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bigbrotherlouis · 5 years ago

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for @1000-directions - winterhawk sickfic // bonus appearances of nat and sam // gratuitous projection of my slavic upbringing on characters (as usual) // ~2k

(forgive me if my characterizations are off, i don’t really go here. unbeta’d.)

it starts with a sniffle. clint sneezes once and then again, in quick succession. it’s loud and bucky looks at him with wide eyes.

“allergies,” clint tells him, wiping his nose on his sleeve. he sneezes again. “they get bad this time of year.”

“okay,” bucky says uncertainly. “do you need… something?”

clint sniffs, a gross, wet sound and looks at bucky pleadingly, a miserable expression on his face. “nope. just a tissue.”

“get your own damn tissue,” bucky mumbles but gets up anyway, dropping the whole box in clint’s lap. clint pats him on the thigh as thanks.

except, the next morning, clint wakes up with even more of a sniffle and a voice like sandpaper. he winces the first couple times he talks and then shakes his head, patiently signing whatever he needs to say instead of saying it out loud.

“feel gross,” he signs. bucky’s eyebrows furrow.

“still allergies?” he signs back, slowly, making sure every motion is crisp.

“don’t know.”

“can i get you anything?”

clint shakes his head and then rolls over, shoves his head back into the pillow, groaning slightly. bucky’s hand, the human one, hovers over clint’s back where it’s pushed up over his spine and he spreads his fingers, an inch from his skin. people like physical touch when they’re not feeling well, right? it won’t hurt clint if bucky touches him when he’s sick?

he can’t remember. he can’t remember and he can’t bear the thought of hurting clint, even accidentally so he pulls his hand away, tucking both his arms behind his back. it’s better to be safe than sorry.

he startles when clint coughs, a sharp sound in the sun-warmed room, a deep thing that comes from his belly and wracks his shoulders. he groans when it’s done, sinking further into the pillows, and bucky flees into the common area before he does anything he can’t take back.

“‘sup, bro,” natasha says from where she’s perched on the counter, cross-legged. she’s got a bowl balanced on her knee and a coffee cup in her hand. “you look like you’ve just seen baba yaga.”

“clint is sick,” bucky tells her, still frowning, and goes to look through their fruit drawer. there’s a variety there, accommodating everyone’s needs.

“oh, that sucks.” she pauses. “well, i think it does. i don’t think i’ve been sick.”

“me either,” he says, a smidge of relief seeping through him, as it always does when nat’s experienced something similar. “not with a cold.”

nat laughs. “we weren’t allowed. neither assassins nor ballerinas get sick, dyevochka. ras, dva, tri, padyom.” she makes a face. “no sickness. what are you doing?”

“looking for a lemon.”

“a lemon?”

“yeah,” he says as his fingers wrap around said fruit and he brings it out, carefully held. “do we have honey?”

something sparks in her eyes. “ah, for the tea. yeah, i think there’s some above the stove.”

he nods and rummages around in the cabinet, frowning when he pulls out the bear-shaped container. “this is not good honey.”

“tell me about it,” nat says, snorting into her coffee. “you would think with the food budget we’re allotted tony would splurge on the good stuff, but nope. he keeps buying that.”

“there’s none of the comb.” he touches his finger to the top and tastes a drop, his frown getting deeper. “it tastes like plastic.”

“it sucks.”

“it doesn’t do anything, for sickness or allergies. we should get some more.”

“be my guest. i think the corner store carries some.” she swings her legs out and stretches them, pointing her toes as gracefully as a ballerina. “we used to buy great big jars of the good honey off the side of the road in bulgaria. cheap as dirt and it lasted forever. tasted real good, too.”

bucky can imagine it, the way the gold spreads over your tongue as you eat it off a spoon, the pieces of beeswax squeaking against your teeth as you chew the honeycomb. it’s so vivid it feels like a memory. it might be a memory. he’s not good at figuring out what is real past when steve confronted him on that overpass.

“does he have a fever?”

“hmm?” he says, pulling himself out of his puzzling. natasha tips her head to the side, like she’s thinking.

“clint. is he running a fever at all.”

“oh. i, uh, don’t know. how do you know if someone has a fever?”

