Cerion blinked his eyes rapidly in an effort to wake up. He tried to stretch out his limbs but he encountered resistance in the form of Jane. She was lying on top of Cerion with her head nestling on the nook of his neck. He tried to extract his right hand but he couldn't free it without disturbing Jane. Using his left hand he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before looking at the alarm clock.
The darkness in the room shielded the alarm clock from his eyes.
A notion that's quite impossible considering his status as an enhanced Kryptonian. But, over the months of his long training, he learned to withdraw the energy permeating his body to an isolated position. This helped him relatively experience what the humans of this world could experience. After all, no one would find it thrilling to hear hundreds of thousands of sounds from every living organism 24/7.
Thanks to the necklace that shielded his senses, Cerion was able to train and learn to suppress his energy all the way down to his legs. Of course, doing so has its own dangers. Having untold amounts of energy isolated to his legs was a disaster waiting to happen. Knowing this, Cerion developed a small device capable of draining excess energy that could otherwise pose a problem for his legs.
Now, draining the energy is no easy task. It's not as if his legs held some electrical energy. However, every form of energy has a certain frequency and wavelength. After all, energy is a collection of photons and it has a specific or sometimes fluctuating radiation of some form. This intrinsic property of energy gave him the idea to use the one thing that can absorb large quantities of energy.
Vibranium!
Cerion designed a suppression disc that could absorb excess energy from his legs. To that effect, he plugged in two suppression discs right behind his knees. Even with Vibranium's enormous energy capacity, he needed to change the Suppressor discs daily owing to the enormous excess energy his body was apparently bleeding out. Thanks to these Suppressor discs he could enjoy his time as a human without worrying too much. It also helped the Suppressor discs could be used as a battery of sorts for his battlesuit.
Reaching out with his left hand Cerion reached for the alarm clock.
"Hey."
Cerion abandoned his struggle to reach for the alarm clock when Jane was awake and looking at him.
"Hey." he greeted back as he felt Jane shift.
"Did I wake you?"
"Obviously."
"Sorry."
"Don't be. I like this." said Jane, pushing herself over so that she was now almost fully lying on top of Cerion.
"Really?"
"Uh-huh. We don't get much time as we used to for ourselves. You are busy doing whatever it is you are doing and I'm busy with my research. We rarely talk." Jane murmured against his skin.
The warm sensation as Jane's warm breath caressing his skin was quite therapeutic. The one good thing that happened with locking away his powers was that he could enjoy his five senses like a normal human being.
"We talk on the phone." Cerion pointed out.
Jane lightly pushed him playfully.
"That's not the same and you know it. We don't see each other that much."
"Alright. Point taken. I'll visit more often." Cerion promised.
"You better. I was meaning to ask this before but I didn't want to breach the subject on the phone. Why are you pulling some weird stunts lately?"
"What'd you mean?" Cerion asked, playing ignorant.
"You have been making some visits to hospitals across the country." Jane murmured but Cerion could hear the silent accusation behind her words.
"Just thought I'd help around." he shrugged.
"Strange you didn't help out anyone other than 9/11 victims." Jane observed.
"Mm-hmm." Cerion hoped his noncommittal reply would dissuade Jane from pursuing this topic.
"It also doesn't escape me that you make random appearances here and there right after some speech is delivered by the President. What's up with that?"
"Oh, come on Jane. Don't you have anything else to talk about right now?"
Just as the question left his mouth a gunshot was heard giving them pause.
"You hear that. That's my father training with his gun."
"I didn't know your father was a gun enthusiast." Cerion said, a bit surprised.
He did talk with the man last night and the guy was chill. The image that Cerion had of Jane's father was a super nerd with control issues. At least, that's what he got from Jane in their earlier talks.
"He wasn't. With the recent Gamma spill and religious nutjobs crashing planes into buildings, my father got a kick start on his paranoid streak. It doesn't help the whole country is ready to ride into a crusade or something." Jane said the last part with an obvious accusation in her tone.
"Oh, come on. Just drop politics and let's talk about something else. Or maybe, let's not talk at all." He growled hotly into Jane's ear while his fingers trailed sensually over her bareback, their destination made clear when they sank into her soft derriere.
While Cerion managed to successfully distract Jane in the bed, their discussion was only postponed for the time being. It reared its head back when they were having dinner. This time it was Mr Foster's fault for switching on the tv. It was the day after Christmas night. Channels should be broadcasting Christmas themed programs however news broadcasters across the board were showing a mosque being burned down in Nevada. It was also accompanied by a press release by the White House condemning the attack on the Indian Parliament by terrorists. The White House also let it slip that the December 13 attack on the Indian Parliament was financed by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
The White House pulling off a political spiel was not so surprising or a contentious issue. But, the crowd outside the Nevada mosque were quite shocking. They were carrying crosses and calling for a crusade.
"See. This is what happens when religion and politics get mixed." claimed Jane.
"You talk as if that's not been the case since the founding of this nation. The constitution may advocate for the separation of Church and State but the voters decide who gets to take the office. They care whether the leaders of the free world are religious or not." said Mr Foster.
