InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "WHERE'S HARVEY DENT????"

Scott Summers (eyeslikehis) wrote in marvel_prep,
@ 2015-03-07 14:06:00

Entry tags:

cyclops, havok

Thread: Let's Try This Again
Characters: Alex & Scott
NPCs: Salem Center residents
Location: Salem Center, the road and the antique shop
Timeline: Backdated to Wednesday, March 4, 2015.
Description: Family takes work, and two angry brothers hash things out.
Rating: PG-13 for possible language

Right after classes, Scott had pulled the truck up to the edge of the campus sidewalk to catch Alex on his way back to the dorms. At first, he was worried his brother would walk right past him and ignore his request to join him in the city, but Alex got in. Once his backpack was stowed in the rear passenger area, Scott putt the truck into gear and took the county road into town.

In the initial silence, he fidgeted with the radio, the heat, and anything else on the dashboard he could find. His finger thumped the odometer, and he sprayed washer fluid on the salt-dirtied window, running the wipers as the pre-Spring winter storms had still given cause to put down salt. He stared out the window, at the brightly hued mounds of snow over patches of farmland between the upstate forests.

He'd come up to Alex with purpose, anger still present right up until his brother was in the passenger seat and fastening his belt. Anger that he'd gone off to New Orleans without telling him, angry at Remy for enabling the behavior, but mostly angry at himself for making it so that Alex felt like he couldn't tell him. By the time the door was shut, the only anger that remained pointed inward.

Maddy, naturally, was right. About everything.

He could go into pitched battle and risk his life without hesitation, but this was different. Here, Scott was off his footing. Maybe it was because there was more to lose now.

He pushed the words out. "So, uh, Alex, we need to talk. I have some things to say and I think you do too."

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havoker
2015-03-07 08:41 pm UTC (link)

Alex had mentally prepped himself to confront Scott after classes and not let him slip out of talking to him with some excuse or another. He wasn't necessarily invested in making things work with Scott anymore, but he wanted to make himself heard on the topic before dropping it. He felt he had put the ball in Scott's court months ago and had never gotten a pass since.

He was surprised when Scott pulled up in a truck and even more surprised at himself for being so willing to get in. Well, he wanted to talk to Scott right? Even if this was clearly not how he'd planned it; he'd imagined getting heated and throwing a punch or two, he was willing to take the chance he got.

The silence started to get really awkward and he stared out the passenger window trying to ignore Scott's fidgeting. Clearly neither one of them knew how to even start, at least that was clear until Scott finally broke the silence. "Uh, yep. You could say that."

He continued to stare out the window, refusing to look at his brother and lose the detachment he was trying to keep up.

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eyeslikehis
2015-03-07 08:54 pm UTC (link)

Staring ahead at the road, he tried to remember Jean's methods for dealing with confrontation that had worked so well in the past. He felt like an idiot. It was common sense, and yet it was exceptionally hard to do.

"I'm angry. And I also - feel - sorry." He cleared his throat, forcing himself to glance in Alex's direction. "I'm angry that you went down to New Orleans. That Remy took you. And that if perhaps I'd been a better brother, you would have felt like you could tell me."

His heart was thudding in his ears now; Scott wasn't even sure he could continue. "You're young. That city is dangerous, especially during Mardi Gras. And you had no support in place when your powers--"

A short huff to get his anger under control, and Scott pressed forward. "I wanted to be on the jet. Logan sidelined me, and maybe he was right to do it. But you're my brother, damn it. You should have been my first priority. Not the school. Not the X-Men. Not even Maddy. So I'm going to own that mistake."

The truck pulled into the parking lot of the old antique shop, and he put it into park. "The moment you came to the school, there was so much I wanted to tell you. Some things, even, that I'm still not ready to talk about, but that you need to hear. But I was thinking, today, just for a little while, if you'll let me, we can just try to be like we used to be."

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havoker
2015-03-07 09:26 pm UTC (link)

Alex just let Scott talk. He wanted to hear what he had to say, whether or not he cared what it actually was, he needed to hear him try to explain himself. His eyes stayed focused on the side of the road as the truck was driven along and when it pulled off and parked he looked up to see the old shop. His eyebrows pushed together in confusion before he finally looked at Scott.

"First of all, I can go where I want with who I want. You don't get a say in any of that. Secondly, I'm not some helpless little kid. Remy was with me and he knows the city perfectly well, so we got along fine there."

He sat up from the slouch he'd assumed as soon as he'd gotten in and buckled up. "I didn't need you to suddenly show up with Professor Logan like you're my dad so come collect me. I don't need a brother to suddenly be there when I'm doing things that don't fit his mold for me."

He was so exhausted with being what other people wanted him to be. "I'm my own person, Scott! I'm free now to be whoever the hell I want to be and you or anyone else isn't going to tell me who to be or what to do."

He raised his voice in his frustration and when he finished he considered getting out of the truck and walking back to the school but he gathered his restraint enough to not be the teenager he'd just proclaimed he wasn't.

