Fic: Survivors 22
Part Twenty-Two/??
Previous bits are here.
When they ran into Kurt on their way out of Logan's room in the morning, Scott remembered something he hadn't been thinking about the night before: the way gossip seemed to travel around the school faster than the kids with super speed could. Still, he thought that they might have a few hours until everyone at the school knew what he'd been doing the night before - and with whom.
Maybe Ororo had heard an exceptionally good joke before breakfast. That could explain the laughter in her eyes as she joined him for a cup of coffee. Maybe the professor had been the one to tell her the joke. That could explain the smile that he couldn't quite suppress.
Logan took one look at Ororo and Professor Xavier and immediately began to look smug. Scott wanted to be pissed at him but he couldn't. Not when he himself was feeling a little smug. The night before had been amazing and the morning after even better.
Oh, there was worry. He wouldn't feel like himself if he wasn't worried about something. He worried that he was rushing things. He was worried that Logan was only thinking as far as how long he'd be at the mansion. He had no idea when the other man would take it into his head and get on his bike and disappear again. He didn't know how the kids would react to him being with Xander and Logan. He wasn't really worried that Willow and Buffy would take him apart, but he did worry they might try to convince Xander he was making mistake.
How would being involved with Logan affect the team? He and Jean had struck a careful balance, but Logan wasn't Jean. And Xander - he seemed completely blasé about the fact that he was sleeping with two - two! - mutants but maybe that would change. He'd just found out about mutants. Maybe he wouldn't be able to handle it.
It was a lot to think about when he'd barely finished his first cup of coffee. He rubbed at his forehead, feeling the threat of a headache.
"Scott?" The smile had faded from Ororo's eyes as she touched his hand. "Are you well?"
He stretched and as he did so he could feel his muscles pulling pleasantly, telling him that he'd had a good time that night and in the morning. If he closed his eyes he'd be able to picture the look on Logan's face as Xander moved down his body, could feel what Xander's skin felt like without any effort at all. He could also remember both of them saying that they wanted to give the thing between them a real try.
When he remembered that, it didn't seem like he had that much to be sad about. And since when had the future ever been certain? He wasn't ready to start living like tomorrow would never come but he wasn't going live in fear of it, either.
"I'm good," he said, patting Ororo's hand. He remembered the taste of Xander's kiss, the sound of Logan's gasp. "Better than good." He smiled back at her.
"Now you look it."
He finished his coffee and get ready for the rest of his day with a lighter heart. He didn't have any morning classes so he didn't have to worry about facing his students and any stories they might have heard just yet.
He returned to his room, pausing for a moment in front of the picture of Jean that sat on his dresser. She still looked happy and he touched the corner of the frame for a moment. She would have been the one he would have wanted to talk to about this whole thing if things had been different. "Miss you," he said quietly. He'd always liked to give her the words, even though she'd hadn't needed them.
He got properly cleaned up and ready for the day. He didn't have anything he had to do for a few hours and he found himself walking through the mansion, letting his feet lead to him to where he thought Xander or Logan might be.
He'd heard the sound of hammers and was starting to grin when he found his path blocked by matching scowls. "Buffy. Willow. Good morning."
"He's smiling, too," Willow said.
"That dopey guy smile that means only one thing," Buffy agreed.
"That I'm hoping you are having a good morning?" Scott asked.
Willow's lip twitched upward into a smile but she quickly smothered it. "It means that you've decided that Xander's happiness matters to you."
That wasn't what he expected to hear. "What?"
"Because we'll make sure that his unhappiness matters to you." Buffy wasn't smiling at all.
They were actually threatening him. Only a little and kind of vaguely, but that was definitely a threat. He'd thought that he'd be in for hard looks and maybe some questions he didn't want to answer, not threats.
He remembered the way Willow could do magic and how hard Buffy hit even when she was pulling her punches and barely stopped himself from taking a step back. He had no reason to be afraid because he hadn't done anything to make Xander unhappy. He wanted Xander to be happy. Happy and naked and he wasn't going to think about that in front of these women. Neither of them could read minds, could they?
"We're not going to have a problem," he said firmly.
"Good." Willow smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Xander's just up ahead."
"I think Logan's with him," Buffy said perkily, like she hadn't implied that she'd put a hurt on him a few seconds ago.
He watched them walk away, feeling a little dazed. Had that just happened? He'd know life was going to get more interesting with the people from Sunnydale around, but he'd had no idea that it would affect him so much.
The sound of hammering broke him out of his reverie. All right. So he hadn't thought that it would affect him. Thinking about spending time with Xander and Logan both had him convinced that it was more than worth it. He started following the sound again.
