feathers ↣ w. worthington iii

(6) Winter = The Worst Season

Lilli's mom looked up at Lilli standing in the doorway and smiled brightly. "Lilli!" She exclaimed, standing up. Jean and Lilli's dad looked up as well, both wearing matching smiles.

"Jean?" Lilli asked, looking at her old friend in bewilderment. This couldn't be happening. What was Jean doing here? This was bad. Someone's died. Kezing won the war. All mutants are about to die. Someone's after Lilli— like how Chaos had kidnapped her in October. Jean was about to kidnap her!!

Lilli backed out of the doorway, shaking her head. "Why are you here?" She looked up between her parents, betrayal washing over her. Why had they let her in? "What's she doing here?"

"Sweetie, come sit down, we should talk—" Lilli's mom started to say as she gestured to an empty chair, but Jean stood and interrupted.

"I think it's best if Lilli and I went for a walk," Jean said placidly, smiling kindly at Lilli's mom and dad.

"Of course. Dinner will be waiting when you two get back," Lilli's dad said, eyeing the ladle stirring on its own. It was quick, but Lilli could see his unease. He was newest to the whole accepting-mutants thing, and Lilli could tell her was uncomfortable having an unknown mutant in his home.

Jean stepped into the foyer, grabbing a gray winter jacket that Lilli remembered seeing stuffed away in Jean's messy closet at the Institute. Lilli slowly pulled on her red fleece, quickly deciding to grab a hat before leaving. She begrudgingly waved to her parents before following Jean out the door and into the biting cold. As they walked out of Lilli's driveway, Lilli suddenly realized where she recognized the SUV from. It had been in Professor Xavier's garage.

"It's been too long. It's nice to see you again," Jean spoke after a moment of silence. She smiled at Lilli, and it seemed genuine. Lilli decided to play along with the small talk for a moment.

"You look different," Lilli remarked. It was true— Jean looked older, more mature. There was something in her eyes; like she was a veteran of an old war. Lilli supposed in a way, she was. With a shudder, Lilli wondered if she would look as aged as Jean did if she'd never left the mutant world.

"Maybe puberty finally hit," Jean laughed. "Or maybe I just got a haircut."

Lilli shrugged, looking down at Jean's chest. "Yeah, I definitely don't think it's the former."

Jean gasped, whapping Lilli's arm playfully as she feigned being offended. Lilli chuckled and the two quickly sobered up.

"I know you're not here for a chat. Why are you really here?" Lilli asked after a moment as she looked up at the darkening sky. It was a clear night, so the streaks of reds and oranges and yellows were bright in the sky.

Jean sighed as she looked up at the sky as well. "Do you remember your first day at the Institute? When Professor and Hank inexplicably decided to make you into an X-Man even though you were a complete stranger?"

Lilli frowned at Jean's phrasing. "Yes?"

"Do you remember what they told us? They said that you were like the glue. You wouldn't be the strongest or the smartest or the fastest. But you would be the piece of the puzzle that kept us together."

"I remember. What's this have to do with anything?" Lilli asked impatiently, wanting Jean to get to the point.

"Well, I'll be honest. I had my doubts. I really did. But after a few days went by and I talked with Professor and Hank, I realized what they saw in you. I saw what you did to us. We're a bunch of hotheads with mutations that can grow out of control, and for the longest time that's all we were. But once you joined us, we all changed. You helped us in ways you never noticed. We went from a group of over-stimulated mutants with anger and trust issues into a team. You rounded us out. I know you can't see that, but we all could. We knew what we were like before; we always fought and competed for title of "most powerful X-Men" or something of the like. But you became the peacemaker, the glue. You held us together." Jean paused a moment, gulping deeply. "But once you... left us... it went back to how it was. We were in shambles. We couldn't focus, we argued, we fought, we fell apart. Once we realized Cas was the mole— that was a rough day— we couldn't trust one another. It's bad, Lilli. We've lost all our intel on Chaos and Kezing, we've been bickering and fighting to the point that we can't be in the same room together— it's a miracle we haven't been brought down yet. Lilli... we need you."