Similar Scars

0900 Hours, Early Fall 12th, 1994 (Local Time) Corneria City, CDSS

Logan sat alone in the CDSS cafeteria.

It had taken some time to wrap things up with the police and the Public Security section, but as the incident was tied to possible foreign powers it became a more serious investigation. Classified didn't begin to cover this level of planetary intrigue.

Needless to say ONI got their own briefing out of the teenager that reminded him why all the armed forces hated the spooks.

He sighed, and stirred the mashed potato-like mixture on his plate. Similar to human staples, many of the Lylat equivalent were still an alien twist from what he knew.

Miyu was giving him a wide berth, and he didn't bother to approach the others to see if the trend held. It was hard, but he tried to accept that they were still strangers to this kind of violence. Here in Lylat, children didn't have to be familiar with gunfire and blood.

He wished that were the case back home.

Logan certainly didn't take pride in having shot Pigma. On top of being an impulsive move that cost them a valuable source of intel, it wasn't easy to swallow the concept of having killed another living being. The Covenant were a different story.

Or maybe they weren't, and he'd merely been starting to accept Cornerians as similar to his own kind.

There was a scrape of a chair, and he looked up to see the delinquent O'Donnell taking a seat across from him.

"You look like shit." Was the lupine's brusque statement before digging into his own plate.

Jones snorted, and looked back at his unappetizing meal.

"It's been rough."

"Heard something happened at the McCloud's pad...funny rumors about that too."

Logan looked up to meet Wolf's inquisitive gaze. The lupine stared back, and finding some hint returned to his food.

"Figured you had that look about you."

"That obvious?" the human asked.

"I know it when I see it."

Logan recalled Wolf's parents had been rebels in the Macbeth civil war from what Fay had told him. He chose not to comment, though suspected the other teenager might have seen things himself.

"They won't understand, they can't. It's not their fault, they just don't know what it's like."

Wolf's statement hung in the air, until Logan relented his own thoughts.

"I don't blame them for backing off, why would anyone want to stick around a guy they'd seen do that?"

O'Donnell growled as he put aside his soda, and stared the human down.

"Look, I ain't one for speeches, but you did the right thing. I've been there, having eyes on me like I'm a murderer. You did what was right, and the rest of the galaxy can go to hell if they think you wrong for it. Stick to your guns no matter what the world throws at you."

Jones looked back at the serious lupine, and relented his self-pity.

"Thanks, O'Donnell."

"Don't mention it."

He looked up at the time on a holo-display with a weary expression.

"Screw this, I'm getting drunk. You want to come with?"

Wolf leaned back and shrugged.

"Whatever, I never liked classrooms anyway."

The two got up and left the cafeteria, and Logan felt a weight leave his shoulders as at least one other person understood where he was coming from.

They were sitting on top of an apartment building overlooking the spaceport. The dying rays of the system's sun burned orange across the sky as ships rose into the black above. Logan took a swill of the lager he'd managed to scrounge with Wolf, still cold from its refrigeration storage.

"Ships been arriving all day."

"More than usual anyways," Wolf spat a toothpick out of his maw and watched it arc into the void below.

"Sometimes I wonder if all those kids back at the academy know what they're getting into with the service," Jones mused.

"I hear ya."

"Not to sound like a prick, but it's not easy killing a man, or watching your friends die. Even coming to grips with yourself being on the firing line, your own life in danger, it sobers you up real quick."

"Depends why they do it." O'Donnell was still staring after the toothpick, lost in thought.

The human teenager took a sip, thinking about his time toward the end of the Human Covenant war, and his brother being the only link he had left to family. He thought of everything he'd lost, and a home that didn't exist anymore, and felt that conviction inside him to take his place amongst the bulwark defending others from harm.

"Why are you here, Wolf?" he asked the lupine, "What are you fighting for?"

O'Donnell frowned staring up into the horizon.

" I want to be free fighting on my own two feet...but most of all I know what it's like to lose everything, I'm going to do my part to make sure that doesn't happen to anyone else."

Logan nodded, understanding the sentiment, "Your folks were in the civil war, weren't they?"

The lupine gave a bittersweet grin.

"May have been the losing side, still not convinced it was the wrong one."

The human looked over to the wolf with a grin of his own, "I know the feeling."

The clinked beer cans together, and shared a drink. It was good for the soul to understand another in such a situation, and having been broken but unbowed, the two teenagers found peace settle in their old wounds.

"Hey Lo," came a soft voice from behind.

The pair turned to see Fara Phoenix standing at the access door to the apartment roof.

"Hey Fara," Logan replied with some confusion.

"The others asked me to come see if you're alright," she said with a concerned look at O'Donnell, "How are you taking things?"

Wolf caught the look Fara turned his way, and was getting up to leave when Logan put his hand assuredly on his shoulder.

"Just having a drink with Wolf, trading war stories." The human sighed and threw out his empty can, "I feel better, and I don't blame the others for being scared off."

Fara nodded, and relaxed somewhat, "That's good."

Taking a cue, Logan spoke up again.

"Fara, this is Wolf O'Donnell. Wolf, this is Fara Phoenix." At the very least he could still be polite in such a circumstance.

"Nice to meet you," the fennec smiled.

Wolf's cleared his throat and crossed his arms, "Yeah, likewise."

"Anyway," Logan checked the time on his TACPAD, "It's getting late, so let's head back."

"The others are having a meal down at Louie's Place, you want to come?"

