Colson was going to walk away when Liam stopped him. He went to his room in the mansion and came out with quite a big leatherback book.
The title of the book was A Guide to Norse Mythology.
"Was that the book you ordered yesterday?" Tony asked, remembering Liam ordering a book on Amazon with same-day delivery. He recalled it vividly because Liam did so after watching the news about a hammer lodged in the ground in New Mexico. Liam nodded.
Colson wanted to refuse.
"Don't reject the book too fast. You might need it in this mission of yours. And a piece of advice: keep your mind open to all possibilities and prepare for the worst."
Colson was taken aback by Liam's words. If it were anyone else, he would have laughed it off, but this teenager was Wraithborn and had access to technology that SHIELD couldn't yet understand.
SHIELD had gone through the videos of the armor he and Tony had equipped at the Expo, and none of their scientists could come up with a proper explanation for them. They had scrutinized the Mark suits before, and those could be explained by science, but the new versions could not.
When Fury went through the debriefing, he knew that this technology was definitely something Liam had come up with, not Tony, so he didn't even ask Tony about it. And Phil was one of the three who were updated on what was going on with Liam.
Thus, he was advised to take Liam's words seriously, as his advice didn't just come from him but from the organization he represented. At times, Phil felt like Liam wasn't even human, but he never expressed his doubts outright.
"I will welcome all possibilities with open arms."
Phil left after that, and the next day, Liam also decided to leave. It was becoming boring since both Yinsen and Tony were too deep into learning and understanding the new baby they had gotten their hands on.
Liam's finals were on the horizon, and though he could easily avoid them using technology, he decided not to. Thus, he actually had to study—at least for some of the knowledge.
A few days later, as he was busy with his books and pens, he got a call from an unknown number.
"Hello," Liam answered, half-expecting a call from Wesley. The Russian brothers had toppled the underworld in a very bad way, and many of the illegal activities that had been rampant were now seized by the government. Of course, not everything had gone down the drain. Though Hand's two fingers were cut, that didn't mean they were incapable of doing anything.
It just drove them into the shadows. It was becoming incredibly difficult for the police to catch all the culprits tied to Hand, but it was easier to take down Kingpin's empire.
Wesley had been feeding information silently, and SHIELD had been lapping it up. Actually, Hydra didn't want to take action, but the Pier incident was still fresh, so they didn't want to antagonize someone they didn't yet understand. Thus, Wilson Fisk had lost support from both the good and bad sides of society.
"Hello, this is Colson speaking." It was Phil on the phone.
"Colson, long time no see. How's the mission going? Miss me already?" Liam asked.
"Well, the mission isn't exactly breaking new ground," Colson said.
"That's too bad. Carry on, Colson. I'm sure you'll get results," Liam said, ready to hang up.
"Let's not pretend here, please. I've already passed too many barriers to get here and call you from a special burner phone that's untraceable," Colson said. There was a brief pause from Liam before he spoke.
"What do you want?"
"I want to understand what's going on. I read the book you gave me, and the hammer that SHIELD has been researching—is it supposed to be Mjolnir, Thor's hammer?" Colson asked.
"Oh? How did you come to that conclusion?" Liam asked.
"Because someone actually barged into our facility, made a mockery of our agents, but in the end, failed to lift the hammer. Later, he confessed that he was Thor. So I want to know what's going on," Colson pressed again.
"See, Colson, I'll keep this straight. I gave you that book to make sure you know what you're dealing with, not because I know what's going on. I'm not omniscient. If you need help, ask Fury," Liam said. He would never reveal too much—that would be too dangerous and too annoying.
"I understand. I'll consult with the Director," Colson said.
"That would be better," Liam replied and disconnected the call.
Liam wasn't bothered at all. Odin was still alive and well, and if he wasn't, the Ancient One was still around. If anything went haywire because of his interference, they would be there to stop it. So, until then, he could just sip coffee and enjoy the show.
But Colson wasn't the only one who had called him from a burner phone that day. Wesley called too.
"Hello, sir. Wilson Fisk is on the run. I'm sorry for having failed you. You can punish me as you see fit." Those were the first words Wesley spoke after Liam picked up the call.
"How did he escape?" Liam wasn't too surprised that Fisk had done so. He was too cunning and knew he had been backed into a corner. The correct course of action would be to run.
"Sir, this morning, he was supposed to come to the office to sign some documents. Some of the goons under the Russian brothers had always kept an eye on him. But after an hour of waiting, he still hadn't come out of his home. We searched his entire place, and there's no trace of how he escaped."
At times like this, he missed having a very efficient AI. An efficient AI would be able to find his traces and also catch him. But he didn't have one. So he would have to go through the old ways.