2013.09.12 - So...Three Mutants Walk into a Bar

At the S.H.I.E.L.D. base Logan would have left a message for Domino. An address was the only thing on it. A dive bar was location left on Domino's message. Logan knew the owner of the place and paid more than enough to reserve tonight. The owner wasn't there at all, he trusted Logan enough. Even if the short guy wanted to drain the bar dry the money left behind could have filled the shelves three times over. Besides, the beer was the only thing really in danger with Logan and that was a risk the owner was happy to take. 
Logan stood behind the filling up a mug with beer. When the foam rose and created head a "Shnkt" cut through the air. With a gentle motion he pushed aside the suds with a claw then filled it up. His leather bomber jacket sat crumpled up in a booth. He stood in a black tanktop and a pair of blue jeans. 
The bar was an eyesore inside and out. The floor was white and green small octagon shaped tiles. A few were missing and the floor needed a meeting with a mop desperately. Small brown circular bar tables with three or four chairs around each. At the edges of the entire place were booths that had faux green leather with various holes, tears, and a few pieces of duct tape. Clearly every booth needs some love, care and restoration. 
The outside was a small dark brown place with very few windows. The wood was stained darker thanks to years of wear and tear. Honestly it was a miracle a building inspector didn't condemn it. Normally there would have been neon "Open" and beer company signs alit but they were dark. The door was locked. He figured Domino would knock or just let herself in.
For better or worse, Domino's not the same merc she was before. Even a week ago. Things have been changing, most of them too quickly for her to keep up. Maybe that's why she's also had trouble breaking away from Cable, Mister Future that practically hasn't let the albino out of his sight since everything got turned upside down. In a way it makes sense, it's his fault that everything for her had changed.
The message she receives is unexpected, to say the least. It didn't have the 'feel' of random luck so much as just being plain old random. It's also immediately flagged as personal business in her mind. Her business.
Buuut... After some of her previous encounters with the Adamantium Snikter, having a telekinetic on hand might not be all that awful. Consider it a tactical decision on her part.
She's still doing the driving, though.
A fully blacked out BMW M3 parks not far away from the bar, going quiet and dark before the two occupants cover the remaining bit of ground on foot. Locked door? No problem. The TK expert of the small team has it unlatched in a heartbeat, leaving Dom to swing the door open.
"Wow, what a shithole."
But, it's empty. And the bottles have been left behind. Tonight's starting to look up.
"Logan," she offers in acknowledgement. Formal greetings aren't really anyone's thing here. "I don't see anyone dying, so what's this all about?"
It's an easy open. A quick flick of the telekenesis, and the tumblers to the mechanism, and it's done. Another odd flick, and the door could open before them, all without having to enter the threshold. Most believe there's a man-sized target on the other side, and even though a quick scan reveals there's only the one person within? Stranger things have happened. And it's only been a little under a week since he thought that he'd broken his albino merc with that last mission.%r
Mission first.
It's a hard balance to strike, and Nate is working hard to find it again. But thankfully, even in their worst moments, Domino seems to make it just a little easier.
Except for the fact that Domino has decided to take point. Nice. Cable will have to talk to her about that! (Again?)
Entering after the merc, the large, partially bionicked mutant takes a couple of steps in before tk pushes the door closed behind them. "Doesn't look too bad. Seen worse, and thrown out of better?" Nate smiles, a little lopsidedly, "At least they've tried to throw me out of better." He is, after all, a rather large man.
Looking around a little more, Cable's attention comes around to the man Domino is calling Logan. "Evening."
"What'll it be Dom?" he put the mug on the bar then took his first drink. Company wasn't getting the first drink when beer was around and Logan was serving. His eyes roamed over the Albino. Seconds later a scent caught his attention. "Sniff. Sniff." Metal, gun power, and a slew of other smells went up his nose, but underneath it all was something that belong to one person. That person Logan had a history with (to say the least). 
Glaring at the big guy that arrived with her Logan practically growled, "Who -or- what are you?" His blue eyes were glued on the guy with white hair. Clearly the man wasn't who he thought it was, but that smell was too strong. That alone told Logan the big guy had a story. "Who'd you bring here with'ya?
"You never struck me as the serving type," Dom replies with a smirk of her own. Sure, she could place her 'order' here, but nothing ever goes so smoothly. Not with her. Not with Logan. Definitely not with Cable. Instead she lets the heavy black trench fall from her shoulders, caught in back then tossed onto the counter.
