2014.03.29 - Soothing the Beast

Reading the note left for him Logan growled a little at it. Seeking out the source of the trouble Logan wen around the mansion trying to find Wicked an Quinten. Today was NOT the day to be on Logan's badside. For weeks he had been building up the courage to ask Jean Grey out. He did. While she didn't say no, it wasn't a yes either. Add in the fact that Jean was seeing someone. Logan's love went unreturned, or so he thought. If there was ever a day to stay on his nice side today would be it.

Going into the kitchen he already had a beer in hand. Taking a large drink he started to sniff around to track the students. Problem with tracking people at the mansion was just the myriad of smells. The place was often too public to rely on the nose. Growling out Logan went through more mansion rooms. He was dressed in a simple black shirt, jeans and his cowboy boots that were hidden. His blue eyes were narrowed and showed the man was CLEARLY annoyed.

The most notable and closest smell at the moment is a strange one, but not unfamiliar. An unusual metal. Leather. And a unique physiology. Cable's in the doorway of the kitchen that Wolverine just left behind, leaning against it in a listless fashion with his long grey trenchcoat, well-loved and beaten. "Logan." he offers, reaching a hand behind through the threshold of the kitchen. The fridge can be heard opening, and a beer flits in a flash of blue telekinetics into his hand. "I see you got my note. ...But you look more angry than I expected. Not going to actually eviscerate them, are you?" A twist of the hand opens the cap, suppressing the backlash of head before taking a heavy drink. "But making them think you will is fine..."

"Don't kill them." is all Cable has to say on the subject. "They're wild cards. And wild things need broken down. Otherwise it flies out of control, eventually. Power control, too. They're both dangerous, and too carefree." Nothing about the elder Nathan seems remotely antagonistic. He's simply drinking his beer heavily, before allowing it to hover adjacent. Wolverine's smart. Something's off. Cable's older, by at least two years. The scent is 99 percent right... but he knows well enough to spot even the slightest differences. "Life's nothing but spans of time between bad days, I--... Domino?" There's a moment of confusion. Then suddenly Cable grasps his head, letting out a snarl of pain. The bottle falls and shatters to the ground, the elder Nathan falling to his knees. He spasms, twitches, metal fist striking the floor hard enough to crack it. It does not pass quick.

Understanding that snarl all too well Logan dropped his own beer and went near Cable. "C'mon kid, you can get through this." Logan had similar triggers when someone mentioned the name, "Rose," to him. His blue eyes scanned over the mutant trying to make sure he was okay. "Stay with me Cable. Just yer mind fighting. Remembering something." It was a painful bitch.

Somewhere, between weeks of a whirling vision, he hears Logan. Shit. He wishes it was as easy as something he could fight. But he's stuck in a private theatre in his mind, with no option to pause, rewind, or fast forward. From the very first time he met Domino, to the very last time they parted, and every moment between... has just flooded through him. Although the actual time in the real world amounts to about five minutes, an eternity went by in his own head. "...Ugh." he offers, sweating heavily. Slowly he gets back to his feet, breath coming quicker. "Sorry. I went on a timestream skip a months ago. Not long passed here, but a few years there." No more information is offered; and none was submitted, either, if Logan ever bothers to check. "Domino's fine. Haven't really been in touch with her since the incident at the aquarium. Had another of our on-again off-again fights. Zombie-fish-guy in Gotham. Remember reading about it? Was pretty weird. Was under wraps we had a team behind it, though. I trust you can keep a secret." It definitely seems like he's the Cable Logan knows. But instincts... those instincts born of over a century. Something's still off. Wrong. A hint of untruth. "Where were we...? Ugh. The kids, right?" Rubbing his temples, Cable holds a hand over his broken bottle. In a rather beautiful whirl of glass, it reassembles into a single piece. A few moments later, the remnants of alcohol also swirl up and back in. In a flare of orange within his left eye, the dent he punched in the floor is also repaired. Lastly, Logan's abandoned bottle flies over to get caught in his other hand. ...These are all feats he was not capable of before. "Yeah. They need scared, good. And I think you are the scariest son of a bitch here."

