Not So Plain Jane: The Man With No Plan (Scott, Jane)

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Upon seeing Jay's post, Scott gets on his bike and heads into New York with one specific destination in mind. He has absolutely no plan in mind, unless you count breaking anyone standing between him and Jean.


He'd taken his bike, for the first time in almost six months. He'd taken his bike, and driven very carefully, a mile under the speed limit, all the way into the city. Scott hadn't wanted to get stopped. He had things to do that talking his way out of a traffic ticket would delay, and he was beginning to think that these things had been delayed quite enough.

Finding parking was a bit of a hassle even at this time of night, even for the bike. It took him ten, fifteen minutes once he'd gotten to the right part of town, and even then, the spot was a block away. Oh, well. Walking quickly, his expression flat, he made his way to the elegant front doors of the Hellfire Club and walked in, ignoring the purposeful way a large suited man moved towards him as he stepped into the lobby.

"I beg your pardon, sir," the man rumbled. "It's after hours, and I don't believe-"

"I want to see Jean Grey." Scott looked up at him coldly. "Right now."

The large suited man looked disapproving. "I'm sorry, sir," he said. "You're neither a member nor a member's invited guest, and I'm afraid I must-"

Scott hit him. Twice - once in the gut, hard enough to double him over, and the other time in the jaw. The bigger they were, the harder they fell, and this guy was no exception.

It got even more of a reaction, of course. Two more large suited types coming at him from down another hallway as he moved deeper into the Club, and Scott didn't hold back for an instant. He went for the disabling hits, the ones that would get them down and out of his way with the least fuss possible. One happened to fall backwards onto a very antique-looking table, which shattered under his weight. Ah, well.

She had to be here somewhere. Had to.

Jane didn't exactly pay attention to security matters, and the only person who knew the intruder was looking for her was already unconscious in the hallway, but it was a little hard to ignore the security goons rushing past the doorway, muttering into their collar mics about an intruder. Curious, Jane stood up and sauntered out into the hallway, heading for the stairs the goons had gone thundering down.

Oh, look. More. Scott introduced one to the wall, head-first, then dislocated another's knee with a carefully placed kick as the man rushed him. He dropped with a howl, and Scott encouraged him to go the rest of the way to the floor, breaking his nose in the process. The violence wasn't giving him any particular satisfaction. They were obstacles, just obstacles, and if they didn't stop appearing he was going to have to be slightly more definitive about how very, very irritating they were.

Well, huh. Jane stood at the top of the stairs, watching Scott very thouroughly destroy the club's security goons. It's a good thing we don't actually rely on these guys for anything beyond the basic bouncer bit, she thought to herself. It wasn't that they were incompetent, it was just that Scott was very, very determined and very, very good.

He had to be here to see her, but that was fine. He could see her anytime he looked up. Of course, there were another couple guards coming down the corridor towards him, too. Might be interesting to see which he noticed first.

He noticed her first. "Hi, honey," Scott said almost conversationally and started towards the stairs. "I think you and I need to have a little talk. Black is not your color." It had to be. They'd have heard about it, if she'd displaced Emma. His shields were up, reinforced to within an inch of their life, and while she could get through them if she tried, it was going to take her a while. And as soon as he felt her trying, he was going to let go with an optic blast, drag her back to Charles, and deal with the consequences later.

"Really? I think it suits me well, personally. But maybe that's just me." The goons were still coming down the corridor, but it was less a decision than an instinct that had her raising her hand to them. "Stop. Go back to your posts. I'll deal with him." The looks they gave each other would have told her that Shaw would be hearing about this, even if she hadn't been able to read the thoughts in their minds.

"Oh, you will, will you?" Scott started up the stairs, his expression grim and set. "I kind of had the opposite in mind. Since you've clearly lost your mind." Arrogant. So arrogant. She was just standing there, calm and smug, as if the two of them hadn't trained with and against each other for the better part of a decade. She might have an edge in raw power, but Scott knew that the overconfidence wasn't justified.

