With or Without
“Three days you’ve been here and three days you have not said a word,” The man in the cell next to Logan spoke. He had a thick Sokovian accent.
“At first I thought you were just the quiet kind of criminal,” The man speculated, leaning against the bars to get a look at Logan. Logan looked up at him as he sat against the side of his cell and raised a brow. The man went on, “Now I think that is not so. I believe that you are purposefully being quiet.”
“You have-”
“Is all you do talk?” Logan asked with a blunt tone.
The man tilted his head. This was something he’d done a lot the past few days when he’d try and spark up a conversation. Logan had never really given in until just now.
“Neither of us will ever see the outside of these cells again, you know,” The man started, “Which means we must get used to each other.”
Logan let out a grunt and an eye roll.
“And, most of all, you must let go of those two children you’re so fond of,” The man directed.
Logan lifted his head and glared at him, “How d’you know about ‘em?”
“The guards talk and I listen,” The man responded, running his hand through his hair, “You gave yourself up for them, yes?”
“Don’t see why it’s any of your damn business,” Logan pushed back.
The man chuckled, “Not the socialite either, hm?”
Logan begrudgingly realized that this man wasn’t going to shut up anytime soon, “Who’re you then?”
“Baron Helmut Zemo,” The man introduced himself, waving his hand in a slightly eccentric manner, “And who are you, my new friend?”
“Logan,” He saw no need for his last name. It wasn’t like it would add any weight or value to him at all, “And we’re not friends.”
“If you say so,” Zemo replied with a shrug. He remained in place, inspecting Logan with a hint of a smirk, “You must be quite dangerous for them to put you in all of that.
Zemo had been referring to a kind of technologically enhanced straitjacket that SHIELD had put on Logan once he’d gotten there. When they’d put this thing on him, Logan knew it wouldn’t restrain him for long, but he’d told himself to hold back. If he messed this up, it could land Kitty and Kurt in prison. So he just followed it up with, “Yep.”
“A freak as I’ve heard the guards say,” Zemo recounted, drumming his fingers on the metal bars.
“Guards don’t know what they’re talkin’ about,” Logan responded, giving Zemo a slight sneer.
Zemo seemed to accept the challenge with a smirk, “A ‘trio of freaks.’ Their words, not mine.”
“Drop it,” Logan commanded, hanging his head again.
“For someone with such a tough exterior, you don’t seem to back it up,” Zemo said with another sly smile, tilting his head.
“The hell’s that mean?” Logan looked up at him.
“I believe the American way of saying it is, ‘all bark and no bite,’” Zemo tapped his chin.
“What’re you after?” Logan narrowed his eyes at him. He was clearly trying to provoke him. He wasn’t having it.
“I am just trying to see who you are. Who is the man I may be stuck with for however long I am here?” Zemo admitted and then thought aloud, “The people here are either the violent kind of criminal or the calculating kind.”
Logan inspected him from his viewpoint, “So you must be the calculatin’ type.”
“Do I not strike you as violent?” Zemo inquired, looking at him curiously.
“You strike me as a wimp that needs a gun to get things done,” Logan responded bluntly.
Zemo didn’t take offense to hid comment or deny it, “So then you must be the violent kind.”
“If ya wanna put it that way, sure,” Logan shrugged.
Zemo tilted his head, “You don’t seem particularly enthused.”
“Well, I don’t enjoy it,” Logan went to clarify, “The violence. I’m the best there is at what I do, and what I do isn’t very nice.”
“It does beg the question, why were you with those two children?” Zemo asked, stroking his chin again.
“First of all, they aren’t children. They’re both adults now. Young adults, but still adults,” Logan disclosed, “And second, you don’t need to know.”
“Ah, protective,” Zemo smirked, “I was like that with my family once.”
Logan didn’t respond, knowing this guy was probably going to tell him anyway.
Zemo then began his own story, “I was like that once. I loved my wife and son more than myself. My family had such admiration for the Avengers so long ago. And then they dropped a city on them and flew away.”
“Weren’t they fightin’ somebody who lifted the city in the first place?” Logan raised a judgmental brow.
“Yes, Ultron, it was,” Zemo gripped on the bar, “Something they created.”
“So what? You have a problem with the Avengers?” Logan asked, “Join the club.”
“I tore them apart,” He revealed, “I used the Winter Soldier to tear them apart and it worked. I made an empire fall.”
Logan raised a brow, “Hold on. The UN bombing in Vienna with Barnes-”
“I orchestrated it to frame him and to find him,” Zemo admitted more with nonchalance as he leaned against the bars.
