Chapter 3: Change


A week had passed, and Jean found that he usually had the dorm room to himself until ten when Cole would always turn up just in time for bed, occasionally looking roughed up, and on Wednesday he came back with a bandage around his neck.

No matter how concerned he was, Jean never asked about it. It was his business to keep, and he'd share when he wanted. In the meantime, He did the raven small favors, like making his bed when he forgot and rushed off to his early morning classes with his shirt on backwards, or putting a couple sodas and sports drinks in his minifridge.

It was six pm, and Jean was reviewing Calculus, while Michael chatted about the latest fling between students. The bad feeling he felt a week ago hadn't faded, and he found himself chewing on the end of one of his many pens, worry gnawing at him.

In the end, he gave up on review and took a hot shower in hopes that the scalding water would get rid of the bad feeling. He stayed in until his skin was a bright red and the heat felt so hot it felt cold. He dried himself off and threw on some sweatpants and a blue hoodie.

He grabbed his phone and plugged in his headphones, clicking one of his playlists on TapTunes. He swung open the door, intent on going for a run. "Holy shit, you scared the- Hey! Are you okay!??"

Jean dropped his phone and caught Cole, who had collapsed. He looked beat up, and there was blood seeping through his clothes. Jean carefully laid the raven on the floor on his left side, just in case he started seizing, and ran to his closet to grab a couple of his spare sheets. He quickly removed the blankets and sheets from Cole's bed and spread the sheets over them. He ran back to his closet and grabbed his first aid kit, quickly sprinting back to Cole's side.

"What the hell happened!?" Jean carefully took off Cole's shirt, ignoring Michael, who had jumped in the window, again. There was a gash that would need stitches as well as some shallower cuts crisscrossing across the raven's torso.

"Michael, I need you to go to Soya Hall and go to class 1S16 and grab a stitching needle and thread. As fast as you possibly can." Jean kept his voice as calm as he could, pulling out disinfectant and gauze. He pushed aside the lightheaded buzzing feeling of panic and pulled on a pair of sterile gloves. As Michael dove headfirst back out the window, the ginger began cleaning and bandaging the shallow cuts, grabbing a towel to push against the deeper gash in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

Michael was back in five minutes, hair in disarray, and holding out a bag with the stitching material. Jean took it and immediately threaded the needle. He took a deep breath and mentally went over all of the tutorials he had watched on stitching procedures before starting.

There was no numbing so Cole woke at the pain, and Michael held him down. "Don't move, we're stitching you up."

Cole grit his teeth. "That hurts like hell." He hissed. His green eyes glanced over his torso. "Thanks for patching me up. Sorry for troubling you."

Jean nodded, his concentration never breaking. "You're welcome, now shut the hell up so I can fix this. The room grew quiet, the only noise being Cole's labored breathing as he fought down grunts of pain. Tiny needles hurt a surprising amount.

Five minutes later Jean was finished, and lightly wrapped the wound, not wanting to pull at the stitches. "No more fights until this is healed." Jean ordered.

Cole winced as he sat up. "Yeah, okay Mom." The raven cursed as Jean lightly swatted his head.

"I mean it. I'll call the hospital next time."

"Okay, okay." Cole stood with help from Michael and moved to sit on his bed. "Did you change my sheets?" He pointed to the layers of sheets now on his bed.

Jean nodded. "Yes. You had white sheets, and in case you reopen one of your wounds in you sleep I put some of my spare black sheets down so even if we don't get all of the blood out it won't be too noticeable."

Cole hm'd. "Smart. Thanks."

Jean sighed and took off his hoodie, unable to go for a run now that he had an injured roommate to take care of. He sat down at his computer and began looking up refresher videos on how to care for certain wounds.

"You're troublesome you know. You shouldn't fight battles you can't win." He murmured.

"I didn't start the fight. I was jumped."

Jean spun around in his chair. "Jumped? Why would you get jumped?" The bad feeling he'd been feeling grew. He nervously bit his lip. What if-

"Probably someone from another gang. Everyone is after our territory."

"Gang? You're in a gang!?" Jean asked incredulously.

Cole looked away from Jean. "Yeah. I'm in a gang. Fangs." He pulled down his pants just enough for Jean to see a tattoo of a fang resting on the left side of the raven's v-line. Jean released a sharp breath.

