Marvel: A Tale of Shadows

Contemplating for a moment he decided to do it discreetly. Sneaking in through the access port he already had. It would not interfere with the download already occurring, but it would mean that anything he searched would take a while. So instead he would browse.

Which is how he found an interesting set of plans: 'Avengers Initiative'. Apparently it was the original 'idea' was to continue the group of talented individuals that had formed around Captain America after the war. A plan the SSR tossed out after his death. So it was tucked away until the SSR became SHIELD.

Then Peggey Carter, one of SHIELD's founders, started making plans that were denied. With her last note being, 'an idea too ahead of its time, soon the world will be ready'.

Finally it appears that three years ago, soon after Iron Man first appeared, Fury pulled it out and changed the plan name from 'Secret Warriors' to 'Avengers Initiative' citing a prior plan for an Earth Defense project that was denied. He chose several possible talented people. Including some of his agents like Clinton 'Hawkeye' Barton. He did have mentions of failed plans to work with Tony Stark as well as being denied records for a Bruce 'Hulk' Banner. Then he came across another file, Captain Steve Rogers who was cited as training personnel. He decided to just copy the whole file and look at it later in more detail.

The next file of interest he found was on Hydra, they really had been hiding in the dark. But it was clear that Fury has been on their tail for the last few years. Then he found it, Ophelia Sarkissian.

The picture was of the green lipped and haired woman that he saw at the chess tournament when the tournament was attacked. So definitely brainwashed, but there was no mention of it in SHIELD's file. But it did talk about her abilities. Expert hand-to-hand combat, marksman, poison secretions and possible longevity? She favored hit-and-run tactics, currently working under Doctor Faustus and the mutant research division of Hydra.

It appears she has acquired quite the rap sheet. Assassinations, mass kidnappings, laboratory raids, and apparently she has quite a reputation for her poison secretions. The research and development department of SHIELD has even requested that she be taken alive so they can extract her special poisons. Which actually sickened him more than anything else he read.

This was a government entity and it sounded like they wanted to use a person as a resource. Sort of like those 'bad guys' in crappy cartoons or even how most secret entities are portrayed. Either way, it made his skin crawl.

He knew the entirety of SHIELD is not overseen by a single person. But rather each region has its own regional director. With the international Director and organization based out of the Triskelion in Washington DC and with Fury currently in charge and superior to the regional directors. A certain level of power was given over to SHIELD on an international scale. If they had that much control and there was clear corruption he could find just from reading a file? It was worrying.

He sighed and decided to move onto the next assignment he was given instead since the upload was complete and the security box for the First Line group was completely secured. He started mining through the SHIELD servers looking for where the First Line's information was stolen from.

It did not take long, the access was through the European Branch of SHIELD. It appears it was only disguised as a hack because they had a trigger every time it was accessed with a lockout and encryption feature on the data if it was removed or copied. Which was why he was here, so they were probably worried but not worried enough to go all in. Mainly because the files were updated every five years so the information they stole was out of date by four years.

Nonetheless what was stolen was still damaging which is why he was hired. So after a few minutes he was browsing through the desktop that accessed the files. The person that downloaded the files was connected to an outside network that piggybacked off of the SHIELD network. It was far too intricate for him to fully delve into in one setting.

Fortunately he just had to set up a pathway for him to jump in later when he had more time. But for now it looked like the file that was removed was completely encrypted.

He sighed as he disconnected his laptop and climbed out stretching and cracking as he flexed and rolled his limbs and neck. He then shuddered before he put away his things and walked towards the entrance glancing at his phone.

He had two minutes left on the time he was allotted as he walked out the fence gate and clicked the elevator button. Waiting a few minutes until the elevator arrived empty. He climbed in and went back the way he came. Arriving at the garage he walked to his motorcycle and stopped as he pulled out his phone and used an app on it. 

He began looking over his motorcycle. A moment later he frowned and put his bag away. Pulling out a small device out of his storage compartment that was hidden inside along with another small disk that was hidden on his fuel tank. He reached into his bag and pulled out some duct tape. He taped them together and tucked it away as he put on his jacket and helmet.

