Scott and Noriko - Backdated

[om_surge]

Noriko lets Scott know about the Callisto mess, and before you know it they're discussing the future of their teams.


Noriko might not have been avoiding Scott on purpose, but she hadn't scheduled any motorcycle training time since what had happened with Callisto. It might be stupid, but Scott made her want to have a hold of herself when she saw him, and she'd been feeling too uncertain about everything ever. Now, though, she figured she could hold a conversation with him that would be more than her feeling so fucking inadequate.

She'd texted him, and they'd agreed on a time. She'd even gotten to the garage a little early. Nerves, probably.

Scott's eyebrows rose, just a touch, over his glasses in surprise at the fact Noriko had beaten him there. He refrained from comment, though. About her punctuality and about the long gap since they'd last done this. Instead, he just took off his overshirt, leaving him in jeans and a gray tee, and started getting everything together. "Hey."

"Hey," Noriko echoed, already in jeans and a tank top. She watched what he was getting together, then asked, "What do you want me to do?"

"Grab the oil pan and a new filter for her," Scott asked, or instructed. "Gonna do an oil change."

Whether it was a request or an instruction, Noriko turned away to do just that, then got back to Scott, and the other side of the bike.

He knelt down, gesturing for her to do the same. "So, when you're changing the oil out, you wanna keep the pan right here," he indicated with his left hand, "the entire time. That way, you don't get someone who owns a car that costs more than a house complaining that you got oil on their baby's tires."

"Right," Noriko agreed, because she really cared about those people. But it would make sense for a lot of reasons that didn't have to do with that, so yeah, sure, she actually meant that 'right'.

Scott smirked, because she knew exactly how much he cared about those people, too. Still, better not to leave a mess all over Xavier's garage, for plenty of other reasons. "Okay, now, take these," he handed over his keys. "Climb on, no you're not riding anywhere, just turn the engine on for a little bit. Five, ten minutes."

Noriko did just as he instructed, turning the key in the ignition and hearing the engine roar to life.

"Okay, so just let it run a little. Motor oil," he explained, "can thicken up when its been cold too long. Running the engine heats it up, makes it more liquid, so it will come out of the engine better."

"Alright," Noriko agreed, sitting back on the bike and just letting it run for now.

"So," Scott said while they waited, "long time no see, Ashida." She could make of that what she would - Nori knew perfectly well that if she told him to go to hell, he'd shut up - and answer or not answer at will.

"Yeah," Noriko confirmed, keeping her hand loose on the throttle for no real reason. The bike would just run on its own, for the five to ten required minutes. She rested her other gauntleted hand on her thigh, and looked down at Scott. "Did Philip fill you in? On what happened." If he had, Scott would know what she meant. And she'd be surprised if he hadn't.

In fact, Philip had not, and Scott crossed his arms over his chest as though settling in. "No. What happened?"

Huh. She frowned, but didn't say anything to that, just answered his question. "Couple murders in the City. My name - Surge -" her street name, "was tagged on each body drop location. Bigby, Philip and I went to check it out." Her free hand rubbed on her jeans slightly, metal over denim. "It was a kid I used to know. She manifested since I left, went crazy. She wanted me to help her make the streets safe - when I told her to come back to the school with us, she lost it and attacked us."

Scott digested that information - another mutant, one who lost her shit and had apparently murdered people, what sounded like a skirmish, and Coulson not telling him. "What happened?"

"She had some kids with her," Noriko went on, holding Scott's gaze as she talked, because like hell she would look away. "While Bigby and I were busy with them, she almost killed Philip. And while I was checking on him, she almost got Bigby. I finally got to her - but then an intervention unit without ID stormed in, and we took off."

"Intervention unit without ID," he repeated, liking this story less and less. "What'd they look like?"

"Black tac gear, no identifying markers," Noriko replied, and shrugged. "I didn't see them, Philip did and we just took off before they could catch us. You're better off asking him."

Oh, Scott would be. "This other mutant. What do you know about her?"

"Callisto," Noriko replied. "She's one eye short - never told me why. She wasn't the leader type, back then, but I don't know. I think manifesting must've screwed with her brain somehow. Enhanced strength and speed, enhanced senses. And she's good with knives. She had about ten kids with her. Following her." Not friends, not kids she watched out for, but a right little gang.

He filed that away - Callisto, physical enhancements, good with knives - it might be necessary to know. "Those ten kids, are they mutants? Could you tell? Or were they definitely non-mutant?"

"I don't think they were," Noriko shook her head. "Especially since - she wanted my help, because I was a mutant. If any of them had been, she wouldn't have needed me." Not unless their mutation was a really useless one, probably.

