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Chapter 3
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The poor girl had barely gotten the words out of her mouth when there was another sound coming up the drive--that of a motor. Scott wondered briefly if he had forgotten to lock the gates again but knew he hadn't. Whoever it was obviously had a key or code or both. The sound came closer very quickly and it didn't take long at all for him to identify the person revving their motorcycle up the drive. 'Their motorcycle', Scott scoffed, More like mine.
Logan came roaring towards the house, slamming on the breaks at the last possible moment that would bring him to a screeching halt directly in front of the doorstep. He sprayed a surprisingly small amount of dirt on Scott and Theresa, but Scott had no doubt in his mind that had he been alone he would now be filthy. Logan smirked that shit-eating smirk of his as he swung one leg off the bike and brushed dust from his jacket. Without ever breaking Scott's gaze, he tossed him the key.
And without ever breaking Logan's, Scott caught it.
The darker man made some noise Scott couldn't identify, something between a growl and a laugh. "Long time, no see Scottertron."
Scott's smile was as cold and unfeeling as a polite smile could be. "The same, Wolvie." He smirked as he used the nickname a few mansion girls had given the long-gone feral. Jubilee had a way of giving adults the most condescending names to turn them into the big softies she could easily deal with. The look on Logan's face made Scott for once grateful.
"I'm here to see Chuck," Logan said with a bit more than annoyance in his voice.
"Well, that's exactly where Theresa and I were headed," Scott replied. He knew he shouldn't be the juvenile but it was just so much fun! He hadn't goaded anyone like this since elementary school. Now he turned away from the door and from Logan, expecting both him and Theresa to follow him to the professor's office. "So what brings you back to our humble abode?" he asked.
There was really no way to describe the odd mix of emotions on Logan's face when he first spoke. "Something needs to be sorted out," he answered first. Then his mouth twisted up into an all-out smirk. "And take a few things with me."
Scott knew exactly what--or who--he was alluding to. Almost any other time he would have given anything to be the one to tell Logan that Jean had run off and then see his reaction, but not right now. Right now it was all too recent, too raw. Much too raw to properly deal with. "Jean's not here," he told him instead. "You missed her by about two weeks."
To his credit, Logan could cover up pretty well. "Who said I came back for Red?" he asked, "I have some dog tags to collect."
Once again, Scott knew exactly what he was talking about. Not many people would have, but he did. After Logan had been gone for two months without any word back to the mansion, Rogue had been terrified that something had happened to him. She had hid it very well, with only Jean and the professor ever figuring it out, but one weekend when most of the students had gone out for a break she had finally broken down. Scott had been the only one there she trusted enough to talk to, and talk to him she did. They had spent almost three hours in the rec room while she told him everything. About her months on the road, about meeting up with Logan, about arriving at the mansion and being driven off again. How she felt on top of the Statue of Liberty and then when Logan left and gave her the dog tags. About how so much of the school treated her like a freak even though she was no more mutated than they. How they didn't trust her enough to even be in the same room as her if she wasn't fully covered. She even told him her name, something Logan was the only other person to know. Scott only called her Marie when there was no one around as she was Rogue to everyone else.
But none of this did Scott tell Logan. He kept it all to himself and was silent the rest of the way to the professor's office, where he knocked politely on the door before entering. It was an old formality that he had never gotten rid of; with the professor's powers there was no need for advance warning. "Here we are," he said, more for Theresa's benefit than for Logan's.
"Thank ye," she said courteously as he opened the door to allow the three of them inside.
Professor Xavier greeted them all with a smile. "Hello, Scott. Welcome, Theresa. Your father has told me much about you. And Logan, welcome back. I trust you found what you were looking for?"
Scott could almost picture Logan's train of thought and it went something like: There's someone I don't know in the room. Do I care? No. "Not exactly, Charlie. The place was there and most of the records were basically abandoned and untouched. Mine were gone and the whole thing smelled like recent Sabretooth."
Well, whatever Scott was expecting that certainly wasn't it, but he didn't let his surprise show. "Sir?" he asked. "With your permission, I'd like to investigate Sabretooth's whereabouts in more depth." The professor had to know who Scott wanted to talk it. It was painfully obvious and practically projected to any telepath in the area. He had to know.
And that he did. "I might be better if I handle this myself, Scott."
But he wasn't going to back down that easily. "No, sir. I'd like to do this. After all, I am your assistant-" no use saying 'field-leader' in front of a stranger, "-and not your figure head."
Neither the professor or Logan looked very happy, the former because he knew he had to give in and the latter because he had no say. As soon as Scott spoke, they both wanted input. Xavier was the first to complete his thought. "As you wish," he said with a sigh. "I suppose. If you have to."
"Wait a minute," Logan interjected. "You can't mean that you're going to let Scooter handle this? This is my business."
"Your business that you cannot assist it," Scott told him coolly. "You would only be working against yourself." And with that, he began to make his way out the door. "Good to see you again, Logan. It was lovely to meet you Theresa. And thank you, professor. I will be leaving momentarily."
Having excused himself he moved towards the garage. What he really needed right now was a joy ride, and there was no harm in taking that before he settled down to business. With all that was going on, he needed to unwind a bit before he exploded. An exploding Scott, he decided, would not be the best thing for the mansion.