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[Assistant]
untitled (Brotherhood - part 1)
Mean Man, were you ever lonely? Were you ever scared?
It is night. Logan sits at table in the Doggie Diner, reading a book and drinking coffee after a meal. He wears a red plaid shirt with the cuffs rolled up. Outside, it’s pouring and several city pedestrians – a punk rocker, a bag lady and a kid in a Nike hat – are caught in the storm.
Me, I’m scared all the time. Lonely all the time. Or maybe just alone.
From behind the counter, Lucy Braddock, a young, blond-haired waitress, watches Logan intently, holding a pot of hot coffee. In front of her, at the counter, sits a middle-aged man in a gray business suit. The man asks if he can get a refill, trying to get Lucy’s attention. Decaf, right? Lucy asks. The man answers affirmatively, as Lucy pours him a fresh cup. As she pours with her right hand, she rests her left on the counter. Before she can take it away, the man puts his hand over hers. He’s wearing a wedding band. So . . . when does she get off work? he wonders aloud.
It makes you desperate.
Some time later, Lucy sits curled up on a bed, resting her arms on her knees. The room, presumably her apartment, is sparsely furnished and decorated plainly. A small lamp sheds light from a table in front of window near the bed. Putting his coat on as he walks toward the door, the middle-aged man from the diner tells Lucy that he wishes he could say it’s been a pleasure . . . but, she’s not even worth the lie. As he nears the door, he tosses two twenty-dollar bills over his shoulder, advising her not to spend it all in one place.
You know why I love the rain, Mean Man? It’s like in that movie, they talk about it, how it makes everything clean. That’s why I love the rain. Can’t remember the last time I felt clean.
Rushing after him, wearing only an undershirt and panties, Lucy scoops up the two bills in one fist and, reaching the hallway, throws them in the man’s direction. Hey, she yells, him and his money can both got to @$#&! The man continues down the stairs without responding to her outburst.
It’s not just me. It’s the whole world that’s been used and trashed and beaten down. It’s a mean world, Mean Man, and that’s the truth. Full of mean people with mean hearts who do mean things.
Lucy snatches the bills out of the air with the same fist with which she’d thrown them. She notices that the door across the hall has been opened a crack and a naked foot is visible there in the opening. The body it belongs to is shrouded in the darkness of the room beyond. This prompts another outburst from Lucy: What? Huh? Does her neighbor have something to say? Is that it? Are they hoping for an eyeful, too? That it? In response, the door closes. With a sad expression on her face, Lucy returns to her apartment.
A mean, mean world. So maybe you have to be mean just to survive. And that’s the name of the game isn’t it?
Back at the Doggie Diner, it is now day. As before, Logan sits reading over a finished meal. Lucy sets his bill on the table as she refills his coffee. She tells him to pay it when he’s ready. Logan turns a page and continues reading without acknowledging her presence. Put off by his rudeness, Lucy mutters whatever as she walks away. Moments later, Logan puts on his jacket and walks out. Lucy watches him go.
You never asked my story, Mean Man. I thought it was because you didn’t care. But that’s not right, is it? It’s not because you didn’t care . . . it’s because you thought you already knew it. Hell, maybe you did know it, maybe all this is, it’s just . . . maybe it’s just a waste of time. Maybe I’m, like, totally wrong, and you are what you seemed at first.
As Logan passes in front of the windows lining the front of the diner, Lucy clears the table he had just been sitting at. Lifting up the bill, she finds that Logan has left her a twenty-dollar bill to pay for a meal costing eight and some change. She looks off in his direction in surprise.
But I don’t think so, Mean Man. See, I think I figured you out. Maybe it’s only the meanest of them all who afford to give a damn.
It is night again. Lucy sits at the table next to her bed, writing by the light of the small lamp. She’s wearing a white T-shirt with the phrase “The Geek Group” on it. She hears something in the hallway, gets up and crosses over to the door. She first listens through the door by pressing her ear to it, then unlocks the dead bolt and opens it with the chain attached.
I don’t know when they’re coming. I don’t know what they’ll do when they get here. I just know that they will, and that when it happens, it’ll be bad for me. Maybe they’ll just come and take me back, say that it’s time to come home. Like that place ever was my home. If that’s what they want, I won’t go. I won’t go back there. They’ll have to kill me first. Is that something else you know about? Killing?
Across the hallway, Logan is unlocking the door to his apartment with his right hand. His left is gripping the hilt of a large knife stuck in his leg above the knee. Blood stains his jeans around the wound. Having unlocked and pushed the door open, Logan, hunched over, turns to Lucy, and, with a grimace, asks her if she’s got something to say? His face is dripping sweat. There’s a blood handprint on the wall nearby and more blood on the carpet below him. Or maybe she’s just – nhh! – hoping for an eyeful? he asks, echoing Lucy’s earlier question of him. As he speaks, he pulls the knife out of his leg, prompting Lucy to raise a hand to her mouth in shock. They exchange a look, then Logan goes into his apartment, telling Lucy to go to sleep, calling her “kid.”  He shuts the door, leaving a bloody mess on the floor outside. Lucy does likewise, leaning against the closed door with a dismayed look upon her face.
It is raining again outside the Doggie Diner. The sky is dark; it is early morning. Again, Logan sits reading – this time Thoreau’s Walden – over a finished meal. Lucy watches him from afar, as another waitress fills his cup.
Now I’ve seen tough and I’ve seen pain. And I know I’m not tough, because I’ve been in pain. I also know what I saw that night, and when I saw you the next morning, Mean Man, you didn’t have a scratch on you. Not a scratch. That’s how I knew you were my guy.
Walking out, Logan passes Lucy standing behind the cash register ringing up a customer’s bill. She watches him pass, but he does not acknowledge her. He carries a book, but it is not Walden. This one is titled Cats Cradle. Lucy watches Logan exit. A moment later, the other waitress – a middle-aged black woman – appears holding Logan’s copy of Walden. Idiot left behind his book, she tells Lucy, who volunteers to take it. The woman offers no protest: long as Lucy doesn’t take her tips, she could care less.
Maybe you knew it, too. In a mean world, you’ve got to portion out caring, right? You have to pick your battles. Decide who’s worth the effort. The measure can be arbitrary, it doesn’t matter . . . as long as the measure is yours, right? Why do we need to make up some excuse just to say hello? Are we so scared we can’t even just be, you know, people? We have to justify it, lie about it? Is that all you were doing? Giving me the excuse? Letting me make the first move?
Standing in the doorway of her apartment, Logan’s book in hand, Lucy watches her mysterious neighbor come down the hallway, a newspaper tucked under his arm. He notices her standing there, but ignores her. Lucy takes a few steps out into the hallway, but Logan enters his apartment without saying a word to her, shutting the door behind him.
Did you know how terrifying it was for me to even try? And you weren’t going to make it easy, were you?
Inside his apartment, Logan turns his head, hearing a knock upon the door behind him. When he opens it, Lucy is standing there with his book. Logan acknowledges her curtly, turns and walks into his apartment, leaving the door open. Taken back, Lucy mutters that she brought his . . . he forgot his . . . she’s got his book. Can she . . . may she come in? Logan says he won’t stop her.
Closing the door behind her, Lucy stops to take in Logan’s apartment. The design is the same as hers, but the room is almost bare, save for a sheet and pillow on the floor, surrounded by books. The only light comes from a desk lamp set upon the floor next to the blanket. Logan’s been working on a six-pack. Indicating a fresh bottle in his hand, Logan explains that he’d offer Lucy one, but something tells him she’s a minor. He has sat down on the blanket, leaning against the wall. Walking forward, Lucy declines anyhow, even though a real offer was never made. She’s wearing a green T-shirt with a three-eyed smiley face on it. As she hands him the copy of Walden, Logan asks her what her name is, calling her “kid.”  Lucy protests: she’s not a kid.
Logan pauses, taking a swig of his beer. Finally, he asks again, this time calling her neighbor. Lucy tells him her name, then tells him she already knows his.  Yeah? Logan asks. Well, kinda. She gave him a name. Is she gonna share it? Logan wonders aloud. Mean Man, Lucy tells him. Seems kinda judgmental, Logan observes. Guess it does, kinda, Lucy agrees. Not that he’s mean, though maybe he is, she doesn’t know.
Nice place, she says, looking around. It’s enough, Logan responds. Lucy indicates the books scattered about, asking if Logan’s read all of them. He’s working through them. Lucy guesses that he likes to read. Logan observes that she’s made a safe guess. Lucy points out that he has a different book everyday when she sees him at the diner. Logan tells her that he reads fast. Having picked it up off the floor, Lucy is holding a book of Edgar Allan Poe stories when she asks Logan if that’s all he does? Just read? She means, all day, he just reads? With narrow eyes, Logan tells her that does other things. Like get stabbed? Lucy asks. Sometimes, Logan tells her.
Lucy moves the Poe book behind her back, holding it with both hands. She wants to know who stabbed him. Does it matter? Logan asks. It does, yeah, it really does, Lucy responds. Crouching down to meet him at eye level, Lucy explains: if he gets stabbed doing a mean thing to a not-mean guy, that kinda blows. But, if he’s doing a mean thing to a mean guy, that’s cooler. Wolverine grabs another beer and takes the cap off with his teeth. He wants to know what makes her think a Mean Man would care about the difference? Holding the Poe book and picking up another, Lucy explains that Mean Man reads a lot. That’s got to count for something, right? Smiling slightly, Logan asks Lucy if she likes to read. She used to. Now she just writes. Writing’s good, Logan affirms. No writing, nothing for him to read. Lucy tells him that she’d let him read her thing, if he could find it. She keeps it hidden.
