“Please Jean…I need you to forgive me.”
Jean finally looked her father in the eye again. There was so much yearning in his eyes. It was as if he was begging her at this point. Like her, this man endured his share of pain. He suffered from that car crash that fateful night just like the rest of the family. She could sense in him the overwhelming guilt. She knew how sincere he was being.
But despite this understanding, she couldn’t escape her own pain. Sincerity or not, her father got off easy. He didn’t have to endure mutant powers on top of his grief. He didn’t have to endure the nightmares of the asylum that still haunted her. He was able to numb the pain with alcohol. As compassionate a person as she was, this was too deeply personal for her to look around.
She was about to answer when the restaurant manager walked up to her table and gazed down at her with a harsh glare.
“Excuse me, young lady, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” he said.
“Hey, we’re in the middle of something here!” said a very annoyed John Grey.
“Sorry, but someone at the other table recognized the girl here from the news,” said the manager, pointing over to a table of people who were glaring at them with equal hostility, “She’s one of those mutants. An X-man no doubt. And in wake of recent events I don’t want any mutants in my restaurant. Understand?”
John Grey rose up apprehensively. He and his daughter were having a moment and he had the gall to kick her out?
“Now see here!” he spat, “You have no right to…”
But before he could continue, Jean got up and stopped him.
“It’s okay,” she said flatly, “I don’t want any trouble. I’ll go.”
“No Jean, you don’t have to go,” he said, still clutching her hand.
“But I want to go,” she said, pulling away from his grip, “I think we’ve said enough for one visit.”
John stood shocked and disappointed. He looked back at the manager spitefully, but he showed no sympathy. He wanted this girl out and he wasn’t going to make an exception for their family issues.
With a silent nod, the manager walked away. John remained standing while Jean grabbed her purse. But before she left she had one last message for her father.
“I’m sorry, Dad,” she said solemnly, “It’s taken you too long to come to grips with all the mistakes you’ve made. I’ve moved on. I’ve built a new life that I can be proud of. Until the nightmares stop haunting me and until you fully understand the pain you caused me, I can’t forgive you.”
With a slight tear in her eyes, Jean Grey turned away from her father and left him to contemplate her words. Encounters with her father were never easy. This one had been better than the others, but they still had a long ways to go to make amends.
John Grey could only watch as his daughter disappeared again. In a daze, he held his head low with sorrow. He truly was a broken man. His daughter, the only part of his family he had left, hated him. It was a hatred he rightfully deserved. He spent years hurting her. It seemed fitting he would spend years begging for her forgiveness. He could only hope that one day she would come around before he took his last breath.
Make no mistake. X-men Supreme Volume 3 will be larger in terms of both scale and scope. I plan on introducing many elements into this fanfiction series. Some go beyond the X-men. Some are taken from the greater Marvel universe. As such, it's all the more vital that I receive feedback from the wonderful people who take the time to read my work. I am serious when I say I want to make this fanfiction series the best it can be. The growth of this story means it'll be a greater challenge to write so it's important that I get solid feedback so I can make it work. So if anyone has any comments or questions, please contact me at any time or post it in each issue. Thanks again and here's to a new year of X-men Supreme! Excelsior!
Jack
No comments:
Post a Comment