"We've been over this. If we call in the State police or the feds, it's not gonna go anywhere without the proof to back it up - and someone outside of me callin' it in," Logan said wearily as he poured another cup of coffee. "I just need to figure out how to do this so it doesn't look like I did it."
Scott stared at him for a moment, wondering if Logan realized anywhere near how paranoid that sounded. "Was it a regular thing for them to send you after guys like this?" he asked, only to frown deeper at Logan's answer after the older man shook his head.
"No, but it is one of those things that they know I can't pass up," he admitted. "Don't know how to explain it beyond that though. Not really." The last thing that Logan was going to do at this point was clue Scott in on the fact that every single time that he'd managed to get wrapped up in a woman, the circumstances involving the girl's death - even if she'd only been a friend - were always sketchy, and always ended with him back in custody to one group or another.
"Listen, we still have plenty of time to figure this part out … as far as I can tell, there won't be another delivery for a few weeks," Logan said when the silence stretched out for an uncomfortable span of time - at least. Uncomfortable as long as Scott was holding his tongue with that expression of sheer unease, that is.
"Right, I'll … focus on my schoolwork while you figure out how to not … react like you," Scott said as he got to his feet, shaking his head. "I'm sure that'll happen fast."
As Scott headed upstairs to get his backpack, Logan covered his eyes with one hand and leaned into his hand. The only thing he knew to be sure at this point was that he was probably screwin' this kid up pretty royally. And it would only be worse when the Department finally caught up to them.
When he heard Scott heading back down the stairs, Logan sat up a little straighter and quickly finished off his coffee, pointedly ignoring how much it scalded him as he rushed through the cup and got to his feet. "Same time at the coffee shop?" Logan asked, snatching his keys off of the table.
"Yeah, should be," Scott agreed, totally unaware of where Logan's mind had begun to wander. "Are you doing more recon today?"
"Only if it rains," Logan told him as he followed him out of the little a-frame cabin.
The ride to the school had been a bit quieter than Scott was used to, though he didn't think much of it considering how concentrated he knew Logan had been on this case, though he did file it away in the back of his mind as something to consider.
His first class of the day was a good snoozer, and it wasn't until lunchtime came that anything even remotely interesting happened.
He'd just gotten in line when he overheard Evan and his buddies talking about Farrah. And what she was hiding under all the baggy clothes. He tipped his head to the side, frowning to himself. He really didn't like the way these guys were talking, and even less so when their entire tone shifted when Farrah entered the cafeteria.
The boys in Evan's group tried to coax her into joining them as Scott resolutely kept facing away, though he was watching in his peripheral vision as Evan pulled her over and tried to keep her there.
At first, she sounded like she was going along with the joke … but then there was a serious change of tone in her voice and it was clear that they weren't going to let up, which was when Scott had taken about all he could handle.
He stepped out of line and turned their way, marching right up to the group. "Farrah, do you want to get a little fresh air?" Scott asked, clearly trying to give the other boys an out, and let this mess end peacefully. But Evan pushed Farrah behind himself and then shoved Scott with his other hand.
"Buzz off, Summers. No one wants you around," Evan said, in a condescending tone.
"Yeah, no," Scott said, shaking his head. "You need to take your hands off of her and leave her alone."
"Or what?" Evan laughed before he simply threw a punch.
But, not Evan, his friends, Farrah, or even Scott expected things to go the way they did. Scott dodged the punch, and entirely on instinct - and training - he blocked the second one and swept Evan's feet out from under him, dropping him on the ground with a crash and barely having moved at all.
When Evan's friend rushed him, he simply sidestepped at the last second and casually left his foot out- tripping the guy and ensuring that he landed face first on the floor. Evan popped up and took another swing, and with a quick motion, Scott deflected his strike and threw an elbow into Evan's face.
Scott was just as stunned as they were. Enough so that he simply wasn't prepared when Evan's other friend came up on his blind side and cracked him in the face hard enough that there was an echoing crunch that made Scott's stomach drop. It wasn't even the fact that the entire left side of his face was aching. Or that he was seeing double.
Scott screwed his eyes shut tightly for a moment then very cautiously cracked one eye open as the faculty gathered around the group and began to weed out one kid from another. His heart was pounding terrified that he'd see the red glow that meant they were entirely busted - but nothing happened except the fact that he saw quite clearly that his glasses were wrecked.
As he tried to pick up the pieces, clearly in a panic, the gym teacher pulled him to his feet and started hauling him down to the office. Scott held the remains of his ruby quartz glasses in his hands, refusing to look at where he was going as the teacher forcibly escorted him. "You boys are in serious trouble," the teacher told them as they reached the office.
No kidding, Scott thought to himself, frowning as the principal isolated the boys from one another so he could get the story clearly.
