TapTap
Footsteps bounced off the walls as Coulson walked through the quiet hallway of the S.H.I.E.L.D building. His shadow stretched along the floor from the lights above while he made his way to Fury's office. Even at this late hour, his dark suit remained crisp and unwrinkled. He paused at the thick wooden door, straightened his tie, and knocked.
"Enter," came Fury's gruff response.
The office was minimal- just a desk, three chairs, and a wall of screens displaying various data streams. Nick Fury stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, his silhouette sharp against the setting sun. Even after years of working together, his black trench coat and eye patch from time to time still made the seasoned agent nervous.
"Sir," Coulson said, "we have those reports about yesterday's energy signature."
Fury turned, his good eye fixing on Coulson. "Tell me you found something solid."
"Local witnesses reported lightning in an alley near Manhattan's seawall around 1800 hours. The catch? No storms recorded, just a light rain that afternoon." Coulson pulled out his tablet. "What's interesting is what we didn't find anything - no burns, no radiation, nothing typical of electrical discharge."
"And?" Fury prompted, knowing his agent wasn't finished.
"We found this." Coulson swiped his tablet, showing thermal imaging data. "Residual energy trail from the alley to the seawall. Matches our initial surge pattern, but it's... different."
"Different how?"
"The signature doesn't match anything we know. Not cosmic, not gamma, not even close to the Tesseract." Coulson hesitated. "Sir, it reads as... er.. organic."
Fury's eye narrowed. "Like Banner?"
"No. More like... well, we're still working on that part."
Fury pressed a button on his desk, bringing up a holographic map of Manhattan with energy readings. "Show me how this connects to the mass activity."
Coulson overlaid his new data. The patterns aligned perfectly, creating a trail through several Manhattan blocks.
"There's more," he added, pulling up grainy footage of a figure leaving the alley with a slight limp. "The timestamp matches our spike."
"Can we clean this up?"
"Tried. Most cameras in the area were conveniently offline during the event."
"Of course they were," Fury muttered. "The store clerk?"
"Andy Lent, a part-timer in the 8's. Says a young Asian male came in around 2200 or 2230, couldn't speak English, tried using Chinese currency." Coulson brought up the statement. "Kid made him nervous enough to give away merchandise. Though I suspect he's covering himself, worried about chance that the suspect was a victim of the recent trafficking case in the North."
Fury nodded slightly. "And now similar reports from Fang's Shop."
"Yes, sir. The timing matches." Coulson paused for a moment before continue, "We also got update about the incident at Hell's-"
The door swung open as Maria Hill strode in, her blue tactical suit standing out against the office's dark tones. One look at her face told them this wasn't a routine update.
"Sorry for interrupting your discussion." She look at Coulson as he nodded back and then focused her attention toward Fury. "Director, we've got something." Hill moved to the display, her fingers quick across the interface. "Our target's signal re-surfaced. Analysis confirmed it was the supersonic vessel track crossing the Atlantic."
Fury's expression hardened. "The old task?"
Hill nodded, "Single signature, doesn't match any known aircraft. Moving at Mach 3, twenty thousand meters up." The hologram shifted to show a blinking dot over the ocean. "The origin point's unclear."
"Where's it heading?"
"Initially New York, but..." Hill adjusted the display. "It just changed course to these coordinates." A red marker appeared over the North Atlantic.
Fury leaned forward. "Those coordinates..."
"Yes, sir. The one from agent Carter's report from '46."
The room fell silent. Coulson's hand tightened at his side, not missing the significance.
"Fifty-nine years," Fury said quietly, turning back to the window. "Fifty-nine years searching that sector. Howard's submarines only found the Tesseract. Every lead, every anomaly, theories about that enhanced person survival..."
"The public believes he died saving millions," Coulson said softly.
"The public believes what we tell them, Coulson. That grave's empty." Something flickered across Fury's face. "Sometimes truth's too heavy to know."
Hill cleared her throat. "Sir, with the Manhattan anomaly's timing..."
"I know." Fury faced them again. "Get a team to those coordinates. Full stealth. I want eyes on that vessel."
