"I… I can't do this anymore."

Colonel Nick Fury took his eyes off of his whisky to look at Toshinori, who was staring at his rum and coke. Ever since they were released from the hospital after that massive fuck up operation that Pug had thrown them into, the normally chipper superhuman hadn't said a word. He just followed Nick around like a lost puppy, not even complaining when he brought them into a bar at noon to just drink.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"This. All of this." For the first time in their entire friendship, the blond glared at him. "All those people… all those lives lost… and for what?"

"We tried to take that shitstain Castro's head off, that's what." Nick then took a swig of his glass. "You've been in the shit with me since the war, Toshi. You know how well the people up top fuck people like us."

"But they never abandoned their men! They at least tried to make sure to stick with us until the end, even when things go south!" Toshinori shook his head. "The company… they just abandoned those men on the beach! Just let them be slaughtered as soon as things got bad because the president caught them with their hand in the cookie jar! And why the hell did they even go behind his back like this?!"

"The last thing we need is for politicians to get involved with war." Nick hated the bile he had to spew out, but someone had to say it. Even during the war, Toshinori Yagi had been an idealist. Thinking that war was only meant to be used to combat evil. He never cared for the small firefights needed to maintain that peace. All the not-so-pretty things those bastards in circus outfits would never be caught dead doing for the sake of their nation.

His friend scoffed. "Like the company knew how to manage it any better! They fucked it up! Just like how they fucked up Indochina and they're going to keep fucking up! And will they care? No! Because they're never going to be punished!"

"And what the hell do you want to do?" Nick glared at the blind with his one remaining eye. "Expose them? They will chew you up and shit you out before you could bring out any evidence. That prick McCarthy and Pug will eat you alive, and all the good work we've done will be for nothing!"

"We're doing nothing now! All we're doing is just causing violence and bloodshed while making all those countries hate us!"

Something twisted in Nick's mind. Something that caused his temper to flare up for the first time that wasn't in a battlefield.

"We're not doing nothing, you naive asshole!" He shouted at Toshinori. "Wake the fuck up! This is the real world! This is the shit we need to do to make sure that we keep the peace that we fought those Axis pricks for! Do you just want to give it all up and let pricks like Castro and Giap run free? We're doing this because we can't! I sure as hell won't, and if you're just going to bitch and moan about what is or isn't right then you're as stupid as that Captain America fa-!"

Toshinori slammed his hands on the table, cutting off Nick's rant. When the blond looked at him, Nick saw an icy cold fury that he hadn't seen since the war.

It made his blood turn to ice.

"You know, I wondered why Dum Dum told you to never call him after the war." Toshinori finished his drink in one gulp. "Now I understand why."

"Toshi…"

"I was offered a position with some United Nations spy organization they're setting up. It's called S.H.I.E.L.D, and Dum Dum says we can do some good work. Work that matters without the CIA fucking everything up." He got out of his seat and began walking to the door. "We're not going to start wars just for the hell of it so that a few guys can profit."

"I didn't sign up with them to start wars!" Nick protested, and Toshinori looked over his shoulder at him.

"No. You just love fighting in them."

And without another word, Toshinori Yagi left the bar.

Nick Fury looked back at his drink and stared at his reflection.

He was Nick Fury. He couldn't seem to die, he fucked like a demon, and licked war like it was sugar.

And he now had absolutely no friends.

He looked up at the small American flag that hung on the right wall and remembered what Toshinori said he thought it meant.

"It's a symbol, Sergent. A symbol of peace. A symbol of the debt we owe to the past and a responsibility we owe to the future. Blood on the bandaged wounds of brave men…"

"...And all the stars in the sky." Nick muttered to himself and felt the tear run down his cheek.

It had been a while since he cried.

"God help me…"


Note: Well, that was a bit depressing huh?

Well, I sorta wanted to write this since I just finished the side-story. While this wouldn't fit the world of Spider-Momo, it would fit the world of reppuzan's little tale of Captain Izuku.

Plus me wanting to reconcile All Might being the Nick Fury stand-in while keeping Nick Fury around.

Fury: My War Gone By by Garth Ennis was my major inspiration for this little snippet, and its one of the few comics written by him that I really like.

Hope you all enjoyed it, and keep an eye out for the side-story!