The newspaper, featuring Tony Stark's iconic, defiant face and the bold headline, fluttered to the plush carpet. In its place, a large, bald, imposing man with an unmistakable black eye patch sat, his single eye fixed on Leo with the intensity of a laser.
"Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.," he introduced himself, the words echoing slightly in the strangely quiet, empty cabin.
Leo didn't even twitch. He simply raised one eyebrow, a gesture he'd picked up from observing Tony's more theatrical moments. "Director Fury. I must admit, of all the places I expected to be intercepted, the first-class cabin of a commercial flight already four thousand feet in the air was not high on the list. I didn't expect you to be looking for me here."
Fury leaned back slowly in the comfortable leather seat, his posture relaxed, but his aura was anything but. "You're a very mysterious variable, Leo. And to be honest, the more mysterious a person is, the more resources I tend to dedicate to finding out about them. Curiosity is an occupational hazard."
He paused, a tiny, almost invisible smirk playing on his lips. "It took a bit of... effort to even find your rudimentary, public information, Leo. It seems someone—or something—was actively trying to scrub your digital footprint from Stark's system in the last few hours."
Leo looked around the cabin with his Golden Eyes. The realization hit him, causing a faint shiver of adrenaline. On a plane that had already taken off, flying at cruising altitude, besides the two pilots—and he was sure they were S.H.I.E.L.D. assets—only he and Fury remained in the first-class section.
All the passengers who were originally supposed to be in the economy and business classes had utterly vanished. In the few minutes it took for Leo to board, walk past the supposed crowd, and the plane to taxi and take off, more than a hundred people had been quietly and efficiently evacuated. This was a full, controlled S.H.I.E.L.D. operation. He was trapped in a flying interrogation room.
Nick Fury's single eye narrowed slightly as he watched Leo's eyes gleam with that faint, unsettling golden light. He knew Leo was assessing the situation, likely calculating variables he couldn't even see. It had been a long, long time since Fury had met a superhuman who wasn't already on his radar, and the Director was momentarily captivated.
Fury, sensing the psychological edge slipping away, began his planned assault of information.
"Leo, eleven years old. No documented biological parents. Appeared in New York six years ago, seemingly out of thin air. Adopted by Jenny Jones and George Davis—a lovely, completely unremarkable couple. You are about to attend Treetown High School, two years ahead of schedule, and possess consistently excellent grades, always ranking in the top three of your grade." Fury recited the profile like a well-worn chant.
But as Fury spoke, reciting the public, vetted information, Leo's gaze grew increasingly calm. He settled deeper into his chair, a faint, confident smile forming on his lips. Fury had used his prepared monologue; now it was Leo's turn to drop the hammer.
"Nicholas Joseph Fury," Leo countered, his voice soft but clear, reciting the real file. "A Level 10 Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Former field member of the Howling Commandos. A genetically modified soldier of the Super-Soldier Successor program—the SSS program. And... do you still think that orange cat is fun to be around?"
With each word Leo spoke, Fury's single eye grew wider, the professional calm dissolving into profound suspicion and deep, immediate wariness. Leo's date of birth and school records were public, but his deepest, most confidential, classified identity information was known only to a handful of people in the world. The SSS program designation was a name not even the World Security Council used.
And the cat. The cat was a thought, a memory, a trauma only he carried.
Fury finally stood up, his massive frame radiating controlled power, and looked down at Leo with eyes that were now entirely alert, and dangerously sharp.
"Your ability is quite peculiar, young man. You can actually see a person's past, or perhaps... their deepest secrets? I suppose you used this ability to get close to Stark and manipulate the situation to your benefit."
Leo had already resigned himself to the fact that his private life was over, at least for now. Fury had found all the public data, and the next step was asset acquisition.
"Director Fury, didn't you already know all of this?" Leo laughed, shaking his head. "You cornered me. You came to me first, on a plane you hijacked. So, stop the interrogation posturing. What do you actually want?"
Fury sat down slowly, the air thick with tension. He was genuinely rattled, but he couldn't let it show. "I didn't expect to find someone like this. I checked every Asian couple who gave birth in the United States that year, every baby who entered the country, every foster agency record. There is no trace. You are an anomaly. It's like you appeared out of thin air six years ago."
He leaned forward, lowering his voice. "And you've been staying right next to Tony Stark, our main subject of observation, manipulating his technology and his perception of the world. So, I just wanted to ask about your origins and intentions. But I certainly didn't expect you to be a super-powered individual with an apparent omniscient insight into S.H.I.E.L.D. and its deepest secrets." Fury's surprise at Leo's depth of knowledge was growing exponentially.