Or it could be that one could never have too many extremely powerful people around. Collect them all, or something. Scott needed a few moments to thing this through. "So go ahead and turn off the engine. We are going to give it a few seconds to cool off enough that we won't burn ourselves. And then," he handed her a wrench, "you're going to open her up."

Noriko took the wrench after she stopped the engine, then moved off of the bike, joining Scott on the floor. She knew better than to ask what he was thinking before he was done thinking about it.

"How'd it end? Debrief me a little more," he finally asked.

"Most of her kids had split and I had her on the defensive when Philip spotted the team coming our way," Noriko replied, looking back at him as she spoke. "I lost sight of her and the three of us made a run for it. Holed down at Stark's place."

He nodded, and took that in, too. "So, use the wrench to loosen this here," Scott pointed. "Make sure the pan is under it, and watch your hands. The oil hopefully isn't scalding, but it's still hot."

Noriko kept her gauntlets on as she did as she was told, but still made very certain that they weren't going to get splashed by the oil. She liked these babies. But even worse, she needed them.

Scott leaned back and watched as oil began pouring into the pan. "And now we wait for it to finish draining. Then we'll change the filter."

"Alright," Noriko stated, putting down the wrench.

"So, this Callisto. What was her end game, do you think? Why'd she want you?"

"I guess she - fixated on me," Noriko replied, and shrugged, watching the oil pour down. "Some of the kids back then knew what I did. Including her. I guess when she manifested - I don't know, she took it upon herself to keep kids safe. Which is an impossible mission." She looked up at Scott. "She must've thought we could've done it, together. She hates the school, she thinks I abandoned them." She kinda had, yeah.

"That's bullshit." The oil was slowing down to a steady trickle, and Scott jostled the bike a little to make sure it would all come out.

"Not completely," Noriko replied, watching him work. "But I'd do it again, anyway, so." So it was pretty pointless to argue about it.

Scott considered pointing out that it wasn't like most of the rest of them would've turned down this kind of chance for Noriko, either, but figured it was unnecessary. She knew what she had to. "Weird way to go about protecting people, bringing possible wrath of the cops down on them."

"Yeah, I tried to make her see that," Noriko wryly confirmed.

"Sounds like she took it well." He reached under the bike to tap the end of the filter. "Okay, so now, scoot the pan under the filter here. Then, you're just going to gently twist it and pull it out," Scott said.

"It was me telling her that she should come with us to the school that made her see red, actually," Noriko replied as she moved the pan where he'd indicated. She reached up, and gently twisted, then pulled, making sure the oil dripped into the pan as much as possible.

"Go ahead and put the old filter in the tray. No reason to mess up your hand or your gear." Scott handed her a new filter. "There's the fresh one. So, you've been avoiding me because of this incident in the city?"

Noriko took the new filter, and made a face. "I haven't been avoiding you," she replied, as she leaned back in to put the new one in. "I've been dealing with my shit."

"Fair enough." Didn't explain Coulson's reticence, precisely, but that would be a separate issue, Scott knew.

"It's possible she'll get here, some day," Noriko added, as she made sure the filter was in place. "If she figures out where exactly my 'posh school' is."

He nodded, looking thoughtful. It was one of many concerning things about the story Noriko had told. "I'm guessing Coulson and Bigby are alright." It would have been his first question, normally, but he knew Noriko well enough to know she wouldn't have sounded so calm if they weren't. Besides, both had healing factors.

"Yeah," Noriko confirmed with a nod. As alright as could be expected... considering. She wondered, not for the first time, whether Scott knew, about Philip. She should remember to ask him.

Scott watched her carefully. "You're not happy with how it went down." She'd danced around the incident itself this whole time, sticking to beginning and end, rather than including much middle.

"I mentioned the part where they nearly died," Noriko replied, looking back at Scott. "I was never where I should've been." That was, engaging Callisto herself.

"I wasn't there. So if you say you weren't where you should've been, I'll take you at your word." Scott had no other way of judging, after all, and Noriko wasn't the type to come to him for coddling. "So, assuming you're right on that point...where were you?" The question wasn't accusatory, but factual. "And why were you there?"

It was easier for having worked through it with Jean-Paul, and Noriko knew what to answer. "Grappling with regular kids out of fear using my electricity would harm them." Or worse. Not trusting her training and letting past experiences dictate her present decisions. "And then checking in on Philip." An emotional response.

He nodded, to show he was listening - and he was listening, intently. "You learned from it?" Scott was sure she had. Noriko wouldn't have survived this long if she couldn't learn from her mistakes.