“Adding more dirt to his name to further your interests. Doesn’t paint you very nicely, bub,” Logan responded, eyeing him with suspicion.
“I did much more than that. I even activated the Winter Soldier,” Zemo divulged, “And yet, he and Wilson still sought my help years later with the Flagsmashers.”
“I’m sure you were so gracious,” Logan’s tone was laced with heavy sarcasm.
“I had my fun. I did help them, but alas, I still ended up here,” Zemo finished his spiel and pushed himself off of the bars.
“They will take what they need from you and then give you nothing in return. It is simple,” Zemo concluded, “So you, Logan, are just suffering the consequences of your trusting them. Therefore, you must get used to life here on the Raft.”
“You may think that they’ll keep their word. That they will leave your children alone, but once they make sure that you won’t escape,” Zemo shifted closer to his cell, “They’ll find a way around it.”
This wasn’t the first cynical villain monologue Logan had heard and it certainly wouldn’t be the last, but this was successfully annoying the shit out of him.
“Those kids can handle themselves just fine against Wilson or Barnes,” Logan retorted.
“I would not be so sure,” Zemo speculated.
Logan grunted, “You don’t know those kids like I do. They can handle it.”
With that final remark, Logan got up and moved deeper into his cell to cut off the conversation with Zemo prematurely.
^^^
It was a nice day at the Raft despite the constant rain and the fact that nobody wanted to be here. Agent Dayton stayed seated on the jet that had just brought him here. He was content finally being away from that investigative team he’d been assigned. They hadn’t achieved anything in the time they’d been given.
Now, he’d been reassigned to interview the one with claws. He checked his notepad. Logan Howlett. According to the file, this man had been put in an advanced straitjacket to keep him from going berserk. Good. It’s good that they knew how to keep that freak restrained.
Dayton liked his new assignment. In other words, he liked the power that he felt. He’d been given the freedom to do whatever he wanted in this investigation and he had two agents that he could instruct to do whatever he asked. A man and a woman, though both seemed to like to keep themselves in heavy duty SHIELD armor. The man also wore a trench coat which was against SHIELD regulation. Not everything could be perfect, Dayton thought. So he let it slide.
The two agents followed Dayton as they were led inside. This place really has high security. There were guards at almost every door post. Once they reached central, they were directed to the holding area that housed Logan. They took an elevator down and then began traveling down the long white halls leading to the cell.
At one point, the three people entered a long white hallway with no guards and only one door to a storage closet. Suddenly, Dayton’s foot got caught on the male agent’s and he fell to the ground, dropping the digital notepad and hitting the floor with a thud.
Before he could cuss out the man, he heard him mockingly, “Sorry.”
“Oh, let me help you up, sugah,” The woman approached Dayton and held out her hand. It was unusually ungloved, but Dayton reached out and took it anyway.
The woman helped him up, but he was suddenly struck by a draining feeling. It was painful. Every atom in his body felt like it was going to combust. It was then that he noticed the woman was holding onto his wrist. Tightly. He then felt himself go unconscious and he collapsed to the floor, the woman letting go and letting him fall.
Once he was out cold, Rogue removed the clunky SHIELD helmet and let her white and brown hair fall over her shoulders. Gambit did the same and ran his hand through his hair to make sure the helmet hadn’t flattened it.
Gambit then removed a deck of cards from his belt and plucked a single card from the deck. He ignited it with pink light and launched it at a nearby security camera, causing it to explode. He did the same to another camera and then put the deck back in his belt with a satisfied smile.
Rogue bent down to pick up the digital notepad. She scrolled for a few seconds before speaking up, “He’s here alright.”
“Have a plan now, chère?” Gambit asked with a smirk.
“I’ll get us a ride off this prison. You get Logan,” Rogue directed, handing him the notepad with the directions.
“My pleasure,” Gambit said, taking the notepad with one hand and then removing the deck of cards from his belt again with the other.
Rogue began to walk off and then turned back to him, “Don’t free any of the other criminals.”
“No promises, chérie,” Gambit expressed and then whipped around and went down the hall.
Rogue rolled her eyes with a smile at the Cajun before going down the opposite end back towards where they had come from.
^^^
“I am right, you know,” Zemo said, trying to reignite the conversation even though he couldn’t see Logan anymore, “You just don’t want to admit it.”
“Can you just shut yer trap?” Logan seethed from the back of his cell.
Zemo opened his mouth to say something, but the door to their cell block came crashing down with a pink explosion. The guards near the door were instantly knocked unconscious while the remaining guards lifted their guns, aiming them at the smoke that now pooled from the doorway. Two miniscule pink flames with a playing card in the center flew towards the surveillance cameras, causing them to explode.
