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Dirty Laundry

Chapter Twenty

By Roofles

Blood and violence warnings

Logan had learned how to fight from Bosch. The jaguar had been a drill sergeant with his training, knocking the human down for the third time within a couple of minutes after spiriting him away to his home after their first encounter.

“Not exactly the position we're going for." The jaguar grumbled, disheartened on the human's progress as Logan laid there, breathing heavily and looking up at the ceiling for the third time in five minutes.

Bosch was wearing a tight fitting black tank top with a loose pair of matching black tactical cargo pants on. His hands and feet were wrapped with black bandages and there was a certain… confidence to every step and move the feline made. Logan had wanted to ask about them, about him, and what Bosch did for a living… but decided against it as he pushed himself back to his feet.

“Most people don't mind when I'm on my back." Logan said, though his voice belied he'd been making a joke. The human took a moment, thinking about what just happened. How easily the jaguar had deflected his attack, flipped him onto his back and left him there to ponder his own weakness. “What did I do wrong this time?" Logan asked and the simple question made the jaguar frown as he watched the human get back up.

It wasn't because Logan was whining about being knocked flat on his ass, again, no. It was the fact the human was calm, even breathing as heavy as he was. Logan was trying to figure out what he'd done wrong, to improve himself and continue practicing with the jaguar who'd taken him under his wing for his own personal reasons.

Bosch's tail flicked.

Logan was committed to this. Hell, out of all the students Bosch had he was by far one of the best by far. He was willing to learn, to listen which in itself was a lot with some of the other recruits Bosch had to deal with. He was naturally skilled though, picking things up after only a couple of times and was putting far more effort into this than Bosch was.

Logan was, in a way, a genius. This kid could've gone on to do so much good, could have gone on to do so many things… and here Bosch was training him to be a killer, like he was. Logan was willing to sacrifice it all, his very future, in order to get revenge on the one who'd stolen everything from him…

That, alone, told the jaguar that if he didn't stick around to watch Logan's back, the human would run off back to that place before being prepared for what was ahead.

“You're swinging too wide still…" Bosch just explained. It was simple instructions but Logan took it to heart as he hung on every word the ashen gray furred jungle cat had to say. “Don't think about punching as an arc or a swing. Think of it as a… jab."

Bosch tucked both arms in holding his fists up before striking out with three quick jabs in front of him. Two with his right, one with his left, alternating between them as he went in a quick fashion. Logan watched him. Watched the way he stood, the way he moved his whole body with the punches; turning his shoulder, throwing his weight and even stepping forward slightly for the final one.

Logan made a mental note for each and every move the feline did.

“Like a boxer." Logan was the one to point out, watching the jaguar intently. Every move Bosch made Logan cataloged and marked away in his mind, inspecting the muscular jaguar's stance and how he was holding his shoulder, the position of his legs and even… “Are you getting aroused by this?" The human finally asked, his face breaking from the calm into one of laughter.

“I'm just big." Bosch grumbled bitterly, growling low as he gave a few more punches. “Now! You try." The jaguar ordered as he stepped aside, adjusting himself. He wasn't used to getting this kind of attention from someone.

As a jaguar, most kept their distance. They found him appealing in a dangerous sort of way. It made his job easier, Bosch couldn't lie. He just wasn't used to someone willfully coming up and touching him, rubbing and feeling parts of his body as Logan tried to figure out what it was the jaguar was trying to teach him.

“Right." Logan noted and his voice was empty of emotion again as he moved forward, mimicked what he'd seen and repeated the process almost flawlessly the first time after watching. “You could've told me that from the start."

“Monkey see. Monkey do…" Bosch frowned a bit, offering a weak shrug in return.

“I just have an amazing teacher, is all?" Logan smiled then, catching the jaguar's eyes as the human looked back at him. His eyes were dazzling, they captivated the feline's attention as those soft warm features broke from the mask Logan wore into something that made the feline's tail flicker with excitement.

“You'll want to keep your thumb out though, like this." The jaguar walked over. Taking Logan's wrist, he changed up his hand. The human did pull back, didn't recoil at his touch and Bosch enjoyed the feel of the younger man in his hands. “If you punch with your thumb closed like that you'll end up breaking it." Logan just nodded, watching the feline correct it.

There wasn't a trace of fear from the human standing next to the predator as Bosch moved around to correct his stance slightly. All it took was a tap of his foot here or a touch there to get Logan to move at his command, adjusting half an inch further. Bosch couldn't help getting a feel as he repositioned Logan slightly once more, placing a large hand just above his ass and another on his chest to straighten him up a bit more.

“You're a natural, kid." Bosch nodded after taking a step to the side and glancing over at the human. “Repeat." And Logan did. “Again." Logan did. “Again!" The feline shouted and Logan did…

Logan didn't ask needless questions. He didn't whine or complain when the jaguar yelled at him for failing. Logan would've made a perfect soldier and Bosch hated that about him… seeing this human, this kid, training as if for war.

“When you strike, don't hesitate." Bosch said, walking behind him in the open space of his loft near the harbor. The hardwood floor didn't have a single rug, chair or table on it. It was just as bare and empty as the walls were. Logan never asked and Bosch never explained what this place was used for; or what the dark stains on the wood were.

