Fury's POV
Tony Stark sat at my desk, legs crossed, while Captain America paced in the background, and I stood by the window with a glass of whiskey in my hand.
"That Antarctican metal couldn't have come at a better time." Tony Stark said. "I mean, Aliens are one thing. Eldritch Octopus gods and void monstrosities are another. To think Lovecraft had it right?"
"The fringe horror writer?" Steve Roger asked.
"Well, he didn't stay on the fringe after he died," Tony said, "and apparently, he's got the inside track on our extradimensional friend."
"How can we know any of the information Wanda shared was real," Rogers asked. "It sounds a bit far-fetched if you ask me."
"Ordinarily, I would agree," Tony said, "but it does put a lot of the kid's power and actions in context. Wanda talked about acquiring some mystical fire, which Jean Grey had in spades. Shortly after their interaction, his fire also changed entirely. And whatever these stones are, he seems to think Fury has one. That's why he allied with us in the first place. He's been playing extradimensional Chess while we played Checkers."
"How does the demon element fit in?" Steve asked.
"It's anyone's guess," Tony said. "But I imagine he has to care, considering how far he's gone to win our trust and help out."
"Doesn't matter if he does," I finally spoke up, sipping liquor from my glass. "We can't trust another word that comes out of his mouth or expect him to follow through on his promises."
"I don't know about the other part," Tony said, stepping up. "He was on the money with the Arc Reactor, and I can't tell you how much I've learned from his strange bombs. They shouldn't work or exist, but they do. And don't get me started on his shields. They're light years ahead of anything we have available."
"I'm not going to entertain a hostile Alien monster just because you're curious," I snapped, and Tony approached me.
"Hostile, probably," Tony said. "Alien hardly. I get it. You don't trust him, and he's dangerous, but we know half of the story. Let's hear him out before we crucify him. And from everything the Wanda girl showed us and the satellite pictures, it's in our best interest to do that.
"And watch as he plots to steal the Tesseract, use us to fight off his enemies, and create more enhanced soldiers?" I asked, veins popping out of my neck. No one who'd gone through the enhancement process talked about it, but I had a hunch that Dante was telling another lie when he said the process was a radical, one-time thing.
"I don't think Tony is wrong about this," Roger said thoughtfully. "We're missing something big here. He could've just gone after the Tesseract if it's the power he wants. He chose to strike a deal with you, build a relationship with you, and even bring in the Wakandans. There's a connection between the Demons, his alien overlord, and SHIELD that we're not seeing. And until we see it, I say we play ball, at least until the demons are taken care of."
"I can get on board with that," Tony smiled, looking my way. I reluctantly grunted. They were right, of course. My emotions were getting the better of me. This wouldn't be my first time dancing with the enemy.
"We need the time anyway. We have an effective containment or elimination system to deal with him, except maybe Nuclear Power, which I'm not sure would work." I said. Pinning him down would be another challenge in itself. "It's like every time he fucking fights, he flushes millions of dollars of R and D down the toilet."
"I thought you were making strides with the Sentinel program?" Steve asked.
"We are, but not for him," Tony admitted. "They can handle most superhuman threats and the competing armor technology that has been popping up worldwide, just not him. Even if our Anti-metal weapons break his weapons, he has his runes, telekinesis, gravity, Space, time…need I go on?"
No. He didn't need to. I always knew this day would come. I hadn't just realized how difficult it'd be to fight him. Even if we managed to turn everybody on his team, I had doubts. There's always something with him. Some hidden power, some new weapon.
I was determined not to let that happen again. Because if there's one thing I knew for sure about that kid—he was not the forgiving kind.
I had to authorize it.
Experimentation with Gamma Radiation, Ulyetrix, and Banner's DNA.
Betty and our other scientists had already taken a cursory look at the relationship between both DNAs and gamma radiation and were convinced the secrets to stabilizing Armando's DNA and making superior supersoldiers lay somewhere in between.
I would let Dante have any of the other specimens he asks for. Not just Ulyetrix and his eyes. I could only imagine the horrors he would unleash with them.
"You good, Fury?" Tony asked.
Before I could answer, the door to my office swung open. It was Natasha with a grave look on her face.
"What's wrong?"
"It's Dante, Sir," she said. "He's surfaced."
"Where?"
"Alaska, Sir," she said. "He's talking to the X-Men."
"Call the council," I ordered. "It's time we sat down."
---
I arrived back at the mansion with Yelena in tow, a nuclear reactor in my inventory, alongside several perimeter defense systems, and all of the Widows freshly untethered.
We appeared at the edge of the property near a river, where they could have their first candid conversation in years.
