Scott and Alex and the grandparents, Thursday

[x-cyclops.livejournal.com]

Scott and Alex land in Alaska and meet Phillip and Deborah. Alex is distressed by the lack of sun, but delighted by the grandparents. Scott is still a little wary.


"That," Scott said as they picked up their luggage, "was worse than some of my landings, Alex, and that says a lot." He glanced at the windows of the terminal, shaking his head at the blowing snow outside. "Not that I can blame the pilot. Look at it out there..."

Alex picked up his duffel bag, slinging the strap over his shoulder as he followed Scott's gaze. "Dude, is it always so dark here? It's like noon man, where's the sun?"

"It's winter in Alaska, Alex," Scott said with a chuckle, his eyes roaming the terminal, looking for faces that matched a couple of the pictures Phillip and Deborah had sent them. "The sun is pretty much AWOL."

Alex's eyes went wide, his inner surfer thoroughly outraged. "What kind of place is this that has no sun?! Dude!" Chuckling at his own reaction, Alex joined his eyes to Scott's search, standing on his tip toes to see over the crowd.

Scott, amused, opened his mouth to answer - and stopped, blinking, as he spotted them. "Uhh... over here," he said to Alex a little uncertainly. The tall, gray-haired man - Phillip - waved them over, beaming, while the woman at his side - Deborah - had her hands clapped over her mouth.

Alex immediatly beamed at seeing the old couple and was a few steps away when he realized Scott hadn't followed. With a dramatic sigh, he grabbed Scott's arm and hauled him over. Once they reached their grandparents, Alex dropped his bag at his feet. "Hi! Phillip and Deborah Summers I presume?"

Deborah gave him an absolutely radiant smile. "You must be Alex... oh, you look so much like your mother!" She started towards him, as if to hug him, but then hesitated, clearly uncertain whether or not he'd welcome the gesture.

Matching her smile, Alex was glad to take the final step and give his grandmother a large hug. He was practically bouncing, he was so excited that this was actually coming true.

Scott couldn't help a smile at Alex clinging happily to Deborah. He turned his attention to Phillip, a little startled to discover that his grandfather was a couple of inches taller than him, still quite powerfully built for a man his age. Phillip smiled warmly, his eyes keen as he sized Scott up and extended a hand.

"And you," he said quietly, "look so much like your father, Scott."

Scott swallowed, then shook Phillip's hand. Then, of course, Alex decided that they had to trade grandparents, and Scott gave Deborah a quick, slightly uneasy hug, not missing the very intent look she gave him as she drew back.

"What say we throw your luggage in the trunk and get going, boys?" Phillip suggested with a chuckle. "Before we get snowed in at the airport."

"Let's, the airport is nice, but I don't wanna stay here." Picking up his bag, Alex followed them happily out the door of the airport, where he promptly stopped in utter shock. "Dude! Cold!"


After dinner, Scott and Phillip start talking flying, and Deborah and Alex sneak away for a little quality bonding time in the kitchen.


To say that Deborah had cooked a nice dinner would be an understatement, Scott thought. It was like the paragon of home cooking, really.

"This is delicious," he said with a smile. "Makes the airline food pale in comparison..."

"If you had compared this to the food at the mansion I would have flicked this forkful of potatos at you." Alex blushed under the look from his grandmother. "My girlfriend is the unoffical mansion cook. Though, don't get me wrong, everything was totally awesome!"

"That would be Lorna, yes?" Deborah said with another one of those glowing smiles. "Professor Xavier told me a little bit about her. I did so want to know as much about the two of you as I could."

"Deb's never liked to work with incomplete information," Phillip said with a chuckle. "It's what makes her such a good dispatcher."

Scott perked up a little at Phillip's mention of the air service he and Deborah ran. He'd been fascinated to learn that the love of flying ran in the family. "Flying up here must be a real adventure at times," he said. "Between the weather and the terrain..."

Alex's eyes grew wide as Deborah mentioned Lorna, competely unaware they knew that much about them. But once flying came up, Alex just grinned into his plate, sitting quietly so Scott could share his love of flying with people who understood.

Deborah smiled at him as Phillip and Scott lost themselves in an enthusiastic discussion of the perils of flying small planes in Alaska. "I suspect they could be at that all night," she said with a low chuckle. "Care to help me clear the table, Alex?"

"Yes ma'am!" Alex hoped up and grabbed both his and Scott's plates (Scott didn't even notice) and after stacking them, grabbed the bowl of mashed potatos. He followed her into the kitchen before shaking hsi head chuckling. "It's so nice to see Scott relaxing adn talking about something he loves to someone who totally understands. I know I never did as much as I tried..."

Deborah started to rinse the plates, her eyes bright as she watched him. "You really do remind me so much of your mother," she murmured. "You've got Kate's hair and eyes, and her smile..."

Blushing, Alex quickly went back into the dining room to retrieve the rest of the plates and things. His cheeks were still red when he returned to her fond gaze. "I...thanks. I'll admit...sometimes I forget what she looked like."

Deborah's eyes glimmered with tears, even as the smile lingered on her lips. She raised a hand, touching Alex's face gently as he came over to set the plates down. "You were so young," she said. "We do have all kinds of pictures, you know. Your parents, you and Scott... I hope the two of you will look through them while you're here." She sighed a little, her eyes flickering back out to the dining room. "Your Professor said that Scott... doesn't really remember much from before the accident?"

"I know I'd like that and I'm sure so will Scott." Alex responded to the idea of looking through the old family photos. Then he bit his lip and sigh sadly. "Scott...well he suffered a pretty bad head injury during the accident. It caused a problem with his mutation which is why he has to wear those red glasses. I'd imagine he had some mental damage too. I...I don't know exactly. As the professor probably told you, we were seperated right afterwards." He couldn't resist the shudder that went down his spine at that memory.

Deborah nodded, her eyes full of sympathy. "He told us. That must have been so hard." She regarded him for a moment longer and then stepped forward, hugging him much more gently than she had in the airport. "I'm so very glad the two of you found each other in the end," she said softly. "And that your Professor found us."

Alex was glad for the contact, needed it in fact. He sighed again into her shoulder, again almost in tears at the motherly embrace. The closet thing he'd ever had to this was from Lorna's mother. It was ten times better from one of his own relatives. "Me too."