*This extra scene takes place after the destruction of the Pit, but before General Hawk is shot.
Et Cetera
Chapter 2: With Great Responsibility...
"Look, I'm not trying to push you into anything, Ed," Peter Parker corrected hastily. "It's just that I think you could do more than…"
Lifeline made a frustrated noise and very nearly glared at his new friend. Well, possible new friend. He wasn't really quite sure what to consider Peter Parker yet.
"I don't want to get into this again," Edwin Steen sighed. This wasn't the first time that they'd argued about this. "Can't we just watch the movie and talk about something else?"
Spiderman took the hint and changed the subject. Ed hid a sigh of relief as the other man refocused his attention on the Tom Hanks movie they were watching. The medic had already forgotten the name of it and had missed some important scenes while he and Peter had yet another philosophical debate.
Sleepless in Seattle, was that the name?
Ed glanced around the inside of Peter Parker's apartment. It was rather small. Then again, this was New York City and Peter lived on the salary of a newspaper photographer and a substitute teacher. He sighed again. For the most part, he and Peter got along. However, it was turning out to be a rather bumpy friendship.
"So….how did you learn to control your powers?" Peter asked delicately. Ed hadn't told him what had occurred when his powers had first erupted and previous questions regarding his family had resulted in a grudging admittance that he and his father weren't on good terms. Spiderman seemed to suspect that he was possibly asking a sensitive question. Ed appreciated that he was interested, but was being careful in asking about it.
Lifeline gave him a condensed version of events, mostly skipping over the confrontation between him and his father. Peter was smart enough to guess what had occurred and didn't ask. When Ed told him about his chance meeting with Namor, however, the superhero gave him an incredulous look and burst out laughing.
"Namor…you mean, 'Mr. Stick up his ass, I'm better than you Namor'?" Peter gaped. "He actually helped you? He never helps surface dwellers unless he doesn't have a choice."
Ed shrugged uncomfortably. He didn't know much about Namor. It had taken him a few years before he'd even learned who the man was that had plucked him out of the ocean and helped him control some of his powers. He'd overheard Tony Stark complaining once about the man, so Ed had kept the incident quiet. Beach Head was the only one who knew he'd met Namor as a child. Peter Parker was now the second. Then again, Charles Xavier may have learned of it through a telepathic scan. If the man had, he hadn't mentioned it to Lifeline.
"Maybe it's because I was a kid and had powers, I don't know," Ed admitted. "All I know is I would have been in big trouble if he hadn't helped me. I might have drowned. Even if I'd found a way out of that situation…it still would have been bad. He's the one that calmed me down and helped me get my powers under control."
He'd always be grateful to Namor for that. Ed doubted that he'd ever meet the man again. Then again, Namor crossed paths with the Avengers and the X-Men on occasion, so it was possible. Even if the man was as high strung and temperamental as he'd heard, Edwin still intended to be nothing but courteous to him. In those few hours that he'd known Namor, the man had been more of a father than his real one had been for his twelve years of existence. That had been a depressing realization.
Peter shook his head, still in disbelief over the fact that Namor had actually deigned to help a surface dweller.
"I still can't believe it," Spiderman muttered. "I doubt that Namor even cares about the rest of the planet. If it doesn't involve Atlantis, he could care less."
Ed debated asking for more information on his childhood rescuer. The medic would never admit to it, but Namor's act of charity had greatly impressed him as a young, confused, and very scared child. When the man's photo had appeared in the newspaper, the young Edwin Steen had secretly cut it out and saved it. He had actually hero worshipped the Atlantean for a short time as a child before he finally grew out of it. The fact that he had idolized a man he knew nothing about now greatly embarrassed the adult Lifeline.
"Just think of things you could do," Peter brought up again. "Namor's an asshole, but he saved you. Think of what you could do with your powers. Think of how many lives you could save."
Lifeline groaned. He didn't want to get into this argument again.
"I'm not a superhero," Ed replied. There was a hint of annoyance in his voice. "I don't want to be a superhero. I'm not a combatant."