“usually, you can feel it with your hands.”

he flexes the joints on his metal hand, almost unconsciously. “i didn’t check. i didn’t-- can you touch someone when they’re sick?”

“yeah, usually. same rules apply as when they’re healthy, though,” she says as she launches herself from the counter, landing quietly on the balls of her feet. bucky nods. he knows the touching rules: only with permission, and only carefully. steve had sat them all down when bucky had moved in and made sure everyone in the tower was aware that touching was okay (for bucky) but not if it was a surprise (for clint).

“i think he might’ve fallen asleep.”

“that’s good, sleeping is good when you don’t feel well.”

“how do you know so much about this?” he asks uncertainly, following her back into clint’s bedroom. well, clint and bucky’s bedroom, now. “if you weren’t allowed to be sick?”

“i’ve been out longer than you have, bucky. most people get sick. sam does, and tony and pepper, and i think i saw nick fury sneeze once.” bucky blinks, shaking his head. nat laughs. “point is, i’ve been around it a little. chut’-chut’. how did you know to make lemon tea with honey?”

“just felt like it was the right thing.”

“see,” she says. “you know what to do, at some level.”

she nudges open the door and creeps into the room, the blackout blinds still pulled half down. clint hasn’t moved except to be able to breathe, flat on his belly. he coughs as they get close, cracking an eye to look at them both.

“what’re you doing?” he rumbles and bucky crouches down by the bed, pressing his finger to clint’s mouth so he’ll stop talking.

“nat wants to know if you have a fever,” he signs.

“maybe a little. achy.”

“he’s achy,” bucky repeats for nat’s benefit as she puts her palm on clint’s forehead. he makes an appreciative noise at the touch, turning his chin up into the feeling.

“figures, he’s hotter than normal. not enough to worry, but definitely hot.”

“nat says you’re hotter than normal,” bucky tells clint and smiles at the weak look in clint’s eyes. “didn’t mean it as a joke.”

“i am always hot,” he replies before coughing again, twisting onto his side so he can breathe better. nat rolls her eyes, patting him carefully on the head.

“sure, big guy. here, bucky and i will run you a bath, okay? it’ll make you feel better.”

“okay,” clint croaks when bucky translates, pushing himself up so he’s sitting. it makes him cough yet again, and he buries his face in his elbow, hacking. it sounds a little like a chainsaw.

“a hot bath,” says natasha, mostly to herself, and then makes for the bathroom.

sam walks in on them after his morning run (maybe his second morning run? bucky’s a little unclear on how many runs he goes on, exactly, in the morning but they’re either very long or he’s doing something else. bucky should look into that, once clint is feeling better.), his shirt damp with sweat and a question already on his lips.

“what the hell is going on here?”

“clint is sick,” bucky says, cutting onions into thin slices. clint groans from his seat at the table, wrapped in a comforter so only the top of his hair is visible. “we’re helping.”

“by making a salad?” sam asks, his eyebrows halfway up his forehead. bucky shakes his head.

“it helps with a fever if you put these on his feet,” explains bucky and he thinks sam’s eyes might bug out of his head.

“uh. what? how?”

bucky shrugs. “don’t know. it’s just what they told us to do.”

“they? who’s they?”

“they,” bucky says, because he can’t actually remember. “they.”

“oookay,” sam drawls out, his eyebrows still raised. clint sniffles pathetically. “you don't need to rub a red onion on clint's feet, bucky," he says. "we have fever reducers. you can buy them in tablets or syrup, even."

"red onion is for the cough,” natasha says, poking her head out from where she’s looking through the tower’s extensive pantry. “we're making him a vinegar bath for the fever.”

“a vinegar… bath?”

“it draws out the infection,” she says. sam pinches the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

“i don’t-- are we living in the fifties, perhaps? why the hell are we turning clint into a salad, just because he’s sick?”

“you already used salad,” bucky points out and sam glares.

“fine. why are we trying to make a hawkeye pickle in the bathtub?”

“because he’s sick,” natasha replies crossly, emerging with a bottle of apple cider vinegar in her hands. “keep up, wilson.”

“is this some kind of soviet thing?” sam asks after a minute. “like, are you against medication? or do you genuinely just forget it exists?”

