Chapter 4 - Survival

The real horror began when the needles made contact.

They didn't enter gently, but with alarming speed and depth. The x-ray images showing them digging into his bones.

With a sickening gurgle, the Adamantium began to flow, and Ward began to thrash.

Not in fear or anger, but in complete agony. His face twisting in such a way that the needles tore at his skin, causing his blood to enter the tankard, giving the clear water a pale red tinge. The onscreen skeletal images glowed bright orange, the scorching heat of the liquidised metal on display.

And as abruptly as it had started, it was over.

The Adamantium sources were depleted, and the orange rapidly cooled to a metallic silver, but none of them noticed.

They were all staring at the vitals monitoring screen.

Where the flat red line told them that his heart beat no longer.

BEEP.

BEEP.

BEEP.

The red line stared back at three of them, mocking them all, as they were unable to do anything to save him. The water, tinted a pale red from the influx of his blood, was near still, broken only by the needles as they were removed from the tank, still smouldering from the intense heat used to break through his skin and bones, they were no longer spinning, but it was too late.

Grant Ward was no longer moving.

Grant Ward was dead.

A sob escaped from Kara, still confined to her chair, where she'd been fighting valiantly to get to him. Her own wrists stung at contact with the air, slick and stained red with her blood, from where she had sliced them open, fighting to get out of her handcuffs.

On either side of her, Akela and Mike both looked on, with empty expressions filling their gaze. They were both just staring at the tank blankly, in an attempt to forcibly will him back to life.

The SHIELD members were in shock, Coulson knew for certain he was, he had to try and stay composed for his team. It was just so unreal.

If he'd been asked for what he thought were constants in life, then there were obvious answers. The sun rose in the east, set in the west. May drank her herbal tea, without fail, at 0600 every day. There was no one Skye couldn't out-hack at any given moment. Fitz and Simmons were geniuses, and despite the fact that he was a lying, traitorous bastard, Grant Ward could survive, and would find a way to survive, anything that life decided to throw at him on any given day.

It was just who he was.

And then he'd watched on as the same man had willingly walked to his death.

Ward's 'team' (or whatever they were - he could figure that part out later, when they weren't still in danger of dying) had obviously already firmly planted themselves in the denial stage of grief. His own team were still at eyes-wide 'what-the-hell' shock except for The Captain. He was seemingly firm, focused, and staring intently at the tank, muttering words only he could hear under his breath.

Simmons seemed to be the only member of his original team not looking at all surprised. If anything, she looked somewhat gleeful.

Just when did you let this happen to her?

Why did you let it happen to her?

Major Masters had nothing on his face, but the schooled look of a soldier. Regardless of the outcome, he'd be the one managing to control his expression, and in this case, he was masking his disappointment.

The Colonel seemed truly devastated.

Not at the death, but at what the death represented.

His life's goal had just gone down in a tank. All of his remaining Adamantium reserves were now depleted, all of his scientists were useless to him, and the sole subject he'd been searching for, dedicating resources to for nearly twenty years, had died during the process.

His hands had an iron grip on the platform railing, so much so that his knuckles had turned white from the stress upon them. He visibly inhaled, drawing in a deep breath, before straightening up, and returning to his no-nonsense tone.

"Major, have the data from the experiment collected and collated, add it to the existing research we have, and then get the men to start work on Weapon XI. We have no time to waste"

Masters straightened up minutely, "Yes Sir. What should we do about the prisoners?"

His eyes roamed over them, hovering over Skye and lingering on Rogers long enough to make him feel uncomfortable, before The Colonel spoke again, "Keep the two powers, we may be able to use their DNA at a later stage. Execute the others"

Pain.

Burning, white hot pain.

Relentless and unyielding.

Never ending agony, his body was on fire with a thousand flames.

Hot knives burning below his skin. Digging through his skin. His bones burning, his skin heating up, melting on contact, the heat, the unending heat, the cool of the water fighting against him as he fought and thrashed.

Trapped underneath.

Drowning.

In a cage.

Like an animal.

The animal doesn't like to be caged.

