Chapter 26: Chapter 026 – Vulnerable

[2009 – June]

Opening a small portal, I threw my dirty clothes directly into the hamper in my bathroom before I went to find Jean in the nearby training room.

Entering it, I saw her levitating herself and several other objects at the same time while making them revolve around herself in different patterns. It was a very impressive display of her mental capabilities.

Keeping quiet to avoid disturbing her and losing control, I watched her in silence for a few minutes, before I settled down near the wall and did my own training with my barriers.

Creating and manipulating different barriers, while trying to activate more than one at the same time.

I also tried out using it for telekinetic purposes by grabbing some nearby fist-sized balls that were present in every training room. Jean was currently using the same for her training too.

“Elijah.”, Jean's voice interrupted my concentration, causing the movements of my barriers to freeze, as she asked while approaching me with a happy smile on her lips, “Have you been waiting for long?”

Grabbing the two balls from the air and vanishing my shields, I approached her as I answered: "Barely a few minutes."

Finally arriving in front of me, Jean hesitated no further as she stepped close and left a small kiss on my lips. Giving her tasty lips a playful bite, Jean cried out in surprise softly, before returning the favour.

Before the atmosphere could grow any more heated, I broke the kiss and addressed her: "Mind helping me out for a bit? I want to get a clearer understanding of what my barriers could do and your powers are kinda perfect for testing them."

"Not at all.", Jean replied in a raspy tone that caused a pleasant shiver to go down my spine, as it reminded me of what had happened this morning.

Locking my heated gaze on her own, I couldn't resist the temptation and stole another kiss, before leaving her side after a soft bite at her earlobe.

Creating some distance between us, I instructed Jean, whose cheeks and ears had turned a rosy colour.

“I want to find out if my barrier can block your telekinesis, so go ahead and try to move both balls at the same time.”

Holding up the balls in my palms, I focused on the one in my right hand and created a barrier with the intent to shield the place within not only from physical harm and different kind of energies but also from outside influences.

I knew it should theoretically work as I had created this mutant power with such an ability in mind, but I hadn't had the chance to test that yet.

As Jean lifted her hand and did as I asked, I was relieved to see that it worked as it should and Jean was unable to affect the barrier-encased ball in my right hand.

I did however feel a slight pressure on my mind, informing me that my barriers would only be able to hold strong if my mental strength was sufficient. Another limit, but something I had expected.

Switching my focus to the other ball that Jean had lifted a few centimeters above my palm, I also formed a barrier around it. Immediately the pressure on my mind doubled, though it was still easily tolerable.

The more interesting thing though was that while forming the barrier, I felt no resistance despite Jean's power enveloping the object. This meant that my shields could be formed even after another's power had affected the area.

"Ok, let's stop there. ", I remarked and felt Jean's power recede almost immediately, as the pressure on my mind shrank greatly.

"So you can block other mutant's power inside your shielding radius?", Jean asked in surprise, clearly having noticed the specialty of my barriers as they were not just physical obstacles.

Smiling at how clever she was by realizing the incredible use of my shields, I answered while approaching her: "Yes. As long as I shield something, I can shield it from everything, not just physical harm but also outside influences. Which also means, I should be able to do something like this."

Saying so, I formed a barrier around us and imagined the inside being 'shielded' from the thoughts of others.

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Immediately after disbelief spread across Jean's face as her eyes widened in shock.

…

Silence.

Jean couldn't believe it. No stray thoughts or foreign emotions ghosted through her mind, making her hostage to another's plight, sorrow, anger, or excitement.

Since the awakening of her powers, she had never felt something like this. Her mind which was normally filled with the thoughts of others, even when she tried to suppress them, was suddenly quiet.

Jean could only dream about what it would feel like to have her mind to herself.

Being able to experience it herself, completely threw her off balance as she felt something she had not known for a long time – peace.

Looking at the one that made such a thing possible, silent tears of joy ran down her cheeks as Jean stepped into Elijah's warm embrace, her strained mind finally finding a moment of rest at his side.

…

Sighing to myself as I gently held onto Jean, while she practically melted into my embrace. I realized once again, that telepathic powers like hers were a massive burden. Especially when they reached Jean's level.

It wasn't that she actively tried to read the minds of those around her, on the contrary, she tried very hard to not do so.

Her overwhelming telepathic power though had made her mind so strong, that she was constantly assaulted by the unprotected thoughts of others.

She simply couldn't shut it off.

With time she had learned to push it to the back of her mind, but that didn't mean she didn't have to endure the constant background noise.

What I had done, was simply create a protective barrier that kept out those 'unprotected thoughts' and severed the link between her mind and them.

I naturally couldn't create a barrier that was able to contain Jean's power for extended periods of time yet. But when she wasn't using her telepathy, it was an easy enough thing to shield her mind, though in a different way than I shielded my own.

I knew that if she actively tried to use her telepathy, then I could only protect my own mind and maybe contain her for a few moments before my shields would fail.

This didn't necessarily mean that my shielding powers were inferior to her telepathy or telekinesis, but her mind had simply reached a superhuman level throughout the years while she had learned to control her power and endured its baptism.

When my own mind reached a superhuman level, I was sure that I would stand a chance at containing even her full power inside my barriers.

Unless of course, she used the Phoenix Force, as a cosmic entity was not something I could confront anytime soon.

Looking down at Jean as she buried her face in my chest, I realised that she was so much more vulnerable than me despite the massive difference in power.

Softly rubbing her back, I thought about a way to help her more permanently, or at least shield her from others' thoughts whenever she was with me without having to encase us both in a forcefield.

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