http://queendediamonds.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] queendediamonds.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] xmutanthigh2010-11-07 03:50 pm

[closed log]

Characters: Emma and Logan
Setting: Kitchen of the mansion
Content: Emma, Logan, and alcohol. Like always.
Status: Incomplete

[Emma's sitting in the kitchen with a pile of papers before her. The scenery of her office had gotten old rather quickly and the kitchen is oddly deserted for the evening. And of course, like the classy bitch she is, Emma's got a bottle of wine to keep her company while she works.]

[identity profile] canadamantium.livejournal.com 2010-11-07 04:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[Logan's got a stack of training profiles, Danger Room simulation summaries, some SHIELD field reports as well as a few incident reports from the local cop shop. He's swamped with all of it and needs a drink. He finds Emma in the kitchen, a welcome distraction. He sits down across from her at the island and cracks a beer. He looks at his papers, then at Emma's stack.]

What have you got? Wanna switch? I've read these over a dozen times already.

[identity profile] canadamantium.livejournal.com 2010-11-07 04:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[Logan grabs for the papers, looking at them for a moment before setting them down. It's moments like these when he really misses the simple life, before he joined the X-men.]

Time was I used to be able to have a drink without a stack of papers in front of me. Can't even remember what that's like anymore.

[identity profile] canadamantium.livejournal.com 2010-11-07 04:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Never used to have papers, darlin'. Weapons don't do office work.

[identity profile] canadamantium.livejournal.com 2010-11-07 05:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[Logan just grunts and drinks his beer, turning his attention to the training profiles again, sorting through them and arranging them according to the teams he and Emma has previously chosen for leadership exercises.]

Have you picked up anything lately from Rogue? Any improvements?

[identity profile] canadamantium.livejournal.com 2010-11-07 06:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah. [He nods, reassuring himself. He had been concerned when he hadn't picked up on his protege's troubles before. Feels almost like he's failed her in some way.] Just makin' sure.

How's training with Dazzler going?

[identity profile] canadamantium.livejournal.com 2010-11-07 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Stubborn's the name of the game with these kids. [He doesn't say so, but he feels a bit better for her words.]

What've you got planned for her?

[identity profile] canadamantium.livejournal.com 2010-11-07 07:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Old tricks are the best tricks, eh?

[identity profile] canadamantium.livejournal.com 2010-11-07 08:03 pm (UTC)(link)
That they can. [Logan's eyes fall on an old, old profile of Pyro's. He considers it for a moment, passing it to Emma.] If we're shifting him to active training, we should probably have a talk with him fist.

[identity profile] canadamantium.livejournal.com 2010-11-07 08:11 pm (UTC)(link)
I keep the actives up to date. [Logan's a bit touchy about having to do paperwork in the first place, let alone being criticized for his upkeep.] I dug this out of Chuck's old files last week. Haven't had anything to add to it yet. Had to have Summers help me find it.

[identity profile] canadamantium.livejournal.com 2010-11-07 08:21 pm (UTC)(link)
I have a feeling you're right. [Logan peers down at his empty bottle and goes to retrieve a fresh one.] But Charlie's not here now, and desperate times... [His grip on the handle of the fridge is white, tension splayed across the muscles of his back. He wonders if they'll ever live up to the spectre of Charles Xavier.] We do what we can for these kids.

[identity profile] canadamantium.livejournal.com 2010-11-07 08:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[Beholden is not a word that applies to Logan, his loyalty to Charles isn't one born out of debt but out of friendship. They've had this conversation so many times, it's true. It never changes. His voice is tense, he does not agree.] Emma, not everyone who came from the Academy is a shining student just the same as some of the kids that have been for years are lagging. Whether they were yours or Charles', all these kids are our kids now.

[He cracks his neck and turns back to her.] There's only so much we can do for them in preparation anyway, some of these kids just don't take to training. Frankly, I don't know what to do with some of them.

Won't somebody please think of the children?

[identity profile] canadamantium.livejournal.com 2010-11-07 09:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[Mollycoddle. This is the Wolverine we're talking about. He does not mollycoddle.] We are still without a proper team because we are recruiting from the ranks of children. I know that we need to train them, and that's what we're doing. I will push every limitation I think they can handle, but taking them too far, too fast is something I want no part in and I'll fight you on it if I have to.

[His jaw clenches. He meets Emma's eyes. He doesn't enjoy fighting with her, sometimes his one ally in the whole mansion, but...

He thinks of X, shaped and molded into a ruthless weapon. He thinks of the childhood that was stolen from her, the abuse that she's suffered, how difficult it's been for her to integrate with others her age. He stiffens further.

These aren't throwback from Charlie's old rule that Logan's fighting for, they're his own code. Since becoming a mentor, a father-figure, he's spent long hours laying out rules for himself, an outline on how to do his kids justice. When the Wolverine's decided on something like this, there is no swaying him.]


I will not force these kids into becoming soldiers for our war simply because it's what we need, Em. [He shakes his head somberly. His words are soft and passionate.] The cost in innocence is just...too high.

I'll switch to one less ridiculous for you, then.

[identity profile] canadamantium.livejournal.com 2010-11-08 12:30 am (UTC)(link)
They'll try. But what happened in Massachusetts won't ever happen here, Em. These kids are more ready than ever, they won't let it. We won't let it.

[Logan touches her wrist, just briefly, he knows the pain she feels over the loss at her Academy is deep and lancing. He feels something similar every time he looks at X, every time he glances out of the wide bay windows in the foyer that look out onto the cemetery. To Charlie. To Jean. What kind of school has it's own cemetery?

The anger between dissipates a little as he holds Emma's gaze. These arguments always run the same course, falling apart in the end because a slight difference in ideology can't negate the fact that their practices are essentially the same. He sighs, but it comes out a low growl.]


I know they need to be ready, I know that. But I look at X, at Pyro, even Rogue and...they've been used so badly in the past, I look at what we're doing sometimes and wonder. How different is it, Emma? What we do to them compared to what was done to them elsewhere. Sometimes, I feel like it's not so different at all...

[identity profile] canadamantium.livejournal.com 2010-11-08 03:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Hn. [He nods, bracing his palms on the counter. He's still tense, not from anger, but from the burden of over a century of guilt. He's seen how little caring for someone can make a difference, doesn't know if he can believe that it's enough. The training they provide is beyond merely self-defense, but...

He takes a drink, shoving down the guilt and pain and anguish as he swallows. He thinks of the changes that have gone on within the walls in the past year.]


Is that enough?

Charlie wanted to change the world for these kids, make it so they wouldn't need to live lives like ours. Now, we're just changing them to fit into a world that hates and fears us. I can't help but wonder if there isn't more we can do...

[identity profile] canadamantium.livejournal.com 2010-11-08 04:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[Logan's eyes grow dark, looking down at the rich gold in his glass. Other options. If it were him, only him, he knows what he would do. His knuckles itch, adamantium longing to be unleashed. He takes a drink.]

No, you're right. If it were only us, then maybe but...not if it involves the kids.

[identity profile] canadamantium.livejournal.com 2010-11-08 07:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Darlin', never took you for one to underestimate me. I'm the best at what I do.

[He has a fond look for her and leans in to flash a grin. They share a chuckle, Logan leaning back as Emma shakes her head at him.]

You know what I meant. Those extremes, they change a person. Once it happens, you never go back. [He sobers, darkens.] There's no going back for us, Emma. Some of these kids have a chance for something different.