"Yes, I will." She'd be screwed if this came down to an actual fight, but she had no intention of it doing so, which was why there was a tk wall about half way up the stairs. But Scott didn't need to know that just yet. "Hell, if nothing else, I just need to keep you from breaking anything else until the police come. You're not welcome here, Scott. Leave."

Police. Well. He should have expected that, he supposed. He had just walked into the most exclusive private club in New York and started assaulting people. "I'll just have to make the most of what time we have, then, won't I?" he asked, then froze as he reached up for the bannister and his hand contacted something solid - and invisible. Scott smiled coldly. "Coward. Going to hide behind that wall until they come, then? It's actually not a bad strategic choice. Except that I'm not the only one who knows that you're here," he went on, his voice chilly and precise.

"You dislike my choices, fine. I don't care anymore, Scott. But you don't get to claim I'm not the one making them - you know it's me, could feel it before you had Charles close the link. You don't get to take away my right to make decisions, even ones you dislike, and you don't have the right to ask Charles to change my mind, and if he does, then he hasn't that right, either. No, you're not the only one who knows I'm here, but I. Don't. Care anymore."

"I know it's you," Scott said, standing on the other side of the TK shield like a tiger at bay, "but I also know that wasn't a choice you made in your right mind. The fact that you think that it is, that you honestly believed that replacing Selene is anything resembling a rational decision about how you're going to live your life, is the last piece of proof anyone with two brain cells to rub together needs." He should be angrier. More protective. Something. "And no crap about respecting your autonomy is going to change the truth."

"Are you volunteering Charles, then, to rewrite my mind? Somehow I don't think he'll appreciate that. I've taken Selene's job, that doesn't make me her, so I'll thank you not to judge me by that bitch's example." It was the first time she'd seen him since that night, and keeping him as far away from her was the best thing possible, the TK wall between them had to be there and she had to keep control of herself, even if seeing him, having him so close was making her crazy. Crazier.

"Drop it, Jean!" Scott snapped. "I don't buy it. You're not going to make me buy it, however often you hit the same old tired refrain. I should never have bought any of this in the first place."

"I don't care if you buy it or not! I just want you to leave me alone! Why the fuck do you care what I do now, anyway? Just. Back. Off!" And as she said it the TK wall pushed outwards, shoving him back down the stairs.

Scott wound up at the bottom of the stairs in a heap, dazed by the impact. As he started to pull himself back up to his feet, one of the guards Jane had warned off earlier apparently decided that the trespasser must have been attacking one of Mr. Shaw's close associates, and that couldn't be tolerated. The man sailed determinedly into the fray, coming up on Scott's blind spot while he was still on his knees.

The man got exactly one shot before Jane could react. "No!" she cried out, launching the guard into the wall behind him. "Don't touch him!" No one but her was allowed to hurt Scott. No one. He was hers. Taking a deep breath to try and calm herself she added, "I said I would handle this."

Scott, sprawled on the floor, struggled to push himself up to his hands and knees. His head was spinning, between the fall and the blow that had knocked him back down, but he was aware enough to hear Jean's reaction. "Don't buy it..." he muttered, grabbing the molding on the wall to pull himself back up. "Don't buy it..."

Outside the sound of sirens was becoming clear. "Don't then," she said, standing above him, "it doesn't matter."

There was something, something familiar here, he just didn't know what... Scott swallowed, closing his eyes and surging to his feet, all at once. She was close enough that he could have reached out, could have... no. Not with the police almost here.

"It does," he muttered, one hand against the wall to steady himself. "It does, and I'm not going to leave it alone. Ever. No matter what you do, no matter where you go... I'm never going to stop."

"You're doing it for yourself, then," she said coldly, "not for me. Don't try to lie to yourself and say you're doing this for me." Wrapping her arms around herself, she turned away from him. Down the hall she heard the door open and one of the guards say, "This way, officer."

#If I was doing it for myself,# he sent after her, dazed and not entirely sure of what he was saying, #I never would have come. I love you...#

Jane snarled at the air, hating the knowledge that it wasn't her that he loved. And it wasn't her who loved him, and she hated the fact that she had to remind herself of that. But she was composed by the time the police made it out into the hall.

"This the guy?"

How stupid could they be? "Yeah, that's him. Get him out of here."