“I won't." Logan repeated the jab again. Then again. Repeating until the jaguar told him to stop. The human stood there, waiting once more. Logan was breathing heavily sweat dripping down his face, sticking his shirt to his chest and outlining his nipples through it.

“And if it comes to killing?" Bosch asked with a lifted eyebrow.

“I need to know how to do it… properly." Logan hesitated, if only for a second. “I've never killed anyone. Be… awkward, too. The first time." The human lowered his arms to look over at the jaguar. “I can't exactly bite someone's neck or slash their throat…" He added looking at the jaguar's muzzle then down at his hands. “I'd need to like, what? Snap their neck? Break their windpipe?" Logan mumbled a bit, thinking far too much about it.

There wasn't a trace of that fear, even now, as this human talked about murder. Even in the line of duty, killing someone still counted as such as far as Bosch was concerned. You could make it legal or pardon such an act but in the end you had still taken another person's life. Something that could never be undone.

Even if that person deserved it.

“Human's invented fire for a reason…" Bosch rolled his eyes. “Someone like you shouldn't be trying to fight unarmed." And with that the jaguar pulled out a knife holstered against his leg. Spinning it around by the handle, he held the steel blade and handed the handle of it over to Logan. There was a plastic sheath over the blades edge. “Practice with this. Always want to make sure to come armed."

“What if they find it on me?" Logan asked taking the knife and studying the weight of it.

“Make sure they don't." Bosch only answered with.

Logan gave a few mock slashes and frowned down at it.

“Don't worry; the blade is sharp enough to cut through any hide." Bosch face faltered. “If you need…" The jaguar moved up behind Logan in a single fluid motion, pressing his front against the smaller males back. Wrapping his arms around Logan, he moved them along with the human's own and helped him hold the dagger. “I can show you a few things…"

“I'd appreciate that." Logan just said. His face didn't blush. He didn't move back against the jaguar, just facing forward and waiting for the jaguar to start teaching him. The human who'd he'd just slept with didn't even have eyes for Bosch when it came to his… mission.

With a sigh, the jaguar stepped back, moving around the human before correcting the way Logan was holding the knife. “First thing first…" Bosch started with, hoping this would be for the best.

That maybe, this time, he could save a life…

…

“First up!" The announcer shouted from above as the bat flew down from one of the rafters, circling in the center of the stage set up for the auction or as Logan had soon learned the fights.

The ring was wide and open with raised edges that dipped inwards. They were metal linked fences looking very much like a cage; a cage fight. It seemed fitting in a place like this as Logan looked down from above, sitting at a table with a known killer across from him.

Then again, Logan had killed before too.

“We have, in the left corner, a single mom that just couldn't pay her dues!" The announcer went on, holding a microphone that hung down from above. There was a gaping hole in the ceiling and light was pouring down from it, illuminating the ring below leaving all the tables shrouded in darkness; obscuring those watching with ill intent and drool slathered maws.

The fighting pit was perfectly circular with all the sides being equal length from the opposing side. It looked as if someone had taken a giant cookie cutter and plucked up a junk of the earth. The ground was dusty, the cement walls matching the floor. It looked like they had used sawdust to try and soak up the fluids that had been spilled in the ring. The walls had to be fifteen feet high and with the cage surrounding the edges, other than a bat who could fly… there weren't many species that could easily get out of there.

“In the other corner!" The announcer went on as if this were a wrestling match making Logan stomach churn. “We have the eldest of the cackling brothers, the one. The only! The one and only jokester himself," the bat built up the suspense. “Giggles!"

Logan would've laughed at the name if he didn't recognized it. The hyena was wanted for numerous accounts of sodomy… with a deadly weapon. The reports claimed the hyena would laugh the entire time he took whatever object he had that day and just…

Logan didn't let the disturbing thoughts in. He'd read enough reports to know each and every person here had some sort of record against them. They all, in their own, were guilty. Just being here… made them such.

From the other slot in the wall, the metal bars opened and out stepped a bulky hyena with a twisted face painted white with a chalky substance Logan couldn't identify from where he sat. They'd smeared red lipstick over their muzzle with black diamond's over their eyes. They had on a big open white outfit fanned with a collar and wrists looking more comical than threatening. Even the baton he had would've been comical, if it weren't for the fact Logan knew exactly what they planned to do with it…

The red stains on the front of the white outfit, however, were anything but funny.

How the hell was a gazelle, a mother that hadn't ever thrown a punch in her life from the looks of it, supposed to go up against that? Logan couldn't figure as he just watched, with a frown, as the match started. It should've ended instantly, if it weren't for the hyena toying with, playing with and humiliating the woman as she plead for her life in front of everyone… it would've.

“How… entertaining?" Logan was the first to break the uncomfortable silence that had set over the two of them. Those down below were placing bets, laughing out just focusing on their meals to bother about another person who couldn't pay their debts.

