Batman's original target was Phil Coulson, the Level 8 S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. However, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s network firewall had been designed by Batman himself under the identity of Peter Parker.
This meant that, aside from the physically isolated intranets at their various bases, most of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s data and information was accessible to him.
So, when Batman confirmed that a S.H.I.E.L.D. member of a higher rank than Coulson had arrived in Manhattan, he decisively chose to infiltrate their safe house.
Nick Fury stood with a gun in one hand and a miniature bomb, plucked from beneath his eyepatch, in the other. His face was grim as he watched Batman's silhouette slowly emerge from the shadows.
Batman said nothing. He stood silently in the darkness, facing off against Nick Fury like a statue carved from the night.
"You're…" Nick Fury studied the figure in the shadows, particularly the pointed ears rising sharply from the cowl, matching Coulson's description. "Batman?"
Batman remained silent, his gaze fixed on Fury. The pressure from the Dark Knight surged toward the S.H.I.E.L.D. director like a tidal wave.
"We're not enemies, Batman."
Having confirmed the identity of the intruder in his safe house, Nick Fury slowly relaxed his coiled stance and stood upright. He holstered his gun and tucked the miniature bomb back into the socket of his blinded eye.
Just over an hour ago, in a seaside villa in Los Angeles, Nick Fury had been telling Tony Stark that Batman was a massive threat. But now, with Batman standing before him, Fury shifted to a different tune.
"An hour ago, I thought you were a threat," Fury said. "Any uncontrolled individual with unknown abilities and an extreme approach is a threat in my book."
Batman didn't move. The lenses of his Arkham suit remained up, keeping his eyes shrouded in darkness.
"But now that you're here, it proves there's a chance for communication between us, rather than you declaring war on S.H.I.E.L.D.—or the entire world—from the get-go."
Fury didn't hide his identity. Since Batman had tracked him down, Fury didn't believe for a second that the man was unaware of who he was. But woven into his words was a subtle warning: attacking him would mean taking on S.H.I.E.L.D. and, by extension, the world.
Unfortunately for Fury, this rhetoric was useless against a Batman who, in his past life before crossing into this world, had faced off against the entire globe multiple times.
"Tell me," Batman's voice emerged from the darkness, even deeper than Fury's, "where is Norman Osborn?"
Batman didn't directly ask about the Cube prison. The clues he'd gathered pointed to Hydra's presence within S.H.I.E.L.D., and even the International Security Council, which S.H.I.E.L.D. answered to, showed traces of Hydra's influence. In Batman's eyes, Nick Fury was, by default, a Hydra operative.
If Fury wasn't Hydra, that was fine. But if he was, asking directly about the Cube would tip him off, alerting the snake before Batman could strike.
"You're asking me?" Fury said, incredulous. For the first time, someone had dared to question him like this. He was both angry and amused. "That's a question I should be asking you. Where's Norman Osborn?"
"And while we're at it, where are Banner, Connors, and Otto? Don't tell me you don't know. My intel says you were the last one in contact with them."
Neither Batman nor Fury was willing to reveal their cards first. Both harbored suspicions about the other's true allegiance. The small safe house fell into a heavy silence, each waiting for the other to break, the atmosphere thick with tension.
One minute passed. Then two.
"There's no surveillance in this safe house," Fury said, finally breaking the silence. "Even if there was, with your ability to slip in undetected, you'd know it." His single eye fixed on Batman. "Our conversation won't be overheard."
Batman, of course, knew there were no listening devices. He'd been deliberately building pressure, positioning himself to extract as much information as possible from the exchange.
"What's your purpose—or your subordinates' purpose—in taking Norman Osborn?" Batman asked.
Fury's facial scars twitched. He wanted to throw down with Batman right then and there, but reason reminded him that as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director, violence wasn't his role—even if he was a battle-hardened veteran who'd survived since World War II.
"Why do you assume it was me or my people who took Osborn?" Fury countered.
Batman silently studied Fury, pulling up data on the portable computer in his Arkham suit—information he'd collected from the Ravencroft Institute.
"When Norman Osborn was taken, the surveillance was blocked," Batman said. "My data shows the people who took him were carrying weapons supplied to S.H.I.E.L.D. by Stark Industries. I have reason to believe S.H.I.E.L.D. was involved."
Batman still held back the full scope of his findings. From the audio he'd analyzed at Ravencroft, he'd clearly heard the phrase "Hail Hydra." There was no doubt Hydra had taken Osborn. But that didn't rule out S.H.I.E.L.D.'s involvement—especially since Hydra had successfully stolen intel from the Adirondack Mountains base, home to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Pegasus Project, one of their three major initiatives.
Fury's brow furrowed. He studied the data on Batman's Arkham suit computer, then pulled a cigar from his pocket. He clipped off a large chunk, including the seal, lit it, and said, "S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't take him. If your data's accurate, there's only one possibility for who did: Hydra."
Batman's expression didn't change, but Fury's words revealed that he was aware of the weapons leak within S.H.I.E.L.D.
"So, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s weapons ended up in Hydra's hands," Batman said, pressing closer, his gaze locked on Fury's single eye. "Tell me, Director Fury, is this your incompetence… or are you turning a blind eye because you're one of them?"
Fury found Batman's accusation utterly absurd. The idea that he could be suspected of being Hydra ignited genuine anger in the S.H.I.E.L.D. director.
"Listen," Fury snapped, "I don't care if you're a man in a costume or some kind of vampire or whatever the hell you are. The leak of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s weapons is something I've been investigating alone for the past five years, without breathing a word of it to anyone—not even my most trusted agents."
"You suspect I'm Hydra? You think I'm working for them? My life's mission is to rip every single one of those filthy tentacles out of my organization and burn them to ash!"
--
Support me & read more advance & fast update chapter on my pa-treon:
pat reon .c-om/windkaze