Scott really wasn't looking forward to what Logan had to say as he waited for him to come and get him. Farrah was sitting next to him and apologizing profusely for the mess, but Scott still refused to try and open his eyes. He was sure that he was in for it when Logan got there. Fighting, drawing attention to himself, and then the fact that he needed new glasses - which of course meant he'd need to tell Heather where to send them, and as Logan had told him that just meant it'd be a matter of time before they had to run.
He kept his eyes closed, though he knew when Logan showed up just by how half of the adults in the room sounded like they straightened up and held their breath. "Ready to get outta here, Slim?" Logan asked, though Scott was fully expecting him to chew the principal out again.
"Did you already talk to Mr. Jackson?" Scott asked, a little scared for a moment since he hadn't been told what his punishment was yet, and the realization suddenly had him on edge.
"Yeah, he covered it all on the phone," Logan told him, his voice perfectly relaxed. "Pretty cut and dried, but I wanna hear your side of it on the way home."
"Right," Scott said, nodding to himself once before he quietly told Farrah he'd see her later.
Logan didn't say a word, though he did keep a hand on Scott's shoulder since he knew the kid didn't want to tempt fate by opening his eyes when he was so upset. The two of them made their way to the jeep, and soon enough were headed off.
"I need … I need to call Bridget," Scott said, his eyes still shut tightly. "I can't go into work like this."
Logan turned his head to watch the boy for a moment, thinking it over. "You sure about that?"
Scott let out a mirthless laugh and shook his head. "I know I'm probably fine right now? But … I don't want to think about what happens if the glow thing turns on while I'm there. I don't know what it would do. And that's just to the shop. That's not even figuring in what would happen as far as the authorities-"
"Alright, take it easy," Logan said, nodding his head as he turned onto the road that headed out of town and to their cabin. "You can call when we get back to the cabin. I'm sure she'll understand."
"This just … figures," Scott muttered.
"I'll talk to her if you think she's going to have a problem. Just tell her your glasses are broken and you can't see right until you get a new pair," Logan suggested.
"No, I'll talk to her myself," Scott said. "I can do that much."
The silence rang out for a good long time before Logan finally had to ask. " So. What happened - your side of it, since I heard the official story from the stuffed shirt already."
Scott drew in a deep breath and very mechanically repeated the same thing he'd told to his principal, Mr. Jackson. "Evan and his friends were harassing Farrah. They were just … rude. And too forward and it was one thing when they were just talking," he said before he paused. "But then they wouldn't let her physically leave. And I just … I don't know. He threw a punch … and then I just … I stopped him."
Logan had to smile to himself and couldn't help but let out a little chuckle as he clapped his hand on Scott's shoulder. "Good. You did good."
"But … I got suspended," Scott pointed out, finally cracking an eye open to peek - first at his hands, and when there was no red tinge to anything, he looked over at Logan who looked absolutely pleased.
"Doesn't matter. You did the right thing and protected your friend. Couldn't have done better myself," Logan said, giving him a rare little smile. "In fact, sounds like all you really need to do now is work on how to cover your back in a fight."
"I don't plan on getting into a lot of fights," Scott pointed out.
"No one ever does. But if you do, it's good to know your way around, don'tcha think?" Logan was still smirking, though not at all in the troublemaking way that Scott was used to seeing. This was something else entirely.
When they got back to the a-frame cabin, Logan gave Scott his privacy to call in to work and explain the situation. He was oddly impressed when Bridget told him to do what he needed, and that his job would wait for him, even after Scott admitted to her how his glasses got broken.
"So," Scott said, sounding a little dejected. "How do you usually get in touch with Heather?"
"What do I need to get in touch with . Heather for?" Logan asked with a frown. "She got a letter when we left New York."
"Yeah, but … the glasses … I kinda need another pair," Scott pointed out.
Logan nodded and frowned as he thought it over. "I think we oughta send it to Cap instead," Logan said slowly after a long moment. "At least we know he's not attached to the Department."
"What about Heather?" Scott asked, more than a little surprised that Logan was taking that stance.
"I'll send her more letters," Logan said. "From New York though. I'm not mailing anything from here. If anything I'll ship it to Cap first and have him drop it in the mail from there."
"That's … really not a bad idea," Scott admitted before he slowly took the glasses out of his coat pocket and very gently handed them to Logan, broken lens pieces and all.
Logan nodded his head and wrapped the glasses in a clean white t-shirt before he sat down and wrote a quick note to Steve explaining what the trouble was, and where he could send the new glasses. He paused and then wrote out the phone number in case there were any other questions or troubles that popped up. "I'll send this off now," Logan told Scott as he got to his feet. "Start up a fire out back. We're gonna burn a couple steaks tonight." He paused and couldn't help but smile again as he thought of how well Scott did with the creeps at the school.
"Shouldn't I be … grounded or something?" Scott said.
"Hell no," Logan said. "You deserve a reward for that." He didn't give Scott the chance to argue though as he slipped right back out of the door and headed back into town.
Scott stared after him for a moment with a look of disbelief on his face before he couldn't help but smile as he turned toward the back of the cabin and headed outside to start the fire up.
