章節 31: The Start of the Search and A New Life
Author's note
Check out the timeline I created for this on discord. Major events and birthdays of characters are there so you can have an easier time of tracking dates. It may contains spoilers for Webnovel and Ao3 readers.
-Triskelion, Washington DC-
-January 29, 2007, 1230h local-
"Have you found them?" Fury asked while pacing and rubbing his forehead.
In front of Fury is Coulson, who is managing a team of techs that should be monitoring how and where Romanoff is. But of course, nothing went to plan, the same with every situation Naruto is involved in.
The first incident is how they suddenly disappeared in Clint's Homestead. Only Coulson was present at that time. But when Romanoff's emergency band hasn't shown up anywhere in the world, that's when Fury decided to bring in a whole team of techs.
Good thing Coulson received a message from Romanoff saying that the band short-circuited during transport. Coulson was able to pinpoint her general location, which is Rome, but anything more exact is impossible. Her phone location shows that it's jumping everywhere in Rome every 5 seconds with no pattern.
Fury would have admired the Naruto's ingenuity and counterspy techniques, but it's aimed at SHIELD, and it's working!
"Yes, Sir. They are somewhere in Durban, South Africa." Coulson answered.
"Durban? What the hell are they doing in Durban?" Fury asked. His mind is scanning very intelligence reports he read that came from the general direction. A few seconds of furious thinking, he hit upon an idea that is a bit out there, but knowing a bit about Naruto, it is certainly in the realm of possibility. "Coulson. Search the intelligence reports on Ulysses Klaue."
Coulson nodded and immediately typed in Ulysses Klaue. When his profile came up, he projected it towards the big screen.
"Ulysses Klaue. Age 40. Well connected Black Market Weapons Seller. Top 3 on the Interpol list. Mainly operates in a salvage yard near... Durban. Are they going to take him down?" Coulson mused.
"I'm not sure if I should support or not support this. The political blow out if this ever connected with SHIELD would be such a massive pain in the ass to sort out, but removing a piece of shit from the surface of the Earth is such a great payoff..." Fury mused to himself, but everyone in the room certainly heard it. Good thing they have enough self-preservation instinct not to call out their boss. "Coulson. Send a satellite readjustment and orbit lock request to satrecon. I want eyes on that place as soon as possible."
Coulson and his crew immediately blasted the satellite reconnaissance team with Fury's 'request.' They must have been running around with shit in their pants because five minutes later, they have surveillance satellite orbit locked over Durban.
"Give me eyes, people! Come on!" Coulson ordered, making everyone but Coulson move faster.
"Eyes up." Coulson announced at the same time a live feed from the satellite showed up on the screen. Coulson scanned the area, focusing mainly on each ship.
Fury is also observing each ship with his discerning eye until the view panned on top of a boat weirdly covered in splashes of red.
"Tighten on that ship." Fury ordered.
Coulson immediately saw what Fury saw and tightened on top of it. It's basically a massacre, similar to Budapest. A lot of the techs that can't handle the gory image run out of the room, presumably to puke in the bathroom.
"I guess we found them." Coulson mumbled.
The techs returned in waves, looking a whole lot better. They watched the ship with no developments. They were about to throw in the towel since they thought that the group already left until the hull of the vessel suddenly ripped open.
"There's nothing there! It looks like it just opened. Can Naruto turn invisible?" Coulson observed.
"No. I think that's a plane with active camouflage, just like the quinjets. What I wouldn't do to have the God's Eyes right now." Fury weighed in.
After another few minutes, Blue light seemed to pulse from inside the ship. They have no idea what they should expect next, but a spiraling dome of blue energy grinding everything inside it to dust is the last thing they thought they would ever see. After the dome faded, only a large crater was left behind and a whole lot of dust.
Coulson looked back towards Fury and asked in a joking tone.
"You still want to bring him in again, boss?" After a small chuckle on Fury's disgruntled look, He checked on a hunch of his and looks like he's right. A few seconds the invisible plane appeared or not appeared, Romanoff's phone went entirely offline. "Looks like Romanoff got in on the plane and went where ever the hell they're going next."
