xp_logs | Not So Plain Jane | Scott and Ororo

Ororo is waiting for Scott when he arrives back at the mansion. Surprisingly there are no words of reprimand, just concern, and afterwards a plan is formed.

He needed downstairs. Right now. Maybe he'd stop to get Charles along the way, Scott reflected dimly as he stalked down the front hall, but he needed the Situation Room right now. Plans of the Hellfire Club. All the intel that had been put into the database on the place.

It just so happened that when Scott arrived in the Situation Room the plans for the Club had already been pulled up, along with the latest-known staff roster and a preliminary plan for infiltration. Although perhaps I should just replace it with 'Let Scott run rampant', Ororo thought dryly, though her expression showed nothing but polite interest as he entered the room. "Scott. I thought you might want to take a look at a few things."

"Oh, good. You read my mind," he said, sitting down in front of the screens displaying the necessary information. "I suppose tonight would be too early to go in." It might have been a joke, under any other circumstances.

"Mm, yes, just a bit." She pursed her lips, watching as he eagerly devoured the information before him. "Scott, we will help you plan this. It does not have to be on your shoulders this next time."

Scott was quiet for a long moment, and not just because he was skimming through the files. "I don't... think it was on my shoulders today. I think I didn't think, is what happened. How often do I do that, Ororo? Do things without thinking... I'd be in jail right now if Shaw hadn't decided that getting Jean out of his club was more important."

"It seems the school is overrun with a plague of rashness," Ororo said with a tight smile, shaking her head. "And I am still pushing to have electric collars put on each and every one of you who seem to have a tendency to act without thinking. But for now, you should not worry about that. There is a more important plan to draw up, and this you cannot do that without our help."

"We need to be subtle," Scott said. Act now. Dissect past actions later. Maybe at leisure. "Shaw's not going to interfere with us when we go in, so long as we don't make a mess. He said something about sending us invitations if need be."

Ororo tried to ignore the surrealness of potential invitations to the Hellfire Club. Stranger things have happened... I think. "It seems the only real resistance will be from Jean herself, then. Who do you think will be best suited to help bring her out?"

"You, me. Kurt, maybe." Scott thought for a minute. "I'm not going to risk aggravating Shaw by bringing Nathan, after their little tete-a-tete in November. Charles will have to 'ride along'." Charles was on his way downstairs, Scott was suddenly aware. "Need more. Sam. Sam's invulnerable - might be useful."

Ororo nodded, already drawing up a mental roster and glancing at the building's layout for the most likely avenues of search. "The smaller the better, I think," she agreed. Although... "Perhaps we should have Logan," she suggested, keeping her voice neutral. "He would be able to track her despite any telepathic blocks."

Scott's gaze hardened. "Maybe," he said, and there was something very flinty about his voice all of a sudden. "If we're sure he can keep it together. Because any kind of lapse is not happening, not on this mission. If it does, I'll kill him." There wasn't even anything semi-facetious about the statement.

"We shall keep it as an option," Ororo replied calmly. "In the meantime, we should visualize the possible scenarios and work with Charles to ensure that we are prepared to extract her as smoothly as possible."

And then what? Where did they go from there? There was no guarantee Charles would be able to 'fix' her. And even if he did, there wasn't any guarantee she'd want to stay. Whatever was wrong with her, maybe that had been her choice, and...

His hands were shaking. "I'm fine," he insisted hoarsely, well-aware of Ororo's gaze. "We'll get her back. Charles will help her." And if that didn't change anything between them... then it wouldn't. The pain in his chest was crushing, almost overwhelming, but he straightened in his chair. It didn't matter. Not right now. Focus on the task at hand.

It tore at Ororo to watch him in such obvious torment, and she had a good idea what was causing it. She had no words to fix things, however, no reassurances that wouldn't sound hollow and forced. All they could do was take it one step at a time, and trust that it would work out for the best.

"We have done the impossible before," she reminded him softly. "Compared to that, this will not be so bad." They both knew she wasn't talking about the Hellfire Club.

"Right." He had to shut Scott off. Right now. What this situation called for was Cyclops. Scott could wait until later. Much, much later.