Part Two
"I mean, she was beautiful and everything, but she was so smart and fun and wise and wonderful," Scott told the bartender in-between gulps of his third beer. Scott had never ever seen the guy before tonight and was having difficulty remembering his name, but right now he was more than willing to lend a sympathetic ear and that was just what Scott needed as the alcohol loosened his tongue as well as his inhibitions.
"I know just how you feel. I lost my Louisa May three years ago," the bartender sighed, eyes gazing at nothing. "Cancer, you know. Just ate away at her until there was nothing left. Ugliest, most painful goddamned thing I ever saw. She was so pretty and lively and it just destroyed her."
"Jean drowned," Scott returned. "Least - at least it was quick. But feels like half of me is missing, you know?"
The bartender nodded. "I know. It's always hard at first, son. You never really stop grieving - but eventually you get to remember the good times instead of the bad, the time when you lost them."
"You don't forget?" Scott asked, nursing his beer like a child with a favourite teddy bear. That was what he was most afraid of - to forget Jean, to forget that her loveliness and warmth ever existed - that would be the worst betrayal of all.
A shake of the head from the bartender answered that query quietly but emphatically. "You never forget, son. Never - you live life, you move on, you have to, but you never forget."
Scott smiled sadly, and gratefully, and held up his beer. "To my Jean and your Louisa May. Wherever they are, I hope they're living it up."
"Here, here," the bartender chorused, clinking Scott's beer with his glass of water before leaning closer across in a conspiratorial manner. "Just between you and me son, you'd better get your buddy over there away from that blonde bombshell. Her name's Daphne and her boyfriend's the meanest, biggest barroom brawler in this state. I really don't want my bar smashed up again."
Scott glanced over at the leggy blonde who was cuddling up to a slightly bemused but perfectly willing Logan, and grinned for the first time in weeks. "Leave it to me, buddy," he replied, setting his beer down. "I'll take care of it."
Scott approached them slightly unsteadily, wondering how the hell he'd be able to force Logan away from a girl like Daphne, who as well as being blonde obviously made the most of her natural attributes. Logan didn't appear at all drunk despite being on his fourth beer, and whilst he and Scott were of similar heights, Logan was much burlier than he was.
Brains over brawn, Jean would say. Works every time.
Then he groaned inwardly as he saw someone approaching the pair from the men's room. He was big - at least six foot five - he was bald, his eyes were hard as flint, and he was built like a grizzly bear, and sounded like one too.
"What the fucking hell do you think you're doing?" he snarled, grabbing Logan by the collar as the blonde backed up hastily. Logan took an inventory at first glance and smiled - finally, a chance for a good punch up. He'd been angling for one all night - he'd take it over the blonde any time. Sometimes a guy felt like doing it, and sometimes he just felt like kicking ass.
"What are you smiling at?" the behemoth - evidently Daphne's boyfriend - growled, hand bunching into a fist, thinking he was being made fun of. Logan began loosening off his muscles ready to swing -
"Logan, sweetie!"
Logan glanced over to where the unusually high falsetto came from - and felt his jaw drop as Scott came mincing over. He beamed up at the big guy as he draped a long arm over Logan's shoulder. "Making a new friend here, honey?"
Honey? Oh, no - no no no - "Summers, what the hell -"he growled between gritted teeth, trying to push him off. But Scott was surprisingly strong, and he squeezed Logan's arm mischievously as he turned to the big guy again. "Do you like what you see?" he inquired. "Isn't he just gorgeous? I'm so lucky!"
The big guy's eyes widened until they were almost the size of dinner plates, and he began stammering apologies. Daphne looked perfectly disgusted. Logan looked as though he was about to explode, and not with passion. "Four-eyes, I'm gonna claw you in both feet and make you walk back home -"
"Not now, precious. We have to get going. Nice to have met you folks!" Scott chirped as Logan pushed his arm off, and blushing every shade of the rainbow, made for the door. Scott could see the grinning bartender giving him double thumbs up. Scott strode over, and dropped a fifty-dollar bill on the bar. "Buy yourself a drink, buddy," he instructed him, and dashed after Logan.