I left Yelena to pitch me while I dealt with the remaining mutants.
Rin must've sensed me before I emerged from the forest because many were waiting for me in front of the mansion with various looks, none clearly happy. Scott, in particular, looked disgusted.
Beside him stood Professor Hank and Logan. The former was concerned; the latter more stern. And behind them were Bobby and Kitty Pryde. Both looked disgusted, but not quite as much as Scott.
Rin surprised me the most. He had a numb look that hid deep pain and anger. And it wasn't only because holding back the truth eroded trust.
I summoned a chair and sat down, crossing my legs.
"So, who wants to start?"
No one spoke.
"No accusations of being a traitor, no righteous anger and indignation for my perceived betrayal."
"What do you mean perceived!" Scott yelled. "You lied to us, hid the truth, manipulated Jean, and used us to fight your battles. You're worse than I could've ever imagined."
"Allegedly," I corrected teasingly. "Allegedly worse." I couldn't help myself.
"The jig is up, boss," Rin spoke up. "The monster showed me some things, too. A deal you made with your boss that one time you and Jean disappeared for an afternoon."
That earned me pointed and shocked looks from everybody.
Jeez. That's what I get for getting a half-decent apprentice. "And what exactly did it show you?"
Rin folded his arms. "I heard what you said. You agreed to recruit two people with the potential to reach solar-system levels of power."
I took a moment to gather myself and resisted the urge to massage my brow in frustration. Ulyetrix really shat the bed, didn't he?
"I mean this with every offense," I began, "but none of you exactly meet those standards. Only a handful of people on the planet do. And after everything we've been through, Rin, did you really think I would do that to you? I fought to get you out of Ulyetrix's belly, for god's sake. I killed Lumos for you!" I was a bit heated by the end. "You can accuse me of many things, but caring is not one of them."
Rin's expression softened some, as did Bobby's and Kitty's. Guilt was pretty effective when deployed strategically. They seemed willing to give me some grace, but not the rest of the leadership.
"So, what do you plan to do then?" Professor Hank asked. "Whether you like to admit it or not, your action affects us deeply."
"Frankly, I don't think you can handle it," I said. "It's strictly need to know."
"Sorry, bub. But that doesn't work for us," Logan said.
"I've always felt like this was a dictatorship, and now I understand why," Scott said, stepping forward. "We might've been making the decisions, but you've been pulling the strings all along."
"You could say that about anybody," I refuted. "You think Jean doesn't know about any of this? And what about T'Chaka, Fury, and the Mutant leader? They have secrets upon secrets, affecting you in ways you cannot even begin to comprehend."
"Are you seriously trying to equate keeping some government secret to cutting a deal to Slavery and cutting a deal for reality warping artifacts? Are you ever going to take responsibility for the pain you cause?"
"I will. If I'm directly responsible for them," I said. "I was never going to fucking sell out our universe to some Eldritch fuck face. When you have a gun to your soul, you say what you need to say." I paused, letting out a long breath. "If it hadn't been me, it would've been someone else. Shin was always coming for this universe," I said. "You have no fucking clue how lucky all of you are that it was me. His other agents don't get a choice."
"Other agents?" Hank asked, apprehension clear in his voice.
"So, now you want to listen," I huffed. "Shin the Avaricious has had his eyes on our universe for a while now and has been sending agents here for a long time. I happen to be one of the stronger ones. That's why he's tasked me with gathering a few things for him."
"Other agents," Logan said with some anxiety in his voice. "There's more than one of you?"
"Oh yeah," I said, "If Shin's words are anything to go by, Jean was at the meeting. She can show you if you don't believe me. They've been working in secret for a while now, so who's to say who they are and what their agenda is?"
"This has to be another trick," Scott insisted. "Every word of his mouth has been a lie since we met him. We can't start trusting him now."
"You're really overestimating me if you think that," I said. "You think I'd go through the trouble of rescuing mutants, building a secret stronghold, and training you because I was whipping up some galaxy-brained betrayal plot? At the very least, I trust that I can't fool Jean of all people. If she were sure I was a danger to you all in any way, she would've run me out of the mansion ages ago."
Scott's expression finally softened some. "I suppose we'll have to wait and see. Jean should be waking up any day now."
I nodded. "That good enough for everybody?"
Several nods came, and I finally smiled, turning to Rin.
"We are long overdue for a talk," I said. At first, there was no response, but then I saw apprehension.
"I'm not sure I'm quite up for that, boss." His eyes didn't meet mine.
"Oh," I muttered. "Okay then. I suppose it's time I tended to our guests. Logan, do you mind escorting me."
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