Chapter XVIII: So Long, Sue!/Daddy-Daughter Day, Part 1

Lincoln, Logan, and Albert were all laughing and chatting as they walked through the parking lot of the nursing home, having absolutely none of the subtlety they'd snuck out with. Suddenly, Albert froze in place, holding his arms in front of his grandsons' chests to make them stop as well. Sitting on the curb outside the lobby was a mother with two small children, all three of them crying. The white-haired trio all looked at each other before Albert stepped forward and sat beside them. It took a few moments for the mother to acknowledge his presence, and when she did, she tried to compose herself as best as she could, gratefully accepting the handkerchief Albert held out.

"Are you alright, sweetheart?" he asked. The woman shook her head with a sob. "Wanna talk about it, then? It hurts to see a pretty little thing like you cry."

"W-we were gonna visit my daddy," the woman shakily began. "Because he was getting up there in years, you know? Well, Nurse Sue refused to let us make an appointment before a certain date. Today's the day of our appointment, but Daddy...he...h-he's..." She sobbed harder and buried her face in her arms, and Albert rubbed her back. Nothing more needed to be said to clarify the situation. An expression of unbridled fury developed on Albert's face. He shared glanced with his two grandsons, and they both shared the same grim determination.

"Don't worry, Ma'am, leave everything to us. We'll make sure Sue gets what's coming to her," Albert told the mother when she stopped crying. "Lincoln, take these folks to my room and fix them all a cup of cocoa. Logan, come with me; let's give that hag a piece of our minds!"

"Yes, sir!" Lincoln and Logan replied in unison.

Albert would have kicked the door down if it wasn't an automatic door.

Nonetheless, as soon as it slid open, he stormed inside and roared, "SUE!" The startled Sue looked up from the receptionist's desk in surprise.

"Albert? I thought you were taking a nap!"

"The boys opened my eyes to a few details and helped me sneak out. We've been having all sorts of fun without you breathing down our necks!" Albert answered while Lincoln snuck the mother and her children past Sue and into Albert's room. "Sue, what was that nice lady doing sitting on the step and bawling her eyes out? And don't you dare lie to me!"

Sue scoffed and said, "Oh, that woman. Her dear ol' dad was a tenant here up until last week. She wanted to visit him numerous times, but she couldn't. Not with those snot-nosed brats of hers. They would've just made him sicker than he already was."

"And you think that was a valid excuse to keep them from visiting him? Someone they loved dearly?" Albert demanded.

"It's my job to make sure you old fogeys live out your lives as long as you can. Ergo, I decide what's best for everyone here. If you don't like it, you just have to deal with it!" Sue snarled.

"Well, it just so happens that this old fogey fought for your independence," Albert snarled right back. "If anyone's gonna decide what's good or bad for me, it's gonna be me!"

The whole time his grandfather was arguing with the nurse, Logan pulled his goggles over his eyes and was scanning the lobby. According to the scanner, nearly every senior citizen present was suffering from some sort of ailment, including but not limited to malnutrition and various maladies that were easily treatable through medication. When he switched his gaze back to Sue, his eyes widened. Her body was outlined in bright red, and boxes of text appeared stating a criminal record with repeated offenses.

"Alright, I've seen and heard everything I need to," Logan said, pulling out a pair of handcuffs. "Sue, you're under arrest for abuse and neglect of the elderly!" A look of fear crossed Sue's face, and she slammed her fist down on a large red button next to her computer. Immediately an alarm started blaring, and several street thugs poorly disguised as nurses rushed into the room.

With wary looks on their faces, Logan and Albert backed up until they practically stood back-to-back, with Albert holding his fists up defensively. Sue and the few tenants present slipped away.

"It's gettin' too tough, kid. Get out while you still can," Albert said to Logan as the thugs pulled out a variety of weapons, most of which were illegal for civilians to carry.

"Believe it or not, I've had worse odds and still came out on top," Logan replied, pulling out a pair of telescoping nightsticks and flicking his wrists to extend them.

"Then you're my grandson, alright!" Albert said with a smile.

The thugs rushed in for the attack. With his nightsticks, Logan was able to counter his enemies' strikes and deliver devastating blows of his own, breaking wrists and dislocating elbows with ease. He also snapped the necks of two of the assailants, but only because he had no choice.

Albert took a bare-handed approach, turning the thugs' weapons against them. This made him the more lethal one between him and Logan.

Long story short, the thugs got their butts handed to them.

On silver platters.

Meanwhile, it was Scoots of all people who caught the runaway Head Nurse. She did so by running Sue over with her scooter, breaking both of her legs.

Once Sue and the thugs that were still alive were hauled away, Logan called in a few favors. The ailing tenants were immediately given the food and treatment they needed, and the facility was put under new management with a new staff. The staff members who were actually qualified to work there confessed to having been blackmailed by Sue and the thugs into turning a blind eye. They were later judged to be innocent and allowed to resume working at their former jobs.

...

The following weekend, Agnes approached Logan with a request: that he spend a day with Cristina, just the two of them.

In her words, "While I'm grateful that you've been spoiling us rotten and letting us have our own bonding time, you need to bond with her, too. After all, you just might end up becoming her stepfather someday!"

So, while Agnes was sleeping in after a difficult Friday of teaching and failing to keep the rowdier boys in her class under control, Logan and Cristina went downstairs to watch the Saturday morning cartoons. Both were still in their respective pajamas and sitting on the couch, Logan with his arms and legs crossed. Logan wasn't impressed with that morning's choices of entertainment, and Cristina seemed bored.

