8 - [Action]

[snikting]

[Logan makes it home from his mission and you know what? He's dead all over. Exhausted and worn out. He threw himself into the jungle, fought alone, and by all rights should be dead. He may have died more than once, when a Shifter removed his powers and he took some deadly wounds. But then backup would show up, kill the Shifter, and Logan came back to life. Rinse and repeat.

Other people died. He tried to save them, but he was just one man and there was too many of them. So they had to withdraw. And when it was time to go home, he signed up for 'just a few more days'. Even when they told him he had maxed out the points he could earn for the month, he still stayed in there.

Up until today, when the squad packed it all up and he was told he had to go back. As much as Logan would have liked to stay out there indefinitely, he was still a test subject first. Guinea pigs had to go back into their cage eventually.

So now he was back. Where his fake family was. With his fake life. Oh, sure, those memories had become less and less clear. But they were still there and he did not relish seeing any of his 'family'. Which is why he didn't go home. He went to the bar for drinks, sure. He visited the Item Shop to drop in on Rogue on the pretense of looking for his old junk. He played some pool by himself, but he only made it halfway through a game before the kid playing video games annoyed him to the point of leaving.

And then he went back to the bar again. To drink and drink and drink and drink. Chances are, he was going to wake up behind the bar after passing out there. But he certainly wasn't going home to his loving wife. Because that wasn't real and he wouldn't be able to stop himself from acting like it was.]

Comments

[Sometime before his return to the bar?]

[widows_kiss]

She'd caught just a hint of his profile out of the coffee shop window as he passed. There was nothing particular exciting about how he'd drawn her gaze for a moment, but she'd known the moment she glimpsed him that he was familiar. And not from her past few days here. From Before that. From home.

Natalia was up and out of her seat in the blink of an eye, dashing out of the coffee shop without a word and down the street in the direction she'd seen the man walking. Her relief at seeing someone familiar, someone who might have real answers for her in the midst of all these confusing strangers, had her so relieved that she completely forgot herself for a moment and how she should be acting here.

Instead, she just flung herself at his back when she got close enough, arms clinging to his waist as she buried her face against the back of his spine.

"Uncle Logan!"

[snikting]

Logan was still on his way to the general store, having yet to seek the warm embrace of excessive amounts of alcohol. All the same, he wasn't giving much thought to the village. If he could say one thing for being back, it was that he didn't have to be watching for cultists coming out of ever corner. So he did not expect a sudden little child attached to his back.

And then he heard two words that made him freeze.

Uncle Logan.

He wrenched himself free and turned to her. He didn't recognize her and he was immediately paranoid that he was trapped in some sick cultist game again.

"... back off, kid. I ain't yer uncle."

[widows_kiss]

She didn't seem at all frightened by the sudden growled response or his reaction. Although she did let him go, standing up much straighter as she grinned up at him, looking not at all sorry for the nickname. Her hands tucked behind her back, she rocked back on her heels for a moment and eyed him in delight.

"I know," she agreed amicably. "You're in a bad mood. Did you fight with Dad over something?" Even though Taras wasn't at all her father either, but it pleased him when she called him that. "If you're here, does this mean I can go home now? Did I pass? Or are you part of the test too?"

[snikting]

That wasn't entirely the reaction he expected. All the same, he was on edge and he was angry. At everything. He'd already been practically an uncle to Shikamaru. He was in no hurry to be one again.

"Kid, I ain't got a single clue what yer talkin' about. You wanna start by explaining who exactly yer supposed to be?"

[widows_kiss]

She gave him a puzzled look, wondering if this was somehow part of her test after all. Even if he'd never really taken part in those before.

"I'm Natalia. Natalia Romanova. Dad did send you as part of the test, didn't he? Or didn't he tell you about it either?"

Now she looked a little concerned, because Logan didn't normally play along with the some of the scenarios the facility trained her with. He didn't care for them. Which was why she'd always liked her lessons with him the best.

