The words left Evenson’s mouth...
And the cabin fell into absolute silence.
Everyone stared at him.
Nick Fury especially.
His expression seemed to ask a single question.
...Seriously?
"We’re discussing a man who died and came back to life," Fury said at last. "Even if you didn’t recognize the designation, how did your mind end up there?"
"If watching that kind of video could resurrect people, half the internet would be immortal."
He took two slow breaths, visibly forcing himself to calm down before continuing.
"CH-325 is a serum."
"I revived Coulson by injecting him with it."
"A serum?"
Claire lowered her eyes thoughtfully.
"A drug capable of restoring genuine life to the dead..."
She looked directly at Fury.
"Unless you’re talking about the legendary Red Elixir, I find that difficult to believe."
The Red Elixir.
The true Philosopher’s Stone.
Not the imitation Evenson had created with a soul crystal, but the mythical alchemical masterpiece said to transcend every natural law.
In Claire’s mind, only something of that caliber could truly reverse death.
"I’m afraid the liquid was blue."
Fury opened a tablet and pulled up a series of classified photographs.
One displayed several vials filled with pale blue fluid.
"After the incident in New Mexico involving Thor, I authorized an extremely confidential research project."
"This serum was one of its results."
Evenson’s eyes narrowed.
After Thor...
That placed the project around the same period S.H.I.E.L.D. had intensified its Tesseract research.
Or perhaps...
It had always been another branch of Phase Two.
Typical Fury.
Never bet everything on a single card.
"The serum possesses extraordinary regenerative properties."
Fury continued.
"It reactivates dead cells."
"It repairs damaged tissue."
"It restores the body to peak condition."
"Once that process is complete, sufficient external stimulation can restart biological activity."
"In other words..."
"It brings the dead back."
He leaned back slightly.
"My original intention was to reserve it for an Avenger."
"If one of them ever fell."
His voice grew quieter.
"Unfortunately..."
"Coulson needed it first."
Evenson gave him a flat stare.
"So the Avengers surviving is somehow something we should apologize for?"
Then his expression hardened.
"Where did this serum come from?"
He folded his arms.
"Please don’t tell me S.H.I.E.L.D. solved a problem that thousands of alchemists failed to crack over several millennia..."
"...in a few months."
He paused.
"...Unless you’ve secretly got a whole department of Frankensteins working underground."
Fury let out a humorless chuckle.
"I wish I could tell you our scientists created it."
"They didn’t."
A trace of frustration crossed his face.
"Years ago, S.H.I.E.L.D. maintained a Death Warrior Program."
"The objective was straightforward."
"Restore valuable deceased agents to active service."
"The neurological stimulation techniques used to awaken Coulson after his body recovered came from that project."
Claire frowned.
"I don’t like the sound of that."
"It reminds me of the black necromancers."
Fury met her gaze.
After a moment, he simply shrugged.
"The program never achieved meaningful progress."
"It was officially shut down in the early 1990s."
Until now, Fury had genuinely considered closer cooperation with Kamar-Taj.
That enthusiasm cooled slightly.
Nick Fury was, above all else, a pragmatist.
He valued results over ideals.
If a method solved the problem without crossing what little moral line he personally recognized, he’d use it.
Questions of ethics usually came afterward.
People who judged every difficult decision through abstract morality alone had never impressed him.
"But everything changed once we found the serum."
"It completed the Death Warrior Program."
Melinda caught a single word.
"...Found?"
Her eyes sharpened.
"So S.H.I.E.L.D. didn’t create CH-325."
"You discovered it."
Fury nodded.
"That’s one way to put it."
"Where?"
Evenson asked immediately.
Fury hesitated.
"Do we really need to discuss that?"
He disliked distributing sensitive information beyond strict operational necessity.
"It matters."
Evenson’s voice remained calm.
"This serum is the key to Coulson’s resurrection."
"Something went wrong afterward."
"If we’re investigating the cause..."
"Why would we ignore the thing that made resurrection possible in the first place?"
"I don’t believe the serum is responsible."
Fury remained unconvinced.
"Maybe."
Evenson shrugged.
"But good investigations don’t eliminate possibilities before examining them."
"Not even unlikely ones."
Fury slowly looked around the cabin.
Every face told him the same thing.
No one intended to drop the subject.
"...Fine."
He unlocked another section of the tablet.
Passwords.
Encryption keys.
Biometric verification.
Layer after layer.
Before handing it over, he spoke quietly.
"This is Level Ten classified information."
"You understand what that means."
"I do."
Evenson nodded.
"I used to be Level Ten."
Claire blinked.
"Really?"
She had known he worked with S.H.I.E.L.D.
She hadn’t realized he’d once held clearance that high.
Evenson coughed awkwardly.
"...To clarify."
"I wasn’t Level Ten clearance."
"I was the Level Ten secret."
"...Different situation."
Fury wasn’t worried about Evenson.
The man had already been exposed to enough Level Ten material that one more file hardly mattered.
Nor did he doubt Melinda’s professionalism.
The real concern...
Was Claire.
No matter how unusual her position, she remained an outsider.
Several awkward seconds passed.
Claire made no move.
Finally, Fury cleared his throat.
"...Miss Ludwig."
"Would you mind giving us a little privacy?"
Claire blinked in surprise.
Then she immediately nodded.
"Of course."
Without the slightest complaint, she walked toward the cockpit, sat down beside the closed door, closed her eyes, and quietly rested.
Only after she was well out of earshot did Fury angle the tablet toward Evenson and Melinda.
The image on the screen showed a corpse.
Its skin was blue.
Only the upper half of the body remained.
Decay had already begun.
Despite the damage, several distinctive facial features were still recognizable.
Most striking were the faint raised markings across its forehead.
Alien.
Several tubes had been inserted into the corpse.
They continuously drew pale blue fluid into laboratory containers.
The liquid...
Matched CH-325 exactly.
Melinda lowered her voice.
"So..."
"Coulson was resurrected with its blood?"
Fury nodded.
"We discovered the body entirely by accident."
"Research into its blood revealed these regenerative properties."
Suddenly, Claire’s voice drifted across the cabin.
"I think I’ve seen one of those before."
Everyone turned.
She had opened her eyes.
Fury looked genuinely alarmed.
"I don’t mean in person," Claire clarified.
"When I was studying at Kamar-Taj..."
"I saw illustrations in several ancient texts."
She looked thoughtfully at the image.
"They depicted beings that looked very much like this."
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