[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/XxVuenrl.png[/img][/center]


[color=Olive][i]"...most recent trial for Weapon X was largely a success, though subject is growing rapidly unstable..."[/i][/color]

[right][color=Silver][i]"...can be so much more than what they want to make you, all you have to do is..."[/i][/color][/right]

[center][color=BurlyWood][i]"...drop the good-little-soldier boy act, runt, let the hunger drive you..."[/i][/color][/center]

[color=Olive][i]"...displaying worrying signs of resistance to our behavioral conditioning. Suggesting full memory wipe unless..."[/i][/color]

[right][color=Silver][i]"...unless you have something to hold onto, something to believe in, they'll never let you be more than..."[/i][/color][/right]

[center][color=Burlywood][i]"...an animal..."[/i][/color][/center]

[color=Olive][i]"...a perfect weapon...."[/i][/color]

[right][color=Silver][i]"...a lost soul, wandering alone..."[/i][/color][/right]

[center][color=Burlywood][i]"...living only for the hunt, for the fight, for the kill..."[/i][/color][/center]

[color=Olive][i]"You're not like any other subject we've ever had...."[/i][/color]

[right][color=Silver][i]"...you're not like any other man I've ever loved..."[/i][/color][/right]

[center][color=Burlywood][i]"You are Just.  Like.  [b]Me.[/b]"[/i][/color][/center]

[color=Olive][i]"Logan...."[/i][/color]

[right][color=Silver][i]"Logan..."[/i][/color][/right]

[center][color=BurlyWood][i]"Logan...."[/i][/color][/center]

[color=Lavender]"....wake up!"[/color]

I open my eyes, looking up at a cloudy late-afternoon sky. I'm lying in the back of my old pick-up, and Kitty is standing next to it nudging me in the side with a stick. [color=Lavender]"I got us to the closest town. You wanted to pick up some supplies, right?"[/color]

Rubbing my eyes, I sit up and see that we're in the parking lot of a Loblaws supermarket. The truck's suspension groans as I climb out of the truck, stretching. [color=SandyBrown]"We'll have to be quick,"[/color] I say, [color=SandyBrown]"Lots of cameras in big stores. Anyone comes looking for us, we don't want to be on film too long. You haven't gone in and bought anything yet, have you?"[/color]

Kitty shakes her head. [color=Lavender]"I don't have any cash on me. And after you skewered my phone, I didn't want to know what you'd end up doing to my debit card."[/color]

[color=SandyBrown]"Good,"[/color] I nod, before opening the passenger's door and reaching behind the seat. [color=SandyBrown]"You don't want to leave anything that can be tracked. Cash only."[/color]

[color=Lavender]"I just told you,"[/color] Kitty rolls her eyes, [color=Lavender]"I don't have any--"[/color]

Pulling out an old duffel bag, I open it up and root around until I find what I'm looking for: a stack of about 10,000 dollars. Kitty's eyes grow wide when she sees the money, and even wider when I hand it to her.

[color=SandyBrown]"I go into town on the occasional beer run,"[/color] I shrug. [color=SandyBrown]"I'm coming up on the last of my rainy-day money, but this should be enough to get us to New York."[/color]

[color=Lavender]"Where'd you get that?"[/color] Kitty asks, uncomfortably. [color=Lavender]"Are you, like, a drug dealer or something?"[/color]

[color=SandyBrown]"Nah,"[/color] I say, pulling out a stack of cash for myself. [color=SandyBrown]"It's my retirement fund. Chances are I got it from the same people who are after you now."[/color]

[color=Lavender]"Oh, that's [i]much[/i] better,"[/color] she says, her voice thick with sarcasm. [color=Lavender]"Do I even want to know what you do for them?"[/color]

[color=SandyBrown]"[i]Did.[/i] Past tense,"[/color] I correct her. [color=SandyBrown]"These days I don't do anything for anyone. I just mind my own business, at least when I'm not smuggling teenagers across the country."[/color]

[color=Lavender]"And that reminds me,"[/color] she says, [color=Lavender]"I've been so focused on figuring out whether or not you're a serial killer that it didn't even strike me to ask where you're trying to smuggle me to. What's in New York that you're so dead-set on?"[/color]

[color=SandyBrown]"Fair question,"[/color] I say. [color=SandyBrown]"Ever hear of Charles Xavier?"[/color]

For just a second, I see her eyebrow raise, her lips purse, a flash of recognition in her eyes, which she immediately tries to bury. [color=Lavender]"Not really,"[/color] she lies, [color=Lavender]"he's some old mutant activist guy, right?"[/color]

I think about calling her out on the lie, but I can't exactly blame her for not being straightforward, not when I haven't given her any real reason to trust me either. I'll let it slide for now, but I keep in mind.