"You shit!" Logan snapped as soon as Scott caught up with him. Scott just put an arm round his waist and gazed mock-adoringly at him.
"Oh, I love it when you get mad, darling!"
Logan jabbed him in the stomach and strode off to the car park. Scott could practically see the steam coming out of his ears. He began laughing, and soon doubled over as he gave up trying to hold them in. His ribs hurt, and his laughs soon almost turned into shrieks, and he couldn't have stopped even if he'd wanted, and then suddenly they were mingled with sobs and he was kneeling on the cold asphalt and he was crying and laughing at the same time and he was pounding the ground -
"Easy, Scott, easy. Just let it all out - but, er, don't carve your hands up."
Logan, again - what did he want? Suddenly Scott felt himself being lifted off the ground and half-carried somewhere, still sobbing and laughing, but mostly crying now. Slowly, he felt the gut-wrenching sobs begin to subside, and he began hiccoughing and gulping in deep breaths of air as he calmed down. He suddenly realised that he was sitting on the bonnet of the car they had purloined, and Logan was sitting beside him, waiting for him to stop weeping.
Scott finally managed to get himself more or less under control, save for a sniffle or two. He didn't feel at all embarrassed for having broken down and cried in front of Logan, of all people - he still felt the desolation near his core, but almost abruptly there was a sudden release. He had cried for Jean. He would never forget her. And Jean would have laughed herself silly if she could have seen what he had done to Logan.
I love you, Jeanie. Miss you, sweetheart.
"That better?" Logan inquired gently after some minutes had passed. Scott paused, and then nodded.
"A bit. Thanks for - you know, suggesting this."
Logan snorted. "That was a stupid thing you did back there. Ain't the sort of thing a guy does to another - well, unless - but anyway, I was thinking Jean would have laughed. Plus it proves you do have a sense of humour. I was beginning to wonder about that."
"Oh, I don't make just anybody laugh, you know," Scott told him in- between hiccupping breaths as he began to calm down.
"You sure don't make me laugh," Logan growled. Scott smirked ever so slightly; though his eyes were still watering with unshed tears behind his visor.
"I've got to stop teasing you, Logan," he remarked. "It's too easy - there's no sport in it."
There was no response from Logan this time - he was too busy staring off into the distance. No, not the distance - he had his eyes fixed on a small bunch of trees the hemmed in the car park. He sniffed the air a couple of times, and then jumped to the ground, fists clenched ready to pop his claws.
"What is it?" Scott whispered tears and intoxication vanishing before the surge of adrenaline than ran through him. He put a hand up to his visor in readiness to fire, though he still had little idea what was going on - Logan's stance told him all he needed to know.
"Something's coming," Logan hissed. "Can't tell just what ." he sniffed again, and then suddenly dropped to a crouch, entirely concentrated on the scent being borne to him on the breeze.
If he puts his nose to the ground I'm going to start laughing again for sure . Scott thought absurdly, trying to stifle what was left of his giggling fit. He had to be ready for action if need be.
"It's frightened ." Logan told him, frowning. "It - no, they - there's two of 'em . and I think they're mutants ."
"Are they hostile?" Scott asked worriedly, all desire to laugh completely evaporated.
"Only if we get in their way ." Logan remarked wryly, standing up from his crouch a little, still ready to fight but not yet popping his claws, though the tension in his arms told Cyclops he was aching to. Scott admired his restraint.
Now he too could here the sounds of someone crashing through the woods, snapping twigs, tripping over roots, banging into whatever lay in its path. Scott even thought he caught the sound of muffled cursing.
"Here it comes ." Wolverine told him, unsheathing his claws at last.
Cyclops readied his optic beams.
The undergrowth directly in front of them parted, to reveal .
Nothing? Cyclops realised in astonishment.
