He was good to his word,though:Eden Biotechnics was totally destroyed,and they were on the verge of filing for bankruptcy.The vultures were circling,rivals looking to buy up their former technicians and patents for a pittance.

The day after they had freed the kids from the R&D lab and destroyed the complex,William Sutton had turned over evidence implicating himself,all the corporate board members,and especially C.E.O. Barton Perevil in a massive fraud scheme to bilk investors for millions of dollars. For his 'whistleblower' status,Sutton was immune from prosecution,but everyone else was  scrambling for high priced lawyers to hide behind,and Perevil himself had been arrested at the Dallas corporate offices for being the architect of the scheme,and defrauding the I.R.S. for a cool million on a 1999 tax return.Perevil was loudly proclaiming his innocence as he sank even deeper into shit (now there were suspected human rights violations at an oil field he owned in Africa,and there was an investigation to see if he conspired to have an African union organizer murdered back in '96),and Logan actually figured he was innocent of a lot of it.

But,he didn't care.The guy had to suffer for something,and if it was fabricated crimes created by the business savvy Bob,great.

Bob was absolutely right-to destroy a company,you hit them in the wallet.As soon as the word got out that Eden Biotechnics was yet another company involved in accounting fraud,their two hundred dollar a share stock plunged to six dollars,and now it was junk,not even worth the paper it was printed on.Without money and status,and their 'captain' in prison,looking at a seventy five year stint in the grey bar hotel,Eden Biotechnics was out of business for good and forever.

Logan found himself wishing Bob could do that to the Organization,but since they weren't a business,it probably didn't apply.

The only one who escaped the noose was al'Sa'ud,who claimed no knowledge of any financial wrong doings (and had diplomatic immunity anyways),but the day before he proclaimed that there was nothing of Eden Biotechnic left in Rhajan,Bob showed up with a dozen eleven year old boys of East Indian extraction,all supersoldiers from Rhajan."He thinks I bought them from him," Bob said,referring to al'Sa'ud.Obviously Bob didn't buy people,so al'Sa'ud got completely taken for a ride,but it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.Who in the fuck would sell other people anyways?

All the kid supersoldiers seemed to be settling in well at the school,enough so that nearly everyone thought Bob had pushed them,but no one was complaining about it.

He introduced Alex around,never explaining how they met precisely,and Alex was respectful of that,saying only that he had help her and her mom out a long time ago.Jean occasionally gave him funny looks about that,wanting more and possibly gleaning some of it telepathically,but he wouldn't discuss it.

Ironically,the past he could remember he didn't like thinking about.

Alex was also offered a place here,but she was happy being a cop in Juneau,'closeted' mutant or not,and now with Eden gone for good she was even happier.She was also glad the kids had somewhere safe to be;she felt lucky she had ever gotten the chance to grow up with relative safety.

Bob,who seemed to be bouncing back between the mansion and everywhere else,popped back in to teleport her back to Juneau.Before she left,Alex gave him a fierce hug,and thanked him for everything,which made him feel like a complete heel.As always.He never really did much for Elena or Alex;she just didn't seem to realize that.Still,he felt a pang of sadness to see her go, again.He wondered if he'd see her again,and,if so,how much would she age...while he did not. Yet one more thing he couldn't stand about himself,and yet couldn't change.

Logan wasn't sure he wanted to stay at the mansion any longer,but right now he didn't know where else to go.He'd had his fill of Canada and all the memories there that he could actually recall.

Bob was still hanging around,as he was wont to do,but he had sort of a reason.Xavier had asked him to give another lesson on quantum physics and the multiple universe theory.Of course,the kids loved him and he could have have talked about sheep for a whole hour,they wouldn't have cared,but Xavier apparently eavesdropped on the lecture,finding it utterly fascinating.Logan was glad someone did.If anyone could make a dry topic interesting it was Bob,but he had better things to do with his afternoon.

Well,actually as it turned out,he'd have done better at the lecture.He ended up arguing with Scott over whether a new training sim he created was too violent or not.As far as he was concerned,it was too unrealistic as it was,and Scott was being a big fucking pussy.Scott thought he was being a "bloodthirsty bastard" (ooh,he was shaking-was that supposed to be an insult?),and Storm was left to mediate before they came to blows over it.Logan knew he'd have kicked his momma's boy ass without bringing his claws into it,even if Scott brought his powers into it (how could he not?He had nothing else to fight with),but Storm threatened to zap them all and let Xavier straighten it  out when they were conscious.Although he was hardly afraid of a lightning bolt,Scott got all kiss ass and conciliatory-well,at least to Storm-and while it was possible for one side to continue to sustain an argument,it was no fun at all.

