Logan and Garrison, down at the quarry

[x-wolverine.livejournal.com]

Garrison catches up with Logan, who's off drinking beers down at the quarry. Garrison's a good friend and Logan needs one right about now.



Logan sat on the edge of the quarry, two cases of beer beside him. He was already halfway through the first case and as he finished each bottle he launched it against the rocks to shatter. A cigar dangled from his lips and he leaned back as far as he could to stare up into the pleasantly blue sky and just try to be for a while. As he lifted a fresh beer to his lips he paused to look at his hand and what lay beneath the flesh. Muscle, tendon, nerve, fat ... and unbreakable metal. Some days the injustice of it just made him want to scream. And since there was nobody about, Logan gave it a voice.

"You do realise that when you come out here to yell, the entire animal population of the grounds attempts to scale the opposite wall to escape." It wasn't all that surprising to see Kane cutting across the grounds. Like Marie, he tended to keep an eye on Logan, having learned to seperate general orneriness and loner tendencies from when he was actually troubled.

Logan didn't even crack a smile at that - an unusual thing for him. Instead, he swallowed down another beer and launched the bottle into the quarry to shatter against the unyielding rock. "Keeps 'em on their toes." he said after a long pause.

"I like to think it's the Scottish girl that happens to open up their necks with her teeth that does it, but still." Kane dropped down to the grass beside the other man, resting his forearms loosely on his knees. He reached out and pulled a beer from the full case, tossing the bottle cap idly over the edge. "So what's it this time, old man? Getting blown up finally starting to get to you?"

Logan shot Garrison look that promised violent dismemberment. "You ain't ever felt that kind of hurt." Logan told his companion. "Been a rough couple of weeks." he admitted after another long pause. "Real rough. The kind of rough that makes a man wonder what the fuck he's doin' still breathing."

"Especially with fashion sense like yours." It's not like Garrison could actually stop the joke if he tried. Besides, Logan wasn't the one to take the soft-line approach with. He'd either tell Kane what was going on or he wouldn't, regardless what what he might say. "So what's driven you to the vaguely suicidual yet comtemplative level this time, that isn't solvable by kicking the hell out of a truck stop full of drunken bikers?"

"You ever looked Death in the eye, kid?" he asked conversationally, grabbing another beer. "I mean really looked? And I'm not talkin about that crazy fuck leaving you unshielded in enemy fire. I'm talking about some real hurt."

"Nope. I'm feeling pretty good about that fact." Garrison took a sip. "However, the fact that I've seen you heal back from skelaton and burnt chunks makes me wonder if you have either. No offense, man, but you live your life based on the fact that submerging you into lava seems to be the only thing that really slows you down."

"Used to think so." he said. "Until I got ripped apart and crushed by debris. That whole op was just about a mass real estate transaction." he added. "Was different this time. Wrist-deep in my own guts, trying to pull shrapnel the size of your forearm out of my kidney. It changes you, when you look death in the eye."

"I think this is the very first time I've ever heard you talk about your own mortality. Obviously more happened at this mission than I got told about." He'd read the mission report, but it failed to cover the real human aspect of the experience. Anything that would rattle Logan, Kane was willing to take seriously. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"Fuck, kid, it was an open question if I was even mortal." he snapped back. "And hell if I know. Shit, I got stuff I care about here. It's not as clean as it was before. Not so simple." he said as he thought it over. "I liked it simple. Clean, direct, easy. Go Forth And Fuck Them Up, that kind of thing. Now? I got a little girl who'd never forgive me and another one who looks at me like I'm some kinda fuckin' role model. Ain't that just a joke?"

"Yeah, you get stuck not getting to hide behind the loner mentality any more. I hear that." Kane picked up a stone and whipped it across the quarry, watching it bounce off of the deep cuts in the rock. "Means that you need to step up to it, old man. You keep talking about control, and honour. It's important to you, because it helps keep the beast in. To a sixteen year old girl, it rates slightly lower than brussel sprouts and televised golf. It's pretty fucking scary when you've got someplace that it's important to you to be in, 'specially when you agree with almost nothing being done the way it is."

