xp_logs | Nathan and Cain, Saturday morning

Cain visits Nathan and finds him doing new and surprising things like sitting up. They talk, mostly about the team, and Nathan is clearly leaning in the a different direction than he was earlier in the week. Cain gives his friend some good advice.

The back brace, Nathan decided, was almost as bad as the traction rig had been. Not quite, but almost. Moving was a little more easy this morning, but not much. He shifted a little on the bed, contenting himself with turning his head in the direction of the door. Two more nights and he'd be out of this room. Just keep remembering that...

A quick knock on the door and a muffled announcement of "Candygram" preceded Cain's entrance. Waving cheerfully to Nathan, he pulled over a reinforced stool and squatted next to the bed. "Hey," he announced, "you're not strapped into the roll cage anymore. Pity. We were taking bets on whether or not it'd survive a tumble into the quarry. So when they letting you out of this dump?"

Nathan couldn't help a smile. "Monday," he said. "First thing Monday morning... they want to run a few more tests and get me used to moving around in the wheelchair first." His eyes flickered around the room, vague amusement in them. "Natural light. My own bed. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the idea."

"ANOTHER wheelchair," Cain groused. He knew, of course. He'd only been spending the last few days outfitting Moira and Nathan's room for better wheelchair access, especially with all the changes that they were making for the eventual baby arrival. "Wonder if you and Chuck could do a little wheelchair NASCAR out on the front driveway. Slap some stickers on the side, get you guys little helmets..."

Nathan's smile widened. "I'll bounce the idea off him," he said a bit mischievously. "Would be awfully entertaining, don't you think?" He raised one arm, flexed the hand carefully. "So," he said, studiously not meeting Cain's eyes. "Hydrant?"

"Oh, don't YOU start," Cain moaned. "I know it's temporary, but Jesus, enough with the hazing already... Still, could be worse." He shrugged. "Ramsey and Angie are good kids, they'll be good assets to the team. Both got good heads on their shoulders. Young, though. Real young." He sighed and shook his head. "But they got heart, that'll go a long way. What about you? You coming back to the teams once they get you all healed up, or you thinking about finally taking that retirement option?"

Nathan blinked at Cain. "That obvious that I'm wondering, is it?" he asked after a moment, dryly. "I don't know, Cain. Depends first of all on how well I heal up, I suppose." He grimaced, shifting a bit again. "I'm getting tired of winding up in the medlab. I won't lie to you about that. Only then I start thinking about these last two missions, and I don't really see any way I could have avoided winding up in the medlab and still gotten the job done."

"Think about it," Cain continued, picking his words with care. "Few more months, you'll be as healed up as you're gonna get. Even if you're back to 100%, you'll have a wife and kid to think about. Now don't get me wrong - you ain't making a widow out of Moira on my watch, that ain't my worry. But they're an obligation, and you can't try and balance that with the team. It's a good thing you're - we're doing," he corrected, "But when it comes down to priorities... you know where it's gotta lie."

"You had the guts and the heart to do what needed to be done with Mistra," Cain said quietly, remembering the talk he and Nathan had shared on the plane, "Now you've gotta ask yourself if you've got the heart for what comes after."

"Trust me," Nathan said quietly. "Going to be doing a whole lot of thinking over the next few weeks." He raised the other arm, wincing a bit as the burns on his shoulder protested. "Jack and I talked about that, last time he was here. I was more than half-convinced I wasn't going to go back, even if I do heal up properly." He lowered his arm back to the bed, focusing again on Cain. "But I've been going over the mission logs the last day or two... stuff I wasn't involved in, I mean. To try and get some things straight in my head about just how representative these last two missions were... and they aren't, Cain."

"No kidding," Cain agreed. He'd been going over past mission reports all week with the other trainees. From reports, the average X-Men "mission" took less than six hours from notification to debriefing, and up until Youra, the concept of casualties had been almost nonexistent. "You sure know how to orchestrate your own personal Armageddon."

Nahtan hesitated, but then went on slowly, figuring that it couldn't really hurt to share these things with Cain. "A lot of the missions I read about... well, they wouldn't have been easy, per se, but I think I would have handled them well. The TK... it's so useful, Cain. So flexible. One of the best abilities possible for the sort of thing the X-Men usually do." He took a deep breath, then let it out, ignoring the ache of his ribs. They were getting better, at least. "So that's got to be a consideration, too. And when it does come down to the missions like the one in Canada, or Youra... I have actual combat experience that a lot of the others don't, or are just starting to accumulate. That makes a difference. I know it did on Youra."

"Ain't all fighting," Cain interjected. "Seen more than a couple reports where the team's sent out to help some poor mutant kid who can't control his powers, before he gets himself strung up by some rednecks. Or runnin' place to place trying to follow up on where Magneto's been, though that seems like Remy's job now. But it ain't about fighting, not all the time. It's about doing the right thing, the good thing." He sat silent for a moment, tapping his fingers together. "I ain't exactly mister utility guy, not like you or Alison or Ororo. But what I got, I'm willing to use where I can."

Nathan nodded - and then hesitated, unable to help a grin. Nodding. Who would have thought that being able to nod would be that much of a relief? "I know. I know it's not all about fighting, Cain. But that was what I was getting stuck on, because all I could see lying here were these last couple of missions. And yet, it was the stuff that wasn't fighting that made me take Charles up on his offer in the first place." The grin lingered as he focused again on Cain. "And cut it out, by the way. You're going to be shocked, I think, by just how much of a utility guy you are."

"I seen some of Summers' training outlines," Cain admitted with a shrug. "Kid's got some interesting ideas there. He's a damn good leader, I will give him that. Got himself a bit of a spine too, something I didn't expect. Guess I always saw him as Chuck's little lapdog, golden boy, y'know? But he's his own man, and a good one at that." He glared down at Nathan with a mock scowl. "Tell him I said that, though, and I'll make sure you stay familiar with traction."

"Aw, can't I? The look on his face would be so funny..." Nathan chuckled, then decided to try sitting up, a more than moderately laborious and quite painful process. "Alison's cut from the same mold," he said a bit breathlessly. "Makes sense, because he trained her. I don't know Ororo's style as well. Haven't worked with her as much."

"Trust me, I been going over after-action reviews with the others all week," Cain rolled his eyes. "She's a pro, same as Summers. Got to tell you, I'm itchin' to get some hands-on stuff going, finally. Enough of the classroom crap. Don't get me wrong," he explained, "I know it's got its place, but still - there's nothing like unloading and seeing what you can do, is there?"

"It shouldn't be too much longer, I'd think, before they get you in the Danger Room. I know Scott was struggling with exercises for you. You're more challenging that the average trainee on that score." Nathan laughed again, softly. "He asked me for some suggestions."

"Moira and I already broke it once," Cain admitted sheepishly. "And from what I can tell, I ain't really any weaker than before. But with the stuff he's been throwing us on paper, I can tell I'm gonna have to be smart, not just tough." He smiled at the thought. "Man, it's like being twenty-one again, going through boot camp. They said I coulda gone to officer school, you know? Had my degree and everything. But I figured I wasn't cut out for talkin' about stuff. Wanted to be out there doin' it."

He clapped Nate on the knee, face still spread in a grin. "You'll be out there soon enough, back to doing it again. You know you can't stay away."

Nathan opened his mouth and then closed it again, giving Cain a wry look. "There's a certain amount of truth to that, I suppose," he conceded. "And yeah, Scott's liable to set it up so that you have to be all subtle. Stack the deck with rules that mean you lose the scenario if you break them..." Like Alison had done with his no-win scenarios.

"Sneaky bastard," Cain groused. "He knows his stuff. Think he said something about throwin' me and the other trainees into sessions in a week or so. Should be fun."

"I wonder if I could talk him into letting me design a few scenarios," Nathan said idly. "Would give me something to do - I mean, I imagine they'll let me have some marking once I'm out of here, oh joy, but I could use a little more to fill up my days. Although," he admitted dryly, "rehab's liable to take up a good chunk of time."

Cain nodded. "Not a bad idea. Lets you keep your hand in, and you've got more of that kind of experience than most of the team. Be a good way to learn, especially for the younger kids," by which Cain meant everyone, although he didn't say that out loud.

"I'll talk to him about that, then," Nathan said, and then grinned crookedly. "It was my round down at Harry's, wasn't it? I'll finally be able to make good on that this week. Well, maybe not this week. But soon."

"You're damn right it is," Cain said with a grin. "He got two new pool tables in there this weekend, too. Soon as you can pick up a cue, we're trying them out. I'll even let you cheat a little."

"As if I need to cheat to kick your ass at pool," Nathan mocked, shaking his head at him. "I can beat the probability-warper, remember?"