It was a dark and stormy night. The air was charged with the smell of electricity and the sound of heavy rain. The wind whipped around the trees and howled like a wounded animal. In the distance, a single light illuminated the face of a lone figure.
Logan was sitting in a booth in a seedy bar, trying to enjoy a rare night off. He'd had a rough week and all he wanted was a few hours of peace and quiet, but the bar was full of noise. The clatter of dishes and glasses, the drone of voices and the ever-present music were all driving him crazy. He took another drink of his beer, trying to drown out the sounds, but it wasn't working. He was about to give up and go home when he heard the sound of someone laughing.
He looked around and saw a man standing by the bar, talking to a woman. The man was tall and broad shouldered, with long blond hair. victor creed. Logan felt his pulse quicken as he stared at him. It had been a long time since they'd seen each other, but the memories were still there. They had been friends once, but that was before things had gotten complicated.
"You okay?" asked the bartender.
"Yeah," Logan replied, tearing his gaze away from Victor. "I'm fine."
"You look like you've seen a ghost."
"i have, in a way"
The bartender shrugged and went back to work. Logan finished his beer and left the bar, but not before casting a final glance in Victor's direction. He thought about going over to talk to him, but decided against it. It would be better if they didn't get involved with each other again.
Logan walked through the rain until he reached the parking lot. He stopped when he heard someone call his name.
"Logan?"
Victor was standing under a streetlight, looking like something out of a dream.
"Victor," Logan replied.
They stared at each other for a moment, then Victor took a step towards him.
"It's been a while," he said.
"Yes," Logan agreed. "It has."
Victor smiled. "How have you been?"
"Not bad," Logan said. "You?"
"Good."
Victor took another step towards him, and Logan could see that he was
wearing a black leather jacket and a white t-shirt. He looked good.
"you wanna get outta here?"
"I thought you'd never ask," Logan said.
Victor laughed, and drove them to a cliff on the edge of town. a familiar
place, though logan can't say how he knows this. The sky was clear now,
and the moon was full. The only sound was the wind and the ocean
crashing against the rocks below.
"it's nice up here," logan said.
yeah, it is, hows old mother earth been to you?"
logan sighs "The planet is fine. The people are fucked."
logan sighs "The planet is fine. The people are fucked."
"Wouldn't it be cool to name a star after yourself?" vic whispered, unaffected.
"yeah, it would,"
"Let's do it," Victor said, pulling a pen and a scrap of paper out of his pocket.
Logan watched as Victor wrote the words, "the james" and drew a line under it.
"there, you can have the first one, i'll have the next"
Logan took the pen and paper from Victor and wrote the words, "the kittycat"
"I'm honored," Victor laughed.
they were silent for a long time, just watching the stars.
"You know, it's funny," Victor said.
"What's that?"
"The last time I saw you, we were fighting," Victor said.
"You got what was coming to you," Logan reminded him.
"That's fair," Victor laughed. "But I was thinking that it was nice to be fighting together instead of against each other."
Logan smiled. "Me too,"
"I'm sorry I hurt you," Victor said, suddenly serious.
"It's okay," Logan replied.
"No, it's not," Victor said, "I was a jerk. I shouldn't have done what I did. You didn't deserve that."
"I was a jerk too," Logan admitted. "I shouldn't have pushed you away like I did."
"I missed you," Victor said softly.
"I missed you too."
They were quiet for a moment, just enjoying the view.
"Victor, are you a werewolf?" Logan asked, finally.
"nah, but i am a therian. kinda."
"Kinda?"
"i'm a sabretooth, a therianthrope, technically."
"Technically?"
"i'm a sabretooth, a therianthrope, technically."
"Ah, I see," Logan said.
"what about you, what are you?"
"A mutant," Logan replied.
"A mutant. That's cool."
Logan chuckled. "If you say so."
"Hey, I don't care what you are. As long as you're not a human, that's fine by me."
Logan grinned. "I'm not a human."
"Good."
They fell silent again, but this time the silence was comfortable.
"Do you think they're looking for us?"
"who?" logan asked, surprised
"stryker, and his men, do you think they're still looking for us?"
Logan shook his head. "No, I think they've given up.
"I hope so."
Logan glanced at the sky. "It's getting late. We should probably get going."
"You're right," Victor agreed.
"Victor, where are you staying tonight?"
"Nowhere. I was going to sleep in the truck,"
"Why don't you stay with me? I have an extra room."
"Are you sure? I don't want to impose."
"It's fine," Logan said. "Besides, I'm kind of hoping we'll have a rematch."
Victor laughed. "Okay, then. If you insist."
They walked back to the parking lot and climbed into the truck.
"So, what are you doing in town, anyway?"
"Business," Victor said.
"Really?"
"Well, sort of," Victor said. "I mean, I was going to take care of some things, but then I ran into you."
"you still doin merc jobs?"
"Sometimes," Victor said. "I'll do what I have to."
"Same here," Logan said.
They rode in silence until they got to logans house. Victor parked the truck and they got out.
"lauras at a friends house, you can stay as long as you need"
"Thanks," Victor said. "I appreciate it."
"don't mention it,"
They went inside and Victor took a Look around.
"This is nice," he said.
"It's alright," Logan said. "It's not much, but it's home.'
"It's good." Victor said. "Better than being on the road."
"You said you were in town for business," Logan said. "What kind of business?"
"The usual," Victor said.
