LOG: Vance visits Scott

[x-justice.livejournal.com]

It was the afternoon, right in that lull between when classes had ended for the day, and before the evening activities were to begin. It was that sweet spot in the day when teachers were not actually teaching, but were still likely to be in their offices.

Having waited for the younger kids to have cleared out, Vance waited a few minute before finally knocking on Scott's door to announce his presence. "Scott, it's Vance," the young man announced-- Mr. Summers would just have been way too formal. There was a brief pause before the door swung open enough for Vance to at least step into the doorway. "The Professor thought it would be a good idea for me to stop by and talk to you about some-- training."


Scott looked up from his position behind his desk where he had been working on, no prizes for guessing, more paperwork. He stood up to greet the younger man, walking around the desk and gesturing for him to come in. "Vance, nice to finally meet you." He motioned towards a set of comfortable chairs in the corner of his office, "How're you settling in?" he asked trying to put the visibly nervous man at his ease.


"I'm doing alright," Vance said as he stepped into the office and headed for the chair. As the door to the office shut behind him, Vance seemed to relax just slightly, even as he dropped down into the seat and leaned forward, elbows rested on his knees. "Takes some getting used to-- but I like it so far. At least I can just do what I want to when I want to."


"With some restrictions I hope," Scott noted with a smile as he settled into the other chair. "Life at the mansion is normally pretty laid back," when we're not being invaded or off fighting super villains he thought but didn't say. He leaned back in his chair to look at Vance, "So you wanted to talk about power training?" he asked, "Did you have anything in particular you wanted to work on?"


"Control," Vance said almost immediately, and his hands folded together for something to hang onto. He looked away from Scott and studied the floor for a long moment before daring to meet the other man's eyes again. "I assume the Professor's told you about what I did?"

Vance's eyes went from casual to something more guarded as he withdrew just slightly in the face of the subject matter. But it was better to just get it out in the open right now at the beginning than wait for later. "I-- don't want that to happen to me ever again. So, I need you to push me and push my limits. I need to know what I can do, and how to control it better than I have."


"We can help you with that, Scott said gently, "but that's why you're here. The professor did mention it to me. It doesn't have to go past us if you don't want it to, a lot of people come here looking for a new start. Don't worry Vance, we're good at helping people control their powers. We've been doing it for a long time," he smiled at Vance.

Scott took a moment to gather his thoughts and plan out a power training course. "Your psychokinesis is most similiar to telekenisis, you probably want to work with Dr. Grey on fine control of your powers." He said this coldly and a little hurriedly before his voice softened. "Once you feel you have a good level of control over your basic powers we can start working on your practical uses of those powers. There is a world of difference between training in a classroom and in the real world, but we take it one step at a time. Does that make work for you?" he asked.


Vance seemed to relax just slightly at Scott's reassurances of helping people long before him, and his shoulders loosened up a little, allowing him to relax. His eyes tracked back to Scott at the sudden turn in the other man's voice, but chose not to say anything, and simply listened instead.

When Scott was done, Vance nodded back to him, "Sounds like a plan. I-- don't want to just use these powers in the classroom and nowhere else. I want to do something with them. Make a difference." A slightly wry twist of his lips revealed a small bit of pain hidden away, "I half entertained becoming some sort of anonymous hero before everything happened. Now--" he blew out a breath and pushed up from his lean, back against the back of his chair. "Who knows? Guess we'll see."


Scott quirked an eyebrow at Vance, "An anonymous hero? really?" he asked in amusement, it was amazing, he thought, how these things seemed to work out. "We can probably help you with that too," he commented. "The Professor told you about the X-men right?"


Vance spread his hands slightly at the lift of an eyebrow, and the turn of his lips turned slightly sheepish. "I feel pretty strongly about people getting justice," the younger man explained before Scott continued. And at Scott's question, Vance nodded an affirmative, "He did, yeah." There was a moment of speculation, Vance's tone hesitant as he curbed his enthusiasm before it threatened to run away with him as he asked, "How-- how exactly does that work, anyway?"


"Justice is a fine goal," Scott agreed with Vance as he collected his thoughts. "We teach basic power control at this school, and we teach our students to defend themselves. The X-men are more proactive, we actively go out to protect mutants and humans who are in danger." He looked at the younger man trying to gauge his interest.

"It all starts with a conversation like this," he continued with a smile. "If you're old enough and willing, you can join the team as a trainee. You'll get to go on missions, although not in the most dangerous roles. You’ll need to undergo further training, in both your powers and teamwork, and read up on past fights and possible enemies." He paused for a moment before continuing, "You stay a trainee until you and we feel you're ready for promotion to full team. It isn't easy, and only you can decide if it's worth it to you."



Vance couldn't help but look a little excited at the prospect, no matter how much he tried to hide it. Becoming an X-Man was not really the aim of this discussion with Scott-- but he wasn't going to just look a gift horse like this in the mouth. "I'm willing to train and put in the work," he said, almost too fast for his mouth to keep up with his thoughts. "I--"

And then Vance stopped, cutting his next thought off before he could finish it. When he continued, it was with more care and more thought, and his hands slid to grip his knees gently. "What-- what about my past? What happened to me. What I did. The other people I'm training with will have to know, won't they?"


Scott leaned forward in concern shaking his head, "Not unless you want to tell them," he said. "I may need to tell the senior X-men so someone on your missions knows in case anything happens, but your past is your business and no-one else's." He thought for a moment before continuing, "Why don't we cross that bridge when we come to it. Go and talk to Dr. Grey, and lets get a handle on your powers and training. I'll talk to the Professor and we can see what you wanna do then."


“Okay,” Vance breathed, still looking a little tense. After all, if he was going to be working and training with these people, it was right they should know, wouldn’t it? However, he seemed to come to a decision in his head and nodded to Scott, his tension released more. “I can do that. I’ll go talk to Dr. Grey, and then we’ll go from there. Thank you, Scott.” At the last, Vance offered a smile. A little weak, but both genuine and excited, reflected in his eyes.