Scott and Crystal, Saturday night

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Scott's having an Amaquelin-filled day, as he calls Crystal in later on Saturday evening to give her the same bad news that he gave Forge on Thursday. Crystal doesn't take it well.


"... so that's what we know," Scott concluded quietly, looking across his desk at Crystal, seated in the chair on the other side. He had waited a little longer than he'd intended, to call Crystal in, but given that her sister had just arrived, he'd wanted to give them a little time for their reunion before telling her the news (or lack thereof) about Jennie. He somehow didn't think this conversation was going to go as well as the one earlier today with Medusa. "We're looking for her with every resource we have, Crystal. Her father's doing the same thing in Europe."

For a few moments, Crystal stared ahead at Scott, her face absolutely still. "Now you're looking for her," she said quietly.

Scott took a deep breath, then let it out. "Crystal," he said, very gently, "why would we have been looking for her before we knew something was wrong? This is, I think, the first time I can remember Jennie lying in any way, shape, or form. The idea that she wanted to spend more time with her newly discovered family is hardly a bizarre one."

"The school is supposed to be responsible for the students," Crystal replied. "She said she would be back, and then all she did was make one phone call and you simply accepted it?"

"One phone call? From a trustworthy student, who said she was spending more time with her parent? Yes." Scott's expression was calm, his voice utterly level. "Hindsight is 20/20, Crystal, please remember that. We know there's something wrong now. We had no reason to believe there was anything wrong a few weeks ago."

Crystal sighed. "I was worried weeks a few weeks ago. Forge was worried a few weeks ago. I had to assume our fears were baseless if the members of the staff were not concerned."

The logic bothered him. "Crystal," Scott said very reasonably, "did you have any reason to be worried apart from the fact that Jennie hadn't gotten into contact with either of you?"

She had to have another reason to worry? What was wrong with that one? "No," Crystal said simply.

"In our defense, I'll just point out that when one of you let us know that she hadn't been in contact with her friends for what was becoming an uncharacteristic length of time, Ms. Munroe immediately got in touch with Jennie's father. Had you come to us sooner, we probably would have called sooner." Scott raised a hand before Crystal could respond. "That's not me saying that you should have, or blaming you. Just that we had to have something to act on, some expression of concern, before we had reason to suspect that anything might be wrong."

Crystal responded with a simple nod. She had thought about talking to a staff member, but had decided against it, attempting to trust in the school. She understood Scott's points, but still, she was not a very happy camper right now.

"This is why communication is so important," Scott went on a bit relentlessly, not taking silence for agreement. Crystal's manners were occasionally a little too good for her own good, he'd noticed. "We know - we the staff, I mean - that the students will sometimes know things that we don't. Things that maybe we need to know. All we can do is keep our eyes and ears open, and trust you all to come to us if there's something that's troubling you."

Again, Crystal responded with a nod. She wondered what would have happened if she had mentioned something earlier. Would anyone have actually done anything, or simply dismissed her fears as unfounded? Besides, given her impressions of the teachers, she was not very eager to run to them on a whim. "I see."

Scott shook his head a little. "I don't think you do," he said soberly, and got up, coming around the desk and leaning back against the edge. "I swear to you," he said very steadily, meeting Crystal's eyes, "that as soon as we have some - hopefully concrete - news as to where she is, we'll let you know. I didn't know until Forge told me that you were this worried. But I'm glad that he did."

Crystal resisted the urge to nod again. Right now, she was also not very pleased with Forge. He had promised to keep her informed. He had not done this. How could she think Mr. Summers would keep her any more informed than Forge had? "I will have to trust you, then," she answered sincerely.

"I don't give my word lightly," Scott said more gently. "If I do, it's not worth much, is it? And I want to find Jennie very badly, too." He tilted his head slightly. "You'll let me know if you hear anything at all from her?" he asked. "Just in case she does get in contact..."

"Yes, Mr. Summers," Crystal said calmly. " I will let you know if I hear from Jennie."

"Thank you," Scott said, moving back around the desk. "That's about all I can tell you right now, Crystal, unfortunately... I spoke to Forge just before he left for his trip, and we haven't learned anything new since."

Giving Scott a brief nod, Crystal stood up. "Thank you for taking the time to speak with me," she told him. Her desire to remain polite forced her to use a sincere tone, even though she wished she could let at least a bit of sarcasm come through.

"I'm doing it partly on Forge's behalf, as well. He told me before he left what he'd promised you." Scott sank back into his chair. "I'll keep you informed," he said quietly. "Thank you for coming in to see me."