He found them at the very end of the hallway. Kurt was there, watching with wide, yellow eyes as Xander smoothed spackle over a small hole in the wall. Logan was watching, too, but his gaze was somewhere south of Xander's belt.
"Hello," Scott said.
It was a little gratifying, how quickly they all turned around to face him. Logan and Xander's smiles were wide and welcoming. Kurt looked a little nervous but he settled down when Scott smiled back at him.
"Hey!" Xander said. "Come to help?"
"You look like you've got it under control." He just managed to stop himself from admitting that he'd just come up to see them. All he needed was for Kurt to start telling everyone that he'd also turned into a fourteen year old girl. One bit of gossip a day was enough. "I-" He stopped speaking as his cell phone chirped. He smiled apologetically and answered it. "Scott here."
"Scott, I need you to join me in the office. I'm calling the others, as well." The professor's voice was tinny over the phone. "I think that I'm going to ask our guests to join us, too."
Right on cue, Logan's phone started beeping.
Xander looked at him, then back over at Scott. "Time to go?"
"Yes, but I think both you and Kurt should join us. The professor wants you and your friends to be there."
Xander nodded and immediately began to clean up the area, stowing away his tools and materials. "I'll meet you there."
Logan hesitated for a moment, hovering like he intended to help.
"Go on," Xander said, waving him away with a trowel. "Willow will give me the cliff's notes version when I get there."
Scott tapped Kurt on the shoulder. "Could you invite Buffy and the others to join us in the professor's office?"
Kurt nodded and was gone with a soft bang.
Logan walked with Scott over to Professor Xavier's office. "Any clue what this is about?"
"You know as much as I do." Scott knocked on the door and pushed it open. "Professor?"
"Scott, Logan come in." The professor was seated at his desk.
"What's going on?" Logan asked.
"I'd prefer to wait until everyone has joined us." The door open and Ororo walked in.
Logan shrugged and walked away to stand beside the window.
Scott felt the familiar irritation rising up inside of him and was surprised by it. Shouldn't things be different now? They were…friends. Beyond friends. He shouldn't be getting pissed off at Logan over the same old things. He looked over at the other man and watched as he drummed his fingers impatiently against the windowpane. Couldn't he handle waiting for a moment?
He caught the direction of his thoughts and sighed. No, Logan couldn't handle waiting. He was impatient and edgy and he hated meetings. That wasn't going to change, no matter what had happened between them that morning. Logan hated the waiting around before a mission. Sex wasn't going to make him patient.
Logan looked up and saw Scott staring at him. His fingers froze and went still against the glass. Scott grinned and shook his head. After a moment, Logan grinned back and the tapping started again.
Scott realized that the professor and Ororo were both watching him. Before he had time to get embarrassed there were other people joining them, Kurt and Buffy, with Willow and the others coming in soon after. He was a little surprised to see Dawn duck into the room with Bobby and Marie, but Buffy scooted over and made room for her like she was waiting for her. Xander was the last one to arrive, sliding over to join Willow and Kennedy.
The office was crowded and Scott could see Professor Xavier reevaluating the meeting before deciding to just go on. "I received word from a friend about a situation outside of Scranton that may require our intervention." He went on to describe what he'd been told: animals were disappearing his large numbers, an epidemic of pets going missing and people were beginning to notice that there seemed to be even fewer birds in the trees.
"A mutant with some empathic abilities?" Scott ventured. They'd never seen anything to this degree before but it could be. "Maybe one that can communicate with animals?"
"Perhaps."
"Or an influx of Molhan demons?" Willow asked.
"Molhan?" Andrew asked.
"A migratory party pausing on their way to the west," Giles said. "It's possible they could be in the area. They would prefer pets to wild animals. A large tribe could cause a noticeable drain."
"Two possibilities," Professor Xavier said.
"At least two," Giles agreed.
"Both must be investigated. In ordinary circumstances, I would ask Scott to take a team and discover what he could. Now that I know there could be a cause involving magic or demons…"
"When do we leave?" Buffy asked.
"We?" Logan asked.
She nodded. "You and Scott and Ororo. Me and Giles. We'll all fit on the plane."
Scott didn't like being told what to do. He was the team leader and he was accustomed to making the decisions about when a mission would happen and who would come. He couldn't fault Buffy's suggestion, though. They were the people he would have wanted to come with him. "Sounds good," he said.
"Great. So when do we leave?"
"Two hours. We can meet back here."
The group broke up quickly. Scott lingered outside of the office. He needed to go and get prepared, but he couldn't leave without talking to Xander. Apparently Logan had the same idea because he was loitering a short distance away.