Standing up, Lucy asks if she can borrow the books she’s holding. Sure, Logan replies, taking a swig of beer. Lucy tells him that he can have them back when she’s done. She then heads for the door: she’s gotta go. Logan follows, asking her if she’s got another date? That wasn’t a date, she assures him. Logan knows it wasn’t. Stopping and looking him in the eyes, Lucy asks him if he’s gonna look out for her? Can she count on him? Sure, Logan tells her. Lucy responds by kissing him on the cheek, then crosses the hallway to her apartment. Entering, she thanks him and tells him to enjoy his books. Smiling, Logan says good night.
Back in her apartment, Lucy sits down at the table by the window. She opens the Poe collection to the middle and proceeds to cut into the pages with an Exacto knife, creating a compartment within the book. Into this space, she places her journal. That finished, she picks up both of Logan’s books and walks them over to her small bookshelf where she places them amongst her own.
I believe you, Mean Man, and you have no idea what that means to me, do you? It’s like I can sleep tonight, you know? Really sleep, really rest, and not worry anymore. You’re across the hall from me, and now you know me, and they can stab you in the leg, hell, that won’t stop you. It makes me feel safe.
Did you get it, Mean Man? Was I clear enough? When they’ve come for me, will you do what I need? See, I can’t give you everything, because I can’t be sure you’ll be the one to get it. A lot of it, you’re just gonna have to figure out on your own, and if I could, I would make it easier. But I can’t. Thing of it is, I’m sure you won’t need much.
Passing the window, Lucy looks out to see two dark figures approaching the apartment building in the rain. The two dark figures enter the apartment building. They are Caucasian men in their twenties, dressed in heavy jackets and wool caps. One has a goatee. They head for the staircase, passing walls strewn with graffiti and an old man passed out on the floor with a bottle in his hand. Climbing the stairs, they reach into their jackets with their right hands. They pause outside the door to Lucy’s apartment, holding machineguns.
Remember that, Mean Man. Because there will be others who come along, say they want to help, say they want the same thing. When they tell you that, they’re telling you a lie, but not because they want to. It’s because they don’t know. See, there are others, Mean Man. I’m just the one that got away.
The man with the goatee turns and stands watch, while the other opens fire on the door’s lock. He kicks the door open firing. Coming behind! the other warns, as Logan’s door opens. Do him! Lucy’s killer commands, the cruel smile on his face indicating that he has completed his own task. The one with goatee laughs, yelling get some, get some, as he fires excessively at Logan. Thinking him dead, the two men rush away, one of them yelling go, go, go! Bullet casings, bullet holes, and blood litter the hallway.
But you never really get away, do you? So when my brothers come to get me, I’m counting on you to make it right. And I’m sorry, I should just say that now. I’m sorry to put this on you. You didn’t ask for my burdens.
Rising up from the floor, Logan stumbles across the hallway wearing only a pair of bloody pants. He leaves a trail of blood behind him as he crosses over to Lucy’s apartment, the door of which still hangs open. Her bloody hand, dangling over the side of the bed reveals her fate. Logan looks for a moment, and then stumbles back across to his own apartment, just moments before two police offices arrive.
Hell, you’ve already got burdens of you own. You don’t need mine. But what else was I supposed to do, huh? Nobody ever believed me when I told them the truth. What else was I supposed to do? I tried and tried. They didn’t listen. They didn’t care. Everyone always wants proof. When it comes to it, though, the only proof they’ll take is my body in a bag. And then it’s too late, isn’t it?
The next morning, a police van sits outside of the apartment building. Inside, a two suited officials depart, Logan crosses the hallway and breaks through the POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS tape blocking the door to Lucy’s apartment. He’s wearing the same bloody blue jeans, but the bullet wounds dotting his arms and torso have already begun to heal. Using his enhanced senses, he finds the collection of Poe stories on Lucy’s book shelf.
That’s the way it goes. Just another runaway murdered, that’s all they’ll see. They’ll blame it on drugs, or sex, or both, or maybe neither. They’ll make what happened to me mundane, Mean Man. They’ll make it forgettable. That’s what scares me the most. Even if you do nothing more, please, do this for me.
At the Doggie Diner, Logan sits with several books. The one in front of him is the collection of Edgar Allan Poe stories. He takes out Lucy’s journal and begins to read it, a grim look upon his face.
My name is Lucy Braddock. Don’t forget me.


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[Assistant]
Brotherhood - part 2
Wolverine stands naked in front of the mirror, his body still riddled with bullets but no longer bleeding. His healing factor has knitted his flesh over the bullet holes; it’s now simply a matter of removing them. Squeezing his flesh so the bullet stands next to the surface, he pops a claw and slices the flesh, resulting in a few drops of blood and a deformed bullet, which he takes a good look at. He wanders back into his sparse hotel room and puts on some clothes before picking up Lucy Braddock’s journal and heads to the local ammo store, called ‘My Cold Dead Hand.’ Inside, there are racks of guns, clothing and accessories and a couple of hunting trip mementos on the wall. A stocky bearded guy talks to Blaine, the shop manager, relating the events that took Lucy’s life. His argument appears to be that people complain that there are too many guns around, but if she’d been carrying one then she would have been able to defend herself.
Logan approaches the counter and the big guy asks if he has a problem. “Just you,” replies Logan. The man stands tall and asks if he wants to do something about it but Logan replies that he doesn’t need to; Darwin’s on his side. He wanders into the back of the shop and tells Blaine he needs to talk. He helps himself to a beer from the fridge and asks Blaine if he wants one as he tosses the bullet to him. It’s too early for Blaine, who, judging by the posters on the wall behind him, is a Vietnam vet and may have been in the Special Forces. Logan asks him what he makes of the bullet and Blaine tells him that it’s a forty-five, soft nosed and that it has been on the inside of someone too from the look of it. Logan says it has, him, and it came out of a Mac 10 with a lot of its little brothers. Blaine says that he assumes someone’s sorry they did that and Logan grins; “Not yet, soon.”
He checks out the pictures on the wall and says that they got lucky, twice. They hit him through a door, tearing up his lungs pretty good. By the time he got up, they were gone and he never even got a look at them. He stares at a photograph of a group of army buddies, one of them presumably being Blaine. Blaine flicks the bullet back to him asking how he knows it came from a Mac 10. Logan catches it and tells Blaine that you get shot enough; you learn to tell the difference. He asks if he has ever heard of some guys who call themselves ‘The Brothers.’ Blaine leans against the wall, admitting that he hears about lots of guys calling themselves brothers, brotherhood, all that. There are brothers of freedom and brothers of revolution, brothers of white pride, brothers of Christ and the list goes on and on. He adds that if you hit the high desert between there and Idaho, hell, up to southern Washington then you get more militias and survivalists than you can count.
Logan sits and says that he’s looking for brothers with modified Mac 10’s. Blaine replies that it’s an easy conversion. Logan points out that it’s easy for them maybe, but he’s thinking that these guys used a kit, maybe lots of kits. Blaine angrily protests his innocence, claiming that he doesn’t sell those but Logan knows that, asking who does. Blaine calms down and tells him to check the shows; there’s always someone got a table with kits. Logan’s wants someone looking for volume sales and Blaine offers him a name: Tom Leeds, who has a shop in Melford. He does shows all over the state and there’s a show in Klamath that weekend. Logan says that he may be back and he may need gear. As he leaves, Blaine says anytime.
In Klamath, a woman looks out of the window at Smithy’s Motel toward the building hosting the gun show. She wears combat trousers, boots and a black vest and has her blonde hair tied back. She empties everything from her holdall onto her bed, flak jacket, walkie-talkies, hairbrush and pistol included. She shoves a clip into the handle and puts on a T-shirt with ‘If you run, you’ll only die tired,’ written on the reverse. This covers the slimline flak jacket. There’s a knock at her room door and her boss, Tommy, shouts through that the hall’s gonna open soon and they have to get going. She opens the door and asks him how she looks. “Good enough to eat,” he replies. He holds her around the waist, telling her he loves a girl with a gun but she manages to shrug him away politely by telling him to remember that they have sales to make.
At the gun show, a large crowd shuffles from stall to stall packed with weapons, ammo and parts; an NRA members dream come true. The place is bustling with an assortment of shady looking characters. There are plenty of places to choose from; Rebel Shotguns, JM Parts, Lucky 7. Tommy and Cassie have their own stall selling firearms and she offers a guy a $50 ‘cutie discount’ as he’s buying a gun for his young son, ready for a hunting trip in Alaska. She asks for his license in order to run a check and gets on the phone. Wolverine, dressed in his familiar bomber jacket approaches the stall and checks out the valuables. Tommy leans over and says that he sees a man who doesn’t see what he wants, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have it. Logan looks mean, putting on an act, though it’s not like he needs to. He tells Tommy that he’s looking for a couple of AR-15’s for him and his friends. Tommy tells him that it’s a good weapon, the civilian version of the M16. Logan knows.
Tommy asks if he served and Logan replies that he did his time as he handles a pistol. He says that he’d want parts for them too, that’s the thing, and ammunition. Tommy asks how much they’re talking and Logan replies, “Ten thousand rounds, to start.” Tommy says that he can hook him up. He can cover the replacement modification and even has some stuff in his private collection if that is of interest. Logan replies that it is. Later, with the deal in the bag, Wolverine heads off as Tommy counts the cash. Cassie asks if he’s doing good today and he tells her that he’s doing great, having just sold the USP from his private collection to Logan. Cassie thought she heard him say he wanted AR-15’s and puts her arms around Tommy’s neck, but he tells her that’s what he said, but that’s not what he wants. He wants M16’s and the rounds to go with them. He is going to meet him at the bar later that evening to talk about it; it could be a profitable weekend. Cassie returns to serving duties.
