Sniper-X: Chapter 6-Insomnia and Soda
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Sniper-X was sound asleep, with incoherent thoughts running through her head. Thoughts of being happy maybe, living a good life, a normal life, with a family, a little brother, a mom and dad, and a dog. Of course, these weren't the dreams SX was having. She had dreams of being a scared little kid witnessing a murder when she was 10, things happening...bad things. Sometimes she even dreamed about....
Suddenly SX sat straight up in bed. She looked around the room that was being dimly lit by the moon. It took her a few seconds to realize where she was, and who she was with. Logan. She looked over at his bed and saw him thrashing around under the blankets. He was moaning and groaning, and soft howls of pain were escaping his lips.
SX usually wasn't scared by much, but the sounds coming from Logan, and the sense of his pain were truly frightening. She could almost feel the pain that was radiating off him. Definetly not a normal nightmare. And Sniper-X didn't even know the half of it.
She took in a deep breath and tossed off her blankets. SX slowly and cautiously got out of bed and moved toward Logan's bed, with a stealth so careful, *she* wouldn't have even heard herself coming. She tentatively stood over him, keeping her distance though. "Hey, Logan. Hey Logan, wake up!"
Logan's eyes snapped open and he roared out, unsheathing his claws and lashing out at an unseen enemy.
Sniper-X jumped back out of Logan's reach, seemingly unphased by his erratic actions. She remained silent, not saying a word, her face unreadable of any emotions.
Logan took in a deep shaky breath, finally sheathing his deadly claws. He raggedly brushed a hand over his face, his brow covered in sweat.
SX casually sat down on the edge of Logan's bed. "Some nightmare huh?"
Logan breathed out, his shoulders sagging. He was relieved that he hadn't hurt the kid with his claws out like that. It had already happened before, with Rogue, and Logan did not want to see the reacurrence of that incident. "Yeah." He replied gruffly.
SX stood up suddenly. She noted Logan as being the kind of person who doesn't express their emotions openly and decided to respect that by not asking him details of the nightmare. SX moved toward her bed. She grabbed some change from her backpack that was under the fold out. "You want a soda or somethin'? I saw a soda machine just outside, I need some caffeine."
Logan sighed, surprised by her nack for changing the subject at awkward times. He figured she was doing it to avoid social interaction. SX seemed a bit lacking in the person to person department, but so was Logan. He shook his head at her question. "No, I'm good."
SX moved toward the door. "You sure? 'Coz they got some good stuff; Dr.Pepper, Mountain Dew, Coke...some highly caffeinated beverages y'know."
Logan sighed, letting out a soft laugh. "I'm sure."
SX shrugged. "Suit yerself. But don't blame me if ya can't keep up in the mornin'." She then walked out the door without another word. Usually when SX had nightmares of her own and couldn't sleep, she'd get up and have a soda. She had a philosophy that if you couldn't sleep, why try? Why not load your body with sugar and stay awake instead?...Well that's what she usually did anyway.
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SX came back to the room, carrying with her 2 bottles of Dr.Pepper and a beer. She walked over to her bed humming something, and put one of the sodas in her backpack. "I'll save that one for later." She said to herself.
Logan remained sitting up in bed. He eyed the beer bottle in SX's hand.
SX walked towards Logan and sat on the edge of the bed. She handed him the beer. "Figured you could use that instead of a soda." She smiled.
Logan raised an eyebrow. "Now I highly doubt that they started puttin' these things in soda machines."
SX shrugged, a glow of innocence surrounding her. "I stole it from the desk guy's stash. Y'know, you shouldn't just leave a six pack o' beer out in the open like that."
Logan laughed, not bothering to ask where the clerk was at the time of theft. He took a long swig of his beer and leaned back, resting his head on the pillows. "Thanks kid."
SX simply nodded. "No problem." She got off Logan's bed and went back to her own, taking out her pack of gadgets.
SX needed to keep busy if she was to remain awake for the rest of the nightly hours that were left. She took out her sniper rifle, a 9mm and a knife. Then dumping out ammo for the guns, she started putting bullets in the magazine of the 9mm, carefully examining each one.
Logan watched SX work quietly as he finished off his beer. The kid knew what she was doing and showed skill. She was probably more dangerous than she looked too. "What're ya doin' that for?" Logan finally asked the question that was on his mind ever since SX took out her weapons.
Without looking up, SX simply replied, "To prepare for tomorrow. We should reach New York by night, and if we have time to go see my guy, we may need the firepower."
