8535/Saved: A Special Moment

Saved: A Special Moment
Date of Scene:	27 July 2019
Location:	Suzann'es Apartment, Queens, New York City
Synopsis:	Jubilee and Elixir visit a woman with esophageal cancer and heal her. They get to share a special moment with the woman and her daughter, and enjoy a homecooked meal afterwards.
Thanks to:	Jubilee
Cast of Characters:	Elixir, Jubilee
Tinyplot:	Saved

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Elixir has posed:
Josh asked Jubilee to come with him on a trip into Jackson Heights and asked her to meet him at the Queens Subway station. He waited near the western staircase for Jubilee with his hands in the pockets of his jeans. He decided to wear a stunningly clever disguise since Queens was his old haunt. A pair of sunglasses. Josh the super spy.

He watches people wandering back and forth going about their weekend activities while he sits on the stone wall of a garden planter.

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilee wasn't entirely sure what Josh needed her for, so she opted to go at least a little better than cutoffs and a tanktop. She is wearing a black sundress with a red satin sash, tied in a bow at one side of the waist, and a red bead necklace. Her hair is done in an old-fashioned pinup style, and she has a pair of red heels that keep her from looking quite so short. As she approaches Josh, she nearly doesn't recognize him in his disguise. But she sidles alongside him and hops up on the wall to sit, exposing layers of red crinoline beneath the hem of her skirt. "Hey," she says, noncommittally. Playing it cool.

Elixir has posed:
"The honeybee lands on the flowers only in spring..." Josh says, looking the other way.

"We need secret spy code phrases or something. That would be cool," he grins to Jubilee and bumps her shoulder.

"Thanks for coming. I'm supposed to go help this girl's mom cause she's sick or something. But I didn't wanna go on my onw, and well... You're like the only kind of friend I've got at Xavier's. Hope you don't mind?"

Jubilee has posed:
"Yeah, I dunno, I think we should work monkeys into the code, but it's totally your choice," Jubilee adds with a grin. "Hey, so I'm always here for ya, Josh. You're my friend. Always here for ya, no matter what." She squeezes his shoulder and smiles reassuringly. "I'm with ya, whatever you need to do. Do you know what's wrong with her mom?"

Elixir has posed:
"Monkeys," Josh snerks and smiles at Jubilee's reassurance. He stands up off the planter and points down the sidewalk in the direction they need to go.

"Esophageal cancer, apparently it's spread a bunch," Josh says with a shrug. "I was having lunch with Lorna, trying to get to know her. And then this guy hurt himself, so I helped him, and then the server slipped me her number and asked for help. So that's where we're going."

Josh walks along easily with his hands in his pockets. "I mean, I know what we talked about in the campsite, but... With Wanda, and the videos and people needing help. I wanna be like you guys, like with the bus, or Lorna. I don't wanna keep hiding like from the Reavers. It's eating me."

Jubilee has posed:
"Then by all means, don't hide." Jubilee smiles, her hands on her skirt and swishing it a little, subconsciously, as she walks. "You have to be happy. You just also have to be careful. Anyone with powers can be weaponized, somehow. Some are just more valuable to the bad guys than others." Jubilee watches up ahead as they walk. "You think you can do this one, then? You're ready for it?"

Elixir has posed:
"Yeah, it should be alright. Cancers aren't that bad, actually. I mean, they standout and then it's just changing them, just a little. And they die. It's kind of neat," Josh says with a slightly abashed smile at his own nerdiness. "If you're into that medical stuff."

"I'll be more careful though, I promise. I just couldn't live with standing near people like you and Hank and Lorna and Wanda, heck even Doug, if I'm too scared to man up and do my thing," Josh says. "I can almost /hear/ my dad telling me not to be chickenshit and get out there, like when I started playing football. Except, he'd never say that about this. But you know."

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilee nods. "I know. But I'm proud of you, for everything you do, and everything you've done. And...for everything you /will/ do, because I just know you're going to do amazing things. Truly." She looks back up at Josh and grins, just pleased beyond all reason that he considers her a friend.

