Garrison and Walters

[x-shehulk.livejournal.com]

Down in the Danger Room, Garrison's trying to concentrate on his work out but that doesn't last long when Jen decides to check things out.



For those with super-strength, the gym simply didn't offer the same ability to work out. Instead, the Danger Room had a special configuration which had been jokingly named the 'Piledriver'; a compression based device that offered the ability to press up or lift tons. While quantum muscles negated the need to workout in terms of building muscle, it did help keep them limber and at the peak of their performance.

They were also private workouts, as Kane strained at the presses, wearing just a pair of sneakers and an old set of work out shorts. He was covered in sweat as the measures slowly climbed near ten tonnes, his absolute limit. His powers had been slowly returning as his body finally bounced back from his encounter with Thor. Oddly enough, the action in England seemed to accelerate the process, and he found his physical gifts almost back to normal.  

"Wow."  Jennifer's voice drifted in from the entrance way as she paused to take in the sight - more of Garrison working out than the room, actually.  She grinned as she rested her hands on her hips.  "They told me this place had impressive equipment but no one said it came with a view."  She was dressed for a workout, white shorts and white halter top with a pair of sneakers and her hair pulled up into a hasty ponytail.  Grabbing the towel from her shoulder she tossed it towards the nearest work bench as she headed towards the free machine next to him.

"Huh?" Kane looked over from the machine to see who came in and his reaction caused him to momentarily break concentration, losing his press on the machine. Ten tonnes of pressure suddenly slammed back down, knocking Kane back from the machine before it hit the safeties, sending him skidding ungracefully back on his ass. Few people ever used the Danger Room in this configuration, and none of them were young, stacked, toned and green. He shook his head.

"Sorry, I think the truck that just ran over me scrambled by brain a bit."

The moment he'd been tossed backwards, Jennifer had stopped going to a machine and immediately trotted over to where he was now sitting on the floor.  "I'm pretty sure that's the best first reaction I've ever gotten," she said, offering him a hand.  "Jennifer Walters, hoping that the truck didn't do too much damage."

"It was ten tonnes, you know. That's a lot of tonnes, eh?" He took the hand up, shaking his head. "Garrison Kane. Sorry, I'm used to having this place largely on my own, or sharing it with a sixteen year old in a silly hat. I was not expecting 'green stranger' coming through the door."

Carefully, because she didn't want to throw him back the way he came, Jennifer grasped his hand and pulled him up to his feet with no effort.  "Trust me, you're not the first I'm going to startle," she said cheerfully.  "It's kind of fun playing 'reaction bingo' in my head - I haven't made anyone cry yet but it's probably only a matter of time."

"Well, you're green. We've had green before. Purple and blue too. You might fit in more than you think." He said, happy to be back on his feet. "You look a little old for a student, in that 'aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper' kind of way. I didn't hear about any new teachers."

She grinned and crossed her arms over her chest.  "Not a teacher, thank god.  I like kids but man, it's probably in everyone's best interest that I stay out of the classroom.  I'm working for the Institute, actually, in a legal capacity.  Xavier's main legal guy is retiring and I'm his replacement."

Generally she was a patient person but the idea of teaching kids of any ages made her want to stock up on duct tape and superglue.

"You're Xavier's new legal council? Well, you couldn't be more unlike Hector." Kane said with a laugh. "They give you the rundown on this place yet?"

"Oohh yeah, I've gotten the run down on the leather cat suits and the spy plane in the basement.  Which I'm still kind of wrapping my head around, I won't lie."  Jennifer turned to look at the machines behind her and pointed at them.  "They didn't really explain this place, though.  Just said that I "probably" couldn't break anything.  Considering I sneeze funny on regular gym equipment and it bends, I'm really hoping they weren't kidding."

She didn't even try to hide the slight note of longing in her voice.  The idea that they had equipment that she couldn't turn into a pretzel was almost enough to make Jennifer cry.