Scott ignored the looks he was getting, the smiles and the way Willow reached out to take Kennedy's hand as they walked by. It was better than threats, he guessed. He watched Logan's expression turn stony and figured he didn't like it, either.
That hard expression faded when Xander came out of the office, replaced by an easy smile. Scott couldn't get jealous at the sight since he was doing the same thing.
Xander grinned back at them. "Hey. Shouldn't you be getting ready?"
"I wanted to say goodbye first," Scott said.
"Me too," Logan said.
That made Xander's smile grow and there was a hint of a flush on his cheeks. "Be careful, all right? And don't get in the way when Buffy starts rolling. She gets in the zone and she gets dangerous."
"I'll try not to get clobbered by a girl," Logan said.
"Do that. I'd like you to be in good shape when you get back." The flush was there, but Xander kept grinning. "I have plans."
"I like the sound of that," Logan said. He glanced both ways down the hallway, then reached out and kissed Scott.
"Hey," Xander said. "Aren't you supposed to kiss the guy getting left behind?"
Logan laughed. "First I want to kiss the guy who might have students lurking in the hallways." His hand drifted down Scott's back in a lingering caress before he let him go. He then reached for Xander, pulling him close. "Coast is clear." He shoved Xander at Scott. "Make the most of it."
He'd never been an exhibitionist and he wasn't sure that he was ready to be kissing either Logan or Scott in front of the kids. It felt a little strange to kiss Xander while Logan was watching with such avid interest, but it was also exciting and he kissed Xander with more hunger than he'd intended originally.
The taste of him, the feeling of him pressed close, strong hands clutching at his waist - it was different than what he'd known before but he liked it. He didn't want to let go. The need to go on the mission was at the back of his mind but for the moment, all that mattered was Xander in his arms and Logan standing so near and so interested.
"I still want a turn," Logan said, pushing into their space.
Scott gave way reluctantly but he was rewarded for sharing: he got to watch Logan kiss Xander, watch the way they moved together, focused and needy and he wanted to push back the mission by an hour or two.
"We're running out of time," Scott said reluctantly.
Logan glared at him as he ended the kiss. "This better be demons we can kill and come back fast."
Xander laughed. "I've never heard someone hope for demons."
"I want to get back here quickly. I want to-"
Scott had a feeling that if he let Logan finish, they'd never make it back to the office on time to meet the others. He elbowed Logan in the stomach. "Come on. Can't be late."
"You're the team leader. You can't be late."
Xander ended the argument by walking backwards down the hall. "You'll have to show me the spandex when you get back."
"Hey!" By the time Scott turned his attention back to Xander, the other man was gone.
Logan tapped him on the shoulder. "We can make him pay when we get back."
Scott had wondered if the team dynamic would be affected by what he and Logan and Xander had done but once they were in the Blackbird it was as though nothing had changed. Logan still rolled his eyes at Scott's orders but he was always there, right where he was needed.
He tried to psych himself up for seeing a demon for the first time. Buffy walked beside him, movements easy but her eyes alert. It was strange to be comforted by the presence of a woman so short and slim, but he'd sparred with her and knew the strength she was hiding.
Scott had been ready to do some hard searching, maybe go out and ask people questions. Pets disappearing wasn't something that was on a scale with some of the things they'd faced, but what if animals were just the beginning? What if the next thing to disappear was a child? He wasn't willing to take the chance.
"That's weird," Buffy said.
"What?" Scott asked.
"That guy."
"Very specific," Giles said dryly.
"That guy in the blue shirt," Buffy said, shooting him a look.
Scott had a feeling that he was seeing a routine that had played out a hundred times before.
"He started walking off toward the west then he stopped like he realized he was going the wrong way and started going north."
"Perhaps he was lost."
"Perhaps," Buffy said with a smile. "Except that woman in the green just did almost the same thing. And that guy with the hair is going to do it."
Scott looked around and saw a man with pink hair walking toward the west. He was moving slowly, almost dreamily. After about two minutes, the man jerked like he was waking up and changed directions. "That's definitely strange."
"I think this means we're going west." Buffy glanced over at Giles, who was looking very pleased.
West," Logan agreed.
As they walked through town and then out of it, they saw people starting to drift along in the same direction. None of them kept it up for very long. It was a strange sight, and creepy. It reminded him of the story of the Pied Piper, but he couldn't hear any music.
There was a wooded area at the western edge of town. They all stopped at the first few trees.
"Great. Woods." Logan didn't look pleased at all.
"Could be worse," Buffy said.
