For a long time, Jean thought she lived the perfect life.
She came from a middle-class family with two children who lived in a nice suburban subdivision. She made perfect grades during her high school career but helped her school's sports teams win many accolades. Outside of the foolish decision to date Duncan, her dating life was also perfect, yet so was her social life. This all transitioned into her first year at college.
Yet, in truth her perfect life was a lie.
"What triggered your powers?"
Jean's green eyes widened, her mouth opening slightly attempting to remember. She and Scott were discussing what caused the activation of an x-gene with a new generation, but she'd brought up the theory that one's trigger affected the kind of powers one ended up with. In effect, what Avalanche from the Brotherhood called useless psychological babble during the period he briefly attended the institute.
She found herself delighted when the professor indicated both Scott and she were needed to take care of yet another incident with the Brotherhood. Frustration washed over her, thinking of the groups delinquent behavior and the way they didn't care. She became even more frustrated seeing Lance Alvers wasn't there reigning them in from terrorizing the citizens of Bayville.
Instead, he arrived late showing up out of uniform telling them to knock off their shenanigans, only for him to make things worse, bringing even more destruction as only someone with Lance's powers could.
Professor Xavier warned her about digging into someone's mind, yet at the time it seemed the best solution, but perhaps she let her frustrations get the better of her. She found herself cascaded with an onslaught of memories filling her mind, certain parts fogging over, yet something seemed completely wrong with said memories.
"Jean, Sara. This is your half-brother Euan." The voice was unmistakably her mother's even though she couldn't clearly make out any of the figures in front of him. "He will be living with us, as soon as your father and I can get custody."
It switched to another memory, and whoever's memory it was holding onto someone's hand as they watched a man and two children – two little girls, one with red hair and the other with blond hair person crossing the street. A different woman's voice spoke.
"That's your father. See, he cares more about his other family than you." She saw another memory flickering through her head, of looking up at a woman from a pit. Before closing a lid on the container and burying it, the same woman said, "If I can't have you, nobody can."
The next memory was of not being able to breathe, of suffocating in a dark box buried under the ground, but the terror which went with it. The terror became power, allowing the person to break free, through the ground, and then the memories repeated a few times, before becoming clearer and clearer, the last few for some reason seeming familiar for some strange reason.
"Stop!" Jean held out her hand, and all the Brotherhood scattered. Every single one except Avalanche. He collapsed to his knees, not moving, but it seemed as if he was having a seizure of some kind.
...
"What have you done?" Jean took a deep breath, standing outside of the hospital. Scott asked her the same thing, and yet she'd not expected her powers to go out of control. She was speaking to her father currently. "Requesting the police to do a DNA test like you did without saying anything to us?"
"I really don't need that from the man who had a child out of wedlock, do I?" Jean took a deep breath. "I've got to go."
"Jean, you don't understand..."
"I understand perfectly. Unlike you, I'm going to be there for him." Jean clicked the phone off, and yet couldn't help feeling guilty considering how she'd treated him when he wasn't related, simply because she didn't see past the foster kid and juvenile delinquent labeling. She walked in, watching the hospital staff continue to argue with the police regarding the fact they'd insisted Lance remained handcuffed to the bed.
After all, they argued, he was an at-risk teen.
For some reason, that didn't make it seem right.
Jean stepped into the room, finding Scott sitting in a chair with his arms crossed, his mouth twisted into a slight frown. She'd still not told her boyfriend what she'd discovered. "Something the matter?"
"I think you should leave Lance alone."
"Why?"
Scott looked her in the eye. "Don't you think you've done enough damage?"
"Exactly what is that supposed to mean Scott?"
"He wouldn't have had the seizure he did if you hadn't used your powers the way you did. I doubt sleeping it off for a few days is going to make him forget."
"It's not as if any of us knew about his medical condition Scott." She didn't know what scared her more – the idea that someone buried Lance alive as a child, or that Lance's suffered from seizures for some reason the hospital staff had yet to identify. Of course, she said nothing about him being buried alive, as there was no reason she should know something like that.
"You also got the police involved, and they..."
A groan from the hospital bed made Scott stop speaking, and both turned to look at Lance. The teen started sitting up, only to flinch upon seeing his arm handcuffed to the bed. "What the hell? Why am I..."
"The police consider you a flight risk." Scott piped up.
"Why the hell am I in the hospital, and why the hell are the police involved!"
Jean opened her mouth. "You had a pretty bad seizure and have been out for a few days. The police also ran a DNA and fingerprint test."