Logan just nodded to that and downed another beer. The bottle joined its brothers in fragments at the bottom of the quarry and he took another heavy drag off his cigar. "That the sound of frustration I hear there, kid?" he asked simply, still staring up at the sky. He let that question sit, then asked another.

"You ever wonder if you got kids out there somewhere?"

"No. Of the women that have been goodly enough to sleep with me, I have a fairly clear idea that none of them got pregnent. However, I also don't have a mysterious past of which I can't remember, oh, a good twenty years or so of." Kane flipped the empty over, wondering if he was going to be dragged out here in the middle of the night by Marko with a broom and a dustpan later. "Is that what this is? A brush of mortality and you're wondering if you've got family somewhere waiting?"

"Fuck off." Logan said with a little bit of heat in his voice. "Maybe it's because I got a little warchild who looks up at me like I got all the answers." he riposted. "And yeah, maybe it's because I came close to gettin' my ticket punched. Dunno how I feel 'bout that one." he mused. Deciding that the conversation was getting too damned serious - and to give him something to do with his hands - he grabbed a beer and chugged from it until it was gone. It, too, went spinning off into the quarry. "Maybe I'm getting tired, kid. Tired of getting shit on by the others, tired of being ignored, tired of watching my back waiting for the Lehnsherr kid to sink the knife in. Just tired."

"You know, I think I finally figured out why you and Scott can't spend five minutes in the same room without trying to hit each other. You're the same damn guy underneath." Kane held up his hand to forestall Logan's run up to a very angry denial. "Neither of you trusts the people around you to make a decision. In Scott's case, it's because he's got some pathological need to pile everything on himself, because without that killer stress, he's terrified he won't matter to them. You? You've been through the fucking meatgrinder of life, and you're so obsessed with trying to prepare everyone for something similar in case it happens that you can't let people make mistakes without trying to get involved."

Logan thought about that for a moment, the snorted. "No fucking way." he said thoughtfully. "I've fought like a dog just to get what I've got. You think I ain't gonna listen when stuff _does_ come back to me?" he asked angrily. "Oh, and speakin' of which, got a beaut for you. Think I almost took a whack at Castro." he said with a grin. "Didn't get him, obviously, but that's only because our inside man sold us out."

"You should have gone after Dole and the sugar lobby instead." Kane popped open another beer, passing a fresh one over to Logan as he did so. "Look, Logan, I don't think you really understand what you got yourself hooked into here. This place matters to you, and when that happens, you lose your mind. It started with Marie, in a way I don't want to really think about the details of, but. You threatened a sixteen year old boy, who is wetter than a dishrag because he might have hurt her. That? Crazy time. Now, it's not just Marie. It's this whole damn school that's got you roped in. Talking honour and duty with Crystal, who is an actual princess and will likely have nothing to do with this place once she's gone. How did you let her under your skin, man?"

Garrison took a long pull. "It's simple. Because while she's here, she's at risk of being put through what happened to you, and you can't stand the thought that someone that's part of this place, even those you despise, might have to face that without being as tough and ready as you are. You and Scott, man. Scott's terrified of the idea that someone is going to get killed on a mission, and it's not going to be him. You? You can't even express how scared you are that someone from this school is going to get forced into the lab and under the knife one day and that person might not be you."

"You think too much, college boy." Logan said, but with no heat in it. Garrison's words were ringing true to him, and bore thinking about. "Still." he mused after a moment. "Place could use some toughening up. Soft, the lot of ya." he said with just the hint of a grin. "And speakin' of soft, I hear you been scratchin' 'round Marie's door." he said.

"I knock in a firm and manly fashion, I'll have you know." Kane said, not trying to hide his grin. "Besides, it was bound to happen. Any pair that insults each other as much as we do are just begging to be a romance comedy cliche."

He set his beer down on the rock, pulling up the coarse scrub around it. "She needs someone. She doesn't let on, but there's a loneliness there that she doesn't want to admit, especially since she's never alone inside her head. I've always thought the world of her, but now? It's hard to imagine how someone can be that strong, to keep going with everything that's there."

"Kid's got spirit." he said, as proud as any parent. "She's a survivor. Lives up to that ridiculous name of hers, too." he said with a grin. "Still..." he said, letting the word trail off. "You hurt her and I'm just gonna have to cut you." he promised.