"So you keep saying," Peter replied. "I'm not saying you have to fight though….well, okay I kind of am, but for the most part, there's plenty of ways you can help people without fighting. Help people who are trapped by fire or natural disasters, help fly supplies to areas that need it, that sort of thing."
Lifeline didn't respond for a moment. The things that the other man had just suggested were things he had admittedly thought of himself. However, when would he have the time? He had duties with GI Joe and those priorities came first. Ed knew that even with his mutant powers, there was only so much he could do. He couldn't go gallivanting off to do "superhero stuff" when he was on duty. Peter couldn't seem to understand that.
"I talked with Tony about that, actually," Ed admitted. "I told him I'm willing to help the Avengers with disaster relief when I'm off duty." As in, the rare times he was off duty and on leave. Even then, Ed had clearly stated that he wasn't going to do anything without the permission of Hawk or Duke.
Peter grudgingly accepted that. Several minutes later, however, the superhero was again lecturing him that "with great power comes great responsibility." The man couldn't quite get it through his head that having super powers didn't automatically mean that one had to use them.
Lifeline finally lost his temper.
"Have you ever considered that restraint is being responsible?" the medic snapped. He'd feel guilty later, of course, for losing his patience and making the argument worse. Right now, however, he was simply tired of Peter badgering him about using his abilities "responsibly." Ed just wanted to have a quiet night watching a movie and eating pizza...normal things that he rarely did. He and Beach Head managed to do "friendly things" all the time with minimal arguments. What bickering they had was more of the kind between brothers or good friends.
Why he and Peter Parker couldn't manage to watch a movie without arguing was beyond him.
"How is that being responsible?" Peter asked, clearly not understanding the medic's point of view. "You've got all that power, how can you just stand by and not use it to…"
"What?" Ed replied sharply. "You mean I should use violence as the answer for every situation? I should just go smash something because I don't like what someone's doing? How is that solving anything?
"I seriously don't get you," Peter shot back. He was standing up now. The movie was now completely forgotten. "You say you're a pacifist, but yet you're a soldier in a top secret and elite military unit. You say you won't fight, but yet you heal people who do fight. How is that any different? You're already involved in combat, whether you like it or not!"
Peter's voice was becoming very close to shouting. Ed nervously looked around. He didn't need the man's neighbors to overhear things like "top secret and elite military unit." The medic informed Peter of this with a frown. The other man's face reddened, but he lowered his voice.
"Seriously Ed, you need to straighten out your principles."
Lifeline felt his own face flush with anger.
"I took an oath to defend the Constitution and this country," he replied carefully. Ed struggled to control himself as he continued. "I took the Hippocratic Oath to heal people. I follow the non-violent principles of Aikido. Believe me, Peter, I'm doing more important work the way I am now. I think my principles are just fine."
With that, Ed left the apartment and a stunned Peter Parker. The medic knew that if he stayed, the argument would only continue to escalate. The wind hit his face the moment he was airborne. Lifeline relished the feeling. Despite the misgivings he had concerning his other powers, he loved to fly.
He flew for a while before he finally felt his anger subside. It was replaced by guilt. Now feeling depressed with himself, Ed veered right and headed towards the Hawaiian Islands. He floated down and came to a halt just above an active volcano. The medic found it slightly therapeutic to watch lava ooze gently out of the pile of rock.
Maybe he should just give up on trying to be friends with Peter. They argued nearly every time they were together now. That thought upset him even more. He wanted to be friends with Spiderman. Ed liked the man…at least when Peter wasn't trying to push his ideology onto him.
Lifeline didn't like giving up on anything. However, he knew that sometimes personalities just didn't click. Friendships took work sometimes, but Ed was growing more frustrated by his inability to see eye to eye with Peter. He'd tried to be patient. As friendly as Peter Parker was, Ed had noticed that the man had social problems. The medic had accepted it, as Peter was who he was. Beach Head was even less skilled in the art of social interactions and they had no problems being friends.
So why the hell couldn't he and Peter get along?
It was late when he finally arrived back at the X-Men's mansion. Beach Head was of course asleep by this time. Ed paced around the kitchen briefly before finally pouring himself a glass of water and walking back outside.
