Pete and Nathan, early Friday morning.
Mar. 10th, 2005 07:33 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsNate is the first to track Pete down. It's not really a very cheerful conversation.
Nathan stood in the shadow of the trees, watching the man sitting on the bench. The little park was empty around them, between the time of morning and the threatening-looking sky. He was perfectly content atthe lack of an audience. He would have just had to blur the minds of anyone in the vicinity anyway.
Taking a deep breath, he reached out telepathically, just brushing Pete's thoughts. A knock on the door, so to speak, a knock that carried with it the information that he was here alone, not looking for a fight. All the important stuff.
"Normal people say 'Hello, how're you?' you know." Pete didn't bother turning round, although he sounded faintly amused.
"Still, I suppose normal people went out the window quite a while back, didn't it?" Pete lit a cigarette, and waited for Nathan to walk over.
"Normality is for people who aren't us, yes," Nathan said, coming over and joining him on the bench. He gave Pete a brief, assessing look before his gaze shifted back to the empty park. "So. You didn't make it too difficult to find you - or had you just not gotten to that stage yet?"
Pete smiled thinly.
"I haven't made it hard to find me in Chicago, for anyone that actually knows me. Because I figured that it was better to have some place where people like you and LeBeau could come and shout at me, rather than have you decide I was hiding, and then turn me up when I wasn't expecting it, bring Charlie's Perverts with you, and generally get in my way when I was working."
"What makes you think I'm going to shout at you?" Nathan's expression was bleak as he stared out over the dead grass. "And I'm sure as hell not taking part in any kind of X-Men thing to, God forbid, 'bring you back and make you see some sense'. You and I have had one real fight in the last twelve months. That was quite enough for me."
Pete smiled, more genuinely, this time. "Thanks, mate."
Then he sighed.
"You ever miss working with the Pack? Doing a job just because someone was paying?"
Nathan gave it a moment of real thought. And then shook his head. "No," he said quietly, folding his arms tightly across his chest and slouching on the bench. It was chilly out here, for all that the snow was gone. "I don't trust the simplicity anymore. Should never have trusted it in the first place, if I'm going to be honest with myself. It was seven years of running away from having to make the hard choices, and it just made things harder in the end."
"You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din." He took a drag on his cigarette. "I'm just sick of trying and trying to do something worth it, and getting nothing but trauma and bodies on the deck in return. I've got to the point where I figure I'll look out for me and mine, and fuck the rest of the damn planet."
Nathan's gaze flickered sideways to Pete, troubled. "I suppose this is where I ought to make the obligatory speech about revenge never solving anything," he said, the words coming out more saddened than wry, "but firstly, I don't like sounding like a hypocrite, and secondly, it doesn't apply. You're in a totally different situation than I was. If this is revenge, that's only a part of it. You still have something to protect. Romany and Amanda..." He took a deep, somewhat unsteady breath. "But I can't help. I want to, but the best I think I can do is stay out of your way."
"Don't worry about it. You've got Moira and the kid to think about." Pete smiled slighly. "Although there are a couple of things you could do, although you probably won't like 'em much more. God forbid, but if he should ever find out what's been going on, can you have a word with Manuel? I don't imagine it'll do a damn bit of good, but I figure someone ought to explain to him that as far as I'm concerned once I'm done with this, that's it over. Ball's in his court, and I really hope he'll let it end. Because if he doesn't, I ain't just going to roll over for him."
"If I have to, I'll do what I can. If I can - we're going after Mistra soon, and I don't know how that's going to end." Nathan looked sideways at him. "What else?"
"You're going after...? Christ, best of luck, old son. Hope it goes well." He took another drag. "And the other thing, well, you'll do this anyway, but..." Pete trailed off for a second.
"Keep an eye on Amanda for me? However this ends, I don't see me being welcome back at Xavier's any time soon, and I don't want her thinking I fucked off without thinking about her."
"You're damned right I'd do it anyway." Nathan sighed. "But I'll do my best. I think in her head, she'll understand that part of the reason you're doing this is for her." He gave Pete a steady look. "I won't be the only one looking for you. I'm surprised Dom didn't beat me to the punch."
"I already called her, told her the score. Figured I'd save her the bother of having to clear customs. Said I'd see her when this was all done. I figure that leaves LeBeau, and a few people who won't give a fuck about this that'll be able to dig me up here in time to do anything."
