Garrison and Walters

[x-shehulk.livejournal.com]

Gar and Jen get together for a quick lunch break from their day jobs and it's obvious Walters is still trying to feel her way around the mansion and its mission.



"So, here's the thing. This beat cop calls into the hotline, screaming that SHIELD needs to send a strike team, the FBI needs to send in the HRT, and someone needs to alert the President right away. I did some digging." Garrison fished into his pocket for a few bills and paid for the pair of hotdogs, handing one to Jen. She had taken to catching rides into the city with Kane when their commutes aligned, which had turned into regular lunches. Today was a hot dog stand next to Central Park, which they planned to walk through once done loading up the dogs.

"As it turns out, the terrorist attack turned out to be a green alien woman looking to flip over cars and take over lower Manhattan. In the interest of my own blood pressure, next time you want to help someone with a flat tire, use the jack instead of picking the car up yourself."

"Do you know how puny those jacks are?" Walters asked, waving her soda around to emphasize her point. She wasn't really all that agitated - it was funny as hell now that she was pretty sure SHIELD wasn't going to beam her up somewhere for being a nice neighbor. "I sneeze while using one and the entire thing crumbles like a coke can."

She easily dodged someone on their cell phone, eagerly taking a bite out of her lunch. Breakfast had been a couple of cups of coffee after an early morning session and the hot dog was turning out to be the first real meal of the day. Her body was going to hate her when she finally slowed down. "So this all means that I shouldn't tell you how I ripped that tree out of the ground to shake the kitten out of it, right?"

"Not unless you like the idea of spending the weekend in a holding cell on trumped up charges for my own blood pressure." He took a bite of his own hotdog, immediately dropping a blob of mustard on his tie. With a muttered curse he dabbed at it with a paper napkin as they crossed the street. "How's the office?"

"Which one?" she asked ruefully, passing over a few more napkins. "The one in the city, with my name on it, is running pretty smoothly but it's still considered a start-up so there are a ton of uphill battles we have only yet begun to fight. The one sitting in the pretty mansion, well ..." She shook her head. "Honestly, I've spent more time than I thought I would need reading files on that place, Gar, just to keep me aware of what the hell's going on or what has gone on. I need to actually leave that office of mine there and start to really get to know the people wandering the halls with me."

"Considering how much they read like fiction, yeah, I wouldn't rely on just the files. I tried that approach my first couple of weeks, and gave it up for heavy drinking." He wet the napkin and scrubbed at the smear, but the blue tie wasn't complying, leaving a discoloured, yellowish smear. "Madhouse doesn't even begin to describe the history."

She watched him with some sympathy - there'd been far too many times she'd ended up in the bathroom of the courthouse, frantically trying to get something off of her skirt or blouse. "I mean, I was living in this city when it was under siege and I still almost didn't believe half the stuff I was reading. Xavier does good work, the mansion and the team do good work but how the hell it's all still standing is beyond me."

"Luck, to a great extent. It helps that the mansion boosts one of the most powerful collections of mutants on the planet. So while every imaginable level of shit you can think of has been thrown at us, it's not like we haven't had impressive resources to challenge it."

"I am so getting you guys to pick out my lotto numbers from here on out." Spying a nearby trash can, Walters tossed the empty soda and crumbled hot dog wrapper into it underhanded. "So, how's your day job going? Besides getting frantic calls about large, gorgeous green alien women rampaging through lower New York?"

"That's been the highlight of my week. Ever since the Norse God punched my spine into next week, everyone thinks I fucked my way out of an illegal shooting by nailing the new green-haired director of SHIELD's weird shit division. I'm not particularly liked for that perception."

Jen winced. "Shit, I'm sorry. I mean, it's a good thing that you've managed to retrieve your spine from the future but I know what it's like being the low man on the totem pole. And, no offense, but from what I've seen, cops and feds can be really kind of, well, clique-y."

"Try judgemental. I am too, to be honest. It's one of the side-effects of the badge, I think." He finished off the last bite. "I shot three people, Jen. And while my reasoning was good, from the outside, it looks like I lost it and took revenge for what happened. If I was in their position, I'd believe the same thing."

"Yeah, that's where the weird shit factor suddenly becomes less amusing and more 'what the hell am I doing'?" she said, shaking her head. "It's not like you can explain 'god like' people to your co-workers and, hell, even if you tried, sounds like there's a few someones out there who'd come down you on pretty hard. But, you know, I hope it blows over as quick as it can. You're good at what you do, Kane, shame to see you get kicked in the balls for something you couldn't control."

"It'll work out. And, to be fair, I did shoot three people. There's consequences and should be; fair or not." Kane sighed and tossed the paper napkin into the trash. "It doesn't mean I don't want to lock the doors, hit the fire alarm, and let them all suffocate under the fire retardant foam. But, you know, you try and stay positive."