"Perhaps the cemetery is inside the woods," Giles said.
"It's like you've never heard of the idea of jinx," Buffy said.
"Shall we go in?" Ororo asked.
"Stay together," Scott said. He looked over and caught Buffy's eye. "I mean it." He turned his attention to Logan. "No one gets out of sight of the others, even for a second. We don't know how powerful this call might be."
"Very prudent," Giles said.
They moved forward cautiously, staying together as Scott had asked. Logan and Buffy did range farther away than the others but since they did stay in sight he counted himself lucky. He had a feeling that when it came to independence, Buffy was probably a match for Logan.
They'd only been walking for fifteen minutes when Scott heard Logan swear. "What is it?"
"The smell," Logan said, his face twisted in disgust.
Scott inhaled, but he couldn't smell anything. Just trees and dirt and…maybe something else but he couldn't be sure. "I can't-"
"Yeah, of course you can't." Logan's still looked sickened. "Animal piss and shit. A lot of it and it's all up ahead, waiting for us to walk right into it."
Ororo's nose wrinkled. "Surely we can avoid that."
"Not if we're looking for all those missing pets," Scott pointed out. He looked over at Giles. "Still think it could be demons?"
Giles slowly shook his head. "It is possible, but Molhan demons wouldn't keep the animals alive long enough for there to be…a mess. Perhaps some other variety is behind this."
They continued forward. Logan was definitely staying closer; he didn't look like he wanted to keep going but he still led the way. Scott was glad he was there. If there was a fight then he couldn't think of anyone else he wanted to have at his side. Buffy might have been fast and Ororo's power couldn't be denied, but he trusted in Logan's determination and heart. And perhaps also in his craziness. He didn't like it when Logan was out of control - in a fight, anyway - but he couldn't deny the man's deadly power.
Another ten minutes of walking and Scott had to smother a coughing fit. "God. I think I can smell it."
"It's worse than Mrs. McGruter's place," Buffy said.
Giles coughed into his fist. "It does bring back memories."
"Was this woman a demon?" Ororo asked.
"Cat lady," Buffy said. "Like, thirty of them. It was really gross."
Scott had never met a cat lady before but based on what he was smelling, he never wanted to. The smell was overpowering and he only managed to repress his gag reflex through will alone. Thick and acidic, it burned the back of his throat and made his eyes water as they got closer.
"Look at that," Logan said, coming to a stop.
There was a small house in the middle of the woods, dilapidated and old. The roof sagged and the porch looked rotted through. Cats and dogs wondered up and down the steps, walking in and out of the open front door, crawling out through the windows.
"That's weird," Buffy said. "And really, really gross."
"Who wants to ring the bell?" Logan asked.
Ororo looked down at her shoes. They were in civilian garb for this mission.
Scott sighed. "I got it." He walked forward and knew that he was going to have to give up his boots as a loss. There was no way he was going to try to clean them up.
"Jesus Christ," Logan said, his voice coming from right behind him.
That was enough to make Scott smile despite the smell and his trepidation. Logan was at his back, just like he knew he would be. He picked his way through the mess as carefully as he could. He slowed down when he got close enough that he was walking past animals. The cats and dogs, rabbits and squirrels, and other creatures didn't pay any attention to him at all. They didn't really seem aware of each other, either - they just circulated around the house, swirling in the crowd and trying to get closer to the door and windows.
Now Scott could smell the animals as well as their leavings. He really didn't want to go into the house. It could only be worse in there. He eased his way up to the porch. The animals were so packed together that they were pressed against his legs as he walked.
The door was wide open but Scott didn't walk in. He had no idea what might be waiting for him except animals and an even stronger level of stench. He hesitated, then knocked on the door frame.
"You think that's really necessary?" Logan asked. "Door's open. Walk on in."
"There's nothing wrong with a little caution," Scott said. "And politeness is a virtue."
"I thought that was patience."
"It's-" Scott stopped speaking when he heard something in the house that didn't sound like an animal. He raised his hand and could practically feel Logan go on alert. He shifted away from the door a little, not wanting to be caught in a corner.
He wasn't sure what to expect. He was half-way braced for something that didn't look human at all and then he'd fall back and wait for Buffy to step in and tell him what to do.
He hadn't been expecting a short, slender young woman in filthy clothes. She approached the open door with obvious hesitance, leaning back like she was ready to flee at any moment. "Hello?" she asked quietly, almost whispering.
"Hi," Scott said, keeping his voice soft. He'd learned how to talk to skittish kids a long time ago. No sudden moves, no moving forward. "I'm Scott."
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm looking for these animals. People in town wanted to know where they went."
