xp_logs | Madin & Kane: A Flame Broiled Investigation

Madin runs into a BBQ with Kane, and forgets the rule that when talking to a cop, all you ever say is 'lawyer'.

Kane was in the back of the mansion, quietly working the grill. He had been told different elements but at the end of the day, he was working with just the desire to to have a hamburger or a hotdog. He took a sip from his can of Moosehead.

Madin was three steps onto the deck before they saw Kane and at that point, they were more or less stuck because they absolutely weren't avoiding anyone and leaving would suggest otherwise. "Hi." They took a minute to fish a tobacco pouch and papers out of a pocket and roll a smoke rather than make eye contact. "Having a barbeque eh?"

"I'd say that I'm actually rebuilding a car engine or something, but it's too nice a day for snark." Kane said, still concentrating on the grill, checking the temperature to make sure it was at the right heat. He put down his beer and reached for the plate of meat. "It's Madin, right? You want something? I got hamburgers, sausage, and a couple of those Beyond Meat things if that's your preference." He tapped the cooler nearby with his foot. "Beer, sodas and water in here."

"Thanks." Madin opened the cooler and fished out a beer. "Moosehead. Are these all Canadian?" They opened it and took a welcome drink. "Erm. When you say sausage, do you mean sausages because I could go a sausage in bread or those weird hamburger patty things?"

"It's a sausage. Hot Italians from the Meat Market. I mean, it's supposed to be on a bun..." Kane said, dropped one on just in case. "And the beer is all Canadian. Because, well, I paid for it, so I bought what I like. Also, Boags is sadly hard to get here in Canada. Or Cascade."

"Nah. The bread to meat ratio is wrong in a bun." Madin took the bun anyway. "You got any tomato sauce? Anyway, Four Pines is where it's at or Furphy. Boags is like, dad beer." They took a long drink. "Thanks. Nothing wrong with dad beer, it's just, you know."

"Since I only ever drink it with my father, that tracks." Kane said, He pointed back to the cooler. "Condiments are also in there, but there's only ketchup. Australian tomato sauce pretty much doesn't exist that I've seen in the US. They worship committedly at the altar of Big Ketchup."

"I've noticed. Heinz is fine, though," Madin said, digging the bottle out. "Half the places I've been that's all that's on offer anyway. I've got used to it."

"Like where? Got to be honest, not really sure where you bounced around once you left Australia. I don't do a lot with the Underground." Kane said, continuing to work the grill, turning over several sausages and a surprising number of hamburgers for just two people.

Madin shrugged. "Around. I spent some time in Europe. Bit in like, Africa. The US. You know, around. "

"Wow, that's actually pretty impressive. It wasn't until I got to the mansion that I started real international travel. Starting as young as you did... a little jealous." He turned from the grill and started to build the buns for his food. "Mayo, mustard, tomato, pickle..." He said, mostly to himself as he built the buns. "Any good stories? I once spent three days on the run in Madripoor with an ex-SHIELD officer being chased by the Tongs and his pissed off girlfriend and we weren't sure which to be more afraid of catching us, eh?"

Madin grinned. "Yeah. Sounds really hectic. We were um. It was in." They paused for a second, considering what they couldn't say. "This guy. He worked in the mining industry, I guess. And he promised us we'd um. You know. It's not important. And it all went to shit and the next thing you know, we're driving out of town in like, the middle of the wet season, three am, hoping that these jeeps we ah. Found? Don't crap out on us with like, half the local government chasing us because someone paid off someone and..." I need to shut up. "It was a whole thing, you know?"

"Fuck, heard that..." Kane said, with a snap of his tongs. "OK, last call. Just a sausage or do you want a burger as well? I'm at the stage in which they are cheesed and you can't back out of that..."

"Yeah, I'd love a burger, with cheese even," Madin said with a small smile. "Thanks."

"Absolutely." After a few minutes of slapping cheese slices down, he closed the grill for a second. "Food in a minute. You want another beer?"

