Percy watched from the sidewalk as Happy slowly pulled away from the curb. Tony and Jennifer had both made very compelling arguments for Percy to take up residence in the tower, and to be honest, he wanted to take them up on the offer. The tower was potentially safe; he would be around friends, people he thought he could trust. That was the issue though.

Trust.

Cliché as it was, Percy didn't know who he trusted anymore. Subconsciously he knew that was foolish. Percy knew he could trust Steve. The man had made it abundantly clear that he didn't approve of the way Fury did things, and as much as the man out of time might deny it, he really was too much of a boy scout at times. Had he known about what had happened, there was no way he would have kept it to himself.

But the little voice in the back of his head just kept reminding Percy that Steve had wanted to keep Tony in the dark over Barnes. Supposedly to keep Tony from getting hurt, but Percy knew it was more due to a selfish desire to protect his oldest friend than any duty to Tony. But still, the doubt was there.

Speaking of Tony, Percy felt like he could trust Tony and Rhodes. Stark had always been the most vocal about his disdain for the intelligence agency. That, and he had been more than supportive in his desire to help Percy find himself on the flight back to New York. Rhodey seemingly fell into that category as well. Percy didn't know the man nearly as well, but they had fought together in D.C. and nothing built bonds quite like battle.

However, it still came down to the fact that Percy needed time. Everything was still too raw. He was already planning on taking the time to go visit his family. Speaking of, he needed to speak to Lou about updating the enchantments around the beach-house. After the battle in New York, Percy had told his mother that he wanted the family out of New York; after she and Paul had come back and seen the carnage that had been inflicted on the city, it had not taken much convincing. Percy had moved them, seemingly without SHIELD's knowledge but he didn't even know anymore, and had called in his old friend to place a series of powerful ancient protection enchantments around the home.

After everything that had just come out, Percy wasn't going to take any chances.

Percy huffed under his breath, and scratched at the back of his neck. He was so damn tired. This had been the most emotionally exhausting day he'd had in a very, very long time. He watched as the taillights to Happy's town car disappeared around the next corner, before he turned on his heel and looked back up at his old apartment building.

He hadn't been back here since Carol left. He had continued his lease in the building just to have a backup safe house in case things ever got hairy, but he tried to avoid it. Things had been too raw after she had left, and Percy had wanted to ignore the painful feelings associated with the building. But right now, Percy needed someplace away from everyone else. Someplace just to himself. If that meant he had to man up and face the painful memories associated with where he was then so be it.

He had more pressing problems than his perpetually bad luck with relationships.

Fishing his building key out of his pocket, Percy unlocked the door and began his ascent up the stairs. Entirely too quickly, Percy was in front of his old door. He didn't move, his body was refusing to. For a long time, he just stood there, completely still, as he was overcome with memory. Flashes of little moments with Carol; watching movies until early in the morning, eating cheap take out and laughing at stupid jokes.

He groaned, and closed his eyes as he gently rested his head against the door. He was considering that maybe this hadn't been such a good idea after all. Perhaps he was being overly dramatic, they'd only had one night together after all. However, carnal relations were only one part of a relationship. He and Carol had a more emotional relationship, she was more than just an intimate night together. For years, she had been his best friend, his ballast against all of the unbelievable shit he had to deal with on a daily basis.

But he had new balances in his life. He had the team. In spite of his inner trepidations, he still wanted to believe that he could trust them. That the budding friendships he had with Steve, Sam, Tony, Rhodey, Thor and Bruce were real. That he still had people he could rely on.

Not to mention his friends at the institute. Men and woman he had bonded with through blood, battle, food, and good times. He wanted so badly to believe that there were still people he could rely on. People he could trust implicitly, and without reservation or concern for duplicitousness.

Unbidden, the shinning face of Jean shone in his mind. A calm arose within him, steadying the rapid beating of his heart as he felt his tense body relax. A small smile fell on his lips. Jean had been a calming and confident presence in his life since the moment he had met her. A rationale voice of reason in an often-irrational world.

It was a confusingly contradictory sentiment, all things considered. Many would not think that a telepath, especially not one of the most powerful on the planet, would be trustworthy. Telepaths had a well-deserved reputation for manipulation, and coercion. Not Jean though; the woman had a moral compass more strongly tuned to the forces of good than anyone Percy had ever had the pleasure of knowing. It was why he willingly opened his thoughts and his mind to her. He was an open book to her, and she him.

He couldn't even name a moment in which their relationship had evolved to the point where he entrusted her with his mind. They had simply invaded each other's lives to the point where trust, compassion, and care were simply given facts of their relationship.