The animal wants to be free.

It wants to fight.

To go to war.

War.

Constant war.

War, never-ending war.

Can you remember it?

Can you remember them?

The Revolution. Oh the horrors he'd seen committed by the 'good' guys. The illness and uncaring of the First World War. The outright destruction of Second World War. Violence in Vietnam. Fighting in France. Sowing the seeds of a revolution in Spain. Helping Britain with their invasion of Normandy, right on the front lines. Running through the ice-lands of Canada.

Canada…

I'm a Canadian.

Wait… really?

A Canadian by birth.

By blood.

So much blood.

There was always blood.

The smell of blood, and gunpowder, and explosives, and death and decay.

That stench of decaying flesh never left you once you'd smelled it

The blank vacant eyes of the dead. Watching as they fell. Fighting for them. Avenging them. Watching the enemy fall down at his own two hands. Outliving them.

Outliving them all, always healing, never dying, never aging.

Essential immortality.

A lifetime of loss.

A lonely soldier.

The last samurai.

But there are always heartbeats.

If one remembers to listen.

Strong, constant, and steady.

All of them.

If one just simply stops and uses his ears.

Mother, father,, sister, brother. Brothers in arms. Mentors. Students. Lovers. Janet, Emma, Kayla, Melinda, Jemma, Skye, Akela, Mike, Kara. James, John, Phil, Victor, Leo, Thomas, Christian, Moira, Terrence.

Liars?

Murderer, protector, killer, hunter… soldier?

Samurai?

A Warrior.

Yes…

The mission isn't over.

Pain once more.

A constant pain. The phantom pains. Always coming, and never-ending.

Wouldn't it be easier to just give up for once? To just stop fighting for once in his life, and let it all just slide away? Let it all wash away down the river?

"Execute the others"

No!

Never.

Not while he could draw a breath.

The mission must continue.

The animal must awaken.

And animals hunt.

Time to go hunting.

Now, get up!

Get up and FIGHT!

GET UP AND FIGHT GODDAMN IT! FIGHT!

…

…

…

"Do it... Logan"

He was dead.

They'd watched on, as he had walked down towards the tank, not fighting or complaining, and not talking, not making a move to utter a single word to them.

Not even a goodbye.

Stoic to the end, even in the face of death.

The same man Kara had pulled, shot up, riddled with bullets, and half dead, from out of the rubble of a HYDRA base. The very same one that had fought tooth and nail to survive against four bullet wounds in the bed of a sleazy motel that a half-crazed, half-empty Kara had managed to book for them. She'd seen him take on seemingly impossible odds and walk away the victor. The man was a natural born survivor.

One who had walked to his death.

Kara was staring at her hands, watching as the blood slowly dripped down her hands, partially painting her nails a dark crimson. Mike's hands, though still magnetised together at the wrists, rested on Kara's knee, his thumb tracing soft circles, all of his attention devoted on trying to ground her in the reality of the situation.

Akela was looking away from them, in a vain attempt to afford them some privacy, knowing how much Kara needed Mike at that moment. She looked away, over towards where Ward was now resting, still inside the tank, and hopefully now at peace.

She couldn't help taking him in. He was just so large, so massively muscled, looking like he was a machine hidden inside a man's body.

Her eyes rested on his face, which was where she looked into his eyes, expecting to see them blank and glassy, but wanting to see them one more time nonetheless.

And then he blinked.

"Execute the others"

Masters smiled slyly at them all, before aiming his pistol back at Kara, pausing only long enough to gaze intently at her. Mockingly, he reached up, using his left hand to stroke her cheek. The action could've been considered a loving one, if not for the creepy look on Masters' face, and the disgusted one on Kara's.

He bent down, his breath tickling her ear, making her want to vomit, and he lowered his voice, whispering in her ear, yet remaining loud enough to be heard by everyone, "Rumour has it, that you can look like anyone you want. We could keep you, I'm sure my boys could have some fun with you. What d'ya say?"

She shivered, feeling fear running down her spine, as Mike jerked against the magnets holding his wrists together, "Just shoot me already"

"I dunno", he looked at his men, who all looked lecherous, "What do you say boys?"

