Marvel: A Tale of Shadows

The truck moved along the road to a remote town. The driver of the food truck was a bearded man. He had a truckers cap and an overall appearance to perpetuate the typical long hauler. But the only give away that he was not normal was the military grade shotgun sitting in the saddle holster as well as the camera into the cargo bed where two guards were sitting inside.

The trucker suddenly frowned and began slowing to halt as he came upon a tree fallen into the road. He pressed a button on his radio and there was a slight noise as the guards in the cargo container perked up. "There is a downed tree blocking the road. Let me search the nearby area first. Then I will open the back door to get your help, get the laser saw ready."

The trucker then opened the door and hopped out pulling his shotgun with him. He cautiously moved around to the trunk of the tree. It was splintered and broken, initially it looked normal but as he got closer he realized there were marks where something sharp edged cut into the tree.

He tensed as he whipped his head around but before he got a chance to raise his shotgun a pair of hands grabbed his head and quickly twisted.

Snap!

The body stood with its head twisted at an odd angle for a second before it collapsed with a figure standing behind it.

Two other figures shrouded in shadows quickly and silently moved past him towards the rear of the truck. "Father, the two in the back are about to exit. Try not to ruin their outfits. We need them in order to sneak in."

"I thought that these outfits were the reason we would be able to sneak in. Why do we need their clothes?" The old man asked as the back of the truck slid open. The guards peaked their heads out as Ethan walked around to the back side and the guards recoiled in surprise.

"You wouldn't happen to be willing to make this easier on us?" Ethan asked, the guards looked at each other for a moment before one of them drew a knife while the other drew a gun. Ethan sighed and rolled his eyes as the one with the knife jumped off the truck and slashed toward him.

Ethan sidestepped the downward slice bringing his arm in a quick jab to the man's throat. The man flinched as he struggled to breath his hand loosening a grip on his knife which was quickly pulled out of his hand thrown into the other man's crotch by Ethan's father.

"Ahhh!" Ethan flinched in response to the hit to the man's crotch. Then he moved behind the knife man and quickly snapped his neck. Gently setting down the body as his father pulled the screaming man from the back of the truck.

"Shut him up. We just need the balaclavas, hats, and vests. The rest is customized equipment." Ethan explained as he robbed his man of his gear and he heard the distinctive snap of a neck.

"I got this husband dear. Go get your fake face on. Your disguise will take longer than ours." His mother explained as she walked up. Ethan was already halfway done putting on the disguise. "I know you were in a rush but I would like the reason we are going in so soon. We could have extended the surveillance and found a better way in."

"Because we are going in ahead of a brush fire. It was the only way I could set it up where we could get what we needed and put a fire under Hydra's ass." Ethan explained briefly as he began dragging the body into the bushes beside the road.

"What does this fire consist of?"

"Well initially it only consisted of Captain America and the X-Men… but-"

"But something you did not account for happened?" She sighed as she shook her head, "What have I already tried to teach you about that habit? Manipulating people is not the same as computers, there are always outside and unexpected variables. Leave room for errors."

Ethan rolled his eyes as he dropped the body before looking around. "Mother. I am self taught and much more intelligent than you. Of course I made plans. But I can't account for bursts of intelligence and new knowledge. Which is why I prefer working with people that aren't smart. Unfortunately, Tony Stark, or better known as Iron Man joined that group and they were able to track it down quicker."

"Ah, the untraceables. You are aware you are counted among that number. Your cousins have been particularly envious of your status." She declared as she began moving the other body over.

Ethan chuckled as he picked up a black bag he had set up there. "My cousins are too young to care." After walking back over to the rear of the truck he stopped and tilted his head. "You don't mean-"

"Yes," His mother responded, interrupting him as she walked up. "I am talking about your distant cousins in England who still live in the ancient home and work the ancient trade."

"Crime, mother. They work as international criminals do not sugar coat it." Ethan sighed as he jumped into the back of the truck. "Granted they do have rather clever members. But having their name being famed and synonymous with crime is the reason our ancestors changed their last name when we moved to the states."