A pause.
"How's McCoy? And was Summers OK? I don't think I hit him that hard, but I didn't really have time to do more than make sure he was breathing..."
Nathan smiled genuinely for the first time in the conversation at the mention of Hank. "Hank's fine. Fine as in fixed, I mean." He gave Pete a brief update on how that had been resolved, and then his smile turned wry. "And Scott was fine. He let you take that file, didn't he?"
Pete raised an eyebrow. "You have a nasty and suspicious mind there, you know. I think it's probably in everyone's interest that what may or may not have happened in that office stays between me and him, don't you?"
"Mmm," was Nathan's only response to that. Pete had a point, and it wasn't as if he wasn't fairly sure of the answer to his question anyway. He watched a young woman pushing a stroller appear at the end of one of the pathways across the park, and reached out, drawing a haze over her perceptions so that she didn't notice them sitting on the bench. "No one has asked me," he said after another long moment, knowing Pete would mean he meant no one at the mansion, "to get
involved in any of... this. Of course, Mistra is one hell of a distraction."
Pete leant back, and blew smoke up into the sky. "Have to admit, I'm surprised. If I were them, I'd have at least asked you by now. You think maybe they're hoping I'll change my mind?"
"I think, to some extent, there's a... plausibility issue," Nathan said, choosing his words quite deliberately. He suspected he was walking as fine a line here as Scott had been back in his office that day. "There are things I'm suited for and things that I'm not. And I don't pretend to be objective on any level here. Makes me something of a liability." He looked sideways at Pete, a bit bleakly. "This could go very badly, though. Not just for you. I can't sit here and say I'm not worried about what the Inner Circle's reaction is liable to be."
"I know. But Shaw's going to move sooner or later anyway. I can't sit on me hands on this one, even if it would be safer."
Pete shrugged.
"Summers asked me if I could, you know. I said no, but I spent a couple of days thinking about it, after I legged it."
"Well," Nathan murmured a bit wryly, "so long as you've thought about it..." He shook his head slowly, staring back out at the park.
"Remember me asking you after Vegas if you thought I'd gone soft? And you said yes... you were lucky I was in Arizona at the time, by the way..." He looked back at Pete, his expression shadowed. "But you were right. By all right, I should be at least attempting to kick your ass all over this park. Good of the many and all that... but I'll be damned if I do that. It's bad enough I have to go along with cutting you loose to give the Inner Circle less of an excuse."
"Yeah, well, I've said more than once that I should never have been at Xavier's. Turns out I was right about that, too. In too fucking many ways." He took another drag on his cigarette.
"Look, I'd love to say there's no hard feelings on my part. But I can't help thinking that if it'd been Maddrox's Mum, or something, then there'd be a smoking fucking crater in New York by now." Pete didn't bother to hide the bitterness in his voice as he ground his cigarette out.
"But that ain't your fault, mate. And whatever else happens, you're a better role model for Amanda than I'll ever be. I'm sorry I won't be there to help you out with Mistra."
Nathan shook his head. "Neither of us are good role models," he said quietly, "but for whatever reason, she's unhealthily attached to us both. Which is just... inexplicable good fortune, on both our parts."
He took a deep breath. "I'll do what I can," he said again, his voice even lower. "I'll stay out of your way, watch out for Amanda, try and explain things to Manuel... I'll fight Shaw with everything I've got if it comes to that. I just wish..." He trailed off, shaking his head again. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah, well, if wishes were horses..." Pete trailed off, then grinned. "You'd have got Amanda that pony by now." He shrugged. "Fuck it. We can both sit here and be terribly sorry about all this until we're blue in the face, but, really, just fuck it. If I've got to remind de la Rocha and every other bastard with a grudge why they used to be scared of me, then I'll do my best to do it without hurting anyone that doesn't deserve it. And if everyone else has to try and stop me, then they'll do that. No point us sitting here getting all maudlin about it."
He glanced at his watch.
"I've got a plane to catch in a few hours. You want to go get a drink some place before I vanish again?"
"I think some tequila is definitely called for, yes," Nathan said, getting to his feet. "Though if we do that, I'm not promising I won't get maudlin." He gave Pete a brief, wry grin. "Although I won't hold a grudge if I catch you snickering into your Scotch about it."
