Luke Cage POV

Nobody ever seemed to notice that he was there.

Which was something he always found to be weird, especially after over-hearing so many comments and remarks on his build and stature. The ability to overpower nearly anyone in a room was bound to give him a bit of attention, but he was honestly surprised that so many people lacked the survival instinct to look over their shoulders where a beast might be lurking.

Despite being stronger than nearly every agent within the Zodiac, and just as tall, Luke always worried that he'd attract too much attention for the job he'd been given. However, he also figured his sudden invisibility had something to do with strategic placement.

Scorpio kept him situated tightly in a corner near the door so that when it opened the door would swing out and block him from sight. His corner was indented into the wall too, and at just the right angle that the shadows did most of the work covering him. Besides, whoever came through the door was usually too far across the room to notice him by the time the door closed again and were too pre-occupied with their task to check and make sure their back was safe.

While the insolence never failed to grate on his nerves, it only made his job easier.

Still, just once he wanted someone to notice him right off the bat so they could just get on with it. It was so dull waiting through the formalities of assassination attempts and incompetent agents. If they could at least spot him right away, it gave him a reasonable opening to act.

But, Scorpio liked having his ulterior motives. The prospect of having a hidden gun up his sleeves, most fondly used when the victim thought they'd won, excited him. Luke just so happened to be one of the biggest and most dangerous of those guns, and while he didn't mind keeping their Zodiac leader safe, he just wished they could skip the talking and mind-games and get straight to punching.

Unfortunately, the song never changed its tune.

When a lone Taurus soldier walked in at exactly 8:45, he'd slipped the door open just enough to wiggle through, and marched across the room with his gun already out and pointed at Scorpio. Like so many others before him, he didn't seem to notice Luke.

Pity.

As soon as the door closed again, Luke stood straighter, even though he'd been standing at attention in the same spot since early that morning, and mentally mapped out every vulnerable spot on the man's body; from the legs he could snap like pencils, to an estimate of how much strength it'd require to crush the mans' neck. It wouldn't take very much either, mind you

Only when the soldier stopped at the desk, form squared and body braced for action, did Scorpio look up. It was barely even a look at all, but a fleeting glance from the reports he'd been reviewing, following by an impertinent scowl as if the Taurus was nothing but an insolent fly stupid enough to buzz around his head.

Scorpio had divulged Luke on his suspicions that SHIELD managed to infiltrate the Zodiac Ranks weeks ago, and with a bit of digging and contact with the loyal spies he'd planted months before, figured out that the mole was somewhere within the Taurus faction. The mole was the reason Scorpio had him stay late and waking early for weeks.

Luke was going to enjoy choking this guy with his own arms.

With the Taurus's back to him, vulnerable and completely breakable, Luke headed forward. The carpets were padded to absorb sound, which might've been a problem for Scorpio if any assassins tried to take him out. That is, if not for Luke, whose job was to get to them before they could take a swing at that boss. Given that any assassin or agent actually managed to surprise Scorpio, which was so few and far between that Luke would go as far to say that Scorpio had seen it in the stars.

From his cool, sturdy desk Scorpio gave a small sigh, a sign of his displeasure with the interruption, but clasped his fingers in resignation anyway, like it was nothing but an unpleasant business meeting he'd have to suffer through.

Impressed, Luke mused on the fact that Scorpio had been right with his suspicions that the mole would be taking his move soon. Sleep-deprivation and achy muscles told Luke that the boss was just being paranoid, but his head and past experience told him to stay alert. Scorpio was never wrong.

The gun remained centered on Scorpio's chest as the guy took his Bullhead mask off, discarding it on the floor like it was a piece of filth. Luke couldn't see the agents' face from where he was, but he could imagine the smirk all too well, like a child finally winning a prize after countless attempts. He refrained from snorting.

"Where's your Guard Dog, now?" the agent leered, obviously reveling in his moment. Luke pondered on what was going through SHIELD's head when they sent THIS agent, an obvious newbie who didn't have the intelligence to pull the trigger quickly. But let him have his moment. The poor, stupid man was about to get the wake-up call of his life.

Luke was behind him by the time he got the last word out, and grabbed his neck with a vice grip, earning himself a startled gasp.