Later that evening, at a bar called Suds, Wolverine leaves his bike parked outside and gets a drink from the bar before spotting Cassie seated in a booth, alone. He walks over and sits himself down across from her, telling her that he was supposed to meet her boy. Cassie replies that he’ll be along and holds out her hand, introducing herself. Logan doesn’t even fix her a glance, simply grunting as he scopes the bar. Cassie leans over. “Friendly sort, aren’t you?” she says. He tells her that they aren’t friends. Tommy approaches carrying two bottles of beer and sees that they’ve already met. Logan stands up and tells Tommy that he kept him waiting. Tommy seats himself next to Cassie. He had to make a couple of calls, it’s nothing.
Logan informs him that he doesn’t like dealing with people who break their word. Tommy says he didn’t, here he is and he knows how to be discreet. He points to Logan, telling him that he can be subtle, something Logan isn’t, standing there and posturing. He asks him if he wants to talk or does he want to nurse his wounded pride. Logan gives him an impetuous look. He’s acting a role, but is trying to get a handle on Tommy’s character.
He leans over and asks Tommy about the AR-15’s and how many he can get him. “With kits?” Tommy replies, “How many are you looking for?” Logan asks for ten. Tommy looks downward as the order looks like being a challenge. Logan begins to stand, telling Tommy that he’s wasting his time. He quickly tries to calm Logan down, saying that it’s a challenge, but not impossible. Guns and kits take two weeks but that’s too long for Logan. Tommy then says that they should stop playing games then. If he has the cash, he’ll get him what he really wants; M16’s, no conversion needed. Logan asks how and Tommy replies that he has a connection. He can get them to him by Tuesday if he gets him the money. Logan takes a swig of beer and deliberates over the exchange.
He asks how much and Tommy replies that they’ll be fifteen large. That’s too much for Logan but Tommy asks him to think about what he’s getting. The guns need no conversion and take military magazines. He’s talking thirty-rounders, not those post-ban fifteen-rounders. It’s a good price, he adds. Logan says that he’ll want to check them out. Tommy wants a down payment. He tells Logan to be at his place in Melford tomorrow and to being ten percent; he’ll have a sample for him then. He pushes his calling card across the table. Logan also mentions that he’s interested in Mac 10’s too, same conversion of course. Tommy tells him that he should have hit him a couple months ago as he got cleaned out in December. Logan scowls as he walks away, telling Tommy he’ll see him tomorrow.
That night, Cassie and Tommy head back to their respective motel rooms. He tries to persuade her to join him, pointing out that he has a king-sized bed in his room but Cassie reminds him that she has to drive tomorrow. “Later, okay,” she tells him. He says that she always has an excuse but she smiles and replies that she has, and it keeps him coming back for more. She gives him a peck on the lips before entering her room, telling him to sleep well. “Tease,” he mutters to himself before using his key card to open his room door, “Always an excuse.” A man needs more than a peck goodnight but it’s all he ever gets from her. He wanders into the darkness of his room and tries to remember where the light switch is.
Suddenly, Wolverine’s hand grabs him by the throat and he tells him to be quiet. He shoves the USP into Tommy’s face and says, “Recognize this? You sold it to me today from your private collection. Private sale, you don’t even have to run a background check.” He smiles at Tommy, “God bless America, huh?” He thrusts Tommy against the wall and Tommy asks what he did to him. Wolverine says that he’s gonna tell him who he sold those Mac 10’s to. Tommy insists he doesn’t remember. Logan asks him to try harder, pushing the gun even harder into the base of his septum. Again Tommy insists he doesn’t know. Logan knows he’s lying and asks him to lie some more; give him a good reason to really hurt him. Tommy finally confesses that he sold the guns to a guy named Terril, Dennis Terril out in Westfall.
Wolverine releases his grasp and says that it wasn’t so hard, was it? Recovering slightly, Tommy grabs his own pistol and aims it at Wolverine who still has his back turned. “No! You don’t just walk away!” he cries but Wolverine replies, sure he does. He pops a hidden claw and slices the USP in two, dropping it at Tommy’s feet. As he looks in astonishment, Wolverine departs and begins to ride off on his bike. As he leaves the motel, he smells a familiar scent and, without even looking behind him, he knows it’s Cassie. He tells her not to do it. As he vanishes into the distance, she uses her walkie-talkie. “It’s Lathrop. We’ve got a problem.”


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[Assistant]
Brotherhood - part 3
Several vehicles with ATF printed on the side are parked outside the shop belonging to Tommy Leeds. Agents have sealed off the area in order to carry out their operation. An agent only identified as Chris and a fellow officer knock on Cassie’s door and she opens it, asking them to keep it down when Chris asks where Tommy is. She tells him he’s still sleeping; his bedroom is left at the top of the stairs. She informs them that he has a .45 under the pillow and a Benelli loaded beneath the bed. She has her own pistol and Chris helps her into her ATF uniform. She is not the innocent shop assistant Tommy thinks she is. Chris asks if there’s anything else they should know. “Yeah, he snores,” replies Cassie.
Carefully, several ATF agents ascend the motel staircase and burst into Tommy’s room, catching him unawares, lying next to his teddy bear. Finding several armed officers at the foot of his bed, his natural instinct is to reach for the .45 but they are on to him quick, ordering him to keep his hands where they can see them. Chris leaps onto his back and informs him that he is under arrest for violation of federal firearms statutes, including interstate trafficking and illegal weapons sales.
As Tommy, bare-chested and angry, is led out of the motel, he passes Cassie in her uniform. “You’re a fed,” he remarks. She says that she is, indeed, a fed. Tommy calls her a tramp as an agent shuffles him out of the door. She warns him to be careful; he doesn’t want to say anything he might regret. She asks somebody to read him his rights as she holsters her weapon. Soon after, Cassie leans against the trunk of a car, sipping a drink and Chris asks her why she’s still here. He figured she’d be halfway to a shower by now. She tells him that she never actually slept with Tommy. He replies that’s good, as they don’t asks UC’s to do that kind of thing; that would be unethical.
Chris still wants an answer to his question but Cassie asks if he got her report on the show in Klamath. He did. She asks if anything’s been dug up on the other guy. Chris is mildly sarcastic. “There was so much to go on, Cass. Let’s see, short, hairy, with an attitude. We’re checking the local zoo.” Cassie tells him that this monkey was on a Harley and asks if he ran the license. He has, but the bike is registered to a dead guy in Topeka. He tells her that the man’s gone, he’s a ghost. Cassie wants to go after him and makes it clear to Chris that she doesn’t need to rest and, despite his protestations, is determined to follow up on the case. She tells him that one man might know where he’s gone; Tommy Leeds.
The rain falls heavily as Wolverine approaches the small town of Westfall, Oregon, population 302. He pulls the bike up next to a café and wanders inside in his own inimitable fashion. He seats himself at the counter next to a large bearded man with his left eye missing and wearing overalls and a baseball cap; looks like a mechanic. He asks what’s good in the pies and the waitress tells him that the loganberry’s fresh. Perfect; and he asks for some coffee too. He pays, telling her to keep the change, and the bearded man strikes up a conversation, saying that he likes his bike; American and asks if it’s his. Logan replies that he just rode it out, it’s a delivery. The man asks who for and Logan replies that it’s for Dennis Terril, asking if he’s a friend of his.
As he tucks into his loganberry pie, the man moves off his seat and stands right behind Logan. He says that Dennis Terril don’t got no friends around here, and anyone looking for him don’t got no friends either. He adds that Logan should move on. Logan tells him that he’ll finish his pie first but the man prods him in the back with his finger; “You’re not listening runt,” he says as he gives Logan a shove. Without even pausing, Logan grabs his wrist and slams it onto the counter, saying that he’s eating. The man cries in pain, but Logan warns the others in the café not to bother getting up. They don’t. He finishes his pie and complements the waitress, leaving her a tip as he heads for the door. The bearded man kneels on the floor nursing his aching wrist and Logan says that they should take it outside.
By the time the man emerges, Logan is already fingering his way through a phone directory outside. He and some of his friends surround Logan but he continues searching the book for a name. The men begin to get a little impatient as he continues to ignore them. The bearded man asks what he wants with Dennis Terril but Logan raises an eyebrow as he spots something of interest in the book. “Look at that,” he says, but the man isn’t interested and asks Logan if it’s a beating he’s after. He reiterates his initial question but Logan replies that he’s not looking for Terril anymore; he’s looking for Joe Braddock whose name he points to in the book. The man asks why and Logan replies that he knew his daughter.
In a flash, the man swings at Logan but his right cross flies over his shoulder. “Kill you; rip your eyes out,” he shouts as Logan grabs him around the waist. As the man’s friends close in, he twists the man’s arm around his back and kicks another in the groin, leaving him helpless on the floor. He uses his dexterity to kick another in the face as the fourth man stands, reluctant to join in. The bearded man utters a stream of words to the effect that he’s going to kill Logan for what he did to his Lucy. Pinning the man to the sidewalk, Logan lets his middle claw inch toward the man’s face and tells him to order his friends to back off, or he gets cut. He still struggles, telling Logan that he’d better kill him. He killed his little girl. “No!” Logan replies, standing up, “Not me, the Brothers. It wasn’t me, Joe.” He tosses the bearded man, who he now knows to be Joe Braddock, his daughter’s journal and confirms that he is Braddock. Joe replies that he is her dad, he was her dad. His words crumble away from his lip as tears begin to spill from his eye.
Meanwhile, over in Medford, Cassie visits the jailhouse and speaks to the guard on duty. He tells her that she’ll only get five minutes with Leeds but she replies that she’ll only need three. He asks if she’d like some company in there as he might get a little rough but Cassie is confident and says she thinks she can handle it. The guard lets her in and, before long, hears a commotion from inside the cell. He gets up and looks inside; asking what the hell’s going on in there. Cassie, standing over Leeds, holding his neck to the table with her fist raised replies, “What? Nothing, nothing at all. We were just talking, isn’t that right Tommy?” She smiles sweetly at the officer as Tommy confirms her story, a trickle of blood seeping from his mouth. Cassie says there’s nothing to worry about and the guard closes the door as another smack is heard.
