New Meaning
Logan grabbed a beer bottle from the fridge. He then picked out two cans of soda, one cream for Kitty and a blue bubblegum soda for Kurt. He only kept soda in his fridge because of how often those two came by. He then walked into the next room, setting down the drinks on the table.
They’ve been acting odd, He thought to himself as he went to close the drapes, grabbing onto one piece of fabric. They’re hiding something.
He heard the BAMF! From the door and then heard the door open. He heard Kitty and Kurt’s voices as he sat down at the table. Kurt walked into the room first, fully drenched from the rain outside. Kitty walked in after him, taking off Kurt’s oversized rain jacket as it covered the top half of her face. She hung it up on the wall and then sat next to Kurt.
“The hell happened to you?” Logan asked, raising a brow.
“Rain,” They both said at once.
“And what, ya didn’t think to bring a jacket?” Logan questioned.
“We were in a bit of a pickle,” Kitty answered, sat down, and picked up her cream soda.
Kurt grabbed a towel from the kitchen and began to dry himself off as he too took a seat, “Vhat she said.”
Logan sighed and then popped the cap off the top of the beer bottle, setting it to the side before switching topics, “So the good news is we’ve got an actual lead this time around."
Both Kitty and Kurt perked up. Kurt asked to confirm, “We do?”
“Yep, the contact came through. He gave me coordinates to one of the Power Broker’s warehouses, and said it’s where all the mutants got processed before being taken to Hightown Madripoor,” He recounted what he’d been told to them, “Said it’s probably the best way to figure out who the Power Broker’s been in contact with to get access to our kind.”
“Think we can get in and out?” Kitty asked, taking a sip from her soda.
Logan took off his watch and then turned it on, setting it down in the center of the table as an orange hologram of the facility floating in the center of the table. Both Kitty and Kurt’s eyes widened at the sheer size of the facility.
“The place is covered in high-level security. The Power Broker’s not taking any chances,” Logan leaned back in his seat, “We could do it, but it would take a lot of effort without any room for error.”
“Zo, in Remy’s vords, ve need to play our cards right,” Kurt speculated, tapping his chin.
“Yep,” Logan nodded.
“So, in other words, we need help,” Kitty spoke. Kurt whipped his head towards her. Logan looked between the two with concern.
Definitely hiding something, Logan thought and then decided to voice his thoughts, “What’re you thinking, Cat?”
Kitty took a deep breath and looked at Kurt for approval. He nodded his head and took a sip from his soda, looking at Logan as if watching for his reaction. Kitty then began, “So remember when, during the last mission, you had Kurt and I just wandering the Diamond Hall for ‘security?’”
“Just skip to the point, kid,” Logan ordered, looking at her with a neutral expression.
“Okay, okay so Kurt and I decided that maybe it’s time we start working with superheroes instead of running away from or fighting them. So we used the watch to contact Captain America and asked him and his friend to come by during the mission at Diamond Hall. We managed to convince them that, hey, we’re on the same side and fighting the same bad guy and they let us go,” Kitty rambled off an explanation quickly, “Then yesterday, they went to Bobby Drake, you know Iceman, and asked for facial rec of us, not knowing that Bobby was a mutant. Bobby did it and then later on called me to let me know, but then we figured he was in some kind of trouble since he wasn’t answering his phone and Kurt teleported us all the way to Washington DC where we found Bobby being questioned by the Captain and two of his pals. It didn’t end in a fight thanks to Kurt’s negotiating skills. Thank you by the way, Kurt, and so now they’ve agreed to work with us in the future and please don’t be mad at us.”
Logan raised his eyebrows, processing everything that she said. Both Kurt and Kitty watched him in suspense. Logan facepalmed slowly and then took a swig of the beer on the table, “You really think that a partnership like that could work?”
“Ve might as vell try. Ve share zis world just like ve share zis enemy. Ve vould be vise to have an ally,” Kurt interjected.
“You kids have made this whole thing a hell of a lot more complicated,” Logan shook his head with a sigh.
“Logan, they were going to figure out we existed eventually. Why not reveal ourselves on our own terms?” Kitty reasoned. None of this would work without him.
