Angelo and Scott: Plane Train

[x-cyclops.livejournal.com]

Scott tears Angelo away from his offices to take a spin on the Blackbird simulator

The Blackbird was Scott's baby, he'd never admit it out loud but everyone knew that the X-man was extremely protective of the plane. If anyone wanted to fly it they had to pass the training programs Scott had set up in the Danger Room. Scott had made those programs as realistic as he possible could, and the unintended side effect was that they had turned out to be an excellent stress reliever and an enjoyable way to spend time without using up jet fuel in addition to learning to fly. And if anyone needed to take a break and enjoy something it was the man in front of him.

And Angelo did seem to be enjoying it, judging by the huge grin on his face.  "I see why you love this so much", he said without taking his eyes off the "windscreen".

Scott had to laugh at that, "If you're not careful you;ll get addicted to it. Or spend all session squalled and doing barrel rolls, I've seen both before." If the older man was being brutally honest then he'd have to admit he'd done both before too. "I'm glad you're enjoying it." Angelo had been spending too long cooped up in his offices; Setting up an NGO was a huge task, and it was easy to lose sight of keeping balance in your life. Something else Scott knew from experience.

"Barrel rolls are fun", he said with a laugh.  "And this is better than any flight sim on a normal computer."

"But pretty terrifying for your passengers, especially if you go 'look no hands' halfway through." Scott replied with a grin, "There you go, lesson of hte day, don't let go of the controls halfway through a maneuver. For all the money and time we've put into this place, it should be the best experience you can get short of an actual plane."

"No letting go of the controls unless there's no passengers, got it", Angelo returned with a sketchy salute.  "After some more practice with this, I might even try with an actual plane."

"No letting go of the controls at all if you ever want me to let you fly the Blackbird," Scott corrected with a smile. "The simulation is good but nothing quite compares to the feeling of actually being up there. The absolute freedom of it. I guess that's what Warren lives with everyday." Scott was maybe a little jealous of his friend.

"You should get him to take you up sometime", Angelo suggested.  "I've been up with a couple of the flyers, wings and powered, and most of them have the strength to take passengers at least on a short flight. It's amazing."

"We've had to do that for the odd mission and such," Scott replied. "You're right, it's pretty amazing but I'm not in control." He reached forward to pat the dashboard of their plane, "A plane may be artificial and more restrictive than a natural flier but I'm in control, just me and the blue sky as far as the eye can see. I can go anywhere I want...well anywhere I want that the air traffic controllers let me.

"Did you ever think about getting a microlight, or at least something smaller, just for joyrides?  Much less in the way of restrictions when they're smaller.”

Scott nodded, "I have, it would make visiting my grandparents or Alex much easier too if I invested in a small plane, but the cost of maintenance and hangar space," Scott grinned, "I'd have to talk to Jean and look at the finances first. What about you? Been bitten by the flight bug yet?"

"You know it", Angelo said with a grin.  "I might have to come down and play with this simulator a lot more."

Scott returned Angelo's grin, "I'm sure we could work you into the rota here if you wanted. And if you can tear yourself away from work for an hour or two."

"I don't work 24/7, whatever Sooraya's been telling you", he retorted easily.  "I do actually make some kind of balance.  You've got a deal."

"I don't know, she makes a pretty convincing case and you know I say that too but somehow there's always just one more thing to do," Scott retorted in mock disbelief a grin pasted onto his face. "Let me know when you're free and I'll add you to the roster. You might get stuck with odd hours, between individual and team training the Danger Room keeps surprisingly busy most of the day."

"I can live with odd hours", Angelo said with a grin.  "Between work, social time with the people here, and how much Joyita loves the grounds, I'm probably here more than at my apartment."

"Since you spend so much time here have you thought about moving back? We've got plenty of suites available and it might make life a little easier on you not to have to go back and forth everyday. You could always turn into one of those people who only comes back to the city on weekends."

"There is that", he said thoughtfully.  "Keep a suite here and the apartment, it's not like it'd cost me any more, maybe even a bit less when you think about the gas.  I'll think about it."

"Maybe we should start charging rent then," Scott joked, "It probably would work out for oyu in the long run, besides you can't get a view like ours or an air-plane simulator like this in the city can you?"

"Definitely not", Angelo agreed fervently.  "Not without paying the big bucks or talking my way in where I'm not really supposed to be, anyway."

"Well you never seem to have a problem finding trouble or ending up where you shouldn't be," Scott recalled thinking back to Angelo's days at the school. That observation took the older man by surprise, he could still remember when the man infront of him was at school and now he was running an NGO.

"Hey, I'm a lot better about that now.  Usually I only find trouble when I'm looking for it.  Except that whole thing in Africa."

"So you claim anyway," Scott replied, "I seem to recall a little trip to Attilan you took that went wrong, and the whole church sale that didn't quite go as planned. You've not totally reformed your way yet I think, none of us have. I sometimes think the mansion must be haunted or something, it's a magnet for trouble whether you go looking for it or not.

"Attilan and the church sale were totally not my fault!" he protested, laughing.  "Did you ever figure out what did happen at the church sale?"