“why would we buy medicine when we have vinegar and onions?” natasha says. bucky’s not certain if she’s joking or not, if he’s being honest.

“and whiskey and lemon and honey,” he adds. “also for the cough.”

“i-- you know what? i’m not going to argue any more about this. i’m just going to go down to the walgreens; text me if you need anything.”

“dosvidanya, samuel,” nat sings and he halfheartedly waves over his shoulder. “now. i think we’re ready.”

they haul clint back into the bathroom and run the water hot, hot enough that clint hisses when he touches the water. nat’s dumped her vinegar in the tub as bucky quickly strips him down to his boxers. his skin is flushed, pink and warm, and bucky worries to himself as clint sinks into the water.

“feels good,” he says. he really must be stuffed up because he doesn’t even complain about the vinegar smell, just sighs deeply.

“i’m going to go text sam to bring back real honey,” says nat, pushing up from the floor. “you stay with him and make sure he doesn’t drown. that was a joke.”

“i know it was,” bucky grumbles, a moment too late, and nat’s chuckles bounce off the tile as she leaves. clint sighs again, his breath rasping a little, and stick his toes out of the bath to nudge bucky in the side.

“thank you,” he signs, the movements sloppy with exhaustion. “for taking care of me.”

“i don’t think i’m doing a good job.”

“i feel better, so you’re doing okay,” clint says and pokes where bucky’s eyebrows are furrowed. bucky’s fingers, the real ones, sneak into the water to check the temperature and then clint’s pulse when he breathes too fast.

“babe,” clint says aloud, a smile turning up his mouth. “it’s just a cold. i’m not dying.”

“colds kill people.”

“relax,” he insists and then pauses, licking a drop of water off his thumb. “is there… vinegar in this?”

“yes.”

“huh. that’s new. never had a vinegar bath before.”

“me and nat agreed it was good for you.”

clint laughs lowly, the sound rebounding around the room, and reaches out to comb his fingers through bucky’s hair, going frizzy from the humidity. “i think maybe living in eastern europe had a bigger effect on you both than you think.”

“sam’s getting you medicine, i think. the real kind.”

“nice of him. this bath isn’t bad, though. might even be helping.”

“you’ll drink tea after this,” bucky tells him. “and sleep some more.”

“okay,” clint says around a yawn. “i can do that.”

on an impulse, bucky leans forward to press his lips to clint’s forehead, smelling vinegar and feeling the fever under his mouth as clint hums.

“feels nice,” he says when bucky’s leaned back, tipping his chin up. “i think i heard somewhere that kissing has antibacterial properties.”

“you’re going to get me sick.”

“you’re a ninety year old assassin. i think you can handle a cold, if you can even get sick.”

it’s a fair point so bucky obliged, even though he was always going to oblige, slotting his mouth against clint’s and letting clint control the kiss. it doesn’t last long, barely a few seconds, as clint pulls away to cough, bending forward over his knees. bucky smooths a hand down his back and taps lightly, feeling the way his lungs expand as he breathes.

“ugh,” clint mumbles when he can form words. “ugh, i’m done in here, i think.”

“okay.”

bucky helps him up, carefully rinses the vinegar away, and towels him dry. ever so gently, he gets clint into clean clothes and then back into bed. the sheets are clean; sam or nat must’ve stripped the linens while they were busy.

clint sighs when he settles, catching hold of bucky’s metal arm before bucky can pull away.

“stay with me?” he asks quietly with his eyes half-lidded, tiredness pulling at every inch of his body. “please?”

“yeah,” bucky says without hesitating, climbing over him and onto the big bed. clint scoots closer before he’s even settled and sticks his cold feet on bucky’s legs, making him jerk and swear.

“you’re warm.”

“i know. “

“feels nice,” he mumbles, blinking heavily. he’s already halfway to sleep so bucky curls an arm around his shoulders and pulls him closer. he resumes his stroking as clint snores, fingers tangled in the hem of bucky’s shirt. bucky couldn’t leave if he tried, not that he would try.

clint sleeps through the afternoon, through the light changing in the bedroom and nat bringing in a cup of chicken soup and sam throwing a pack of nyquil at them both. bucky sits there, moving as little as he can, and smiles when clint tucks his face into his chest.

