Kurt and Scott, Thursday

[x-cyclops.livejournal.com]

What happens when you order one of your X-Men to EMP an area that includes all your communications gear? You get to go and check on your team personally.


When there were people trapped in an apartment block with the stairs destroyed, and the building wasn't stable enough to bring in the cherry-pickers, the obvious choice for rescue was the trained acrobat. Especially when said trained acrobat could teleport, if the building started to seem even less stable. Therefore, Kurt was now halfway up the outside wall, about to pull himself in through the open window.

Scott, having just seen a particularly aggressive looter into policy custody, had heard over the police radio what was going on, and had made a detour several blocks over to see for himself. He hadn't checked in with Kurt yet, after all. Seeing his teammate halfway up the side of a very obviously damaged building made him freeze for a moment, tensely, but as Kurt reemerged with a child clinging to him desperately, Scott relaxed fractionally.

Rather than risk climbing back down with the child when it was unnecessary, Kurt took one careful glance at the ground, judging the distance, and teleported them both to the safe solid concrete. "There is no one else in that apartment", he told one of the rescue workers tiredly, handing the child over, then looked over at Scott with a nod of greeting.

"Hey," Scott greeted quietly. "You okay?"

"I am as well as could be expected," Kurt answered equally quietly as he headed over. "Everyone came from this building alive, at least."

"That's good." Scott gave Kurt an assessing look. "How much longer are you good for? I was going to take the plane back tomorrow to resupply - I can drop off anyone who needs some rest."

"I will stay," Kurt told him. "If need be, I will sleep in one of the shelters for a few hours."

Scott smiled a bit humorlessly. "I'm coming right back myself - just a quick hop to Westchester and back. I'm not quite as useful as some of the rest of you-" Although he was doing quite well with the looters. "-but you know me. I'd be paranoid and twitchy if I wasn't here to keep track of everyone."

"Of course you would," Kurt answered with a faint smile, remembering his and Marie's own encounter with the two looters. "And we appreciate it."

Scott took a deep breath and then let it out on a sigh, looking around at the damaged buildings. He reached out and rested a hand on Kurt's shoulder for a moment, squeezing gently. "'Keep on keeping on'," he said with a crooked smile. "We're doing what we can. That's the important thing."

"And we always will," Kurt agreed, returning the smile. "As long as we can."

"And people never believe me when I tell them that the stubborn persistence is actually not just me but the whole command staff...." Scott said as he started to turn. "Make sure you get something to eat, if you're teleporting a lot," he cautioned Kurt. "I don't want to see you running down. The Red Cross is doing a great job feeding emergency personnel, and right now, that's what we are."

Kurt nodded, making it a promise. "I do not want to be too tired to work. I will eat, and sleep."

"I'll check back in with you later today," Scott promised, and made a mental note to pick up some extra coms when he went back to Westchester.