One of them began stroking Simmons' hair from behind, making the girl whimper in fear, so he moved to her neck, and wasn't deterred when tears began slipping out of her eyes, but she didn't call out, she held herself strong and resolute, and Bobbi felt proud, seeing her resolve.

The Colonel looked bored at the situation, and maybe even slightly disgusted - it was hard to tell. But he didn't order them to stop, he was just letting his soldiers have their fun.

And then they heard it.

Beep.

BEEP.

BEEP!

BEEP BEEP!

A heartbeat.

Before they'd all managed to get a good look at him or the monitor, the scientists were already in motion, taking places at their consoles.

"We've got a steady heartbeat"

"Blood pressure rising"

"His vitals are rising"

"Guys, his adrenaline's spiking. Oh God!"

The Colonel's interest was instantly grabbed, worry lines etching themselves onto his face, "What is it!?"

Her voice was barely a whisper, fear lacing every syllable, "Colonel, we have confirmed brain function"

Coulson let loose a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding as he heard a chuckle from his left, and he caught Cap sporting a smug grin, he was about to ask what the hell was so funny when the super-soldier chuckled again, "That stubborn bastard… he never changes"

"Is he stable?"

The Colonel's voice pulled them back to reality. The scientists in their white lab coats still bustled about the monitors checking readings and making notes on their clipboards, before a middle aged woman, who wore her dark her up at the back turned to face him.

"Yes Sir. All of his vitals are returning to normal. He's completely stabilizing"

The Colonel nodded his head, a satisfied smile stretching across his face as he stroked his chin, running his hands through the beard of stubble.

"Good, that's good… then wipe his memories", at his words, Ward's 'team' attempted to rush to their feet, simply to be pushed backwards again at gunpoint, "yes, wipe them completely, and then terminate him. We'll use him as the genetic template for Weapon XI"

"Yes, wipe them and then terminate him. We'll use him as the template for Weapon XI"

NO!

He would survive.

And it was time he set the animal free.

The heartbeat monitor snapped from a lull resting to an intense race, shooting to the top end of the spectrum, and grabbing everyone's attention. Scientists swarmed the various pieces of equipment, as the female who'd spoken earlier grabbed the main monitor and ran the data through her head, before taking a step back, her legs shaking, even as her boss yelled at her.

"Dr Kinney!? What is it!? What's going on!?"

She turned towards him in all of his military might, and visibly swallowed, "I think… Sir… I think he might have heard you"

He felt his face go slightly cold as the blood left his upper body, and rushed to his legs. His fight or flight instincts urging him to abandon his post and run. Fighting him now would be foolish. They weren't prepared to be able to kill him.

He was supposed to be obedient!

They hadn't even fully expected him to survive the procedure.

They expected him to be completely brain dead, at the very least.

Glancing around at his men, who were all visibly nervous, he barked his orders.

"All of you! Take aim at Weapon X!"

And then, his entire world exploded in one word.

"STRYKER!"

Fear.

Pure, unadulterated fear.

That was what the Colonel was oozing.

Colonel Stryker, as Ward had named him, was visibly shaking and pale, and Coulson couldn't help but smile viciously.

I hope he tears you and your men to pieces.

Exploding up from where he was lying in the tank, sending cables and water flying everywhere, he was shot straight in the head by Masters, who had recovered from his initial shock.

The bullet struck him in the centre of his forehead - a straight kill-shot.

And it bounced straight off.

The new silver on his skull revealed itself, before his skin visibly healed itself over the wound, stretching to cover the gap where his brain matter should've been oozing out of.

Coulson knew he was gaping, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Ward had just shrugged off a bullet to the brain.

Talk about a survivor.

With a feral growl, Ward leapt from the tank to the floor and sank his fists into the two soldiers that tried to intercept him, dropping them to the floor, and it didn't take a genius to know that they were dead.

And he didn't stop there.