"Well, that's information that could have been useful. I've been worried sick since the first day you came back limping! Not to mention I could be jumped due to association with you!" Jean ran a hand through his hair. With him being Touched, and a gang member, he was in so much danger it wasn't even funny.

"I'm sorry. If you want I'll ask for a room change, and you'll never have to be seen ith me-"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jean snapped. "I don't care if you're in a gang, or if I get jumped. After your wounds heal, if you still feel like moving, feel free, but you are my friend, and you are injured, so you are going to stay."

Cole stayed quiet, and Jean blushed as he realized how he had sounded. He hadn't been so outspoken since middle school. Jean stood up and pulled his hoodie back on. He grabbed his phone off of the floor, mourning the long crack that now ran through the screen. He made sure it still worked before placing it in his pocket.

"I'm going to go buy more bandages and stitching material from a pharmacy. I have a feeling I'm going to need the material. Michael, are you coming or are you going to stay with Cole?"

Michael shrugged and Jean rolled his eyes before leaving. He walked off campus and kept to the sidewalks as he walked into town. He made his way to the local pharmacy and began browsing. He grabbed several boxes of bandages, gauze, and three stitching kits, as well as some pain medicine, before paying and leaving.

He spotted a supermarket and quickly went in to buy some snacks and drinks to fill the minifridges with. He also snagged a cool phone case that had a chibi fox on it, curled up and sleeping.

He put his headphones on as he left the store and put his hands in his pockets as he walked down the empty street. The bags weren't heavy, and he easily carried them on one arm. He hunched in on himself in a useless attempt to protect himself from the cold, his breath puffing out in white clouds. The sky was growing dark, the sun hidden behind the tall trees.

Jean mentally cursed as his shoulder rammed against something. He glanced up and saw a girl rubbing her shoulder. He blushed and began apologizing. "I'm sorry! I should have been looking where I was going!"

She shrugged, smiling. "It's cool I wasn't paying much attention either."

Jean stood there awkwardly, not knowing if he should walk away or say something. The girl seemed to notice and chuckled. "Not good with social situations?"

Jean blushed and shook his head. "No-no not really."

The girl smirked before throwing a glance over her shoulder. "I'm waiting for someone, and it's getting dark. I know I'm a total stranger, but could you wait with me? I swear he won't misunderstand."

"Um..." Jean wanted to get back to Cole and finish his Biology assignment, but he couldn't leave a girl to wait in the dark. "Su-sure why not?"

Jean listened to the girl complain about work, how she was sent on trips to meet clients every other week, and how she never got vacation time. After around twenty minutes, it was completely dark and Jean could see a silhouette of a man walking towards them.

Jean sucked in a breath as his arm was pulled behind him and a cloth was placed over his mouth. He held his breath and rammed his foot back into the girl's shins. The hair on his neck stood up and he dodged a right hook, years of training making it simple to strike back, landing a solid hit in the man's solar plexus.

Jean backed up, keeping the two in his sight. He stumbled backward as he was hit with a wave of... something.

"Push. Granted to me by the Fallen Joel." The man smirked, his brown eyes full of anticipation as he held up his right hand. There was a glowing dot. It glowed red with the symbol of a Touched shining amber.

"You two are Lily." Jean got ready to run. He couldn't fight the two here.

"Yep! We're here to ask you to join us! I'm surprised you know of us, most stray Touched don't know much of anything about their abilities or our world."

"Remember Matt he does have a Fallen with him." The girl finally spoke up, her blond hair in the process of being tied up.

"Oh yeah... Then how come that other one didn't know about us? He knew plenty about abilities, but nothing on Lily. I'm still pissed he got away too. He should be dying in a ditch though with the wound that pipe gave him."

Jean began to feel anger burn in the pit of his stomach as the man, Matt, went on about beating Cole, as that was the only other person he could be talking about. He rushed towards the duo, intent on taking Matt out.

The weakness of Push, was the fact that unless a mutation happened when getting Touched, Push could only be generated from the hands. Disable the use of hands, and the fight was practically over.

Jean stumbled and turned his fall into a roll as he bounced off of a barely visible barrier around the two. The girl had her arms wrapped around Matt and was smirking. "Sheild."

