A/N: Ok so listen! I went to see X-Men Apocalypse not too long ago (twice) and I pre-warned that I was feeling motivated and inspired. So this is the end product.

This is a sort of three(?)-shot collab with Lyra, the prompt being "what if they meet up years later?" SO! This takes place in the xma universe, a sort of branched au in the Instigator series. While it does take place after Touch, it doesn't give anything away. This takes place two weeks after xma and there continues to be a sort of preordained tie between the two.

Lyra's the brains behind this, so thank her. If you don't like it, blame me.

[Disclaimer:] I do not own anything connected with Marvel or Fox, just my OCs ]

...

Timeline 2

Two weeks later

Jean has learned a lot from her Professor.

She's learned how to think quickly and critically, how to penetrate undetected and infiltrate an opponent's psyche and zero-in on certain memories, emotions, strengths—surprise. He's taught her how to dig deep and bring forth the most hidden, submerged, and sometimes the most forgotten.

Jean Grey is telepathic—a psychic some have mistaken—with great potential.

She's learned how to pinpoint certain emotions and find certain memories that may have been buried or lost, and bring them to the forefront. She's learned how to discover secrets and is learning how to suppress the unwanted.

Jean Grey is telepathic and a telekinetic, and as instructed practice one afternoon, she had voluntarily infiltrated people's minds. But some things are repressed for a purpose, some secrets are kept for a reason, buried to never be spoken of again.

It was a mistake to go snooping around in people's minds.

For example—

It has not been long after the mansion-turned-school had been rebuilt—and an additional three bedrooms and a bath have been installed, new furniture and fridge; the split oak in the back acres is in the process of being uprooted. Classes had not resumed yet—it wasn't going to for another two or three weeks because of trauma—and it had all been practice, really, the mind-infiltrating; a harmless exercises that hadn't meant to derive any unfavorable consequences. She had been under order anyway—

And yet...

She had removed her hands from her subject and was met with the vaguest facial expressions of a mix of betrayal, incredulity, and—anger, sorrow.

She had seen a flash of ombre brown hair, bleached lighter along the ends; a pair of plump lips pulling in a snarky grin; a laugh; a golden heart-shaped locket, and
begrudging, remorse, bliss, self-condemnation.
Of something broken
Something possessed

WAYWARD

Of something lost
It had been a memory most repressed, almost as if trying to forget

DENY

This had all been a mistake, and she reiterated apology after apology.

She had gone and spoken about it to Jubilation later because Scott had been angered, having fallen for a prank pulled by their currently crippled house guest—and how exactly had someone which their entire leg in a cast still pull such a prank remains a mystery.

Jubilation had been discussing plans with Kurt about their next outing, and re-watching Return of The Jedi was in question—by Kurt, of course.

Jubilation shrugs to Jean as an answer.

The redhead listens to the two's chatter, watching students shooting hoops on the basketball court from one of the mansion's wide glass-panel windows. Somewhere in the house, a glass cup shatters on the wood floor.

It had all been a mistake—letting her in, saying yes—

He should have never lent her permission into his mind. Because now it was cracked open, a bandage torn from a wound sealed for years that now, all of forgotten memories, abandoned emotions and faces came bleeding out as a trickle at first, but now was a steady pour.

He remembers things now that he would have rather kept in the back of his mind: of blood on restroom walls; of sleepless nights and arguments; of hospital visits and popsicles and old friends; an earring that sits forgotten on one of the shelves back in his basement room, its original owner laughing, teasing, doting.

He had forgotten all about that earring.

How long has it been?

But that isn't important. Not now, not ever. And he makes a mental note to throw the earring out when he finally returns.

Jean has come and apologized repeatedly about pulling forth those memories but she could feel that the onrush had already begun. He knew that she must have felt partially responsible despite him telling that it was all good and there was nothing to worry about—that was a lie—it must have been because of his poor attitude. It was because of his bitter, sullen attitude.

And now he was stuck here with the lot of them in public.