"I mean, she was beautiful and everything, but she was so smart and fun and wise and wonderful," Scott told the bartender in-between gulps of his third beer. Scott had never ever seen the guy before tonight and was having difficulty remembering his name, but right now he was more than willing to lend a sympathetic ear and that was just what Scott needed as the alcohol loosened his tongue as well as his inhibitions.
"I know just how you feel. I lost my Louisa May three years ago," the bartender sighed, eyes gazing at nothing. "Cancer, you know. Just ate away at her until there was nothing left. Ugliest, most painful goddamned thing I ever saw. She was so pretty and lively and it just destroyed her."
"Jean drowned," Scott returned. "Least - at least it was quick. But feels like half of me is missing, you know?"
The bartender nodded. "I know. It's always hard at first, son. You never really stop grieving - but eventually you get to remember the good times instead of the bad, the time when you lost them."
"You don't forget?" Scott asked, nursing his beer like a child with a favourite teddy bear. That was what he was most afraid of - to forget Jean, to forget that her loveliness and warmth ever existed - that would be the worst betrayal of all.
A shake of the head from the bartender answered that query quietly but emphatically. "You never forget, son. Never - you live life, you move on, you have to, but you never forget."
Scott smiled sadly, and gratefully, and held up his beer. "To my Jean and your Louisa May. Wherever they are, I hope they're living it up."
"Here, here," the bartender chorused, clinking Scott's beer with his glass of water before leaning closer across in a conspiratorial manner. "Just between you and me son, you'd better get your buddy over there away from that blonde bombshell. Her name's Daphne and her boyfriend's the meanest, biggest barroom brawler in this state. I really don't want my bar smashed up again."
Scott glanced over at the leggy blonde who was cuddling up to a slightly bemused but perfectly willing Logan, and grinned for the first time in weeks. "Leave it to me, buddy," he replied, setting his beer down. "I'll take care of it."
Scott approached them slightly unsteadily, wondering how the hell he'd be able to force Logan away from a girl like Daphne, who as well as being blonde obviously made the most of her natural attributes. Logan didn't appear at all drunk despite being on his fourth beer, and whilst he and Scott were of similar heights, Logan was much burlier than he was.
Brains over brawn, Jean would say. Works every time.
Then he groaned inwardly as he saw someone approaching the pair from the men's room. He was big - at least six foot five - he was bald, his eyes were hard as flint, and he was built like a grizzly bear, and sounded like one too.
"What the fucking hell do you think you're doing?" he snarled, grabbing Logan by the collar as the blonde backed up hastily. Logan took an inventory at first glance and smiled - finally, a chance for a good punch up. He'd been angling for one all night - he'd take it over the blonde any time. Sometimes a guy felt like doing it, and sometimes he just felt like kicking ass.
"What are you smiling at?" the behemoth - evidently Daphne's boyfriend - growled, hand bunching into a fist, thinking he was being made fun of. Logan began loosening off his muscles ready to swing -
"Logan, sweetie!"
Logan glanced over to where the unusually high falsetto came from - and felt his jaw drop as Scott came mincing over. He beamed up at the big guy as he draped a long arm over Logan's shoulder. "Making a new friend here, honey?"
Honey? Oh, no - no no no - "Summers, what the hell -"he growled between gritted teeth, trying to push him off. But Scott was surprisingly strong, and he squeezed Logan's arm mischievously as he turned to the big guy again. "Do you like what you see?" he inquired. "Isn't he just gorgeous? I'm so lucky!"
The big guy's eyes widened until they were almost the size of dinner plates, and he began stammering apologies. Daphne looked perfectly disgusted. Logan looked as though he was about to explode, and not with passion. "Four-eyes, I'm gonna claw you in both feet and make you walk back home -"
"Not now, precious. We have to get going. Nice to have met you folks!" Scott chirped as Logan pushed his arm off, and blushing every shade of the rainbow, made for the door. Scott could see the grinning bartender giving him double thumbs up. Scott strode over, and dropped a fifty-dollar bill on the bar. "Buy yourself a drink, buddy," he instructed him, and dashed after Logan.