Several of the younger, more inexperienced members of the gangs crowded the edges to get a closer look like children might do at a circus or zoo…

“They've lost their touch, over the years." Vicky agreed as she picked up the flank of meat with one hand and waved it back and forth. Juices flew in the air and Logan had to wipe his cheek off after one landed on it, disturbed by just how… red the juices were. “They used to have these full events! Ex-gang members, leaders fighting over turf and even families fighting one another. It was a real sport!"

The wolf smiled wickedly at the thoughts, seeming to recall times long since gone.

“It was how Diamond, my Diamond, took power to begin with…" Vicky reminisced as the two guards stood close by; they'd twitch or react every time Logan moved, creating an unbearable air around the two of them. The tension was so thick it could've been cut with the very knife Vicky was using to carve up her dinner, without taking a single bite.

Just stabbing the red meat, slicing it open and letting the juices seep out.

Logan dared to look over at her. She was scrawny, he could tell. She'd lost a lot of weight in the past year alone. Her hide hung off her body, sagging from her arms and chest as if she were wearing an oversized, baggy furry sweater. It was uncomfortable to look at. The once black fur was faded to an almost light gray color in places. It was falling out in others. Some spots had been scratched so bad Logan could see the remnants of scars left behind on her left arm. It matched her face; beat up and bruised with one too many scars to count.

“See, the pack, the Elysium Pack, didn't like females in power… didn't trust them. Trust us." Vicky growled, stabbing her knife into the table and missing the plate altogether. Logan didn't react from the loud sound; a sound that also soon came from the ring everyone was watching. “They used us to take care of the kids!" She laughed and it made goose bumps form on Logan's arm. “Used us to breed for them! To produce more offspring… cubs… soldiers, for the pack. And little else. Females weren't good enough to lead, they said… They didn't trust us holding any kind of position, no. Not back in the day when that bastard… was Alpha."

Logan could only figure she meant Reese's father, Mauler, a vicious son of a bitch that had eliminated any kind of weakness in the pack and had nearly single handedly brought the city under his thumb. His child, Bale, couldn't live up to his name and would forever be obscured by their father's legacy, forever in his shadow.

“You know. I was one of his mates. At a time…" Vicky face twisted up in a smile, as if she'd laugh but the sound never came out or seemed to register. “All the top females were forced to cater to that… man. And his sick wants and desires…" She spat to the side in foul taste. “You'd know what that's like, don't you? Catering to men…" She asked with a sidelong glance, bringing Logan back into the conversation.

“Something like that," Logan only answered after a long minute passed by without her continuing.

“Well, I hope Domino at least was pleasant… company." Vicky chuckled, covering her mouth with a hand. At first Logan thought it was to be polite, not to show ones teeth at the dinner table but soon enough she hacked out something and wiped it on the table cloth to his disgust.

“He was always a good time, yes…" Logan figured she'd bring Dom into this, somehow. It was most likely why Salt and Pepper, the names he'd dubbed the two guards, hadn't jumped him yet. “He was a true… gentleman."

“How is he doing…?" Vicky asked, toying with her steak knife. Carving into the wooden table like a bored, disobedient child. Most likely planning on jamming it into Logan's hand or neck or at least toying with the idea.

“He's doing… well… after being shot, during the raid on the club." Logan said slowly, making sure she could register his words. “He's been recovering…"

“At Reese's place, yes…" Vicky finished for him. Logan wasn't sure how much she knew and figured someone that had come along with the rest of her broken pack were feeding her information on what had been going on. “How is he?" She asked.

“Domino is… recovering." Logan repeated, only to pull back when her sunken gold eyes looked up at him.

“Reese!" She hissed his name out. Taking a moment, breathing heavily, she smoothed her fur out on one arm. “How is… Reese. Doing?" She took far longer to ask, again, than she'd done the first time. Logan watched as she picked at her arm, pulling the fur from it in agitation.

“From my understanding, he was doing very well… until we showed up on his door." Logan frowned slightly, looking at her with a bit of concern. She was clearly losing her sanity and was struggling to hold onto what she had left.

Logan could only imagine how many pounds of drugs she'd snorted after losing her Diamond…

“I see. I see…" Vicky scratched her neck, looking off to the side. “He's… he's seeing someone, isn't he? A human, I think they said. Some cute little thing…" Vicky struggled for a second and one of the two guards, the larger wolf Logan nicknamed Pepper, came over to help. She hit his hand away.

“Mother…" Pepper said in a low tone catching Logan's attention. Wolves weren't known to address or acknowledge their biological parents and from what Vicky had told him, and his knowledge on wolf packs, he was sure the old pack didn't even allow them to know who their mother was.

“Fine. I'm fine!" Vicky nearly shouted before lowering her voice as if realizing they were still inside. “I just. Just wanted to know. Is all! To make sure things are okay. Things are going as planned…" Vicky gritted her grimy yellow stained teeth, tight enough Logan could see blood on her gums. “He's well, then?" She asked as if struggling to keep herself from breaking.

Breaking into pieces.

Logan took a second to answer, letting her refocus her attention on him.