"This is the Danger Room. It's got some kind of insane solid light projection system, when combined with a modular six paneled surface, can make it look like just about anything. Hidden behind the walls are an absolute gazillion types of atmospheric replicators, specialized testing and training equipment, as well as the best ambient sound system every dreamed up and cried over by the Germans. Seriously, you ever wanted to know what it was like to see the Beatles at Shea stadium? We have it programmed." He motioned to the machine he'd been working on. "As for us superstrong types, Hank and Forge designed this beast called the Piledriver. It uses a compression based technology to exponentally increase the resistance as you press it. On my best days, I can top ten tonnes. Some guys are lucky to press two or three, and some guys can clear twenty or more. The machine hasn't shown a top range yet."

"You know what?  I know a lot of fancy words but I didn't understand half of what you said."  Jennifer clapped her hands together in glee.  "Except that I'm pretty sure you said that I won't break your fancy machine even if I do try."  She approached it looking like a kid introduced to Willy Wonka's candy factory and circled around, clearly itching to try it out.  "I've never tested my strength - nothing really to test it on.  My uncle signed me up for boxing when I first manifested and the guys helped me to figure out how not to knock someone's head off or squeeze someone's bones out of their hand during a handshake but this ..."

Jennifer whistled in admiration and turned back to Garrison.  "Come on, handsome, help me give her a test run!"

"It's nice and simple." Kane walked over to it and clicked a button, and the machine shuddered for a moment. "That's the reset. Now, all you have to do is calibrate it by pushing slow and steady as hard as you can upwards. That will give it a top range. Once it's set, you can pretty much do any type of reps at whatever weight range you want, and it will set itself to you."

Stepping up to the machine, Jennifer got a good grip and took a deep breath.  She knew she was strong, that was not in doubt, but she'd never had the chance to actually test it before and it was both thrilling and a little scary.  Putting a number on something made it - real.  Even though she'd spent over ten years living this way.

She concentrated on the machine and followed his instructions.  Slow and steady but as hard as she could which was pretty damned hard.  It was keeping it slow and steady that wasn't easy.  Jennifer didn't often feel that nice little burn in her muscles these days but it was there and it shot a thrill through her.  This thing would actually give her a workout!  When the machine dinged, she glanced over at Garrison.  "So, what's she saying I can lift?" she asked, curious as she let go.

Kane gave a low whistle. "Twelve and a half. And my guess is that you still had some left in the tank." Kane was impressed. When he'd initially come to the school, his limits had been a fifth of that, but his developing powers and his time in the hands of Blaquesmith had eventually led to a slow and steady progression to about ten, which is where he topped out. Walters had cleared twelve and still had upside. That was some serious strength.

"...well, fuck me," Jennifer replied, as or more impressed than Kane.  And more than a little shocked.  And the idea that she might be able to go above that completely left her gobsmacked.  "Huh.  At least we now know that this body isn't just for show then."

"It is an attention getter." Kane agreed. "I've seen Piotr get up there. Marko and Marie. That's about it, and we've had some serious lifters around here in the past."

The names didn't mean much to her but the point was taken.  Jennifer gave Garrison a curious look up and down.  "Well, I'm guessing since I found you in here, that you're one of the mansion's heavy hitters.  Nice to see it didn't turn you green."  She didn't sound too put out, though; after so many years of looking in the mirror, she'd either had to learn to like the color or never go out again.  "So, what do you do around here, Garrison?  Besides pretty up the Danger Room, I mean."

"Here? I help out with the training for the X-Men. Program DR scenarios, help Scott and Paige come up with new ones." He took a seat on the nearest bench. "But most days, you'll find me in the city. I'm an Inspector for the RCMP, on secondment to the FBI's mutant investigation division in the New York Field Office. Well, normally."

It took her a moment to remember what 'RCMP' was but she caught it as she sat on the floor in front of Garrison so she could run through some stretches.  "A Canadian cop?  I don't see many of those running around DC but, then again, I ran across a girl who could talk to squirrels yesterday so I think in the grand scheme, that's actually pretty normal."  Jennifer felt something pop in her back and she grimaced as she flexed, trying to get it to stop doing that.  "When they were alive, Dad was on the LA force and mom worked in the records department as a secretary."

