Log: Garrison/Amanda - Diagnosis
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xp_logsGarrison and Amanda go to meet the Ancient One for some answers. They get them.
177A Bleecker Street was as unremarkable a building as you’d ever see. Literally. Just looking at the address, the eye tended to slide off the building to the next and the details didn’t stick in memory. Kane had been across the street, looking directly at it, and he still couldn’t describe any details about it.
“This is making my eyes water. Some kind of magic, eh?”
“There’s a glamour that makes you forget what you see,” responded Amanda, her hands shoved into the pockets of her leather jacket as she glared moodily at the building. “Which makes sense. Must be great for avoiding the Mormons.”
“I think there’s limits to what even magic is capable of. Those guys are tenacious.” They crossed over and up to the steps of the brownstone. There was a large knocker on the door but no bell he could see.
“Is this one of those ‘say enter friend’ situations to get in, like in that movie?”
Amanda snorted. “Well, it’s probably warded up the wazoo against attack. But I wasn’t planning on busting in.”” She lifted the heavy knocker and then let it fall with a hollow boom that seemed to reverberate through to their bones. “Ugh, such wankers.”
“You know, I should have guessed the door-knocker first.” Kane said, standing back and crossing his arms over his chest. After a few moments, the door opened, although no one could be seen opening it, “Huh, ominous.”
“Like I said. Wankers.” The witch didn’t bother to lower her voices as she stepped forward and the final word echoed upwards into the vaulted ceiling of the entry way and the ornate staircase which dominated the space. Various objets d’arte - or more likely, arcane items - were mounted on the walls or displayed on wooden plinths, each apparently chosen for their impact on the credulous visitor to heighten the mystery of the place.
“You have your ways, hedge witch.” A mote of spinning gold particles erupted in the middle of the room, rotating and expanding fiercely until it formed a wide circle, large enough for the man who stepped through it. “We have ours.”
The thick set Asian man was dressed in Central Asian style robes, and a medal of some form hung from his neck. He flicked his fingers and the portal disappeared. “Also, it cuts down on the staff we need on hand. New York is expensive,”
Amanda cocked an eyebrow at the name he gave her, but she answered in the same tone. “And the teleporting cuts down on parking too, I imagine.” Her shoulders straightened. “We have an appointment. With the Ancient One.”
“Yes, we got… Her message.” The pause said everything about the relationship between SWORD and the magical community. “The Ancient One is currently occupied, so he’s asked me to fill in.” He turned to Kane and nodded. “I am Wong, Head Librarian of Kamar-Taj. I trust I will suffice?”
“If you can give me answers, I don’t care if you’re the magical cafeteria dishwasher.” Kane said, unconcerned about the title. “So, how do we do this?”
“Follow me.” Wong said, turning and opening up a new portal.
“Ah, Brand. Making friends and influencing people wherever she goes,” muttered Amanda with a brief grin. The expression broadened as she faced the portal, through which she could see rows of bookshelves and warm, yellow lighting. “Nice. You might need a crowbar to get me back out of here,” she commented as she stepped through and found herself in Wong’s library.
“All the cases are locked, just incase you were wondering.” Wong said dryly as they walked through the stacks and to a large table that was covered in scrolls and stacks of books. Wong stopped and picked up a strange looking device. “The Ancient One said you’re suffering from some kind of magical mis-alignment?”
“… I guess? I mean, is-“ Kane said, looking over at Amanda.
“It’s not so much a mis-alignment as merging magical influences,” the witch explained with a sigh. “Gar here isn’t a magic user, but magic’s used him over the years - Asgardians, a Hell Lord, chaos - and now something weird’s going on. I checked his aura but to be honest…” And here she swallowed her pride for the sake of her friend. “I have no bloody idea what’s going on with him. Which is why we’re here.”
Wong held up the device. It looked like a sextant crossed with an astrolabe. “This will help pinpoint just where his magical aura is. From there, we should be able to pinpoint where the damage is and how to fix it.” He pointed it at Kane and whispered, sending a tiny amount of magical energy into the device. The gears spun and shifted as he sighted through the viewer, occasionally shifting his hand to alter the magic and shift it to other sections of the device. Kane stood as still as possible, not sure if it mattered, but so far out of his element that it was better to just let them work.
Wong muttered to himself in a language neither of them understood, constantly manipulating the device. Finally, he set it back on the table with an oath in Mandarin that Kane understood and was a little shocked by the vehemence of it.