Jean cursed. He was inexperienced in fighting Touched, knowing how to beat them in theory was different in practice, and would be even harder now that the blonde girl had a defensive ability.

In other words, he was screwed. He flew back as Matt made a punching motion, the force slamming into his jaw. He quickly got back up and wished he had Sight so that he could see the Push.

"Hey!" A shout drew the trio's attention, and Jean's eyes widened. There stood Michael, Black and red speckled wings fully extended, fifteen feet in diameter, his hair swaying in a breeze formed out of pure energy. His silver eyes glowed with power.

"I don't like hurting humans, but I'm afraid Jean matters more to me than your puny lives. You have two choices, run home to Lucifer like good little mind slaves, or get hurt."

The two Lily members visibly flinched at the aura Michael was releasing and took a few steps back. "Kim, we were ordered to recruit or kill the ginger and the pale dude. Not to take on a Fallen. Let's go."

Jean watched as the two ran, and Michael slowly folded his wings through his ripped shirt.

"Man, I knew I should have worn my uniform under my jacket!"

Jean couldn't stop the laugh that bubble forth. It rang through the night for a solid minute before slowly dying down to a chuckle. "Than-Thanks Michael. Let's go, and you can tell me why you're out this late."

Jean resumed walking, pulling out a Honeaide, Michael's favorite sports drink. The Fallen took it and took a gulp before talking. "I was sitting on your window while Cole took a leak and got a bad feeling when you were gone for two hours. When he got back I told him I was going to take a walk and ran to find you. My guardian angel senses were going off so I decided to fly overhead. I found you, and you know the rest."

Jean brushed some dirt off of his hoodie. He could see the campus and lightly shoved Michael. "Race you to the dorm." And he dashed off, laughing as the bags swung noisily. He laughed harder at Michael's indignant shout before he heard the slap of shoes on pavement. He flew through the double doors of Burkson Dorms and up the stairs, knowing he's been beaten because Michael would climb the tree outside his window and just hop in.

The door banged open, causing Cole to jump and drop his gun magazine on the floor. "Dammit Jean, the pages are all bent! And you! Do you ever enter like a normal person!?"

Michael laughed and Jean grinned. "Sorry, was in a rush."

Cole rolled his eyes and picked up his magazine and sitting back down on the bed. He took the soda handed to him with a grateful nod. Jean put the rest of the drinks in the mini-fridge and put the snacks in a basket next to his desk. Michael walked over to the basket to grab a bag of chips, giving Cole a good view of his ripped jacket.

"Dude, what the hell happened on your walk?"

Michael chuckled nervously. "I climbed a tree and fell. My jacket got caught on a branch and ripped."

"We were jumped on the way back."

The two glanced at each other. Michael sighed and took off the jacket, keeping his back facing away from Cole. Jean took off his hoodie and tossed it in the hamper. Cole looked at the two expectantly.

"We were jumped by two people. A girl and a guy. I was on my way back from town when they showed up. I would have been in big trouble if Michael hadn't shown up and helped me scare them off."

Cole sat up, the magazine forgotten. He threw a glance at the shredded jacket on the floor, his gaze narrowing as he looked between the two. "A girl and a guy? Funny, I was jumped by a girl and a guy." Cole stood and walked over to the discarded jacket. He picked it up and stretched it out, looking at the two long tears.

"Why didn't you tell me you are a Fallen? And Jean, You're Touched."

Hean didn't meet Cole's gaze. "Yea-Yeah. I was Touch-Touched when I was fourteen. I ha-have Astral."

Michael stepped forward. "How were you able to discern-" He cut himself off. "You have a Fallen as an acquaintance."

Cole nodded. "I was ten. Her name is Amy."

Michael froze. "Amy. Amy is the one who Touched you? That would explain why she dropped off the map, but how come I haven't seen her around? Sight is my strongest ability, I can see through any Fallen glamour." Michael ran a hand through his hair and barked out a laugh.

"She is the only one of us with enough patience to stay in one place for ten years. I'm guessing she doesn't go out much?"

Cole nodded. "When we moved back from Japan, She stopped going outside. She doesn't go out anymore. She hasn't told me why either."

Jean just put on his headphones and grabbed a book. He's deal with this later, he was still reeling from the encounter from earlier. Idly he thought to himself as a new song played, 'Things are changing, I know it.'

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