Scott and Betsy.....talk.

[x-psylocke.livejournal.com]

The log that killed its' players.

A short explanation from Betsy to a furious Summers.



Scott moved with calm efficiency down the hallways to the medlab. He nodded at Hank, who wisely stayed where he was. Hank thought about interfering for only the merest of seconds. Getting /that/ look from Cyclops was not on his agenda for the evening. And it was Cyclops who was out, not his friend Scott.

He knocked on the door twice, and waited for a response from within.

Betsy paced her room several times after reading Scott's last comment to her post. She was fuming and she knew he would not be happy to see her now. She slowly realized that she would be able to see him for the first time, when a short set of knocks from the door made her stop in her tracks. "Come in!" Betsy called out.

Scott opened the door and stepped just over the threshold, closing it behind him. "Shouldn't you be resting?" he raised an eyebrow, his tone chilled.

The light in the room, dimmed to protect her eyes from oversensitivy. She still floundered at the sight of him. He was there, in front of her. And, she so much wanted to move closer, but she also knew that he would not welcome it. "I have been," she says calmy. "Almost three months now."

"Yes, but you also had more surgery just over 24 hours ago." He bit back the harsher words that wanted to bubble up, to spill out of his mouth. "Sit. At least, it will keep Hank or Ali from storming in here." He refused to say please.

She stared at him, puzzled. "Alright." Betsy took a seat at her bed, and she immediately regretted it. She felt a stabbing pain in her head and bit back a cry of pain. She hated when he was right. And with much difficulty, she continued. "I just wanted to say...."

He was stoic through her pain, and had only the ever-so-slightest-bit of vindicated glee pass through him. "Unless you want to go back to the military base for more surgery, you'll rest. Now....what did you want to say that couldn't wait?"

"Against medical advice and Hank's beligerence, I've been reading all the posts done since I've been...incapcitated. It is important for me to explain to you, for you to understand why I did what I did." She sighed, touching her her forehead. "I owe you that much."

"Why? Why now, and not before?" He leaned back against the door, arms crossed over his chest. He wasn't relaxing his pose, his stance, his mindset. Not. One. Bit. The images of the FoH trip kept forcing themselves to the forefront if he relaxed.

Betsy took in his stance and pushed on. She did have a purpose for bringing him here and she was bound to accomplish it.

"I made my decision because of you. I wanted to see what could happen if I didn't fall back on my handicap like I'd been doing. I also wanted to be normal again. I was a shell of the person I use to be, always afraid to live and not useful to anyone. I didn't tell you before the surgery because there were complications that I was made aware of well before I agreed to undergo the operation. Chances that I would be irreparably damaged and/or made into a plain vegetable were extremely high and I didn't want to tell you only to say I probably wouldn't survive. I couldn't do that to you."

"Do what to me, exactly? What was it that you didn't want to *do* to me? I know that you knew of the risks." Scott adjusted his position slightly. "Essex made that *very* clear. As did Kitty. And Pete." Each name, each person that knew ahead of time was pushed at her. Not spat, there was no spite. /Hammered./

Damn, she knew he would be mad, but didn't think it would be this was hard. Without her powers to fall back on, Betsy had to rely on the truth. She bowed her head and took a moment before continuing. "Do you remember that second night in the clearing? The night I had passed out in your arms?"

She was taking the conversation in an unexpected direction. No, not unexpected, /unwanted./ Still, he would deal with this. This was nothing. "Yes."

"Beforehand, I'd had an encounter with Jono, as I tried to help him control his psionic abilities. That encounter left a nasty mark and gave me dizzy spells for days. I thought, I had gotten over it. But then, that night, what happened between the two of us proved otherwise. I was still ill and it wasn't something that bed rest could heal. I went to Essex in search of options, just a random check of possibilities, and during that time, I was made aware of the dangers still present because of my previous injury. I was told that the injury that took my sight could very well take my life. He gave me an option, I took it. But I couldn't live having everyone else deal with my burden as well."

"I had Pete check out Essex's credentials, because I could never read the man and I barely trusted his intentions. Kitty was involved because she was the only option given to me, barring being taken to a military base and Essex...." she paused. "Was the only one who could keep me alive during the surgery. It was a dirty lie to keep from all of you, but how could I let you trust a man, I didn't even trust."