Fury took on one of his serious thinking faces. Coulson recognizes this one as something that appears every time he would make a big decision, just like he saw before with Danvers.
"Clean everything up—no evidence at what we were doing. No logs, no time in stamps, no emails. If I find out details about this op got out of this room, I'll send every one of you personally to a Gulag in Siberia. Got it?" Fury threatened everyone with a hard stare down. Everyone nodded frantically, sure that their boss would go through with his threat. "Good. Coulson, come with me." He ordered and walked out of the room without missing a beat.
Coulson quickly got out of his chair and followed Fury. The pair marched through the Triskelion. Coulson is expecting them to head straight to Fury's office, but when they reached the elevator, Fury pushed the button towards the helipads way up top.
When they reached the Helipad, Fury told the stand-by pilot that Coulson would fly the thing himself. Coulson walked straight to the pilot seat, and Fury sat on the co-pilot seat.
"Go dark and head to Huntsville, Alabama. We need to pick something up." Fury said in a clipped tone.
Coulson didn't even question Fury and flipped some buttons. After checking everything is ok, he flew the quinjet towards Alabama.
"Not like I'm questioning you boss, but what are we going to do in Alabama?" Coulson hesitantly asked.
"I'm going to pick up a file I made in 1995..." Fury said. Coulson tried to think back about what happened in 1995, and the only thing that important happened is the Carol Danvers situation. The question is, what file could be so crucial that Fury had to hide it off the SHIELD system. "I know what you're thinking, but it's not sensitive. It's just a pet project that we need to start up. Phase 2 would not be enough if we would have to fight someone as powerful as Naruto..." He continued. Coulson is, of course, aware about the study of the Tessaract and its future use as a weapon, but what could be more effective than weapons powered by it?
"It's time to start the Avengers Initiative."
-Jersey City, New Jersey-
-January 29, 2007, 1400h local-
Jonathan Pangborn is living a good life. It has been almost two years since he left Kamar-Taj, and he can confidently say that he did well for himself. He runs a booming auto shop, a girlfriend that quickly turned into a fiance, and finally, he was able to reconnect with his family.
But even after all that, there's one thing he never forgot to do, to accomplish the Ancient One's mission personally given to him. To find the Yellow Fox.
He has always been looking for any news or signs of the fox. Most of the things he found are of inconsequential or hoax, that's why he and his fiance, Joanna, have not married yet.
He told her that the moment he finds the 'sign of the fox,' they would marry, which she accepted readily. It's like she knows that John is still on a mission. The sign is like a self-imposed hurdle for him to accomplish before he lives happily ever after.
Joanna only knows his cover story, but he explicitly told her that there is more to everything he told her, and the only time he could share everything is when they are married. They almost broke up when he said that.
Currently, he's working on a heavily damaged 1970 Dodge Charger of a cop friend of his from New York.
"What did you do with this beauty!?" Jonathan exclaimed while under the hood, checking each small part.
Javier Esposito can't help but look ashamed by what he had happened, although it been done for the line of duty.
"You watch the news about the machete killer car chase the went from New York all the way to I-95?" Javier asked hesitantly.
"The guy who managed to nab a Lenco Bearcat!? The fuck are you thinking when you took on a glorified tank with a Charger!" Jonathan couldn't help but shout. The absurdness of the situation is just too much for him.
"Hey! We stopped him! Well, Castle stopped him, but that doesn't matter! We got our guy." Javier weakly defended.
"How did you find him anyway? I heard he leaves nothing behind for you to get lead on." Jonathan offhandedly asked.
"Hey! We found a lead, or at least our Captain did, indirectly." Javier answered.
"Why the hell would your Captain find some leads?"
"Because the Nine-Tails bargained with him."
This got the attention of Jonathan. He doesn't know why but something in the back of his mind is screaming at him. He rolled out from under the car and stared at Javier.
"Who's the Nine-Tails?" Jonathan asked seriously.
