The X-Project

Ororo tracks Scott to the stable, where he's squeezing in some quality time with his sax. The two of them have an odd, reflective, reassuring conversation.


It was nearly midnight, and the lights were out in the stable, as was only to be expected at that hour. There was, nevertheless, activity within - or at least, sounds. It would be be unfair to call it noise. It was a saxophone, playing a slow, slightly hesitant version of 'Someone To Watch Over Me'. Compensating for the uncertainty was a wistful edge to the song, a depth of emotion that even the casual listener could hear.

Ororo didn't have the extra-sensitive hearing that came with some people's mutations, like Terry or Logan. She did, however, have nearly ten years of friendship with the sometimes-secretive Scott Summers, and that was enough to give her an idea of where to find him this late at night.

"You sound good," she murmured, smiling fondly as she leaned on the doorframe to one of the almost-empty stalls. "I think I saw one of the horses tapping his hoof."

"Flock of angry geese indeed," Scott grumbled, thinking about Forge's comment earlier in the day. "What are you doing out this late?"

"Looking for you." Ororo entered the stall and sat down next to Scott, crossing her legs and leaning back against the wall. "It has been... quite a week."

"Is it ever not?" Scott let the saxophone rest against his shoulder, but kept leaning back against the stable wall. He was quite comfortable on the nice pile of fresh hay. The stables were really growing on him. "Not quite as hectic as last week, at least..."

"Yes, I suppose that is something to be thankful for. I do not think there is any room for new students with traumatic entrances until at least... April." She gave him a tired but amused smile, shaking her head. "Thank you. For picking up the slack I let go. I did not mean to, but you caught it before I even realized."

Scott laughed softly. "If I picked up any slack, Ororo, it's just a fraction of what you've picked up for me at other times." He put the sax back to his lips and played the first few lines of 'The Way You Look Tonight'.

Ororo waited until he had finished, glad that he seemed to be enjoying his music. "I saw your idea today... about the cannon. I think you were right. Charles might not be so enthused about it."

Scott sighed, letting the sax rest against his shoulder again. "It's a perfectly legitimate enrichment exercise that a dozen other schools have done successfully in the last year. But don't worry... I've gone back to the drawing board."

"A dozen other schools do not have quite the same... issues that we do," 'Ro said carefully. "I am sure you will come up with something equally exciting, though. Perhaps you should instruct them to build a biplane."

"Maybe for engineering." Scott shrugged. "Doesn't matter. I'll come up with something else. I'm nothing if not persistent." It came out a little more coolly than he'd intended, and he grimaced. "Sorry."

"Well, I do not know why you ran it by Lorna and Forge instead of asking me first," she joked, smirking. "Of course they would veto it."

He could have said something about not thinking it needed approval, as it hadn't been this questionable activity he'd just pulled out of his ass, but he shrugged instead, smiling a bit crookedly. "I forgot this was a democracy," he said. "Silly me."

Ororo leaned sideways to nudge him with her shoulder. "In the land of the blind..." She didn't finish this statement, however, falling silent and listening to the rustling of the hay and the stamping of the horses around them.

Scott raised a hand to rub at the scars on the side of his face, almost reflectively. "Another few weeks and it'll have been a year since Seattle. Hard to believe."

"You still are not sleeping well. Have you seen Amelia recently?" Ororo asked, concern creeping into her voice.

"I prefer to stay out of Amelia's clutches as much as possible. The insomnia..." He hesitated, then shrugged. "It's normal, I gather. Or at least, a fairly typical consequence. Hopefully it'll lessen as more time passes." There were other reasons he wanted to stay away from Amelia, of course. Things she'd notice that he didn't really want her to.

"If it does not, you should see her. There may be other solutions, other things to try... it does not have to be this way forever, Scott." Ororo tried to forestall the lecture that hovered on her lips, knowing that it wasn't what he needed, and it wasn't what she wanted to say to him.

He smiled at her, almost involuntarily, and nudged right back with his shoulder. "It's not so bad, you know. Gives me lots of time to practice my sax and I don't think the horses even mind much. Anymore, at least."

"If you practiced during the day, the students might even enjoy it. I am not saying you should do so before you are ready, but maybe soon..." Ororo shrugged now, shifting a bit in the hay. "We must try to be the best role models we can for them, I think. We must be people as well as teachers."

"Must we?" Scott asked idly. "I think you have better luck with that sort of thing than I do. You're more personable. Figuratively, as well as literally." His fingers moved idly on the keys, almost an involuntary twitch.

"If I admire you, I do not see why they can't," Ororo murmured.

The restless finger movements stopped abruptly, and Scott stared a bit blankly ahead at the wall of the next stall. "Who said anything about anyone admiring anyone?" he asked a bit uncertainly. "I just... don't relate as well to them as you do. They like you. They always have."

"Liking someone is fine, but it does not make them someone to emulate. These students... they need friendly teachers, yes, but they also need something more. And I am glad that they have you to look up to." With a sigh she snagged a piece of hay from beside her, twirling it idly in her fingers. "And do not protest that you are not someone to admire. You are. You have come through so much, and done so much, and you will do many more great things. That goes beyond liking. That is admirable."

Scott took a deep breath and then let it out on a sigh. "I miss the team," he finally said, quietly. Almost a confession. "Getting back into the training like this... I'd forgotten that I loved it, once upon a time."

"It is not unusual to love something you are are good at. The two often go hand in hand. "

"Talking to Angelo this week..." Scott's smile was almost fond for a moment. "What a man he's grown up to be, Ororo. He's going to be one of the best of us, I think." He laughed softly. "He's got all of Nate's passion, without the volatility."

"I think perhaps his is the generation to succeed," Ororo said reflectively. "They have seen our mistakes and can learn from them... at least, I hope so. Or else I do not know why we made them in the first place."

"Definitely a happy thought," Scott said, and there wasn't a trace of sarcasm in his quiet voice. "That it all means something... well. No one can ever fault us for not trying hard enough, if nothing else."

"Certainly not," she agreed, nodding. "If anything, we are only guilty of the opposite."