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Posted on Wed Nov 8th, 2023 @ 12:07pm by Scott Summers & Aurora Summers

3,919 words; about a 20 minute read

Mission: Episode 3: X-Tra Ecclesiam
Location: Mansion grounds
Timeline: August 16th, 1990 - After breakfast

Breakfast over and her satiated, Aurora wanted to find Scott to warn him that the Professor knew she’d been in his mind, and to reassure him that she hadn’t told the Professor anything. Letting her senses guide her she wasn’t surprised to find Scott out in the grounds where he’d taken her before.

“Good morning," she smiled warmly as she walked up to greet him.

Scott stood in his favorite overlook that gave a beautiful view of Breakstone Lake. When Aurora greeted him, he flashed back to the sound of her voice screaming his name in passionate congress. He knew from experience that would color the sound of her voice from here on out.

"Good morning," he said back. "How did you sleep?" It felt almost ridiculous to ask and he nearly laughed. He wasn't sure how else to initiate their conversation.

Aurora grinned. “Like a rock, thanks to last night.” She looked out across the Lake. “I thought I might find you here, it’s a beautiful spot.” She looked back at him. “The Professor called me to his office this morning. He picked up on my connection to your dreamscape last night.”

"He did?" Scott's peaceful serenity drained down to his feet along with his blood circulation. "That...is not good." He took a few steadying breaths before retaining his composure. "What did he say?"

“He advised me on the dangers of crossing into the dreamscape” Aurora smiled. “Don’t worry he doesn’t know what happened between us, I buried those memories so deep the Professor would have had to have gone deep into my mind to find them. He never tried to access my memories.”

Scott felt relieved but managed to keep back the sigh he had been holding. "Aurora..." He cupped her cheek. "I don't know how last night happened. Somehow a nightmare turned romantic before becoming real." He struggled for the words to say. "I've never...you touched me in a way I never thought possible. Even though nothing has changed, everything is different now. I feel... free." He paused for a moment. "But I betrayed my position. My days here are probably numbered now. If that happens, I don't want you to feel guilty. This was my doing. Any blame falls squarely to me."

Aurora looked worriedly up into Scott’s eyes, she had no idea that if Xavier found out he’d send Scott away. “But you...didn’t do this! I came to you! I started it!” She shook her head. “You can’t be made to leave! I love you and I need you, Scott, I can’t do this alone...” She took his hand and rested it on her stomach. “Scott...I think I’m pregnant.”

"What?!" Scott's eyebrows arched up over his glasses. "But...so soon? How..." He shook his head and considered the options. By the look on her face, he could tell she was convinced. He took her into a hug and did his best to comfort her. One thing was for certain: he had been wrong. This certainly did change things. "Never mind. We'll cross each bridge as we come to it."

~Holy shit!~ He might be a father. The surreal depths of intimate passion they had shared could have even more lasting consequences than he'd realized. He might be a father. Life as he knew it would never be the same. He might be a father.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, breaking out of the hugging embrace to look her in the face.

“I feel fine.” Aurora smiled as she looked up into Scott’s sunglasses and his eyes beyond. “I don’t know how I know, Scott, I just felt something this morning. It’s...difficult to explain, and I know under normal human circumstances there’d be no way to tell before 3 or 4 weeks, but being mutants might change everything for us. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am. I wish there was a way to know for sure, but I don’t think medical equipment would pick it up. Unless of course that fancy medlab we have here has equipment that would register it?”

Scott shook his head. "I don't know," he said with an uncertain chuckle. "If you'd believe it, that equipment was salvaged from battles with more than one alien species. I don't know how it all works or how the Professor adapted it for... Earthlings." He laughed at how crazy that must sound to someone who never lived through it. "We could try some scans but I'm sure the Professor would be able to access the medical logs." He gave both of her arms a squeeze below the shoulders. "I think I'm good with women's intuition for the time being."

Women's intuition. The woman he had potentially impregnated. It was enough to make Scott swoon. He stepped backward into the canopy of branches in the willow tree and slid down the trunk until he came to sit on a root.

“You’re not mad about this?” Aurora moved to sit beside him. “About the fact that I’ve practically got you kicked out here once the Professor finds out?”

