”Where is he?”
“Uh… Mrs. D’Ancanto…” Jerk.
“It’s Marie, Gary. And I would like to know where my husband is. He told me he was working in the new tunnel. Want to know something funny? When I went there, they said that they haven’t seen him in three weeks. Told me to come and see you.” I’ll fucking kill him. Both of them. As slowly as possible.
“Marie… It’s a little complicated…”
“Terraformers on the surface have some complicated situations to solve. You… Your only problem right now is to find a way to convince me not to rip out your lungs and dismember Logan. He promised, you both promised to me, that he wouldn’t go back there!” Three weeks. Three fucking weeks! In Xavier’s Pass! Sixteen hours a day, I hardly ever see him, and when I see him, he’s tired, torn up and beaten.
“I was going to reassign him to the new site, but after Jeff died, Logan insisted coming in here. I tried to talk him out of it. I don’t even know what’s the deal between you two and this place, but…”
“What’s between us and the Xavier’s Pass stays between us. But remember, if anything happens to Logan down there, I’m holding you responsible…” Bastard has the good sense to pale a bit.
“I tried to talk him out of it, I tried. He wouldn’t listen. Told me he owed it to Jeff.” Explanations. He sure is full of those now, but what about when he has to come to me and tell me that Logan has been crushed under twenty tons of sand and loose rocks? I have seen his clothes. There hasn’t been a day he wouldn’t have come home with blood on him.
“If it’s any consolation, this part of the tunnel has gone quite smoothly. We’ll break through some time during this afternoon, and from thereon it’s just some finishing touches. Coating surfaces, hauling out rest of the debris…”
“Show me.” I know they have surveillance cameras down there. Recording every move, just in case something goes wrong, so that they can later review the situation and determine what happened and why.
No automated drill, just five men in front of sheer rock wall, one of them wearing a harness, carrying the heavy power drill, pushing his way through the wall. Two men hosing the drill and the rock with cold water. Two men just standing and waiting to replace any of the three in case some of them tire out.
“Logan? Take a break. I need to speak with you,” Gary speaks to the inter-com. One of the men, the one carrying the drill taps his helmet, and then I can hear his voice from the speakers.
“I’ll be up there in a few minutes.”
Gary’s leaving the connection open. Logan’s camera is following him through the corridors. He looks tired and annoyed, fiddling with his harness and kicking small loose pebbles on his way.
“I hope this doesn’t take long. Guys are worn out. It was my turn. I just took the damn drill…”
“Come on, Logan. You already pull triple shifts. Don’t hog that damn machine all the time. Let John have some fun, too,” Gary tries to laugh, his eyes shifting between the screen and me. Logan adjusts the harness and turns off the light mounted on its shoulder piece. I know he would like to tear off the damn thing, forget the drill and force his way through with his bare hands, but he can’t do that. Even here we can’t reveal who we are. What we are.
“Cut the connection, Gary. Don’t want to break your little spy when I get in to the elevator…” Cameras are small round orbs floating in the air, using magnetic fields. Logan has complained about them several times. If the guy operating them isn’t sharp enough, eventually they end up lying in a broken heap on the floor, because worker they have been following has stepped to an isolated zone. And that worker must return to surface immediately to fetch a new camera.
“Fine. Now that he can’t hear us anymore… What do you want me to do?” Gary turns to me again. I would like to tell him to move Logan to some other site, but I guess that’s out of the question now that Logan’s determined to pay some kind of debt, real or imaginary, to Jeff.
“Go to lunch. I need to speak with him.”
“Okay. Just… These equipments are very expensive. Try not to break them in the middle of your ‘conversation’.”
“What did you wanted to talk about… What the fuck are you doing here?” Nice to see you, too, honey…
“I think it’s time for us to have a little chat.” And stop with that fucking eyebrow. I know you have several other facial expressions.
“A chat? Kid… Marie. I have to go back to work. Can’t this wait until I get back home?” So that you can crawl in to bed and sleep while I’m having that conversation alone? Think again, mister.
“No. This can’t wait. You fucking lied to me.”
“I didn’t. I’m not clearing that collapse. I’m drilling a new tunnel.” Fuck you. You can’t squirm your way out of this.
“In here. At Xavier’s Pass. Why?”
“I’m the best there is. And Gary needs me here. And I owe it to Jeff and his family.”