"Killing people?"
Victor laughed. "Sometimes. But mostly just information gathering."
"What are you looking for?"
"Nothing in particular," Victor said. "I'm just seeing who's doing what and where
They're doing it."
"Why?"
"Because I can." Victor said.
Logan raised an eyebrow.
"And because I'm a mercenary," Victor said.
"That's a little vague," Logan said.
"You know how it is." Victor said.
"not really."
Victor laughed. "Okay, let me put it this way. I was hired by a third party to look into some rumors. And I'm not going to say who that third party is or what they're looking for."
"Fair enough," Logan said.
"What are you up to these days?"
"The same old," Logan said, "I'm doing whatever I can to survive."
"Same here," Victor said, "you still with the x-dorks?"
"sometimes"
"How are they doing?"
"They're alright," Logan said.
"Are they still trying to save the world?"
"Of course," Logan said.
Victor laughed. "Some things never change."
"They're still good people," Logan said.
"Even summers?"
"Mostly," Logan said.
Victor grinned. "I never could stand him."
"He grows on you," Logan said.
"Like mold?"
"Sometimes," Logan admitted.
they sat in comfortable silence for a long time.
"you hungry?"
"Starving," Victor said.
"Good, 'cause i make a mean grilled cheese."
"im lactose, ya doofus"
"oh shit, im sorry, i didn't mean"
"hey, its cool, i dont mind, as long as i can steal your bacon"
Logan laughed. "You got a deal."
They spent the night talking and catching up. They stayed up late, drinking. and laughing. At one point, Victor asked Logan if he'd ever been in love.
"What?"
"In love," Victor repeated.
"You mean like in the movies?"
"Sure," Victor said.
"I dunno. I've never really been the type."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"That's a shame," Victor said.
"have you? ever been in love, i Mean"
"yeah, i think so"
"what was she like?"
"Who?"
"the girl you loved"
"oh, he was great,"
"he? oh, oh."
"yeah, his name was james, he was my best friend."
"What happened to him?"
"I don't know," Victor said.
"Sorry," Logan said.
"It's alright," Victor said.
They sat in silence for a moment..
"Do you ever think about him?"
"Sometimes," Victor said.
"i'm sorry"
"it's alright.
"no, im sorry, because...because..."
"what?"
"I've thought about you, and..."
"what?"
logan sighs, and speaks softly "did i ever tell ya my old name?"
"your name?"
"yeah, my real name. before i became wolverine."
"what was it?"
"it was james, james howlett."
"holy shit, thats why... whyd you leave? i was a dick, but, damn"
"its a long story."
"ill listen. always."
"you sure?"
"always" victor repeated.
"we met in 1914, during the first world war, i was a soldier, you were a mercenary, ended up workin together."
"we were in a bar. some guy was tryin to get handsy with the waitress, and i was about to knock his teeth in when you stepped in.
"oh, yeah, we beat the shit out of him and his friends, they were all assholes, and the waitress was grateful. she invited us back to her place." victor chuckles softly "i think she was hopin we would have a threesome, but we didn't."
"she was pretty, and i would have, but i had my eye on someone else, i.. i don't know if you noticed, but i had a bit of a crush on you, and it turns out, the feeling was mutual.. you asked me if i wanted to come over to your place, i was nervous. you could tell, but you were patient. you waited till i was ready."
"yeah, I remember, we stayed up all night, talkin about our pasts, and the future, and the things we wanted. I told you i was a mutant, and you said it didn't matter to you. and i knew then that you were the one for me."
"you said the same thing, and i felt like the luckiest man in the world.we were together for a while after that. bout 50 years, and then it all fell apart.
"I'm sorry."
"it's not your fault. you didn't know."
"we had a fight, a bad one. i was an asshole. i said some things i shouldn't. have, and you left, i didn't know where you went, and when i found out, it was too late."
"what do you mean, 'too late'?"
"I mean.. i mean.. you loved jean, i could see it in your eyes, the way you looked at her, dammit jimmy, whid you have ta love her so much?" victor hangs his head in his
Logan reached out and put a hand on Victor's shoulder, offering silent comfort. Memories flooded back, emotions stirred by the pain of lost time and missed opportunities,
"Victor," Logan said softly, "I did love Jean. But that was a different time, a different part of my life. What happened between us, it wasn't about her. It was about us. About our own demons and insecurities."
Victor looked up, his eyes meeting Logan's with a mixture of sadness and
longing. "I know, Jimmy. I know. "There was a heaviness in the air, a weight of unspoken truths and unresolved emotions. But there was also a glimmer of hope, a sense that maybe, just maybe, they could find a way to move forward.
"Listen," Logan said, breaking the silence,
"we can't change the past. But we can learn from it. We can try to do better, be better."
Victor nodded, a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips. "Yeah, Yeah, you're right."
They sat together in the quiet darkness of the room, the only sound the soft patter of rain against the window. And in that moment, despite everything that had come between them, they found solace in each other's company.
The night wore on, and eventually, exhaustion crept in. Logan led Victor to the spare room, where he could rest for the night. As they said their goodnights, there was a sense of peace settling over them, a tentative truce forged in the depths of their shared history.
And as Logan lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, he couldn't help but feel a flicker of hope stirring within him. Maybe, just maybe, there was still a
chance for them to find their way back to each other. Maybe, in the
darkness of the night, they could find a glimmer of light to guide them home.