The more he thought about it, the more Percy realized that his relationship with Jean was not unlike his relationship with Carol. The two women were even fairly identical. Jean was the quintessential mama bear. Calming, nurturing, and loving for any and all things. Right up until the moment those she cared for were threatened or put in harm's way. Then, all bets were off, and the focus of her ire was more than likely going to be little more than a bloody smear on the floor.

It was and always would be awe inspiring to Percy. Her devotion to duty, her people, and her loved ones were what had drawn Percy to the woman in the first place. They were traits he liked to believe that he, himself, showed. As visions of the woman swam in his inner mind, a pang rang through Percy's heart.

He didn't want to be alone right now. In spite of what he had told his mother and Tony, and the others. He didn't want to be alone with his thoughts, or his doubts, or his insecurities. He wanted, no he needed, to be surrounded by people he knew that he could trust implicitly and without fail. He needed to know for himself, prove to himself, that there were still people in his life who were not using him. Percy needed the comfort of the knowledge that in spite of all of the revelations of the day, he was not as alone in the world as he felt. He needed comfort and security, not isolation. But it was too late in the evening now to call his mother, and he wouldn't worry Jean over this. It wasn't right, she had already been dragged into the mess that was his personal life one too many times over the years, and he wasn't going to bother her with his insecurities and personal doubts right now.

They were not her burden to bear. Hell, he didn't even want to bother his mother with his inner turmoil's. It was a headache inducing dilemma. He needed the validation in knowing that there were still those he could count on, trust, and let into his heart and his life. But he didn't want to burden others with his troubles. Percy already felt like enough of a burden to others, he was not going to be the reason that someone lost their sleep, or worse because he decided to annoy them with his issues.

"You know kid, you'll probably sleep better in a bed, not leaning against the door." came a voice from over Percy's shoulder. Opening his eyes, Percy turned away from the door to take in the wizened form of his neighbor. An elderly man with graying hair and glasses, Stan had been living next door from Percy for years.

"Yeah Stan," Percy chuckled morosely, "You're probably right."

"Word of advice kid," Stan interrupted, as Percy was making to head inside, "The hero always has to hit his lowest point; in order for him to grow and become the man he was always truly meant to be. Keep your chin up, things can only get better from here." With his small piece said, the elderly man entered his own apartment.

Percy just blinked, before shrugging slightly and tugging the door open.

His apartment was exactly how he'd left it, and for a moment, as he closed the door behind him. He thought he'd made a mistake. It hurt, being back in here, being in the last place that he'd seen Carol. He could not be alone in here right now. It was just too much. While Percy understood and respected the woman's decision, the fact that she had left the night he had borne his heart and soul to her hurt. Being back at the place of his emotional confession, when he was already in such a fragile mental state, was flirting with utter disaster.

He couldn't be alone. If nothing else, he needed to talk to someone, just to hear someone else's voice to drown out the noise in his own head. Really, there was only one person that came to mind at the moment.

He had already dialed her number before he checked the clocked to see that it was nearly two in the morning.

Dammit, he couldn't wake her up in the middle of the damn night for this.

He had just been about to hit the end button on his phone, when he heard the ringing. It was soft, and muffled. But clearly audible in the dark and silent apartment. Turning his head to the noise, he saw that it was coming from his bedroom. His arm and phone still held up to one ear, his feet slowly crawled to the closed door to his bedroom without conscious effort.

There was a click, and a voice spoke in his ear just as he was a foot from the door.

"Hello?" her voice was muffled, and husky from sleep.

"Hey…" he said slowly, still just standing and staring at the closed door,

"Percy!" she said, her voice going from groggy to alert in a heartbeat, but also sounding relieved.

"Hey Jean…" He replied, unsure of what to say, "Sorry for waking you"

"Don't be stupid, you know I always have time for you."

He gulped and nodded, "You, um, you still at the school?"

There was silence for a minute before she answered,

"You know that I'm not,"

He nodded again, swallowing thickly as his emotions threatened to broil over.

"Yeah…" He agreed awkwardly, without knowing what else to say or how to respond. Luckily for him, Jean had always been a woman of action. There was another click, as the line went dead and the door to his room opened.

She was a vision.

Her red hair was a tangled mess, matted and clumped from sleep. Her eyes tired, but filled with such a depth of feeling, care, and concern that it left him breathless. She was wearing one of his old camp shirts, and it swam across her considerably smaller frame like a dress, coming up to just above her thighs. He had to make a conscious effort to not let his eyes wander down the porcelain tract of skin exposed by the sleepwear.

