xp_logs | Hank, Scott, Sunday evening

Hank goes down to talk to Scott about his prospective parenthood and its potential impact on the team. Scott is very official, Hank feels shut out, and feelings get hurt before some kind of understanding is reached.

Hank had tracked Scott down to the Situation room, where he was going over some paperwork. Well, it was a good venue for an Official Talk... taking a deep breath, he tapped on the half-open door and then peeked around it. "Scott?" he said softly. "May I have a word with you in your official capacity?"

"Sure," Scott said a bit absently, not looking up from the paperwork. "Come sit down, Hank... just let me finish this..."

Hank ambled in, sitting down in one of the noticeably larger chairs - He'd always needed one, and the second one was presumably ready for Cain, when and if he needed it. "Go ahead. It's nothing immediately urgent."

Scott skimmed through the rest of the file, initialed the bottom, and then closed the folder. "Okay," he said more briskly. "So. Official capacity, you said?"

Hank nodded. "I assume you saw Danielle's journal post outing me as a prospective father?" he said, a little uncertainly. Scott hadn't actually said anything about it, and he'd expected him to. Hank hoped it wasn't because he was annoyed, or something...

"I did. Congratulations are in order, I gather." He had been a little surprised, but on some levels, not at all. He knew very well how much Hank wanted a family.

"Thank you." Hank nodded. "And... since I am about to have sole custody of a child, I think it is in order to discuss how this will affect my position on and potential usefulness to the team."

Scott nodded. "I'm listening."

Hank raised an eyebrow. Scott was... well, this wasn't the reaction he'd expected. At all. He wondered what was up. "It should not, I think, affect my usefulness too much, as I'm primarily the team's field-medic. I can find babysitters easily enough, for while we're gone, and given that I'm not generally part of the front-line troops, the risk should, I think, be acceptable. I would, however, prefer not to go on any long-term missions - nothing longer than, say, overnight."

"Not many of our missions are more than overnight," Scott pointed out.

"But it might come up, and it's as well to be prepared." Hank gave Scott a puzzled look. "Scott, have I done something to tick you off?"

Scott frowned, then shook his head. "That's a strange question, Hank." Which he proceeded not to answer. "You've asked for a change in duty status, and I'll keep that in mind. I'll have to ask Madelyn if she's up for playing field medic on longer missions if need be."

Hank nodded. "Thank you. I realize it's short notice, but I rather expected Danielle to change her mind, once she'd calmed down..." He leaned back, steepling his fingers thoughtfully. "And... I have done something. What was it?"

Scott smiled briefly. "You haven't done anything, Hank. Are there any other restrictions you want me to know about?"

"Well, obviously I'll be trying hard not to get killed, but I do that anyway." Hank frowned. "If it isn't something I did, then what is bothering you? You're talking as if you're being charged by the word." And you don't seem happy that I'm finally going to get to be a parent, when you know how long I've wanted it, and I wanted to tell you about Maddie asking me on a date but I'm not sure that's a good idea now...

"Hank..." Scott sighed a little. "I wish you nothing but the best with the baby. And Maddie. I really do." He smiled again, a bit faintly. "Things seem to be starting to fall into place for you, and that's great. I'm really glad."

Hank nodded slowly. "But they're not falling into place for you, at the moment," he said, guessing at a potential source of the problem. "And may not for some time."

Scott raised a hand, that faint smile coming back. "Don't make this about me, all right? Are you sure there's nothing else you want me to keep in mind in terms of your availability? You'd be well within your rights to not want to go on anything like the Youra mission, given the new obligations..."

"I'll go if I'm needed," Hank said quietly. "I would prefer not to, naturally, but I won't let you go off without a doctor, either, not for something like that. I'm making arrangements, legally, just in case something does happen to me - rewriting my will, and so forth." He'd had to do so anyway - he'd put Scott in years ago, and wanted to add a legacy for Alex as well. He wasn't in the Professor's league, not even close, but he did have a respectable amount of money, and his parents wouldn't need all of it.

"Rule number two of being an X-Man," Scott said, lightly. "Always have the legal documents in order. We should really hand out do-it-yourself will kits to the new members..."

"We should." Hank nodded. "I... that's all I wanted to talk about, I guess. The baby shouldn't pose too much of a problem - there's plenty of room down in the Medlab for a playpen, and I have no shortage of eager volunteers to babysit if need be."

"Any problems are manageable, yes," Scott agreed amiably. He got the sense that Hank was hurt that he wasn't more excited for him, but... well, he'd chip in if it was needed, too. Hank should know that.

"So... that's it, then." Hank stood, more than a little bewildered. Scott had never shut him out like this before. "Thank you. If any other potential problems crop up, I'll let you know."

"If you need helping painting that second room of yours, I do wield a fairly decent paintbrush," Scott pointed out, looking back down at the files. "Although remember what happened the last time I tried to hang wallpaper and keep me well away from it, hmm?"

"I will." Hank nodded. "Thank you." He turned towards the door, and then glanced back. "If you do feel like talking, at some point... you know where to find me," he said quietly.

Scott looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "Hank, you look bemused," he said. "You came down here to talk to me in my official persona, didn't you?"

So that was it. Hank sighed. "I... yes, I suppose I did. But generally your official persona is less... cold. More than one sentence at a time. Actually willing to discuss a situation instead of waiting until I spell it out and then offering approval or disapproval. And.... not averse to discussing the personal, as well."

Scott sighed and rested his chin in his hand. "I suppose I'm hiding behind Cyclops a little more than usual these days," he admitted, freely enough. The corner of his mouth tugged upwards in a humorless half-smile. "Can you really blame me? I made a mess I can't do a damned thing to clean up. And to make it worse, there's part of me that would happily pretend the last two years hadn't happened every time I look at Jean. Scott's having a hard time looking at himself in the mirror these days. Work's the only thing that's making any kind of sense."

