Logan was sitting on a chair inside of the Quinjet Nick Fury made him get on. The canadian never saw a vehicle as advanced as the one he was on. The surface was made out of a very resistant metal, and by the walls there were several seats that could be taken by the passengers. The passenger zone was separated from the piloting zone, in which there were two spots for both the pilot and the co-pilot, and, in front of them, all the advanced controls to maneuver the complex aircraft.

After watching and admiring for a bit the vehicle he was in - while, at the same time, trying not to think too much about the fact that they were flying above the ocean - Logan was told by Nick Fury everything that happened. He told him about the Tesseract, an infamous and powerful cosmic artifact that could grant the user the power to harness the infinite energy of the glowing blue cube to transfer themselves from a place to another through space. Such a relic could make S.H.I.E.L.D. capable to build new and advanced technology in order to protect the world's population in the best way possible, but something went wrong. The previous night, at a secret S.H.I.E.L.D.'s research facility, the cosmic artifact started to act strange: spontaneous ignition and bizarre energy peaks urged the head of the scientific department, doctor Erik Selvig, to initiate the evacuation of the whole structure, and Nick Fury to go there in person to see what was happening and to ensure that the phase 2 prototypes were secured safely. What nobody at S.H.I.E.L.D. expected was to witness the cube being used from "the other side" by an unknown threat. The Tesseract shined and released a beam of bright blue cosmic energy that made a beeline towards a platform surrounded by energy reins, then from the beam something opened: a portal. The intergalactic door, outlined by pure bright blue energy, was pitch black, not letting see anything inside or beyond it, and making cold shivers run up everybody's backs. From the beginning of times man has always been afraid of the dark, but was the darkness itself the source of that fear? No, it was what hid in the darkness, the unknown, what always scared every living being. That was exactly what everyone in the hall felt in that moment: fear of what was coming. And their expectations were not disappointed when the portal exploded and, from "the other side", came a man. A man dressed in black and green long leather robes with golden inserts, his long hair was as black as the night itself, his grey eyes held dark purposes and a warning to those who dared to challenge him, his mouth was contorted in a wide and wicked smile, that gave chills to the agents watching. Held tightly in his right hand there was a strange weapon: a golden staff curved at both ends, with two silver metal blades on the front and, in the middle of those, a circular bright blue gem that seemed to come from the same place as the cosmic cube. After being intimated to put down his scepter, the mystery man attacked the agents and scientists by shooting blue energy beams from his staff. The sinister visitor showed both a strength and a durability that were far from being human. The agents were not ready for an assault that violent, they were not prepared to fight an individual so strong. An individual that made some of the most highly trained professionals in the world look like a bunch of minimum-wage mall cops. The said mystery man went even beyond and used his weapon's longer blade's tip to turn a few of them, including Selvig and the agent Clint Barton, into his personal servants by touching their hearts. The man presented himself as Loki, an individual commonly associated to the Norse mythology. The god from Asgard declared war to the Earth's protectors to free humanity from freedom and rule on the earthlings, then he took the cube away from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s grasp and escaped in the night.

Logan, who was sporting his favourite brown leather jacket, heard attentatively to the man's tale regarding the strange object they needed to take back and the individual they had to defeat in order to do it. He pondered what Fury told him for a few moments, then he looked at him and said

Logan: "So you're basically telling me that I have to clean your shit up for you, because you were stupid enough to mess with something you know nothing of, right Fury?"

But the man in the black coat wasn't baffled at all from the Canadian's insult, and he just went to pick up something: a digital pad. He took it from a seat across from Logan's and handed it to him as he said

Fury: "Well, I never said you were doing it alone."

Logan was already annoyed at Fury's "I know something you don't" attitude, but regardless of that he picked up the object and held it in his hands. He looked at the screen showing many different individuals: a man dressed like an american flag, a blonde guy with a hammer, a huge green monster Logan was already familiar with, a man in an advanced red and gold metal suit, a man with bow and arrows and a red headed woman with a pair of guns. He figured that those individuals were his new colleagues, and this made him uneasy to say the least. As a lone wolf, Logan wasn't very fond of the idea to have a team. He looked back at Fury with a dark expression on his face as he said with an equal dark tone in his voice

Logan: "You never told me there were other people..."

Nick merely raised an eyebrow and asked

Fury: "Got a problem with that?"

