"Is the knowledge gained, worth the price of the pain?"

[ororo_munroe]

It was a somber ride back to Westchester on the Blackbird until the plane finally descends to the hangar deck and the VTOL thrusters are switched off.  Minor scrapes and bruises were tended to courtesy of the plane's medkits.  Those with more serious injuries will be helped with the aid of Elixir and soon by Beast, waiting on them in the Medlab

Comments

[x_professor_x]

"Becides the problem that's weighing on the front of your mind?" Xavier asks, lightly, in response to Ororo's inital argument. "There is little I can say to make you feel better. I could, if you wished, stimulate the pleasure centers of your brain to allow you a pleasent night's sleep..."

Xavier's frown is tight; Ororo might notice the bags under his eyes, right now. "I cannot let myself view it as a failure. Suffering is, I am sorry to say, a part of life. If I were to seriously believe I could protect my X-Men from all of life's suffering, Ororo, I would have gone mad years ago. The fact of the matter is, the children have chosen a difficult line of work. No one made them decide to put on a costume and fight crime."

"We owe it to them to respect that decision." Xavier continues, "And that means respecting the fact that they will endure the slings and arrows inherant to that path in life. We can be there for them, we can aid them, advise them, do everything in our power to ensure that they are prepared and supported in a way that our generation could not have been. But to hold the pretention that we can shield them from the threats and pain that are part and parcle with living life, Ororo, is to miss the ultimate lesson of these events."

[ororo_munroe]

"Ah, but there's the moral dilemma. These children chose a difficult line of work? Absolutely. But who are we to accept that? Goddess, I remember... I fought to have Kitty remain with us, fighting with us at a younger age than the students who survived today. I left the New Mutants to fend for themselves, while taking the X-Men into hiding. In the past our students have been treated as adults." She shakes her head thinking about her past decisions, not really wanting to face them at all.

Ororo turns to face him and yes, she does see the tiredness writ across his face. "But they are not adults."

"We should respect their decisions, of course. But we owe it to keep them alive first. Victor and Cessily will never be the same. The ultimate lesson of these events... it makes it harder to believe that Magneto's way... " she falters quietly. It would only hurt him and herself for finishing wherever that thought might've concluded.

"Rhane asked me once, after Doug died, why only X-Men 'get better'? I could not answer her then. If Joshua hadn't been there, we likely would have lost two more. I am losing sight, Charles, of what I am here to do and who I am to be."

[x_professor_x]

The Professor's eyes flash, his hand shakes, the vein on his forehead pulses. "Finish your sentence, Ororo. And you wish to join Forge in serving the tyrant, it is not as if I can do much to stop you."

Yeah. She hit a nerve. She hit /all the nerves/.

[ororo_munroe]

Her head lowers. Defeat, remorse and regret, all are mixed into her body language. "I did not mean that, Professor."

I didn't... did I?

The rumbling thunder dies, the wind deflating as well. It makes the air between them seem all the more tense as a result.

[x_professor_x]

"I'm sorry." Xavier immediately says, shaking his head. "It's...been a very long night. A long week, even. And if I am honest with myself, I have yet to entierly digest Forge's change in alligence. That was unfair of me."

[ororo_munroe]

"I am sorry as well. This week has been fair to none and you... have been nothing but in dealing with all of this. Despite my own perspective and despite what Logan said, I do believe you should be proud of your students. They fought for each other, for their allies, and they fought well." It's the only thing she has left to offer that won't polarize them further.

[x_professor_x]

The Professor smiles, a little, hoping that it keeps them on an even keel rather than devolving into a fight. She's going to take a leave of absence soon-Xavier had been expecting it for some time, and has already been making contingencies to cover Storm's time off.

But first.

"Would you like to tell me what it is that's pressing so terribly on your mind, Ororo?" Xavier asks, not unkindly.

[ororo_munroe]

The subject of their argument directed her gaze toward the family cemetary plot located in a remote corner of the mansion's grounds.

John. Doug. The alien Warlock. Illyana.

The memorials that had belonged to Piotr and Angelo when all had thought them in the afterlife too.

Were those ever taken down?

Lastly, Jean's memorial. She hasn't brought herself to see what Scott did -if he did anything- for his wife when they'd returned from space.

There's a quiet internal sigh. X-Men get better. Sometimes.

"You have gleaned the first half. The second is this: Madelyne Pryor is alive."

[x_professor_x]

...oooooh. That's why with the...

"Oh God." Is the first thing Professor Xavier can say as he feels the squeezing in his chest. Even in a world where death can often be...imperminant as theirs is...God. Is she sane? Is she still with the Hellfire Club? Is she coming to kill us all? God, poor Scott. "Does Scott know?"

[ororo_munroe]

Her hopes sink just a little. For the Professor to ask that question, would mean Scott either hasn't confided in him yet, or honestly wasn't aware. Neither bodes well.

"I am not sure. She was not sure. Madelyne appears to be fully psi-active again. She said Scott might have sensed her while she was in telepathic communication with Nathan. She... was considerably upset when we'd come upon each other."

[x_professor_x]

Professor X's thoughts mirror Storm's, and the mental master lets out a quiet sigh.

"I see." Xavier murmurs, steepling his fingers in front of his chest. "How...stable...did she seem?" Read: Is she in supervillain territory?

[ororo_munroe]

"Pretty shaken and overwhelmed. She said she'd just encountered Alex just before and I assume it did not go pleasantly. But... goddess, Charles, she seemed sane. Remorseful. Unhappy about the things she'd done in her former life. Maddy said she woke up in Sinister's laboratory, unsure how much time had passed," Ororo represses shudder at the thought it. "Nathan was the one to rescue her from there."

[x_professor_x]

"Cable?" Oh, that can't be good. Xaview sighs, rubbing his forehead. "Well, we should be happy...and greatful...that she seems to have returned to some sense of sanity."

A frown remains on Xavier's face, however. "Sinister's laboratrory, you say? Still, that maniac obsesses with anyone related to Scott and Jean..."

[ororo_munroe]

She admits, "Then I am glad I was not wrong to let her know that I am happy she's alive. She seemed very lost and much in need of a friend." Her chin tilts just a tad defensive, though it's not really directed at the Professor. Maddy was an X-Man once. That is all the reason necessary in her eyes.

The thought of Sinister turns her thoughts dark. "X-Men do not kill, Charles, but I swear he should be the exception..." That rule hadn't stopped her from frying the clone of Scalphunter months ago.

[x_professor_x]

Let's face it, it's more of a guideline. "You make the assumption that our morals alone prevent us from ending Sinister's...existance."

The world's greatist mind gleams, however, as the Professor begins pondering the world. "You are correct, though. You were right to comfort her, and...something must be done about Mister Sinister."

[ororo_munroe]

"True, his mutation and scientific genius always creates a formidable foil to any effort in that regard..." Her jaw ticks subtlely, a marker of the frustration and weariness from the day.

"We cannot afford to be fools, but we can afford to give someone a second chance. She believes the X-Men -Scott and Alex the most- should hate her and feels worthy of naught but scorn. I think the less self-destructive emotions Madelyne feels, the better it will be for her and all around."

"She... was not the only one to betray. Just the last one and a pawn at that."