Title: Hustle
Author: Sarita (not santa - I always get it at this time of year. After 28 years it's older than Logan!)
Email: s.riley@southampton.gov.ukRating: PG13
Feedback: Love it but i'm not the demanding sort.
Disclaimer: I don't own them but would like them for Christmas please. The X-men are the property of Marvel and Fox and other people that are not me.
Notes: This is set after the movie. It assumes that Scott and Logan have come to an understanding / friendship of sorts.
Archive: Please feel free, just tell me where so I can go look at the other fics there !
-----------------------------Logan slammed the beer down on the scarred wood of the bar and clapped the man beside him on the shoulder. "whassup with you anyhow... you been nursin' that beer for the best part of the last hour, you gonna drink it or propose to it?".
Scott flinched visibly when the bottle slammed down beside him, startling him out of his carefully cultivated 'Don't mess with me I'm being anti-social' posture. The din in the bar was appalling,both from the extremely dated music playing on the jukebox and the packed dance floor. Having been dragged in here pretty much against his will Scott had made a bee-line for the pool bar where it seemed practically deserted compared to the rest of the place. Logan, rather surprisingly, hadn't protested this choice. Jean and Ororo had immediately commandeered the only small table in the area and were now hunched together talking in low voices about whatever it was woman talk about when they get together before a wedding.
Scott sighed. "Logan, I'm here despite my better judgement can't you just let it go at that." Logan grinned. "This" (and there was no doubting the derision in his voice) "was the closest we could get to getting you out on a stag night - we even had to bring the girls to get you to go along with this. Personally I just think you should at least pretend not to be a dick for one night and let loose. Even Chucks' having more fun than you!" Scott glanced over his hunched shoulder and caught Charles eye. The older man was deep in conversation with a very attractive older looking woman who he apparently knew from some lecture or another he had attended in New York. It didn't seem to bother him in the slightest that they were in a packed bar surrounded by what passed for the latest dance craze around here. An air of absolute calm and assurance separated him from those about him and he gave Scott a slow wink before returning his attention to his companion.
Logan signalled the bartender. "Two more beers and a couple of shooters. Junior here needs a real drink".
"Logan..." Scott started warningly.
"Hey, Logan, two more over here if you are buying" Ororo's voice cut through the din without any effort.
"Pretty lady, for you I'll buy but send Jeannie over here to remove the pool cue from scooters spine." Logan draped his arm companionably over Scott's' hunched shoulders. "Either you loosen up or Jeannies' fair game tonight, got me?" he whispered roughly in Scott's' ear.
Scott turned slowly in his seat and fixed Logan with a glare that, despite his glasses, would have frozen an Eskimo. Whatever reply he was working up to was lost when the drinks arrived and Jean leaned between him and Logan to collect hers and Ororos'.
"You okay?" she murmured in Scott's' ear. He smiled slowly and touched his forehead to hers lightly. "Fine" he answered quietly letting her touch his mind briefly. She giggled. "Later!".
Logan grunted as he watched the two before turning away with his own beer to give them a little privacy. As Jean sauntered back to Ororo he shrugged mentally. He may be fine with them getting married soon, but that didn't mean he couldn't have a little fun and profit at Scooters expense. It had taken a long while to realise that Jean, whatever attraction she may have had for him, was taken heart body and soul and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. Besides, Ororo seemed to be warming to him. She hadn't hit him with any lightning bolts lately anyway.
He turned back to Scott and pointedly put the shooter in front of the younger man. "Unless you really can't handle your booze of course," he offered with a tight, challenging smile.
Scott stopped peeling the label off his spent Budweiser and eyed the whiskey and beer in front of him. * To hell with it* he thought reaching for the glass and knocking back the shot. Logan grinned as Scott's' face slowly coloured and then he let out a half breath, half choked gasp before grabbing the fresh beer in front of him and taking a long slug. Logan roared with laughter and slapped Scott on the back. "That's the spirit junior!" He spun away to the pool table and began racking up the balls. "What d'ya reckon Scooter - you up for a real game or do I need to get the Nintendo version for ya?" Logan looked up as Scott swivelled in place and fixed him with 'the look'.