Logan raised an eyebrow. "Is this guy dangerous?"
SX laughed. "Him? No way. But some o' the people he gets his info from are big time honchos in the mob and stuff. Lots o' dangerous jobs like that. Sometimes they go on stakeouts when they know he's meetin' with someone. And they always know." SX thought back about a time she'd met with this source of hers. Five mob guys holding a grudge crawled out of the woodwork to cash in on SX's head. She had a pretty big price on her head. Luckily for her, she was able to beat these guys to a bloody pulp. SX shot two of them in the kneecaps, jump-kicked the third one and broke his jaw, and tossed a concussion grenade at the fifth. Not a pretty sight.
Logan grunted, interested in learning more. He wasn't really tired and didn't feel like going to sleep, so why not gather some information instead? "What do ya mean, 'they always know'.
"Nearly every fuckin' mob hitter in New York is out tryin' ta whack me. They always known when I'm in town." SX noticed the curious and confused look on Logan's face. "It has somethin' ta do with my past." She shrugged. "Well, I guess now's as good a time as any ta tell you some of the facts about me."
Logan gestured for her to go on.
"Alright, here goes. When I was about..uh, ten years old, I witnessed this guy gettin' slaughtered by one Frankie Spachelli."
Logan's eyes widened in curiosity and sympathy. Ten years old and the kid's already seen stuff that most people 4-5 times that age never see. "Frankie S. He's a wet boy for the mob. Talented in many forms of torture. If ya can even call that a talent."
SX nodded. "Yep, that'd be him." She paused, bringing back the memories. It was painful, but she felt Logan had the right to know if he was going to put his life on the line for her. Going back to New York was *very* dangerous. "Anyways, Frankie and his little bro Vinny put a hit out on me so I couldn't testify, I went under protective custody, ended up testifying anyway, Frankie got the chair, Vinny ups the price on my head, I run away. End of story....sorta." SX trailed off in the end, not being able to remember the details about her parents and such, and cursing herself for it.
Logan had a grim expression on his face. He couldn't believe all the kid had gone through at such a young age. The world was fucked up and innocent people got screwed for it.
Sniper-X looked up at Logan, not wanting him to pity her. She smiled like the terrible memories meant nothing to her. "So, just be prepared for anything tomorrow."
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Sniper-X was sound asleep, with incoherent thoughts running through her head. Thoughts of being happy maybe, living a good life, a normal life, with a family, a little brother, a mom and dad, and a dog. Of course, these weren't the dreams SX was having. She had dreams of being a scared little kid witnessing a murder when she was 10, things happening...bad things. Sometimes she even dreamed about....
Suddenly SX sat straight up in bed. She looked around the room that was being dimly lit by the moon. It took her a few seconds to realize where she was, and who she was with. Logan. She looked over at his bed and saw him thrashing around under the blankets. He was moaning and groaning, and soft howls of pain were escaping his lips.
SX usually wasn't scared by much, but the sounds coming from Logan, and the sense of his pain were truly frightening. She could almost feel the pain that was radiating off him. Definetly not a normal nightmare. And Sniper-X didn't even know the half of it.
She took in a deep breath and tossed off her blankets. SX slowly and cautiously got out of bed and moved toward Logan's bed, with a stealth so careful, *she* wouldn't have even heard herself coming. She tentatively stood over him, keeping her distance though. "Hey, Logan. Hey Logan, wake up!"
Logan's eyes snapped open and he roared out, unsheathing his claws and lashing out at an unseen enemy.
Sniper-X jumped back out of Logan's reach, seemingly unphased by his erratic actions. She remained silent, not saying a word, her face unreadable of any emotions.
Logan took in a deep shaky breath, finally sheathing his deadly claws. He raggedly brushed a hand over his face, his brow covered in sweat.
SX casually sat down on the edge of Logan's bed. "Some nightmare huh?"
Logan breathed out, his shoulders sagging. He was relieved that he hadn't hurt the kid with his claws out like that. It had already happened before, with Rogue, and Logan did not want to see the reacurrence of that incident. "Yeah." He replied gruffly.
SX stood up suddenly. She noted Logan as being the kind of person who doesn't express their emotions openly and decided to respect that by not asking him details of the nightmare. SX moved toward her bed. She grabbed some change from her backpack that was under the fold out. "You want a soda or somethin'? I saw a soda machine just outside, I need some caffeine."