She grinned up at him through a lock of hair.  "Guess I'm destined to be surrounded by men and women in uniform, no matter the branch.  Or nationality in your case."

"Ì only wear the Mountie uniform on special occasions. Rest of the time, I look like a good government functionary ìn a dark suit who happens to be armed. Like anyone working for the state of Texas."

Jennifer snorted as she grabbed her elbow and gently pulled her her arm over her head.  "That is incredibly disheartening, you know.  You'd think after seeing the guys my dad worked with that I wouldn't be attracted to a man in uniform but, thankfully, that mentality didn't survive my teens."

"Everyone needs their thing. Knew a girl once who had a thing for power workers. Lights would go off, and we'd see her two days later extolling the excellence of our dedicated hydro professionals."

"That's ... one hell of a way to get your fix.  That seems to involve way more work or waiting than, say, hitting the wine bar."

"Hey, I'm not judging." Kane held up his hand, mock defensively.

She pretended to scowl at him but it didn't last long.  "Just sayin', easier ways.  Speaking of easier ways, you wouldn't happen to want to grab a drink, would you?  Unless you're dating someone or really don't like the color green."  She meant her easy words, in their playful manner.  She went on dates, plenty in fact, but nothing serious or that could even look remotely towards anything more than a drink.  When you could potentially snap a partner in half, it changed everything.

But Garrison was hot as hell and if he could lift ten tonnes, well, she might not have to worry if things went beyond that drink.  And if it didn't, no shame in getting that one drink.

"Well, I do like the colour green." Kane said, wondering whether or not he should tell her about his recent history. Finally, he settled on no. Everything with Adrienne was still fluid, and it's not like they were going on a date. "But I do enjoy a drink or six. There's a bar down the street."

"Damn, that's convenient.  This place just keeps getting better and better."  Rolling to her feet, Jennifer looked down at herself and then at Garrison.  "And I don't mean this in a sexy way but I have to go change into something more comfortable.  Or at least less traffic stopping - this is fine for a workout but it screams 'Jolly Giantess in a bikini' to me.  So, I'll meet you there.  If it's that close, I figure I can't get lost."

***

Not much of a beer drinker, Jennifer opted for the hard cider simply because without knowing the bar well, she was always a little leery of ordering wine.  Perhaps Harry's would one day surprise her or perhaps they would just have the dusty bottles of "red" and "white" hanging around in the back.   She thanked the bartender and headed back to the table that Garrison had picked.  "Local mansion hangout, I take it?" she asked as she slipped into across from him.

"Long before I got here, yeah. I've heard rumours that Harry has been here over a hundred years - never aging, never changing-"

"Shut up, Gar." The mustachoed man at the bar said offhanded, with a deep, gravelly voice. He was polishing a glass while watching the race on the television.

"A master of customer service too."

She grinned, just a quick flash of white teeth against the dark green of her skin, before she took a small sip of her drink.  "I could cut the love there with a knife," Jennifer responded, resting her elbows on the table as she gave Garrison an amused look.  "Reminds me a little of the gyms I box in.  Just with beer they can sell legally."

"So you're a boxer too? Those are some aggressive hobby choices. Do we need to set up a Thai kick boxing program in the DR now? Extreme street luge? Running through Madripoor wearing nothing but a robe made of thousand dollar bills?"

"A girl likes danger but that sounds a little - ah, hell, what am I saying?  That sounds kind of awesome, actually.  I mean, if they're American dollars, they'd just kind of blend in against my skin, really."  Jennifer paused for a moment as she considered the implications of that and shook her head to clear it of the weird thoughts.  "My uncle got me into boxing the year that I manifested.  Went from being a skinny softball geek to, well, a giant green goddess that could punch through walls.  Boxing was a way to help me figure out how not to punch holes in walls.  Or people."

