Summary:Logan helps Gwen get herself together after a home invasion. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Gwen's text had been enough to get Logan moving. He walked off the odd job he had been doing that night, not heeding the shouts and threats, the assertion that he wasn't getting paid. He made his way for his van straightaway, chewing on the soggy end of an unlit cigar, until he got to his battered old van. It started the old engine, which wheezed before it growled, and then was off through the city as quickly as he could go.
Fortunately, at this hour of the evening, traffic is light and it isn't so long until Logan pulls up in front of Gwen's building. He lets himself in with the key given to him, and after a sprint up the stairs, he arrives, breathing normally, at Gwen's apartment. She likely hears the key slide into the lock, the scrape of the deadbolt, and the opening of the door. Even if not, though, he's stepping into her place and pushing the door shut behind him immediately. "Gwen?" he calls out even as he enters. He's dressed for swamping work - dusty jeans, battered steel-toe boots, and a t-shirt clinging to his frame beneath a plaid work shirt left unbuttoned. That unlit cigar is still clamped between his teeth.
"I'm in here!" Gwen calls out to Logan from the bedroom. The entirety of the small abode is strewn with papers, busted furniture, clothing…everything besides the stuff she carried out the door with her when Laynia suggested they get to a safe place. Gwen bounds out of the bedroom in jeans and a little yellow tanktop, and sneakers, carrying an armload of folded clothes and wraps Logan up in a tight hug. "God, thank you so much for coming over I have to get what I need and get outta here. They might be back like. any second…"
Logan breathes a sigh of relief at the sight of Gwen, hole and unharmed. He steps forward and slips his arms around her, pressing her close for a few seconds. He untangles his arms from around her after that hug, so that he can look around at the disarray all around him. He sniffs at the air like a bloodhound taking a scent and then looks back toward her with a lofted brow. "Who might be back?" he asks, his voice a low growl. "You get broken into, I guess," he observes. Nothing escapes Logan!
Gwen pauses, looking around, to gather her thoughts. "Somebody just…appeared. They didn't have to break in. She…whoever she was….she took someone. Someone I knew. SHIELD was here, and then there were lights. And then that woman, and Angel just….she just disappeared." Gwen sighs. We left. We got out just as they came back. They ransacked the house. I don't know what they wanted. But they don't use doors."
Logan furrows his brow thoughtfully. His lips draw together and he chews a little more on the end of the cigar clamped between his teeth. "SHIELD, huh?" he asks. "I recognize one of the scents here - I think she's a SHIELD operative." He plucks the cigar from his lips and maintains a dark, troubled look. "So… you might have to give me this again. You invited SHIELD here? Or… they just showed up too?"
"Okay." Gwen stops her mind whirling, and focuses on Logan. "I ran across a guy a few days ago, and he was weird. Really weird. Kwabena was his name…and at one point he just…fled from me out of the blue. So I followed him. Naturally. He turned into smoke. Like on that LOST TV show. But turned back to a metal guy. Then a human. WEIRD. "
Gwen shakes her head. "I felt like he was in some sorta trouble so I gave him the number of my burner, and he called me earlier tonight. Something was wrong. It cut off. I couldn't trace it at first but SHIELD wanted to know what I knew about him, so they called and came by. Then all hell broke loose. Those flashing lights. Then the chick appeared. Took Angel, and just disappeared. They traced her down in a corn field in Illinois. Then my laptop traced the call the guy had made to me and determined it was used to hack my Spider comm. The other SHIELD agent got me outta here just as the lights came back…and they did, well….all this. I only came back and later they were gone. Whoever they are."
Logan is quiet, chewing on his cigar while he absorbs that information. "Well," he offers before pausing again. "Shit, so this erratic guy who can turn into smoke hocked the Spider-Family comms. So he's a problem. Presumably working with this teleporting chick, who took Angel - and I don't even know who *she* is. And… to top it all off, you have SHIELD in here, so they know who you are." He rubs a hand through his hair and shakes his head. From his tone, it is as though SHIELD were the worst of the bunch. "So what's your play?" he asks after absorbing the information for a moment longer.
Gwen shakes her head slowly. "SHIELD doesn't know about the comms, or anything that goes with them. I didn't tell them much about the guy, either. I don't even know how they knew I ran into him. I don't trust them any more than I trust him. But I don't think HE IS the issue. I think the same people after him are after me too, now…He seemed like he was trying to warn me of somethin'…So now I am gonna try to track him down again, I guess…"
Logan blinks at that. "Oh, so SHIELD came by to ask what you knew about this guy? They don't know about your side gig?" He processes for a moment longe, then frowns again. "How did they track you down? Triangulate on your burner, I guess, while he was on the line with you? And… you think this teleporting chick is working with that guy, or is after him too?"
"I personally think she is after him, too. On the phone he was …he was frantic. It sounded like he was fighting someone, or possibly in close proximity to a battle of some sort. He was saying I have to be careful. They have supers. I didn't know who THEY were, but I think I gave a decent idea now. At least that they are the ones who got in here. My laptop isolated my mask comm, so it wasn't compromised. And no…SHIELD doesn't know about the side gig….Hopefully."
Logan nods again, thoughtfully. He plucks his cigar from his mouth and adds, "All right, so let's pack up. I can help you stay under the radar, out of SHIELD's sights… hopefully. I'm old hat at it." He lofts an eyebrow quizzically then, adding, "You got anything here they might have been looking for? Maybe you equipment for your side gig? We oughta move all that out of here, for sure."
"It's all in my backpack. I took it when I left last night. I can't tell that they got anything…especially of any importance." Gwen looks up at Logan. "I don't suppose there's any way I could stay with you for a little while…? I'm sorry, I know it's short notice…."
Logan nods once to the news that she already packed up everything sensitive. It is a curt, approving sort of nod. When she asks if she can stay with him, he hesitates for just an instant, but the meaning becomes clear immediately. "Ah… I don't really have a *place*, Gwennie. I mostly just sleep in my van. Or camp." There is a dubiously wary expression with that, a concern for how she's going to take the news. Even though there hadn't been any defining conversation ascribing boyfriend/girlfriend titles, clearly the two were in some form of relationship. And he just outed a secret, that, even if he wants to call it 'camping', he's homeless.
"Aww, it's okay, Babe," Gwen replies. "I'll nab a hotel room. You can come stay with me while I'm there and we can 'camp out' with room service. Whatcha think?" Gwen doesn't seem entirely surprised. "I could use a bodyguard and somebody to keep me warm at night…"
Logan considers her for a moment before, finally, he seems to accept that this revelation had gone off without a hitch. Her lack of surprise does not go unnoticed by the sharp-sensed Logan. "Well, I suppose I *should* keep you safe," he notes with mock reluctance, as though he needed any convincing. He turns to open the door then, since her bag is packed, so the two can head out and find whatever level of hotel she can afford. He can afford the room service. Maybe.