She looked defensive. "They came to see me."
"Why?" He kept his tone friendly, interested.
"Because they like me."
Scott watched the cats nearest her twine around her legs, watched the dogs jump up and beg for her attention. "I can see that. What about their owners?"
The girl shrugged. "They like me better."
"Yeah, but how can you feed them all? Where do they sleep?"
The girl's face crumpled. "They just come to see me."
"Oh, I believe you. But I worry about them. I worry about you. Do people ever come here?"
Her eyes widened. "No!"
"I think they might," Scott said. "Once all the animals are here, people might be the next to be called."
"Called?" She shrank away from him.
"Like the animals."
"I don't mean to do it. Honest!"
God, how many times had he seen kids doing this? Apologizing for having powers and not knowing how to control them? There had to be a way to make this easier for them. "I know. I know. But we have to do something soon. You can see that, right? There are too many animals here and you can't take care of all of them. And what will you do when the people show up?"
"I don't know. I came out here to try to make it stop."
"It hasn't, though." Scott tried out a smile. How old was she? 15? 16? "I think you need help."
"Yeah? Who's going to help?"
"My friends and I are pretty good at helping kids who need it."
She looked past him at the others. She watched them for a while, then met his gaze. She stared at him searchingly before nodding slowly. "My name is Brenna."
It took a little more coaxing, but Brenna agreed to leave the house with them. Taking her to the school and to the professor would be the best way to help her. If she didn't get her power under control, then soon there would be people gathering around her and that kind of attention would get her in trouble.
They took the long way around to the plane. Brenna didn't want to go into the town and Scott really didn't want to take her there. He wasn't sure how the people there would react. It wasn't so much that he was afraid that they'd follow her. Her hair was dirty and tangled and there was no mistaking the stains on her clothes. They were gonna get looks and he wanted to be sure they were able to get her back to Westchester without any trouble.
The flight back to the school made him glad all over again for the superior ventilation on the plane. It also made him glad that he could fly and had to sit up front. Brenna was talking quietly with Buffy, who was only wrinkling her nose a little. She seemed like a nice girl, but her clothes…
When they returned to the mansion, Ororo shepherded Brenna toward a shower and fresh clothes. Scott headed for the professor's office to make a report. He waved off Buffy and Giles - there hadn't been any demons, so he could handle this on his own.
Professor Xavier was waiting for him. "Scott! What did you find?"
"A mutant. A girl who was calling all the animals in the area to her. She was starting to summon people, too. We brought her back with us. She, uh, needs to get a little cleaned up."
"I look forward to speaking with her. How did the addition of Buffy and Giles to your team go?"
"Good. They're used to working with a group. They have a different way of relating to each other." That was a polite way of mentioning the joking without mentioning the joking. He and his team were likely to make a few comments while on a mission but Buffy and Giles almost had a routine down. "Buffy was ready to back me up and-"
The door to the office flew open and Buffy walked in. "I need the plane."
"What's going on?" Scott asked.
"I need the plane." She crossed her arms over her chest.
Andrew and Dawn ran into the room, stopping just inside the doorway.
"What's going on?" Scott repeated.
"They left," Andrew said.
Scott closed his eyes. Someone had to give him an answer soon. If nothing else, he could ask the professor to find out for him.
"A call came in from Cleveland," Buffy said, her voice and low and far too calm. "Faith needed back up. Willow and Kennedy went to help and Marie and Kurt went with them."
When he opened his eyes, she was staring at him.
"Xander drove," she added.
That got his heart pumping. "What are they doing in Cleveland?"
"Killing demons," Buffy said. "Can I have the plane now?"
"When did they leave?" He looked over at Andrew.
"Just after you did. When Faith called, she said that the Corcden demons were moving east. Xander and the others drove to meet them." He cocked his head to the side. "I stayed behind to watch over Dawn."
Dawn rolled her eyes. "They said they'd call when they found the demons. We haven't heard from them yet."
"So you want to fly toward Cleveland and hope to find them from the air?"
Buffy grabbed the cell phone out of Dawn's hand and held it up. "Can we go now?"
"I'm ready," Andrew said.
"You're staying here," Buffy said. She pointed at Dawn without looking at her. "So are you."
Gone was all the joking around that Scott had noticed before. Buffy was all business and clearly a leader, making decisions, issuing orders and expecting to be obeyed. He glanced over at the Professor. "We'll continue this later?"
Professor Xavier nodded. "Keep me informed."
"We'll need to get Logan before we go," Scott said.
"Giles, too."
Scott was following her out the door before he realized he had more questions. "What's a Corcden demon?"
**