Chapter 6

Harry was in a conundrum. He glanced at the exit, only to find the burly man sitting on one of the tables in front of the entrance, staring at him balefully. Probably waiting for him to leave.

He sighed. Why can't he simply enjoy some tacos?

"Fine." He muttered at the expectant woman, letting himself be dragged to her table.

He absently wondered why this woman wasn't scared of him. As far as he knew, mind control was the stuff of nightmare and villany for the general population. She should atleast be a little freaked out.

Did she know about magicals perchance? ...interesting.

The other two ladies looked older than 33, perhaps in their mid twenties. He observed them both in quick succession, taking in their levels.

Maria Hill

Age: 26

Race: Human

Level: 17

Melinda May

Age: 39

Race: Human

Level: 19

He suppressed a frown at Melinda's age. She did not look an year over 30. But she was not a super soldier either, considering her low level.

"Harry, meet my two superi...ahh, friends." 33 hesitated before waving over at them. "Maria Hill and Miss May."

"Clean work back there, kid." Melinda said with a wink.

She was a pretty asian woman, with black eyes and raven hairs. He judged her to be on the short side, a couple of inches over five foot at most.

A quick scan of her figure, and Harry was convinced that she was the most dangerous of the three.

Harry gave her a polite nod before looking back at 33. "What did you wish to say, 33?"

"Why did you revert back to thirty-three again?" 33 whined. "It's Kara. K-A-R-A. You're doing this purposely aren't you? I remember you saying my name the last time."

"...I did?" Harry tilted his head. "I must've forgotten. Now, what did you wish to say, 33?"

33 started to sulk, much to the amusement of her 'friends'.

"Do you dislike my name? That's it, isn't it? I get it. I don't know why my parents named me kara, instead of Sara, or...Tara..but I have to live with it. It is a burden I must carry. You can help me in it, you know? Saying my name will be a good start."

Harry nodded seriously. "Very well. I shall help you, Ms. Palamas."

Her gaping face was a sight to behold. He absently wondered if he should drop the gamer's mind and actually try to enjoy this. It looked fun to tease the young agent.

"Now now, Mister. Stop bullying poor Kara will you?" Melinda spoke out, her smirk only widening through the exchange. "Her weak heart might not take it anymore."

Maria on the other hand, looked the picture of cool and calm. Just the slightly tug of her lips betrayed her amusement.

"Anyway." Kara forcefully interjected. "I wanted to ask...ahh, how are you? I mean, how's life going? have you found a place to spend the night yet?"

"Very subtle, Palamas." Maria closed her eyes with a sigh, her hands coming to massage her forehead.

There was something going on in here. He just knew it. They were trying a little too hard to put him at ease. Appearing warm and friendly.

And then it clicked in his head...

"How did you know I didn't have a place to live?" Harry asked, instantly on guard.

Kara's friends groaned. Kara blushed.

"Uhh...that is...umm..it's common sense, you know? You just got out of the bad guys hands and probably spent a lot of time wandering and looking for some place to sleep. And then were probably forced to sleep under a...Oh, I don't know, a bridge or something maybe?...and now you're here..."

The pistol was already in his hand by now, ready to blast open three heads.

They knew what he had been doing for the past couple of months...which meant he never evaded their notice in the first place.

He needed to...what, exactly? If Shield knew he was here, what can he possibly do?

'Go down fighting', his mind supplied. It was better than being a slave again.

"You should stop talking." Agent Hill snapped at 33. "You've done enough damage."

33's cheeks looked positively inflamed now.

Agent May sighed. "Everyone calm down. Harry, I know you don't have a reason to trust us, but please don't shoot. Just hear us out, alright?"

"Of course." He nodded easily. "Though I will need you to put your hands on the table, please."

No need to be rude when he might be putting them to permanent sleep soon.

Agent May sighed again but didn't argue, placing both of her hands on the table with open palms. Agent hill soon followed suit, her face now a cold curtain. 33 on the other hand, was still blushing, and seemed ashamed to meet his eyes. Though she too complied without complaints.

"Continue then." He commanded. "How do you know about me?"

"Your subject has been thoroughly discussed by our... superiors." Agent May started. "And we came to the conclusion that you were an unfortunate victim of Hydra, simply trying to gain your freedom."

Behind him, the shop seemed to be closing, the people having already herded out by staff. Everyone except them.

His suspicions arose even more.

"Don't worry." Agent May comforted. "Shield owns this business. I signalled the owner to close it to give us some privacy. This is not a subject so openly discussed you see?"

Harry nodded. "Continue."