#winterhawk #hope it's okayyyy #marvel fic #marvel #clint barton #bucky barnes #mine #my fic #blehhh #love u steph #long post

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sebeth · 6 years ago

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Giant-Size X-Men

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

Extra Spoiler Warning for the Deadly Genesis miniseries and Wolverine: Origins

Giant-Size X-Men #1, “Second Genesis, ” by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum.

Winzeldorf, Germany – Kurt Wagner flees from a mob of crazed villagers.

“Perhaps things would be simpler – safer – if I had stayed with Der Jahrmarkt but the life of a carnival freak is not for me – not for Kurt Wagner! Let them come if they must – let them try to kill me! At least if I die, it will be as a man!”

The villagers overwhelm Kurt. Kurt is able to teleport so I’m not sure why he wasn’t able to escape the villagers. Perhaps he exhausted himself from earlier teleportations? Didn’t Kurt have around a mile-range with teleportation jumps in the early days? That should have given Kurt quite the head-start in the chase. You would have to be very determined to chase – on foot - an individual that has that much of a lead.

Why was Kurt wandering the town in his circus outfit? Wouldn’t civilian clothes be more inconspicuous?

“I only came among them to learn yet all I’ve learned thus far are the ways of blind, unreasoning violence!”

Was Kurt testing humanity’s reaction to his appearance? If so, the townspeople failed.

Kurt dives into the crowd and brawls with everyone – which quickly turns against him.

The crowd freezes right before they stake Kurt. Enter Charles Xavier: “You are a mutant, Kurt. I can help you find your true potential.”

“Can you help me be normal?”

“After tonight’s misfortune, Kurt – would you truly want to be?”

“Perhaps not. I only want to be a whole Kurt Wagner! If you can make me that, teacher…I will go with you.”

It’s easy for the Professor to dismiss “being normal”, it’s not so easy if you have blue skin, pointed ears, fangs, glowing yellow eyes, a tail, and three fingers per hand.

I had “Savages” from Pocahontas and “March of the Witch-Hunters” from Wicked going through my head as I read this scene.

Quebec, Canada: Wolverine meets with Charles Xavier at a secluded military installation. Xavier informs Wolverine that he “has a need of mutants – a desperate need!” Wolverine jumps at the chance to “get out from under the red tape and rigmarole”.

A military-official objects to Wolverine’s resignation: “The government has invested a great deal of time and money turning you into what you are now...you haven’t heard the last of this!”

Foreshadowing!

Nashville, Tennessee: The Professor recruits Sean Cassidy, the Banshee, to the X-Men.

Can’t a man watch the Grand Ol’ Opry in peace?

Sean comments “Twill be nice to tread the straight and narrow for a change.” A reference to Banshee’s time in Factor Three. At least I think I’m remembering the group’s name correctly.

Kenya, East Africa: Villagers entreat “Ororo, Great Goddess of the Storm, come unto us and ease our burden!”

“I am here, my children. What do you wish of me?”

The villagers offer to sacrifice goats and chickens if she ends the drought and brings rain. Storm agrees to do “as they plead”.

Cue a rainstorm.

Xavier congratulates Ororo on her beautiful display.

“Wh – Who are you? What business have you in Ororo’s land…an…offer? What have you to offer a goddess?”

Ororo agrees to leave with the Professor after he offers her “the world”

Ororo’s debut isn’t very flattering to her character. The arrogance is off the charts. Ororo knows she isn’t a goddess – she’s an orphaned street rat – but she’s referring to villagers much older than her as children and claiming the territory as “Ororo’s land”. Why do the villagers have to approach her to end the drought – if she’s acting as a caretaker she should have produced rain before it reached drought levels – instead it appears that she’s on an egotistical power trip. To top it off, Ororo ditches “her land” as soon as she’s offered a better deal! No wonder Dr. Doom’s attracted to Storm!

Osaka, Japan: The Professor recruits Sunfire to the X-Men.

Lake Baikal, Siberia: Peter Rasputin rescues his unnamed sister (Illayna) from a runaway tractor. Xavier would like Peter to come to America. Peter asks his parents what he should do. Peter’s father responds: “Do as your heart tells you, my son. It will not betray you…Dosvidanya, Peter. ��Our love goes with you… We are already proud of you.”