He let the two men fall on their own, before moving to the stairs, sinking both hands into the first man who was stupid enough to get in his way, before throwing him at a second. The third man opened fire, decorating his chest with bullet holes, but like with the first shot, the wounds just closed over, the bullets just serving to irritate him, like mosquito bites, as the metal casings fell to the floor.

By the time he'd fought his way to the top of the stairs. Seven more men were dead, and the ones that were supposed to be guarding his team and company had fled, fearing for their lives. Only Masters was still there, his pistol, once again, aimed at Kara, only this time he was stood behind her.

Ward took a step towards him, with no small amount of blood dripping from his hands, which combined with the snarl on his face, the ferocity in his eyes and the water dripping down his body, it made him look downright animalistic.

"Stop! Hold it right there or I shoot her"

He took another step forward.

"I mean it!"

"No you don't", for someone who had just viciously tore his way through ten men, his voice was unnervingly calm, "I can tell", he smirked, which just served to look frightening with the blood, "You wanna know how I know?"

Masters just remained upright, he didn't indicate anything, so Ward took this as a sign to continue his explanation.

"They all wanted an animal. What exactly did they tell you about me - what a healing factor? Is that all?"

Masters nodded.

"I am an animal - a hunter with his claws. Enhanced speed, reflexes, coordination, senses", he chuckled lightly, "Enhanced sense of smell. And I can smell it on you, your fear, your desperation, the cheap cologne, the scotch you had earlier today, the toothpaste you used this morning - an Aquafresh family pack, if I can remember rightly. I can tell all of that, just by being near you"

Master gulped.

"The best one though, for tracking, is always the faintest smell, but others can linger on you. The body odour - a unique scent for everyone, and I can smell it lightly fruity, so tell me", Ward licked his lips as Masters went paler, "Who is the girl? Girlfriend? Wife?… Daughter?" The sharp intake told him he'd hit his mark.

The pistol was shaking in his hand now, "You might not be afraid of dying, but if you pull that trigger. I will find that girl, and I'll kill her, but she won't get the quick release of a bullet to the head. I'll make it slow, drag it out, use every method SHIELD, HYDRA and the world over have taught me, and when, and only when, she finally begs me to end it all, will I finally give her the sweet release of death, and free her from this world"

Ward took three more steps, coming near face to five with Masters, both of the stood over Kara, as his hand was still quivering, and softened his voice, "Now give me the gun, and I promise she'll live"

He hung his head, knowing he had been beaten, and silently offered the gun pistol grip first. Ward offered his left hand, taking the gun and dropping it to the floor with a clatter.

Before sinking his right hand straight into the other man's gut.

Gasping for air, he sank to the floor, three large gashes in his gut, but Ward had already turned his attention away from him, and to the others.

Coulson couldn't help but stare at the three metal claws sticking out of the man's hand.

Turning to face the group, he stalked over to them, away from where he had deposited Masters on the floor. Looking at them, that feral glint still present in his eyes, he loomed over Coulson, his claws on his right hand still extended, looking every inch a predator sizing up its next meal.

Then he moved.

With the whistle sound of movement through air, and the sharp 'CLACK' of metal on meal, his claws went through Coulson's handcuffs, like a hot knife through butter, but with sparks. With a quiet thud, they hit the floor, and Coulson stood up, rubbing his wrists, but smiling gratefully.

"Thank you"

Ward just nodded, grunting his acknowledgement, before turning to the next person in the line, who happened to be Fitz, and repeating the process. He was aware of the scared looks he was receiving from everyone besides Coulson, half expecting him to turn and kill the man, the same way he had just dropped Masters, who was still breathing heavily on the floor, as he struggled for air.

Fitz eyed him warily as he was released, before moving to help Skye, who was the next one released from her handcuffs, attempting to tend to her bullet wound, while she protested she was 'fine'.

Fitz ignored her and tore off a piece of his jacket to dress it, while she sat there taking it, and Ward moved off, releasing Hunter and Rogers. The latter shot him a strange look, as though he was struggling to look at him, before they moved to grab some of the fallen soldiers' rifles.

