Scott and Sean

[x-cassidy.livejournal.com]

Unpacking, introductions, and more job offers...

Scott paused in front of the door of the suite that had been assigned to Sean Cassidy, wondering rather whimsically what version of his 'Welcome to the asylum' speech would be best suited for this particular meeting. There were enough new staff members these days that he didn't want to get repetitive.

He raised a hand and knocked. "Hello?" he called.

"'Mon in!  Door's open!" Sean called, looking round from the box of books he'd been unpacking as the younger man opened the door.

He set the books down in a neat pile, then crossed the room, hand out.

"Sean Cassidy.  Yeh'd be Scott Summers, I take it?"

Scott nodded, smiling as he shook the older man's hand. "I would," he said. "It's good to meet you, Sean." He glanced quickly around the room. "Settling in okay?" he asked.

"Still a bit jet-lagged, but other than that, just grand.  Haven't quite finished unpacking, as yeh can see."  He gestured to the boxes around the room.  "Can I get yeh some tea, maybe?"

"Sure," Scott said with a smile and a nod. "Can I give you a hand with anything? I just figured I'd stop by so that we could get acquainted, and I can certainly pitch in while we're talking..."

Sean stepped over the the kitchen area, and clicked the kettle on, grabbing a couple of mugs and some teabags from a cupboard, calling back over his shoulder as he did.  "That'd be grand.  Just pick a box, and shove stuff onto a shelf.  Can't stand an organised library - takes all the fun out of looking for a book.  How d'yeh take your tea?"

"Just a little milk, if you've got it," Scott said, picking the nearest box of books and starting to unload it. Interesting variety of titles, he thought. "So," he continued, loudly enough for Sean to hear him in the kitchen, "Charles was telling me that you and he go back a bit?"

Sean dropped a teabag in Scott's mug, and three in his own.  "Aye, You could say that.  I met him when I was studying history in Dublin - he'd come over to do some post-graduate study.  I forget what, exactly.  But we got to talking over drinks a time or three - setting the world to rights like yeh do when you're that age - and we've kept in touch over the years." 

He poured the boiling water into both mugs, and left them to steep for a minute.

"When it turned out that for all she'd got everything else from her mother, Theresa'd got her powers from me, this seemed like the best place for her.  God knows I'd've liked somewhere like this instead of walking around scared to speak in case I broke all the windows in the place."

He fished the teabag out of Scott's and added a little milk, and brought it out, while leaving his own to stew a little longer.

"Theresa's a very special young woman," Scott said with a smile and a nod of thanks as he turned and took the mug from Sean. He thought of her wanting to replant Jean's rose garden and his smile grew.

"Aye, so everyone says." Sean turned to fetch his own mug, hiding his expression from Scott.  He lifted the teabags out, and added milk and sugar. "Looks like the bastard that brought her up didn't do too much damage."  'Except where I'm concerned' he thought, bitterly, before forcing his expression back to a smile as he turned back.

Scott nodded, filing away the response for future reference. "She's become very comfortable here, I think," he said. "I hope you'll be able to say the same. We're certainly glad to have you." He paused, sipping at his tea. "I'll leave it to Charles to handle any questions or issues when it comes to your teaching responsibilities - that's his sphere, after all. I was hoping to talk to you about the other side of what we do here."

Sean relaxed a little at the change of subject. "Charles's told me a bit about it, right enough. I'd love to yez help out, if yeh think I can."

"It would be valuable to have someone with your experience," Scott said seriously. "One of my major concerns has been training. Some of the team members are younger and haven't had much  experience in crisis situations period, let alone using their powers under such conditions."

"Well, officially, neither have I."  Sean smiled and winked.  "Unofficially, now...  You'll be wanting to schedule some kind of session to get a handle on how me talents are, I'm thinking?"

"That'd be a first step, yes," Scott said with an answering smile. "Though certainly not until you've settled in, of course." He shrugged a bit awkwardly.

"The team's not...on the best footing, lately. We've had a couple of key members leave to take up other opportunities, some injuries, a particularly bad mission..."

Sean took a swig of his tea.  "Well from what Charles's told me, I'm sure yez'll bounce back.  Sure, give me a few days to get settled in then I'll do me best to impress yeh with me tricks.  Saturday morning OK?"