Sometime later, the weather has cleared and Cassie heads up the winding roads heading for Westfall in her red Jeep Wrangler, a map on the passenger seat showing that she’s in unfamiliar territory. She receives a call over her radio, asking her to respond. “Dammit Cassie, I know you’re listening,” Chris shouts. She picks up, and Chris asks what the hell she did to Leeds. She tells him that he slipped and Chris replies, “Yeah, that’s what the guard said too. What’d you get?” She grins and tells him that, according to Leeds, their little friend never gave a name, but asked a lot of questions about some Mac 10’s Tommy sold back in December. A guy named Dennis Terril made the buy and he’s out in Westfall and she figures that must be where the little guy went. He says that she has nothing on the suspect, no name, nothing, just the fact that he wanted to buy some M16’s. Cassie tells him that isn’t the case; he never wanted the sixteens, he wanted the name; he wanted Dennis Terril. As she passes the sign for the seaside, she says that she wants to know why.
By nightfall, Wolverine has joined Joe at his home, a rather bleak affair, sparsely furnished and lacking in refinements. Joe asks him if he has a name, besides angry man. Logan replies that it was ‘mean man;’ she called him mean man. He checks out a photograph of Joe and Lucy, taken on a fishing trip. They look happy. He places the photograph down and seats himself opposite Joe who says that she always gave people nicknames. Even when she was little, Lucy was giving people nicknames. Logan asks him what happened. He was hoping Logan would tell him. She disappeared fourteen months ago but hadn’t run away. He asks Logan if she was in Portland and he confirms this. Clutching a bottle of liquor, Joe says that she got away then. “From the Brothers, you mean,” Logan asks. “Yeah, thank god,” he replies.
Logan says that he’s a little lost here and needs him to explain this to him. Joe asks why he cares and he says that he read it himself; she asked him to. As Logan swigs some of the liquor, Joe asks him if he lives up to his nickname but Logan doesn’t respond, simply fixing Joe with a stare which confirms that he does. Joe then tells him that, about three years ago, a group calling themselves the Brothers of the New World bought some property about sixty miles from there in the desert. They say they’re going to live off the land. The guy who leads them calls himself Cry and has a thing for young girls. “He took Lucy?” Logan asks. Joe asks him if he thinks he would have allowed it? Does he think he’d have sat here on his butt letting him keep her? No, it’s more complicated than that. Cry doesn’t take anyone, they just disappear.
Logan is a little suspicious of the tale and grabs Joe’s arm, telling him not to lie to him. He insists he isn’t. Logan asks why the law around here didn’t check it out and Joe stands, telling Logan that he really doesn’t know anything. He came here looking for Dennis Terril but doesn’t know who the hell he is. He continues to say that fourteen months ago, Sheriff Terril tells him that he’s picked up Lucy, saying she’s gotten drunk with some kids from the high school. He says he’s keeping her in lock-up overnight to teach her a lesson. He says it was his call and he’s doing it, no matter what Joe says. The next day, Lucy’s gone. Terril says he released her and doesn’t know what happened but sure, he’ll go looking. Couple of days pass and he’s still looking. He also says that he’s notified the state police. “He didn’t?” asks Logan. No, Joe replies, and when he asked them, they told him that they talked to Terril and no report was filed.
He adds that the next morning, the sheriff came out with some of the Brothers, come to give him a warning they say. Logan turns his head, his enhanced senses picking up something outside the shack. Joe doesn’t notice anything, instead pointing to his missing eye. He tells Logan that they take his eye and tell him it’ll go to the collection. They tell him that the collection will include Lucy’s eyes if he causes any more trouble. He’s been waiting a year for word… He doesn’t finish his sentence as Wolverine stands and heads to the window.
Looking through the curtain, he tells Joe to shut up; they have company. Outside, Sheriff Terril and a bunch of gun-toting Brothers surround the front of the shack. Terril gets on the PA and talks to Joe. He tells him that he understands that he has a new friend, who is armed and dangerous. He has three seconds to come out with his hands up. He counts down quickly and turns to the Brothers, saying flatly, “Oh my God, he’s got a gun.” The Brothers don’t hesitate as they open fire on the shack with their machine guns.


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[Assistant]
The Brothers  - part 5
It is sunset and Cry’s compound is quite peaceful, lit up by a deep, low, orange sun. Wolverine, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, watches from on high as a truck arrives carrying some of the Brothers of the New World, all of whom are armed. As they exit the truck, Wolverine slips his boots off and grins.
Inside the camp, Cassie Lathrop, sporting a black eye, looks through the bars in her cell at the Brothers outside and asks Kim how many there are. She isn’t sure but guesses there are around two dozen, maybe more. They all have guns and she thinks they’re kinda eager to use them. “And they’re all loyal?” Cassie asks, turning to look at the other women in the room. Kim thinks they are, just like the brides; all eager to serve. They think Cry’s some kind of messiah or something. She tells Cassie that Cry says he’s going to keep the world safe; says the world is gonna blow, the usual cult rhetoric. Cassie’s an ATF agent so she’s sure she knows all about it. Kim thinks that the women that were grabbed off the street might have Stockholm syndrome, just like Patty Hearst. It’s where hostages identify with their captors. Cassie knows what it is, but is surprised that Kim knows. Kim bows her head a little and tells her that she’s studying psych at OSU; or at least, she was.
Cassie looks at a blonde woman applying some lipstick and tells Kim that they’re not staying there. She assumes Cry bothers to feed them? Kim replies that they’re fed twice a day. Cassie missed breakfast so the next visit is for dinner this evening. Two Brothers will bring it, one staying at the door while the other brings the cart inside. That will be about two to three hours from now says Cassie as she approaches the woman putting on make-up. She removes the hand mirror from her and, as the woman asks her not to do it, knocks it against the edge of the bed, smashing it into several pieces. Cassie bends down and picks up the largest shard and hands the woman back her mirror. Now, she has a weapon.
The sun hovers just above the horizon, casting long shadows over the compound. Len looks around for his fellow guard, Carl, and finds him urinating against one of the sheds. Len calls him an animal but Carl tells him to calm down; he’s all spooked. He replies that of course he’s spooked, asking if he heard that the new bride that was grabbed in town is a fed. As they chat, Wolverine vaults over the fence, including the barbed wire, and drops into the shadows to overhear their conversation. He looks focused, yet angry. He flits from building to building, keeping to the shadows and staying as silent as possible. Three guards in front of him head in opposing directions and Wolverine takes the opportunity to edge open a door and head indoors.
Inside, the room is empty but for a television, which is switched on, and a pool table in the center. It’s a dump; a recreational room for the Brothers. A quiz show runs as Wolverine continues to the far side of the room and hears voices on the other side. Two of the Brothers discuss whether to give their captives water or milk with their dinner and one of them heads down the corridor with the cart with Wolverine following stealthily at close range. Just as the man reaches the door to the cell, he hears a noise behind him; ‘Snikt.’ Before he can turn around, Wolverine grabs his head with his right hand and holds the claws of his left hand to the man’s neck, warning him that he won’t have time to scream.
He puts his face right next to his prey’s and asks where the generator is. He wants to know where their power comes from. The man is petrified and leads him to another doorway before leading him down a staircase and through another door. “It’s diesel, uh, not like you care or anything,” he mumbles as he walks. As they approach the room, Wolverine smells Lucy and grabs the man by his shirt, asking him what’s through the door next to him. He replies that it’s storage. Wolverine kicks the door open and clicks on a small lamp. All around the room are boxes full of dresses and other articles of clothing. The man flees silently as Wolverine asks him how many, how many girls, just like Lucy? He picks up a bloodstained vest and smells it.
Suddenly, he finds three men standing behind him, all with their weapons at the ready. One tells him that he’s in deep now, ordering him to turn around so they won’t have to shoot him in the back. As Wolverine turns, his face is already showing signs of an imminent berserker rage and he pops the claws on both hands, ready for action. With amazing ferocity, he leaps at them, quicker than they can imagine, growling as he heads toward them, claws at the ready.
Inside the cell, Kim asks Cassie to hurry as she places the blunter end of the shard of mirror inside a sock to protect herself. The other women watch them but do not interfere with their plan. The keys rattle in the door and the man with the cart enters, asking who wants a treat before supper? As he walks into the room, Cassie grabs him by the collar and thrusts the shard into his back as the other women shout at her to leave him alone. He slides down the wall and the women rush to his aid, asking for someone to get a towel. “Murderer,” one screams at Cassie but she isn’t concerned about her. She grabs the man’s machine gun and exits the cell along with Kim.
They move quickly through the building. Cassie asks Kim if she knows the layout, as she didn’t really get a good look at it when they brought her in, for obvious reasons. She replies that they’re in Cry’s building. The stairs ahead of them come out in the kitchen in the main hallway. There’s another flight of stairs to his bedroom but past that there’s a door into the main room. Suddenly, everything goes dark. They don’t know what has happened and Kim begins to panic. Cassie tries to keep her calm, asking her to breathe but she’s scared and can’t help it. “Me too,” replies Cassie.
Above ground, Cry emerges from his room, brandishing a machine gun, and with Lynn hanging onto him, wearing only her underwear. He asks his men what has happened but they don’t know. “Maybe the generator shorted,” offers one. With the sound of continuous gunfire, Wolverine comes crashing through a window in front of them, holding one man in his claws, and lands on all fours. He has removed his shirt and fixes the men with a ferocious gaze. In the darkness, they are unable to make him out properly, wondering if it is some kind of cat. Cry doesn’t wish to find out and orders them to kill it, now! Before they can shoot, however, Wolverine is gone, slipping back into the shadows.