Kurt had gotten his wish a day later and all had traversed to the local mall. All Jubilation, Kurt, Scott, Jean, and Pietro. The latter hadn't been too eager, however. The poorly constructed kidnapping had happened while Pietro had finally been able to catch the four o'clock news.

"No."

"What do you mean no?"

"It's a word used or answer when you don't want to do something, like go out with a bunch of rug-rats."

He didn't want be the third wheel,

Though he was the main one complaining about not going out.

"Doesn't matter. You're still coming so I can have an opportunity to get revenge."

"Yeah that's not likely, four eyes."

"Whatever. But just so you know, Jean says to be ready in five minutes. If you're not, she's making you. And she's the one who decided, not me."

Because, technically, they won't be out unsupervised. So, theoretically speaking, they could be out all day.

"Um no. Still not going!"

He watches as Jean grabs Jubilation's wrist and rush to the counter of one of the food-court restaurants just as a crowd arrives. Kurt follows soon after. Scott shoved his hands in his Mavi denim jeans, and frowns at a group of teenage girls whispering jerks wearing sunglasses indoors. Pietro leans his weight on his good leg, running a heavy hand through his front bangs and contemplating that he probably needs a trim by now. There's a long scar on the inside of his arm, and reminisce of pain from his arm dislocating shoots from his shoulder to his fingertips.

It's been two and a half weeks since halting a potential apocalypse by an omnipotent false god. And in the process of cocky and pig-headedness, Pietro had gotten his left arm twisted and leg snapped. His arm no longer needs a sling and his leg was close to healed, but he was still confided to a cast and now refuses to go around with two crutches like some kind of pitiful dope.

He had still been immobile when Jean first approached with the permission to perform her mind assignment. It had all seemed fun, simple, harmless.

Letting Jean in had been a mistake he regrets.

Really, there must have been other, better things Pietro could have been doing with his time: there still was Hank's club sandwich in the fridge that needed to be eaten, a novel he still hasn't finished, a game of Follow The Queen happening in an hour, the new episode to his soap opera in two, and—

Really, he could have found something else to do with his time.

Really, there was nothing else to do with his time.

The girls and Kurt return with smoothies, Jean holding two, handing one to the mutant with the healing leg and ignores Scott's outright bafflement. Pietro knows this is all a part of her continuing apology but doesn't object this time, for once—because it's free food, and who doesn't like free things?

Scott gives another deriding look, but this one is more of envy. He calls to Jean that the other could get his own smoothie, and her response was to shush and she wasn't going to make Pietro limp all the way over there by himself, and "why? Are you jealous?"

Scott scoffs, almost stammering. "Of course not!"

Jean rolls her eyes.

Pietro is looking at him with a shrewd raise of an eyebrow. "You look kinda jealous to me," he comments around his red straw.

"Can it, wise guy!" A rosy blush glows just under the flesh of Scott's neck.

Pietro slurps loudly.

It's been two and a half weeks since everything has returned to moderately normal.

An hour into the mall expedition, Pietro's upper right thigh was beginning to cramp, and he regrets not bringing that second crutch. As he hobbles behind the teens, focusing more on the dim reflection of his foot in the flooring, Jean looks over her shoulder and asks if he was alright—which he knew meant was he keeping up. He knows she brought him along as a way of her ongoing apology.

Pietro represses a sneer in response, and grunts.

He hates this.

No, hate was too light of a word.

Scott snides that for once, that he's starting to correspond with his hair color, "moving slow like an old geezer." Pietro almost makes a swing right there in the middle of the mall. He comes close to looses his footing instead.

He hates this.

Pietro has a short fuse

Scott gives the widest, smug look on his face.

Pietro glowers, leaning on his single crutch.

It's been two and a half weeks since everything has returned to moderately normal. Moira MacTaggert had insisted that she not overstay her welcome and was back in her single CIA office and small, vacant apartment whose fridge held a head of lettuce and a packet of lunch meat and American cheese slices. She calls her son on the corded phone and makes sure to smile and not tell a soul of where she had really been.

