#i was brainstorming ways to make it clear Logan's addiction was being dealt with in a longer fic

[sirsparklepants]

Concept: Colossus does art therapy with Logan post movie

[the-blind-assassin-12]

Cross Cut

A/N: Another in the Play the Hand You’re Dealt event, this takes a look at the day Logan met his buzzkill from his point of view, and what you did that made him sure that you were the right person for this job. 

Warning: language. and William’s face, gross. 

Word Count: 3,432

Requested by:  @something-tofightfor See You in New York Logan, General, Secrets & Lies, Logan’s POV

Logan tugged at his left shirtsleeve, fixing the toggle of the silver rimmed onyx cufflink. He twisted it with his long fingers, pushing it back through the buttonhole to tighten the fit around his wrist. That’s better. His eyes flicked up to the numbers above the elevator door, lighting up as the vessel carried him swiftly to the 38th floor. Leaning back against the shiny railing,  he slid his hands into the pockets of his pants and crossed his ankles. Wonder how this is gonna go. He took a breath before letting it slowly out through his nose. Could go a few different ways, depending on… He uncrossed his feet and shifted his weight away from the railing, removing his left hand from his pocket to check the time. This could be good. Or it could be a disaster.  

He’d been preoccupied with the defamation case for the last few weeks, working long hours  with the legal team to prove his innocence, and between that and trying to get caught up on the work that he’d missed while dealing with that, he’d given little to no thought about what today’s introduction would be like or how it might change things. It would be the first time that he would be working with someone so closely that he hadn’t personally chosen or worked with previously, and while he knew the date Cynthia had mentioned as her associate’s start date, Logan hadn’t had time to consider anything else regarding the situation. He trusted Cynthia’s judgement and wanted to believe that the woman wouldn’t send him someone that wouldn’t be a good fit- that she wouldn’t send a goldfish into the shark tank. Annoyed enough already that his father and the rest of the Delos board were insistent upon this being a necessary step, he didn’t want to be locked into 6 months of interaction with someone that he himself would fire in 6 minutes if given the choice. Guess we’ll see. 

The bright white bulb behind the stencil cut 38 lit up and the elevator car came to a smooth stop as the doors opened silently. Logan tilted his head to the right and rolled that shoulder, a small pop coming from somewhere in his neck. He could see Charlie standing a few feet away, an espresso in one hand, his touchpad and a few files stacked and tucked into the crook of his bent elbow, ready to prep Logan for the day’s meetings and deadlines. New to the company, Charlie had just graduated the intern program and Logan had made sure to snatch him up, the young man showing more promise and attention to detail than any other prospective assistant Logan had considered. He was sharp, capable and dedicated without being cocky, pretentious or a kiss-ass. But why does he look like he’s ready to shit a brick? Logan watched the man’s throat undulate as he swallowed, his eyes blinking rapidly as he clenched and unclenched his jaw. Mildly concerned, Logan strode from the elevator. Only one way to find out. 

“Mornin’, Charlie,” Logan greeted him with the same relaxed demeanor that he did every morning no matter how stressed, frustrated, exhausted or busy he was. He smiled, taking the coffee that was offered to him in his left hand, right digging his phone from his pocket. “What does today look like?” Aside from meeting my new ball and chain. Quickly entering his passcode to unlock his phone, Logan took a sip of the bitter espresso and opened his calendar. 

Charlie switched the items in his arm as they started walking towards Logan’s office, tucking whatever files he carried under the touch screen tablet. With a few deft swipes that he could have done blindfolded, he opened the same calendar portal so that he could go over Logan’s schedule. “Good morning, Mr. Delos.” He cleared his throat, covering his mouth by making a fist with his free hand before bringing it up to press his pointer finger to his eyebrow, dragging it towards his temple. It was his tell, the dead giveaway that his nerves were bordering on nausea. Terrible poker face, Charlie. “There’s an R & D budgetary meeting at 11. They want to propose some new synthetic materials and software upgrades they’ve been working on.” 

