Marie had handed him the keys to her truck and retreated to the cabin, telling that she was tired. It suited him just fine. The less distractions there were, faster he could get the work done. Speaking of which…
“Shouldn’t you go to sleep, too?” He asked, noticing Sam who was sitting at the front porch of the cabin, hands clasped over his sides.
“No. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
“Fine. You got those ribs wrapped?” He asked, circling the truck, checking it over to see what needed fixing.
“Don’t you worry about that… Dad.” Sam spat the last word out like it was poison.
“Okay…” Boy’s attitude started to piss him off, so he chose to turn his back on him and crawl under the truck to see if everything was okay in there. He could hear footsteps. They stopped. Sam crouched next to the truck, air wheezing out of his lungs painfully.
“I won’t let you fuck this up. Mom really needs this truck.”
“Right. That’s why I blew up those bandits. Just to mess around with this piece of crap and maybe cut the brake line…” Logan murmured, tightening couple of loose bolts that he spotted before crawling back out from under the vehicle. Sam backed to the front porch of the cabin again.
“I need to take this thing apart before I can do anything else. You’re going to watch me, or are you going to help?” Logan asked, tilting his head.
“What exactly are you planning to do?” Sam asked when they started to strip the truck bare.
“Little make-over. This is older than my truck, but basically the same model. I’ll put some armor over it, maybe more power to the engine, and I have extra pair of flamethrowers. I could of course go and get a pulse cannon from the settlement…” Logan muttered, piling loose parts to neat piles to the side of the cabin.
“Why are you doing this?” Sam asked. Logan shot him a curious look.
“Why? What do you mean?”
“Do you think this will make mom forget what happened? Is this a part of some sort of scheme to lure your way back to her life?”
“Like I said to you earlier, you have no idea of what happened back then. What it was like. You have no place or right to talk about it,” Logan said.
“And no. I’m not planning to stay. I’m leaving as soon as I have this finished,” he added quickly when Sam’s face reddened from anger.
“I don’t understand. What’s in this for you? What do you get out of this? It isn’t like those spare parts and guns are free. Are you trying to pay for her for what you did?”
“Your mother is not a whore. I’m doing this because of what we once were. Because of what she once meant for me. And that’s all there is for you to know.”
“You keep telling me I should just ignore the fact that you raped my mom and keep my mouth shut. Now, what kind of a bastard I would be if I did that?” Sam asked when they were checking over the engine.
“Alive bastard, for sure. Look, it was hard for both of us. It happened. We dealt with it with our own ways. Just let it be already,” Logan grunted, wiping the grease from his hands to a rag he had pulled from his back pocket. He was going to snap if the boy didn’t shut up soon.
“Look, just go to bed. You need to rest. Those ribs will be sore as hell in the morning. I got this covered.”
“I’m sure it would suit you just fine…” Sam growled.
“What the fuck is your problem, boy? I’m trying to help your mom!” Logan huffed.
“Like you helped her when the Army caught her and threw her in to that hell?” Sam snorted.
“You asshole wouldn’t even exist if it wasn’t for the Army. If I were you, I would go to sleep and forget this subject right now…” Logan hissed, claws straining the soft skin between his knuckles.
“Thank God I’m nothing like you!” Sam spat.
“I’m going to pretend that I didn’t hear that. I refuse to believe that we bred a moron back then, or that Marie raised one. Go to sleep. We’ll talk later.” When Sam looked like he wasn’t going to comply, Logan raised his hands, palms flat in front of him.
“The sooner you go, the sooner I can get this finished. The sooner I can get this finished, the sooner I can leave. Go to sleep and we both win.”
“What are you going to do if I stay? Claw me?” Sam growled. Logan snorted and turned back to the engine.
“Mom?” She opened her eyes and sat up, rubbing her face groggily.
“What is it?”
“I just came to tell you that I’m going to bed. If you need anything, just shout.” Sam was hovering at the doorstep.
“I will. How’s Logan?” She asked.
“I don’t know. Either he’s trying to mess up the truck for good, or he’s really trying to help. I don’t want you to go out alone while he’s there.”
“Sam…”
“No, mom. I don’t want you to get hurt again. If you need something just ask me. I’ll go and get it. I don’t trust him.”
“Fine,” Marie huffed. Again she was reminded of how alike both men were. Protective streak wider than a freaking Grand Canyon.
“Good night, mom.”
“Good night, Sam.”
She waited until she was quite sure that Sam had fallen asleep before getting up and dressed. She didn’t feel like sleeping anymore.
“Might as well go and see what’s happening…” Logan was upgrading her truck, but after he was gone she would have to keep it up and running by herself. Wouldn’t hurt to see how it was done.
He had fallen to sleep soon after Sam had left. Wouldn’t hurt to take a small nap he had reasoned and climbed to the cab of his truck. Soft knock on the door woke him up. Scent wafting from the air vents identified the knocker to him. Marie. He stretched and yawned before opening the door.
“Morning,” Marie greeted him whispering. Sun was rising.
“Didn’t have time to go shopping, so I don’t have coffee. You drink tea?” She asked, handing him a steaming cup. Scent of herbs tickled his nose. He took the offered cup, nodding a quiet thanks before taking a sip.
“How does it look like?” She asked tilting her head towards her truck that stood stripped bare in front of the cabin.
“Not bad. It’s a sturdy little critter. I’ll put heavier coat on it… Flamethrowers… Do you want a pulse cannon? I could mount it to the hood.” Marie just shrugged.
“What ever you think is necessary.” Logan flashed a dry, tight-lipped smile to her.
“Sam doesn’t trust me very much.”
“He doesn’t know you. I have told him everything what happened. How we first met to the point where I left the breeding center. I guess he only heard the bad parts.”
“Was there something good, too?” Logan asked cocking his brow and handing the empty cup back to her before climbing down from the truck.
“Yeah. There was. Lots of good things. Don’t you think so?” Marie asked. It was Logan’s turn to shrug.
“I guess there was…”
“You were the first person I could touch for a long time. You gave me hope that there could be something in this life, in this world for me, too.”
“And then I took it away. But it was good while it lasted…” Logan muttered, gazing to the rising sun.
“It wasn’t completely your fault.”
“What do you mean? Last time I checked, it was I who violated you,” Logan said.
“If I wasn’t such a coward, I could have stopped you. I still don’t know how to use my mutations. I’m too scared to learn how to use them. They’re so powerful…”
“Yeah. Well, no use to squabble over whose fault it was. It happened… What do you say if we start working on that truck of yours? I’ll show you how it’s done so that you can keep it in shape by yourself.”
“Take that part and tighten that screw just a bit…” She was leaning over the engine, reaching to the side of it. Logan was behind her back, holding her up and giving her instructions when it happened. Sudden impact from the side threw them apart, dropping Marie against the side of the truck and throwing Logan few meters away from her. Thought of Camo flashed briefly in her mind, then she heard an angry howl. Sam was towering over Logan who lay sprawled on the ground, claws out, ready to bounce.
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