Brothers in Darkness
James thoughts were dark as he looked out the window of the jet they were all in. He was thinking, like every time, of where they were going and what it meant. What it might lead two and what it was doing now.
He thought of what it was doing to Victor. He could see the change in his brother and he didn't like where his mind was taking it. The very thought that he could be like Victor, it disgusted and revolted him. It scared him.
Even the idea of it made him realize the similarities between them. Not the physical ones, they had lots of those. They were brothers, that was to be expected.
No, he was afraid of seeing their mental similarities. It was those similarities than scared him more than most things in this shitty world. They made him wonder if he could ever be as mindless and vicious as his older brother often seemed to be. Could he ever fall to that darkness?
Though, he used to be able to see Victor's good side mixed in with the animal he so often succumbed to. The protective big brother who always got him out of trouble and out of the cold. The one who pretended not to care because of his pride but always watched him out of the corner of his eye, always had his back.
This animal Victor made it harder to see. He was still clearly there, but it got harder to see as they went further into times they shouldn't see. It was harder to see his Victor now and James was afraid it might disappear completely. But he couldn't stop hoping his brother would just snap out of it someday.
He knew that Victor had always been more animalistic, but he had gotten worse and worse and now James wondered if it too was possible for that to become his fate.
James knew firmly that he was good now, that he had good intentions. But it always weighed on his conscious that he might slowly slip into what Victor was. Victor used to be like him too, James had looked up to him as a kid. He had wanted to be just like Victor, he was his role model. James followed him around listening with rapt attention to every word he spoke and always trying to follow his lead. Though, honestly, Victor had been the only one to look up to.
Still it couldn't be a conscious thing. Victor certainly hadn't said he wanted to become some kind of man that would kill on someone's demand with a smile. Not his brother, when they were younger and had first run away…
"Logan," His head snapped to the left at his sudden recognition of Wraith's voice speaking to him.
"Sorry," He muttered before looking over at Victor who was too busy fighting with Wade to notice the absence of his attention. He shook his head and focused in on what John was saying to him.
"So do you want too? It's on me." He looked at John again with a quirked eyebrow.
"Want to what?" He questioned a little cautious. You never knew with these guys. They could get some crazy ideas. Seeing as what they did, it shouldn't surprise him.
"Go for some beers when we get back," Dukes said in his dopey voice that made him sound drunk more than anything else. James muscles lost the small amount of tension that had been in it with John's statement
"Nah, I got better things to do then waste your money," He said leaning back as the normal excuse rolled off of his tongue. Personally he hated most of these guys enough working with them. Besides if there was beer he was sure Wade would be there.
James liked to relax when he was drinking and he could only imagine how much that man would ramble when he had some liquor in him. The bar probably didn't have enough beer to get him drunk enough to handle a drunk Wade, so the whole thing was out of the question. Beer had a lot less quality in today's time anyways. It made it harder for him to drink. Though he remembered once after the civil war Victor had lost a bet and had to pay for James and himself to get smashed.
Thankfully the guys knew well enough to let things die when he said no to something. That was the one thing he liked about John and Bradley, even Dukes somewhat, they knew when to shut up.
Unfortunately, Wade who had walked over followed by a pissed Victor, did not know as well and took the chance to bug James.
"What, now you don't like beer either?" James looked over at the face that belonged to the annoying voice. It did seriously grate his every nerve and according to the look he caught on his brother's face from behind Wade, Victor agreed. He couldn't help the small grin that flickered across his face. Victor looked ready to pounce on him. He had to admit, he wouldn't mind seeing it. He looked at the obnoxious man.
"Yeah, and if you like yer mouth, you'll keep it shut," He said, a faint growl in the back of his voice.
"Oh! Whatever shall I do?" Wade squealed in an high pitched voice, all the different ways he could make him shut up seemed to pass through his mind.
"Big Bad Logan is going to…." Before Wade could even finish, his face twisted in anger and a slight amount of fear could be smelt in the air around him. Then he went silent, a feat that rarely occurred.
