— Alex knew of Jean, anyone who lived in the Mansion or was remotely involved with the X-Men knew of her. Not to mention from his older brother Scott but that’s another story. So when he saw her all he could do was just stare and wondered what his brother would think about everything. “Uh..yeah.” he said after realizing he should probably talk instead of just staring at her. “I mean yeah i’m enjoying myself. Fireworks are nice as always but the food is where its at.” he said.
Jean hadn’t meant to avoid either of the Summers brothers, but that was just how it seemed to be. After her return, she’d spent more time with younger students, Wanda, and talked to Stephen a few times, She hadn’t wanted to be around people who looked at her like she was a ghost. And considering the last time she had seen Alex- he was much younger, “No need to look at me like I am ghost, Alex,” she assured him, though maybe to him it seemed like she was, “This is true,” she replied, a smile spreading across her face, “I don’t think I’ve seen so much soft serve ice cream in- well, since I died. It’s my favorite, and its nice to see its still loved,”
stephen didn’t live very far from the fair that was currently going on and thus decided to take a break from the research that he’d been doing within the sanctum to enjoy some time to himself. he’d smiled a bit when the streets began to fill with happy people - finding that being bitter for too long wasn’t good for his health. neither was staying cooped up in the mansion on bleecker street.
when he’d arrived, he’d spotted a familiar head of red hair and approached silently. “oh yes, not as much as i wish i could but the fair is nice.” the sorcerer responded, turning to glance at her with a smile. “are you? enjoying yourself? it must be nice to get out of the school and be in the city. even if the city doesn’t smell particularly nice this time of year.” he paused and gave a small shrug. “you get used to it after awhile.”
Stephen Strange. He was one of the people she’d met with after coming back from the dead. Turned out he knew Charles, and he was the Sorcerer Supreme. Regardless, he was someone she was thankful for, and while she wasn’t sure if he had a role in getting her back from the Phoenix, she was thankful Charles had a friend other than Erik while she was dead. “That’s good,” she replied, glad Stephen was getting some sort of enjoyment out of the festivities.
“Things are different when you’ve been dead for almost twenty years,” she admitted, examining the soft serve ice cream, cracking a smile, “but it’s good to know some things about us never change, like ice cream and fairs, and even the terrible city smell- so yes, I am enjoying myself. It’s... nice to get out of the school,” everyone looked at her like a ghost- like they expected her to vanish- or go insane. But she wasn’t a ghost, she was still her- though whether she was human or not was up for debate, “nice to get away from everyone when they seem to think I’m going to disappear any second.”
she couldn’t wrap her head around this place. one minute she was standing in the middle of a cold, barren wasteland. the next, she was walking through a cloudless, suburban neighborhood. it was like a pocket dimension had formed on the outskirts of new mexico. but the energy signature was different. strange. she finally understood why the x-men were having so much trouble locating jean. it was an illusion. easily manipulated, quick to become volatile if a single spoke slipped out of place.
wanda had to be careful, play by its rules. she waved a hand, switching her scarlet attire with street clothes and then she continued down the road. she didn’t stop until a sign caught her attention. annie’s diner. wanda peered through the window, spotting a familiar redhead on the other side of the glass. she smiled, content with watching her from afar. jean hadn’t aged a day. but it had been at least twenty-years since they last saw each other. wanda was a child then, just learning about her powers.
she went inside, took a seat at the bar, and ordered a coffee. wanda didn’t say much, just kept her head down and her eyes on jean. she didn’t know why the x-men sent her on this mission. they weren’t particularly close. jean had one mission that brought her to the romani camp, and wanda followed her around for two weeks straight. that’s it. sure, wanda was a skilled illusionist, but there were other telepaths that knew jean better.
“you remind me of someone i knew as kid.” the witch said, vying for jean’s attention the next time she walked past the bar. “she accidentally told me that i was adopted. the look on my mother’s face… i thought she was going to go after her with a wooden spoon.” she laughed, taking another sip of her coffee. it was funny at the time, but there was a lot more to the story than either of them knew.
Today had started weird, and Jean wasn’t even sure where to begin with it. Things don’t float, and every once and a while, she swore things caught fire behind her as she walked down the street. Maybe she was hallucinating. She had to be. She was one of the most normal people in the world- there was no such thing as powers or magic. She’d gone to work at her best friend’s diner, repeating that to herself over and over, but there was a feeling in the back of her mind she just couldn’t shake. Maybe everything was too perfect?
But that was how her life was. It was always this perfect. She loved it.