“Yes. He's doing well with his new pack, his new family…" Logan said the word carefully, judging her reaction. Vicky's eyes widen for a second, staring at him before looking away. She began to chew on her finger nails, or what nails she had left. “Vicky… are you Reese's…?"

Logan never got an answer as a horrible blood curdling scream ripped through the air from the ring below. The human looked over to see the gazelle, decapitated, with her head still dripping from the hyena's jaws.

Apparently “chuckles" or whatever the fuck they called him, had gotten bored and decided to end things when she wouldn't put up a fight. A herbivore that won in the ring, Logan knew, would be allowed to go free. There wasn't a single one that ever had though in these rigged games.... Logan was sure someone had motioned for him to wrap things up so the next show could start up. Her body was unceremoniously hauled out of the fighting pit, a crew coming in to quickly clean up the blood before leaving.

Logan watched which exit they took her; she'd be hauled off to the butcher, most likely, to be carved up and sold on the market to pay off her dues. He just hoped… it would be enough to protect her family but knew it wouldn't.

The next couple that were brought in were just that. A couple. A man and a woman, bound and tied up with gags in their mouths. Their “crimes" were listed as if those up above were both judge and jury rolled into one.

“Hiring the land sharks," a group that owned several questionable rentals along the harbor, “to find them a place, ID and even help get their child into the state from across sea… only to forgo on their payments and go to the police!" The bat announced loudly, playing up the dramatics once more. “Now, now then though… we aren't so cruel to have the child lose BOTH parents in one night… let's let them decide who they want to keep…"

And with that, the zebra foal was brought up to choose which parent she could keep and which one had to stay…

Logan tightened a fist but stayed seated. He couldn't change the city. He couldn't save every life and he was forced to watch as the child was handed a single gun and forced to choose which one of her parents they had to shoot in order to save the other.

“This some kind of sick game show or what?" Logan had to ask watching with a frown. “How is this, in anyway, profitable?" He wasn't expecting an answer as his anger began to seethe and boil over. He had to keep his cool; his own life was on the line.

“It isn't." Vicky scoffed, resting an arm on the table and her head in the palm of her hand. She gazed out with a bored expression as if watching a rerun of an old TV show. She was far older than Logan had been aware of seeing the fur along her eyes whiten in color and milky tint in both of them; like a dog on her last legs. “It's just fucked up enough to keep those psychos down below attention. That's all. Enough to keep them… amused." Vicky picked at her teeth with a gnarled clawed finger. “Just like the Roman's back in the day."

“Pit people together for some kicks and giggles?" Logan rolled his eyes at that.

“It is amusing." Vicky smiled wickedly. She wasn't watching the ring though, instead watching the crowd below sitting at their tables. “Animals." She said the word softly, almost under her breath. “Animals in suits. That's what they are. That's what they pretend to be. What we pretend to be. Just animals pretending to be… in suits." She finished with glancing over at the human sitting next to him. “They try so hard to break free of societies chains only to bound themselves in their own… it's funny, isn't it?"

“Something like that…" Logan nodded though before he spied the lions off to the side. Or rather, the large lion sitting there. Sloan was still next to his sister looking as agitated as Logan felt inside as the gruesome display was done before them.

There was the sound of a single shot from a rather large gun firing. Then silence. Logan could barely hear the sobs of the child who was taken away; hopefully they were actually let out.

“So, tell me. How are you and Domino doing?" Vicky brought the conversation back around, though Logan was sure she was just recalling they had talked about it.

“Well." Logan said, the simple word. “He's a great guy…" Logan played up a bit more than he needed.

“Relax, Logan. You're basically dating my son…." Vicky chuckled as if finding the whole thing amusing. Logan still frowned at the very idea that… Domino was her child. That Vicky could have any sort of children after what she'd done to herself over the years.

“I'm seeing your son, yes. I don't think we're… dating…" Logan was far more uncomfortable with them talking about Domino than those down below.

“What can't love a wolf?" Vicky did laugh this time, covering her mouth with a hand. Her voice sounded as dry as Logan's mouth felt from the line of questioning.

“I doubt I can love anyone." Logan just said flatly, unsure why he even bothered with her. She was keeping him alive for own sick twisted amusement. The entertainment tonight wasn't keeping her attention so here she was creating her own.

He wouldn't have been surprised if she took a pool cue and broke it in half, tossing it between Logan and one of her sons here with her and telling them to fight to the death.

Vicky cracked a smile at that. “How old are you?"

“Twenty five…" Logan just frowned. He never told anyone his birthday was just the other day. No point in telling anyone when he didn't plan for them to show up.

“And you say you can't love?" Vicky laughed at that. “Why, Logan, what a… cop out, that is." She said with the biggest shit eating grin yet. Logan didn't respond to that and so she laughed once more, softer this time around. A twisted chuckle that lifted her gummy lips up to reveal her stained fangs. “What? I thought that was a good segue to things."

“How long have you known?" Logan was more curious to find out than that she did know he was a cop.

“Only the past couple months. But by then, Domino had taken such a fancy to you… it seemed cruel, to break you two apart." Vicky inspected her nails. “Or just break you…"

“I appreciate the sentiment, for Domino's sake." Logan just replied.