"Right behind you," he answered; voice muffled within his own mask, and threw the guy across the room, right into the wall. They were metal, so they would hold up. Besides, he didn't throw him hard enough to break bones or dent metal. This guy was the reason Luke wasn't asleep right now, he wanted to enjoy this.

Luke trod across the soft carpet, where adjacent to him the agent shot back to his feet and centered the gun over Luke's head this time. He didn't hesitate to blow off a few shots, which meant he was learning. But each bullet hit Luke's head with pleasant ping CRUNCH as the metal crumpled like aluminum foil. Crippled projectiles dropped at his feet like dying birds.

Aww, there was that look of fear Luke's grown to enjoy. Peoples always had a particular expression of terror when they realized he couldn't be harmed. Even more so when they realized that they were about to be.

Ha, he probably hadn't heard about that in the barracks.

Luke was acutely aware that Scorpio was watching him, more skeptical than usual. This wasn't like one of Luke's other missions where he could just crush these guys like shoes on cockroaches. Scorpio was expecting something more than just his normal brutal tendencies.

Fine. Luke could get creative.

He grabbed the agent by the neck and hefted him off his feet. "Blood on the carpet?" he asked the boss. The last time he got blood on the carpet without permission he had to scrub it off himself.

"No. A clean kill."

"Yes Sir,"

The agents' eyes bulged behind Luke's hands, and he couldn't tell whether it was through fear or lack of air. It didn't matter, the guy never got another say. Well, aside from his screams – but those were mostly incoherent, so it didn't count.

When he was done nearly 30 minutes later, the agent was snapped and twisted in many different places. Not enough to break the skin, but clean, simple breaks. The ones that punctured lungs and organs, just a hair shy of breaking the skin. The mole had been in so much pain he'd zonked out halfway through it. That felt like cheating in Luke's book.

He bent down to snap the moles' neck and put an end to it, but Scorpio stopped him with a halting grunt.

"Take him to our Prison Hold. We'll send him back to the scum he came from. Leave them a little message."

Luke nodded, affirmative, and grabbed the guy by his collar and dragged him none-too-gently out of the office. There was no reason he needed to be there anymore. Scorpio could've easily taken this doofus out himself, but there was always a lesson to learn. Luke figured that out a while ago.

He was already a popular rumor around the Zodiac, so why not use it to lure out a pseudo-agent?

Even Luke's' heard the numerous rumors about "Scorpio's Guard Dog" that have been circulating throughout the organization ever since he joined the Zodiac years ago. Since he always stuck by Scorpio's side, following his orders only, not many people had the misfortune of getting to know him. Some believed that he was an actual Zodiac from the stars. Others believed that he wasn't even human, but a humanoid creature created by Scorpio to do his bidding. It was said that he couldn't be killed. That he could topple a city with a single punch.

It was kind of funny, to be honest. Luke could die, he knew that, and he definitely couldn't topple a city with a punch. Scorpio would've cashed in on that otherwise. All he had for him was invulnerable skin, strength, and a whole lot of impulse control.

But he didn't mind the rumors. They were entertaining. It got people to leave him alone, anyway. No one wanted to mess with Scorpios invulnerable Guard Dog from the stars who could crush buildings with his bare hands.

The halls of the Zodiac base were simple, constructed to be firm and undefeatable. It didn't help that they were set up inside a docile volcano, either. But the lava burrowed into the earth made for a good sustainable fuel, defense, and heating system.

Without the carpet floors, Luke's steps hit the ground as if he had thunderclouds tied to his shoes. The booming echoes of his feet gave him a deep feeling of satisfaction he could never quite explain. Perhaps it was the fact that he could be heard corridors away, and that every agent within the vicinity will know that the Guard Dog was let off its chain. Maybe it was because he enjoyed the nervous fumble of agents when he walked past. Whatever it was, it pleased Luke down to his core.

The Prison Hold was built farther into the volcano, where the heat could be felt emanating off the walls. The cells were constructed with heat-able metal, so most inmates were slick with sweat and sporting numerous burns on their hands and feet.

