it's about surviving

It sure as hell wasn’t the first time Logan had looked upon a war scene like it.. This time, however, he was leaning against a time machine with the capacity for them to go back, to make a few different choices — to make it right.

Tony wasn’t any happier with his current circumstances. He’d flown in from the south, blitzing in like a Old Testament punishment from on high, taking out checkpoints and crow’s nests in a strafing run. Explosions shook the air like an afterclap, fire painting the sky orange before smoke turned everything a hazy gray. 

J.A.R.V.I.S. had compiled more than enough information on the flight over. Tony knew who and what he was dealing with and what, exactly, they had been using their illegally procured Stark tech for. Safe to say he wasn’t a fan. Safe to say nobody was getting out of this place alive. Unfortunate for the guys in his crosshairs, but it cost zero dollars to not be a genocidal piece of shit, so. Maybe not that unfortunate. 

Data flooded in, orienting him. Gunshots to the north of the building. A few long and loud, automatic. Angry, desperate, dying, or D — all of the above. A few singles. Somebody taking time to aim. Then: the alarms abruptly cut off. Seemed like Tony wasn’t the only party crasher. Interesting, but interesting good or interesting bad?

“That’s my cue. J, Blood and Iron suite, if you please.” 

“Of course, sir. Happy hunting.” 

And just like that, his HUD went from blue to red, tranqs were traded out for live ammunition, and wailing cry of an electric guitar surrounded him on every side.

Tony didn’t slow his downward arc on approach. In fact, he gunned it, spinning into a barrel roll as he hit the southerly exit and crashed straight through. He landed in a sliding skid down the midway between crates and cages, boots throwing up a shower of sparks as he brought his palms up. The crowd of bloody, uniformed men trying to barricade the northern entrance of the warehouse immediately turned. What Tony could see of their eyes was very wide. Here I am, rock you like a hurricane! 

His repulsors screamed. So did the men. Tony turned his music up.

The sound of rock and roll amidst the chaos wasn’t exactly out of place. Logan usually heard it in tanks though, and whatever the hell this was was moving in a hell of a lot faster than any tank. He turned his head slightly to one side—bear like—sensitive ears trying to hone in on the newcomer. Tony was moving fast enough that he didn’t need to dwell on guesswork for long.

“Holy shit—”

That arrival was deafening. Between the screams of men and the horrid crunch of that metal door coming apart, it took a second for Logan to figure out whether friend or foe had decided to drop in on the bust. — Huh. Iron Man; as much of a friend as Logan could hope for at a time like this, and a damn fine way to finally meet.

[ hello! i have a few days off, so i’ll try and get to replies soon! i’ve been reading a lot lately, which is unusual but i miss the days when that used to eat up a lot of my time so i’m not entirely mad about it. ]

“That’s very, very noble of you,” Ashildr meant it as well. It was the noble thing to do, the right thing to do. “But have a run in with someone who isn’t too drunk or too embarrassed to out you and you’ll find yourself without a home,” She warned. “Just get stabbed less. You can still fight all you like.”

“Don’t let ‘em see what I can do: Got it. Next time I do get injured I’ll do a lot more rollin’ around and crying about it. — Make it look real convincing.” He tried hard to keep a serious face through all that but features cracked in a smile, and then a rare laugh.

“Yeah well, you know what nightmares are like. I didn’t have time to deal with them.” She murmured, looking down and closing her eyes for a moment. The Doctor took a deep breath before straightening up and running a hand through her messy hair.

“You do? I can sort that out.” She smiled softly. “Just gimme a moment to wake up.”

“Listen, I ain’t in a hurry,” he assured the Doctor. He did sure as hell understand what the nightmares were like. Logan lived with them every goddamn night, which meant sleepless nights for the most part.

He let her get herself sorted out, and stepped outdoors in the meantime. Walking around back of his little house in the deep woods, he spotted the TARDIS through the trees, heading towards it to give a little pat to the old thing. The first time he’d met the Doctor had been during that period of trying to get her back to Sheffield when the TARDIS had been on the fritz.

“I don’t really have any plans of going anywhere anytime soon,” She offered thinking it might be some comfort to know that she wasn’t going anywhere. “I’ll tell you if something changes that,” And she hoped that he would do the same for her. 

“Just be careful. If you keep getting stabbed in the back by the locals you won’t be able to stay anywhere for very long,” She said it with a hint of teasing, but she meant it as well. “I suspect you’re not terribly good at not picking a fight.”

“You could find someone else. Being the same, it doesn’t mean we should spend more time together,” Not that Ashildr wasn’t tempted or that she didn’t want it. She was just wary of getting her hopes up. “I’ve never had anyone that I could stay with,” She admitted. “I don’t know if I could stand it if I got attached and you left.”

The weight and reality of this conversation bore heavily on Logan’s heart and conscience. He was comparatively young — and could barely wrap his head around Ashildr’s age and all the things she’d lived and felt. But he was pragmatic and empathetic, and he understood where she was coming from as well as he could.

“Whatever you need t’ tell yourself, Charles.”

Logan considered it a victory that he managed to get Charles outdoors — and in the dead of winter, at that. They roamed the property, the snow damn near up past their boots and still falling in a slow and picturesque blizzard. The fact that there was no wind was a blessing, but it was still damp. They’d still be in need of a hot drink shortly.