[calmbeforethe]

Tough luck Wolverine, but your loving wife was definitely not the type to be waiting for you at home. No, Ororo refused to stay in one place for too long a time, and she definitely was not going to spend her days pining for a husband who wouldn't return. As the weeks passed by and Logan still had not come back, she'd found other things to occupy her time.

Seeing as she couldn't very well stay in the sky at all hours of the day, training took much of her time - even when the younger X-Men and other students turned up less frequently than before. She'd given them leeway considering how hard some people had been hit by the invasion, and because summer was drawing to a close. She refused to do herself the same favor and, on some occasions, found herself in the Dome until the sun was close to setting. Afterwards, she'd head back to the house if only to see to it that Mia and Kurt and Rogue were all right for the night - and then usually it was back to making it so she didn't have to dwell on certain memories and feelings by taking long evening flights.

But eventually she hears about his return when somebody lets it slip. It doesn't matter who it is, because it doesn't take too much thinking on her part to figure out where he is.

She enters Good Spirits late into the evening, hoping she hadn't been wrong.

[snikting]

It had been some time since he'd been there already and even though his healing factor made getting drunk difficult, he was doing a marvelous job working his way there. He looked awful, ragged, sweaty and he had just been told by the bartender on staff that he needed to cut it back. And just like that, Logan was off his stool, his claws were out, and he was about to make some quality life mistakes.

[calmbeforethe]

All things considered, that wasn't a very surprising sight. It was still alarming though, and Ororo was quick to make her way over, hoping she wasn't too late to keep blood from being spilled across the counter.

"Logan! Logan, that's enough!" Enough of the alcohol, or of the threats of bodily harm? It worked both ways.

[snikting]

Logan wanted to pounce. He nearly pounced. But her voice broke all of that completely. All at once, it was the voice of Ororo Howlett. The woman who kept him from taking the strike to far. The woman that made him honest. The woman for which he settled down, raised three daughters, and spent months away from booze so he could spend the money on better things.

It was more than he could handle, even like this.

"... 'Roro." He looked away, ashamed. His claws retracted and then started to march off in the opposite direction, to one of the back rooms.

[handing]

It was only by chance that Pepper crossed paths with Logan. After his first trip to the bar but before he quite made it there for his second, when she was between errands, but the grocery bag she carried didn't stop Pepper from lifting a hand in a friendly wave.

"Hey, Logan." She'd heard somewhere along the way that he'd gone off on a mission. It honestly wasn't all that surprising, after what had happened. Everyone had been trying to cope in their own ways, and some of them had turned out to be fairly extreme. But Pepper refused to let that life linger when she had her own to look forward to. They'd taken enough from her already. "How'd your mission go?"

[snikting]

Logan didn't know who she was in that whole mess, which he figured wasn't too bad in the long run. It made it easier to just go back to treating her like he always did. Which, as ever, was treating her like she was being an incredible pain yet again.

"It went perfectly. Killed more Sparties than I can count. They'll be reviving right around now, pissed and wantin' a rematch."

[handing]

"And yet you aren't there to give it to them. What a shame."

She spoke with a dry sarcasm, although Pepper could see the appeal after what had happened. The need to fight back and to take some form of control had been so pressing. Pepper had found her own way to do so, thanks to Tony, and it in turn led to what she said next.

"But now that you're around, I can officially invite you to my wedding."

[snikting]

If she was expecting a pleasant reaction or even a dismissive one, she was to be disappointed. He looked at her skeptically, tilted his head, and asked the only thing that came to mind.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

[fashionably_strong]

[When Bulla stops into the bar, it's not to drink alcohol, but rather to have a tasty mocktail and to play video games. However, any intention she had of ordering goes right out the window when she sees a pair of legs lying on the floor. She doesn't know if the person passed out drunk, if the person is ill, or if there was a fight, so she approaches with caution. And there's Logan.

Carefully, she nudges his ankle with her toe.]

Hey Mr. Logan...are you okay?

[snikting]

[He's got a bottle still in his hand, half full. He's snoring and he wakes with a start when she interrupts him. He belches, scratches his head, and stares blearily at her.]

Whaddya want?

