If you recognise it, it's not mine. Some lines honestly from Wolverine 34
"One of these days—you and all your kind--...are going to go down hard and I'm Gonna be the one who does it."
The pain in his ear was blinding, and the arm around his throat was choking, but he still managed to gasp out.
"Should have done it when you had the chance. Won't get another one."
The arm relaxed from his throat, allowing him to take a deep breath.
"Yeah." The owner of the voice sounded tired. "Dam it, Logan."
Logan grunted, massaging his throat. Healing factor or not, adamitium skeleton or not, Fury knew what he was doing with holds.
"Think anyone suspected?"
Logan managed a small chuckle. "nah. Too stuck up their own asses to realise anything."
"Good." Fury muttered. He ran his hands through his hair. "The kid?"
"Safe. Hospital."
Fury nodded his breathing still deep. "Carol?"
"Safe."
"Good. Good." He swallowed. "Dum Dum?"
"Held with the others." The mutant shrugged. "You know they're going to kill you, right?"
Fury snorted. "Yeah." He sighed. "They need a scapegoat."
"And they've got the tapes from Watergate."
He watched as the other man groaned. "Damit, Logan. We both know it won't just be me."
A smile spread across the face. "Might be. If they felt guilty enough."
He watched as Fury frowned. "Nick Fury ain't a coward, No way am I eating my own gun."
Logan rolled his eyes. "Not like that. If they thought one of their own had killed you."
"If you killed me." Fury was blunt.
Logan nodded.
"They need you. You're the only one who knows how the system works, the agent with the most field experience."
"Got it in one."
He watched as the other man looked at him with suspicion. "How do I know it won't be for real?"
He didn't even see the mutant move. One moment he was sitting in the dirt at his feet, the next the knife was pressed against his throat.
"That answer enough for you?"
He nodded, falling back massaging his throat.
"How...?"
"Just trust me." The smile that resembled a wolves', wasn't very reassuring.
****
It wasn't hard to find Earshot. Travis was in a bar licking his wounds.
It was almost too easy to pour the drinks down the guy's throat, too easy to let him be convinced to help him.
"A prank," Travis muttered, softly. "That's all it is. Just show the Sap up a bit. Give him a fright."
He watched as the blond mutant watched him. He let him wait, playing with a bit, before licking his lips.
"Just give him a fright? Not hurt him."
"Yahtzee."
He took a sip of his drink.
"O.k. When?"
He smiled to himself, as a dopey grin spread across the kid's face. People tended to forget how good he was at controlling people.
Sad thing was, Earshot was convinced that this was all his idea.
****
"Gimme another one."
The kid, a rookie, looked like for a moment she was going to refuse, but one of the older hands shook their head and motioned for her to pour. He drowned the shot in one, getting a secret thrill out of the look on the rookie's face.
Thank god Fury had destroyed all the paperwork that weapon X had done into his healing factor. Shaw might guess he wasn't as drunk as he let himself appear, but there was no way he could prove it.
He shook himself, trying to get rid of the ghosts of the past.
Yeah, sad thing Earshot had been convinced it was his idea. Kid couldn't handle the idea he might be responsible for a man's death.
Ate his gun, a couple of weeks after Fury's "death", during the court martial. He did feel guilty about that, he hadn't considered that they'd need a scapegoat for the death. Guess he should have remembered Kennedy.
He hadn't heard from Nick since that day, not that he expected to. He didn't doubt the guy was alive, there had been at least three minutes on timer, and Fury had managed more with less.
Shaw was no Fury, didn't have the guts to confront Logan or to let him know that he knew. God only knew hwy, the kid's did. He raised his glass as Bucky pushed past, heading to join Toro. The human rolled his eyes, didn't he get this was a game?
A game played on people who treated kids like Bucky worse than the humans had ever treated him. You could defend yourself from blows; close your ears to words, but eyes that looked at you with pity? There was no defence against that.
He saw in the eyes of others when they looked at him, when he tried to speak up for humans or for Nick. Like wild beasts regarding a tame one.
"Gimme another."
"Are you sure you haven't had enough, sir?" the rookie was on her own and bolder this time.
He smiled at her, chuckling softly. "Darlin' I'm still standing ain't I?"
He hoped Nick made his move soon, else one of these days, he'd lose sight of where the game began and reality ended.
Fini