Skirting Responsibilities

Posted on Sat Aug 17th, 2024 @ 12:54pm by Kennedy Kelly & Charles Xavier

2,166 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 5: Days of Fortune Past
Location: X-Mansion | Xavier’s Office
Timeline: October 16, 1990

Kennedy’s heart dropped into her stomach when she finally got around to checking the carbon copies remaining in the spiral bound phone message box sitting next to the phone. In rather elementary handing writing the message read:

Kenedy probashen oficer call for X

The spelling was poor but the message was clear, she had missed a phone call from her Probation Officer and the call back request had gone to Xavier. Kennedy glanced at the date and noticed it was October 11 - shit. That was the day she fled to New York to be with Jace.

The Professor hadn’t mentioned it and he probably never would but Kennedy knew that was more of a curse than a blessing. It was the silent disappointment that always hurt more than words said in anger. Knowing she had to address this sooner rather than later, she decided to fix a tray of tea before heading to Xavier’s office.

With a small silver tray in her off arm, Kennedy knocked on the door to Xavier’s office.

"Come inside, Kennedy." The Professor always seemed to know who came calling.

“Hello, sir and thank you.” Kennedy slipped in through the door before shutting it behind her. The tea set rattling slightly as she did so. “I umm… I brought you tea and I wanted to apologize for you having to take the call from my probation officer the other day. I… ah… I should have been here to take it.”

"Thank you," the Professor said as he accepted the teacup and saucer. "And you are absolutely correct. Your probation officer is under the impression that your check-in went as usual." His brow arched. "But consider this a warning. Your time in the Savage Land was one thing, as that constituted extenuating circumstances which could not be helped. Whatever dalliances you choose to make outside of these walls, however, are your own consequences to bear."

"Of course, Sir. Once again, I apologize for my behavior." Kennedy bowed her head and she curtseyed in a way that Xavier hadn't see in a rather long time. A degree of manners and formality that was once common but now unseen, it was a reminder of the world she came from not the world she currently lived in.

"My behavior was inappropriate, it won't happen again." There was sincerity in her response, along with gratitude for his leniency. It had been her choice to run off. While she was expecting some form of punishment for leaving the mansion, she hadn't expected the trip to effect her parole. Knowing how serious that continued mistake could be for her, Kennedy got lucky and she wouldn't screw up like that again.

The immediate need to speak to Xavier had been addressed, yet Kennedy lingered in his office. A twinge of even more regret moved through her along with building gumption to say what she was thinking about. "Have... have you heard anything else about Bobby? I know he was in rough shape after the Omega Sentinel. Has there been any more news?"

"I'm told that he's back on his feet," the Professor said, "but he is not being a good patient with the medical scans from our friends at the Future Foundation." Picking up the distress from regret, he pointed out the obvious. "Bobby's departure has been a mystery to everyone. Would you be able to shed any light on it?"

“Yes, Sir.” Kennedy shuffled her feet nervously as she continued to stand in front of him. It was a different kind of uncomfortable as she attempted to summarize all the events in a way that didn’t sound stupid or petty. “Bobby and I have a tumultuous relationship, we’re good at making each other angry but at the same time there are moments when I feel like we understand one another.”

She huffed a sigh and invited herself to sit down in the chair across from his desk. Sitting seemed to make all of this easier to talk about. “There were times when our interactions indicated a romantic interest but ultimately it didn’t work out. He just… I… we would find limits and then run away from them. By the time we went to the Savage Land, things were so tense with him.”

Another long pause as Kennedy worked up the gumption to continue, Xavier’s silent gaze felt an awful lot like her father’s. “I started having feelings for Jace and they were reciprocated. Our conversations aren’t as deep but it also isn’t a battlefield, it’s nice to have someone who just wants to have fun without the threat of anger suddenly appearing. Bobby saw that we were… together.”

He watched her posture change a little as the conversation became harder for her and an avalanche of hurt followed with it. “I got into a fight with Bobby, I said things that were true but in a way that wasn’t kind. As I mentioned, we're good at pushing each other’s buttons. Then Jace got involved and everything got so much worse… it ended with a physical altercation between them.”

Kennedy balanced on the edge of tears as she continued. “He left immediately after that, without a goodbye to anyone. He has friends here, people who care about him. I didn’t mean to run him off, I didn’t think it would result in such an extreme reaction. And then he got hurt and I haven’t had the chance to apologize… I feel terrible about all of it.”

Nodding at the conclusion of her story, the Professor offered her a wan smile. "Life is full of regrets, and none are so poignant as the path not taken." He paused for a moment before posing his next question. "Is there anything, knowing what you do now, that you would have done differently, Kennedy?"

“Everything,” Kennedy said with a snort through her nose. “At least when it comes to Bobby.”

She folded her arms across her chest and examined the floral swirls in the rug under Xavier’s desk. “I can tell that he’s been sad, so sad that it makes him angry sometimes. I should have been more… I dunno… Tolerant? Compassionate? Understanding?”

