A captured X-Man or -Woman wouldn't really put his or her heart into a fight due to this 'no killing' thing they had going on. God forbid if Weapon X was to ever face off against a team of X-Men. Looking at Northstar pulling punches and slacking off on the power usage, it was obvious that battling previous buddies was a 'no'. That meant that, essentially, Northstar wasn't doing much more than distracting his teammate of choice for a short period of time. Said teammate could simply 'escape' Northstar's grasp and would be free to attack a less fortunate WXer. And if the X-Men didn't get the job done the first time, no matter how close a call the initial run-through was, they would come on back for more. They got Wolverine, had to leave Northstar. Now they were back for Northstar. God only knew how many freaking X-Men were running around. There was the blonde and her merry crew they had trampled on last time and then..ah...Red and her band, and now Wolverine was back with the violet-haired chick from last time and two new people. Wonderful.

It seemed that shooting his legs and feet was less effective than shooting at the hands. Extra protection down there, she guessed. What other areas had this extra resistence, Fox wondered. She also wondered about that kid over there, doing his very best to melt into the wall. Looks like he wasn't granted that particular power. It became apparent to Fox, as she noted Wolverine simply taking shot after shot, that he was more interested in guarding that kid than abandoning him to defend himself properly. Did that mean the boy was unable to defend? Perhaps his power lacked the offensiveness necessary to take on a WXer of his own and also lacked the proper defensiveness necessary to guard against the bullets flying around. Interesting. So what /does/ he do? "Look at yerself, Fox." *insert frown from Fox* "You're nothin' but another Creed killin' anything that gets in yer way." Strike one - mentioning Creed at all. Nevermind the comparison, she was willing to pretend that Wolverine hadn't just gone off the deep end with that. "I'm findin' it hard to even care what ya think when you can't even think for yerself." Strike two - implying that she was just some mindless drone, fighting for Colcord under her own will. Right, because she was the one to try and snap her collar /back on/.

Fox's next shot strayed towards Wolverine's chest. She hadn't been trying very hard to kill Wolverine, but if he kept this up, she could change that. "I shoulda never let ya kill Old Blue. Ya probably enjoyed shootin' that dog, huh? The blood ya spilled, the rush ya got in takin' a life, it all led up to you bein' here, still wantin' that same bloodlust like a wild animal." Was he serious? "And you would have shot him before being mauled by a rabies-infested dog, right?" She rolled her eyes. Him and his damn dog. "I have a question. Was this 'relationship' we supposedly had between you and me or you and the dog? It's getting a little hard to tell." Funny, Fox had said something along those lines at some point that fateful day. He had refused to speak to her and she told him that she believed he loved that dog more than her. He started to walk towards her. Fox wasn't shooting him anymore, but she still had her gun up. She was more than prepared to fire if he pulled something. It was dumb, some part of her knew that he was up to something. But something..something kept her from just shooting him.

He retracted his claws and Fox frowned once more. "What are you /doing/?" Did he want to die? Had he ascended to immortality or something before returning here? What? "I was thinkin' Weapon X caused ya to be the way you are, but I'm startin' t'learn this is what you always wanted to be - a killer. An animal. A Victor Creed." With that Silver Fox's eyes flashed an eerie ice green. You know Final Fantasy VII? Remember Mako? I know that's beyond the 1996 limit, but think of the color of Mako and you have the color of Fox's eyes. "What. Did. You. Just. /Say/?" Hey, maybe if Logan was lucky, he'd be the first to witness Fox go feral! Right off the bat, Fox punched at him, aiming for a hit clean across his jaw. Sure, that was an adamantium jaw, but she had enhanced strength and a sweet punch. Plus, he deserved it. Comparing her to her former rapist and all around antagonist? Baaaad idea. "Kill me, Fox. Prove me right." Rightfully pissed silver-blues stared at him. "Do hear this Zero? Logan here agrees with me, actually agrees with me." She repeated her words from the lab. "I am the sum of what I've done. I'm a mercenary, an assassin...a killer through and through. Nothing I can do will ever change that." Oddly enough, she hadn't shot him yet. "Thank you for confirming that," she said to Wolverine. She was beyond redemption, beyond saving; that was clear to her now.

But she still hadn't shot him, or made any move to kill him. That didn't keep Wolverine from bearing his claws, stealing her blade, initiating an attack on X-23, and tossing her own knife at Zero. Impressive multitasking. Fox, for her part, moved to kick Wolverine away from her. She didn't want him pulling any other weapons off her. Fox switched guns, mindful of the little shock she had just received, probably for stalling. There was no telling what this looked like to the Director, hidden behind his blockade of missile-bearers. It would appear that Fox had started off shooting at Logan - good. Then came staring as he lectured her - bad. Then came her punching at him - okay, but shooting would have been better. Then he robbed her of her blade (or one of them anyway) and threw it at her second-in-command, who she was sure would be fine - pretty bad. Then came a kick - okay, but again, shooting was better. Now she was staring at him again - bad.

It looked like stalling. Hell, it /felt/ like stalling. /Why/ was she stalling? He was right, thought comparison to Creed was a bit much. She was a killer; she enjoyed killing; it was all she knew to do now. He won. She was right, he was right - game over. So...why couldn't she shoot him. It'd be simple..shoot at an angle that would allow the bullet to bypass his adamantium bone structure. A clear hit to the heart would be an instant kill. Heck, she could change guns again and blow his head clear off. Again, instant kill. What was the deal here, why--! The terrible stench of flesh burning in a close proximity infiltrated Fox's nose. *SNIKT* Her free hand rose, reflexively wanting to remove the source of pain. The collar would blow - she knew that. Her hand hovered, claws having extended to an inch before she managed to stop them. She lowered her free hand, gritting her teeth against the sensation The Native American woman grimaced, waiting for it to pass. Yeah, she got the message. A big, fat 'SHOOT HIM!' There was another reason to just do it, shoot to kill. She could get herself killed trying to spare this idiot. She didn't even know why she was trying to spare him to begin with! Back when he escaped, she spared him and his whole team from getting blown the fuck up. And now...now..now she was just confused.

Why was her gut saying don't shoot? Why was some annoying voice in the back of her mind screaming 'Don't shoot'? "Why can't I shoot him?" she asked herself quietly.