Backdated: Vanessa/Scott/Bishop: Whiskey, Scotch and the Freedom of Information

[x-cyclops.livejournal.com]

Scott stops by X-Factor Investigations to share some files and ends up discussing sanity and broken hearts with Bishop and Vanessa

Vanessa slid the folder across the low coffee table toward Scott which held the documents further explaining everything she'd just gone over with him. Life was pretty quiet for X-Factor in terms of pertinent information to share around to the other groups, but that didn't stop X-Factor from updating half of their "business as usual" information for the X-Men and the Snow Valley folks. Scott, however, had come with some Cerebro readings Xavier wanted her and her people to look into for him. At least it was something new and perhaps worth dragging Scott out here to the city for. Then again, she liked to think it was simply fair trade for all the times she or Lucas had trekked out to Westchester for these meetings. "Some of this is pretty vague," she told him, reading over Xavier's notes again. "But that's fine, we can work with it. Let him know we'll get back to him on these readings within the next week at the most?

Scott leaned back in his chair and nodded, "I'm sure Charles would appreciate that, Vanessa," Scott replied as he sunk back into the comfortable chair. It had been a long drive out to the offices and he wasn't looking forward to making the drive back later. "If you can focus on the first two as fast as you can? He said they were the most immediately pressing."

She nodded, pony tail bobbing a bit as she did, and Vanessa made notes to prioritize the two Scott indicated. "No problem. Lucas and I will get on those personally, leave some of the lesser ones for Jean-Paul to tackle." One corner of her mouth quirked upward. "Speedsters are handy in that way, you know. It's almost like having three employees instead of one when we don't need him to play stake out." She stood and stretched before making her way to her desk with the folder from Scott. It had been a long day of paperwork, her least favorite thing. "Aye, do you want coffee or summat? Since you drove an hour for a fifteen minute meeting and traffic's going to be hell right now so unless you've other plans in the city you probably don't want to go anywhere for a bit."

Scott glanced at his watch then grimaced, if he left now he'd run straight into rush hour in New York. While he loved his car, he didn't love it enough to subject himself to that. And he was in no rush to get back to an empty suite at the mansion. He tilted his head to look at Vanessa, "I've always found speedsters to be extremely useful, Jean-Paul in particular, at least until you stole him away from us" he replied with a small smile. "I'd love a coffee," he continued.

"Whiskey." Bishop said as he caught the end of the conversation while walking from his desk to the coffee pot. His route diverted from a direct line for the coffee pot into a strong curve for one of the whiskey hiding spots.

"One day I'm going to sign you up for one of those twelve step programs." She watched her partner detour and shot a look over to Scott. "Would you like your coffee spiked with anything? We have whiskey, obviously. Scotch, brandy and rum are also all within easy reach."

Scott smiled at the interplay between the two partners, he settled back in the chair as he relaxed in the friendly environment.  "I wouldn't say no to a shot of whiskey thanks." he replied after a few seconds thoughtful pause.

Bishop came over with a glass of whiskey for himself and a shot for Scott. He hadn't gone near the coffee pot. "What are we talking about?" He asked as he sat at the table with the pair.

"We were talking about you and whether or not we might be able to one day use your head to tell the fortunes of others," Vanessa deadpanned. "It's just so shiny one would think it was possible." She trailed back over to the guys with two cups of coffee. One for herself and one in case Scott decided he didn't want to drive with whiskey on his breath. "But it was all about predicting whether or not I could persuade Scott to smile more in his mopey state he's been in."

Scott stared at the two drinks in front of him, "Bowling ball," he said as he looked up. "If you only saw the back of Bishop's head you could easily mistake it for a bowling ball" he smiled at his friend before turning to look at the woman. "I'm fine Vanessa, really."  Scott said as he reached out to pick up the shot glass.

"This look is powerful and classic." Bishop informed them after sipping a bit from his tumbler. "And you have been sad lately. I had to intervene with strippers." He told Vanessa with a nod.

An eyebrow arched slowly. "I hope the strippers didn't involve your girlfriend as that seems a bit odd. Though I suppose she could recommend a good lap dance. Inside information and all." She grinned. "But did strippers do the job? Because if he's been that sad and strippers didn't work then I vote he either gets it out of his system with violence or we get him very drunk. I hear whiskey can be medicinal." A hint of the grin was still on her face even as she sipped her coffee, which luckily for everyone these days was keeping her functional rather than getting her wired like it used to.

"The legendary Anna?" Scott asked, "I keep hearing about her." He turned to face Bishop, "You really need to introduce me to her," he reminded his friend. "The stripper was ... awkward," he admitted. "Although Warren showing up was colourful." He smiled at the memory. He glanced at the two investigators, "I don't do random violence" he said gesturing at his eye. "Old habits."

"I don't go there when Anna's working." Bishop informed Vanessa. "And you'll meet her sometime, I'm sure. We all keep unusual hours so it's hard to schedule."

"Warren was in a strip club?" An eyebrow raised curiously. Vanessa doubted Scott knew that she'd been involved with him but it wasn't a jealousy thing. At least she was pretty sure it wasn't. It was more that he didn't seem the strip club sort. "You'll like Anna, though," she told Scott. "Well, I might be biased because sometimes she feeds more than just Lucas. And I'm easy that way."

