xp_logs | Kurt and Scott, on the plane home

In the aftermath of the battle, two survivors talk things over.

Kurt sat slumped on his seat on the Blackbird, utterly exhausted in more ways than one. Glancing wearily around, he saw Scott sitting nearby with his leg propped up, and nodded to him.

Scott nodded back, studying Kurt despite the way his vision insisted on blurring. The other man didn't look hurt, or at least not badly. That was good. He was reassured by that, if not the slumped shoulders and vaguely desolate look. "Kurt," he said, speaking up, his voice hoarse. "You okay?"

Kurt sighed then, voice dull, answered, "I am... surviving. And you?"

"Not too badly. Mostly intact." He swallowed, then made a cautiously inviting gesture, allowing Kurt to turn down coming over if he wanted.

Kurt considered for a moment whether he could move, having sat down, then hauled himself up wearily and trudged over to where Scott sat, dropping heavily onto the bench next to him.

Scott gazed sideways at him for a long moment. "Ororo told me you and Elliot helped save the day."

Kurt gave him a wry smile. "I helped, as instant transport. Elliot did the most necessary part."

"It was a matter of a few minutes, I gather," Scott murmured. "From the sounds of it. You teleporting him rather than him trying to chase the bastard down may have wound up saving a hell of a lot of lives."

Kurt smiled very slightly. "Thank you."

"I think it's important to say these things," Scott said tiredly. "With everything else that's happened. If we don't focus on what we did right, what we managed to accomplish... well, it's hard already. It would just make it harder."

"We got the job done", Kurt answered quietly. "I know that. And the children are safe."

"That's a lot, Kurt." Scott watched him, aching for the obvious turmoil bubbling away beneath the exhaustion. "All of those children, and all the ones who'll never be taken, now." It struck him that Mistra's methods must have hit particularly close to home for Kurt. Why had that not occurred to him until now?

Kurt nodded wearily, knowing it was true. "But still... there are things I could wish had happened differently."

"You and the rest of us," Scott said, his voice hushed. "I think Charles is going to be going through his Earl Grey at a shocking rate, this week. There's liable to be a lineup in the hall outside his office."

"Of course", Kurt agreed sombrely, then sighed and admitted quietly, "There was a man... I do not know his name. Super-strong. And I think... I may have killed him."

Scott hesitated. "One of the triggered operatives?" he asked after a moment, his sluggish mind trying to rev back up again.

Kurt nodded. "Yes. I believe he had orders to get rid of us, but even so, he might have fought it long enough for us to get away... until the final trigger."

Scott was quiet for a long moment. "Did you know I was with the precog? Konstantakis? The one who could see ten seconds ahead, what was going to happen next..."

Kurt shook his head. "I did not know that, no." He glanced sideways at Scott, inviting him to continue.

"She sacrificed herself, Kurt. Walked right out into the line of fire, just to give me the chance to get out of that bunker with the two directors." Scott took a deep, somewhat unsteady breath. "She looked back at me... she knew. Knew exactly what she was doing, and thought it was worth it."

Kurt echoed the deep shaky sigh. "At least she knew what she risked and believed it worth making that decision. The man I... the man. He had no such choice."

It struck Scott, then, that this had to be bringing back some very bad memories for Kurt, of what had happened with Stryker. Mistra in general would have, but today, especially... "I'm sorry, Kurt," he said quietly.

Kurt nodded without looking up. "Will... will someone be trying to find the operatives' families, if they still live?"

"That's part of what the taskforce will be doing afterwards, I think," Scott said, although it was difficult to call back to mind just now some of the plans he'd read in the reports Maddie had passed along. "So many of them were orphans, or lost their families in one way or another..."

"That is good", Kurt answered quietly. "If there are families, they should be given a chance to know what became of them, either to have them back or to bury them."

Scott gave Kurt a long look, trying to figure out whether it would be best to... or maybe... "Kurt... we should be able to find out what happened to the man you fought. His condition. Not right away, I'd think, but eventually."

Kurt looked up at him now, sharply, uncertain hope in his eyes. "If... if you could... I would like that. To be sure, one way or the other."

Scott added it to the very, very long mental list of Things That Needed Doing. "We will," he said. And when Ororo came by to check on him, because he knew darned well they wouldn't make it all the way back to Westchester without her doing that at least once, he'd remind her to remind him.

"Thank you", Kurt answered simply.

Scott leaned his head back against the cool metal, breathing in, then out. "And you'll go have tea with Charles," he said.

Kurt laughed softly, wryly, but nodded. "I think that would be a good idea."

"He'll start handing out numbers. You just watch."

"Tickets", Kurt agreed, deadpan.

A helpless smile slipped out before Scott could stop it. "Role reversal, you know. Us lined up to see him, instead of the kids... and the kids would be making sure we got there. Some of them. I wouldn't put it past them."

"I am certain they would", Kurt answered with a slight smile of his own. "The team trainees, at the very least. And Rahne. Perhaps Catseye, too - she knows how to get her way."

"Tackling us down the hall until we fall over in front of Charles' door..."

"That sounds like her, yes."

"It'll be good to be home," Scott said quietly, thinking about it.

Kurt nodded. "Yes. It will."