Chapter 580 - Nick Fury (1/2)
8:00 pm.
Mary looked at the time once again, a little unnerved. How could she not be? Even when she talked with Nik in private just a little to get him started for what he should expect from the organization and the treatment he might receive in the beginning to identify him as a potential ally. She hadn't delved into her past yet, it was an experience worth a little over a dozen years and could not be iterated in a matter of few hours. She needed her time. Gazing at Mary's expression, Anna whispered, ”Mum, say something already. Now you're scaring me...” her expression a little indignant. Both the mother and daughter wore comfortable lose tops that reached their thighs with nothing covering their crotch aside from their panties, the neck of the t-shirt quite loose to almost reach their shoulders, the effect even more evident on slightly modest Anna.
”Huh?” Mary looked up before shaking her head with a sigh, ”Oh, nothing sweetheart. I was just thinking about work stuff.”
”Mum, I was there when Nik confronted that agent,” Anna stood up with a snort, ”And you never told us anything about dad. So it now makes me wonder what you are hiding from Junior and me.”
Pursing her lips, Mary looked at Anna walking towards the couch before speaking up, ”I'll tell you everything. Junior, too. This sunday, when both of you are in one place, is that fine?” Mary felt a little bitter when she heard no reply from Anna as she switched open the television.
On the other hand, quite far away from the apartment, in a burger station, a group of people sat together. No patron aside from the visitors could be seen in the station named— Ride 'a Borgor— with only one waitress working to fulfill the orders. Nik sat alongside Cindy and Ava with Ava in the middle, a deliberate action after knowing how Cindy and Nik affected each other. In front of them sat two dark-skinned men. Carl Lucas and an unnamed fellow only referred to as the Director. The empty burger station kind of felt eery to Nik and now that he truly believed in ghosts, Nik wanted to suggest that they postpone this meeting until later to the next morning. After all, it was only monday and they had an entire week to themselves.
”So much for my privacy,” Ava began with a snort knowing fully well how the two were even found out by S.H.I.E.L.D. Hearing her, the one-eyed person called Director looked at her for a moment before gazing at Nik and Cindy. Of course, for Nik, the man had to move his head slightly. ”As you've been approached by my agents, you already know that we are from a secret organization named S.H.I.E.L.D. I am the current director of the organization, Nick Fury,” the man with the eye patch then looked at Carl Lucas, ”And he, as you both might know, is one of the—”
”Superhero Luke Cage!” Cindy squeaked but when she felt the gazes converging on her, she lowered her head while Nik gazed at the man. ”I knew it was you, Nik.” Luke turned to Nik with a grin, ”There's no way I would forget one of my old pals.”
”Old pals seems correct enough of a term,” Nik mumbled, ”You disappeared on the whole gang. It fell apart and now Harlem is finding new bosses every other day. The current one, oh boy, has quite the reign,” Nik spoke while recalling the bits of his past. ”Yeah... I didn't want to be a gangbanger anymore,” Luke shrugged while Nick coughed, ”You all can converse in your private moments and Ava, you should know that we can never look aside when it comes to enhanced individuals. Now, this is just a meeting. A way to establish communication. I know that both of you have your lives already established but...” presenting two black flash drives, Nick continued, ”This is the most basic orientation of our organization. The passcode is the same as both of your lockers. The information within this drive will be destroyed after 13 hours, to be precise, so do check it out.”
Stating this, Nick stood up and adjusted his trench coat, which was, of course unnecessary. Nodding at Luke and Ava, the man left the station as the waitress finally brought the orders given out beforehand.
Now with food present on the table, Nik looked at Ava and requested with a smile, ”Hey, can you switch seats with Cindy. I need to talk to her, you know, face to face.” Ava looked at Nik before nodding plainly. After all, Cindy was continuously nudging her feet below and as Ava stood up slightly with Cindy sliding towards Nik from beneath, under Luke's slightly surprised eyes, the unruly White Tiger actually listened to someone for a change.
”Woah, Tiger, did you just... agree on something?” Luke muttered in amazement, taking a big bite out of his burger as she glared at Luke, ”You knew it, didn't you? About both of them and the Director's knowledge.”
”Yea, he told me yesterday,” Luke sighed after taking the sip of his cola, ”And don't get mad at me. Just like Fury said, you should've known that there is no way they would turn a blind eye to your actions when it involves people like us.”
Meanwhile, Nik thought for a moment and then asked Cindy, ”What do you think of this? Do you still trust Ava?” His first inquiry already pulling Cindy to reality as she recalled how Ava approached her and revealed her powers without any problems. If Cindy believed her luck in the beginning, now her mind begged to doubt. Sneaking a glance towards a slightly stiff Ava, who looked straight without speaking up, Cindy, too, fell silent.
”If I am not wrong, a 'secret' organization wouldn't show themselves in the public establishments if not for the fact that they have control of the area. Now, it is safe to assume that this burger station is under S.H.I.E.L.D and you two,” pointing at Luke while the other one was obvious, ”Must have thought of your own agendas before joining. What I truly want to know is... what will happen if I deny the request of entering? I mean, a Director of such an organization must value secrecy and he just showed his face?”
Nik was merely leading them on. He wanted to get enough information networks to get his body's objective into completion. Knowing that such an organization would have their eyes and ears on him in such a location, Nik was merely letting them know his thoughts and value by using his company.
”I mean, I have seen in the movies that food can be rigged. For all we know, the burger can be contaminated.” Luke stopped eating at this while Nik proceeded to pick up the flash drive in between his thumb and index, ”And this might just be another way to keep a track of us,” Nik whispered by crushing the flash drive.