"Yeah, that would be good. Thanks." Madin pulled another bottle out of the cooler and opened it. "You need one? How'd you end up here, anyway?"

"Madin, the one rule in this mansion is that I always need another one." Kane grinned, pushing the tray of now set up buns next to the grill. "I was seconded here from the RCMP. Canadian government wanted to learn from Xavier's, so they sent me down... geez, close to twenty years ago."

Madin froze. "You're a cop?" They took a deep breath and consciously relaxed their body language. "Huh. You seemed normal. Kind of dad energy, you know? Not so much stomping on the rights of the oppressed."

"It's complicated. I am a Mountie and a Special Agent of the FBI. I work in the Mutant division." Kane said, keeping his reaction light and relaxed. "It's complicated, but I'm part of the group that is figuring out the future of mutant law enforcement." He started to build the rest of the burgers and dogs.

"You'd sure have some interesting case studies from Australia, then," Madin muttered. "And Canada."

"Canada, yes. Australia has been pretty cagey and Interpol is a complete mess right now. Part of the whole SHIELD layer..." Kane said with a shrug, finally turning to drop a cooked sausage into Madin's bun and started to transfer cheeseburgers to the buns.

"Yeah, they would be."

"I also do a lot of the driving of the Danger Room here when I'm not at work, so if you haven't yet, it's worth checking out, even if you're not that interested in powers training. It's... some kind of plasma manifestation, right?"

"I call it knife hands. If I didn't have my hands full, I'd show you." Madin frowned slightly. "That's the whole paramilitary strike force training centre, mate. Is this conversation becoming a recruitment drive?"

"Recruiting is not one of my hats." Kane said as he took the top burger off the pile, bit down, and chased it with some beer. "Some teams use it, but the primary function is powers training. Whether your dream is to be an X-Man or a short order cook, it's a safe environment to work on your powers. Also, it's fun." He took another bite and chewed thoughtfully for a second. "I'm around it so much that I forget how extraordinary it really is. I've simulated what it would be like to walk one the moon safely without a spacesuit. Or take a wingsuit through the Grand Canyons. Seriously, you should check it out at least once while you're here."

Madin didn't look at him for a long while, needing a moment to get under control and not fucking cry. It was just so fucking hard. They should have left so long ago but they hadn't. Everything was going to go to shit one day but it hadn't yet. Junior terrorism time was going to come up eventually. Hell, even Nice Friendly Cop With Dad Vibes was going to show his true colours eventually. "I have them pretty well trained but, you know, that sounds like fun. Gotta say, some of the others didn't sell it as well as you are. I'll give it a go at some point." They smiled, trying to look relaxed and probably failing.

"I keep saying I'm the most charming, eh?" Kane said, polishing off his first burger and starting on his second without a pause. "Look, I know in the vaguest sense you've been through some shit. Whether you're here with us for a short time or longer, at least take advantage of some of the opportunities here before if or when you move on." He shrugged, paused to eat another bite and took a sip. "Just text me when you want to look at the DR."

"I will." That sounded like a polite excuse so Madin added, "no, like actually, I will. Thanks."

Kane just nodded in response, tucking into his burger. After a moment, his eyes slid past Madin and he paused. "I was wondering when you'd figure it out."

The wolf louped up, as Kane fished out a couple of raw hamburger patties and tossed them down for him. The wolf immediately snarfled at them. "Don't eat so fast. You'll make yourself sick."

"That's a really big husky," Madin observed.

"Arctic Wolf." He caught the younger man's look and shrugged. "It's complicated."

"A wolf." Madin shook their head. "You know what, I'm not going there."

"Smart move. Also, unless you're secretly a bag of chips or some other type of junk food, he'll just ignore you soon enough." He said as the wolf focused on his meal. "Hey, I've got a question, if you don't mind. Need some insight with someone who spent the kind of time you did with the Underground. I mean, all of the people at the mansion are in the structure as opposed to going through it."