“I was curious what you'd do… but you never ended up doing, anything." Vicky almost sounded disappointed. “So, I just left you be." Vicky most likely planned for Logan to pull something to, in the end, amuse her. Just like now .

“Then the raid on the club…?" Logan was the one to bring up, causing Vicky to shift in her seat though she didn't seem to be aware she had. “Half your pack died. You're customers slaughtered! The place burned down. Domino almost died…" Logan said at the end, focusing on what truly mattered to him.

“We all die." Vicky snapped back before turning back towards the ring. They had brought out the next person; from the looks of it two members from different gangs that were going to fight it out in place of the gangs doing so. Who ever won most likely gained something or other be it turf, drugs, money or whatever. Sometimes they fought just for their pride, Logan was sure.

Risking it all for pride… it was ridiculous.

“A lot of people did…" Logan felt the need to address. “A lot of wolves died." He added, knowing the customers at the club meant nothing. “Domino almost…" He brought up again, focusing on and not letting her just ignore she'd almost killed her own child.

She was far more like Mauler than she'd ever openly admit.

“He didn't, because of you." Vicky noted and Logan was sure that she had either watched the raid on the club or someone from their side was indeed feeding her intel, now all but confirming it. Logan had an idea who it could be. “It's why I haven't killed you yet. Or exposed you, rather." She offered with a roll of her wrist.

Not helping him or hurting him.

Logan just gave a single nod at that. “Yeah. Thanks. For that…"

“Domino owes you his life… he fell in love with you. Be kind of a shitty mother if I just up and killed you." Vicky chuckled lightly. “The thought crossed my mind a couple of times." She licked over her grimy teeth.

Meth. That's what Logan was sure she'd been doing because her mouth was the picture of meth mouth.

“Rat you out. Sell you to the chop shop. Dump you in the river. Maybe throw you into the ring…" Vicky rambled on.

Logan glanced back down at the ring, frowning as the two members went at it. A hyena and a lion. The lion was clearly winning but Logan noticed the hyena had walked in with a limb; as if he'd been jumped right before he'd entered the ring to fight.

Staged. How… sad, in a way. Even these fights were nothing but staged events.

“Then it occurred to me, why? If I was going to just burn it all down. Why bother with one… rat." Vicky licked over her teeth, glancing over at him. “Humans never taste good, anyways." And she stabbed the meat in front of her with a fork and finally took the first bite.

Something Logan hadn't done with the plate she had oh-so-kindly placed in front of him.

“Who's the third plate for, then?" Logan dared to ask, eying the last untouched plate with a slab of undercooked meat on it.

“Well," Vicky said taking a long moment to finish the single bite before looking back down at the fighting ring. “The police chief is a little… tied up, at the moment to join us." Her gaze continued to linger on the ring and Logan dared to glance over at it as if expecting him to come out to be the next sacrifice for their amusement.

His absence, in a way, was worst.

It only left a lingering doubt in Logan's mind. About if the Saint Bernard was even alive in this hell or not. If that wasn't the case… Then what chance did the mayor have? What chance did he have…

“They'll keep him around," Logan said his own thoughts aloud in hopes of calming his concerns. “He'd be too valuable a prize to just… eat." Logan frowned at the plate in front of him. His thoughts drifting for a moment.

Thinking about who this… person, used to be. They were just a slab of meat now. But, at one point, they had a name. A family. A place. A home. They could've been someone who'd fallen into hard times and couldn't pay what they owed or maybe just an unlucky soul in the wrong place at the wrong time. Like that gazelle mother at the start.

Or a simple boy next door to someone who they shouldn't have gotten close too…

“It's nice of you, to watch out for your boss." Vicky brought up once more, seemingly not wanting to let Logan slip out of the subject.

“Not on the job." Logan just stated flatly. There was no anger to his voice, no real concern or emotion as he glanced up at her. “I left my badge in my desk. I'm here for more… personal, reasons. Than police work."

That seemed to catch her attention which Logan was thankful for. If she got bored of him, he was sure he'd be the next person tossed into that ring for all their enjoyment. He noticed one of the two guards ears flicked; most likely curious as well.

What a young, handsome guy like Logan had to be concerned about in a place like this. A human no less!

“It's why I went to the club, in fact. Back then, it was Diamond's den…" Logan continued to milk the story, letting his words sink in to build up the ever growing mystery as he eyed the exit for a split second. Trying to calculate how long it would take him to reach the stairs and escape. “It was, by chance, I fell into Domino's lap…"

“Literally." Salt snorted behind the human but quickly cleared their throat and stood back up.

“Why would a human be interested in a bunch of wolves?" Pepper was the one to ask, clearly the three were curious about the matter enough to ask.

Logan had seen the two around the club several times and knew Pepper from a more… intimate stand point, in the beginning of scoping the club out. They usually stayed up on the stage, overlooking the club; just like they were now, in fact. Vicky must love looking down on others to get them all such a seat.

“Plenty of humans are." Logan noted, thinking of Alan. “Some of us grew up next door to them, to wolves… others fell into the mess," Logan cut the meat in front of him as if he were going to eat it. “Others walked into the den willingly."