"Some kind of information broker that only deals with military and law enforcement worldwide. Barters weird stuff for information. The only catch was that he contacts you by leaving a package. Everybody tried to find him, but he's just too good. In the end, everybody agreed that they'll use the info but wouldn't let it get out to the general public. So, just don't tell anyone too much." Javier explained in as much detail as he can get away with.
"Why, Nine-Tails?"
"I don't know, but Castle said that the Nine tails could come from Japanese mythology. Some kind of immortal fox demon or something." Javier answered with a shrug.
Jonathan quickly stood up and grabbed Javier at his shoulders. With almost a desperate plea, he asked,
"When did he first show up?"
"Bro! What the hell!?"
"Just answer the damn question!"
"Alright! The first reported package was received almost two years ago. Now get off me, bro." Javier finally answered and forced his way out of Jonathan's grasp.
Jonathan, for his part, is now scanning his mind for everything that he read inside the libraries. One book mentions that the Nine tails fox is one of the strongest youkai or god but usually only uses their power for mischievousness or pranks. One of their skills are shapeshifting and invisibility. That skill set could explain how it can move around undetected and gather information for selling. If a nine tail fox demon decided to change the flow of time for its pleasure, that could explain why The Ancient One would see a shift in the future.
"Javier. I need you to get out of here. I'll fix up your car, don't worry. I just need you to go away." Jonathan said forcefully while pushing Javier out of the door.
"Bro! What the fuck, man. Come on! You're acting weird." Javier shouted.
"Go, man. I'll call you about the car later. Goodbye." Jonathan said before slamming the door in front of Javier's face. Jonathan could hear him shouting obscenities from the other side, but he has to do something long overdue.
Jonathan went ran up the second floor of his garage and went into his office. He closed the blinds and locked the door. When everything is locked tight, he sat down in the middle of the room and meditated.
It has been a while, but he was still able to create an astral projection. The projection traveled far until it finally reached its destination.
The Ancient One is in the middle of a room meditating when she felt a projection rapidly approaching her. She opened her eyes and saw something that she's waiting for a long time.
"Master Pangborn. Good to see you again." The Ancient One greeted Pangborn, who bowed in respect.
"I think I found a clue about the fox..." Jonathan reported. The Ancient One just gestured him to go on. "There seems to be an information broker that is helping the military and law enforcement. No one saw or heard him. He only leaves behind packages with information and a price..." Pangborn repeated Javier's explanation. "The only thing that identifies it as him is a name he leaves behind, Nine-Tails."
The Ancient One looks contemplative for a moment, thinking how a Nine-Tailed Fox demon got so strong that even the Time Stone can't see it's past or future. It took her a few minutes to think about the implications of a powerful demon loose in the world.
"Master Pangborn. It looks like you have succeeded in your mission. I hope you have a good and enjoyable life. May we see each other again." The Ancient One said with a smile.
"Thank you for everything, Master. You all are invited to my wedding, whenever and wherever it might be." Jonathan expressed his gratitude with a bow before disappearing.
The Ancient One stood up and walked out of the room. She walked towards the training ground. When she reached the viewing platform of the fields, she shouted her order.
"Master Mordo! Assemble a team. You're going to look for a Nine-tailed fox."
Mordo, who's mid-step on the air, immediately dropped to the ground.
-Clint's Homestead, Missouri-
-January 29, 2007, 1600h local-
"Where the hell are they!?" Clint is anxiously waiting at his porch.
Thirty minutes ago, he and Laura determined that the baby didn't turn around inside her womb. The baby is breached, causing the labor to be more dangerous for her and the baby.
They only noticed it when Laura's contractions continue to strengthen, but the baby can't seem to be pushed out. Running out of time and out of options, he tried to call Natasha. Unlike Clint, who only has basic first aid understanding, Natasha has an extensive repertoire of medical knowledge that can help him, and Naruto's teleportation ability can bring her anywhere instantly. But Natasha's phone was somehow out of range, which is bullshit since it has a global network connection.
The reason he was outside right now was because Laura heard what Naruto said to Natasha.
"The knives are special. Just throw it anywhere, and I'll know when you're in trouble."
Clint is still sceptical about it, but with no other choice, he searched for the box of knives Naruto gave Natasha. He ran out of the door and threw it on the ground.