Noting the canged Logan stored thema way for later. Secrets Logan was fine with keeping. Cable had his own crusade. "Shoulnt do the skips, they'll mess with your mind," that was a presumption on Logan's part an nothing more. Domino and Cable had an interesting relationship, and Logan wasn't about to judge. Japan was an odd time and place for him so he wasn't about to cast stones. "How 'bout we talk about something nicer?" he offered hoping not to set the mutant off again. Those memories that came rushing back were a bit of a big deal. They were painfull and you had no means of blocking them. They forced themselves into view like a friend that always invited himself over even when it was made clear that they weren't wanted.

"Yeah. I got tangled with some alternate Cables, is all. Certain triggers will make me live out a dozen alternate realities at once where things were different. It's getting old." Close to the truth. He's actually the one invading THIS timeline, and simply seeing what has happened in it, but that secret is well hidden from everyone in the Institute so far. Although there's a weird look on Cable's face, despite his initial neutrality. Domino... She meant a lot to this Cable. But it wasn't like Hope. No. It wasn't love. No matter how much that Cable tried to convince himself it was. He tries to put it in the back of his mind. He has enough things to sort through. "I figured you of all people would understand having... troubles." A metal finger taps on the side of Cable's temple, with just the hint of a smile. The two bottles are levitated into the kitchen. A cabinet opens, and they are dropped in the recycling. "Nicer? What do people like us have to talk about that's nice?" He scrunches his eyes shut in effort. "I had two fingers of 80 year old scotch a few days ago. Yeah. That was good." Where at? Logan might now notice that Cable's scent is new. Like it was all erased before coming to the institute. But that's hardly something the secretive man wouldn't do, even if he wasn't capable of it before whatever time-hijinx he claims. "What's on your mind? When you look like that, something has to have really triggered the beast." In a flash, two more beers are in his hands. One is tossed back to Wolverine, both having the caps removed by telekinesis and the head suppressed to lose no flavor. "Don't have to be specific. Stub your toe on a bad day? Find out an old enemy you thought was down sent you a note? Woman troubles?"

Two old soldiers, that's what Logan and Cable were. It was probably why Cable knew Logan would understand the memory issues. Although they were each for different reasons, they were both programmed for fights. Logan with Weapon X and Cable with the Time Streams, but Logan did presume Cable was probably hardwired mentally for whatever mission he was on. "We can talk about the last time a mission went well," he shrugged. "Kinda jealous about the scotch," silence lingered between the two as Cable's next question came out. Eventually Logan answered, "Wonderin' why you don't have more than surface smells all over ya and troubled about a woman." Jean's name wasn't going to be dropped to Cable. It would have been rude to complain about someone's mother openly to her son. "Asked a woman I've loved for a long time out on a date. She's datin' someone else, she didn't say no, but wellI wonder if she ever sees me as more than a friend. We've had history but it appears it meant more to me than her," granted Logan knew he was raw and exposed nerve. A lot of this was the pain of a hurting heart talking. Still it was how he felt at the moment. "Ever love someone that may never love you back? It's hell," getting up Logan went toward his beer and hurriedly drank it down. The booze wasn't going to soothe this pain. Between the healing factor and the severity of it, the pain was making itself comfortable in Logan's chest right now.