Without a word, she closed the distance between them, and wrapped Percy up in a tight and loving embrace.

He broke.

His body shuddered and jerked as the tears flowed freely. The hurt, betrayal, and disbelief that had been tearing at his heart washing over as he found solace in the arms of his friend. Jean just held him tighter, one hand raising to his head as he sobbed into her shoulder to stroke at his hair. His large hands clutched at the back of her shirt, holding onto her like a lifeline. Praying to his father for the first time in a very long time, that he could still trust this woman. That he wasn't making the same mistake.

I'm not them Percy. I promise you. I would never hurt you like that.

Her voice into his thoughts and prayers. He only gripped onto her tighter, subconsciously being sure that he didn't end up crushing the woman in his grip.

I've trusted you with my mind Percy. I've let you in deeper than I've let anyone else in before. Please, you have to believe me. I know how hard this is. How much you might not believe it. But I promise you, I have only ever cared for you. I've never misused or abused the trust you've shown me. None of us have.

He wanted to believe her. He wanted to believe her more than anything in the world at that moment. But his heart and his mind were warring with one another. Twice now, he had allowed his life to be dictated by those with powers he and resources he couldn't combat. He wanted to believe in her words, wanted to believe in the love and friendship between them. But his spirit was steadfast in its resolve to never let someone use him like he had been ever again.

There was more to it than that though. Was it simply his fate to be the tools of others? To be nothing more than a weapon to be pointed in the direction of someone's enemies? All of his friends were fighters. They were warriors. In spite of his innermost wishes and hopes that he could trust them to be genuine, and to care for him. He just couldn't bring himself to believe it yet.

After all, what were the Avengers if not just another weapon of the world? And what was he, if not a glorified battering ram. That was his purpose in the world. Hell, it was why he was even alive. He had only been born to fight, to complete a quest that hadn't even been about him in the first place. His whole reason for existence, was to answer to the whims of others, to be used, tossed away and picked up by someone else-

Percy look at me

Her voice in his mind cut across his panicking thoughts like a slap to the face. Gently she eased back a bit, her arms leaving his body to cup his face between her hands. Slowly, she drew him closer, so that their foreheads were pressed together, and her eyes were boring into his

You are so much more than you give yourself credit for. You mean so much more, to so many people, more than you can ever know. You cannot possibly begin to understand the impact you have had on the lives of everyone around you. Me, most of all. I cannot show you the others. So allow me to show you what you are to me

There was tugging sensation, just behind his eyes, as his mind was brought into her's and he found himself standing over his own body. It was a moment he hadn't been conscious of, but Jean had told him about it long after the fact. They were in the medical wing of the mansion, Percy and Patti having been just brought in to the safe confines of the mansion after fighting for their lives for the better part of a week.

He felt the utterly surreal sensation of experiencing emotions that were not his own. Jean had just finished her survey of his mind. She had told him that she had only done it to ensure that he hadn't been a threat to the children. It had taken Percy a while to accept the breach of privacy, but after even a few days of knowing the woman, he had known Jean well enough to understand that she had not enjoyed what she had done.

That sensation was even more pronounced then and there. He felt disgust. Not at himself but at Jean, and Percy realized that he was witnessing her own memories and emotions, through her eyes. Her disgust was directed at herself and her comrades; she was disgusted that she had invaded this good man's privacy in such a barbaric and cruel way. His intentions had been nothing short of pure. He had only wished to guide this poor, scared, and isolated little girl to safety, and had sacrificed his own body to pay the price. He felt the admiration, and awe that Jean had felt, at seeing how this person, who had undergone so much. Who had been faced with the worst of the world and those beyond, and still had the strength and courage to fight for the sake of other's.

He felt Jean place her hand on his chest, and heard her vow to make amends for what she had done. He heard the pledge that she would do everything in her power to make sure that he wouldn't ever have to face the type of loneliness and hopeless he had felt when he had been incarcerated. But more than that, she vowed to try and pay him back for the sacrifices he had made, that she had never even known someone had needed to make, in order to ensure the world stayed safe.

The scene shifted.

She was sitting on the couch in the lounge area of the mansion. Laughing and smiling as she held a warm cup of coco between her hands. It had been a few years prior. Percy had spent Christmas morning with his parents and baby sister, before driving out to the mansion, through a blizzard, to visit with his kids at the mansion.

His kids.