He was only going to speak to Bob because there was something bugging him about this Eden thing.It seemed to work out okay,but someone had slipped through the cracks.

He knocked on the door of Bob's room,faintly hearing music from within,which did not surprise him. "Come in,but not if you're squeamish,"Bob called out.

That made Logan almost not enter.What was that supposed to mean?

Assuming it was just Bob and his weird sense of humor,he walked in,and then saw what he meant, maybe.

Bob was towel drying his hair,dressed in nothing but a pair of white boxer shorts that had emblazoned on the front,in big red letters,"Home Of The Whopper".

Logan closed the door and leaned against it,shaking his head."It's nice to know you don't have a small dick complex."

He glanced at him and grinned,like he almost always did.In the background,Ministry's atonal and incoherent "Jesus Built My Hot Rod" seemed to be mocking the both of them."Actually,one of my ex-wives bought these for me.It has a duel meaning.Not only am I packing,but I also lie like a rug."

Logan smirked,looking away.It was almost admirable the way that Bob was always the first to admit he was full of shit.But Logan suspected often that he really wasn't,he just wanted (perversely) people to think he was."How many ex-wives you got?"

"Oh,a couple,"he responded cryptically.He tossed the towel on his unmade bed,and started to paw through his dresser drawers.Logan was surprised he'd brought so many clothes-or were they mostly Helga's?"Don't worry-Sutton will get his."

That was what he was here to ask him about."But he has immunity from prosecution."

"For the financial shenanigans,yes,but arrogant pricks like that always trip themselves up.Trust me."

"You planted a suggestion in his head?"

"Didn't have to do that.Trust me,mate-these fuckers always shoot themselves in the foot."

Logan remembered what Bob had said about lying like a rug,and figured he was.He'd planted some sort of suggestion in his mind that would guarantee that Sutton would get nailed for something,even if he simply turned himself in.

"Why are you so unhappy?"Bob suddenly asked,pulling out a pair of khaki cargo shorts.

"Huh?"That caught him off guard.But Bob usually did.

"You're feelin' restless,unsettled.Course,you usually do,but even more so now."

"I just had a fight with that tight assed dickwad Scott.I ain't in the best of moods."

"You always fight with Scott.It's more than that,"he pointed out,stepping into the walking shorts.

"You miss it,don't you?"

He didn't want to talk about himself at all."Miss what?"

"The ignorance,the wandering around with no one to care about but yourself.And even then you really didn't care about yourself,but it's the principal of the thing."

"I'm gonna go,"Logan said,grabbing the door knob.But Bob wasn't about to let him go that easily.

"Why don't you?"

Everything in him was screaming "Don't ask!",but he couldn't help himself."Why don't I what?"

"Go to Japan,by yourself this time.You lived there for years.Maybe you'll remember something."

"Yeah,that really worked for London,didn't it?"He snapped,feeling suddenly very angry.The very thought of going to Japan left him feeling like he was going to have a panic attack.

"You didn't live there;you were visiting.And you did run into someone who knew you.Odds are better that'll happen in Tokyo."

"No it ain't,'cause I killed just about everyone who knew me,"he pointed out angrily.He had to lower his voice because the song on Bob's stereo had switched to something far more softer and mellow.He recognized the lyrics as that Tom Waites song Bob taunted him with once,only now it was being sung by a woman with a much better voice."Maybe Dayu would like to have another shot at me."

"Dayu is finding inner peace in L.A.,and has no interest in you anymore,"Bob replied,pulling a shirt out of the drawer.It was a sky blue tank top that could have just as well belonged to Helga."Is it the idea of what you did there holding you back?Or the thought of having had a wife and-by definition-a life?"

He glowered at him."Stay the fuck out of my life,Bob."

Bob pulled his shirt on over his head,and seemed perfectly unmoved by his threat."Well,mate, that's a problem.'Cause you know as well as I do that you want me to help you as much as you
don't want me to."

Logan stared at him."What are you on?"

Bob chuckled,pulling his shirt down all the way.Was it an optical illusion,or was Bob's hair suddenly dry?"Deep down,you want to belong to someone,Logan.You want to have a life.But,on the surface,it scares the shit out of you."

