Hi, all! So, Z here. I have been getting really into writing again and I actually feel really confident in my work. I've been doing some discipline RP that's been fun as hell with one of my besties and it's been making me think about this story a lot. Oh, this poor old thing. I started writing it when I was fourteen and rereading it makes me cringe… Thanks a million times over to those of you who loved it, read it, and stuck with it. I still like the premise of this story… This story was the first spanking fiction I ever put online, too, so it's kind of my baby. It's been a long time in the making, but shit, I never abandoned it! So I want to have a go at reworking it until I don't want to slap myself silly whenever I read it. Then maybe I can finally finish the damn thing.

It had been several long months since Jean had given her own life for the lives of her friends at Alkali Lake. The entire mansion was only just now emerging from the shroud of shock that had ensconced it afterward, with many of the younger students tentatively starting to have fun again.

While Logan was glad to see some things return to normal, that only made the things that weren't getting better all the more disturbing. Profound loss had weighed heavily on the hearts of all of the staff and some of the more involved older students. Xavier and Storm had been able to put on a strong front for the students, while being able to talk out their grief with each other as well as other staff members in private. Logan was handling it about as well as he had handled any other loss, which is to say, not very well. The only thing keeping him from practically living in Harry's Bar was his responsibility to the kids at this school, especially Rogue, as well as Ororo.

He and Ororo had taken comfort in one another following Alkali, and it had turned into something more. It was tentative, early stages of their relationship, but Logan was hopeful. He suspected having Ororo there as a support and, in kind, being able to provide strength for her, was what was keeping him upright most days.

However, there was one member of the extended X-Family who was doing abysmally. That was Cyclops. For all his shock and tears on the Blackbird, Scott had done a 180 a few days after Jean's funeral. He was very cold and distant most of the time, and the rare times he chose to engage with anyone, he was petulant or hostile. He was shirking his responsibilities around the mansion and didn't even show up to teach half the time.

Frankly, Logan was getting a little sick of it. Yes, Scott was certainly entitled to his depression. Someone dear to him had been lost, the whole mansion was feeling it. What was really grating on Logan's nerves was Scott's attitude. They had never seen eye to eye, sure, but usually Logan was the one being antagonising. And then, it was usually contained to Scott himself. Scott, however? Logan had even caught him snapping at students lately. There was simply no call for it.

Logan had expected all of that to last a few weeks, maybe, before Scott realised his behavior was unacceptable, or the Professor talked with him to remind him of that fact. Neither of these things happened, and things had gotten to the point where Logan knew, instinctually, if someone didn't step in and straighten Cyclops out, they were going to lose him. Logan was a runner at heart and he could see the signs in other people. The mansion couldn't take a serious hit like Cyclops abandoning them without great repercussion, and Logan found himself really caring about what happened to this place and the people in it. Even people like Cyclops.

All of this had been weighing on Logan for several days up to this point, and he was trying to decide the best way to confront Cyclops. He didn't want to piss the guy off and drive him away even faster, but he'd also never been one to have much tact when it came to Scott Summers. But when he walked into the kitchen late one night, doing rounds to make sure nobody (except Jones, obviously) was awake, the decision was made for him.

Scott was sitting at the center island, with multiple empty beer bottles in front of him and the rest of the 12-pack off to his side. It wasn't just any beer, though, it was the Canadian beer Logan bought for himself to avoid drinking the piss in the nearby supermarkets that the Americans liked to call 'beer'. Everyone in the mansion knew damn well exactly whose beer it was and Scott was sitting there, flagrantly consuming it, Wolverine be damned.

"Cyke… What in hell d'you think you're doing?" Logan demanded, the calmness of his voice not betraying how ticked off he was.

"Oh, you know… Just having a beer," Scott said nonchalantly. "Or four. Five?" He looked at the one in his hand and the empty bottles in front of him. Shrugging, he knocked back the rest of the one he was holding. "Yes. Five. Having five beers," he informed Logan.

A low growl escaped Logan's throat. He was sick and tired of this bullshit from what used to be the Institute's most responsible resident.

"You know, Scott, if you were actin' normal I might just save it for the Danger Room and kick your ass and be done with it," he started.

Scott snorted, grabbing for another beer. "Done with what?" he asked obliviously.

In a few long strides, Logan was beside him, grabbing the beer right out of his hand and putting it back in the case.

"With you. With this bullshit attitude of yours. Do you realise you ain't been acting even half as mature as the teenagers you teach?" he demanded.

Scott was a little confused, and a lot annoyed. Although the former could be contributed partly to drinking so many of Logan's beers. He'd never cared much for beer himself, but he had to admit, Logan had better taste in the stuff than anything he usually drank.

"Why would you give a damn about my attitude?" he frowned. "It's really none of your business… None at all."

"Oh yes, it is my business. It's my business because I'm pickin' up all your slack with no thanks from you, boy," Logan said seriously. "And I'm watchin' you set a terrible example for the impressionable kids it's supposed to be both our jobs to look after." He shook his head. "You're refusing to deal with what you know you need to deal with. Take it from a man who's seen a lot of loss - you're doing this wrong."

Scott Scoffed and got off his stool, faltering a little and plenty annoyed when Logan steadied him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Take your advice and shove it up your ass, Wolverine. Don't know when you got so high and mighty, but I don't think I like it."

Logan honestly couldn't count the number of times he'd compared Scott to a brat kid in his head lately. But this? This was taking the cake.