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“No, because it shouldn’t be possible.” Wong said, huffing out a breath through his nose as he considered it. “I’ve read accounts but… it doesn’t make sense.”
“Oh, I’m afraid it does.” The quiet smooth voice of the Ancient One floated to them as the old man seemed to just appear, coming out from between the stacks. “Apologies for the delay.”
Amanda had leaned herself against the edge of the table, watching while Wong made his examination, but as the Ancient One entered, she pushed herself upright. “Better late than never,” she replied, but there was an edge to her voice and her posture was tense. “But then again, entrances are your thing. What’s wrong with Gar?”
“He doesn’t have a magical aura. Of any kind.” Wong shook his head. “That shouldn’t be possible. The accounts that I read about, I was sure they were wrong.”
“I’m afraid they are not, my friend. Incredibly rare, but not impossible. The last I can recall was almost a thousand years ago.” The Ancient One took a seat at the table, leaning back into the chair. “How much do you know about magic, Mister Kane?”
“A bit. I mean, pillow talk mostly.” He shrugged.
“How about science? Energy is the basis of everything. It can’t be destroyed, only converted. Life is about that ongoing conversion. It absorbs energy and in turn, generates it. Each life, even natural forces, are part of that continuous give and take off the energy around us. Magic, in every form and manifestation, is about tapping into the energy and manipulating it for our own purposes. Does that make sense?”
“I suppose so.”
“Good. Because that process lies at the root of your problem. You are no longer part of that process.”
“That’s not fucking possible.” Amanda’s voice was flat and the colour had drained from her face. “If that was true, then he’d be…” She cut herself off and cast an agonised look at Garrison.
“Wait, I’m no longer part of what?”
“Life, Mister Kane. At least, the natural magical order as we know it. I don’t have a good explanation to exactly why, but in cases in the past, some level of extreme magical trauma was involved. I assume the sheer scope and intensity of the very incidents you have been involved in eventually tore the natural connection to life we all possess from you.” His voice was level, gentle, almost soothing as he delivered the worst news. “You were once killed by a god catching a weapon that cannot be caught. You were consumed by a hell lord without being lost. You have been cursed, battered by chaotic energy and tainted by the afterlife. Each time, a new fracture appeared and an old one grew. Finally, everything shattered.”
“OK, got it. I’m… whatever. So how do we fix it. I mean, what, you shoot shark piss and peyote up my nose and I dance around a magic circle wearing a bunch of charms until Mother Gaia recognizes me again? Right?” He turned to Amanda. “Right?”
She couldn’t meet his eyes at first. But when she looked up at him, her face spoke volumes. “A person cut off from the magical order of things can’t survive. Sooner or later, they…” She choked on the last word, unable to say it.
"So- wait. Wait. What does that mean? I mean, I'm alive now so it can't- right, I'm here, eh?" Kane said, trying to understand.
"Back to your science, Mister Kane. Everything is converted, nothing is created. When you are cut off from our natural flow of energy, it means you lose the ability to recover it. You are fine for now. That will change. Your powers will slowly ebb. Eventually, sleep and food will fall to satiate you. Each day will erode a little bit more." He said softly.
"No, but- ok, but then why am I- I mean, why haven't I..."
"You still have energy, Mister Kane. If you die, you will create energy where it cannot be created. The universe is keeping you alive so you cannot create the paradox. It will last until the last mote of energy dissipates from you, so when you die, you will destabilize anything. The aura that Wong is trying to understand is the natural order keeping you alive through the forces of chaos long enough until you can safely die."
"This, you can't tell me this hasn't happened. People haven't - someone has! Someone has had to-"
"This library contains the combined knowledge of ten thousand years of mystics and mages. It also contains every example we know of someone with your... affliction. None states a cure. Most were magic-users of some type. Those who continued to use their magic as normal in search of a cure went in months or a handful of years. Those who forsook their powers lived much longer lives. Like the candle, the hotter you burn, the shorter you last. One example became a monk, dedicated himself to meditation and lasted six decades, highly revered as a holy man."
"So your solution is to join a monastery? That's a joke."
"But Gar isn't a magic user." Amanda's voice was shaky, but she'd pulled herself together enough to start thinking again. To at least try and find a reason to hope again. "That has to change things, doesn't it? There's no magical energy to burn."