He marched to the Guard Block, where the Chief on duty saluted, straight-backed, and opened the thick Prison Hold door with a click of a remote in her hand. Luke took the agent down to a cell personally, watching in grim amusement as another guard, boring the red dot of a trainee on her sleeve, pushed the cell code in with sweaty, nervous fingers. After another fumble, Luke scowled, considering breaking her fingers too. No weak links belonged in the Zodiac, especially in the Prison Hold.

Weakness bred weakness, and they couldn't be vulnerable where their enemies were concerned. A prison break would be far from ideal, and a few broken fingers would be more than enough to remind this trainee that her inefficiency would NOT be tolerated.

Maybe he'd mention it to Scorpio later. For now, he tossed the broken human into the cell, not bothering to lay him on the covered cot to prevent burns, and listened to the trainees breathe of relief as he walked away.

Pathetic.

It was uncomfortably hot in the Prison Hold and it filled the spaces of his mask with sweat and hot air. He was grateful when the door opened again and he strode into the coolers halls.

There are more Zodiacs roaming around. A few Rats, Snakes, and Pigs. They all moved out of his way when he came stomping down the hall, staring wide-eyed and apprehensively at the snarling dog mask perched on his face. He stared pointedly at a few until they looked down respectfully.

The Guard Dog was pleased that they simpered before him. The strong cowered before the weak, after all. It was the way nature made it out to be. The gazelle ran from the roar of the lion, the lion did not run from the bleat of a gazelle.

But another part of him, the Puppy Side as Scorpio haughtily called it, felt somewhat...guilty. He wasn't a blood-lusting beast to be feared, not all the time at least. While their submissive behavior and nervous fumbling amused him, he couldn't help but feel as though he was doing something wrong. The voices of his deceased parents seemed to come back to him, soft yet firm, preaching the lessons of humility.

He got those conflicting thoughts a lot. Scorpio did his best to beat and train them out of him, but its only reward was a hard shell. The Guard Dog was built on the outside, but Luke Cage was still inside. Maybe it was through the aching affection he still had for his parents, but he liked keeping their personas' different. Liked having a distinction between the Dog he was within the Zodiac, and the boy his parents raised.

Not that he ever, ever, ever told Scorpio that. Their leader would never tolerate such - such a soft, sentimental view of his character. It'd be dozens of consequential training sessions until even his invulnerable flesh felt down-right soft and squishy.

Scorpio liked his Guard Dog as brutal and bloodthirsty as the Zodiac made him out to be. Rumors could spread beyond their organization. If that agent did manage to make it to SHIELD before dying of internal bleeding, then there was no doubt Luke's reputation would exceed itself to their Director.

Which is exactly what Luke wanted.

Scorpio is still looking over the reports when Luke returns, calm as if his life hadn't just been threatened. Technically, Luke supposed that it never was. When the door open though, the boss spared him a glance.

"Good, Dog," he said, looking back down. Luke smiled wanly, even though it couldn't be seen.

"Yes Sir," he said, standing before Scorpio with his arms crossed. "Am I still needed?"

Scorpio thought about it. "No," he decided. "You are excused to go to your bunker."

Finally. The last few sleepless weeks were beginning to get to him. While he could go days without sleep just fine, that didn't mean he liked it. He bowed to Scorpio, created a Z with his arms and proudly proclaimed, "Zodiac," and turned to leave.

His hand was barely brushing the doorknob when Scorpio called, "Dog," and Luke turned back around.

"You and I will be heading out in a few hours. Be back here at 1'. I will not tolerate tardiness."

Like Luke has ever been late before. Still, this seemed peculiar. Where could Scorpio possible be wanting to go at that time of night?

"Yes Sir," he said anyway, and clutched the doorknob, but hesitated. Timidly, he turned back around, "Uh, Sir, requesting permission to know why we're leaving?"

Scorpio thinks about that too. "You will be performing in a new training exercise." He said, and judging by the clipped tony, that was all the explanation he was going to get.

Luke pondered on that. It's true he's been exceeding the standards Scorpio set for him in his duties of protecting him, maybe the boss just wanted to challenge him. But it also took time out of sleeping, and that was irritating.

Luke stifled that irritation.

He was the Guard Dog for a reason. He needed to be prepared for anything, so that's exactly what he was going to do. Insomnia or no insomnia.