Because that's exactly what they were. His. In the time since Percy had first stumbled across the mansion and its inhabitants, Percy had made it his personal mission, to assist young mutants as they made the dangerous trek to the mansion. Life for mutants was hard, and unrelenting. Oftentimes, they were the victims of horrifying discrimination and systemic abuse.

It was even worse for others.

So Percy worked hard, using what little time off he was afforded to bring these trapped and terrified children, some semblance of hope. She didn't even know how many were at the mansion thanks to his efforts, but it ranged in close to the dozens. They'd needed to build a new wing to accommodate the growing masses.

But that wasn't all he did. No, because Percy was the kind of man who went above and beyond. He visited his kids. Played with them, listened to their worries, their desires, hopes and dreams. Their successes were his as well as their failures.

It was one of the innumerable reasons why she admired the man to the degree that she did. A laugh burbled up from her chest, as she watched on of the children jump on his back, roaring like a lion, as Percy collapsed to the ground and tried to fend off the vicious attack. Only to be blindsided as several others all piled on in an enormous dog pile.

The man laughed, and the deepness, and richness of that pure sound filled her heart with a joy she could barely describe. As the scene faded, a new emotion fluttered to the surface, burning hot and bright amidst all the others.

The scene shifted again.

They were in New Orleans. In that hellhole they had found themselves in. Jean was hurt, her left leg broken, and her ribs fractured. To Percy, he felt all the pain, she felt, the fear in her heart, and the horrifying realization she might actually die. But those feelings were overshadowed by something else.

Hope

She watched as Percy, wracked with his own gruesome injuries, continued to fight. She had lost minor control over her empathic abilities, and she felt him. His fears, his worries, his concerns.

None of them for his own well-being.

He fought, not out of self-preservation, not out of some ill-guided attempt at glory, but to defend her. To protect her. He would gladly see himself fall before another hair on her head was touched. She was strong, she took pride in her ability to look out for herself. But as she lay there, pain and worry coursing through her broken body. She was immeasurably touched by the man who would so selflessly act, not because he thought her weak, but because he didn't want to see her hurt. He wanted to protect her, not because she couldn't protect herself, but simply because she was his friend.

That's simply who he was. Loyal to a self-destructive degree.

That burning emotion was back. Where it once had been a match, it was now cresting to a white-hot flame. She knew what it was but refused to acknowledge it.

The scene changed one final time.

She was on the couch, the one at the beach house in Montauk. They were watching the live-coverage of the debriefing following the events in D.C. He felt the affection, and bubbly amusement, as she watched him awkwardly stammer through his swearing in. As he shifted uncomfortably in his suit, and looked like he wanted to be anywhere else.

Then the tapes started.

Those good feelings dissolved into a rage the likes of which she had never felt before. She wanted to hurt, she wanted to maim, but one desire overrode all others.

She wanted to protect.

She knew he was hurting beyond measure. Knew he was broken, and uncertain, and scared. She couldn't let him be alone. Not after all he had done for her. Not after what he had sacrificed, and not after she realized what he truly meant to her.

The flame, was a raging inferno.

She would do anything to protect the man she loved.

With a gasping, shuddering breath, Percy was back in his apartment, staring into the loving green eyes he knew so well. He didn't know how to respond. He was confused, overwhelmed, he had no idea what to say or do with the information he had just been given.

"Jean…" He rasped out, his voice little more than whisper, and hoarse. "I-I don't…why would you…"

She just smiled at him; her forehead still pressed against his. Her eyes held nothing but love, and adoration.

"Because you needed to know. Believe me, this was not how I wanted you to find out. But you needed to know that in spite of everything you're thinking right now, there are people who love you. You mother, Paul, Laura, Patti, all of those kids you've brought us over the years." Her thumb gently caressed the side of his jaw, "And me…"

That was a lot of information to try and register. He knew she was right. He could always count his family, they been nothing but supportive his entire life. They trust and love had never been in question. He was ashamed that he hadn't even considered the kids at the school. The one's he adored. The one's he'd fought so hard to find, protect, and bring to a new and better life. But all of that was falling to the wayside at the moment; his mind and heart still reeling from what he had seen and felt. Nothing to be said of the sheer, unyielding love and affection she had felt burning in her heart when she had watched the tapes.

A person couldn't fake emotions like that. Not even Jean. He knew what she was capable of, but she couldn't force someone to feel things, hell she couldn't even force someone to see things that weren't real. They weren't in her skillset. Which meant that everything she'd shown him, everything he'd felt through her, had been real.

How the hell did he respond to that?

How did he even feel about her?