[fashionably_strong]

[Well, that answers some of the reason he was asleep on the ground, but it's still a little worrisome. Logan's hygiene isn't exactly exemplary and she's still concerned that she found him like this. He's not exactly the sort of person who'd get wasted after only three or four drinks.]

I want to help you up so you can go home and sleep all of...that...off.

[She gestures to the bottle as she says the word 'that', and then leans over to offer a hand up.]

At the very least, a couch is bound to be more comfortable than sleeping on the floor like that.

[snikting]

Unless yer here to bring booze or yer somehow... I dunno, made of booze, then ya can leave me alone.

[He waves off her attempt to help and then notices he doe, in fact, have a bottle in his hand. Cool. He starts drinking from it.]

[wildbluevagner]

[It was starting to become natural to expect Logan to be gone whenever a particularly troubling experiment or other kind of event had occurred. It did disappoint Kurt in a way. He and Ororo were their teachers, after all, and it could be tough to deal with such aftermaths when it almost felt like they were on their own. At the same time, he knew it was too much to expect Logan to step into Professor X's metaphorical shoes.

Still, he manages a friendly smile when he sees Logan walk into the item shop. Kurt had a pair of silly string cans in his hands, which he had just been comparing the brands of.]

Hey... back already? And we don't even have all the confetti we'd need for a 'welcome back' party.

[snikting]

Guess I forgot to send a warning ahead of time.

[Said with his usual stiffness. Kurt and Rogue had both been part of that ridiculous fantasy world, but in reality, his relationship with them hadn't changed much. Not enough to make him look at them in any new light. He could discern reality from fantasy, which is what really mattered.]

[wildbluevagner]

It's a big inconvenience. How are we supposed to break it to the caterers? But maybe we'll manage. [At least Logan's some person whom he doesn't really feel like he has to worry about when he's out there.] Was it a nice trip at least?

[snikting]

Good enough. The Sparties won't soon forget me. Not unless they get some real specific penalties. [... yeah, he killed them. And he realizes he's not too comfortable saying that to Kurt. So he changes the subject.]

... how's things been back at the house?

[touchofrogue]

Rogue has been sane for precisely two days - or one day and some odd hours, but that wasn't what Rogue spent her time counting. She was busy trying to continue to keep her mind quiet, and when the door to the Item Shop opened she was sorting through the recent restocking of nuts and bolts. She found the monotony soothing, almost like a form of meditation.

She didn't need super senses to tell it was Logan; she knew his tread, the particular heaviness of his adamantium coated bones. So he's back.

And Rogue was abruptly coldly furious. One hand clenched into a fist, and she took a controlling breath. By the time he got back into the room where she was, Rogue was all set to ignore him.

[snikting]

Ah. So that's how it was. He didn't need super senses to tell when Rogue was angry. She typically enjoyed his company, unpleasant as it could be. It seemed this wasn't one of those times.

Some help I am. He was already starting to realize how useless he'd been to everyone after his last mess. Once more, he couldn't help but wonder why he'd ever managed to be in such a place, anyway. He'd never been fit to lead, much less look out after kids.

He let out a heavy sigh as he twirled a pair of stress balls in his hands. They'd been sitting on the shelves and proved to have absolutely no effect on his mind.

[touchofrogue]

Rogue was actually excellent at ignoring all kinds of things. She could avoid talking about problems to her heart's content, and ignoring things that irritated her was a matter of course. Wolverine, however, was so much more than a small thing, and it didn't appear that he was getting the hint.

She could hear him messing around behind her back. And she asked herself which would be worse, waiting for him to start the conversation or initiating it herself. She knew she couldn't ignore him forever.

Rogue turned around and pretended to be surprised. Poorly. "Well, look who's back."

[snikting]

Knowing he'd be winning no awards for 'most responsible mentor of the year' awards, he looked up and nodded to her. He didn't approach, but he did carefully put the balls back where he found them.

"The Mallies sent me back." Blunt and honest. He wouldn't bother lying by saying he came back willing. He knew it was a hurtful truth, but lies turned nastier in the end. "So I'm here."