ax_main | Scott and Ororo - Post-Happier Times

Debriefing, and Scott gets a hug.

Ororo had been told that Scott would be in isolation for 24 hours. So a little after they were up, she went and knocked on his door, hoping he'd be in - and, ideally, not Warren. She had nothing against him, it was really just a matter of getting to see Scott one on one.

The System of a Down blaring in Scott's room was good evidence that his roommate wasn't there. He wasn't the type to impose, however innocently, on their shared space like that.

At the knock on the door, he rolled off his bed and turned the music down before heading to the door.

"Hey," he greeted when he swung the door open and saw Ororo. "What's up?"

"I thought I'd check in," Ororo replied simply. "How are you doing?"

He stepped back to let her in. It was polite, sure, but it also bought him a moment to think. The whole mission...it had gone completely to shit. And as the person who'd been supposed to give them direction, Scott knew that was on him.

Physically, he was fine. At least, he was now. The infection, whatever the fuck it had done, had actually sped up his healing until they'd given him the 'cure' and stitched up what little damage was left. The other effects had been reversed too, ultimately. All he had left was a large scar to add to his notable scar collection.

He felt worse for Quatre, and even Bobby, than for himself. It shouldn't have gone the way it had.

"I'm fine." It was technically true. "How's everyone else holding up?"

"As well as can be expected," Ororo replied, leaning back against Scott's desk. No need to add to his pile of guilt. "And you're fine." She put a little emphasis on the last word. It was a terrible word to convince anyone that you were actually all right, and even she knew it.

Scott quirked an eyebrow as he looked at her, otherwise as stoic as he'd ever been. "Calling me a liar, Storm?" He didn't sound upset, more amused.

Ororo smirked slightly at him. "Expressing concern."

"Dr. McCoy stitched up what was left to stitch, and they dosed me with some foul shit....back to normal. The scar isn't even cool looking," Scott said dryly. It was easier to focus on the physical damage. It kept him from having to address the thoughts he couldn't push out of his head yet. About how he'd failed her, failed the team. Hell, he'd failed those girls, too.

"Clean bill of health, is that the phrase?" Ororo asked. Not that she was dropping it.

"Clean as it's ever been," Scott said, shrugging. "And McCoy may never be seen again. He was muttering something about a Nobel prize."

"When isn't he?" Ororo pointed out, not unkindly, but it was something of a leitmotiv with him. "Want to debrief?" Of course he would've done it with the Professor already, but she wasn't quite offering the same thing. Debriefing with a friend was different.

He frowned slightly, whether in thought or because he didn't want to answer wasn't immediately clear. He hesitated a minute, before finally saying, "We went to the facility. We located the objectives. One was hostile. The other informed us of a treatment to reduce the hostility. Two team members went to obtain it. I stayed behind with the other two. We were unable to render them safe. Both attacked. The treatment was obtained, and we got an evac."

His voice was monotone as he recited the facts. It didn't change much as he added, "The goal was technically met, but the extraction mission was not clean."

"We're kids," Ororo pointed out simply. It was impressive that the goal was met at all.

"It shouldn't have gone down like it did," Scott replied. He should've done better.

"What would you do differently?" Ororo asked, instead of addressing that statement directly.

"Convince them we were there to help? Take them down faster?" Scott said.

Opposite approaches, really. But Ororo didn't point that out. "I don't think option A was the issue. They were not in control of their own actions. Even Brigitte barely was."

"Then I should have stopped them sooner." Scott sat on the edge of his bed, looking at the ground as though seeing through it. To anyone that knew him, it was clear he was reconstructing the scene in his mind, placing everything precisely as it had been so he could look at it - again - from every angle. As though he hadn't been doing that since they'd gotten back.

"Why didn't you?" Ororo asked evenly.

"Because we were supposed to bring them back in one piece. Unharmed, if possible. Besides, you don't exactly win people over by blowing them away," Scott said, the slightest edge of annoyance in his voice. She knew all of this, after all.

"So would you really choose a harder approach?" Ororo asked, unbothered by his annoyance. No matter what his answer was to the question, there was a lesson there.

He frowned. There was a long moment of silence as he thought, finally answering, "In that specific case, I should have."

"But that specific case is in the past," Ororo remarked. Feeling bad about your mistakes was a good thing. Beating yourself up over them was another. "What did you learn?"

Scott's eyes narrowed behind his glasses. "Where exactly are you going, with this?" He asked, feeling a bit cornered.

Ororo smiled, and shook her head. "Anywhere you're leading me." It wasn't for her to tell Scott what he should learn from this. She only knew what she had. And there was no reason why their lessons should be the same.

He quirked an eyebrow at that. "I learned that I need to spend more time in the Danger Room," he replied.

Ororo pursed her lips, but simply agreed, "Okay."

"It's the only way for....I need to...." he shook his head a little, and glared down at the floor. "It didn't need to go the way it did. I needed to do better. The only way to get there is to train more."

Ororo hesitated, but then pointed out, gently, "There's some things only hands-on experience will teach us."

