The X-Project

After their return from tonight's mission, Shiro and Scott find each other not dealing particularly well. But they manage to make each other feel a little bit better. And then Scott asks Shiro a question designed to blow up his brain.


He needed to stop. Damn it. But his body was very decidedly not listening to him, even though there really wasn't anything left in his stomach to throw up. Aftereffects of the psionic tremors? Scott thought dimly, wiping his mouth as the nausea ebbed a little. More like just stress, idiot... At least he wasn't throwing up blood this time.

He'd managed to hold it off until most people were out of the locker rooms, so that no one heard him and came rushing in to see what the problem was. Yet, at least. Thank God for small mercies.

Too bad Shiro doesn't believe in the same God. His first stop after returning from Manhattan was the medlab to ensure that he wasn't suffering any unusual effects from the abyss, and then the kitchen to shovel down about as many carbohydrates as he could manage. Now is shower time.

He ambled into the locker room slowly, his gait still hesitant. He expected it to be empty. The only other team members who had been sucked in were adults, and they surely were dealing just fine and didn't need to drown themselves in the shower like Shiro half-wanted to. Which is why he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the sound of retching coming from one of the stalls.

Scott heard footsteps, but the nausea got worse all at once and rapidly, he stopped caring precisely who did or did not find their CO trying to throw up every internal organ that he had. Damn it, he thought feebly, pull yourself together, Summers... He didn't want Jean coming looking and finding him like this.

Shiro was pretty sure that whoever was sick wanted to be alone, but if he were to be honest with himself, then he didn't want to. And if today's experiences had affected someone so much that they'd lost control of their digestive system, then they were on the same page.

"Hello?" he called, cursing his slightly shaky voice. "Can I get you something?"

Shiro. Scott swallowed, wiping his mouth again, and sagged back against the stall partition. "I'm fine," he called back hoarsely and flushed the toilet, hauling himself to his feet. Done. He was done. Mind over matter. He came out of the stall, mustering up a feeble smile for Shiro. "Hey."

"You look as rotten as I feel," Shiro commented as he began to peel off his leathers. "And you even got to stay on the outside."

Scott went over to the sink and turned on the water. Maybe he ought just to drown himself. That was the ticket... "Yeah, no excuse for me," he said, almost managing a whimsical tone once he'd splashed some cold water on his face. "You okay?" he asked, reaching for a towel.

"I'll survive," replied Shiro. "I am meeting with Professor Xavier in the morning before I go to school to ensure that there is no lasting psychic trauma."

"Doesn't sound like it was a whole lot of fun, from what Ororo told me..." He couldn't quite believe he was managing casual conversation. Especially given that his stomach was still twisting. "I owe you one, by the way," Scott said, moving rather gingerly away from the sink. "Given that it would've been me getting sucked in..."

Dropping his gloves and kicking off his boots, Shiro shrugged. "You're welcome. But that is simply what I ought to have done. Anyone in my position would have done the same." Would have been nice if someone had gone in place of him . . .

"True," Scott said, "but think of it this way. Ororo had already been sucked in. Because you thought fast, you preserved what was left of our command structure."

Shiro hadn't actually thought of that. His actions were ninety percent instinct; maintaining at least one CO in Manhattan hadn't been a reason to do what he did. Nice to know that being impulsive was actually beneficial for once. "That is one way to think about it, I suppose."

"The fact that you didn't have to think about it at the time is a good thing, you know. It's why we spent so much time training our instincts." And he was starting to ramble. Damn it. But Shiro needed to know how well he'd done. Maybe he should save the compliments for tomorrow, when they were both a little more with it?

And he appreciated it. Helped to clear his mind of the jumble the abyss had made. "I would not hear the end from Alex if I had just left you to your own devices," Shiro chided. "And I lack the necessary energy for that."

"Ah. Now I see - you're just afraid of my little brother." It was almost a joke, as Scott moved towards the door. "Are you attached to 'Kamikaze'?" Scott asked over his shoulder, pausing, one hand resting on the doorframe to support himself.

"He can be quite frightening." What with the pouts and awful awful bastardized English. But Scott's question confused him. "Truth be told, I barely tolerate it. I am just looking forward to the day I can be Sunfire again." Gods he couldn't wait to be Sunfire again.

"Ah, but are the old Sunfire and the new Sunfire the same Sunfire..." Scott said as he left, in what might have been a playful tone if there'd been more energy behind it. He knew the answer to that question, but he'd let Shiro think about it once they'd both had some sleep.