C53 - Captain America.

'Inner dialogue/thoughts'

"Normal dialogue"

[System]

[Diary entries]

(Word count: 1,770)

~ With Fury, a few minutes after Maria Hill left his office ~

Fury was currently waiting for Natasha to give him a call. He had called her earlier but was told that she was not in a secure location and would take awhile for her to get to the nearest one available. While waiting, Fury was currently updating his lists to include the weaknesses of the "Messengers" from the Abyssal Covenant.

Suddenly, a different codded knock was heard at the door which intrigued Fury. Fury knew who the person knocking was and was most likely here to report to him about an important mission that he had sent that person to carry out.

"Come in." Fury said.

The door opened and the person who knocked was revealed to be Phil Coulson, another high levelled agent of SHIELD that Fury could trust. Walking towards Fury, Coulson stopped before Fury's desk and stood at attention.

Not hearing anything but feeling the presence of Coulson standing before him, Fury looked up and was amused at the sight he saw. "So, are you just going to stand there or are you going to give me your report, Agent Coulson?"

"You were looking a little busy there, sir. I didn't want to interrupt. . ." Coulson stopped himself at seeing Fury's lone eye staring at him.

"Right, reporting on mission Atlantic Recovery." Coulson started, "Subject has been fully thawed from his cryo-sleep and is currently in an induced state of sleep. Vital signs are normal, if not exceptional for someone of his capabilities and pedigree."

As Coulson was giving his report, Fury noticed that Coulson spoke in a more excited tone than usual.

"I've got our guys monitoring and analysing the subject, but so far, every tests we've done suggests that it should have been impossible for any normal human to be frozen in ice for however long he was frozen for, sir. It's a miracle that he's even alive right now after over 70 years, without even looking like he aged a single day."

Unable to keep his curiosity in check, Coulson ventured a question he knew that he would likely not get a satisfactory answer for, "How did you know, sir? That the captain was still alive and trapped in ice?"

"You not only sent me, but you put me in charge of a group of SHIELD agents that did not attend any form of specialized training programme nor have any noticeable background. This team you've put together, although they worked well enough to find the captain, seemed very unorthodox for a mission like this one. I would have expected Jasper and his team to act as our security, and not some 'fresh out of the military' agents." Coulson finished. 

Fury sat quietly, listening to Coulson's words. When Fury first learned that Steve Rogers would be alive and an Avenger in the future through the diary, Fury knew that he had to act fast and inconspicuous. He needed to form a team that would not turn any heads for the mission to locate and rescue Steve Rogers.

In a bid to keep the mission as low profile as possible, Fury avoided including any highly skilled agents, agents with prolific backgrounds, as well as agents who had attended any form of specialized schools where there could be a diverse group of other people who could compromise said agents.

Fury understood that the team he put together was very unconventional, however it had to be done. He had personally vetted each and every single agent on that team to ensure that they were at the very least not compromised. Coulson was put in-charge due to Fury knowing Coulson was a trustworthy agent, and also due to Coulson's enthusiasm for Captain America.

"The answer to your question, is a need to know. And right now- "Before Fury could complete his sentence, Coulson had finished it for him.

"I don't need to know." Coulson said.

Fury sat in contemplation regarding how to proceed next with Steve Rogers. He had found his body, thawed him out of the ice he was frozen in, and ensured his vital signs were stable. The next thing to do was to wake the captain up. However, this posed another issue for Fury.

'The captain has been enclosed in ice for over 70 years. Most if not all of those he ever knew would be gone by now. Even Director Peggy is now permanently on a hospital bed. Waking up alone in an unknown place and in an unknown timeline may cause the captain to react badly to being woken up.' Fury mused.

'But even so, that is a risk we have to take. The captain is too valuable to be kept asleep for much longer. If there is anyone who has an inkling into the captain's personality and behaviour, it should be the only other person who does not belong in this time. If the time calls for it, I'll have to get Natasha to bring Luke in to help anchor the captain to his new reality.'

'One of them is a superhero who came from a parallel world and has lost everything he ever held important to him. While the other is a legendary captain who had saved this world, at the cost of being frozen in ice and subsequently losing everything he ever held important to him too.'

'Moreover, Luke seemed to already know about the captain from the parallel world. This should help him to get along well with the captain from this world.'