He sat on the front steps of the school and sipped on his drink. Ed turned his head when he heard the door creak open a bit later. Piotr Rasputin nearly stepped on the tiny medic sitting in front of him. The large Russian blinked in surprise down at the hand blocking his foot.
"Sorry," Colossus apologized. "I did not see you there."
"It's alright," Lifeline replied. The other mutant hesitated a moment before politely asking if he could join the medic. Ed could smell the herbal tea in the man's hands. Colossus had probably had the same idea as him.
He scooted over to give the Russian some room. Piotr took up most of the space and easily dwarfed the medic. Ed felt like a small child next to the other man.
"It's a beautiful night, is it not?" Colossus breathed happily. "The weather is finally cooling as well. I can't wait until winter. It's too hot and humid in New York."
"I could do with some cooling myself," Ed admitted. The two men chatted quietly for a few minutes. He found himself telling Piotr about his most recent blow up with Peter Parker. The larger man listened with quiet understanding. Ed supposed that of all the X-Men, Colossus probably was the most sympathetic. Even though the Russian would fight if necessary, he seemed to prefer finding nonviolent solutions if possible.
"It's difficult," Colossus told him when he was done ranting about Peter. "I know. There's nothing more you can do than try to be patient with him. Peter means well."
"I know," Lifeline admitted. "I'm just tired of fighting with him. I've asked him several times to stop bringing the subject up, but he keeps doing it."
"Let it be for tonight," Piotr Rasputin told him with his accented English. "It's a quiet, peaceful night here. The only turmoil at the moment is what's in your mind."
Colossus left him a moment with a quick apology. Several minutes later, the large Russian returned with a second cup of herbal tea. He handed it to the surprised medic. The two men sat in comfortable silence. Ed gratefully sipped on his tea and listened to an owl hoot in the distance. Piotr Rasputin eventually stood up again and stretched.
"I'm going to the Botanical Gardens tomorrow with Kitty and Jubilee," the other man said. "Would you like to accompany us?" Ed nodded his head, surprised slightly to have been invited. Colossus gave him a wide smile when he accepted the invitation.
"Excellent," Piotr replied. "We're leaving at 9:30 in the morning. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed."
The Russian waved goodbye and went back inside the mansion. Ed sat for another ten minutes or so before deciding that going to bed was a nice idea.
The next day
Beach Head watched with satisfaction while a group of exhausted teenagers dispersed. He wouldn't admit to it, but he'd come to enjoy teaching P.E. to the little pogues. Even though they were uncivilized civilian teenagers (also known as heathens), it hadn't taken much for him to whip up some discipline among the ranks.
With surprise, he'd also realized that he enjoyed the challenge of instructing and pushing people with superpowers. It had taken some adjustment, but now his classes ran smoothly, at least for the most part. Shipwreck and Ace had their equivalents among the students.
In fact, a couple of the boys and one of the girls had taken to idolizing him. Snake Eyes thought it was hysterical while Scarlett and Cover Girl thought it was "cute."
Ah, speaking of being idolized…
"Professor Sneeden!"
"What is it, Ashida?" he asked. An Asian girl stood stiffly at attention, just like a good little greenshirt. Noriko Ashida, also known as Surge, was one of the kids who idolized him. The Japanese mutant was a strong minded and strong willed girl. She was probably going to be another Scarlett when she grew up.
Speaking of Scarlett…Red seemed to be the other Joe that Surge had come to idolize. Snake Eyes probably wasn't far behind in being hero worshipped.
Damn, she probably really was a Scarlett Junior in the making.
"Iceman says that you have a phone call," she said. Wayne nodded in acknowledgement and dismissed her. Surge watched him leave before dropping to the ground and pumping out more pushups. Beach Head smirked slightly while he felt her strain herself physically. Good kid.
The ranger was surprised and a little annoyed to find that Peter Parker was the one who had called him. He was even more irked to discover that Parker wanted him to talk to Lifeline about some recent argument.
"Talk to him yourself," Beach Head rumbled. "It ain't mah fight, Ah'm not gettin' in the middle of it."
"I'm not asking you to," Peter Parker denied. "But I don't know how to talk to him anymore without us fighting."