Scott frowned, though at himself and not at Ororo. "I got Bobby and Quatre attacked by wolves, and nearly broke Quatre's mind as far as I can tell," he said. "It's one thing when I get myself fucked up because of my inexperience. It's another when I hurt someone else."

"I'm not trying to diminish the impact this has had on anyone," Ororo assured him quietly. "But what went wrong - I don't think any Danger Room sim could've prepared you, taught you better. This is done. You learn, and you do better next time."

He snorted. "Who is going to trust me to lead next time, knowing what happened here?"

"I would," Ororo replied simply, truthfully.

From behind ruby quartz, Scott just blinked at her for a minute or so. "Why?" He finally asked.

"There's no one I would trust less than a perfect leader," Ororo replied, after a beat. "Or one who thinks they're perfect. You know you're flawed, now."

"I knew I was flawed. If that's what the universe was trying to teach me, then the mauling was really overboard," he said dryly. He crossed his arms, and the muscles in his jaw jumped a bit as he clenched his teeth. Scott had never claimed to be perfect, and knew better than most just how shitty he could be. So why was it such a sock in the gut to know how badly this mission had gone?

Maybe that was her point.

"Theoretical knowledge, first-hand experience," Ororo answered, unknowingly mirroring his thoughts. "Now you know it."

He hummed softly, non-committal. "And so does everyone else." Scott couldn't blame them if they didn't trust him now. He'd gotten them attacked by wolves.

"I can't speak for anyone else," Ororo confirmed. But she had spoken for herself, and she hoped that it meant something to him.

It had, but he was emotionally strung taut enough that he wasn't able to acknowledge it. Instead,Scott looked at Ororo for a long moment. His eyes were concealed, but had they been visible or his irises and pupils been distinguishable from the rest of his eye (were they, anymore? Did it matter?) it would have been clear he was contemplating her. "You could do it, you know."

"I might," Ororo confirmed. If she was asked, she probably would. "But I wouldn't have done any better than you."

That, Scott guessed, they would never know. "We're different," he conceded. Better not to play at better or worse. He was not feeling like he'd come out the winner in that contest, and he didn't want to. But he didn't want her pity over his frustration at himself either. "But you're good. You'd do a good job."

Ororo let a beat go by, and then smiled at him, small but genuine. "Thank you." It meant a lot, coming from him, and she sounded like it.

The corner of one side of Scott's mouth tipped up in response. "The truth is the truth. So...what would you have done?" Like he'd said, the two of them were different. Maybe Ororo saw something he hadn't.

"Waited too long as well," Ororo answered, without the shadow of a doubt. She had wanted to reach out to them, connect, make them understand. She would have given them a chance to hold on, hold off. "The rest - I don't know. I wasn't there." Just down the hall, but she hadn't been there.

"Any other thoughts?" His question was earnest, sincere, and it showed. Unusually so, for Scott.

Ororo thought it over for a second. "Yes. You could probably use a hug." Definitely not what he was after, but absolutely an offer, if he could bring himself to accept it. But that was entirely up to him.

Scott was actually surprised, and it likely showed as his eyebrows rose and his mouth dropped open just slightly. "Huh?" He sounded confused, though, not opposed.

"It's an offer, if you'd like that hug from me," Ororo added with a small, patient smile. She had flapped the unflappable Scott Summers. She was going to take a little pride in that.

"Uh....sure?" He wasn't sure he'd ever been offered a hug before, really. Jean had somehow mastered touching him without spooking him, and generally he otherwise wasn't the touchy-feely type.

Ororo pushed off from the desk, stepping towards him, still smiling, still patient. "You don't sound very sure." Still, she opened her arms to him. "Come here."

Scott stood up and walked towards her, a touch (okay, more than a touch) awkwardly. Still, he did step into her space. God, Summers, you really are a goddamn robot. No wonder people always thought I was a kid in trouble.

Ororo wrapped her arms around him warmly, comfortably, with none of his awkwardness, and simply held him, eyes closing as she focused on the physical comfort of it. Hugs were never just for one person.

His response was more tentative, but Scott did wrap his arms around her gently. This was....well, it was actually kind of nice? But he didn't have the words to say why, or to even parse what it was about the whole thing that made him feel better. He guessed he appreciated that she cared, though, that he knew for sure.

Ororo waited until he relaxed in the embrace, and then held on to him a little longer, so he could make the most of it, before pulling back. "Any time you need a hug, okay?" she offered, smiling at him.

Scott was a little taken aback by the offer, but he did smile back, or at least whatever passed for a smile on his face. "Uh, okay."

"Take it as a warning not to look so taken aback, next time," Ororo suggested, her smile showing more amusement now. Yes, she was teasing him, but gently, because... well, it was Scott.

He snorted as he stepped out of her personal space. "No one can even see a third of my face, how can I possibly look taken aback?"

"Body language," Ororo replied without missing a beat, hands on her hips now, eyes twinkling. "And probably that gaping thing you did, too."

"I don't gape," Scott half-argued.

"Of course not," Ororo confirmed, smiling at him.