Nathan stood in the shadow of the trees, watching the man sitting on the bench. The little park was empty around them, between the time of morning and the threatening-looking sky. He was perfectly content atthe lack of an audience. He would have just had to blur the minds of anyone in the vicinity anyway.
Taking a deep breath, he reached out telepathically, just brushing Pete's thoughts. A knock on the door, so to speak, a knock that carried with it the information that he was here alone, not looking for a fight. All the important stuff.
"Normal people say 'Hello, how're you?' you know." Pete didn't bother turning round, although he sounded faintly amused.
"Still, I suppose normal people went out the window quite a while back, didn't it?" Pete lit a cigarette, and waited for Nathan to walk over.
"Normality is for people who aren't us, yes," Nathan said, coming over and joining him on the bench. He gave Pete a brief, assessing look before his gaze shifted back to the empty park. "So. You didn't make it too difficult to find you - or had you just not gotten to that stage yet?"
Pete smiled thinly.
"I haven't made it hard to find me in Chicago, for anyone that actually knows me. Because I figured that it was better to have some place where people like you and LeBeau could come and shout at me, rather than have you decide I was hiding, and then turn me up when I wasn't expecting it, bring Charlie's Perverts with you, and generally get in my way when I was working."
"What makes you think I'm going to shout at you?" Nathan's expression was bleak as he stared out over the dead grass. "And I'm sure as hell not taking part in any kind of X-Men thing to, God forbid, 'bring you back and make you see some sense'. You and I have had one real fight in the last twelve months. That was quite enough for me."
Pete smiled, more genuinely, this time. "Thanks, mate."
Then he sighed.
"You ever miss working with the Pack? Doing a job just because someone was paying?"
Nathan gave it a moment of real thought. And then shook his head. "No," he said quietly, folding his arms tightly across his chest and slouching on the bench. It was chilly out here, for all that the snow was gone. "I don't trust the simplicity anymore. Should never have trusted it in the first place, if I'm going to be honest with myself. It was seven years of running away from having to make the hard choices, and it just made things harder in the end."
"You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din." He took a drag on his cigarette. "I'm just sick of trying and trying to do something worth it, and getting nothing but trauma and bodies on the deck in return. I've got to the point where I figure I'll look out for me and mine, and fuck the rest of the damn planet."
Nathan's gaze flickered sideways to Pete, troubled. "I suppose this is where I ought to make the obligatory speech about revenge never solving anything," he said, the words coming out more saddened than wry, "but firstly, I don't like sounding like a hypocrite, and secondly, it doesn't apply. You're in a totally different situation than I was. If this is revenge, that's only a part of it. You still have something to protect. Romany and Amanda..." He took a deep, somewhat unsteady breath. "But I can't help. I want to, but the best I think I can do is stay out of your way."
"Don't worry about it. You've got Moira and the kid to think about." Pete smiled slighly. "Although there are a couple of things you could do, although you probably won't like 'em much more. God forbid, but if he should ever find out what's been going on, can you have a word with Manuel? I don't imagine it'll do a damn bit of good, but I figure someone ought to explain to him that as far as I'm concerned once I'm done with this, that's it over. Ball's in his court, and I really hope he'll let it end. Because if he doesn't, I ain't just going to roll over for him."
"If I have to, I'll do what I can. If I can - we're going after Mistra soon, and I don't know how that's going to end." Nathan looked sideways at him. "What else?"
"You're going after...? Christ, best of luck, old son. Hope it goes well." He took another drag. "And the other thing, well, you'll do this anyway, but..." Pete trailed off for a second.
"Keep an eye on Amanda for me? However this ends, I don't see me being welcome back at Xavier's any time soon, and I don't want her thinking I fucked off without thinking about her."
"You're damned right I'd do it anyway." Nathan sighed. "But I'll do my best. I think in her head, she'll understand that part of the reason you're doing this is for her." He gave Pete a steady look. "I won't be the only one looking for you. I'm surprised Dom didn't beat me to the punch."
"I already called her, told her the score. Figured I'd save her the bother of having to clear customs. Said I'd see her when this was all done. I figure that leaves LeBeau, and a few people who won't give a fuck about this that'll be able to dig me up here in time to do anything."
A pause.
"How's McCoy? And was Summers OK? I don't think I hit him that hard, but I didn't really have time to do more than make sure he was breathing..."