She patted him on the arm. "Just keep me on speed dial, handsome, if it ever comes to that. It'll give me a chance to flex my lawyer muscles instead of my actual ones." Dipping her hand into her pocket, she pulled out a hair tie in an attempt to keep her hair out of her face as they walked. "Anything else going on that's fun lately? I'm horrendously out of date with anything that isn't spelled out in legalize."

Kane shrugged. "Nah, not a lot. I've been- uh, kind of distracted." Was there a polite way to say that you were getting regular sex for the first time in forever and were thus less interested in the world around you? Not likely.

Jen's lips twitched. "Frost that much fun, huh?" she asked as innocently as she could.

"It's been awhile. Don't judge." He grinned and nudged her as they walked along. "How about you? Boys from the DA's office started sending candy and flowers yet?"

She laughed, a half bark of being resigned and amused at the same time. "Are you kidding? I scare the shit out of half of them with my booming personality, sparkling wisdom and rack from the heavens and the other half are frantically making voodoo dolls in hopes of taking me out without actually getting in a fight with me." Jen nudged him back, knowing she wouldn't accidentally knock him into traffic. "Nah, I leave the boys in the DA's office alone - the bars keep me amused enough for now when I need the occasional distraction from work."


"Ouch, picking up the one-night mistakes? Dangerous ground there, Walters." Kane said. "How are you settling in with the team? I see you've started on the tactical scenarios in the Danger Room."

"I don't know, really," she said. "Honestly, I think I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the whole thing. The Danger Room sessions are fun and I'm really using them to tighten my control on my own powers but the team aspect part?" Walters shook her head ruefully. "Superheros, Gar, honestly. When I was a kid, a hero looked like a cop or a firefighter; no leather pants to be found. Not during the day, anyway."

"It takes awhile to get used to. Especially when you're trained to look at vigilantes the same way you would an idiot about to crash their car." It had been Garrison's hardest adjustment, and still worried him occasionally. "But there is a point that law enforcement and the courts haven't caught up with the changes mutants represent. So there is a need."

Jen grimaced at that. "Can't argue with that and, really, that's what pisses me off. I lost a court case the other week and I know the only reason I did was because my client was a visible mutant and so was his lawyer. I put my trust in the jury because that's what we do but if the jury gets scared the green woman in the very smart outfit is going to throw something at their head ..."

She stopped at the light and turned towards Kane, arms crossing her chest. "It's worth it? All the crap those kids have had to go through, the deaths I've read about ..." Walters nodded towards him. "Your own injuries? Tell me it's worth it, Gar. I wake up in cold sweats thinking about all the ways all of this could have blown up in Charles face and how it still could." It surprised her how desperately she wanted to sink into the entire way of life because her training and everything she'd learned was telling her to run the other way.

"Did you know I've helped save the world a couple of times? I'm not talking about feeding some homeless guys or buying a Prius or something. I saved the actual world from people who could have actually destroyed it. There are hundreds of mutants in Genosha that are free citizens right now who would still be slaves or dead if I hadn't be involved. I have slain a real goddamn dragon, Jen. A dragon! And traded punches with a god. I've walked out of a hostage situation with the President's children safe and sound and helped stop the first invasion of American soil since the War of 1812 at the front of an army of cops, firemen and EMTs." He looked her square in the eye, without a hint of hesitation.

"There's a huge cost; a huge price to pay doing what we do. But at the end of the day, Jen, the good that you do is almost beyond belief. So yeah, all the pain, all the injuries, all the questions - it's worth it."

Jen thought about those frustrating years spent with battling against old, white men who viewed her as something to be trotted out as a show piece or given the shitty cases no one else wanted. "Daddy always told me to go where I was needed most. I guess I've been trying to find it for a while."

"It's not easy, Jen. And some days, it will feel like a betrayal of your real calling. Trust me, swallowing the badge has had some sharp edges. But it can be life changing." He nudged her, falling back in step as they started along the street again. "Also, it's a way to start preparing for the future. The X-Men won't be an autonomous force forever. Maybe we can be the ones to lay down the foundation of moving to being a legal force."

She checked her watch and saw she had plenty of time before she had to leave Gar for less pleasant conversations. "That's a nice thought, something to hold onto when things get really ugly, right?" Walters wasn't being sarcastic this time. "More mutants are being born every day. It'll be nice being on the side to make the paths they'll be walking a little easier." She paused briefly as she pretended to look over her shoulder. "Besides, that leather outfit and this ass? Yeah, that's like the day someone mixed chocolate and peanut butter together."

"Why do I get the feeling that the person that wants to sleep with you the most is you?" Kane grinned.