"Green goddess huh? Sounds like it also helped with any self esteem issues." Kane grinned. He liked Jen. She was self confident and not afraid to banter; seemingly comfortable in her skin and laughed easily and frequently. It helped that while the green thing was a bit odd to get used to, it was also kind of hot. "You'll find our self defense programs pretty advanced, as well as actual hand to hand combat training, if you're so inclined."

Jennifer spread her arms and gave him a look.  "It was either hide under a rock or embrace the hell out of it; when I realized I'd outgrown all the rocks in the area ..."  Dropping her arms back down to the table, she leaned on her elbows but paused when the table creaked.  "That sounds really intriguing.  I've never done anything other than boxing, mostly because, well, most places won't take me.  But here, you'll take me and you'll give me people to play with, too.  Sounds almost perfect."

"Just wait until you've been bounced off the mat for the hundredth time before you say that. We take it pretty seriously." He took a sip.

"That's okay, I'm made of pretty sturdy stuff and I bounce pretty well.  I'm also a good sport, so, yeah, I think I'll have to take some folks up on sparring.  It'll be nice to go a few rounds with people I'm pretty sure I won't snap in half."

"We're a hardy lot. One of the guys who trained me is actually unkillable. Heals so fast you can actually watch it happening. I wouldn't recommend eating while you watch though."

She froze for a moment and tried to wrap her head around someone being unkillable.  It was kind of freaky, actually.  "Right.  That sounds both awesome and really kind of disgusting.  How the hell do you end up figuring out you can't be killed?"  Jennifer shuddered and held up a hand.  "You know what?  Don't answer that.  I'd like to actually enjoy my evening."

"You'll quickly learn that the rules are very different around here. Do you like mythology?" Kane took a sip. "Here, you get to meet the legends. Or, in my case, get put into traction by them. Gods hit hard."

"...you look really good for a guy that got smacked down by a God," she said slowly, obviously believing him (she was green after all - she took a lot on faith sometimes) but still ... Jennifer shook her head.  "You have an interesting place here, you know that, right?"

"We have a very strange place right here. But it's got its good parts. I won't lie," Kane paused for a second and pushed on. "in the last year, I've been cursed by a magic spell, kidnapped and involved in toppling a corrupt government, nearly killed by a real life god, and had my mind put back together by some of the greatest telepaths on the planet, and it's not necessarily the strangest year I've had since getting here. This is a place that you absolutely can make a difference. I don't understand how it works, but somehow this place sits at the crossroads of big events. It will be tough, and it will hurt, and it will make you question everything you thought you believed in. But it will also put you in a place that your decisions will alter things profoundly." His sincerity was obvious.

The sincerity in his voice made her lean back in the booth and take another look at him.  Even after her talk with Charles and, previously, with Warren she'd been feeling a little apprehensive about the set-up.  There was no legal precedent for vigilante teams - it was why they were vigilantes, after all.  "I could buy into that," Walters said slowly.  "Hell, even pretty easily.  This is a pretty fucked up world, Garrison, and I've seen people just look the other way when shitty things happen.  Knowing there's a place that tries, actively, to make things right, even if it's the hard thing to do?  Pretty damned tempting.  But you're a cop - how did you strike a balance between those two worlds?  I'm not afraid to say that trying to find the balance in the future for myself is pretty daunting."

"It's a challenge, everyday. I think the important thing to remember is that what we're doing isn't the model for the future. At some point, the X-Men will have to give way to something legitimate. But until then, it does fill a gap that no one else is able to do. Certainly not through legal means. It's a long way of saying that at some point, because we're the one's doing it, it's alright. It's not much, but it's all that we have sometimes." Kane said honestly. It was what he had struggled with for years, and while the answer wasn't the best, it worked.

