From The Ashes - 015 (Patreon)

Chapter 015 – Objective

[2012]

"I am Nicholas Fury, Director of SHIELD.", Fury took a step forward as I approached, extending his hand as he took the initiative to greet me, "I wanted to personally thank you for your help during this crisis, Mr. Hatahle."

He spoke formally and with clear reservation, and it wasn't very hard for me to notice the hidden intention in the depths of his gaze. He was clearly still evaluating me and his greeting just served to start a conversation, so he could continue to do exactly that.

After all, it was hard to punch a smiling face, even if him being cordial was most likely just an attempt to lower my willingness to enter a physical conflict with him.

Naturally, I could also be overthinking but since my perception was inhumanly sharp and I wasn't just some naive idiot, I had no illusions about Fury's real character.

Either way, I wasn't a fan of idle conversation and/or insincere flattery, not to mention that I had no intention of letting him control the 'tempo' of this meeting.

Still, Fury was a brilliant spy and ruthless manipulator while I was just a retired soldier, outwitting him in a verbal exchange was most likely a fool's hope even if I had future knowledge so I did the only thing that I was sure wouldn't put me at a disadvantage, I kept my mouth shut.

If one wanted their words to mean something, to carry weight, speaking less was often the first step in that direction, especially when it came to negotiations and discussions. After all, words were cheap because speaking them required no effort or price so one could just say whatever one wanted.

Truth or lie, it didn't matter as only time and actions could really prove how valuable someone's words and promises were. But people were generally impatient and the human mind was quick to judge, so they tended to let themselves be deceived by empty promises.

I had seen it almost every day and personally experienced it often enough.

'Speech is silver, silence is gold.'

As such, I understood this concept deeply since the unspoken often represented the truth that couldn't and didn't need to be put into words, it represented the potential for a dialogue beyond speech, for actions that did not need to or simply couldn't be explained.

Possibilities, ambiguity, interpretation.

Forming a sentence that left things open for interpretation was a complex art that had to be approached with caution, as planting ideas, thoughts, and notions into the mind of another was a discipline that could easily backfire.

In the end, staying silent though was a gift that only required patience and a clear mind, while often affording one's reply all these qualities.

And so, I grabbed the outstretched hand and shook it calmly but I didn't say anything in response and just gazed deeply at the master spy for a few long moments before retracting my hand and turning towards Tony.

"Good morning, Mr. Stark.", I greeted the man politely, thankful that he had provided me a place to rest for the night.

Seemingly a bit surprised at my greeting, Tony quickly recovered with a sideways glance at the Director, a bit of a teasing smirk on his lips.

"Morning, Hatahle. You had a good rest? I see that the clothes that Pepper brought all fit.", Tony said with a quick glance at my outfit, his words rather unrestrained, "You look much less like a homeless guy when you aren't wearing rags."

Simply nodding in response to his question and ignoring the last part, I turned towards the prepared breakfast to fill my stomach.

Still, having clearly not expected my silence but noticing it as disinterest on my part, Fury proved himself thick-skinned enough for his position and addressed me again, his tone carefully measured.

…

Eyes like unpolished steel boring into him, the look they carried one of impassive calm, Fury had to thank his decades of experience and strong mentality for allowing him not to falter under the stranger's gaze.

All too aware of the colossal power that the other power wielded, he still suppressed the trepidation he felt in the depths of his heart as he confronted the man that destroyed the Tesseract.

Having fought and seen things that no normal human could ever imagine, his own eye having been blinded by an alien cat that was capable of devouring any number of humans and extraterrestrials just to barely fill the gaps between its teeth, Fury was more resilient towards the unknown as well as his own fear.

He naturally didn't understand that he wasn't just facing a normal ex-Army soldier but also a commander of thousands and the right-hand man of the 'Strongest Man in the World', a veteran of a thousand battles and an undying powerhouse that had crushed countless others under his feet.

The gap of strength between Fury and the other party was a seemingly bottomless chasm and he felt the difference now that he personally stood in front of the man, who had already turned away after greeting Stark.

Still, he was here with a mission and after taking a moment to compose himself, he forced himself to ignore the other party's obvious disinterest in a conversation, knowing that some things were more important than his personal discomfort.

…

"Since the Tesseract has been SHIELD's responsibility to research and keep safe for decades, would you mind enlightening me on how you destroyed it? Because from what I understand, such a thing should be impossible.", he addressed me from behind.

Turning my gaze back to the one-eyed man, I scrutinized his figure from top to bottom, his attempt to pry into my secrets not going over my head.

"What more is there to say? Your understanding of what is possible and what is not is simply flawed, Director.", I finally answered him before truly turning away and grabbing myself a wholewheat bagel with some cream cheese and a glass of orange juice.

“Well, the Tesseract is, or was, alien technology, after all. Not understanding it is a given since that was what we were working on, to understand its secrets and use it to benefit all of humanity.”, he admitted calmly, lying rather shamelessly.

I didn't say anything as I just silently found a place to sit down and enjoy my breakfast.

Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, I didn't really feel any hunger despite the energy that I consumed yesterday or the fact that my body was working at a clearly superhuman level.

The reason for this was rather simple though as I could feel a gentle stream of cosmic energy passing through my veins and washing over my muscles, organs, and bones.

The origin of this energy was naturally the Space Stone which I could feel pulsing inside my chest like a second heart.

I could feel the cosmic energy changing my biological make-up minutely every moment as if inciting a change in my physique that would help me adapt better to the immeasurable power that the ingot carried and represented.

My senses were incredibly sharp and my understanding of my body was naturally extraordinary thanks to Marco's Haki and medical knowledge, which meant that even as microscopic as these changes were, I noticed them.

It would probably take a long time before this change was finished but I could see that the gradual transformation of my cell held untold mysteries and opportunities within.

“While we are on the topic of alien technology, Mr. Hatahle, are the weaponry and the bodies of the invading Chitauri still intact after you took them away or did you destroy them?”, Fury suddenly stated, his tone much more solemn.

It seemed he had given up on the slow approach, seeing that I didn't have much, i.e. any interest at all in conversing with him, and decided a direct approach might be more useful.