By midday, the crowd in the grocery store had finally thinned out.
Luke and Wanda, after working non-stop all morning, slumped into their chairs behind the counter. But while Luke looked like he'd just returned from war, Wanda was practically glowing with excitement.
They'd made nearly ten thousand dollars in a single morning.
Just weeks ago, that would've sounded like fantasy.
It helped that business had exploded recently, thanks in large part to word of mouth. But not just any mouths.
Wanda had a pretty good guess.
Most of the new customers seemed... rough around the edges. Tattoos, shady glances, bulky jackets. At least 70-80% of them looked like they belonged to various local gangs.
She suspected the group of thugs from the other day must have spread the word after leaving. Probably exaggerated it too.
Otherwise, how else could business be this good?
Only five customers remained in the store now.
As Wanda took payment from one of them, she glanced at the two people in the back.
Two individuals in sharp black suits, one with an eye patch and the other with sunglasses, and solemn expressions, completely out of sync with the dusty, budget-brand vibe of the grocery store.
She turned her head toward Luke, whispering, "Hey, are those two from S.H.I.E.L.D. too?"
Even she could tell they matched the same vibe as Phil Coulson. And since S.H.I.E.L.D. was the only organization she'd ever encountered that sent out well-dressed weirdos, it was the most logical conclusion.
To her surprise, she was spot-on.
And she hadn't even lowered her voice.
Fury and Sharon both turned subtly, clearly listening.
Luke didn't care. He just nodded and replied, "Yeah, they're from S.H.I.E.L.D."
He pointed lazily at Nick Fury.
"That pirate-looking guy is the boss of S.H.I.E.L.D."
Then at Sharon Carter.
"And that's his subordinate. A high-ranking agent, Sharon Carter."
Wanda nodded with a neutral expression, as if learning someone's pizza topping preference.
But across the store, Nick Fury and Sharon Carter were stunned.
How did he?
Not only did this random kid identify them correctly... he knew their ranks.
Fury kept a straight face, but inside he was reeling.
'Where the hell did he get this information?'
He'd expected to walk in, reveal his identity, and maybe watch Luke squirm a little.
Instead, this guy was already on page three of the script.
…
Eventually, the last customer left, and the store quieted.
Fury and Sharon walked up to the counter slowly, like detectives about to crack a suspect.
Fury stopped in front of Luke.
"You know who I am?" he asked, voice calm, measured.
He was the world's top spy, after all. No matter what he felt, his face gave nothing away.
Luke didn't flinch. "Sure. You're the boss of Natasha and Phil. They've mentioned you. We're quite good friends, you know?"
He spread his hands like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Fury squinted. Not a chance.
Romanoff and Coulson? They wouldn't leak that kind of detail to a civilian.
This kid was lying. Boldly. Smoothly. Effortlessly.
'Damn, he's good.'
"Haha. Mr. Yale is joking," Fury said coolly.
Luke raised an eyebrow. "Anyway, let's skip the small talk. You here for something?"
Fury was thrown off for a second. This was not going the way he'd planned.
But fine, if Luke wanted to get straight to business, so be it.
His face darkened.
"The Earth," Fury began, "is not alone in the universe. There are other worlds, other civilizations out there. Many of them stronger than us. Some violent, some hungry for conquest."
He leaned forward slightly, voice grave.
"And they have their eyes on us."
He was about to deliver the rest of his carefully rehearsed pitch, how Luke had potential, how they needed defenders, how S.H.I.E.L.D. was building something called the Avengers Initiative…
When Luke suddenly raised a hand and cut him off mid way.
"Oh," Luke said casually, "you mean the Kree and the Skrulls?"
Fury's expression almost twitched.
That... was not supposed to happen.
He had to fight to keep his composure, but inside, alarms were going off.
That's classified.
Highly classified.
No more than a handful of people in the world know about it.
Even Sharon Carter doesn't know about the Skrulls.
He glanced at Sharon out of the corner of his eye.
Sure enough, her blank face barely hid her confusion.
Meanwhile, Luke leaned back in his chair like someone who'd just predicted the end of a movie five minutes in.
Fury's voice was quieter now, but a bit strained.
"How do you... know all this?"
Luke tilted his head. "Huh? Was it supposed to be a secret?"
He waved dismissively, "Phil told me ages ago."
That was it.
That was the final blow.
Fury's mental defenses cracked. He knew damn well Coulson would never say something like that. And yet Luke said it so smoothly so believably, that for a second, even he almost doubted himself.
He'd come here ready to recruit a potentially useful ally.
Now, he was the one getting played.
Luke Yale wasn't just confident.
He was dangerous.
And, worse, impossible to predict.
'Most troublesome civilian I've ever met', Nick Fury thought grimly.
And probably the most shameless liar too, this was clearly a case of the pot meeting the kettle.
…