Elixir has posed:
"Thanks, Jubi," Josh says, with a grin back to her. "Means a lot to have you in my corner. You've always been really cool with me, even when I first got to the school. Still remember you bringing out fudgecicles at your place in like almost the middle of the night," he says and chuckles.

Jubilee has posed:
"I was worried about ya. And to be honest, I was a little bit enamored of ya, back then. 'Course, that was before I was an /actual/ teacher, and before you met a woman who could - and wouldn't hesitate to - kick my ass into a different dimension." She looks down at the ground for a moment as she walks, stepping over a crack with an almost imperceptible hop-step. Her natural stride almost always sets her up to step over the cracks, if she times it right. But theres always that /one/. "Anyway, that's all like way back when, and now you're this...awesome person who is about to do what 99.9999% of people in this world cannot. And I'm in awe."

Elixir has posed:
"You were not! Now you're just teasing me" Josh says with a laugh. He colours a bit and looks in Jubilee's direction. "You were like this totally confident, kickass X-Man! With terrifying freaking plasma powers, talking of things most people can't do. You destroyed those borgs on the bus, it was so badass..."

Josh shakes his head with a grin. "I wish I was that badass, seriously."

The young man looks at the address on the building coming up on their left and checks his phone. "Yeah, this is it," he says. He scans down the list on the old metal buzzer board at the front of the five-storey brick apartment building. He buzzes 203.

"Hello?" answers a young woman's voice through the tinny speaker.

"Hey, it's Josh," he answers.

"Come in!" the woman replies, sounding excited. The lock buzzes and Josh holds the door for Jubilee. In the elevator, Josh taps his fingers against the railing while they up one floor.

"I don't have enough style for someone like you anyway, you're way unique," Josh teases Jubilee lightly. "Actually, I dunno anyone who's just, fuck it this is my style, like you. Like you just don't care what other people think. It's really cool."

Jubilee has posed:
"You'll be that way, too. Eventually. When you've become comfortable with who you are, and what you do. It'll come to you, like it does to the rest of us. Just keep believing in yourself." Jubilee smiles, then looks to the doors as the lift opens. "Guess this is our stop...Ready?"

Elixir has posed:
"When I grow up a bit, you mean," Josh jokes with a chuckle. "You sound like my old coach."

"I'm good, let's do it," Josh says.

The carpet and fixtures in the hallway are old and tired, but clean. The hall smells faintly of smoke in that way you can never get out of the paint, carpets and ceiling. Ahead of them, the door to 203 opens and a young woman with short brown hair steps out. She is in yoga pants and a pink t-shirt that has 'sassy' written across the front. She is all of 18 or 19.

"You came!" she says with a big smile. She gives Josh an enthusiastic hug around the neck, which he returns a little awkwardly.

"I did! I brought a friend with me, her name's Jubilee. Jubilee, this is Laura," Josh introduces the two when he is released.

"Hi!" Laura says brightly to Jubilee. "I love your dress. Come in, my mom's in the living room."

Inside, the apartment is cosy, and aging the same way as the building. The walls are cream coloured and covered in pictures of Laura at different ages and what are presumably other relatives.

Laura's mom, a woman in her early 50's, is pale, drawn and very thin. She is sitting in an easy chair near the television. An oxygen bottle on a wheeled dolly sits next to her, and she has tubing that runs up under her nose to deliver it. She is dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt despite the heat.

"Mom, they're here!" Laura says, excitedly. "This is Josh and his friend Jubilee!"

Josh steps out of his shoes at the door and comes in, glancing around. He smiles when introduced.

"I'm Suzanne," Laura's mother rasps quietly and holds out a hand for the two to shake. Josh shakes her hand and steps aside for Jubilee. Suzanne smiles, but it stops well short of her eyes. She looks tired and even suspicious, unlike her daughter's obvious excitement. "Can I get you anything?"

Jubilee has posed:
"Thanks so much," Jubilee replies to Laura, before they're ushered into the apartment, and then the living room to meet Laura's mother.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Suzanne," Jubilee replies, taking the woman's frail hand warmly and patting it, rather than shaking it heartily.

