A/N: Random thought but I just really hope this story accelerates in views and reviews. It's part of my motivation to write, so if you enjoy this or have any suggestions, do let me know.
LOGAN
Logan watched as Barry swung his ax, the weapon landing on the very last runner, cutting off the creature's head, its decapitated body falling to the ground before remaining motionless. Barry heaved several deep breaths, he, Logan, and several others had been working on clearing the runners that had surrounded the entire base. The team had utilized the use of power dampeners throughout the building to dampen the runners' speed. Logan and Matt's abilities weren't affected by the dampeners, Daisy and Barry's however were as they dealt with their skill and minimum weaponry. While there were several runners, the team, over the course of a few days, had managed to clear through an exit to the outside world. Logan found himself particularly impressed with Barry, the man had become one of the most skilled fighters he'd ever met in a matter of a month, having already beaten May, Bobbi, Clint, and Daisy in hand to hand combat without his powers. He, without his abilities, stalemated Steve, a super soldier, and came close to a win with Matt, the most skilled fighter throughout the entire base. Even now, after over forty-two hours of constantly moving, fighting, and killing runners, he was still standing, breathing heavily, his ax and shirt splattered with blood. Barry and Logan exchanged a glance.
"You doing alright, kid?" Logan asked.
Barry nodded as he let out a scoff of some sort. "Never better."
"Guys," Matt called as he walked in. "We have a location on Barnes."
Logan and Barry briefly exchanged confused and prepared looks as they followed Matt into the main room of the entire base. They weren't surprised to have seen their teammates, along with thirty other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, gearing up in preparation. Logan saw Barry making his way to Tony, who was making last-minute preparations to his suit as he overheard the incoming conversation.
"Hey, look…" Barry tried to say. "I'm not gonna pretend to understand what you're going through. I don't. No one here does, I get that. I just…I wanna say I'm sorry. For everything."
Tony was briefly silent as he looked down. "I promised I'd build the new world…for Morgan and for every other kid that…has to grow up in this damned nightmare of a world."
"We'll build it," Barry said confidently. "That's how we do it. That's how we survive. Together."
"Yeah…" Tony said lowly and hesitantly. "But can we build the new world…and still be the same people we once were?"
Barry paused solemnly as he thought about Tony's words, visibly in doubt and lacking an answer. At least, lacking an answer that would've been pleasing to hear. Not even Logan knew what to say to it. He'd been alive for hundreds of years, fighting war after war. He'd seen the world evolve, change, and destroy itself…and unknowingly he had done the very same thing inside himself. He'd lived from one world to the next and the next. Was he the same person he once was? The type of Barry Allen who was forged by morals and honor-like principles? No. The answer was rather definitive. If he couldn't keep himself together, could this team of people do so? Could they live in such a world where survival was above all else? Logan almost blanked out to the point where he nearly didn't hear Barry's response but he caught wind of it.
"Maybe, maybe not…" Barry admitted. "Either way, I'd say this new world's a fresh start for all of us. Maybe it's one that we'll need when it comes."
Barry turned around as he and Logan stood side-to-side next to each other.
"You think Wanda, Vision, and Banner are alright?" Logan asked.
"That's what I'm hoping for," Barry sighed. "It's also not what I'm expecting."
"Guess we have that in common," Logan muttered.
Just then, Steve stood in the middle of the room as everyone slowly turned his attention to him. Logan and Barry followed suit.
"We've tracked down Barnes to the heart of New York City underground," Steve announced. "We know he's got Wanda, Banner, and Vision in his grasp and we know he's there."
"Not to state the obvious, Cap," Matt briefly interrupted. "But I think we all know that this is obviously a trap."
May nodded her head. "Murdock's right. The question is what kind of trap is it?"
"One for me," Barry said in a bare voice as he approached a screen that showed security footage of Thawne in his cell. "Thawne's tactical. He's smart and he always prepares ahead, he always has a plan. He told Barnes to take those three for a reason."
"And it involves you?" Logan asked, half-confused, half-incredulous.
"It has to," Barry replied. "That's what Thawne sets out to do. Go after me. Hunt me down. It's what he's been trying to do for years."
"Either way," Steve pointed out. "Barnes has our friends. We head in, we get the three of them out, incapacitate Barnes, bring him in…from there, we'll figure the rest of it out."
"What about him?" Mack asked as he jerked his head in the direction of the screen that showed Thawne in his cell.
Coulson was the first and only one to answer. "The Avengers and a unit of agents will go out for Barnes," Coulson looked at his team: May, Mack, Bobbi, Fitz, Hunter, and Daisy. "We're staying here."
Coulson's team nodded as everyone else geared up and prepared to leave. Logan caught sight of Frank walking by as he and Barry glared at each other before Frank left. Clearly, everyone could see that the clear tension between Barry Allen and Frank Castle would pose issues later on. Thankfully, the two could put aside their differences, temporarily, and focus on the mission ahead. Logan and Barry came face to face with Steve and Matt as the four of them spoke alone in the halls, Steve and Logan were out of hearing range, well, at least for Barry, who was left alone to speak with Matt.
"Look," Matt said. "I get it. You're not the Flash anymore. And I'm not asking you to be. No one is. But right now, you go out there, you're one of us. You're an avenger. This team, these people, us…they became your family…we become your family."
Barry nodded. "It'll take a while for me to let go…but I can be here."
Matt held out his hand. "Welcome to the Avengers…Barry."
Barry's hand clasped with Matt's as the two exchanged a strong grip. "Thank you…Matt."
Just as Barry and Logan were living, Logan overheard a woman's voice call Barry's name as the pair stopped, Barry a few feet behind Logan. In front of Barry, a recognizable woman was in front of them.
"Hi…" Barry said as he briefly pointed at her. "It's Laura, right? You're Clint's…girlfriend?"
Laura covered herself with her jacket as she nodded. "Yeah, umm, you must be Barry. Look, I'm just gonna make this quick but I need to ask something of you, Barry."
Barry nodded. "Y-yeah, of course…anything. Just say it."
"I need him to come home," Laura said in a bare whisper as Logan realized the man she was referring to. "I don't want to have to be a widow or for my children to grow up in this world without their father. This world or the new one."
Barry paused briefly as he looked into Laura's eyes, seeing her children stand behind her. Tony's baby daughter, Morgan, asleep in Laura's arms as she looked after them. Logan could practically feel the emotion coming off Barry as the young speedster nodded.
"Nothing's gonna happen to him," Barry assured. "I promise."
Minutes later, everyone was within a Quinjet, except for Rhodey, Sam, and Tony, all of whom would be flying outside in their own suits. Logan found himself seated across from Frank. Barry was standing as he, Matt, and Natasha were in a conversation of their own. Clint and Steve served as pilot and co-pilot of the jet, while Logan slowly tilted his head as he and Frank exchanged a glare.
Frank sighed. "You got something you wanna say to me, Logan?"
"What's your deal with the kid?" Logan demanded.
Frank straightened himself in his seat. "Allen? He's a lot of things, man. Good might be one of them but that ain't gonna do enough for him. Not here, not in this life."
"And what?" Logan asked. "Getting in his face is meant to fix that? You're not what he needs to be like, Castle."
Frank let out a brief, humorless chuckle. "Don't play that card on me, Logan. I'm no good guy, I'm one dirty son of a bitch. Made my peace with that a long time ago. So did you."
"This isn't about either of us."
"No, no you're right. It isn't. It's about survival. That means making the hard choices, even the ugly ones. Even if it means taking the ugly route, doing it the dirty way. You've walked on this planet for two hundred years, Logan, you'd know all about that. Tell me something, man, how many people d'you have to hurt? How many people you kill?"
Logan muttered in response. "Too many."
"Exactly," Frank said with a scoff. "And that was in the old world, man. This one. It's survival, you gotta be ten times worse, ten times scarier if you wanna chance but Allen-" Frank scoffed again. "He's different. Cares about saving everybody when he knows he can't. Always wants to play the good guy, the hero, with 'no killing' and all that bullshit."
"What's your point?" Logan asked grimly.
"My point?" Frank scoffed as he briefly covered his mouth and nose with his hands before letting them fall. "My point - my point…look, I don't have anything against the kid. I knew people like him, back when I was in the marines and when we were at war. It's the same ending with all of 'em. All that morality, that…good cop, it gets 'em killed, thrown and forgotten. If there were any way of fixing that…tachyon device, getting him back to his world…I'd pray to god that we'd just throw him back to that paradise." Frank briefly looked at Barry from his seat as Logan glanced between the two of them before Frank continued. "Look, I ain't sugar-coating anything, I'm gonna give it to you straight: man to man, soldier to soldier. Allen…he ain't built for this world. He ain't gonna survive."
"You're wrong," Logan replied, knowing he had no reason or explanation to back up his statement.
