ever connect the two events.

(AN: I've started University and I won't have much time to write from now on. Don't expect consistent updates. I'll try to update when I can)