In its absence is the source of the gun powder and oil the Canucklehead had noticed. Two large sidearms. Lots of reloads. Blades. Explosives. Gal's a walking armory under that coat.
"That," she starts in while leaning forward onto the bar and thumbing over her shoulder back at Nate, "is Cable." Pause. Faint sigh. "..My idiot boyfriend. Has a way with locks, though."
And this, of course, would be the Wolverine. Dom would have gotten Nate all caught up on the shorter, grizzled mutant and what hidden tricks he had to his name on the ride out here. Know the situation before you proceed, and all.
Maybe one of these days Cable would take that to heart and tell her what the hell's going on before they're up to their collective necks in trouble.
"So, if we're all good and not feeling happy-go-stabby here, how about some Amaretto?"
Cable tosses his drovers coat on top of Domino's black, revealing a sidearm. Beyond that, he doesn't look armed. (Heavier ordinance is in the car.)
Picking up a chair with an obvious experience and care with tk so as not to scrape the floor with the bits of metal on the legs, the furniture stops and Nate settles himself in. Making himself look less imposing, no doubt. Or trying to. This is Nate being friendly.
With the introduction done on Domino's side, Nate does add, "And a mutant. That's 'what'. Just in case."
Yes, thankfully Domino did give him a heads up on the smaller man, so he knows where to go and potentially how to procede. Oh.. and that's not to mention grabbing some things from Ship in regards to the 'past', the 'now', and 'future'.
"If you're serving, something light. They have any IPA?"
Glaring at Cable Logan leaned against the bar refusing to serve, "Ya look six to eleven years older than ya should. So I'm gonna ask again 'Who -or-what are ya' slim?" And oh yes that nickname was deliberate. That smell was too distinct, too unique to be anything else. Clearly the Canadian wasn't going to back down on this one.
Still hunched forward on the counter, Domino slowly rubs at her forehead with black-tipped fingers. A choice curse gets muttered under her next breath before that hand comes away, not looking away from the worn counter as she gestures palm-up in a 'can we move past this, please?' sort of way.
"He's from another timeline, Logan. Don't let your sniffer-thinger mess with your head too badly, he's plenty confusing without bringing the five senses into it. Now you messaged me, and I'm here. If you don't get into the 'why's' of this then I'm going to go drink myself into a stupor and let Wingnut here be my designated driver."
"Cable," Nate says, and there's a certain iron that touches the underpinnings of the word. "Clever name. It's a steel anchor keeping one thing held tightly to another. If it breaks, well then, that ship goes drifting into the night." He doesn't rise from his spot on the chair, however, but he does slide another one over in very much the same way for Domino; just off the ground until it's in place.
"Another time. This timeline, Dom," Nate corrects softly. "If you want to go into parentage, I would be more than happy to show a family tree." (But I'm not asking about your petri-dish parents.)
"I'm a mutant. I'm here with Domino. You asked her, and for the time being, we're a matched set." And, as he hasn't yet gotten his IPA, a bottle of it begins its journey from a suddenly open refrigerator door (and closed behind it) only to land into the mutant's hand.
"I'm here to make sure that what is here doesn't screw up the rest of tomorrow. But.. you'll be happy to know that this meeting doesn't matter a hill of beans in about ten years." Beat. "Maybe."
Cable looks at Domino again, and exhales softly, "She gets mad when I don't 'fess up to the stuff I know. So, maybe I should actually communicate more."
Pulling out a an Eel River IPA Logan slid it to Cable, "All women like it when a guy communicates more. Somethin' to do wit' feelin's n' secrets." Logan paused remembering a few exes, if one or three night stands could be called that, "Wellmost do. Glass?" If Cable wanted a mug it would have been given. "Yer dad's an ass. No offense," it had to be said. The timeline information, honest or not, was good enough for Logan. The scent wasn't going to lie and Logan knows he himself was over a hundred years old and looked to be in his mid-thirties, maybe late thirties. Stories about a time traveler really weren't that strange. 
Pulling out a spirit glass Logan filled it with Armretto then handed Domino both the glass and the bottle. "Thanks fer comin'. Been askin' this one question and it's simple, but it ain't." Staring at the albino Logan asked, "Why'd ya leave the school?" Everyone had their own answers to this question and each one was important to Logan.
When the chair is slid over Domino drops into it a moment later, not really thinking about it as she does. "Whatever," is the automatic response when corrected about the timeline ordeal. After the last meeting they had with the other Nate and Hope she can't be sure which is what anymore.