"In theory," Noriko confirmed. She couldn't tell if she had for real until she made different decisions on the field, so she wouldn't want to claim that she had already.

"Nothing more to do, then." Aside from hope she wasn't still kicking herself.

"Nope," she confirmed, and tilted her head towards the motorcycle. "What about the bike?" What more was there to do, there.

"Next is checking the belts. Making sure nothing is fraying or tearing."

* * *

They'd gone for a short ride out on the grounds after they were done, and Noriko was putting her helmet away. "Wanna grab a bite?" Talk some more.

"Sure." With everything that had been going on, he'd been forgetting to eat with more frequency. So Scott figured he should grab every reminder with both hands.

"So how are things going with your team?" she asked as they headed out of the garage. "And seriously, find it a name."

Scott thought how best to answer, as they began to wind their way into the house. "They could make a great team. We just need to know each other better, trust each other more," he finally pronounced. "And, as soon as they do know me better, they should be aware that I shouldn't be allowed to name anything."

"So? Open the floor," Noriko remarked. "Irvine found ours."

He smirked, "You want to think about Beaubier or Harkness might name us?"

"You know, I wouldn't have bet on Irvine finding us a cool name," Noriko pointed out with raised eyebrows.

Okay, part of her was really curious what Jean-Paul might try to name them. For that alone...

"Beaubier. And Harkness," he repeated. She might not have known Irvine was the creative naming sort, but he did know Jean-Paul and Jack, at least well enough to be concerned about what they would come out with. "But I'll consider it."

"Make sure you can veto their ideas if you're concerned," Noriko replied with a shrug. It seemed straightforward enough to her. "Let me know when you're ready to have training sessions in common."

"We just need to get ourselves together a little better first, have a consistent dynamic," Scott said. No reason to get JVX used to working with a specific dynamic only to change it on them after-the-fact. He was quiet a moment, as they turned the corner towards the kitchen. "It ever feel weird to you? Being in charge? I mean...it's not like I have anymore right to do it than anyone else on my team."

"It's fucking awful," Noriko replied abruptly. "I didn't think - I was naive." She thought Lydia had known all along, the way dynamics settled in before you even realized. "I didn't think I'd lead anything, just help put it together. But then dynamics solidify before you even know it."

"If it helps, I was naive, too. In the same way," Scott admitted wryly. "Should've known better. I just figured I was putting together something we needed."

"Wait until you go out into the field," Noriko assured him. "That's what it felt like, the Callisto thing. My first field action, and I screwed up."

"But you gained necessary information, and no one is irreparably harmed. Take your points where you can get them," Scott pointed out. "And trust me. I...am not looking forward to when we go out there. I could get people killed."

"You don't have to tell me," Noriko retorted, almost under her breath. She pushed into the kitchen and headed straight for the freezer to see what was in there. "What do you feel like?"

"An idiot," he answered dryly. Scott looked over her head to see what was in the freezer. "Corn dogs?"

Noriko shook her head, smiling slightly. "I was going to try and put my hard-earned culinary skills into practice without Jean-Paul around, but sure. Let's do corn dogs." She didn't actually mind; food was food. She grabbed the box, and set about heating them up.

"Hey, if you want to get gourmet, teach a French-Canadian a lesson, don't let me stop you," he replied.

"Have you tasted his food lately?" Noriko checked. "There's approximately zero chances I could ever teach him a lesson. And now I want corn dogs."

Scott smirked. "Depends on the lesson you want to teach him. But sure. I'm a pro-corn dog guy."

She closed the oven door, and got it going. "Color me surprised. Wanna drink?" she asked as she walked over to the fridge.

"Yeah, thanks." Scott leaned against the counter.

Noriko got him his usual drink out of the fridge, and a coke for herself. Energy drinks were for after she'd let out enough electricity that she felt like she needed one. "So. What are your plans for your unnamed team?"

"I'm working on some new sims, try and get people out of their comfort zones, force them to rely more on the others," he said, opening the drink up. "What's up in JVX?"

"Building on the dynamics that have appeared so far," Noriko replied easily. Everything was geared towards that, on top of pushing them to be better operatives in terms of the basic qualities needed on the field, but that was a given, she figured. "No, I meant more long term."

Scott thought that through, taking a sip of his drink. "In the sense of the team itself, or its operations?"

"Both," Noriko answered, popping her can open. The future of the team kind of relied on its operations, the way she saw it, or what was the point.

"First set point will be being field ready," Scott said, slowly, so that he couldn't speak faster than he thought. "We are almost there, but not there yet. I would be seriously concerned that some individuals might endanger others, and that's no way to go into a situation."