They search for him but he makes his way to a rooftop and watches them search. Carl and Len talk, Len wondering if what they’re after could have been a bear but Carl doesn’t think so, not that small. Wolverine suddenly speaks to them and they look up, seeing him silhouetted against the moon. “You, I can smell you. You shot me, you killed her, killed Lucy.” Len tells Carl to shoot but by the time they do, Wolverine is in mid-leap and shrugs off the bullets flying at him. He stabs Carl right through the heart and slashes Len’s chest, slicing their weapons too in one swift movement. Two more Brothers appear and Wolverine snarls at them before charging, once again ignoring the bullets heading towards him.
After making his way inside, Cry holds his machine gun, nervous now after hearing the gunfire. Lynn asks him what’s happening but he doesn’t know. He thinks he spots something and fires indiscriminately through the window until his weapon has discharged all its ammo. He tries to reload but Wolverine swings his door open and moves towards them menacingly. They fix each other with a stare and Cry lets loose a tear from his eye as he senses his time has come. Wolverine grins maniacally.
Cassie and Kim meanwhile continue their escape. They don’t appear to have heard the gunfire but are careful nonetheless. Kim offers directions and Cassie tells her to stay close; there’s no telling who might be around. They stop abruptly as they hear a strange noise nearby and what sounds like someone dying. Kim looks scared stiff and tries to stop Cassie as she heads towards the door. Cassie wants to find out. They step into the doorway and Cassie aims her machine gun into the room but, inside, all they find is Wolverine, blood dripping from his claws and looking completely feral as the dead body of Cry lies at his feet. Lynn cowers in the corner in horror as Wolverine tells Cassie, “Don’t do it girl,” just like he did at Smithy’s earlier. Cassie doesn’t fire and Wolverine retracts his claws. He tells her he ain’t her enemy; never was. With that, he runs through the outer door and into the night.
As the day breaks, police cars head toward the compound and an ATF helicopter lands near to where Cassie and Kim sit, waiting for help. Chris leaps from the helicopter and runs towards her, asking her what in the name of all that’s holy happened here. They both look around at the dead bodies of the Brothers of the New World and Cassie replies that she has no idea, but she sure as hell is gonna find out.


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So, this priest walks into a bar
At a police station in Portland, Oregon, a sketch artist holds up her latest attempt to create a satisfactory impression of the man Agent Cassie Lathrop is describing. It’s clearly the man known as Wolverine but Cassie hasn’t made that connection and isn’t a happy bunny. She rips the sheet from the artist’s book and tosses it into a waste paper basket, already overflowing with numerous earlier failed attempts. Cassie is upset that she has drawn the eyes wrong. She’s drawn dumb, and this guy isn’t dumb. She’s drawn the mouth as though it should have blood dripping from it. He’s not an animal she insists, so why can’t the artist do it right?
The artist has had enough of Cassie’s endeavors to get a drawing she’s happy with and packs the sketchpad into her bag. She’s pretty happy with her work, but she tells Cassie that it helps when the agent she’s working with has a clear picture of the suspect; one that isn’t colored, for example, by emotion. Cassie tries to defend herself but the artist says that she’s been trying to draw his face for twelve hours, and she still can’t figure out whether Cassie wants to arrest the man, or sleep with him. She wishes Cassie a nice day and departs. Cassie, still sporting a bruise from her time in Cry’s compound, quietly replies that she hopes she gets hit by a car.
On the opposite side of the continent in New York City, a priest enters a quiet bar called the Box. Evening rain falls on a motorbike parked outside; its owner sitting contemplatively at the bar, clutching a bottle of beer. Another man leans on the bar nearby, half asleep and propping his head up on one arm. As the priest heads in his direction, Wolverine calls to the bartender, Jo. “Coming right up,” she says as she pulls a pint for someone else. She has long, pink hair, a lip piercing and tattoos that cover her arms. She hands him a bottle before turning to the priest and asking if she can help him. The priest asks for a beer but Wolverine, without even glancing in his direction puts three fingers up, telling her to make it a pitcher and to put it on his tab, implying that he’s clearly a regular here.
“Thank you my son,” says the mild-mannered priest, raising his arms towards Logan’s shoulder but Wolverine tells him to knock it off, and not to even think about touching him unless he’s gonna look like himself when he does it. The priest, really Nightcrawler using an image-inducer, doesn’t think that’s a good idea; Logan knows how people react to his appearance. Logan calls once again to Jo, who tells him he always shouts. Logan asks her to show the ‘father’ her right hand and she smiles, teasing them that she’s always wanted to play show and tell with a priest. Placing the pitcher of beer on the bar top, her hand is shown to be tentacled, revealing her to be a fellow mutant. She turns away, telling them she’ll get Brady to get them some peanuts and Kurt watches her, understanding that he’s in a much friendlier environment than usual. He reaches to his image-inducer and switches it off, revealing his natural blue form underneath. Grasping his glass with his three fingers, he then places his hand on Logan’s shoulder and asks if this is better. “Better is you not having to hide yourself, but it’s a start” comes the reply, as Logan pours beer into the third glass, leaving it where it sits.
“You’re in a mood,” Kurt says but Logan replies that it has nothing to do with it. “No, of course not,” replies Kurt, who sits beside his friend. “The bartender, she’s one of us?” he asks. She is. “And the drunk at the bar?” Logan replies that his name’s Mike. He needs alcohol to stay awake; problem is, he takes alcohol; he gets drunk and has been drunk for the past three months. Kurt suggests that perhaps the Professor could help him but Logan says he doesn’t do referrals. Before beginning their drinks, they both raise their glass and toast Peter, and all absent friends. The third glass, Piotr’s glass, stays where it is.
Logan finishes his drink quickly and is already pouring himself a fresh glass when Brady arrives with the peanuts, saying something in a strange tongue as he hands them over. Kurt thanks him, telling Logan that he thinks he likes this place. Turning to him, he mentions that he had seen Katchen a few months back. She is doing well, going to school in Chicago. She had called him as she thought she’d seen Peter. Wolverine doesn’t seem interested in what Kurt has to say; Peter’s dead and he instead calls for the pitcher to be refilled.
Kurt asks him what happened but Wolverine replies that nothing happened. Kurt disagrees, saying something must have happened, something even more unpleasant than normal. He adds that Logan could also use a shower too. Logan snarls, “You think I don’t know how I smell, you think I don’t know?” Tossing a peanut into his mouth using his prehensile tail, Kurt ignores the uncharacteristically aggressive remark, telling Logan that self-loathing doesn’t become him. “This from a guy who hides his face,” comes the response. Logan looks back at his drink, as Kurt is left speechless by the remark.
Jo hands over another pitcher of beer, asking if Logan would like her to run a tube from the keg for him. Logan asks if she can do that and she smiles, saying she’ll look into it. Kurt grins, and tells Logan that she likes him. He simply says that’s her mistake. Nightcrawler is eager to get to the bottom of this. His friend is not usually this morose, so he decides to go straight to the heart of the problem by asking what her name was, the girl who died; the one he couldn’t save. Logan pauses before replying. “Lucy, Lucy Braddock; she was seventeen, Kurt.” He continues drinking, beer dribbling down his chin. He can’t drink fast enough.
Back in Portland, Cassie Lathrop sleeps. Slowly, though, her eyes slowly open and she glances towards the doorway. Standing there is Wolverine, naked with his claws drawn. She doesn’t appear to move an inch, but her right hand takes hold of her pistol as he approaches the bed. He leans over her before settling on top of her, his face inches from hers and his claws still unsheathed. “We have to stop meeting like this,” she smiles. Wolverine grunts a response. “No, really,” she adds before turning and holding the gun towards his face. In an instant, Wolverine brings his claws down with animal ferocity.
Cassie wakes, holding her throat before collapsing back on the bed. “Oh, for the love of Mike,” she says, as she realizes it was just a dream. She flicks the bedside lamp on and heads in to the bathroom. She washes her face and stares into the mirror, repeating her name and asking herself why this man is in her head so deep.
In the Box, Jo calls last orders as she serves three mutants, one of whom literally has eyes in the back of his head. Kurt asks Logan if the beer’s working, as it must be hard to punish himself when his healing factor fights him every inch of the way. Logan says he has no idea. Kurt continues, saying that, regardless, he is still here, doing his best impression of a fish. He remarks that they’ve both seen innocents suffer before. They’ve both seen the inhumanity of man to his fellow man. He asks why Lucy Braddock is so different that he drives across country for three days, without rest, to meet him there and then engages in this vain attempt to torture his liver. Logan doesn’t reply and instead pours yet another glass of beer. Kurt continues, saying that seventeen is too young, he agrees, but so is seventy. They’ve both seen too much death and lost too many they’ve cared for, but as trite as it may sound, death is part of life, even unnatural death; even, perhaps, murder.
“Not murder,” Logan says. Kurt launches into his argument, pointing out that every Judeo-Christian religion has murder in their basic text. Cain slew Abel and, thus, the world knew murder. One could argue, he adds, that murder is as natural as dying of old age. Logan turns to him, asking if he really believes that. Kurt doesn’t know what to believe. His grasp of ethical and theological theory is slipping by the day and, as a result, he is often forced to rely on the facts, as he knows them. He tells Logan that actions speak louder than words, and Logan knows this better than anyone. His actions have always marked him, to Kurt at least, as a good man, an honorable man. There is another pause in the conversation as Logan considers his reply. When it comes, Nightcrawler is visibly shocked. “Three days ago I killed twenty-seven men.”
Kurt hasn’t much to say to that, only asking him if he was enraged. “All the way to the bone,” replies Logan. Kurt asks if these men had earned this rage and Logan asks if he’s looking for an excuse. He says he isn’t, he is simply straining to understand, because if Logan tells him that these twenty-seven men were innocents all, then he is everything he has always feared himself to be and would have to be stopped. “And you’d stop me?” asks Logan. Kurt stares at him, saying no, but he would die trying.
