Logan and Marie: Going Home

[x-traction.livejournal.com]

Logan checks on Marie during the flight back. She tries to explain and he tries to comfort. They both only marginally suceed.

The plane flight back from Greece more resembled a flying wake than the victorious X-Men returning from an op. Time to go check on the pups. He unbuckled himself and went looking for Marie. Besides, he probably should apologize for the Mistress bit. Even if making her turn beet-red was unbelievably funny.

Marie had taken a seat in the far back of the plane and was staring out the window. Scott had been calmer then she'd expected when she and Haller had talked to him, but for some reason that had almost made her feel worse. And then there was Garrison...she hadn't quite worked up the nerve to talk to him yet. He'd been the one stuck with Jack afterall. She didn't turn as she heard someone walk up and instead kept her gaze firmly locked on the clouds outside her window.

"Hey, kid." he said, taking a seat next to Marie. Curious to see what she was staring at, he looked out the window as well. Just a pure blue sky and fluffy clouds. "Why so glum?" he asked.

Marie shrugged, keeping her attention focused where it was. She looked somewhat like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar, not wanting to look at the person she thought would be doling out punishment.

Logan poked a stiff finger into her side. "Hey." he said, sternly. "Knock it off and -answer me-. Why so glum?"

"It's not completely mine to tell," she said, keeping her voice low. "But Ah had to make a decision and Ah don't know if Ah made the right one." And Garrison is gonna hate me now. For letting his first mission be with a crazy man.

"Happens." he said. "You gonna let it eat you inside or are you gonna examine what call you made and why you made it?" he asked reasonably. "Don't borrow trouble, kid."

"But Ah don't have a way to know if Ah made the right one," Marie replied. "Guess Ah'm startin' to understand why 'Ro and Scott are always so stressed. You only get to see how one situation plays out when you make a choice...and your always left wondering what would've happened if you chose door number two."

"Nope." he said sternly. "That's the trap both Summers and Munroe fall into. You make the best call you can given what you know and you have the fucking courage of your convictions." he said. "If you're wrong, you're wrong. Shit happens. You learn from it and _move on_."

"It isn't that easy," she said. "How do you just put that outta your mind? Ah mean, no one got physically hurt and all," this time, "but that doesn't mean Ah made the right choice. Ah don't know if Ah did or didn't."

Every so often Logan felt like he was miles away from everyone around him. This was one of those times. He didn't know how to get through to her, how to make her believe in herself. He hissed in frustration as he tried to think it through, tried to find a way. "No one got hurt, you got the luxury to play what-if games until they eat you _alive_."

Marie finally turned to face her best friend. "It's the first time Ah've made a decision that big that affected someone else." That was only part of the truth. The other part was that she knew she was as big a liability to the team as Haller and that she could easily be in the same situation...she had been during Alcatraz, she just hadn't been present enough to realize it.

"Welcome to the big leagues, kid. You don't think you can hack it then turn your tabs in and go wait tables or wander Alaska or something." he said, not as harshly as his words sounded. "I know you never wanted this life. Maybe you should get out, try to be normal."

"But Ah'm not normal," she shot back. "And Ah don't mean because Ah'm a mutant. Ah belong here. On the team." Marie turned her head to look out the window again. "It's just hard sometimes."

"Yeah. It is." he said, and joined her in staring out the window for a few moments. "Powerful hard." He just wished he knew why he felt a sudden wave of regret.

"This is when you're supposed to tell me that it's all gonna be ok," she said softly. "That it'll all work out in the end." She looked at him, a small, sad smile on her face. "That the professor isn't such a bad guy and Ah should give him a chance?"

Logan just gave Marie a look. "No matter what, he's better than a lot of the alternatives." he said after a _long_ moment. "These geeks still deserve a chance."

"Yeah," Marie agreed, leaning her head against his shoulder. "Except, you know, we're kinda part of those geeks now."

"Bite your tongue." he said, but with a smile on his face. "Wolverine will never be a geek." Nevermind the teaching Art nonsense.