xp_logs | Genosha: The Unrelenting Struggle: This Lonely Command

Kurt and Ororo help Jenny cope with the burdens of leadership.

Sleepless nights were becoming something of a regularity. Jenny refilled her coffee cup for the fifth time, pausing for a moment to recall that she normally hated it black. Now, she barely tasted it as she resumed her spot by the fire, staring into the flames. The camp was restless around her, and once again, she was left to question whether or not she was going to get them all killed. There were plenty of adults in the camp, but since the first raids, they'd looked to her for leadership and what to do next. Those answers had come reluctantly, full of the knowledge that if they were the wrong ones, people would die. She'd been lucky so far, lost few, but knew that would change one day.

Kurt settled beside her quietly, barely enough of a presence to disturb her thoughts, and let the silence continue for a few minutes before he spoke.

"It is a heavy burden you carry, for your age. Or for anyone, really."

"They all trust me to have the right answers," Jenny responded quietly. She wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging them close to her.

"I don't want to fail them."

Another presence arrived by their side, perhaps drawn by the murmured conversation or merely the looks on their faces. "Right, wrong... you cannot expect to be successful all the time, or to know everything. All you can do is try and as long as you are doing your best, you cannot fail them," Ororo told her, her expression sympathetic as she looked down at the girl.

"Even if my decisions get people killed?" Jenny had had to do a lot of growing up in the past weeks, but she still occasionally felt like such a kid, wanting nothing more to pass the burden onto someone else, someone older, just so she didn't have to live with the consequences of her decisions.

"Sometimes that will happen", Kurt told her, not unsympathetically but matter-of-factly. "You are fighting a war here, Jenny, you may well not be able to keep everyone alive. Everyone in this camp understands the risks - the thing is not to get them killed for no good reason."

"And we are here to help with that," Ororo added, "though I have no doubt you would have continued to lead them well without our presence." She knew all too well the pressures Jenny was facing, and the way that the weight of responsibility could weigh on a teenger's slim shoulders. What Jenny needed now was reassurance, and as much guidance as they could provide her in the short space of time they had.

Jenny stared down at the ground for a few long moments, absorbing what the pair had said. It was somewhat reassuring, the confidence they had in her. And they were right, she'd brought the group this far. And they couldn't stop now. She took a deep breath, looking over at both of them with a smile.

"Do my best, try not to get people killed for no good reason," she said, unfurling her arms from around her legs. "I wish it was as simple as it sounds. But what other choice do we have?"

"None", Kurt said simply. "There is no backing down now."