Madelyn, Hank - Saturday night

[x-madelyn.livejournal.com]

Late on Saturday night, Hank officially relieves Madelyn of duty, and brings her tea before sending her to bed. They talk a bit, about what happened earlier, and about Madelyn's role in the school... and the team.



Hank slipped away while Madelyn alternated between checking on the students online and in person. Tea would definitely be a good thing... she should have some tea and some time to calm down from crisis-mode before trying to sleep, even if it hadn't been much of a crisis. If she was still tensed up and ready for action when she went to sleep, bad dreams would be a near-certainty, he knew from experience.

When the medlab was quiet, he tapped on her open office door, leaning in and returning her tired smile. "I thought perhaps you could use some tea and cookies before bed," he said softly, holding out the tray. Two cups, teapot, milk, sugar... and cookies, naturally. Tea was best if you made a proper little ritual out of it. "I napped earlier, so I'm fine for staying up tonight."

"You're an angel in blue fur, Hank," Madelyn said with a smile. "I've been trying to downtime a bit before trying to sleep - it's too late for the usual bath - and tea sounds perfect."

"Downtime before sleep is definitely a good thing." Hank nodded, and poured her a cup of tea. "Cream? Sugar?" He offered her the little plate. "Chocolate macadamia chunk cookie?"

"Both. And gimme." She snagged a cookie, biting into it happily. "Mm, that's good. Definitely an angel." As he handed her the cup she took a long sip and sighed. "Much better. I've been wound up all night, between the check-ups, making sure my sister doesn't lead a revolt on the local police station and trying to find out just what the hell was going on with that delayed reaction time..." She pulled a face. "It doesn't look good, either."

"I suspected as much, even though I tried to be reassuring." Hank sighed, passing her her teacup and pouring his own. "Life... and crises... go on, I suppose. Especially around here." He sipped his tea and smiled ruefully. "Oh, well. At least nobody was badly hurt, this time."

"Thank God for that - the kids did a really good job out there tonight, by all accounts..." Madelyn dunked her cookie thoughtfully into her tea. "As much as we hate the neccessity, it's important that they know how to react in a crisis, and they're proving that they've learned that well."

"Indeed. I was very proud of them." Hank nodded. "As much as I wish that they... and the rest of us... never had to face that kind of situation, it's good to know that they can handle it when they do." He took a cookie and looked at it reflectively. "I wish I knew what was going through their minds... the young members of the FOH, I mean. To be so angry at people just for existing..."

"The eternal question - what makes people hate like they do?" Madelyn sighed. "Fear, mostly. People are frightened of what they don't understand, the other, and they react against it." She leaned her chin on one hand, setting the teacup down. "I think I'll have a word with some of my Bureau buddies, ask about these cousins of Jamie's, and see if they've been flagged at all."

"That would be much appreciated. You have resources the rest of us don't... at least, not legitimately so." And that brought up something he'd been meaning to ask about. He probably wasn't going to find a better time than this... "I have been... meaning to ask you," he said slowly, "does it bother you, that I have largely replaced you as the active member of the medical staff? Going on missions, and so on?"

"Madelyn blinked, startled. "Did Alison say something...?" she asked. "I know I shouldn't have yelled at her like that, but I was frustrated and I know there's perfectly good reasons for it and..." She coloured, looking a little shamefaced. "Perhaps a little? Not so much that you're going on missions, more that I seem to have been put back on the bench when I know there's stuff I _can_ do."

"No, Alison didn't say anything..." Hank smiled ruefully. "But I've never known a strong, independent woman who wouldn't resent... at least a little... being told she wasn't allowed to take risks anymore. Especially if she found herself replaced by a man, on the basis that he's bigger and stronger than she is." Alison herself would have attempted to chew his arm off, probably, had the situation arisen. And would have been terribly offended if he'd laughed.

"To tell the truth, the man part was the least of it..." Madelyn said ruefully. "There's the part where people seem to think the FBI training doesn't count for anything, and the part where I'm just a puny human, and then there's the part where I felt like people were deliberately not telling me anything because they were worried I wouldn't cope after the nervous breakdown in November..." Madelyn looked up at Hank, still looking sheepish. "Then there was the part where it was a man doing the hard work."

"I sort of thought it might be..." He grinned at her. "As logical as it is, to have the trained combatant who can carry up to four patients at once to safety, if they're up to being jostled around a bit, it must still be... annoying." He took another sip of tea. "As for the rest... Madelyn, you're hardly a 'puny human'. You're a strong, independent, well trained woman... just not quite as heavily overtrained as the rest of us." He smiled a little. "Did you know that I first came here when I was eighteen? A lot of training under the bridge, by now."