The Extraordinary X-Men series has a scene where Illanya reminds Peter that their father made him sleep in the barn like an animal. It never rang true to me. Granted, the Rasputin parents don’t have much onscreen time but it didn’t seem true to their characters. Peter’s debut scene clearly shows the love the Rasputins have for their son – he definitely wasn’t sleeping in the barn. Peter also transforms in front of the village and no one even batted an eye – so I’m throwing the Extraordinary X-Men scene out of canon!

Giant-Sized X-Men #1 was published in the midst of the Cold War/Red Scare – it was rather gutsy to make one of the new characters a Russian hero – and one that didn’t have to do a heel/face turn or redeem himself from his Communist leanings.

Camp Verde, Arizona: “John Proudstar does not like the reservation. He does not like to watch the old ones, sitting slumped against their doorsteps, dreaming dreams of glory long gone. John Proudstar is an Apache – and he is ashamed of his people.”

John chases down a bull and wrestles it to the ground: “There, horned one – do you see? There is still a man among the Apache!”

Yeah, take that, poor bull!

Xavier approaches John to join the X-men. John’s not impressed: “You’ve got five seconds to vamoose, white-eyes…The white man needs me? That’s tough! I owe him nothing but the grief he’s given my people!”

Xavier implies John’s a coward causing John to change his mind and join the team.

John Proudstar isn’t a likable character. Unfortunately, John’s never allowed to develop past the angry young man/proud warrior stereotype.

Charles muses to himself: “But will you – will any of you X-Men be equal to the task that lies before you? Or will you carry the world down into ruin?”

Let’s talk Deadly Genesis. The mini-series retconned the events of Second Genesis. We discover Professor Xavier launched a rescue operation before he assembled the members of the Giant-Sized X-Men team. The team consisted of four foster children of Moira MacTaggert: Vulcan, Darwin, Petra, and Sway.

The four were total newbies whose only training consisted of psychic training by Professor Xavier. The four believed they had trained for months for this rescue mission but had only received hours of training. The four manage to rescue Cyclops, put him on the jet, and send him back to Westchester. The four attempts to rescue the others but are annihilated. Scott witnesses the massacre from the jet. Xavier erases the memory of the rescue attempt from Scott’s mind – along with the fact that Vulcan is his younger brother.

Some don’t like the Deadly Genesis revelations as they are not flattering to the Professor. Let’s be honest, the Professor was never a great man. In the original run, he had creepy thoughts about Jean (his underage student) and faked his death to his students. No, having Changeling replace him during his “death” doesn’t make it better. Not to mention all the times he bailed on his “life’s mission”.

If we include the events of Deadly Genesis, the Professor responds the massacre of newbies by composing a team that’s mainly newbies! Clearly, Xavier’s intelligence is overrated.

Let’s check the members’ resumes:

Kurt: Performs in a circus, runs from villagers

Peter: Farms

John: Chases bulls, whines

Ororo: Lounges in a chair, accepts villager’s offerings, makes rain storms

Sunfire has very limited experience.

Banshee and Wolverine are well-trained and very experienced. I’m not sure if Xavier is aware of the depth of Logan’s experience – to be fair, neither is Logan at this point.

Wolverine and Banshee are the only logical selections to send after the captured X-Men. The original team had more powerful members – Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Havok, Polaris – and were captured. I don’t know how the Professor expects this team to do better. Did it never occur to Xavier to call the Avengers or Fantastic Four and see if they could help?

Back to Giant-Sized X-Men:

Westchester, New York:

The team assembles at the school. Peter and Ororo love their costumes. It’s implied Professor X designed the costumes. I wonder if Peter ever wondered why his costume didn’t have material on the sides of his chest/abdomen. Ororo should have many questions about her costume – for starters, why am I half-naked and the rest of the men are fully clothed – or 75% clothed in Peter’s case? And why are Peter’s boots mid-thigh length? Peter will be a brawler – I can’t imagine that would be comfortable to run in. And what’s with the pointed shoulder pads – to stab someone in the eye?

Did John Proudstar add the feathered headband to his costume as a sign of his heritage? Did Professor X throw it in? Would John resent it as a stereotype or appreciate the nod to his culture?

