S.H.I.E.L.D.
Even its full name carried weight. Strategy. Defense. Enforcement. Logistics.
If it involved national security, somewhere on the spectrum between a purse snatching and a nuclear weapon appearing in the Oval Office, S.H.I.E.L.D. believed it deserved their attention.
Evenson knew the organization well.
Like Hydra, S.H.I.E.L.D. had officially emerged during World War II, though the roots of both organizations stretched back much further. In many ways they sought the same end: protecting humanity.
Their methods couldn’t have been more different.
S.H.I.E.L.D. believed security and freedom had to coexist. People should choose their own future.
Hydra believed freedom itself was the problem.
Give absolute power to a single ruler, strip away choice, and humanity would finally be safe.
Two opposing philosophies.
One common solution whenever something dangerous appeared.
Eliminate it.
S.H.I.E.L.D. simply maintained a higher moral threshold before reaching that conclusion.
"...Could you say that again?"
Evenson blinked.
"Or maybe use the abbreviation?"
He wasn’t pretending.
Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division was a title that sounded like someone had lost a bet with the English language.
Coulson chuckled.
"You’re not the first person to complain."
"Most people just call us S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Much better."
Evenson nodded approvingly.
"It certainly sounds impressive."
"So what brings an organization like S.H.I.E.L.D. to the humble shop of a small businessman?"
He had always expected to cross paths with S.H.I.E.L.D. eventually.
Just...
Not this soon.
His eyes drifted toward Habs.
The Husky lazily sniffed the air before flicking its tail twice.
Through their soul bond, the actual message arrived.
Only these two.
No one else nearby.
Good.
That meant this wasn’t an arrest team preparing to haul him into some underground laboratory for dissection.
Only now did Evenson finally connect the faces with the names he’d once known.
Phil Coulson.
Nick Fury’s trusted right hand.
One of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s finest field agents.
Eventually, even Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
And beside him...
Melinda May.
The legendary "Cavalry."
A woman whose combat reputation bordered on myth inside the agency.
Twenty years had passed since Ryan Mercer’s previous life.
He still remembered the major events of the Marvel timeline.
Faces, however...
That was another matter.
Captain America in uniform?
Impossible to mistake.
Thor carrying Mjolnir?
Obviously.
But dressed like ordinary people?
He wouldn’t have recognized either of them walking down the street.
Coulson folded his hands calmly.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. exists to protect the world."
"Part of that responsibility involves preventing humanity from learning about things it isn’t ready to face."
"We stand between the ordinary world..."
"...and the stranger one beyond it."
His gaze settled on Evenson.
"Which is why we’re here."
Evenson looked around innocently.
"...Selling fake souvenirs counts as supernatural now?"
May snorted.
"No."
"Selling fake souvenirs while delivering speeches worthy of a televangelist is unusual, but that’s not why we’re here."
Coulson silently handed over his phone.
"Perhaps you’d explain this instead."
"And the disappearance of several members of the Dead End Gang."
Evenson watched the video.
There he was.
Draining a gangster’s soul.
Then reducing the body to ash with fel fire.
He rewound the recording.
Again.
Then farther back.
The camera angle finally made sense.
Hidden inside a garbage pile.
No wonder Habs had missed it.
The idiot had probably classified the camera as...
Garbage.
Evenson slowly looked toward the Husky.
Luxury dog food.
Toilet.
Flush.
Habs immediately let out a pitiful whine.
The soul link answered before Evenson could savor the threat.
Go ahead.
I’ll order another shipment.
Evenson resisted the urge to strangle his own dog.
Instead, he handed the phone back.
"You know..."
"It actually looks pretty good on camera."
"Maybe I should move to Hollywood."
"I could save them a fortune on special effects."
"Still joking."
May shook her head.
"Do you understand why we’re here?"
"Right now?"
Evenson leaned comfortably against the counter and stretched.
"If this were a movie, you’d tell me I possessed extraordinary talent and invite me to join your secret organization."
"Or you’d declare me a threat."
"I’d fight my way out, spend two hours outsmarting heavily armed government agents, storm your headquarters by myself..."
"...and somehow end up flirting with the beautiful female agent."
He looked directly at May.
"I’m guessing that’s your role."
Neither agent reacted.
Coulson’s smile remained perfectly intact.
"Quite an imagination."
"I suppose running a curio shop requires creativity."
"But no."
"That’s not why we’re here."
Evenson raised an eyebrow.
"Which part?"
"The secret organization?"
"Or me failing to win her over?"
"Neither."
May answered without the slightest trace of annoyance.
Years as a senior field agent had given her an exceptionally high tolerance for nonsense.
Evenson nodded thoughtfully.
"Huh."
"I always thought Americans loved stories like that."
He lifted one hand.
A tiny emerald-green flame blossomed above his fingertips before vanishing just as quickly.
"But you’re right."
"A serious intelligence agency wouldn’t recruit someone simply because he possesses unusual abilities."
"Especially abilities like these."
"That would be like carrying a live bomb into your own headquarters."
Coulson inclined his head.
"A reasonable analysis."
"So perhaps we came here to eliminate you."
Evenson’s expression cooled.
"Eliminate me?"
"For what?"
"Defending myself against armed criminals who broke into my home?"
"If this went before a jury, it’d be textbook self-defense."
"I just happened to use something other than a firearm."
He leaned forward slightly.
"And besides..."
"If S.H.I.E.L.D. intended to kill me..."
"...you wouldn’t have sent only two agents."
"Especially after seeing what I can do."
May’s eyes sharpened instantly.
"How do you know there are only two of us?"
The room fell silent.
Evenson rested his clasped hands beneath his chin and met her gaze without blinking.
"I just do."
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