Team Dynamics (Part Two)

I went up my chain of authority, first going to Mister Rasputin – no luck there. He'd recommended Laura to the higher-ups along with the rest of the Paladins. Next, I went to Mister Summers, confusing him, because he told me he'd definitely put Laura in the running for being on my team. He even handed me the original stack of folders he'd made copies of to give to me. Laura's was definitely in there when it wasn't in mine.

That left me one more place to go to air my grievances.

I walked up to my least favorite office, despite it being the one that I wound up in most often. Before I could even knock on the door, I heard Miss Frost call out to me from inside, "Come in."

A scowl was on my face from the moment I opened the door. Not a great way to start the upcoming conversation, 'Know-it-all telepaths.'

"I heard that," Miss Frost said with a smirk.

"I thought it out loud," I said plopping down in a chair in front of her desk while she set her work aside, "Can we talk really quick?"

"Of course, Mister Marcher," She said, giving me her full, undivided attention, "What can I do for you?"

Instead of just being a belligerent ass the way I'd been in the past, I decided to try and be more diplomatic, seeing as how I didn't have control of everything on my team, "I got a look at the roster you guys plan to have rotating in and out. The only problem I have is that I need Laura in the pool of active students, like, yesterday."

Miss Frost sighed and gave me a tired look, "Are the rest of the team really so bad that you absolutely need to have her along?"

"No, but Laura is my ringer," I admitted, "She's worth her weight in gold in the field. If I had the choice, I'd lobby to have her on every mission I took," Which was probably why I wouldn't have a hand in picking the mission line-ups.

Still, it was true. I'd take Laura first or second for any and all scenarios. Active combat, disaster cleanup, search and rescue. I didn't care. She could benefit whatever team she was on, whether there was a fight or not. I knew that. I knew that Miss Frost knew that. I shouldn't have had to bring it up.

It was as if I could see her mind turning as she tried to work through a way to explain things to me, "Mister Marcher, I know you have something of a Paladin bias, but please understand that this decision is not without merit."

Oh no. That vague bullshit wasn't going to work on me, "I'd love to hear the merit. Laura crushes everything we have her do," Not a chance I was going to just take anyone's word for anything anymore, "She's better than me. She just isn't very... leader-y."

"The word is authoritative, darling," Miss Frost corrected with a roll of her eyes, "And exactly. This is meant to get all of the inexperienced children more prepared. X-23 doesn't have anything to learn from being on this team."

"So, she's too good?" I said in mild disbelief, "Okay, that just means more insulation for all the other kids when we're out there," Laura could serve as a great security blanket for others when we were in over our heads. I couldn't always guarantee that I wouldn't lose my cool, "...Why don't you want her on the team? I talked to Mister Summers before I came here. He said he'd put her file in with the others for me. That means you took it out."

What Miss Frost had to say, she clearly didn't want to say it to me. Maybe fearing it would fall on deaf ears, perhaps? "She's dangerous. And don't you say 'we're all dangerous'. You know what I mean."

If that was her angle, she was right to keep it to herself, "Do I really?"

Miss Frost had no patience for my attempts to be cute, "You're very loyal. But Miss Aldine has given you a glimpse at X-23's life. Tell me, how much bloodshed did you see?"

A lot, admittedly. Like, an upsetting amount of bloodshed. But I was pretty sure I ranked second for most people put into the ground out of students at the school. I told her as much.

"Do you know how many people I killed during Stryker's little attack? At least four," Two guys I lasered through the brain, one guy I cut to the bone and bled out, and Stryker, I blew a cut of flank steak out of. Those were just the ones I knew about. There could have/should have been more, "You have me leading this little crew."

Miss Frost shook her head, "You don't have the baggage of an entire organization after your head. You don't have an olfactory trigger that will send you into an uncontrollable murderous rage," She offered as... fairly decent reasons to think Laura was a threat, "Don't misunderstand me. I'll never shed a tear for anyone who threatens the lives of my students. I know you're leveraging for the concept of a double standard, but you and X-23 are not the same."

We weren't, but that didn't mean she was any worse than me, or that I was any better than her, "Nothing like that will happen," I said as seriously as I could, "Just give her a chance. If anything goes wrong, I'll take responsibility."

Icy blue eyes tried to stare into my soul, "Even if it leads to the death of one of your teammates?"

Miss Frost's attempt to play on my sense of liability missed wide, "What's the difference between someone dying because I let Laura on the team, and someone dying because I led them to it? Either way, it's on me," She seemed surprised to hear that from me, "I think having her on the team would help save people."

Miss Frost stood up from her desk and turned away from me to look out the window, "She's a weapon, Mister Marcher, whether she means to be or not."

And suddenly, it hit me. That was why she hadn't referred to Laura by name once in all of the times they'd interacted around me. If I was annoyed before, I was livid after realizing that, and I couldn't keep it under wraps.

My foot lashed out and kicked the bottom of her desk. Miss Frost jumped a little bit, but didn't turn back around, "Then why the fuck did you let her come here!? This place is supposed to help us be better, so let her try!"

I was glowing. I could feel it. Whatever. Bask in my incandescence, woman. Stare at it, and know my fury.

My outburst seemed to get her to at least reconsider, "Do you really think this will help with that?"

I smiled, all teeth as the light coming from me started to die down, "Oh, I dunno... forcing her to interact with others in a setting where she doesn't have to think about it and get uncomfortable? Winning people over by doing cool shit and helping everyone out?" I put more effort into trying to sound as patronizing as possible than I had into anything else that day.

"...When you put it that way..." Miss Frost muttered to herself with a frown before turning toward me again, "Fine. If you must have her and she agrees, she's in. But this team will be held to the proper X-Men standard."

I had no idea what that meant. Not slapping humans civs when they were being morons? Or was it wearing tight-ass uniforms? Because with the exception of Sooraya, we definitely all had that last one covered already.

"Okay," I accepted, before realizing that my rage may have caused me to die on the first of two hills I'd walked into her office prepared to fight for, "...Also, I need something else."

"Very needy this afternoon, aren't you, Mister Marcher?" Miss Frost quipped. I tried not to look embarrassed, "I'm teasing, darling. What can I do for you?"

That was far more cordial than I'd expected after how tense things had been before, "Saberwolf got messed up in the fight with Stryker. Could we get Forge to check him out again?"

Miss Frost raised an eyebrow at how trepidatious I was being, "Of course. I don't see why you needed to preface that with anything."

It was a legitimate request, and yet I felt because it was me asking for it, there would have been push-back. Not the case, "Wolf wants to make sure I go with him so Forge doesn't upgrade him against his will again."

"I don't see anything wrong with that," Miss Frost said casually, "I would imagine this should be handled as soon as possible. We can't have the head of security leaking fluids all over the school."

"Hey, you could make escorting Wolf the inagural mission for the new team," I joked. She didn't laugh back, which I figured she wouldn't, because she didn't find me funny.

What I didn't expect was that she took my offhanded remark under consideration, "That's not the worst idea I've ever heard, Mister Marcher."

"...Are you serious?"