Logan and Marie - Old Friends

[x-wolverine.livejournal.com]

Logan had finally made up his mind. Canada was nice and the Hudsons were the closest thing he had to family, but he was getting restless. He needed to stop being a sponge, stop taking advantage of Heather and Mac's willingness to put up with his crap and get back down to Westchester. Funny how he'd never really had anywhere he wanted to spend a long amount of time with, and after a few short years Westchester had become home.

But first things first.

Mac had mentioned that Gar's old man and Marie were on some kind of a roadtrip togther. Real tense, something important. He figured whatever it was they were about, he'd offer a hand.

So he'd left a message for Marie on her cell that he wanted to talk to her. Now it was on her. If he didn't hear from her in a few days he'd go ahead and make the trip down to Westchester, catch up with her there.

Marie still didn't know what had made her decide to check her cell phone messages before returning to the States. Once she had watched Kane calmly dispatch the man they had been interrogating, she'd known she could no longer keep working with him. Remy had been right in his assessment of the Southern girl after all...it had just taken her a little longer to acknowledge it herself. Before catching the first flight back to New York, though, she'd listened to a series of worried messages from her friends, one of which had caused her to change her itinerary.

Canada had always been a good place to bring herself back to peace, so a side trip on the way back to the mansion had been easy to arrange. A quick word with Heather and she knew where to go to find Logan, setting down lightly in the field. Despite Logan's back being turned, she knew he was well aware of her arrival.

"Hey kid." Logan said, turning. Visually, it was like nothing had happened. Different battered leather jacket, of course, but the same man wearing it. Same upswept hair, same whiskers, same cigar clenched between his teeth, same flannel and denim. Only his eyes showed any change, and that became obvious when he turned around to look at the Southern girl. "You look well." he said, even though he privately wasn't sure of that. She looked - worn down. Harried, even.

"You never were a good liar Logan," she said, a tired smile on her face. "Hard times, like Ah told ya the last time we talked about Garrison." It was one of the first times she'd gotten through his names without having to swallow hard. "Then...well, Ah didn't get a chance to call you after Mr. Kane showed up. Saw a different side of the world. Of people."

"You're a wreck." he commented with no heat or rancor in his voice. "When's the last time you stopped for chow? Or for sleep?" he inquired. "Know a good place right up the street. It ain't no Southern breakfast, but it's pretty good." he commented. "Whaddya say, kid? Got time to catch some grub, tell me about what's eating you?" he asked kindly.

"Fine," she said in response to his question. "And What do ya think is eating me?" she said, her voice tense but not angry. "Gar missing, probably dead. Dani too. And Jay and Pete. Can't find the bastards responsible or do anything useful apparently. And oh yeah, went hunting for clues with Christian Kane only to watch him kill a man in cold blood."

"You get Wheels to strap his head into that machine of his, find them that way? Maybe they're gone. Someone sure made it look that way." he said, remembering her description. Somehow, he thought he really ought to have been more bothered by the description. Instead, he felt almost clinical. Detatched. "Look, Marie. I know you and Gar had a ... thing." he said. "Guy's one of the few I call friend." he added, with a quick smile to let her know that she too was numbered in that list. "His old man - he's a cold one. Think he's got a right." he added with a shrug. "Does that justify capping an informant in cold blood? Maybe not. Just sayin', I get where he's comin' from."

"Of course the professor did everything he could," Marie replied, the bit of anger in her voice disappearing as she processed the rest of what Logan had said. "There was just no need," she said softly as the she followed Logan. "He'd told us everything he knew. We coulda just turned him over to the authorities." Her time with Christian had made her reevaluate the grey areas of life...it had also reaffirmed in her mind that there was a thick black line she would never cross.

"Knowing Christian, you're probably right." he said with a shrug. "But that guy's been in the shadows so long he doesn't see things like us normal vigilante-types." he said with a smile to indicate that he was joking. "More the Snow Valley end of the street than your thing, I'm thinking." he said. "Shame you had to find it out under this kind of thing." he said, patting her on the shoulder.

"And are you planning on curing my malaise with pancakes?" Marie asked, a gloved hand lifting up to wipe the corner of her eye.

"Thought you preferred waffles." he said teasingly, using one of his fingers to quickly flick away the teardrop before her power could get its claws into him. "So you're not cut out for the darker side of the business. That's not a bad thing, kid." he told her, ruffling her hair carefully.

Brown eyes filled with sadness looked through touseled hair at the man trying his best to cheer her up. "Ah know it's not. That's the only good that's come of this whole mess. Ah just...Ah hoped we'd find him," she said, resignation in her voice. "Ah kept hoping..."

"Yeah. Me too." he said softly, as they were almost at the diner. "I'm gonna miss him, kid. No lie about it." he said. "Best we can do is try to make the world a little better place, eh? It's what he always wanted."

"Yeah," Marie agreed, though her heart wasn't in it. "Nothing else left to try, Ah guess," she added as the pair entered the diner.