"And you're asking me for help?" Wayne asked with surprise. "Who am I, Psyche Out? Ah ain't the one to ask, Parker. Either talk to someone like Jean or Storm or grow a pair and talk to Ed yourself."
"But…"
"You pissed him off, Parker," the ranger growled. "You fix it. Not mah problem."
Wayne slammed the phone down. Why the hell was the little pogue calling him for? Beach Head had a good idea what the argument had been about. There was no reason for him to be involved. If Parker couldn't learn to keep his mouth shut and accept the fact that Lifeline's duties and philosophy didn't allow him to be some superhero, that was his own problem.
He briefly debated telling Lifeline about the phone call, but decided against it. Knowing the medic would never pick a fight, Wayne figured that the argument was Parker's fault. In that case, there was no reason for Ed to feel guilty and call Peter, as if he were the one to blame for it.
Besides, from what he could tell, Lifeline was down in the lab with Beast at the moment. Wayne didn't want to disturb him while he was working.
Beach Head decided to do a short patrol of the school. Discipline at the academy was higher than he remembered from his own school growing up, but there were still instances of students acting up.
Wayne blinked suddenly when a herd of unicorns galloped in front of him. He felt a vein pop when he felt the culprit snickering nearby. Damn girl and her damn pixie dust hallucinations. Ignoring the unicorns and tiny gnomes that he knew to just be illusions, the ranger easily hunted down the teenager hiding behind a door.
"GWYNN!" he bellowed. There was a loud squeak and a thud when the petite culprit jumped and smacked her elbow against the wall. Beach Head pushed away the door and glared down at a pink haired teenage girl. Megan Gwynn, or Pixie, lived up to her "codename." Brightly colored, insect like wings opened and closed behind her back. Sudden fear wafted off of her like rank perfume.
"I didn't do anything," she stammered. Oh, so she was going to lie about it, was she? What was it with teenagers and short memories? He'd already busted her ass once before and Wayne knew for a fact that his mutant abilities were public knowledge.
Beach Head may not be Jean Grey, but his telepathic powers worked just fine and he had years of experience dealing with the likes of Shipwreck and misbehaving greenshirts.
He decided to remind her about his abilities. The ranger smirked slightly while he went into her mind and made her "see" a couple of dancing skeletons. Pixie gave a tiny shriek.
"What, don't like yer own medicine?" Beach Head drawled. The teenager gulped and suddenly looked very worried. Good. She had reason to be, even if Wayne had to go slightly soft on her for being a kid and not one of his greenshirts.
"For detention, you get to clean the girl's lavatory with a toothbrush," Wayne told her. "And don't think on trying to cheat or not do a thorough job. I'll have Storm check on it."
Slightly soft. If she'd been a greenshirt, she'd be cleaning the bathroom with a potato.
"With a toothbrush?" she whined. "The whole lavatory?"
"Everything," Beach Head told her firmly. "Every inch of floor, stall, sink, shower, wall, and toilet. If you keep whining, you can do it with a potato. I want it done by lights out tonight." See, he could be generous.
The girl sulked and walked off. Wayne shook his head. All the kids needed were a little discipline. Cyclops was too soft on them. Storm was sometimes too, but then again, student rarely disobeyed her. They knew not to.
Ah, speaking of Summers, the pogue would probably lecture him later for being "too harsh" on the students and that they "weren't soldiers." Whatever. Wayne respected Cyclops and even liked him a bit, but they also disagreed on how to handle discipline problems.
The rest of his patrol went without incident, so he headed over to the library. Wayne had two purposes for going there. The first was to make sure that any students there were actually studying and being respectful of the library. The second was that he wanted to do some reading himself. Beach Head loved to read, even if he was often too exhausted at the end of a normal day to read more than a few pages. He was taking full opportunity of his "break" to go through the school's vast library.
It was quiet when he arrived. The ranger scanned the library and was satisfied with what he saw. He made his way over to the biography section and began to read through the titles. Wayne plucked a book on Benjamin Franklin off the shelf and skimmed through the first few paragraphs. Deciding that it was worthy of further reading, he tucked the book under one arm and went back to sifting through the book shelves. He was pleased to discover a memoir from the Franco-Prussian War.
