CHAPTER 97

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Showing the Panther the possible threats outside this world was not enough to convince him, I knew that,  so I had to force him into the path I desired, without him knowing, a tactic I was not proud of but what other choice did I have? I didn't want to wage war with Wakanda, I had no time to deal with such a thing, their country was powerful and an ally the earth needed, so eliminating them was not an option, angry with how things had turned out, I picked the path of cowards and used what little I learned from the Ancient One to change his mind by altering his own thoughts.

I didn't brainwash him though, I didn't have the necessary skill to alter his mind to such a degree, after all, I abhorred this particular tree of magic with all my heart, and had only learned how to use the bare basics out of necessity, for according to the Ancient One, such knowledge was essential to avoid said magic taking a hold of you.

I felt dirty, angry, and disgusted, to get what I had wanted, I had changed his views about the entire situation, and no matter how much I told myself it had been for the greater good, that I had just changed his thoughts a bit, that I had only guided his him to a path of acceptance for the sake of the future… I knew it was wrong.

In the end, it changed nothing, no matter how many excuses I tried to come up with.

I had done the thing I myself had feared someone would to me, I had become the voice whispering in the back of someone's ear, manipulating them for my own sake.

It's laughable really, in a morally disgusting way, my act had saved lives, and even then I felt no better.

But I had no time to sulk.

I was a fierce believer of the karmic cycle, what goes around, comes around, and one day, I would pay for this, I would pay for breaking my own code.

It's stupid, I know, I had done worse things, I had killed innocent people, and yet I drew the line with such a thing.

"You did what you had to do," Bucky muttered, being the only one to know what had truly happened.

"I know that, I still don't feel any better though," I chuckled without emotion.

"You are not like them," Bucky growled, slamming his fist into a wall, shattering the entire piece into nothing but rubble. "You are not Hydra, you simply made him see without his prejudices!"

"Bucky, I know what you are trying to do," I smiled, closing my eyes as I did so, "But, what I did, is no better than getting a girl drunk to fuck her, just because drunk she would be more likely to open her legs," I sighed, "I whispered into his ear, I guided him towards the path I wanted, and yes, this path is for the best, but he had a choice to say fuck it all, a choice I didn't give him,"

"I still don't care," Bucky replied, his eyes piercing my very soul, "I know that what you did was wrong, but it was wrong for good reasons!"

"The ends justify the means?" I chuckled, again without any emotion behind, "Don't worry Bucky, I might feel bad, but it changes nothing in the end," I smiled, "I would've done the same thing, without hesitation, I have too much in play to risk it all in a war with Wakanda, and besides, I get some consolation this path was better than the alternative."

"Alternative?" Bucky asked.

"Had I left the King's decision to him, there was a chance he would've waged war on me," I replied, "Had that happened, I would've had no choice but to destroy him and his people. This way, I only hurt one person, I think one compared to a few million it's better, don't you think?"

"Sometimes life only gives us hard choices, and the only thing we can do is pick the less fucked one between the two," Bucky replied, approaching me with a smile, "Now, don't brood, that's my style," he muttered with a chuckle, and before I could reply, he surprised me with a hug, "You are not alone."

"You are surprisingly good at this," I chuckled, Bucky the therapist, how bizarre was that.

"Now let's drink a beer and talk about sports of something," Bucky chuckled, breaking the hug, "We have to balance this shit out," 

I laughed, for the first time since I did what I did, I actually laughed, "For future references, you have to say no homo after such a moving moment," 

"Duly noted," Bucky snorted.

"Thanks, I needed to have this talk," I sighed, I might not totally accept what I did as the correct option, but somehow I felt better. "Open the door, Fury is about to knock," I told Bucky as I saw my minimap, seeing Fury a few meters away from the door.

"I got a text from Bucky saying, someone besides him was depressed," Fury said as he walked into the room.

"That would be me," I chuckled.

"Bitch, I will slap the depression out of you," Fury barked.

"Not sure that is the medically correct procedure with situations like this," I snorted.

"I will make it the correct procedure," Fury rolled his eye, "You did what you had to do, end of the story, after all, when life gives you motherfuckering lemons you fuck life, and ask her for an ice-cold lemonade and a sandwich to go with it, so stop sulking, we only have enough room for ONE emo, and that one is Cyborg over there," he pointed at Bucky.

"Don't worry, Bucky pulled a my little pony move on me," I chuckled.

"Did he say no homo?" Fury asked, and Bucky rolled his eyes.

Perhaps, I would be okay, with friends like this, there was little time to hate myself for doing what was right, even if it was wrong.