The walk back to his bunker wasn't very far. Scorpio kept him close, just in case. It's a small room, bigger than a bathroom, but smaller than an office. The bed, a flimsy mattress on a wire-y frame, is pushed far in the corner with a rumpled blanket. His clothes were in the chest underneath the bed. His weapons hung from the wall, but there weren't many. He didn't need weapons when he WAS one. A toilet sat in a corner, the sink next to it with a small mirror hanging loosely from the wall.

Maybe it wasn't so much a bunker than it was a cell. But Luke didn't like that comparison so much. It reminded him of the cells the Prison Hold and he was not a prisoner. This was HIS home. His room was small because Scorpio needed him to disassociate. He couldn't get attached. So, not trinkets, no pictures, no memorabilia of any kind. Just him, his bed, and his reflection.

But he couldn't complain. Scorpio provided him with everything he needed to sustain himself. He was fed, clothed, and clean. He had a roof over his head, fighting etched into the girth of his limbs, and a goal to motivate him. That was all he needed.

As soon as he closed the door behind him he tore the snarling dog mask off his head, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he tossed it on the bed. Ugh, that thing was stuffy. He didn't think his zodiac was actually a dog, but ever since catching wind of the rumor, Scorpio insisted he wears it – to play into the image.

It was hot and stuffy, though. Irritating to wear. Luke figured he'd get used to it eventually, but ugh – he wished he could go back to wearing just his face.

Orders are orders.

He rubbed water over his face to wash away the sweat and stench, leaning far over the sink to let the water run on the back of his head till he was thoroughly cooled. He had no towels, so it was either let the water air dry or use the blanket. He didn't particularly care either way.

But man did it feel good to wash Guard Dog away. He resurfaced from under the faucet, supporting himself on the sides of the sink as he watched the water fall down the drain.

What was this training exercise Scorpio was going to have him do, anyway? Why did they need to leave the base to do it? It seemed like a hassle. He's succeeded in all his training – what more did Scorpio want him to learn? He wasn't going to allow anyone to hurt the boss. No one will get past him.

But – but he must've slipped up somehow. Otherwise, he wouldn't have to do this. He ran through the last few weeks, trying to find flaws in his performance. Maybe Scorpio picked up on his sleep-deprivation? Maybe Luke was being too soft?

Sighing, he turned the water off. He looked up, staring at himself in the mirror. His buzz-cut hair was getting longer – he'd need to get it cut again soon. The front of his blue and gold-brown uniform was wet from the water, particularly where the giant Scorpio sign was stitched to the front, but he couldn't feel it. Couldn't feel anything contact wise.

The receptors on his skin were too far buried under a hardened layer of tissue. Even hot water was hard to feel, which was why he always had it to use the highest setting. His showers were brief because of that. Couldn't use too much hot water, even though they were in a literal volcano, so most of his showers went cold.

But the patch of wet clothing was irritating to look at. He took the shirt off, tossed it on the end of the bed to dry, and took out a new one from the chest. While he was at he also replaced his pants, his boots, and swapped the gun strap on his bicep for a knife strap on his thigh. Didn't usually need weapons, but would be nice to have anyway.

He didn't like guns that much. The metal crumpled too easily in his hand. A knife hilt was slimmer and melded easier into his palm, and there was the less likely chance he would break it. Besides, he could do just as much damage with a knife than he could a gun. Bullets didn't work on him so he didn't need to worry about gun-fights.

He glanced at the clock on the wall.

He'd better start going.

Scorpio was waiting for him out in hangar, top-side of the base, overseeing last minute preparations. Luke took his place next to him, looping the bag offered by a Pisces over his shoulder. He waited until everything was ready, keeping an eye on Scorpio's back, before filing into the jet.

Luke took the wheel, on Scorpios orders, and watched as the boss punched in destination coordinates.

Why the hell were they going to New York?

Annnd done, there's Luke! Hey boy!

Here is a picture of Luke's outfit. My art style is probably going to change frequently because I'm trying different methods and tools out. Also, sorry if the mask looks a little weird, it's a work in progress.

Anywho, I don't have any announcements. I guess just make sure to read the update for "Reticent Monsters" if you follow that book. I think that's about it.

*the screen fades to black*

-OfficialUSMWriter out!