Logan decides to explain himself. He informs Kurt that they were a cult. They’d broken a town, made it afraid. They kidnapped women, girls and they used them up. “Then you are describing evil, my friend,” says Kurt, “and evil begets evil.” Logan asks if he means him, and Kurt tells him that if that’s his question, then he cannot be of help. “You were a priest, absolve me,” Logan replies. Kurt grins and asks with more than the merest hint of sarcasm that it would be wonderful if it worked like that. What a world they would have. He flings his arm towards the doorway, saying there’d be legions of sinners, all committing their crimes with abandon, safe in the knowledge that absolution was just one quick trip to the church away.
He says they tried it once, during the middle ages. Enough gold, you could be forgiven for anything. He asks Logan if he would like that, such a hollow forgiveness? Logan asks if he needs forgiveness and Kurt wonders if that’s what he’s after. He asks if those men were evil without question and by killing them in his rage, is Wolverine evil? He tells Logan that he is unique, and he doesn’t speak of what has been done to him. He asks, “Is the wolf evil when it culls the sickness from the herd?”
Jo peers outside into the rain and turns the sign in the window over to read ‘Sorry, we’re closed.’ Logan pays the bill and the two X-Men exit the bar, leaving Jo to look after Mike. Standing in the rain, Logan tells Kurt, “That thing about wolves….I’m not an animal, I’m not. Kurt says he knows. Wolverine isn’t so sure. “I’m not...”


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Coyote Crossing - part 1
(New Mexico)
107 miles North North East of El Paso, Texas, Wolverine arrives at a small rundown gas station, the last place for gas and beer for a hundred miles. The sun beats down and the place looks deserted as he gets off his bike and looks around for an attendant. With no-one forthcoming, he edges inside the door and asks if anybody’s there as he needs a refill, but no-one answers. He sniffs inquisitively and begins to understand the situation.
In the back room, a bruiser called Merrick aims his pistol towards the door as he sees Wolverine’s shadow behind it. His partner, a weaker man called Lake, asks what’s happening but Merrick just wants him to find the keys for the truck. Lake is in over his head and looks at the gas station attendant lying on the floor, blood leaking out of his still warm dead body. Lake checks his pockets, a little disconcerted about the amount of blood around. Merrick loses Wolverine’s shadow and wonders where he’s gotten to, standing with his back to the wall next to the door.
On the other side of the wall, Wolverine weighs up the situation, listening to the two men, Lake anxiously searching for the truck’s keys. He pops his claws on his right hand and swings round, thrusting them through the thin wall and into Merrick’s body. A scream is heard as Wolverine kicks the door in, sending his would-be assailant tumbling to the floor amongst shards of glass. Merrick’s bleeding profusely from the stomach; Wolverine’s claws having gone clean through his body.
Lake cowers next to the attendant’s body, glancing nervously at the pistol Merrick has dropped. Wolverine tries to goad him into picking up the weapon, knowing that he isn’t in any real danger. He shouts at Lake to do it, but Lake, despite being a simple man knows his limitations and leaves the gun well alone. Wolverine grabs him by the hair, asking if he killed the boy but Lake says it was Merrick, swearing to god it wasn’t him. Wolverine is angry and it shows. He pushes Lake against a wall and grabs him by the throat, demanding to know why they killed him or he’ll be gutted right here. Lake points outside and tells Logan he’ll show him.
(Portland, Oregon)
ATF Agent Cassie Lathrop pulls up outside Sycamore Blaine’s gun shop, My Cold Dead Hand, and enters, finding Blaine reading the paper. She flashes her credentials and introduces herself. Blaine plays it cool, telling her she’s good looking for a fed and asks what he can do for her; his permits and licences are all current. She replies that she’s sure they are, but that’s not why she is here. He probably has an inkling what she’s after but doesn’t give much away, asking if she’s shopping as he has a rather nice custom Les Bauer forty-five which just came in which would fit her hand like a glove. She plays along but tells him she doesn’t mix business with pleasure. She pulls a piece of paper out of her bag and shows it to Blaine. The face is unmistakably that of Wolverine and she asks if he’s seen him, maybe a couple of months ago.
He lowers his glasses and looks at the picture but tells Cassie that he’s never seen him. Cassie knows better and asks him to have another look but Blaine again denies having seen him. Cassie tells him that she simply wants to talk to the man; she isn’t trying to collar the guy. He asks why she needs to talk to him so bad and she replies, “I think he maybe saved my life.”
(New Mexico)
Back in New Mexico, Lake leads Wolverine outside, talking non-stop and making it abundantly clear that Merrick was behind the whole deal. Merrick had told him they should ditch the truck they were in but Lake didn’t want to, but what was he to do? He said the pump jockey was all Merrick too. He tried to stop him but he had the gun. They were like mutants to Merrick, not even people really. Wolverine sees a couple of vultures flying overhead as Lake leads him over a ridge nearby, telling him that he isn’t a bad guy, he just needs the money.
Looking down from the ridge, Wolverine sees an abandoned tractor-trailer with several vultures perched on its roof. They head down and Wolverine opens the back, discovering a pile of corpses fresh from Mexico. Things like this sicken Wolverine to the core of his soul. Despite everything he’s been through, nothing riles him like innocents being preyed upon. Lake tells him that Merrick kept saying they’d be all right, but they kept pounding on the walls and shouting. He told Merrick that it was hot back there and that they needed water, or just a little ventilation but Merrick pointed out that if there were holes, their noise might be heard. Merrick figured that they paid the price, took the chance and knew the risks.
Wolverine demands to know who arranged it but Lake says he swears he doesn’t know, the business side of the arrangement all being organized by Merrick. Wolverine again grabs him by the throat and says it’s too bad for him. Lake is petrified; he doesn’t want to die but, as Wolverine points out, neither did they. He points his claws at Lake’s face and they do a pretty good of forcing him to come clean. He offers Wolverine a name; a guy in El Paso by the name of Ritter; he arranges things. Wolverine doesn’t say a word and instead, he carries Lake by the throat to the truck, opening the doors again and telling him to get in. Clearly, this isn’t something Lake wishes to do, but the claws are persuasive and he reluctantly climbs inside. Wolverine locks the doors with a chain, leaving enough of a gap to give him enough air to breathe before departing; something that wasn’t allowed for the nineteen dead people inside.
(Portland)
Cassie meanwhile chats with Blaine who realizes from her demeanor and attitude that she’s probably telling the truth. They chat about when he and Wolverine served together in Vietnam, over thirty years ago now. Cassie looks at a photograph, pointing out that he doesn’t look much different and Blaine says that he wouldn’t. He passes her a fresh brewed coffee and admits that he isn’t that comfortable talking about him with someone who works for the government but Cassie reiterates that this is personal business.
Blaine smiles. “Yeah, I’ll bet. He does have that effect on the ladies.” Cassie says that isn’t it but Blaine replies of course it isn’t. She asks him if Logan is his first name or last but Logan is the only name Blaine knows him by. He never really needed another one. She continues to press Blaine for information but he’s not giving it up that easily, offering to pass on her thanks to him. Cassie wants to do it herself and so, they reach an impasse. She leaves the gun store and gets into her red Jeep, clutching the steering wheel with both hands before hitting it repeatedly. “Dammit, dammit, dammit!!!” She leans back in her seat in resignation before driving off, saying the hell with it.
(El Paso, Texas)
Wolverine heads into town and makes an anonymous phone call to the authorities from a pay phone, telling them that Lake is in the truck. That done, he enters a bar called Cerveza Fria and receives some wary glances from the residents. He wanders to the bar and asks for a beer, showing off his fluency in speaking Spanish as he quizzes the barman.
He says he is looking for a man named Nestor and the barman, Angel, asks who’s looking for him. Wolverine replies that it’s the guy who solved his problem when Oscar vanished, adding that he’ll wait there. He continues drinking while Angel opens the backroom door. His boss, Nestor, tells him he wasn’t to be disturbed as he’s doing the accounting but Angel informs him that there’s a man who wants to see him. Nestor replies that he isn’t here but Angel thinks he should see him, as he’s the one who settled the matter when Oscar disappeared. Nestor asks if he’s here now and Angel tells him he’s the stocky runt at the bar. Nestor takes a peek and sees Wolverine enjoying a beer.
He approaches him, followed by the larger Angel. “You’ve got a nerve walking in here,” he tells Wolverine. “Do I?” he replies. “After the last time… you left before we could thank you, you dog.” Nestor grabs him by the hand warmly and a broad smile appears underneath his jam jar glasses. Wolverine had saved his little boy and just gone away. Wolverine replies that it’s good to see him again. Nestor tells Angel (sporting a tattoo with the words Pinche Cabron sandwiching a scorpion) that his drinks are free and if he tries paying for them, he should return his money.
Nestor asks Wolverine what brings him to El Paso and if there’s anything he can do for him. He replies that he looking for someone, possibly a couple of someones. He asks for their names but Wolverine only has one; Ritter and he’s a Coyote; a people
smuggler.
(Portland)
Cassie calls out for a pepperoni pizza as a news report appears on television. The report is from El Paso where the police have found the nineteen illegal immigrants after Wolverine’s tip off. Lake is in custody and speaks to the reporter as he is led away from the scene. He tells her that is innocent. This guy with claws coming out of the back of his hands did it. The reporter says that police and border patrols are continuing their investigation. “Well hell,” says Cassie.


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Coyote Crossing - part 2
(El Paso)
In a police interview room, Special Agent Aguinaga interviews Lake about the nineteen people found dead in the trailer that he and his partner, Merrick, were using to deliver their cargo to the United States. Lake insists that he was simply there for the ride, to keep Merrick awake and keep him company. Aguinaga asks who arranged it but Lake holds his hands out and replies that, if that’s the way he’s going to start talking, then he wants his lawyer; maybe cut a deal. Aguinaga informs him that there were nineteen people found in the trailer, eleven men, five women and three children; the youngest being just six years old. He leans over Lake and tells him that’s nineteen counts of murder he’s looking at, not counting the gas station attendant or his partner, Merrick. Lake tries to make Aguinaga understand that he isn’t to blame for Merrick; it was the other guy, the guy with the knives in his hands, who locked him in the trailer.