He grabbed Scott's arm and hauled him out of the kitchen, ignoring his protests and attempts to wrestle his arm free. Nobody else around here seemed willing to confront Scott on his behavior, so Logan supposed he'd just have to do that himself.

"What in hell do you think you're doing?" Scott grumbled, finally able to wrench his arm out of Logan's grip after being shoved into one of the ground floor bathrooms. Logan locked the door behind himself, effectively trapping Scott in the bathroom with him.

"Holdin' you accountable, that's what," Logan said, taking Scott's arm again. He propped one foot up on the edge of the bathtub and hauled Scott over his raised knee.

"Logan… Logan, what the hell?" he demanded, immediately trying to struggle away. Logan held him fast, though. "Let me up!"

He ignored Scott's protests and went on talking.

"You see, Scott, I'm damned tired of you bein' disrespectful to everyone in this school. I'm tired of you not showing up to teach your classes. I'm tired of you breaking the same damn rules everyone else around here follows to keep things running smoothly. And I'm really, really tired of you acting like some spoiled kid. So, I thought to myself, you know what? I'm old. Really old. And what did people do to correct this sort of behavior in young men and women when I was a little less old?"

Scott was starting to get the picture, right around the same time his jeans were yanked down.

"Logan, you're insane!" Scott protested loudly. "Let me the hell up and go pull this shit on someone else!"

"I don't think you're really in a position to be giving orders there, Scott," Logan said. He raised his hand and whacked it down solidly on the seat of Scott's boxer shorts. Scott was shocked into not reacting for a moment, but after Logan had swatted him a second time, his struggling was renewed. Logan simply held him a little tighter. There wasn't really a whole lot Scott could do in this position.

With that in mind, Logan meted out moderately hard smacks of his hard hand at a steady pace, targeting the rounder parts of Scott's bottom for the most part, but occasionally swatting his thighs or the tender place where his thighs and bottom met.

Scott, for his part, was so shocked and angry that the pain hardly even registered for the first ten swats or so. After that, however, the sting was really starting to get his attention. He squirmed, trying to move his butt out of the way.

"Logan…" he started after another few moments. The sound of Logan's hand smacking his backside was resoundingly loud echoing off the walls of the bathroom. "Logan, stop this! You're being ridiculous!" he demanded angrily. A yelp escaped him as another one of those swats landed right at the tops of his thighs.

"Yeah, it damn well is ridiculous," Logan agreed, speeding up his pace. He wasn't doing his job right if Scott was still able to complain like that. "You know what's more ridiculous? Yelling at a student because you don't handle grief well!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Scott spat, gripping onto Logan's leg with both of his hands. He was trying to give himself something to focus on, because his butt was actually starting to hurt. It wasn't helping much. Nothing he could grip would distract him from the burning sensation.

Logan shook his head. It was time to pull out the big guns. He tugged Scott's boxers down, letting them band around the tops of his thighs to protect his modesty, but still displaying his rather pink behind.

"Logan!" Scott practically shouted, throwing one of his hands back to try and grab his boxers. "I think this has gone far enough!"

"Oh, you think?" Logan asked, raising an eyebrow. He grabbed Scott's hand and pinned it behind his back, then continued smacking. "Because I think your behavior has gone far enough. I think you need to start owning up, boy. Tell me why you're getting this spanking."

To his chagrin, Scott found his eyes stinging with tears he couldn't shed. It was nothing compared to the fire in his backside though. Something about having his shorts taken down was making him feel vulnerable as hell. That, added to the childish punishment, was taking a toll on his heart.

"Please, don't," he sniffed, not even caring about how pathetic he probably. "Please stop."

"I'll stop when I'm damn well ready to stop," Logan said grimly. "Tell me why you're getting this spanking."

He could tell that Logan wasn't going to relent anytime soon.

"Because I… Stole your beer," Scott gulped out.

"Go on."

"And I disrespected you and everyone else in the mansion," he said, his struggling dying down considerably. "I've been neglecting my responsibilities without asking for help with them…"

"Yep," Logan nodded. "And what else are you gonna get help with?"

He asked this with a little less severity. It was the heart of all Scott's current issues, and probably the most fragile thing about him right now.

"I'm going to ask for help… dealing with Jean's death," he gasped. After that, he cried freely. He hardly even noticed when Logan stopped swatting his aching bottom.

Logan just let Scott stay where he was for a moment, then eventually tugged his underwear back into place, before finally replacing his jeans.

He stood Scott on his own two feet and pulled him into a hug. Scott was a little surprised at that, but willingly returned the embrace after a moment.

"You don't even need to ask, you ding-bat," Logan informed him gruffly. "We've been trying to offer you support but you've been too stubborn to take it. Jean's not here. You have to learn to let yourself trust other people to fill some of the space she's leaving behind."

Scott nodded into his shoulder. That sounded terrifying, to be honest. But now that he'd been forced to take a look at the kind of behavior he was displaying when trying to play defense on his crippled emotions, he had to admit it was probably better for him.

He also found himself starved of human contact after isolating himself for the past few months. The thought of having any sort of support system was definitely drawing him in, but at the same time, he was scared - he didn't know if he even knew how to let people in anymore. But he supposed he didn't have to worry about that if people like Logan were going to force themselves past his walls. He only hoped that continued experiences wouldn't be quite so painful to his behind.

See, that was a lot better! Now to start uploading these as I post them. I would really recommend you not start rereading after finishing this chapter. The quality going forward is truly awful. Thanks again! And drop me a line!

Z