He looked at me for a moment, seeming to decide whether or not he should entertain my question. He didn't seem to care in the slightest that I had offhandedly mentioned the Avengers Initiative.
Ultimately, he answered.
"Access to S.H.I.E.L.D. resources, intelligence, equipment, safe houses." He kept it short; there were probably plenty more benefits he could offer. "In exchange, you'd be available when called upon for operations requiring your specific capabilities."
It didn't sound so bad, but there'd obviously be a catch.
"What's the leash?"
"Limited autonomy outside of sanctioned missions."
"Limited autonomy." I repeated with an unimpressed voice.
"Please. You wouldn't be some sort of slave, hell, if you want to go hit up criminal hideouts as you are now, we'd offer our help, but what you did in New Mexico, that kind of thing wouldn't be able to happen again."
I considered that for a moment.
Honestly, it wasn't too unreasonable, but the issue was that I fully intended to add on to the accolades I collected in New Mexico.
Captain America, The Hulk and Iron Man remained.
Approaching Tony Stark wouldn't be much of an issue; it was moreso the other two.
Cap, at this time, had probably just been freed from the ice, currently going through rehabilitation under strict S.H.I.E.L.D. monitoring.
As for Banner, the guy was probably somewhere in India, hiding himself from the world.
There was no way in hell S.H.I.E.L.D. would be okay with me approaching Steve, and even more so Banner, considering what I'd be doing to them.
I kept my thoughts to myself, shifting the conversation.
"What about Fisk?"
"That arrangement ends." He left no room for argument.
I didn't really care about Fisk, so that was fine with me. Especially after his 'bulletproof identity' had held up so poorly. On top of that, I was damn near ready to take up Shaw's offer and join the Hellfire Club.
I nodded my head.
He raised his eyebrow, not at all trying to hide that he was surprised by my easy acceptance of that condition. It made me wonder how exactly S.H.I.E.L.D. viewed my relationship with Fisk.
"So, you'd consider it?"
"Yeah, consider it."
The vestiges of a new plan began to form in my mind. To begin with, acting as muscle for S.H.I.E.L.D. when they needed me for specific operations wasn't bad for me at all; rather, it was a way for me to improve my combat experience and farm fear.
The kinds of criminals S.H.I.E.L.D. would be taking on were far above the street trash I had dealt with so far. Those kinds of men would be hardened criminals able to provide higher quantities of FP by themselves, paired with the fact that their organisations would have far larger operations.
The 'New Mexico condition' was an issue, sure, but it also had a workaround. If I were officially operating under S.H.I.E.L.D., approaching other Avenger candidates would become far easier to justify. Fury could hardly complain about me making contact with my fellow Avengers, like Steve or Banner.
The issue, as always, came back to fear.
I could never allow anyone, especially Nick Fury, to figure out the nature of my ability. The moment he understood that I needed people to fear me to grow stronger was the moment I went from an unpredictable asset to a very predictable liability.
So, what if I conned him? Agreed to join S.H.I.E.L.D. and faithfully carry out their missions. Even if I didn't get fear out of Cap or the Hulk immediately, I could at least build some kind of friendly relationship, a friendly relationship I could shred to pieces right before the Chitauri invasion came around.
I looked at Fury, who had allowed me to mull over for a considerable amount of time.
"One condition of my own."
He waited.
"Nobody monitors what I do on my own time. The operations are fine, but everything else is a no-go. If I find a single trace, and believe me, I will, then any kind of relationship between myself and S.H.I.E.L.D. goes kaput."
"That's no small ask."
"As if you've been generous yourself."
He leaned forward slightly.
"I'll be real with you. The people above me wouldn't take too kindly to that condition. Bringing in an asset as chaotic as you with no monitoring is a hard sell regardless of your capabilities."
He was referring to the World Security Council, the same council that had been infiltrated by two Hydra members.
"Then don't tell them about the condition."
He stared at me, and I held his gaze without blinking.
"You're asking me to lie to my own organisation," he said flatly.
"Something tells me you would have done that before."
A small smile tugged at his lip. He composed himself quickly; the smile disappearing as fast as it had come.
"Before I give you any answer, I want to come back to something."
I gave a nod.
"The things you know, it's not just names and personal histories."
"No."
"New Mexico. You were there before we were there, hell, you were there before Thor was there. You knew he was coming, and even scarier than that was that you knew his personal situation, a situation he hadn't told a single person on Earth. That's not intelligence work, that's borderline prophetic."
I maintained silence.
"And then there's Barton." Fury began anew. "His family, his children's names, none of it exists in any file, classified or otherwise. You used that information to walk out of a dangerous operation completely unchallenged. That's not the kind of bluff someone makes without being absolutely certain it'll land."
I felt the conversation was going in a slightly weird direction. It seemed that Fury thought I had meticulously planned my actions in New Mexico to the fullest... but that wasn't the case in the slightest.
Regardless, I gave another nod.
"So, you knew Barton specifically. Not just that an agent would be present, you knew him. His history, family, and the pressure points that would make him stand down."
At this moment, not answering provided a far more powerful response than any words I could conjure.
"You know, we haven't come up with a codename for you yet, I'm starting to lean towards Nostradamus."
"I'm sure you could come up with better."
Fury let out a short breath through his nose, showing a mix of frustration and amusement at the situation.
"So, would you like to tell me your source, O' Wise Prophet?"
I was sure that Fury knew that the question was pointless, so I gave him a pointless answer.
"Well, I like to consult the star signs, and palm readings are pretty good too. I hear Mercury is in retrograde; you should look into it."
He looked at the floor, shaking his head whilst smiling.
"Alright then, the knowledge. Is there a ceiling on it?"
I considered how to answer that question without answering it.
"Yes." A one-word answer sufficed.
To be fair, my knowledge regarding this world had already been fucked from the moment mutants showed up. Of course, I was familiar with both the X-Men and the MCU, but I had no idea what a collision between the two would cause.
He accepted my answer with a nod, satisfied despite its vagueness.
He leaned forward, his single eye sharpening.
"There's something coming."
It seemed that he wanted me to continue for him.
I decided it would be best to throw him a bone.
"Less than a year, and when it arrives, you'd do well to have me on your side." I said.
The room sat in silence for a moment before Fury arose from the sofa. He straightened his coat before giving me a final glance.
"I'll be in touch."
I watched as he left, the door clicking shut behind him.
[Nick Fury has experienced great unease at his lack of knowledge regarding future events! +7,500 FP]
It seemed that merely the act of causing unease for someone as high and mighty as Nick Fury garnered me a solid amount of FP.
As soon as he left, I immediately went to my bedroom and opened the drawer of my bedside table.
Sebastian Shaw's blank card sat exactly where I'd left it, having been left untouched by Fury.