Cassie Lathrop watches the interrogation through a one-way mirror, stern faced. Aguinaga tells Lake that, even if he didn’t kill Merrick, that still leaves twenty other deaths and, here in Texas, “You think this might be considered a capital crime?” Lake’s head drops. He knows he’s in real trouble and offers Aguinaga the same name he gave to Wolverine: Ritter. He informs the agent that Ritter put it together and has some contacts on the other side of the river, in those camps with all the Mexicans. Aguinaga tosses him a notepad and pen and tells Lake to start scribbling.
Soon after, Aguinaga heads outside into the sunshine and speaks with one of his officers, Len, asking him to ensure that Lake doesn’t get bail at the hearing. As soon as they have a warrant, he wants to grab Ritter. The officer understands and tells Aguinaga if he heard about the thing on Paisano Drive last night. Another three people were picked up, all carrying Jerry cans, pretending their cars had broken down. Of course, there never is a car to return to. As Aguinaga buys a drink from a mobile canteen, Cassie appears and introduces herself as being an officer with the BATF.
He asks her to refresh his memory, asking if they’ve met. She replies that she doesn’t think so. He asks if she’s one of Kelly Dean’s agents but she tells him she’s out of Oregon; Chris McNally being her S.A. Aguinaga knows McNally as he met him at Glynco. He asks why he sent her to talk to border patrol and Cassie tells him that she’s here on her own account. She’s been listening to the interrogation and says that she believes Lake is on the level about the other guy killing Merrick and hands him the sketch artist’s drawing of Logan. He asks what this guy’s connection is, and Cassie replies that she’s here to find that out.
Wolverine arrives at a rundown garage on his bike and asks a mechanic where Ritter is. The man replies that he doesn’t speak any English, so Logan converses in Spanish and finds out that Ritter’s in the back office. Logan thanks him and heads straight into Ritter’s office, finding him recumbent in front of the television set. “Who the hell are you?” he asks, as Logan wastes no time in walking over to him, grabbing him by the collar and hurling him over the table against the television, shattering the screen. Ritter holds his head and calls Logan a stupid little maggot, asking what wrong with him as he doesn’t even know him. Logan smashes him in the face, causing blood to spurt from Ritter’s nose and then grabs him by his shaggy grey hair. Ritter implores him to stop but Logan pushes his head down onto the table, as Ritter asks why he’s doing this.
Logan replies that he thought about trying to be subtle and clever about this, but then he realized he’d probably end up having to beat the crap out of him anyway so he’s saving himself some time. He throws Ritter back against the television set, giving him a real working over. “You’re insane,” cries Ritter, but Logan replies that this is him being perfectly calm. “Trust me, you’ll know when I go insane.” He edges the claws on his right hand towards Ritter’s face and, as he extends them further, he says Lake’s name. A little further, “Merrick.” Further still, “Who else?”
Ritter is petrified and is about to deny knowing anything but Logan prompts him, demanding he reveals the whole network, both sides of the river. “You don’t understand, “Ritter replies, “I only dealt with…” Blamm! A gunshot takes out Ritter and Logan turns to look at the perpetrator, only to be shot himself in the face. As he falls besides Ritter’s body, the mechanic turns away, holding the gun, and begins to cover the whole garage with gasoline. With the gas canister spent, he takes a match and drops it, walking calmly away, leaving Ritter and Logan to perish in the flames. He doesn’t expect what happens next!
From out of the flames, Wolverine leaps at him. Although himself on fire, he uses his experience to block out much of the pain this causes. He grabs the mechanic round the waist and tackles him to the ground, holding him by the throat and raising his claws above his head. With flames lapping all around them, he warns the mechanic that he can’t stop him and now he’s gonna die here, or he’s gonna talk. He has little choice.
Soon, the noise of sirens is heard over the fire and Wolverine sees several patrol cars approaching. Outside, Aguinaga orders Len to contact the fire department pronto and Len replies that they’re on their way. Another officer sees movement inside the garage but Aguinaga orders no-one to go inside until the rubber men arrive. Cassie takes a look at Wolverine’s bike and knows he’s inside. With little regard for her own safety, she rushes through the flames, with Aguinaga powerless to prevent her. She makes her way though the building carefully but the smoke begins to get too much for her and she covers her mouth. Seeing Ritter’s burning body, she realizes this was a bad idea and starts to succumb to asphyxiation. Suddenly, through the golden glow of flames comes Logan with his hand outstretched and telling her to go with him.
He leads Cassie to the back of the building, where there is a hole in the wall, presumably made by Logan himself as the mechanic lies outside unconscious. “So what is it, Klamath girl? You stubborn or suicidal?” he asks. Cassie splutters as she takes in clean air. “That’s what I thought,” he replies. He takes Cassie’s gun and tells her that the mechanic killed Ritter and then set the fire. His name is Mendes and says he works for a man across the river by the name of Rojas. Logan’s hair is partially burnt off and his flesh still smokes but he is totally coherent and reaches inside Cassie’s jacket. She is surprised but Logan only wants her badge. He reads the details; “Cassie Lathrop, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; shoulda figured.” He hands her credentials back and turns away. “Logan, wait!” she cries and he turns back, surprised that she knows his name. He places his face right next to hers and tells her to stop following him; he isn’t who she thinks he is.
Back in El Paso, at the Cerveza Fria, Logan asks Nestor what the deal is with Rojas. Nestor is settling down to his food and replies that he’s asking the wrong guy. He’s on the wrong side of the Rio for that information. Nestor doesn’t know about that stuff. What he does know is that there’s a lot of money tied up in smuggling. These people flee their homes, their countries and are desperate to begin with. They’ll pay whatever price to get across. “Even though they’re broke,” says Logan.
Nestor continues to say that this is why the coyotes like the ones who already have family in the States. They can tap them two or three times for money; once to get across the border, then again to cover expenses, food and clothes and then a third to get them to where they want to be, a plane ticket or a bus fare. “Or the trucking fees,” adds Logan, opening a can of beer. Nestor says that a lot of the migrants, though, as he says, are poor, poorer than dirt and desperate to go through with crazy things like trying to swim the Rio. From what he hears, those are the ones Rojas goes for, those who will do anything and who don’t have a family; don’t have a way of getting money.
Logan asks if it’s to do with drugs. Nestor says that’s the rumor. Rojas is big with heroin, or so he hears. He goes through the migrant camps on the other side of the river and gets himself some volunteers to swallow some balloons with promises to get them across. Wolverine stands and says that burns him. “What does?” asks Nestor. Making people worth less than drugs he replies, that burns him. He pulls on his jacket and tells Nestor that he thinks he’ll go for a swim.
Under a clear sky with the moonlight bathing the land, Wolverine runs towards the river, ducking down to avoid being seen by a border patrol car headlights. He scales a large fence and sits on the riverbank, removing his boots. In no time at all, he is in the river, holding his boots above his head and swimming towards the opposite bank. From further along the riverbank, a pair of night vision binoculars pick him up. Agent Aguinaga asks Cassie if she sees anything, but Cassie replies that she doesn’t and hands him the binoculars, asking if they can get out of there; she’s cold. Aguinaga tells her that he’ll give what Mendes said to the Mexican authorities; they’ll look into the Rojas angle. Fine, says Cassie, as she looks out of the car window towards the river. “I’ll see you when you get back,” she whispers to herself. Aguinaga asks her if she said something, but Cassie replies that it must have been the river.


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Coyote Crossing - part 3
Under the clear night sky, a young man quietly washes his clothes on the banks of the Rio Grande, but he is startled when Wolverine strides out of the river, carrying his boots. “Nice night,” he says as he heads inland. In the local shanty town, three men playing cards notice Wolverine passing by, stretching his neck upwards as he tries to catch a scent. One of them, Sandro, asks if he’s lost; maybe he needs help finding something maybe? Wolverine doesn’t reply and stalks off, leaving the three men none the wiser.
Sandro follows him to a building with a doorway loosely strapped to the entrance, warning him not to enter, but Wolverine’s mind is made up and he goes inside as a large muscular guy deals drugs inside. Suddenly, the man is thrown right out the door into the mud and pulls a knife as he stands, warning Wolverine he’ll cut him open for that. He charges back inside, threatening as he does so, but soon returns, clutching his eyes, with blood pouring from freshly made adamantium claw wounds. Wolverine stands looking at a group of wasted people, lying on the floor inside, most of them unconscious amidst drug-taking paraphernalia and empty bottles. “Now that’s finished, who wants to tell me where I can find Rojas?” Wolverine asks.
Sandro informs him that they won’t answer him; most of them are too high to remember their own names, let alone anyone else’s. Wolverine retracts his claws and asks him where he can find Rojas, but Sandro doesn’t want any trouble. Neither does Logan. He asks him his name and Sandro tells him. Logan puts a hand on his shoulder and congratulates him; he’s his new best friend. As they wander up the street, he asks once again, where can he find Rojas?
Back at the El Paso Sector Border patrol headquarters, Special Agent Aguinaga wants to lock up but Cassie Lathrop is studying and tells him she’ll do it. Fine, he says, and asks her to put the files she’s using back where she found them and hit the lights when she leaves. As he departs, Cassie looks down a list of names and circles one; Garcia Nestor.