That was 5 minutes ago and he was slowly losing it. Laura is still upstairs trying hold on for Natasha but the baby would get out one way or another, with or without complication.
Clint was just about to run up the stairs when he heard a particularly agonized cry of Laura when he suddenly saw Naruto and Natasha appear on top of the knife.
He was about to go on a tirade about where the hell arw they and all that but Natasha cut him off.
"Before you say anything, we have a lot to do..." She said while walking inside followed by Naruto. Clint has enough prescence of mind to shut up and follow her lead. "Get a got tub of water and lots of towels. After that, go be with Lila. She needs you right now. Naruto and I would handle it..." Clint was going to complain about Naruto but Natasha just cut him off again. "Just go get the stuff..." Clint just nodded and ran off to get what Natasha 'requested.' "And you can't go in the room unless I call for you!" Natasha shouted as a final order. She looke behind her and saw Naruto staring at her.
"That was so hot." Naruto involuntarily let out.
Natasha would have feel flattered but time is of the essence.
"Focus, Naruto. Follow me. Laura should be upstairs." Natasha said while running ip the stairs, sure that Naruto was following her. When they got into the room, Natasha went to Laura's side. "You're going to be okay. We got you." She said.
"Hey, Nat. What took you so long?" Laura said jokingly in a weak voice.
"Naruto had to pick something up that woulld help you, but the catch is, you can't see or hear what's hapoening." Natasha answered seriously.
"Why?" Laura asked in pain because a contraction is hitting her again.
"Because you can't know what we would use or do." Natasha answered before Clint walks into the room to drop off the items.
He walked towards Laura's side and whispered to her ear.
"Nat would take care of you. I guess Naruto would too. I'll be with Lila. I love you. Stay strong, hun." He then walked out of the room and gave a slightly grateful nod towards Naruto. Naruto closed and locked the door when Clint is out of the room.
Naruto then retrieved something from his pocket and gave it to Natasha. Natasha looked at it and saw its a pair of earplugs and a blindfold.
"We'll take care of you and your baby." Natasha said with a smile before placing the earplugs and the blindfold.
Naruto then did a series of hand signs and slammed his hands on the ground. Chains of black writing spread out of the room. Crawling the floor, walls, and ceiling before disappearing. This caused Natasha to stumble backward, shocked by the development. He did another hand sign which caused his hand to glow white, and he placed it on Laura's abdomen.
"Press the bead with the cross and place it on Laura's chest. It will create a 3D internal scan of her. You could see what's happening inside. The writings make sure that everything in the room is sanitary. I'm going to keep boosting her and the baby's vitality. It would give you another 20 or 30 minutes." Naruto explained, which cleared up a lot of things for Natasha. She's going to file her questions about it for later.
Natasha nodded and followed Naruto's instruction when it was all said and done. She finally understood why Naruto was insistent on getting the beads. It is basically the perfect medical device.
Clint is in Lila's room, playing with her, trying to get his mind off her wife's pregnancy. It was 30 minutes later when he heard something new. A babies cry.
He was going to run towards the room when he remembered Natasha's order to stay out of the room until called.
It was another five minutes before Naruto knocked on the door of Lila's room. When Clint faced him, he also saw Natasha with him.
"Everything went fine. Laura and the baby are both healthy..." Natasha said with a bright smile. Naruto was also beaming behind her. "Go on in. We'll play with Lila for a bit."
Clint rapidly stood up and hugged Natasha.
"Thanks, Nat. Thank you a lot." He whispered.
When he disengaged Natasha, he gave Naruto a pat of gratitude on his shoulder. He ran immediately ran towards the master bedroom and saw one of the most beautiful things he ever saw. Laura was carrying their baby, who's wrapped with towels.
"Hey, Hun." Clint quietly said. He walked over to Laura's side and hugged her.
"Want to hold him?" Laura asked. Clint nodded and carefully took their baby.
"Hi, Cooper. I'm your Dad. I'll make sure you are always safe." He introduced himself.
Clint and Laura couldn't help but shed a tear at the moment.
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