For the record, Dave Cockrum is one of my favorite artists and few can top his character designs. Storm’s original costume and the Imperial Guard designs are a few of my favorite Cockrum designs.

Professor Xavier introduces the group to Cyclops. Scott recaps the events that led to the recruitment drive: Professor Xavier detects a new mutant presence on the island of Krakoa in the South Pacific. Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Angel, Polaris, and Havok travel to the island. It’s mentioned that Beast isn’t available for this mission – this is around the time he was working for the Brand Corporation. The group lands on Krakoa but are ambushed. Scott regains consciousness, realizes he’s unable to fire his optic blasts, and retreats to the mansion. Scott’s powers return at the mansion but with increased intensity.

Did Scott retain his power up? Or was this forgotten and never mentioned again. Did the other imprisoned X-men receive power-ups? If not, why was Scott the only one?

Sunfire decides he doesn’t wants to be part of the rescue mission: “I do not even like my fellow mutants! I certainly will not risk my life to help them!”

I’m sure the feelings mutual. However, Sunfire changes his mind and rejoins the group mid-flight.

We discover in Wolverine: Origins, Logan attempted to leave the team. In fact, he had only joined under Romulus’s orders. However, Xavier performed some mind-magic and changed Logan’s mind.

Is the Professor also behind Sunfire’s mood swings? Or behind Storm’s sudden decision to leave “her land”?

While not flattering for the Professor, it would actually be better for Ororo. Otherwise, her exit from Africa reads as “screw this, I’ve found something better and shinier.” Not very Goddess-like.

The X-Men arrive at the island. Scott splits the group into pairs: Cyclops/Thunderbird, Sunfire/Nightcrawler, Storm/Colossus, and Banshee/Wolverine. Sunfire objects to pairing up with Nightcrawler. Wolverine complains about Banshee’s sonic powers. Enhanced hearing has many drawbacks! Peter leaps out of the airplane causing Storm to panic: “You fool, you cannot fly!” Peter responds “Of course not, but I can land with the best of them!”

Scott gets the brunt of Proudstar’s attitude: “Yes sir, General One-Eye Sir! I just hope you’re not leading me into another Little Big Horn! It’d be just my luck to be the first Indian massacred by….”

Can we nominate Scott for sainthood? He had to deal with Wolverine, Thunderbird, and Sunfire and didn’t kill any of them.

Scott and Proudstar find a temple as do Storm and Colossus.

“John Proudstar has never much liked the jungle”.

One small line but it merits mention. Is John’s dislike of the jungle a personality quirk or does he have an actual reason? Giant-Size X-Men was published in 1975 – the same year the Vietnam War ended. Was John drafted and did he serve in Vietnam? If he did, it would have added another layer to John’s character and his bitterness with the “man” and the United States government.

Banshee and Wolverine battle giant crabs and reach the temple. Nightcrawler and Sunfire battle golden birds and snark at each other: “I begin to think the mutant community is no more hospitable than the human…” The duo also reach the temple.

The group find the original X-Men inside the temple. Angel warns that it’s a trap and the new mutant is the island itself.

The group battles Krakoa, the “island that walks like a man”. Professor X mentally joins the battle. Storm, Polaris, Havok, and Cyclops team up to deliver the final blow. The X-Men retreat as the island breaks apart.

The issue ends with Angel asking “What are we going to do with thirteen X-Men?”

Krakoa could have used more fleshing out – is it a mutant that turned into an island or a mutated island? What exactly are its abilities? As it is, it’s relegated to a plot device – and a boring one at that.

Poor Scott didn’t even realize his entire future could be summed up in this issue: a lifetime of mutants questioning every command and mouthing off at every opportunity. Poor Scott had to deal with Thunderbird, Wolverine, Sunfire, and Havok this issue.

The recruitment scenes were the best part of the issue. You could tell Banshee and Sunfire had previously appeared in the X-Men series as their recruitment only took one to two panels. Wolverine had made an appearance in the Hulk, also written by Len Wein, so he had a bit more panel time. Storm, Nightcralwer, Colossus, and Thunderbird’s recruitment received more page time as they were completely new creations. The battle with Krakoa was “meh”. Krakoa doesn’t become fun until he joins the Jean Grey school decades later.

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