SHIELD Field Office, San Francisco, California
-February 25, 2010, 0800h local-
Doctor William Barrett Foster or simply Bill Foster is a brilliant biochemist currently employed by SHIELD. He's a 6', African-American with brown eyes and black hair. During the '80s, he worked with the brilliant Hank Pym on Project Goliath. Goliath aims to create a reliable process of reversing Hank Pym's shrinking tech into enlargement. However, disagreement with Hank Pym and SHIELD caused him to leave mid-project.
There's only one reason why Bill with join SHIELD again is for family, and that just what happened. A former SHIELD colleague and a close friend of his, Elihas Starr. Due to Hank Pym's influence, Elihas has been forced out of SHIELD and ostracized by the scientific community. This forced Elihas and his wife, Catherine, to move to Argentina in order to continue his experiment with quantum energy and tunneling. This experiment is obviously dangerous for a number of reasons, but Elihas shouldered on.
Three years of grueling hard work had brought Elihas closer to his goal. However, fate has some other plans. On the night of Elihas final experiment, a catastrophic incident resulted in Elihas and Catherine dying due to a quantum explosion. The same explosion that caused Ava Starr, his six-year-old daughter, to acquire some rather unique powers.
Ava had been dosed with massive amounts of quantum energy, causing every atom that integrates into her body to displace. This allows her body to enter multiple realities at any one time while also keeping herself anchored in one and quantum tunnel. The phenomenon effectively gives her the ability to phase through objects while also giving her a ghostly visage. Too bad this process gives her chronic pain.
That's how Bill found Ava, in pain and scared of what's happening. He took her in until SHIELD showed up a few months later. Ava was sent to a 'temporary housing' facility where she was tested, and her powers evaluated. This where SHIELD realized her capabilities. Bill could feel SHIELD's intentions, so he did the only thing he could, he joined SHIELD. His presence there had allowed him to do two things. The first is to find a cure for Ava's condition or at least alleviate it. Secondly, to stop SHIELD from using her abilities for something else.
Bill had been partially successful in his first goal so far. He had developed a Quantum Energy Chamber. It uses the minuscule amount of quantum energy he could harness to stabilize her condition temporarily. It's not a cure, but it could help her temporarily alleviate her pain and extend her lifespan. As for the second one, he was able to prevent SHIELD from giving her anything more than retrieval and infiltration missions. But it looks like he could only do so much.
"Dr. Foster, we thank you for your service." An agent told him.
They were currently outside one of many field offices, with Bill carrying a box of his stuff and the agent preventing him from getting back inside. Bill had no other choice but to leave. Don't get him wrong; he would find his way back to help Ava. But he has to regroup for now.
Bill dejectedly walked away from the office towards the nearest bus stop. He was thinking about what he should do next when an orange sports car stopped beside him. This immediately put him on guard. What are the chances that a recently sacked SHIELD scientist gets kidnapped? Pretty high.
"Dr. Foster, I presume." A blonde man asked as soon as the car window rolled down.
"Yes, and who are you?" Bill asked warily.
"I'm just the guy who has you sacked..." The blonde replied while opening the passenger side door. The man could see Bill's reluctance. "I can also help Ava with her small problem..." He added before clarifying something. "Help not cure."
Against all logical reasoning, Bill got inside the car. He placed his items in the back seat before locking his seatbelt.
"I thought you were smart..." The man said with a chuckle, causing Bill's anxiety to rise. "You should never get into someone's car of a stranger. Didn't anybody tell you that? Let's fix that problem, shall we..." The man extended his hand. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki.
"Bill Foster, but you already know that..." Bill greeted back while shaking Naruto's hand. "You said you have a solution?"
"Hold your horses. We got to establish somethings. Make sure you understand what you and Ava are getting in too..." Naruto countered before driving off. "First of all, whatever your decision right now, Ava would be sent on a mission where she would go 'MIA.' So she would leave SHIELD and be in my care in the near future..." He explained. "Your choice determines if she lives through the procedure or not."
"What do you need me to do?" Bill asked.
"You need to upgrade the chamber to have Ava's body fully stabilized after treatment from 5 minutes to at least thirty minutes."
"I don't have the resources to get the amount of energy and resources needed to harvest that much quantum energy for that to work." Bill argued.
