Chapter 9: I Hope That Something Better Comes Along

As the group continued to drive on, Jean couldn't help starring at Scott.

"Wow, Scott." Jean said, a little nervous. "You were really brave and courageous."

"Gee." Scott said, equally nervous. "I-I don't know what to say."

"Say I was magnificent." Bobby said, slightly resentful over Jean's praise to Scott. "I did the driving."

"Let's not forget you and I were the ones who caught Kurt." Wanda pointed out.

"Ja!" Kurt said also.

"Well yeah, but Scott was such a good leader." Jean replied as she couldn't stop staring at Scott.

"Gee." Scott said as he blushed badly.

"Oh brother." Bobby groaned.

"Um..." Jean said as she looked around. "Why don't we stop somewhere for the night and have a quiet little dinner?"

"Terrific!" Kurt said enthusiastically. "I know zis great place in Munich!"

"Uh... I mean along the way." Jean pointed out.

"Oh." Kurt said, his eagerness deflating slightly. "My bad."

"Well, that might be nice." Scott agreed.

()()()()()

Stopping at the first restaurant they saw, the group split up to give each of them some room to breathe after spending several days stuck in the car. As such, Scott and Jean had a table all their own outside on a porch in sight of a crescent moon.

"Oh wow." Scott said as Jean returned from the ladies room, dressed in an elegant yellow dress. "Hey Jean. You look lovely tonight."

"Thank you." Jean said with a smile as she sat down next to Scott. "I'm so sorry if I kept you waiting."

"It was worth it." Scott said with a nervous chuckle.

"How charming of you." Jean said with a smile.

"I uh... Took the liberty of ordering us some wine." Scott said, half afraid he'd been too forward, relieved when Jean seemed more impressed. "Oh waiter?"

The waiter, a slim man with graying hair came up.

"Yes?" The waiter asked impatiently. He seemed to have either had a rough night or was just unpleasant by nature. "May I help you?"

"Uh..." Scott said, caught off-guard by his rudeness. "The wine, please?"

The waiter looked at the basket the wine was in and pulled it out and showed it to Jean.

"Ooh, you mad impetuous fink, it's champagne." Jean said with a smile as Scott knew she was joking when she said that.

"Not exactly." The waiter said plainly. "Sparkling Marceltell. One of the finest wines of Idaho."

"Uh, you may serve us now, please." Scott said, unsure of how restaurants like this worked.

"Oh, may I?" The waiter asked sarcastically.

He then quickly undid the wrapping.

"Look how he does that." Jean said, apparently just as impressed with Scott over how he undid the wrapping around the nozzle since neither had ever really had champagne before.

"Yeah, very suave." Scott agreed.

The waiter then tossed the wrapping away and undid the top with a bottle opener. He then held the cap to Scott.

"Don't you want to smell the bottle cap?" The waiter asked.

"Oh." Scott exclaimed as he sniffed the cap. "Smells alright."

"Would you like to taste it first?" The waiter asked.

"Uh..." Scott said as he didn't have the money to afford another bottle as Jean turned to him.

"I think he's supposed to." Jean whispered in his ear.

"Oh." Scott said with relief. "Uh, would you taste it for us, please?"

The waiter rolled his eyes and took a sip from a spare glass and quickly spit it out.

"Excellent choice." The waiter said robotically.

"It oughta be for ninety-five cents." Scott told Jean, which impressed her to no end.

The waiter then poured out two glasses with the wine.

"Oh, may we have straws please?" Scott asked.

"Yes." The waiter said. "I expected that."

The waiter then unwrapped a pair of straws and placed one in each glass.

"Thank you." Scott said sincerely. "That'll be all for now."

"Oh, thank you!" The waiter said dramatically as he bowed down. "Thank you very much! Thank you."

He then left, leaving the two alone.

"Here's to you, Jean." Scott said as he lifted his glass, Jean lifted hers, and they clinked the glasses together. "Drink up."

The two drank the wine as it tasted like a generic, carbonated juice as the two sat there nervously.

"This stuff's making me a bit giggly." Jean said with a nervous smile.

"The wine?" Scott asked.

"Everything." Jean said as she and Scott looked at each other intently. Scott's mind quickly became a blank as he'd never felt this way about anyone before.

"I-it's a beautiful evening, isn't it?" Scott asked as he began sweating.

"Yeah." Jean said in a way that told Scott she was just as nervous as he was.

"The moon is just lovely." Scott said, unaware what he was really talking about at this point.

"Yeah." Jean agreed again.

"But you know, Jean, the moon isn't as lovely as you." Scott said, finally getting enough nerve to say what he'd been thinking since he saw her.

With that, the two were just about to kiss when the waiter called out.

"Jean Grey?" The waiter called out in general. "Jean Grey?!"

The waiter walked out to their table.

"You Jean Grey?" The waiter asked.

"Yes." Jean asked confusedly.

"Telephone." The waiter said as he walked off.

"Oh." Jean said as she got up. "Scott, I placed a call to my agent. It'll just take one teeny-tiny moment."

"What the hey." Scott groaned over his luck.

()()()()()

Half an hour after Jean left, Scott was still waiting at the table, unsure of what to do as he heard piano music from almost nowhere as he followed it to find a gruff man with wild black hair that stuck out at the sides playing the piano.

"Evenin'." The gruff man said. "The name's Logan. Sit yourself down."

"Thanks." Scott said as he sat down in a chair. "I'm Scott. Scott Summers."

"Pleased to meet ya, Kid." Logan said, not missing a beat on the piano. "I'm no Mozart, but I get by."

"It was very nice." Scott said sincerely, though his mind was still on Jean.

"Broken heart, right?" Logan asked as he glanced over at Scott.

"Does it show?" Scott asked, surprised at Logan knowing what was wrong almost at once.

"Listen Kid, when you've been around the block as many times as I have, you've seen it all, and you've done it all yourself too." Logan said plainly. "A broken heart for every drop of rain, and a shattered dream for every falling star."

"Exactly." Scott agreed. "She just walked out on me."

"Yeah, typical." Logan sighed. "That's why I live alone."

"You do, huh?" Scott asked.

"You bet." Logan answered. "I finish work. I go home. I read a book, have a couple of beers and greet my neighbors. A wolf and a bear. Then I go to bed."

"Nice and simple." Scott said plainly. He was beginning to regret leaving his old home back in New York.

"Stay away from women." Logan concluded. "That's my motto."

"But I can't." Scott pointed out.

"Me neither." Logan confessed. "That's my problem."

You can't live with 'em, you can't live without 'em.
There's somethin' irresistabullish about 'em.
We grin and bear it 'cause the nights are long.
I hope that somethin' better comes along.

"I see what you mean." Scott said as he listened to the song and decided to join in.

It's no good complainin', and pointless to holler.
If she's a beauty she'll get under your collar.
She made a monkey out of old King Kong,
I hope that somethin' better comes along.

As the two were singing, Scott began to feel better already and also began seeing the bright side of having someone special in his life.

Still, it's fun when they're fetchin'
And agree to see an etchin'
That you keep at your little pad.
There is no solution, it's part of evolution,
You'll soon hear the souls,
The little feet of tadpoles!

"What?" Scott asked.

"Metaphor, Kid." Logan explained.

There's no limitation to mixin' and matchin'
Some get an itchin' for a critter they've been scratchin'
A skunk was badgered the results were strong.
I hope that somethin' better,
I hope that somethin' better,
I hope that somethin' better comes along.

"Phone call for Scott Summers!" The waiter called out as he walked over to the duo. "You Scott Summers?"

"Yeah." Scott admitted.

"Telephone." The waiter said as Scott walked over and took it.

"Not often you see a green horn have the blues so bad." Logan said to himself as he went for his dinner break.

As Scott grabbed the phone, he heard noise from the street and wondered who could be calling as everybody was in the restaurant.

"Hello?" Scott asked.

"Scott, hang up!" Jean's voice called out from the phone. "Hurry! Hur-"

"Jean, is that you?!" Scott called out in alarm as his eyes widened behind his glasses, and he quickly realized he was set up and wasn't at all surprised to hear Kelly on the other end of the phone just as Jean was cut off.

"Yes, that's her." Kelly said calmly. "And this is Robert Kelly. Now you listen, Summers and listen well. Step outside the restaurant, right now. My guys will meet you there.

"Well what if I don't?" Scott asked, trying to sound braver than he felt.

"Then your girlfriend will be singing with the angels." Kelly said as Scott heard Jean continue to struggle.

"Scott, don't do it!" Jean said. "Forget about me, get out of here! Don't-"

The line went dead as Scott distinctly heard Kelly hang up, fuming over the gloating laughter he was sure Kelly was doing right now.

With no other option, Scott walked out of the back of the restaurant as Kelly ordered. Just as he closed the door, several men pointed guns at him.

"So, you the guys I'm supposed to meet?" Scott asked coolly.

And thus, the plot thickens... When we're already two thirds through it.