When the matter about communicating more comes up she hooks a brow and glances back to Nate. "Gee, ya think so?"
Even mutant relationships can suffer from typical ailments. When Logan is the one to point it out she can't help but snort in amusement. "Check out Doctor Phil over here."
"Scott? Yeah, he's a real piece of work." Which may or may not lead up to the question that falls upon her shoulders. Attention still diverted she looks next to the filled glass placed before her. First, the Amaretto's getting put to use. Second, she's going to return her attention to Logan. Her expression might show idle amusement but it doesn't get anywhere close to reaching her eyes. "That's the big question of the evening, why did I leave?"
A ghostly fingertip drifts across the rim of her glass for a moment then falls still, her thoughts pieced together in the same amount of time.
"I was bringing military-grade ordnance into a goddamned school. Not that it should have mattered since Scott was more than happy to send a bunch of kids out to the front lines. When that prick Trask cornered the team for a week's vacation in the Arctic I was popped into a cell next to people that could barely get their driving temps. Or how about the time he had me assassinate the leader of Mureybet? Because that solved more problems than it created. The guy doesn't know what he wants or what he's doing and he's trying to lead a bunch of superpowered amateurs into global operations. Frankly I'm amazed that whole place hasn't been shut down or napalmed by now. That answer your question?"
"You mean, 'I feel you're being an idiot' and 'There's some shit you're not telling me, and I don't like secrets'?" Cable asks, a hint of a smirk on his face. It's good natured teasing, obviously self-deprecating. He knows he does it, and deserves it whenever it comes up.
The smirk shifts to an actual smile, which is followed by an actual laugh as the IPA is 'delivered'. The offer of a glass is waved off before he raises the bottle. Nate pops the cap and takes a swallow before he lowers it and nods slowly, "I know. But as a dad, he wasn't too bad. Of course, he was out of his element, so I had his full attention." For 12 years, at least, before he left. 
Now, the large, white-shocked haired mutant falls quiet in order for Domino to answer the question. He's not surprised, honestly, that she'd found her way to Xavier's. And her way out again.
As she does list, Cable is all ears, and as she lists the reasons, the sins of his father, as it were, the man lets out a breath of air that doesn't sound the least bit pleased. ~ Well, talk about out of his element... ~ is sent to Domino. Not polite, but at least he has the courtesy to open it up to the floor.
Domino echoed words similar to Bobby Drake. The only thing made her remarks more chilling were the details Bobby omitted (or didn't know) with his. "That ain't Chuck's dream," Logan said flatly. Anger surged through him at the imagery of children becoming soldiers. People that did that were often the head of projects like Weapon X, not leaders for equality. 
"What if a new player entered the field, interested?" Logan posed the idea to Domino first. Would it have created problems? Yeah, probably but it was hard for him to support someone that made young soldiers. He looked at the Albino and the big guy, "Same offer to yer boy toy."
"To put it lightly," Dom agrees about the current situation not aligning with Xavier's dream. She'd like to know how someone like Scott wound up in charge, and why Xavier didn't step in and change things up as soon as they began to drift.
But, it's really not her problem.
When the next question is raised she sits there in silence, pale blue eyes staring back at Logan for a good long moment. Did he really just ask her that..?
"How long were you waiting for me to get here?" she flatly asks. "Because I think you've had way too much to drink. It's a school, Logan. That's not the sort of place where people like me, like us, belong. Besides that, I'm no teacher. That place needs me as little as I need it. Let's not start inviting more trouble, they can do that well enough on their own."
Looking at Domino he held up one finger after picking up his mug then downed it with an expertise that comes by being a heavy drinker. He looked at her after letting out a belch, "Which makes us perfect fer the job. I ain't askin' ya to teach. Help em' train at the most along with the least o' bein' a means to protect the school. Genosha's giving mutants a bad name n' addin' a second school is gonna make people edgy." 
"What kind of day is it when the killers are wantin' to make sure the kids aren't gonna be like them?" And in that statement was the real reason Logan asked Domino and Cable. If any laws were crossed by teacher or student it would have been those two keeping everything honest. "No wetwork. No hidden motives to bearing an 'X'. I'd want people to be honest wit' me if someone's crossin' a line. And yer good. Simple as that." 
Letting out a sigh he looked at her, "Still workin' out details. But somethin's gotta be done. Good people like Warren ain't aloud on the grounds. Kids becomin' killers. I can't sit by n' be idle anymore n' no more walkin' away either."