"Let me worry about that. Just write everything you need, and I'll handle it. If you accept it, that is..." Naruto replied. "Anyway, let's get back to the topic at hand. I have a few plans for Ava, and none of them involves her being unstable."
"What? You're going to use her as SHIELD would too."
"Of course..." Naruto answered nonchalantly. He could feel Bill's negative emotions rise up. "Oh, come on. Get your head out of the ground. You should have expected her to do some unsavory things the moment she acquired the 'enhancements.' If not this, then protecting herself from someone who wants her to do something like this..." He continued. "This way, she'll at least be able to help herself. I'm going to transform her training from espionage and assassination to special ops."
"No. She's not just some gun you can just use to point at someone or something."
Naruto looked at Bill weirdly before releasing a full-blown laugh causing Bill to look at Naruto.
"I don't need a gun..." Naruto raised his right hand, causing Bill to focus on it. Naruto slowly lowered his hand to the steering wheel, and to Bill's surprise, his hand passed through it. Bill was about to make a big fuss about it when the same hand suddenly formed a translucent blue sphere made of unknown energy. "I'm the fucking nuke."
Bill looked at the sphere until it slowly disappeared. It put some things into perspective. As extraordinary as Ava is, there are a lot more things out there he doesn't know about.
"Let me get something straight..." Naruto said as he stopped the car in front of a fairly large house. "I don't need Ava for anything. I'm doing this to keep her out of somebody's hand, and I'm not talking about SHIELD. I'm talking about something much more sinister. Like, conquer the whole world..." He explained. "So, I don't care what you decide right now."
That statement alone made Bill's decision. He can't help but feel he's making a deal with the devil, but there's not much choice. With a heavy heart, he said.
"Where am I going to work."
-Iransahr, Baluchestan, Iran-
-May 5, 2010, 2130h local-
"This is such a romantic date, Naruto..." Natasha said. "A picnic set, a sky full of stars..." She added. "Two kilometers from a black site nuclear research site, and spying on a girl."
"Oh, come on! You're the one who wanted to come with! You should thank me that I brought out the picnic set." Naruto argued.
"I'm not mad, really..." Natasha replied. "Just concerned that we're going to kidnap someone."
"Think less of it as kidnapping and more as a rescue operation. You gonna remember that we're giving her a new chance at life."
Natasha released an audible groan before answering.
"I hate it when you're right."
Naruto held himself back from commenting. Three years of living with Nat and Jess had given him a few insights into the female psyche. He just held onto the small win.
The plan itself is pretty simple. Fury would open up one intelligence report he's been holding onto. Something that could get Hydra's attention. Like maybe a black ops Iranian nuclear research facility looking into upgrading the nuke's effectiveness. Of course, they could use their own resources to get it, but who would want that. That's where Pierce would come in.
Pierce would file a mission to SHIELD, and Fury would use a recently upgraded asset with a clean track record as a test run, Ava Starr codename Ghost. For some unforeseen reason, Ava would go into full quantum decomposition even before she reaches the facility. Leaving nothing but her suit behind, or at least that's what Naruto wants them to think. In reality, he would just 'rescue' her away back to San Francisco.
This way, Pierce won't be able to blame anyone officially. Sure he might rant to Fury about it, but a valuable asset was already gone. Fury can also spin it as something of the World Security Council's fault. They were trying to get Ghost weaponized for a few years already, with Pierce spearheading the effort. All Fury has to say is that he granted their wish by removing the only holdup, Dr. Bill Foster, who also happens to be the point man for Ghost's primary care.
"Let's talk something else while we wait for Ghost to arrive..." Naruto said while opening up two coke bottles, one for each of them. "Heard you got another long term mission. Want to give up some details about that?" He asked, genuinely curious. He has kept his promise to stay out of the girls' business unless it's an emergency or they asked for his help.
"Nope..." Natasha replied with a cheeky grin. "Besides, you'll know about it soon enough. There's no point in telling you about it."
"Oh, come on! Pretty please?" Naruto insisted with his puppy dog eyes. Too bad that Natasha has developed a certain amount of immunity to his charms.
"No means no..." Natasha reiterated before she felt her phone vibrate. "Besides, you know that a quinjet is coming." She continued before standing up.
"Damn it. Shouldn't have used it on the kinky stuff yesterday..." Naruto murmured, causing Natasha to release a burst of full-blown laughter. He picked up the picnic set before following Natasha. "So, how do you want to do this?"