"Don't bother yourself for us, we're here to help you," she offers brightly in response to the woman's question. "Josh is an amazing young man, and we're lucky to have him among us. Just watching him work astounds me..."

Elixir has posed:
Josh rolls his eyes a bit "So Laura tells me," Suzanne replies with a polite smile. Laura stands nearby bouncing a little with a big smile on her face. "So, what do you need for this.. Miracle procedure, Josh?" Suzanne asks, unable to keep her incredulity out of her voice despite her best efforts.

"Ah, nope," Josh says. He crouches down in front of Suzanne and holds out both hands to her. Suzanne gives Laura a tired a look and gets a smile and nod in return. The frail woman puts her in hands in Josh's and looks at the young man with slightly raised eyebrows.

Josh just smiles. He closes his eyes. His hands glow with a golden light which spreads up Suzanne's arms after a moment.

"Oh my goodness, it's warm!" Suzanne rasps in surprise. She watches Josh with wide eyes now. Josh does not move except to breathe and minutes pass. There is nothing much more to see for a time, just the glow that fades up Suzanne's arms. But then colour starts returns slowly to Suzanne's face and arms. She takes a deep breath without realizing at first and is startled. She breaks out in a smile and looks to Laura then Jubilee with wet eyes. "It doesn't hurt anymore," she says wonderingly in a clear voice.

The glow fades and Josh lets go of Suzanne's hands. He grins and stands up slowly, looking a little wiped but no worse for wear.

"You'll be fine," he says. "Get your doctor to check, but you'll be fine."

"I knew it!!" Laura squees and runs over to hug her mother. Suzanne puts her arms around Laura and mouths a thank to Josh. He nods and grins to Jubilee.

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilee has seen Josh work before, but she has never seen him cure cancer. She has never seen him change a life forever this way, and it gets to her, too. Misty-eyed, she turns away from Josh to fan herself. She wasn't warned to bring a tissue. She didn't even know where they were going, after all. But turning back around, she is all smiles. "Congratulations, then, Suzanne. I'm so very happy Josh could help you."

Elixir has posed:
Laura turns from her mother to give Josh another hug and big kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she says and squeezes him agian. Josh colours and looks embarassed. Laura launches off Josh and squeezes Jubilee as well.

Suzanne wipes at her eyes. "Come here," she says to Josh. Josh chuckles and moves closer to get a hug from Suzanne as well. "You've got something very special. Thank you."

"Glad I could help," Josh says when he straightens up. "We should go, let you rest. It'll take a bit to build yourself back up, so don't push things too hard."

"Go? I won't hear of it," Suzanne insists. She gets to her feet and Laura comes over. "You're staying for dinner!"

Josh protests politely but Suzanne is adamant. He looks to Jubilee and shrugs. If she is okay with it, he nods. "Alright, but only if you let us help."

Suzanne, it turns out, is a librarian and has been off work for the last six months since she fell ill. She is an independent, intelligent woman who has raised Laura on her own since Laura was very small. Laura is much like her mother, with plans to become a veterinary assistant and travel. It is clear the two are very close and their relief and happiness at getting time back they thought they would lose is palpable. Dinner is nothing special, but the two women were extremely proud to put it together to say thank you. At the end, Josh makes their excuses and this time they are able to escape. A few more hugs and tears later, Josh and Jubilee are finally back in the elevator.

"Hey," Josh says with a smile to Jubilee. "Thanks for coming with me."

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilee can only shake her head. If she tries to talk at this moment, she'll start to cry, so she just stands beside him in silence with tears welling in her eyes.

"I wouldn't have been anywhere else," Jubilee finally says, quickly, and quietly. She sneaks a sidelong glance at Josh and smiles.

Elixir has posed:
Josh catches Jubilee's look and smiles. He puts his arm around her and gives her a squeeze. When the elevator doors open he walks out with her into the lobby and they disappear back into the weekend flow on the sidewalks of Queens.