There had been a funeral for Alex Summers, and Scott tells that it had been strained and mournful, that it will all be a lot quieter now.

And Raven, she had left—again. No one knows why, but it had been after some conversation with Kurt. And Erik...

Erik Lensherr was barely there, but that too allowed for breathing room.

If only Pietro could be back in his room...

"Look, all I'm saying is that for such a far out guy, Solo could have maybe gone about the whole rescue thing a bit more strategic." Scott pointed a finger around his paper cup of soda. All had agreed on a lunch break. "And they could have given the sarlacc more teeth and a tongue. It'd look scarier."

"Well, I dont know. It'd be too traumatizing for the audience, because then it would be too interchangeable from your face, since that's what they modeled it after, Clydesdale," Pietro chimes in, calmly.

Scott's neck snaps around. "Watch yourself, bub. Or someone's going to have to stop you from falling over again."

"Oh, bite me. With those snail reflexes? "

"Before you call others snails, make sure you can keep up."

Pietro's face fell. "You do know that as soon as I'm out of this thing I'm coming after you, right?"

Scott leaned forward, propping an elbow on the tabletop. "Bring it on, goggles."

Pietro sneers.

Kurt has his hands up trying to bring down the arguing. Jubilation is betting on Scott, at least for the first round. Jean rolls her eyes and is attempting to hold in her chuckles when she catches sight of someone crossing the food-court. For some reason, she catches sight of two woman and her gaze sticks. Both were not much older than them, and were talking. One, the first woman, has strawberry blonde hair cascading down one shoulder and jaunty, a radiant sort of garish style that echoes Jubilation's; and the other—

Jean's hand falls from her chin to the table. She barely stops herself from standing and screeching her chair across the floor.

She's seen that woman before.

Scott and Pietro's bickering fizzle out. Lunch returns to usual temper and Jean continues to stare. She watches the second woman, the one with curled dark brown hair, pause to dig through her purse. This woman held extreme familiarity—a short woman with a focused gaze and unfaltering poise, full lips curling in a small grin as the strawberry blonde speaks.

Jean's seen that woman before!

Jean turns back forward, clamping her hand over Scott's wrist. He turns from Kurt.

"What times does that movie start again?" Jean's hurried, anxious, and he raises an eyebrow, glancing at his watch.

"6:50," he answers. "Because we're going to miss the one that starts before that one—-" He doesn't finish as Jean yanks him from his chair and in the direction of the food-court's exit.

"Then we have to hurry up so we can make the first one!"

Scott sputters.

The rest hurry to follow after Jean's call, all just as startled; Jubilation hooks a hand around Pietro's elbow, and he tries to slurp the last of his soda.

Scott waits until they've gained distance to hiss what was wrong. Jean glances over her shoulder. Her expression changes from anxious to serious.

"I need your help." He's all ears, he tells her, so: "you remember when Professor gave me that telepath assignment?"

Scott nods.

The other near closer and she grips him above the elbow and drags him to the side. They had exited the food-court, nearing the joined theater. Jean calls back that they'll meet at the ticket booth. Jubilation is the only one who looks suspicious as they go past.

Jean lowers her voice as they step off to the side. "Well you remember that time I had done it on Peter?"

"Yeah," and Scott crosses his arms. "He's still bitter about that?"

"I think so. I don't know." She thinks he's still holding resentment for that. Her eyes search for the two women in the crowd, finding them approaching the ticket booth; luckily there were four people before them. Jean points out the one in question. "You see that woman, the one with the brown hair? I saw her."

At first, Scott is confused. He asks to get a closer look. "What do you mean you saw?"

"I-I saw her in his mind...I..." Her brows draw together and her arms are straight at her sides.

The two keep a distance, and Scott gets a side profile of the woman in question. Their cover was that he and Jean were looking for money for tickets.

"Who is she?" he mumbles.

Jean shrugs. She's holding the money for her movie ticket in a fist. "I don't...I'm not quite sure... But..."

"But...?" They are slowly approaching their place in line now. There's a couple before the two women who are given tickets and enter the theater.