"Stop tryin' to psychoanalyzin' me.I have a life.It ain't a great one,but it is a life."

"But you're not happy."

"I'm never happy."He blurted out.Oh,he wished he hadn't said that.

"You used to be,"Bob said soberly."You just don't remember.Not consciously.But somethin' in your gut recalls happiness,or something like it.And it terrifies you,understandably,'cause it seems like every time you're out of Mopeville something flamin' awful happens."Bob then made a gesture to the air."This song always reminds me of you,you know.That,and that Rage Against The Machine one where the singer screams "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me" over and over with increasing agitation.That one's real fun to shout along with.It should be the Aussie national anthem."

Logan just shook his head,wondering why he ever bothered to try and have a conversation with this fucking semi-omnipotent goofball.

"Because,when you get right down to it,you feel more comfortable with me than anyone else," Bob said,replying to his unspoken comment."Oh,well,maybe Jean,but there's all that baggage-"

"Would you just fucking stop?!"He roared,letting his anger take over.It was no matter to Bob;Bob was never in any danger from him,and they both knew it."All I wanted to know was that Sutton was getting his.Now that I know,I'm goin'."

"No need to get the knickers in a twist,mate."Bob said,smiling as if he had said something funny.As if on cue,the song faded to the old punk rager,Suicidal Tendencies's "Institutionalized".He wondered if Bob had done that on purpose."I was gonna go off to Sydney.Right now,there's some massively beautiful waves off Bondi and I thought I could cram in a bit of surfing.Wanna come along?I can teach you to surf.It's amazingly Zen if done right.I was gonna drop in on the kids too.I got a great grand who'd just love to meet you-"

"I don't think so,"he said darkly.Sometimes he would swear Bob did that on purpose,try and confuse him with asides and non sequiturs.

"No,I was just tryin' to change to a safer topic,"he said,once again answering his unspoken comment."My goal in life isn't to make your life harder than it seems."

"Isn't it?"

"I doubt I could make your life harder than it already is,"he said,with a sincerity Logan loathed.

"Unless I made you believe you were a chicken.But even then that'd be an improvement, 'cause chickens don't have remorse."

Logan glared at him."You're insane,aren't you?"

Bob just gave him that shit eating grin of his,one he should probably get patented before a Presidential candidate stole it (yes,his hair was perfectly dry-why did he even bother with the towel?)."I'm Australian.I've been told that's very nearly the same thing."

Logan rolled his eyes.Getting a straight answer from him was like getting Scott to stop acting like a goody two shoes:impossible,or at least too annoying to try for very long."Why do you bother with any of us?You could be anywhere else,doing anything."

"Well,Mark Twain had a good quote about that:"Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority,it is time to reform."Also,one of my ex-wives was a mutant.And if you meant why you personally,well,I like mysteries and I like hard cases,and you're the most confounding hard case I ever met.If you were a woman I'd marry ya.Although,in this day and age,there's no reason we couldn't.Wanna go to Vermont?"

Oh,how he wished he could just put him through a wall.Any wall.An adamantium one would be preferred,but a concrete one would do if he had to settle."I didn't mean mutants and I didn't mean me,smart ass,and you know it.I meant people.Let's cut the shit here-you're some kind of demon god,right?You could push people around all day,you could rule the fucking world if you wanted to,so why don't you?"

Bob leaned on the edge of the dresser as he put on his shoes.In keeping with the surfer theme,he had traded his biker boots for a pair of cheap flip flops."Do you want to rule the world,Logan?"

"Hell-"

"-no,which is my answer too.The world is too much bother.People who want to rule it should;their heads would explode in under a month.It is a big,complicated,messy place,and those delusional would be despots always seem to forget the place of entropy in human lives and behavior. Also, when would I have time to surf?Chill at the bar?Make people see UFO's?Save the world?I simply can't have a schedule packed that full."

Logan grunted noncommittally and opened the door to leave.Sometimes there was no getting a serious answer out of Bob either.Full of shit indeed.

Bob suddenly laughed,making Logan look back at him curiously."Jean thinks I'm Loki?"He said,then laughed again,as if that was genuinely hilarious.

"Off the mark?"He didn't expect Bob to tell him the truth.Jean could have been right.

"Way.Don't get me wrong,Loki's a friend of mine,and he's a blast at parties,but he's as ugly as a shaved platypus,his hair is living flame,and he constantly smells of sulfur.And sometimes he can be downright juvenile.I mean,how many times can you see a guy fart fire before it's not funny anymore?My calculation was five."