There was a flick of an ear as Vicky stared down at the ring, watching the next fight while listening.

“They say; in order to catch a tiger, walk into its den…" Logan lifted up the fork, juices dripping down to his mouth as if to take a bite. To make the final step, the final sacrifice to amuse these animals in suits. “But," he placed the fork back down. “I suppose, in a way, I got more than what I bargained for."

There was another pause to build the suspense.

“I didn't expect to find Domino, along the way." Logan just stated simply. His thoughts drifting even further. “There were plenty of humans who found wolves, along the way, like I did… We just ended up getting mixed into the mess without really meaning too… Well, some say wolves. I say tiger."

“Tiger?" Salt frowned at that, glancing over at his brother. The two seeming to figure it out as they shifted uncomfortably.

“The butcher of Seattle, a funny title really…" Logan frowned at the cut of meat in front of him. They could cook it, season it up and even add a little A1 next to it and still… it wouldn't change the fact this was once a person. “I just called him Milo, back in the day."

Pepper glanced at his brother. “Isn't his name Mikhail?" The wolf half-whispered.

“I was young, once." Logan chuckled lightly unsure why he was even bothering. Why he even bothered to tried to begin with. “He was my first. Everyone saw him for something I never did or could. To me, he was just… my Milo. Before any other…"

That seemed to catch Salt, the smaller of the two wolves, attention. The salt and pepper furred wolf shuddered at the thought.

“Back then he wasn't so, crazy?" Logan almost laughed, playing with the cuts of meat in front of him as he cut it up into bite sized pieces without ever taking a bite… like a butcher might. “Back then, I was a very different person… he took advantage of me, and well… I vowed to kill each n' every one of you fuckers after." Logan figured Vicky would appreciate the madness in the thought. “Then I met Domino," Logan embellished a bit seeing as how he had met Bosch first. “Things changed, after meeting your… son." He added looking up at her. He left the lion down below out of the conversation, no point in bringing Sloan into any of this.

One of the two wolves shifted at that, the other chuckled at the idea of the human killing him.

“It didn't become so much killing everyone, as it was before. It sort of evolved, in a way, to figuring who needed to be and who didn't need to be… taken out." Logan played with the steak knife, wondering if he could finish Vicky off right there and then and still get out. “But, that made things a lot more complicated." He grimaced.

“Look at you, trying to shoulder the world's problems." Vicky mocked, letting out a laugh that could rival a hyena. She seemed to be deteriorating before Logan's eyes and it was clear the other two wolves noticed it as well.

“I've learned not to," Logan just replied. “One person can't burden themselves with that." The human looked over at the ring. “Can't save everyone…" He noted watching the blood being soaked up once more with sawdust before it was pushed out for the next to be brought in for the slaughter.

At least at farms, the wild animals were humanely killed. Here they were butchered even before they got to the man in charge of carving up the meat.

“I'm just here to butcher the butcher." Logan almost smiled at the idea as he looked back at the others. “So, if you will…" Logan dared to stand up making the two guards tense. “I got an appointment, I'd like to keep. Be rude, to keep him waiting…"

Vicky didn't move to stop him and so Logan stood up, pushing in his chair as if to be polite. He had been their guest, in a way.

“Thanks for the dinner." Logan kept the bile out of his words as he turned to go. Neither of the two guards stopped him as Vicky just stared blankly forward at the live entertainment put on display for everyone to watch.

“We all have business to take care of, tonight…" Vicky said, picking at her meal as if losing her appetite. “I'm glad to hear their doing well…" Her voice was soft, uneven and for a faintest of seconds Logan's could see the woman Vicky had been before it all as he stopped in the entrance to the stairs leading back down to the kitchen.

Logan could almost see it. The proud female wolf she had been before the pack had torn her apart from the inside out. Warping her into the thing she was now. This crumbling mess of fur and hide trying to hold on.

“Diamond saved me… from that place," Vicky said as if answering Logan's unasked question. “They had a… shack," she scowled at the very word. “Out behind the manor. A place everyone referred to the breeding grounds." She stabbed and devoured a hunk of meat. “They'd come out there. Drag us there. Bring in the biggest, most fertile male… throw us into a room together and just… Until we were properly… bred. Then, moved like cattle."

Logan didn't dare to say anything.

“Make the best offspring. Toss out those who weren't strong enough. Weren't good… enough." Vicky gritted her teeth, clawing at the table. Salt moved closer to his mother but she dismissed his help.

“Did you track them down?" Logan risked asking. “You're… children?" He said the word carefully, trying not to call them offspring unsure if that would be seen as insulting or not.

“Most. Some. Not all." Vicky muttered. “Dead. Gone. Not enough records kept… Diamond burned down that place, that building! Saved me from that place. Found me there. With so many others… And still. The memories. She can't burn the memories away. They linger. They fester and Diamond… my Diamond. Where is my Diamond?" Vicky rambled gripping her arm tightly.

“Mother," Pepper moved forward and she didn't even seem to register him comforting her. It was strange to hear a wolf refer to someone as father or mother. Parents don't exist in a pack that raised the children as a whole.