Scott had quite an expressive face when you got down to it and looked beyond the reflective red lenses. He could say volumes with the tilt of his mouth or the angle of his eyebrows. 'The look', last used when he'd trashed the metal detector at the statue of liberty, was his way of saying he knew you were gonna do it and disapproved like hell of it. "It's an easy game slim, you knock the little balls into the little holes - that's all there is to it. Unless of course ya got an aversion to getting beat."
"What the hell," Scott muttered just loud enough for Logan to hear. He stood up and picked up the nearest cue. "Somebody gets to break right?"
Logan kept his face calm as his mind raced. Just `cos one-eye got the girl didn't mean he got to get away from this evening without a little ritual humiliation in front of her. Maybe show her what she was missing. "What say we lay a little money on this?" he suggested in an offhand manner, as if it didn't really matter anyway. He glanced over at Scott. "A real mans' game" he added with a grin.
Scott shuffled his feet and glanced at Jean. Inwardly Logan crowed. He was going to take the bait as long as he thought red didn't disapprove. "I don't really think that's necessary Logan" he muttered, "but if it makes you happier - fine".
"Fine" Logan smiled. "Let's say fifty bucks for the winner and a bottle of scotch. I'll even let you take the first shot."
"I don't drink Scotch."
"You ain't gonna win are you."
Scott's' face set. "Fine - you're on."
Jean smiled into her hand and shook her head. "I wouldn't do this if I were you Logan."
"Red, I like you a lot but this is between us and he's willing." He smiled. " I promise not to hurt his pride too much darlin'".
Logan almost rubbed his hands together with glee as Scott broke the pack. He couldn't even hold the cue right. He dropped a colour, but that was more luck that skill and he proved that when he skewed the next shot wide of the pocket. "Don't worry slim, I'll make this as painless as possible". Logan stepped up to the table and grinned as he caught sight of Summers biting his lip anxiously. He deliberately took his time sinking a couple in a row before he got a little over confidant and missed an easy pot. Scott grinned like an idiot when he sunk his first shot but promptly fluffed the second. Logan looked at the table and the two girls, who had stopped what they were doing to watch the game.
Even Chuck was glancing in their direction. The table was set perfectly, no need for Summers to get near it again but he took his time anyway. He smiled as he watched realisation dawn on Scott's face as he sank the black. Scott slowly reached for his wallet looking a little shell-shocked. Never one to pass up the perfect opportunity Logan held his hand up in surrender. "Hell, slim you were just getting the hang of that. How about I give you a chance to even things up, win that money back, double or nothing?" He saw the indecision on the usually unflappable x-man's face and added the sucker punch. "Maybe you could use the money to buy something nice for Jeannie an I'll even let you go first again."
Scott gave him a sharp look. The kid obviously thought something was up with Logan being a little too nice here. "Of course we'll have to sweeten the bet a little", Logan added, "just to give me a little incentive."
"More than a hundred bucks!" Scott squeaked. "No way, Logan I'm not a total idiot."
"Who said anything about more money. Let's say - I dunno... your bike"
Scott stared at him like he'd grown a new head. "No way you are getting my bike on a damn bet" he answered coldly.
Logan grinned back with all the charm of a predatory Tiger. "I don't want the pink slip pal, just to ride it whenever I want without you working yourself into a hissy fit whenever I borrow it. Course, if you wanna quit now when I'm offering you such a generous chance to look like a man in front of your girl", he gave Jean a sideways leer, "I can think of other ways to entertain myself this evening."
Contact. He had Summers and he knew it. There was just a little more blustering to come.
"What the hell do I get out of this if I win?"
Logan stared at him for a long moment then laughed. "Other than a hundred Bucks? How about I never take the bike again without asking you first?"
"How about without my explicit permission?" Scott countered angrily.
Logan thought about it for a long moment. "Okay - I can live with that."