“You owe shit to some hypocrite jerk…”
“I was supposed to be working that day! I was supposed to be with him down there! We both would have gotten out of there just fine if…”
“I’m so fucking full of this shit! Since when did you got so fucking noble? Since when did you thought it would be alright to abandon me?”
“Abandon you? What the hell are you talking about?”
“Do you really think I could go on alone if you died? Alone! Century after another one, always alone!” I’m not going to cry. Not now. It would ruin everything. I’m more than a fucking teary-eyed little girl screaming for attention. I’m not going to cry.
“Maybe you would have been better off if you never met me…”
“Mrs. D’Ancanto! Mrs. D’Ancanto! Shit… Marie!” Let go of me! Let go of me before I hurt you! I have to go after him! Let go of me!
“Marie! You can’t go down there. It’s too dangerous.”
“And you let him go back there? When he already survived it once, you’re pushing him back in to that hell?” Fuck you Gary, drop dead!
“He asked it. I tried to stop him, but he told me he’d quit working for me if I didn’t let him do it. I can’t afford to let him go.”
“I’m sorry about this, Gary.” No, I’m not. His head makes a nice sound when it smacks against the wall. Key card? Where is it, where is it?
“Marie! What the hell are you doing down here? Did Gary let you in? I’ll fucking maim him for this!”
“Leave Gary out of this. This is about us! About you and me!”
“What the fuck do you want from me? I can’t just turn my back…”
“Yes! You can!”
“Oh, for Christ’s sakes… Jack! Take the hose! And you… You’re coming with me…” Owowowoww… I had forgotten how strong he is. He’s always so gentle with me, but now his grip is practically crushing my arm. Back to the elevator? If you think you’re getting rid of me by just tossing me out…
“Stop that. Don’t want to knock you out.” Really? Doesn’t look that way from where I’m standing. Or not standing. More like running so my hand won’t get yanked out of its socket.
“You’re hurting me!”
“Good. Maybe you’ll listen more carefully what I have to say…” Uh… This is starting to bring up some bad memories. I don’t like that blank look on his face.
“Logan… Let me go.”
“No.” One elevator coming up.
“Inside.” Hey! No need to push me! These walls are kind of hard and… What the hell are you doing? What the fuck… That’s a kiss. Sweat, exhaustion, dust, Logan.
“Logan? What are you…”
“Shut up, darling. Just shut up.” Uh-oh… Haven’t seen that look on his face ever before. Eyes all dark. Deep enough to drown me. No smile. No grimace. Just unreadable, blank face, covered to black and grey smudges. Hair stiff and grey from the dust. Clothes underneath the harness plastered against him like a second skin. Skin made out of blood, sweat and concrete. Something hard is digging against my stomach when he leans closer.
“Sorry… Have to get this fucking piece of shit off…” He fumbles a while with the straps before he manages to open them, and the harness falls to the floor. And again he’s kissing me, his tongue laving against mine. His stubble is kind of scratchy, but I’m not about to complain. We haven’t kissed in months. Not like this. Hell, we haven’t kissed like this in centuries. Logan’s practically eating me alive.
“I won’t leave you. I won’t let him win. But this is something I have to do. For Jeff. And for us,” he whispers, leaning his forehead against mine.
“As long as I keep shivering and shying away from his name, Xavier has won. It may very well be a fucked up way to think, but…” I just have to kiss him. His hair feels gritty in my hands when I comb my fingers through it. Like sanding paper. Small sheets of plaster fall from his clothes when we move and they’re crunching under the heels of our shoes, covering the floor of the elevator to brownish dust.
Soft ping pulls us a part. Door slides open. Gary’s standing there, and he’s looking quite pissed off.
“I don’t give a damn about how important that fucking conversation was, but…”
“Gary, watch your tone. That’s my wife you’re speaking to.” Logan puts his hands on my shoulders and pulls my back against him.
“I’ll come home as soon as this shift is over. Our conversation isn’t over yet…” He whispers, lips just inches from my earlobe. I can feel him turning his head, to look at Gary, before he turns his attention back to me again.
“We traded some harsh words down there. I think we should make it up before we go to sleep…” I haven’t blushed in years. I thought nothing he does could make me blush anymore, but when I feel his tongue trailing the side of my throat while his hands pull me more firmly against him, right under Gary’s eyes… I’m suddenly so fucking hot. Mostly from arousal, but there’s some embarrassment, too. We haven’t made out in public for decades.
“I’ll be waiting for you, honey…”
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