Lance's face paled. "Exactly what crime are they charging me with!" Her mouth twisted into a grimace, having not expected that response. "What crime? Because despite all my juvenile behavior, I've not done anything outside of what he had us do!"
"Calm down." Scott took a deep breath.
"Calm down! You want me to calm down!"
"Euan..." Jean tried communicating with him telepathically.
Lance's eyes narrowed, his breath tightening. "Wait a second. I remember. You were in my head. What did you see?"
"I know you were buried alive as a child." Jean paid no attention to the shocked look on Scott's face. "I also know you're my half-sibling."
His anger grew. "Get out! Get out of my room! Get out of my head Jeanie!"
Jean opened her mouth to protest, but Scott pulled her out of the room. He shook his head. Over her shoulder, she heard the police officer say, "see. The kid is hostile."
...
Jean shivered, looking up at the starless night sky above her. Scott wasn't in a good mood, yet he didn't argue for her to leave the place. He simply leaned up against the wall, stewing over what happened. "I have to talk to him."
"And what good is that going to do? I'm not sure why you're so worked up over this?"
"Because it's Lance?"
"Yes."
"So, you don't care what happens to him."
"I never said that. I'm the leader of the X-men, so I do feel responsible for your actions. However, I also know he and I don't get along, but neither do the two of you. So, I'm not going to get upset when he pushes us away. One friendly gesture, it's not going to fix things overnight."
Jean felt the buzz of her cellphone, recognizing the ringtone as her family's home phone. "What? I told you already I didn't want to..."
"Jean, please don't hang up. You need to listen"
"Mom?" Jean folded an arm around herself. "Why should I listen? Why do you even care? You're not his mother."
Scott hissed out his next words. "You got your family involved in Lance's business?"
"I may not be his mother biologically, but I am his mother Jean! Don't you dare say otherwise! Not when his real mother wants him dead!"
"Say otherwise? You never told Sara and me about Euan! How do you explain that!" Jean watched Scott startle, obviously confused. "How can you say you weren't attempting to hide dad's dirty laundry."
"It's not Euan we didn't want you to know about. It was his biological mother."
"What do you mean you didn't want us to know about his biological mother?"
"She was serving a life term for murdering her own son."
"What do you mean was?"
"Jean, sweetie. She can't stay in jail for murdering someone she didn't murder. She disappeared when she got out, but she knows where he is."
"Why would they tell her where he is?"
"We'd not finished getting legal custody of your brother, meaning she's still his legal guardian."
"You mean she's on her way here? Didn't you just tell me..."
"She wants him dead. Yes. Quite likely."
"I've got to go."
...
He couldn't help but feel angry. After all, he put the past behind him.
The past lay forgotten, like some kind of nightmare gnawing at the back of his mind. After all, who wanted to remember a mother crazy enough to bury her own son alive, or a father who seemed to care more about his family from marital bliss, but also his perfect middle-class life. That gnawed at the back of his mind as well, thinking of how he'd found himself in the system.
Of course, one of his two sisters had to be the perfect Jean Grey, the ideal child of any middle-class family.
He, on the other hand, was not. His rebellious behavior was always frowned upon, even though up until now it hadn't gotten him into any trouble which brought the police down on his head. Then again, he'd simply not gotten caught doing some of the things he did to scrape by. Being a good little boy was what got him buried alive and placed into the system.
Lance jerked at the handcuff slightly, irritated he was stuck there.
Leaning back, he looked up at the ceiling, irritated with how the X-jerks liked ruining his life. He had no reason to care when others had never cared to find him, but he didn't think things could get worse.
"Euan." Chills ran down his spine hearing that voice. He saw her face as the door shut behind her, but the way she smiled at him. "I found you Euan."
"How?" He preferred the name the foster care system gave him.
"I'm your mother, so they had to tell me where you were."
His eyes darted towards the handcuffs, making him swallow. He lifted his hand up, hoping his powers might possibly scare her, and yet the slight quaking didn't phase her one bit. An alarm though went off outside, but he also heard the staff attempting to rush and check on patients. The problem was, nobody checked on him as his mother lifted a sharp object.
His eyes closed. He first felt the blade pierce his shoulder a couple of times, before his arm which he held up in defense. He heard the door open, and he hoped it was the cop as a loud thud was heard against the opposite wall. Instead, he heard Scott Summer's voice. "Jean, we don't use our powers this way."
He heard his mother laugh, yet he kept his eyes closed out of fear. "So, you're here to take him away? I'll kill him before I let anybody take him away."
