Scott, Madelyn and Horatio - last Sunday evening

[x-madelyn.livejournal.com]

After her training session with Alison, Madelyn drops by to see Scott's new little friend, and there's talk. Much, much talk. No truth-telling cookies this time - I think Maddie's developing the mutant power of making Scott talk about everything. ;)



All the reading he'd done had suggested that feeding a turtle in a separate little container was a good idea, so that was what Scott was currently doing with Horatio. "Just a salad for today," he murmured, peering down at the little turtle. "Some chicken tomorrow. That's what the schedule calls for anyway." Horatio looked up at him and then lowered his head to the 'salad' and started munching happily. At least, Scott thought it looked like happy munching. It was kind of hard to tell.

There was a gentle tapping on the half-open door of the suite, and Scott looked up to see Madelyn grinning broadly at him. "I couldn't help overhearing," she said. "Is this the part where I say the two of you are too cute for words?" She'd showered after the training session with Alison, loose tendrils of hair that had escaped the braid clinging damply to her face. "I wish I'd known - I would have gotten you a little Golden Gate Bridge to put in his tank to climb on."

"Would you have liked that?" Okay, he really had to stop talking to his turtle in mixed company. Maddie was giving him one of Those looks. "Spur of the moment sort of thing," he explained. "Properly researched, of course..." He smiled a bit embarrassedly. "I never had a pet."

"Then it's definitely high time you did." Madelyn came in, taking the fact they were having a conversation as permission enough. "Why, hello," she said to Horatio, looking into the feeding container. The turtle continued to munch away on his salad, and she chuckled again. "He's adorable," she pronounced. "And has his priorities straight. Food first."

"They're not the most social creatures," Scott conceded, "but I don't really need anything cuddly." Then he realized what he'd said, and how it sounded, and grinned a bit at Maddie. "Well, generally, I mean..."

She giggled a little at him. "I know what you meant. Although don't put it that way to Hank, or he'd either pout at you or engulf you in one of those bear hugs of his. Or possibly dump you in a snowbank. Although I managed to give as good as I got, at least. He underestimated the power being tormented by an older brother for almost twenty years can give you." There was a definite air of smugness with that last.

"Ah. I see," Scott said, perhaps a little too wisely. Madelyn blinked at him, and he smoothly changed the subject. "I don't know if you'd had the chance to check your email yet? You'll have a few things from me - a proposal for tightening up the system by which medlab gets notified of who's out in the field, plus some ideas for tracking stress, medically-speaking... you and Hank and Moira all got copies."

"I haven't, but once again you're doing that whole scary psychic Captain thing - I was mentioning to Al today that we need to start evaluations again. With Hank gone or distracted and the 'lab so busy, we had to drop those. But I never did feel comfortable about it - there's too much room for serious injury, given the way people tend to push themselves here." She tactfully didn't mention Haroun and his Amazing Rubber Head. "And an idea of who's on a mission would be wonderful - we could prep a lot better if we had the files already out and scanned for particular problems." She contemplated Horatio in his container, thinking. "I suppose with Hank back on deck, he'll be the medic on call for the field?"

"That's the plan," Scott said with a nod. "And regular evaluations are definitely something we need to get back to doing. I'm not at all happy with the training accidents." He shook his head, reaching into the container and shifting some of Horatio's food to the other side. One of the sites he'd read had said to make the turtle chase his food a little, to make sure he got sufficient exercise. "Without getting into details you don't need to know, Madelyn, we have a few things possibly coming up, and I want to make sure there's sufficient healthy personnel available."

"I've been working with Al already - well, we're both training each other, at this point in time..." Madelyn said, ignoring the little pang of regret she felt at the news Hank would be tapped for the field - it was what she had expected, being the practical, logical, sensible thing. He was the one with superpowers, after all. "And I'm with you on the training accidents - apart from the whole putting people back together aspect, it's too much of a risk when they are out in the field if they're carrying pre-existing injuries. And we're reducing Amanda's healing to critical situations only, so people can't rely on that."

"Past time that happened, probably," Scott said a bit absently. "It's a good ace in the sleeve, but maybe if there's more consequences to the minor injuries, people will stop getting them." He laughed suddenly, wryly, his gaze sharpening as he looked back at Madelyn. "Watch. I'll say this and then indulge in a bout of sloppiness myself. The universe has that sort of sense of humor, have you noticed?"