Scott nodded, "Yep, he showed up fashionably late. Missed the serious discussions, but seemed to enjoy himself." He leaned back in the chair, "She cooks as well? Sounds perfect. Jean..." he broke of shaking his head and took another sip of the whiskey.

"You're going to have a lot to say about her, Scott. It's ok." Bishop offered.

Vanessa's eyes darted between the two men as she sipped at her coffee, clearly confused. "Did I miss something? Are you and Red having a falling out or something?"

"More of an 'or something'," Scott admitted reluctantly. "We had an argument at the beginning of the year and...she moved out. I haven't talked to her since."

"All you can do is be available for when she wants to talk." Bishop offered.

Given Vanessa hadn't talked to Jean since she had been locked in her medlab room by the woman, she wasn't sure she had anything warm or comforting to offer. That was why she got up, stole the bottle of Maker's from where Lucas had left it on his desk and came back to pour more in Scott's glass. "No one likes a sad sap, mate. Better to focus on something that doesn't make you look a bit like a drowned puppy, yeah?"

Scott nodded in agreement with Bishop as he took a sip of his refilled glass spluttering a little in surprise at the strength of the bourbon. He turned to look at Vanessa, "But I do the drowned puppy so well," he commented dryly as he struggled to follow Vanessa's advice. "Sarah works for you here right?" he asked taking a more measured sip of his drink. "How's she working out?"

"She's a good worker." Bishop offered. "A little odd but we all are."

"She calls Lucas 'sir' every time she speaks to him." An amused smirk appeared on Vanessa's lips. "It's very endearing in a way. Kids these days never have such manners," she laughed. "She's a good kid, she's just very eager to be useful and do her job well. And she dedicatedly follows all of her orders. Though she doesn't feed us like Laurie did so she's got some improvement to make, I think." Grinning, Vanessa sipped her coffee. It was obvious from her tone that she was fond of the girl, even if a bit amused by her.

Scott smiled, "Odd does describes all of us pretty well," he agreed, "although I prefer eccentric. It makes us sound richer. I'm glad she's doing well here," he continued. "It's good to find somewhere you belong."

"I do have a hard time getting people to just call me Bishop." The man said with a nod, casting a glance at Vanessa. She was the only person outside his girlfriend, his sister, and his Meemaw that called him Lucas. It was to revel in her position as his partner, which she knew he was reluctant to have someone take on after he left NYPD, he suspected. He didn't mind her use of his first name too much.

"It's because you're such a towering presence of monosyllabic stoicism," Vanessa teased her partner. "It strikes fear in the hearts of minors." She laughed and shot him a grin before turning her attention toward Scott. "I'm not sure 'eccentric' is quite as accurate, even if you prefer it. Really, you're just batshit crazy. You should embrace it, love. It's sort of part badge of honor and part devilishly charming in the right light."

Scott stared at Vanessa in wide-eyed amazement, "I...ah..Bat shit crazy, really?" he asked. The X-man took a sip of his drink before continuing, "You've got to give a man his dreams Vanessa," he replied with a smile. "Well I guess we all are a little crazy," he agreed, "despite Haller and the Professor's best efforts to keep us all sane. I've just never heard anyone refer to it as 'devilishly charming,'" he finished with a laugh.

Bishop poured himself another glass of whiskey. "Vanessa does have an attraction to the unusual. You might never hear anyone refer to it as 'devilishly charming' again."

"It's true," she admitted with a little frown and a nod. "I have somewhat 'eccentric' tastes." There was a hint of what was once her usual flirtatious air when she spoke, though no one who knew her would have thought it up to her usual level. "What can I say? I like 'em completely mad. It keeps things more interesting. As for your dreams, Scott, well, I'm not sure you want me giving 'em to you."

Scott tipped his glass at Vanessa, "Perhaps it would be best not to be given our dreams," he agreed. "Better to earn it for yourself than to take someones hand-outs. Still it'd be nice if it wasn't so hard sometimes."

"If things weren't hard, we wouldn't be able to do what we do." Bishop offered to derail the pity party before sipping some of his bourbon. "Builds character."

Blue eyes flicked between the two men for a few moments and Vanessa shook her head. "You know, I'm supposed to be the damaged, crazy one here I vote you both too fucking depressing to be around. You either both need more liquor, naked women or some combination of the two." Vanessa flashed them both a grin and got up to put her coffee mug in the sink.

Scott looked down at the glass in his hand, "I could probably handle another drink or two," he admitted. "Although no more naked women, please. The strip club was interesting but ...well I'm all tapped out on uncomfortable."

Bishop laughed. "It's not supposed to be uncomfortable." His eyes darted to Vanessa. "You're good with the internet, right? Do we need to send a bulletin letting everyone know no more naked women for Scott? I'm sure there will be some broken hearts."

"I know <i>my</i> heart's broken," the metamorph returned in a low, almost dry tone that could have been taken for sarcasm or flirting. "I'll get Sarah on that bulletin next time she's in. But, he's got a point Lucas. Having a naked woman grind against you who you're not allowed to touch? That's just unnatural. It's one thing being a tease, it's another being a stripper. It's just plain mean. You can tell Anna I said so." She smiled, almost angelic in the expression as she quickly washed out her mug and turned off the coffee maker.