"Habit from my old world. Ever hear of a man named Apocalypse? En Sabah Nur? He's who I met in my last jump. Let's just say he could take down Magneto, if you want an idea of strength. Mr. Sinister is just a pawn of his. The Four Horsemen, too. Consider him a herald, or something. ...He's active again now, though. Anyway, Sabretooth was a Horseman. He liked trying to track me down." Yeah, being able to remove scent is important for that. And it's not even a lie, this time. "You want good drink? I'll get you some. Make up for what the kids took. But you better remember to punish the hell out of them." Nursing at his second beer, Cable listens closely. "Love...? I felt it three times in my life. One of them is Hope, of course." Does he love her? He doesn't know. The old Cable did. And unlike some of the visions... he found himself feeling like he would have done the same. Complicates matters. Still, good enough for an example. "Another... before I came here. In the future I was in." Another slow drink. "Aliya..." The tone of his voice. Wolverine would recognize it. Pained love. "We married. Had a son, even... Tyler..." He's looking at his bottle, turning it back and forth. The end of the tail doesn't follow. "Love always hurts, Logan. The pain of never seeing it kindle. The pain of wanting it. And the pain of it ending. For you... you'll outlive anyone you embrace. In the best case you'd watch them grow old and die, as you sat there, hand in hand on their deathbed, unchanged. ...That's rough." He glances up, and the question seems genuine. "Would it be worth it, though, to you?"

An eyebrow went up, "How did Creed become a Habringer?" that term wasn't unfamiliar to Logan. Mr. Sinister had created horsemen like entities called Harbringer's. One had really done a number on Logan. The gravity of Apocalypse's power was not lost on him. "Keep me in the loop when he shows." If Cable came from the future it was probably a matter of time before Apocalypse came knocking.

Hearing Hope's name come out Logan asked, "Tell me about her. She's an Academy of Tomorrow student. Related to you, Scott and the others from what my intel says," raising a hand Logan tried to quell any upcoming attack, "Just simple recon and hearsay fer no reason than other wanting to know more about her. When people start usin' the last name of 'Summers' n' it's heard here people ask questions." That was the truth of the matter when it came to hope. Then Logan heard the pain filled whisper of Cable's now dead love. Going to the fridge he pulled out two more drinks. Handing one to Cable, he rose the other one, "To Aliya and Mariko," the latter name was filled with the same juxtaposition between love and loss. Mariko he did not love more than Jean, but she was a close second. He met her before Jean back in Madipoor. They almost married. Clan politics came in the way and eventually led to her death. Putting her out of pain and misery, she begged Logan to end her already dying life. He obliged. Those wounds never healed. His head slunk down for a few. Cable kept going about seeing all other die was a grim thought. Often it was ignored. Slowly a smirk formed on Logan's lips, "Maybe not with this one." The Phoenix Force probably would have kept Jean alive for longer. There was always a chance she could live with him. At least that was Logan's hope. "If not. Then I'd fall on the sword if she'd let me," Jean wouldn't but Logan had the sword of Ogun. A weapon that could have stripped him of his healing. They could have died together if they wanted to. He wasn't going to push for living beyond loved ones. The pain would have been too much.

"It was another universe. One where Apocalypse had almost won. He was savage. And good at tracking down and killing humans. Pretty natural pick, all things considered. Especially given how hard it is to kill him for good. ...You were there, too. Yeah. We got along real well. You were there to the bitter end, when Apocalypse was killed. Fled into a host. And then jumped into the timestream. I jumped after. That bad idea is what's caused all my mental problems." After a moment, "He's already here. And at full power. If you want a demonstration... I can set him up in the Danger Room sometime."

"Not blood related. She's my adopted daughter. In another timeline, she was very important. I protected her for years. We grew... close. And hounded by another time traveler I couldn't defeat at the time. Always on the run. At the end, when we could run no further... I threw her into the timestream. She ended up here. I broke the other man's time machine, but mine was burnt out. ...I shouldn't be saying 'I'. That Cable died alone in a wasteland. Just one of the tangles." After a moment, "Don't tell her that. Don't tell her that her real Cable is dead. I know everything he knew. ...And I'll gladly pretend, to make her happy." The last of the beer is drained, then, before accepting another.