She hmm'ed slightly as she took another small sip of her beer, using it to give herself a few moments to think it all through.  Though she didn't think Garrison would begrudge her time to think it through - after all, it sounded like he knew exactly what she was and would be facing.  "Justice by any means sounds grand in theory but I worry about practice," Jennifer said, setting the glass down gently.  "But, like I told Charles, I can't make any lasting judgement on the place now - it wouldn't be fair.  Not to you guys and not to me.  I asked for a three month trial period to see if I was a good fit.  I just worry that I'll find that line in the sand that I'm not willing to cross.  You know?"

"I know, but I'll tell you, I likely draw that line stricter than anyone, and I've very rarely found myself in a situation where I've had to draw the line. It's unorthodox, and this place has a deep seated persecution process a mile wide, but they try to stay on the side of angels. They just need the odd reminder." He said, giving her a wry grin.    

"And we're just pretty enough to be the ones to do it?" Jennifer said, amused, but knowing that groups like that would need people to remind them to not stray. Everyone knew what the road to hell was paved with and history had proven far too often that good guys often made the wrong decision and never even realized it.
                                 

"It is an attractive group, you have to admit." Kane pointed out.

She paused to look him over and gave him the thumbs up, grinning.  "You're telling me," Walters agreed whole-heartedly.  "And considering that my old law firm, the one before I decided to join Warren in his mad scheme, was generally filled with old, wrinkled men, I'd say this is a vast improvement."

"We may have a wrinkle or two, but I think that's it." Kane agreed. The mansion was very easy on the eyes. "Are you moving into the staff wing full time?"


She tilted her head back against the bench and contemplated the ceiling for a moment.  "Right now?  I have no idea.  There's been a lot of change going on, first with starting the new law firm and then the whole Xavier's thing.  I think living at the mansion part time for the moment will help - I don't want to be commuting in that piece of shit car I have every day of the week.  But I'm pretty attached to my apartment in the city."  Jennifer peered over at him.  "How do you handle it?  The juggling between ... jobs, I suppose?"

"Well, normally, it's hard." He realized he'd not explained his current situation to her, but he wasn't particularly interesting in talking about that part. "I find just thinking about it like a commute helps. As for being an X-Man, my work knows, so I get a bit of leeway. If you're working with Worthington in the city, I'm sure you'll get the same."

"It helps that I'm the other partner, so I can make my own hours as long as it doesn't hurt our work," she noted, resting her arms out to either side of her in the booth.  They lapsed into a comfortable silence for a little bit and Walters drank some more of her beer, though she didn't attempt to finish it.  It was more something to hold and a reason to not get kicked out of the bar than a desire to drink it.

After a few minutes, she tilted her head thoughtfully.  "So, hypothetical question here.  If I asked if you'd like to finish this conversation in your or my rooms, what would your answer be?"  She almost surprised herself but the thought had been burning in her mind since they'd met; there weren't a lot of people Jen let herself get physical with, the thought of breaking someone's hips by accident tended to be a turn off but knowing that Garrison was like her, well, she'd kick herself from here to next year if she didn't at least try.

Besides, the worst he could do was say no and she had no problem with that.

Kane opened his mouth, a response obviously already there, but then paused. His expression turned quizzical and he shook his head. "I hate to do this, and believe me I do, but- I'd love to go back to your room with you, but I don't think I can. I'm sorry. I guess I didn't realize before that wasn't what I should be doing." Kane put some money on the table. "Sorry. I know I'm being weird, and believe me, I already think you're an entire bag of awesome, Jen. I just- I first need to try and make right something I already fucked up a while ago."

She couldn't help it - she laughed.  It wasn't a mean or cruel one and she was mostly laughing at herself.  "Alright, Garrison, no hard feelings, you go and fix what you need to fix."  Jen reached for her drink, deciding she was actually quite content to finish it while Garrison went out and did what he needed to do.  "Let me know how it turns out, okay?  Seriously, whatever it is, I hope it works out for you."

"Thanks, and if it blows up in my face, you get the front of the line to point and laugh at me." Kane said with a nod. "Next time, the drinks are on me."