Especially not this one…

“My pups. My pups! They ripped them out of me…" Vicky reached down to touch a scar underneath her fur on her belly, most likely from a mock c-section. “My pups… my PB. My boys…" She huddled over herself and Pepper rubbed her back as she broke down on the spot.

Not a single tear fell but the gasping, raspy breaths she made forced even Logan, if only for a second, to feel pity for the creature before him.

“Get out of here." She snarled and it was unclear who she was talking too. “It all ends, tonight. Everything. Everyone. We all die. Die together… better to wash it all away than to let it fester any longer. Put out the fires, Diamond. Put out the fires…" She muttered endlessly as Pepper rubbed her back getting several pills out for her to take.

Logan took the chance to take a much needed step away, towards the exit. Inching his way closer with the three wolves distracted, planning to make a break for it. He'd go straight through the kitchen. He'd stop wasting time here, with them. With everyone… he'd go behind those plastic doors to the butcher's den and face him once and for all.

To get this over with.

The others would rescue the mayor.

The others? Logan hesitated at the thought; it stopped him in his tracks. Was he going to give up the mayor in order to get revenge? That's what Vicky was doing, wasn't it? Abandoning everything in order to make them pay for what they'd done to her and now here he was with the same lingering thoughts.

In that moment, though, Logan was willing too.

“Isn't that Reese's friend…?" Vicky words were no more than a whisper and yet Logan felt them like a sinking weight falling into his stomach. He spun around quickly to see what she was talking about. Logan running over to the edge to look down into the ring at who'd she'd seen as a sickening feel grew inside of him.

“It couldn't be…"

And sure enough, over the balcony past the one way glass was the fighting ring where a dark orange fur boxer was being pushed forward inside from one of the two exits.

“Clem!" Logan had to cover his mouth from shouting out the boxer's name.

“It looks like we have a stray dog!" The announcer laughed. The bat went on, talking about how they'd found the police officer wandering throughout the tunnels. Who this dog would be up against… and yet Logan didn't hear a single word as he just stared wide eyed at the canine in the ring.

He'd know that dark orange fur, square face anywhere.

Clementine. His partner, the dog he'd left up in the van above… was sure enough there in front of him. Before everyone, in The Slaughterdome. Shivering, stripped of his jacket and cut up, beat up and battered from his capture was Logan's friend.

“The fuck is he doing here!" Logan cursed to himself, biting a thumb as he became torn between the very things that seemed to have ripped Vicky apart. Revenge and saving those close to them.

Logan knew the answer even both the question was even fully formed inside his head.

Turning around on his heels, Logan bolted for the door, no one stopped him. Taking the stairs down two at a time Logan skidded to a stop in the kitchen. He didn't stop there as he ran for it. He slid past the chef, the wolverine stumbling out of the way as Logan snatched the meat cleaver from their apron and tore out into the mock restaurant set up just outside those side doors.

Logan didn't even look over at the plastic flaps leading to where the butcher was…

A few patrons gave him a look as the human, dressed as a waiter and wearing a bat mask, ran past them over to the edge of the raised ring where the chain link fence dipped over the opening. A fence just far enough out to discourage anyone foolish enough to attempt an escape. Logan didn't need to worry about that as he grabbed onto the top of the cage and hurdled over.

Jumping in.

He fell much to everyone's surprise on top of the disgruntled gangster, a talisman devil, that had come out to fight Clem. Logan used them as a perfect landing pad before rolling off and charging towards the boxer who yipped loudly in shock, just as surprised as everyone else was. People tried to get out of the cage, not into it.

Clem lifted his arms up to protect his face as the masked human swung the cleaver down at him.

Logan cut through the chain on the cuffs Clementine had been bound in, most likely mocking his profession, before turning around to face towards the Tasmanian devil getting up. The black fur, white marked marsupial did not look amused as some of those above seemed to be.

“It seems we have an announced player, today!" The bat just brought up, already taking advantage of the situation to place new bets on the match.

“The fuck you think you're doing?" The Tasmanian devil snarled at the human who all but ignored them.

“You okay?" Logan asked, keeping his voice low and calm for Clem's sake. “I wasn't expecting company!" He laughed openly which only pissed the carnivorous marsupial off further being ignored and now laughed at seemingly.

“Who…?" The boxer was flabbergasted and at a loss for words. Logan's heart went out to him. He wasn't sure how Clem ended up here but the bloody lip, the goose egg growing from the side of his skull and the black and blue bruises under his eye told Logan enough.

“Can't leave my partner alone for too long, huh?" Logan just teased playfully as he kept one eye on the marsupial who was rubbing their lower back from where Logan had landed on them.

“Logan?" Clem yipped, covering his mouth the next second. “Logan, I was looking for you! The tunnels and then the lights went out and they jumped me!" The boxer tried to explain as Logan gently pushed him back against the wall, positioning himself before the canine.

“It's okay." Logan just gave him a wink and a smile. “When they open the door to try and get me… you rush out. I'll distract them!" Logan just reasoned out as if this was just some kind of game or practice the two were playing at.