"Yeah, I hear you," Noriko agreed. "But what do you wanna do with the team?" He'd always spoken in generalities, and now things were getting too real.

"I want to help mutant kids in trouble." Like he'd been once, like Noriko, and Alex, and so many others. "I want to be there to get them out, if the situation needs it. I want us to be ready to protect the world from other mutants, because eventually, that will be an issue. There will be skirmishes between mutants and humans.

"We need to show the world that we can police our own. That there is nothing to fear."

Noriko wasn't too sure it was going to turn out that way, but it didn't stop her from agreeing with his mission statement. Just not with his reason for it. But that wasn't what she'd meant. "Alright. How're you gonna go about it? Practically speaking."

Scott had the feeling they were talking past each other. "I'm not sure I'm hitting what you want me to aim for," he said.

Noriko took a sip of her coke before answering. "It's like saying, 'I wanna clean up the streets.' How are you planning on doing that, you know?" He was still being too vague for her overly pragmatic way of thinking.

"Until we can get the resources necessary for better transportation, we are limited in where we can be effective," Scott said seriously. "So the methodology is this: we get a report, from the faculty, the PR team, or Sage. We get there by road vehicle, if possible. If not, then we pick the best skillsets for the job, and have the fliers take them.

"Get in, try defuse the situation as best we can. Violence may be necessary, but casualties should be avoided unless absolutely necessary."

Noriko nodded as he explained; yeah, that was exactly what she'd wanted to know. "How are you training your team, for the non-violent options?" It was one of the things she was struggling with, how best to prepare them for that. And they had Clarius, who could potentially be such an asset on that front.

"Well, there are three primary components to avoiding injuries to both civilians and targets, right?" Scott took another sip. "One, working on hand-to-hand, non-mutation skills. For those who can separate the two, that is. Two, perfecting control of powers. My mutation is a good example - if not controlled, deadly as fuck. With enough practice, can just sting a little. And then three...it's all mental. The trick is teaching people to think clearly in shitty situations."

His smirk at Nori was more than a little self-deprecating. "That last piece, I'm finding, is the hardest part. Most people think in tunnels when they freak."

"Exactly," Noriko agreed. "How do you train for dealing with that?" It seemed freaking essential, and she really had no idea.

"I've been trying to work on that, too. If you'd asked me before, I'd have said a one-person sim intentionally designed to overwhelm, followed by debriefing," Scott said, voice thoughtful. "Then gradually decrease the stress, build confidence, and then reincrease it to get practice. But...my team has people who have experienced trauma before, and that hasn't reduced the tunneling effect."

He ran a hand through his hair, and frowned a little. "Honestly? I think the real trick may just be training them to listen to directions in the field, and putting someone in charge who doesn't tunnel as quickly or easily."

"Right," Noriko agreed, "but what about dealing with civilians, or other mutants, who are freaking out? A lot of the non-violent options are going to be about dealing with other people."

"Escape, evade, and non-damaging holds and tactics," Scott summarized. "Without a psi on my team's fulltime roster, we'll have to perfect physically subduing them without injuring anyone and, more specifically, without the team losing their cool."

"That's all physical response, though, that's easy to work on," Noriko retorted. Well, not the bit about not freaking out, but... yeah. "But it feels like..." The dogs were ready, though, and she pulled them out, handing one over to Scott. "The way it went down with Callisto. Like I could've done better there, too. I spurred her to anger, without knowing." Even without a psi - although she was hoping Clarius would come into his own on that front - that really should be something to work on.

"Sometimes, we'll be well-prepared. If there is any way to know our opponents before we go into the field, we should. The better we know them, the safer everyone will be," Scott mused, partially to her and partially to himself. Sun Tzu. Know they enemy, and know thyself, and in one thousand battles you will never bee in peril. "Sometimes, we just might not know what we will find.

"Then, it's just going to come down to getting a good read on the person. Which," he added, "I suspect you're better at than you're feeling, at the moment."

"And what are you basing that suspicion on?" Noriko asked, clearly skeptical, before she started laying into her food.

He shrugged. "You're alive," Scott said simply. And he knew, from personal experience, that to survive the life Noriko had led, she would've had to develop some people reading skills. There was just no other way.

Noriko rolled her eyes. "That just means I'm a healthy paranoiac." However that worked. "If it wasn't for my mutation, she'd have killed me." That much she was certain of - if Callisto wanted to kill her, which she still wasn't certain about. Wanted to kill Philip and Bigby, yes, no doubt there. But - fuck this. She didn't even know if Callisto really wanted her dead; she sucked at reading people.

"That too," he agreed. Scott took a large bite of a corn dog.