Logan sighed, surprised by her nack for changing the subject at awkward times. He figured she was doing it to avoid social interaction. SX seemed a bit lacking in the person to person department, but so was Logan. He shook his head at her question. "No, I'm good."
SX moved toward the door. "You sure? 'Coz they got some good stuff; Dr.Pepper, Mountain Dew, Coke...some highly caffeinated beverages y'know."
Logan sighed, letting out a soft laugh. "I'm sure."
SX shrugged. "Suit yerself. But don't blame me if ya can't keep up in the mornin'." She then walked out the door without another word. Usually when SX had nightmares of her own and couldn't sleep, she'd get up and have a soda. She had a philosophy that if you couldn't sleep, why try? Why not load your body with sugar and stay awake instead?...Well that's what she usually did anyway.
---------------
SX came back to the room, carrying with her 2 bottles of Dr.Pepper and a beer. She walked over to her bed humming something, and put one of the sodas in her backpack. "I'll save that one for later." She said to herself.
Logan remained sitting up in bed. He eyed the beer bottle in SX's hand.
SX walked towards Logan and sat on the edge of the bed. She handed him the beer. "Figured you could use that instead of a soda." She smiled.
Logan raised an eyebrow. "Now I highly doubt that they started puttin' these things in soda machines."
SX shrugged, a glow of innocence surrounding her. "I stole it from the desk guy's stash. Y'know, you shouldn't just leave a six pack o' beer out in the open like that."
Logan laughed, not bothering to ask where the clerk was at the time of theft. He took a long swig of his beer and leaned back, resting his head on the pillows. "Thanks kid."
SX simply nodded. "No problem." She got off Logan's bed and went back to her own, taking out her pack of gadgets.
SX needed to keep busy if she was to remain awake for the rest of the nightly hours that were left. She took out her sniper rifle, a 9mm and a knife. Then dumping out ammo for the guns, she started putting bullets in the magazine of the 9mm, carefully examining each one.
Logan watched SX work quietly as he finished off his beer. The kid knew what she was doing and showed skill. She was probably more dangerous than she looked too. "What're ya doin' that for?" Logan finally asked the question that was on his mind ever since SX took out her weapons.
Without looking up, SX simply replied, "To prepare for tomorrow. We should reach New York by night, and if we have time to go see my guy, we may need the firepower."
Logan raised an eyebrow. "Is this guy dangerous?"
SX laughed. "Him? No way. But some o' the people he gets his info from are big time honchos in the mob and stuff. Lots o' dangerous jobs like that. Sometimes they go on stakeouts when they know he's meetin' with someone. And they always know." SX thought back about a time she'd met with this source of hers. Five mob guys holding a grudge crawled out of the woodwork to cash in on SX's head. She had a pretty big price on her head. Luckily for her, she was able to beat these guys to a bloody pulp. SX shot two of them in the kneecaps, jump-kicked the third one and broke his jaw, and tossed a concussion grenade at the fifth. Not a pretty sight.
Logan grunted, interested in learning more. He wasn't really tired and didn't feel like going to sleep, so why not gather some information instead? "What do ya mean, 'they always know'.
"Nearly every fuckin' mob hitter in New York is out tryin' ta whack me. They always known when I'm in town." SX noticed the curious and confused look on Logan's face. "It has somethin' ta do with my past." She shrugged. "Well, I guess now's as good a time as any ta tell you some of the facts about me."
Logan gestured for her to go on.
"Alright, here goes. When I was about..uh, ten years old, I witnessed this guy gettin' slaughtered by one Frankie Spachelli."
Logan's eyes widened in curiosity and sympathy. Ten years old and the kid's already seen stuff that most people 4-5 times that age never see. "Frankie S. He's a wet boy for the mob. Talented in many forms of torture. If ya can even call that a talent."
SX nodded. "Yep, that'd be him." She paused, bringing back the memories. It was painful, but she felt Logan had the right to know if he was going to put his life on the line for her. Going back to New York was *very* dangerous. "Anyways, Frankie and his little bro Vinny put a hit out on me so I couldn't testify, I went under protective custody, ended up testifying anyway, Frankie got the chair, Vinny ups the price on my head, I run away. End of story....sorta." SX trailed off in the end, not being able to remember the details about her parents and such, and cursing herself for it.
Logan had a grim expression on his face. He couldn't believe all the kid had gone through at such a young age. The world was fucked up and innocent people got screwed for it.
Sniper-X looked up at Logan, not wanting him to pity her. She smiled like the terrible memories meant nothing to her. "So, just be prepared for anything tomorrow."