The X-Project

John seeks Marie out and calls her by a number of different names.


The move back to Xavier's had been nothing short of exhausting. The public bus ride had been a killer. It had taken John more than four back and forth trips to get all of his belongings into the mansion. So much for Mr. I-Can-Handle-It-On-My-Own. He would have to think twice about saying no to any offer of assistance in the future.

Three hours later and a hundred thousand or so calories burnt, John knocked the door to Marie's suite. Figured he should make his presence known to her in a less cursory manner. They had, after all, been friends at one point.

At the sound, Marie looked up from the books spread out across the coffee table. It was too early for Garrison to be dropping by after class and Logan's knock was heavier than that. Figuring it was one of the kids with a concern of some type, she let out a sigh and walked to the door. If Eliane was having trouble with her suitemates again, she was going to scream.

Opening the door, Marie blinked, rubbed her eyes and blinked again. "John?" she said, the name coming out a question as she wondered if she'd somehow fallen asleep while studying and was having some weird dream.

"Last time I checked -- yeah. Thought it'd be a good idea to get a little friendly with the Residential Advisor," he said, letting out a brief smile before narrowing his eyes. "Don't they keep you people posted around here?"

Marie returned the smile, relaxing slightly as she leaned against the door frame. "Sure do. 'bout the students. If Ah was responsible for all the riffraff that came through here, Ah'dve quit long ago." Shifting slightly, she gestured into the room. "Just passing through or here for a while?"

"Sadly, I'd have to say the latter." John took the invitation and stepped into the room. "Always at the losing end of things, remember?" He gave the room a sweeping glance before he perched himself on the edge of her desk. He wasn't about to elaborate further on the circumstances that had brought him here. "So." He raised his eyebrows a little as he looked at her. "How are you, Scarlett?"

Closing the door behind her, Marie rolled her eyes. "Ah'm in college now. Got off that pesky blacklist. And overall...doing pretty well. A little evil here, getting set on fire there, not to mention the possession and maybe a kidnapping. Oh, and Ah lost all my hair at one point. You know, it was the third Tuesday of the month at Xavier's, so..." she trailed off with a shrug.

"Third Tuesday of the month?"

"Well something weird has to happen around here on a semi-regular basis. People wouldn't know what to do with themselves if it got too boring." She raised a gloved hand to run through her hair, twirling the ends around her finger. "So...what are you doing back here? Ah thought you were off at school, never to look back in this direction again."

And there he'd almost forgotten how much of an adventure it was to be living at Xavier's. "Well, it's been three years," John replied. "Can't have anyone miss me for too long now, can I?" He eyed the random stuff on her desk. "So what are you studying, Nancy?" He never did call her by her real name. "Quantum physics?"

"Parapsychology and the occult actually," Marie said, making her way over to where her papers and books were spread out. "Figured it was an appropriate class for living 'round here." She was surprised at how quickly she and John were falling back into their old patterns. She'd have guessed the years of no contact would've made it feel awkward, but strangely it was just like it'd been when they were both living at the mansion as students.

"That sounds really interesting, Scully. I'm sure the truth is out there. And I guess it's not enough that your day to day living consists of being surrounded by freaks -- you just had to make a degree out of it. Good for you." He pressed his lips together in a tight smile. "I'm sure the human race will benefit greatly from any number of subject papers that you plan to publish, if any. 'The Book of the Law' sure made a hell of a lot of sense."

Picking up one of the paperclips on the table, Marie tossed it at him. "Yeah yeah yeah. If Ah'm gonna live it, figured Ah may as well get something from it. Plus, Ah'm just getting a more generalized psyc degree. Ah think Ah want to be a counselor."

"Right." He smirked. "Guess I'll be looking forward to your guidance then." John reached for the paper clip and started breaking it into tiny pieces. "Not planning on working here your whole life, are you?"

"Ah hope not," she said, pushing off to float over the coffee table and land in a seated position on the couch. "But this place is kind of a black hole, y'know? Everyone comes back. Some people never even leave."

"Well, you know you just about jinxed your entire future, right?" He chuckled before straightening up to join her. John propped his feet up on the coffee table as he sat down. "So just who are the losers that haven't left?" He flicked a quick glance at her just then. "No offense." There was certainly a hell of a lot of catching up to do.

"Well, Logan's back too. Scott and 'Ro never left and never will, is my guess. Jean's back...wait, was she back from the dead while you were still here? That was my biggest peace of news when Ah get back. No one sent the memo to Canada." Marie quickly scrolled through the other names in her head, wondering who else he'd care about. "Actually...one of the people who did actually get outta here is Bobby. Moved to Ireland a couple weeks ago."

John hadn't seen Jean since the events at Alkali Lake but he knew that she had survived it somehow. At the mention of Bobby, John shifted slightly in his seat. "For good?" A part of him was hoping that would be the case. He was over the guy but that didn't mean that he was eager to see him anytime soon.

"For a while at least. He's gone to take care of the Keep..." she paused and hit herself in the head, casting a sheepish glance at John. "Ah kinda left out the important bit. He, um, married Terry. Accidentally in Vegas."

What. So they had managed to pull a complete Britney. Hell, it was funny -- to a point. John was quick to mask his surprise at hearing the news. He even managed a smile at Marie. "That's real nice." Naturally though, he couldn't help letting out the next caustic remark. "You know, soon we'll have little icebobs walking around screaming like banshees." He snorted. Right. So he wasn't entirely pleased to hear that the guy he'd once had a huge crush on had effectively gotten himself hooked, lined and sinkered. But whatever.

Marie let out a giggle at his comment. "Oh lord, don't let Terry hear you say that. She'll throw a hissy fit. On second thought, do. It'd be kinda funny."

"Well, I guess you could let her know I said that." He wasn't about to repeat himself and he sure as hell wasn't interested in continuing on with the subject of Terry and Bobby. "So you heading towards the path of matrimony yourself?" he asked, smarting out a grin as he looked at her. "Seems to be the trend around here."

"Marriage? Me? Are you kidding?" Marie spluttered, eyes flicking to the picture of Alpha Flight on her desk. "Not anytime soon, that Ah can pretty much guarantee."

John chuckled softly. "Aight." He pushed himself off of the couch. "I think I'm done caring for the day, Scarlett."

She grinned at him, shaking her head slightly. "Glad you could be bothered for a bit," she drawled. "Hope it wasn't too much of inconvenience. If ya need any help settling in, just let me know."

He returned the grin with a smile. "Thanks. I'll try not to be too much of a stranger."