"What makes you think I'd be interested in joining the Avengers? I'm going back to junior high, remember?" Leo asked, curious to see what Fury would offer next.
"You even know the name of the project?" Nick's eyebrow twitched. "Then I have to ask: do you want to know the true meaning behind the name 'Avengers'?"
"Avenger? Yes. As in... Danvers. Captain Marvel," Leo replied, hitting him with the final, most confidential piece of information—the origin of the project's name, a thought that had occurred to Fury decades ago.
A silent, internal storm raged within Nick Fury. This was a private thought, a deep-seated intention born from a single, unforgettable encounter. And Leo knew all this; moreover, he clearly knew about Captain Danvers, someone Fury hadn't contacted in over twenty years, and someone S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't even technically list as an asset.
Leo activated his Golden Eyes again and focused them on Fury's chest. He did indeed see the retro, modified pager that Captain Marvel had given him. He hadn't expected the Director to carry the last, ultimate trump card with him every single day.
Nick Fury noticed Leo's penetrating gaze, staring right at the hidden pager on his chest as if the little kid could see right through his clothes, his armor, and his very soul.
This is Nick Fury's last trump card.
Originally, only he and Carol knew about it, but now a third person, an eleven-year-old boy, had been added to the list. For a terrifying second, Fury considered the simple, clean utility of eliminating the threat entirely. But then he analyzed the sheer utility of Leo's precognitive or information-gaining ability.
Leo seemed to sense the Director's lethal calculation. "Did you know that I am also quite proficient in high-level martial arts, Director Fury?" he asked, deliberately misinterpreting Fury's thought process as a physical threat.
Leo smiled, a simple, disarming smile. "Director Fury, I'm just a kid. I'm only in the first year of junior high. You're not going to hurt me, are you?"
Fury, realizing that Leo was not just psychic but also fully aware of his own value, suppressed the murderous intent instantly. "I think it's very necessary for me to have a long, serious talk with your guardian, Jenny. You should be able to graduate early, Mr. Leo. Now, would you be interested in joining S.H.I.E.L.D. as a consultant? We could offer you the best education in the world."
"Snake… S.H.I.E.L.D.? That's not a very good idea, Director Fury. It sounds rather dangerous," Leo replied, his tone growing serious. "Let's talk about my profile. How many people, exactly, knew you were coming here to see me, and knew why?"
"I looked up all your information myself. No one else knows. As for the purpose of my visit, only Agent Coulson knew I was looking into the 'golden anomaly' after the Stark incident," Fury stated, stretching the truth as far as it would go.
"Actually, I hadn't expected to reveal myself to S.H.I.E.L.D. so soon. But let's make a deal. Could you please delete my entire digital profile from all S.H.I.E.L.D. databases? Everything. In exchange, I can tell you three things that I know, and that you desperately want to know."
Leo looked at Fury with quiet anticipation. Jenny and George were his absolute bottom line. He couldn't risk the inevitable future villain discovering them through a compromised S.H.I.E.L.D. file.
A complex glint flashed in Fury's eye as he stroked his chin. He was evaluating the cost-benefit analysis of the biggest intelligence coup of his career.
"Three things you know, that I want to know... So, it seems you already know that S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised internally," Fury deduced, watching Leo's reaction.
Leo felt a genuine pang of sympathy for Director Fury as he thought about S.H.I.E.L.D., which had been largely hollowed out by Hydra and would be utterly destroyed and disbanded in a few short years.
"Okay. I agree to your terms. Complete, irreversible deletion of all records related to 'Leo,' 'Jenny Jones,' and 'George Davis.' Starting... now."
"My first question is: What exactly are your abilities?" Fury demanded, moving immediately to gather intelligence.
"Damn it, that's cheating!" Leo protested. "That information is worth three times the price of a database deletion! It's an information trade, not an interrogation!"
"I'm not sure either, Fury, and I haven't finished developing it yet, but it involves the manipulation and control of metals, the ability to fly, and I can perceive or gain knowledge about important past and future events for certain people. Enough?" Leo said, giving him the basic, publicly visible abilities and shrouding the deeper temporal and consciousness abilities.
Fury had actually anticipated this line of inquiry and was primarily using it to test Leo's negotiating limits, which had now been established.
