[A/N]: The Second GOAL of the week is to achieve 600 Power Stones and unlock TWO more bonus chapters. Comment, share, and you know the drill 😎✨
Jay materialized back at the Baxter Building in a ripple of blue energy with a soft sound like displaced air.
The conference room felt too small for the tension it held. Jay found himself facing the waiting faces that turned toward him immediately.
Steve stood near the window, arms crossed. Natasha leaned against the wall, eyes sharp. Clint sat with his feet propped on the table, bow resting nearby. Fury dominated the center, fingers steepled. Maria Hill stood at his shoulder, tablet ready. Coulson hovered near the door, still looking faintly surprised to be alive.
The silence stretched for exactly three seconds.
"What?" Jay asked.
Natasha pushed off the wall. "Spill."
"The Power Broker himself moved to help some vigilante?" Clint's grin was all teeth. "That's something you don't see every day."
Steve's expression softened with curiosity. "Spidey, you called him. You seemed to recognize him. Is he someone important?"
Jay caught the eagerness in their faces. The way they leaned forward slightly. The hunger for information that defined SHIELD agents down to their bones.
He gave them his classiest smile. The one that said absolutely nothing while looking perfectly pleasant.
"All I'll say is this." Jay moved toward the conference table but didn't sit. Stood with his hands in his pockets, casual but immovable. His eyes found Fury. "Leave him alone. Let the kid have a life of his own without SHIELD breathing down his neck."
Fury's jaw tightened. His single eye blazed with the familiar frustration of a spymaster being denied intelligence. "Jay, if there's a powered individual that could pique your interest operating in New York..."
"Then that's his business." Jay's tone stayed light, but something underneath it wasn't. "Not SHIELD's. His."
"We have protocols for ..."
"Fury."
Just the name.
Flat and final.
The director's mouth snapped shut.
But Jay could see it. The way Fury's fingers tapped once against the table. The slight tension in Steve's shoulders. The calculating look in Natasha's eyes. They'd listen to him now, in this room, with him standing here. But the moment he left? SHIELD would do what SHIELD always did.
Investigate. Catalog. Try to recruit.
Steve's expression shifted. Understanding, maybe.
Fury said nothing. Which was its own kind of answer.
Jay smoothly redirected. "So the Hydra mission. You're launching a coordinated attack in a month, correct? Give everyone time to deal with the Chitauri aftermath properly first."
Steve nodded, grateful for the change of subject. "A month gives us time to coordinate with international agencies. Ensure we hit every cell simultaneously."
"Xavier will have the complete list by then," Coulson added. "Every name, location and financial connection."
"Good." Jay stretched, his body still protesting despite the healing. "Because after this, I'm done with the on-call hero thing. You want cosmic-level intervention, call someone else."
The room went very quiet.
Clint's feet came off the table. Natasha's eyes sharpened. Even Steve looked surprised.
"What he means..." Hill started.
"I mean exactly what I said." Jay's voice stayed level. "I helped with Loki because the situation was critical. Mass death and world stability threatening. But I'm not joining the Avengers. I'm not becoming SHIELD's go-to for enhanced threats. Find someone else for that."
"Like Carol Danvers?"
The words came out before Jay could stop them.
Bitter. Sharper than he intended.
The temperature in the room dropped.
Fury's face did something complicated. Red crept up his neck, and for once, the legendary spymaster looked genuinely uncomfortable. "She was part of a classified mission in '95. You know that's ancient history."
"Ancient history that showed up here demanding the Space Stone," Jay said. Each word deliberate and controlled. "After the invasion ended. After twelve hundred people died. Where was she when we needed her? When the Chitauri were tearing through Manhattan, and its civilians?"
Coulson stepped forward, his diplomatic training kicking in. "Captain Marvel was needed off-world when the invasion began. The communication delay meant she couldn't..."
"She couldn't make it in time. I know. I heard the bullshit excuse." Jay's eyes fixed on Fury. "But she made it in time to question my teacher. To antagonize Domino. To demand access to something that's none of her business."
The room had gone deathly quiet. Even Clint looked uncomfortable.
"Where is she now?" Jay asked. "Still off-world? Still too busy with alien problems to deal with Earth?"
Coulson's expression remained diplomatically neutral, but his voice carried careful weight. "Captain Marvel detected increased Black Order activity in the Andromeda sector. She felt it was urgent enough to investigate personally. She mentioned something about Thanos's forces being more active than usual."
Maria's voice was steady, professional. "According to Captain Danvers, she got her powers from the Tesseract. She has a... connection to it. She wanted to ensure its safety after the invasion. That's all."
"That's all?" Jay repeated the words flatly. "She felt entitled to an Infinity Stone because she absorbed some of its energy decades ago. Felt entitled to march in and make demands. And you're defending her."
"We're not defending anyone," Steve said, his Captain America voice in full effect. "We're explaining the situation."
"No. You're making excuses for someone who wasn't here when it mattered." Jay's control slipped, just slightly. "Twelve hundred people died, Steve. I brought them back, but they still died. They still experienced death. And your cosmic heavy-hitter couldn't be bothered to show up."
Fury's hands pressed flat against the table. "Danvers is handling threats that would make the Chitauri look like a warmup act. She's protecting Earth by stopping problems before they reach us."
"Is she." Jay's voice had gone cold. "Or is she avoiding Earth because she's more comfortable with aliens than humans?"
The accusation hung in the air.
Natasha spoke for the first time since the Carol topic started. "You're angry."
"I'm tired."
Jay corrected. Then took a breath. The room watched him wrestle his composure back into place.
"One month," Jay said finally. "I'll help with Hydra because it needs to be done properly. After that, I'm out. Find your own cavalry."
He turned toward the door.
Behind him, Fury's voice carried quiet intensity. "Jay wait."
Jay stopped but didn't turn around.
"Thank you," Fury said. "For everything. For the people you brought back. For stopping Loki."
He paused.
Jay looked back over his shoulder.
"You're welcome," Jay said. Then, softer. "But don't expect me to make a habit of it."
He walked out.
The door closed behind him. The room stayed quiet for a long moment.
"Well," Clint said finally. "That was fun. Who wants to bet Fury runs a full investigation on Spider-Kid before the week's out?"
Fury's glare could have melted steel. "Stand down, Barton."
"That's not a no, boss."
Steve moved to the window, looking out at the Manhattan skyline. "He's right, you know. About Carol. About us expecting too much from people who show up to help."
"Doesn't matter," Fury said, standing. "We've got one month to prepare the largest coordinated strike in SHIELD history. Get to work."
But as the team filed out, Fury remained at the window.
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