A clink follows. "And Tyler." Cable mutters. He and Logan spoke long and often in his last world. Some of Logan's more sad past is known to him, even if it was never told by this one. "I was forced to kill my son." It's added, almost casually. "I had to. It was the right choice at the time. There wasn't another logical one. His mind was broken beyond repair, an enemy attacking people I lead, who depended on me. He would have killed someone important to me otherwise." He looks out the window of the kitchen. "I always ask myself. Did I do the right thing? Could I have subdued him? Tried to undo the brainwashing? It was instinct, Logan. The instinct we have. Compassion, love, affection, all of it left me when I pulled the trigger. Only when it was too late, could I reflect on what I had just done."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Cable finally concludes. "I've come to know something, though. This timeline... this is the real one. The true one. The future is a blank slate. You are not walking in the path of fate, bound to a pattern. In this one, the footsteps you make echo into eternity, and each decision could splinter into a dozen new worlds. In one of those... maybe you ended up succeeding. Living and dying, just like you want. And maybe it's not too late."

A long sigh leaves Cable afterwards, the third beer down. He doesn't have a regenerative system, but his biological facilities are capable of dilluting alcohol if needed. "You want to vent some aggression?" is suddenly offered. Cable rolls his metal shoulder in a lazy arc. There's a grin; a nostalgic one. This must have been something he did often, in those two and a half years he lived in another world. "You and me. Danger Room. You don't use the claws, I don't use telekinetics or telepathy. ...First one to say 'yield' loses."

Lowering his head Logan admitted, "I worry I may have to do that with my kid. That if she can't bounce back, that if her fear comes true it may come down to it. She'll pull through, she won't hit that point, but I get scared." Closing his eyes Logan clinked the glass with cable and downed his drink. Cable talked about many things. Apocalypse worried Logan underneath it all. If the Harbringer was a LESSER form of Apocalypse's minion then what was a full tilt one like? His brows furrowed.

"How do we stop him?" Logan asked seriously. If someone was that powerful then he'd do what he could to stop the guy cold in his tracks with Cable's help at least. The entity had to have a chink in the armor. Some kid of weakness that had to be exploited.

Looking up sometimes he wished to be back in Japan. Gangsters, ninjas, codes, all of that crazy crap was easier than dealing with potentially world destroying entities. Then the thought was pushed away. Logan knew in his heart he'd rather be here, on the front line doing what he could to keep it spinning. Breathing hard he stood up and looked at Cable, "I could use a fight." Rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck he nodded, "Ya comin?"

"Trust me. I raised a kid while being hunted by a mass-murdering psychopath. Each jump worse than the last. And she turned out alright. You can't be a worse father than me." The last bottle of beer is set on top of the counter, left behind. "How do we stop them? ...I'm working on that. Although... there's something else I wanted to talk to you about. Bit more private. Danger Room's the perfect place." As is being in the midst of brutality. Metal fingers flex into a fist and then extend. "I'm always ready."

Walking in silence Logan didn't ask about the other thing until they were on the elevator down to the subbasement. "You were a good dad. Yer takin' on a Dead Man's daughter to honor his memory, that makes ya good," he said to the time traveler. Maybe Hope was Cable's form of redemption. A means of making up for whatever personal evil or demon he created when killing Tyler. If it was for the good of everyone then it had to be done. Sometimes the wild dog had to be put down. "Sorry about yer son," Logan added trying to assuage any wounds that may have been caused during this conversation.

As they continued to move toward the Danger Room Logan he looked back at Cable, "Tell me what this private thing was and the rules of the fight. No T.K., No Claws, No danger room program, or a danger room program to make thing interestin?" Typically Logan would have preferred just some place for them to fight. No frills, no thrills, just a fight for the sake of having a fight. Breathing hard he looked to Cable just waiting to see what was going to happen.

