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The Black Widow. Dr. Strange. Weapon X. Gabriel. Nah. It's not too much for Jean. Not too much at all. Classes have begun at Frost Academy and Jean was quietly on the rise. Keeping her head down and focusing upon her lessons, gleaming information here and there and working things out on her own. If she kept up with the creed of Quentin Quire, she would be as brilliant as him. And her brain was a work of art lately.
Especially in the danger room. People come here to practice, don their uniforms or sweat suits. Work everything out as they would. Like now. Logan was the teacher of the day, she didn't ask where he's been but he was surely missed. Even if she happened to punch him right in the chest, which.. naturally, has her hopping back with a shake of her hand and a few little ows.
But it was a no-holds barred thing. It was time for things to get real. To go all out at her request, to not pull the punches because they know that each other would be alright. And it's already been half an hour and Jean worked up a sweat, her hand bruised, her hair wet, but she was still jumping in place with a boxers stand and a grit to her teeth. Was she mad? Nope!
"Don't go easy on me, Dad.." She says, teasing, the grit to her teeth replaced with a smile. "I asked for this, remember?"
*
Logan was in the middle of a drift. He knew it. Jean was the only thing anchoring him to this place anymore - for the most part, he was as much an X-man as the guy who picked up the trash on Tuesdays in every other way.r
"You can ask all you like, darlin'. Doesn't mean you get what you want," he says. "You got an edge with yer powers an' all, enough to cushion the blows. But you ain't ready to go bare knuckle with the ol' canucklehead, not my a longshot," he says. "One hard punch from me could bruise that pretty little brain o' yours enough to bleed. I like ya the way you are, able to arrange all your words in sentences," he says.
"You want someone to hit you as hard as they can, I'm sure that boy of yours would be happy to throw dukes whatever way he learned wherever it is he came from," he says.
*
Still, hitting people -hurt-. She didn't know that punching a man, even if it were Logan or not, would have a dire effect upon her fingers. Still she jumps around, the little bobbing dance that she's learned from him, keeping a nice little circle to look for an opening for a good attack. Well, a good attack that won't hurt her as much. A thigh? No, definitely not the chin. The side? No, he's got muscles there. An arm?
"I know you like me the way I am, but -I- don't like me the way I am. I don't want to go out there and try to help people, and then boom. I get smacked once and I'm not able to get up. If I have to fight, I have to know what pain feels like, at least so I can keep moving. Right?" She approaches, her movements quick as both hands strike out to push at his shoulders. It wasn't clear if he moved or not, because she was already backing up, ready to go.
"And I didn't ask Gabriel here, I asked you. Pull your punches if you like, but we're doing this."
*
Logan snorts, "I ain't sayin' you ain't gonna feel it, kiddo. Just sayin' that when I try to hurt people, they know it. An' it's also good fer you to know yer limits - all yer powers, yer still physically mostly human. Martial skill's good, but it ain't gonna do anything fer ya compared to masterin' your powers," he says. "Just so happens my powers help me out with this," he says.
%rHe throws a few jabs, his hands gloved, tagging along her shoulder and a quick shot around her ribs. "Helpin' people's about a lot more'n fightin' anyways."
*
"Well, I don't want to use my powers on you, that would be unfair.." Jean points out. But she takes a step back as he throws a few jabs, drawing her hands up, fingers curled into a fist like he taught her. She wasn't tucking or tightening her body, she was relaxing. Leaning slightly in to the hits and away at the same time, taking the one upon the shoulder as she turns, and the one upon the ribs as she turns the other way. Either way, it hurts. But she pushes through.
She counters with her own jabs, definitely not attempting to hit him hard anymore. But the hits were, and if they should land, feather light. A quick glancing one at his ribs. Then towards his stomach. And another light kick towards his side. Yeah, this was the good groove.
"Sleuthing, listening.." She says with each hit. "..figuring.. stuff out! Talking.. aiding.. I got it. What else?" She was obviously missing something.
*
Logan can't help but laugh a little at 'sleuthing'. She was like a kid from one of the serials they used to run before movies, the girl mystery solver who wanted to get on the case and save the town from the old geezer banker or the mad scientist lurking in the cave by the beach.
"Knowin' your limits. And remembering that the other side plays dirty," he says, ducking one punch and backhanding her hard enough to split her lip and drive her to her knees for a moment.
He's taken some bruises from her blows but, with his healing factor, they're all gone in the blink of an eye. "You gotta make sure you got what it takes to fail. Because you will. I've seen good folks go out there, get in the fight, do a good job. But first time they watch someone they care about die, first time they see an innocent burn cause they couldn't get the job done…makes 'em crazy. That's a different kind o' toughness."
*
Hey! They did do the sleuthing, right? Heroes just don't pop out of nowhere and are there convieniantly when things get rough. Sometimes they look for it.. yeah? But there wasn't even a chance for her to even speak about his little laugh, for once she throws that punch, she was met with a back-hand that rings her ears and sends her tumbling to the ground, her hands immediately pressed upon the floor as her feet scrapes against the ground, her lip obviously split as her mouth tastes like copper.
"Owww…" She says with irritation, her fingers curling into a fist to slam hard against the ground. She should have known that -that- was coming. But as she said, unfair advantage. And what if she didn't.. and was unable to use her powers?
"We've witnessed and lived through enough horrors when we were locked up.." She manages out, swallowing down the blood that gathers as she crawls to her feet. She was a little dizzy, but it was shaken out with a shake of her head as she presses on. A swipe towards his jaw, a kick aimed at his leg, followed through with another punch and an elbow to boot. She was trying to press on him at least, get him on the defense.