"Maybe," Frank said. "Maybe not. Either way, I hope I'm not. Allen…he's one of the good ones. If he survives all this, he's gonna lose all of that. Become some cold-hearted, ruthless son of a bitch. I don't need to see that. Do you?" Frank and Logan eyed each other. "You really want to see another good soul corrupted and turned into whatever it is we are?"
"Allen's different, he's better." Logan said.
"This life, this other side of that line that people don't cross," Frank said. "You don't get to come back from it. You of all people should know that, Logan."
Logan paused as he briefly thought upon his past, all the kills he'd made, the blood he'd spilled, the people he'd hurt. All their lives taken from him in his relentless pursuit of rage, bloodlust, and power. Could he have ever stopped? Unlikely. Did he ever stop? No. That answer to that particular question was the same as it always had been for nearly two centuries. He'd crossed the line centuries ago and ever since, he hadn't come back.
"Yeah," Logan finally said, in acknowledgement to Frank's words as he looked out the window at the front of the Quinjet. "Yeah, I do."
Minutes later the Quinjet landed as the hangar door opened, allowing Barry, Logan, and the others to exit. The Quinjet had landed on the roof of the very building where Bucky had been tracked down to. Tony, Sam, and Rhodey eventually met with the rest of the team.
"We sweep the building top to bottom," Steve ordered. "Search every floor. You see anything, let everyone else know. Look out for each other."
"Be careful, guys," Sam said. "Chances are some sorta trap's waiting for us."
"It is," Natasha said. "We'll be ready."
Splitting up was how Logan found himself walking through one of the highest floors of the building with Matt beside him. Logan wore boots, jeans, a black buttoned shirt and a brown leather jacket. Matt wore sneaker-like shoes, black jeans, a black, long-sleeved t-shirt, and his usual black mask. The two traversed the roof as Logan prepared his claws, Matt sticking to his heightened senses.
"So…" Logan eventually said after a couple hours in. "How long?"
"What?" Matt asked.
"Between you and Romanoff?" Logan clarified, he didn't even have to look to see the surprise on Matt's face. "If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. Just say it. Just don't deny it."
Matt cleared his throat. "A few months after all this started…how'd you know?"
Logan briefly scoffed. "You kidding? I could practically smell it from the two of you."
"Hmm," Matt's response was short and simple.
"What's going on between the two of you?" Logan asked.
The period of silence seemed to last for an eternity before Matt finally spoke up.
"Earlier…" Matt began. "When all this began, Natasha was injured in some sort of Quinjet crash. I remember being by her bedside, seeing her unconscious next to some EKG machine and some monitors. I…I prayed like hell, begging to God. Let her live, I begged. Let her live and…don't make me lose another person I love. The doctors we had at the time saved her but in the operation, they reversed whatever process the Red Room had done on her. She lived but she could get pregnant, it was possible for her. When she found out, I could hear her heartbeat just…fly off into joy. Her mood was so much better and I couldn't be happier for her."
"But…" Logan said, realizing that there was another end to the story.
Matt stopped in his tracks as he pulled off his mask, revealing his face as he kept his head down when he spoke. "But I couldn't be as happy about it as she was. I just couldn't. She'd want kids, a family…with me. I would've too…but I can't. I asked myself what if our children had the same blindness that I do? What if they end up growing in a world where everything is just a sight of black? A sight of darkness? They'd live their whole life never seeing the faces of their friends, the ones they love…or even their own parents." Matt scoffed. "Hell, I've never even known what I looked like since I was nine. That was how old I was when I lost my sight. I made my peace with it, I've moved on as much as I can but…it never changed the fact that I'd give anything to see the sky one more time.
"I had the chance to see it…but my children? They'd never have it. They'd be damned to a life not being able to see their own face, see the beauty of the world, the sky, or even a sunset. They'd grow up in a cursed life…all because I wanted the joy of having a family. So, I've tried to keep my distance, leave her out of it all. Give her a chance to be with someone normal, someone who could make her happy. I should've done it with everyone else in my life but I didn't. I let them suffer with me and I'll be damned to hell and whatever devil inside me if I make that mistake with Natasha. She's endured hell and she deserves more…and yet I still can't let her go."
Logan was in complete silence, a wave of shock and surprise on him, though his face remained as stoic as possible. He let Matt's words wash over him as he tried to think of something to say, but there was nothing. No response, no motivational speech or anecdote he could've given to make Matt better about himself. Nothing. Matt slipped on his mask as he and Logan continued walking. Matt then stopped in his tracks as he tilted his head, Logan wondered if Matt's senses were picking up on something.
"What is it?" Logan asked. "Talk to me, Murdock."
