What If? Episode 907

Responsibility

When the day with Harry and Heather was completely over, Logan and Scott took the files that Heather had given them and finally headed out. As far as a day at the airport went, it couldn't have been much better, and unbeknownst to Scott, Harry had agreed to give them a lift on the last day of the show if they wanted it.

"Wanna come back on Sunday?" Logan asked, trying to see if Scott was up to something like a flight after watching the Eagles smoke tricks earlier.

"More?" Scott asked with his eyebrows high on his head.

"Well. Last day of the show. Figured if you were game, we'd load up the bike and get outta here," Logan admitted. "Pretty sure Harry's ready to get you some time on the stick."

Scott frowned to himself as he thought it over. "Where would we go?" he asked as he turned Logan's way.

"Well ... Harry's headed north. He runs a guide service for hunters in northern Alberta, and he said he's considering a contract to run supplies to an arctic research station," Logan said. "Heather offered up her cabin .."

"Is it close enough to a town so I can finish school or get a part time job?" Scott asked. "Because I want to pay my share."

"No," Logan said, watching him a little closer. "It's in the middle of nowhere."

"Then I'd rather just stay somewhere I can do that- unless you have to go ..."

"I'm fine in the states," Logan said, nodding. "To be honest, I really didn't want to lean on Heather and Mac if I could help it. We'll have to find a place to stay and trade in the Harley. It won't be worth the oil it's leaking come winter, and I think the climate is a little friendlier in the north."

Scott frowned a little deeper at that... unless, he realized Logan' wasn't talking about the weather. He shrugged his shoulders up a little more and scrunched in on himself as they got back to their room. Inside, on the table was today's local paper - with a small snippet in the corner about the rising tensions with these so called 'mutants', and Scott had to wonder to himself if Logan suspected him of being one of these ... people.

He found himself silently praying that the stupid headaches wouldn't return, because sometimes when they did? The whole world went red - even without the glasses - and for a moment, Scott found himself holding his breath as he had a small flashback to the last time he'd seen his brother, Alex.

Their mother had pushed them out of the failing plane as their father tried to hold it steady. There was only one parachute and Alex was squirming. Scott was terrified that he'd drop his brother - that he'd be responsible for losing him ...

He tried to keep Alex from seeing, from knowing what Scott already knew - that their parents weren't going to make it out of that plane alive. Not with the alien craft firing on them.

He looked up as he desperately clutched to Alex, straining to hold him as they floated down. His hands clenched reflexively when he saw that in the firefight with the alien, their chute had been hit by some sort of laser and the silk was on fire.

"Alex, hold on!" Scott called out as he doubled his efforts, pulling Alex up so he could hold onto him tighter. His brother was crying, screaming for their parents, but thankfully unable to see the dogfight that was going on ... or the explosion on the distant mountainside when the Summer's plane slammed into the slope.

His sob caught in his throat and the panic hit him fully as he clutched to his brother. His head was killing him - and all he could do was curse himself for another headache at a time like this.

But then, as Alex finally held tightly to Scott's shoulders, Scott looked down and saw nothing but red. He didn't know how, but their descent was slowing enough that the silk above them didn't pull taut as it burned away. Just into the level of the trees, the silk was gone entirely and when the ropes fell around them, Alex screamed and Scott lost all semblance of concentration - and they fell.