When a new customer took her place at the bar, Jean felt... something. She didn’t know what, The woman wasn’t from around here, and Jean knew everyone in this small town. Before she could even ask the woman what she wanted, she spoke, and she let out a soft laugh. “That doesn’t sound like me,” Jean replied, “but I’ve been told I have that kind of face. I’d love to know what about me reminded you of her,” a pause as she thought about the man named Erik who had shown up here- the man Annie told her didn’t exist,
Was she going crazy?
“Would you like anything to drink?” she asked, trying to get back to business. She was sure this woman was hungry- probably why she was here. But there was still that feeling she couldn’t shake, and didn’t quite know what it was.
The first thing you notice after being dead for two decades is the technological advancements that have been made. Jean had been lucky enough to have help from some of her new students since she’d come back from the dead a few months ago, but she still wasn’t used to the huge change. Dying took a toll on you and one of those was feeling like you were out of your time.
Cell phones were the hardest thing to get used to, but she still pretended she was used to them as she went with the kids to the fair to make sure nothing happened to them. It’d been a long time since she’d had any kind of fun, and she found herself drifting among the vendors and food stands, keeping an eye on the younger kids from afar. After ordering some ice cream and thanking the vendor, she felt someone staring at her, and had to wonder if it was someone who felt like they were looking at a ghost. They were, she supposed. She should be dead. Still, she kept her powers to herself, not poking unless she felt they were a threat, "its been a long time since I’ve been to a fair and watched fireworks. Enjoying yourself?”
sophie turner, she/her, thirty ➜ ➜ ➜ the real enemy is out there, but they don’t stand a chance against JEAN GREY and their TELEPATHY, EMPATHY, & TELEKINESIS. better known as PHOENIX, this X-MEN won’t be caught off guard.
AND IT’S REY AGAIN, here with my girl Jean Grey because I have zero self control. Jean is my favorite Marvel character ever so she has a special place in my heart (her and Dick are my favorite comic book characters). SO, like Dick’s, I will try to keep this as short and sweet, yet informative as possible!
TW: CHILD DEATH, CAR ACCIDENT, DEATH
Jean’s powers manifested the way they did in the comics. Her best friend Annie was struck by a car when they were outside playing Frisbee. Jean was nine at the time and she accidentally made a psychic rapport with her dying friend to the point that she was feeling her die. This attracted the attention of the Phoenix Force, which was drawn to her high empathetic abilities and the fact she was doing something in its realm, which was keeping a soul on the plane of the living. Had the Phoenix not stepped in to cut her psychic rapport with Annie, she could have died with her friend.
Everyone’s seen the movies, but long story short, Jean encountered Apocalypse with the X-men and killed him with her connection to the Phoenix force. While she did not have it yet, she still had a strong psychic connection to it.
Then, her next encounter with the Phoenix was when she died in the shuttle, after redirecting a solar flare from her friends and into her. As she absorbed it, she called out to the Phoenix and it resurrected her. We all know what happened next, she sacrificed herself and died saving the X-men from the Skrull.
When she died at the end of Dark Phoenix, she really did die. However, the Phoenix, being the Phoenix, wouldn’t let her. It took her years to piece herself back together, molecule by molecule, but eventually, she was herself again. The process was kind of traumatizing and Jean still thinks about it and feels she really should be dead. Sometimes she even looks at herself and wonders if she is still human after that. She was thirty when she died, and has been dead for quite a long time. So it seems as if she hasn’t aged at all since the day she died.
Jean gave up the Phoenix when she came back, though she still uses the name as Marvel Girl no longer fits her. She’s thirty and its kind of weird to call herself Marvel Girl, but she doesn’t mind if people call her that. She mainly just wants to get rid of the bad associations some have with the Phoenix name and make it her own. She wants to own it because while it was a dark time in her life, there was also good in it.
So now, Jean is in 2020 and yeah, the technology confuses her and her friends are all older than her by a few years, but she will get used to it. She just wants to be Jean Grey, the X-man, for once, not the goddess the Phoenix made her.
Jean is kind and compassionate, and very much the person people can come to with their problems. She is a mother figure to her students, and will often try to make them feel better or get them through hard times. However, if you hurt her kids, she will not let you get away with it. Her wrath makes her powerful, and even without the Phoenix, she is a force to be reckoned with. However, Jean is usually a calming force to be around, and easy to befriend. This is probably why so many people can talk to her.
We come into this world alone and we leave the same way. The time we spent in between - time spent alive, sharing, learning together… is all that makes life worth living.