"I've been on thin ice with him for a while," Scott said, head held in his hands. "I attacked a student during a recruitment attempt. She left before you arrived. I attacked Magneto during a peace talk and put the whole school in jeopardy. That's why I volunteered to get kidnapped. I needed to prove to myself that I wasn't spiraling. That's when I met Jace, found you and Bobby." He looked at Aurora. "I grew up in an orphanage. Professor Xavier is the only father I've had. I barely remember my real parents. They died in a plane crash that took my family away. Only reunited with my brother Alex about five years ago and I have the Professor to thank for that as well." He sighed deeply. "Whatever Professor Xavier does, it won't be without justification. What kind of a school would this be if he lets what I did stand? He... just can't."

Aurora nodded. “I grew up in an orphanage, too, at least to start. In and out of foster homes until my powers fully bloomed. I hit the streets at 14. Spent the last 4 years there.” She paused. “Scott, how am I supposed to manage if the Professor sends you away? I need you! I want you to know your child, to raise him or her like it should be.”

They certainly held much in common. Scott tried to give her a reassuring smile. "Aurora... I won't make a child go through what I had to. If all of that happens, then I will take responsibility in every way. Regardless of however furious or disappointed Professor Xavier is with me, I can't ever see him trying to keep me from bearing my responsibility."

Aurora nodded and smiled relieved, truth be known she was worried what the future would be like. “Chances are we’d have a child with mutant abilities. What kind of abilities do you think he or she would have? A mix of both of us with our abilities, it would make a powerful mutant.”

That was ... odd. Scott canted his head. He supposed most mothers wondered what their baby would grow to be like. The emphasis on power, though, felt from out of left field. Then again, on second thought, Aurora had been through so much in her short life that hoping her child could protect themselves wasn't so weird after all. "I suppose... But power isn't measured in ability as much as control though." He tapped the frame of his ruby-quartz glasses, signaling his own lack of control. "I just wish..." He said the words even though they felt surreal. "...our child has a safe world to grow up in."

Aurora nodded. “That’s what I want, too. This world sees mutants as a threat and I’m worried what that will mean in the long run. The Professor is quick to reassure that we’re safe here, but are we really? The government scientists would have a field day if they got their hands on us!”

"We've been attacked before," Cyclops said, the harsh baritone asserting itself over Scott's usual softer tone for a moment. "There's nothing to say we won't be attacked again. But that is why we train. We are ready to defend our sanctuary and the dream of peace it represents."

“Then I want to train alongside everyone else, be a part of the team. The Professor has agreed I can learn to use Cerebro under his supervision, but I want to be able to be out there with the rest of the team.” She looked at Scott waiting for the inevitable refusal given that she could be pregnant.

"Training is important," Scott agreed. "But maybe you should dial back on the hard hitting parts until we... you know, confirm your condition."

Aurora smiled and nodded. “I guess you’re right, besides you’re the boss when it comes to assigning the teams.”

"Not anymore," Scott said, shaking his head. "I just filled in last time when the Professor was away. Baltimore was technically an unsanctioned mission but it went as well as it could've. I don't know when I'll be leading anything for awhile."

“Of course.” Aurora nodded. “It’ll be the Professor. What happens if I’m ordered into the field with the team? I can’t just refuse to do what I’m ordered to do, and you can’t protect me or it’s going to get you injured or worse!” She was starting to see just how complicated matters were getting. “Ohhh, Scott, what have I done!?”

"It's okay..." Scott said, taking her into his arms again and rubbing her back. "It's gonna be okay." Now that they were on the same page, Scott turned analytical and started running down each problem. "You're going to start showing before long. Just a few months at the very latest, probably much sooner if your hunch is right. That means one way or another, we're going to have to come clean. We're just going to have to make a plan, hope the Professor agrees, and have a few backup plans in case he or anything else doesn't go along with it." Scott wasn't in the place where he could say he loved her or anyone. He didn't believe in love at first sight because he just wasn't made that way. This whole scenario was so out of character for him, but the deed was done, Aurora had given him such a gift, and he would stand by that even at personal cost. "I'm still a mess inside, Aurora, but... you helped me out of the pit I was in. Don't think I won't return the favor. I'll see you through this no matter what."

Aurora nodded. “Thank you, Scott... I wanted to come clean, I wanted to tell the Professor about us this morning, I really did. I just....couldn’t do it, I don’t want you to be sent away because of me.” She paused. “However, you are right. We’re going to have to tell him it’s just a case of when.”