Jean tries to recall the sequences of memories but it was all vague, ambiguous emotions and a jigsaw of images. "He got upset really quickly—-"

"What else is new?"

"-—No, I mean, like, this was something he was really, really trying to hide, or forget, I think." She thought for a moment. "He felt really strongly..."

Scott shrugs. Jubilee is waving them over because it was almost their turn at the window. Ahead, the strawberry blonde is digging through her own bag now and the brunette friend rolls her eyes, insisting she pay for both of them. Her friend pouts, disagrees.

"So, who is she?" Scott asks. "A long lost sister? A bounty-hunter? His parole officer?"

Jean was hesitant because she wasn't one hundred percent certain herself, but she voices it aloud anyway. And when she does, Scott's brows arch incredulously.

He scoffs. "You-you think that's...no way!"

Jean nods. "That's the only thing, the only explanation that came to mind—!"

"How—-what? ...It's just—-" He's grinning now—and Jean knew it wasn't a good one. "...You know what? Never mind."

She tells him to not do anything drastic; he wasn't, he tells.

"Just thinking about possible vengeance." He chuckles, "this is great!"

"Seriously, Scott, no. And I need your help to see if we can try to get them back together. It's the only way."

His neck snaps around to her to stare skeptical before turning back to watch the two groups standing so near. That devilish grin returns. "But why do that when you can just have fun with—-"

"Scott, no."

He sighs. "Yes ma'am. As a way to get him to stop being mad at you, sure, I'll help."

"Thank you," she answers as Scott cracks his knuckles. Jean tells him not to do anything about it yet, that she has to think of a plan.

But he walks away before she finishes. And as he joins back with their group, he makes sure to sidle beside Pietro and, still holding a suave and a cocksure smile, nudges the other for attention. He leans in just a bit, points with a finger, and: "hey, Peter, didnt you say it was that lady who seemed familar? Coincidence, huh?"

"I didn't say—-"

No one sees Jean press two fingers to her temple and coax the woman in front to look over her shoulder. For a split second, everything is unchanging, she's grinning, still in the mist of a joke.

And Pietro gapes. His eyes grow wide and her name—Rainy—slips from his lips.

And then it's like the air has been sucked out, like there's an icy cold electric shock that shoots through him, and the way he is standing stock-still is almost alarming and unsettling. Because there's practically a look of horror followed by realization and then apprehension that appears on her face that is uncharacteristically abnormal—and its like the earth stops for a moment, whether its by fear or relief or deja vu—

How long has it been?

The strawberry blonde nudges her friend twice before gaining her attention and forcing a ticket in her hands as she's pulled into the theatre.

And Pietro is rigid. For once, he doesn't move, doesn't have a witty comeback, and is winded as he stares with a wide, petrified stare.

Eyes

And there had been such a bruising comeback for four eyes ready on his tongue—because Scott had said it so loudly that it couldn't not be heard.

Pietro swears that his gut was in his throat and the rush of inside his ribs hasn't happened since high school and—he's lucky that he had been using a crutch or he would have actually been on the floor.

The brunette had a bright, calculating, familiar stare.

Scott pats him on the back. "You look like you're about to choke, dude."

He swallows, speaks swiftly and in a very shaky tone, "you know I'm not really feeling this movie after all."

Jubilation is the one that grabs his arm, speaking "you don't mean that!" and "you'll change your mind when we're in there, I promise!" She pats him on the shoulder.

Pietro's healing leg goes weak and he almost looses his balance again there in the mall. There's a ringing in his ears, and Jean press two fingers to her temple as she spoke to the ticket teller. He's still shaken as they enter the theatre.

Scott holds a thumbs up to Jean.

As they walk in, Jubilee falls back to whisper, "who's Rainy?"

Jean couldn't help the grin that comes to her face. "His ex."

Jubilee gasps too loudly.

A/N: This was originally planned to be a one-shot but it got out of hand (again, obviously) so this is the first part of this little short au sitch. Let me know what you think and then I'll post the next part asap.