Hank and Yvette - backdated to January 3rd

[x-penance.livejournal.com]

After running an errand for Jean, Yvette talks to Hank about his new Danger Room scenario... and her doubts about becoming full team.



It was nearing dinner time when Hank started final clean-up of his lab station before going to eat. He whistled as the broom swept the shards of shattered glass into a tidy pile while he dangled from the ceiling. Knocking over the vial had been an accident, but a happy one, as the fumes the decomposing gel gave off when reacting to the oxygen in the atmosphere was precisely what he'd been looking for- of course, things could have gone the other way and his lab could have been a smoldering crater beneath the mansion now, but it wasn't. The blue doctor made a mental note to schedule an agility training session in the danger room, as in his earlier years, he'd have been able to catch the vial before it hit the hard tile floor. "There we are," he murmured, depositing the glass in the metal refuse bin. As he did, the door chimed, "Enter."

The door opened, revealing a familiar small, red figure. "Hello Dr. McCoy," Yvette chirped. "Dr. Grey-Summers asked me to bring these reports to you from the Danger Room tests. Your new scenario without the powers, yes?"

Hank flipped downward from the ceiling, landing in a crouch before straightening up and adjusting his tie, "Thank you, Miss Petrovic," he said with a warm smile. "Were you one of our testers?" The doctor began to flip through the reports, scanning them for key information.

She squirmed a little. "Not yet, no," she replied. "Dr. Grey-Summers thinks it is too difficult for my psychology after what happened with Derek and my powers," she admitted. "But it looks like the very helpful program, for teaching us to take care of each other should we lose our powers."

The older X-Man nodded and set the reports down on the nearest lab table, adding to the clutter around the room. "Of course, that makes a good deal of sense. I'm actually surprised it has taken us this long to create this program, but there's really nothing like a nice catalyst to set things in motion." The doctor removed his coat and draped it over the back of a chair before loosening his tie, "Were you going to head up to dinner now or did you have other trainee duties to attend to?"

"Dinner. It's important to eat, otherwise Laurie chases you with a blender." Her eyes flared in amusement. "If you were going also, perhaps we can go together?"

"I would be delighted for the company," Hank offered his arm to the young woman.

She giggled and lightly laid her hand on his arm, her long fingers partly making up for the dramatic height difference. "Does it often happen," she asked, "that the team loses their powers in a mission?

"More often than we would like," he said as they slowly made their way toward the elevator, "but no, not terribly often. Power augmentation is a rare ability for some reason- it's a quandary which requires further investigation."

"With the M-Squad, there was a machine that suppressed our powers. Very large and clumsy, but it worked all right." Yvette shuddered a little at the memory. "It made Laurie sick."

Hank remembered reading the report from that mission, it had not gone according to anyone's plans. "Well the simulation that I've worked out actually just puts a small shock patch on whoever gets tagged, then the sensors around the arena tell the patch to administer a small shock to anyone who uses their abilities. No one will be getting sick."

"Oh, I did not mean it like that." Yvette tilted her head at him. "How does it work for the people who have the super strong skin, like me or Monet? Do you have to make the shock larger so we feel it?"

"In truth, I need to make a couple more modifications to accommodate certain special situations. The program can be adjusted during operation though, so perhaps I can get Monet to grace us with a test run, eh?" Hank chuckled as the elevator opened and they stepped in. "By the way, Yvette..." he paused, "how are you emotionally with everything that has been transpiring lately?"

She looked down at her feet. "I cannot complain..." she said, although her tone wasn't exactly confidence-inspiring. "It has been difficult, losing my powers, getting them back again, losing them again. Sometimes it is feeling like I am on the merry-go-round, yes?" She laughed a little nervously at her own weak joke.

Hank nodded, "Perhaps we need to try something a little different then. I've always been partial to the tilt-o-whirl myself," Hank winked at the smaller mutant. The road in silence for a moment until the doors opened, Hank held them open for Yvette to pass through, "A thought occurs to me, that you only have a few more missions before you'll be getting your epaulets." He watched for her reaction carefully.

The giggle he'd managed to elicit with his joke faded at his next words and Yvette stared up at him, wide-eyed. "The X-Men epaulets?" she asked. "Oh no, I do not think I am at all ready. Most of my missions have been with me being captured!"

The doctor stopped mid-stride and gave the girl a puzzled look, considering his words carefully before he pressed forward, "You don't feel that you are ready?" It wasn't really a question, of course he'd heard her, "Fortunately, Miss Petrovic, the decision is not up to you. You'll be advanced when you're ready and from what I've observed in training and out in the field, you are very close to that point."

"But..." Yvette was honestly puzzled. "How can I be an X-Man when I am being kidnapped all the time? That is not very helpful to the team, yes?"

Hank smiled warmly, "You haven't been getting kidnapped all the time, Yvette. No more than I or anyone else did when they started out as a trainee."

That gave her pause. "Really?" she asked. "You were kidnapped?"

The doctor nodded, "A few times when I was younger- in fact, even after I became an X-Man there were a few tight spots I found myself in. You need to understand that being an X-Man doesn't make you instantly perfect or mean that you have nothing left to learn, it's only the beginning."

"It is?" Yvette thought about it. "I... had not thought of it like that before. I thought it was like being the teacher, instead of the student. Teachers know everything, so they pass it onto their students, yes?"

Hank bobbled his head slightly, "Yes and no...I suppose the best way to say is that you know more than your students do and you're helping them discover the knowledge that will help them go further."

"Oh." Yvette hadn't thought of it like that either, it seemed. At last, she looked up at Hank again. "So... you really think I can be the full X-Man?"

With a nod, he began to walk toward the delicious scents emanating from the dining room, "I have no doubt in my mind that you will be an excellent X-Man."