Alex stood up from his seat and adjusted his coat.
"Just relax, Coulson," he repeated calmly before heading toward the door.
Coulson watched him leave, still troubled. As the door closed, he slowly turned to May, who remained standing beside him.
"What was Alex talking about?" Coulson asked quietly.
May didn't answer immediately. Her expression stayed firm, but her eyes shifted—just slightly.
Before she could speak, the door opened again.
Alex leaned back inside the room, not bothering to step fully in.
"It's better if you figure it out yourselves, Coulson," he said. "Don't ask her."
Then he closed the door again.
The silence that followed was heavy.
Coulson looked at May, more confused than before.
"He knows," May said at last, her voice low—not defensive, not guilty… just tired.
"He knows… and there's a reason we all agreed not to talk about it."
Coulson froze.
"We all agreed…?" he repeated slowly. "The whole team?"
May looked away. "One problem at a time, Coulson. We can't afford to break right now."
She walked out of the office, leaving Coulson alone.
He sat there in silence, trying to process everything.
If Alex—of all people—was worried about someone on the team… then this mission was going to be far more complicated than the briefing suggested.
Meanwhile, inside the training hall…
Adrian dodged another turret shot and swung his shadow hammer—barely keeping up as the room continued its assault.
Mygrath watched with folded arms.
"Faster!" he commanded.
Adrian blocked a shot with a shadow shield and knocked down two dummies—panting, sweating, but refusing to quit.
Meanwhile, on the S.H.I.E.L.D. plane—
Alex closed his phone and walked toward the main room.
Fitz and Simmons were working at the lab bench, running some type of analysis.
Skye sat nearby, typing rapidly on her laptop.
Agent Ward stood at the other side of the room, drinking alone and watching everything quietly.
Alex stepped closer.
"How long have you guys worked together?" he asked casually.
Ward turned first. "I'm the lone wolf here. I've only done one mission with them so far."
Skye raised an eyebrow. "Wait—just one mission?" she asked.
Fitz and Simmons nodded at the same time.
Alex chuckled. "Great."
He looked around at the group.
"You really brought together a team that has barely worked together," he said as he sat on the couch. "Except for you two," he added, nodding at Fitz and Simmons.
Simmons adjusted her glasses. "We've been partners for years."
Fitz nodded proudly. "The best scientific duo in S.H.I.E.L.D., statistically speaking."
Skye looked at them with a teasing smile. "Nerd couple."
Both Fitz and Simmons turned bright red.
Ward took another sip. "They're not a couple."
Skye grinned. "Yet."
Alex watched the playful argument unfold and let out a small sigh.
"I guess this isn't really my thing," he mumbled under his breath.
Then, standing up, he spoke clearly:
"Anyway—May, Fitz, Simmons. Come meet me in the side room. I've set something up for you three."
He began walking toward the corridor without waiting for questions.
Fitz and Simmons exchanged a confused glance, then quickly followed him.
May rose silently and went after them as well.
Ward, still leaning on the counter, frowned. "What's that about?"
May paused briefly in the doorway without looking back.
"We'll see once we get there," she said — then disappeared down the hall.
"I'm going to see what it is. Alex is a powerful Avenger — way beyond any force on Earth can handle. Why do you think all the Avengers live so secretly? Tony's been under cover after the alien attack, when before that he used to appear on TV at least once every week. Captain and the others are off the radar, yet Avenger Alex is still in his clinic, in the Hell's Kitchen area," Skye said, going after them as she looked at Ward.
"Whatever it is, it's going to be great," she said, rushing ahead as Ward followed after her.
They eventually reached the medical ward. Coulson, May, Fitz, and Simmons were already there as Skye and Ward entered.
"Okay, now we're all here. We can start now" Alex said looking at them.
He then moved all the furniture with a wave of his hand, creating an open space. After that, he tapped lightly on the floor — and instantly, a large magic circle formed beneath them.
"Woah — what is that?" Skye asked, wide-eyed.
Fitz and Simmons stared as well. "That's a magic seal… like a portal that lets you summon something from— somewhere," Fitz muttered in disbelief.
Alex smirked slightly. "I guess Fury took my inter-dimensional portal research and left you with only the academy theory textbooks."
"Yeah — but we never found anything that works," Simmons replied. "We used Tesseract energy, but it still didn't activate."
"I didn't design it to work with outside power sources," Alex said. "It's built on my signature. Unless I cast it, it will never work."
They all nodded slowly, still absorbing what they were seeing.
"So… are we going somewhere with this portal?" May asked. "Because if that's true, I might need to get my things."
Alex shook his head. "No. We're not going anywhere. We're summoning something — here. A partner."
"A partner?" the three asked at once.
Alex nodded. "Have you seen Captain's new shield and armor?"
"Yeah, it's badass," Simmons replied instantly. "We were wondering where he got it — it's not on any S.H.I.E.L.D. records."
Alex raised a brow. "Did you really think he forged that on Earth?"
Fitz blinked. "Are you saying he got it from… somewhere else?"
"In simple words," Alex explained, "it's a familiar — a kind of companion that bonds with its master and grants them power. Captain got his familiar called Devil's Armor, and he named it Aegis."
They stood speechless.
"So we're getting one of those?" May asked calmly, though her eyes betrayed excitement.
Alex nodded.
"Then why only these three?" Ward questioned. "What about Coulson, me, and Skye?"
"You guys aren't ready yet," Alex answered simply.
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