Relieved that Sean didn't seem any less agreeable to the idea, even knowing that the situation was a bit difficult, Scott relaxed a little and sipped at his tea. "That'd be great," he said gratefully, and left it at that. "Gotten the chance to meet much of the rest of the staff yet?"

"Not yet, no.  Met a wee girl called Jubilee, gave me a bit've a tour, but between that and a chat with Charles, and then getting this unpacking done, I've not really had a chance to wander about yet.  Anyone I should watch out for?"

Scott chuckled. "Nothing so dramatic," he promised. "People are generally pretty good about introducing themselves, although you might have to make a sojourn down to the labs if you want to say hello to the doctors three - that would be Doctors MacTaggart, McCoy and Bartlet. They all spend far too much time down there. It's generally considered good form to bring twinkies and bad coffee to ingratiate yourself."

He stopped for a moment, thinking. "As for the others, there might be a couple of familiar faces, actually. Jean-Paul Beaubier arrived a little while ago--have to admit, I did a double-take myself, and, well, we've got another fairly recent acquisition you might recognize. Nathan Dayspring?"

Sean nodded and smiled at the mention of Moira, and he raised an eyebrow at the mention of Jean-Paul Beaubier, but his suprise at that was rapidly eclipsed by stopping himself from spitting his mouthful of tea across the room.

"Jaysis fuckin' Christ, what's Charles doing taking in a bastard like Dayspring?  I know people who've been after him for years. Hell, I've had more than one case over the years that I figured was his work - his or one of his pals.  Freelance fuckin' terrorists, the lot of 'em."

"It's... a very long story," Scott said delicately, but was now rather glad that he'd thought to give Sean a heads-up. "He came as a patient and Charles wound up inviting him to stay on. He's been  teaching languages this summer - quite well, too, from all accounts." He paused. "And there's our guidance counselor, Pete Wisdom... currently back to working for British Intelligence. Also not a bad guidance counselor either, to hear the kids tell it."

Sean's expression didn't lighten any at the mention of Wisdom's name.  "I met Wisdom a time or two, and the boy's wrong in the head.  You can see it in his eyes.  There's something important that went and died in him."  He took a deep breath.  "God above, I knew Charles wasn't exactly running a normal bloody school, but this is ridiculous.  Terrorists teaching languages and assassins teaching kids right from wrong?"

Scott thought about the question for a moment before he answered, not wanting to either brush it off or trot out his own doubts for display too overtly. "I've had worries, too," he said candidly, "but I also trust Charles. He feels very strongly that both of them belong here, that they have contributions to make." He smiled a bit faintly. "We all bring baggage, Sean. Sometimes it's a little more explosive than others."

"Aye, well, if Charles is happy enough, then I'll live with it.  Me Ma taught me enough manners to behave in someone else's house."  He took another mouthful of tea.

"And I'm sure Charles'd never let 'em near the kids if he thought there was any risk.  Speaking of the kids, there aren't any wee surprises lurking there, are there?"

"They're good kids, largely," Scott said, sipping at his tea. "Troubled, some of them, obviously... I'd say our current problem children are Illyana Rasputin and  Manuel de la Rocha." He took a deep breath, wondering just how much he really needed to tell Sean about what had happened to Illyana. Didn't want to scare the man away, after all. "Illyana was kidnapped into... uh, another dimension, as strange as that sounds, for about five minutes or so our time but eight years there. We have some worries about how she's adjusting, but Charles and an outside specialist are on the case."

Sean wasn't giving him the 'pardon me while I get the straitjacket' look, so Scott went on. "Manuel is an empath who's had a very unfortunate background - institutionalized, exploited for his abilities. He's been doing better recently, though. Actually, he's been working with Nathan, who seems to be making considerable headway with him - don't be surprised by anything you see the two of them doing, by the way. The curriculum Nathan and Charles and..." No, no way was he trying to explain the Askani to Sean. "It's a little unusual," he temporized.

"Don't do things by halves round here, do yez?  I thought Theresa and I would make a wild enough story, but it turns out we're quite normal. Don't know whether to be relieved or frightened..."  Sean ran a hand through his hair.

"Relieved," Scott suggested with a slight smile. "These are just the... uh, high points, Sean. There are plenty of more everyday issues around here. At least, the everyday sort of issues you get in a school of very highstrung mutant kids..."

"I'm starting to get the idea that me retirement's going to be eventful, anyway."  Sean smiled.  "Ah, I was never one for a quiet life.  Truth be told, I'm looking forward to this."