[S.H.I.L.D. Headquarters 3rd POV]
Inside S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.
The lobby floor carries a massive eagle insignia, the name etched beneath it: Strategic Hazard Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division.
Agents move with purpose wearing tactical gear, clipped conversations. A few lab coats pass through, keeping to themselves.
Inside a secured office.
A bald African American man stands behind a desk, calm and unreadable in a long black leather coat over a tactical suit.
Nick Fury.
Across from him stand two agents. Focused. Ready. The man grips a retractable bow.
"Laura. You're up," Fury says.
She frowns slightly. "We just got back."
"That was yesterday," Fury replies flatly, sliding a file across the desk. "This one's different."
The man leans in slightly. "Different how?"
Fury doesn't answer immediately. Just watches them.
"Target's name is Felix Cole Vale," he says finally. "Billionaire."
The man scoffs lightly. "And that's the problem?"
Fury's eyes narrow. "No one knows how."
That lands.
Laura flips the file open. "No records?"
"Nothing that makes sense," Fury says. "No origin trail. No business history. No noise. One day, he just exists. Rich."
"That's not possible," the man mutters.
Fury cuts in. "It happened."
Silence.
"What do you want?" Laura asks.
"Everything," Fury says. "I want to know how he made his first dollar. Who he talked to. What he's building. All of it."
The man crosses his arms. "You're Deputy Director. You don't need us for a background check."
Fury looks at him. "Clint… This motherfucker is classified."
Clint's expression tightens. "By who?"
Fury pauses. Then:
"Everyone."
Laura looks up. "That's not a thing."
"It is now," Fury says. "A.P.E.X. classification. Built around him."
Clint exhales. "You're serious."
"Last June, he was sitting on eight hundred million," Fury continues. "IRS flagged him. We tried to dig. Hit a wall. I went higher... same result."
"So what," Clint says quietly, "he's invisible?"
Fury's voice drops.
"No. He's protected."
Beat.
Laura closes the file. "And you want me to poke that?"
Fury meets her eyes. No hesitation.
"I want you to find out why."
"Why her? Why not me?" Clint asked.
Fury didn't even hesitate.
"He's hiring people for his business," he said. "he hired factory workers before and now office staff. I want Laura inside, on payroll, close to him. If she can get in as his assistant, even better."
Clint frowned. "And me?"
Fury gave him a look. "You've never worked an office job a day in your life. There's a good chance you don't make it past the door."
Clint exhaled, not arguing.
Fury turned his attention back to Laura.
"You're heading to Chicago," he said. "Interview's on Monday."
[Laura's POV]
"You can leave."
I walked out with Clint. As we stepped away, I started wondering what exactly I was supposed to look for in this target. Apparently, he's not even 18 yet.
"Be careful, Laura," Clint said.
It hasn't been long since we started seeing each other. He's a good guy.
"I will."
I got moving, drove to Chicago, and booked a room at a nearby motel for the weekend.
Felix Cole Vale. Seventeen years old, and already a millionaire. No record of how he made his money. The IRS didn't arrest him, which means they must have legitimate ledgers on him.
So how did he get rich? And what's his angle?
I stayed in the motel the entire weekend.
Monday came.
Felix was already inside, checking the time. The moment it hit 08:00, he opened the doors and let everyone in.
I thought he'd interview us individually. Instead, he just started hiring people.
This is easy, I thought.
He hired people without experience. People without degrees. Then he moved on and hired those with prior experience too.
But not me.
And not the other woman.
He wanted to interview us separately.
Everyone else got hired. Just the two of us were left.
As I walked behind him, I noticed something, this building felt… new. Too new. No computers. No printers. No paperwork. Not even cameras installed yet.
That's when it clicked.
Now I understand why he hired everyone without checking anything.
But then, where were those papers coming from? The only documents I saw were on his desk. Supposedly CVs… but the applications were submitted online.
So how the hell does he know my name?
Wait…
What is this?
A hologram.
He knew all along.
So this whole time, I've been talking to a projection.
Is he even here?
I need to report this to Fury immediately.
If he pulled me aside, that means he knew I was a spy from the start.
…Which means the other woman...
She's a spy too.
I drove straight to headquarters. I wasn't waiting to be told twice.
By nightfall, I arrived and decided to stay there. I got some rest and waited for morning.
The next day, I went straight to the Deputy Director's office. Clint was already there.
"Morning. That was quick," Clint said, catching me off guard. I didn't expect him to be there.
"Are you already done with your mission?" Nick Fury asked, looking at me.
"Sir… it didn't go as we expected," I said.
Fury's expression didn't change. "What do you mean?"
Clint glanced at me, waiting.
"He knew, sir," I said. "He expected me. He expected S.H.I.E.L.D."
The room went still.
And then...
Music started playing throughout the entire headquarters.
🎶You could never know what it's like🎶
🎶Your blood, like winter, freezes just like ice🎶
🎶And there's a cold, lonely light that shines from you🎶
🎶You'll wind up like the wreck you hide behind that mask you use🎶
🎶And did you think this fool could never win?🎶
🎶Well, look at me, I'm a-comin' back again🎶
🎶I got a taste of love in a simple way🎶
🎶And if you need to know while I'm still standin', you just fade away🎶
🎶Don't you know, I'm still standin' better than I ever did?🎶
🎶Lookin' like a true survivor, feelin' like a little kid🎶
🎶And I'm still standin' after all this time🎶
🎶Pickin' up the pieces of my life without you on my mind🎶
🎶I'm still standin' (Yeah, yeah, yeah)🎶
🎶I'm still standin' (Yeah, yeah, yeah)🎶
"I'M STILL STANDING."
