13228/Planning the Future

Planning the Future
Date of Scene:	08 May 2021
Location:	War Room, X-Men Base
Synopsis:	Betsy approaches Scott with a proposal to make X-Force a permanent thing. Tentative plans are made.
Cast of Characters:	Cyclops, Psylocke

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Cyclops has posed:
After the mission last night, Scott Summers had a long overnight trip to the med bay from taking a crowbar to the back of the head. One side of his jaw was cracked and he had twelve staples in the back of his head. Thankfully, Josh Foley finally showed up to heal him once someone got ahold of him. Now back in the War Room, despite Beast's protests, he is going over the field report from last night. They saved a kid last night, they went toe to toe with several hybrids which could be mutants, or could be Reavers. That is what he is trying to get to the bottom of.

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he stares at the screen in front of him as he taps along the glass table, pulling up several reports from Rogue and Hank. "Mm." He murmurs to himself as he takes his glasses off to squeeze his eyes shut, rubbing his hand across his face before he puts them back on. He looks tired and most likely still nursing a bit of a headache.

Psylocke has posed:
"You're supposed to be in bed," comes the posh British accent from the doorway as Betsy enters. She's dressed casually. Jeans, a button up shirt, short boots with a tiny heel. She walks a bit further into the room, looking him over critically. Not that he has any visible wounds.

"But stubborness is one of your more admirable traits," she adds with a smirk. She moves to sit in a chair at the war table. "I would like to talk to you if you're up to it though. Been thinking some more about that little side project you set up. X-Force."

Cyclops has posed:
"I should be in bed, yes, but I have too much work to do. Unlike Hank, I didn't lose all my fur or my powers while being shot in the chest. He kept trying to compare the two with his impressive vocabulary and big words, but I overwhelmed him with shorter, stern sentences." Scott says with a twitch of his lips into a brief smile before he swivels to face her in the seat.

"Oh? You all did work during that Cure situation. I know at the time my head was in a bad spot. Desperate." He shifts his jaw to one side thoughtfully. "But you obviously think it's still worth pursuing?"

Psylocke has posed:
"I've been thinking about it," Betsy admits as she considers. She chews her bottom lip a moment as she tries to think how to explain her thoughts. Reaching for the controls, she quickly taps a few keys to make sure all recording devices were officially off in the room. They already were but it was nice to be reassured.

At least everything she knew of. Hopefully there weren't more.

"While your decision was for dealing with a specific threat, we failed. I think we would not have if we'd been more practiced as a team together. We're used to being in our X-Men teams and working within those. Outside it, we didn't have as much experience or bonding. No excuse. Failure is failure. The X-Men were able to take down those same villains without batting an eye."

Obviously this still eats at her. "But we do need people willing to take steps beyond what the X-Men are limited to. My thought is X-Force is that step. We expand the team and make it more permanent. Not removing the members from X-Men. Just another group they are part of. And we could have some others involved who are not necessarily X-Men." She considers. "My thought is outside Xavier's though. I know the Professor would not approve and it would feel wrong to be doing it under his roof."

Cyclops has posed:
"I don't see it as a failure, Betsy. I sent you in to kill people and instead, we subdued them. We still saved the day, we still removed The Cure from the street and we still took down the DAMT operations. I'll be honest with you, I couldn't be any happier with how it ended." Scott says softly to her. "I struggled and agonized over those decisions. I sent you to kill fellow mutants, who yes, were terrorizing and killing humans, but still .. would Charles have done that?" He says as he leans back into his chair, staring upwards at the ceiling. "And that is my problem, is that I look around this world. I look at what Apocalypse did to Warren, my best friend .. and at the time, I was looking through the eyes of Xavier."

He gives a lick of his lips in thought before he gives a glance back towards her. "But if I could go back in time, I'd give anything to watch Logan run him through, or you, or Victor. In hindsight I would do anything to protect him, or any of you from such a fate. It's one thing though .. to be injured in combat. It's another to be captured and mutiliated."

He weighs her pitch to him, steepling his fingers, then folding them inwards on each other. He closes his eyes and takes in a deeper breath, just to think and let the moment settle. "I agree, but just run any new additions through me, keep me looped in. I'll want full field reports, my eyes only .. and I feel like we need some type of .. I don't know, NDA. Like Fight Club. But each team needs a moral compass, to ensure we don't go 'too' far. For us, that tends to be Jean, Hank .. who will it be for your team?"

Psylocke has posed:
"For the time being, it will be me. Considering who is on the team currently, if we keep the same group you had put together. But that may have to change. I'm not sure who all will become members yet. I would like to approach those who had been part of the assignment, see if they want to remain or prefer to stick with only the X-Men."

Betsy folds her hands on her lap as she thinks it through. "But we'll figure out someone to take that role for us since I don't know that I'll be able to maintain it for long. I recognize my violent tendencies have gotten stronger since my exposure to the Crimson Dawn. I am guessing it is linked, though I'm not positive. But such influence may have my moral compass skewed in the future."

She flicks her violet gaze to him again. "The team should be setup outside the school. I'll fund it. I don't want to use Professor Xavier's money for something he would be morally against. And we will be there for you to call on when it is something that needs a more permanent solution. We also will work some of our own angles on things as we find them. I have no problem letting you know what's going on but if at any point it is going to compromise your situation here, with the Professor or the X-Men, then we cut you out so it falls on me instead. Make sense?"

Cyclops has posed:
"It makes sense, even if I'm not fully comfortable. At the end of the day, you're my responsibility if something goes wrong. You're my team. Even if you're creating a splinter team to work out some aggression." There's a slight grin on Scott's face, if only briefly. "Let's just play it by ear. Day to day. I don't mind assuming the burden, because if something was to go tragically wrong, I can't tell anyone that you and some of our teammates went rogue. It will change the way we look at each other."

He taps his fingers along the table. "I would rather shoulder the blame, because it's mine to carry. I created this, and I don't want anyone else to feel obligated to, or have to stand before their peers and look them in the eye and try to explain why one of their own died." He says, his voice strained at the words.

"Also, hiding anything from Jean now is impossible." He says with a flat tone. "Things have changed so dramatically with her, it'd almost make sense to put 'her' on your team." He says with a light scoff in his throat. "Either way, let's just cross those bridges when we need to."