Logan J arrives Who: Nick/ Logan J/ Mia What: Logan’s arrival Where: woods When: late Saturday morning Warnings: possible mentions of violence/death
Logan passed along his boarding pass to the gate attendant, with a smile. “You’re all set Sir,” the attendant chirped in his overly friendly tone. Should he have a drink on flight? The trip involved cross country and, since Logan sat in first class, he didn’t pay for the drinks. Once the airplane took off in the air, Logan closed his eyes. With the current mutt uprising, Logan knew this might be his best chance at sleep over the next few days.
He opened his eyes, about two hours later, he estimated. This time he wanted to ask for some water and about any food opportunities he may have missed while asleep. But, instead, he found himself in some woods. Unfamiliar woods, nothing like Stonehaven’s. Logan sniffed the air and paused. He smelled Nick. Why did he smell Nick? Maybe he still slept on the plane and this whole situation was a dream? But again, why would he smell Nick?
*** Now that the stalker, bloodthirsty, and obsessed Dean switched with the Dean he knew, Nick felt much more at ease. So much so, that he suggested a run for him and Mia before work, and obviously a shared shower afterwards. Nick enjoyed the time Mia spent with him in the tiny house, during Dean’s...stay. However, their sharing a tiny house made him realize if they moved in together for real, they required more space.
“Let’s talk to Sara on Monday about our vacation. I want to be sipping fancy wine with you somewhere besides Madison Valley.” Nick’s excitement couldn’t be contained. The only trips he took included Pack mates, and never with a serious girlfriend. Not this type of trip anyway.
As they ran, Nick slowed his pace to match Mia’s. He preferred to add speed towards the end of the run. And then Nick halted in his tracks. Even held out an arm to block Mia’s path. Did he smell…? A thousand emotions crossed his face as he inhaled the air: sorrow, pain, confusion, hope. “How...but...no. No. Nono. He can’t...” And then he pulled the most Clay like move ever, that he heard Jeremy yelling at him for not going slow and investigating. He ran. Full out sprinted, and didn’t worry about cuts and bruises. He smelled a Pack mate, and not just a Pack mate. He smelled Logan. And everything in him screamed how wrong he was, that his nose lied to him. So he ran.
***
When his arm came up to hold her back, Mia felt a rush of annoyance, but looking at his face had her swallowing her pride for a moment. A moment later and he was running full speed. She swore under her breath before taking off after him. She knew she wouldn’t catch up to him until he slowed or stopped. Mia wanted to be there if he needed help and so she pushed herself, though unlike Nick, she ducked and dodged when she had to. She’d have called out if she wasn’t worried about giving Nick’s position away.
-- Logan stood still, absolutely still, while he gathered what bearings he had left. The scent of Nick drew closer quickly, so Logan decided to remain in that spot until his friend saw him. Where the hell did he land? What happened? Logan considered hallucination as a cause. He shook his head. Of course he wore his suit, so less chance he could run if Nick told him to do so.
*** Nick stopped. His cardio handled much more, but Nick’s common sense caught up with the rest of him. And no way did he want Mia by herself when this ended in a terrible trick. But, nobody else knew Logan. Even Elena’s version of Logan smelled different, he assumed, based on the fact that Elena’s scent differed from Nick’s version. And literally everyone else from their world? Logan died. Nick realized nobody else here knew Logan. Or, rather they knew of him, but nothing besides that. So, who knew his scent?
When Mia caught up, Nick’s hands covered his eyes as he cried. When they lost Logan, Nick knew a piece of him died. He cried over the death of Peter too, but Logan’s death hit harder, as he knew it did for Elena too.
“He’s dead, Mia. Logan died. I should not smell him. And when I finish my run and realize my nose tricked me? I get to experience losing him again.” Nick’s voice held harsh tones, tones which were overtaken by deep sorrow.
***
Mia felt like she was in a whirlwind and had no idea what direction things were going in. Her entire body tensed when Nick began to cry. It was partly because crying in general made her uncomfortable, but it was more that she suddenly felt the urge to attack whatever was causing Nick pain. She looked around, her lips pressed firmly together as her eyes held a serious expression, but there was clearly nothing around to punch. “Nick? -”
She paused and listened. “Logan?” Her eyes held steadfastly on Nick’s face and she felt the desperate urge to make him feel better. She hated that she had no idea how to make it better, except, well, the thought that came into her mind. “He can be alive here. Laurel and Snart are alive here even though back home they die. Other people too. Maybe…-”
-- Okay, Nick’s scent stopped suddenly. Shit. Should Logan head in that direction? He briefly wondered if someone spiked the scotch he sipped on the plane, but no werewolf’s pride allowed such a passive form of murder. Okay. Logan briefly weighed the benefits of Changing. He decided against it. Wolf form offered benefits, but the time he needed to remove his suit and Change? Logan figured if he found Nick first, he could Change after that. Thankfully, he took very little time to locate …
Wait. What the fuck? The person in front of him smelled like Nick. But why did Nick look older? The Nick he knew looked no older than twenty-five, whereas this one looked early 30’s. And Logan certainly did not recognize the pretty blonde woman …”Nick?”
