Scott was standing on his room's balcony when he heard a noise. He didn't have to turn around to recognise it was Kurt who had teleported in. Kurt opened the balcony door and looked at Scott, who was ignoring him and staring ahead. "Are you all right, Scott?" Kurt questioned, his tail in the air.
Scott turned away from his gaze. "I'm fine, Kurt," he replied curtly.
"You know you can tell me anything, Ja?" Kurt was adamant.
Scott answered, "I just need to be alone right now."
Kurt nodded wordlessly as he prepared to leave. "You and Warren?" he asked as he opened the door. " He trailed off, unsure how to broach the subject.
Scott finally turned to face Kurt. "What about it?" His voice was tense. So far, they had not done anything publicly to raise people's suspicions.
"Are you two together?" Kurt questioned as his lips quirked.
Scott kept silent. "Kurt..." He spoke uneasily, concerned about what Kurt might think of the fact that he was with a man. Kurt, his heart told him, would accept him, but his mind told him that Kurt was a devout Catholic. But Matt was, too, and he accepted him. He was curious how Kurt discovered it, but the swashbuckling mutant was known to be very intuitive.
"Are you...are you upset?" Scott queried in a worried tone.
Kurt arched his brow. "Mein Gott!" Why should I be upset?" Taken aback, he questioned.
"Because I'm with a guy. I also know you're a devout Catholic." Scott commented truthfully.
"I'm not angry, Scott. I'm glad you've found someone. And who am I to say which gender you love? Everyone is loved by God." Kurt said this while resting his hands on Scott's shoulders. As the two hugged, Scott gave him a small smile.
"So, Warren? I mean, I can see why you like him. He has the looks of an Angel. And I have to say, I'm relieved! The fact that you two are gay will do wonders for me. Now I have the girls to myself." Kurt continued while Scott laughed. "I'm more interested in the person rather than the gender" Scott remarked with a smirk.
"That's not fair!" Kurt muttered. "I was hoping there would be less competition."
Kurt's joke made Scott laugh. Kurt, he thought, was handsome in his own way, in the same way that everyone had some form of attractive attribute, Kurt's jovial personality and devilish smile being his fine attribute.
"So what about Jean?" Kurt inquired. "I thought you liked her."
Scott rubbed his neck and looked down. He admitted, "I guess the feeling wore off."
Kurt gave a nod. "Ja, Warren is a much better choice for you. You and Jean did just fine. But I believe you are both too serious. Warren makes you happy. And you look freer, mein freund."
"Warren makes me feel normal, you know? It's just..." he stammered, unable to explain.
"Different." Kurt chimed in, knowingly. Scott gave a nod.
Kurt said, with a sly grin, "So the fight at the danger room." Logan was correct! Have you two...?" He trailed, embarrassed to say it out loud.
Scott's face flushed. Kurt's eyes widened as he noticed. "Mein Gott, Scott!" He was taken aback.
"No, no, Kurt!" Scott panicked.
"Don't be worried. Your secret is safe with me. "How did it go?" Kurt gave a mischievous grin.
"We haven't…It's…no…." Scott mumbled.
"But you have done other things, Ja?" Kurt teased and ignored the second part, thinking it was rather personal.
"Are you sure you want to know about how Warren and I are romantically involved" Scott shot back.
Kurt's blue fur had turned pink. "Non, Non, Non!" He said while covering his ears with his hands. Scott chuckled.
"Why, Kurt, don't you want to know how much I enjoy pleasing him?" Scott teased as they entered his bedroom.
If Kurt could go even rosier, he would. "I'm not interested in hearing that!" He flushed. Scott grinned. Kurt pounced on Scott. "Payback!" He said this before tackling him. Scott ducked and Kurt crashed on the bed as the door opened. Warren and Rogue were staring at the scene, their brows scrunched.
"What are you doing in Scott's bed, Kurt?" Warren inquired nonchalantly.
Kurt gave Warren a thoughtful look. "I was hanging out with mein freund." He spoke coolly.
Warren raised his brows at him and turned to face Scott. His feathers twitched. "May I enter, or is this a private hangout?" Jealousy crept into his voice as he requested.
"Does it really make a difference? You're going to do whatever you want anyway." Scott let out a snort. He was still upset with Warren.
"What exactly do you mean?" Warren was confused as he looked at Scott.
"At the dinner table. You and Charles were referring to me as if I were a child. Warren, I can fight my own battles." Scott responded, vexed.
"I was standing up for you!" Warren barked. "I never said you couldn't fight your battles."
Scott replied, "You sure made it look like I couldn't."
"I'm not regretful for defending you." Warren fired back.
Both men swapped angry scowls.
Kurt and Rogue exchanged uneasy glances with the two men. "Uhh... "It appears that you two require some privacy," he abruptly interrupted and dashed to his sister. Before the two men could say anything, he placed his hand on her shoulder and teleported away.
"Scott." Warren was the one who broke the silence. He seemed to have a broken heart.
"Don't, Warren. Just, don't." Scott expressed his disappointment and escaped the room, leaving Warren alone.
Scott bolted after his altercation with Warren. He couldn't stay in his room because he didn't want to confront the other man. He'd just been mentally summoned to the office by the Professor. Scott sighed and walked downstairs, nonplussed about the looks he was receiving from some of the students.
The Professor approached him tersely when he knocked on the door. "I'm terribly disappointed in your conduct, Scott. Do you want to tell me anything about yourself?"
Scott kept his mouth shut. He was not going to respond.
