Harder To Breathe

Vics sat next to Wilson and set out her empty clips and her bullets in neat piles. She started filling the clips and let her mind and eyes wander around the camp. Groups of two or three men were scattered around, most servicing their weapons or eating. She continued surveying the area until her gaze landed on a man she had never seen before.

He stood with his back pressed to a metal beam, an unlit cigar sticking out of his mouth. She pulled down her black sunglasses to get a better look at the man. He had dark hair that was somehow combed to look messy while staying kept. It was obviously out of regulation, but Vics had the impression that he didn't give a fuck. She liked that. The man was attractive, she had to give him that. His eyes flicked up to Kitty, who had already turned her attention to Wilson.

"Hey, Sarge, who's that?" Vics asked, careful to keep her voice light and casual.

Wilson was busy checking his own weapon and distractively asked, "Who's who?"

"The Hugh Jackman look-alike."

Wilson's head jerked up to see the man looking at them. A smile crossed his face and he looked back at Vics. "They call him the Wolverine."

Vic's blonde eyebrows drew together and she glanced back over her shoulder at the man. When she saw that he was still staring, she quickly turned back around. "Why's that?"

Wilson went back to servicing his weapon, but a knowing smile stayed on his face. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

Vics mirrored his grin and said, "Maybe I will." She stood up and messed with Wilson's short blond hair before strolling over to where the man was. She peered at him over her sunglasses and asked, "Hasn't anyone warned you 'bout the last man that stared at me like that?"

He took the cigar from his mouth before saying, "They said you cut off his toes-"

"One by one." Kitty finished as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Usually scares 'em away pretty fast."

"Not that easy to scare." He replaced the cigar in his mouth, which was still curled into a smirk.

"Obviously." Vics inspected the man carefully. "So, why do they call you the Wolverine?"

The man held his left arm out to the side and Vics watched as three long, metal claws slid from between his knuckles. She didn't flinch or recoil, like the man had expected. Instead, her eyes lit up and a smile crossed her face.

"Who's your superior?"

The man silently retracted his claws, an odd look on his face. "Baxter." His eyebrows drew together with mild confusion. "Why?"

Vics nodded and turned towards a table a couple meters away. "Hey, Baxter!"

The ginger stopped his conversation and followed the voice. "Hey, Vics!"

She nodded towards the man next to her. "Who do you want for him?"

"What?"

"I'll trade you Harvey for-" Vics looked over her shoulder and whispered to the man with the claws. "What's your name again?"

He leaned close enough for her to feel his breath on her neck. She tried to keep her face straight and not shiver when he said, "Logan."

Vics made eye contact with Baxter and yelled, "Harvey for Logan?"

A look of confusion crossed Baxter's tanned face. "Who?"

She quietly laughed and jerked her thumb at Logan. "The Wolverine!"

Baxter turned to his second in command and quietly asked, "The Mutant freak?" His second nodded. "Which do you think will kill the other?"

The second considered this. "Vics will kill him first." He glanced over at the man, then added, "When he wakes up, he'll kill her."

Baxter smiled a toothy grin. "A win-win." He looked back up to Vics and held his arms out. "I'll take it!"

Vics smiled triumphantly and turned to Logan, a tinkle in her blue eyes. "Looks like you're mine, Logan."

"Looks like it." Logan agreed. He looked Vics up and down, his eyes narrowed slightly. "What are you?"

"Intrigued." Vics answered. "And now your superior. Name's the Violent Vixen, Staff Sergeant, Louisiana, or-" She pushed her glasses up further on her nose and was glad that they hid her eyes, which flicked down. "Kitty Vics."

"Really?" Logan asked. "Kitty?"

She crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight onto her left foot. "Got a problem with that, Logan?"

"Nope."

"So," Vics nodded to his hands, which were down at his side. "How do you get through the airport with those?"

Logan almost cracked a smile. "I don't."

"Ooh, body cavity search?" Vics joked. "I hate those."

Logan took this tangent as deflection of his earlier question. "I meant, what are you?" He remembered her lack of surprise or fear at his claws and the draw he felt to her the moment he entered the camp. "What kind of Mutant are you?"

Vics shook her head. "I'm nothin' special, Logan." She walked back over to Wilson and resumed filling her clips.

"I refuse to believe that." Logan said quietly before he followed her.