Looking around, Scott suddenly felt vulnerable, holding Aurora as closely as he was. Anyone who saw them would plainly see it wasn't a happy hug given to a friend in greeting. This was an intimate hug reserved for attraction or tragedy. Maybe both? It was too soon to tell. He was just grateful for the canopy provided by the willow branches. "He's a good man, Aurora. But he isn't the only one affected. I found out just yesterday that Tammy has taken a shine to me. I tried to keep her at bay like I did with—" He stopped short. Like he had tried to do with Aurora. But things had taken a far different turn with her than they had with Tammy. "Well, we just need to be considerate of how this news will affect the entire team."

Aurora nodded. “They’re going to hate me, especially Tammy! If you have to leave then I might as well go with you, if I stay here, I’ll just be the one everyone gossips about and shuns.” She sighed. “As much as it’ll be my own fault, I’ll go back to the streets before I endure that.”

"Tammy is a sweetheart. She might get hurt and angry with me, but I don't think she has it in her to hate anybody." Scott bit back a wry chuckle. "And teams fight. Trust me. But we're either a team or we aren't. Just think of this as another test. The Professor won't stand for shunning or hazing. I can guarantee that as well from experience."

Aurora nodded as she looked up at Scott, “You know everyone here better than I do, so if you think it’ll work out then I’ll stick with it. I don’t like to give in, Scott, call me stubborn but I want to prove to myself that I can have a better life. If I’m right and I am pregnant I want to give our baby a good life.”

"We will," Scott said. "Or we'll die trying." A touch of his Cyclopean edge returned to his voice just then, but it dropped as soon as it appeared. "Let's just take it one day at a time. Can we try that?"

“Of course” Aurora nodded and stepped back a little. “I didn’t mean to sound like I was trying to rush into planning everything.” She looked around. “Living on the streets, you learn to live off your wits, plans had to be considered so I wasn’t seen or caught. I guess I’m still forward planning.”

Scott looked her in the eye and tried to be encouraging. "Nothing wrong with being prepared," he said. "I can't say everything will be perfect here, but I honestly don't know anywhere else I'd rather be."

“To be honest, this is the first place I’ve really had to truly call home.” Aurora smiled. “I love my room! It sounds so silly but I love just having my own space!” She grinned like an excited child at Christmas.

"Before I first came here not quite 10 years ago, I shared a room with nine other boys," Scott said, chuckling at her grin. "I get it. Even when we had to bunk up with the occasional roommate from time to time, it still felt so spacious compared to the orphanage."

Aurora nodded. “I guess we’re not so different, are we?” She sat quiet for a moment enjoying the rustling of the trees, and the sound of bird song. “Last night, when I touched your mind, that was the first time I’d ever shared my mind with anyone. That was my first time for everything we enjoyed last night!” She smiled a wry smile. “It was...amazing!”

It definitely added an extra dimension to intimacy. Scott knew that from his time with Jean. But where Jean had been recessed and guarded, Aurora had opened herself to him so completely that she had forced his walls down as well. "I can say I've never cried during sex before," he said, wondering if it made her see him differently. Diminished somehow. "It..." He was conflicted about the propriety but he couldn't deny how much lighter he felt today. A bashful smile pulled at his mouth. "It was freeing. Everything, in every way."

Aurora smiled. “I’m glad I was able to help, I was beginning to wonder what the point was of my mutation if I couldn’t use it to do something good.” She offered a warm smile. “Would you...like to feel what I feel? Maybe give me your opinion on whether or not I’m crazy thinking I’m pregnant after less than a day?”

That was a wild thought. Scott had no frame of reference for feeling pregnant, but Aurora was so certain and overjoyed he had a hard time saying no.

"All... right, we could try," Scott said hesitantly. "I'm not sure what to do..."

“Just...do what you did last night. Open your mind to me...” she waited until he was ready before she closed her eyes and let their minds intertwine. She guided him as best as she could letting him feel what, to her, felt like the spark of creation. A sensation she couldn’t really explain in words, it had to be experienced to be understood.

"All right..." Scott closed his eyes and tried to relax. He wasn't sure how to open up or whatever it was Aurora asked of him. What had happened the night before was instinctual and involuntary, the result of his soul's dire need to express what he had been holding in for so long. Doing that on command felt beyond him.

But ...then. The tingling that brushed against his mind. Then raised hair and gooseflesh. The harmony of another voice wordlessly humming inside his head.

It was good they were already seated against the tree trunk or Scott may have fallen over. Not that he would have known it. The world turned inside out into a place of shadow illuminated only by the two of them. Scott barely saw himself, just a faint glow drowned out by Aurora's blaze, as if he were the moon and she were the sun. And, at her core down by her middle, there was an even brighter spot that lingered in Scott's mind like a retinal burn from staring at too bright a light.