"You shit!" Logan snapped as soon as Scott caught up with him. Scott just put an arm round his waist and gazed mock-adoringly at him.
"Oh, I love it when you get mad, darling!"
Logan jabbed him in the stomach and strode off to the car park. Scott could practically see the steam coming out of his ears. He began laughing, and soon doubled over as he gave up trying to hold them in. His ribs hurt, and his laughs soon almost turned into shrieks, and he couldn't have stopped even if he'd wanted, and then suddenly they were mingled with sobs and he was kneeling on the cold asphalt and he was crying and laughing at the same time and he was pounding the ground -
"Easy, Scott, easy. Just let it all out - but, er, don't carve your hands up."
Logan, again - what did he want? Suddenly Scott felt himself being lifted off the ground and half-carried somewhere, still sobbing and laughing, but mostly crying now. Slowly, he felt the gut-wrenching sobs begin to subside, and he began hiccoughing and gulping in deep breaths of air as he calmed down. He suddenly realised that he was sitting on the bonnet of the car they had purloined, and Logan was sitting beside him, waiting for him to stop weeping.
Scott finally managed to get himself more or less under control, save for a sniffle or two. He didn't feel at all embarrassed for having broken down and cried in front of Logan, of all people - he still felt the desolation near his core, but almost abruptly there was a sudden release. He had cried for Jean. He would never forget her. And Jean would have laughed herself silly if she could have seen what he had done to Logan.
I love you, Jeanie. Miss you, sweetheart.
"That better?" Logan inquired gently after some minutes had passed. Scott paused, and then nodded.
"A bit. Thanks for - you know, suggesting this."
Logan snorted. "That was a stupid thing you did back there. Ain't the sort of thing a guy does to another - well, unless - but anyway, I was thinking Jean would have laughed. Plus it proves you do have a sense of humour. I was beginning to wonder about that."
"Oh, I don't make just anybody laugh, you know," Scott told him in- between hiccupping breaths as he began to calm down.
"You sure don't make me laugh," Logan growled. Scott smirked ever so slightly; though his eyes were still watering with unshed tears behind his visor.
"I've got to stop teasing you, Logan," he remarked. "It's too easy - there's no sport in it."
There was no response from Logan this time - he was too busy staring off into the distance. No, not the distance - he had his eyes fixed on a small bunch of trees the hemmed in the car park. He sniffed the air a couple of times, and then jumped to the ground, fists clenched ready to pop his claws.
"What is it?" Scott whispered tears and intoxication vanishing before the surge of adrenaline than ran through him. He put a hand up to his visor in readiness to fire, though he still had little idea what was going on - Logan's stance told him all he needed to know.
"Something's coming," Logan hissed. "Can't tell just what ." he sniffed again, and then suddenly dropped to a crouch, entirely concentrated on the scent being borne to him on the breeze.
If he puts his nose to the ground I'm going to start laughing again for sure . Scott thought absurdly, trying to stifle what was left of his giggling fit. He had to be ready for action if need be.
"It's frightened ." Logan told him, frowning. "It - no, they - there's two of 'em . and I think they're mutants ."
"Are they hostile?" Scott asked worriedly, all desire to laugh completely evaporated.
"Only if we get in their way ." Logan remarked wryly, standing up from his crouch a little, still ready to fight but not yet popping his claws, though the tension in his arms told Cyclops he was aching to. Scott admired his restraint.
Now he too could here the sounds of someone crashing through the woods, snapping twigs, tripping over roots, banging into whatever lay in its path. Scott even thought he caught the sound of muffled cursing.
"Here it comes ." Wolverine told him, unsheathing his claws at last.
Cyclops readied his optic beams.
The undergrowth directly in front of them parted, to reveal .
Nothing? Cyclops realised in astonishment.