Scott and Alex, Thursday morning

[x-cyclops.livejournal.com]

Scott comes to see Alex with some pretty surprising news that may have an impact on their Christmas plans.



Alex was in one of the lounges, flipping through channels as he muttered under his breath about how the abmination in the basement was an insult to beaches everywhere. Now that college football was almost over, there was *nothing* to watch so he just set the TV on some random movie and picked up one of his surfing magazines he'd brought along to admire a *real* beach. He wasn't slightly homesick, no of course not.

Standing in the doorway of the lounge, Scott watched his brother for a few minutes, trying to figure out how to get the pole-axed expression off his face. Any moment, Alex was going to look up at him and think that someone had died or something...

Something flashed on the TV which made Alex looked up and catch the sight of someone in the door in the corner of his eye. He turned with a smile when he recognized his brother standing there, which faltered slightly when he saw Scott's expression. "Yo dude, what's up?"

Scott took a deep breath and came in, sitting down on the couch. "The Professor..." He trailed off, staring a bit blankly at the opposite wall before he shook himself. "Alex... do you remember our grandparents at all?"

The magazine in his hand was tossed aside and forgotten. Alex turned so he was facing Scott, a very confused look on his face, which squished up even more as he looked away for a moment to try and remember. When he looked back at Scott, he was biting the inside of lip as he nodded slowly. "Slightly yeah...why? Scott...I'll be honest, your scaring me."

"I don't," Scott murmured, then grimaced a bit. "Not at all. But..." He took another deep breath. "The Professor found them, Alex. They're still alive. Living in Alaska."

Alex didn't know what to say or do or anything. He felt his eyes grow wide and jaw drop, but he still didn't know what exactly he felt. He jumped tp his feet, pacing a bit from the couch, hugging himself. After taking a few deep breath, he turned slowly to look back at Scott. "Dude, your serious right? No joke?" Quieter and more desperate he added, "We have family?"

"Phillip and Deborah Summers," Scott said softly. "Our... Dad's parents. They own a charter air service, just outside Anchorage." There was a strange tightness in his chest, and swallowing was a little harder than it should have been as he saw the look in Alex's eyes. "The Professor talked to them... they thought we'd all died in the crash, Alex. They..." He trailed off, shaking his head.

Alex shook his head as he looked at the floor, his brain still not able to wrap itself around this concept. He had thought getting his brother back was too good to be true, but this...this was just unbelieveable. Still, despite all this running through his head, he noticed Scott trailing off. "They what Scott?"

"They want to see us," Scott murmured.

Finally, something cracked in that blonde head and Alex started laughing. Laughing for joy, laughing for the hell of it, Alex didn't care. He returned to the couch, sitting practically on top of Scott. "So when are we going big bro?"

"Well," Scott said after a moment, smiling a bit hesitantly, "we do have this holiday coming up. Christmas? Perhaps you've heard of it?"

Alex was all smiles now that he'd gotten the intial shock out of his system. "Dude, let's go then. No offense to anyone here, but frankly, the Christmas season doesn't have fond memories for me around here." He raised an eyebrow at Scott's expression. "Bro, you okay with all this?"

"I don't know, Alex, I just..." Scott smiled a bit wanly, shrugging. "We'll go," he said. "The Professor thought it was a good idea."

Rolling his eyes, Alex sighed. "Scott, you might fool everyone else in the mansion but your not fooling me. What's wrong? These our grandparents! Our family! This is like...the best Christmas present ever. So what's bugging you big bro?"

Scott didn't answer for a moment. "I guess it just seems too good to be true," he finally said, a bit painfully. "Family, all of a sudden. And I understand why we're only finding out now." Between how young Alex had been, and his coma, and where the plane crash had taken place... "I just..." He trailed off again, shrugging, not really sure why this... hurt.

Alex wasn't sure either, just it was plain that this was hurting Scott. Maybe it was thier ages when it happened or thier experiences since...didn't matter. Doing the only thing he could think of, Alex wrapped his arms around Scott and hugged him, firmly and almost protectively.

Scott stiffened for a moment, then hugged back. "I just wonder what they'll think when they find out about everything that's happened," he murmured, unable to keep the upset quite out of his voice. "I haven't... really done the best job at looking after you."

Alex pulled back at that, shock and now hurt on his own features. "Don't you dare Scott Summers...don't you dare. None of what has happened to either of us is in any way your fault, not totally anyway. You've been the best big brother I could ever imagine under these circumstances..." Alex was fighting back tears, his emotions running all over the place. "They will be just as proud of you as I am."

Scott bit his lip, then leaned forward and hugged Alex again, more tightly. "I guess I'm just a little scared at the idea," he said huskily. "More family, after all this time..." He let his breath out on a shaky sigh. "But it'll be all right," he said, not sure whether he was trying to convince himself or Alex. Who didn't really seem to need convincing. "These are Dad's parents, after all, and Charles said they sounded like really good people... I'm supposed to call them in a day or two, let them know what our plans are."

"We're just lucky to have found them at all...and each other." Alex was glad to return the hug, before pulling away a bit to look at Scott. "Obviously they want to see us so obviously that's a good thing. This can't be a bad thing Scott...that would just be too cruel, even for fate."

"We deserve some good luck for a change, huh?" Scott breathed deeply, telling himself to relax. It would be good to meet them, he told himself. A good thing, like Alex said. "You want to be there when I call?" he asked. "So you can say hello?" And grab the phone if I suddenly lose my voice...

"Yeah, just in case you chicken out. You need another vacation anyway and this is perfect. Let other people take care of things for a while..." Alex was half joking and half serious but he let Scott take it how he would. Now he was just excited.