"That was one of the reasons mentioned. Along with the fact the poor kid's draining herself to the point of exhaustion out of a sense of guilt. Hank's put his hand up to tell her when she gets back - we figured he'd stand the best chance of getting the point across without getting turned into anything unnatural." Madelyn snorted a bit. "And you've invoked Murphy's Law now, Scott. There shall be no appeasing him. Maybe you should go down there and stub your toe or something?"

"But see, that's just taunting Murphy to do something worse. He's not appeased by token gestures." Scott peered down at Horatio, who was still munching away enthusiastically. "I want Alison back on active duty and Nathan off reserve as soon as humanly possible," he confessed more quietly. "I know that neither are precisely a medical problem at this point, but I'd appreciate it if you and Moira and Hank kept a particularly careful eye on the two of them, to make sure they don't overdo things." He looked up at Madelyn, smiling faintly. "I need Ali fully into her new job, and unless we get Nathan into harness fast, we have no telepath."

"Ali pushes, but I think having me fitness train with her helps. And Haroun, as much as he likes to punish himself, has been very careful about how far she should go..." Madelyn leaned back against Scott's desk, expression contemplative. "Nathan's the tricky one, although a lot of what's happened has happened to him, not because of him, if you get my meaning. It seems like every time we get him close to one piece, there's another disaster that knocks him back to square one. And I know it's frustrating for him, frustrating beyond belief. Especially this last set - he's losing hope there's anything he can do to stop all this."

"Alison has some ideas," Scott said with a sigh, "although it's not going to be easy on him." He left it at that. Madelyn didn't need to know the details. "Anyway. Enough shop-talk," he said. Horatio finished the last of his lettuce and looked up expectantly. "You ate it all," Scott pointed out. "No more until tomorrow."

"Rehabilitation is never easy," Madelyn pointed out, then smiled again at Scott and his pet. "Are you sure turtles can't pout? Because I swear he is."

"He has very soulful eyes," Scott said dryly, and reminded himself that he needed to leave Horatio in the container for a little while longer. Having him eat and take care of his little turtle business in a separate spot made keeping his tank clean much easier, according to Scott's reading. "I think I need to stop down to visit you in your domain one day soon, too, come to think of it," he said. "I've hardly been down to Boiler Beach since I got back, and I'm noticing a difference."

"Have you thought of switching the globes in here to incandescents as well?" she asked, immediately pouncing on her pet project. "And yes, please, come down. I'm trying to cajole Alex into joining my little project as well, since the two of you have similar powers."

Scott looked up at the lights thoughtfully. "Might be worth a try. And I'm still definitely game for your study." He paused, then shrugged a little, surrendering to the inevitable. "I've been getting the occasional headache again, too," he admitted. "Started up again over Christmas."

"Damn, I was afraid that might happen..." Madelyn frowned slightly as she considered him, thinking through treatments they could try and not coming up with a lot, given the last time the problem was psychic in origin. "Have you talked to Charles about it at all?"

"I have, and I will again," he said. "Charles just wants to make sure there's nothing physiological going on." He chuckled a little. "Thing is, my stress levels are quite a bit better, I'd say, so I'm not sure what's going on."

"Well, we can do the full grease and oil check just to make sure," she said with a way too enthusiastic grin. "Full bloodwork, maybe an MRI to make sure all that light didn't cook your brain, the machine that goes ping..."

"Ooh, and the one that goes bleep?" He gave her his best charming grin. "I like the one that goes bleep. It's musical." Maddie laughed at him, and he grinned, turning his attention back to Horatio for a moment. "I have some things I brought back from Alaska that I should show you, too. Copies of pictures that Phillip and Deborah gave me to take back."

"And the one that goes bleep - I think it has a crush on you, since it bleeps very enthusiastically when you're around. And you have pictures? Family pictures? And you waited until now to mention them to possibly one of the people who would most appreciate them? For shame, Captain."

Scott laughed and detoured to get the album. "Deborah put it together," he said, sitting down on the couch and opening it as Madelyn came over and sat beside him. "Copies of some of the early pictures. Including some very embarrassing baby pictures. Alex looked like an angel. I glowered lots at the camera."

