Rogue and Cyclops, Comms Duty

[x-traction.livejournal.com]

Rogue goes to kick Scott off comms duty. They both let out how they feel about not getting to go to Hawaii.

“Scott, Ah think it’s time you give it a rest,” Marie said as she walked over to the tired looking man at the comms. “You’re not gonna do anyone any good if you don’t stay rested.”

Scott looked up at her, smiling faintly. "Don't worry, Marie," he said. "I was just waiting for you to show up to relieve me." He didn't make any move to get out of the chair, however.

Marie pulled up a chair next to him, fitting in an earpiece as she sat down. “Anything new?” she asked softly. She’d give him a chance to talk things out before shooing him out the door completely.

Scott shook his head. "I've been trying Alex's cell phone periodically," he said. Only when the words were out of his mouth did he realize that she might have been asking about the situation in general, and he gave her a slight, embarassed smile.

She reached over and squeezed his shoulder, smiling back at him reassuringly. “It’ll be alright.” She had been about to say ‘We’ll find him’ but she bit her lip. They couldn’t go in yet, something she really just didn’t understand. “Maybe some of the RedX folk will get ahold of him once they’re down there.”

"That's what I'm hoping. They're helping with the evacuation, so they're more likely to find him than I am from here." His gaze moved back to the screens. "At least RedX is getting to go in. I don't think I could have taken another uproar from the students about having to sit around and watch it all on the news." Bad enough that the team has to do that.

“Ah can understand where they’re coming from,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. “Don’t much like having to sit and watch,” Marie added with a gesture at the screens. “Even if Ah know the politics behind the decision.”

Scott sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I'm... it's not politics, Marie, it's just good sense. Whoever this mutant is-" He was not assuming that she was a goddess. Loki or no Loki. "-we can't chance setting her off before they've got the civilians out of the line of fire."

“Right,” Marie replied, her eyes locking on one of the screens. “Because she’s not set off already.”

Scott pressed his lips together and didn't answer for a long moment. It took that long to find the even tone. "The eruption's bad, yes. From what I understand, a second one could be far worse, plus increased seismic activity. To judge by their demands, what we've seen so far is a warning. I don't think we want to see what happens when they follow through on their threats, let alone see it with the civilian population still all there and helpless."

“Ah’m not saying we go in and declare ourselves,” she said stubbornly. “But we could at least be there.” Once the statement was out, Marie blushed and looked away from Scott. She knew how hard it must be for him not to be headed there, to look for Alex. And here she was giving him a hard time about it.

"Yeah, we could," Scott said somewhat flatly, staring at the screens. "I'm sure that something will happen that will make me wish that we had. Just because that's the way it is." The comment should have come across sounding sarcastic; it didn't. It was a statement of fact, nothing more, nothing less.

“Yeah,” Marie said, though her tone didn’t make what she was agreeing to clear. “Doesn’t mean Ah have to like it.”

"Hey, nowhere did I say anything about liking it. Also," Scott said, "there's nothing to say that we won't go in. We're just not doing it now." He looked over at her. "There's always the chance, when you jump in with both feet at the first hint of a crisis, of making it worse."

“Guess sometimes Ah have trouble quashing that tendency,” she admited. “It just isn’t easy sitting back when Ah see so much that needs to be done.”

Scott folded his arms across his chest, leaning back in his chair. "I don't intend to do anything precipitously anymore," he said quietly, his eyes back on the screens. "Whether or not my brother happens to be involved. The risks are too high, when you go with your gut." He caught himself yawning, and made a face.

Marie tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, a small, wry smile slipping out as he yawned. “Alright. You need to go to bed before your wife comes to ask me why Ah didn’t make ya leave as soon as Ah started my comms shift. Ah’ll come and get you if anything important happens.”

"Jean's bark is far worse than her bite. Wait... no, who am I kidding?" Scott rose, resting his hands on Marie's shoulders from behind for a moment, squeezing gently. "Hard to sit and watch," he said after a pause, "but sometimes it's better than the alternative. Don't stew too much watching CNN, okay?"

“Yeah,” Marie said, her eyes already focusing on the screen while one gloved hand typed on the keyboard in front of her, pulling up a few sites. “You try and actually get some sleep. No point letting your worries keep you up.”

"That was yesterday night. Tonight I take the nice little sleeping pill so that I'm not half-dead and unable to fly if it does become necessary. See," Scott said over his shoulder with a brief smile as he turned towards the door. "I can be taught."