Happy with his current loot, Wayne made his way over to a comfortable arm chair. The ranger read for nearly an hour before closing the book to give his eyes a break. He scanned the library again with both his eyes and his mind. It was a habit that he couldn't break, especially since it had kept him alive on more than one occasion. He was pleasantly surprised to find another one of his students studying in a quiet corner of the library.
His students. When the hell had they become his students?
This particular student was Sarai Demsky. He'd graded one of her papers at the beginning of his leave and had been appalled by her poor grammar. Demsky had since become of his success stories. The kid was working through a lot of problems, but as sympathetic as Wayne had been, he had refused to let her slide.
It had taken work, but Wayne Sneeden was no stranger to work and he never shied away from a challenge. He'd been strict with the girl and had forced her to begin taking responsibility for herself. Jean Grey and Scott Summers had tried to intervene, thinking he wasn't being sensitive to the psychological trauma and emotional issues she was working through, blah de blah de blah.
He'd disciplined Demsky whenever she'd decided to act like a little pogue. Praised her when she tried and improved. Pushed her when he knew she could do better. He didn't limit himself to P.E. classes. Wayne had routinely been checking on all her grades. Little by little, the kid had begun to open up more and was now apparently studying hard under her own initiative.
If he'd had to put up with a month's leave with a bunch of idiot civilians, Wayne Sneeden was happy to say that pushing little Sarai and the other students into shape had been worth it.
Beach Head read a few more pages out of his book before checking on the girl again. He could feel her mentally struggling with whatever she was studying. The ranger chewed on his lower lip before making a decision. He closed his book and pretended to accidentally wander into her section.
The sixteen year old girl was so engrossed in her homework that she didn't even notice the burly ranger. Wayne wasn't going to interrupt her or offer to help. He wanted the kid to ask for help herself. Beach Head gave her a slight telepathic nudge to discreetly announce his presence.
Sarai Demsky looked up in surprise when she noticed the tall soldier peering at the books on a high shelf. The girl silently watched as Beach Head continued to look through the books, pretending not to have noticed her. They were in the literature section, which didn't really interest him. However, he had to keep up his pretense.
Wayne finally found an author he recognized. He picked up a Shakespeare book and tried not to yawn while he read through the first few pages. The ranger waited while the girl struggled internally with her thoughts. Finally, the kid summoned her courage and took the step that he'd been waiting for.
"Professor Sneeden?" the girl asked quietly. There was a small quaver in her voice and Wayne easily felt how nervous she was. The ranger turned around and gave her a quizzical look.
"What?" he asked. Beach Head already knew what she wanted to ask, but he let her say it anyway. The kid needed to take the step herself.
"I…I don't understand how to do this math problem," the girl told him. "Can you please help me?" Wayne very nearly smiled. She'd even had to go and use the word please. Summers could suck it. His methods worked just fine. His little heathens were acting more civilized by the day.
Beach Head sat down next to the girl. For the next two hours, he tutored Sarai Demsky in math and English. Jean Grey later drifted into the library and peeked in on them, though only Wayne noticed. The red head smiled at them and left.
Now feeling bolder and more confident with herself, the sixteen year old mutant asked Beach Head if he could tutor her some more. Wayne knew he only had about a week and half left before he returned to duty, but hell, how could he say no when she'd progressed this much?
And so, the ranger worked out a schedule with her that managed to squeeze in twenty hours of tutoring before he left. He also helped Demsky to arrange a better studying schedule. Beach Head felt immensely pleased with himself when he finally left the library.
Pfff…Scott Summers and his "you're not being sensitive to the emotional needs of the child" bullcrap could go fuck itself. Rangers lead the way every damn time.
Author's note: Sarai Demsky is my own creation. Her name appeared in chapter twenty-one of Silence. I had intended to do more with her, but it wasn't conducive to the plot so I left it out. Since I skipped over pretty much all of Beach's attempts to help her, I'll do another extra scene that's set before this one. The other two students that appear, Surge and Pixie, belong to Marvel.
I'll do more with life at the mansion in some more extra scenes. I largely skipped over them in Silence and will address it more here.
