Part II: Criminally Good

Chapter X: Avenge Me, O Mighty

Suddenly a jolting siren yanks my head up. I look around in confusion before realizing they knocked me out — again.

Jarvis comes on the intercom as the sirens lower, "Vulg is demanding possession of Percy Jackson. They say if you refuse, then you ally yourself with Rust and Shield will be entered in the gang wars. Sparta has similar requirements."

I widen my eyes in surprise and yell. "Fury!"

I don't have to wait long; he comes in with Hawkeye and Widow. Fury slams down my file; preliminary procedures, I suspect he already knows everything he can about my background.

Widow looks at me with an unreadable look; a flash of anger, a spark of pity, and a dose of understanding — human to human. "Here," she says, giving me a paper with the specific Gang demands.

Fury sits down across from me, "There way a stalemate on whether to give you to Vulg, Rust, or Sparta. So that choice has been given to me."

"I — "

"You have forty-two minutes left, Mr. Jackson. If we give you back to Rust on the account that they'll kill a traitor — on which we have no evidence — Vulg will consider us a part of your Gang Wars, which he will do anyways if we keep you here as prisoner."

He moves closer, more serious, "Listen here Mr. Jackson, we cannot afford to enter these so called "Gang Wars". Shield has soldiers dispatched in the major wars of America. We have Avengers and Special Operatives spying in Asgard and eradicating the last of the Skrull and other aliens."

"We cannot afford another battle on your account." He looks loathing, "As much as I'd like to eradicate the three, that requires more manpower than we have to spare on mere pesky gangs."

I stare back at him and grin, "For the greater good? Right? Don't play me the dunce, Fury, I know more about Shield's problems than you think."

"Listen!" He all but snarls, "I believe that you know what will happen either choice I make. And you're going to tell me everything," he narrows his eyes at me."

"And pray tell, why would I do that?" I say.

"Because, I know your weakness." He says, as if he's enjoying my discomfort — which I am; unnerved, I mean.

"And whatever the serum doesn't get, emotions will," He finishes eerily.

"I gave up personal ties long a — " I begin.

"Your mother. She betrayed you, and then you betrayed her."

Ehh, he's close enough, I decide.

I rub my eyes, "What do you want to know?" I ask.

"I can tell you anything from Botany to Andy Warhol, the Strong Force to the Jedi on Coruscant, Ethanol to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart," before I get too far in showing my explicit knowledge Fury opens a case with hypodermic needles.

He looks at Widow and raises an eyebrow, "Should I, or you?"

"I'll do it," she says and jams a needle into my arm.

I gasp as a bubbly liquid enters my veins, and my blood slowly trickled out. "I see you took my advice..." I grunt out, "I-I can barely keep a s-stream of t-thought and block it at the same t-time." And then I slide an easy smile over my face, "But, then again, it's not that hard."

His eyes narrow slightly,"How are you affiliated with either Sparta or Vulg?"

I clear my throat, and then bite my tongue as the Truth Serum hits me like a tidal wave. Then again.

And again.

It's like a minuscule heartbeat, eat pump sends another wave of the destructive impulse through me to tell the stupid truth. I grind my teeth in before sighing when my brain forces my compliance.

"I worked with Sparta for a couple months, faked my death, and then anonymously disposed of their new assassin. I was Vulg's leader for about three months before a mercenary got away from me and I had to cut my losses." I let loose in one big breath.

Fury remains like a slab of granite, but then again so do I. "So you have ties to all three?"

I resist the urge to slap my head, "Duh."

Widow looks at me, "Will Sparta kill you should we give you to them?"

"Nah," I smile, "They'll just implement me into the assassin position — again."

"And Vulg?" She demands.

"Likewise," I say, still smiling, "I'm too valuable, Fury, with me on their team they'd easily crush the other gangs; then Shield would have to do something."

"Modest, are you?" Widow mocks.

"Oh, did you say honest?" I bicker back and cup a hand around my ear. "Contrary to your belief, I've been training and fighting all my life. Have those other men and women? No. I'm grounded in fighting, it surrounded me, it shaped me."

I look at the ground, and then look up as I feel an uncanny stare.

"Who were you fighting?" Clint says after being to silent so long.

I stare at him, surprised, open my mouth, and close it. "I don't know... My hatred and anger?"

I gasp, audibly and unintentionally, "...Myself..?"

Myself, the only person I can truly trust, yet I doubt? Am I a shell, filled with tangible anger that sparks necessity and determination while it last, only for it to evaporate in moments of weakness and self pity? Did my mother do this to me, or did I.

...Are these shackles on my wrist mental restraints that destroy my sense of humanity all because I'm weak?

I am.

I shake my head and sigh, "What do you want to know?" I look up and meet there stares, "I'll tell you everything."

They know it, they know that they've gotten to me and now I pay the atonement.

"How are you so valuable, and why?" Fury asks.

I try to think of a way to explain — to show them. Then I'm silent, thinking as I study each of them, "It would be like, you," I point to Widow, "joining a gang. Not many have your limitless physical abilities, and certainly not your mind~power. You would quickly over power your enemies." I quickly shut my mouth, aghast at the comparison I made.

Natasha allows surprise to flicker per her face, before voicing the next question, "What would you do, in our position?"

Her question surprises me, not only is it divulging information and going against regulations by association, I can tell she really means it. She wants to honestly know what I would do and is allowing me an opportunity to convince them.

"Honestly? The only way I won't revert to my original self, not saying I won't anyway, is to keep me here, on ice per say. I cannot promise you that everything will be easy, but I can promise major compliance and self-sacrifice."

"If I go back to the gang wars, it's game over." I look at their faces, which aren't surprised because they knew the answer all along. Me agreeing was just the fulcrum point.

"Assume I say yes to your proposal, we can't keep you locked in Shield forever. It's not equipped with that kind of necessities — we aren't a prison, and we can't keep you in a bedroom meant for an Avenger or house you with the mortals or even the supernatural," Fury points out.

"Let me train with you — learn and grown like other young men my age. Let me help you as an ally, and you help me with mental stability. I won't be doing anything to hinder the progress of Shield, this is the only way to prevent me from becoming the one thing I hate the most — a monster." I feel it at the tip of my tongue, dangerous but relieving.

I've built up all this momentum for this instant, this thirty second period that could potentially change my life. Coupled with the serum, Fury knows I'm not lying, he knows I speak with all my heart.

"Fury, let me become an Avenger."