"Only since I'd have done the same thing." Cable mutters to himself. It's still a strange thing. In every realistic sense, he's identical to the one Hope was with. All those memories, conscious thoughts, and feelings are in his head. But he's still himself. Although sometimes it gets harder and harder to fight that distinction. "Danger room rules? Just a random street. Pretend we got drunk over a hockey game and took it outside. No TK, TP, Claws. ...I'll not use my left arm's metamorphing, either." This is said more uncomfortably. Logan is much harder to handle with that additional flaw, but he's never had a spar with this iteration yet. Once they get within the Danger Room, he sets it up to morph into a simple street; buildings on either side, light poles, some cars. But then his machine hand melds with it, concentrating intently. And then with a grunt of satisfaction, he peels it away. "Made a bug in the recording. Nobody'll know what we talk about." Slowly, Cable strides into the middle of the makeshift street, shrugging out of his trenchcoat and hucking it aside, over a trash bin. He's definitely got a height advantage; and mass, too. Even with the adamantium head to toe, he's got fifty pounds on Wolverine. "I wanted to ask your opinion on something. I think we're of a like mind, in a lot of ways. Opposite sides of the same coin..." He beckons for Logan to come at him.

Nodding to the rules Logan slipped off his shirt. He tossed it to the side and hopped up on his heels for a moment. Breathing out he tried to focus himself for a fight. Normal drunken fights had no prep to them. Normal drunken fights didn't include a time traveler and a man that could have been immortal. Breathing out hard, his blue eyes darted to Cable, "Fer the record it's the Senators or nothin' at all." Cable did say drunken fights happened over Hockey. So it was natural Logan brought his own vested interest in the sport to the forefront. "What makes ya say that we're similar?" Logan moved in and tried a leg sweep aiming low. Everything about the movement suggested he was going in for a punch, but Logan wanted to fake Cable out. Cable and Logan were two soldiers so Cable's judgement may not have been too far off.

Cable slips into his own loose combat stance. All function, but with a fluidity to it. Countless integration from 40th century items around the Askani style, and decades of experience. He's definitely one of the few Logan can play with in technique and actually have some genuine fun. "I'm from the future. Senators are a joke for the next two decades. ...History repeats itself." Cable watches closely, and began to shift his forearms. The one advantage he has though is speed; Logan pushes the limits on human ability, but Cable's adjusted himself beyond it. With a grunt of admiration he stamps down hard, taking the strike on the back of the calf with muscles tensed. That hurt. But it does leave him momentarily with higher ground, left arm raised before striking down with a growl. Twenty-five tons of force, whistling through the air. Going all-in here on a perceived opening -- if it misses, concrete's going to go flying in all directions. "Because we're both willing to do what needs to be done. Right? You're not afraid to kill. Not if it's warranted. I'm not talking about butchery. I'm talking about certain people the world would be better off if they... vanished."

Stopping at Cable's leg wih the tense muscles, Logan breathed out then tensed. Ligaments and muscle were torn through as the cyber arm came crashing down. A loud "Clang" cut through the air as the metal of cable's arm met the metal in Logan's bones. Pain surged through Logan who gritted his teeth. An upward palm strike went to Cable shoulder right where metal and flesh connected. For the moment Logan was on the ground and since cable had the extended arm, "Y'mean like wetwork?" Logan asked through gritted teeth.

There's a heavy *THUMP* of Logan's knuckles on Cable's shoulder, but he bears through the pain. Unsurprising; people like him and Logan, pain is just friends. Attempting to grip Wolverine by the body with his cybernetic arm, he moves to whirl and hurl him into the side of one of the random cars. It would be hard enough to knock him nearly all the way through it and smash it into the wall of the brick building, were he to succeed. But the motion's a bit too fast, and an acrobatic maneuver could squirm through. Logan at a disadvantage is rare. He shouldn't be rushing it. "Yeah. Wetwork. You've no compunctions about taking down someone who deserves it. ...And I mean personally. Outside the ethics of the institute. The laws of Charles. And Scott's four-color boyscout antics that give Captain America a run for his money."