Logan didn't know what to say,so he simply stared at him."And you expect me to believe this?"

Bob shrugged,finished slipping on his flip flops,and started searching for his ubiquitous sunglasses."Nah.Free will-believe what you want.But trust me,if push came to shove,I could kick Loki's ass.He's got the chaos and flame thing,but that's about it.And what good is a shapeshifter who always smells like a snuffed match?"

Well,he had to give him that.Like everyone here seemed to find Mystique a big scary hoo haa threat,but he didn't,because no matter what shape she took,she always smelled the same. Maybe if they could smell her they wouldn't be bothered.

"Hey,Logan,before you storm out in a huff,can I tell you something?"

He frowned at him."You have been telling me things."

"Yes,but this is borrowed wisdom I can't take credit for.Ah,here they are."He found his sunglasses on the nightstand,next to the lamp.And when he put them on,Logan did a slight double take,as the formerly messy bed was perfectly made now.It had been messy when he came in,right?"A great Buddhist monk,Thich Nhat Hanh,once said,"Even as they strike you down, you will remember: humanity is not our enemy. The only thing worthy of you is compassion.Hatred will never let you face the beast in human beings. One day, when you face the beast alone, with your courage intact,your eyes kind... out of your smile will bloom a flower.And on the long, rough road,the sun and the moon will continue to shine."  "

Logan continued to stare at him."What the fuck does that mean?And what's it have to do with anything?"

"I just thought it was something you might want to keep in mind.Yes,humans seem to react towards mutants with scorn,fear,and hatred-not all of them,mind you,but I hardly need to tell you that,do I?But have pity on them,Logan,'cause if there's one thing I know,cul de sac evolutionary niches have a tendency to die out."

"What the hell does that mean?"He replied,brows drawing down low over his eyes.

Bob donned his mirrored shades,but he was no longer smiling."Humans used to be the future.Now mutants are.Do the math."

He loved the way Bob just threw these things at him  with no preamble-he loved to keep people off balance,didn't he?Or maybe he just liked to keep him off balance."Are you saying humans-the non mutant variety-are dying out?"

"Not yet.But probably in your lifetime and mine."Logan understood the implication that that meant not in anyone else's lifetime-Xavier's,Scott's,Jean's-but theirs.Because they both seemed doomed to live too fucking long.Did he know how long?

He almost asked,but decided not to,because Bob probably wouldn't give him a straight answer.
"And sometimes the losing side cheats and plays really dirty,"Bob added."It's the "If I'm going to die I'm taking you all with me" school of philosophy.A popular one,that."

"What exactly are you saying?"

"Things are bound to get uglier before they get better.But have some sympathy for these misguided people,because the battle was pretty much over the moment it began.The world-no matter which one-can be a pretty shitty place."

Logan leaned against the door,so very tired of Bob and all his cryptic shit."Just tell me what's gonna happen."

Bob shook his head,and grabbed a duffel bag from the chair in the corner,shouldering it in a manner that suggested it was heavy."I can't see the future,mate.But like you I can kinda catch shapes on the wind.And it all looks kinda gloomy.Don't you think so?"

Logan was forced to agree.Fallout was still occurring from the church Scott blew up while under the Organization's control,and it seemed every accident,every act of violence and crime,was being blamed on a mutant,no matter how mundane the act,no matter baseless the accusation.If the Organization's goal was to make life that much harder for mutants,they had succeeded brilliantly.He expected that mutant 'registration' law might actually pass on the next go round through the Senate.

"But I can tell you it'll all work out in the end,"Bob said,trying to sound upbeat and chipper.

Logan scoffed,shaking his head and rolling his eyes."How can you say that if you don't know-"

But when he looked back,Bob was gone.

Son of a bitch.And he accused him of having drama queen tendencies.

Logan went to the drawer,just out of curiosity,and opened it.It was empty.

He really had to stop being shocked by anything Bob did.It was starting to get silly.The good part was Helga was probably gone too,so more of her tail groping him in front of other people."You're an asshole,you know that?"He said to thin air,figuring Bob could hear that if he really wanted to. And Logan felt he was an expert in assholes,because he was a world class one himself.But even he couldn't compare to Bob.

He left his room,headed back towards his own.He was restless,unsettled,and decided he'd head out for a beer and let the future take care of itself.

No matter what shit hit the fan next,he had a feeling they wouldn't really be prepared for it.

THE  END