"You know that's a possibility no matter what, so I'll ignore the threat. Plus, you cut on me, and Heather will be first in line to have a 'chat' with you. Even with your healing factor, you can't take that kind of hurt." Garrison said with a shrug. "Besides, you know I'd never do it intentionally."

"I'm serious, Gar." he said. "As weird as this is gonna sound, she's like a daughter to me. Fuck her up, and I fuck you up. I'll take the Heather hurtin' on that one." he said. Then, satisfied that he had done as honor demanded, he leaned back a little further and took up another beer. "And as long as no one fucks with my noggin you're safe from bein' cut by me."

"Man, you just can't resist kicking yourself in the nuts, can you?" Kane said, shaking his head. "The fact is that if you tried, Marie would be the first one to shove your fistful of claws up your-- well, let's just say the old healing factor would get a workout. She's a grown woman, Logan. She loves you and respects you, but she's the one that gets to decide whether she's going to risk getting hurt or not. Don't disrespect her by trying to add fear into the relationship. She, or anyone else, doesn't need that to know what she means to you."

Logan snorted in a friendly way and for the first time since he'd started on the cases he'd brought out to the quarry enjoyed his next beer. "Needed to be said anyway." he elaborated. "Misunderstandings are such ugly things." he smirked. "But seriously, she looks happy so I'm happy."

"Good. Because my next option was to kick you over the edge." Kane held out his empty and let it drop. "You got anything else on your mind, or have we successfully dealt with the tramua for today? If not, we'll need more beer."

"We always need more beer." he said with a laugh. "So you really think I stick my nose in too much?" he asked with amusement. "Huh. Alright, kid, let's go grab some real beer this time. You're buyin'."

"I don't think you stick your nose in too much. It's your mouth that's the trouble." Kane got to his feet and brushed off his pants. "You've got to start picking your battles better. That berserker fury is fine when you're brawling, but kind of proves less effective on a journal system. Put a little trust in the Professor, and talk to people individually for the stuff you know you can fix directly. Self defense class isn't the place to pass along bushido tenets. However, I can think of a half dozen people who could use both your advanced training and ideas one-on-one."

"I'm listening..." he said as he effortlessly got back to his feet, looking down at the decimated remains of his two cases of beer - now less than a single case. "Give the gift of beer. Yours, kid, if you want it." he said, dusting himself off as he spoke.

"Here, we'll drop it off for Cain on the way to Harry's." Kane hoisted it easily. "I'm serious, man. Go talk to Ms Munroe about some of the X-Men. Shiro, Sam, Kurt, all of them could use what you've got. Hell, even the power throwers like Lorna and Jean. There isn't anyone here of your caliber, Logan. Go and make the offer. For the ones that don't, that's not your problem."

Logan winced just a tad at the mention of Ororo. "Mebbe I will." he said ruefully. "And don't talk to me about Lorna. Girl's got no qualifications whatosever to be teachin' hand-to-hand to my left boot, let alone the kids." he grumbled.

Garrison shrugged, walking towards the house with the shorter man. "She's not so bad. Knows the basics inside and out, which is all that the kids really need until they drink the koolaid and try to be trainees. I think you should throw open the doors on an advanced class. Volunteer only, and it's your rules if they want to stay in. You'd end up with a lot more people than you might think."

Logan thought that one over and then grinned. "Assumin' that Summers or 'Ro is willin' to cough up some Gym time, maybe some Danger Room time, I think that'd be good." And make him feel useful again, which was always nice. "Get your Maple Nut ass in there to get kicked around some. Do you a world of good. Feed that chip of yours."

"Yeah, because the year of getting kicked around Department H by you and Judd wasn't enough." Kane said, only part sarcastically. He was of the opinion that he still bore bruises from his own advanced training. On the other hand, Logan was one of the best in the world, and Kane's own role on the X-Men depended as much on his training and skills as on his powers, which meant he'd likely end up facing Logan across a mat again before long.

"There's a thought." he said with a grin. "Bring the midget down, get him to do a seminar. Go out drinkin' after." he said. The more he thought about it, the more it appealed to him. Strongly.

Garrison laughed. "Yeah, because getting arrested while out with the both of you is exactly the kind of polish my resume needs."