Story Notes:
Genre and Rating for future plot points. AU post X1 with a different take on the ending.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Thanks so much for reading! I might be a little rusty, so forgive me it's been ages since I wrote and fanfic. Comments are love!

Marie and Jean get a little surprise.
The mall was crowded for a Tuesday, more than Marie had ever seen for a weekday afternoon. The children danced around them, gobbling up cookies and sucking down sodas.

“What a great way to spend an afternoon with just the girls,” Jubilee said as she sat down next to Marie on the bench near the food court. All in, there were eight students along with Kitty, Jubilee, Storm, Jean and Marie at the mall that day. Jean was just coming out of the trinket shop across the way and Marie rose to meet her friend. She and Jean had become close during the last few years. The amount of time she had spent in the Lab with Jean after she had permanently gained Logan’s mutation had lent itself to the blossoming of their friendship and every new discovery over the years had only added to it.

“Kids wearing you out?” Jean asked her. Marie shook her head and patted friend.

“They sure are full of energy, luckily I don’t tire easily.” She was about to make another off hand comment about the children and their high energy when she noticed a look of hurt cross Jean’s face. “What is it, Jean?”

“I just… heard something. Can I- can we go get some air? I need to be outside.”

“Sure thing, honey.” She turned her attention back to Storm who stood nearby talking to all of the children about the dangers of using their powers where others can see them. “Storm, Jean needs a break. We’re heading out for a bit.” She motioned to the double doors at the other end of the food court and Storm nodded absently. Marie waved to Jubilee and walked with Jean toward the outside.

After a moment they found another bench outside and Jean relaxed visibly.

“So, what was that all about?” Jean glared into the distance and it was a long moment before she spoke.

“There was a man in there thinking all the dirty and disgusting things that he’d like to do to each and every one of us.” She shuddered. “I just needed to get away from him. I’m just lucky I guess that the children are all too young for his tastes. I don’t know if I would have been able to control myself if some of the older girls had been here.” Jean relaxed and leaned back against the bench following Marie’s example.

The sound of a vehicle speeding too quickly in their direction was the first thing that alerted Marie that there was something wrong with the situation, but she didn’t have any time to react. There was a sharp pain in her neck, the everything went dark.

When Marie next awoke it was with a feeling of waking from heavy sedation. Someone had done their homework, she mused as she became more and more aware. Jean was near her, sleeping peacefully, the ground beneath her was soft and comfortable. A mattress then. Marie sat up, surveying her surroundings. It smelled harsh, like chemicals and cleaner. She remembered this smell from the olfactory senses that she had inherited with Logan’s memories. They were in a lab.

The next thing she noticed was the somewhat heavy feeling around both of her wrists. Examining them she found that she was wearing tightfitting thin metal bracelets. Wondering what they were for, she began to spin one, trying to find a weakness in the fit. A jolt of electricity, nearly as powerful as being strapped into Magneto’s machine, shot up her arm and into her heart. She fell to the floor in convulsions. Afterward, when the world was still spinning around her, she heard a voice ring out into the room.

“That’s just a taste of what will happen to you if you disobey or tamper with the bracelets in any way. Be warned that they are capable of keeping you down for quite some time. Your body might heal from the damage, but it will incapacitate you nonetheless.” The voice echoed in her ears as Marie pulled herself back up into a sitting position. Jean moaned.

Crawling on all fours over to her friend, Marie made it over to her friends side. “Jean, Jean come on I need you to wake up.”

“Marie… What’s going on? My head is killing me and…” She sat upright faster than Marie was prepared for. “My power, I can’t… I can’t hear anything.” Her hands came up to her head and she had a moment of quiet torment before she came back to herself. Jean took stock in much the same way that Marie had except when she reached for the bracelets Marie grabbed her hand.

“If you touch them or mess with them, you’ll get a shock.” Jean looked at her askance, but didn’t mess with the bracelets.

“Where are we?” The redhead asked her. ‘

“I’m not sure.” Marie replied. “But we’re going to be okay, Logan and Scott will come and get us, you’ll see.

Again the voice piped over the intercom and into the room. “That’s exactly what we’re hoping for.”
Chapter End Notes:
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