Pure life in the making.

"Oh my God..."

Scott snapped out of the...trance or the dream or whatever it had been, taking several shallow breaths and blinks to reorient back to waking reality.

"I saw it," Scott said, his breathing still shaken. "I think you're right, Aurora... I saw it." He looked at her in a new light. "Our baby."

Aurora looked at Scott in pure amazement. “You saw our baby!? How is that even possible?” She gave a shake of her head. “We’re mutants, I guess nothing is impossible.” She sat taking it all in. It was all too real now, not that she’d change it. “The Professor is going to blow his stack!”

"Yeah, I... I saw light. Life. Whatever forms a child, I guess. That's what I saw." Scott slid his hand over Aurora's womb and held it there. "The Professor will be angry. But this is a gift, Aurora. It's not the way it should've happened. What's done is done, though." Scott felt his hand tremble ever so slightly. "Don't worry about me. You worry about this. I'll take care of the rest."

Aurora nodded as she gently placed her hand on top of his. “I promise I won’t let anyone or anything hurt our baby. I doubt very much the Professor will allow me out in the field once he knows anyway. In the meantime I’ll do everything in my power to protect myself from harm. Speaking on which I need to get some practice in, I have to keep up my daily routine.”

"Sure." Scott smirked at her spunky persistence. "Just... be careful. We've had training accidents before."

“In that Danger Room? I’m not surprised!” Aurora grinned. “So... would you like some company tonight?” She gave him a wry smile.

Scott bit his lip and looked away. He couldn't deny how good last night felt, but no amount of pleasure could escape the moral quandary of the situation. "I... uh..." Looking away didn't help him find the words, so he manned up and looked straight at her. "Listen, Aurora. The situation being what it is, and us already hiding this from the others, couldn't that make matters worse?"

The inner conflict in Scott had so many facets to it that it was hard to keep everything straight. He had slept with one person while his heart belonged to another. Now he had created obligations with that person, to say nothing of the bond that was forming in ways he couldn't understand. Part of him wanted to run away and never look back for fear and shame. Another part of him wanted to strip down together under the willow tree and chase the liberating vulnerability they had tapped into the night before. Both impulses felt tainted in the light of his conscience.

"I know you were willing. It's not that. And I can't bring myself to regret the new life that we put inside you. We just... I just need some time to figure out how all of this going to work." He looked at her and wondered how this all sounded outside of his head. The second-to-last thing he wanted to do was abandon her. Only the thought of using and abusing her came before it. "Does... does that make sense?"

Aurora’s smile faded somewhat as she nodded and looked away. She knew deep down that what happened between them wouldn’t lead to the relationship she was looking for with Scott. It hurt more than she was expecting it to, but she wasn’t going to let Scott see how much. She wasn’t going to break down in tears like the naive young woman she truly was. She looked up at him, but the sparkle that had been there before was missing now. “You’re right, I shouldn’t be expecting more. I shouldn’t even have been with you last night, we were doomed before we even started.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I should go.”

"Wait."

Scott took her hand as she made to leave. Maybe Jean would forgive him for what he did next, but he might never forgive himself. "Go if you want, but not like this." He lifted her chin with his thumb and placed his lips against hers. The short kiss was filled with turmoil, with fear, but also hope and gladness, making an odd blend of courage. "I won't make promises I can't keep, Aurora, but I'll say this: I will give you everything I can." She had already given so much to him. He kissed her again, this time with less fervency but more prolonged. "I'm sorry if it's not enough," he whispered.

Aurora hadn’t been expecting that, she returned Scott’s kisses as she gently touched his cheek. The sparkle that had faded had returned as she looked into his glasses covered eyes. “It’s good enough, Scott, but I won’t force you into anything, or expect what you can’t give.”

The fire from the night before began to rekindle, giving Scott thoughts and compulsions which belied the wisdom he had just expressed to Aurora. Pulling away was difficult, but Scott was determined for his better judgment to prevail. "I'd better go," he said in a low register. "I'll put you on the Danger Room schedule. We can talk again when it's ready."

Aurora nodded. “Okay, Scott, I’ll talk to you then.” She offered a happier smile as she turned and headed on her way, she needed to get back for class anyway.

As Scott watched Aurora walk away with perhaps every mixed emotion available to a man, he muttered to himself, "I'm in deep shit."

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