"Fine. One secret, confirmed. Second secret: Who do you believe will comprise the core members of the Avengers team?"
Leo looked at Fury speechlessly. Fury was still in a probing mode, a master of deception, and had never truly believed Leo's words, remaining fundamentally skeptical of all of Leo's answers. He was testing the utility of the knowledge, not the knowledge itself.
"It's uncertain. I don't know what small changes your current decisions will make to the timeline. But what I do know is that Captain America and Iron Man will be absolutely central to the team's formation and initial deployment."
Fury wrote that down, his face expressionless. The Captain America file was about to become the single most important document on Earth.
"Two secrets confirmed. Third and final question. My deepest concern," Fury's single eye burned with urgency. "Tell me one thing that will fundamentally compromise S.H.I.E.L.D.'s security in the next five years. Give me the name of the enemy I don't see."
Leo knew this was the critical piece of information. The one that could save hundreds of lives, and maybe change the future.
"The greatest threat to S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't external; it's internal, and it has been since 1945," Leo whispered, leaning across the aisle, forcing Fury to listen intently. "The enemy is Hydra. They are currently operating within the highest echelons of S.H.I.E.L.D., using it as a Trojan horse. Your biggest, most decorated agents are their sleeper assets, and they are preparing to enact a plan that will collapse the entire agency from the inside out."
The impact of that name—Hydra—was physical. Fury went pale. This wasn't a psychic reading; this was specific, strategic, undeniable intelligence that only a true insider could have.
"The Avengers are an emergency response team composed of the world's most outstanding individuals. When a global emergency occurs, the Avengers are deployed to protect the Earth. They are not an organization under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s control, they're a necessary counter-measure for the threats S.H.I.E.L.D. will fail to stop," Fury clarified, his mind racing to absorb and process the devastating information about Hydra. "My last question, Leo: would you be willing to be an occasional consultant or advisor to the Avengers Initiative?"
Leo sighed, the intense mental and verbal sparring finally exhausting him. He thought for a moment about his own goals—refinement, protection, and growth.
"Let me think about it, Director Fury. I just hope you keep your promise and delete everything."
Leo ignored Nick Fury, who was staring intently at him, and began to recall the next set of events in his past life's timeline, the events that would follow the Iron Man incident.
As the plane came to a smooth, silent stop at the regional airport gate, the cabin door opened, and Leo stood up. Nick Fury watched Leo's departing figure, his face an unreadable mask of strategic thought.
Fury reached for his headset and gently pressed the button. His voice was low and firm. "Execute 'Clean Slate Protocol Alpha-7' on all files related to 'Leo.' Priority level 1. Increase the search and acquisition efforts for Captain America, and double the surveillance on Tony Stark's movements. Get me the operational logs for Agent Sitwell immediately."
There was no mention of Leo's situation; in fact, S.H.I.E.L.D. would now go back and meticulously delete Leo's trace as quickly as possible, ensuring that even if Hydra compromised the network, this particular variable would be invisible.
Leo, a child Nick Fury couldn't see through, had just become the Director's biggest unknown asset—and his newest, most terrifying liability.
Leo walked out of the airport gates, the sun feeling warm and comforting after the sterilized air of the jet.
Aunt Jenny and Uncle George, who had been waiting anxiously outside the main terminal doors, immediately ran toward him and enveloped him in a bone-crushing, tearful embrace.
Uncle George held him at arm's length, wiping his eyes with a handkerchief. "Leo! Are you alright? We saw everything on TV! But... wait a minute."
Aunt Jenny looked at Leo in genuine surprise, forgetting her well-rehearsed complaints that Leo hadn't come home to see her sooner.
"Yeah, Leo! You've grown taller! You must be at least 4 feet, 5 inches now!" she exclaimed, measuring him with her hand against her waist.
Leo looked happily at the two people in front of him who were concerned and relieved. He felt a profound sense of peace. "Yeah, Aunt Jenny! I've been eating a lot of really good food lately, and I finally got to sleep in a proper bed for more than a week, so of course I've grown taller, hehe! That Tony Stark knows how to cook!"
Since he was finally able to consume his fill of energy and nutrients, the constant feeling of hunger had disappeared, allowing the child's body Leo inhabited to grow from a slight dwarf to the healthy height of a normal eleven-year-old child.
"Let's go home, sweetie. Let's go home, I want to hear everything! I brought you several gifts!" Aunt Jenny pulled him toward the car, Uncle George following with a satisfied smile. The adventure was over. The journey had just begun.