"Perhaps I don't have the training out the ears, but there's more to it than that... I have contacts, Hank, and skills, both of which could be of realy use to the team. And it works both ways - can you imagine how much it would improve the X-Men's status in the eyes of the law and the government if they were able to assist with certain crimes? Mutant-related felonies that the regular law enforcement agencies can't touch?" Madelyn made a frustrated noise. "There's a lot more to changing the world than charging in and doing the heroics and then charging out again. With the resources we have, we could _prevent_ a lot of the stuff that comes up before it ever becomes a problem. Or at least a problem of the scale that needs the team to swoop down and possibly get killed."

Hank nodded. "You're absolutely right," he agreed. "You have a great deal to offer the team... and the students. And you have another advantage over me, in that there is another thing that you can do of which I am entirely incapable."

She raised her eyebrow at him. "What would that be?"

He grinned. "Blend in," he said cheerfully. "Even with an image inducer, I'm simply too large to vanish into a crowd, and my appearance and voice are widely known... I've done quite a few television and radio interviews, among other things, over the years. Between the two, I'm absolutely no good at all for any mission requiring subterfuge. You, on the other hand, with an image inducer to disguise your lovely features, can go anywhere you wish... and you have a lot more training in the area of being sneaky than I do, I imagine."

Madelyn nodded. "Exactly my point. And that was why I was getting frustrated - enough that I got taken off field-medic, but it wasn't like I had anything else to fill the gap. Don't get me wrong, I love medicine, but it's not all that I am."

"You'll have your time in the field," Hank said seriously. "I assure you, although I know I'm better suited to combat, there will be missions that I shouldn't go on, with you available. I do know that, and I will not hesitate in insisting that you be assigned to those missions you can do better than I... such as any requiring subterfuge or secrecy. I am simply too noticeable."

"Thanks, Hank, I appreciate that. Al's got some stuff up her sleeve too, now she's got my updated files... And I'm fine with the sneaky - it just hasn't been brought up at all. People tend to forget what you can do if you just do something else all the time, and to be fair, there's been an awful lot of need for Doctor Bartlet instead of Agent Bartlet."

Hank nodded. "And you've been feeling a little resentful of being sent back to your bandages and bedpans as if that's all you're capable of? I don't blame you at all." He smiled a little. "I'm sorry I didn't bring it up before, but it didn't occur to me at first... and then I was a little worried that you'd think I was being patronizing or something.

"Patronizing? Why?" Madelyn looked confused for a moment, and then smiled. "Oh, in case I wasn't and then you'd brought it up like you were _expecting_ me to be and me not taking it well?" She picked up her tea again. "Not at all. But yes, there was an element of being put back in my box a bit to all this."

Hank nodded. "My apologies, then, for not discussing this earlier." And he wondered, now, why Madelyn wasn't on the team, officially, since she was definitely pulling the responsibilities of a teammember... and doing so well. "And for the record, I consider you perfectly capable of handling any crisis or responsibility that might be thrown at you... you've certainly done amazingly well so far. And there's nothing puny about you, human or not."

On cue, Madelyn blushed. "Thank you, Hank. Sometimes it seems all you do is bolster my crappy opinion of myself, I swear... I'm not this insecure usually, you know that. It's just been... festering, I suppose." She grimaced. "And Le Beau calling me an amateur didn't help."

Hank rolled his eyes. "I try to pretend he's not here," he admitted. "The man is irritating on purpose, I know he is, and yet still he gets to me." He shook his head, and then gave her a serious look. "And I'm not trying to bolster your confidence, although I'm glad if I have... I simply suspect that your hard work has not been sufficiently appreciated until now, and am trying to make up the lack. You have done a great deal for us, and I want you to know it's appreciated."

"That makes two of us - looks like it's up to Moira to deal with him on a regular basis. I have to admit, I still haven't forgiven him for that neck-choke when he broke out of here the last time..." Madelyn rubbed her neck in remembered pain.

Hank nodded. "Although I think I'd rather deal with him myself... should he get violent again, I'd rather I was dealing with him than Moira. She's capable of defending herself under normal circumstances, but... well." He sighed and smiled ruefully. "And I admit I do feel somewhat protective of both of you," he admitted. "It's not that I don't think you're capable of taking care of yourselves, I know you are, but I was brought up with the belief that I should look out for those who are smaller than I am... which, at the moment,is more or less everyone."

"Well, as long as you remember that we don't _need_ you to do it, I think we can come to an agreement where we _let_ you be Big Protective Hank." Madelyn reached over and patted his hand. "Besides, one day I might be saving your ass. You never know. And I definitely agree with you about Moira - I was kidding, mostly."

"I assure you, I have absolutely no objections to having a lovely lady rescue me from danger," he said cheerfully. "And I truly don't mean to be patronizing, or to imply that you need to be protected... it's simply something I've done all my life, and it's awfully difficult to stop now." He covered her hand with his for a moment, smiling at her. "And I'm going to hold you to that promise of saving my ass, you know. I shall count on it."

Madelyn smiled and squeezed the hand covering hers with her fingers. "Well, hopefully it'll never happen, but if it does, you know I'll be there."