Kurt and Scott, Sunday night

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They spend some time in the strategy room, and talk about recent events and what needs to be done next.



Still unable to sleep, despite the very visible darker-blue-to-purple circles under his eyes, Kurt decided to pay a visit to the "war room", to see if there were any recent developments he might have missed and should know about.

Inside, Scott was hunched over one of the computer, nursing a cup of coffee and looking nearly as tired as Kurt. "Come on," he muttered, staring at the blank screen. It was a risk, going back to this particular source at a time like this, but they needed more information. It had been hours since he'd sent the initial encrypted email, but he supposed... Scott's head jerked upwards as he heard the door, and he managed a tight smile for Kurt. "Morning... afternoon. Whatever it is."

Kurt moved further into the room, returning the smile wearily. "Good... day. Anything new?"

"Nothing. I suppose in some ways that's a good thing." Scott sipped at his coffee, grimacing as he realized it was ice-cold. Ah, well. Still caffeine. "You look like you need to sleep, Kurt."

"So do you", Kurt answered wryly. "Which, I suppose, means you cannot any more than I can."

"Hey, I got a whole... well, almost an hour and a half," Scott said, his eyes flickering back to the screen for a moment. "I can go for a couple of nights without too much difficulty, though. How's the mood out in the halls?"

"Tense", Kurt answered sombrely. "The children are all frightened, or worried about one of those in the medlab."

"It's going to get more tense," Scott said a bit bleakly. "I don't see how we can not put some restrictions on their movements off-campus for now, Kurt." He would have spoken to the Professor about this already, but Charles was occupied with Alison, who needed him considerably more than he, Scott, needed a sounding board. "I'm not prepared to let any of them off the grounds without an adult escort, and we can't have the staff being run ragged on non-essential trips. Not when we don't know if Magneto will try again soon."

"You think he would come after others of the children than Miles?" Kurt asked tightly, reining in his anger at the suggestion. "For revenge, or for other reasons?"

"I have trouble thinking like Magneto," Scott said, a touch of weary wryness in his voice. "That's always been the problem. He made it quite clear yesterday that he's not concerned about drawing public attention. We don't know how badly he wants Miles, how far he'd go in a second attempt."

Kurt nodded, his mind moving fast over the possibilities. "There is a chance he would try taking one of the others as a hostage, to be exchanged for Miles. Or who knows what else."

"We don't want to get too caught up in the worse-case scenarios," Scott pointed out. "That way lies madness, and there's no way we can keep the school locked down for any length of time. It's the same old conundrum come back again." He sipped at his cold coffee, shaking his head. "I may be able to get some information from some of my sources," he said, knowing Kurt wouldn't push. "That's what we need most right now, to understand what we're reacting to."

Kurt nodded, understanding that the fewer people knew the sources' names, the safer for them. "If you could find out what is going on, it would be of immeasurable help, as I am sure you know."

"Not helpful, Kurt. Necessary. One way or the other." Scott leaned back in his chair, sighing. "At least there was no pursuit. Trying to deal with Ali's condition on top of fighting Magneto..." He shook his head, reminding himself that it hadn't happened, and he had more than enough that he should be expending brainpower on that still might.

Kurt nodded. "I do not think he would have risked a pursuit. Dealing with two X-Men and three children is one thing, but facing the entire population of the mansion..."

"We need information," Scott said again, glancing back at the screen. A watched pot never boiled and all, but at the very least, an acknowledgment that his message had been received would have been reassuring. He was beginning to worry. "Until then, we need to be careful."

"Agreed. I do not think the older children will object to security restrictions, under the circumstances."

"Let's say a week," Scott said finally, his mind turning over and over the problem. "We'll reassess in a week at the latest. If we get more information before then, we can do it sooner."

"That sounds reasonable", Kurt agreed. "I think we will find they do not want to leave campus alone and unescorted, at this point. Even those who might be inclined to break the rules at another time."

"Trusting to their good sense," Scott said a bit wryly. "Always a chancy proposition... oh, I'm in a crappy mood." He shook his head, the wryness fading. "I suppose it would be thoroughly inappropriate of me to wish that she'd killed him."

"Not inappropriate", Kurt answered quietly. "Human. It would make things so very much easier..."

"And no one's dead," Scott murmured, then smiled faintly at Kurt, a smile without much humor to it. "So it's only a disaster, not a catastrophe."

"Small mercies", Kurt murmured in response. "No one is dead, and no one was taken."

"Right," Scott said more briskly, trying not to think of Alison down in the medlab. "So we focus on what to do now," he said, turning back to the computer. "I think I'm going to hit up a few more of the Professor's sources, to see what they can find for us."

Kurt nodded. "If there is anything I can do, you have my pager number. I will likely be in the medlab, or in my room. Trying to sleep, perhaps, a little later."

"Sleep, Kurt," Scott said mock-severely, managing a slightly more normal smile for him. "Or I'll sneak down to the medlab and find Maddie's tranq gun."

Kurt gave him a wry smile, and another nod. "If I still cannot later on, I will ask her for some of her little green pills. No need for the tranquilliser gun."

"That's what they all say," Scott said, and surprised himself with a brief, weary-sounding laugh. Coffee really didn't taste good cold, he reflected, but turned his attention to writing up another encrypted email. He was soon absorbed enough that he didn't notice when Kurt slipped quietly out.

Comments

[x-cyclops.livejournal.com]

Oh, the icon. The ICON. I worship the icon. :)

[x-madelyn.livejournal.com]

*points you towards Maddie's icons* Lots of shinies! *cackles gleefully* Thanks to the wonderful Willow who is better with hair colour modification than I am. ;)