Making his decision, Fury finally spoke, "For now, keep him sedated until further notice. I won't say this twice, but remember Coulson, this mission is of the highest secrecy. You report to me, and me alone."

"Keep a close eye on all those involved, I may have personally chosen them to form the team, but that doesn't mean I trust them not to mess things up. One slip of the tongue is all it takes to ruin whatever we're doing here. Understood?"

Coulson nodded his head to indicate his acknowledgement. Coulson had wanted to ask regarding all the secrecy involved in the mission, however, he also knew that something was going on with Fury. Recently, Coulson felt that Fury's paranoia and guard was increased, even amongst high levelled agents such as Jasper.

Despite that, Coulson did not doubt Fury. If Fury felt it appropriate to have such secrecy, then there must be a good reason for it. All Coulson had to do now was not screw it up.

As Coulson walked began walking away, he was stopped by Fury's voice, "Coulson, although I may not show it to you right now, but you are one of the few agents that I can trust. Don't forget that."

An appreciative smile found it's way onto Coulson's lips as he replied while he kept walking, "I know, sir."

~ With Luke, in the Peach Blossom Café ~

"Care to say that again?" April said in an unamused tone. April was currently working behind the counter while sitting opposite her were Luke and Crystal.

Luke swallowed his saliva as he gathered the courage to repeat what he had just said, "I'm just saying, dipping a french fry into vanilla ice-cream or a milkshake tastes just as good as having pineapple on pizza."

"I'm already regretting being a part of this conversation." Crystal's voice was filled with disgust and disappointment at Luke's statement as she laid her head on the counter, with her hands covering her ears.

Luke looked for backup from the other present staff at the counter but was only met with an empathetic look from Adam and Eve.

"Don't look at me man, I'm not trying to get in trouble." Adam spoke first, before Eve followed up, "And before you look at us, look at our sweet Pup over here. Look how you made her feel."

"Alright, we're all going to be having some fries and milkshake after work closing hours, MANDATORY for all personnel!" Seeing that all his staff were against him, Luke defended his case vehemently.

"Great, now we'd have to go along with your delusions." April remarked. Hearing her rebuttal, Luke deflated as he began pouting in silence.

On the other hand, upon hearing the word 'milkshakes', Crystal's mood instantly brightened as she exclaimed excitedly, "MILKSHAKES?! CAN I GET A CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE MILKSHAKE?!"

April could only roll her eyes upon seeing the contrasting reactions of both Luke and Crystal.

The lively atmosphere around the counter was suddenly interrupted by Natasha, who sported a serious expression on her face. "Luke, can I talk to you in private for a minute?"

Seeing the serious expression on Natasha's face, Crystal remarked aloud, "Uh oh, what did you do this time, Sully?"

At her words, all of them turned to look at Luke, who felt violated by their reactions, "I did not do anything! Probably. Maybe. . . I didn't do anything, right Nat?" Luke asked, unsure of himself.

Natasha smiled softly as she saw her friends trying to cheer up the mood that she had found herself in, "It's nothing serious guys, I just need to talk with Luke about something personal."

"Ooo something personal? Could I stick around to lis- OW OW OW OW OW!" Crystal was cut off as April pulled on her ear and dragged her away from Luke and Natasha.

"I'll keep Crystal busy so you guys can go ahead." April stated, behaving like an older sister reprimanding her nosy younger sibling. Seeing that Natasha was not truly in a foul mood, the rest of the staff nodded their heads as they left to do their own things.

"This is blasphemy! This is madness! I demand my rights as an employ- OW OW OW NOT TOO HARD APRIL MY EARS PLEASE!" Crystal's voice slowly faded into the background as Luke shook his head in amusement. 

"So, how personal is this thing?" Luke asked.

"The sensitive personal kind." Natasha responded.

Understanding what Natasha meant, Luke asked for Natasha to give him a couple of minutes as he tidied up and headed to his office to prepare the things he needed to do for the day in advance, just in case the conversation with Natasha took too long.

Once he was done, Luke signalled to Natasha that he was ready, after which they both then left the café and headed to Natasha's old apartment.

- End of Chapter 53 -

Next time in C54 - Luke is responsible for. . .

'And now this. I create a new enemy thinking that it would be easy to be taken care of. Yet, because I did not want to reveal too much about myself or the enemy, the STRIKE team was unaware of how to deal with the creature, allowing it to go on a rampage undeterred.'