Kurt and Scott, Sunday around noon
Feb. 22nd, 2009 12:38 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsAfter the briefing, Kurt and Scott have a somewhat tense discussion.
"I wish I could convince myself that I'm not wrong to be bringing you along." Scott's voice was low, but perhaps the tiniest bit hostile. He and Kurt were alone in the Situation Room, the meeting having broken up; Zanne was getting ready to go, and Lakatos had excused himself as well, saying he needed to grab something (Scott hadn't asked what) from his bag. He imagined the Blackbird team was getting into their leathers and/or preflighting the 'Bird. The timing of all of this was going to take some care.
Kurt hadn't said an unnecessary word during the meeting, and nothing at all since the others left. He looked up at Scott now, coolly.
"Why would you bring along someone you do not trust?"
"Because you can get quickly and unobtrusively from one place to the next," Scott said flatly. "Because you're observant, and because you've had experience in crowd-related crisis situations. If something happens before we can get the team in there, you're a good person to have along, for various tactical reasons I shouldn't have to specify."
"Relatively unobtrusively", was the dry response. "And yet part of you thinks I should not go, despite all those reasons."
"And I wonder why that is." If there was a bite to the comment, it was minimal; Scott knew he shouldn't be alienating someone he was about to take into a potentially difficult situation. Still.
"As if we do not both know", Kurt came back. "Am I supposed to be grateful that you have decided my tactical value outweighs your mistrust?"
"No," Scott said bluntly. It was getting harder to squelch the anger. He'd thought Kurt was more self-aware on this issue than he seemed to be today. "You should be glad that I'm taking you at your word that you're not going to make the same damned mistake again, should the opportunity arise. I should think you're tired of being the butt of jokes about how your common sense runs for the hills the moment your mother crooks her finger."
"Sticks and stones, Scott, and believe me, I suffered both as a child. People may make whatever jokes they like." He shrugged slightly, having heard what he'd been trying to get out of the other man. "You would not be taking me if my powers and experience did not make me near to essential, so you are taking my word as it is."
"Give me a break. You're not indispensable," Scott pointed out sharply. "None of us are. I'd just like to stop having to dispense with you when the Brotherhood's involved." Kurt shouldn't be unreliable, and that was one of the things that had always bothered him about this whole stupid situation. This was someone who'd led the X-Men on more than one mission, who'd been on the team for years.
This fixation of his, this stubborn refusal to see Mystique for what she was - he needed to get over it. And Scott had begun to wonder, these last few months, how Kurt was ever going to do that if no one ever gave him the chance. Maybe you shouldn't be hitting the 'I'm not sure about this' card so hard, then, Scott thought, but then shook his head. No, it was better to have all the cards on the table.
"Would it help", Kurt asked, "if I reminded you that on the one true mission where my mother played a part, I did not side with her against anyone?" Not even against his father, in the end.
"No one is actually saying that you've ever betrayed us." At least, he didn't think the occasional grumblings during time of crisis had been serious. More stress-reaction and suspicion than anything else. "But your judgement, when it comes to her, has been in question for a long time now. And that's fatal, in the field. Hence why I'm not absolutely sure I should be doing this."
"And so we come back around to the fact that you are doing this." The earlier moment of bitterness had vanished from his voice, replaced by a kind of wary calm. "Unless you are really reconsidering."
"I'm giving you a chance, Kurt," Scott said, in a tone that indicated that the conversation was over. "I don't want to keep feeling like I can't rely on you."
"Then we will hope this will be the occasion to change that."
"I wish I could convince myself that I'm not wrong to be bringing you along." Scott's voice was low, but perhaps the tiniest bit hostile. He and Kurt were alone in the Situation Room, the meeting having broken up; Zanne was getting ready to go, and Lakatos had excused himself as well, saying he needed to grab something (Scott hadn't asked what) from his bag. He imagined the Blackbird team was getting into their leathers and/or preflighting the 'Bird. The timing of all of this was going to take some care.
Kurt hadn't said an unnecessary word during the meeting, and nothing at all since the others left. He looked up at Scott now, coolly.
"Why would you bring along someone you do not trust?"
"Because you can get quickly and unobtrusively from one place to the next," Scott said flatly. "Because you're observant, and because you've had experience in crowd-related crisis situations. If something happens before we can get the team in there, you're a good person to have along, for various tactical reasons I shouldn't have to specify."
"Relatively unobtrusively", was the dry response. "And yet part of you thinks I should not go, despite all those reasons."
"And I wonder why that is." If there was a bite to the comment, it was minimal; Scott knew he shouldn't be alienating someone he was about to take into a potentially difficult situation. Still.
"As if we do not both know", Kurt came back. "Am I supposed to be grateful that you have decided my tactical value outweighs your mistrust?"
"No," Scott said bluntly. It was getting harder to squelch the anger. He'd thought Kurt was more self-aware on this issue than he seemed to be today. "You should be glad that I'm taking you at your word that you're not going to make the same damned mistake again, should the opportunity arise. I should think you're tired of being the butt of jokes about how your common sense runs for the hills the moment your mother crooks her finger."
"Sticks and stones, Scott, and believe me, I suffered both as a child. People may make whatever jokes they like." He shrugged slightly, having heard what he'd been trying to get out of the other man. "You would not be taking me if my powers and experience did not make me near to essential, so you are taking my word as it is."
"Give me a break. You're not indispensable," Scott pointed out sharply. "None of us are. I'd just like to stop having to dispense with you when the Brotherhood's involved." Kurt shouldn't be unreliable, and that was one of the things that had always bothered him about this whole stupid situation. This was someone who'd led the X-Men on more than one mission, who'd been on the team for years.
This fixation of his, this stubborn refusal to see Mystique for what she was - he needed to get over it. And Scott had begun to wonder, these last few months, how Kurt was ever going to do that if no one ever gave him the chance. Maybe you shouldn't be hitting the 'I'm not sure about this' card so hard, then, Scott thought, but then shook his head. No, it was better to have all the cards on the table.
"Would it help", Kurt asked, "if I reminded you that on the one true mission where my mother played a part, I did not side with her against anyone?" Not even against his father, in the end.
"No one is actually saying that you've ever betrayed us." At least, he didn't think the occasional grumblings during time of crisis had been serious. More stress-reaction and suspicion than anything else. "But your judgement, when it comes to her, has been in question for a long time now. And that's fatal, in the field. Hence why I'm not absolutely sure I should be doing this."
"And so we come back around to the fact that you are doing this." The earlier moment of bitterness had vanished from his voice, replaced by a kind of wary calm. "Unless you are really reconsidering."
"I'm giving you a chance, Kurt," Scott said, in a tone that indicated that the conversation was over. "I don't want to keep feeling like I can't rely on you."
"Then we will hope this will be the occasion to change that."
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