The voice boomed through the speakers in the office.
"Nick Fury… we haven't met, but I'm pretty sure you know who I am," the voice continued.
And then it hit us...
Felix Cole Vale.
[Russia: Red Room 3rd POV]
Inside a facility of some kind. There were all kids of different age but all of them are females. They were being taught how to shot a gun, how to fight, how to act and how to seduce.
Others were being operated on and experimented on. The facility has all the tools. They're training all races, it doesn't matter if you're black or white.
Everyone goes through the same process.
Inside a private office in the office, an old man around the late 40s or early 50s, wearing spectacles and a black suit without a tie, could be seen it it.
He was holding a file in his hand that says;
{TARGET: FELIX VALE}.
He put it down and decided to make a call on a telephone that's on the desk.
The phone rang for 3 rings before the other line picked it up.
⟨YA vozvrashchayus'⟩
[T/L:I'm coming back.]
A voice of a female could be heard from the other line speaking Russian and the voice appears to be middle 30s.
"Vy vso yeshcho v Amerike?"
[T/L: Are you still in America?]
The man said to the phone as he looked at the file on the table.
⟨Yes.⟩
The woman replied to him in English.
"У вас новое задание. Вам нужно отправиться в Чикаго и осмотреть свою новую цель, Felix Vale. Я вышлю вам информацию."
[T/L: You got a new mission. You have to go to Chicago and look at your new target, Felix Vale. I'll send you information.]
The man said to the other line and hangup the phone after saying that.
"Тюрьма Седьмого Круга должна быть надёжной. Алексей должен оставаться там. Бессрочно."
[T/L: The Seventh Circle Prison better be strong. Alexei needs to stay in there. Indefinitely.]
In America on New Orleans, inside a room. A woman could be seen removing a knife from a naked man on the bed as she hang up her phone on the other hand.
She went to the bathroom like nothing happened and washed her hands. She was only wearing her thong and there's a knife holder on her thigh.
She got a body of Mewtwo.
A message clicked on her cellphone, she grabbed a computer on the room and entered what was written on the phone to the computer.
A bunch of documents were shown on the screen but there's nothing on it. There's only an A.P.E.X classified watermark on it besides the name, Felix Cole Vale.
He's a millionaire and hiring people next week Monday. There's something written there that says;
{MISSION: INFILTRATE OSEONG HEADQUARTERS & REPORT BACK FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS.}
The woman closed the computer, stood and went to take a shower. After taking the shower, she dressed and left the building.
"Pora idti."
[T/L: Time to go.]
She said as she drove away towards her destination.
[Melina POV]
As I drove towards Chicago, I realised something that doesn't sit right with me. What kinda classification is that even Dreykov can't access? I've never seen that.
It's weird that he wants me to investigate a child, probably the same age as Natasha.
If he's hiring people, this would be simple.
I better stay near the location. Booked a room near the location on the file. I stayed for the entire weekend there and no one has ever come to the building this entire time.
On Monday before 05:00, a car pulled up there and someone went inside. The person came back pretty quickly and he was driving a black car.
Weird.
People started arriving by pass 7 and somehow the same guy that came in the early morning was already inside and checking his time.
I don't see that car anywhere.
He opened the door immediately after the agreed time or more like the doors were automatically. I checked the building and there's no camera and not even the metal detector or a badge scanner.
This building is new.
He just hire everyone even if they don't have what was required. Oh I see, he's desperate for employees Because this building has just finished being built.
Why did he tell just the two of us that he'd interview us individually?
He took the other woman first and I had to wait in the lobby. This is weird, a building that doesn't have cameras but I understand because it has just been built.
The woman came back and why is she looking at me like that.
The boy told him to follow him and he lead me to his office. This building doesn't have a single camera even in his office.
Now he's asking person. Why didn't he asked the others questions and just hire them? Did he ask the same questions to the other woman? Is he looking for an assistant? Is he looking for something else?
I better be careful.
"Does your husband, Alexei Shostakov, treat you well?"
What did he say? How the HELL does he know that? I better be ready to strike. He even knows about General Dreykov.
That's a hologram.
He wasn't even here in the first place. So he fooled us but where is the projector for this time of hologram?
I don't even see cameras.
He can even tell my emotions.
"Man, it's getting cold in here. Let's change rooms, and drop your gun; it won't do much," Felix said as he started leaving the room.
It's weird that he can move around the entire building.
"Why did you shot me? Weren't you here to look for information?" Felix said as he looked unbothered or afraid. Even I wouldn't look afraid if I wasn't here to begin with.
"Because you knew too much."
He looked at me and smiled like a izvraschenets. [T/L: Pervert.]
"I love your accent plus you got a cute voice and your poker face makes you a badass." He said with enthusiasm. I don't know if I should feel insulted or appreciation.
"Let me try that. I'v vanna make a dzeal." Is he trying to mimic Russian accent but he's trying.
"Seriously, I called you here to make a deal."
What the hell is he talking about? We just met and he wants to make a deal with me? He's not even here.
"What deal are you talking about?" Let's find out.
"Oh, it's good that you willing to listen. I'm working on a project and I need someone to test it on."
So, he's looking for a test subjects for what. He just wants to experiment on me.
"It's not what you're thinking. It's something that's beneficiary to you but not me."
What could that be?