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eyeslikehis
2015-03-07 10:15 pm UTC (link)

"We're mutants. We don't have the luxury of living our lives without thinking about the consequences." The image of the youtube video and the chaos surrounding Alex's episode was seared into Scott's red-tinted eyes. "I punched a hole in that mountain when I was twelve. What if people had been hiking there when it happened? I could have inadvertently killed them. Now you take power just like that, only less understood and developed, and you put it in the middle of a city crowded with thousands of people, and do the math."

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havoker
2015-03-07 10:42 pm UTC (link)

The image Scott had painted wasn't pretty and he turned to look out the window as he calmed down. He was dangerous and he'd known that but had never really thought about the reality of it all. That's why he was at the school, to learn how to control it and he'd made strides but he wasn't where he needed to be to consider himself in control of it.

He lifted a hand and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers then dropped it back down. He'd killed someone already because of not being able to control his powers and the guilt was heavy. To have more lives on his shoulders; well he didn't want to imagine it. "I'm okay if I drain my energy levels constantly. New Orleans would have been worse if I hadn't done that before I left." He had Selene to thank for that. She had been a life saver many times.

"Have you? I mean, ever inadvertently killed anyone?" The reality of their situation made his feud he'd built up to have with Scott seem unimportant for the time being.

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eyeslikehis
2015-03-07 10:58 pm UTC (link)

"Almost. A couple times. Enough to scare the hell out of me." Scott closed his eyes now; he wasn't thinking of the almost times. He was thinking of the time he'd deliberately killed the man he loved most in this world, who'd saved him from himself and from a terrible fate. But Scott couldn't tell Alex that. He wasn't sure he could have told anyone. That Maddy now knew the extend of what he'd been through had acted as a huge relief, like all that pressure building inside of him had an escape.

"You were smart. You were conscientous about doing that before you left, and you deserve credit for that. With any luck, someday you'll have complete control over it. If I can help you get there, I want to. You may not like how much I will push, or demand that you check in before running off on some road trip, but I'm not going to stop. I don't want to control you, Alex, I want to protect you. That's not going to change no matter how old we get. You're stuck with me."

He exhaled, his breath shaky with the emotion he'd been keeping under lock and key. His hands gripped the wheel tightly. "I made a promise to watch after you when mom and dad died. I'm making a new one now. 'Be there for Alex. Not just when he needs me, but always.'"

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havoker
2015-03-07 11:17 pm UTC (link)

"Oh? Yeah that would scare me too..." He kept his gaze down, not wanting the emotion on his face to show. It scared him that he'd taken the life of another person and maybe some twisted part of him needed to know that he wasn't the only one. It wasn't really something he'd had the habit of asking people. 'Hey, have you killed anyone today?' That wouldn't really seem creepy or anything. Luckily not many people really knew it happened that way. His family was oblivious, which is probably why they were okay with him coming home to visit. They didn't know he could blow everything up in a flash.

He looked at Scott as his brother explained his position. He wasn't entirely sure how to respond. He was making it clear to him that he was going to be that protective older brother and at the same time showing him that he really did care. It ruffled his feathers a little that he was saying he'd never stop acting like some authority figure, but somewhere inside Alex felt okay with it as well. He had his teachers, and the rules at school that he would keep that kept things in line, but it wasn't the same as that of a big brother.

"Hard to remember what that was like; always having you watching over my shoulder. I can't promise that I'm always going to be okay with that, but I'll take that over the radio silence you've been giving me."

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eyeslikehis
2015-03-08 12:08 am UTC (link)

Scott chuckled. "Even though after - you know - you did all my seeing for me. I remember how it was easier just to pretend I was blind." He sighed, relaxing a little. "I know, and I'm sorry. No excuses. I'll be better about it." He thought about what Alex had said to, and realized he needed to talk to Remy again. Since their return, he hadn't said one word to the cajun, barely recognized his existence even in training. Scott still hadn't ruled out an ass-kicking, but he also realized that Remy would win in a fist fight, and if he didn't win it was because he would let Scott take it out on him, and that felt even worse.

"Come on. I was thinking about something that I haven't done since Anchorage. Thought it might work as a peace offering." Turning off the engine, Scott unbelted and jumped out of the truck, waiting for Alex before walking into the antique store attached to the old book store.

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havoker
2015-03-08 11:26 pm UTC (link)

"Oh yeah! I remember that. Talk about being a creepy stalker." He chuckled a little at their joking about a time that was all in all pretty horrific. He'd been so afraid and yet convinced that their parents were alright, like they'd come out into the wilderness and find them and take them home. Of course that hadn't happened and they were displaced to an orphanage. He remembered how if felt to know Scott was there to look out for him and the memory made him look at his brother now. Older and different, but still wanting to look out for him. Things couldn't be the same, just like Maddy had said, but Tabitha had told him that family is what you make of it and right now he was willing to give Scott another shot. He'd figure out their dynamic and stop expecting things to fit into his own mold that he'd made for them.

Alex's attention was brought back to focus and he looked at the old building while he unbuckled and got out of the truck. He wasn't sure what Scott was talking about, but as they entered the store and moved to the books he made the connection. "Comics?"

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