He let the 'other' SHIELD loose next. The STRIKE members and Mack, joining Hunter and Rogers, who eyed each other warily. Simmons' glare didn't let up on him, even while Morse was checking on her. He was impressed with how she could show so much hatred and fear of him at the same time.

Finally, he reached his own team.

Ignoring the curious glances they were all receiving, Mike stood up, and allowed the magnetic shackles he was contained in to clatter noisily to the floor with a flash of Adamantium, before clapping Ward on the back and sending him a grateful smile.

"Thanks man. Glad to see you're okay"

"Base schematics and data. Go"

He rolled his eyes, "Yes Boss", before striding over to one of the base computers, and pulling a USB attachment from the plate on his left forearm, he plugged himself in. Those closest to him could see the information whirring around in his cybernetic eye.

Akela kissed his cheek before moving to grab one of the rifles, before heading over to Deathlok, and while he downloaded, she scanned the area around them. Her own cybernetic eye was less augmented than his, but it had a few features that his didn't, including thermal and night vision additions, while his remained in x-ray only.

With a final slice, Kara was free from her own restraints and threw her arms around his chest, squeezing him tightly.

"I thought you were dead", she whispered, and he could hear the anguish in her voice, so he lowered his volume to match hers.

"It'll take more than an excruciatingly painful experiment, a few dozen soldiers and a few hundred bullets to kill me", he squeezed her, tightly, "I'm fine, I promise. I'm just glad you're okay too"

She squeezed him again, even tighter than before, before moving off, grabbing the last of the rifles, and running it through a few basic safety checks, while Deathlok 'unplugged' himself from the base's mainframe.

"Guys. Gimme a sitrep", he was glad to hear his voice was still strong, he hadn't damaged it screaming underwater, and he was back in command, his tone conveying that, causing Akela and Mike to turn to him.

"All the data we wanted has been downloaded"

"Soldiers have regrouped, and are all concentrated around the entry points. Either way we decide to go… it's gonna be a fight"

"Okay then. There's no sense in waiting around for them. Let's move"

His team moved to the corridor he was looking at, as he sniffed sharply, causing them to look at him, while stifling a laugh.

His response was to roll his eyes.

He then took a look back, to where Coulson and Morse's teams were stood, preparing themselves to leave. He made a snap decision, one which got him curious looks from his friends.

"You can either come with us or make your own way out. Either way, we're leaving now"

They had turned into the first corridor when a shuffling of feet told them that Coulson's team was joining them. Skye was leaning against Fitz for support, while Coulson, Rogers and Hunter were all carrying their rifles aloft.

"You'll work with us to get out of here? For nothing?" Coulson, with good reason Ward supposed, sounded sceptical of the idea.

"Well… you bring a quinjet?"

"The Bus"

"How 'bout a deal then?" Coulson's eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn't outright object, so Ward pushed forward, "We help you out. You give us a ride. We came by Jeep, and I really don't fancy fighting our way back across the border. We get out, then we can all go our separate ways"

Coulson regarded him for a moment, before offering his hand, "Deal"

The two of them grasped hands briefly, before Ward turned on his heel and Rogers moved up to join him, clearing the way forward necessary. SHIELD's Captain America and HYDRA's Weapon X were working together to escape a HYDRA facility.

The irony wasn't lost on any of them.

"Where're the others?"

Rogers regarded him briefly, "They debated coming, but that Agent Simmons really doesn't trust you, like at all"

Ward sighed softly, "Ah well… less to worry about I suppose"

While they led the way, a little way ahead of the group, Deathlok and Hunter fell back to cover the rear and Rogers continued to strike up a casual conversation.

"Does your healing factor stop you aging by any chance?"

He shot Rogers a curious look, that was something he'd been thinking, before they turned a corner, and he sank his claws into the two guards, while Rogers shot the third, and they ignored the others who had tightened together in an attempt to listen in on their conversation. "I think so. I mean", he cleared his throat, "I had a few flashes of myself fighting in wars while I was in the tank. World War One, Two, even Vietnam, and a few others, but I can't be certain really. It's mostly a blank and one helluva headache. Why'd you care?"

