Chapter 4: The Agent and the Anomaly
[Evening – The Green Cup Cafe – Day 2]
The message from Adam had been cryptic, chillingly specific. The bird has two heads. Look for the serpent. It was enough to get Agent Bixby's attention. She had been tracking the anomaly for two days, a digital ghost that left traces of impossible speed and impossible data manipulation. Her superior, Agent Coulson, had a soft spot for these "enhanced individuals," but Bixby's training told her they were ticking time bombs. She had arranged the meeting in a small, out-of-the-way cafe, a S.H.I.E.L.D. field office disguised as a trendy coffee shop.
Adam arrived first, his eyes constantly scanning the room, his body language a taut coil of suppressed tension. When Bixby entered, her demeanor was a blend of casual confidence and professional paranoia. She wore a simple dress and carried a book, but her eyes, dark and intelligent, missed nothing.
She sat down across from him, placing her book on the table with a soft thud.
"I'm Agent Bixby," she said, her voice low and even. "My superior, Agent Coulson, is… intrigued."
Adam met her gaze. He had studied her file, her career, her history. She was a rising star in S.H.I.E.L.D. But he also knew she had secrets. He had seen the way she looked at her own colleagues with a hint of suspicion.
"And you're not?" he countered.
"I'm a skeptic," she said, leaning forward. "I've seen enough people with 'abilities' to know they're either a danger to themselves or to everyone else. So, let's be direct. What are you? And where did you get your information?"
Adam didn't answer right away. He took a sip of his coffee. The hot liquid felt good in his stomach. He wasn't ready to tell her everything. Not yet. He had to probe, to see how much she knew, how much she was willing to share.
"Let's just say I have a new way of looking at things," he said, a faint smile on his lips. "I saw something that concerns me. Something that should concern S.H.I.E.L.D. as well."
She narrowed her eyes. "Hydra. You mentioned a serpent. Are you talking about Hydra?"
Adam's blood ran cold. He hadn't expected her to guess so quickly.
"How… how did you know?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.
"The Hydra files were unclassified decades ago," she said, her voice flat. "The Cold War is over. So, either you're a conspiracy theorist, or you've stumbled onto something more. Which is it?"
"What if the Hydra files weren't all unclassified? What if they just went deeper undercover?" he said.
Suddenly, the cafe door opened. A man walked in, a nondescript figure in a dark jacket. He wasn't a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Adam could tell. His posture was too rigid, too practiced. The System flared with a sudden, jarring notification.
[SYSTEM: Threat analysis: Hostile Intent. Source: Unknown.]
Adam's head snapped up. He looked at Bixby. She was staring at the man, her face a mask of stone. Her hand had slipped under the table, gripping the edge of her seat.
"Protocol," she whispered. "He's a ghost. Not on any of our registries."
"Wait," Adam said, his eyes scanning the man's face. He saw a flicker of something, a familiar tic, a cold, empty gaze. It was the same man from the vision he had seen. The man with the Hydra propaganda.
"He's an agent," Adam said, his voice flat. "He's one of them."
Bixby's eyes widened. She saw the same look, the same cold certainty in his eyes. She saw the way his pupils dilated as he looked at her. He wasn't a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. He was a protocol breaker.
"It's a Hydra trap," she said, her voice barely audible.
The man in the jacket took a step forward, his hand moving to his side. It was a subtle motion, but Adam saw it. He knew what was coming.
"Don't move," Adam said, his voice a low growl. "He's got a gun."
Bixby didn't hesitate. She grabbed the table and flipped it over, a sudden, jarring crash that sent coffee cups and plates flying. It was a pre-arranged signal, a S.H.I.E.L.D. protocol for a raid. The man in the jacket was taken by surprise, his hand faltering.
Adam didn't wait. He grabbed Bixby's arm, his grip surprisingly strong. "Let's go."
They scrambled out the back door, leaving the confused Hydra agent behind. They ran through a labyrinth of back alleys, Bixby a practiced professional, Adam a blur of panicked motion. They didn't stop until they were a few blocks away, hidden in the shadows of a a dimly lit street. They stood there, catching their breath, their hearts pounding in their chests.
"What was that?" Bixby gasped, her eyes wide with fear and a strange kind of thrill.
"A Hydra agent," Adam said, his voice low. "He was following you. And me."
She looked at him, her eyes filled with a new kind of trust. She still didn't know who he was, but she knew he was on her side.
She's a spy. I can't trust her... but I need her. And she needs me. This is no longer a solo mission. This is a partnership. Adam knew the stakes had just been raised. He had an enemy. And he had an ally. A shaky one, but an ally nonetheless.
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