Riding out of the garage he made it across the bridge and onto the mainroad. He could almost feel the eyes on his back as he was followed. As he rode he swerved between vehicles and when he was out of sight he tossed the taped up bundle on top of a nearby dump truck. He then exited the highway and moved to his next destination. Paine already texted him a location to meet up at.

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"We are following him now sir." The scarred agent stated as they followed the tracker. "We will figure out everything out about him from who hired him to who his first love is."

"Keep on him, this group has been hidden inside SHIELD from the start. It would be a shame to lose this lead. Hail Hydra!" The call then cut off. While agents continued to follow the tracker until the one reading the gps location frowned.

"Sir, he is heading toward the garbage dump. Do you think he knows we are following him?" The junior agent asked.

"I doubt it. We are the best at what we do. We even know Fury's home address, how could some random person figure it out. Some B-rate hacker that can't even-"

"Sir we lost him." The senior officer was interrupted mid monologue and slammed on the braces in surprise.

"What!"

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"Are you okay Laura?" Felicia asked as she cleaned a few dishes.

"Why are you nervous?" Laura countered as she watched from the counter. Despite her young age she has been watching Ethan and Felicia these last few weeks and has noticed both of their tendencies.

For, instance, Ethan will only tinker with his technology but only when Felicia is not around. Otherwise he pays exclusive attention to her and becomes almost overbearing. It was like a form of obsession with him. But before he left he seemed… off. Like he was grasping with something new.

Felicia was clearly nervous as she cleaned when she was nervous and she had already gone over the apartment twice since he left. So Laura thought it was because of what she asked of them.

"If it is because of what I asked-" There was a loud sigh as Felicia shook her head.

"It is not, you are fine. I am just nervous because Ethan and I need to talk. I did something without asking or consulting him first. So now I am worried because we haven't had a chance to really talk about it." Felicia explained with a worried look.

"Oh… is it about you two and that other lady?" Laura asked.

"Yes, it… ah… anyways. What do you want to do for the next few days? It won't be healthy to be stuck at home playing video games all day." Felicia turned her full attention to Laura deciding to focus on what to do to put her mind at ease.

She was clearly still feeling fragile, but her and Ethan needed to remember to present a united front to help her. They had no clue how long she would be here.

"Umm… how about a party? When I get my parents back we can celebrate!" Laura started off nervously but got excited at the end.

"A party huh… what theme or type of party are you thinking of?" Felicia asked and immediately regretted it as Laura's face displayed confusion.

"Umm…" She slowly sunk as she hid her face. "I have never been to a party before. I just saw about it on TV once."

"Hmmm… then let's look up some stuff. We could do superheroes, space, sci-fi, fantasy, old-timey, just about anything. There are many things to plan. Actually-" Felicia stopped mid sentence as her phone rang. She picked it up immediately when she saw who it was, "Yes, this is Felicia."

"Felicia! It is Aunty Renee. Actually I wanted to send you something but your father said something about you moving?" Her Aunt asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

"Ah! Yeah… something happened at the Sorority house. I am not going back there anytime soon. So I moved in with someone I met and trust them. I am even going to start an internship when the new year starts. Transferring in really was the right call." She quickly explained hoping to avoid any of the awkward questions.

"Oh! Umm… good. Actually I have two reasons for calling you. I want to send you a few old pictures to hold onto. So I need the place to send it. But I also want to ask you to do something in the next few weeks." Her aunt sounded hesitant. She had actually never heard her like this before.

"Really?"

"Yes, it is a bit of a weird situation but we need a third party to do a blood test when I am up in New York. As well as a place for me to stay." She explained awkwardly.

"In that case we have extra rooms. The blood test just needs to be in a certified center. Give me a few days to look into it. Do you have any requirements?"

"No, just someplace reputable but low key."

"Okay. When are you coming up?"

"In a few weeks, but I can talk more about that later. I have a few more things to set up."

"Okay… talk to you later."

"Goodbye!" Then her aunt hung up the call.

Felicia frowned but set down her phone and decided to ignore it for now. "Anyways, we were talking about parties right?"