"What do you mean how? Aren't we just picking her up?" Natasha asked.
"Yeah! But how do you want to approach Ava?" Naruto said animatedly. "Good cop, Bad cop. Devil's offer. The angel's descent. The genie in a bottle..." He continued on and on.
Natasha stopped in her tracks and looked at Naruto incredulously.
"How can you have so much time in your hands to watch that many movies?"
"Clones."
"Should've known." Natasha said with a shake of her head. She then proceeded on hiking towards the research base.
"Where are you going?" Naruto asked.
"Intercepting Ava. Isn't that what are we supposed to do?"
"Yeah, but she's that way..." Naruto answered while pointing to the north of them. "She doesn't need the front door. A barred air vent would do just fine."
"Ugh. You tell me now." Natasha grumbled before walking towards the pointed direction.
The pair walked in silence for another ten minutes. Natasha was following Naruto's footsteps halfway through their short hike. Apparently, Iran is paranoid enough to place mine around the area. At the middle of the minefield, one of the air vents.
"Where is she?" Natasha inquired.
"Right... there." Naruto pointed in front of them.
In that direction, a silhouette is walking towards them. As the person gets closer, they could see a woman wearing a white tactical suit and mask. The mask is a little creepy due to the red optics. However, she quickly stopped in her tracks when she saw the two people sitting on top of the air vents she was supposed to get into.
"Ava Starr!" Naruto called out when their target stopped a few meters away from them. "You have time to talk?"
Ava didn't respond, but her lack of movement suggests that she's at least willing to hear them out. She tapped her ear as a message which was immediately understood by Naruto. At least there's proof that she's not loyal to SHIELD.
"Don't worry about the comms. From what they know, you're crawling through the vents right now..." Naruto said. "You've just been sold to me in exchange for a previous job..." He paused when he realized what he just said. "Wait, not sold. Traded. That's not much better, is it? Fuck. Can you help me out here, Nat?"
Natasha rolled her eyes at Naruto's obvious ploy. Well, obvious to her. Naruto carefully chose his words to further drive a wedge between SHIELD and Ava. Making Ava feel like SHIELD consider her disposable while Naruto as the person that wants her. It will instantly create some level of trust from Ava. Add the stupid act, and Naruto has basically created a relatively harmless persona. Of course, there's a chance that Naruto's scatterbrained tendencies just happened to come out now.
"This guy, here..." Natasha pointed to Naruto. "He got Bill Foster out of SHIELD for a few reasons. Chief of which is to allow him to do an experimental procedure on you that can remove most if not all of your pain. It can also increase your lifespan until a permanent cure can be found."
Ava pointed to her mouth.
"Sure, you can talk. They won't hear a thing." Naruto informed her.
"How is he?" Ava asked in a quiet tone.
"Bill?" Naruto inquired to clarify to which Ava nodded. "Good. I think you have to ask him yourself..." He answered. "As for what he's done in the past two months, he upgraded the quantum energy chamber to last you for 45 minutes. More than enough time for the experimental procedure to finish."
Ava took a moment to think about her options and there are two ways she could go now. Continue with her mission and return to SHIELD who have knowingly 'sold her or go with the guy that can help her lessen her pain. It's basically a no brainer.
"What do you need me to do?" Ava let out.
Naruto can't help but release a smirk at the question. The way Ava asked the question is almost exactly the same as how Foster asked his. He pulled out a small package behind him and threw it at Ava's feet.
"Change to the clothes I just gave you and leave your suit behind..." Naruto told Ava. "SHIELD would think you just entered a quantum unstable state and just disappeared. The only people who would know what happened are everyone here, Bill, top SHIELD officials, and maybe the World Security Council." He carefully chose his words so that if Ava ever finds out the whole truth, he can say that he never lied.
Ava took off her mask. Nat and Naruto noticed her stoic face. She must have been used to the pain already. That's either good or bad, depending on how you look at it. Ava started to change out from her skin-tight clothes, so Naruto polite thing and turned around. A few seconds later, Nat tapped Naruto on the shoulder indicating that Ava was ready.
"Alright. Let's get to it..." Naruto grabbed onto Natasha before using Hiraishin to travel to the marker on the leftover package wrapper which certainly surprised Ava. She would have reacted if not for Naruto beating her to the punch. "Hold onto your lunch and stay on your feet." He continued before holding onto Ava's arm and disappearing.