xp_logs | After Everything- Alex, Scott

After everything, Scott tracks Alex down to the skateboard ramps and has a talk with his brother about all that's happened.

Poor Scott is not having a good day.

Checking to make sure that Jean had everything she needed (which
included shutting the cat out of the bedroom) had given Scott's anger
enough time to cool - very slightly. But with Jean peacefully napping
again and no requirement for his services, he'd remembered just why
he'd been that pissed in the first place. He didn't actually leave
the suite intending to find Lorna and yell at her some more, but more
to remove his seething self from Jean's immediate proximity. And once
he got downstairs, he decided abruptly that he was going to go look
for Alex and clear up certain things, for better or worse. Because the
next time he had to listen to his brother's ex-fiancée lecture him
about what he should be doing, he was going to blast her in the
head.

Alex could be found sitting on the skateboard ramps, trying to control
some anger of his own. He was sitting on the top of one the larger
ones, kicking his feet against the boards as he sat on the edge. He
was holding his powers in again, being so close to the mansion so he
was distracted enough to notice Scott coming towards him.

"So," Scott said, a bit more flatly than he'd intended - he wasn't
really angry at Alex, but part of him was wondering, after what Lorna
had said, if he was going to be unpleasantly surprised by what came
out of this conversation. "I suspect you and I need to talk."

Looking down at him, Alex shrugged. He wasn't exactly surprised to see
Scott standing there. After the morning he had, nothing surprised him
anymore. He'd hit Shiro. And he didn't regret it and not just because
of what Shiro had called Lorna. "I had a feeling you were going to
come find me."

Scott sat down below Alex, looking up at him. "Had a rather loud chat
with your ex-fiancée. Apparently Shiro's done something horrible to
you, above and beyond getting addicted to your powers, and I'm a
crappy excuse for a big brother for not noticing and effectively
responding to your trauma."

With a groan, Alex's head dropped his head into his hands. How the
hell had Lorna known...? "I don't know how she found out, but I wasn't
lying when I said I was fine. Yeah, something else happened with me
and Shiro, but I handled it. I don't need saving anymore, despite what
everyone thinks." He couldn't help but let his frustration show. He
thought he'd been handling the whole thing pretty well, until Lorna
and Shiro had decided to fight it out.

I think I want to go back to Budapest and get shot at some
more, was Scott's first thought, hearing that. At least bullets
were nice, direct simple things. You ran in the other direction or you
fell down and bled a lot. He tried not to grind his teeth as he
replied. "I'm not... not taking your word that you handled it, but I
remember asking you specifically, when I came to Lorna's to talk to
you that first time, if anything else happened."

Alex sighed again. "Shiro is sick. I didn't want to get him in more
trouble." He paused, took a deep breath and continued. "One of the
things that tipped me off to his addiction, besides his flu symptoms,
was every time we'd be separated for a few days, he'd get really
aggressive. We'd never even done it until I came home from Hawaii at
Thanksgiving. At first I thought he'd just missed me or something but
then the same thing happened when he came from Japan and when I came
home from Christmas. Then I demanded he go to the doctor to see what
was going on and when they said it was like when his powers came back,
I but two and two together. When I told Shiro what suspected...he
didn't take it very well. He tried to take what he wanted by force but
I forced him to stop and got out of there." He looked down at Scott
pointedly. "I handled it."

Scott twitched. Visibly. To his credit, that was the only reaction he
had for a long moment. Finally: "Don't take this the wrong way, Alex,
but I think you need to stop having relationships. At least for a
while."

Alex laughed. Bitterly, but he laughed. "Believe me, I thought the same
thing." He sighed. "I'm sorry about this mess. I didn't know they'd go
after each other."

Yes, well, we expect a certain level of self-discipline from X-Men,
don't we... Scott shrugged, the diffidence very much forced.
"Hardly your fault, although I imagine the pride stings to have
someone trying to fight your battles for you..."

At that, Alex could only roll his eyes. "I wish people would notice
that I don't need saving anymore. I can do that myself."

"Yeah, well. Takes a while." He was going to have to think for a while
before he went anywhere near Shiro. Maybe he ought to lock himself in
with Jean in the suite for the weekend and trust someone to volunteer
to feed them. Scott rose, wincing as all his bruises protested. "Look,
I won't push, and I won't try to fight your battles for you, but
when... things happen like this, you've got to at least tell me, okay?
Don't wait until I... just don't wait, okay? Not if it's got to do
with the X-Men too, and given that Lorna's demanding to know why I
don't kick Shiro out, it would have helped to know why she was so
angry before she told me off for not thinking about your feelings."

"I didn't tell her anything." Alex said with a sigh, before he jumped
down to stand next to Scott. "I didn't think it was that big of a
deal. Because despite what everyone thinks, I really /am/ fine." He
smiled honestly. "Can I help you inside?"

"I'm not decrepit," Scott said, swatting at him rather half-heartedly.
"I just jumped out of a moving car. But you can come inside. There are
better places to brood than the skateboard ramp. Warmer, at least."

Alex just laughed and put his arm around Scott's shoulder. "Nah, your
just old. Gotta dig out your cane again." Then he shrugged. "I think I
better head back to Lorna's. I've been holding my powers in while I've
been here and I'm exhausted."

Scott made a face. But it was probably the best solution for now.
"Just make sure you do go somewhere warm. People wouldn't be quite so
fast to fight over an Alex-sicle."