Nathan smiled genuinely for the first time in the conversation at the mention of Hank. "Hank's fine. Fine as in fixed, I mean." He gave Pete a brief update on how that had been resolved, and then his smile turned wry. "And Scott was fine. He let you take that file, didn't he?"
Pete raised an eyebrow. "You have a nasty and suspicious mind there, you know. I think it's probably in everyone's interest that what may or may not have happened in that office stays between me and him, don't you?"
"Mmm," was Nathan's only response to that. Pete had a point, and it wasn't as if he wasn't fairly sure of the answer to his question anyway. He watched a young woman pushing a stroller appear at the end of one of the pathways across the park, and reached out, drawing a haze over her perceptions so that she didn't notice them sitting on the bench. "No one has asked me," he said after another long moment, knowing Pete would mean he meant no one at the mansion, "to get
involved in any of... this. Of course, Mistra is one hell of a distraction."
Pete leant back, and blew smoke up into the sky. "Have to admit, I'm surprised. If I were them, I'd have at least asked you by now. You think maybe they're hoping I'll change my mind?"
"I think, to some extent, there's a... plausibility issue," Nathan said, choosing his words quite deliberately. He suspected he was walking as fine a line here as Scott had been back in his office that day. "There are things I'm suited for and things that I'm not. And I don't pretend to be objective on any level here. Makes me something of a liability." He looked sideways at Pete, a bit bleakly. "This could go very badly, though. Not just for you. I can't sit here and say I'm not worried about what the Inner Circle's reaction is liable to be."
"I know. But Shaw's going to move sooner or later anyway. I can't sit on me hands on this one, even if it would be safer."
Pete shrugged.
"Summers asked me if I could, you know. I said no, but I spent a couple of days thinking about it, after I legged it."
"Well," Nathan murmured a bit wryly, "so long as you've thought about it..." He shook his head slowly, staring back out at the park.
"Remember me asking you after Vegas if you thought I'd gone soft? And you said yes... you were lucky I was in Arizona at the time, by the way..." He looked back at Pete, his expression shadowed. "But you were right. By all right, I should be at least attempting to kick your ass all over this park. Good of the many and all that... but I'll be damned if I do that. It's bad enough I have to go along with cutting you loose to give the Inner Circle less of an excuse."
"Yeah, well, I've said more than once that I should never have been at Xavier's. Turns out I was right about that, too. In too fucking many ways." He took another drag on his cigarette.
"Look, I'd love to say there's no hard feelings on my part. But I can't help thinking that if it'd been Maddrox's Mum, or something, then there'd be a smoking fucking crater in New York by now." Pete didn't bother to hide the bitterness in his voice as he ground his cigarette out.
"But that ain't your fault, mate. And whatever else happens, you're a better role model for Amanda than I'll ever be. I'm sorry I won't be there to help you out with Mistra."
Nathan shook his head. "Neither of us are good role models," he said quietly, "but for whatever reason, she's unhealthily attached to us both. Which is just... inexplicable good fortune, on both our parts."
He took a deep breath. "I'll do what I can," he said again, his voice even lower. "I'll stay out of your way, watch out for Amanda, try and explain things to Manuel... I'll fight Shaw with everything I've got if it comes to that. I just wish..." He trailed off, shaking his head again. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah, well, if wishes were horses..." Pete trailed off, then grinned. "You'd have got Amanda that pony by now." He shrugged. "Fuck it. We can both sit here and be terribly sorry about all this until we're blue in the face, but, really, just fuck it. If I've got to remind de la Rocha and every other bastard with a grudge why they used to be scared of me, then I'll do my best to do it without hurting anyone that doesn't deserve it. And if everyone else has to try and stop me, then they'll do that. No point us sitting here getting all maudlin about it."
He glanced at his watch.
"I've got a plane to catch in a few hours. You want to go get a drink some place before I vanish again?"
"I think some tequila is definitely called for, yes," Nathan said, getting to his feet. "Though if we do that, I'm not promising I won't get maudlin." He gave Pete a brief, wry grin. "Although I won't hold a grudge if I catch you snickering into your Scotch about it."
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Date: 2005-03-10 08:04 pm (UTC)*sigh* I suppose this isn't the time to mention that Remy hasn't talked to anyone save the team leaders and Amanda about the possible consequences, and the risk of the HFC coming down like a hammer comes from Xavier as well?
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Date: 2005-03-10 08:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-10 08:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-10 10:26 pm (UTC)