"Before I put myself on ice, I used to go on high risk ops because of my powers", Ward shot him a 'no shit' look, "anyway, for a while I worked with a guy from the Canadian Special Forces called Logan. It could be you, or at least a relation of yours. You do look exactly the same, I always thought he had to be some sort of super soldier like me, he was fast, strong too, but I never saw him use any claws like yours"

"Hmm", at the curious look he was given, he explained, "I think I'm Canadian. When I 'woke up', I thought I was Canadian… and I heard the name Logan too"

"Canadian? Well… sucks to be you then"

Ward snorted.

"I can't believe you just said that. Like… seriously, that's just … I know your Captain America, but still… anti-Canada… wow"

The two of them chuckled as they rounded a corner and ran into four more waiting soldiers, Ward's claws took out two of them, while the other two fell to the floor with bullets in their brains. They were still smiling silently stupidly, silently chuckling when the others rounded the corner, and began shooting them strange looks.

"What's going on?"

Skye asked the question, but it was clearly on the minds of everyone else. Coulson even seemed to be shooting Ward slightly jealous looks, but the two men just ignored her question, before turning taking them to the end of the corridor and turning left. Ignoring Deathlok when he said they needed to go right, Ward led them to a weapon's vault door.

Three slashes from him, and a solid kick from the Captain later, the door fell to the floor and Ward stepped inside, before reappearing a few minutes later, wearing a pair of black boots, blue jeans, a white vest top, and carrying a very familiar shield.

With his powers still feeling mostly drained, it was too heavy for him to use in solid combat, so Rogers placed the shield onto his back, while Ward threw everyone else their ICERs, Fitz his kitbag, and a black belt with a circular buckle to Kara, who instantly snapped it around her waist, earning them even more curious looks.

When they were all re-geared up, the group headed up, intending to use the spillway as their way of escape.

Deathlok and Hunter took the guards on the door out from a distance, their two rifles dropping both men instantly. They rush up to the open door, and stacked up at the side, as Akela scanned the exit, using the full range of her enhanced vision.

"At least twenty men. Possibly more, there's too many too close together to tell, all seem to be carrying standard assault packages - rifle, backup pistol, and a knife. A few of them have grenades, but not many. All designs seem to be dendrotoxin based. Advise playing this one safe"

Half of the group turned to Coulson, waiting for him to issue the orders for getting out of there, but the other half ignored him, as Ward cut him off before even giving him a chance to speak.

"We'll need two teams, and enhanced vision in each one. Akela you're with me, Deathlok, you've got Kara"

"Aww, and here I wanted to spend time with my Bestie", she pouted at him and he rolled his eyes in response, while Mike and Kels rolled their eyes at her antics, they were used to this behaviour from the two of them by now.

Everyone else just looked baffled.

"We'll treat this a two pronged assault. Move up at the same time, dispatch and clear. No one needs to give themselves away. Keep the other in sight at all times, if we're spotted we'll go light, but until then, stay dark. Understood?"

The three of them nodded.

"Yep"

"Sure"

"Yes Bossman"

Kara grinned at him, and he found himself rolling his eyes again.

"Kara, take Fitz, Skye and Hunter, I'll take Coulson and the Captain. We'll regroup at the end of the spillway. Move out"

The four of them were openly being stared at, causing Ward to raise his eyebrows.

"What?"

"You give orders now?" Coulson looked at him disbelievingly, "And what makes you think we'll follow them?"

He smirked in response, "You're the one who decided that you needed OUR help to escape. So YOU follow OUR lead. Including following OUR plan, Director"

"Exactly!" Hunter interjected, "Coulson's the Director. That means we follow HIS orders"

Ward raised an eyebrow. The Brit didn't look like the following orders type.

"You follow his orders all you want. We're not SHIELD agents remember?" Ward's now-piercing gaze turned back to the man in question, "So what's it gonna be Mr Director? You gonna go solo or go for survival?"

Author's Note

Thoughts guys?

Some of the dialogue was adapted from X-Men Origins: Wolverine - don't worry, we won't be following that story.

-MarvelMatt