"I know the family records. Do me a favor and just consider reconnecting. I know they annoy you to no end with their tests of intelligence. But when you go international, you will enter their neck of the woods. You already know how overzealous they are about protecting their territories." She climbed in the back with him.

"I will when I go to Europe or the United Kingdom. So can you just get off my-"

"Ethan," His father dressed in his trucker disguise with a fake beard walked to the back, "try to get along with your mother." He then looked at his wife and sighed, "Honey stop antagonizing our son." He then pulled the rear end of the truck closed.

The pair shared a look before moving to opposite sides of the truck. Ethan pulled out a tablet and started fiddling with it. It was only two minutes before she could no longer stand the silence.

"About my grandchild-"

"Pick a different topic." Ethan quickly interrupted.

—--------------

"You must be Agent Fred Duncan, the X-Men have told me all about you." Steve reached out his hand to shake the Blonde FBI Agents hand. "They say you are one of the few that will actually step up to the plate to help them when something arises."

Agent Duncan just shrugs as he stairs awestruck at the legend standing before him. After a minute of shaking the man's hand he seemed to realize what he was doing. "Umm… yeah, it is always interesting to see what the X-Men bring to the table." He slowly started processing the odd grouping before him. He let go of the legend's hand and stepped back. "So what trouble has the combination of the X-Men, the legendary Captain America, and the invincible Iron Man brought to me?" Now that he was over his awestruck behavior he knew this was bound to be important. Especially since they were at what he could only assume was a staging area.

"Simple. We are going after a Hydra base where kidnapped children, both mutant and non-mutant are rumored to be held. It is also supposed to be one of the footholds of Hydra in the Northern Hemisphere." Charles explained as he pointed to a device in Stark's hand.

"Rumored? Supposed? It would be impossible for me to organize a raid on a facility with unreliable intel." Agent Duncan quickly chimed in but then realized something. "But… that is not why I am here."

"Correct, Agent Duncan. As you have already surmised, we are not looking for permission or assistance from you or the FBI. We only need you to act as a witness should anything go wrong." Charles quickly explained.

"As for the intel, we will share that with you along with our plan and the intel's original source." Stark handed over a tablet after plugging something into it. "The original intel came from the hacker known as 'The Reaper' but after looking into the location we discovered there is in fact a hidden facility there as well. We believe the main facility is under the warehouse district while the rest of the town serves as a cover and lookouts."

"How did you get in contact with the hacker?"

"Captain Rogers used an outdated web form that has long proved untraceable." Stark shrugged and Agent Duncan waved him to go on. "The intel outlined that they were getting periodic supplies of children and mutants until recently when their New York branch declared a suspension until things quiet down. In addition, they also exported both corpses and brandwashed mutants."

Agent Duncan frowned at this, "how did we miss a large facility like this-" He stopped mid sentence as he read a sentence. "Nevermind, if this hacker says not to trust SHIELD then there is an issue with all branches and letter groups."

"Correct, which is where our plan comes in. Captain Rogers, along with Wolverine will go in ahead of time. Riding one of the trucks that is going in, they apparently are relaxed on security of the incoming trucks. So they will sneak aboard one and make their way inside the facility to the central console where they will disable the base's central systems. Then the X-Men will move in and scatter the remaining forces while myself and Rhody's people will capture any stranglers." Stark explained, cutting out unnecessary information.

"Rhody's people?"

"An Air Force liaison and childhood friend of mine. I got permission to blindly use their people in exchange I provided them with an off brand Iron Man suit for… military use." Stark explained.

"How… I thought you weren't willing to hand those over for military use?"

"I wasn't but I recently screwed up and I feel I owe the X-Men enough to pull out all the stops." He explained avoiding direct reasoning.

Agent Duncan frowned and hummed but decided to move on. "Okay, then I see no problem. Besides taking notes and observing there won't be much else for me to do. When do you begin?"

"In an hour, which reminds me." Stark looked to the legendary Steve Rogers, "get dressed up and in position."

"Dressed up?"

"Yes sir, I made a suit. Do not worry I did not add obtrusive tech. In fact the only difference you will notice is that it has more pockets." Stark jokingly replied.