Soon, she is entering Cerveza Fria and hustles her way to the bar. She asks for a beer. Angel, the barman, passes her a bottle and she asks how much she owes him. “Nothing,” he replies, “Cops drink for free.” She fixes him with a hard stare as he pops his head into the back room and gets Nestor to check her out. As Nestor approaches her on the other side of the bar, she tells him she’s not a cop and even, if she was, she doesn’t drink on the badge. Nestor takes a 20 peseta bill from her and enters it into the till, as he tells her that, whether she’s a cop or a fed, it makes no difference. He knows who she is and why she’s here. He informs her that she’s not the first girl to become fascinated with his friend and she won’t be the last. Maybe it’s the pheromones, he thinks, or aftershave or machismo. An ugly little guy like that; you think he’d have to pay for it, but there are women who think they have to do crazy things to impress him.
Nestor passes her the change, which she refuses. He tells her it’s a bad idea. She asks if he mentioned that she’d be by. Nestor replies that he had, and he told him that she’d been chasing him all the way from Oregon, that she charged into a burning warehouse earlier today just because she thought he might be in there. “That it? You crazy? Or you think you’re in love?” Cassie tells him to shut up and give her another beer.
Wolverine, meanwhile, returns with Sandro to where the other two men, Hector and Ruben, are still playing cards. He seats himself next to them and the two men offer each other a quick glance. They want to get back to their game but Wolverine says that Sandro tells him that they help pick out mules for Rojas. Hector says that Sandro talks too much. His friend, Ruben, meanwhile reaches for a gun hidden under the table and points it towards Wolverine, as he mentions that Sandro tells him that they even take the mules out to meet Rojas. He wants them to take him to meet Rojas. Hector laughs as Ruben cocks his weapon. Suddenly, Wolverine stands up, flinging the table towards Ruben, sending Hector flying across the room. The gun goes off, as Wolverine pops his claws, but the shot misses and Wolverine goes on the offensive.
He cuts Ruben, who shrieks in agony, grabbing his slashed wrist. “Stop complaining! You’ll live,” Wolverine snarls. He wipes the splattered blood off his face as Hector cowers beneath him, asking what he is. Wolverine turns on him, angrily remarking that he’s not his friend for a start. Grabbing the man by the throat, he tells Sandro he can leave, and Sandro doesn’t hesitate a moment too long before running away. Logan fixes Hector with his piercing gaze, telling him they’re going to see Rojas as he throws him to the ground. As they leave, Ruben, still grabbing his bleeding wrist, makes a phone call.
At Rojas’s villa, a guard named Felix takes Ruben’s call and contacts Rojas, informing his employer that there has been trouble down at the shanty and a man is on his way with Hector. After the call has ended, Felix informs his partner that they’re to kill them both. The headlights of Hector’s truck light up the villa’s approach. The truck pulls to a stop outside the gates and Felix walks over to the car and tells Hector that he can’t just come out there without an invitation. Hector apologizes, but points at the back of the truck. “I know, I’m sorry, but something came up. In the back, he’s in the ba…..”
Felix and his partner open fire, smashing the truck apart with lead, killing Hector in the process. After the initial hail of bullets, they reload, but find no one in the back. Felix hears a strange noise behind him and turns, to see six claws exiting the chest of his partner, who falls lifeless to the ground as Wolverine appears from behind him, demanding to see Rojas; he doesn’t have an invitation.
The man opens fire but the agile Wolverine evades them with practiced ease, dodging behind the truck before leaping back over the top, taunting his assailant as he heads straight for him. He disarms him and holds his claws to the man’s throat, saying that he really wants to see Rojas. Suddenly, a spotlight is trained on the two men and the truck and, behind it, Wolverine can just make out the silhouettes of half a dozen men or more. Rojas is standing behind them, but is going back to bed, confident they can handle one man between them.
They fire at Wolverine, unafraid to hit their own man, who dies in a storm of bullets. Wolverine leaps behind the truck again for safety before back flipping onto the villa’s wall, wading through his opponents in something close to a bezerker rage. That dealt with, Wolverine makes his way into the grounds and approaches the figure standing in front of the open doorway. He calls out. “Rojas! Nineteen men, women and children dead! Make your last words good ones.” Rojas replies, “Very well, life is cheap on the border, now if you’re going to kill me and my baby, please get on with it, otherwise we need our sleep. In the doorway stands Rojas, who Wolverine notices is a young and clearly pregnant woman.


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Coyote Crossing - part 4
(El Paso)
Angel, the barman at the Cerveza Fria accompanies some of his best customers out the door and hangs up the sign reading ‘closed.’ He walks back into the bar to find Agent Cassie Lathrop refilling her glass from a jug of beer, one of many she’s had tonight. He tells her they’re closed and it’s time for her to leave, but she says fine, close, but she’s staying. His boss, Garcia Nestor, opens his door and Angel informs him that she’s not budging, unless he wants him to pick her up and throw her out. He tells his friend that she’s a fed and, if he touches her, he’ll be looking at charges. He allows Angel to go home and heads over to collect a bottle of tequila and a couple of glasses before sitting down at the table with Cassie in the empty bar.
He asks what it is with her, calling her Agent Loca. She replies that it’s Agent Cassandra Lathrop of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; and she’s putting the stress on alcohol right now. She explains that she knows that Logan isn’t here right now, she watched him swim the Rio; but he has to return sometime. She downs the shot of tequila and Nestor does likewise. She grabs the bottle for a quick refill and reminds Nestor that ATF stands for alcohol, tobacco, and firearms -  three things that are bad for you if you don’t know how to control them. Like all bad things, she adds, you get a taste, and you want more. Nestor raises his glass and makes a toast. “To Logan, who is probably more dangerous than all three of those things combined, Senorita.”
(Across the river)
Leaving a trail of dead bodies in his wake, Wolverine is astonished to find the perpetrator of the crimes he is following up is a pregnant woman, a far cry from the rogue he was expecting. She stands in her doorway, asking him what he’s waiting for. She tells him that he blames her for nineteen dead men, women and children and she doesn’t deny it, offering nothing for a defense. She says that they died by accident, an accident that cost her money, time and resources. She enters the house and adds that she’s murdered dozens more than that; by her own hand or on her order, it makes no difference.
As they enter a lounge, she admits that she smuggles drugs; heroin mostly, black tar, Andean flake, sometimes cocaine, sometimes pot; anything that will make her money which it does, a lot of it. She asks rhetorically how much nineteen men, women and children weigh altogether. “A ton perhaps? Do you know how much a ton of heroin is worth? And inside them was not more than ten pounds of heroin put together. Do you know how much those ten pounds were worth? More than nineteen lives, I assure you, much more.”
Rojas seats herself with not a little discomfort before looking straight at Wolverine and saying that life is cheap here. Logan retracts his claws as he wanders around the room, first picking up a statue of a woman. He turns and tells Rojas that he should kill her, and she asks why then he doesn’t. “You know why,” he replies. She appears not to care how much she rides Wolverine as she taunts him, saying that just because she has a baby, why should she be spared? She asks if he’s simply too soft to do what he came here to do. Wolverine doesn’t reply to her comments, so she continues her taunts. He cut through her guards like water, yet she, a woman, stopped him cold; “Ohhh, or is it something else?” she enquires.
Her next line of verbal attack centers on his need to kill, and she gleefully taunts him that he is nothing but a rabid dog who wants to kill her. It would make him feel good about being a beast, make him feel like a man instead, to kill a villain, but only an animal would murder a poor innocent unborn child. Wolverine finally loses his rag, and launches himself at Rojas, grabbing her chin with his left hand and popping his claws on his right. Although Rojas is clearly frightened of Wolverine, she tells him that it is better not to lie. “Be the dog and do it,” she says. Their eyes meet in a brief moment, the hunter and his prey.
Despite being in a rage, Wolverine hasn’t lost it completely and, instead of removing her head, he plunges his claws through the couch behind her. He then backs off and growls in an almost unbridled manner, as he fights the conflict inside his mind. He longs to kill but knows he can’t and this infuriates him. He slashes away at the mantelpiece and the statue he held earlier and stands in the middle of the room, his anger trying to control him. Rojas realizes he is struggling to maintain control and is told to shut up when she tries to speak. Gradually, his years of training allow Wolverine to calm his inner demons and he soon reaches the point where he can retract his claws. He turns and grimaces at Rojas before leaving. Rojas feels something happening and looks down at her stomach before rocking backwards in pain. The stress of the situation has brought on her labor and she calls for help. Unfortunately, her help is dead. She struggles to the telephone and collapses on the floor beside it, flicking the receiver off its hook as she does so.
Wolverine swims back across the Rio and returns to the Cerveza Fria, where Cassie is awaiting his return. She opens a can of beer and asks him if he wants one. There’s a cold pizza too. He takes a can and thanks her before telling her to get out, throwing his jacket to the couch and downing the beer. “Rough night?” she asks. He repeats his request for her to leave but she remains stationary. As he removes his shirt and vest she asks, “You...woof…you find Rojas?” He tells her he did, but she’s pregnant. “That’s a twist,” Cassie replies, her intel thinking for sure that Rojas was a guy. He lays on his bed, but this doesn’t deter Cassie, who asks him if he’s sure it was Rojas, and not his wife. He’s sure. He rolls on his side and asks again for her to go away as he’s tired and needs to think. Cassie stands beside his bed looking at his back. “I want to stay.” Logan turns and looks at her. “Yeah, I know,” she adds, “Pathetic, huh?” Logan asks what is it with her and she tells him that she wishes she knew. Logan points and says fine, take the couch. Cassie smiles.
Later, Cassie wakes up and is about to apologize for her behavior but finds Wolverine is missing. She makes her way into the bar downstairs, where there is a party atmosphere. She asks Angel if he’s seen Wolverine but he replies that he left before they opened. She spots Garcia Nestor and repeats her question. Nestor informs her that he’s gone back across the river, saying he had unfinished business. Cassie is shocked and thinks that he’s going back to kill Rojas. She heads for the exit but, just as she begins to push, the door opens and in strides Wolverine, holding a baby wrapped in a blanket. “I need help. I can’t get her to stop crying.”