Hill nodded and left, her footsteps fading down the hall.
"Should we keep an eye on Manhattan?" Coulson asked.
"Distance for now. He seems harmless. But if that changes..." Fury let the implication hang.
"Understood." Coulson stepped out, leaving Fury alone.
Night had fallen fully, the city now lit by artificial glow. A few leaves danced past the window. Fury pulled out a small device and an old photograph - a young soldier dressed in military uniform standing proud beside a star-striped shield.
"Fifty-nine years," he whispered. "Maybe..."
He tucked both items away as another leaf spiraled past, its path mirroring their endless search. Some sacrifices were too important to forget, some heroes too vital to lose to the shadow of history.
______________________________
Afternoon light warmed Charles's office as he studied the readings from yesterday Cerebro session. His brown hair fell forward slightly as he leaned over his desk, surrounded by his most trusted colleagues.
"I've never seen anything quite like this," Charles said, tapping the printout. The excitement in his voice was hard to miss, despite his attempt to stay professional. "During yesterday's scan, a consciousness simply... appeared."
"Appeared?" Warren raised an eyebrow, wings shifting slightly. "Charles, even in our line of work, people don't just appear from thin air."
Sean pushed off from his spot by the bookshelf, his investigator's instincts clearly piqued. "Hang on now - when ye say materialized, are we talking something like that Russian teleporter we tracked in Dublin last year, the one that had similar ability with Kurt?"
"No, nothing like that," Charles shook his head, "Teleportation leaves traces, some patterns we can track. This was... different. More importantly, it was registered as a human, a normal one."
"Normal person?" Moira leaned forward in her chair, her Scottish accent more pronounced with interest. "Charles, even baseline humans show up gradually in Cerebro. The genetic markers alone should-"
"Exactly my point," Hank cut in, adjusting his glasses as he spread out more papers. "The quantum readings suggest something far more complex than teleportation. We might be looking at-"
"In English, if ye don't mind," Sean interrupted with his signature grin. "Some of us spent our time chasing criminals instead studying the quantum particles."
Hank's fur ruffled slightly, but he smiled. "Think of it like... someone stepping through a door that shouldn't exist. Not just moving from one place to another, but..."
"From one reality to another?" Warren finished, giving way to genuine curiosity. "That's quite a wild theory, Hank."
Hank shrugged his shoulder. "Well it was just a theory. Besides, the readings are unlike anything we've seen. It's as if this person just... appeared, without any trace of how or why.
"Could it be a new form of mutation?" Warren suggested, "Something that masks their presence until the last moment?"
"Maybe," Moira mused, her geneticist's mind working. "Though it would need to affect more than just their X-gene. The baseline genetic markers should still have been visible."
Knock Knock Click
Storm entered after knocking, her presence commanding immediate attention despite her being younger than the other five. She give them a respectful nod before speaking. "Professors, we've detected something unusual." She placed a tablet on Charles's desk.
"An atmospheric disturbance in Manhattan, matching the timing of your Cerebro reading."
"Show us, please." Charles said, wheeling back slightly to give everyone a better view.
Storm's fingers moved across the tablet, bringing up a holographic display. "The energy signature doesn't match any weather pattern I've ever seen."
"Fascinating!" Hank leaned in close enough to bump Warren, who steadied him with practiced ease. "These plasma formations… they are not behaving as they should according to standard atmospheric conditions."
"Could be advanced technology," Sean suggested, his investigative instincts kicking in. "We knew that some groups experimenting with cloaking devices before."
"Advanced tech that can hide someone from Cerebro?" Warren's wings shifted doubtfully. "That's a concerning thought."
"More concerning is how this person just appeared in Manhattan," Charles noted, studying the readings.
"Reminds me of that one case in Berlin," Sean added, moving closer to examine the display. "Those scientists group that working on some sort of stealth technology." He touched his chin and continued, "But still, even they couldn't mask the basic human signatures completely."
Moira nodded, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "My sources at the CIA have hinting on something recently. But, they're being unusually quiet about it."
"For your information, the CIA's had already involved," Storm nodded and cut in. "They've got teams moving into Manhattan as we speak."