"Did they ask you to bring me along?" Logan asked carefully.

The fennec nodded resolutely.

Pausing for a moment, the human turned to O'Donnell.

"Come with us man."

The lupine looked from the alien teenager to the fennec girl with an uncertain frown.

"Look, I aint barging in where I'm not wanted..."

Fara stepped forward and placed her own paw on his shoulder.

"It's not like that. You're welcome to come join us, and you were there for one of ours when things were bad."

She smiled, "You're a good guy deep down."

O'Donnell scowled with a canine visible, and relented with a sigh.

"Whatever."

Fara and Logan shared a look of understanding, and the tree of them left the sight of the sunset behind.

Louie's Place was a pilot bar first and foremost.

While not the most haute cuisine, you could get everything from greasy chow to tacky tropical drinks there, but it was fondly loved by all the pilots that frequented the slightly run-down bar. An orangutan in a tropical shirt swung along with drinks balanced precariously, greeting familiar faces as he went.

Off in the corner, the close-knit group of McCloud and his gang had a conversation over regular soft drinks. Having come so often with some of their parents who flew, they were more the unspoken exception than the rule.

Their booth was approached, and Fox looked up along with the others at the three walking over.

"Good to see you Logan," McCloud said evenly. The human and vulpine looked at each other, and seeing sincerity in his eyes Logan nodded. There wasn't any ill will over the incident in the McCloud household.

"What's he doing here?" Falco interrupted brusquely.

There was a tense moment as O'Donnel faced the group, but Jones spoke up on his behalf.

"I invited him, we had a chat earlier. He's a good guy."

Lombardi looked over the fellow delinquent with a dubious eye, and then shrugged.

"I'll take ya word for it, pull up a chair."

They sat down together. Logan looked up as Miyu scooted over wordlessly next to him, her slitted pupils catching his with a note of apology in her look. He smiled back at her and pat her paw reassuringly, and she in turn gave his hand a squeeze.

They got some soda for the new arrivals, and in short order a pizza was divided on the table as the group broke bread together in their own way.

"So what's the word on that race you guys were in on?" Slippy piped up with a bite of cheese and pepperoni.

Falco squawked a laugh, "Those east side chumps can't cash what their mouths run, we had 'em at a 4 second lead."

Fox chuckled next to him, "They'll try again in a month alright..."

Bill Grey had his arm around Fay, and the two were mostly ignoring the rest in their own lovey-dovey bubble that had Katt make an exaggerated gag. The pink feline herself fell into an animated conversation with Miyu about the latest holo-series the two were watching.

Fara, oddly enough ended up chatting with Wolf about cooking. It turns out O'Donnell was an able hand at the culinary arts himself, though you'd never think it looking at him. It was an interesting sight seeing the 'dangerous' lupine having a laid back conversation about pasta.

Taking in the atmosphere and chiming into the talk himself, Logan felt his troubles melt away. Some small part of him had been expecting the group to cut him off after such an event, but they were surprisingly mature for their age. He had to admit it was a relief to be accepted somewhere, and for the first time he could remember he was starting to feel a sense of belonging.

"Sooo, what were you two having a chat about?" Katt Monroe asked with a salacious grin.

Logan glanced over with a quirk to his brow, "Just some old war stories over a beer, why?"

The pink feline narrowed her eyes in a Cheshire smile, "Awwww, how cute."

The human looked over at Wolf who had a similar deadpan look. O'Donnel shrugged.

"Women."

Fara smacked his arm lightly, and the table shared a laugh.

"Hey, I still owe you a flight lesson, alright Jones?" McCloud mentioned.

Logan nodded, and raised his glass to the vulpine.

"We'll all go shooting sometime too, count on it."

Miyu perked up and turned to her adopted alien roommate.

"Speakin' of which, there's going to be a CTF tournament at the school. One of the sim leagues, we were thinking about having a go as our own team. How 'bout it?"

At that, the human grinned.

"You know, I've actually got some experience as far as ranked matches in CTF go..."

"Really?" Fox mused, "You guys have sims like that over in human space?"

"Sure do. I think we might do very well together."

"Got that right," Lombardi chuckled, "Hey O'Donnel, you in on this?"

The lupine smirked with a hint of teeth, "Looking forward to it."

They shared stories, talked about class, and joked with each other as the night wore on. Eventually the gang left Louie's and dispersed, waving goodbye to each other as they separated into the warm night. Logan walked with Miyu, the pair enjoying things back to normal between them.

"Hey..."

"Mm?"

"I'm sorry we left you alone like that."

Logan glanced at the Lynx, and could see the tomboy staring off into space, deep in thought.

"What brought this on?"

"You know dork."

"Oh?"

She sighed, and elbowed him lighter than she had before.

"You're one of us now, and you put yourself on the line for one of ours. We owe it to you."

"Is that so?" Logan asked softly.

The feline girl paused as they stood outside their cozy residence, and looked at him with those big eyes framed by her black stripe pattern in the dim night light. She took his hand in hers, and squeezed.

"Thank you."

Logan could only nod in response, and the warmth from her paw lingered as they went inside.

He was seized in a warm hug from Miyu's mother Catherine, who fret over him having been in the investigation, while her husband Kyle crossed his arms and chuckled, Abby tugging on his pant leg.

Logan looked around the modest Cornerian residence, feeling the warmth of the house and the smell of their cooking from earlier. Deep in his heart, the restless ache that had gripped him since Tribute loosened and fell away.

He was home.