"Anyway," Noriko got back on track, because that wasn't it. "I really wanna prepare us for that, too. Managing people, I guess? Without getting physical." Or managing them long enough to get in a better position to get physical; she assumed that would come up. "But I have no clue how to go about it."

Scott mulled that over, silent other the chewing, for a long moment. He was no expert, here. He had hunches. Suspicions. Anecdotes. He didn't have years of hard-won experience, though, and he felt it acutely. He was just some idiot kid, no different from the rest of them, really. "I think there are some people who are naturally better at that, better at people, than others."

Hell, he was one of the 'not good at people' types. It wasn't an issue of judgment. "I think the real way for us to have teams able to talk people down, rather than just knocking them down, will be for us to identify who those people-people are. Encourage them, build their confidence in that ability. And then, if they're needed, we call on them.

"That's not to say," he made sure to clarify, "that we all couldn't stand some classes or something on communication. That's a really good idea."

"And psychology," Noriko nodded. "Wanna go talk to the Prof about it together?" She'd do it on her own, but, well, if he also wanted his team in on it...

"Yeah. Might even be easier if both teams just did it together. If you'd be interested."

"Yeah, definitely," Noriko agreed.

Scott nodded, and massacred the rest of his first corndog. When he swallowed, he said, "I've been looking into the tactical gear we will need. The raw materials. I'm thinking we should include JVX on that front, too."

Noriko thought that over as she chewed, then nodded. "Yeah. Training with the gear will be better. What have you looked into?" It was an area she really hadn't explored.

"I was looking into the different types of body armor, to start. Kevlar is the most obvious choice. Ceramic plate armor is more durable, but it's heavy as fuck. There's some new gel-based technology that's interesting, but it's nowhere near production. So I'm leaning towards suits with kevlar chest pieces, back pieces, outer arm inserts, and leg inserts," Scott said. "It'll be heavier than regular clothes, but it'll protect us from anything short of cop-killer bullets."

Noriko nodded along, and grabbed a napkin to wipe her mouth, balling it up to throw into the trash. "How about discretion? That stuff's pretty obvious, right?"

"It's a little bulky," Scott admitted. "At least to make it truly effective. I'm hoping to get a sample of it here soon, and see if one of the geniuses can find a way to make it thinner and lighter."

"Ideally, it should fit under our clothes," Noriko agreed, and yeah, she was hoping the geniuses could make it so, but not too hopeful, either.

Scott picked up his next dog. "I'm actually more inclined to insist on uniforms, rather than trying to blend. At least if it's anything that's not recon, in nature."

Noriko shook her head. "I'd say we need both. Uniforms for easy recognition and identification, but another option for recon and any other time blending in or undercover work's required. And given the array of skills and mutations, some of us are more likely to use the one more often than the other."

"I agree." He chewed thoughtfully for a moment. "Undercover work, though, by its nature isn't going to lend itself to much protective gear. Anything that's not average clothing will stand out. Nothing that is that hideable exists yet, as far as I can tell. Recon, it would depend on the type of recon."

"Short term undercover - it can happen," Noriko replied with a shrug. "Early stages of an op. I'm just saying. We should be ready for everything."

"Absolutely," he agreed. "Moving on from clothing, Claudia has some comm devices that sound pretty promising, so that will help, in lieu of a psi. I'm also considering whether or not we should have our own firearms - at least those of us old enough to buy them, anyway."

"Those of us that need them," Noriko added. She didn't like guns, but then again, some of them would need them - or were at their best with them.

"Exactly." Scott didn't have much need for a gun - being a cannon, himself - even if he might be good with one. Still, they had downsides, too. Better to keep them limited to people whose powers weren't offensive, in nature.

"They'll probably make things harder on the PR," Noriko stated after a few seconds' contemplation. Not that it was her area of expertise, but even she could see that.

He nodded. "Yes. Yes it will."

"What does Lydia say?"

"To keep her in the loop. To work with them." Scott shrugged. "I promised I would, but that I wasn't going to jeopardize a mission for PR's sake."

"No, I meant - about the gun thing," Noriko explained. But, yeah, that made sense - and Noriko didn't figure the other girl would want him jeopardizing anything anyway.

"Haven't exactly breached it with her, yet," Scott admitted.

"Let me know what she thinks?" Noriko requested, since she assumed that he would. Less because Lydia was his girlfriend and more because Lydia was freakin' smart, and worth listening to.

He nodded.

Noriko was quiet for a few seconds, just eating, before she looked up at him. "It still feels kinda surreal to me. What we're doing."

"Not just you, I promise." Scott took another large bite.

"Yeah," Noriko echoed, and went back to her food.