"Well...we planned to bring you in for safety. You are, afterall, still a chi..ahh, not yet an adult. Agent 33 here, seemed to disagree with our plan. In her words, you were prone to attack us as easily as Hydra. So we kept our distance, simply observing you. Today was a chance meeting, nothing planned or otherwise. You are free to leave if you wish to. Shield does not want to offend your kind."

Her face scrunched up slightly. "That was rude, I'm sorry. I meant your...ahh, people. People similar to you. You aren't the only wizard in America you know."

"I know." Harry nodded. "I was trained by a few."

The Agent grimaced. "We had our suspicions that there were wizards in Hydra. It is still a troubling fact though."

As silence spread through the room, Harry stood up. It was relieving to hear that he wouldn't be hunted by Shield but he had clearly underestimated them. Anyone who can see him can also kill him. Especially if they knew where and when he slept.

He planned to completely disappear from America. Hydra and Shield could battle it out amongst themselves.

...Perhaps it was time to give his old family a visit.

"It was a pleasure meeting you all, but I shall take my leave now." He announced, pocketing his pistol.

"W-wait!" Kara blurted, finally speaking. "Where will you go?"

"Around." Harry vaguely waved his hand.

To be honest he himself didn't know yet. He may want to leave America now but that will take a lot of planning, information..and money. For someone who was homeless and made do with stealing, it was a difficult prospect.

"You don't have to leave!" Kara desperately voiced. "You can stay with us..."

He shot her a dubious look. "No, thanks."

"Look, I get it. You don't like us, that's fine. But you did save my life; any other assassin wouldn't even have hesitated to end me. And that is something I'll always be grateful for. So would Shield. You really have nothing to fear from us."

Instead of being a bullhead, Harry mulled the idea over in his mind.

Having Shield's support would be priceless, no doubt about that. If Hydra was considered a powerful organization, then Shield was a true behemoth. The money and resources available to them were absurdly large, and even the slightest bit of it should logically be enough to set him for life.

On the other hand, If their intentions were less than pure, then Harry would be facing an organisation even more dangerous than Hydra.

From the years that he'd spent in Hydra, he could easily conclude that Shield was in a league of it's own. More often than not, Hydra simply played catch up to Shield's power.

If Hydra had the Winter Soldier, then Shield had Ares, Hawkeye, and now a new weapon, Black Widow. If Hydra had money and manpower, Shield had direct support of World council. Harry had no doubt that they may even have their own Wizards on payroll.

In conclusion, if it took him 3 years of planning and patience to escape Hydra, it will take atleast a decade to escape Shield. That's assuming they gave him exploitable chances like Hydra. Which he doubted.

But even with all these counter arguments swirling through his head, he found himself gravitating towards a positive response. If they really were true about their motives that is.

Sleeping in open was no longer an option, seeing as how Shield has been keeping tabs on him. Which meant so was Hydra. And he had no doubt that Hydra would eliminate him if given a chance. He was too big a lose cannon to let go.

Once, the idea of staying in Shield's headquarters would've seemed absurd to him, akin to simply changing one shackles for another. But now that he'd got a glimpse of challenges that came with his freedom, he wasn't so sure of his decision.

"On top of that," Agent May suddenly cut in. "You get to meet Captain Ares."

Harry waited for her to continue but she seemed to be waiting for his reaction.

"Why...is that a good thing?" He asked at last, confused.

She blinked. "...I thought everyone wants to meet Captain Ares?"

He sighed. "I certainly don't."

"Well then you don't have to!" Kara took over with a clap of her hands. "You can live with me. You won't have to do anything you don't want to. I promise."

"Right." Agent hill scoffed. "And force him to clean your garbage filled room? Shield has better rooms to provide if the Mystique soldier himself wants to join in."

"That's only because I live alone!" Kara protested. "I'll clean it up and everything, you won't even spot a grease mark. If Harry decides to stay, that is."

Could he trust them? After knowing they've been spying on him? Though now that he thought about it...wasn't that actually a good point for them instead? They could've killed him whenever they wanted. Clearly they were content to leave him be. Not even trying to stop his stealing.

So the question in the end comes back to one thing. Should he trust them?

"I...plan to leave the country soon." He finally admitted. "I don't know where yet, but I simply do not wish to be between Hydra and Shield."

Revealing the fact was a calculated risk. It wasn't anything important and there was nothing they could do to stop him save for imprisoning him.

"Understandable." Agent May stated with a nod. "But until you decide where exactly you want to move, Shield would be happy to accommodate you."

And after another brief moment of contemplation, Harry found himself nodding. "Very well. You've convinced me."

The cheering 'yay!' from kara was just a bonus.

Hopefully this decision won't come back to bite him.