That was a stupid question and he knew it. He cared for her, that much he knew for certain. Especially in the months since Carol's departure, she had been a constant presence in his life. FaceTime calls when he was overseas, hours spent on the phone just talking to one another. The few days he was in town, spent relaxing with her at the mansion. She was his rock, his anchor to sanity in an insane world. He'd felt this way about her for a long time, but he'd maintained his distance. She was in a committed loving relationship; one she'd worked tirelessly to defend and maintain. She had been happy with Scott, and her happiness was important to him. As important as his families was. As…THEIR'S had been. There was no way in hell that he would do anything to disrupt that happiness.

Wait…

"Jean…" he said slowly, trying to ignore how the shiver running down his spine as he felt her comfortably stroke the side of his chin, "Scott is-"

"Currently in the ICU after I tossed him out the goddamn window when I found out he was cheating on me."

Percy froze. His blood running cold as he stiffened in her embrace, "What?" he growled, surprising even himself slightly at the hostility.

"Easy there Mr. Avenger," she cooed softly, "Like I said, I already tossed him out of the third-floor window. As touching as it is that you want to 'defend my honor' I'm more than capable of taking out the trash myself."

His gaze softened, "I know you are, sorry I didn't mean to imply-"

"I know Percy," she said fondly, "I know. But the fact remains, we'd been having problems for months, my own conflicting feelings for you aside, he was pushing me away."

"He doesn't deserve someone like you," Percy said softly, "I don't think anyone deserves someone as caring as you loving them."

'Least of all a broken-ass mess like me,' he couldn't help but think,

She sighed before leaning back and flicking him in the forehead. He winced, he sometimes forgot that they had an open arrangement between the two of them.

"You're an idiot," She muttered softly, drawing him in close again, "But I love you,"

Then she kissed him.

The last person Percy had kissed had been Carol, and their interaction couldn't have been further to what he was experiencing with Jean. With Carol, things had been heated and passionate. The fiery need to remember that he was still alive after hours of grueling combat. It was heavy, hard, and fast. But with Jean, it was emotional. Caring. Loving. It was a soft, intimate expression of love. As though she were trying to pour everything she was feeling for him into one embrace. Ensuring that he knew that there were still people he could rely on, care for, and trust.

Her arms wound around his neck as he gently pulled her flush against him. One of his hands came up to cradle the back of her head as he lost himself in the intimacy of the moment. Of their own accord, one of his hands danced up the exposed flesh of her thigh, flirting with the hem of the shirt she was wearing. Softly, one of Jean's hands reached down and interlocked her fingers with the hand, stopping it from going any further as she pulled away from him. Her forehead once again coming to rest against his, her eyes closed and her cheeks flushed.

"Sorry," She whispered, "But…I don't want…not tonight. Not when you're…" She trailed off, and he understood what she was saying. He was emotionally and mentally a little crippled at the moment. She didn't want to push him to something he might only be giving into, because he was desperate for any sort of affirmation that he could rely on someone. He also realized that he had yet to give her any sort of confirmation of his own feelings for her. The realization that she might be thinking that he didn't share her feelings would be rampaging in her thoughts, in spite of their connection.

He cupped one of her cheeks and this time, he forced her to look him in the eyes. As he conveyed in his mind all of the feelings, love, and adoration he felt for her as well.

"I understand," he whispered, "And you're right. But right here, right now. I can't be alone. I-I need you by my side Jean, I love you too." And he gave her a brief kiss, fighting against his body's desires for something more.

She sighed happily, as they parted, before gently guiding him into his room. He undressed, forgoing a shirt and slipping on a pair of sleeping bottoms, before crawling into bed beside her. She turned, tucking herself into the nape of his neck, one arm draped itself across his chest, and one leg curled up alongside his. Melding them together as closely as possible. As he wrapped himself into the embrace, he closed his eyes. Committing the feeling of her pressed against him to memory, as he allowed himself the minor comfort that even after everything that had happened. After everything he'd lost. He wouldn't be alone. He wouldn't be stranded.

He would have her.

AN: Thought this was dead did you? Hell no! Sorry for how long it took to get back into it, but my muse ran dry on this for the time being, and I wanted to write for my other stories. I didn't want to force myself to write when I was too focused on something else because it would result in something I wasn't happy with. That being said, this came out…a lot fluffier than I was expecting. Not a bad thing, I've been hard on our poor boy and he needs some stability right now. Thanks for the patience, and next chapter see's Percy get VERY involved with a gang war, mentally unstable marines, and his number-one fan. If you like this story, please check out some of my other work, I think you'll love them. Thanks for all the love and support, stay safe, and love you all.

Love,

LilDB