Log | Scott and Ororo | Monday night

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The night before Scott heads to DC, Ororo stops by to lend her support. It seems the more things change, the more they stay the same.

The hallway leading to Scott and Jean's suite seemed unusually dark, Ororo though as she walked towards her friend's door. Or just Scott's suite now...

She paused before the door and gave a gentle knock, her lips pressed together in an expression of concern. "Scott?" she asked softly after a few moments. "It's me. Are you there?"

After a moment, the door opened. "Come on in, 'Ro," Scott said quietly even as he turned away, heading over to the aquarium in the corner of the living room. "Was just reminding myself to feed Horatio."

"I'm sure he appreciates the thought," Ororo remarked, stepping inside and shutting the door behind her. "I've got some watercress nearly done growing in the Attic... I'll be sure to bring it by when it's ready."

Scott gave her a tiny, wan smile. "Spoiling my turtle again. You're going to make him fat." He went over to the couch and sat down, knowing Ororo would take the invitation to do likewise as implicit. "I'm going to DC tomorrow," he said abruptly.

Nodding, Ororo sat down on the couch, folding her legs neatly beneath her. "It seems as good a place to start as any," she replied, resting one arm along the cushions.

Scott took a deep breath, then let it out on a sigh. "It doesn't make any sense." It was a quiet protest, but a heartfelt one. "And I'm not sure what would be worse. That this isn't what it looks like and something's really wrong, or if she just has gotten tired of... all of this, and she's moving on."

Ororo's expression was calm, as always, but Scott could see the concern in her eyes. "Either way, there's an explanation behind it. You owe it to yourself to try and find out what it is. You know I don't think she would just... leave like that."

"I ought to show you that email," Scott said bleakly. "Or maybe not. It doesn't matter, I suppose. Either what she said is a cover for something else, or she means it." He propped his leg up on the coffee table - his bad knee was aching today for some reason. Probably the lack of sleep.

"What will you do when you get to DC? Do you think she's still there?" The hopelessness in Scott's voice tugged at Ororo; she hated to see him hurt like this.

"I figured I'd talk to some of the people I know she saw over the weekend. See if any of them knew about this opportunity she mentioned. If there's anything wrong..." He paused, a soft, bitter laugh slipped out. "If there's anything really wrong, beyond her just being tired of us, that's the place to start."

"Right. I'm sure you'll find something. If she sent emails then she's not too concerned with being discreet, so you should be able to learn at least something."

Scott ran a slightly unsteady hand through his hair. "I don't know what I'm going to do, if this is what it looks like," he said, a hint of the misery he was feeling at the thought coming out in his voice. "I already lost her once, Ororo, and it nearly killed me."

"But you made it through. Just like you'll make it through this time." It was times like these that Ororo counted herself lucky not to be 'involved' with anyone. I've seen love do just as much harm as good. If not more. She reached out, putting a hand on Scott's shoulder. "I know you can do it, Scott, and you're not alone. Everyone at this school is behind you."

He laid a hand over hers for a moment where it was resting on his shoulder. "I keep wondering if I just didn't listen," he said heavily. "All the times she and I joked about running off to work for my grandparents in Alaska... and she's had such a hard year. Maybe I just wasn't paying close enough attention."

"Everyone here is under stress," Ororo said softly. "And we all deal with it differently. But you did the best you could." She squeezed his shoulder. "It's not your fault. Don't ever blame yourself."

It got another faint smile from him. "I don't know what I'd do without you and Alison and Charles at the moment," he said quietly. All three of them - they weren't pushing, but they were there, and very gently making that very clear. "Determined not to see me go down the road to another nervous breakdown, huh?" He forced himself to smile a little more, to show her that yes, it was a joke and he wasn't even contemplating the possibility.

"And leave me with all the work? Absolutely not." Ororo smiled back, glad to see the humor, however faint. "If you think you're getting off that easy you've got another thing coming. But you can have all the time you need to deal with this, you know. There's no need to rush through it or push yourself."

"I think, whatever happens tomorrow, that I'm not going to take a break from our, uh, administrative work," Scott said, a touch of wryness in his voice. "I'll need something sufficiently mindless to keep myself occupied when I'm lacking anything else to do. I suspect," he went on more quietly, "that I might let you and Alison trade on-call duty for a week or so, though. I can't really screw up quite so much as the headmaster as I can with the team..."

"Trading paperwork for on-call duty is more than an acceptable exchange. Just be careful we don't get too accustomed to it, or you might find a mountain on your desk every morning."

He smiled again, a little more naturally. "Well, we can't have that, can we?" Scott took another deep breath, telling himself to calm down. "I thought of calling Alex today," he said, in an abrupt change of subject. "But then I figured he probably doesn't want to listen. I think this must be 'Sucks to be a Summers' week."

"Well, on the upside, that means only another six days of this..." Ororo smiled and shook her head. "But I'm sure Alex would want to listen if you needed to talk. Just as you would listen if he needed to talk as well. Just because you're going through hard times doesn't mean you can't commiserate."

"You didn't hear our last conversation," Scott said, then shook his head. "Not going to dwell on this," he said more steadily. "Trying to deal with everything at once was how I nearly succeeded in driving myself crazy the last time. One thing at a time."

"Good idea. You should be planning your departure. For example, have you found someone to keep an eye on Horatio while you're away?" Ororo asked with a gentle smile.

Scott mustered up an appealing look. "He likes you. You bring him watercress."

Laughing, Ororo sat back, slipping her hand from Scott's shoulder. "Men are so easy. Throw them a few leafy greens and they adore you forever."

Scott gazed at the little turtle, swimming up and down in his tank. "Oh, for a turtle's life. Eating, swimming, occasionally sunning yourself..."

"Retreating into your shell whenever you get too overwhelmed..." Ororo pursed her lips. "It would be nice. But unrealistic. Turtles don't save lives. Or fall in love."

Scott looked back at her. "No, they don't," he said after a moment, and his eyes dropped to the plain titanium ring on his finger. He rubbed at it almost unconsciously, pain and uncertainty chasing each other across his face for a moment. "Remember me telling you back at Christmas, at the wedding, how it felt so natural, like it was meant to be?"

Ororo nodded, her expression sympathetic. "Don't jump to any conclusions, Scott, not without trying to find out what's going on first. It must be hard, but your imagination is probably coming up with things far more complex and hurtful than the truth."

"I just feel naive. Like I bought into the fairy-tale ending and shouldn't have." Scott shook his head, his shoulders slumping for a moment before he straightened. "I should probably try and get some sleep, if I'm driving to DC tomorrow," he said. "I didn't sleep much last night."

"All right. Will you be okay?" Here, alone? She didn't say it, but her expression and tone implied it well enough.

Scott gave a slight smile. "The couch is very comfortable," he said. "I think I might just sleep out here." Rather than in a too-empty bed.

"Very well." Ororo nodded. A dozen admonishments and words of advice crossed her mind, but she stifled them all. He didn't need that right now. "That's a good idea."

"Horatio could probably use the company," Scott quipped half-heartedly, then shrugged. "I figure I'll head out at the crack of dawn tomorrow. So that I can catch people in their offices during the morning hours."

"Drive carefully," Ororo said, unable to resist at least a little concerned advice.

"Don't I always?"