All the eyes in the small cabin went to the man standing behind Wade, Victor. His fully extended clawed hand was wrapped around Wade's throat and James could see the pressure of Wade's skin about to break, smell Victor's intent.
It was no wonder Wade smelt slightly of fear. Even the stupidest of men knew to be scared of Victor when he was pissed and especially when he had you in a situation like that. If he hated you enough, he wouldn't hesitate to show his darker side.
"Listen here loudmouth. Yer pissin' him off and that would mean he'd skin ya alive. Now, since I've decided I'm gonna get the pleasure of killin' ya…"Wade's face snarled even more as Victor shifted his arm to dig deeper into his throat. Victor grabbed Wade's hand as it slithered to the holster where his gun was in. A faint smell of blood entered the atmosphere of the room along with Wade's grunt.
"Yer gonna shut the fuck up." Victor finished, with a look that could kill all on its own.
There was a moment of complete silence, beside the hum of the engines, were everyone started at the two. It was filled with tension awaiting Wade's reaction. Usually he was stupid about things like this, he never seemed to care that his life was on the line. But it was pretty obvious even to the others that Victor was willing to live up to his words. It was just an example to James of the darkness that crawled within him…within them.
Then the standoff and focus was broken by the entrance of Stryker and Zero right behind him like a puppy dog. Stryker always seemed suspiciously able to come right when things got too out of hand.
"What's going on her men?" Everyone's eyes shifted from their boss to Victor who shoved Wade away with a smirk. Wade's hand went to the pistol in his belt, setting over it.
"I don't see anythin', just some friendly warnings," Victor said easily as he came and sat down next to James.
It was these situations where James could really see Victor Creed. Not the blood lusting animal. Sure he was threatening to kill someone, but Victor had a short temper. It was just who he was.
It was the animal James hated, the reasonless killing, not Victor and his reasons. He couldn't hate Victor, they were brothers. And it was these times that he could see the real Victor. Where even through his proclaimed selfish acts, James could see his older brother protecting him. It wasn't that he couldn't take care of Wade that would be easy enough. It just showed him the real Victor again which was why he never said anything. These moments restored his hope that his brother was just in a phase or something.
"God, I hate these people," Victor muttered under his breath so only James' sensitive ears could pick it up. He only chuckled, which received him a scowl.
"So why don't we leave?" He asked, just as quiet. He didn't look at Victor, acting casual, but knowing that he was hopeful Victor might actually say yes, just once. This whole thing left a bad taste in his mouth. Had since Stryker approached the two caged brothers.
Something in his gut told him to get away from these people before it was too late. His instincts told him there was more to Stryker and his plans than even Victor would bother to look at.
Apparently Victor picked up on James' seriousness because his face darkened considerable as he spoke.
"Don't start that shit again, James. We got a good thing runnin' here." They didn't look at each other and if their mouths hadn't moved slightly the others might think they were doing nothing. They didn't need to look. Just their hushed tones made their points clear to each other.
That was always his answer. James couldn't see the good in it, there was always that feeling. Apparently Victor was too wrapped up in the 'opportunities'. James didn't see it as an opportunity. Killing people who were only guilty on Stryker's word wasn't his idea of opportunity.
Beside James didn't like what this 'opportunity' did to Victor. It gave him too many chances to just let loose. To kill just for the sake of killing, without any personal reason to do it. And while Victor thought it was good, James didn't. It brought his fears right in front of him and slapped him in the face. It left him unable to do anything about it. James didn't like being in a situation he couldn't control.
"Alright men, we've arrived." Stryker's words were like a bell tolling, leading James down a dark corridor of his mind. One that echoed with terrible nightmares and memories. One that always led to the opening of a cage and the release of an animal full of pure rage and power.
An animal in the dark and the same one Victor was releasing more and more as they both went deeper and deeper into their darkness and into Stryker's plans.
The Beginning
Author's Note- Thanks for Reading! Okay, so this is one of my favorite pieces I've written for the Brothers! Hopefully this will ease up the wait for the Lost Brothers chapters! Please review, it will give me more writing inspiration, ease Jimmy's heavily weighed mind, and make me one happy writer!