Logan took another sip of espresso, nodding. He approved that meeting on his agenda by highlighting it with one finger, the entry vanishing from Charlie’s screen and showing up in bold font on his own. That could be interesting. Having a hand in the research and development of new technologies for the parks and for other branches of Delos Inc. was one of Logan’s favorite things about his position. Though he didn’t have a degree in engineering, he often contributed to brainstorming sessions combining his experience in the parks with his creative ingenuity to help spark new ideas or solve existing glitches or issues. “Should run about an hour, yeah?” He raised his eyebrows questioningly as he turned to Charlie,  just in time to catch another press and drag of his finger over his forehead. What the fuck is he freaking out about? 

Charlie nodded. “Yup, it should, usually does.” He dropped his hand back to his tablet to swipe at the next item on the list- a conference call with an investor in Paris at noon. Logan groaned internally at that one, but approved it anyway. Turning the corner, they passed Juliet’s office. Her door was closed, but Logan waved to her through the glass wall, raising two fingers on the hand he held his beverage in. Hey, Jul. She was on the phone, a frown creasing her face that only deepened as she pressed her lips together and half-heartedly waved back. Okay, who the fuck died around here? He used the same fingers that he used to wave to his sister to unlock the keypad on his office door, then pushed it open for Charlie to follow him inside. 

“After that you’ve got-” 

Logan closed the door with his elbow, the lock engaging automatically as soon as it clicked shut. Even though two of the four walls that made up the executive offices were glass, the soundproofing made them as private as they needed to be. “Cut the shit, Charlie.” He drained the rest of his espresso and crossed to his desk to toss the empty white cardboard cup into the recycling bin. I know something’s up, so tell me what it is. 

‘Um, well,” Charlie stammered. Logan watched him clench his hand in a fist in an effort not to bring it up to his brow. He shuffled the file he’d been holding beneath the tablet, opening it and pulling out two magazines with obnoxiously bright yellow lettering emblazoned across the top, and photos and headlines collaged all over their covers. “The legal team got them to pull it from their website but…” With a shaky hand, Charlie held out the glossy prints. “I figured you would have seen them already but…” He sighed. 

Is that? Logan’s eyes widened as he reached out and took what Charlie was handing him. But before he’d even turned it around, he knew exactly who he was looking at. That fucking piece of shit. The shiny, waxy paper crumpled beneath his fingers as he flexed them, a hot rush of anger flushing through him. That’s why Jules looked at me like that, he glanced up at his assistant, why he looks like he’s gonna blow. He looked back down at the photo staring up at him, his top lip curling in thick, vicious hatred.  

Ousted Delos Exec Breaks Silence on Sex Scandal Rumors: It Wouldn’t Surprise Me- drugs, debauchery, and other things you didn’t know about Logan Delos as told by his former brother-in-law. 

Fucking William. He flipped to the second cover, scanning a similarly damning headline featuring an equally pathetic looking photo of Juliet’s ex-husband, the man’s complexion looking off, his blond hair long and lanky in appearance. This is low, even for you, you fucking- Logan’s eyes slipped closed and he clenched his jaw. No. Not gonna let this asshole… Exhaling slowly, he dropped the tabloids to his desk and blinked his eyes open. Pulling out his chair, he sat down and set his phone on top of the prints, blocking William’s face. Following the suggestion of his addiction counselor, he’d taken all name notifications down from any publication that didn’t relate strictly to business so he wouldn’t be inundated with opinions on how long his sobriety would last and pictures of him at his worst. So when William’s “tell-all” went to print, Logan knew nothing about it. But I’m not gonna let him get under my skin and fuck around. He’d done enough damage, and now that he’d finally been dealt with, Logan wouldn’t let him gain an inch of real estate in his mind. Not again.  

“Well,” he looked up at the other man and cleared his throat. “Never a dull moment, is there?” Charlie’s mouth opened and closed, his shoulders rising with a breath as though he were going to say something, then deflating as nothing came out. It’s fine, not your fault. Movement behind Charlie caught Logan’s eye as he saw Juliet leaving her office and taking long steps towards his. Here we go. “Listen, Charlie, do me a favor and just accept all my meetings for the day. If anything changes and I need to reschedule anything, I’ll let you know.” Juliet raised her fist to rap her knuckles on his office door, three assertive knocks followed by the muffled call of his name. Charlie raised his eyebrows and gestured towards the door. “Yeah,” Logan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Let her in. Wait!” Charlie froze with his hand on the door knob. “You’ll let me know when the rep from the New York firm gets here, right?” 

