Camping (locked to Joe, backdated to Sept 29th)

[echolls_cursed]

Seeing as how he and Neil had been fighting about damn near everything all week, Logan had been more than a little eager to go camping with Joe by the time Saturday morning rolled around. So eager, in fact, that he'd already been to the compound to find a sleeping bag in the clothes box (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle themed no less), and had packed his make-shift bag before Joe had even come to find him.

For once Logan was ahead of the game, knocking on Joe's door to see if he was ready.

God, he'd never thought he'd be so eager to stare at trees for nearly forty-something hours.

"Hey, you ready?" he asked, knocking once and then pushing the door open a crack. "I grabbed some food for us to take or whatever... so, uh, I'm ready to go when you are man."

Comments

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"But it might one day. You might be able to figure this shit out," Joe said, shrugging as well. "You never fucking know, right?"

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"I guess..." Logan sighed, closing his eyes and trying to just let it all vanish. "What about you, Joe? What's going on with you?"

[jdick.livejournal.com]

Joe figured Logan meant besides Bucky and he shrugged a bit. "I figure if I get nominated this time, I'll run for Council again," he admitted. It gave him something to do, anyway. Kept him from going batshit insane.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Yeah?" Logan asked. "Good for you, man."

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"Figure it's worth a shot anyway," Joe shrugged. "Keeps me from thinking too much." And it wasn't like the current Council was any better without him.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"It think it's a good idea," Logan nodded. "You think it'll help you ignore this stuff with Bucky?"

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, it might," Joe said with another small shrug. "Or it might make it worse, having him hang around all the fucking time while I'm trying to get shit done."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"You're stronger than him, Joe," Logan said. "You can ignore him, I know you can. You can't let him win. You can't let the island win."

[jdick.livejournal.com]

Joe wasn't so sure about it, but Logan seemed pretty firm, so he smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it'd still help if I could kick his ass," he said, although he'd never do that either.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan just laughed a little and sat back up.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"What? You don't think I would?" Joe asked, looking over at Logan with a small smirk. He wouldn't, but he didn't want other people to know that.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Honestly?" Logan snorted. "I don't think you could. I think part of you is always going to be dedicated to him, Joe, even if he was a total bastard. That's just how it works sometimes."

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"Guess so," Joe admitted with a little shrug, not looking too convinced. "Never know, though. Never really got the chance." He'd gotten plenty of chances, he'd just never taken them.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, well, hopefully you never will, right?" Logan said softly.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, hopefully he'll just stay a fucking hallucination," Joe agreed dryly, smirking over at Logan. Though, really, he wasn't sure which would be better.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan nodded a little, but didn't say anything. After all, he was pretty sure it went without saying that he didn't want these shadows coming to life anytime soon.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"Haven't told Dale that I might run again," he admitted after a moment, digging his heels into the dirt in front of the fire pit. "Dunno what he'd think of it."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"I'm sure he'll support you," Logan shrugged, deciding Dale seemed the type who'd back Joe no matter what.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, probably. I just figured I should probably tell him eventually. He seemed pretty fucking disenchanted with the whole thing when we both decided not to run again," Joe said.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"You never know, man, maybe he's ready to try again too," Logan shrugged.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"He should. He did more on his year on the Council than all of the fucking members combined," Joe said simply and he knew that was the truth, or close enough.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"I believe it," Logan said simply, gesturing for Joe to come sit with him.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

Moving over, Joe dropped to the ground beside Logan, his legs stretched out in front of him. "You ever think maybe there's no point to the shit we do here?"

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"Sometimes," Logan admitted. "Don't like to think about it that way... but sometimes it's hard not to. Scares the shit out of me to think tomorrow I could wake up in Neptune, and not remember any of this. 'Cause this... I've never had a life this good, Joe. There were good days, but mostly it was just a mess. Just broken noses and lovers who got sick of my shit. If I went home tomorrow, and all of this just vanished from my mind, I dunno how long I'd survive."

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"You think you forget when you go back?" Joe asked, chewing on his lower lip briefly as he thought about it. "You think that's it? You just go home and wake up thinking it's the same fucking day?" Maybe that was how it worked. Maybe if he went back, he really would be dead.

Or maybe the island wasn't really the second chance at all.