Suddenly, faster than Logan could move or even react, Matt tilted his body as he kicked Logan square in the chest. Logan could feel Matt's foot pushing against his adamantium ribcage. The kick did more than just stagger him, it sent him and Matt away in opposite directions, just in time to dodge a beam of yellow light that the two had barely missed. Logan and Matt landed on the floor as the yellow laser disappeared from sight, he glanced over to see Vision flying in the air, his head glowing with a red/maroon-ish color. Logan realized what the kick was for: Matt had just reacted to Vision's light beam attack and saved the two of them from being fried. The two rose to their feet.
"You alright?" Matt asked quickly.
"I'll live," Logan responded.
Vision unleashed another beam of light as Logan ducked to the ground while Matt jumped and flipped in the air, the two dodging the light attack by mere inches. Matt landed on his knees, next to Logan as the two rose to their feet once more. Suddenly, Vision flew off the ground by a few inches before crashing through it, moving to the very lower floors. Mere moments later, the entire building began shaking violently as it dangerously tilted downward, throwing Logan and Matt off balance. The building leaned even more as the two were rolled across the floor before falling onto the glass, simultaneously breaking it on impact. The two fell for several feet, falling from the second highest floor of the one-hundred-story building. Logan fell directly onto the concrete road as Matt crashed onto the top of a car. After a couple moments of healing his bruises and cuts, Logan rose to his feet just in time to see Matt stumble off the top of the car and struggle onto his feet. He offered his hand as Matt clasped it and rose to his own feet.
"You alright?" Logan asked.
Matt let out a brief, humorless chuckle. "I'll live."
Logan scoffed.
Just then, Barry sped in as Tony, Rhodey, and Sam landed beside the two. Frank, Natasha, Steve, and Clint came from the rubble and the debris, some minor injuries and dust covering parts of them and their suits. The group stood in a circle-like form as they heard a monstrous roar echo throughout the entire city.
"We're in serious trouble right now," Barry muttered.
Not far away, Hulk, Wanda, and Vision surrounded the heroes as their heads glowed with a sort of red/maroon-ish energy. It wouldn't be long before Bucky sped in, a white trail of lightning behind him as a certain, blonde-haired god with a particular hammer seemed to join him. The five of them surrounded the team.
"Oh you've gotta be kidding me," Tony sighed. "Barnes and Thawne got to Thor."
"How?" Rhodey asked. "What's he even doing here?"
"Dunno," Barry said hesitantly. "But either way, him, Barnes, and these three are under some sort of mind control from Thawne."
Suddenly, from the debris and ashes that surrounded them, over a thousand soldier-like men and women, armed with advanced gear, weaponry, and machine guns appeared as they instantly surrounded the team. Along with Wanda, Thor, Banner, Bucky, and Vision, they circled around the team, aiming their weapons at them. Among them, a certain man in jeans and a leather jacket smirked smugly as he crossed his arms.
"Hydra," Natasha muttered.
"Keep your guns trained on them, boys," Grant Ward said as he scoffed smugly. "If any of them even look like they're about to try anything, open fire…and kill 'em all."
"Sorry I'm late but thank you for not starting without me," a voice boomed throughout the entire situation.
Right next to Ward, a trail of red lightning glowed for the tiniest fraction of a second before a certain, unmasked man in a yellow suit appeared. His face was that of the dead Harrison Wells, his hands covered in blood.
"Thawne?" Barry growled as he saw the blood on his hands. "How did you…what've you done?"
"Oh Barry…" Thawne chuckled. "You didn't really think some cell like that was going to keep me locked up forever now, did you?"
"Where're Coulson and the others?" Matt demanded. "What've you done?"
"That, Mr. Murdock," Thawne replied. "isn't your concern at the moment."
"My family," Clint muttered in a bare whisper of horror.
"Don't worry," Thawne said in a sing-song voice. "They're safe back at your little base. I'd worry more about you at the moment, however, Mr. Barton."
Logan and Barry exchanged glances. The two of them, Matt, Natasha, Frank, Steve, Clint, Tony, Sam, and Rhodey stood close together as they were surrounded. Surrounded by Thawne, Bucky, Wanda, Thor, Hulk, Vision, Ward, and a thousand Hydra agents. They were completely cut-off, completely trapped, as if there were no way out. In this world, there'd barely been a way out of death, a way for survival. Now, such chances seemed to sink to zero.
"Well," Thawne said with a menacing grin as he put on his mask, his eyes glowing red as he vibrated his body. "This is going to be quite a ride."
A/N: Thoughts? Let me know in the reviews.