“Of course. She’s scheduled to be here within the hour.” Great. “Mr. Delos?” Logan tilted his head indicating that Charlie should go on. “I’m sorry about this bullshit. I hope this is the last of it.” 

Logan saw in the man’s eyes that he was being genuine, another trait he valued in his personal assistant. He nodded, the slightest smile of appreciation curving his lips to the side. “Thanks, Charlie.” He stuck his chin out at the door as Juliet knocked again, harder this time. “You better let her in before she breaks it down.” 

Charlie’s hand resumed motion, turning the knob to open the door. He barely sidestepped out of the way as Juliet spilled through, the young assistant skirting around the woman and scurrying out the door and out of the way. “Logan, I’m fucking livid. I’m...this is… how can he still be…” His sister paced around in front of his desk, arms and hands punctuating every words she was saying with their rigid movements. Good morning to you too, sunshine. She turned to him, finally seeing him through the haze of red. “I’m fucking pissed, I’m…” She swallowed then, tears springing to her eyes that Logan knew were caused equally by anger as they were by anything else. He got up and stepped around his desk as she wiped at her eyes. “I’m so sorry he’s still trying to hurt you, Logan, I’m...this is my-” 

That initial swell of hatred built up again as Juliet tried to take the blame for William’s latest stunt. “Hey. Don’t, Jules.” He warned. She sniffed, nodding as a tendril of soft brown hair fell over her eyes. Her slender fingers came up to tuck it back into place as tears still rolled slowly down her cheeks, leaking from dark eyes brimming with frustration and contempt for her ex-husband, sympathy and love for her brother.  “I mean it, don’t. This is not your fault, okay? There’s nothin’ you could have done or not done to stop him from being what he is.” Not after you married him, anyway.

He chased that thought away, wrapping her in a one-armed hug that she returned eagerly. Since Juliet and William’s divorce had gone through roughly one month ago, Logan had been working on repairing his relationship with Juliet, and was just starting to build one with his niece. He looked down at his desk, at a photo taken just a few weeks back of him and Juliet with Emily at the aquarium. Both siblings were pointing to the brightly colored fish and gently swaying coral that filled the enormous tank that they stood in front of, but the one and half year old’s wide tawny eyes were stuck on her uncle. He brought his second arm around his sister and squeezed quickly before letting go. Of course he would have preferred that she listened to him about William in the first place, not just because her disbelief had cut him deeply, but because she could have saved herself from having to have married him. But he’s out now, and I’m not letting him hurt you- either of you- anymore. 

Juliet took a steadying breath and stepped back with a shake of her head. “I’m sorry, I’m just…” she scoffed. “I can’t believe he is Emily’s…” she couldn’t even say the last word. Yeah, me either. “Anyway,” she resumed her pacing, but much more slowly and far less aggressively and Logan returned to his desk chair. “I was on the phone with legal when you got in before. I’m sure Charlie told you that we got the...articles…” she was careful not to use the word story when they both knew that there was no truth to the facts that William claimed to know. “Those were taken down from these two websites.” Logan nodded, leaning against the backrest as he tapped his thumb against the edge of his desk. “Well, we’re slamming them for running it at all after the trial, after you,” she rolled her wrist, looking for the right wording. “Running it after you proved she was lying, well… they’re in deep shit.” As they should be. 

“Good.” Logan sat forward, wetting his lips as he dragged one hand through his hair. It’s been a long day and it’s not even 10 am. He sighed, pushing the tabloids even further to the side of his desk so that he couldn’t see William’s face. 

“Logan?” Juliet looked down at the floor before bringing her eyes level with his. He tilted his head in response. “How are you...are you doing okay? I mean with all of this?” She chewed her bottom lip. It occurred to him that she wasn’t only asking how he was handling the accusation, but also if he showed any signs of falling back down the stairway to hell. 