"You were there, there was trouble, you were involved," Scott replied counting out the points on his fingers as he grinned victoriously at Angelo. "Explain how again that shows how you've grown out of the getting in trouble stage?" The X-man sighed and shook his head, "We never did find out what happened, theories about but there just isn't enough proof to figure it out one way or the other."

"OK, OK."  He grinned back, then nodded.  "That's kind of worrying. Something like that doesn't just happen, and if whatever or whoever's still out there..."

"It is a nightmare scenario," Scott admitted. "I'm afraid that whoever did it won't be able to stop and will strike again, hopefully we'll be able to catch them but I don't even want to think about how many other people's lives will be ruined as a result of it."

"Yeah.  At least some of them might've been able to learn to control it, but that poor kid that turned into a sloth feral..."

"I'm a little more worried about another case like the man who went into muscle growth overdrive. If we hadn't managed to contain him he could have really hurt a lot of people."

"I don't think I saw that one.  I remember napalm guy and somebody with telekinesis gone wild."

"He was there in the back," Scott replied searching his memory, "I think Molly and Wade kept him busy till Megan could calm him down. We were lucky she was there."

"...oh, the kid with the wings and the psychedelic dust?"  He nodded. "Yeah, I can see how that power'd come in handy there."

"Yeah, that's her. With the pink hair and wings she's pretty hard to miss, nice kid and most assuredly not a troublemaker," Scott replied with a smile.

"Around here?  That really makes her stand out", Angelo joked, grinning back.

"You have no idea," Scott laughed, "Half the time I think that there is some kind of secret pact to turn all the teachers here prematurely grey." He looked suspiciously at Angelo, "There is no secret pact, is there?"

"I really couldn't say what the students might be doing now", he said virtuously.  "I do know that Jono, Sarah, Amanda and I did have... authority issues."
"Authority issues? I think that's a little bit of an understatement, I'm not sure we could survive another class like yours." Scott smiled as he shook his head, "So how's that working out for you now that you're the authority?"

"Luckily, I'm not a teacher", he said cheerfully.  "So I get to deal with wrangling adults.  And John.  And just occasionally Molly."

"Do you want to be? I'm sure we could find you a nice staff position and grey up your hair a little." Scott retorted with a laugh.

"Hah.  No.  Been there, tried that, had a massive blazing row with Jennie on the journals and quit, remember?"

"Once bitten twice shy?" Scott queried,

"Something like that.  And, honestly, I just don't have time.  Not with X-Corps and school, and after I'm done with school and the bar exam, I want to be using that time for pro bono work..."

"You do keep a pretty busy schedule don't you," Scott replied with an arched eyebrow, "And I thought I was keeping myself busy. Are you planning on joining a legal firm for some experience first? Or go straight into the pro-bono cases?"

"I get bored easily.  And probably Warren and Jennifer's firm", he confirmed.  "Warren said months ago he'd be happy to take me on, I'm hoping that still stands 'cause their field of interest is exactly what I want."

"Well it doesn't sound like you're in any danger of getting bored any time soon." Scott noted. "Warren and Jennifer could probably use the help, a new firm always can use all the hands on deck it can, and if you're doing pro-bono, that'd be good publicity for them."

Angelo nodded.  "Exactly.  And I get more than enough to live on from the X-Corps salary, I don't need to work for money on the law side."

"Hence the pro-bono work, which could look good on your CV for later in your career," Scott realized with a smile, "seems like you have things planned out pretty nicely."

"I've got a ten-year plan", Angelo said not without pride.  "I'm going to be America's first mutant senator."

Scott took a moment to digest that, "Well no-one can say you're nothing if not ambitious. You're not setting yourself an easy task there, fighting the legacy of Erik and Apocalypse in the public eye."

"That's the whole idea", was the more serious response.  "If we let Magneto and Apocalypse be the highest profile mutants out there, how are we ever going to change how people see the rest of us?"

"Are you really ready for all the pressure that's going to come with standing up to become as well known as they are? The press are gonna be all over you and your friends and family, that's more of the spotlight than I would want to handle," Scott admitted quietly.

Angelo shrugged.  "I guess we'll find out.  My mom's never had a skeleton in her closet in her life and knows how to run people off her yard, I'm not worried about her, some things I'll admit to before the press gets a hold of them, and the rest... I'll figure out as it comes."

Scott had met Juanita and knew Angelo wasn't joking, "It would take a particularly brave reporter to come fishing for dirt from you mum," Scott acknowledged, "Though I'd love to see the reporter who draws the short straw and has to talk to John." Scott grinned at the thought. "If you do decide to take the stand though, you've got my vote. So one down, coupla hundred thousand to go.

"...remind me to hide John's lighter if that day ever comes."  He grinned, amused and pleased.  "Gotta start somewhere."

"So we don't get to set John on a reporter then?" Scott asked in mock-disappointment, a laugh evident in his voice. "Well it might hurt your chances just a little if your friends end up barbecuing reporters."

"Wellll, I might let him if the reporter is really, really annoying, but just a little singeing", Angelo said solemnly.