Wolverine looked dumbfounded, and Shin was just as confused. Captain America was connected to Wolverine?
Wolverine even suspected this Captain America might be a fake. After all, how could someone survive so long without aging? Captain America didn't have mutant abilities like he did.
What's more, Captain America's sacrifice was common knowledge.
Yet, a strange sense of familiarity welled up from deep inside, convincing Wolverine that this man was Captain America.
"Captain..." Wolverine muttered, then quickly snapped out of it and looked directly at him. "Captain, do you know me? Were we comrades?"
Hearing Wolverine's words, Captain America was equally stunned. What do you mean?! His head was spinning... he'd been about to ask him what was going on. Why had the world changed so drastically? And why was Logan acting so nervous?
Before these two relics, one suffering memory loss, the other freshly thawed, could piece things together, a group of black-clad agents rushed onto the scene.
"Captain... wait a moment! Captain!" they called, quickly surrounding the trio.
At that moment, Wolverine, believing he'd finally found a clue to his missing memories, sprang into action. Unwilling to let anyone interrupt, he charged the agents and began pummeling them.
Fortunately, he noticed the agents didn't seem hostile they hadn't even drawn their weapons. So, he refrained from using his adamantium claws, sticking to hand-to-hand combat.
Eventually, Wolverine seized a man who appeared to be the team leader, identifiable by his receding hairline. Grabbing him by the collar, he demanded, "What's going on? What's your connection to the Captain? Why are you following him?"
The bruised agent, Coulson, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ever-present rookie handler, looked ready to cry. "We're not hostile at all! At first, we just wanted to help the Captain adapt to the new environment..."
Wolverine hesitated. His aggressive reaction had been a reflex born from years of stress and confusion. But now, hearing Coulson's words, he began to doubt his assumptions. He turned to look at Captain America.
Steve looked just as bewildered. Finally, the two men exchanged glances. Seizing the moment, Coulson quickly interjected, "We really mean no harm.... truly! Why don't we all sit down at that café next door and talk things through?"
...
"So, I was frozen for seventy years? World War II is over? This is the 21st century?" Captain America, Steve Rogers, was reeling. He'd only just escaped the special containment unit S.H.I.E.L.D. had created for him, and now he finally understood the situation.
Wolverine looked at him sympathetically. Waking up to a completely changed world... it couldn't feel much better than having your memories ripped away.
Even though Steve possessed a strong will, it was clear he was struggling. His eyes darted around, eventually landing on Wolverine with a pleading look.
Wolverine sighed and nodded. "Yeah. It's the 21st century now."
Steve opened his mouth to respond, but closed it again, unable to speak. He slumped into his seat, his whole posture radiating defeat, like a man who had just lost everything.
"I never thought... Logan, are any of the Howling Commandos still alive?"
Wolverine looked at him, and opened his mouth to reply, but couldn't find the words. His mind was a chaotic blur. How was he supposed to know what had happened to the Howling Commandos?
Just as the silence stretched, Coulson spoke up.
"Mr. Logan, were you also part of the Howling Commandos? Honestly, I never expected there were mutants among them!"
As a senior S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Coulson knew about many well-known mutants. But he hadn't expected the famously active Wolverine, Logan, to have served with the legendary unit.
Did I really serve with the Howling Commandos? Logan mused, confused. So I have that kind of history?
"I'm sorry... I don't know," he said aloud. "I lost my memory a long time ago."
Everyone stared at him in surprise. Wolverine rolled his eyes and spread his hands. "Okay, fine! I admit it. Except for memories from the past ten years, everything else in my mind is a mess. I don't even remember the Howling Commandos, just that the Captain feels familiar."
This time, it was Steve who looked at Logan with sympathy. Despite the difference in their situations, one had lost time, the other memories, they could still relate to each other's pain.
"Uh, sorry, Mr. Logan. I didn't know that had happened to you..." Coulson apologized quickly.
Wolverine shrugged it off and turned to Captain America. "Captain, you should know something about my past, right?"
Steve blinked. This is ridiculous. He'd been hoping Logan could explain things to him yet now it was the reverse.
"Well... let me think. I remember you were Canadian, Logan. You came to support us as a Canadian soldier. Also... I think you had a brother. His nickname was Sabretooth. And... you had a deceased wife. Her name was Silver Fox..."
Captain America stopped there.
Wolverine's eyes widened at the mention of Sabretooth being his brother. And when he heard the name Silver Fox, something stirred deep inside, an overwhelming sense of familiarity.
He stared at Steve. "Anything else?"
Steve looked sheepish. "Uh... that's all I know."
After all, although Logan had been Steve Rogers' comrade-in-arms, he hadn't exactly been the sociable type. It was only because of Steve's exceptional charisma that Wolverine had ever opened up to him at all.
If it had been any of Logan's other army buddies, they probably wouldn't have known a thing, if they were lucky enough to avoid a beating.
Hearing this, Wolverine's face fell. Still, he pulled himself together. "Well... at least I've confirmed I've got one living relative, though Sabretooth's mind might be even more of a mess than mine."
"Honestly, is Sabretooth really my brother? I always thought that guy was just a beast."
"Yeah," Steve nodded. "You said that once. You two never had a great relationship."
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