"But it's a very cute glower," Madelyn pointed out, giggling at the obligatory studio shot of Alex and Scott on a bunny blanket, Scott holding his infant brother protectively. "Such big brown eyes," she cooed, enjoying making him squirm just a bit. She'd made it her mission to ensure the serious Captain got the chance to be silly sometimes, and if that meant teasing him about his baby pictures, well, so be it. "And oh my God, you look so much like your father..." She examined the next photo of a serious-looking brown-haired man holding Alex in his arms. "All you need is a moustache and you'd be the spitting image."

"I don't remember... any of this, you know," Scott mused quietly, peering down at the pictures. "Well, bits and pieces... blurred faces." He smiled at a picture of Alex and their mother. "Appallingly photogenic, that bratty little brother of mine..."

"How old were you when the crash happened?" Madelyn asked softly, slowly turning pages. Birthday parties, Christmases, family holidays and a series of houses that were obviously cheap armed forces housing...

"Twelve," Scott said, frowning a little at the pictures. "You should have more memories of twelve years... brain damage or no brain damage." He had to smile at the picture of Alex covered in what looked like chocolate pudding, though.

"Not necessarily... I've seen the scans that were done of the damage, and it seems to be pretty extensive... Not to say it'll never come back - memory loss is a tricky business." Ooh, Scott's first day at school, all serious looking in his uniform...

"I look so serious in almost all of these," Scott complained mildly. "You'd think I never smiled."

"I'm sure there's one..." Madelyn pored through the album for a moment, before uttering a triumphant cry. "Ah-hah! There we are!" Five-year-old Scott being held upside-down by his mother, shrieking with laughter as she tickled him. "Oh, this is just too adorable. You could really disturb some of the students with these..."

"Uh-uh, Bartlet. There will be no sharing of the pictures with the student body," Scott said mock-severely. "Half of them would be traumatized, and the other half would coo over them." He snorted, turning the page to a series of shots of him and Alex playing in the snow. "Toboganning," he murmured after a moment. "That's something I remember..."

"You're no fun at all, Captain," Madelyn said with a mock-pout. "And trauma and cooing is the whole point."

"No fun at all. That's me." He smiled, glancing sideways at her, wondering if he ought to share with her the plan he'd mentioned to Hank. She might approve, but then, she might worry, too, like Hank had worried.

"Except when you're hyped up on sunshine and chocolate. Then you're lots of fun." And he was giving her the look that meant he had something on his mind, but wasn't sure if he should say... she was getting good at picking that one up. "And you have Planning Face," she said with a reassuring grin. "Meaning you're planning something. I hope it's not dastardly designs on my donut stash."

Was he getting that transparent? Or was she just that perceptive? Probably a little bit of both, Scott conceded. "I've been thinking about going back to Alkali Lake sometime soon," he said. "To where Jean died."

It was strange, she'd been expecting something like this, especially now the relationship with Betsy was over... "I think it might be a good idea," she said at last. "At least to try and get some sense of closure, or not. Who are you taking?"

"I thought I'd go by myself, actually." Scott smiled a little bit at the look she gave him. "Once Alison's back in the saddle and I can get some more time off without feeling guilty. I did after all indulge myself shamelessly over Christmas."

"It wasn't that I was thinking of, more along the lines of having someone along to make sure you're okay," Madelyn pointed out. "After all, you've got the remains of your link still there and still causing problems, you had the people whose old base you're visiting come after you and Alex not that long ago, and you've had a recent case of amnesia. I'm all for catharsis, but..." She spread her hands a little helplessly. "I can't help wonder if you're tempting fate going alone."

"I probably am. But it's something I need to do, I think." Scott gave Madelyn a long, thoughtful look. "I wasn't able to do much, back then," he said. "I'd been captured along with Charles, and Stryker's people had used that serum on me. They sent me out to fight Jean, actually, when the X-Men and Magneto broke into the complex..."

"And that I understand, it's just..." Madelyn gestured vaguely, as if to encompass the room. "This place. The luck we have. I worry, you know that."

He smiled. "I know," he said simply. "But I still think I need to go alone. Having someone else there would just give me the excuse to avoid my own reactions and focus on theirs. Distraction. I wouldn't be able to do what I'll be there for."

"Okay, okay, you're the tactician any way. I don't need to tell you to have a panic button of some kind on you, do I? And to make sure someone has full details of how long you're expecting to take and the rest of it?" Madelyn caught herself. "Gah, listen to me, lecturing you like you're one of the kids."

