"I've received the footage," Nick Fury said, eyes fixed on the screen as he reviewed the recording Skye had sent. "By the way, that girl—Skye—you really ought to let her join S.H.I.E.L.D. Someone with her kind of talent belongs in my organization, not wasting her potential playing sidekick to you."
He sounded half-admiring, half-irritated. For days, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top cybersecurity experts had been tearing their hair out, unable to figure out how Skye had slipped a backdoor into their own internal network. To Fury, she was a rare gem—a top-tier hacker the world could count on one hand. Seeing her follow Lucas around like a pet hacker drove him mad.
Lucas snorted. "Cut the recruitment pitch. You and I both know who Skye really is—and she's safer with me than with you. You should be more worried about cleaning up your own house."
He wasn't going to hand Skye over to S.H.I.E.L.D. No chance. Fury already knew her background—he'd dug up every last detail once Skye's Inhuman abilities had awakened.
Fury sighed. "Believe it or not, I agree with you—at least for now. Her identity stays classified. The Inhumans are… complicated, and there are far more of them than we thought. It's not the right time to make contact."
He spoke wearily, but Lucas could hear the undercurrent of frustration. Fury had been quietly pouring resources into investigating the Inhumans, even tracing Skye's biological parents.
Lucas shrugged. "Suit yourself. Just saying—you guys at S.H.I.E.L.D. might want to do some spring cleaning."
Fury's tone hardened. "Don't worry about my agency, Mr. Norman. You've got theories—fine. Who do you think sent those soldiers last night?"
"I'm betting on Ross," Lucas replied immediately. "That old bastard's never been one to take a beating lying down. I nearly killed him yesterday—of course he'd want payback."
But Fury quickly shut that down. "Impossible. Ross is still in intensive care, under twenty-four-hour surveillance. There's no way it was his doing."
Lucas's voice turned dry. "Twenty-four-hour surveillance, huh? Like the way your agents have been 'watching' me? Remind me, how'd that go last night?"
The sarcasm hit Fury like a slap.
"You little punk—" he growled, rubbing his temple. "Listen to me, kid. I'll find out who those commandos were. Just don't go off half-cocked. If you start breaking things again, even I won't be able to clean up your mess."
"Relax," Lucas said casually. "They come after me, they pay the price. Otherwise, we're fine. Peace on Earth, right?"
"Peace my ass!" Fury exploded. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in already? The military's labeled you a potential threat. If I hadn't been running interference, they'd have slapped you with an arrest order by now!"
Fury slumped back in his chair, muttering curses under his breath. Between Tony Stark and Lucas Norman, he was developing stress wrinkles faster than classified files.
Tony was a spoiled genius with no off-switch; Lucas, on the other hand, was pure chaos in human form—a walking retaliation engine. The two of them together were his personal nightmare.
Still… Fury admitted one thing to himself: neither man was truly evil. One was too reckless, the other too lazy. But lazy troublemakers were still better than zealots bent on destruction.
Lucas chuckled. "Like I said—if they don't mess with me, we'll all get along just fine."
"God damn it!" Fury snapped and hung up before his blood pressure could climb any higher.
---
"How'd it go?" Gwen asked when Lucas put his phone down.
"Not Ross," Lucas said with a frown. "Weird. I haven't pissed off anyone else recently. Who the hell would it be?"
He racked his brain, but came up empty. Everyone who'd crossed him before was already six feet under—or worse.
Skye, still analyzing the video frame by frame, suddenly froze. Her eyes widened. "Lucas! Look at this!"
Both Lucas and Gwen leaned closer.
"That metal arm…" Lucas muttered. Then his eyes went wide. "No way—that's the Winter Soldier!"
Gwen and Skye jumped at his sudden outburst. Gwen smacked him on the shoulder. "God, don't yell like that! What's wrong with you?"
Ignoring her, Lucas's expression darkened. "That means either I—or this building—has caught Hydra's attention."
The name alone was enough to make the room fall silent.
Gwen frowned. "Hydra? You mean that Nazi science cult from the Captain America stories?"
"Exactly," Lucas said. "Which is why I want you to call your dad. Tell him to bring your mom and brother here for a few days. Safer that way."
She hesitated but nodded, seeing he was serious.
As soon as she stepped away, Lucas redialed Fury's number.
"I know who sent those men," he said when the line clicked.
"Already?!" Fury was incredulous. "I just dispatched a team to look into it!"
Lucas didn't waste time. "You saw the guy with the metal arm in the footage, right? That's not just anyone. He's a brainwashed super-soldier—same serum as Captain America. They call him the Winter Soldier. He works for Hydra."
The name hit Fury like a punch. His mind flashed back through classified reports, ancient files—then his face hardened.
"Don't tell me you're saying—"
"You guessed it," Lucas cut in. "Hydra. The Winter Soldier was one of theirs. The squad last night? Hydra operatives."
He spoke evenly, but the suppressed anger in his tone was unmistakable.
"Bullshit!" Fury barked. "Hydra was wiped out after World War II. Rogers took out the Red Skull himself. We purged every last trace of them!"
Lucas raised an eyebrow. "You really think Hydra just disappeared? Their motto ring any bells?"
Fury fell silent. Lucas said it for him.
> "Cut off one head, and two shall take its place."
"Exactly," Lucas said coolly. "You think an organization that literally tells you they'll regrow isn't going to regrow? Hydra didn't die—they moved in. If you ask me, your so-called S.H.I.E.L.D. 'integration program' after the war was the dumbest idea anyone's ever had. Either pure idiocy… or inside sabotage."
Fury's expression tightened. He didn't want to admit it, but the possibility was gnawing at him.
Could Hydra have been growing inside his own agency all this time?
He let out a low, bitter laugh. "Here I thought I was the one protecting the world. Turns out I couldn't even see the snake coiled under my own desk."
Lucas shrugged. "Better start looking before it bites you. And try not to let Hydra lead you by the nose next time."
He ended the call without another word, leaving Fury fuming in silence.
He'd done it on purpose—teased the Black Egg just enough to keep him guessing.
After all, even if Lucas told him the truth—that S.H.I.E.L.D. was already Hydra's shell—Fury wouldn't believe it.
And honestly? Lucas couldn't care less. Watching Fury squirm was entertainment enough.
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