Zemo watched from his cell with fascination. He glanced at Logan. His expression consisted of annoyance.
“You’ve gotta shittin’ me,” Logan grumbled.
“Do you know whatever that is?” Zemo asked.
“Unfortunately,” Logan remarked.
Gambit emerged from the smoke, shuffling the remaining deck of cards between his hands with his usual smug smile, “Aw, I thought we were friends, Wolverine.”
“What’re you doin’ here, Gumbo?” Logan questioned, moving to the front of his cell.
“Gambit an’ Rogue are breakin’ you out, mon ami,” Gambit replied carelessly as he launched a few cards at the remaining guards.
Gambit looked at the collapsed guards with satisfaction. He knelt down to each one and pulled out their key cards, pocketing each one. He then stood up and ambled over to Logan’s cell.
“That’s great and all, but you didn’t need to do any of this. I’m here by choice,” Logan argued, watching Gambit twirl a card in between his fingers.
Both of Gambit’s eyebrows were raised and he chuckled, “We know, but we think the deal you’ve made mighta gone wry.”
“What’re you on about?” Logan asked, tilting his head, his irritation growing.
“Your girl’s on the run,” Gambit explained, leaning against the bars of Logan’s cell, “And SHIELD’s got max security ‘round your boy.”
Logan paused, “They’re not together?”
“Non,” Gambit shook his head, “Things musta gone bad, eh?”
“If I might add something,” Zemo spoke up. Both Gambit and Logan looked at him. Gambit watched him curiously. Zemo took it as a sign to continue, “I did tell you this would happen.”
“I don’t need yer input, bub” Logan replied curtly before looking back at Gambit.
“I could be of some help to both of you,” Zemo suggested, “I have been known to talk myself out of bad situations.”
Gambit strolled over to the front of Zemo’s cell, looking him dead in the eye. Zemo noticed that his eyes were black with red pupils.
“Aw, you’re almost as silver-tongued as Gambit, mon ami,” Gambit smiled slyly at Zemo and then removed a card from his deck. A king of spades, “And if Gambit were a lesser man, I mighta let you out today.”
Zemo tilted his head, “Might have?”
“My lady has asked me to not make any rash decisions today. And unfortunately that means no freein’ you,” Gambit tapped on the bar of Zemo’s cell. The card then ignited in a pink flame before turning to ash. Gambit then kicked the ash and returned to the front of Logan’s cell.
“Now do you want Gambit’s help or not?” He asked, already knowing his answer.
Logan sighed begrudgingly before unsheathing his claws, them ripping through the enhanced straitjacket with ease. He ripped it apart and freed himself. Gambit used one of the key cards to open the doors of the cell. Logan stepped out, breathing in fresh air for the first time in a while.
“I should ask you to reconsider,” Zemo lightly pleaded.
“Au revoir,” Gambit waved coldly and then followed Logan out the door, leaving the cell block.
They walked side by side in silence until Logan shared, “One a’ you should be out lookin’ for Kitty.”
“One of us is,” Gambit responded, “Good ol’ blond but deadly’s got a lead on her.”
“You sent Illyana to find her?” Logan asked with slight concern.
“Oui. She had a lead when we last spoke,” Gambit revealed, “She’ll catch her.”
“If anybody can find her, she can,” Logan agreed.
The two men ventured down the halls, narrowly avoiding guards and fights until they reached the top of the Raft where Rogue was waiting for them. Gambit and Logan boarded the jet.
“Good to see you’re alive,” Rogue greeted Logan as she got in the pilot’s seat.
“Good to see you too, Rogue,” Logan patted her shoulder fondly before asking, “We headed to Madripoor?”
“No, we’re goin’ to Genosha first. Once Illyana’s got Kitty, then we can get Kurt,” Rogue explained as she started the jet.
Guards began to flood the top of the Raft, aiming their guns at the jet.
“Remy, can you deal with that?” Rogue worked on take off, “Logan you might wanna take a seat.”
“It would be my pleasure,” Gambit smirked and then went towards the back of the jet, firing a few cards at a few SHIELD guards as the jet lifted to the air. Logan rushed to a seat in the jet and buckled up.
Rogue managed to finally get the jet to lift off. The jet flew into the storming clouds and then disappeared.
Gambit plopped down in front of Logan and leaned back in his seat, noticing the contemplative look on his face.
“You ready to get your petits back, mon ami?” Gambit asked, leaning to the side of his seat.
“As I’ll ever be,” Logan sighed. How could this have all gone so terribly wrong?
“Allons,” Gambit declared as the jet continued to soar through the sky.
“Allons..” Logan repeated.