Scott grinned briefly. "Panic button, sat phone... and I somehow suspect that Charles will be keeping a telepathic eye on me, too." That was someone else he needed to talk about this with, of course.

"I nag because I care, you know that," Madelyn told him, making a wry face. "Or possibly because I'm stuck on 'mother-hen' mode. Maybe you should give me a kick?"

"I would never kick you," Scott said with a mock-affronted look. "That would jeopardize my chances of getting more of those peanut butter cups. Which were delicious, by the way. Even if I may have eaten them just a teeny bit too fast..."

Madelyn chuckled. "I'll tell Carlie to bring some more with her when she visits. Which is a when now, by the way. The only thing stopping her from turning up after the stories Jubilee's been telling her, is to put her feet in concrete and sink her to the bottom of the ocean. Which I've been tempted to do, given the amount of nagging I've been getting. Still, it's happening - last week of January, since her classes don't start until February, lazy liberal-arts student that she is."

"Jubilee and she get along fairly well, don't they?" Scott grinned a bit. "I may not be spending much time with her, but I do peruse every word on those journals." He looked back down at the photo album, still smiling. "You and your family have been really good for her, you know."

"Scarily well, but I think they both get something out of it." Madelyn's expression softened. "And I hope so, I really do. Poor kid needs something besides than lectures and being told she's screwed up - she needs that too, but too much of anything can be bad. Even 'though she can be damn infuriating sometimes. But, San Francisco went well, and I think she got some closure." She grinned. "You wouldn't believe what she wants to do after she leaves school, by the way."

"No, what?" Maddie mouthed 'cop' at him, and Scott couldn't stop his eyes from widening briefly. "Well, damn. Would never have guessed that, from her..." He smiled a bit wryly. "That says more about me than her, though, I suppose."

"Well, it surprised me as well. I'm not sure how she's going to do with the psych requirements given what we've seen from her lately, but she's determined to at least try," said Madelyn with a small shrug. "And she needs some direction so badly, I don't have it in me to take it away when she's only just found it. Besides, she might surprise all of us - she's certainly a different person when she's with me or my family."

"She's got some time to straighten herself out, no?" Scott suggested lightly. "And having a goal to work toward can't hurt." He hesitated for a moment. "She did express interest in the team back in the fall," he said a bit wryly. "I wasn't particularly receptive. In my own defense, was a little insane and all... although my answer would probably be the same now as it was then. Just phrased a little better. She's got a ways to go... and really, if she can fulfill this need to make a difference in a civilian context, it's probably a better thing for her." His lips twitched. "Us leather-wearing idiots are going to come to messy ends, don't you know..."

"If she keeps to a realistic timeframe, then yes, she does. The hard part will be if she expects to be ready for intake this summer - if she isn't, I hope she doesn't take it as a signal she never will be. Still, we'll help her as much as we're able. And God forbid she end up on a team..." Madelyn added with a small shudder. "With her impulse control, the anger management issues... gah." She did swat him lightly, however, for the last bit. "I do know - why do you think I nag you so much to be careful? I've gotten used to being here, Captain - I'd hate to see any of you come to the inevitable messy end."

Scott was silent for a long moment, his expression gone serious. "There's going to be messiness this year, Maddie. Potential messiness, at least."

The playfulness dropped from her face, and she bit her lip. "More stuff I'm on a strictly need-to-know basis?" she asked rhetorically, and when he nodded, sighed. "I know this is part of the deal, that you're doing what's needed - the same as I used to. Just... keep me in the loop as much as you can? I deal with the idea of something unpleasant happening to my friends much better if I can mentally prepare for it."

"It depends on how things develop," Scott said, his voice oddly distant for a moment. "How messy it gets... but I'll do my best to make sure you know what you need to know when you need to know it." He smiled, reaching out and patting her knee. "I could be overly pessimistic, too. I'm supposed to be not thinking about the worst-case scenario all the time, after all."

"All part of the job, or so they tell me." Madelyn lay her hand on his, giving it a brief squeeze. "And thanks, Scott. In some cases ignorance is not bliss, and I'm one of those."

"You'd rather know. Believe me, I can empathize there." He sighed, leaning back into the couch. "I feel forty years old, sometimes. And sometimes, I feel eighteen and completely unprepared for any of this. It's really very contradictory."