"Not if I kill you first."
Lance's eyes snapped open to find Scott Summers heading in his direction, only for Jean's comment to have made his head turn. "Jean..."
"Don't tell me not to Scott."
He looked between Jean and his mother, seeing the murderous intent in the eyes of both women. "Stop." She didn't seem to hear as Jean threw his mother against the other wall like a rag doll. Scott looked on horrified. Lance gritted his teeth together, knowing full well he wanted that woman dead However, not at that cost. "Jean Grey, stop."
"Why? She's going to keep trying to kill you, and you want me to let her go. Is it because she's your mother?"
"No, Jeanie, it's because you're not like her." His head was spinning. He saw Jean relax her power though, only to punch his psychopathic mother in the face, knocking her unconscious.
"Jean!" Scott was less than pleased with this action, and yet Lance for some reason thought it felt good.
"I'm tired of being perfect."
"That's not a good thing." He wanted to say that out loud, yet his left arm and shoulder hurt. He felt hands pressing against the injuries in an attempt to suppress the bleeding. He could still hear their voices, but not make out what was said.
Everything went black.
...
After spending a few more days at the hospital, he was allowed to return to the Brotherhood boarding house. He'd insisted despite Scott's insistence he come back to the institute. He found himself on pain medication, and out cold, yet he'd made something clear to Jean. Despite what she'd done, she wasn't family. Sure, she was biologically related to him, but to him, that meant nothing. The members of the Brotherhood honestly got him better.
It was also his job to take care of them and finding out he had a real family didn't change that.
Something jumped on top of him, screaming like a girl and causing a lot of pain. "Toad! What the hell!"
"The psycho bitch is here."
Lance froze. "My mother?"
"No! Not her! Though I imagine that's scary as well. No, the psycho redhead from the X-jerks is moving in."
Lance let out curse, shoving Todd off of him. Despite the pain, he found himself hurrying downstairs. Pietro, who'd teased him about the incident, was now attempting to hide behind his psychopathic sister, who seemed quite amused by the situation. Fred was peeking in from the living room area. "What are..."
He found himself caught off guard, as Jean Grey had changed her appearance drastically. For one thing, she'd cut the beautiful locks of red hair into a short haircut which seemed a bit punkish for the perfect X-jerks, but she also wore dark clothing. He saw bandages on both her arm and shoulder. His eyes narrowed.
Pietro rushed over. "Dude. Aren't those the same places..."
"Guys, can I talk to her privately."
"Sure. Sure. We'll go upstairs." Fred pushed Pietro up the stairs, but then looked at Wanda. She simply shrugged and followed, obviously not afraid of Jean.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Didn't Tolansky tell you? I'm moving in."
"So, you quit the X-men?"
"No. I'm simply not living at the institute anymore."
"Why?"
"You know why."
"Yeah, I do. I also made myself quite clear when I left the hospital."
"That you're staying with the Brotherhood, because they need you. I got that."
"I'm talking about the other part. You don't understand me. You don't understand any of us. You've lived your perfect life all your entire life, and you think you can just waltz in here like this?"
Jean glared at him. "I can, as I am your legal guardian when our parents aren't around."
"So, you're going to what? Use the fact we've got the same father to boss me around?"
"Actually, I'm using the fact I'm your older sister to make sure Magneto and Mystique don't take control of the boarding house by become the legal adult around here, but it means you can legally stay with them like you want."
Lance felt his entire body tense. "Why are you doing this? The only thing you and I have in common..."
"That's why. That shouldn't be the only thing we have in common, but I've also got a responsibility to you."
"You couldn't possibly begin to understand what it's like to be buried alive just because you saw my memories."
"No, I can't. I can't begin to understand the pain you've been through Lance, but I want to try." Jean reached for the bandage around her arm and began to remove it carefully. She revealed a tattoo, meaning there was also one on her shoulder as well. The tattoo on her arm was of a gravestone with his old name on it and a set of dates, but a creepy hand reached out.
"You? You're going to give up college for all of this?" Lance took a deep breath.
"No. I've actually decided what I want to major in. Law."
"Wait. A lawyer with tattoos?"
"Well, since I plan on defending juvenile delinquents, I think that makes me more relatable to them, doesn't it?"
Lance's jaw dropped. She was actually serious about this change in persona. "What does your boyfriend think?"
"You mean Scott?" Jean took a deep breath. "He thinks I'm approaching this the wrong way."
"He's likely correct."
"Yes, well, I'm going to do it my way."