"As I said before, at the root of all things is energy. The energy that powers our magicks is the same that powers his mutation." The look he gave them both was almost kindly. "Mutants are largely new to our world, but not entirely so. The use of your powers will cause the same issues as the continued use of magic would be for a magic user. You are welcome to the resources here in our library, Miss Sefton. And I will send inquiries through our own networks of arcane scholars and practitioners, but if there is a solution, I am afraid it is beyond my current knowledge or capabilities."
"So that's it? In return to surviving a crapload of magic bullshit, I'm going to die anyway."
"Of course. No matter how long or short our lives may be, no matter how meaningful or inconsequential, we are all going to die one day, Mister Kane. Consider your choices." He got up from his chair in preparation for leaving. "You have put yourself in harm's way ever since you had the choice to do so. Each of these incidents which brought you here could have - and perhaps would have, save for the luck and magic involved - killed you. Each one, your deliberate choices put you in that position. As long or as short as it may be, you still have the choice in how you wish to live your life."
"Every one of those choices was to save others, but that doesn't matter in your fucking equation, does it?" Amanda spat the words out bitterly, knowing in her heart that the Ancient One was right but refusing to simply accept it. So she turned back to Garrison. "We'll go back to the mansion, get the science crew on this, Emma's resources, hell, even eXcal and the wormhole. We'll make a cure."
"Wong will return you to New York. I wish you my best." The Ancient One said as he opened a portal and stepped through. Wong came around the table, shaking his head.
"The Ancient One is incredibly learned, but not infallible. If there's clues in this library that may help, I'll find them and be in touch." He said, eyes passing over Kane's blank expression. He made a circle with his fingers and a portal opened behind them, the lobby of the New York Sanctum visible beyond it.
"Thank you." Amanda gave him a grateful look and a nod as she took Garrison's arm to direct him towards the glowing hole in the air. "I'll be in touch."
"I have no doubt." He said, a touch wryly, as he shooed them through the portal. They stepped through and it cut out behind them. Kane was uncharacteristically silent as they walked through the doors and out into the cool New York autumn air. Once they did, he took a seat on the bus bench, groping for a moment for the edge and taking a deep breath once he was perched on it.
Amanda took a seat beside him, biting her lip anxiously. "We'll fix it," she said, a little more gently than before. "I'll fix it. I'll find a way, I promise."
"Don't promise." He said quietly. "This was going to happen one day. Like he said, it doesn't even need the Hell Lord or Thor's fucking hammer. One day I'm going to put on the leathers or the badge and not make it home. That I came to terms with a long time ago." He sighed, letting his head hang for a minute. "If I was willing to do anything else, I wouldn't be here. I'd be in the South Seas with Adrienne or home in Toronto. But I'm not."
He took a deep breath. "So no matter what happens, I need you to promise me that you won't tell anyone about last part. Tell them I'm magically broken. Tell them I've got this... what, chaos aura? Chaos aura, fuck, that has to be the stupidest sounding side condition in history. But you will not tell them that not using my powers is a way to prolong my life."
"Wait... you're going to stay? With the X-Men?" Amanda blinked, nonplussed. "Garrison, for fuck's sake, if anyone had a good reason to chuck it in and go and do what they wanted to do, it's you. Go to Adrienne. Take her to the fucking South Seas. Get some fucking peace and happiness before this kills you. You deserve it."
"All this time you've known me and you still don't get it. If that was something I could do, I'd have done it a year ago." Kane said, making her lean back a bit. "This is who I am, Amanda. If I died tomorrow at the hands of the Brotherhood or some criminal doing what I do, I'd have zero regrets. But if people know about that fact, they'll take it away. With the best of intentions and thinking it is for my own good, but they will. Or do their best to isolate me so I'm no use to anyone. And if that happens, you might as well put me out of my misery now."
"But..." You're dying. The tears she'd held back in Kamar-Taj threatened to squeeze themselves out from under her eyelids. "Bloody hellfire, Gar. I know. I know." She took a deep breath through her nose, trying to push back the wave of emotions. This wasn't about her. "Fine. I won't tell them the whole truth. Except for Angie. You know she'll know something's up and I already lied to her enough with the Olivier thing."
"Alright, but no one else. I don't want to have to justify myself every time I suit up or go to work. " He said and finally straightened up. "Alright, I'm going to handle this news in a responsible manner by going and getting shatteringly drunk."
