Chapter 13: A Trail of Cosmic Dust
The Tesseract. The glowing blue cube, a cosmic MacGuffin that seemed to cause more trouble than it was worth. After Loki's unceremonious arrival and capture, the cube was firmly in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hands, a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. Adama and Morgan knew its true potential, its connection to the Space Stone, and the impending Chitauri invasion. Their mission: to subtly warn S.H.I.E.L.D. without revealing their own existence.
"Alright, Morgs," Adama said, leaning over her shoulder as she worked at her console, a flurry of holographic screens surrounding her. "Time to play 'Mysterious Benefactor.' We need to drop some breadcrumbs for Agent Coulson. He's the one who actually listens, bless his cotton socks."
Morgan nodded, her fingers dancing across the interface. "I'm already in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s network. They really need to upgrade their firewalls. It's like they're inviting me in for tea and cookies."
"She's so good at this. Tony would be so proud. And probably try to hire her for Stark Industries, which would defeat the entire purpose of her being a secret agent."
"Just don't leave any digital fingerprints, alright? We're ghosts in the machine, remember? No 'Morgan Stark was here' graffiti."
"Please, Adama. I'm a professional. More importantly, what do we tell them? 'Beware the glowing blue cube, it's a portal to alien invasion'?"
"Too direct. Too 'crazy conspiracy theorist'," Adama mused. "We need cryptic. Something that sounds like an internal leak, a warning from someone on the inside who's 'concerned.' Hint at its instability, its cosmic origins, and the potential for... 'unforeseen visitors'."
Morgan typed, her brow furrowed in concentration. "How about: 'Warning: Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. shows anomalous energy fluctuations. Source: Tesseract. Potential for trans-dimensional breach. Recommend enhanced containment and immediate study of extra-terrestrial threat protocols. Source: Concerned Patriot.'"
Adama whistled. "Nice. 'Concerned Patriot.' Very subtle. Very 'I'm a good guy but I can't reveal myself because reasons'."
"It's effective," Morgan retorted, a smirk playing on her lips. "Now for the verbal component. You're better at the 'cryptic stranger' act."
Later that day, Adama, using the Coat of the Ascended to render himself completely invisible and alter his voice with a discreet modulator Morgan had built, made a burner phone call to Agent Phil Coulson's direct line.
"Agent Coulson," Adama's voice, deep and gravelly, echoed through the receiver.
"Who is this?" Coulson's voice was calm, but Adama could sense the underlying tension.
"A friend. A concerned party. You have something. Something blue. Something... not from here. It's a key, Agent. A key to a door you don't want opened. There's a storm coming, Coulson. A god-level storm. And that cube... it's the lightning rod."
There was a pause on the other end. "What are you talking about?"
"Just... be careful with the blue box. And watch the skies. They're about to get very crowded." Adama hung up, then crushed the burner phone with a subtle flex of his hand, courtesy of the Crown of Gravity, scattering the pieces into the nearest trash can.
"Did he buy it?" Morgan asked, appearing beside him, having tracked the call.
"Hard to say with Coulson," Adama admitted. "He's got that poker face down pat. But he heard it. And he'll be thinking. That's all we need for now. Just a seed of doubt, a whisper of a warning. The Tesseract's trail is hot, and the cosmic dust is just starting to settle. We're just making sure S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't accidentally invite the entire Chitauri fleet for tea."
Their mission was a delicate balance: providing just enough information to steer events, but not so much that they derailed the entire timeline. It was a high-stakes game of cosmic chess, and Adama and Morgan were playing for keeps.
Want to read more? I've written over 20 webnovels (and counting), and it takes a lot of energy, ideas, and time to keep them coming!If you enjoy my stories and want to support me, even the minimum $5 tier on Patreon unlocks a LOT more chapters and helps me keep going.
👉 Click here to dive deeper: patreon.com/TheFinex5More stories, more chapters — and yes, your support really makes a difference.