Well now, this is most unexpected. The Wolverine's planning on settling down to watch over a bunch of children? "Didn't think you were one to feel responsible for much of anything," Domino points out around the glass in her hand. "Much less something that isn't directly your fault."
Something about this situation still doesn't feel right. "Did Charles put you up to this?" There's no one else connected to the team, current or previous, that would be able to have this sort of conversation with her. If Logan's seriously considering it, too? That's leverage. It's enough to make her stop and listen, even if it's because she isn't believing what she's hearing.
"Look. If someone's willing to take a stand and shoulder the responsibility in turning that place around then good for them, but if you're trying to keep kids from becoming weapons and warriors then I can't see the logic in bringing more weapons onto the grounds. Even if I could make a positive difference for the kids I would also tarnish the label, which is the last thing you want if you're trying to clean up their act."
"To keep the world from seein' a third 'Wolverine' and second 'Domino.' Turnin' the kids into weapons ate me up inside n' I finally can't take it," Logan confessed then he looked at Domino, "Haven't seen Chuck in a while," the words were earnest. Ever since Logan joined S.H.I.E.L.D. he really didn't do much with the X-men and it was because of the kids. The world didn't need to see another Wolverine in the making. And a children didn't nor shouldn't have had a life like that. There would always be blood on Logan's hands. That didn't mean someone else had to have blood on theirs. 
"I'm a killer n' probably the last man that should think o' doin' this, but I remember what Chuck told me. He said the school was there to educate, to bridge together humans n' mutants, n' you said it yerself. All the weapons changed that dream. Mutilated it. We failed it n' I can't stand it anymore," he said firmly. If it wasn't for Charles Logan still would have been lost. The next generation was going to be that way if no one stepped in. "Might fight fer the school. Might do somethin' new. Weapons gotta go though."
Cable sits forward now in his seat.
"No."
Shaking his head, he pushes the beer away from him and he stands up. "I'm not going to be a trainer to children. I'm here to take the heat off the school. They need to keep doing what they're doing, the Professor's dream. They need to go back to school and they need to learn."
Now, that single 'good' eye and the bionic one turns back around to Logan, and his voice is low. "And I don't appreciate you pulling into my merry bag of mercenaries for that job. If you'd like to join up, to create a team that'll take on the big issues, that's great. I'll bring you in. I've got resources you couldn't begin to imagine." Nate leans on the table, and the wood beneath the bionic arm creaks.
"As for Magneto, I hate to tell you, but he has to win. If he doesn't, there will be no mutants in this world after a handful of generations. And it's that sort of difficult question that my team has to handle. It may not look like we're doing the right things, but at the end of it all, it's what I do. Dom can tell you, I look like a fuck-up a lot. But wait. Five years. Ten.. and you begin to see the images flicker into reality, and I'm right."
Straightening, Nate grabs his beer again, but he doesn't touch it. "I'll be talking to dad about this. And Jean. But I won't dip into the school and look for possibilities. I've already got 'em. And I'm willing to take you on."
Weapons gotta go.
"Does that mean you're going to have yourself declawed?" Domino challenges with a lone, dark brow hooked upward. "How about Laura? I can always leave my guns in the car, not everyone is so lucky."
She drains her glass without another thought then refills it with just as little cognitive action, her mind busy at work as always. It times quite nicely with everything that Cable has to say regarding the matter.
"You also seem to be avoiding a key element in this plan of yours. It's not going to make an ounce of difference until you earn that sort of say in the school. In order to do that you have to overtake Scott. In order to do that, you're going to need a weapon. I don't care if it's claws or Charles himself, you aren't going to change a thing until you replace good ol' Slim, and I'm not going to be that weapon."
Dom releases another long breath, returning her glass to the counter. "Mercs and kids don't mix. Even if they did, I'm way too caught up in the deep end. Be the single biggest security breath that Institute's ever seen."
