Greater Than What We Suffer (Part Six)

In life, you found ways to take satisfaction in the little things. Little things like leaving Mister Logan waiting for an extra two hours so you could finish watching the crappy movie that you didn't even like - just to see the look on his face when you finally made it back.

It was afternoon when we made it back, and indeed, he was pissed, but he also couldn't say anything, because I got Laura to come back with me. He did glare at the bag of popcorn I was eating when we finally walked up to him back near the pier.

And yes, I did buy expensive $5-plus snacks from the concession stand on our way out for the express purpose of letting him know exactly what we had been wasting his time doing. Why? Because I deserved a day out, and because I'm an asshole.

"Have fun?" Logan growled out, his fists clenched. I could see his claws flexing behind the muscle and tendons in his hands.

I already had someone pull their claws on me once that day, so the second time didn't bother me nearly as much, "Not really. That movie was garbage, and Laura doesn't really talk much," Laura punctuated this with an empty sucking noise from the slushie in her hand, "See?"

Logan moved me out of the way and stood face-to-face with the girl he had come across the country to find. Laura to her credit didn't flinch. She just kept drinking her treat and staring him back down.

After a half-minute of ineffective mean-mugging, Logan gave up and sighed. It had been a long day, "What the hell are you doing all the way out here, kid?"

Laura used her slushie to stall and try to find the right words, "Remembering good times," She eventually said, "I was not planning to stay at the Xavier Institute, Logan. I... needed time to think of my next course of action."

Logan folded his arms over his chest and stood back, "And? What'd you come up with?" He asked. That was was good. He was willing to hear her out. That was the key to good communication; a willingness to listen.

I had no business sticking my nose in any longer, so I just stood back and let Laura speak her mind, "They will not leave me alone. You know this," She declared, "They would have heard of what I had done in New York. They would have found me. They would have known I was at school with the other children, and they would not have cared who was put in danger in order to get to me."

Logan nodded as though he understood where she was coming from, "So... nothing then. You've got nothing."

Well, there went the whole 'listening' thing.

Laura's face had the first actual reaction I had ever seen it have, and even that was minute. A widening of her eyes in shock, "W-What?"

Logan didn't let up, "You said you came out here to think about your next move. You've been gone for months," In other words, more than enough time to think up a decent plan for oneself, "Jeez, the one thing you would be a normal teenager about. Not thinking things through."

"I have thought about this. I am not normal," She looked down at her free hand and popped her claws. I could see them better now, and noticed she had two instead of three like Logan, "I am dangerous."

Mister Logan grabbed my shirt and yanked me over between the two of them, "If he doesn't dump enough power on a regular basis, he'll blow up," I glowed for a moment to help illustrate his point. A visual aid, if you will.

"You know what I meant," Laura replied.

"No, I don't," Mister Logan snarled, "Because if you're not talking about yourself, and you're talking about the assholes that made you, big deal. You ain't the only one with people after your head," God, was that an understatement, "Everyone on the staff's got a little vendetta with somebody. Hell, a good number of the students do too."

I took the moment to interject, "Some guy tried to cut me up so I could power his cyborgs. Then the Danger Room came to life and tried to kill all of us," Logan did not appreciate the side commentary. I liked talking too much, even when I shouldn't have, "What? I was helping you."

"The point is-," Logan said, shooting a quick pointed look my way before focusing back on his clone, "-You ain't bringing nothing to the table that we don't already got in spades. Don't let the past drag you down. Give the place a try. A real try this time. You might just find something you're looking for, and if you don't? Well you gave it a shot. S'nothing wrong with wanting something better, darlin'."

Laura looked away from Logan and up at the sky, as though deep in thought, using the blue sky and the sunlight to help make her decision, "…I will try again," She said, "Because you asked me to, Logan."

Aww, well wasn't that sweet. I considered it a resounding mission accomplished. And not a drop of blood was spilled. I felt that a reward was in order.

"Hey," I tapped Logan on the shoulder to get his attention, "Do I get an extra credit grade for this, or something?"

"Shut up, Glowstick."