He shook his head, but went on. "And I wasn't about to offer disapproval, Hank," he said. "You're about to make a huge change in your life, and that needs to come first. I didn't think that much was open for discussion. I don't intend to make it any more challenging for you by trying to wangle more from you than you're willing to give."

"But you weren't offering any concessions in order to make things easier for me, either," Hank said quietly. "Not one suggestion as to how I might combine parenthood with my duties as an X-Man, not even an offer to do what you could to make the transition easier." He took a deep breath. "And I understand why, and I didn't really need it, I just... I hoped you'd be happier for me."

Scott closed his eyes for a moment, letting the momentary flicker of irritation fade again. If he started getting uptight about things again... well, he knew where that led. "What concessions do you want, Hank?" he asked quietly. "Keep in mind I haven't done the parenting thing myself. I haven't had much of a life outside the X-Men in general, so I really don't know anything about how to balance that with anything else. I have something of a failure of imagination on that score most of the time, but we all know that."

"Nothing, really. As I said, everything should work out reasonably well." He'd just wanted Scott to take enough of an interest to offer. To show some sign of being glad for him, of wanting it to work out. "I've never been a parent either, but I'm doing my best to plan ahead for it. If anything else does come up, I'll let you know."

He couldn't cope with Hank flat-out contradicting himself from one moment to the next. "Hank?" He waited until Hank met his eyes again before he went on. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to... celebrate more with you, this week," he said evenly. "I've been worried about this business with Pete, and..." What was he doing? "I'm sorry," he repeated, his eyes dropping back to the desk. "I thought you knew I'd do whatever you needed me to do to help. I didn't think it needed saying."

Hank sighed, reaching out to touch Scott's shoulder gently. "I understand," he said softly. "I can only imagine how hard the last few weeks have been for you, and I'm sorry I've made it harder. I just..." He took a deep breath, trying to organize his thoughts. "Finally, something is going well for me," he said quietly. "I've been alone for a long time, Scott. Despite that, I was happy for you when you and Jean got engaged, even though I envied you your happiness. I was happy for you when you and Betsy got involved. I was thrilled that you got to meet your grandparents, and that you found Alex, even though every time I couldn't help envying you. It... hurt... that when finally I was the one who had something good happen, you didn't even offer a 'yay'."

"I guess I'm just not as good a person as you are." Scott laid a hand over Hank's where it rested on his shoulder for a moment, squeezing briefly. "You're going to make a good father, Hank," he said quietly. "And this will be a good place to raise him or her. I'll help make sure of that."

"You are a very good person," Hank said firmly. "Just... taken up with your own troubles. Which I should have understood, and I'm sorry for making a fuss about it." He smiled a little. "It's just been so long, since I had good news to share. And... you're going to be a very good uncle, I think."

"The boringly good uncle, most likely," Scott said wryly, making himself give Hank this much. Banter he could do, surely. "Uncle Stick-in-the-mud Scott. Who gives Junior educational games instead of the latest hot toy... you just watch."

Hank sighed. "I wish I could help," he said quietly. "And I'm sorry I've made this harder for you. It's okay."

"Green," Scott said. "For the nursery. That's my suggestion, at least. That way it works for a boy or a girl." His gaze shifted away from Hank's for a moment. "Green and yellow, maybe. Sunlight and green grass... I think that would be nice, don't you?"

"That would be very nice. And I, in my blue glory, can represent the sky." Hank nodded. Okay, this had gone all shades of not well... next time, he told himself, don't take it so personally. Or at least don't tell him. "I should get back to work. Take care, Scott."

"Sure, Hank. Remember what I said about the paint. And the wallpaper," he murmured, his eyes dropping back to the files in front of him. Although Jean had thought he looked very cute with wallpaper paste on his nose. He pulled an empty folder over to him, scrawling 'Ask Maddie about back-up medic work' on it, and then, after a moment's consideration, added a heading that read 'To-do' list just above it. Might as well start a new one.

"I will." Hank nodded. "And... Scott? Maddie... I told her how I felt. We're not going to rush anything, but... we are going to go on a date or two. See how things go."

Scott paused, then smiled a bit. "Jean prodded you in the rear, did she?"

"As did Alison." Hank smiled a bit bashfully. "There are no guarantees, but... it's a start."

"Why is it always the women who know what they're doing when it comes to these things? Hard on the pride, a little..." Scott looked up at Hank. "Free piece of advice, though. Don't get so caught up in the not-rushing that you miss the signals to go a little faster." He laughed softly. "Yeah, I know. Not much help."

"I'll do my best." Hank nodded. "Going slow isn't really my forte, but... I'll try. For her. We're keeping it very quiet, of course, the last thing either of us wants it to hurt Kurt even more. But... I'm happy. Tactless as I know it is, telling you so." He smiled ruefully. "I... hope things work out for you. And, if it helps at all.... I'll be here, for all concerned." He wasn't as close to Betsy as he was to the other two, obviously, but he cared about her. No matter who wound up getting hurt, he'd be there to offer as much comfort as he could.

"I know that too, Hank." Scott summoned up another smile. "But anyway. While I'm pouring over the paperwork, why don't you go do something fun, like look at the baby catalogues I'm sure you've probably procured at this point? Hank or Henrietta Junior's going to need a good crip, after all..."

Hank nodded, brightening at the thought. "I should do that, shouldn't I? I really need to start organizing." He smiled at Scott. "Thank you. And... I'll be here, if you need to talk, or anything." He headed for the door. "And Scott?" he added, glancing back as he reached it. "You know, 'Summer' is a charming name for a girl."