*
Logan takes a few of the blows, backing up a step or two, letting her speak and get her aggression out as he gets his forearms up, providing a bit of protection.
"Sure, but it's one thing when it's happenin' to you, when you're in the thick of it. But imagine if you thought you had a chance to prevent someone from getting locked up the way you did…only you didn't make there in time? You can think of a dozen things you could've done different, things that maybe would've changed the way it went down. But you didn't. Now you know they're sufferin' cause you couldn't get the job done. And you gotta live with it."
He finally ducks a blow and slips behind her, wrapping a forearm like a rod of steel up under her chin and catching her in a choke. "You gotta find a way to swallow it," he says. "Cause if you don't let it go, it'll just eat you up inIide until you can't move, can't think. I've lost years that way, in regret and hatin'. But I got the years to burn," he says.
"You don't."
*
Jean was listening throughout it all. In fact, it wasn't as if she could unhear it. It has been strange lately. In classes, she could be zoned out and yet her brain was working to retain the information. She could read a book according to class and answer a quiz perfectly. It was like a memory recall. She could even remember the moment when she first tasted a burger that she made correctly. But she doesn't dwell on this, not now.
For once he slips behind her back and snatches her up into a choke-hold, her hands immediately clench against his forearm as he makes his point known, her body slowly side stepping as she tries to lift him by pushing her bottom back into his hips to try to flip him with a bend.
And really, it was no dice, each bump had her attempting to wrestle and wriggle from his grasp, tiring herself completely out. So her hands lift, tapping against his forearm, her hands lifting in a hail mary so that she could be freed.
*
Logan lets her loose and smiles, "You did good, kid. Seriously, you're getting better every time. Good reactions, you're starting to work strategy into it. It ain't just trying to throw shots willy nilly. You learn how to incorporate yer powers into it and you might be dangerous as all hell," he says.
He strips off his gloves, tossing them aside, then grabs a beer out of the little fridge down here, popping the top and taking a drink. "Aside from all yer trainin', everything okay with you? Been a while since we hung."
*
"I already know how to incorporate my powers into it. I just.. didn't. It's kinda not fair to fight you that kind of way." Even though he hits like a wrecking ball. "But next time, when we're being serious." And she means serious.
Though, as he goes to retrieve a beer, she follows right after him, not getting a beer but a glass of water that she had set inside to cool. That itself was taken out, and drank almost immediately, holding out her hand in wait to finish her drink. And once she was done?
"Weapon X. Again."
*
Logan nods, "I ain't sure I got much answer for any of your telepathic stuff, but I'll give it a shot. Only fair, after all, to give you a chance to spar proper," he says.
When the last detail comes up, though, he gives a low growl and turns to face her directly, beer in hand, "What about Weapon X?" he asks with narrowed eyes.
*
The low growl is expected, but that still doesn't mean she wasn't taken aback by it. There was a moment of hesitation, then she turns away from him to move towards the corner where her pack was. It seemed that she lured him here for more than just sparring. "There was a woman that came here a few days ago. She wanted to talk to Charles about Moira. It seems she went in, attempting to get clues or tips or something about the Weapon X program. She's got documents on all of us.." She pulls out the folder pack, then steps towards him to hand it over.
It was the basics of the people who were captured and tested on, namely the two in this very room.
"I think she's looking for help. No, not think. She is. I promised her I would, but .." This was easy to admit to Logan.. "..I'm scared of what I might do if I happen to -get- to that point."
*
Logan frowns, "If someone needs help, to escape from them, about them, to somehow take them apart…I got no problem with throwin' my full weight into doin' what needs done," he says.
He can tell she's hesitant, though, which he doesn't fully understand, "You're stronger than you were then," he says. "You can handle it."
*
"I don't either, but.." She hands him the files for him to look over, then gestures. "All of that. -All- of that. If I get in front of them, I'm going to get angry. And then I'm going to want to end it. Permentantly. No one walks away, Logan. Everyone wiped off of the face of the planet. No escape. That's what I'm scared of." She sits down upon the ground then, legs sprawled, hands placed behind her as she leans back. "That's why I'm.. I'm hesitating. I don't know if that's something I could live with, and I don't know if that's something that I'm willing to risk."
*
Logan considers, "Normally, I'd say hold back, play it safe, don't do anything yer gonna regret. All the stuff Chuck would want me to say to you, as a mentor and a teacher and a friend," he says. He lights his cigar and puffs for a moment, taking a seat, a light sheen of sweat making his wifebeater cling to his muscular frame.
"But fuck that. Weapon X has done too much. I ain't in the mood to be impartial. If they get wiped off the planet, I say good goddamn riddance," he says. "Sometimes the only way to get rid o' the rot is to burn it out."
*
Jean listens, her eyes closing, chin tilting back as she lets out a little sigh. "Yeah.. that's another problem there in itself. Could I live with myself after.."
Jean shifts a little, staring towards him for a moment, then fully pushes herself upright. "I never asked you. What did they do to you?"
*
Logan leans forward a bit and makes eye contact for a long moment, "You'd be surprised at what you can live with, if you try real hard, darlin'" he promised.
He looks away at her question, but she gets flashes in his mind. She's seen them before. The tank. Drowning, over and over again, only to wake up again. The pain, as they tested his limits, tested his healing. Tested everything about him.
*