Slicking his hair back hair Logan rubbed his temple, "I ain't buildin' a team of soldiers. Just buildin' a school or takin' the old one back to its roots, leavin' the wetwork up to people that ain't kids. Yer Daddy is turnin kids into soldiers. He's no better than a dictator," Logan said firmly and then looked at Domino. "I got one in that battle. And I ain't gonna overtake the school. Start a new one. Colleges branch out n' why can't we do the same?" He shrugged then looked back at Cable, "You won't breathe a word of it to Scott. I ain't gonna hide things either, but give me that one respect. 'Sides ain't ya f***in' with the time stream just by bein' here? Everything you do will send the world further into shit 'cause ya ain't lettin' it come naturally. Yer gonna tip the scales, how many shows have been built around steppin' on a fly n' the world we know n' hate changes fer the worst? Yer talkin' bout buildin' a team of mercs to shape the world how ya see fit. What's that gonna do? How are ya sure ya ain't gonna tip things too far?" Logan posed a valid question. Everyone that has written anything on time travel said to avoid changing anything. So here was Scott's son wanting to create events that would change everything. "I'm just lookin' to see Chuck's dream don't die cause o' Scott Summers. N' ya know it's bad when it's someone like me sayin' he's goin' too far," Logan set his mug down and started to walk toward the door. He doesn't leave as retorts are waited for.
"Because I'm a PhD in time travel with 2,000 years worth of experience behind me," Cable offers softly, and there is that iron under his tones again. "If you're into quantum physics, can you say for certain that I'm not the reason for the things coming out right?"
Cable shakes his head, and exhales, taking a step back before he tips the bottle into his mouth and finishes off the contents in a couple of deep draughts. It IS IPA, after all.
"Scott and I don't talk. Neither, apparently, do we agree. Just because I share genetics doesn't mean that I see the dream the same way he does. I don't believe in students joining the war. That said, I'm not above to saying 'no' if a free agent that is 18 comes knocking and has skills enough to do the job I need them to do." Nate shakes his head and the bottle is set down. "If you're building a school, let me know. I'll underwrite it, but that's as far as I'll go. The fight has to stay away from them. No killing for them." Like the Professor says. "Mutants and humans need to be able to live together, but sometimes, one side or the other has to be nudged in that direction. And that's my job. Our job."
As the man begins to head towards the door, Nate calls out, "You willing to take a ride with us one day?"
Blink. Domino apparently misunderstood a key part of this discussion, herself. "You're starting your own school?"
That would avoid the matter with Scott, alright. She had completely missed it before. It only creates more questions in her mind, however. Would Xavier's be divided? What would Charles think about this? What would become of the X-Men? Would Logan start up the W-Men..?
It also helps to remind her of why she shouldn't get caught up in the middle of it.
Drama.
Neena hates drama.
By that same count she could try to defend Cable, try to explain why she's stuck by him for so long and trusted what he's been doing when no one else in the world would give him the benefit of doubt. What would it accomplish? Succeed or fail, it's drama, and it's not necessary. Hardly the point of the conversation. Rather, the point is that there's another rift right here between these three, and everyone is continuing to stand their ground on their respective sides of the divide.
"I know all too well," she admits in a tired sounding voice. After all, she had been the first to speak up directly against Scott's actions, and the first to show herself out of the Institute's doors.
In this debate her own side is remarkably clear. She's still the only one that has faith in Cable's actions. If she isn't there for him, no one else will be.
There's no goodbye, no good luck offered. Instead, she tells Logan "Be sure to give Laura a good home."
"There's a difference between volunteers of legal age n' forcin' underaged kids to become soldiers." He looked back toward the pair, "I believe ya know what yer doin' Or at least ya think ya know what yer doin' but the Genosha situation has too many players on the field. Too many variables. Only way yer gonna get it to go -exactly- the way ya planned it is by takin' out every variable. Pebbles make big ripples in ponds. Remember that," his gaze went back to Domino after he turned around. "Thinkin' on it. Scott's gonna think he's right. But we've had how many people leave? Bobby gave a long list. Too many good people, good X-men are wayward. I'm just lookin' to bring em' back. Find new mutants along the way. Whether it's in Machester or somewhere else. Bottom line is: Chuck never dreamed about soldiers n' I'm not lookin' to make some. I wanna train em', teach em', give em' a purpose like Chuck gave me. Somewhere along the way we lost that n' failed the dream. I'm sick of failin' it." He turned back toward the door, "Lock up when yer done. Drain it dry if ya want," he said then gave a nod of respect toward Domino. No goodbye was needed and the comment about Laura meant more than a goodbye or a good luck. "Keep him safe. He may be a Summers but he's one o' the few good ones." Cable wasn't too bad, for a Summers, but there were too many things that often went missed when trying to calculate something that big. Logan hoped nothing too bad would go missed, for his sake and the potential future's sake.
Category:Log