Warren straightened, his wings tensing slightly. "That complicates things. My contacts in the government mentioned unusual activity this morning. I assumed it was only the usual drug crackdown, but..."
"There's more," Storm added. "A convenience store clerk reported an encounter with a young Asian male at his night shift yesterday. That person couldn't speak English and seemed disoriented."
"New York is full of tourists," Warren said, though he didn't sound convinced. "But I suppose the timing is a bit odd."
"Now that ye say that, it's seemed match with the info I got." Sean paused, "Ye see, some of my old contacts are already whispering about something," Sean added, running a hand through his hair. "Word was, SHIELD's involved too. And when both agencies start sniffing around the same target..."
"It never ends well," Charles finished, his fingers drumming thoughtfully on his wheelchair's armrest. "Someone appeared mysteriously, possibly confused, in a strange place - the last thing we need is government agents charging in."
"The Brotherhood's been active lately too," Warren added quietly. His wings shifted, casting subtle shadows across the office. "If they catch wind of this..."
Warren's words caused a brief pause as everyone know the implication. Getting caught by the Brotherhood was worse than getting caught by the other two.
Storm crossed her arms. "So what's our move?"
Charles wheeled himself to the window, his reflection overlaying the school grounds below. "We need to be careful. If this person is as disoriented as the reports suggest, government intervention might only make things worse."
"I could put some feelers out," Sean offered. "Still have friends in law enforcement who owe me favors. Might help us find him before anyone else does."
"Good idea," Charles nodded. "Warren, your business connections might help too. Keep an eye on any unusual movements in the financial sector."
"On it," Warren replied, pulling out his phone. "I'll have my team watch for any sudden property acquisitions or surveillance contracts."
"Hank," Charles turned to his old friend, "I need you to-"
"Full analysis of these readings?" Hank's yellow eyes gleamed. "I'll start right away. Though I could use Moira's insight on the biological aspects."
"Of course," Moira agreed, her Scottish lilt warming slightly as she glanced at Charles. "If there's any trace of how this person appeared, combining our expertise might help us find where this person right now."
Storm moved toward the door. "I'll keep monitoring atmospheric conditions. If anything changes..."
"Let us know immediately," Charles finished. "And Storm? Thank you."
As the others filed out, each heading to their tasks, Charles remained by the window. The sunset had deepened, casting long shadows across the school grounds where students hurried to their evening activities.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Moira had stayed behind, as she always did.
"Just wondering," Charles replied, his reflection showing a slight frown, "what could cause someone to appear so suddenly, yet registered as normal human. In all my years of using Cerebro, this is the most inexplicable moment that I've ever face."
"We'll figure it out," she assured him, her hand briefly touching his shoulder. "We always do."
Charles nodded, though his eyes remained fixed on the darkening grounds. Somewhere in Manhattan, a lost soul needed help. He only hoped they could find him before SHIELD and CIA, or god forbid, the Brotherhood did. If they did find him first, they will monitor him for both his safety and the others.
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Alright guys.
Back again with another update! Chapter 18 is now live and ready for you to enjoy!
As I mentioned last time, this will be my last update before I take a short break. I'm running a bit low on creative fuel after that massive Chapter 19 that grew to almost 10k words (which I've split into 4 parts so it become chapter 19-22)! 😅
I'll be taking about 10-14 days off to recharge and make sure the upcoming chapters are the best they can be. I should be back with regular updates in late May.
Also, I want you to remember, this story is a slow-burn, slice-of-life journey. We're still building the foundation and creating a solid background for our MC. Every detail matters for what's coming later!
For those who can't wait and want to read ahead (4 chapters beyond this one), I've already uploaded them on my Patreon: patreon.com/ReinScarter.
If you've been enjoying the story so far and have bookmarked it, I'd really appreciate it if you could leave a rating and perhaps a comment. Your honest feedback helps me understand where I stand and how I can improve. Every bit of input means the world to me! ⭐
Thank you so much for your understanding and continued support. You all make this writing journey worthwhile! See you in a couple of weeks! ❤️