"Don't know how I feel 'bout it, but I understand necessary evils. 'Cause Chuck, Scott, n' others don't condone it, but I understand it," Logan said before getting flung into a car then by default through a brick wall. Crumbling down Logan wheezed a little. Parts of brick fell down near him. He collected himself waiting for the next assault. To be honest Logan didn't want to stand until he felt all the muscles and ligaments heal in that knee. "Why?"

Cable isn't in a particular rush here. He approaches without rush, but not too slow. That regeneration's a bitch to keep up with. Grasping the car with his metallic hand, he hurls it aside before coming for Wolverine in a more traditional manner. The right swings are still incredibly potent; he could bicep curl a couple tons. But it's really best to avoid the incredible strikes of his left, that would blow out chunks of the wall in sprays of dust. "I'm thinking of starting a group." he offers. "One off the record. One that doesn't technically exist. One that could do things that /need/ to be done... and not need to take the credit." Another blow is attempted with a grunt.

"I'm thinking I'd call it... X-Force."

Logan stayed down, tried to stand and fell again. His eyes looked defiant as Cable approached slowly. "I'd consider it," he admitted. Was it necessary to kill? Sometimes. Was it the right thing to do? Very debatable. If he had any disagreements with the team it was in name only. Having an 'X' in the name felt a little insulting to Xavier's Dream, Charles wasn't one to like killers. A team couldn't have been called 'The Force.' And it did have a bit of a ring to it.

"...It'd be by vote. Everyone in the group would have to agree it's the right thing to do. If anyone said no, then it's off. Xavier needs support from the shadows. He is an idealist. As is Scott. I admire the world they want to build. ...But there's no way to do that without shedding blood." Cable doesn't move to attack any further, cracking his neck to the side. "We'd work in the shadows. Nobody would ever know. Any bystanders would be mindwiped. I could swipe every last fingerprint with telekinesis so thoroughly Batman himself would never know. There are monstrous things out there. Mutant concentration camps. Tyrants. Dictators. And threats who will just come back, again and again." Knuckles crack idly together. "And we'd still be X-Men. We'd still be there for Scott. This would be... a side-job. On a need by need, case by case basis. Doing what they can't do, even if it would be for the best."

A vote? A democratically run hit squad was new. Certainly it was a first. Logan sat there smirking, Cable wasn't going to buy his rouse. Standing, Logan hobbled a little. "I'll help. Maybe not often but when ya know you need me. One condition: Laura stays outta it." That was Logan's condition. If Cable wanted him, that was the price. Laura didn't need to get her hands dirty. Staring at the mutant Logan wasn't going to fight until some notification happened.

"Done. Laura won't ever need to know. Besides. I'm looking for professionals. Those who understand the vision. Understand that this is the greater good. And understand this is for Charles. There's one other I'm going to talk to... Psylocke. I'm certain she will join, too. Four. Four would be a good number. If you know any others who would be willing, let me know." Then the smirk slowly returns. "You done pretending to be hurt, or are we going to finish this?"

Smirking Logan started to run and in his hands were two o the brick shards. His original plan was to try and smash one into Cable's face. The other was going to hopefully help dislodge the cyberarm. Now a more direct approach was required.

Cable shifts back, blocks one arm, and the other brick shard shatters into his face. Grappled heavily by the cybernetic arm, he just lets out something of a laugh. One simple. Straightforward. A man born for battle, currently thriving in it. "Let's go, then...!!" The clash begins, continuing for literally a few hours, only stopped when someone came by to see why the Danger Room was being used without any recording. The shattered environment vanishes, Cable breathing a little heavy. He's got countless bruises on him and a split lip; Without his claws, Logan against Cable is sheer attrition. But the point wasn't about who would win in the end. But mutually letting off some much needed steam. "Don't spank the kids too hard." Cable offers when he strides out. "I'll get you that liquor. ...Bodyslide by one." And in a shift, he vanishes from the institute in a blue warble.