Logan stood up and shoved the pad in Fury's hands while looking at him dead in the eye with the same expression on his face

Logan: "I never work with other people."

Nick stared back at him and, with an authoritative voice, said

Fury: "Now you do."

They kept staring at each other for a a few moments, until their silent banter was interrupted by the pilot's voice, who signaled his boss that the aircraft was about to land to their destination. The two men, after briefly shifting their gaze to the pilot, returned to staring at each other, then Logan took a cigar from his pocket and put it in his mouth, he lit it and aspired from it. After he blew the smoke in Fury's face, the latter just squinted his eye, getting tired of the man's attitude. Seconds later the Quinjet landed and the footboard lowered. Logan - grateful that the flight went smoother than he hoped for - turned around and picked up his duffle bag, containing the few items that were in his possession, then looked back at Fury and, after removing the cigar from his mouth and puffing other smoke out, said

Logan: "Lead the way, bub."

Fury turned to his left and started leading Logan out of the landed aircraft. The two walked down the footboard and Logan spotted someone waiting in front of the Quinjet: a woman dressed in black leather boots, black pants, red t-shirt and black leather jacket. Her clear porcelain skin contrasted perfectly with her fiery red curly locks that framed her face. He instantly noticed her piercing green eyes and her soft and plump lips, along with the armonious curves of her body. Logan put two and two together and recognized the beautiful woman from the footages on the pad Fury gave him before: The Black Widow. Her posture was relaxed, yet respectful of the authority Fury was invested of, with her legs almost connected, her shoulders relaxed, her hands down and interlocked and her head held high. Despite the relaxed position her expression was focused, nothing transpired from her features, which was something the Canadian wasn't familiar with, thanks to his nature. Logan smelled the scent she was emanating: a sweet taste of coconut and cinnamon that was as unusual and peculiar as it was armonious. The two stopped in front of her and Fury said

Fury: "Logan, I present you agent Romanoff, she will show you the way..."

Then the director turned to face Logan and used his right hand to take the cigar from his mouth as he said to the Canadian

Fury: "...and you're not allowed to smoke here."

Fury then threw the cigar away from them - the wind making it fly off- and walked away, leaving the two together. Logan looked in the direction Fury was heading, then he took another cigar from his left pocket and lit it in his mouth, making sure not to blow the smoke in the woman's face. Natasha watched the interaction with curiosity while leaving her expression unchanged, as she was wondering why Fury chose him as a part of the team, then started to lead the way. The agent wasn't one to judge other people basing on their past mistakes, but even she found herself to be pretty shocked by the horrifying messes the man left them to clean. Still though, she wasn't one to liquidate someone before knowing them. The two started to talk while walking together, as the woman told him

A. Romanoff: "S.H.I.E.L.D. has been looking for you. For someone who leaves so many traces, you were pretty hard to find, considering that there are no record of you on any site of the planet."

Logan took his cigar away from his lips and puffed the smoke out before answering

Logan: "I like playing hard to get. So, what kind of a name is Black Widow?"

The spy turned to look at him and, with the same unchanged and steady expression on her face, replied

A. Romanoff: "I don't know. What kind of a name is Wolverine?"

Logan closed his eyes and smirked, already liking the feisty attitude of the beautiful woman beside him. Then he opened his eyes and turned to look at her, then said with the same smirk

Logan: "My name is Logan."

And the woman, giving him a small, almost imperceptible smirk, answered

Natasha: "Natasha Romanoff."

They turned their gaze forward and kept walking, and after a few steps Logan said

Logan: "You know, I don't think your boss likes me very much."

Nat nodded at this and then answered

Natasha: "Well, you're a mystery to him, and he doesn't really like them. Most of all since one of them caused all of this mess."

Logan pondered it for a moment, then said with sarcasm evident in his voice

Logan: "Well, maybe if you weren't so stupid to experiment with something you knew nothing of, then you wouldn't have felt the need to drag me all the way here."

And Natasha answered without hesitation

Natasha: "Well, maybe if you weren't so idiot to leave your trail wherever you went, then we couldn't have dragged you all the way here."

Logan smirked at the redhead's attitude, finding it curious and pleasing the way she could stand her ground so effortlessly against him. Meanwhile, Natasha was having the nagging feeling that this whole idea was nothing but a mistake: Logan clearly showed his disdain for the organization, as well as his indignation towards the authoritative figure. He was a lone wolf, a dog without leash, and he could bite at any given moment. All of this, mixed with the fact that he not only insulted the only organization she could call home, but even the only two men that gave her trust and help, made her already dislike the man walking beside her.

