Scott and Angel

[x-firestar.livejournal.com]

On Easter morning, Angel has something besides the holiday on her mind. And she finally works up the courage to talk about it with Scott.



The first thing that popped through Scott's open office door was a steaming cup of coffee. It wriggled at him as if saying hi before the arm, and the rest of Angel, followed inside. "Hi Mr. Summers!" she said, carrying another cup of coffee - if possible, even more steam was pouring out of the top. The cup clearly stated ANGEL on the side. "I know it's early but I've brought coffee as a bribe if I can steal some of your morning?"

"You don't need to bribe me to steal some time," Scott said, offering the girl a brief, if amused smile. "I won't get into what you're saving me from. For all that I don't do the headmaster's job anymore, I do still occasionally step in to save Charles from some of the paperwork when he has other things on his plate." He pushed said paperwork aside, then shrugged. "I will however take the coffee," he said with a straight face.

"Good because then I'd would have to drink it and that would make my fourth coffee of the morning." Angel came in so she could set the coffee on his desk, away from any white surface areas. With that safely done, she curled up in the chair in front with her legs comfortably under her as she cradled her own cup. "I'd be careful with that, though, it's hard for me to tell when things are too hot for other people to pick up. Though it hasn't set your desk on fire yet so that's a good sign..."

Scott poked lightly at the cup; hot, but not too hot, he decided, picking it up and sipping at it tentatively. "So what can I do for you, Angelica?" he asked.

Feeling pleased that she hadn't scalded Mr. Summers, because that would have been a really bad way to get started, Angel leaned back in her chair. "I want to know more about the X-Men," she said. She wasn't too excited or to blaise about how she said it; just interested. "You know, the trainee program and stuff."

Scott blinked. And blinked again. And managed to repress the But aren't you fifteen? protest that wanted to slip out. Because he knew very well that she was no longer fifteen, and the only reason that part of him looked at her like she was fifteen was because he was getting old. "Well," he said instead, "it's both more complex and less complex than you'd think, I suspect. I don't give you a lecture on what it all involves, thankfully - I will however be giving you a lot of reading to do if you're sure you want to, uh, investigate this option."

There was no laughing. She'd been half afraid there'd be laughter. "I think Kyle told me about the reading," Angel replied, scratching at her ear as she thought. "And I think I'm sure, mostly. I've been having doubts about being a firefighter - with all the issues in the city, I haven't been offered a full time job and I don't really know if that's what I want to do." Now she took a long sip of the coffee that was still very obviously molten hot. It was harder to do this talk with Mr. Summers than it had been before. "I went and talked about it with Forge and Kyle before I decided to come to you."

"And what did they have to say about it?" He was actually curious on that score. They were young men, and she was young, female, and at least a bit little-sisterish for both of them.

"In turn, that it'll kick my butt, it's terrifying and people get hurt, will be one of the hardest things I ever do - but in the end, it's worth it." Cup balanced on her knee, Angel cupped her chin in the other hand. "They were actually kind of not-stupid about it at all. Then again, on the weekends I've been trained to drag people out of burning buildings."

"This is true," Scott said, and, rather perversely, didn't say anything else. He wanted to see what she said. If there was one thing you could count on with Angel, it was that she would fill a silence, if you left it.

The one thing she wasn't going to tell him was that she thought she'd get a bigger thrill from being an X-Man; Angel had told Kyle that being a firefighter was safer for her but that's because she knew she could say that and not sound like a thrill junkie. It was harder to explain to someone who wasn't Kyle. "I don't really know what I want - I know it's bad to complain about too many options but there are. I just..."

Angel recollected her thoughts. "I want to be the girl in the leathers and the X helpin' some exhausted and terrified - but grateful - kid onto the Blackbird instead of it being the other way around."

"And you know that you could be the girl in the leathers on the stretcher, being carried onto the Blackbird?" Scott asked, his voice even. "Or watching your friend be carried onto the stretcher, wondering if they're going to make it?"

"Yeah, I know," she replied quietly, studying the black liquid in her mug with an intense stare. "Will I get booted out of here if I said I don't know how I'd deal with that? But I want to see?" She cleared her throat and glanced back up at him. "I've seen how dangerous it is to be a firefighter and it scares me but I think that at the end of the day, the risks are worth it. I think the X-Men training would be worth it."

Scott set the coffee down, spread his hands wide. "Trick question," he conceded. "You're not going to know how you're going to deal with it. Hell, even someone like me doesn't know how he deals with it the next time - every situation is different. We like to think we teach you coping, as well as combat."

Making faces at him probably would get her kicked out. But she perked up a little bit at his last words. "Teach? So, is that a yes-maybe?"

"The only reason I'd actually tell you no is if I honestly thought you weren't mature enough for the training. And I don't think that's the case." Scott picked his coffee back up. "You're going to have to talk to the Professor. And your father. This doesn't happen unless he's on-board with it. Take the conversations in that order, and Charles should give you some guidance as to how to talk to your dad."

Angel broke out into a huge grin. "I can totally do that, Mr. Summers, not a problem. I've got classes but I'll stop by the Professor's office when I know he's got free office hours. And dad, well, I think as long as I've got all my ducks in a row and, you know, don't spaz out he'll agree." Though she probably should talk to Julian, things were still growing with him and she hadn't thought of that. "Thank you, sir."

She might not have screamed in delight but her coffee was bubbling happily in her cup.

Scott smiled, but his voice was serious as he went on. "One thing I want you to remember," he said. "It's okay if you try this, and find out it's not for you. It really is. The fact that you're willing to see if it's a good fit, for who you want to be and what you want to do - it says a lot for you, Angelica. But no one is going to think any less of you if you decide in the end that you'd rather be a firefighter. Believe me."

Okay, well that was a relief. "That actually helps - less pressure, which is good because oh god, there's pressure." But she was still smiling. "It's just one path and it might be my path, so I've got to at least try it; but I know that there are other ones out there. Thanks for letting me check this one out."

"Healthy attitude," Scott said with a smile. He couldn't help it. He suspected this might be fun to watch.