*** At Mia’s explanation Nick looked at her with a small smile. “Sorry for taking off on you suddenly. I heard Jeremy’s voice in my head yelling at me for my recklessness. The wolf in me...well, no excuses except I needed to see what my nose told me and the rest of me refused to believe.”
The trees rustled and Nick’s expression changed to panic and apprehension. Logan’s scent grew closer and suddenly Logan stood before them. He looked...young and in his suit. Nick remembered when they bought that particular suit for Logan’s first case.
Nick stared at his friend. “Logan. You…” and Nick hugged his friend like they hadn’t hugged in years, which they hadn’t. “I have a lot to tell you, but first this is Mia. My...girlfriend.” Mate, he thought.
***
Mia was entirely unsure of what to do at that moment. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she took the newcomer in. Nick had mentioned Logan a few times, but it was always different when you saw someone in person. It was pretty easy to see the confusion on Logan’s face. It definitely put him squarely in the ‘new to town’ category.
She didn’t say anything until Nick introduced her. Even then, she nodded first before she seemed to find her voice. “You look like you just got here. This isn’t the world you know. It’s kind of like a science fiction alternate reality.” Only instead of ‘kind of’ it was just really that.
-- Logan broke apart from Nick and grinned widely at the woman in front of him. He gave her a hug and then stepped back to look at her. “Hold up. Nick. You met someone? And settled down?”
His expression sobred almost immediately. “I fell asleep on a plane headed to Stonehaven. I woke up in the woods. Science fiction...I take you mean literally?”
*** Nick latched on to Logan’s joke first. “Yeah. I met someone; at speed dating of all places.” He shook his head at his friend.
“This place...people from various worlds live here. Other types of werewolves, witches, superheroes…people from our world. A different version of Elena. And other supernatural creatures from our world.” He took a deep breath and then plowed on to the tougher part of this conversation.
“Logan. I recognize we need to get drunk after this conversation. And this...I didn’t...Logan, back home you died. Somewhere between the plane landing and Stonehaven the mutts found and killed you. I wouldn’t tell you, but I wanted you to hear it from me before anyone else says something.” Nobody outside the people from their world, and a few people like Mia knew anything about Logan. But, Nick didn’t want to chance an unknown person saying something. Logan deserved to hear it from Nick.
“Mia’s lived here longer, so she’s probably better at describing this thing.”
***
Mia tried to give the hug back as naturally as she could. She might have gotten comfortable touching Nick, but strangers and friends still took some getting used to. At least he didn’t punch him in the face as a retort. Instead, she listened. Being told you were dead had to suck. Being told you were dead and you were in a strange place and there was a different version of someone you knew? Yeah, Logan was going to need several drinks.
She shifted again on her feet and reflexively crossed her arms over her chest. “Think of it like Grand Central, only the trains bring people from different worlds in and getting a ticket out is hard. This is Madison Indiana, for better or for worse…” She paused, then thought to add, though a little softer. “A lot of people here come from a world where they are dead. They use this as a second chance.” She wished her dad could have it, though she knew Oliver Queen had been here before.
-- Did Mia not like hugs? Logan made a note to remember that for the future, but too late for this particular hug. Wait. “I...died?” Logan’s voice broke. No. But the longer he stared at Nick, the more certain he felt. Somehow that made sense. He hated it, but Nick did not lie. Nick avoided any unnecessary hurt.
“I think I need a couple drinks. Is anyone else from our Pack here?” Hell, Logan would be okay if he saw Clay at this point.
*** Nick shifted from one foot and then replied, “Yeah, the mutts got you and Peter. For a while our Pack...well...we only had Jer, Tonio, Elena, Clay, and me.” Nick decided to not mention the part where Karl participated in the mutt uprising and eventually turned Pack.
“No other Pack members you know. Elena, but she isn’t our Elena. Close, though, and she became Alpha after Jer left. I should tell you Elena and Clay end up back together and parents. Their twins are here: Kate and Logan.”
Nick shot an apologetic look at Mia, since their shared shower plans no longer existed. “I need a shower, so why don’t you come with me to my house? I can lend you some clothes. You can hang out at the bar where Mia and I work? I will pay for your drinks tonight and you can stay in the Pack house.”