[color=SandyBrown]"He's [i]the[/i] Mutant rights activist,"[/color] I tell her, [color=SandyBrown]"and he's set up a place for people like us. Well, like you. Kids with a future, but who need guidance, protection. It's a haven for mutants, yeah, but it's also a school. Full Ivy League level education, and they teach you how to get a handle on your abilities."[/color]

Kitty thinks about it. [color=Lavender]"So...it's like Hogwarts? Just, y'know, without the problematic author?"[/color]

[color=SandyBrown]"The hell's a hog-wart?"[/color]

[color=Lavender]"God, how long have you been living out in those woods?"[/color]

I shrug. [color=SandyBrown]"What year is it?"[/color]

Kitty laughs, I grunt, and we head into the store to load up.

[hr]

[b][i]Belle Reve Super-Max Facility
Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana[/i][/b]


[color=LightSteelBlue]"Floyd Lawton."[/color]

On the other side of the massive slab of steel that served as the door to his cell, a man with shaggy black hair lay on his cot, staring at the ceiling. As a fly buzzed around the fluorescent bulb that washed the cell in a harsh white light, he made a pistol shape with his finger, drew a bead on the insect, and quietly made [i]pow-pow[/i] noises.

[color=LightSteelBlue]"Floyd Lawton,"[/color] the voice on the outside of the cell repeated itself.

[color=Tomato]"I know what my name is, thank you,"[/color] the shaggy prisoner rasped, still keeping his aim on the fly as it flittered about the cell. [color=Tomato]"Did you have anything else to go with it?"[/color]

[color=LightSteelBlue]"I'm going to ask you to come with me,"[/color] the voice said. [color=LightSteelBlue]"On a matter of international security."[/color]

[color=Tomato]"I don't do security,"[/color] Lawton dismissed the stranger, [color=Tomato]"In fact, it's kind of the opposite of what I do."[/color]

[color=LightSteelBlue]"Trust me,"[/color] the voice answered, [color=LightSteelBlue]"we know exactly what sort of thing you do. High-level contract killing, under the alias 'Deadshot.' Eighty-two confirmed kills, estimated another hundred-fifty unconfirmed. Forensic evidence at the scene of your crimes suggest a level of accuracy with pistols, rifles, submachine guns, and automatic weapons that would break every world record if they were ever written down. Number one on the FBI's most wanted list for six years until they finally caught you."[/color]

[color=Tomato]"I did get quite the reputation, didn't I?"[/color] Floyd chuckled.

[color=LightSteelBlue]"And we'd like you to live up to that reputation,"[/color] the voice said.

[color=Tomato]"Who's 'we?'"[/color] Floyd asked, his curiosity piqued.

[color=LightSteelBlue]"Who 'we' are,"[/color] came the answer, [color=LightSteelBlue]"isn't as important as we can do for you. Ten years off each of your sentences..."[/color]

[color=Tomato]"Bringing my total down to a mere two hundred and sixty years,"[/color] Lawton scoffed. [color=Tomato]"You'll have to do better than that."[/color]

[color=LightSteelBlue]"...and visitation rights for your daughter."[/color]

Lawton sat up. [color=Tomato]"Who's the target?"[/color]

[color=LightSteelBlue]"I know reputation means a lot in your line of work,"[/color] said the stranger. [color=LightSteelBlue]"Your type likes to compete, make names for yourselves, give yourselves code-names and callsigns and keep up with each other, so you know where you stand."[/color]

[color=Tomato]"What's that got to do with who the target is?"[/color]

[color=LightSteelBlue]"I've got a codename for you, 'Deadshot,'"[/color] the voice said. [color=LightSteelBlue]"A real blast from the past. Does the name 'Wolverine' mean anything to you?"[/color]

The air went out of Floyd Lawton's lungs for a moment.

[color=Tomato]"...holy shit..."[/color] he said.

[color=LightSteelBlue]"We're putting together a crew,"[/color] said the voice, [color=LightSteelBlue]"of people like you. People with nothing to lose, but everything to gain. We're going to equip you with everything you need to get the job done. We're going to provide you with a network of full support in the field, giving you information in real-time on your target. And when the job is done, we're going to give you better accommodations to spend the rest of your sentence in comfort."[/color]

[color=Tomato]"Or you'll give us a pine box and a hole in the ground when the Wolverine cuts us to fucking pieces,"[/color] Floyd scoffed.

[color=LightSteelBlue]"Sure, maybe you'll get the chance to die a hero,"[/color] came the answer, [color=LightSteelBlue]"or the opportunity to become a legend. They say the Wolverine was the best your line of work has ever seen. You take him down, what does that make you?"[/color]

Floyd thought about it for a long moment, before the voice said, [color=LightSteelBlue]"or I walk away from this door, never come back, and you rot in this hole forever and never see your daughter again. Your choice."[/color]

This time, the pause was just long enough for Deadshot to clear his throat. [color=Tomato]"I'm in."[/color]

[color=LightSteelBlue]"Good to hear,"[/color] the voice said.

The door swung open, and standing in the door, not even bothering with a security escort, was a stocky black woman in a charcoal-gray suit. Just her very presence made Lawton stand up, halfway standing at attention before he realized what he was doing.

[color=LightSteelBlue]"My name is Amanda Waller,"[/color] the woman introduced herself, [color=LightSteelBlue]"Assistant Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Welcome to Task Force X."[/color]