Hands clenched into fists for a moment, then relaxed. He shook his head, a tired sigh escaping his lips as he looked up at nothing. "You. Didn't. Trust. Him." Scott laughed, a short bark. "You know, it's quite amusing, in retrospect. The only reason I kept him around as long as I did, the only reason I did not have the Professor drive him off-campus, was my foolish faith in what I know now is your non-existant trust in the man you chose to operate on you. I'm sure Essex is laughing his ass off about this. I would be, in his shoes."

He shook his head, clearing it. "Is that all, then? Or are there other secrets you feel the need to reveal?" This, finally, had the sarcasm touch.

A bitter smile cracks the calm facade on her face, as she spoke. "I trusted the man's capabilities, Scott. Not the man. There were so many times, I almost told you, I wanted to tell you. Then we stopped talking, because I avoided you, or you avoided me. For a time, I wanted a moment to tell you everything and have you know the whole truth. And that is all I wished for you. To know the truth, because I owe you so much more, but this is all I can give. I'm truly sorry for all of it."

"You don't /owe/ me anything. You never did." This came from the heart, even if it wasn't delivered with a soft touch. "And I'm sorry too. Sorry you couldn't trust me, or trust yourself, to tell me before the surgery. Essex played you well. He played us all."

He turned toward the door then, but stopped with his hand on the knob. "Will you go to him?"

Betsy's shoulders slumped and leaning forward, lessened the pressure building in her head and regrettably did everything and nothing at the same time. She turned to his still form by the door, exhausted. "Who?"

He started to say the name, his mouth opened, then he closed it, unspoken. "Betsy," he used her name for the first time since he had entered her room, the first time since she awoke. "Since your first operation, Bobby was kidnapped and replaced by Mystique. I found this out yesterday when we went on a mission to save another mutant and found him as well. The other mutant die..."

He started to say '"died" but halted. No, that's wrong. "...was murdered. By a group calling themselves the Friends of Humanity. Because *I* chose to go after Mystique and blow our approach. You were..."

He leaned his head against the door. It was harder to maintain his chill demeanor when he wasn't facing her. But he couldn't turn back around. "And now you're back. And can see again. Congratulations. I'm glad. Glad that you're alive, and that you can see, and that everything turned out for the best in the end."

Steel came back in his voice. "But the ends don't justify the means." Never. And I'm sorry you couldn't trust me, or trust yourself."

She couldn't help it, she rose from her seat and moved closer to him. As he talked, his back still turn, she stood merely a foot away, shakily placing her hand on his back. "It wasn't your fault. Out of everything you've accomplished in this life, you've been successful for most of it. There is bound to be some strife blocking your path, it is a test of your true character, Scott."

Moving closer, she was only mere inches away. "Even if you don't believe it right now. I've never been one to ask for leniency and I don't deserve it. I just ask that you know that no one in this school blames you for what happened to that child. He is another casualty in this dirty war and I refuse to let yourself be another. Show yourself the compassion you kindly give others, Scott. You cannot let them break you, now."

His back was tense when she placed her hand on it, and didn't lessen while she spoke. "I can't afford compassion for myself, Ms. Braddock. The price is too high." Scott pulled back from the door and opened it.

A rise of panic took hold as he tried to leave. Betsy turned Scott around, moved in, and kissed him. It was all she could do to let him know how she felt. She put everything she felt into that kiss and felt apart of his wall break, it was a small concession, so she pulled back. Betsy nodded her head, studying him intently under her purple gaze.

"You'll know where to find me. And I'll be there, waiting."

Scott was unprepared. Of all the responses he thought she might give him, this was nowhere on the radar.He relented only a little bit, letting her kiss him, not quite returning it, but not rejecting either. When she pulled back, his face reflected his confusion. But he nodded in agreement to her words, and managed a throaty, "Okay," in response before fleeing the scene.

She let out a breath of hope, she'd been holding since he'd entered her room. A beep from her computer made her turn from the still opened door. Betsy walked to the desk Hank had readily made available to her, sat in her chair, and read the latest journal posting. Everyone had certainly been busy posting these past few months. Her eyes then fell on a disturbing message.

Did anyone else watch the news?

Her eyes glazed as she read Paige's words, in mild shock and horror. Betsy looked up from her computer, a bare whisper escaping her lips. "Oh no." Scott.