“What!" Clem yipped again, taking a step forward. “I came here to help you!" He growled.

“I don't need help!" Logan just growled right back at the canine getting on him. “I told you to wait in the car! Like a good dog!" The human snapped back, losing his temper now.

If he died in a place like this, that'd be Logan's own damn fault. It was another story altogether if Clem died because of him… if Logan's actions, yet again, cost him the life of someone he cared for.

“I'm sick of waiting!" Clem barked at him, the two getting at each other's throats while the other player just seemed to watch in amusement. “If you didn't need help? Then why did you leave markers for me to follow!" The boxer brought up suddenly, his hackles rising with his jowls.

“Markers?" Logan was confused by that. “What markers? We didn't leave anything!" He, practically, shouted back at him. Clem just gave him a confused look as if to ask who did then. “Shit," Logan could only conclude too. “Someone set us up…" And he had a clue who that might be as he faced the Tasmanian devil waiting for them.

“Done making out yet?" They sneered tossing a curved, jagged blade from hand to hand.

“My knifes bigger." Logan just stated showing off the meat cleaver. “I also got a bigger dick, too."

That seemed to be the final straw for their already pushed patience on the matter as the marsupial charged the two. Logan pushed Clem back with a hand before dodging the first wide swipe of knife and moving in for one of his own.

The cleaver was heavy, awkwardly weighted and threw off Logan's aim as he adjusted to the weapon as he swung seemingly wildly at the attacker. Each swing pushed the Tasmanian devil away from Clem who was unarmed, cowering behind Logan as the human pushed the advance forward with wide arcing swings.

The wide swings left him open, letting the Tasmanian devil move in enough to counter. Logan deftly moved out of the way, wanting them too, as he brought the cleaver around and down on their wrist as they tried to pull back after a lunging stab. The cleaver sunk into their fur and flesh and Logan felt the bite of bone against.

Blood sprayed into the air as Logan withdrew the cleaver as the Tasmanian devil pulled back. They snarled and howled in pain dropping the knife and grabbing their arm just above the fresh wound as they bared their teeth.

“You son of! I'll kill you!" They snapped their jaws, eyes going wide just as Logan sunk the cleaver against the side of their neck. With both arms down, them moving forward blinded by rage and pain it had been an easy blow to give.

The Tasmanian devil pulled back and blood spurted in the air as Logan pulled his arm back.

“I-," the marsupial couldn't even finish their words as the cleaver came down on their other shoulder. It sunk down, deep, as Logan just pushed them onto their back. Stumbling backwards, they had no chance but to fall over.

Letting out a blood curdling howl, the Tasmanian devil tried to get up just as Logan pounced on him. Pinning their arms down by their side with his legs, Logan brought the cleaver back up. Their eyes met as he brought it down. And before everyone watching, Logan silenced the Tasmanian devil.

Their body twitched underneath Logan as he pulled out the cleaver once more, bringing it down with a sickening chop. Then again. And again. Blood seeped around him as Logan brought the cleaver down again, and again and again…

Chop. Chop. Chop.

Blood sprayed in the air. It pooled around Logan's legs and chunks of muscle, tissue and fleshy hide were ripped out time and time again as Logan hacked away at their assailant until he was sure. They would never threaten Clem again…

Their body went rigged, blood spurted against the mask Logan had on before they collapsed before him as he sunk the cleaver between their eyes for good measure. He left the cleaver where it was as he got up, dripping with blood, to come over to check in on Clem.

“You okay?" Logan just asked dusting his hands off without even looking back. Clem just stared at him, slack jaw. The canine recoiled, pulling away from the human that reached out for him. Logan flinched at that, pulling his hand back. “Oh, right. Sorry. I'll wash my hands off, first." Logan chuckled lightly in the silence that had fallen around them.

Trying to make a joke.

Trying to make it so Clem didn't look at him with those eyes… eyes filled with fear and concern. The boxer might be in shock, which would complicate things Logan just reasoned out. Getting jump like that? He might also have a concussion also. He needed to figure a way to get Clem to a hospital so he'd be okay…

“When the door opens for them to clean up the mess," Logan thumbed over his shoulder at the body still bleeding in the middle of the ring. “Rush out. I'll distract them for you." Logan just repeated with a friendly, upbeat tone and a smile that didn't match his eyes… “Find a way to get me out, then." Logan was already shoving Clem towards the exit.

There were stirring from above as those who worked here tried to figure out what to do about the new situation that jumped into the ring. Logan was sure if they were contemplating if they should just up and shoot the two of them, send in the guards or try and swing things in their favor. It was like being at a very sick, twisted casino.

Logan figured which one they would choose. Whatever profited them the most.

And he was willing to play whatever game they had in mind, no matter how rigged it was, if it meant he could get Clem out of this alive…

“Let the show begin." Logan could only scoff, as he wiped the blood off his chest with his free hand walking over to grab hold of the meat cleaver from the Tasmanian devil's skull. With a sickening slurp, it was pulled free and he brandished the still dripping meat cleaver in his other hand. “I'll play the part of the butcher tonight, I don't mind…"