Ausente sin Culpa ni Presente sin Disculpa | Solicitud

[x-barrier.livejournal.com]

After some thought, Cecilia asks Scott for some help. X-help.

It wasn't like Cecilia and Scott weren't friends. Old friends. Knowing someone 11 years bred a kind of familiarity, even if those 11 years were on and off (and, really, mostly off).

Still, as she sat at his table, waiting for the mug of tea he'd offered her, she felt strange. In all the time they'd known each other, Cecilia had never really asked Scott for anything. They weren't that level of close. And now she came for what felt like a big favor, one that tied into the X-business that she'd sworn up and down she'd wanted nothing to do with.

Old friends or not, the whole thing felt a little uncomfortable.

Scott put down two cups of tea on the table, dropping down into the chair next to Cecilia with a smile. It wasn't that often he got to put his feet up and relax, especially with Cece, who to be fair he hardly ever saw apart from when someone ended up in the medlab. "So, You said you needed a favour?" he prompted, pushing the milk towards her.

"Thanks." She grabbed the mug, smiling at him. "Did I say favor? That seems so blunt and straightforward." Cecilia splashed just enough milk in the cup to change the color, then pushed it back toward him. "I feel like maybe you picked up some of Jean's telepathy over the years." It was an absent comment, but as soon as she said it, she felt a pang of guilt.

"Anyway." She grabbed a spoon and stirred. "Yes. I did have kind of a favor. You know I was in Honduras, right?"

"Just before you came back to the mansion right?" Scott asked. "I remember you talking about it, Doctors Without Borders pulled you out because it was getting too dangerous. What about it?"

"Well, after that, too." Cecilia reached for the mug, holding a finger on the side to gauge the temperature. "With X-Corps, when that was a thing. I went back a few times to set up a clinic. For everyone, but mostly for mutants. Give them a safe place to go. Obviously, it's not a good situation there for anyone — drug violence, corrupt and worthless government, poverty. But imagine being persecuted and feared in the middle of all that, and the needing healthcare. Terrible."

Scott nodded, "Especially now, after M-Day. Considering how bad things are for mutants living in the states, I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like for someone living in a country like Honduras. It must have almost destroyed any semblance of community that they built up between everything."

"Yeah. Well. They can't get medical assistance anymore either." The words came out fast, sharp and bitter. It wasn't like Cecilia was generally a woman of pretense, but any veneer of civility she'd adopted when she knocked on Scott's door was gone. "Some jackasses burned the clinic and all of our supplies to the ground."

Scott's mouth opened and closed as he processed that. "They burnt it to the ground? Are they insane? Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. Now no aid agency is going to even consider going back there..." He gave Cecilia a level look. "Except you want to go back there, I'm guessing."

"Well..." Cecilia avoided his gaze, looking more than a little sheepish. "Yeah," she said. "I mean, I'm going back. I've got to bring some supplies to some friends, and maybe I can treat some people while I'm there. But I want to know what the hell happened, Scott. I helped build this thing, and we have no idea who destroyed it. And there are people hanging in the balance."

Scott leaned forward in his chair to catch Cecilia's eyes, "It means a lot to you," he noted, "Anything I can do to help, you just have to ask. If you want to take down more supplies, we could load up the Blackbird. She'll get us down there faster than any other plane around. Or if you need volunteers to help out," he gestured around at the mansion, "it sounds like the kind of thing we can really get behind."

"The plane would help," Cecilia smiled. The jet had been the major reason she'd come to Scott at all. It was only once she'd decided to do it that she realized there was more she wanted to ask. "But, I was thinking — I mean..."

Her posture straightened, and she rose a little bit in her chair without thinking about it. "I need someone to come with me. Just in case. I want to poke around, and it's not the most stable environment, even with a forcefield. And I..." She looked down at her mug for a second, then back up at Scott. "I want to find out who did this, Scott. And I don't have the skill set for that sort of thing."

"But we do," Scott finished understandingly. "I can put together a team who can help you move the supplies and can... look around while we're down there to see what happened and what we can do to help out. I don't think too big a team would be helpful, too many foreign faces, but if we go small enough it shouldn't arouse too much suspicion."

"Of course," Cecilia nodded. "I don't — I mean, this isn't a whole operation or anything. No need to show up in uniforms and blast doors down, or whatever it is you all usually do." She was trying to avoid sounding dismissive or contemptuous. "Well. You don't need me to tell you what to do, anyway."

She took a second to sip her tea before it cooled off completely. "I would like Sooraya to come, though. She's... I mean, I've worked with her in the field before, and I know she cares about this sort of thing."

"She's trained with the team before and has some experience dealing with countries like this from her days working with X-Corps," Scott agreed, "I'll add her to the list and start gathering a few other people. When can you get the supplies delivered so we can head down there?"

"I need another few days. Maybe a week?" Cecilia considered. "I have to just wait for a few more things to come in."

"That gives me enough time to assemble a team and prep the Blackbird," Scott replied, "I'll get started on that now, if you let me know when the supplies are coming in I'll make sure we're ready."

"Sure," Cecilia smiled, looking the slightest bit surprised at how well this had gone. "That's awesome, Scott. Seriously." She reached out to put her hand over his. "Thank you. I really appreciate it."

"No problem," Scott smiled at Cecilia, "We're here to support one another and I'll be honest, after everything that's happened it'd be nice to have a positive cause we can get behind."