damned_institute | Day 35: Bus 1

Sanji woke up groggily to find his nurse already in his room. He gave a sleepy and half-hearted "Buh?" before realizing that nurse meant dayshift, and he'd fallen asleep after dinner.

"Shit!" He sat up abruptly, which gave his nurse a start. "Nami-swan!" How had he allowed himself to sleep through an entire night? What if she'd tried to return to the basement? What if she'd been waiting for him to appear and protect her? He'd let her down!

"There, there. Calm down." His nurse set a familiar flannel shirt down on the bed and Sanji eyed it with confusion. The last time he'd worn that had been... "Sorry I didn't knock or anything, but I was so excited~!" A pair of jeans followed the shirt. "Today is the field trip into town! Aren't you looking forward to it?"

The chef had to admit, the town had been an interesting enough place the last time he'd been. If he could find Nami early on he might even be able to lead her around... So he didn't complain too much as he changed into the other outfit (which he really wished they'd let him keep - anything was better than the regular gray) and was led out to the first of the buses.

He took a seat near the front, hopefully easily visible to any of his crew - especially to a certain member of his crew.

[for Usopp!]

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It seemed that for better or for worse, Peter had managed to break Logan out of the funk he had been in, and he got the feeling that even if the man was arguing with him now, it had to be better than watching him stare blankly at his hands.

"I wasn't talking about all that," Peter said with a frown once the other man had said his piece. "I'm talking about what happened last night. You're going to have to see the people you attacked on an everyday basis. You might as well talk things over with them now." That was what Peter would have wanted to do in Logan's place, but they weren't exactly similar. At least the man seemed to realize that he couldn't just give up, even considering what happened.

But he was probably still going to beat himself up about it.

Logan's last statement made Peter raise an eyebrow. "Atone," he echoed. "But what does that actually mean? What are you going to do about it?" If all it translated to was feeling like crap about the whole thing, then Peter didn't see what the point was. He knew that Logan couldn't fix what he had done, but there were still certain actions he could take. That was Peter's opinion on the matter, anyway.

Logan's gaze returned to meet Peter's once more, although the empty sadness there had been replaced by a look of steely resolve. His eyes bore into his friend's own, and would have been intimidating, if that was his intention. "Ya migh' no've been, bu' I was. 'S' tha same, 's'no differen' from tha other times. Whether it happened here, or in Siberia, or tha jungles o' Brazil, 's'all tha same ta me. Seems 's'all I been doin', m'whole life. Hurtin' people, an' rarely gettin' a say in whether or no' they deserve it. Worse still is when they make me believe these people deserve it, 'specially when they don'. An' tha's wha' I mean by 'atone', kid. I got a chance. I know I can' change tha pas', can' change wha' happened las' nigh' anymore than I c'n change tha things I done fifty years ago. Bu' I c'n make up fer it, or a' leas', try ta." He now held the look of a man possessed, of someone trying to convince himself that if he did enough good, all of the bad memories would just melt away. They wouldn't, of course, but if he kept telling himself that, he might just be able to sleep at night.

"Wha' I mean is, tha I'm gonna try'n do everythin' I can ta help whoever I can. M'life ain' m'own no more. It belongs ta whoever I c'n keep from hurtin', even if it means takin' tha pain for 'em. I don' know wha' tha odds're o' gettin' people outta here, or shuttin' Landel down. Don' know how lon' it'll take. Bu' I swear ta ya, kid, tha' I'm gonna stay here as lon' as it takes, 'n figh' wit' eveythin' I have, until I done both." Logan's fists were clenched again now, and he was talking through his teeth. He meant every word of it.

After several seconds, he relaxed, the fire slowly fading from his eyes. He took a deep breath, looked down briefly, then back up at his roommate. "Yer righ' again tho, Parker. In tha shor' term, I guess I gotta a' leas' 'paper over tha cracks'. I'll try'n keep an eye out fer any o' tha kids I tussled wit' las' nigh', an' a' tha very leas', they c'n ven' at me." A half-smile, again with little humour. "A' leas' I c'n take it if they feel they gotta pay me back."

Hearing the man reflect back on things that had happened years ago, on places that Peter had never dreamed of visiting - it just reminded him how different their lives were. Or rather, how much longer Logan had lived. Peter knew that he had just been telling Harry that someone wasn't more right just because they were older, but having it put into perspective like this was still somewhat overwhelming. He felt like they were on completely different levels.

Still, it was easier to follow along with the other man's logic now, and Peter nodded as Logan explained himself. In the end, their goals were still the same: protect others, and stop what was going on here at Landel's. Now Logan just had that much more of a drive to do it.

Peter knew the man was going to be hurting for a while after this, but at least they would have the chance to talk it over every night at dinner. He wasn't sure how much of a help he could be, but he could still make the effort.

"Well, looks like you've got your head on straight," he said with a small smile. "Just don't let this drag you down. That's what they want to happen - they want to break us apart until we're not strong enough to fight back anymore, so..." He paused then, figuring that Logan already knew all of this - though it probably helped to hear it from someone else.

The buses were coming to a stop, and Peter glanced out the window for a moment. "Did you have any plans for the day?" He had been so busy worrying about his roommate that he'd barely been thinking about the field trip.

Even in the brief time they'd been able to talk on the bus ride in, Logan felt a little better. Not good, but better. This, he reminded himself, was why it was important to work with others when he could. Sometimes just having someone there who was willing to listen could make a significant difference, could help to ease the burden on his old, tired shoulders.

"Yeah, if ya say so," he smiled a little wider at the 'head on straight' comment. That was Logan though, always fluctuating between 'wise old man' and 'unrelenting psychopath'. It was a hard way to live, at times. "Don' worry too much 'bout me, kid. Sure, I''ll hur' fer a while. Always do. Bu' it won' drag me down. If things like this did, I woulda given up a lon' time ago. I'll keep fightin' till I'm dead, kid. Ya go' my wor' on tha'."

He too sensed that they had almost reached their destination. Suddenly feeling eager to get moving, he stood before the bus had even come to a complete stop, and his eyes tracked the scene past the window also. "'Spose I shoul' try n' fin' Cole. Guessin' he prob'ly wansta know wha' happened las' nigh', too. Other'n tha'...maybe I'll take yer advice n' try an' track down some o' tha kids I crossed." He turned away from the window as the bus pulled to a complete halt, looking down at his friend.

"Hey, thanks, kid. I appreciate it." A warm smile this time, genuine. He was glad he wasn't alone in this mess, and wanted to show it as best he could.

Day 35: Bus 1

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