"That was not always the case. Look at Lincoln. He was certainly willing to war with his own nation despite the Confederacy using the Bible to support the practices of slavery." Jane argued.
"You think Lincoln was an atheist?" asked Mr Foster incredulously.
"I think so." Jane said petulantly.
"I hope not. That'd mean all his references to God in his earlier speeches were purely political." Cerion interjected, earning surprised looks from the Fosters.
"I like to read Lincoln's speeches. It's a hobby." he explained.
"Good for you, Cerion." said Mr Foster before turning on Jane. "You should learn more of our past before making claims like that."
After saying that, Mr Foster took his leave from the table in favour of watching the tv from the couch. This left Cerion alone with Jane who was not at all appreciative of his opinions.
"Just what are you doing?" asked Jane in a hushed whisper.
"Just saying my two cents..."
"I'm trying to break my dad out of his paranoia. I don't need you bombing my efforts. A little help would be appreciated." said Jane.
"I think you are overreacting a bit here. Your father looks fine to me. He may have just suddenly came to like guns, that's all."
"You may not know this but the United States is more than just the two coasts. There is a middle portion in this country and they are gearing up for a crusade ever since 9/11. People are buying guns like candy for children. So, trust me. I'm not overreacting." said Jane, her nose flaring up with suppressed anger.
Anger at what, he didn't know. Cerion certainly hoped it was not directed at him.
"Alright. I'll keep my mouth shut. Just what exactly are you hoping to do with your father? He is a grown man. You cannot just lock away his gun in a safe or something." Cerion pointed out.
"I know that. I just want him to take a counselling session. He needs professional help, not guns."
"Holy mother of God!" Mr Foster shouted startling both Jane and Cerion.
Both of them looked at the tv where Mr Foster was pointing and their eyes widened at what was on the tv.
XXXXXXX
Fury sat in his office staring coldly at the live feed of the events transpiring in Nevada. He was not interested in the law and order situation. As far as he was concerned, that's the headache of the FBI and local PD.
No. He was rather concerned with what happened after the mosque was burned by the crowd full of lunatics.
Fury didn't take his eyes away from the pillar of unnatural fire reaching into the sky where the mosque once stood. The flame was almost some 300 ft high. While this was a cause for concern the real kicker was the bullish creature that stepped out of the pillar of fire. It looked like a creature straight out of the gates of hell.
"What the hell am I looking at?" he threw the question open for the occupants of his office.
"We have no idea director. This is something not in our database. However, we got a similar energy signature match from a small town in Louisiana." said Coulson, handing over a thin file.
Fury quickly went through the report. Unfortunately, it was quite inconclusive. There were no findings that interested him except for the similarities in thermal radiation and the extensive damage the land took in the aftermath. There were also two missing cases as well.
Looking through the report Fury asked what came to his mind.
"Is this report accurate?"
"Yes, sir. We cross-checked the readings from our satellite scans of Nevada. It'd seem the first incident was under the radar." said Coulson.
"This complicates things." Fury mused out loud.
They'd be walking in blind to what's happening in Nevada. For an intelligence agency, their whole planning and action revolve around valuable intelligence. Walking into an evolving situation on the ground without conclusive information was suicide. It left too many things up for chance and luck. That's something Fury hated cause there was always a price tag attached to situations like this. However, just because he hated the situation doesn't mean he can ignore it.
"Do we have any assets on the ground?"
"No at the moment, sir. But, we do have a three-minute window to call in an airstrike and a ten-minute window for agents to take the field." Coulson reported.
Fury once again looked at the live feed and watched as the fiery creature burned people alive while laughing maniacally. It looked like the creature was enjoying inflicting pain and suffering. It was certainly not pulling back any punches. There were few gunshots involved and he even saw some petrol bombs being thrown at the creature but to no effect.
"I get the feeling that our agents won't be much of an effect on this one. I want our best analysts working on the weaknesses of this thing. Also, cross-reference the data we have from our satellites with other incidents. Scramble a couple of F15s and put them on standby. I want armoured vehicles on the ground making a perimeter all armed to teeth with anti-tank weaponry. Have the choppers lined up with cannons and anything that can blow this motherfucker back to hell. And Coulson, bring in Barton."
Coulson nodded and took his leave making Fury focus on others in his office.
"I want the civilians outside of the perimeter Coulson makes. Call in the National Guard, the army or even the Easter bunny if you have to. I want nothing to breach the perimeter."
After he made some more arrangements he called in Agent Hill. Just as Hill reported to his office he took SHIELD to level 5 alert.
"Agent Hill, reach out to Vex?"
"Sir?"
"Tell him that I will owe him a favour. We are out of our depth here Agent. We will take all the help we can get."
"As you wish, sir."
Fury watched Hill leave and let out a sigh. He eyed the phone on his desk for some time before making a decision. He took the phone and connected it to one of his many secretaries.
"Get me, Alexander Pierce."