After a couple of moments of walking Logan sensed other two people's smell: a smell of a fresh fragrance accompanied with a modern Acqua di Giò, and a smell of an aftershave with a touch of a much older D.R. HARRIS classic cologne. Walking forward he saw two men out of a Quinjet, waiting for someone. One of them had a suit, a metal watch on his left wrist, a pair of black sunglasses and short stemped dark hair; the other was taller than the first one, yet still two or three inches shorter than Logan, and wore brown classic shoes, gray pants, a light gray denim shirt, brown leather belt and jacket, and had short blond hair. The two men couldn't be more different: one was sporting a very classic, yet modern style of clothing, the other's style just screamed "old man" from a mile away. That mixed with his very old fashioned cologne and his blond hair made clear to Logan that he was Steve Rogers, Captain America. And even if the scent of the man in the suit was very familiar to Logan, his identity was still a mystery, but not for Natasha, since she worked for years with the man who was one of the most loyal agents amongst S.H.I.E.L.D.: Phil Coulson. The pair turned around to look at them and Steve's eyes widened upon seeing Logan, the latter not knowing why the Captain was having such a bizarre reaction. Nat, noticing his expression, turned to the man beside her and asked him with a questioning tone in her voice

Natasha: "You two know each other?"

And Logan, even more weirded out than her, answered with a shrug of his shoulders

Logan: "I only know him by name."

When he and her were a few feet from the agent and the soldier, the latter exclaimed

Steve: "...James?!"

Logan took the cigar in his hands and puffed out the smoke, then, weirded out, said

Logan: "Who the hell is James?"

Then Phil greeted the man and, extending his hand for a handshake, said

Phil: "You must be the famous Wolverine, I'm Phil Coulson."

Logan looked at the hand, then looked at Phil and, after aspiring from his cigar, puffed out more smoke, then said

Logan: "So it's you the one who was sent to look for me in Canada."

Phil retracted his hand and, puzzled, asked

Phil: "How do you know it?"

And Logan answered

Logan: "Your scent: I already smelled it some time ago. Never considered using a different cologne?"

Natasha elbowed him in the side and scolded him, saying

Natasha: "Be nice: he's one of my oldest friends." then she looked at Phil and said "They need you on the bridge: face time."

At that Phil excused himself and walked away. Steve was watching Logan with curiosity, and the latter, noticing his curious look, started to get confused: he never met him, and yet he seemed to know him. But what confused Logan the most when he thought about it was the fact that Steve called him James. Why would he do that when, presumably, he received a digital pad with footages of what he left in those bars and his basic informations, such as his name? Why would Steve call him James, when he knew his name was Logan? Natasha noticed their exchange of looks, but decided not to say anything for the moment and proceeded to strike a conversation with Steve while walking alongside the two men beside her.

Natasha: "There was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

And both the men turned to look at her weirded out

Logan/Steve: "Trading cards?"

Natasha smirked inwardly at the perplexed state of them: she loved to be one, two, even ten steps ahead of everybody else, and she loved to know things the others didn't. In the meantime Logan and Steve glanced at each other, acknowledging the fact that they said the same thing at the same time. Nat then replied

Natasha: "They're vintage, he's very proud."

Then Logan, before putting the cigar in his mouth, said

Logan: "Hmm, guess fighting nazi gives you a positive feedback, I should've thought about that."

Again Logan noticed Steve looking at him puzzled, like if what he said didn't make any sense for the american hero, and he couldn't stand it anymore. He puffed out the smoke and turned to look at him with an eyebrow raised

Logan: "Are you gonna tell me what's on your mind, bub?"

And Steve, caught red handed, asked perplexed

Steve: "You...you don't remember?"

This piqued the interest of Natasha too. She turned to Steve and asked

Natasha: "He doesn't remember what?"

And even Logan, who was growing tired of people knowing things he didn't, looked at Steve and, irritated, asked

Logan: "Yeah, I don't remember what, Stripes?"