"Oh, hell yes."
177A Bleecker Street was as unremarkable a building as you’d ever see. Literally. Just looking at the address, the eye tended to slide off the building to the next and the details didn’t stick in memory. Kane had been across the street, looking directly at it, and he still couldn’t describe any details about it.
“This is making my eyes water. Some kind of magic, eh?”
“There’s a glamour that makes you forget what you see,” responded Amanda, her hands shoved into the pockets of her leather jacket as she glared moodily at the building. “Which makes sense. Must be great for avoiding the Mormons.”
“I think there’s limits to what even magic is capable of. Those guys are tenacious.” They crossed over and up to the steps of the brownstone. There was a large knocker on the door but no bell he could see.
“Is this one of those ‘say enter friend’ situations to get in, like in that movie?”
Amanda snorted. “Well, it’s probably warded up the wazoo against attack. But I wasn’t planning on busting in.”” She lifted the heavy knocker and then let it fall with a hollow boom that seemed to reverberate through to their bones. “Ugh, such wankers.”
“You know, I should have guessed the door-knocker first.” Kane said, standing back and crossing his arms over his chest. After a few moments, the door opened, although no one could be seen opening it, “Huh, ominous.”
“Like I said. Wankers.” The witch didn’t bother to lower her voices as she stepped forward and the final word echoed upwards into the vaulted ceiling of the entry way and the ornate staircase which dominated the space. Various objets d’arte - or more likely, arcane items - were mounted on the walls or displayed on wooden plinths, each apparently chosen for their impact on the credulous visitor to heighten the mystery of the place.
“You have your ways, hedge witch.” A mote of spinning gold particles erupted in the middle of the room, rotating and expanding fiercely until it formed a wide circle, large enough for the man who stepped through it. “We have ours.”
The thick set Asian man was dressed in Central Asian style robes, and a medal of some form hung from his neck. He flicked his fingers and the portal disappeared. “Also, it cuts down on the staff we need on hand. New York is expensive,”
Amanda cocked an eyebrow at the name he gave her, but she answered in the same tone. “And the teleporting cuts down on parking too, I imagine.” Her shoulders straightened. “We have an appointment. With the Ancient One.”
“Yes, we got… Her message.” The pause said everything about the relationship between SWORD and the magical community. “The Ancient One is currently occupied, so he’s asked me to fill in.” He turned to Kane and nodded. “I am Wong, Head Librarian of Kamar-Taj. I trust I will suffice?”
“If you can give me answers, I don’t care if you’re the magical cafeteria dishwasher.” Kane said, unconcerned about the title. “So, how do we do this?”
“Follow me.” Wong said, turning and opening up a new portal.
“Ah, Brand. Making friends and influencing people wherever she goes,” muttered Amanda with a brief grin. The expression broadened as she faced the portal, through which she could see rows of bookshelves and warm, yellow lighting. “Nice. You might need a crowbar to get me back out of here,” she commented as she stepped through and found herself in Wong’s library.
“All the cases are locked, just incase you were wondering.” Wong said dryly as they walked through the stacks and to a large table that was covered in scrolls and stacks of books. Wong stopped and picked up a strange looking device. “The Ancient One said you’re suffering from some kind of magical mis-alignment?”
“… I guess? I mean, is-“ Kane said, looking over at Amanda.
“It’s not so much a mis-alignment as merging magical influences,” the witch explained with a sigh. “Gar here isn’t a magic user, but magic’s used him over the years - Asgardians, a Hell Lord, chaos - and now something weird’s going on. I checked his aura but to be honest…” And here she swallowed her pride for the sake of her friend. “I have no bloody idea what’s going on with him. Which is why we’re here.”
Wong held up the device. It looked like a sextant crossed with an astrolabe. “This will help pinpoint just where his magical aura is. From there, we should be able to pinpoint where the damage is and how to fix it.” He pointed it at Kane and whispered, sending a tiny amount of magical energy into the device. The gears spun and shifted as he sighted through the viewer, occasionally shifting his hand to alter the magic and shift it to other sections of the device. Kane stood as still as possible, not sure if it mattered, but so far out of his element that it was better to just let them work.
Wong muttered to himself in a language neither of them understood, constantly manipulating the device. Finally, he set it back on the table with an oath in Mandarin that Kane understood and was a little shocked by the vehemence of it.
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“No, because it shouldn’t be possible.” Wong said, huffing out a breath through his nose as he considered it. “I’ve read accounts but… it doesn’t make sense.”
“Oh, I’m afraid it does.” The quiet smooth voice of the Ancient One floated to them as the old man seemed to just appear, coming out from between the stacks. “Apologies for the delay.”
Amanda had leaned herself against the edge of the table, watching while Wong made his examination, but as the Ancient One entered, she pushed herself upright. “Better late than never,” she replied, but there was an edge to her voice and her posture was tense. “But then again, entrances are your thing. What’s wrong with Gar?”
“He doesn’t have a magical aura. Of any kind.” Wong shook his head. “That shouldn’t be possible. The accounts that I read about, I was sure they were wrong.”
“I’m afraid they are not, my friend. Incredibly rare, but not impossible. The last I can recall was almost a thousand years ago.” The Ancient One took a seat at the table, leaning back into the chair. “How much do you know about magic, Mister Kane?”
“A bit. I mean, pillow talk mostly.” He shrugged.
“How about science? Energy is the basis of everything. It can’t be destroyed, only converted. Life is about that ongoing conversion. It absorbs energy and in turn, generates it. Each life, even natural forces, are part of that continuous give and take off the energy around us. Magic, in every form and manifestation, is about tapping into the energy and manipulating it for our own purposes. Does that make sense?”
“I suppose so.”
“Good. Because that process lies at the root of your problem. You are no longer part of that process.”
“That’s not fucking possible.” Amanda’s voice was flat and the colour had drained from her face. “If that was true, then he’d be…” She cut herself off and cast an agonised look at Garrison.
“Wait, I’m no longer part of what?”
“Life, Mister Kane. At least, the natural magical order as we know it. I don’t have a good explanation to exactly why, but in cases in the past, some level of extreme magical trauma was involved. I assume the sheer scope and intensity of the very incidents you have been involved in eventually tore the natural connection to life we all possess from you.” His voice was level, gentle, almost soothing as he delivered the worst news. “You were once killed by a god catching a weapon that cannot be caught. You were consumed by a hell lord without being lost. You have been cursed, battered by chaotic energy and tainted by the afterlife. Each time, a new fracture appeared and an old one grew. Finally, everything shattered.”
“OK, got it. I’m… whatever. So how do we fix it. I mean, what, you shoot shark piss and peyote up my nose and I dance around a magic circle wearing a bunch of charms until Mother Gaia recognizes me again? Right?” He turned to Amanda. “Right?”
She couldn’t meet his eyes at first. But when she looked up at him, her face spoke volumes. “A person cut off from the magical order of things can’t survive. Sooner or later, they…” She choked on the last word, unable to say it.
"So- wait. Wait. What does that mean? I mean, I'm alive now so it can't- right, I'm here, eh?" Kane said, trying to understand.
"Back to your science, Mister Kane. Everything is converted, nothing is created. When you are cut off from our natural flow of energy, it means you lose the ability to recover it. You are fine for now. That will change. Your powers will slowly ebb. Eventually, sleep and food will fall to satiate you. Each day will erode a little bit more." He said softly.
"No, but- ok, but then why am I- I mean, why haven't I..."
"You still have energy, Mister Kane. If you die, you will create energy where it cannot be created. The universe is keeping you alive so you cannot create the paradox. It will last until the last mote of energy dissipates from you, so when you die, you will destabilize anything. The aura that Wong is trying to understand is the natural order keeping you alive through the forces of chaos long enough until you can safely die."
"This, you can't tell me this hasn't happened. People haven't - someone has! Someone has had to-"
"This library contains the combined knowledge of ten thousand years of mystics and mages. It also contains every example we know of someone with your... affliction. None states a cure. Most were magic-users of some type. Those who continued to use their magic as normal in search of a cure went in months or a handful of years. Those who forsook their powers lived much longer lives. Like the candle, the hotter you burn, the shorter you last. One example became a monk, dedicated himself to meditation and lasted six decades, highly revered as a holy man."
"So your solution is to join a monastery? That's a joke."
"But Gar isn't a magic user." Amanda's voice was shaky, but she'd pulled herself together enough to start thinking again. To at least try and find a reason to hope again. "That has to change things, doesn't it? There's no magical energy to burn."
"As I said before, at the root of all things is energy. The energy that powers our magicks is the same that powers his mutation." The look he gave them both was almost kindly. "Mutants are largely new to our world, but not entirely so. The use of your powers will cause the same issues as the continued use of magic would be for a magic user. You are welcome to the resources here in our library, Miss Sefton. And I will send inquiries through our own networks of arcane scholars and practitioners, but if there is a solution, I am afraid it is beyond my current knowledge or capabilities."
"So that's it? In return to surviving a crapload of magic bullshit, I'm going to die anyway."
"Of course. No matter how long or short our lives may be, no matter how meaningful or inconsequential, we are all going to die one day, Mister Kane. Consider your choices." He got up from his chair in preparation for leaving. "You have put yourself in harm's way ever since you had the choice to do so. Each of these incidents which brought you here could have - and perhaps would have, save for the luck and magic involved - killed you. Each one, your deliberate choices put you in that position. As long or as short as it may be, you still have the choice in how you wish to live your life."
"Every one of those choices was to save others, but that doesn't matter in your fucking equation, does it?" Amanda spat the words out bitterly, knowing in her heart that the Ancient One was right but refusing to simply accept it. So she turned back to Garrison. "We'll go back to the mansion, get the science crew on this, Emma's resources, hell, even eXcal and the wormhole. We'll make a cure."
"Wong will return you to New York. I wish you my best." The Ancient One said as he opened a portal and stepped through. Wong came around the table, shaking his head.
"The Ancient One is incredibly learned, but not infallible. If there's clues in this library that may help, I'll find them and be in touch." He said, eyes passing over Kane's blank expression. He made a circle with his fingers and a portal opened behind them, the lobby of the New York Sanctum visible beyond it.
"Thank you." Amanda gave him a grateful look and a nod as she took Garrison's arm to direct him towards the glowing hole in the air. "I'll be in touch."
"I have no doubt." He said, a touch wryly, as he shooed them through the portal. They stepped through and it cut out behind them. Kane was uncharacteristically silent as they walked through the doors and out into the cool New York autumn air. Once they did, he took a seat on the bus bench, groping for a moment for the edge and taking a deep breath once he was perched on it.
Amanda took a seat beside him, biting her lip anxiously. "We'll fix it," she said, a little more gently than before. "I'll fix it. I'll find a way, I promise."
"Don't promise." He said quietly. "This was going to happen one day. Like he said, it doesn't even need the Hell Lord or Thor's fucking hammer. One day I'm going to put on the leathers or the badge and not make it home. That I came to terms with a long time ago." He sighed, letting his head hang for a minute. "If I was willing to do anything else, I wouldn't be here. I'd be in the South Seas with Adrienne or home in Toronto. But I'm not."
He took a deep breath. "So no matter what happens, I need you to promise me that you won't tell anyone about last part. Tell them I'm magically broken. Tell them I've got this... what, chaos aura? Chaos aura, fuck, that has to be the stupidest sounding side condition in history. But you will not tell them that not using my powers is a way to prolong my life."
"Wait... you're going to stay? With the X-Men?" Amanda blinked, nonplussed. "Garrison, for fuck's sake, if anyone had a good reason to chuck it in and go and do what they wanted to do, it's you. Go to Adrienne. Take her to the fucking South Seas. Get some fucking peace and happiness before this kills you. You deserve it."
"All this time you've known me and you still don't get it. If that was something I could do, I'd have done it a year ago." Kane said, making her lean back a bit. "This is who I am, Amanda. If I died tomorrow at the hands of the Brotherhood or some criminal doing what I do, I'd have zero regrets. But if people know about that fact, they'll take it away. With the best of intentions and thinking it is for my own good, but they will. Or do their best to isolate me so I'm no use to anyone. And if that happens, you might as well put me out of my misery now."
"But..." You're dying. The tears she'd held back in Kamar-Taj threatened to squeeze themselves out from under her eyelids. "Bloody hellfire, Gar. I know. I know." She took a deep breath through her nose, trying to push back the wave of emotions. This wasn't about her. "Fine. I won't tell them the whole truth. Except for Angie. You know she'll know something's up and I already lied to her enough with the Olivier thing."
"Alright, but no one else. I don't want to have to justify myself every time I suit up or go to work. " He said and finally straightened up. "Alright, I'm going to handle this news in a responsible manner by going and getting shatteringly drunk."
"Oh, hell yes."