Logan looked at Kitty. She was right. That little girl was always right. And Kurt was on her side too. They were always on each other’s side. It’s why he rarely ever won a vote where they weren’t all in agreement. The two of them didn’t work without the other. A dynamic duo of sorts, he thought.
Logan contemplated the option they'd given him, looking at the beer bottle and occasionally at Kurt or Kitty. He knew if this went sideways, it would end poorly. Somebody would get hurt and no matter how hard he tried, it couldn’t be him. The worst part about a healing factor is not being able to heal the people he cared about. Not in the ways that mattered, really. No healing factor could take away the heartache he’d watched these two go through.
He’d tried to live his life without getting too attached because he knew he’d be ripped away from them eventually. Somebody always pulled him back in. These two kids had done it to him all over again. And they’d taken a chance when they met him too. They’d decided to trust him no matter what.
He figured it was about time he trusted them and their decisions, “Alright.”
Kitty and Kurt grinned at each other eagerly and then at him.
“We’ll invite ‘em to this mission to the warehouse as a trial run,” Logan went on, “If things go bad, we won’t work with ‘em again. If not, then we’ve got a solid partnership.”
“Wunderbar!” Kurt cheered and clapped his hands. He was relieved they wouldn’t have to beg Logan to agree to this.
“So the plan is, Cat, you contact ‘em using the watch. We’ll meet up with ‘em at the old base a block down in Lowtown, Madripoor. You’ve already got the address so send ‘em a time, let’s say 11 p.m. on Friday. Tell ‘em to suit up,” Logan finished telling her a plan and Kitty sprung into action, writing the message on her watch.
“We’ve got a few days. Ya got time to make watches for ‘em?” Logan then made the request to Kitty. She stopped tapping on the watch and looked at him and then at the table, calculating.
“I think I could pull it off,” Kitty replied, “I just need parts.”
“I thought you had the parts,” Logan raised a brow.
“I did, but somebody broke his watch and I had to use those to make him a new one,” Kitty explained with slight passive aggression.
“Du kannst get some parts from Riri, ja?” Kurt queried, tilting his head. Somehow he’d managed to down his soda in the few moments they’d taken to speak to each other.
“Yeah,” She nodded and then went back to writing out the message on the watch.
Logan turned his head to Kurt, “Can I talk to ya, Elf?”
“Na klar,” Kurt got out of his seat and discarded the empty soda bottle. Logan slowly removed himself from his seat, guiding Kurt out to the living room. He checked to make sure Kitty was too focused on writing the message on the watch to listen in.
“This was yer idea, wasn’t it?” Logan questioned.
Kurt nodded and relented, “It vas.”
“Why’d ya put that idea in her head?” He whispered to him.
“Logan, ze vorld may fear and hate us, but ve cannot just sit here und vait for zeir acceptance. Ze vorld needs heroes now more zan ever. Better yet, ve have a chance to vork vith ze Captain America. Zis is our vay of joining ze vorld as who ve are,” Kurt explained with confidence and that concealed hope he’d always had in his pocket.
“I know you believe in the whole ‘love thy neighbor’ thing, but we could be playin’ with fire here,” Logan warned in a hushed tone.
“Nozing in life ever comes vithout its share of risks,” Kurt countered, “It is time to stop fearing zem and instead embrace zem.”
Logan sighed, “I’m not winning this one, am I?”
Kurt chuckled, “Nein, mein Freund.”
“Alright,” He put a hand on Kurt’s shoulder and lowered his voice again, “But understand this, if anything goes wrong, we stick together, alright?”
Kurt bowed his head, “Of course.”
Before they could continue, Kitty strolled in, holding up the watch with the message, “It’s sent!”
Kurt smile at her and then pulled her in for a hug and then suggested, “I say, ve make latkes.”
Kitty shook her head, “Nuh-uh. I am not making those now.”
Kurt frowned and Logan rolled his eyes with a slight smirk, “I’ll get out the stuff to make burgers, but you’re both helping, got it?”
Kitty and Kurt nodded with excitement. Kurt teleported to the kitchen while Kitty bounded into the kitchen. Logan waited a moment, smiling to himself, before following them into the kitchen.
^^^
We have a lead.
Must work together, bring all four of you.
Address: 4268 Fuadain Ln, Lowtown, Madripoor
Friday, 11 p.m., don’t be late.
Suit up.
-K