"and," Scott added as Logan began to turn away "you teach a class of my choice for the rest of this semester - and I mean actually teach it so those kids can pass the exams."
"What the hell Summers, it's a deal." Logan racked up the balls again and looked around him. "Everyone heard the bet right, just so the kid don't welch when I beat him again."
Jean, Ororo and the Professor stood a respectful distance from the pool table. Oddly enough they were all smiling. "Scott has never gone back on his word once given Logan" the professor assured the Canadian as he rested his chin on his hand to watch the scene with interest. "After all he never actually promised he wouldn't do this again" he added under his breath.
Logan glanced back at the professor, not quite sure he'd heard right in the noise being generated in the bar despite his own remarkable hearing abilities. The professor just smiled serenely and gestured towards the pool table. Scott had walked over to the rack on the wall and was examining the cues there with intensity. He selected one that apparently suited him and chalked it smoothly. "My break, right" he asked with a tight grin and with barely a pause cracked the cue ball into the pack.
"I'll take solids" he added when two solids and a stripe went down off the break. Without pause he lined up his next shot, handling the cue as if it had been born to him. Logan could only stare transfixed as Scott potted two more balls off his next shot. Scott straightened and sauntered around the table, his eyes fixed on the way the table was laid out. He glanced at Logan as he passed him. "Geometry" he smiled.
"What?" Logan muttered, closing his mouth and fixing Scott with a glare. Something was definitely not right here.
"Geometry!" Scott said firmly. "I have a natural gift for it, helps with the visor and flying." He glanced at Logan again. "Okay,well, not the landing part of flying, but no-body is perfect."
He lined up the next shot and sank it, placing enough sidespin bottom on the cue ball to set it up perfectly for his two remaining balls. Scott lined up the cue ball at an angle that looked decidedly strange and Logan could only mouth silent protests as both of Scott's' remaining colours sank gracefully into opposite pockets leaving him with a decidedly easy pot on the black. Scott stretched across the table intent on the shot but at the last moment glanced up at Logan's' disbelieving glare. "How exactly did you think I paid for Jeans ring?" He sank the black neatly and laid the cue calmly on the table before walking to the bar and taking a pull on his beer. "Cookery".
Logan turned slowly, his stance threatening. "Excuse me?" He growled.
"The class you get to teach. Cookery." Scott hopped up on to his stood and cradled his beer. "I'll take my hundred bucks now too."
Logan slammed the money down on the bar. "I get a chance to win this back?" he asked.
"Another time Logan. I know when to quit while I'm ahead."
The professor wheeled himself over to Logan as the man slumped at the bar. "Jean did try to warn you Logan, " he said soothingly.
"What the hell just happened?" he muttered staring at Scott as he turned to the bar to buy a new round of drinks with his money.
The Professor patted Logan on the knee. "I did once warn you not to judge a book by its' cover. There is more to Scott than most people will ever know. He wasn't exactly a model student when I first met him. You tried to hustle someone who learned to do just that at a very early age. You paid the price, Logan." The professor glanced over at Scott and smiled warmly. " Considering the state he was in when I found him I'm rather pleased with the way he turned out. His... controlling tendencies - may be an anathema to you Logan but he needs that stability and structure. "He fixed Logan with a penetrating stare. "He also needs to be shaken out of it now and again and for that I thank you."
As Charles wheeled around to rejoin his lady friend Logan stopped him. "So what is his story anyway? I've seen the scars on his wrists but I never figured him to be that sort. And now this?" Charles smiled tightly. "That, Logan, is Scott's' story to tell. It is not my place."
"Sounds like some story." Logan was interested in spite of himself. He turned back to his beer.
"Logan." He turned slowly at the sound of Scott's voice and carefully mustered a neutral expression. Scott held out a bottle of whiskey.
"I figure I still owe you that from the first game. Fair's fair. No hard feelings?"
Logan slowly took the bottle and examined it thoughtfully. "You play hockey?" he asked at last, with a glint in his eye.
Scott chuckled. "Without your healing abilities - only on Nintendo Logan."
Fin / The End