AVX: Consequences #2

He thought he didn’t want to talk, Cyclops remarks from the prison interrogation room as he sees his visitor Wolverine. He doesn’t want to talk, is the reply. He needs to talk, there is a difference. He orders Scott to sit down. Scott does so and waits patiently while Wolverine downs another two beers of his sixpack. Finally, he sits the next to last one down on the table. Chuck, he begins simply.

Scott assures him it’s the last thing in the world he wanted. It was an accident. He wasn’t himself. Logan doesn’t care, because Scott started walking on that road. He knew where it led. He knew it was against everything that Charles had taught Scott. When he had his brains about him, he knew that. And he kept walking anyway! So don’t go try to dodge!

He’s not, Scott stresses calmly. It’s his responsibility. But he wouldn’t ever want it, not in the darkest part of his, he just did what he had to. Logan of all people should understand that. That’s what he taught Scott.

Angrily, Logan snarls Scott is nothing like him. Calmly, Scott continues Wolverine almost ruined everything. His new school will have more mutant students. And that is thanks to Scott. And he should just hope that whoever writes his history book skips over how the headmaster almost doomed the entire species, when he tried to kill Hope. There are people who get to judge Scott. He doesn’t think Logan is among them. That’s why he’s here, right? Judge, jury and… Logan tells him not push it.

Silence. He knows what Jean felt like now, Scott suddenly states, more than ever. He understands her. Even better than before. In a way Logan never will.

“That’s enough of you,” Logan decides and throws away the beer can. He slams the table between them in two parts, then grabs Scott and forces him down. He raises his fist and unsheathes his claws.

Scott doesn’t resist and Logan realizes he wants this. He unsheathes his claws and turns way. Of course he does, Scott agrees. He’s dead weight now. He’s done everything he could. He dies now and he’s a martyr. And in a few years some rebellious little kid is going to turn up at Wolverine’s school with Cyclops on his t-shirt. “Cyclops was right.”

Bull, that’s not why he wants it, Logan snaps. He wants it because he wants it! That… doesn’t matter, Cyclops states. He’s the walking dead. He doesn’t think how he feels on anything matters anymore. Think how a trial will go down. Think diminished responsibility or insanity clause. Possession by a cosmic entity fits all those. Give him the right lawyer and there is every chance he could go free. So either they disappear him – and Captain America wouldn’t allow that on his watch - or they treat him like this and the problem goes away.

What is he saying? Logan asks. Does he really think he will live to see trial? Scott asks. How many men in this prison would be happy to end him? So, of course he’d rather Wolverine kill him. He’s the best at it. At least he’ll be quick.

Wolverine sits down on the ground, shocked. Only Scott can take all the fun out of wanting to murder someone you hate, he admits. Throw them a line, he asks. Of Scott’s team Storm and Psylocke have come in. But Magneto, Danger, Magik, Colossus and Namor… didn’t. Let’s say he is right. He saved mutantkind and he’s going to be on every little mutant rebel’s wall. All those kids are going to have Sentinels coming for them if they don’t patch things up. People will be damn sight calmer without that damn fool Extinction Team out there.

Scott hesitates. Logan asks him to at least tell them to come in. Don’t let them down! Scott asks after Emma and Hope. Tell him where they put them and he’ll—

Logan crunches his beer can and swears at him. He tosses the can at Scott and tells him to go to hell as he leaves.

He can and he did, Scott tells nobody.

Later, Cyclops and the mutant boy Jake are working in the prison shop like the general population. Jake wonders about that, adding Scott could only be more hated if he were some kind of Islamic atheist Yankee-supporting mutant. He’s sure they know what they are doing, Scott states. So, do they know each other well enough to talk about Emma Frost? Jake asks. Because he’s got some questi— What happened? Scott interrupts. How did his powers emerge? They were watching the end of the world, Jake recalls.

flashback:
Or they were until one guy decided he wanted to watch baseball… As the huge guy switches the channel, Jake protests angrily. The man gets ready to hit him when Jake’s eyes glow. Energy from his body pushes everyone back. The effect is quickly over and even as Jake stares at his hands a guard hits him in the head.

Present:
And when he woke up, he got a block of his own, Jake finishes, until someone comes along and ruins the whole neighborhood.

How can he be so upbeat about this? Scott asks. Is he kidding? Jake begins to explain when Scott tells him to be quiet. Every other prisoner is gone, the guards too. Suddenly, they have company: the big guy who attacked Jake in the TV room and a couple of other tough guys, all armed with knives. They are going to kill – Jake fears. Scott corrects him. Not kill. “Martyr.”