"Wow. These cartoons have really declined over the years," Logan commented.

"Yeah, they're boooooring!" Cristina complained. Logan then got an idea.

"Tell ya what, I have some old Disney movies down there in the cupboard. If you'll help me with breakfast, I'll let you pick one out, and we can watch it instead of these boring cartoons," he offered.

"Sure! I love to cook! Mom taught me how!" Cristina almost instantly agreed.

"Well, I'll let you choose, then. Wanna make French toast or waffles?"

Cristina made her choice, and Logan cooked French toast and bacon while Cristina scrambled eggs. When breakfast was done cooking, they put some on a plate and set it aside for when Agnes woke up before preparing their own plates. They then sat on the couch and ate while they watched Cristina's choice of a movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

"You've seriously never seen this movie before?" Logan asked incredulously as the previews played. Cristina shook her head before swallowing her bite of food and replying.

"Nope. We didn't have a TV in our apartment. After I did my homework, I'd help Mom with the chores before we both went straight to bed. When we got bored on weekends and over my breaks from school, we played games, did puzzles, and read books. On special occasions and when she could afford to, Mom took me to the movie theater in the mall once or twice."

"I see," Logan said. "Well, since you're obviously not familiar with any of these older flicks, you and I both have something to look forward to. These were some of my favorite movies when I was your age, so I'm gonna enjoy sharing them with you."

The movie itself finally started, and Cristina was instantly captivated. Unbeknownst to her or Logan, Agnes had woken up and was watching them from behind the couch. Each time Cristina shrieked with laughter at the Seven Dwarves' goofy antics, Agnes' face lit up in a smile. Eventually, Agnes slipped away to reheat the breakfast they left out for her.

"So, did you like it?" Logan asked Cristina when the movie ended.

"I loved it!" Cristina announced. She then developed a look of confusion. "Why were all of the credits at the beginning, though? All of the movies I've seen have the credits at the end!"

"A lot of these older movies are like that," Logan explained. "You have to understand these movies in the context of their time. This movie came from what's called the Golden Age of Animation. Back in the nineteen fifties, around the time most of these first came out, the movie studios didn't have all of the fancy computers that we have now, so each and every frame of these movies had to be drawn and colored by hand. Because of that, putting a short set of credits at the beginning took considerably less effort than putting a longer set at the end. Understand?"

"I think so."

"Good. Now go get dressed! We can't spend all day in our pajamas, can we?" Logan jokingly ordered.

"Nope!" Cristina replied and dashed up the stairs. Moments later, her vacant spot on the couch was filled by her mother.

"That girl's starting to grow on me. I think I could get used to being a dad," Logan commented to Agnes as he stood up and stretched.

"I dunno. Think you can handle her for the whole day?" Agnes asked, eyeballing her new boyfriend's lithe, toned body.

"Oh, I know I can," Logan replied with a confident smirk. "Even if I have to resort to a playdate with my siblings."

...

"How come Mom isn't coming with us to the park?" Cristina asked sometime later as she and Logan walked down the street.

"Because your mom is taking what people in my line of work affectionately call a mental health day," Logan explained. "It's a day where you recover from a rough time at work by spending a whole day all by yourself, with nothing but peace and quiet."

"Oh." Cristina then looked back at him in confusion. "What do you do, anyway? I've never seen you do anything besides chores around the house." Logan faltered for a moment, trying to come up with an age-appropriate response.

"Well...you know what a policeman does, right?" he asked, and Cristina nodded. "I'm kinda like a policeman. It's my job to hunt down bad guys that are either too good at hiding, or too dangerous for the regular police. I'll explain it a little better when you're older."

"Oh, okay."

When they reached the park, neither of them knew quite what to do. Thus, they found themselves sitting on a bench in awkward silence. Well, not total silence, because other children and their parents were playing all around them. Logan looked down at Cristina and found her staring at something intensely. He followed her gaze: some distance away, a young girl was being given a piggy-back ride by her father. Logan looked back at Cristina, who noticed he was looking at her and looked away with a blush.

"Something on your mind, kid?" Logan asked.

"Yeah, but...you'll think it's silly," she answered, hanging her head.

"So? I think a lot of things are silly! If we weren't allowed to be silly once in a while, life wouldn't be worth living," Logan replied with a smile.

With growing confidence, Cristina said, "I've always wondered what it would be like to have a dad. I've never had a dad to give me a piggy-back ride, and Mom's never given me one, so I don't even know what a piggy-back ride would be like." Logan suddenly turned his back to her.

Before she could call him out for being rude, he said, "Well, there's a first time for everything, right? Climb aboard!" After a moment's hesitation, Cristina decided to just go with it, wrapping her arms around Logan's neck and her legs around his waist. He then slowly stood up. "Okay, you ready?" he asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be," she answered, slightly tightening her grip.

"Alright then! One for the money! Two for the show! Three to make ready! And away we go!" Logan took off running. What Cristina felt was indescribably amazing! Logan couldn't help but laugh as the girl on his back hooted and hollered in delight. "Having fun?" he asked.

"You bet! This is the best day of my life! WOO-HOO!" Cristina yelled.

"Wanna start jumping obstacles?" Logan asked.

"Sure!"

With the acrobatics the two soon performed, Logan and Cristina might as well have been Luke Skywalker and Yoda. Dashing into the woods at top speed, Logan leaped over logs, somersaulted over large rocks, and swung from branches, all while Cristina clung to his back for dear life.