"Yeah. I'm happy to answer whatever you want to know," Madin replied, sounding slightly unhappy.

"Cool. No pressure." Kane said, holding up his hand. "Did you or anyone you know get approached by the Brotherhood during your time in the Underground?"

"What the fuck bro? That's a pretty big question." Madin shrugged. "Yeah, maybe. They'd never advertise that they're the Brotherhood, would they?"

"So about a year and a half ago, I was embedded with them. Long story. But they talked a big game about how they had the Underground sewed up and we had no clue how they funneled the most powerful mutants into their camps." Kane said, finishing off another burger and a beer before opening another. He set one up for Madin on principle. "It sounded like bullshit, but... we haven't been able to get a handle on it. I figured you might have an insider perspective about how much we need to worry about this."

"You were what?" Madin asked, mouth dry. "Where were you?" There was no way he'd have seen them. They'd mostly been in Chicago for their last several months in except for the last field rotation. This was fine. Madin started drinking the new beer on autopilot.

"Again, long story, doesn't matter. Just..." Kane paused. "If the Brotherhood missed you, they were talking out their asses how much they have the Underground compromised."

Madin nodded. "There were - I mean, look, you gotta understand the big picture here. There's a lot of. Of angry people come through, right, and it's all mutual aid. Trying to help people who are hurting figure out their next steps. And, like. Sometimes you can spot the ones with. You know. Government types that wanna keep tabs on mutants. Your lot. They're not desperate enough. And then there's other people. You know, they'd never say they're Brotherhood, but they." Madin took a drink and kept talking, quietly. "They look for people who don't. Who've lost everything and ask if they want to get some back. If they want to fix what's happened. And they're real nice."

"Makes sense. We know there's other groups that have pieces of the Underground on their radar for the worst reasons. That Sublime fuck for one. But with your age, power type, the Brotherhood wouldn't have hid who they are. If they approached you, they would have been trying to sell you on their 'brand', so to speak."

"They never approached me," Madin said flatly.

"Good. That is a relief. The Underground is, by its nature, an constantly changing structure, and it's a race to try to keep up and make it as safe as possible." Kane said, reaching down to scratch the wolf between the ears. "I don't know if you've met Terry Cassidy, but she does a lot of this work. I bet your experience and insights could be a big help to her prioritizing what needs to be done. If you'd be willing to talk about it with her."

Did he buy it? Who knows. Madin's fucking past was going to come out eventually if they'd had people embedded in the Brotherhood. "Sure. I'd be happy to chat to her," Madin said, feeling nearly hollow inside. The person Madin was pretending to be would have no problem here. A normal person would have no problem. Right?

"Good. Sorry, I'm sure that felt a little intrusive but- well, keeping people safe is the priority, eh?" Kane gave them an embarassed shrug. "So, Danger Room. Maybe tomorrow afternoon if you have the time?"

"Sure thing. I still don't have much on."

"Sounds good. I'll shoot you a text once I've got it setup."

"Sure." Madin waved vaugely at the patio door. "Thanks for dinner and all but I have to um. I'm working on a thing and need to get back to it."

"Take care." Kane said, hunkering down to finish the last burger as Madin walked away. Once they were out of sight, he leaned back for a moment and the wolf nudged his legs. "Yeah, I know. They're lying." It wasn't yet that years of interrogations had given Garrison a finely tuned sense when someone wasn't telling the truth. It was the fact that there was no world in which a person like Madin; visible mutant, weaponized powers, chip on their shoulder you could see from space, and an attitude that aligned close enough with Magneto's policies wouldn't have been sniffed out by the Brotherhood and approached by now. He tossed the last bite to the wolf, who chomped it out of the air with gusto, and pulled out his phone. In a few minutes, he had the mansion info on Madin and what they'd told them prior to coming to the mansion. That was where he'd start digging.