Surprisingly, even the shock of being dragged through the mud for things he’d never even think of doing hadn’t been enough to push him back over that edge he’d fought three times to climb, this last bout with recovery feeling like it would be his last. I got my sister back, got my family and my company back and… He thought of Emily and how she was the only child in the world he gave two shits about.  He smiled, and though it wasn’t one of unbridled joy and happiness, it didn’t feel forced and that was something. “I’ll be okay, Jules, don’t worry. Besides,” in a display of timing so perfect that he couldn’t have choreographed it better, his phone screen lit up and he pointed at it. “My fairy godmother is here to fix all my bullshit.” He picked up the phone as Juliet actually let out a small laugh. “I’ll fill you in later, yeah?” She nodded and wished him luck before leaving to head back to her own spacious office. The phone in his hand lit up and buzzed again, and he swiped Cynthia’s name to answer. 

“Good Morning,” he answered the call, skipping the formal greeting.

“I’m assuming you saw the trash rags?” She, too, forwent any sort of official bullshit, which was one of the things Logan admired most about her. 

“Sure did. Guess you saw it before it was pulled from the internet?” I wonder what it says… He glanced sidelong at the magazines on his desk and tapped his pointer finger against his phone. 

“Who do you think called your legal team?” Of course you did. “That ex brother-in-law of yours looks like shit in those pictures.” Logan had to laugh at that. He heard the clacking of a keyboard as Cynthia fired off an email while she had him on the line. He does.  

“Thanks, Cyn, I owe you one.” He was vaguely aware of movement outside of his office, the elevator door opening and closing as Charlie escorted a woman- you- out of it. “Speaking of which, I think your rep just got here.” 

“She did. She texted me from your elevator.” Oh. So she’s just like you then. “I wanted to touch base with you one last time before you were introduced.” Interesting. 

Logan watched Charlie guide you towards his office, noting your confident posture, the practiced way that you made the elevator-to-office walk look as though you had done it countless times instead of this being your first time setting foot in the building. Your eyes stayed on Charlie even as she took a sip of the coffee in your hand, sharp and focused. “I’m listening.” 

“She’s the best I’ve got, so you have to trust her. She can be stubborn, like you.” Fantastic. “And in this case you’re going to have to be the one to concede, understand?” Yeah, Cyn, I get it.  “I’m telling you, she’s going to tie this off in such a nice little bow that no one will be able to say a word. And this new layer of garbage with your sister’s ex? Consider it gone, she’ll have a statement prepared by lunch.”

“Sounds great, Cynthia.” I hope you’re right. After three years of dealing with the aftermath of his trip to Westworld with William, depression, addiction, and all the havoc those things wreaked on his personal life and career, Logan was in dire need of a break. Cynthia assured him that she was in fact right, and ended the phone call the exact second that Charlie’s knock came on the door to introduce you to him. Damn. He had to admire Cynthia’s ability to run a well-oiled machine in her firm. And if she stands by this rep then I should, too. 

You’d given him your name, extending your hand to shake in a show of trust, briefly discussed your background and what you already knew about the case. She’s intense. He licked his lips as you rifled through the file that you carried, the deep burgundy polish on your nails standing in stark contrast to the manila folder as you pulled out page after page of preliminary drafting that you’d done for a blueprint back into the good graces of the dear old public. This is gonna work, she’s gonna- 

“Is that?” You pointed to the two tabloids still sitting on his desk, not waiting for his answer, simply striding over to pick them up. Oh, alright. “These are ridiculous, and the fact that he went to this level speaks volumes about the type of person he is.” You’re right. You shook your head muttering. “Garbage people in these damn garbage… does this thing do cross cut? And can it take staples?” What? Yeah, it- You were pointing at the industrial strength paper shredder located next to his desk, and again without waiting for him to answer, you pressed a button on the machine and sent both magazines through the slot, teeth catching the thick paper and slicing it to ribbons. 

“Guess I’m not reading those.” 

“You don’t need to,” you shrugged, a spark in your eye catching his attention. “They’re lies, right?” 

“They are.” He watched the remains of the magazine crumple and curl into confetti, William’s face and words obliterated before his eyes. 

“Then what they say doesn’t matter.” You smiled and pulled your phone from your pocket, tapping the screen to answer a message as you took a sip of your coffee, tossing your empty cup on top of his in the bin. Finished with the message you were sending, you put your phone away and reorganized the file you brought with you. “Now,” Logan watched the way your left eyebrow lifted as a determined tone entered your voice. “Should we get started?”

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