"It's not exactly a normal situation for anyone to find themselves in, is it? Leader of a band of super-powered heroes who try and make the world a better place? Even cops have a better deal, since no-one tends to attack them in their homes half as much as happens here, and they don't have a bunch of impressionable teenagers to shield from as much of the violence as possible. If there are contradictions, they aren't of your making, Scott. More just a very contradictory situation. But if it helps..." She grinned briefly at him. "I think you're doing a damn good job, given the circumstances."

"Did I tell you my grandfather offered me a job?" Scott volunteered suddenly. At the slight widening of Maddie's eyes, he shook his head immediately. "I didn't accept. It was tempting, though. Very tempting." He paused. "Hank was giving me a hard time about not feeling like I could leave if I wanted, telling me there were other places I could make valuable contributions if I needed a change of scenery."

"See, I remember someone giving me that talk not that long ago..." Madelyn drawled, amused but watching Scott's face keenly. "Something about not feeling I was trapped here, that I'd be missed if I left, but that this place shouldn't be my entire existence? And there was a picnic lunch as well. Maybe I should have brought food."

Scott smirked a bit, remembering that conversation all too well. "Do as I say, not as I do? Seriously, though, Maddie..." He trailed off, his expression going sober. "I can't. It's not that I'm trapped, it's just that I couldn't live with myself if I left."

"Do you see me packing my bags any time soon, Scott?" Madelyn pointed out gently. "It's more than just a job now - the people here, the work... it's too important to walk away from, at least not yet. Besides," she added with another of those grins. "I'm told I'm stubborn."

"Really? I never would have guessed." There was a rattling from Horatio, in his container, and Scott got up, going over to return the little turtle to his tank. "The people here," he said speculatively, taking the container into the kitchenette to wash his hands. "Interesting way of putting it."

Madelyn shrugged a little, watching him from the couch. "It was the way that felt right. The kids, the teachers, the ones in between... There's so much potential here, and I don't just mean in terms of their powers. No-where else would you get such a broad range of cultures and backgrounds and ambitions. I may not always agree on the execution, such as having effectively a commando team living in the same building as a school, but I can't deny the reason for this place isn't important, and it's the people who make the place what it is."

"A microcosm of the mutant race," Scott said after a moment. "The dreamers, the cynics, the ones who really haven't thought about it yet one way or the other..."

"The warriors and the peacemakers and everyone else in between..." Madelyn added. "It's like the United Nations, only with powers."

"Hopefully a little more effective, in the end," Scott said with a chuckle, but the thought brought something back to mind. "Maddie?" he asked, giving her his best impression of a puppy-dog look, which he was at a natural disadvantage in, given the glasses. "Might I prevail upon you for a big favor?"

"Depends..." Madelyn said mock-warily, giving him a look. "The last time I did a big favour for someone I ended up dressed up as a pirate wench. Not that it wasn't fun, but still, I have a dignified doctorly image to maintain. At least until someone feeds me too much sugar." Realising she was rambling, she dragged herself back to the point. "Sure. What is it? And does it include dressing up?"

"No pirate wench outfits, no. Although I still want the pictures." Scott grinned. "No, actually... I was wondering if you might be up for some field trip supervision this term."

"No pictures. I refuse to believe any exist, therefore they don't." Madelyn gave a decisive nod. "And sure, that sounds like fun. Do you have something specific in mind, or are you just going for general agreement now and specifics later?"

"It's liable to be exotic," Scott admitted. "It struck me, talking to Haroun... we do have teleporters available, and really, his idea about making sure the kids are grounded in more than the Western world is probably an excellent one." He hesitated. "Well, it's not his idea entirely, he and Nate have kind of come at it from similar directions... but it's a good one, don't you think?"

"Considering what we were saying about the cultural make-up of the school, I think it's an excellent idea," Madelyn agreed, before adding mischievously. "Besides, if it means exotic travel for this little black duck... count me in."

"I have to talk to Charles, still," Scott said mischievously, "but I can't see him objecting. Not if, you know, we bring him back a souvenir or something. Maybe a hat. A really, really bizarre-looking hat."

"We could have a competition among the students?" Madelyn suggested brightly. "Test their abilities to interact with others in a new environment by rewarding the person who returns with the most bizarre-looking hat for Charles?"

"Too good," Scott said with relish. "Entirely too good."