Kennedy dropped her arms in frustration. “But I’ve been sad and angry too, just because I’m not screaming and turning into some ice monster…” she trailed off for a moment. “I shouldn’t have retaliated with anger, an eye for an eye and all. I just wish we had met on better terms, at better places in both of our lives. Maybe it could have been different?”

"Life isn't over is it?" The Professor gave her a tight smirk belied by the twinkle in his eye. "Perhaps it isn't too late for you to change course and do now what you'd have done before." He paused for a moment before adding, "That goes for every relationship and personal dynamic therein. Do not feel committed to a course of action merely because you started upon it. Sometimes the best progress one can make in life is to go in reverse. Whatever your regrets, Kennedy, you are not married to them."

“You’re right,” Kennedy said with a sigh “It’s just hard to restore something once it’s been broken… maybe impossible. But I can try, can’t I? I’ll make sure to say something the next time I see Bobby.” There was another long pause and Kennedy didn’t move from her seat. Even without telepathy Xavier could tell she wanted to talk to him about something else.

“Sir, I have one more thing. An invitation was delivered to the mansion for me the other day, it’s an invitation to a party hosted by a group called The Hellfire Club.” Kennedy seemed a little excited at the idea of the party now that the topic had been breeched. “I don’t really know anything about them other than my mother occasionally spoke about them. They’re some sort of elite social group for wealthy individuals. Getting in is by invitation only and I have one. I know asking to go out again is incredibly inappropriate but I really want to go to this party. My life and my future were taken from me, if I could reconnect with anyone… you know what connections can provide. I’d love to try to get my foot back in the door. It’s the night of November 2nd, can I go?”

Years of mentorship allowed Xavier to keep a neutral face when experiencing unhelpful feelings while one of his students was talking, but his distaste for the Hellfire Club could not be veiled entirely. He steepled his fingers and left them to rest above the bridge if his nose as he listened.

"I understand the appeal and flattery behind such an invitation," Xavier began cautiously. "Yet I would be remiss in not giving you a word from the wise: the Hellfire Club is an organization which measures elitism on what can be deprived from others. Some generally honorable members can be found, such as my own mother, rest her soul." He sighed, burying his mother issues for the time being. Perhaps she was an honorable member of that club but that didn't extend into every aspect of her life.

"Those who do not trade their integrity for gain find themselves shut out from the higher ranks, "Xavier continued, "in the end serving only as pawns and tools of their perceived betters. You should know their former leader was responsible for manufacturing the Sentinels from Project Wideawake five years ago. He was struck down by Magneto while the X-Men destroyed the production facility."

The final piece of information was the most imperative and Xavier's tone matched it. "His name was Sebastian Shaw. He held the rank of White King and styled himself the Lord Imperial of the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle. Although he perished, his White Queen remains at large, skulking in the shadows and abusing her gift of telepathy for personal gain." Leaning forward, Xavier said, "I urge you not to mix yourself with these people. If you decide this is the path you must take, guard yourself so that you are not lost to us. For they will try to take you in body and soul."

“Sentinels?!” Kennedy gasped the word and her thoughts returned to the horrors of Beat Street. “I didn’t know… I didn’t know it was that bad. How could they?”

"Power and wealth," the Professor intoned, "are their only loyalties. Project Wideawake offered both, and they were merely the facilitators rather than the perpetrators. Unfortunately for Shaw, Magneto did not see it that way any more than I do."

This revelation gave Kennedy pause for concern and she agreed with the Professor, these did not sound like good people. Then again, much could be said about her own father. The black and white of the matter turned gray for Kennedy as she considered Senator Robert Kelly.

“I will be careful, Professor, I will not go into this situation lightly…” He waited for her to continue, knowing the thought was not yet finished. “But I have to go. I’ve lost my acceptance to university, my own family has declared me mentally unwell. If I could get a new internship or letter or recommendation, even a lead on a solid scholarship...” Kennedy shook her head as she made up her own mind. “I have to try. I worked so hard for the future I once had, it seems like such a waste to let it go, to give up.”

Xavier arched his eyebrow. As if she couldn't receive those things elsewhere, perhaps from the very office in which she sat. But he knew a rationalization when he heard one. This was going to have to be her choice.

All Kennedy had ever known was her life of easy fortune and privilege. And while moments in places like the Beat Street Club were changing her perspective, it was hard for her to picture herself outside of the world she had been placed in.

“I have no intention of joining their ranks, but I have to go. I have to see what it’s like. I worry if I don’t, I’ll always wonder what if.” Kennedy knew he disapproved, so she continued her proposal. “I won’t stay long. I’ll leave by 11:30. I’ll be back here no later than 1:00 am. With a self imposed curfew, you’ll know I have every intention of coming back in a timely manner.”

"It is your choice to make, Kennedy," the Professor said at length. He wasn't hiding his disapproval, but he didn't layer it with disdain either. If she needed to walk up to the cliff's edge, then so be it. That was part of adolescence. "I will keep the light on for you."

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