"Right then. If you do not speak, you will listen. I don't like it when you lie about your injuries to us. You left the institute alone, without notifying anyone. And Hank told me that you were involved in an altercation and were shot. You weren't allowed to leave on your own. Nonetheless, you violated the rules by leaving the mansion and the children unsupervised while the team was on a mission, and you were impolite to a senior staff member who was only attempting to help you. What can you say regarding your actions?" Charles questioned with a glare.
"I never lied to you. I simply didn't inform you. And, when I am their leader, the children are my responsibility on the field; otherwise, they are just kids and my colleagues. I'm not sure why you didn't enlist the additional help of others to care for the children. As for me being rude to Logan, that's like the pot calling the kettle, black." Scott mentioned.
"I believe Warren is a negative influence in your life. Your work ethic is disintegrating. You are in breach of the rules. You're keeping a lot of secrets." The professor issued a warning. "What are you hiding?" he asked, looking at him and communicating telepathically.
In response to the threat, Scott's face blanched. To protect his mind, he raised his shields and pushed the Professor out. "Don't fucking get into my head. I didn't give you permission." He was furious and clenched his teeth.
The force with which Scott kicked the professor out of his mind gave Xavier a headache. "If you don't want me to enter your mind, do your duties." Xavier had become appalled. "All I'm trying to do is keep you safe, Scott." Soothingly, he added. Scott didn't need to be a telepath to identify that Xavier was trying to manipulate him by pleading with his softer side to let down his barriers.
"Protect me? Like when you rescued me from Jack by having me murder him? If you even try to read my mind, I'll leave," Scott's gaze was fixed on Charles. "I'll do my job, but don't think for a second that I'm doing it for you. This is something I'm doing for the sake of my team. This is what I'm doing to keep them safe" He said as he turned to walk away
"Scott, we're fighting on the same side. You remind me of a son I never had. I only wish you had believed me after all these years." Xavier prodded with an empathic voice.
"You've broken it far too many times. You conveniently omitted the fact that our Principal was Mystique. You didn't give us any details about Erik. You didn't say much about Jean's loss of control. Trust is something that must be earned. And you clearly have not done so. Don't lecture me on trust when you've already incinerated it. I'm not your son. My parents died when I was a child." Scott clenched his teeth and slammed the door in front of him, making Xavier wince.
Scott hurried down to the lower levels to complete his work. He needed to plan, make schedules, clean up the danger room, and work on the blackbird.
He sat in the war room chair, planning the mutants' danger room schedules and evaluating who would pair well with whom. He looked over the stats, mildly impressed by his team's performance. They were making progress. Angel, a new addition, proved useful in the air as well as on the ground. He wondered if they could combine their abilities and Warren could carry him while he blasted the enemies. 'The flying gun routine,' he thought to himself, a smirk on his face.
That left Nightcrawler, Spyke, Rogue, Jean, Kitty, Storm and Wolverine. He pondered whether he could add any new mutants to the mix. Bobby and Amara would have been good additions, but he put them off until the next time. Rogue and Spyke got along pretty smoothly. Spyke's abilities were not as close-ranged as Rogue's. Rogue was a skilled fighter, whereas Spike had the powers to attack. Jean, Kitty, and Nightcrawler would make an excellent team. With Kitty's phasing, Nightcrawler's teleporting, and Jean's telekinesis and telepathy, the three would be especially powerful. Finally, there were Storm and Wolverine, who had a well-established pattern as adults.
In the event that one of the team members became incapacitated or unavailable, he resolved to improvise by switching them around. He didn't sleep that night because he was constantly working on the patterns.
He finalised strategizing and creating schedules at 1 a.m. He walked down to the hangar and evaluated the blackbird. It needed a check after the previous mission. He changed the plane's oil before inspecting various components. He checked for structural deterioration after reviewing the fittings and restoring the levels of safety and efficiency. He stood up after two hours of functional checks and verification, pleased with the results.
Scott was completely exhausted. He was barely able to stand. He dragged himself upstairs, depleted from the long days at work. He wanted to clean the mess off him as much as he wanted to collapse.
By the time Scott entered his bedroom to grab a fresh pair of clothes, he knew he had a full-blown migraine. Warren was asleep on the couch, his wings dragged on the floor, it looked uncomfortable. He felt as if he had run a marathon. He dragged himself into the shower after silently closing the door. He took off his clothes and turned on the water and drenched himself in it. Too tired to adjust the temperature, he placed his hands on the glass wall to keep himself from collapsing.
He was feeling unwell. Bile rose to the surface of his throat. The next thing he knew, he was throwing up in the toilet next to him. He quickly brushed his teeth, put on his clothes and walked to his room mindlessly after cleaning up. When he opened the door, he noticed Warren was half-awake. His migraine had worsened, and he could feel the beat of his own heart in his head.
"Scotty, what time is it?" Warren mused as he shifted on the sofa.
He stood up when Scott did not respond. "Scotty?" He summoned him once more. Scott collapsed to the ground. Warren jerked awake from his stupor and dashed towards him. He was carried to the bed by the blonde mutant. "Hey" Warren expressed his anxiety and concern.
"Headache." Scott muttered.
"Do you want me to call Hank?" Warren inquired, concerned.
Scott mustered the courage to shake his head. "Medicine," he said, motioning to a closet.
Warren dashed to the closet and pulled out a bottle of pills. He reached for a glass of water and a pill. He handed it to Scott and lifted his head to allow him to swallow the pill. Scott did as he was told.
Warren tucked Scott in, shut the curtains, and switched off the alarm clock. He carefully removed his visor, put on a ruby quartz eye mask, and sat by his side.
Scott enveloped Warren with his arms. He needed comfort and assurance. Scott's shallow breaths tickled Warren's neck. He relaxed and allowed himself to fall asleep.