But something else, or rather someone else, distracted them from the matter at hand. The trio saw a man in brown shoes, gray pants, brown leather belt, purple shirt, brown suit jacket, a leather watch on his left wrist and a pair of glasses wondering nervously on the landing zone a couple of feet away from them. Logan smelled his scent: a familiar smell of coffee and the faint stink of gunpowder, covered with a cheap version of Davidoff perfume. The man had curly, black-grey-ish hair, and a look of uncertainty in his eyes. Logan recognized him as doctor Bruce Banner, the Hulk. He was wondering when the two were going to meet again, as he couldn't wait for a rematch. Steve went ahead and greeted him, shaking his hand and exchanging a few words, then the doctor noticed Logan standing there smoking and gulped imperceptibly, knowing well the messes he left everywhere he went and remembering clearly the last time they saw each other. Regardless of that he extended his hand to greet him properly, but Logan merely looked at him before saying

Logan: "I think we're way past handshakes, Greenie. So, do I have to worry about your little friend coming out?"

Bruce felt a bit uneasy and even guilty for the danger he was putting everyone in by staying there. In the meantime, Natasha and Steve were eyeing Logan with a curious look, wondering when the two men did meet each other. Bruce answered with an embarrassed and nervous chuckle

Bruce: "Oh no, it's-"

But Logan interrupted him and said with a menacing voice

Logan: "Good, because if you try that again, you won't like the result this time."

Bruce was visibly irritated by his demeanor, but he knew better than to let his anger out, so he chose to ignore his statement. After speaking, Logan walked a few feet away from the group to look at the sea, while Steve was out of words at that point. Sensing his nervousness, Nat got near Bruce and put a hand on his shoulder, saying

Natasha: "Don't worry, Doc: he's like this to everyone he meets."

Bruce shook his head and said

Bruce: "It's nothing, I'm used to being called a monster and, judging by our first encounter, I don't blame him for what he said. He's actually the firs- no, second person that has threatened me regardless."

Steve turned to look at the doctor and asked intrigued

Steve: "How did the two of you meet?"

And Bruce scratched the back of his neck and said

Bruce: "Oh, ehm...it's a long story, another time maybe."

Bruce then, wanting to strike a more pleasant conversation, said to Steve while gesturing to the jets and technology around them

Bruce: "Must be strange to you, all of this."

And Steve, after looking around and noticing things like troops marching, aircrafts landing, and orders being shouted, answered with a shrug

Steve: "Well, this is actually kind of familiar."

Deciding to change the subject, Logan turned around and, retrieving his cigar from his mouth and puffing out the smoke, asked Natasha

Logan: "So, what is this place, some sort of secret base on the ocean or something?"

The question draw the attention of Steve and Bruce, that looked at Natasha for an answer. She smirked, knowing all too well what type of place this was, but wanting to tease a bit the three men that, in that moment, were like lost puppies

Natasha: "Oh, you'll discover it soon. In the meantime, gentlemen, you may wanna step inside in a minute: it's gonna get a little hard to breathe."

Suddently the ground, and in fact the whole base, started to shake violently under their feet. The three men diverted their gaze to the ground, thinking about what was happening and the implication of Nat's words

Steve: "Is this a submarine?"

And Bruce sarcastically added

Bruce: "Really? They wanted me in a submerged pressurized metal container?"

Then they started to walk towards the edge to see better, all the while Logan, with his high senses, was hearing a strange noise. It was like if a giant helicopter's blades were spinning faster each passing second, that mixed with the light sensation of something ascending led him to a conclusion

Logan: "It's not a submarine, bub: there are turbines spinning."

Natasha was indeed impressed at the clever deduction Logan had and started to wonder if the man had more powers, apart from his claws, that they didn't know about. Slowly the base started to ascend in the sky. From beneath the water level emerged four turbines whose blades were spinning at high speed, causing the wind to blow hard on the group. Natasha kept her proud expression and Logan turned to look at her, the two sharing a brief look before he turned to look again in front of him, putting the cigar back in his mouth and keeping smoking. Steve and Bruce were amazed to say the least, the soldier even more never having seen something like this. Bruce, considering the situation he was in, commented

Bruce: "Oh no, this is much worse."

| 𝐗 |

𝐀/𝐍: 𝐇𝐢, 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬! 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟. 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭!

𝐒𝐨, 𝐋𝐨𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐖𝐞'𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐋𝐨𝐠𝐚𝐧 "𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬" 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨? 𝐀𝐥𝐬𝐨, 𝐰𝐞'𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐋𝐨𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧? 𝐒𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞? 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭! ❤️